Chapter 167: From the Small to the Big
The Mo family has had many happy events recently, so the expenses are naturally high.
Just the wine and tea for the reception, as well as snacks, candies and other things, were bought in baskets.
Let’s talk about meals. Sometimes we have lunch and dinner…
Especially when Mo Wen returns home, the ingredients have to be of high standards.
The kitchen staff is simply too busy to handle the cooking, and they have to hire people outside and rent tableware...
Money came out in large quantities.
The second wife accounted for most of these happy events.
Wang was not a stingy person, and most of the happy events were in her own room. When doing things, Wang gave Zhuang silver. She also prepared many things herself.
However, there were too many expenses in various aspects. The servants were busy all day long, and they had to pay more monthly wages. They also had to hire carriages and sedan chairs for the guests who were returning home...
After some consideration, Wang decided to give another two hundred taels of silver to her eldest sister-in-law.
Zhuang accepted it happily, "Your elder brother gave me another three hundred taels the other day, otherwise I really wouldn't be able to handle it."
"Thank you, brother."
"But... I heard from your eldest brother that the three hundred taels were given by your second brother?"
Wang's face changed when she heard this. Mo Ruhai? Where did he get the money?
Mo Yi gave it to him?
But Mo Yi...will the prince and Nanny Zhao give her money to spend?
This is impossible, right? How can this happen?
Suddenly, she remembered the gifts her husband gave to her daughter and son-in-law... She was so happy at the time that she ignored it.
Something is wrong...something is going on here!
He quickly called Wang Qing over.
At first, Wang Qing didn't dare to say anything. Later, Wang's mother spanked her son twice.
Only then did hesitantly tell what he knew.
But he was afraid of taking responsibility for many things and didn't dare to inquire. So, he only said that the second master bought some stone materials and hired a lame carving master.
The master clearly told him what he was doing and told him not to ask or tell his wife.
Wang immediately became excited. Is this doing business behind my back?
She would get restless and walk around the house when something happened. She habitually wanted someone to call Mo Wen, and then she was frustrated to find that her most caring daughter had already married.
My heart ached and my eyes became wet again.
A few days ago, Mo Yi called Song Jiafu to Qizhenlou and asked him to stay with Manager Zhao.
At first, he only came on days when the shop was not busy. Song Jiaxing was very attentive and took over slowly.
He came here more often.
Shopkeeper Zhao took a good look at Song Jiafu, then said to Mo Yi, "He's smart. If he studies hard, he'll soon be a good seller. But it'll take him three to five years to run the entire store."
Mo Yi also understood this point. "There has to be a beginning. We had no contact at the beginning, and it has only been more than two years since we have been able to earn money steadily. His horizons have been broadened here. As long as he is determined, he will succeed sooner or later."
When Shopkeeper Zhao heard this, he wondered when he could go out.
"How about... I try to divide the business of the shop into several parts. Find someone for each part, and then Miss Mo, you can take charge of it yourself, okay?"
Mo Yi smiled, "Although I also need to learn, this is also fine!"
"But..." Shopkeeper Zhao shook his head, "If the girl gets married, there will be more things to do. She will focus on taking care of the prince, and won't have so much time to manage the shop. At least, she can't run here every day..."
Mo Yi blushed and said, "It's still early... I don't want to think about these things now."
"No way? The other day, I heard from Zhao Zuo that my sister was making preparations! It seemed that she said you would be married by the end of the year."
"Ah?" Mo Yi was surprised.
"Ah?!" Mo Ruhai had just come back from the shop to collect the money and was about to go home with his daughter when he heard this as he entered the door.
He immediately became anxious: "Brother Zhao, this is impossible! The palace never mentioned it! How old is Yi Yi? How could she get married by the end of the year?"
"Maybe I heard it wrong!" Shopkeeper Zhao hurriedly took it back. "Since you two don't know, then it's probably that I heard it wrong. There are only three months left until the end of the year. How can we make it in time?"
"I'm so scared! You can't just marry off one girl and then marry another one! The house will be empty..." Mo Ruhai was dissatisfied.
Shopkeeper Zhao grinned and said, "To be honest, you already have three at home, and now you have one more... I have lost all my gold locks, so how can there be any empty space?"
"Oh, yes, yes, you are right!" He did not argue.
"Yi Yi, let's go home?" Mo Ruhai wanted to pull his daughter away quickly.
"Dad, my daughter wants to see someone here. Please wait for her."
"Who?"
"The embroiderer from Nancheng was introduced by Master Jiang."
Not long after, four people appeared at the store entrance: a woman in her early thirties, carrying a large bag, a woman in her twenties, carrying a small bag, a girl in her sixties or seventies, and a boy about ten years old.
They circled the door twice but didn't dare to come in.
Only the young man was dressed neatly, while the three women were barely tidy.
Finally, the young man stepped forward and asked timidly, "Excuse me, my last name is Ji, and I'm here to see Shopkeeper Zhao at Qizhenlou. Could you please let me know?"
The guy saw the vulgar looks of the women, but he didn't expect the young man to speak so elegantly.
"The shopkeeper is waiting for you, please come in."
"Sister, come in..." the boy said to the woman next to him.
"Hey..." Ying De said loudly, "Big girl, hurry up and follow me!"
The guy took them directly to the cabin next door.
Several people came in. “Greetings, Manager Zhao... and Miss.” The young man bowed.
There were only Mo Ruhai and Mo Yi in the room, neither of whom the boy knew.
