At this time, it was still early, Zhao Xiu was stunned for a while, and Lu's mother had something to ask her.

It is said to be a request for instructions, but in fact, it is just a notification. Although Lu's mother praised Zhao Xiu for her intelligence and ability, she didn't think that those trivial matters were something that the little girl should worry about: "Eldest sister, the kitchen is going to the market to buy meat, vegetables, rice and noodles for today's three meals, what does the eldest sister want to eat?" The old lady is not at home, these things are all decided by the eldest sister, what do you like to eat, just say it, Mother Lu asked people to buy it. ”

If you change to other children, you must be coming with your favorite dishes at this time. However, Zhao Xiu was very cautious, she remembered her grandmother's usual housekeeping appearance, and asked first: "At this time, what are the seasonal dishes outside?" ”

Now it is the twilight of spring, about to enter the summer, is the time of green and yellow, there are not many types of vegetables to choose from, but because Fengxian is close to Jiading, the land of Longxing in this dynasty, and Songjiang is not far away, so the products are quite rich. Lu's mother reported a few dishes that she often bought at home: "There are vegetable tips, chicken hairy vegetables, celery, reeds, bean sprouts, grass heads, and leeks, but the taste is bigger." Occasionally, spinach, marantou and grey cabbage are also available at the market. There are fewer melons and fruits, there are no more than one or two kinds of meat, and there is no shortage of fish and shrimp. In the kitchen, there are also dried bamboo shoots and gourd strips dried last year, and there are also several kinds of dried mushrooms. ”

Zhao Xiu thought for a while: "Isn't there a shepherd's cabbage?" At this time, there should be a lot of people digging wild vegetables to eat, right? ”

Lu's mother smiled: "That's what the country people eat, and occasionally someone sells it in the market, so we can see it." In fact, if it weren't for the eldest sister, you always said that eating some wild vegetables is also good and fresh. The old lady will not let people buy it. ”

Zhao Xiu smiled embarrassedly and thought about it. Said: "Buy some gray cabbage and fish, it's good for people's health." Others are at will. I'm only one person, and the amount of food is not large, mainly the food eaten by the people under you, and you see that it is done. By the way, Mama Lu, you talk to the people in the kitchen, ask them what kind of dishes they are good at, and draw up a list for me according to the season, preferably with more than dozens of dishes, and we will discuss it. Make a water card every few days, so you don't have to worry about what to eat every day. ”

Lu Ma smiled and said: "In the past, when I was in the Hou Mansion in the capital, the old lady also did this, at that time, there were twenty or thirty dishes every day on the water card, and there was a round every ten days, although the kitchen was worry-free, it cost a lot. Later, when she moved to Fengxian, the old lady thought it would cost a lot. And impatient to pay attention to what pomp and circumstance, let people watch the market every day to see what is new, according to the favorite food to buy. ”

Zhao Xiu understood, since it was a abolished system. Naturally, there are reasons for abolition, and grandmothers must have had useful intentions. But now that she's in charge of the housework, she doesn't really have much energy to eat every day. Therefore, it is more convenient to make a water card, as long as the number of dishes is controlled. The cost is not much. When the seasons change, it is necessary to flexibly adjust the water cards.

Again. There is no prescribed routine, what dishes to buy every day are all up to the owner's mind, and the owner cannot personally supervise, who knows if there will be people who buy it to take advantage of the loopholes and use the name of the master to satisfy their appetites? She is not a grandmother, with the power of a housewife for decades, she can suppress all the subordinates who are ready to move, she is a small child, maybe she is a fat meat that everyone can bite into in the eyes of others. At this time, it is necessary to keep the rules in place. It's a big deal to wait for my grandmother to come home and then change the practice back.

Mother Lu didn't have any objection to Zhao Xiu's words, she was just eating, why wasn't she eating? She quickly drew up today's menu, let Zhao Xiu pass it, and then asked for the right cards, so she ordered to go down and let the kitchen people take the right cards to the account room to get the money. There is a fixed amount of money for buying meat and vegetables every day, and there are routines in the application process. Originally, I was worried that the old lady would leave home today, and the young lady was only seven years old, and it would be a little troublesome to be a housekeeper for the first time, but I didn't expect it to be the same as usual, with almost no delay.

Zhao Xiu has only seen what his grandmother's housekeeper looks like on weekdays, and this is the first time he has been in battle, and he was a little rusty at first, but he quickly got used to it. Except for the fact that when listening to someone reply to receive the license, there is always an urge to write down the other party's words and prepare to make a report, nothing else. Now she really admires her grandmother Zhang and Lu's mother, the housekeepers, it seems that no matter what amount of money is spent, they can remember it clearly, they don't need to write it down on paper, just rely on their brains, and bring it up in a few days, without even thinking about it.

Zhao Xiu only memorized a few strokes, and his brain was a little dizzy, and he was secretly glad that although the house was big, the family population was not large, so there were few things. After listening to everyone's reports, she immediately took a pen and paper, wrote down all the things she remembered with simple keywords, and marked the amount of money spent at the back.

Nine taels and eight coins and six cents of silver.

Zhao Xiu secretly said, this number doesn't seem to be much, but this is only a day's time, and it can't cost three hundred taels of silver in a month?

Check the specific expenditure items again, the rice, noodles, meat and vegetables that the whole family wants to eat can't be saved, more than 100 people, according to Lu's mother, when Zhang's is usually there, the cost is about this amount, which shows that the water is not large; In addition, there are lamp oil and wax at night, flowers for inserting bottles, fresh fruits enshrined in the Buddhist hall, incense burned, and maintenance of boats, sedan chairs and carriages for going out; Some yards in the old house are in disrepair and need to be repaired, but because there is a lot of rain now, it is not a good time to repair the house, so it can only be supported simply with wood, and the money to buy wood is also an expense, if the manservant in the family is not skilled enough, maybe you have to spend money to hire craftsmen......

