That night, Meng Jianqiu and He Jianxia lay on the upper and lower bunks in the girls' dormitory, wearing the undergarments that Meng Zhao had given them and covered with thick quilts. Meng Zhao was afraid they would be cold, so he told them to sleep on the lower bunk first, so they could have two layers of quilts.
The two girls on either side were very thin, and they could squeeze into one single bed.
He Jianxia felt like she was dreaming. She dared not close her eyes, fearing that she would wake up in the cold and dirty shack, where she would be looked up and down by dirty men from time to time. She was afraid to sleep soundly at night.
Finally, unable to resist, she nudged Meng Jianqiu beside her and whispered, "Can we not run away? I think this is great. That bowl of potato noodles today was the most delicious thing I've ever eaten in my life. I want to eat it again in the future."
Meng Jianqiu looked annoyed and turned her head to scold him in a low voice: "You think you can be fooled by a bowl of rice? How can you be so stupid? Didn't your family feed the pigs before? They would feed them until they were full, but after that, they still slaughtered the pigs to eat meat. Your mother was a maid in a wealthy family and lived a better life than the daughter of a landlord. But what happened? When the master was short of money, she was still sold off to make money."
He Jianxia also understood this principle. The maids who were with his mother were selected by wave after wave of people. The first to come were the madams from the brothels because the people there were generous and willing to pay high prices for people.
Her mother said that standing there waiting to be chosen was the scariest time of her life. Fortunately, her mother was not good-looking and was not chosen. She was then sold to other places until she met her father.
He Jianxia was silent for a moment, then said helplessly, "Our indenture is still with her, how could she have run away?"
"I'll do some preliminary research first, and find an opportunity to steal the indenture," Meng Jianqiu said firmly.
At the city gate, she immediately took a liking to Meng Zhao because he looked at the refugees with pity in his eyes, which made him seem like a kind-hearted person. So, she deliberately went up to him and begged him to take them into the city.
But she wouldn't entrust her life to Meng Zhao's kindness. Today she might pity them, but who could guarantee that she wouldn't sell them off for money in the future? She wanted to take her life into her own hands.
The next morning, after getting up, Xiao Chuan first knocked on the door of the women's quarters. He and Meng Zhao had been living in this courtyard for the past few days. Now that two new people had come to the courtyard, they had to eat and use Meng Zhao's things every day, so they couldn't not get up and work.
The knocking woke Meng Jianqiu and He Jianxia from their deep sleep. They had said they would get up early to work before going to bed last night, but the bed was just too comfortable and neither of them could get up.
Their indentures were still in Meng Zhao's hands. What if they angered her and she sold them again? So they quickly got dressed and went out to open the door.
Seeing them come out, Xiao Chuan slightly raised his chin, his eyes filled with a scrutinizing look. Before Feng E left yesterday, she had specifically pulled him aside and instructed him that Sister Meng Zhao was soft-hearted and would definitely be lenient with them, and asked him to keep an eye on them.
“Now that you’re here, you can’t just sit around doing nothing. You have to get up every morning and work with me, understand?” Xiao Chuan deliberately lowered his voice, pretending to be an adult.
Upon hearing this, Meng Jianqiu and He Jianxia both nodded obediently. No matter what happens in the future, they must do their jobs well now and not be idle.
Seeing that they were quite cooperative, Xiao Chuan was very satisfied. When assigning tasks, seeing how thin they were, he told one of them to feed the donkey and the other to start the fire, while he went to fetch water.
Meng Jianqiu took over the task of tending the fire. She knew the way since they had bathed in the woodshed yesterday, so she went straight there and carried out a pile of firewood.
Xiao Chuan was startled. He hadn't expected that she, who looked so frail, was actually quite strong, and he immediately felt a sense of crisis.
Not long after, Meng Zhao also slowly woke up. Originally, she wanted the two girls to rest for a few days, but seeing that they were working quite efficiently, she didn't stop them. After all, she wasn't doing charity work.
After getting up in the morning, Meng Zhao first made sure the braising ingredients were ready, and then took a ruler to measure the figures of the two girls. They would be working in the shop from now on, so they would need to be made work clothes.
I also need to prepare clothes and shoes for them, because it's not good for them to always wear their own clothes. There are also some daily necessities, like tooth powder, which can't be mixed, so I have to buy two more sets for them.
Not long after, Meng Zhao returned with a bag full of things. Even Meng Jianqiu didn't know what to say and could only stand there dumbfounded.
Seeing their stunned expressions, Meng Zhao smiled gently and said, "What are you standing there for? Put your things away. From now on, you have to brush your teeth every morning and evening. I don't have any other requirements for you now, except for one thing: keep yourselves clean."
Since the clothes and shoes weren't finished yet, Meng Zhao left the two of them in the backyard to grind seasoning powder for her, while also observing the workers in the shop. For the time being, there was nothing unusual.
As for Zhao's Braised Offal across the street, I heard that it changed owners, but the business has not only failed to improve, it looks even worse than it was a few days ago.
That day, the village head of Shenjia Village came from the village to report on the matter in the workshop to Meng Zhao.
"The starch workshop has been operating for some time now, but the weather is too cold. The well water has frozen and the river is also frozen. Every morning, the workers have to chisel holes in the ice first, which is quite troublesome."
In ancient times, well-drilling technology was poor, so it was impossible to drill very deep. In winter, the well water would inevitably freeze. Every day, the shop would use hot water to dissolve the well water and store it as soon as the weather warmed up. Meng Zhao even bought a lot of water vats for this purpose.
"Is the starch workshop's supply still normal?" Meng Zhao asked.
"We had been thinking about this before the Lunar New Year, so we stocked up on some goods in advance. These goods should last until early March. When the weather gets warmer, the workshop can resume its pre-Lunar New Year production."
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