Huang Huzi's wife said: " i don't know either. The first day i arrived, Aunt fan brought me food and mentioned that they delivered by the kitchen three times a day were only for the head of the family and that mansion wasn't responsible for family's meals. I figured that the man wouldn't be around today, so i cooked some myself. And even if he did,i could save it for dinner, so it wouldn't be a problem ".
Actually, the kitchen provide a generous portion for men. Not completely full, but at least enough to keep them 70%full at every meal. Every morning,a bowl of sweet potato and brown rice porridge, occasionally a boiled egg or a meat bun or steamed bun. Lunch and dinner are mix of brown rice and rice, with a few potatoes thrown in and one meat and one vegetables. This diet is much better than at home; at least here, you can eat meat every day.
So, she was content with her life. Moreover, she could share some of the men's food, so if there wasn't enough, she could cooked for herself, without having to cook. So, their family didn't have any burden.
Meng Ping's wife heard this and said : " Oh.. why didn't i think of that?". Indeed, even if the kitchen sends it, they can still eat it in the evening.
Yang Haiyan didn't care what the private guards' wives were thinking. She was thinking in her study at the moment. The private guards' wives had come, so it wasn't a big deal to send meals to the private guards. She might as well stop sending meals every month and just subsidized the food.
Yang Haiyan allocated a food ration of 200 wen per guard. If the food were subsidized, that amount would be 5 Jin (approximately 100 catties) of rice,15 Jin (approximately 100kg) of sweet potatoes per month and 10 Jin (approximately 100kg of potatoes) per month for total of 110 wen. For vegetables,10 eggs, 2 Jin (approximately 20kg of vegetables, spare ribs and meat) per month, would be enough for each guards, totaling 190 wen per month.
This is much less troublesome than providing meals.
"Madam, Uncle Going is here". Mammy Lian's voice rang out.
Yang Haiyan put down her pen and said, " Let him in".
Uncle hong walked into the study politely: "Madam, are you looking for me?".
Yang Haiyan asked, " Uncle Hong, how much is one acre of land in the country side?"
Uncle Hong was stunned. Although he didn't understand what Yang Haiyan meant, her said: "Top quality land cost Ten taels of silver per mu, medium quality land cost six of silver per mu and low quality land costs four taels of silver per mu".
Yang Haiyan thought about it and and took out one hundred taels of silver: " Go buy ten acres of medium-sized land." Although sixty taels was enough, it was better to have more silver and money for buying things.
Uncle Hong took the silver and said, " Yes." But he asked again, " Madam, are you planning to plant something?"
Yang Haiyan replied, " Yes, I'll plant potatoes, sweet potatoes, radishes and other crops. Then, I'll build a pigpen, chicken pen and duck pen over there." With so many people in the family, buying these products outside would definitely not be as cheap as raising and growing then at home. Furthermore, she would have to 'buy' other vegetables and fruits seeds from traveling vendors, so how could she do that without land?.
Uncle Hong: " Then I'll go down and do it".
Yang Haiyan; " Thank you for your hard work".
Not long after Uncle Hong left, his private guards and their families arrived, including Kun Zang and her Son,Meng Ping's wife, Meng Ping's daughters Meng Ju and Meng An and Huang Huzi's wife.
Yang Haiyan was in her study when the personal guards and family members entered politely, saying, " Greetings, Madam". None of them learned etiquette. Back home, they'd lived in the country side and the small town, so when things got tense, their greetings were awkward. They all lowered her head, not daring to raised them.
Yang Haiyan said in a gentle voice, " No need to be so polite, please take a sit". In the study, there was a wooden side custom-made by Yang Haiyan. It was long and accommodated several people.
Private Guards Family: " I dare not to sit".
Yang Haiyan said: " It's okay. We still have some more to talk about. If you don't want to sit down, i won't dare to keep you talking for too long. It will tiring to stand up ."
After Fang Haiyan said this, the private guards and their family sat down.
After they sat down, Yang Haiyan said: " Except for Captain Kun's family, the rest of you can introduced yourselves. Tell us how old are you and what you do at home."
Meng Ping's wife spoke first: " Madam, my husband is Meng Ping, my maiden name is Qui and i am twenty five years old, i am used to doing farm work at home .
Yang Haiyan saw the legendary Men Ping's wife, Meng Qui. He features were somewhat rough, which made her look a bit masculine among women. She spoke like a typical country lady, but her eyes were clear and honest.
Yang Haiyan felt that this was different from are had imagined of Mrs. Meng Qui. Someone who would ask about monthly allowance and complained about not having a food. He impression of Mrs. Qui…she was supposed to be like Aunt second Qin or perhaps even more so, someone who was always the epitome of the best in novels. But Mrs.Meng seemed carefree.
Simply put, they are not smart and just say whatever they think.
