After returning to her room, Wang Yan was extremely frustrated. How could so many things have happened in just half a month?
Chunlan and the others' malice towards her was truly inexplicable. What's more, even the maids in the same room seemed to be targeted more frequently lately.
Wang Yan was utterly exhausted. She just wanted to be honest and do her job properly, but if she was even slightly lenient, others would try to take advantage of her and trample her to the extreme. It drove her to the brink of madness.
The next day, during a break, Chunye took Wang Yan to the tea room, where she learned the whole story.
"My two older sisters, Zhimo and Zhiruo, will be released next year, and there's a high chance they'll be promoted from the third-class maids. In our room, the other three of us, except for me, have a good chance." Originally, the opportunity would never have fallen to Chunye and her room.
Wang Yan nodded, realizing what was going on. The fact that they were all assigned the most strenuous and physically demanding tasks like sweeping and laundry spoke volumes.
I'm not afraid of hard work, but I still remain unknown and unnoticed, sweeping and washing clothes in the backyard.
Think about it, even just wiping the windows in the front yard gets you a chance to show your face to your master every day, not to mention feeding the birds, watering the flowers, and brewing tea.
Not only can you see your master, but you can also curry favor with the head maids!
“But,” Chunxi glanced at her timidly, “Sister Yan’er’s bird’s nest dish received praise from Sister Zhixuan and a reward from Granny Hua.” The girls panicked.
Yesterday, after dark, I noticed Wang Yan taking a paper package to the small courtyard where the first and second-class maids lived, and that's when I couldn't help myself.
They pleased their master and then went to curry favor with the servants who were also pleased with them.
It was Chunju who suggested splashing water, which made her unable to resist arguing. She wasn't afraid of being scolded by her sisters.
After all, Wang Yan was new, and she caused trouble just a few days after arriving. She was definitely more unlucky than them and left a worse impression.
Unexpectedly, Wang Yan was so ruthless. And Chunju, who came up with the idea, suffered the most, getting soaked to the bone.
Several people now truly hate her!
Wang Yan knew it, but she didn't really have any thoughts about it. It was fine as long as she didn't provoke her, but if she really angered her, no one would have a good time.
Furthermore, the reason she gave Zhixuan rice crackers yesterday wasn't to curry favor with her and try to get a second-class maid position.
Her goal was to expand her sales channels; she wanted to produce some snacks to sell to the maids and servants in the mansion.
But they couldn't sell openly, so they could only promote it subtly. Even teaching Grandma Sun how to make soup was done to build a good relationship and get access to the kitchen.
………………
Just two days later, her sister Zhixuan approached her, "Yan'er, do you still have the rice crackers you made last time?"
She blushed slightly after saying that; she's so old, yet she still has the same cravings as a little girl.
But one pack wasn't enough, not to mention that Zhihan, who shared a room with him, took half of it.
The four people next to her, like bandits, ransacked her rice crackers.
This crispy and delicious snack is almost addictive; there are only a few pieces, and it's not enough to satisfy your cravings.
After finishing her shift that evening, Wang Yan delivered five more packages to Zhixuan.
Zhixuan was delighted and gave her three qian of silver. She declined several times but finally accepted it.
Moreover, Wang Yan needed the money, so she accepted it.
All the materials only cost about ten coins. After receiving the money, Wang Yan went to the kitchen the next day and gave Aunt Sun two coins.
Grandma Sun refused to take it, and only after a final tearing and ripping did she finally accept one tael of silver.
"Making so much money?" Aunt Sun's eyebrows twitched. Wang Yan knew that she was really interested!
It's stupid not to make money when you can! Just you wait.
In just three days, Wang Yan's remaining twenty-odd packets were sold out, six packets for three qian of silver. Almost all the maids and servants in the entire courtyard came to buy them.
At first, the price wasn't so fixed. Her two older sisters, Qingmei and Qingyu, gave her a pair of silver cloves in the shape of plum blossoms and took five packs of them.
