Abacus and Sunday
Shujia learned a lot of knowledge about domestic intrigues, and summarized and refined them to the level of theory, but in the end... it was completely useless!
The new, beautiful girl was sent to work as a laborer to gain experience, while the old concubine remained docile and unafraid to make any rash moves. Little Shujia's daily life had returned to its old, almost unbearable rhythm. Shujia believed her mother was fully capable of managing her family's small business.
It was unfortunate for these people. Having a concubine was common, whether in Beijing or stationed abroad. Oh, stationed abroad, it was even more convenient. In Beijing, for aristocratic families like those from the Eight Banners, their parents and elders might live in the inner city. If they got wind of it, they'd probably bring them home and punish them. For those stationed abroad, it was truly a case of the emperor being far away, and their parents being far away too. Neither the emperor nor their father could control them, leaving them to their own devices.
But this was Hangzhou, Shi Wenbing was a military officer, Shi Lang and Yao Qisheng were still in Fujian, busy dealing with the Zheng family, and Shi Wenbing's predecessor had been impeached by the Censor. It would have been best for him to stay put in his own camp. If he had followed the gift-giver's wishes, he would have given both the person and the house. The problem was that even if he had given it, Shi Wenbing wouldn't be able to enjoy it often due to objective reasons, and he still remembered his kindness, so it wouldn't have had any effect. He had no choice but to bite the bullet and send her home under the guise of a maidservant, but that was...
I think everyone who wants to give gifts in the future should learn from this lesson. According to Shujia's estimation, her father will also learn from this lesson when accepting gifts in the future. He should accept the house and send the woman with bound feet away.
Who cares! Shujia has a lot of things to do now. Her mother's belly is getting bigger day by day. From Beijing to Hangzhou, although it is said that the climate and soil in the south nourish people and have produced many beauties in Suzhou and Hangzhou, it is still a change of place and she may not be able to adapt to the climate. Pregnant women often have all kinds of strange reactions, such as morning sickness, laziness, a sudden strange taste, or a change of temperament. When she came to Xiluo, she was already an experienced person in giving birth, so there were fewer strange reactions. She was just a little lazy in the hot and humid summer, and it was inevitable that she had some difficulty in managing the housework.
Every morning, Shujia would rise and go to her mother's house, chatting with her and having breakfast. Then, she would watch the Xiluo family manage the household, secretly noting the division of labor among the various managers' families. The Fuhai and Zhanglu families were the head of the household, overseeing all the internal affairs. Generally speaking, the Fuhai family handled matters closely related to the Xiluo family, such as the wives' food, clothing, housing, and transportation, while the Zhanglu family managed personnel. One was close to the boss, while the other controlled the promotions and demotions of the subordinates within the household, making it difficult to say who was more important. After finishing her work, she went to class. Her rest of the day remained the same, except for the addition of a morning and evening walk.
Normally, the Xiluo family's directors did not sit in the main hall, but on the couch in the west side room. Shujia stayed there to listen, and Xiluo family, adhering to their usual principles, brought Shuxian along as well.
Mrs. Xiluo wanted Shuxian to grow up year by year. This year was the selection year. Barring any unexpected events, she would be selected in three years at the earliest, and six years at the latest. Whether or not she passed, she would be married. These household chores couldn't be learned overnight, so they naturally needed to be learned from a young age. By learning regularly and gaining a reputation for managing the household, she would have some leverage in marriage proposals.
Because she was born out of wedlock, she wasn't guaranteed to be chosen. The Shi family's status as a illegitimate daughter was somewhat awkward. Shi Wenbing's own title wasn't low, and his family was quite powerful. His daughter couldn't just be dismissed. Generally, no one except the emperor would dare take his daughter as a concubine. However, having a illegitimate daughter become the first wife of a royal family member seemed a bit inappropriate. Even if Shuxian had excellent personal qualities, her future was still a concern. Perhaps she was just putting down her name and marrying off on her own, which would require even greater personal development. Xiluo Te didn't want to be accused of being undisciplined or partial; she still had her own daughter to marry.
So even though Shuxian was only attending as an observer, she was sometimes called upon by Xiluo Te to offer her opinion. If she was right, she was praised; if she was not thorough, she was also pointed out.
Furthermore, in Xiluo's opinion, Shuxian is calmer and Shujia seems to be more flexible in mind, so it would be good if Shuxian could infect Shujia and make her more stable.
Daily life was just a series of trivial matters; personnel arrangements, buying and selling people, and collecting money and grain weren't always involved. But through observation and listening, I learned what was involved in daily life at home, and I learned something from the way the Siluts handled it.
