Wonton stall (repair)
When the manager saw that Zhou Hanzhang didn't want him to say more, he immediately stopped introducing him.
After Shi Yanqing noticed this, he explained his intention and took out a silver ingot from his purse and handed it to the steward: "We have just arrived in Yunshui County, and the mansion is short of staff. Now we need a few servants who are quick and honest, and a cook who is good at cooking."
The manager took the silver and a smile instantly appeared on his face, his eyes narrowed into slits.
Soon, he led six people out from the small room behind him, four men and two women.
The steward introduced their situation. These six people were servants bought from various places. If they were not sold within the three months in Yunshui County, they would be sent to the next county to continue being sold.
Shi Yanqing had considered this before coming here. The mansion was not big and did not need too many servants.
Tanye, Shi'an, and Qijin were personal servants, and they would usually help with important matters, so cleaning, cooking, laundry, driving, and other chores had to be done by other servants.
One person could handle cooking and washing, two could handle cleaning, and one could handle driving. It would be just right to hire four servants.
After Shi Yanqing thought it through, he walked up to the six people, scanned their faces one by one, and then fell on their hair and fingers, checking for any dirt or unhygienic conditions.
After watching for a few minutes, Shi Yanqing suddenly asked, "Which one of you can cook?"
"Madam, I used to be a cook." One of the women in her thirties answered. Although her voice was trembling, it was firm.
After hearing this, Shi Yanqing had already made up her mind. She looked at the steward and asked, "How much silver do the first, third, fourth, and sixth people from the right get in total?"
As soon as the words came out, the four people who were selected showed joy on their faces, while the remaining two people looked gloomy. If they missed this opportunity, they would have to go to another county next month.
If someone fell ill on the way, the manager wouldn't call a doctor or prescribe medicine. If they didn't make it, they'd die. The young woman inside glanced at Zhou Hanzhang, who stood silently by the side, her eyes revealing a hint of longing.
It was obvious that she was attracted by Zhou Hanzhang's handsome appearance and herself was quite pretty, so she wanted to seek his pity.
But she was destined to be disappointed, because Zhou Hanzhang's eyes were always on Shi Yanqing.
"Madam, the total amount for the four of them is twelve taels of silver." The steward quickly reported the amount.
Shi Yanqing didn't bargain after hearing this. She directly took out ten taels of silver from her purse and gave it to the steward, "Add this to the two taels of change I gave you before, a total of twelve taels."
The manager originally thought that the silver he had given before was a reward, but now it became money to buy someone. He immediately felt unhappy and his face turned ugly.
However, he didn't say anything and quickly handed over the indentures of the four people. However, he still memorized the appearance of Shi Yanqing and the other two in his heart, thinking that he would have the opportunity to take advantage of them again in the future.
When they returned to the mansion, there were water stains on the steps at the entrance from mopping the floor, and the dust on the gate had been wiped clean, with a faint glow.
When the newly bought servant saw that his master was living in the county magistrate's mansion, he was both excited and scared. He secretly made up his mind to work hard in the future and try not to be driven away.
By the time all the rooms were cleaned, it was already evening.
Dusk was falling in the sky, and the warm yellow full moon was obscured by thin clouds, but there was still cool moonlight shining through, and the shadows of the pear tree branches swayed in the wind on the ground.
After taking a bath in the bathroom, Shi Yanqing walked back to the bedroom while wiping his hair.
When she pushed open the door, she saw Zhou Hanzhang sitting on the couch reading a book. There was a candlestick on the small table next to him, with two white candles burning. The warm yellow candlelight softened his eyebrows and eyes, presenting a hazy beauty.
Shi Yanqing paused while wiping her hair, then walked in with a slightly hesitant step.
There are only two rooms in the main house, one is given to Zhou Hangui, and the remaining one can only be lived in by her and Zhou Hanzhang.
As for the remaining wing rooms, the conditions there are not as comfortable as the main house, so let's forget about them.
Although they are married, they have not yet performed the Zhougong ceremony, so sleeping together will inevitably be awkward and uncomfortable.
As Shi Yanqing thought about this, his ears felt slightly hot: "Han Zhang, I'm done washing up."
Zhou Hanzhang looked up when he heard this, and his gaze moved from the pages of the book to Shi Yanqing who was standing by the door. He reached out and rubbed the tip of his nose to get rid of the inexplicable itch in his heart.
"I'll read for a while, you go to bed first."
"The light is dim at night, and reading is bad for your eyes," Shi Yanqing walked up to Zhou Hanzhang, raised his hand and took the book from his hand, leaving no room for refusal.
"I once treated a patient whose eyesight was damaged by reading for a long time at night. He had symptoms such as blurred vision and hearing loss."
"Okay, I'll listen to you." Zhou Hanzhang raised his hands and spread them out, nodding obediently. "I won't read at night anymore. Even if I do, I'll light a few more candles."
"I will supervise you." Shi Yanqing said seriously.
"I will be obedient." Zhou Hanzhang stood up with a smile.
Then he put away his books, put his clothes in a bamboo basket, picked up the basket, went out, and went to the bathroom to wash up.
Shi Yanqing also took advantage of the fact that she was the only one in the room to quickly dry her hair, lie down on the bed, close her eyes and go to sleep.
Before she lay down, she thought that tonight would be as difficult to sleep as her wedding night, but she fell into a deep sleep soon after her head touched the pillow.
When Zhou Hanzhang came back from washing up, he saw her sleeping peacefully lying on her back.
