Jiang Heng didn't come the next day, because the lord of Nanhua County made a dojo in the temple to make a dojo for the dead and injured in the Mochizuki Bridge collapse accident, and also scattered a lot of steamed porridge and rice, Jiang Heng naturally had to follow. Then on the second day, the lord of Nanhua and his entourage set off to return to the capital.

As soon as this ritual was done, the image of the lord of Nanhua County who had been ruined by smashing the signboards of several medical halls before was restored in the eyes of Wuxi people.

However, most people didn't pay much attention to the departure of the Nanhua County Lord, because almost everyone in their family was injured, and what was needed at this time was medicine, not rituals.

The Jiang family is not very well-informed, and the day after the Nanhua County Lord left, the Cao family learned the news, and was immediately disappointed: "I knew that Jiang Gongzi was leaving, at least I should have sent some local products." ”

Jiang Yanhua lost a golden hairpin for nothing, and was listless for several days, and said lazily after listening to his mother's words: "Where is Jiang Gongzi still missing that little local product." ”

Cao disagreed: "People say that courtesy is light and affectionate. Jiang Gongzi is not lacking, but that is always our mind, isn't it? ”

Jiang Yanhua didn't answer. If she had thought the same way in the past, but that day Jiang Heng came to return the clothes, sat in the hall and waited for Taohua for a long time, during which she made two trips by delivering tea, but she didn't talk.

Cao still can't understand it, but she already understands that this Jiang Gongzi has a heart on Taohua, not on her. In that case, what else is there to give this sundrel? With the wealth of the county lord's family, I am afraid that if you take the local products, you will only reward them to your subordinates, so why should you take the humiliation yourself. At this time, she somewhat understood what Taohua meant by "a chicken broke into the phoenix group".

Jiang Yanhua didn't answer, and Cao couldn't continue. Jiang Xi didn't dare to say this in front of her, not to mention Taohua, and it was not easy to talk to the maid, so she had to stop talking and said, "Are your feet good?" ”

The sprain is not strict, and he has been fine for two days with bone-setting wine. Jiang Yanhua replied in a low voice, and Cao Shi said: "I heard that Sister Tao agreed, I want to teach you to read the bookkeeper?" ”

"Yes." Jiang Yanhua was holding the embroidery thread in her hand and looked at the embroidery frame, "But I'm afraid that I won't be able to embroider this account by then." "It took a lot of effort to collect a hundred different longevity lists, not to mention embroidering them and distributing them evenly on a single roof. Although Jiang Yanhua's embroidery is good, it is also very difficult, and she regrets it a little, she shouldn't have chosen this to embroider in the first place.

Cao Shi hurriedly said: "It's important to learn to be a housekeeper, and it's okay to hand over this account to Xuancao embroidery." You embroider half, she embroiders half, a hundred longevity characters, who will look at it carefully. ”

Jiang Yanhua hesitated a little: "I see that my sister embroidered that screen very carefully." And my father respects my uncle and grandfather very much every time, if it is perfunctory, I am afraid that ......"

Cao Shi said disapprerovingly: "A hundred longevity words, will your father not be able to read them one by one?" Besides, how big are Sister Tao'er's four screens, and how much time can it take to spend no matter how hard you put your heart? Your tent is much bigger than hers, where will it be inferior. Seeing that her daughter was still hesitating, she couldn't help but feel a little anxious, "When my mother was at home, she didn't learn housekeeping, so the Chen family didn't talk about it, and she married here, not because she couldn't see the account books on the medicine hall and Zhuangzi outside." Look at your sister again, how old is she to take care of her mother's dowry? My good daughter, don't put the cart before the horse, what can you get by giving your uncle and grandfather a golden tent? It doesn't matter if you learn it yourself! Don't be like your mother in the future, and suffer in vain. ”

Jiang Yanhua listened reasonably. This housekeeper's skill will always be useful in the future. Thinking in my heart, I finally said: "When my sister teaches me to start reading the account book, I will only spend half of my time embroidering every day, and I will leave the rest to Daylily." ”

Cao Shi nodded again and again, and said: "You pick up the simpler embroidery, if it's too troublesome, give it to the daylily, so you can embroider a few more words, and no one will find out." ”

Jiang Yanhua held the needle and said with some concern: "I just don't know when my sister will teach me to read the accounts......"

Taohua has always fulfilled what she said to herself, and as soon as Jiang Yanhua's feet were good, she began to follow her to learn to read the account.