Mrs. Xiluo knew her youngest daughter was more opinionated, but she didn't think Shuxian was necessarily indecisive. Since childhood, Shuxian had been just as self-disciplined as Shujia. She made up for her shortcomings in schoolwork with diligence, and in terms of perseverance, she was even stronger than Shujia. She was also very discerning, but... her background was somewhat poor, so her luck was hard to predict.
In comparison, Shujia's conditions are better. She may not be as delicate and graceful as Shuxian in appearance, but she fits everyone's definition of "blessing". Her face is round, not like a round potato. On the contrary, her face shape is not bad, a slightly oval face, just a little fat, which makes her look very blessed. Her eyes are in the shape of phoenix eyes, with slightly upturned corners, a straight nose and a cherry mouth.
Besides, the daughter of an Earl should be blessed with good fortune, so he devoted himself to cultivating her bearing as a mistress.
Xiluo Te often reminded Shujia: "Don't be ostentatious. If someone says that the second girl is very strong-willed and wants to be clear about everything, it's really scary. Tell me, can you bear the burden of these words?" If you are too ostentatious in everything, everyone will know you, and it will be inconvenient for you to do anything. If your personality is too strong, it is easy to reveal your emotions and be targeted by others.
"It's all right if you know what's going on. You're a girl, and there are some things you can't say. But you can't just ignore everything. That would show weakness and make you vulnerable to deception and humiliation. You should know everything normally, but not reveal it. When it's really necessary, don't point it out directly unless it's absolutely necessary. If you can see the problem, you have to think of how to treat it. Otherwise, don't say anything. If you have to say something, tell it to mother. Got it?"
Shujia: I see. Playing the pig to eat the tiger. You have to be the scheming boss hiding behind the scenes to have a better chance of survival. And, you have to strike the snake at its weakest point. Either don't strike, or you'll kill it. (Hey!)
"I told you before, don't be too ostentatious. It's not just about your work, it's also about your appearance," Xiluo emphasized. "Who among the guests you meet on a daily basis can live with you quietly for two months and then say anything about your character? They only meet for a short while, so they say whatever they see and what they think of you."
Shujia: Mother, I am only six years old.
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As the days passed, Shujia secretly calculated in her heart that Xiluo Te's due date would be around the New Year, which was the busiest time of the year. New Year gifts had to be processed, rents and incomes paid by various properties had to be settled, and although there was no need to hold an evaluation meeting for the servants' annual evaluation, she still had to have a clear idea of it. There were also plans for production and life next year, and so on.
During this period, Xiluo Te was giving birth and recuperating after childbirth, so she had no time to take care of her. Social activities in the mansion also had to be suspended. However, with her great-aunt around, could she and her sisters go along and take advantage of her presence? Shujia thought randomly.
By June, when the whole family was ready to start making autumn clothes, Xiluo's belly was already noticeable. Shujia would lie over it every day to listen for any movement. Xiluo ignored her advice, staring in awe at the future baby, her mind racing: What would it look like? Would it be a boy, a girl, or twins?
Xiluo Te said angrily, "You look fine on normal days, but you act silly now." Zhang Lu's wife smiled and said, "The girl is going to be a sister, no wonder you are so happy." She reported the number of people in the family this year, the number of male and female servants, how many were first-class, second-class, and third-class, how many sets of clothes were first-class, second-class, and third-class, what kind of materials were used for each, how much needlework could be produced at home, how much had to be done outside, how much cloth, thread, and labor were needed.
Fu Hai's family then reported on the autumn clothing the master of the household needed to buy this year: "The girls are growing taller and need new clothes. The mistress is pregnant, so she can no longer wear her old clothes (she will definitely need new clothes, and the sizes will need to be adjusted according to the growth of her belly). The master's new clothes also require new materials. We can make some with our needlework, but we'll have to outsource some. Also, with the change of seasons, it's time for the mistress and the girls to get new gold jewelry. Shouldn't they have some remade?"
Xiluo Te listened to everything and called the accountant to come over to check the numbers. Using her abacus, she first calculated the cost of the servants' clothes and issued matching cards to make them. Then she carefully determined the number of sets of clothes for the family of four, their colors, and materials. She also ordered two sets of clothes for each of the concubines, checked the prices, and sent someone to set a date with the outside tailor to come in for a meeting.
Finally, there was the matter of jewelry. Mrs. Xiluo had a lot of jewelry, but her two daughters had very little. She thought her figure would only get worse in the second half of the year, making it harder to move around, so she cut back on jewelry. Since her daughters were young, the focus was on bracelets and necklaces, which she saved quite a bit on.
