Chapter 7 Chapter 7 Slightly Famous
The clothes had to be made one day in advance so that the size could be altered to make them fit better. Jinniang folded her clothes on a tray and lined up with Fang Qiaolian and Jiang Shanjie to have them checked by Chen Niang first.
Madam Chen mainly checked to see if there were any missed stitches or thread ends. The three of them passed the test quickly. Madam Chen said to Qin Shuang'er, "You have a good relationship with the eldest lady, so send the one you made first and ask her to be flexible for a few days. I still have a lot of work to do."
In fact, Madam Chen certainly wanted Jinniang and the others to help Qin Shuang'er with the chores, but they were not willing to do so and all said they had something else to do.
Qin Shuang'er had no choice but to respond with a bitter face. She really didn't expect that Madam Chen would not cover for her. Wasn't it agreed that they would prosper together and suffer together? She just wanted to make her work more vivid.
Now that Jinniang and her friends have Xiaohe and Si'er, they rarely go out. When she suddenly came out, a gust of cold air hit her. She stamped her feet and said, "It's so cold."
"That's right. Let's deliver it quickly and come back to rest for a while. We have been too tired these days." Fang Qiao Lian yawned.
There weren't actually that many servants in the Zhou family, so everyone was very busy every day. The three of them went out from the back room and unexpectedly ran into Jiang who was sending out a beautiful woman. The woman was very tall, with a face as big as a palm and a skin as white as snow, and was extremely pretty.
The three of them hurriedly stopped and stood aside to greet him.
Then Jiang smiled and said, "Since you said so, I won't be polite. We have no more room for you here."
"What are you saying, sister-in-law? This is what we should do. There are few people in our family, so we have an extra small yard." The beautiful woman replied.
Jiang asked again: "Where are you going now?"
"I'm going to the second house to see Brother Du. I heard that his illness is serious this time." The beautiful woman said this vaguely.
Jinniang thought to herself that this person might be the third wife of the Zhou family, Xi. These days, Lan Xue and Ruicao, two people from the teahouse, had nothing to do and came to visit and chat, and they also mentioned people from the Zhou family. The master of the first and second wives of the Zhou family had the same mother, and the third master was born out of wedlock, so the wives of the three wives were very different. The first wife, Jiang, was chosen when the old man was still alive. Her great-uncle was the prime minister, and her father was the chief censor, so her family background was first-class. The second wife, Mrs. Li, also had a good family background, but she died early after giving birth to a son. Although the second wife, Mrs. Wu, had a much poorer family background, she was also a middle-class official lady. Only Mrs. Xi had a humble family background and didn't have much money. It was said that the Xi family's in-laws often came to the house to collect the harvest.
Moreover, the Third Master has a favorite concubine in his room. Fortunately, everyone says that Xi is blessed and has given birth to a son who is fifteen years old this year and is a good candidate for study.
After Xi left, Jiang saw Jinniang and the others. When she heard that they were from the needlework room, she hurriedly called them forward.
"Are you all sent to the girls?"
"In reply to the madam, we will send it to the girls first to see if it fits them. If it doesn't fit, we will alter it as soon as possible." Seeing that the other two did not speak, Jinniang stood up and answered.
Jiang came closer, just flipped through it, nodded without comment, and then said, "You go ahead."
"Yes." Jinniang and others breathed a sigh of relief and went to the third lady's room.
It was just an unfortunate coincidence that when she came here, she heard that the third girl had gone to the old lady's place, leaving only the eldest girl Danruo to look after the house. Danruo was kind enough to say, "Just leave it here."
Jinniang thought that this was her first time working in Zhou's house, and the third lady hadn't come back yet. If she left the things here, she would have no way to defend herself if something went wrong. So she smiled and said, "I'd better wait here for a while. Once the clothes are made, I won't have to worry about anything."
"I'm afraid the third young lady will have dinner at the old lady's before coming back, so you'll have to wait a long time." Dan Ruo was wiping a beige Ge kiln bottle with a rag, looking a little disapproving.
Jinniang smiled and said, "Nothing, sister, don't you know that it's snowing so heavily outside? If I go back and forth, it will be dark, which is not good. You don't have to worry about me. I'll just sit outside."
I heard that the maids serving in their room were all very dedicated to their own duties, fearing that others would take their places. Even the little maid Yinzhu and the new one named Que'er only worked in the back room, opening the curtains and waiting for orders, running errands, fetching meals, and opening the curtains. Qingxue and Danruo were the ones serving them inside.
The third lady's room was still good, but it was said that the room of Zhou Cunzhi, the second son of the Jiang family and the only son of the Jiang family, was where the fighting was as fierce as that of a black-eyed chicken.
She just waited quietly in the room. After Danruo wiped the vase, table and screen, she saw Jinniang dozing outside. She didn't move around, but took a thin blanket to her and said, "Don't catch a cold."
"Thank you, sister." Jinniang took it with a smile.
Dan Ruo also smiled: "What's the big deal? It's worthy of your thanks. I still have to go in and do some work. I won't accompany you for long."
"Please go ahead, sister." Jinniang was also polite.