Could it be that she read too much novel and therefore overthink it?
Mrs. Meng continued: " Madam, this is my daughter, Meng Ju, which means ' Autumn' . She is eight years old this year. My daughter was very capable. She can cut grass for pigs, Feeds chicken and cook. She can do everything. This is my sister in law Meng An. Meng An is a poor person, she had originally a fiancé but in January of this year, they beast was spotted by a girl from a wealthy family and became a live son in law, breaking off the engagement with Meng An.
The broken engagement would have been fine, but that bastard insisted on spreading gossip about Meng An. Making everyone thinks that the one who's fault for the broken engagement was Meng An. So the family send a message to Meng Ping , asking him what to do. When Meng Ping returned home, he brought Meng An with him."
Upon hearing this, Yang Haiyan recalled three time in January when Meng Ping asked her for holiday, saying he wanted to go home. She hasn't thought twice about it then agreed. Now that she think about it, it was her sister who had gotten into trouble and since it's concern his family, as a brother, it was natural for him to take care of it. Now that he brought his sister here, he had naturally had to explained everything to her.
Yang Haiyan understood and looked at Meng An. The girl lowered her head and looked a little reserved. Seeing that she was looking at her, Meng An stood up and said nervously: " Meng An, came here with brother this time,i am sorry to bother you, Madam".
Yang Haiyan said: " It's okay."
Originally, she had a thought of various scenarios. In novels, young girls often rushed to became a concubine for their masters. She wondered if this girl the same intention, but now it seems that maybe not.
Then she looked at the other one.
Huang Huzi's wife said: "Hello, madam.. I'm from Huang Huzi's family. My maiden name is Xu and I'm twenty four this year. Huang Huzi left for military service since three days after we got married, so I've been living in my hometown with my parents in law for three past few years. As they're getting older, I've been doing all the work back home."
Mammy Lian's impression of Huang Xu was that she indeed much more well mannered thanMeng Qui. However , Huang Xu was also smarter than Meng Qui.
Yang Haiyan continued: " Your men are the master's personal guards. The are provided with food and lodging in the mansion, plus a monthly stipend. However, since you are here, firstly, you are not my servant and secondly,i did not hire you. Therefore, the mansion will not arrange for your meals. I believe you should understand this ".
Kun Zang: " I understand".
Huang Xu: " I understand"
This is indeed understandable. No family that hires a handyman would responsible for the food of the handyman's family.
Mrs.Meng Qui: " Madam, we understand, but there are four people in our family and the food Meng Ping provide is not enough. We had to used the money Meng Ping warrens to buy food. If we were in our hometown, it would be fine. We have land and can grow good ourselves. But here we don't have land, what can we do? We have to spend money to buy everything."
Yang Haiyan has new opinion of Meng Qui. Perhaps she was a machine gun that couldn't hide her words. However, she didn't know it on her face. " Then haven't you ever thought about finding a job for yourselves?"
Mrs. Meng Qui: " But… but i can't do anything except farm work. I can only wash clothes, sweep the floor and work in the Fed's. I can't do other.. other rich work."
Yang Haiyan looked at Kun Zang and the others again: " What about you? Have you ever thought about finding a job on your own?".
When KunZang heard this, she said: " I plan to rest for two days first and go to town to see if there is any work".
Huang Xu: " I have the same idea." In fact, her idea was to wait for the mistress to come back and see if there were any plans for them. If not, she would find a way herself.
Herding An said: " I.. I've thought about finding a job. I've been to the town these few days and I've found people who specialize in laundry. The also collect firewood. I asked and they charge nine cents a bundle. I..I thought i could do laundry or collect firewood."
Upon hearing this, Yang Haiyan felt that Meng An's ideas were good, she praised her highly, saying: "You are quite motivated. This job is indeed good. Firewood has always sold well in town because we have family housing here and they need firewood. In addition, there are two months of winter disaster at the end of the year. During the winter disaster, there is no one outside, so firewood must be prepared in advance".
Meng An felt a little embarrassed after receiving Yang Haiyan's praise.
After getting to know the family members for a while, Yang Haiyan said: " I'm a little tired too. You can leave".
"Yes."
The family members all left.
After three family members left, Nanny Lian was curious: " Madam, are you not going to settled them down?"
Yang Haiyan: " No rush. I'm going to po hire people anyway and i can settled them down, but there's no rush."
At the beginning of the afternoon, Qin Fang returned with five personal guards, riding three horses into the family quarters, looking quite impressive. Each horse had a game item hanging from it.
Boom.. boom…boom
Someone is knocking on the door.
Because the private guards were away and Uncle Hong wasn't there either. Aunt Fan was watching the door. When she heard the knock, she went to open the door and asked: " Who is it?"
Qin Fang : " Me".