Chapter 2485 Shameless
Old Zhou stood in line with a note in his hand among a group of people. Those who came to collect their things included the managers of each family, and of course there were also officials' families who came in person to collect their things.
In the past two years, Old Zhou has come to collect Manbao's salary in person. Now he no longer needs his grandchildren to show him the notes. He knows with his eyes closed how much salary and rice he can receive every month, so he always comes alone to collect it with others.
Because he came here so often, he got to know a lot of people here.
Those who receive salaries also have their own circles, and his circle is a group of officials' families.
Among this group of people, there are fathers like him, uncles, and younger brothers.
The common characteristic of these people is that their family assets are not particularly abundant, and their official ranks range from sixth to fourth.
Another thing they have in common is that they are not native to Beijing.
Because they were not native to the capital, and because their family property was not abundant, and the cost of living in the capital was too high, they hired few servants, and when they came to collect their salaries, the family members had to come in person.
It was also because of his frequent interactions with them that Old Zhoutou realized that many people would bring their brothers and nephews with them when they became officials. This way, they could not only help manage household chores, but also run errands for him. There were some things that he was not confident in leaving to servants.
At the same time, it also means cultivating family members.
As the saying goes, when one person succeeds, everyone around him will benefit.
Old Zhou came with a servant pulling a cart over. He quickly spotted the queue and went up to line up.
Everyone consciously lined up in two rows, one row was for the servants of each family, and the other row was for the families of officials like Old Zhoutou.
As soon as Lao Zhou was seen, someone immediately greeted him enthusiastically, "Lao Zhou is here, come quickly, come quickly."
Old Zhou asked his servants to lead the mule carts in a line, while he went forward and huddled together with his friends to talk. In fact, they were barely forming a formation.
"Master Zhou has two festival gifts, right?"
"It's more than that, shouldn't it be three? Lord Zhou still has a title."
Old Zhou smiled and said, "My son Manbao said that the festival gifts for noble titles are listed on a note compiled by the Chongwenguan, so it's like two gifts on one note. Only those who have a title but no real job have a separate note."
When everyone heard this, they suddenly understood and complimented Old Zhou on his broad knowledge.
Old Zhou smiled proudly. Although it was not as comfortable here as in the village, the people here still spoke very nicely, which was why Old Zhou always rushed to collect his salary.
"What's on your note?"
"It's just two pieces of cloth and some rice and flour. These are not important. The main thing is that I heard that the mooncakes given this time were made by the palace. The eldest son got one, and my family got two. After offering sacrifices to the Moon Goddess, we will share them with the children."
Old Zhou secretly looked at his note and struggled to identify it. He recognized a few numbers, but not mooncakes. Oh, Manbao said last night that they had several mooncakes at home?
Old Zhou thought hard and found that his memory was a little fuzzy, so he became a little worried.
The old man nearby saw the note in Old Zhou's hand, so he leaned over to take a look. Then he exclaimed, "The village chief has four mooncakes. Hey, how come you have three notes?"
Old Zhou came back to his senses instantly and said with a smile, "This one belongs to my son-in-law. I took it as well. Come, show me what's on this note."
The old man was a little envious and jealous, but he still took it and read it to him, "One piece of fine linen, one piece of coarse cotton, a small bag of rice and flour, and a mooncake. Hey, your son-in-law doesn't have many things."
Old Zhou said, "He is just an official, and his position is not high. Look at those below him. He is still a county magistrate. Look at what is below him."
The old man choked and unfolded it. Sure enough, he saw two lines of small characters written underneath: "Two pieces of fine cotton, two pieces of silk, two bags of rice and two bags of flour, four mooncakes..."
Old man: Envy...
Everyone: So envious...
Old Zhou muttered it twice in a low voice, memorized it for the time being, and then quickly showed his daughter's note to the old man, looking at it eagerly.
The old man unfolded his words and said, "Even if I read it, you won't be able to remember it when I get to you. Are the people you brought with you illiterate?"
Old Zhou said, "I was so happy when I came out this morning that I forgot to ask someone who could read."
The old man said, "Forget it, I'll walk behind you and go in with you. I'll wait until you've received yours and then I'll take mys."
"Oh, I'm so sorry," Old Zhou said, smiling until his eyes curved. "Then I won't be polite. Next time you come to collect your salary, I'll treat you to some beans."
Occasionally, when Old Zhou was hungry, he would ask Xiao Qian to fry some beans for him. Even though they were just fried beans, they tasted better than others, and all the friends he knew liked to eat them.
"How long have we been friends? Why are you being so polite?"
Everyone was gossiping with Old Zhou, "Old Zhou, Master Zhou and your son-in-law are not young anymore, are they? Are they going to get married?"
Old Zhou said happily, "It's time to get married. The date has been set: October 8th."
"What a happy day! Congratulations! We'll definitely have a glass of wedding wine to drink."
"Let's celebrate together," Old Zhou said with a smile, "Don't mention just one glass. Just drink as much as you want."
Some honestly took it as a polite remark, but others' eyes flickered, and they pulled Old Zhou aside and said with a smile, "Then we'll have to come and bother you. By the way, you need an invitation to attend the wedding banquet, right?"
Old Zhou was stunned. He really went.
He didn't mind, but gifts were required for banquets, and they were not particularly close relatives or friends, so why would he be so eager to give gifts?
But the thought only lasted a moment, and Old Zhou said with a smile, "I'll bring it to you next time I get my salary."
The old man who showed the note to Old Zhou said nothing. As the line moved forward, more and more people came forward to receive their gifts and left, and the number of people surrounding them decreased. Then he pulled Old Zhou aside and whispered, "Old Zhou, these guests are very particular, right? Shouldn't you ask about the children at home?"
Old Zhou was also quite talkative with him. He looked around and lowered his voice and said, "Of course I have to ask. My wife has already said that we are uneducated and don't know much. We can't make decisions on our own about things outside. We have to ask the children first."
"And you agreed right away."
Old Zhou said nonchalantly, "What are you afraid of? I'll go back and ask my daughter. If I can invite her, then she can. If not, I won't come to collect my salary next month. I'll let my son Wulang collect it. He won't know anything."
Old man: ...Shameless.
But he didn't say anything, just looked at Old Zhou with admiration, "It's my turn now, let's go, you go in first and I'll watch over you."
Old Zhou was delighted and immediately asked his servants to drive the carriage up, and then took the old man in.
The people who distributed the holiday gifts were also the clerks who distributed the salaries. They were already familiar with these people. Anyway, the people who came to collect their salaries every month were almost all of them. They saw them once a month, so it was hard not to know them.
Seeing Old Zhou, the clerk also smiled. This man's daughter and son-in-law are favorites in front of His Majesty, especially now.
See you at 6pm
(End of this chapter)
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