Chapter 154: Qi Buchen brought Honghui to the newly built Nursery...
Qi Buchen brought Honghui to the newly built Beijing Orphanage.
After this year's palace examination, Emperor Kangxi ordered all provinces to build official orphanages to accommodate homeless orphans, and the capital was of course the first to take the lead.
The orphanage was built outside the city, covering a large area. As it involved political achievements, the building was quite new.
"I greet the princess and the prince." The orphanage sent a managing nanny to receive Qi Buchen.
Qi Buchen exclaimed, looking around: "How many children are there now?"
The housekeeper smiled and said, "The orphanage has just been established. Currently, it mainly takes in beggars, about thirty or forty of them."
Qi Buchen nodded and said, "I brought some food and daily necessities. Find someone to count them and register them for storage. Now take me to see where they live."
"Oh, Princess, you are so kind. I thank you on behalf of the children." The housekeeper smiled brightly. She called the others and gave them instructions, then took Qi Buchen to their quarters. "Although there are only a few children now, considering the future, it's better to let the five of them share a room. This will make it easier to manage them, and they can also keep each other company."
Qi Buchen nodded, this was all understandable.
When they arrived, the dormitory area was not quiet. Seven or eight children were fighting with each other.
The housekeeper's face changed immediately: "Stop! What are you doing!" While scolding, she glanced at Qi Buchen secretly, and was relieved when she found that she looked calm. Then she took two steps at a time and began to scold the children who had stopped fighting when they heard the noise.
Qi Buchen didn't intervene. He watched the housekeeper handle the matter coldly and asked Honghui in a low voice, "Guess why they were fighting?"
Honghui looked around the scene and said thoughtfully, "Did they know each other before coming here, and then have a conflict?" This was the case in the upper study. Hongqing's study partner and Hongyu's study partner had a conflict before entering the palace, and the two had often competed in riding and archery classes.
Qi Buchen remained noncommittal: "We'll know after asking."
Soon the housekeeper came back after finishing her work, looking embarrassed, "We've made the princess and the prince laugh at us. These children have been left undisciplined and have become wild. It's taken a while for them to be disciplined."
Qi Buchen looked at the group of children who were punished to face the wall in the corner and said, "I understand. The maids need to take more care of them. However, these children are pitiful. You can teach them, but it's best not to use corporal punishment or hit them."
"Of course, of course. The orphanage is the emperor's benevolent policy. How can we hit people?" The housekeeper repeatedly assured.
Qi Buchen squeezed Honghui's hand, and Honghui asked curiously, "Mammy, why are they fighting?"
The housekeeper looked even more embarrassed: "This..."
"Just say it." Qi Buchen said.
The housekeeper smiled bitterly and said, "Let the princess and the prince know that although the food here isn't very good, we don't skimp on their food. We always provide them with enough. But these children always try every possible way to hide food. This time, it was because their hidden food was running low, and they suspected that the children in the other room had stolen it, so they started fighting."
Honghui frowned. This was completely different from the reason he had guessed.
Qi Buchen nodded, not misunderstanding that these managers were embezzling. This might happen in other places from the beginning, but this is the emperor's home. Even if they want to take advantage of something, it will be in the middle or late stages. "You said these children are beggars. They must have been hungry and insecure before, so they are used to hiding food. This situation is not a big deal. After a long time, they will find that they can eat their fill every meal, so they will stop hiding things."
"The princess is right." The housekeeper agreed.
Qi Buchen then followed her to carefully look at the bedding and clothes distributed to the children, and then went to the cafeteria to check out the food. Cooking was in progress in the cafeteria at that time, and there were no delicate things here, only big pots and stoves, and the spatulas were also surprisingly large.
"Our daily meals here are porridge and steamed buns, and occasionally sweet potatoes, just to fill our stomachs." The housekeeper was a down-to-earth person and did not say anything whitewashing.
Qi Buchen showed Honghui around and nodded: "It's quite clean, everything else is fine, but the hygiene must be done well."
The housekeeper nodded repeatedly.