"You can practice your abacus well." After teaching for a few days, Taohua felt a little big. Jiang Yanhua really doesn't know much about mathematics, and he is very slow to calculate accounts, and sometimes he has to make mistakes. Taohua originally wanted to teach her the four operations directly, but Jiang Yanhua learned it in a mess, so she had to start with addition and subtraction, at least some small accounts could not be calculated wrong.

"This is the ninety-nine table I wrote for you, memorize it, and it will be quick to calculate the account." There is no shortcut to addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, just practice more, and natural practice makes perfect.

Jiang Yanhua held the account book, her face flushed: "Sister, I, I'm too stupid......"

"It's not stupid, it's just that you haven't been exposed to it before." Jiang Yanhua's study attitude in the past few days is very serious, Taohua is still quite satisfied with this, and always has to encourage, "When you memorize these ninety-nine watches, the general accounts will be enough." The rest is trivial details and experience that can be taken slowly. Seeing that the family has to make winter clothes and celebrate the New Year, there are things for you to learn. ”

Jiang Yanhua took an old account book and took the abacus back to his room. Daylily was embroidering the tent in front of the embroidery frame, and the wolfberry was splitting the thread on the side, and when she saw Jiang Yanhua coming back, she hurriedly put down the thread and came over to pick up the things in her hand.

Jiang Yanhua sighed, sat down on the chair, and moved his arms tiredly: "How can this plan be more tiring than embroidery." I thought it would be enough for me to learn to read and write in the past few years, but who knew that there was also arithmetic. In the past, when I sold the embroidered handkerchief with my mother, I also counted the accounts, and I thought it was the same account, but there were more accounts at home, but it really looked like I found that it was more troublesome than that. ”

Daylily pinched her shoulders and comforted: "Actually, the principle is the same, but the girl has never seen the account before, so she is not familiar with it." Wait a few more days to learn, and it will be natural. ”

Jiang Yanhua frowned: "But I heard my sister say that the housekeeper not only knows how to calculate the accounts, but also knows the price of things outside, and the etiquette between relatives and friends is also exquisite, and my head is big when I hear it." ”

Daylily smiled: "The slave maid sees that the big girl is very neat in doing this, practice makes perfect, and the girl doesn't need to worry." ”

These are comforting words, Jiang Yanhua listened to it in his ears, but he felt a little piercing. She knew that Taohua was capable, but she always felt that she just didn't have the opportunity to learn as a housekeeper, and if she could learn, she wouldn't be much worse than Taohua. However, in the past few days, I have only looked at the accounts in the kitchen, and she has already been dazzled. If all the matters in the family are in front of her, where can she afford it? Not to mention the Zhuangzi shop outside.

Taohua began to take over the Li family's dowry at the age of ten, Jiang Yanhua didn't know what the specific shops were, but she also knew that Taohua had plenty of money, and she thought it was doing well. In such a comparison, Jiang Yanhua only felt that Xuancao's words were a little ridiculous, but she couldn't say it.

Xuancao noticed that Jiang Yanhua's feelings were not high, and she didn't know what was going on for a while, so she had to cautiously close her mouth and carefully pinch Jiang Yanhua's arm. Goji blinked his eyes and secretly looked at the daylily, lowered his head and went to the line.

There was an unsettling silence in the room, but fortunately, Cao's voice broke the atmosphere, and walked in happily with a letter: "Sister Yan, your uncle has sent a letter, read it to my mother." ”

Jiang Yanhua took the letter listlessly, and finally a smile appeared on her face: "Uncle said that the lady of the Marquis of Jinghai Mansion likes her cousin very much and often calls her over. Now my uncle's family lives near the Jinghai Hou Mansion, and when we enter Beijing, my aunt and cousin will take us to see Mrs. Tai and Mrs. Jinghaihou. ”

"Can you really see the lady and lady of the Hou Mansion?" Cao's eyes lit up when he heard this, "This, this is much more noble than the old lady of the Su family, right?" ”

"Of course." Jiang Yanhua's mood also soared a little, "Marquis Jinghai has a title, probably, it's about the same as the county lord......"