He couldn't help but sigh silently, feeling inexplicably lost.
......
It was a rare opportunity that he didn’t have to travel by carriage the next day, so Shi Yanqing slept until morning.
When she woke up, Zhou Hanzhang had taken Shi'an to the county government office, Zhou Hangui was practicing martial arts in the yard, Dan Ye and Liu, who was bought yesterday, were washing clothes, and the others were tidying up the plants in the yard.
"Hangui, take a rest. I'll take you outside for a walk so that you can get familiar with the surrounding environment." Shi Yanqing said to Zhou Hangui after breakfast.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Hangui immediately put down his fist, his eyes shining brightly, as if he had not expected to have the opportunity to go out and play.
He nodded happily: "Okay! I'll go change my clothes first."
After saying that, Zhou Hangui ran back to his room. He had just sweated while practicing martial arts and his underwear was wet. It would be uncomfortable for him to go out like this.
Soon he changed into a light bamboo-colored short shirt, with his hair tied up high and a ponytail swaying behind him.
The county magistrate's mansion was surrounded by wealthy families. When Shi Yanqing and Zhou Hangui went out, they happened to see a gorgeous carriage passing by and heading towards the county government office.
She didn't care too much and took Zhou Hangui to the most prosperous central street in the county, where there were many shops and the largest restaurant in the county, so she could quickly understand the situation of the people in Yunshui County.
It was already noon when they reached the central street. Zhou Hanzhang had said last night that he would not go home for lunch.
When Shi Yanqing went out, she also told Liu not to prepare meals for the two of them, as she planned to take Zhou Hangui out to eat.
But she got up late and had breakfast before going out, so she wasn't hungry now.
But Zhou Hangui had been boxing for the whole morning and should be hungry now.
Thinking of this, she turned to look at the young boy who was looking around and asked, "Han Gui, what would you like to eat?"
Zhou Hangui touched his empty stomach and pointed to a wonton stall on the corner of the street. "Sister-in-law, I want to eat wontons for lunch today."
Shi Yanqing naturally wouldn't refuse, so he nodded and said, "Okay, we'll have wontons for lunch today."
It had been a long time since she had eaten wontons. She remembered that the last time she had eaten wontons was before her third sister got married, and that time her third sister cooked them herself.
The owner of the wonton stall was an old woman with gray hair, wrinkled facial skin, and dry, rough skin on her arms, dotted with red spots.
The old woman was bending over to clear the empty dishes on the table. Seeing Shi Yanqing and Zhou Hanzhang approaching, she hurriedly asked, "What would you two guests like to eat?"
When Shi Yanqing approached and saw the red spots on the old woman's arm, his eyes moved slightly, and he understood clearly.
"Just two bowls of wontons," she said.
"Okay!"
The old woman responded with a smile, and when she turned around, she scratched her arm with her hand, and the skin there instantly turned red.
The wontons were cooking in a hot pot, and there were only three of them at the wonton stall at the moment.
After Shi Yanqing sat down, he thought about the old woman scratching her arm just now and prepared to chat with her, closing the distance: "Grandma, how many years have you been setting up your stall here?"
The old woman was wiping the table with a rag. Upon hearing this, she smiled, looked up at Shi Yanqing, and replied, "That's more than ten years ago."
"The wontons I make are not the best in Nanhai County, but they are also the best in Yunshui County. Almost all the boys and girls in the neighborhood grew up eating my wontons."
When talking about wontons, the old woman talked incessantly. Her eyes were full of confidence and pride. At the same time, her hands did not stop moving, and she quickly wiped several tabletops clean.
Then she turned around and walked to the stove where water was boiling, and used a clean large wooden spoon to scoop the wontons that were floating on the surface of the water in the pot into a bowl.
"Here they are, two bowls of delicious wontons."
The old woman placed two bowls of wontons in front of Shi Yanqing and Zhou Hangui on a wooden tray, then greeted them with a smile.
"Guests, eat it while it's hot."
Zhou Hangui was already hungry. He scooped up the wontons with a spoon, blew on them and stuffed them into his mouth. A look of satisfaction immediately appeared on his face.
Shi Yanqing was not hungry yet, so she did not rush to pick up the spoon. Instead, she looked at the old woman and said.
"Grandma, have you always had these red spots on your arms?"
The old woman's smile froze. She guessed that Shi Yanqing had just seen her scratching herself, so she quickly unrolled her sleeves.
"Don't worry, girl. My red spots aren't contagious. I usually wash my hands immediately after scratching them."
Seeing the old woman getting nervous, Shi Yanqing softened his tone, trying to calm her down.
"Don't worry, grandma. I'm not afraid of getting infected with this rash. I'm a doctor and have treated patients with rash before. If I'm not mistaken, the rash on your body isn't always there. It only appears occasionally, right?"
After hearing this, the old woman looked relaxed and the smile on her face disappeared.
Shi Yanqing saw that her expression had eased, and continued, "Grandma, if you want to treat the red spots on your body, I can prescribe medicine for you. Although it can't cure it, it can provide some relief."
The old woman waved her hand and shook her head, saying, "The attack today was also sudden. I will go to Doctor Xu to get medicine when I have time, so I won't bother you anymore, young lady."
Hearing that the old woman was seeing a doctor, Shi Yanqing didn't say much. She saw that Zhou Hangui had almost finished the wontons in his bowl.
So he lowered his head and ate the wontons in his bowl.
It was at this moment that she missed the look the old woman gave her, which was filled with nostalgia and a sigh.
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