After Qi Buchen asked them how they put out the food, he whispered to Honghui, "Hui'er, shall we go put out the food later?"
"Okay." Honghui agreed readily. He was very curious about the way the housekeeper described serving meals, after all, he had never seen it before.
The people at the orphanage would naturally not refuse and quickly arranged the specific matters.
When it was time for dinner, the people in the orphanage organized the children to line up and gave each of them two wooden bowls, one for porridge and the other for steamed cornbread.
Qi Buchen was responsible for making porridge, and Honghui was responsible for distributing the steamed buns.
The children, who had just moved into the orphanage not long ago, still had the intuition developed from their experience outside. Their intuition told them that the person in charge of serving meals today was different from the person who had been in charge of them these days. He was more like those noble people who had been generous in the past. They almost reflexively made the most familiar expressions they had when begging for alms.
He lowered his head slightly, his eyeballs tilted upwards, revealing a large part of the lower white of his eyes. He looked pitiful and innocent, and then said in a trembling voice: "Thank you, my lord. You are such a good person."
Most of the time, they can always get something with this gesture.
Qi Buchen felt pity in his heart, but the spoon in his hand remained steady, neither too much nor too little, striving to make sure that everyone was the same.
Honghui had never experienced such a situation before. He could hold back at first and remembered to give only two steamed buns to each person. But when a little girl who looked not much older than the triplets also made such an expression to him, he could not hold back. After giving two steamed buns, he handed over another one.
The girl immediately smiled broadly: "Thank you, my dear! Thank you, my dear!" The child behind her was agitated for a moment.
The nursery staff member who was standing beside Honghui to help was hesitant to speak. He glanced at Qi Buchen who seemed not to have seen this scene, and finally said nothing.
His mother didn't stop him, so Honghui felt a little relieved and continued to put two steamed buns in the next person's bowl.
The person who should have left did not leave, and looked at Honghui pitifully: "Sir, two are not enough, please give us another one."
this?
Honghui looked around. His mother still didn't say anything. He hesitantly picked up a steamed bun and handed it to her. The man immediately bowed happily: "Thank you! Thank you! You are such a good person!"
Honghui listened to his thanks and somehow felt a little strange.
The next one is almost a replica of the previous one.
Honghui felt something was wrong. He looked around helplessly, hoping someone could give him some advice.
Qi Buchen still seemed to know nothing. Honghui was a little frustrated and looked at the people around him who were helping him.
The man hesitated for a moment before whispering, "Let the prince know that there's a fixed number of steamed buns. Three per person wouldn't be enough. Besides... they basically can't finish three. If I give them three, they'll just take them back and hide them, and it'll all be wasted."
Honghui's heart skipped a beat. He wasn't stupid, so he probably understood what was wrong and strange. His expression immediately changed. He looked seriously at the person in front of him who was still waiting for the third person and said, "There are only two left. I give them all to you. Don't block here. It's the turn of the people behind you."
The child was not happy: "What do you mean only two? Those two people in front clearly have three! You just don't want to give me any. This is... this is... this is unfair distribution! These things were given to us by the Emperor. You are just servants doing the work. Who are you to decide how much to give us? If you don't give me three today, I will go and sue you to the Emperor!"
It seems that this child has listened to a lot of storytelling, and his speech is quite logical and organized.
"That's right! Why do those two have three?" The children queuing behind also started to clamor.
"Why are their clothes big and my clothes small?" Someone took advantage of the chaos to start denouncing others.
“My quilt is thinner than everyone else’s!”
"We're going to file a complaint!"
"I want the emperor to punish you!"
When these children were taken in, the people in the orphanage told them that this was the grace of Emperor Kangxi. The original purpose was to make them know how to be grateful, and then arrange some shows to report to Emperor Kangxi. Who knew that this would become the imperial sword in the mouths of these children, and turn around to threaten them.
All the children became restless and clamored for an explanation.
Honghui stood there at a loss, looking at the originally pitiful man with a ferocious look, and fell into confusion.
Suddenly, a tall figure blocked his way.
It’s mother.