After finishing all this, Mr. Xiluo felt that it was time for his daughters to learn accounting. He had mentioned this to Mr. Jiang before, but judging from his daughters' usual responses, they hadn't learned much math, which was not a good idea.
Times progress, humanity regresses, and Mr. Jiang's math skills are no different. While the Six Arts of a Gentleman are clearly explained, few can treat them equally these days. Mathematics is considered good, but how many masters these days would condescend to drive a carriage? Mr. Jiang wasn't too bad; at least he remembered the formulas for the multiplication table, but the abacus was quite unfamiliar. Xiluo Te understood and called in the accountant to teach him.
Not many women knew how to use an abacus. They might be able to do simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, but they were still a bit lacking in skills for teaching. Fortunately, Mrs. Xiluo's expectations were not high; she only needed her daughter to know how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide. So, Yu Mama, the accountant, was successfully chosen.
Yu's mother was in her fifties and had reportedly been with the Shi family for over forty years. Originally, her family ran a small business, owning a small shop, and she had learned a bit of craftsmanship. When Yu's mother was still young, her family couldn't make ends meet and had to sell off their children, leading to her being sold into the government office. Once there, thanks to her skills, she was assigned a small stewardship position, which allowed her to get by.
Now I have been chosen to teach the girls, which is also a good job.
Shujia didn't need to learn math at all. Although she had handed over calculus and other subjects to her university teachers, she still had the rest, even the abacus. She was deeply grateful for the exam-oriented education system of the past. By the end of the free-form teaching period, she had mostly forgotten everything, but she still remembered what she had crammed twenty years earlier. So she worked on the abacus at a furious pace, especially enjoying the crisp sound. When Xiluo Te found out, she forbade her to touch it much.
Mr. Jiang breathed a sigh of relief. As a scholar, it was already difficult enough for him to teach a little girl to read the Four Books for Women. Teaching her how to use an abacus was really unethical.
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Shujia still went to her father's study every evening. Since Xiluo Te became pregnant, she had been able to do some housework. She also learned Manchu by listening to her father's lectures on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The bond between father and daughter deepened day by day. Shi Wenbing was particularly happy to agree to any request Shujia made. For example, she would sometimes ask to pay her respects to her great-uncle and great-aunt every few days, and her reasoning was: "My mother is not very mobile, and we young people can't be lazy."
In reality, she was bored at home and wanted to get out and about. Even though she had to move from one courtyard to another, she could still see the street scene along the way. Her reason was legitimate, and Shi Wenbing readily agreed, saying, "You sisters, why don't you go together?" Thus, Shujia secured time to visit her great-aunt every three or five days, which counted as Sundays.
When she went out, she would be accompanied by a maid, a servant, and a nanny. Chunxi or Xiaxi would ride in the carriage with one of the two wet nurses, while Hongxiu or Qingjin would sit on either side of the shaft. When Nanny Wuya or Nanny Yin were not around, Nanny He and Nanny Wang would be more relaxed about her. Once Shujia smiled and said, "Good nanny, let me take a look. Otherwise, when we get to Hangzhou, all I'll know is what my own courtyard looks like. How boring!"
Nanny Wang's heart had already softened, but she still added a disclaimer: "The girl can only lift a corner, not show her face." Shujia blinked, slightly opened the curtain, put her eyes closer, and carefully looked at the street scene she had never seen before.
The streets of the south were slightly different from those of the north, with a humid, airy air. The people in the banner camps weren't all Bannermen; there were also quite a few Han Chinese, mostly servants. Of course, there were shops, but they were few. Most people walked slowly, leisurely.
When they reached the alley where Shi Lin lived, Nanny Wang refused to let her get close to the curtains. Shujia, knowing she was on the right track, sat down quietly.
Arriving at Shi Lin's house, they entered the backyard through the corner gate and went to see Shi Lin's wife. Since these regular visits became a custom, Shujia felt that her decision was extremely wise. The old lady was lonely at home. On the day of the third scheduled visit, as the two of them arrived at the courtyard gate, a maid came to greet them: "Here you are! The old lady has been saying that the two girls should come all morning." The maidservant beside my great-aunt had already opened the curtain.
When they entered the house, the old lady and the two girls greeted them politely, then either took out their needlework, asked someone to present them with freshly made snacks, or helped Silut bring some small toys. The old lady was even happier. She commented on each one and pointed out the shortcomings of the two people's needlework: "It would be better if the tip here was half an inch longer." Or "Try using green thread next time."
As Shujia put it, this would make her great-aunt happy, and she'd get a chance to relax, so why not? A win-win situation.
Whenever my great-aunt was happy, if there was a social occasion and Mrs. Xiluo was not available, she would speak in a more cordial tone when trying to smooth things over.
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