Chapter 43: Brother Shen can also hold multiple positions
Zhu Dafu's mother struggled for a moment, then looked at her son lying on the bed, who was becoming increasingly thin. The struggle in her eyes slowly faded away: "Why not sell Xiaotao? She can fetch quite a bit of money."
Zhu Dafu's father nodded without thinking: "I will take her to Liu Si tomorrow, I should be able to sell her for a few taels of silver."
Zhu Tao originally wanted to come and invite them to dinner, but who knew she would hear such a conversation at the door.
She just felt cold all over and looked at the closed room in disbelief.
Zhu Dafu's mother opened the door and came out. Seeing Zhu Tao standing outside with a pale face, she probably knew that she had heard it, so she slowly walked to Zhu Tao's side and said, "Xiao Tao, did you hear everything?"
Zhu Tao raised her head and looked at her, and asked in a hoarse voice, "Why?"
"Because you are not a son." Zhu Dafu's mother's voice was like a sharp knife, piercing her blood-covered body.
Zhu Tao's tears flowed silently from her eyes, and she yelled at her for the first time: "Then why did you give birth to me?"
Zhu Dafu's mother slapped her in the face and said, "If I had known I would give birth to a money-losing child like you, I would have aborted you long ago."
Zhu Dafu's father came out and looked at Zhu Tao in front of him. There was no affection in his eyes, and even some disgust: "Watch it carefully, don't let her run away." After saying that, he went to the kitchen to eat.
Zhu Tao was locked in the woodshed. She was completely heartbroken: It doesn't matter, as long as I can leave here and go anywhere.
The next day, Wen Zhenyi was stunned when he saw Shen Hanxing getting off the carriage: "Brother Shen, what are you doing?"
Chen Hanxing was helpless for a moment: "Steward Yu is busy and can't get away, Cheng Lesheng and his family can't spare any manpower, so let me be the steward who pays your bills."
Wen Zhenyi burst out laughing: "Brother Shen can also hold multiple positions."
"It's my fault for choosing friends carelessly and meeting such a guy." Shen Hanxing complained, but his tone was gentle.
When Old Lady Wen and the others came out and saw him, they were also taken aback, but after realizing the reason, they all smiled: "I haven't seen you for a while, kid, but you look much better."
Shen Hanxing looked at Wen Zhenyi with a smile: "This is also thanks to the delicious food your family cooks."
Old Man Wen looked at him: "Where's your grandfather?"
"Grandpa has classes this morning and will visit the Cheng residence after noon."
"So that's how it is."
When they arrived in the town, the servant first sent the other members of the Wen family to the Cheng Mansion.
Wen Zhenyi and Shen Hanxing went to the market to buy food, and the servant would come back to pick them up later.
Chen Hanxing looked at the girl next to her who was much shorter than herself and asked, "Why don't you let the servants of the Cheng Mansion buy it, but have to buy it yourself?"
"You still have to select some ingredients yourself to ensure the quality of the dishes."
“The requirements are quite high.”
Wen Zhenyi raised his head and said, "Of course. I am responsible for both the dishes and the customers. If I don't do a good job, it will damage my reputation and be disrespectful to the customers."
Chen Hanxing looked at her serious expression and recalled every time he ate something she made. He felt a sense of happiness in his heart, which made him unconsciously want to eat a few more bites.
She looked very serious while cooking, and he wanted to watch her cook: "Can I go to the kitchen today?"
Wen Zhenyi paused and turned to look at him: "Don't you scholars have a saying that a gentleman should stay away from the kitchen?"
Chen Hanxing smiled and shook his head: "Where did you hear that? Scholars also need to eat."
"Couldn't I have seen it myself?"
"You haven't even learned a few words, and you can still read on your own?"
Wen Zhenyi was depressed. Just because she hadn't learned the characters here didn't mean she was illiterate: "This is a sad story."
Shen Hanxing was amused by her expression: “I’ll teach you when I have time.”
When Wen Zhen saw his smile, it was like a blooming pear blossom, so beautiful that it made people unable to look away: "Ahem! You said it."
"Well, I said, consider it as extra expense for you to cook for me and grandpa."
Wen Zhenyi stretched out his little hand: "Deal."
Shen Hanxing looked at her outstretched white and tender little hand, not knowing what it meant.
When Wen Zhen saw that he didn't move, she reached out and took one of his hands, placed it in her palm and shook it: "We agreed, you can't go back on your word." After saying that, she let go of his hand, put her hands behind her back, turned around and walked towards the stalls in the market.
Shen Hanxing looked at her hand, which she had not yet been able to retract, and which still retained her warmth. The smile on her face became even gentler.
"Brother Shen, come here and pay." Wen Zhenyi shouted at him.
Chen Hanxing withdrew his hand, hid it in his sleeve, walked to her side, asked the boss how much money it was, took out the silver from his purse and paid it.
Wen Zhenyi picked up the things in his hand and walked forward.
Shen Hanxing took the things in her hand: “Let me do it.”
"No need. You look like you can't lift it with your hands or carry it on your shoulders. If I tire you out, Grandpa Shen will definitely come after me."
"How about you help me get better?" He took the thing from her hand after saying that.
Wen Zhenyi saw that the thing in his hand was gone, and didn't think much about it: "Okay."
The two of them had almost finished buying things, and it was time for the servant to appear. He took the things from the two of them and put them on the carriage.
Wen Zhenyi bought all the remaining ingredients and climbed onto the carriage and sat down.
Chen Hanxing also got into the carriage and sat opposite her. He could see sweat dripping down her pretty face. He took out a handkerchief from his arms and handed it to her: "Wipe the sweat off."
Wen Zhenyi looked at the handkerchief in his hand and found it so clean that she felt embarrassed to take it: "No need." Then she wiped her face roughly with her sleeve.
Shen Hanxing reluctantly put away the handkerchief, lifted the car curtain and looked at the market outside the window.
"Brother Shen, don't you have class today?"
Chen Hanxing lowered the curtain and turned to look at her: "I have already finished the courses in the private school. I just stayed there to accompany my grandfather and also took on some copying work."
“So that’s how it is, Grandpa Shen is going to continue teaching?”
Shen Hanxing said this with some melancholy: “I am now able to support our grandfather and grandson, he is just worried that I will be in poor health.”
"Is the pay for copying books high?"
"If you want to copy the simple Four Books and Five Classics, each copy costs one tael of silver. Other books cost a bit more."
"It takes a long time to copy a book."
"It's not that bad, it will probably only take three to five days."
Wen Zhenyi thought about it and realized that earning one or two taels of silver every three to five days was less than what they earned, but compared to ordinary people, it was already very rich.
"Can anyone copy it?"
"Not really. The bookstore still needs to check your handwriting. If your handwriting is not good, they won't let you copy, or they will pay you much less. In private schools, many students from poor families will copy books or bring people to write letters in exchange for tuition."
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