Qi Buchen's expression remained calm as he looked at the group of idiots in front of him who were jumping around and saying they were going to file a complaint to the emperor. He knocked the spoon in his hand on the wooden barrel to suppress their noise.
His majestic gaze swept across the entire audience, and the voices of the carrot-heads gradually weakened. Their survival instinct told them that they could not afford to offend the person in front of them.
"Do you still want to eat? If not, then you don't have to eat." Qi Buchen tilted his head and ordered, "If they don't want to eat, take the food back."
Seeing that the orphanage manager was really going to listen to this woman and take away the food, the radish heads who hadn't gotten any food yet were angry and said, "I want to eat! I want to eat!"
Qi Buchen glanced over and said: "If you want to eat, be quiet and queue up."
The carrot heads looked at each other, quickly returned to their original positions, quieted down, raised their bowls high, and looked at Qi Buchen pitifully.
Qi Buchen looked at the child who started the quarrel and said, "As for you, if you don't want to eat, put down the bowl."
The child suddenly held the bowl in his arms, as if afraid that Qi Buchen would snatch it away, and left unwillingly.
Qi Buchen stood back in his original position, without even looking at Honghui, and simply said, "Continue."
Honghui pursed his lips, took a step forward and continued his work, but his eyelids drooped and he didn't look at the children again.
After all the children had been fed, there was still some food left, which was usually distributed to the lowest-level helpers.
The people from the orphanage came forward to give the remaining food to the helpers, but Qi Buchen said, "Wait."
Then she picked up two bowls, filled each with half a spoonful of porridge, and took two steamed buns, then said, "Let's take it away."
The housekeeper hesitated and asked, "What are you doing?"
Qi Buchen smiled lightly: "The prince and I have never eaten these before, let's try them today."
"This, this, this... this is not suitable for Princess!" The housekeeper was immediately anxious. "You and the prince will have dinner. I will ask the kitchen to prepare it for you immediately. You must not eat this."
As he said this, he was about to come forward and snatch the bowl from Qi Buchen's hand.
Qi Buchen dodged lightly and said with a serious face: "If others can eat it, why can't I eat it?" He looked at Honghui and said, "Take your steamed bread and sit over there."
Honghui realized that he had done something wrong and obeyed the orders obediently.
"I really can't eat it, I really can't eat it, Princess, please don't make things difficult for me, you really can't eat it..." The housekeeper couldn't force her, and she was so anxious that she kept running around and muttering to her.
Qi Buchen ignored her, found an empty place to sit down with Honghui, and handed the porridge to him: "One portion per person, eat it." After saying that, he took the steamed bread and took a bite.
Honghui looked at her hesitantly, and imitated her, taking a small bite of the steamed bread. He frowned after chewing it twice, and his brows frowned even more when he swallowed it.
Qi Buchen took a mouthful of steamed bread and a mouthful of porridge and finished them in no time, without changing his expression the whole time.
Seeing Honghui still taking small bites, he urged him, "Eat faster."
Honghui made a bitter face and forced himself to take a big bite. When he swallowed it, it felt like he was swallowing a knife. He finished the steamed bread with difficulty and looked at the porridge in the bowl that had not been touched. His expression was full of bitterness and hatred. He closed his eyes, took a big sip and swallowed it directly, but then opened his eyes in surprise.
It wasn't as bad as he imagined, although it was still a bit irritating to the throat.
After he finished eating, Qi Buchen asked, "Is it delicious?"
Honghui's face was a little distorted, and he stammered, "...the porridge... is quite delicious."
"Where's the steamed bread?" Qi Buchen didn't let him go.
Honghui said with a bitter face: "It's fine...but it makes my throat a little irritated..."
Qi Buchen didn't comment, but motioned him to look at the children around him: "Do you think they are enjoying their meal?"
Honghui glanced over and saw that all the children looked very satisfied, as if they were eating some rare delicacy.
He retracted his gaze and lowered his eyes: "Fragrant."
"Let's go home." Qi Buchen stood up and said.
"Ah?" Honghui looked up in surprise.
Shouldn't mother say something?
Qi Buchen touched his head and said, "Go back and think about it yourself."
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