The price of the next person, Lin Xiaozhu also inquired in advance. Because the Dongyue Kingdom is relatively wealthy, there are few people who are willing to sell their sons and daughters, so the price of the subordinates is much more expensive than that of other countries. However, compared to the high price of the house, this price is not worth mentioning. An untrained little girl is usually ten taels of silver. The better ones range from fifteen to twenty taels.

She had already thought about buying two clever little guys, preferably literate and arithmetic, and guarding the shop to sell things; Buy two more little girls and help pickle pickles at home. And these people must all be bought directly from the mountains and trained, not those who have worked in large households. Although there are also children in the mountains who have bad conduct and are cunning by nature, after all, they are all a minority. Even if there is, their scheming will not be too deep, and she can always see some clues.

immediately told Mrs. Liu about the request, and Mrs. Liu called six boys over and said, "These six are all literate, son, let's see which two you like." ”

Lin Xiaozhu glanced at it and saw that these boys ranged from twelve or three years old to seventeen or eighteen years old, all wearing green cloth clothes and tidying up; And the expressions on the faces are different, some are nervous, some are calm, and some are expectant.

She glanced at these people, asked them to report their names, and said, "I have a question, I will buy turnips, a total of twelve and a half catties, four cents per catty, how much should I pay?" ”

Probably her question was a big surprise to everyone, some of the boys were stunned, some were frowning and brooding, and some were looking up at others.

"It's fifty dollars in total." A boy named Zhang Wendong was the first to calculate and replied.

"Fifty wen." Another boy named Wang Chengcheng heard Zhang Wendong's answer and said busily.

Two others chimed in. The other two, one wanted to speak and stopped, and the other kept his mouth shut. Don't speak.

"What do you have to say?" Lin Xiaozhu pointed to the boy named Sun Hao who wanted to speak and stopped.

"I ...... I've got forty-eight words. Sun Hao whispered. He looked to be only fourteen or fifteen years old, probably malnourished, and thin-looking; But his eyes were shining. Looks pretty smart.

Zhang Wendong, who was the first to calculate first, turned his head to look at him, but he didn't speak.

Lin Xiaozhu stared at Zhang Wendong's eyes and asked, "Are you sure it's fifty wen?" ”

Zhang Wendong thought for a while and nodded: "I'm sure." ”

"Then you tell Sun Hao. Why is it fifty wen. Lin Xiaozhu said.

Zhang Wendong turned his head and said to Sun Hao: "Twelve catties is forty-eight wen." plus half a catty of two cents, it doesn't add up to fifty cents. ”

Zhang Wendong lowered his head with a look of shame on his face: "I miscalculated. ”

Lin Xiaozhu nodded, noncommittal, and said, "I'll give each person another question." Then six questions of the same difficulty followed.

This time, it was still Zhang Wendong who reported the number the fastest. Sun Hao reported the number for the second time, this time. His numbers were finally right. And Wang Chengyun and the other three calculated for a long time before hesitantly reporting a number.

Lin Xiaozhu saw that Zhang Wendong was about fifteen or sixteen years old, he was the best in arithmetic, and his eyes were calm, even if he was right twice, Lin Xiaozhu praised him, and he was not proud and proud, so he was very satisfied with him; Then Sun Hao can still insist on his own views when everyone reports the same answer, and he should be a principled person. So they hired him.

Boys are required to be literate, and the choice is narrow. And the girls have a wide range of conditions, and Mrs. Liu called thirteen or four people to come in for Lin Xiaozhu to choose.

Lin Xiaozhu asked them to report their names one by one. Look closely at their expressions, mannerisms, and attitudes when they speak; Then he told them to stretch out their hands, and when they looked at them one by one, they picked out two girls who spoke clearly, behaved generously, and were honest and honest at first sight, but whose hands were rough, and paid sixty-two taels of silver, and took their deeds of sale, and took them away.

Among the four, the eldest is Zhang Wendong, sixteen years old; followed by a girl named Liu Xiujuan, fifteen years old; And Sun Hao and Guan Mei are both fourteen years old. The four-person club was bought directly from the mountains by Mrs. Liu, and in order to sell it at a good price, she taught the two boys to read and count. Everyone is extremely unfamiliar with the city of Yuejing. Lin Xiaozhu took them around the street, bought them a pair of clothes, told them the location of the shop, and then led them around the vegetable market and bought vegetables for the evening, and then went back to the yard she rented.

Lin Xiaozhu assigned them a room, and said, "Zhang Wendong, you lead them to clean up the yard." I'll go out for a bit. ”

"Yes."

Lin Xiaozhu pretended to leave the courtyard, but jumped onto the roof and observed the four people. I saw that Zhang Wendong assigned tasks to everyone, and he did the heaviest work. The others honestly cleaned the yard and the room, and showed no sign of escaping, so she relieved herself, returned to the inn, quit the room, hired a mule cart, and bought some groceries.

"Xiujuan, you go boil some water, I want to bathe." Lin Xiaozhu saw that they had finished moving their things, so he said.

