How much should he pay? That was even a question. The more the better. Who would bite their hand when they think too much money is too much? Mrs. Meng wished he could give her a bag of gold beans.
"Adding more mouths to feed means more trouble. It's not as easy as just adding another set of bowls and chopsticks. You're young and inexperienced, so you don't understand. First, the amount of rice you cook each day is rationed, no matter how many people there are in the family. Now that there's one more person, you have to think carefully about how much to cook. If you cook too much, it's a waste. If you cook too little, the laborers won't have enough to eat. That's bound to cause resentment, and it's not good to cause unrest in the family."
Mrs. Meng was very cunning. She didn't tell him directly how much she would give him. Instead, she talked about a bunch of troubles first so that he could have an idea of how much trouble sharing meals had caused their family.
"I also have to prepare a mattress for you to sleep on. When you leave and the weather clears up, I'll have to take it apart, wash it, and hang it out to dry. It's going to be a lot of trouble!"
Yang Wuqi was so overwhelmed by what he heard that he shouted, "You decide on a figure. What's the appropriate amount?"
Are you really ignorant? Can't you just give it yourself? Meng was worried that if she bet too little, she would lose a lot. She asked her to ask for too much, but she didn't know how big to ask for. She looked at Feng Qingzi.
Feng Qingzi pretended not to notice. His master had only accepted him and Nanyangzi as his disciples at first, and later accepted Hua Xinzi. He always felt that his master was partial to his two disciples, and no matter how well he did, he could not catch his master's eye.
He also accepted three disciples, Yang Wuqi was the second disciple, and the eldest and youngest disciples stayed in Prince Yong's mansion. He valued the eldest disciple more than the eldest disciple. In his opinion, the eldest disciple should be relied upon just like the eldest son.
Feng Qingzi had recently been ordered to Dazhou County to search for Nanyangzi. He had brought his second disciple, Yang Wuqi, with him because his eldest disciple was away on business for Prince Yong. He knew Yang Wuqi was greedy and had frequently extorted money from people at the City God Temple. However, as a master, he couldn't be too obviously partial to the Meng family and support them in robbing his own disciple. He had to play dumb and wait and see if his disciple truly cared about him.
This is a good opportunity to check it out.
If you have a master like him, it wouldn't be too much to give him a few taels of silver.
Neither of them was very good at handling things, and he was happy to watch the fun.
Seeing Feng Qingzi ignored her, Meng began to harbor suspicions, thinking that Lao Wu's bag of gold beans might have come from illicit sources. But she didn't care; she only cared about the money. Yang Wuqi, who called Lao Wu "Master," feared the two of them had collaborated on a shady scheme, and perhaps he had followed Lao Wu to her home to avoid disaster.
In this case, you can't ask for less money.
After making up her mind, Mrs. Meng spoke, "You are my Wu'er's apprentice after all, so I don't care how much you ask for. So, you can take ten taels of silver a month. Even if it's ten taels of silver, I have to discuss it with Wu'er's father when I get home. He may not be happy about having another mouth to feed. Sigh!"
She even sighed deliberately, as if having more people would cause more trouble.
When they heard her offer of ten taels of silver, not only did Yang Wuqi take a deep breath and hate her in his heart, even Feng Qingzi and Gao were secretly shocked.
Oh my god, Gao felt that she had underestimated her mother-in-law Meng before. How could she open her mouth like that? Ten taels of silver!
She couldn't help but glance at Meng.
Yang Wuqi waited for a moment, but Feng Qingzi didn't say anything, so he said, "Okay, since you've said so, I'll give it to you. All in all, I just happened to have saved up nearly ten taels of silver. You're really a fortune teller, it's as if you know how much I'm worth."
He cursed Meng in his heart, "What an old fool! Even if he was greedy for money, he was nothing compared to this old woman. The old woman was even greedier than him."
Shameless person! He wished he could whip Meng to death with the whip in his hand.
Meng was feeling very happy at the moment. She didn't expect that she would have such a big harvest today. Just before entering the village, she remembered that she had forgotten to buy tobacco leaves for Old Ding.
But it doesn't matter, it will be the same if I buy it again tomorrow. Old Ding was so happy that he couldn't even contain his joy at bringing back so much gold and silver that he wouldn't blame her.
As expected, when they got home, Old Ding heard that Yang Wuqi had given him ten taels of silver to share meals with their family, which was a month's salary. His lips trembled with excitement. Meng hurriedly pushed Feng Qingzi and Yang Wuqi out, saying, "Look how angry the old man is! He doesn't want another person at home. You two go out first, I'll try to persuade him."
Meng then drove everyone else out of the room, and then couldn't wait to take out the bag of gold beans given by Feng Qingzi, and grabbed a handful and showed it to Old Ding as if she was presenting a treasure.
Old Ding's eyes almost popped out of his head. He picked up a golden bean from her palm, put it in his mouth and bit it, "It's really, really gold. Look, there are teeth marks."
The two of them closed the door and laughed face to face, their saliva dripping from their laughter.
Feng Qingzi brought Yang Wuqi out of the main hall and headed towards the side courtyard. When they entered the courtyard, they saw Lu, who was wearing a cloth dress and skirt, carrying a large wooden barrel with great effort.
Ever since the fifth brother disappeared after owing gambling debts, most of the work in the family fell on Mrs. Lu. Her current situation is no different from that of Mrs. Jian in the past.
She had heard from her son Ding Fu about the carriage ride back with Lao Wu and Meng Shi. Ding Fu also told her that his father had brought them nothing, empty-handed. She was furious, angry that Lao Wu had been away for so long, leaving her to work like a slave in this family, living a life worse than pigs and dogs.
When she saw "Lao Wu", her face darkened and she acted as if she didn't see him. She walked past Feng Qingzi and Yang Wuqi with the wooden bucket in her hand without stopping.
Feng Qingzi turned sideways and looked at her. Was she angry with him?
It's a bit interesting.
During this time, he had seen many women in splendid clothes in the palace. All of them were afraid of him, but they had to flatter and please him. This time, he met Lu, who was dressed in plain clothes and skirts, and she was his first woman. Although she was ignored, she actually piqued his interest.
He glanced at Yang Wuqi and nodded his chin at Lu. Yang Wuqi paused for a moment, then quickly caught up with Lu and took the wooden bucket from her hand. "Let me do it, Master's Wife. My name is Yang Wuqi, you can just call me Old Seven. I'm Master's new disciple."
The bucket was filled with clothes that Lu had just washed. She was responsible for washing clothes for the whole family. There was also a large basin in the side yard. Her hands were red from washing.
"Master's wife, I'll do the drying. You go talk to Master." Yang Wuqi said against his will. He never thought that one day he would become a helper in a farmer's family. He felt a little resentful towards Feng Qingzi. Why did he possess a farmer when he could possess anyone else?
The key point is that the farmer’s mother is extremely treacherous!
Lu's brows relaxed. Someone was eager to help her with the work. It was the first time in her life that she became a master's wife. She unconsciously straightened her back and put on her master's wife airs. "Work hard and be careful. The clothes have to be shaken out piece by piece before being hung on the bamboo poles. I have to pull them straight with my hands. If they are not straight, my mother-in-law will scold me if she sees it."
"Don't worry, I got it."
Hearing that Meng would scold, and that his master seemed to be particularly nice to that old woman, Yang Wuqi quickly cheered up. He was really a little worried about Meng.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
