Chapter 113 Buying a Maid
Juan'er squatted at the kiln entrance and helped to light the fire without complaint. From time to time, she looked up at the busy Liang Hui, with curiosity and anticipation in her eyes.
Liang Hui pulled the wire hard, muttering, "What a waste of my craftsmanship, there's nothing here, even the egg beater has to be made by myself. Fortunately, I asked the ironworker to make the cake mold in advance, but it's so expensive. How could there be no starch in ancient times? It's strange that I have to make low-gluten flour myself."
"Sister Hui, are you still not feeling well?" Juan'er couldn't wait to ask.
Liang Hui looked at the twisting "egg beater" in her hand and decided to use it together first.
"Okay, okay, stop rushing me. Where's your brother?" Liang Hui turned around and asked. She decided to let Wang You do the hard work of beating eggs manually.
Juan'er hugged her knees and tilted her head to think for a while: "It seems that my aunt called me away and I have been with Mr. Yao for a long time."
Liang Hui frowned. Liang Jinyu seemed to be very busy recently. She heard from Third Aunt that she seemed to be going to a place called Shaozhou. She didn't know what she was going to do specifically, but it seemed to be very important.
The midday sunshine dispelled the days' chill, the magnolia tree sprouted tender green buds, and birds from nowhere stood on the treetops, chirping all morning.
Liang Hui squinted at the high sun, realizing that spring had passed before she knew it.
According to the time calculation, the male lead Xiao Heng will appear at this time next year.
The Shaozhou disaster not only enabled Xiao Heng to achieve great merit, but also brought about earth-shaking changes in the lives of the Liang siblings.
The useless Third Prince, who no one cared about, suppressed rebellions and beheaded enemies, and suddenly became the most dazzling existence in the capital. The hidden major forces also gradually surfaced.
However, Liang Jinyu was abused and imprisoned by Chen Laifu, and soon became pregnant.
Liang Dingfang witnessed what happened to his sister, but he was powerless to do anything. So his hatred and despair gave birth to the most evil seeds. That night, he swore a poisonous oath to make the Chen family suffer in vain and to make those who had bullied them pay with blood debt!
"Oh." Liang Hui sighed deeply.
"What's wrong? Do you need help?" Liang Jinyu came in from outside with a smile.
Liang Hui withdrew her gaze and turned to look at the bright and confident Liang Jinyu.
To be honest, when she was reading the book, the Liang Jinyu in her mind was always a cowardly vase. She was like a dough that could be kneaded by anyone. No matter what happened, she could accept it submissively, as if she was born without temper. Even her death in the end was silent.
But the person in front of me is clearly different from the one in the book. She is stubborn and proud, smart and has plans. She is not a dodder that clings to people, but a resilient green bamboo.
Liang Hui thought to herself, it turns out that one can’t trust everything in books.
"What's wrong? Is there something on my face?" Liang Jinyu touched her cheek, her eyes flashing slightly.
Liang Hui turned away and pointed at Wang You behind her: "Do me a favor."
Wang You pouted, obviously a little reluctant.
Liang Jinyu looked at the mess in the yard. Those who knew might be cooking, while those who didn't would think that a thief had broken in.
"What are you doing?" Liang Jinyu asked curiously.
Liang Hui pulled Wang You to help her beat the egg liquid, then turned around and drove Juan'er away.
"Old-fashioned bread, you will know later." Liang Hui said, cleaning out all the charcoal in the kiln, and then putting the flour on the tray into the kiln.
"Is this roasted flour?" Liang Jinyu asked.
Liang Hui covered the board and explained, "We only have medium-gluten flour now, but we need high-gluten flour to make bread. Look, that's the washed dough over there. As for low-gluten flour, since there's no starch added, I can only bake it first."
"Flour is divided so finely." This was the first time Liang Jinyu heard this.
Liang Hui hummed twice, rolled up her sleeves, put the washed high-gluten dough in the basin into another vat, then added an appropriate amount of flour and continued kneading.
The movements look very skillful, but unfortunately he is too small to have enough strength.
"Let me do it."
Liang Jinyu took over Liang Hui's job and explained the reason for coming: "The Yuan family has sent a message that they will leave for Weiyang the day after tomorrow. I plan to take Mr. Yao, the third wife, and Wang You with me. The four of us will go together."
Liang Hui was cleaning the tray. Hearing this, she raised her eyebrows and muttered to herself.
[Just go, why are you telling me what to do, and why are you saying it so formally? ]
"Your uncle can only come back on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month, which means that there are only you, Juan'er, and the Yao family's aunt in the backyard at home. I am really worried, so I am thinking of buying two more servants in the next two days."
Liang Hui was delighted when she heard this and immediately said, "That's great! I thought that Auntie San must be too tired on weekdays, so she is so irritable. How about we go buy some this afternoon?"
There are many people in the family and she can give orders to many of them, so Liang Hui is naturally happy.
Liang Jinyu was thinking that they would be away for at least ten days or half a month, and an adult couldn't be left at home without one.
Originally, she wanted Yao Tianci to stay at home, but Tang Xian thought this was a rare opportunity to broaden his horizons.
Yao Tianci is their cashier. In the future, the accounts he will be in charge of will only increase in number and become more and more complicated. It is necessary to let him learn more from the cashiers of those big merchants in advance.
As for the third wife, it was for Liang Jinyu's safety. The third wife knew martial arts and some pharmacology, so with her around, Liang Jinyu could save himself a lot of trouble.
Wang Youze asked to go with them. He was worried and had a stern face all day long. Liang Jinyu was worried that he would get sick from boredom, so she agreed.
Tang Xian was also in charge of the grocery store and the charcoal procurement, so he couldn't leave.
"Let's go after lunch. See if you need anything else and buy it all together," Liang Jinyu replied, adding, "If you need anything at home, you can go to the grocery store to find Manager Tang. Don't be impulsive."
Liang Hui curled her lips in disapproval: "I know, what's the problem?"
"Do you smell anything?" Juan'er asked, snorting.
Liang Hui reacted and yelled, "Oh my! My flour!"
By the time Liang Hui hurriedly pulled the tray out of the kiln, the inside was already burnt black and the flour was all burnt.
...
"The temperature is too high, but the temperature inside the kiln is hard to control. How about trying to put it outside?"
"The baking time is too long. I need to shorten it by half next time. Let me think about it. Ten minutes? No, six minutes is enough."
"But how can I time it accurately? Baking time is so important!"
Liang Hui kept muttering to herself along the way. The small notebook in her hand had been scribbled all over by charcoal. No one could understand the twisted handwriting except herself.
The third wife who was walking behind had a sullen face and looked so angry that she wanted to stare a hole through Liang Hui.
Liang Jinyu thought it was funny at first, but as she walked towards Renshi, her mood became heavier.
"It's only April, why are there so many people selling their children?" Liang Jinyu asked in a low voice, and her sympathetic eyes swept over the children who were sticking straw along the road.
With confused eyes and skinny bodies, they knelt in the mud in a daze, totally unaware of what would befall them.
The third wife sighed and said, "I guess there are too many babies at home. Now that the harvest is bad, they should sell them early. They can still be sold at a high price now."
Liang Jinyu pursed her lips. This was the truth. In the next two years, a child would not be able to buy more than two bushels of rice.