"My good ......" Although the Cao family knew that there was such a family in the capital, she really didn't expect that one day she would have the opportunity to walk into the gate of the Hou Mansion, "Your uncle has finally come out!" With the promotion of Jinghai Hou, there will be few officials in the future. When the time comes, you will also have an identity when you go out. ”

"Mother, the eldest uncle is a fifth-grade official. The lobby sister is still the mother of the palace. ”

Cao sighed: "How I don't know. But that's the Jiang family's room, and your father may not be reliable. Besides, you're the only one who is your uncle. ”

Jiang Yanhua's eyes lit up slightly: "I don't know when Daddy plans to leave for the capital." Mother, do you think I should do a few needles and threads for the wife of the Marquis of Jinghai, and when I go to the Marquis of Jinghai with my aunt in the future, I must always have a filial piety. ”

"Yes, yes, yes!" Cao nodded vigorously, "This should be done carefully." Hey, if only the forehead wiping hadn't been given to Mrs. Su at the beginning, it would be appropriate to give it to Mrs. Tai. ”

Jiang Yanhua shook his head: "It's spring when we go to Beijing, and I'm afraid we won't need to wipe our foreheads." It's better to embroider a few table screens like my sister did. ”

"Then embroider the table screen." Cao's own idea was not good, but he felt that his daughter was right, "What kind of flowers should I embroider?" According to me, it's best to embroider a picture of longevity. Mrs. Tai is old, and she must like this. Otherwise, you still embroider that different longevity characters? ”

"Mother, this is a good idea. The screen is small, the word longevity is not big, the embroidery is faster than the tent, and it will be able to be embroidered before entering Beijing. Jiang Yanhua immediately got up with great interest, "Let the daylily embroider the tent, wolfberry, you open the box and find a good yarn." ”

Cao Shi was busy coming up with ideas next to him: "Your aunt said that Mrs. Tai loves to be lively, and this screen should also use some lively colors." The word is not good to use color threads, and the bottom of the yarn is better than using a four-color, and it is also divided into spring, summer, autumn and winter. There are still a few rolls of yarn in my mother's place, and I ask you to pick one of them for you. ”

The mother and daughter compared for a long time, selected the four-color yarn as the base, and embroidered the Baishou screen with another embroidery frame.

Although the screen is smaller, the embroidered characters on it are more exquisite, and the time and energy consumed are not much worse than those of embroidering tents. After all, Jiang Yanhua has limited time, and after embroidering this screen, he naturally has no more time to learn to read the account, and his progress in calculation is very slow.

Taohua naturally noticed her absent-mindedness, and asked once, Jiang Yanhua only prevaricated because she didn't learn well, and Taohua didn't ask anymore. Hengzhi only promised to teach Jiang Yanhua, but she did not guarantee that she would teach Baohui. As for Jiang Yanhua's recent frequent sending daylilies to buy embroidery thread, she just knew about it. Anyway, it's nothing more than doing needlework to please anyone, and there can't be a big problem.

What's more, Taohua doesn't have much energy to care about Jiang Yanhua, time is like flowing water, and it will soon be the end of the year. The Zhuangzi shops everywhere have to be inventoried, and the Huiyi Tea Shop has to be counted as dividends, not to mention the medicinal fields on the Zhuangzi, and many medicinal herbs are about to be prepared for the winter. There are also family members who make new clothes for the New Year, prepare for the New Year's reunion banquet, etc., etc., etc., and are very busy.

Taohua handed over to Jiang Yanhua the work of making new clothes and issuing monthly silver, but Jiang Yanhua was in a hurry, and he made two mistakes, so it was easy to make the new clothes before the end of the year. As for the issuance of silver, the Jiang family's rule is that at the end of the year, everyone will issue an extra month of monthly cases, Jiang Yanhua calculated for a long time, and finally found that there was a lack of 100 yuan, so he had to fill in his own private money first, and then took the account book to see Taohua.

Tao Hua just finished settling accounts with the shopkeeper Liang of Huiyi Tea Shop. Eighty percent of this year's tortoiseshell tea has been sold, and the last two months have been quite large. The shopkeeper Liang sent the dividends, set the number of tortoiseshell flowers for next year, and exchanged early years with Taohua, and then left happily.

The dividends of tortoiseshell tea totaled more than 300 taels of silver, which was naturally nothing in the wealthy family, but it was not a small amount in the market. Coupled with the dividends of Zhulan tea and the interest of the tea shop, Taohua has a net profit of 1,000 taels of silver in its private account this year.

Looking at the account books, Taohua also has a little rich woman's satisfaction. In the future, no matter what kind of family she marries, even if she doesn't marry, she will be able to live a stable life with the help of Li's dowry.

"Girl, the second girl is here." Mint opened the cotton curtain, let Jiang Yanhua in, and served tea.

