Chapter 8 Chapter 8 Aunt
The aunt was a very bright woman, dressed in a style with flying eyebrows and golden hair. When she saw you, she would look you up and down first, as if she could find fault with everything.
However, her daughter, Miss Mei, was a delicate girl, but she looked very kind. When she saw Jinniang coming over, unlike her mother, she smiled at her.
Jinniang heard the lady ask, "Are you a family-born child?"
Jinniang shook her head: "I am not a servant, I was hired from outside."
It was very subtle. Jinniang felt that after she said this, her aunt's attitude towards her became much more disrespectful. She even asked aggressively, "The needlework people in our family have all accumulated years of experience. You are too young."
This is a bit picky. As the saying goes, guests should follow the host's wishes. Besides, what does it mean to make things difficult for servants? Jinniang didn't like this lady in her heart, but she still smiled and said, "Don't worry, I will definitely do my best."
The aunt raised her chin and said, "If you do well, I will reward you then."
I took a trip in the heavy snow, and not only did I not get any money, I didn't even get a sip of hot water. You have to know that the aunt lives in the small courtyard behind the third room, which is at least an incense stick's worth of walking distance away from the main room.
The cold wind blew into her sleeves, and Jinniang shivered as she ran into the house. Jiang Shanjie inside shouted, "Close the door, close the door quickly, to prevent the wind and snow from coming in."
As soon as Jinniang entered the room, she deliberately rubbed her buttocks and said, "I am unlucky today. Not only did the aunt pick on me, but I didn't even get to drink a sip of hot tea and I fell down. Fortunately, I was fat, otherwise, if you were skinny, you would probably have broken bones."
She knew that her monthly salary was higher than theirs, and she received many more things. Now, Madam Chen valued her more than they did. If they didn't start complaining, they would definitely feel unbalanced.
"Hiss...it hurts so much..."
Seeing her like this, Qin Shuang'er couldn't help but joked, "You are also a capable person who should do more work."
"Then you made this dress in vain?" Fang Qiao Lian also said.
Jin Niang nodded: "Fortunately, we only made one set of clothes. If there were more, I would definitely not be able to make them. Besides, there are still purses and fan covers that Chen Niang asked us to make."
She quickly took off her shoes and put them by the brazier to warm them. She thought to herself that everyone said her aunt's family was wealthy, and she was a lady from a wealthy family, but it was obvious that they were very short of money. The New Year was almost coming, and she had to go back to her parents' home. She didn't know what would happen to her.
Soon her thoughts were confirmed. After lunch, she went to visit the teahouse next door and heard Lan Xue come in with her ears pinched: "I went to deliver snacks to my aunt. It was so cold outside that I almost slipped."
"You almost slipped, but I actually fell down, and I didn't even have a sip of hot tea. I came back so cold that my hands were stiff." Jinniang shook her head.
Lan Xue curled her lips and said, "You rewarded me with two camel hooves."
Camel's hoof is a kind of pan-fried dumpling shaped like a horse's hoof. When Jinniang went there in the morning, there was a dish of this on the dinner table of her aunt and cousin. She couldn't help but laugh and said, "You are worse than an idler in the market."
This "idler" does not refer to those who have nothing to do. On the contrary, nowadays "idler" mostly refers to those who deliver food. Lan Xue and her friends were house-born children and had almost no monthly allowance, which was different from Jin Niang and her friends. They only received some silver handkerchiefs as rewards during the Chinese New Year and lived on rewards on other days. Just like Si'er and Xiaohe, who were transferred from their sewing room, they also had no monthly salary.
After hearing this, Lan Xue also snorted coldly.
In this way, Jinniang had almost figured it out. This young lady's pickyness and so-called loud voice were most likely a cover-up for her shortcomings. If she was wronged by her aunt, Jiang, who was not on good terms with her aunt, would be nice to her. So she decided to weigh the pros and cons and make the items for the main room more exquisite. As for the aunt, she could make some expensive clothes that could not be faulted and just follow the previous style.
Before the New Year's Eve, Qin Shuang'er was speechless when she saw Jinniang's purse handed in and Mei's clothes ready, because Fang Qiaolian's decision to recognize the second manager's wife, Mama Kuang, as her godmother attracted her attention even more.
After observing secretly these days, she found that Jinniang was not very good at socializing and could not maintain relationships with others. Although she had talent, she would not be able to achieve great things. Moreover, she took a look at Jinniang and saw that she only had a green scarf wrapped around her head and never dressed up. She was really stupid. Even if such a person went to the eldest girl with her, she would not be able to compete with her for anything.
She even often heard Wei Jinniang miss her parents these days, saying that she would ask Madam Chen to take letters and things back to Jiangling after the New Year. She had family who loved her, so how could she be willing to be a slave forever?
Meijiao Jinniang didn't want to know these things. After she finished embroidering the purse, she made a bright red brocade jacket with eight-color lantern pattern for Miss Mei, which went with a delicate green satin skirt. She didn't spend much effort on the embroidery, except for printing "Man Chi Jiao" on the cuffs and collar. This was a technique using gold printing and color tracing, which she learned from Miss Chen last time.
The dress was very grand and expensive, but it was a little hard for Miss Mei to wear. Jinniang knew that she would not get any reward from the lady. After she found out that she was not born in the family, she was treated differently. Moreover, it was obvious that she was the one making the decision between her and her cousin, so it was fine as long as the dress satisfied her aesthetic taste.
As expected, the aunt first criticized it: "The craftsmanship is sparse nowadays. It can't be compared with the craftsmanship in Gusu. Look, the pleats at the bottom are not well made. If I wear it outside my house, people will probably laugh at me."
Jinniang stood aside with her head down, pretending she didn't hear anything. The lady was willing to let her go only after she finished speaking. Jinniang then left quickly, frowning her nose when she came out.
The aunt waited for Jinniang to leave before she taught her daughter: "There is no need to reward those hired people from outside. They are just temporarily here to do the work. It is useless to give them money."
Miss Mei said, "But when I went to the elder sister's place, I saw her giving tips to people. She just grabbed a handful of change and gave it to people."
"That's because your eldest uncle holds an important position with a high salary, and all the family's money has been inherited by them, so isn't that rich? As a result, these little girls have learned some bad habits. I didn't marry a good man. Your grandparents passed away, and your father is a poor official. I have been working hard to manage the family, but he is trying to make me uncomfortable, saying openly or secretly that I can't have children. There are two concubines in the family, and each of them costs five hundred strings of cash, and my dowry has been used up." The aunt was angry.
Miss Mei knew clearly that her father's family was originally quite well off. He passed the imperial examination and was selected as a son-in-law by her grandmother's family. She thought this was the beginning of prosperity. However, her grandparents acted like officials everywhere and almost emptied the family belongings when she married her aunt. Then her grandparents died one after another, and her father still wanted to show off, so he even sold all the last ancestral land. After several years of mourning, she was finally reinstated with the help of her uncle. However, an accident in the officialdom forced her timid father to resign, and her mother brought her to live with her mother.
She knew that her mother acted so extravagantly because she was afraid that people would see that they were poor and the servants would become even less attentive.
In fact, such clothes were painted with gold and printed with colors, and were made of the finest brocade. She had never worn them at home.
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