"Can't you see that? You always claim to be so smart," Zhang Xiangxue said. "Let me ask you, have any educated officials ever made the same mistake?"
"Yes, I have made mistakes. No one is perfect."
“That’s it. Even people who have received a proper education can make this mistake. It’s not unusual for a cook like you who started out to make this kind of mistake. Besides, it’s not a mistake that involves anything important. Just correct it. Even if you don’t correct it, no one will notice. There are several ledgers. Who can compare them word by word?”
"Hiss, that makes sense." Wang Youyu snapped out of her daze. "Then tell me, what's wrong with Uncle?"
"Uncle is facing a problem, or he's being harassed by his boss, which is why he's venting his anger on you."
Wang Youyu stroked his chin, pondering carefully, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that his wife was right.
"Did Uncle say anything else?" Zhang Xiangxue asked.
“I did say that,” Wang Youyu said, then sighed, “I’m also a bit annoyed by this.”
Then, Wang Youyu told Zhang Xiangxue about how the higher-ups wanted to build a house at the dock for the peasant woman who ran the tofu stall.
"Tell me, that young lady sets up a food stall at the dock every day, and more and more of these hungry workers are going to eat there. Now they're even building her a house? What does that mean? Are they going to replace me next and give this job to that young lady?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiangxue rested her chin on her hand and pondered, "Uncle only said he wanted to build a house for that person? Who gave the order?"
"I don't know, but I feel it's a request from some high-ranking official. I wonder how much longer I can keep this job."
"That's true, but you're not losing anything in the end. The number of workers won't decrease, and with the opening of merchant ships after the New Year, you'll only need more manpower. The court allocates funds based on the number of workers, and they keep track of the headcount, but they don't collect food from us. So, you collect the food allowance for ten people, but you only need to prepare food for five. Doesn't that mean we're getting more? It won't affect us at all. Let her be. Let Uncle scold you a couple of times, so what? It won't hurt you."
After being comforted by Zhang Xiangxue, Wang Youyu felt a little better.
"That's true. Anyway, I haven't lost any money. Uncle can scold me if he wants, as long as he doesn't take my job."
Feeling relieved, Wang Youyu suddenly felt his appetite return, and ordered his servants to prepare wine and food, where he ate and drank to his heart's content.
***
Daliushu Village.
That day, Su Yun'er went to the Sun residence again in the morning.
She came alone this time. The gatekeeper already recognized her, so he didn't stop her. After informing Miss Sun Wanqing, someone immediately came to the gate to take her in and brought Su Yun'er into the mansion.
Sun Wanqing has almost fully recovered. Her complexion has become rosy again, and her sunken cheeks have puffed up. Although she has not yet fully recovered, it is clear that she is getting healthier.
Su Yun'er sat and talked with Sun Wanqing for a while. Seeing that she was indeed better, she felt relieved and got up to leave.
As soon as they arrived home, Old Mrs. Chen pulled them along to clean the house and do pre-New Year's cleaning.
Thoroughly clean the house, inside and out, front and back, sweeping away dust and cleaning, washing clothes and airing out bedding.
By the time she finished cleaning, the sun was already high in the afternoon, and Su Yun'er felt more tired than if she had run two marathons.
Massaging her aching back, Su Yun'er moved step by step to a corner of the courtyard, like a hunched shrimp.
This is the corner where Su Yun'er teaches her two children to read. A long bench has been specially placed here for convenience.
Sitting on the stool, Su Yun'er rubbed her lower back with her hands behind her back, watching the two children practice writing the new characters they had learned that day.
During this period, Su Yun'er taught the children the Three Character Classic every day, teaching them to recite it, telling them stories from the classics, and helping them practice writing. Now the children can write quite a few characters.
"When you know more characters, I will give you the Four Treasures of the Study and buy you calligraphy practice books."
In order to obtain the Four Treasures of the Study and to have calligraphy models to practice with, the two children put in a lot of effort to practice diligently.
Is Lady Su here?
Someone was knocking at the door.
It sounds like Granny Wen.
Old Mrs. Chen was so tired that she went back to her room to sleep, while Su Yun'er continued to hunch over like a shrimp and slowly shuffle to open the door.
As soon as the door opened, I saw Granny Wen standing there with a smile on her face.
Su Yun'er asked, somewhat puzzled, "Why is Granny Wen here?"
Judging from Granny Wen's smiling face, it doesn't seem like Sun Wanqing is in any bad shape.
"Greetings, Madam Su. We've come today to deliver New Year's gifts to you."
"New Year's goods? What New Year's goods?"
When I visited Sun Wanqing today, I didn't hear that she was going to give herself any New Year's gifts.
"The New Year is just around the corner. Our young lady is grateful for Madam Su's help several times, so she specially prepared a lot of goods and asked us to deliver them."
Open the door wider, and sure enough, you can see a horse-drawn cart parked at the entrance, piled high with goods, so much so that the cart's flatbed is no longer visible.
"This is our young lady's way of expressing her gratitude, Madam Su, please accept it."
After a moment's thought, Su Yun'er guessed the reason.
It seems that Sun Wanqing was afraid that I would refuse her in person, so she didn't tell me directly, but had these things loaded onto a vehicle and sent over after I returned.
Since that's the case, Su Yun'er couldn't very well refuse.
It wouldn't be right to ask someone to go through the trouble of transporting it here, only to have it transported back again; that would seem ungrateful.
"Then thank you, Miss Sun," Su Yun'er said with a smile.
As the items were carried into the courtyard, Su Yun'er silently sighed, "The things Sun Wanqing sent this time are worth quite a bit of money."
There were several bags of famous pastries and candied fruits from Yongning City, dried fruits and vegetables that were not common in this era, a large wooden box containing beef, mutton, chicken, duck and fish, a whole basket of eggs, as well as wine, children's toys, and even a set of clothes in the style and pattern of an old man's clothes, all piled up in the courtyard.
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