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"Young master, it's a good way to rent out the yard, needless to say the inner house, you and Aunt Wang have to stay with them, the front yard where the old slave lives is divided into east and west courtyards, and each courtyard can be divided into two small courtyards, and now the old slave lives in one of them, so that at least three yards can be freed up for rent, but ......" Steward Xu said this, looked up at Zhou Chong, as if he didn't dare to say something.

"If you have anything to say, now there are two of us men in the family, don't treat me as a young master, just treat me as your junior!" Zhou Zhong also saw Steward Xu's hesitation, so he spoke.

Before, Zhou Chong suspected that Steward Xu stayed to eat mixed rice, but now seeing the other party thinking so much about the Zhou family also made him a little moved. However, while being moved, Zhou Chong strengthened his previous suspicions, because the other party had been a housekeeper for so many years, and the money saved was not enough for them to eat until the New Year, in his case, he would definitely starve to death when he left the Zhou family, so he could only hold on to the Zhou family and not let go.

Steward Xu heard Zhou Chong's kind words, and his face also showed a little excitement, only to see that his voice was dry and said: "Young master, the idea of renting out the yard is very good, but the key is one point, that is, our Songjiang Mansion is a small place, and there are not many people who need to rent a house to live in, such as those guys recruited from the countryside in the shop, most of the main families will provide room and board, plus it is now in mid-October, and it will be the New Year in two months, so we want to rent out the yard at this time, I'm afraid it is not an easy task!" ”

Hearing Steward Xu's explanation, Zhou Chong also felt a basin of cold water poured on his head, he hadn't thought about this problem before, although Songjiang Mansion was the Shanghai of later generations, but now Songjiang Mansion is a small place that can not be smaller, the government only governs the two counties of Huating and Shanghai, and the population is not very large, not to mention compared with Shanghai in later generations, even the two places next to Suzhou and Hangzhou are countless times more prosperous than Songjiang Mansion.

In a small place like Songjiang, the population flow is small, most people have their own place to live, and if they want to rent out their house, then someone must be willing to live there! Thinking of this, Zhou Zhong couldn't help but have another headache, and at the same time, he secretly hated in his heart, why is it not Shanghai in the 21st century now, otherwise this set of courtyards in his hands alone is enough to become a multimillionaire!

Seeing that Zhou Zhong was a little frustrated, Steward Xu hurriedly comforted: "But don't be discouraged, young master, we can release the news of renting out the yard, although Songjiang Mansion is not big, but there are still a lot of people who do business, maybe any one needs a yard to store goods, and then we will set the rent a little lower, and we should be able to rent it out!" ”

After hearing this, Zhou Zhong had to nod weakly and said: "Okay, the rental matter will be handed over to Steward Xu, and the other two of us can just take the clothes as a pawn, and the aunt and little sister don't move their clothes, and don't tell them about the situation at home for the time being, I will find a way myself!" ”

"Hmm!" Steward Xu agreed, stood up and received a bag of clothes that were about to be taken to the pawnshop. However, when Zhou Zhong saw him stuffing the red silk pants into the baggage, he couldn't help but stop him: "Steward Xu, you can keep the big pants for yourself, I have more clothes, you can just take a few more!" ”

Hearing Zhou Chong's words, Steward Xu agreed, and then took out his pants with some reluctance, although he thought that the fabric of the pants was very good, at least it could be used as a few pennies, but since the young master said so, he had to stay. In fact, this kind of pants was called a jacket in ancient times, and it is a kind of shorts that do not exceed the knee, and the function is similar to that of the underwear of later generations, but it is more loose.

Steward Xu and Zhou Chong came to the inner house together and picked out a few clothes with exquisite materials, but it was not early, and the wind outside was very cold, so Zhou Chong specially told Steward Xu to let him cook first, and it would not be too late to go to the pawnshop tomorrow.

When it was almost dark, Zhou Zhong went to the kitchen to find Steward Xu, and prepared to deliver the prepared meal to the courtyard where Aunt Wang lived. Although there is a special restaurant in the house, but now the whole house is only lived by the five of them, and it is dark at night, and it is cold and cold, and it is inconvenient for Aunt Wang and them to come out, so they usually eat dinner at Aunt Wang's.

The kitchen of the Zhou Mansion is located on the right side of the main entrance, and it used to prepare the diet of the entire Zhou Mansion, so the area is also quite large, and the kitchen is also divided into two parts, of which the large kitchen is the place where the next person cooks, and the small kitchen is the place where the aunts of Zhou Zhong and the back house cook, and it is not far from the main entrance.