"Sister-" Jiang Yanhua sat down crampedly, and her eyes couldn't help but scan the account book on the corner of the table. The color of the covers of those account books is different from the account books at home, and they must be the accounts of the Li family's dowry. There is a small box pressed on the account book, Jiang Yanhua himself has a similar one, it is a monthly silver coin, and when he sees a similar box at this moment, he guesses what is inside.

"The monthly routine is over?" Taohua motioned to Mint to take the account book and money box away, and asked Jiang Yanhua casually.

"Yes. But—" Jiang Yanhua withdrew her gaze from the box. Looking at the light and fluttering appearance of the mint box, it must not be a heavy thing such as a silver ingot or copper coin, but a silver ticket. She hadn't seen what a silver ticket looked like.

Taohua raised her eyebrows slightly: "What's wrong?" ”

"I, I sent it to the end, and I lost a hundred yuan...... Jiang Yanhua lowered her head, a little ashamed, "I can't help it, I asked my mother for money to fill in the ...... first"

"What's wrong, can you find out?"

Jiang Yanhua shook his head. She asked everyone about it, but no one admitted that she had taken more money.

"How did you send it?" Taohua pondered for a moment, "Just ask someone to come and get it directly?" ”

"Yes......" Jiang Yanhua was a little confused, "If not, how else can I send it?" ”

Taohua sighed: "Haven't you thought about separating everyone's case silver first, and then distributing it according to the name when the quantity is checked?" ”

"That's so troublesome—" Jiang Yanhua said subconsciously. She was so troubled by making winter clothes that she had to embroider screens, but she felt that there was not enough time.

"It's too much trouble, so you'd rather fill it up yourself, right?" Taohua stabbed lightly.

Jiang Yanhua was speechless for a moment. Taohua glanced at her, and finally said: "You are a beginner housekeeper, you should take not making mistakes as the first, don't be afraid of trouble." When you get used to it in the future, it's too late to save trouble. This time the less 100 dollars, I will ask someone to send it to you in a while, and if there is a mistake next time, you will have to fill it yourself. ”

Jiang Yanhua breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly said, "Thank you, sister, I know, I will definitely not make any mistakes next time." When she finished embroidering the screen, she naturally had enough time to study carefully.

Momoka nodded and watched her go out. Mint put her things away and walked out, and whispered: "I see that the second girl's eyes are blue, and it seems that she hasn't slept well at night." These days, Daylily has bought a lot of embroidery thread, and if she asks her, she doesn't know, and I don't know what the second girl is embroidering in a hurry. Even a single tent doesn't seem to be able to use so many threads. ”

"Let her go." Taohua stretched, "I still have one last screen, do my own thing first, and do everything else - as long as she doesn't make trouble, it's her freedom to do something, and you don't have to ask about everything." Daylilies are her maids in the end, and if she talks about everything, it is not the way of a loyal servant. I think that girl is measured, and if something bad happens, she will reveal a thing or two. ”

The Jiang family's courtesy and entertainment are not much, and it is an old practice, even if Jiang Yanhua can't help much, Taohua can handle it easily. What needs to be extra thickened is nothing more than a gift to the Su family this year. One is a thank you gift for tortoiseshell tea; Second, as soon as the Jiang family came out of the New Year, they had to go to the capital, and if they couldn't wait for the child in Mrs. Su's womb to be born, they had to send a gift in advance.

Taohua asked someone to go to the silver building to make a pair of red gold hollow long-life locks, and brought two belly pockets embroidered by herself. The longevity lock is a common auspicious cloud ruyi pattern, but the pattern on the belly pocket is painted by Taohua herself. Mrs. Su held it in her hand and looked at it freshly: "What kind of trick is this?" ”

"It's a gentleman's flower." Taohua explained, "This medicine is dedicated to treating pediatric diseases, and it can be regarded as seeking peace when surrounded by the body." ”

"The gentleman has heard of it, and he doesn't want this flower to look good." Mrs. Su pinched her belly pocket in her hand, only to feel that the fabric was extremely soft, I was afraid that she had bought a fine cotton cloth, and kneaded it carefully, and all the threads were hidden in the cloth, and the side that was attached to the child's skin could not touch a little hard, knowing that it was painstaking, she couldn't help but smile, "You still have a heart." ”

Taohua smiled: "I have to follow my father to the capital in the first month, and I can't see the birth of the little son, so I will give a small gift first." When I come back from the capital, I will come to see the little boy. ”

