The next day was a fine day.

The second child of the Su family, who had never been at the door, walked slowly to the gate of the courtyard, stood and looked inside, squinted his eyes and looked inside for a while, and then suddenly changed his face and pretended to be eager to enter the courtyard gate.

Wen Niang and Geng Liang's son Dabao was cleaning outside, and when they saw everyone coming, they put down their brooms.

Both of them changed into the ready-to-wear clothes that An Niang bought, and they were cleaned up, looking much more decent than yesterday's market.

Geng Dabao is an honest child, the first time he wears such neat and clean new clothes, he no longer looks like a frosted eggplant.

Although he had not read a book, he also knew that the new master was a man of kindness to his family, and he had observed that the new master did not seem to have the habit of carrying a whip or a stick.

What's more, last night, my father returned to the room and talked to my mother for a long time, never leaving the Duan Mansion or the ninth room, the two of them wiped their tears and laughed, and discussed their business livelihood in a low voice with great interest.

Geng Dabao cherishes such days very much, and naturally works very hard.

He was thinking about how to do the things arranged by his master to be faster and more secure, when he saw a man about thirty years old walk in, the man had a respectful attitude, a pair of triangular eyes, but the corners of his eyes floated around, looking at the grass and trees in the yard, and then stopped on his and Wen Niang's faces, obviously showing a trace of disgust.

Geng Dabao stopped.

The little guy next to Su Lao Er hurriedly said: "This is Su Steward, please tell Mama to pass it on." ”

Wen Niang's hair was dipped in water and combed neatly, looking extremely energetic, and her face changed slightly at this time.

Why didn't this steward come to see his master yesterday? Even if there was a delay, no one came to report, and he did not meet the master in time, as a subordinate, he should have waited outside before dawn in the morning to ask for forgiveness, but now that the sun is in the sky, he came over.

He looked like he was in a hurry, but there was no dirt on his shoes, and his sideburns and hairstyle were not windy.

This hurried appearance, at first glance, you can see that it was deliberately made.

No matter how gentle and amiable his master is, he should not be so humiliated.

Wen Niang didn't know what to say, she and Geng Dabao glanced at each other, opened the curtain by herself, and went in to pass the word.

Behind the curtain is a half-worn screen painted with a yellowed picture of the country.

The house has been cleaned up, although there are no expensive furniture and cultural toys, but clean and tidy, every furnishing is just right, at a glance is a person who will live.

Duan Ling'er and Shen Duan Yu had just finished breakfast, and the three of them, like a few servants, had some millet porridge mixed with side dishes.

For the first time, the three of them dined leisurely in their own place, and the family was with He Meimei, although the food was much rougher than that of Duanfu, they felt a little sweet in their hearts.

On the dressing table by the window lattice, there is a polished bronze mirror, and Shen's side is reflected in the mirror:

Extremely neatly combed sideburns, slender and eye-catching eyes, a high nose bridge, and slightly upward-curved corners of the mouth.

Shen's heart was very stable at this time, she had already discussed with Duan Ling'er last night, and listed a general plan for the future use of the Grange, and their mother and daughter also recorded and analyzed the unclear and doubtful points in the account book one by one.

At this time, it can be said that it is in the chest.

The three of them themselves were all dressed in vitality, and when they heard that Su Lao Er was coming, their expressions not only flashed with a touch of complexity.

Shen sat on the elm chair and said, "Please." ”

Su Lao Er quickly entered the door, and as soon as he came in, he bowed down and apologized: "Yesterday, the master came to Zhuangzi, and the villain happened to visit the tenants, and it was inconvenient to bother when he came back late, so he came to apologize to the master today." ”

At this time, the sunlight spills into the window, casting the shadow of the tree on the window lattice, and the birds and insects chirp outside the window, a harmonious scene.

Duan Ling'er lowered her head slightly, her face was hidden in the reflection of the sun, and she couldn't see her expression clearly.

A long-haired white cat suddenly jumped down from the wooden cabinet, and the white shadow startled Su Lao Er.

He looked fixedly, and the white cat jumped a few times, and then it was entangled with a hydrangea in the corner of the room, a ball of white and a ball of red, rolling together and rolling on the ground.

Duan Ling'er looked at the two clusters of colors and giggled.

Su Lao Er was stunned for a moment, he was making amends, and they didn't reply, Duan Ling'er laughed instead?

What is she laughing at?

It seems that a cat is more important than his own steward.

Duan Yu is now the owner of the grange, and when he heard his sister laughing, his face was also flat, and he only said "um", and there was no news.

Duan Yu's "um", what does it mean?

Su Lao Er didn't stand or sit, he hung his head and stood there, only listening to the three people in front of him talking as usual, as if he didn't have himself.

Shen said: Sister Ling, the dumplings are about to fight with the hydrangea, you go and separate the two.

Duan Yu said: Wenchang, bring me the book I didn't finish reading yesterday, and I'll show it to my sister.

Duan Ling'er said: Uncle Geng will come back in a while and let him come over, I want to eat puff pastry and dim sum, let him go to the market in the afternoon to see if he can buy it.

Even An Niang bypassed the Su steward and added some crushed sandalwood to the old incense burner that had been wiped clean, and the smoke rose in a curling manner, and the aroma soon filled the air.

As soon as there was a fragrance, it seemed that this humble yard was full of culture.

Su Lao Er was cooking oil on the fire at this time, and he felt that he was about to explode.