Just when Zhou Chong poured the porridge into the porcelain basin and helped Steward Xu to transfer two pickles to the inner house, he suddenly heard someone knocking on the door of Zhou's mansion, which made Zhou Chong and Steward Xu look at each other with some surprise, and then Zhou Chong put down his dinner and said to Steward Xu: "I'll take a look, I don't know who will come to us on this cold day?" ”

Zhou Zhong said and turned around and walked out of the kitchen, but at this time it was windy, although the wind was not big, but in the wet and cold air in winter, there was a feeling of being cold to the bone marrow, Zhou Chong couldn't help but shrink his neck, and walked to the door to open the door, only to find that there was an acquaintance standing outside, which made Zhou Chong also stunned.

"Aunt Luo, why are you here?" Zhou Zhong said with some surprise. Standing outside the door was a fat woman in her fifties, with thick hands and feet and a thick neck, at a glance, she knew that Lu Dao was the kind of person who often worked, her chubby face was full of oil, and she looked overnourished, in fact, the person who was called Aunt Luo by Zhou Zhong was a cook, to be precise, the cook of the Zhou family was very exquisite, and she was responsible for cooking for Zhou Chong and Bang'er, but then the Zhou family fell, and Aunt Luo and a group of people were dismissed by Zhou Chong.

Aunt Luo outside the door was holding a food box in her hand, and when she saw that it was the young master who opened the door for herself, her eyes were red and said: "Young master, I am now hired by Master Wu in the north of the city to cook at home, I am worried that you and the two young ladies are not used to eating other people's cooking, it just so happens that there are too many dishes in Wu's mansion today, so I will send you a few things for the young master, you can rest assured, these are not on the table, absolutely clean!" ”

Hearing that Aunt Luo was specially braving the cold wind to deliver food to herself, this made Zhou Chong also feel a kind of warmth, and wanted to say thank you, but his throat seemed to be blocked, and he couldn't make a sound. Come in and warm up, don't freeze outside! ”

Aunt Luo's husband died at an early age, and there were only two sons around her, named Luo Da and Luo Er, who were a little older than Zhou, and were also his playmates when he was a child, but later Zhou Zhong liked to read, and Luo Da and Luo Er had to work in the house, so the three of them had no intersection.

"Young master, you will see the outside, when my family died of illness, there were two children in the family clamoring to eat, fortunately I met the master and Aunt Wang, the most unfortunate lord not only paid for my burial, but also arranged work for me, so that I could raise my two sons, now although the house has encountered difficulties, but as long as this hurdle is passed, as for the two bastards in the family, they are hairy I don't worry!" Aunt Luo is also an old man in Zhou's mansion, and has lived in the mansion for more than ten years, so she didn't be polite to Zhou Chong, and carried the food box into the mansion, during which Zhou Chong wanted to take over the heavy food box, but was rejected by Aunt Luo.

Aunt Luo carried the food box into the kitchen on the right side of the door, and after Steward Xu inside knew Aunt Luo's intention, he also praised Aunt Luo for her affection and righteousness. It's just that when Aunt Luo saw the dinner prepared by Steward Xu, she couldn't help shedding a few tears.

Aunt Luo is a cool woman, I saw that she quickly stopped her tears, and then took out the lid of the food box and took out several dishes inside, namely a plate of steamed fish, a piece of grunt meat, a stir-fried cabbage and a bowl of mushroom soup, among which steamed fish is Bang'er's favorite dish, and gollum meat is Zhou Chong and Duo'er's favorite, so the portion is also the most sufficient, and the stir-fried cabbage and mushroom soup are prepared for the vegetarian Aunt Wang. In addition, the food box in Aunt Luo's hand is also dedicated to large households, and the bottom is a compartment for holding water, which can be used to keep warm, so a few dishes are still steaming when they are taken out.

It can be seen from these dishes that these dishes are definitely not leftovers from the Wu Mansion, they should be secretly made for them by Aunt Luo, if she is known by the Wu Mansion, she will be reprimanded at the least, and she may not even be able to keep her job. It's just that she was afraid that Zhou Zhong and others would worry, so she didn't tell the truth.

The current Zhou Chongzao is no longer the nerd who didn't understand the accident before, and he can naturally see from these dishes that Aunt Luo was lying before, which also moved him even more.

