As Zhou Chenyu was talking to the girl, her personal attendant happened to return.
Worried that she might repeat her mistake if she went out alone, Zhou Chenyu boldly revealed that she was terrible with directions. The girl simply smiled and immediately sent a maid to escort her out.
Chen Tongsheng, who had been waiting for a long time, saw her and hurriedly went up to ask, "Chen Yu, why are you so late? Did something go wrong on the way?"
"Brother, I'm fine." Zhou Chenyu blushed and touched his head. "I got lost just now and wandered around to the pavilion in the outer courtyard. Luckily, I met a beautiful and kind lady who had her maid lead me out."
Chen Tongsheng watched the departing maid, his tense heart relaxing. "Oh, thank goodness, that was the Third Miss's personal maid. The young lady you met must be her."
Zhou Chenyu guessed her identity correctly, "Then what's her name?"
"Tang Qingyu".
Zhou Chenyu repeated her name, "Isn't Miss Qingyu a really nice person?"
“Exactly.” Chen Tongsheng said as they walked. “Master Tang and his wife have two sons and a daughter. Miss Qingyu is the youngest and the most favored. Miss Qingyu is deeply loved by the master not only because she lost her mother at a young age, but also because her personality is most like the master’s. Even though she comes from a wealthy family, she is not arrogant because of her privileged background. She is kind to everyone and no one speaks ill of her.”
Zhou Chenyu wholeheartedly agreed, "She really is a beautiful and kind-hearted girl."
It was already evening when they left the Tang residence. It was still almost half an hour's walk from there to their home, so they didn't dare linger on the road and hurried home.
Getting this job is equivalent to earning a year's worth of money. Even though she was busy all day, Zhou Chenyu didn't feel tired and walked with a cheerful heart.
As she entered the village, the sun had already sunk below the mountains. Apart from her, there was no one else on the village road. Passing by her neighbor's house, she saw that the family was already eating a hot meal together.
Smelling the aroma of food, Zhou Chenyu hurried home. Huangdou, who was lying by the door enjoying the cool breeze, heard the noise and barked fiercely at the dark distance. As Zhou Chenyu got closer, the familiar smell wafted into Huangdou's nose.
Huangdou stood frozen on the threshold, its big, round eyes wide open, staring motionlessly in the direction from which the commotion came. When Zhou Chenyu appeared before it, its tail suddenly thrashed like a propeller, and it jumped and leaped with joy, rushing quickly toward Zhou Chenyu.
Zhou Chenyu saw its tail swaying from side to side, laughed, and called it to come into the house together, shouting, "I'm back!"
Baoyu, who was peeling potatoes, looked up. He hadn't seen his sister for several days and missed her terribly. He happily replied, "Sister! I've been waiting for you to come back!"
The sound of chopping meat in the kitchen stopped abruptly. Li Xiuju, holding a cleaver, walked out with a smile. "You're back just in time. Dinner's almost ready. It's so late, did anything happen on the way?"
Zhou Chenyu walked to the well. "It's a bit late, but my sworn brother escorted me to the village entrance, so I'm not afraid."
Baoyu, remembering how Yang Bantou had saved him earlier that day, couldn't wait to share it with his sister. He quickly put down his knife and came over, saying, "Sister, I have something very important to tell you."
"Really?" Zhou Chenyu rubbed her hands clean, smiled, and looked up at Zhou Baoyu and Li Xiuju. "Oh, I forgot to tell you, I got a job making sweet soup at the Tang family's housewarming banquet today. They paid me one tael of silver a day!"
Baoyu and Li Xiuju exclaimed in unison, "One tael of silver a day?!"
Zhou Chenyu smiled and nodded, "Ah!"
Baoyu looked at his sister with a pitiful expression. "Sister, I only earned 150 copper coins after working hard for three days. I bought a pound of meat and lost half a day's wages in one go. Compared to you, I am really useless."
Li Xiuju patted Baoyu's head, both happy and incredulous, "I know Master Tang is kind and generous, but one tael of silver is really too much. Besides, the housewarming banquet will last for three days, so wouldn't that be three taels of silver?"
"This was personally agreed to by Steward Feng Chuli of the Tang family, how could it be false?" Zhou Chenyu's smile never stopped. "Steward Feng manages a large family, and he's such a shrewd person, he must know I'm worth this price. If they dare to offer it, I dare to do it! I'm determined to earn these three taels of silver!"
"This is too much! Earning three taels of silver in three days is something I never even dared to dream of." Li Xiuju's hand trembled slightly as she gripped the kitchen knife. "I originally planned to divide the pound of meat that Baoyu bought into several meals over several nights, but since we're so happy today, let's cook it all and enjoy it to our hearts' content!"
Upon hearing the word "meat," Zhou Chenyu waved his hand and exclaimed, "Cook it! Once I get my wages for the past few days, let's go to a restaurant and have a delicious meal!"
Baoyu cheered, "Great! Let's go to a restaurant!"
Li Xiuju, unable to contain her joy, hurried back to the kitchen to get busy. Zhou Chenyu, having calmed down, looked leisurely at Baoyu: "Hey, by the way, what were you going to say to me just now?"
"Huh?" Baoyu had been thinking about what to eat when he heard about going out to a restaurant, and couldn't remember what he wanted to say. He racked his brains for a long time and looked up blankly: "Sister, I forgot."
"..." Zhou Chenyu really wanted to give him a flick on the forehead, but she was in a good mood today, so she dried her hands, got up, and ran into the kitchen.
The well water in the pot had just been placed on the stove and needed to be simmered slowly over a low flame. Li Xiuju had already chopped the meat into minced meat and was using a spoon to squeeze out meatballs one by one.
Zhou Chenyu poked her head over and asked, "Grandma, are we having meatballs tonight?"
"Yes, let's make some meatball and cabbage soup." Li Xiuju smiled and said, "Mother dug up two baskets of potatoes from the garden today. They're growing really well. We'll stew them with this half-fat, half-lean pork. It's guaranteed to be delicious. You've been working all day, covered in dust and sweat. You must be feeling really uncomfortable. The water in the pot is almost ready. Go take a shower, and then we can eat right away."
Zhou Chenyu felt sticky and had a faint smell of sweat. "Okay, I'll go take a shower."
The rice seedlings for autumn rice in Qingshui Town have all been planted, and September is slowly approaching.
Autumn is almost here.
Zhou Chenyu scooped up half a bucket of hot water and mixed it with half a bucket of cool well water to adjust the temperature to a comfortable level. Unexpectedly, halfway through the wash, her cheeks were still covered with fine sweat, as if she had just taken a sauna.
Zhou Chenyu didn't dare stay in the steamy bathroom for too long. As soon as she finished showering and got dressed, she quickly fled the place.
She walked to the entrance of the courtyard, fanning herself with a palm-leaf fan while enjoying the cool autumn breeze. After a long while, the heat on her body gradually subsided.
Huangdou sat at her feet, mouth open, tongue sticking out, saliva dripping down from the heat.
Seeing how diligently it was guarding the door, Zhou Chenyu called out to it. Upon hearing the call, Huangdou happily exposed its belly on the ground and rolled around incessantly.
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