With a subordinate, she has to look like a master. There is no reason to let these subordinates rest and go to work by themselves. When you get here, you have to abide by the rules of the game in this society, otherwise you will not be strict from top to bottom, and there will be no distinction between respect and inferiority, not only will these people look down on her, but it will be difficult to instruct them to work in the future. She bought the subordinates, and in the future she wanted to feed them and give them wages, instead of buying a few uncles to come back and serve.

"Yes." Liu Xiujuan answered in a low voice, and slowly turned around and went to the kitchen.

Lin Xiaozhu saw that she was in a bad mood, so she turned her head and asked Guan Mei, "What's wrong with her?" ”

Guan Mei hesitated for a long time, and finally bit her lip, with an open expression: "Childe, we ...... We only do menial work. As for serving the son, I ...... I can't do it with Sister Xiujuan. If Childe is not satisfied with us, return us. ”

Lin Xiaozhu looked at Guan Mei in amazement for a long time, and then he smiled dumbly.

But it turned out that she arranged for the two girls to live in a side room in the inner courtyard, and she herself put all the luggage she had just brought back in the main room. Now that she is a man, there is a difference between men and women, and letting two women live in the same courtyard with her, no wonder it makes two girls from the mountains feel awkward.

"Well, you'll make a decision later." Lin Xiaozhu didn't bother to explain, turned around and went back to the room, and said before leaving, "Boil the water, you and Xiujuan will send the water to my room." "She really likes the hearts of these two girls.

“…… Be. Seeing that Lin Xiaozhu didn't agree to her request, Guan Mei was a little listless.

Lin Xiaozhu went back to the room to pack his luggage, and when he saw the two girls carrying the water, he closed the door, took a good bath, changed into women's clothes, and combed his hair clearly, then opened the door and went out, shouting, "Carry the water out." ”

"Hey, here we are." Lin Xiaozhu didn't say anything and asked her to take a bath, which made Liu Xiujuan and Guan Mei feel a little more relaxed. Hearing her call, she hurriedly came out of her house, but when she walked to the door of Lin Xiaozhu's house, she was stunned when she saw Lin Xiaozhu, who was standing at the door, wearing a light purple silk dress and an outstanding appearance.

"You...... You are ......" Guan Mei pointed to Lin Xiaozhu and said.

Lin Xiaozhu laughed, and said in the voice when he pretended to be a man: "I was originally a woman, but because it was inconvenient for a person to do things outside, I changed my appearance as a man." Now you can rest assured, right? ”

"Are you really a woman?" Liu Xiujuan's face was full of surprise.

Lin Xiaozhu didn't explain anymore, and said, "Carry the water out and pour it out." ”

"Yes." The two of them gathered the surprise on their faces, bowed properly, and then smiled at each other, and then went in to clean up the room.

When it was time to eat in the evening, the two boys were surprised when they saw Lin Xiaozhu. However, Lin Xiaozhu's attitude was as usual, amiable and stern, so that the two boys who were about the same age as her quickly recognized their identities and became respectful.

On the second day, Lin Xiaozhu arrived at the Qingxin Teahouse on time, and saw that Master Zhang was already waiting there, and Shopkeeper Luo was still by his side, so he stepped forward and said hello: "Master Zhang, Shopkeeper Luo, I've been waiting for a long time." ”

"You...... Are you ......" Master Zhang and Shopkeeper Luo heard a crisp voice, and then a woman from two or eight directions stood opposite them with a smile. Rao is Lin Xiaozhu had already explained his identity, and they were still a little incredulous - this woman was too different from the Chen Gongzi she saw yesterday, right?

Seeing that both of them were staring at him, Lin Xiaozhu smiled and said, "I'm Chen Xi." ”

"Ah, Miss Chen." Master Zhang finally came back to his senses, arched his hand, and said, "Sit, please sit." He also sighed, "Miss Chen's makeup skills are really amazing, no wonder we can't see that Miss Chen is a woman dressed as a man." ”

The ancients naturally did not go straight to the point like modern people. Seeing that he was coming, the two of them were still sitting there and not moving, Lin Xiaozhu had to be patient, sat there and drank two cups of tea, chatted with the two of them for some gossip, and then went to the convention point of the office card.

Because it was still early, there were not many people, and the three of them waited for a while, and then it was their turn. Shopkeeper Luo took out the draft he had prepared from his arms, first showed it to Lin Xiaozhu, let her make sure that there was no problem, and then handed it to the person at the convention point and copied it on a special letter paper, and the three of them pressed their handprints, and the convention point was stamped again, and the contract was completed.

"Miss Chen, I don't know where you live? The shop is vacated, so that I can let you know. Master Zhang said.

Lin Xiaozhu told them the address and left.

In the next few days, Lin Xiaozhu assigned tasks to Zhang Wendong and others, and came back with them to buy some pickled vegetable jars and cans, and began her pickle business.

Chinese can bring sauce for everything. Radish, melon, lettuce, garlic sprouts, nectar, lotus root, peanuts, walnuts, almonds, all have sauce. At this time, it was winter, Lin Xiaozhu selected some seasonal vegetables and fruits, processed them, cut them into dices, silk, strips, blocks, slices, horns and other shapes, and used the four major processes of pickling, sauce, cutting, and jar and double pickling method, marinated and soaked method, etc., to try to maintain the color, crispness, and freshness of the vegetables themselves, and made ten, one, and two kinds of pickles. (To be continued)