He suppressed his temper and waited for a while, and the few people in front of him also regarded him as transparent, and he finally couldn't help but speak again: "If the masters don't have any orders, the little ones will retire and get busy." ”

Duan Ling'er glanced at him faintly at this time, and said: "Steward Su, I bother you to make a trip, give me a copy of our Zhuangzi's tenant list, I will copy a copy, and I will return it to my father when I am finished." ”

Su Lao Er was stunned for a moment when he heard Duan Ling'er speak, and then he mentioned it as soon as he heard the word tenant.

He can't let these people know about what he's doing out there.

Listening to it again was to give Duan Tianya an errand, and Su Laoer's heart fell.

Shen looked at the dense layer of sweat on Su Laoer's forehead, and frowned slightly.

Duan Ling'er remained silent, glanced at Su Lao Er, and played with the ball and laughed non-stop.

Su Lao Er looked at the scene of Duan Ling'er teasing the cat, and said in his heart that he was just a milk doll, what was there to be afraid of?

Duan Yu and the Shen family also came to this grange supervisor before, but Duan Yu was a dumb melon, and the Shen family was numb, so these people were not afraid at all.

I don't know why my sister sent someone to report it, saying that she should be cautious.

Su Lao Er's heart became more and more stable, and he nodded: "Okay, I'll send it soon." ”

Then he hurriedly turned around and went out with a cold face.

There was no respect on his face at all.

Geng Dabao looked at the back of Su Lao Er leaving, and whispered to Wen Niang: "Wen Niang, I don't think this person looks like a good person. ”

Wen Niang also thought so, she nodded, and glanced back at the main room, where there was a cat meow and Duan Ling'er's laughter.

Wen Niang was a little worried about her master.

She quickly cleaned the courtyard on the windowsill and said to Geng Dabao: "I'm going to prepare the things arranged by the master now, and when you come back in a while, you can tell her about the things that Steward Su has been here, and the master wants her to take care of it." ”

When Geng Dabao heard this, he looked at the sky, raised his foot and put a big bag behind the courtyard gate from the corner of the north wall, nodded and said, "Ruyi is almost time to come back, after she comes back, I will also go out." ”

The scene in front of the master is really not optimistic, looking at the appearance of the Su steward, as if he is the Allah here.

Then you have to do it even more on your side, and you can't hold back your master.

The two of them had already made a plan in their hearts, nodded to each other, and went their separate ways.

When Duan Yu took Wenchang to the study to study, Ruyi came back.

Ruyi wore the most ordinary and lightest shirt, and quickly opened the curtain and entered the house, behind her were two pots of camellia that she had just bought from the market.

If you want to bow to Shen and Duan Ling'er, and then you will inquire about the things in the bazaar.

Duan Ling'er arranged an errand for Ruyi yesterday, she received fifty yuan this morning, and took two rough mothers-in-law to buy flowers.

Ruyi was talking to his mother-in-law along the way, and then went to the market to pretend to buy things and chatter with traders, only then did he know that the grange of Duanfu was very unbearable in the eyes of the surrounding people, and the rent collected from the tenants alone was raised once a year, and the twenty percent set by Duan Tianya was raised to fifty percent.

Shen listened and clenched the teacup, although she didn't care about farming, but she also knew that the fifty percent rent would make people unable to live, and over the years, the tenants had sold blood and tears to the Grange for grain and silver, but in the end, the Grange was losing money in the accounts handed over to the Duan Mansion?

Ruyi's face turned pale, and he continued: "When I came back, the two mothers-in-law seemed to be unable to bear it, and complained to me about their bitterness, they were able to go home to rest one day a month, but the Su steward also canceled that day, before the Su steward came, there were a lot of chickens and ducks in this village, and then the Su steward sold them all, and also sent a group of people away. So many of the remaining people had nothing to do, no livestock to raise and no other work, so they starved in an empty farm. ”

Duan Ling'er said in her heart, this is natural, once there are other jobs in the grange and can be self-sufficient, then when Duan Fu comes to check, it will not be able to show that the grange is difficult to make a living, once everyone is starving, it is Duan Fu urging food and silver, which can also prove that people are in short supply and cannot be handed in.

Ruyi said again: "When the slave and maid came back, one of the mothers-in-law was very excited, and she also said a dirty thing. ”

Ruyi paused when he said this, and glanced at Duan Ling'er.

Duan Ling'er saw Ruyi's appearance and knew that the following matter was probably not something that her daughter's family was willing to listen to, so she nodded and said, "It's okay, you say." ”

Ruyi gritted his teeth and opened his mouth:

"There was originally a maid named Xiaohui on the Zhuangzi, who was a slave born here, because she was smart, she was less than twelve years old and was taken by the Su steward, his parents thought that Xiaohui was too young to marry, and Xiaohui herself was unwilling to be a concubine for the Su steward, so she rejected the mother-in-law sent by the Su steward to ask. Who knew that one night, Steward Su specially arranged for Xiaohui to keep vigil and forcibly occupied her. Later, Su Steward not only did not marry Xiaohui, but also let out the words, he is the master, Xiaohui is a slave, and it is a matter of course for the master to occupy the slaves. Later, Xiaohui's parents asked Steward Su to sell her. After this incident, everyone else in Zhuangzi was in danger, once they had a good-looking daughter, they all said early that they even sent them away, and the people outside said that Duan Fu was bullying people and bullying men and women. ”

When Shen Shi heard this, he slapped the table next to him, and his originally gentle face was already as angry as blood: "How can this be true!" ”