At this time, Aunt Luo put a few dishes on the tray in the kitchen, then picked up the pickles on the tray and put them aside and said, "Young master, it's not good to eat too many of these pickles, you eat these dishes first, and I'll bring you some tomorrow night!" ”

Hearing that Aunt Luo would send it tomorrow, Zhou Zhong was moved at the same time, and hurriedly persuaded: "Aunt Luo, the weather is so cold now, and the north of the city is so far from here, you must not send food anymore, in the past two days, Steward Xu and I have already thought of a way to make money, and the situation at home will be able to recover slowly, and maybe Aunt Luo will be invited to come back and cook at that time!" ”

Steward Xu is also a shrewd person, and at this time he also opened his mouth to persuade: "Yes, what the young master said is right, Aunt Luo, it is not easy for you to find a job, besides, the Wu family has many eyes, if someone finds out that you are delivering food to the old master's house, the Wu family will not be willing, so you must not send food again in the future!" ”

Hearing the words of Zhou Zhong and Steward Xu, where did Aunt Luo not understand that the two of them were for their own good? I saw her pack up the food box, and then nodded to Zhou Chong and the two and said, "Okay, young master, you are a person with great ability, you will definitely be able to revive the prestige of the Zhou family, and then the old woman will come back to cook for you and the two young ladies!" ”

Aunt Luo has never been a drag on the water, and after saying the above words, she said goodbye to Zhou Chong. And Zhou Zhong also knew that Aunt Luo had to walk a long way to return to the north of the city, so he didn't keep her, and sent her out of the gate with Steward Xu, and then came to Aunt Wang's courtyard with food.

Aunt Wang, Bang'er, and Duo'er were all surprised when they saw the food brought by the two, after all, since the servants of the family were dismissed, most of the meals they ate every day were made by Steward Xu, plus they were riddled with debts, and the things they ate were naturally very simple, and now they were sent a few of their favorite dishes at once, which made them happy at the same time, but also a little confused.

And Zhou Zhong didn't hide it, and told Aunt Luo about delivering the food just now, which made Aunt Wang and Bang'er move to tears, but only four-year-old Duo'er was still ignorant, just staring at his favorite plate of grunt meat and drooling.

Seeing Duo'er's appearance, Zhou Zhong hurriedly persuaded Aunt Wang and Bang'er a few words, and took the opportunity to point at Duo'er again, which made Aunt Wang and Bang'er also funny and distressed, and stopped crying at the moment, and beckoned Steward Xu to sit down and eat together. Steward Xu's status in the Zhou Mansion was already high, but now that the Zhou family has failed, he is still loyal and unwilling to leave, so Aunt Wang did not treat him as an outsider, everyone has eaten together these days, and Steward Xu also shirked a few times at the beginning, but then he also sat down.

Aunt Luo's craftsmanship is not to say, especially Zhou Chong's favorite to eat gollum pork, which is a kind of southern Cantonese cuisine, the taste is mainly sweet and sour, so it is also called sweet and sour meat, which is wrapped in flour with tenderloin, and then fried in oil until six mature, and then mixed and fried in a pot with the prepared sweet and sour sauce. When you eat it, it's sweet and sour, and the tenderness of the tenderloin is delicious.

A piece of sluggling meat was all wiped out by Zhou Zhong and Duo'er, even the bracelet, which has always been small, also ate most of the steamed fish, Aunt Wang drank a bowl of porridge and ate some stir-fried cabbage, and the mushroom soup was drunk by Steward Xu, and the remaining vegetables and a small half pot of porridge all went into Steward Xu's stomach at the very end, and even so, Zhou Zhong estimated that Steward Xu was still not full, after all, he had seen it with his own eyes before, Steward Xu ate eight bowls of rice in one meal, it was definitely a real rice bucket.

After dinner, Steward Xu brought the things to the kitchen to clean up, Duo'er's mother Aunt Zhao ran away, and naturally she could only sleep with Aunt Wang at night, and Duo'er ate a lot of meat tonight, Aunt Wang was worried that she would not digest it if she slept too early, so she took Duo'er to play in the room with Bang'er, and Zhou Zhong returned to the room to continue to worry about feeding the family.

After a night of nothing, the next day Steward Xu went to the pawnshop with the clothes he had packed up yesterday, and by the way, he released the news of the rental of several courtyards in front of the Zhou Mansion, but what he didn't expect was that as soon as the news was released, the first tenant would soon come to the door.