Mrs. Su's belly was already pregnant, and when she spoke, she unconsciously put her hands on her head, with a smile at the corners of her eyebrows and eyes, and chuckled: "Actually, if it is a daughter, we are also happy." ”

Taohua said with a smile: "The countrymen say that my sister ran away with my younger brother. If the husband is a girl, he will help take care of his younger brother in the future. Madame is still young, and she will only be afraid of being bored in the future. ”

Mrs. Su laughed and said, "I borrowed your auspicious words." She has not been pregnant for many years, and she is actually quite stressed in her heart, but now she finds that she can actually give birth, and this heart is put back in her chest. Speaking of which, she is only in her early twenties, and many women are still giving birth in their early thirties, so when you think about it, there is still a lot of time, so although she is also looking forward to getting a man in one fell swoop, it is not bad to have a daughter.

After leaving the Su family, Taohua went to the Tan family again. After three months of medicinal use, Tan Xiangluo's illness has basically been cured, not only is his face more ruddy, but he is also fatter. The shop that Mrs. Tan promised her had already begun to open, and she had sold out a lot of dim sum during the previous year, especially the cheese sandwich cake, which was not easy to spoil due to the cold weather, and the sales were quite good, and she made fifty boxes a day, and it was sold out in just one morning.

When people have sustenance, their spirit is immediately different. Taohua sat down in the room when she saw Tan Xiangluo coming in with a smile on her face, and even her voice was much louder: "My sister is here." I was just in the kitchen, and Sister Lao had been waiting for a long time. ”

"What fresh snacks did Sister Tan make?" Taohua held the teacup and smiled, "Look at my sister's spirit, presumably dim sum will be a daily gold fight these days." ”

Tan Xiangluo also smiled, took the food box from the light scarlet behind him, and brought snacks to the outside with his own hands: "Where is there any daily income, but it is just in time for the New Year that I can sell more dim sum." I thought that the first lunar month is the dragon raising its head, and every family wants to eat dragon scale cakes, so let's try it first. Sister taste. ”

On the second day of February, the dragon raised its head, and everything to eat on this day had to bring a dragon character, such as dumplings called dragon ears, rice called dragon seeds, noodles called dragon whiskers, wontons called dragon teeth, and even steamed cakes had to make scale patterns, called dragon scale cakes.

Tan Xiangluo's cake is a bit like scallion pancake, but the taste is particularly fragrant, Taohua tasted one, and felt that cooking is really talented. The recipes she has seen will definitely kill Tan Xiangluo in seconds, but the dim sum made by Tan Xiangluo is enough to kill her in seconds.

"Sister's craft, there will be no problem for the dim sum shop to prosper in the future."

"If only I could support myself." Tan Xiangluo breathed a sigh of relief, and then sighed again, "My sister also heard about it, my father and mother heard that I was going to open a shop, and they came to me immediately." ”

Taohua heard that her father and mother boarded the door of the big house, but she didn't inquire about the specific situation, but she could know what was going on without asking, and she must have found that her daughter could still be a cash cow, so she posted it again.

"He said he was going to tell me about family affairs, and he married someone who opened a restaurant." Tan Xiangluo had a sneer in his eyes, but he was a little sad, although he had already known that his father and mother were ruthless, but it was inevitably sad to return it in front of him, "This is because my craftsmanship is worth a few dollars." First, I thought that Aunt Lai had ruined my family, and when I touched the nail, I made up my mind to sell me again. Sister, I sometimes can't help but wonder, did I do something bad in my previous life to meet such a father? ”

"Any retribution in a previous life is nonsense," Taohua smiled slightly, "It's just made up to deceive people." One is to deceive people and repent, and they will get some money; The second is to let the suffering people not have the heart to resist and obediently listen to the mercy of others. If my sister believes this, she will really not be able to stand out for the rest of her life. Now it is said that the first marriage is up to the parents, and then the marriage is up to the self, and the sister is the one who has been married once, and what happens in the future, even the parents can't control it. ”

Tan Xiangluo held her hand tightly: "Sister's words made my heart light up all of a sudden." I just thought, no matter what, my aunt helped me with this, and my cousin of the Lu family invited my sister to treat me, not to ask me to let my father and mother sell it again. ”

"As long as my sister has this confidence, no one can manipulate you." Taohua was deeply pleased, "I will soon go to the capital with my father, and when I come back from the capital, my sister's shop will definitely make money one day, and then I will come to rub my sister's dim sum to eat, my sister don't bother me." ”