Chapter 1615 Wake Up
Regardless of whether there is such a thing or not, Old Zhou made Manbao promise that the next time he goes to the palace, he must ask whether he can cultivate the official land himself.
Manbao couldn't stand Old Zhou's urging and had to agree.
Her vacation is not long. Excluding the party this morning, there are only a day and a half left, so she cherishes it very much.
She felt that everything her sister-in-law cooked was delicious, even the fried tofu dregs were incredibly tasty.
It happened that Xiao Qian saw Manbao and felt that she had lost weight, so she fed her whenever she had the chance. While feeding her, she couldn't help but feed Bai Shan and Bai Erlang who were following her.
From the moment they returned home, the three of them were never empty-minded.
Manbao kept muttering, "This is wrong. It's bad for your health. How can I let my stomach never get a rest?"
But I still can't help wanting to eat it.
Even Bai Dalang ate quite a bit of food, prompting Zheng and Old Madam Liu to ask, "We've never been shortchanged by them before, so why are they acting like they haven't had a full meal in three lifetimes?"
Madam Liu smiled and said, "Aunt Rong's cooking is a bit too delicate. Aunt Zhou's cooking is pretty good. Not only the children, but even us adults like it."
Zheng thought so too.
Xiao Qian made many things that they wouldn't normally make, such as fried beans and fried tofu dregs. Although the ingredients were crude, she managed to make them taste good.
Not only did Manbao eat her fill at home, but before entering the palace, Xiao Qianshi also gave her a jar of sauce and said, "Take it into the palace. You can mix it with steamed buns and porridge. Eating more grains will help you gain weight."
Manbao touched his face, which seemed to have become round again, and said, "Sister-in-law, I think this roundness is good enough. If it gets any rounder, it won't look good."
"Nonsense, a round face is a blessing, it would be better if you were a little fatter."
"Being as fat as Prince Gong is not a blessing, but a disease."
Bai Shan tilted his head and thought about how Manbao looked like Prince Gong, who was as fat as him. He shuddered and took the sauce over. "Forget it, don't eat it. We'll eat it for you."
Xiao Qian immediately said, "I have prepared some for you as well."
After that, she quickly took out two other jars of sauce of the same size.
When Bai Erlang saw it, he immediately took it happily and thanked him very sweetly, "Thank you, Mrs. Zhou."
Little Qian narrowed her eyes in a smile. She still subconsciously regarded Bai Erlang as the second young master of the village landlord's family. "If you like it, I will make more for you next time."
Bai Erlang nodded repeatedly.
Even Mr. Bai, who rarely came to see his son off, felt that he was ashamed.
Manbao had also snatched the jar back from Baishan.
Zhou Lijun, who had been waiting in the car for a long time, saw that they were still hesitating, so he lifted the curtain and said, "Auntie, if you don't leave now, you will be late again."
The family already knew that the three of them were impeached and punished for being late in entering the palace last time. There was nothing they could do because today was the day to collect their salaries. Even if Manbao didn't say anything, their family would know as soon as they went to collect their salaries.
However, this time it was not the three of them who confessed voluntarily. Instead, Mr. Bai got the news from somewhere and came back to beat up Bai Erlang. He chased Bai Erlang from the east yard to the west yard, and then everyone in the family knew about it.
Because of this matter, Bai Dalang was punished and made to kneel for a long time. Since he was studying in the Imperial College, he was well-informed and must have known about it a long time ago. However, he hid it from his family.
Bai Dalang knelt and complained in his heart. Wasn't it because he saw Mr. Zhuang looking calm every day when he entered and left the palace, as if he didn't take this matter to heart, that he didn't say anything?
If you have the guts to find him, why don’t you find Mr. Zhuang?
Mr. Zhuang was in the Chongwenguan with them. When it came to news, who else knew more than him?
When Old Zhou heard about this, he felt nothing but heartache. Qian was a little scared and pulled Manbao aside and asked, "Will the high officials in the palace beat you for being late?"
"No," Manbao said, "This kind of thing would only result in a salary deduction. Why would anyone be beaten?"
Only then did Qian feel relieved.
However, Old Zhou developed a habit of waking up before dawn every day and waiting to call Manbao.
Today was the day they were going to enter the palace, so he got up especially early. When he got up, the stars and the moon were still hanging in the sky. He could only see blurry fingers when he stretched out his hand. Everything was silent and no one was awake.
But he stood outside Zhou Dalang and Xiao Qianshi's door with his clothes on, and shouted, "Dalang, it's getting late, you should get up."
Zhou Dalang was sleeping in a daze. When he woke up, he was sure he heard his father's voice. He thought he had slept in, but when he got up in the dark and looked out the door, he saw the moon still hanging in the sky.
Old Zhou was still standing outside the door. Seeing that he was the only one who got up, he said disdainfully, "What's the point of you getting up? Tell your wife to get up. Manbao and the others are going to the palace today. We need to prepare breakfast early. Don't miss out on breakfast like last time and still be late."
He muttered, "Every time I'm late, I'll have two months' salary deducted. That's twelve taels of silver. Oh, my heart is broken."
Zhou Dalang, who had been complaining a little, immediately stopped complaining when he heard this number. He immediately woke up his wife and asked her to get up and make breakfast.
When Old Zhou heard his daughter-in-law's voice, he turned around and went to look for his daughter contentedly.
The gates of each courtyard would be locked at night, but since all the people living there were family members, no iron locks were added. Old Zhou went out with a bunch of keys, opened the gate of the main courtyard and went in. After waking up Manbao, he thought about it and decided to go to the east courtyard to wake up Bai Shan and Bai Erlang.
The three of them were all confused when they got up. Manbao even sat in the yard basking in the starlight for a long time before she realized what she had done.
She looked up at the stars and the moon in the sky, and finally went to wash her face and comb her hair with a sad face.
Zhou Lijun and Zhou Liru, who lived in the same yard, were also woken up by Old Zhou. Zhou Liru was stunned for a while, then turned over and fell asleep again.
Li Jun sat by the bed for a long time, then got up with hazy eyes to wash up, and helped her aunt to tidy up her hair.
The oil lamp was lit in the room. Manbao yawned, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes. He asked, "Why are you up so early?"
"I will go to the Imperial City with you."
"You want to collect your salary? It's not time yet. The Ministry of Revenue hasn't started work yet."
Zhou Lijun said, "No, I will go and wait for my uncle and his classmates, and then go to collect my salary."
Manbao asked blankly, "What are we waiting for them to do?"
"Many of my uncle's classmates wanted to buy the whitening cream, but I thought they might be embarrassed to come to my house, or they might have been too busy these past two days and forgot, so I decided to deliver it directly to their homes."
In fact, the deal was not yet done. Bai Shan just let his classmates know that he was using the whitening cream, and they were a little interested.
But Zhou Lijun, who had accumulated a lot of inventory recently, continued to sell the goods, so she didn't mind providing better service. She would personally deliver them to the palace gate for them.
See you at 9pm
(End of this chapter)
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