These are expenses that cannot be saved, and they cannot be delayed, Zhao Xiu sighed, but also sighed that it is not easy to support his family. Even if the yard that is not needed has been locked up at home, and unnecessary servants have been deleted, after all, there is still a shelf, and the expenditure of a few hundred taels of silver a month is really unsavable.

This is still the need for daily life, the Zhao family spends money every month, but not only these, relatives and friends are not counted for the New Year's holidays, and when they encounter red and white ceremonies, they naturally have to express their feelings, the object of this article is very wide, because the Zhao family is famous, and there are some people in the county who can't beat the eight poles, and they can't miss it, and they can't reduce the style of the county duchess; New clothes and new shoes to be made at home at the fourth season, whether it is a master or a servant; There are some clansmen in the nine houses inside and outside the clan who are not very well-off. Zhang's habit is to send money and grain every month to make up for it; The expenses in Zhao Wei's school are the restraint and filial piety to Mr. There are also two classmates from poor families, and the Zhang family also looks at their grandson and makes up for it from time to time; There are several more famous Buddhist temples and temples in the county. Every time there is a festival or a puja, the Zhang family will definitely add sesame oil......

Zhao Xiu's head was about to get dizzy, why didn't she find out before that there were so many places to spend money at home? Some expenses are actually unnecessary, right? When the Zhang family was helpless, she left these rules, and Lu's mother would never change them, and Zhao Xiu only managed them for a few months. She is a little girl, there is really no need to change the constitution left by her grandmother, she really wants to change it. I have to wait until she is a few years older and has more prestige.

The housekeeper is really a technical job, but Zhao Xiu is fortunate that his family is really not short of silver, and he spends four or five hundred taels a day a day, and it is only about six thousand taels a year, and their family's income from the fields alone far exceeds this amount, and it has not yet reached the place where they need to reduce their expenditures. But the cost is so large, and it is not a long-term solution. Zhao Xiu thought distressedly. Isn't it time to look into it and think of ways to save money? If you really can't save it, then find a way to open source.

Just when Zhao Xiu was worried, Shen came over with his daughter Sister Qing.

They came to accompany Zhao Xiu for lunch. Shen personally cooked a few exquisite side dishes, stewed a cup of soup, and sent them to Zhao Xiu to eat. She promised in front of Zhang. will take good care of Zhao Xiu, and naturally dare not slack off. She also felt that Zhao Xiu's child was home alone. There were servants waiting, but there were no playmates. It will definitely be lonely, so I plan to let my daughter come over to accompany her every day, and if Zhao Xiu is willing, she can even let Sister Qing move over to live for a few days.

This decision has been agreed by the eldest master of the sect and the son of the sect, Zhao Jing, and the eldest lord Yu even asked his daughter-in-law to temporarily move over to live in the second room for a period of time to help the second room take care of the housework. He doesn't think that Zhao Xiu can manage any house as a little girl, Lu Changxiu and his wife are servants, and if the servants don't have a master to watch, they will definitely be lazy and slippery, and the Shen family is much more reliable than Lu Changxiu and his wife.

Regarding her father-in-law's words, Shen was noncommittal, in fact, she understood her father-in-law's selfishness, but she couldn't do that kind of thing. Zhang's admiration for Shen's is not only because she is virtuous and virtuous enough, but her reliable character is the biggest reason why Zhang's is willing to entrust her granddaughter to her.

Zhao Xiu has a good impression of Shen's mother and daughter, but she feels that she is not a real child, and she really doesn't need such care. Sister Qing is the same year as Zhao Wei, she is eleven years old, she is almost a big girl, but she has already begun to learn needle chisel female red and housekeeping skills from her mother. I remember that during the Chinese New Year, the Shen family had already begun to inquire about suitable people among relatives, and was ready to tell their daughter about their relatives. A little girl of this age, staying by Zhao Xiu's side, is actually quite embarrassing.

Zhao Xiu said to Shen: "How can this be good? Isn't Sister-in-law Jing teaching Sister Qing to be a housekeeper? If she were here with me every day, wouldn't she be delaying her homework? ”

Shen smiled: "It's just a few months, how much can it be delayed?" She had just learned a little bit about it, and she was far from the point of taking it into practice herself. Now the family is very busy, there is rain for several days, and the seedlings that have just been planted in the field are afraid that they will suffer, your eldest brother Jing ran to the field to personally stare at the people below to dig a ditch, and my father-in-law is sick again, and I have to ask a doctor to catch medicine. At this time, I don't dare to let Sister Qing help take care of trivial matters with a new hand, and I can't take care of it with me, so let her learn to read the accounts first, and then talk about it later. I heard from Lu's mother that my sister is also looking at the accounts at home now, and she is fast and good, much better than your niece. She's just an elm head, let her learn more from you, maybe she can make some progress, but I don't know. ”

Zhao Xiu laughed dryly, and after seeing Sister Qing'er's expression, Sister Qing smiled a little shyly and lowered her head.

Well, if you only talk about settling accounts, Zhao Xiu is still quite confident in himself.

She smiled and said to Shen: "Since my sister-in-law can trust me, then leave Sister Qing to me, and you don't have to come over every day, it's not too late to come back when you're free." I also have homework every day, so let me work hard with Sister Qing! (To be continued......)