The other three didn't bow or bend over properly, and they looked visibly nervous.
Mo Yi said, "Everyone please sit down. Jiafu, pour the tea."
Song Jiafu brought a waiter and immediately brought the teapot, teacups, and a few plates of snacks.
The little girl didn't sit down either, but stood beside the woman. When she saw the snacks, her eyes widened and she stared at them, swallowing hard.
"Your last name is Ji, right?" Mo Yi asked.
The woman in her thirties quickly said, "My name is Ji Dahua. This is my ninth brother Ji Yunqiu. This is my fourth sister Ji Zhaodi."
Song Jiafu was waiting beside him and laughed when he heard it. It must be a family that favors boys over girls. Girls are called Zhaodi and Dahua.
Boys can have an elegant name.
Mo Yi also laughed, "Ji Yunqiu? How many older sisters do you have?"
How could Ji Yunqiu, a young boy, ever talk to such a beautiful, nicely dressed and fragrant girl?
His face flushed, he hummed like a mosquito: "To answer the young lady, there are eight sisters above."
"..." Mo Yi was speechless. He had started recruiting disciples since the fourth girl, and it took him several more to finally recruit him.
"Miss, this is the first time we come to a place like this." Ji Dahua looked around, "Brother was worried, so he came with us to take a look. This is our job, why don't you first..."
"Open it."
"Hurry, hurry, hurry..." Ji Dahua commanded.
"Where is this little girl?" Mo Yi looked at the little girl who was still staring at the snacks.
"It's the woman's daughter, the big girl."
"Girl, if you want some snacks, go ahead!"
The big girl was already swallowing her saliva. After hearing what Mo Yi said, she didn't dare to move and went to see her mother first.
Ji Dahua said, "Why don't you thank the young lady quickly? Just eat one piece and save it for your uncle."
“…” Mo Yi looked at the boy in disbelief.
The boy's face was still red, but he did not refute the elder sister's words. It seemed that he was used to it.
"Your uncle is a man and an elder, how can he compete with the younger generation for dessert?"
"Sister... let the big girl eat it. I don't want to eat it." Ji Yunqiu said then.
"Thank you, Miss..." the little girl whispered. Because her mother only let her eat one piece, she looked around, trying to choose the one that she liked best and was the biggest.
The bundle was opened and the contents were taken out: shoes, purses, pillowcases, doors and windows, tablecloths, handkerchiefs, buttons... everything.
Mo Yi is now more experienced, so he stopped talking and picked up the thing to examine it carefully.
Holding the two shoes in my hands, I found that they were in good shape, with round heads, the right thickness of soles, neat edges and a good contrast.
"My third sister has strong hands and is also good at using them skillfully, so she made the foundation, which is especially solid. But the hemming was done well by my fifth sister Pan Di."
"Yeah." Mo Yi responded unconsciously.
This purse... I think it's made of silk, but the material is too bad. The embroidered flowers... Oh, the red flowers and green leaves are really tacky.
But the things they make... the shapes are pleasing to the eye. The thread is neither too loose nor too tight, and the stitches are arranged neatly, as if they were measured with a ruler. The surface is full, and the curvature is the same when folded left and right.
The doors and windows... the embroidered lucky dolls holding goldfish look vivid and lifelike.
The tablecloth is embroidered with gold ingots... it's really vulgar and rustic. But it can't be said that the work is bad.
Suddenly, she found some of the buttons, and there was the same one she and Xiangzhi had. She quickly picked it up and took a closer look, and sighed in her heart: It's really a waste of money to compare the goods.
I used to think that what Xiangzhi and I did was pretty good.
But look at this one, the length of the phoenix feathers is more pleasing to the eye. It feels hard when you pinch it, and it is not easy to deform. And the five buttons are exactly the same, as if they came out of the same mold.
Much better than my own craftsmanship!
handkerchief……
"This handkerchief is made by my eighth sister. Look here..."
"Your skills are really good. Why don't you work as an embroiderer in an embroidery shop? I heard that embroiderers make a lot of money."
"Oh, to be honest, Miss, there are eight of us sisters. Our family was so poor that we couldn't even have enough food to eat since we were young. How could we afford to learn the craft? What we do is just delicate work. It's nothing compared to other embroiderers.
We only know how to do these things and nothing else! If we were asked to come up with something new, we would be at a loss.
Those good embroiderers are all trained by masters. They have admired embroidery since they were young, so they have it in their hearts.
We? The people around us were lucky enough to have red flowers and green leaves embroidered on their clothes. Not to mention the time and effort, even the needles and threads needed money to be bought.
We have never seen the paintings of flowers and birds embroidered by the embroiderers. Where can they embroider them?
We have been embroidering for many years. But we were always cheated! After working for a long time, they just shook their heads and delayed paying us, or deducted part of our wages. Should we fight? They are all rich people, and they would call the officials for help. We dare not make a fuss! "
Listening to her chattering, Mo Yi smiled and went to look at the big girl.
The little girl was really obedient. After choosing for a long time, she finally picked one.
Holding it in her hands, she sipped it carefully, savoring the taste, her face full of happiness.
A poor little girl, her manners are better than Mo Qing's!
Judging from the small and the big, doesn’t it also show that the character of this family is not bad?
The next chapter may be a little late because the New Year is coming and I haven’t done anything.
In the kitchen, bathroom, curtains, cabinets, and back, I could work more than ten hours a day, but now it’s not possible...
(End of this chapter)
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