Chapter 26 Madam's Inspection
It was not until noon that Uncle Wen finally finished his "speech" with a sense of unfulfilled desire. Jiang Chengfeng also woke up from his sleep and asked Uncle Wen what he was going to do next.
Uncle Wen shook his head and smiled bitterly, "It's time for lunch, so of course we have to eat lunch!"
After seeing Uncle Wen off, Jiang Chengfeng took a new set of tableware and headed for the cafeteria. But before that, Uncle Wen still warned Jiang Chengfeng about many rules.
For example, servants were not allowed to eat before their masters had dinner, and they were not allowed to make loud noises or waste food during meals.
Jiang Chengfeng was a little puzzled. The Shen family's management of servants was really strict, it could be said to be semi-militarized.
After arriving at the so-called canteen, Jiang Chengfeng discovered that the canteen was also divided into zones. The left area was for second-class servants, and the right area was for third-class servants. As for first-class servants, they all had their own special kitchens.
At this time, there were only more than twenty people in the second-class servants area. They were gathered in groups of three or five, looking at the third-class servants with mocking expressions, pointing and talking from time to time, and no one knew what they were saying.
The third-class servant area was overcrowded, with most of them being new servants. They were noisy and were then scolded by the servants in charge of maintaining order, or dragged away and beaten.
Looking at the huge crowds of people, Jiang Chengfeng couldn't help but secretly shook his head. The reason why the Shen family was able to recruit so many servants was mostly due to the eldest lady whom he had never met.
Jiang Chengfeng still had some good feelings towards this young lady. Although he didn't know what she looked like, he could tell from her marketing methods . This girl was extraordinary!
Finally it was Jiang Chengfeng's turn to serve the food. Just as he was enjoying his meal, the entrance of the restaurant suddenly became lively and someone shouted that the madam was here.
Jiang Chengfeng looked up and saw the dignified, gentle and graceful Mrs. Shen walking towards him, followed by four pretty maids.
Before, Jiang Chengfeng only glanced at , but now, after observing her closely, he found that Madam Shen not only still had her charm, but also had a refined temperament. She didn't look like a housewife in her thirties at all, but more like a young girl in her twenties!
On the left and right of Madam Shen were the housekeepers Zhou and Lao. They were servile and flattering, smiling servilely, wishing they could hold Madam Shen's feet and kiss them crazily.
Although Mrs. Shen had handed over the family business to her eldest daughter a long time ago, she had not lost her social skills. Although it was just a polite greeting, it made these new servants very excited. Wherever Mrs. Shen went, everyone's eyes were filled with tears.
Jiang Chengfeng smiled bitterly and shook his head, continuing to work on his meal. It was not until Madam Shen came to his side that he realized that the atmosphere was not right.
Everyone looked at Jiang Chengfeng as if he was a fool. Others stood up and greeted Madam Shen, but this guy was the only one who kept eating like he hadn't eaten in days.
"Ahem... Madam, he is Jiang Dazhu!" Butler Zhou felt embarrassed. He coughed dryly and took the initiative to introduce him.
Madam Shen frowned slightly, then smiled and said, "I've heard of you. Are you Jiang Dazhu who asked to sign the contract?"
Jiang Chengfeng put down his bowl and chopsticks, stood up with a smile, and said, "That's right! It's me!"
As he spoke, Jiang Chengfeng stretched out his hand to shake hands with Madam Shen. But just as he stretched out his hand, he froze. It seemed that shaking hands was not popular in this era.
Sure enough, Mrs. Shen's smile froze, her eyebrows slightly wrinkled, and she asked unhappily: "What are you doing?"
In ancient times, not to mention unmarried women, even married women were not allowed to have casual contact with strange men. Even widows had to abide by the code of conduct for women.
Although Mrs. Shen has been a widow for many years, she has always had a good reputation and has even received a chastity arch awarded by the state.
A woman who pays so much attention to etiquette would naturally feel displeased when seeing Jiang Chengfeng's frivolous behavior.
After a brief moment of embarrassment, Jiang Chengfeng immediately thought of an excuse, smiled and retracted his hand, saying, "I want to shake hands with the madam!"
"What? Shake hands?" Mrs. Shen obviously didn't understand what shaking hands meant. Her brows furrowed even tighter, and her pretty face was covered with frost.
"Madam, you may not know that in my hometown, shaking hands is the most commonly used etiquette, which is almost the same as the bow we make now!" Jiang Chengfeng said calmly without any sign of nervousness, showing that he was not lying.
"This is simply ridiculous!" Butler Zhou glared at Jiang Chengfeng and shouted angrily, saying that this guy was so short-sighted that he actually wanted to take advantage of the lady.
"Zhou Ting, no!"
Madam Shen regained her previous elegance and calmness, and waved her hand to stop Butler Zhou. Because she did not detect Yin Xie's gaze in Jiang Chengfeng's eyes, this meant that what the other party said was true, and he was not trying to take advantage of her.
At this distance, Jiang Chengfeng could appreciate the beauty of Madam Shen more clearly. But what puzzled Jiang Chengfeng was that Madam Shen frowned from time to time, as if she was troubled by something.
From this, Jiang Chengfeng can be sure that Mrs. Shen must have been a strong woman that.
"Tell me, where is your hometown?" Mrs. Shen looked at Jiang Chengfeng with interest, with a smile on her lips, always giving people a very friendly feeling.
In fact, when Mrs. Shen first heard Uncle Wen say that Jiang Dazhu was going to sign a one-year contract, she was also very surprised. But after listening to Uncle Wen, she decided to make an exception. From this point of view, Mrs. Shen is not a conservative person, or she still retains the strong curiosity of a young girl.
"My hometown is very far away from here, and maybe my wife has never heard of it!" Jiang Chengfeng smiled bitterly helplessly.
Since he was unwilling to speak, Mrs. Shen naturally couldn't force him. Besides, this servant would probably only stay in the Shen family for a year, so there was no need for her to worry about him.
After smiling at Jiang Chengfeng, Madam Shen turned and left. As for the handshake, she automatically ignored it. She cherished her reputation very much. If she ruined her reputation for a lifetime because of this third-class servant, it would be extremely stupid!
According to custom, after greeting the new servant, Mrs. Shen gave a speech. Of course, this speech was all official language, nothing more than encouraging the newcomers to be pragmatic and progressive.
At the end, Madam Shen actually named this year's servant representative to speak on stage, and Jiang Chengfeng felt a bit annoyed. When he was in school, he had to listen to the speeches of school leaders every time he held a student assembly. He didn't expect that he would have to listen to speeches in this ancient time.
What surprised Jiang Chengfeng was that the person who went on stage to give the speech was Shen Yao!
Shen Yao was trembling with fear. He took out the speech he had prepared long ago from his arms and read it hesitantly.
