Chapter 87: Training the Little Maid
Chen Qi had just felt comfortable for two days when she encountered another difficult situation.
A few days ago, in order to prepare for the comings and goings at the old lady's birthday banquet, the housekeeper bought a dozen new maids.
Most of these maids were children from farm families outside the city. They were just fourteen or fifteen years old, young and had never seen the world. When they entered the house of a wealthy family in the city, they looked around and awkwardly moved their hands and feet. When asked about their names and ages, they stammered and could not say clearly for a long time.
Seeing that the old lady's birthday is less than half a month away, these little girls will have to go on stage to greet guests from far and near. This is not a decent way to go, so they will inevitably need to be carefully trained.
But unfortunately, the family is lacking someone to train the maids.
Chen Qi deals with important matters reported by the stewards every day and has no time to spare. She doesn't have the leisure to teach the maids how to do things one by one.
She reported this to her grandmother, who then instructed her second aunt, who had been feigning illness and being lazy, to come out and discipline the boy for two days.
It would have been fine if this task had not been assigned to her, but it was bad luck for these little girls that it was handed over to her.
Seeing that her family business was thriving and her daughter's marriage was already arranged, Second Aunt was itching to do something and was just looking to show off her power.
This group of little girls from the countryside, no one knew what taboo they had violated, but they beat her twice for no reason, making two or three of the maids scream and wail like ghosts. They ran to the steward crying and begged him for help, saying that they would quit working in the Xie family and wanted to go home to see their parents.
When Chen Qi learned about this, she was so angry that she felt suffocated.
Sun Xueyi is taking care of all the household chores such as cooking and cleaning, which is already a struggle considering her energy and abilities.
Yu Jin is waiting to be married, Yu Jing is still young, and the housekeepers and maids are all busy with their own things.
We can't ask the old lady to come out and personally discipline these little girls.
It's inevitable, so I'll just keep myself busy. (′з(′ω`*)light(灬ε灬)kiss(ω)the(*￣3￣)╭sweet(ε)∫feather( -_-)ε｀*)hair(*≧з)(ε≦*)tidy(* ￣3)(ε￣ *)tidy(ˊˋ*)
…
The days are long in summer, and after dinner the yard is filled with the afterglow of the sunset, with a light golden orange color reflected on the window lattices.
Chen Qi finished the work at hand and sent everyone away. Seeing that it was still early, he stood up from the chair in the outer hall, stretched himself, and then told Xiao Ling to ask the steward in charge of the maids to bring them over, as he wanted to say something.
The steward arrived soon, stood in the hall, and bowed to reply to the mistress.
"Today the old lady said that she has sent people to train the new maids, so Second Madam doesn't need to worry about it."
Chen Qi was about to drink a cup of tea to moisten her throat, but was slightly stunned when she heard this.
"Who did the old lady send to train?"
"To answer Second Madam, it's Aunt Yun."
Chen Qi raised her eyebrows, secretly surprised.
Ever since Chen Qi asked her to take care of her cousin Yu Shuo's schooling, Aunt Yun's back, which had been drooping for many years, has become straighter day by day.
Although she still lived in the servants' room, she would comb her hair early every day, put on new clothes, dress neatly, and get on the carriage hand in hand to send her son to the school to see the teacher.
Occasionally, I could look through the half-open window of the classroom and see my son shaking his head while reciting in class.
On the way home, Yu Suo was always chattering, telling her what passage of scripture the teacher had talked about today and what poem he had recited, which made her smile.
Occasionally, when she saw Chen Qi, she would stop and nod to greet her, unlike before when she would just walk sideways with her head lowered.
Old Mrs. Wu had noticed this change a long time ago and was filled with surprise.
After all, she was the child she had raised with her own hands. The old lady knew that she was kind-hearted and still remembered some of her kindness. Otherwise, she would not have let her look after the kitchen for so many years.
Seeing that the family was busy and Chen Qi was unable to spare time, she thought that training a new maid would be a small matter that Yun could handle with just a little help a dozen years ago.
Therefore, Mrs. Wu, under the name of Chen Qi, relied on her own kindness and Yu Suo's face, and after many years, once again took Yun Yatou's hand under the lamp and persuaded her in the middle of the night.
With tears in his eyes, the old man asked her to look at his children who were growing up day by day, look at himself who was getting older day by day, and then look at Chen Qi who was so busy that she couldn't take care of everything but still took care of Yu Shuo's clothes and meals.
This time, she finally nodded.
…
After hearing the reply, Chen Qi sent the steward away and sat in a chair, thinking to himself for a while. He still couldn't let go of his worries. Seeing that dusk was falling in the yard and it was getting cooler outside, not as hot as during the day, he took Xiao Ling's hand and went to the backyard to take a look.
As soon as she arrived at the ceremonial gate in the backyard, Chen Qi saw a figure standing in front of the pink wall inside the gate.
Old Mrs. Wu.
She didn't ask the maid to follow her. She stood alone behind the whitewashed wall, looking very old.
Further ahead, the girl she had raised with her own hands was wearing decent clothes and was explaining word by word to a group of teenage maids the etiquette of welcoming and seeing off guests and serving tea and water in the Xie family mansion.
She has been doing these things for more than ten years.
No one can do it better than her.
Chen Qi saw the old lady hidden in the dark night, silently waved to Xiao Ling, signaling her not to make a sound, and the two of them turned around and went back quietly.
Blown by the cool night air, Chen Qi suddenly felt that her chest was no longer so stuffy.
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