About two hours later, a little boy brought food to Danruo. Jinniang felt hungry when she smelled the food, but she managed to hold it back. It was not until the third lady was escorted in that she stepped forward and explained her purpose. The third lady handed the hot water bottle to Yinzhu and said, "It's hard for you to wait for so long. I just ate too much at the old lady's and I'm a little sleepy. Wait until I get up and try again."
Can the master understand the feelings of the servant? Of course not.
Jin Niang smiled and said, "Okay, then let the sister next to the girl check it first. If there is no major problem with the clothes, I will go back and report to our wife."
The third girl nodded to Dan Ruo, who flipped through it and said, "Girl, it's good."
"Go ahead." The third girl waved her hand.
Jinniang just went out with a smile, but as soon as she went out, she felt so hungry that she was dizzy. She thought there would be no food to eat if she went back, so she simply went to the kitchen and spent two copper coins to buy two meat buns. These were considered the kitchen's private work. Those who missed mealtime would go to the kitchen to ask someone to buy these.
The two meat buns were greasy and she almost cried while eating them. After eating them, she felt full and had more energy.
After returning to the sewing room, everything was quiet. They were all taking a nap, and Jinniang also slept for an hour.
But the third girl also dozed off for a while, and then asked someone to call Lu Xiaoniang over to watch her try on clothes. Lu Xiaoniang knew that her daughter was beautiful, and the clothes were elegant and luxurious, making her daughter look very outstanding.
She said happily: "It seems that this embroiderer's skills are quite good."
Seeing that Lu Xiaoniang and the third girl were in a good mood, Danruo decided to join in the fun and praised Jinniang: "That child is very honest. She will correct any shortcomings. She just sits outside and waits. I asked her to come in for some tea and snacks, but she refused to come in."
Lu Xiaoniang also had a plan in mind. In recent years, the old lady often complained that she had no children, otherwise the aunt would not have returned home. But the aunt would eventually have to go home. If her daughter could go to the old lady, not only would her reputation be better, but the old lady would also be able to give some of her own money to her daughter as a dowry in the future.
Seeing that Jiang had been searching for precious materials and wood for her eldest and second daughters, and the warehouse was filled to the brim, she didn't want her daughters to only have the one thousand strings of cash from the public treasury in the future.
However, if a daughter wants to stand out, clothes, hairpins and jewelry are particularly important.
She also taught her daughter: "You have to be generous, so that people will be willing to work for you. Otherwise, after working hard for a long time, you will get nothing. Even those who are loyal to you will say that you are stingy and inconsiderate."
So, in the evening, Jinniang received a plate of roast goose meat, two hand towels, and a brass hot water bottle from the third lady's room.
At that time, Jiang Shanjie was also saying that she got a quilt, and Jinniang and the others were feeling around. Unexpectedly, the third lady sent something over. Jinniang stuffed a newly made purse into Qingxue's pocket and said, "Thank you for making this trip, sister."
Qingxue saw that the satin purse Jinniang sent was embroidered with cherries, which was very beautiful. She was also very happy and said a few more words: "It was the third lady who said that your clothes were well made. She is a simple person, so you don't have to alter them. That's good."
Jinniang said: "That's good, that's good."
After seeing Qingxue off, she put the sweat towel in the box and put the hot water bottle on the bed. She would fill it with hot water later, and it would definitely be warmer when sleeping at night.
As for the goose meat, she kept half for herself during the meal and shared the rest with everyone, even Si'er and Xiaohe got a few pieces. Fang Qiao Lian also got some braised pork and snacks from the second young lady today and put them together for everyone to share. Sister Jiang Shan started telling jokes again and everyone was having a good time. Only Qin Shuang'er was still concentrating on embroidering. She refused to come over when they called her to eat.
The things she made in such a hurry were of course not good. Even Chunlan in the eldest girl's room heard that the other girls already had clothes, so she came to the needlework room to urge them, making Qin Shuang'er even more anxious. The clothes were made in a hurry, but she could only cut corners. Others had flowers embroidered on the collars, but she only embroidered a few flowers on the corners.
Even Mrs. Chen was not satisfied, so she had to help her embroider some more to get by.
However, when she heard that the third young lady was praised for her cuteness when she met the aunt, Madam Chen ordered Jinniang to do needlework for the eldest young lady in the spring of next year, and Qin Shuang'er to do it for the third young lady next time.
Jinniang was a little surprised, but also felt it was reasonable.
At least she was a bit famous. When people mentioned the needlework room, they would say there was a young lady named Jinniang who was very good at sewing. That was true. Jiang specially asked her to make a set of clothes for her cousin Mei who was staying there as a guest.
"Congratulations, Jinniang. I heard that my aunt's family is a well-known wealthy family. I'm sure you will be rewarded if you succeed." Qin Shuang'er was the first one to come and congratulate her.
After failing in her mission, Qin Shuang'er immediately adjusted her mentality. Now, if she wants to regain the trust of Chen Niang and her superiors, she must surpass Jin Niang.
But the so-called dispute does not mean beating or scolding others, or arguing with others.
No matter how bad the relationship was, she had to keep up the appearance. Besides, she had heard many things from the eldest girl. The first lady and the aunt had had conflicts when they were young. When the aunt was still married, the first lady suffered a lot, and there was also an old lady who took sides with her.
When the King of Hell fights, the little ghosts are likely to suffer, and it is unknown whether it is a blessing or a curse for her.
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