However, some of the gatekeepers, taking advantage of her young age, tried to snatch her directly. Just then, Qingmei also came over wanting to take a few packets.
Seeing these shrewish women behave in this way, he frowned and said, "The people in Madam's courtyard are eating, and you want to snatch food from the maids? You've disgraced Madam. You'd better wait to be beaten and kicked out!"
After that, whoever came, it was three taels of silver for six packets. After selling twice, I ran out of stock. There were still quite a few I hadn't bought.
Wang Yan gave half of the money from the sale to Aunt Sun.
“Auntie, there are many older sisters in the yard, and my mother-in-law wants to buy more. Can I pay for the materials and make some more? It's not good to give some and not others, otherwise I will offend people.”
Grandma Sun was completely convinced. "Go ahead and make it. It's free. Are there really that many people who love to eat it?"
Wang Yan replied crisply, "That's right. I heard that the maids and servants from other courtyards all want to buy some, but there's not enough for all the ladies in the courtyard. How could we share it with them?"
"Yan, why don't you make more? Auntie will provide the materials, and we can sell them together, okay?"
The small kitchen provides two bags of rice and flour each month, not to mention other fruits and vegetables. There is also a small jar of oil.
But the lady rarely ate in the small kitchen; at most, she would stew a soup or order a snack.
A small kitchen is different from a large kitchen; taking raw rice or noodles there is considered stealing.
So she took care of the rest of the rice, flour, and cooking oil herself, which was done openly.
To put it bluntly, if she really carried rice and flour home, it wouldn't look good on her along the way.
So she usually used the leftover rice and flour as a favor, occasionally steaming a few pots of steamed buns and making some dishes and rice, so that each of the maids and servants could take some back with them.
But apart from a few gatekeepers, no one else really cared, and gradually she stopped doing it.
The lady only gets one leave a month from her residence, and every time she goes back, she's carrying a lot of bags and small packages, which is really inappropriate.
Isn't this a great opportunity?
It's done!
Wang Yan made an extra batch this time, 50 packs, but didn't sell them after they were made.
This is a steamed rice crust. Then I soaked raw rice, fried it, and made different textured raw rice crusts. There are also millet crusts.
After it was prepared, it was carefully plated and then delivered to the lady's room by Aunt Sun.
"We always have a lot of leftover rice, flour, and oil in the kitchen every month, so I specially made some snacks. A few of the girls tried them and they were alright, so I served them up."
"Yes," the lady nodded, "Qingqian, reward her."
Grandma Sun excitedly took the reward money back to the small kitchen in the backyard, where the madam had just agreed to make some for the tea room.
From now on, we'll make it for the servants and maids; that's considered to be done openly.
After returning home, I took 30 newly made packets and delivered them to Chunxi. Anyone who wanted some could just go to the tea room to get it; it was free.
But if it's not enough to eat, we'll ask Aunt Sun to make more, and then we'll have to pay her a few extra coins for her hard work.
After all, even if you just went to the main kitchen to steam an egg custard, you had to give the manager there several coins.
This is all tacitly agreed to by everyone; otherwise, they would all be slaves, so why should they serve you for free?
In the afternoon, I made another 50 packets of Poria cocos. I distributed 30 of these packets to Sister Qingqian and the others.
The old woman who spent money to buy it a couple of days ago was given several packets to appease her.
Qingqian chuckled and tapped Wang Yan's forehead as she delivered the gifts. "What's wrong? Are you worried that your sisters are angry with you for accepting their gifts and jewelry the other day?"
After saying that, he took out a thin silver bracelet and tried to put it on Wang Yan's wrist.
Wang Yan quickly pulled her hand away, refusing the bracelet.
"I won't do it again. I know very well that my sister cares about us the most, otherwise she wouldn't dare to come today."
After saying that, she and Chunye ran away hand in hand.
Qingqian smiled and shook her head, then took the snacks and distributed them in several rooms.
These crispy rice crusts are so delicious, I'm addicted to them!
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