There was not just one matchmaker coming to the house, but a group of them. The old housekeeper thought that he had to talk to the girl about it and come up with an arrangement.
After filial piety, the girl has reached the age of marriage. In the future, there will be more and more such things. When a matchmaker comes to your door, it is always inappropriate to refuse every time.
But now there is no elder in the house who can make the decision for the girl, so we can only consult with the girl.
Thinking that the girl's life-long matters must be discussed with her personally, the housekeeper couldn't help but feel aggrieved for his girl again.
He began to look forward to the girl returning home, but he kept looking forward to it, looking forward to March, looking forward to April, looking forward to April, looking forward to May, and looking forward to May...
“What? The girl came out of Tea Mountain and went directly to Wanhua Village?”
"Yes!" the boy who came to deliver the message replied truthfully, "The girl said that it is much closer to go to Wanhua Village from Mingshan County than from the mansion, so she went to Wanhua Village first and then returned to the mansion."
“But what is the girl going to Wanhua Village for?” The old housekeeper was puzzled.
“The girl heard that the lotus flowers in Wanhua Village were in full bloom, so she wanted to take a look and see how the rice flower fish looked like.”
That’s what happened.
The old housekeeper suddenly understood.
The girl thought she had been bored in Chashan for too long and wanted to go out for a walk, so he said nothing more.
The affairs in the house... I thought it would not be too late to discuss it with the girl after she comes back from Wanhua Village.
Unexpectedly, the next day, another matchmaker came to the door.
This time, it was the matchmaker invited by Wang Yuan's family. She made a lot of noise about Wang Yuan's favored old man, and then tried to find out the girl's birth date from him. The old housekeeper was so angry that he almost wanted to use a broom to kill him. Blast out.
An old man outside the Wang Yuan? Firstly, he is not a legitimate son, and secondly, he is not the eldest son, because he is born from the womb of the king's favorite concubine. He is much favored compared to other concubines. He was pampered since he was a child, and he eats, drinks, whores and gambles when he is older. He even wants to marry someone like this. His girl? dream!
The old housekeeper invited the matchmaker out with a dark face and started walking back and forth. What should I do? If you don't make up your mind about this matter, any dirty person will dare to send a matchmaker to your door!
“No! I have to communicate with the girl as soon as possible!”
The housekeeper decided to go to Wanhua Village.
“Sikong, have you not shown your account for the first half of the year to the girl? Let’s go! Follow me to Wanhua Village to meet the girl.”
Reporting the matter to the matchmaker can't be made public, so I opened the accountant as an excuse.
Sikong: “…”
Okay, he is just a tool man.
…
In the other carriage, Xu Yin and his party arrived at Wanhua Village in a carriage.
She also accidentally heard Xu Kui say that Wanhua Village has grown two acres of lotus roots this year than in previous years, and the lotus flowers in the five acres of lotus ponds are in full bloom. They are very beautiful, and she can't help but feel moved.
I saw the maids chattering about the beauty of lotus flowers and the freshness of lotus seeds, so I decided to go to Wanhua Village before returning home. Living in a villa on the top of the mountain, I usually don’t have much chance to go out, so this time it was just for team building.
When Zhuangtou heard that the girl was coming, he immediately asked people to clean up the courtyard of his master's house. During this period, Xu Yin was sitting at Zhuangtou's house drinking tea.
At noon in the fifth month of the lunar calendar, the sun was scorching like fire. It was too hot to enjoy the lotus flowers, so I planned to wait until the evening to go out for a walk.
Xu Yin peeled the sweet and crisp lotus seeds and chatted with Mrs. Zhuangtou:
"Is everything okay in Zhuangzi?" "Thanks to the girl, it's good! This year, there are ten acres of rice fields to raise rice flower fish. At first, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to keep them alive. I didn't expect that after I raised them according to the girl's method, not only the rice flower fish The rice is in full swing, and the rice is heading earlier than in other fields. There are still a few months before harvesting, and the grains are already bulging. My boss said that this year will definitely be a bumper harvest!"
Mrs. Zhuangtou was a very talkative person. She was a little reserved at first. Seeing that Xu Yin was gentle and listening to her chattering about the growth of the rice, she didn't feel impatient at all. She gradually relaxed and started pouring beans into the bamboo tube. Say what you say, say what you know.
Xu Yin enjoys communicating with people of different types of work and can always learn from them some of her own blind spots in knowledge.
Besides, this is the property of the Xu family, what’s the harm in knowing more about it?
Xu Yin peeled lotus seeds and drank tea, listening with great interest.
Until Zi Yuan came in and said, "Girl, the food is ready. Do you want to use it here or go back to the main courtyard?"
“Just eat something here and save the time of carrying it around.”
"Why."
Zi Yuan and Hong Qian brought the food boxes in.
Xu Yin looked at the dishes and smiled: "Is it made with rice flower fish?"
Zi Yuan smiled and said: "Zhuangtou went to the rice field to pick out a few big fish and came back. He said that the girl came up with this fish and it is suitable for the girl to eat it first."
The accompanying cook cooked rice fish for two meals, one braised in braised sauce and the other stewed in soup.
There were several fish in each dish. Xu Yin could not finish them all by herself, so she gave some to the maid and mother-in-law.
“You go and eat too, don’t worry about me.”
She drank a bowl of fish soup first. The fish soup was simmered over a slow fire. The soup was milky white and only seasoned with salt. No other condiments were added, so it was very fresh.
The braised ones are more flavorful than the plain stewed ones, so they are suitable to be eaten with rice.
Xu Yin ordered a shallow bowl of rice and a spoonful of braised fish soup. She was quite satisfied.
Mrs. Zhuangtou came in and gave her a plate of melons and fruits. She went back and said to Zhuangtou: "I used to think that the girls in the house were noble people who never left the house. I must not like this place very much. I didn't expect the girl." So kind."
Especially when she brought melons and fruits in, the girl closed her eyes and looked like she was enjoying it, which made Mrs. Zhuangtou couldn't help laughing.
“The way she eats is really similar to Qing Yatou.”
Qing Yatou is their daughter, two years younger than Xu Yin. The monthly income in the first year of the village is quite a lot. The whole family eats and drinks in the village, and the expenses are not much, so they send their daughter to the embroidery building to learn embroidery. I go home once every ten days and a half, and I feel so satisfied eating the rice at home.
Zhuangtou heard what she said and frowned: "You can't say this outside. After all, the girl is a girl and she is the head of the house. You can't be disrespectful."
"Of course I know that. I just want to say a few words to you in the room. I just feel that she is still a little girl!" Thinking of the master and his wife who had been deceased for three years, Mrs. Zhuangtou couldn't help but sigh.
Perhaps she felt pity for the girl, and after that, Mrs. Zhuangtou sent Xu Yin some food that her daughter liked, including last year's sun-dried lotus root, ground into a paste of osmanthus mixed with lotus root powder, and fresh water chestnuts cut into shreds and fried. There are water chestnut glutinous rice cakes, sun-dried mushrooms known as water ginseng, and lotus seed soup stewed with dried lotus seeds and red dates.
Xu Yin: “…”
how?
Looking at her finishing the fish soup with rice in just a few mouthfuls, do you think she is a big eater or something?
Having just eaten, how can I eat so much?
Xu Yin deliberately kept some for afternoon tea later, and let Zi Yuan and others share the rest.