Chapter 72 Young Master
"Maid?"
Zhu Niang and Aunt Li found Zhu Hao's proposal very strange.
Zhu Hao nodded and said, "Yes, we don't need to sign a contract to sell ourselves. We can just find a girl from a small family outside the city, someone who is diligent and hardworking. We can give her a salary every month and ask her to help with the housework... Mother, now that we have money, we should learn to reduce our burdens. If we work too hard...you and Auntie will be exhausted, then how can we live a good life?"
Zhu Niang fell silent for a moment.
In the past, in order to save money for her son's education, she also had to deal with the exploitation of the Zhu family. No matter how hard or tiring it was, she had to grit her teeth to support the family. Every penny had to be spent wisely, and she did everything by herself, and never thought about hiring anyone.
But now that her son mentioned it, even she herself felt it made sense.
Now that the family conditions are good and the business is very busy, although the son is not at home most of the time, it is always up to the two women to take care of both the business and the housework, which is indeed a bit difficult.
Aunt Li said, "Master Hao, there is no need to hire any maids. There is not much work to do at home. I can handle it. Just let Madam take care of the business... There were just some problems in the past few days. Besides, if it is really busy, can't we ask the neighbors to come over and help temporarily?"
It seemed that Aunt Li felt a little embarrassed. If her hand had not been cut, the family would not have been so embarrassed that they had to find a maid.
"Mom, only when our family is stable can I feel at ease studying in the palace. What's more, if we live a better life, others will be more willing to take care of our business." Zhu Hao said with a smile.
Zhu Niang was puzzled and asked, "Why is this?"
Zhu Hao smiled and said, "It's easy to add icing on the cake, but it's hard to send charcoal in the snow. If we hire a maid, people will think that we are living a good life and doing business more honestly, so there will be more customers coming to patronize us... Besides, my mother and aunt are only concerned about the business, what about Xiaoting? She also needs someone to take care of her."
“No… no need…”
Zhu Ting said timidly.
Zhu Niang had not made up her mind at first, but seeing that Zhu Ting was young and usually helped the adults with things, she thought she should take on some of the housework at such a young age.
If the family conditions were still as difficult as before, there would be nothing we could do. But now that living conditions have obviously improved, it would be too stingy to be so mean to the child.
"Okay, I'll listen to Xiaohao. I'll go out of the city tomorrow and bring back a maid..."
Zhu Niang made a decision.
Zhu Hao smiled and said, "Mom, I'll go with you. It would be best to hire two people at a time, one to clean the yard and wash clothes, and one to help with the fire and cooking. Mom and Auntie can just focus on taking care of the business."
…
…
The family is having a great time.
But early the next morning, old lady Zhu Jia entered the city when the city gate was open, went straight to the courtyard, and called Zhu Hao over to question him.
This time Zhu Hao didn't find out more information. Zhu Jia was a little dissatisfied after hearing it, but she had no choice. Not long after, she left with a dark face.
"What did your grandmother say?"
Zhu Niang was not allowed to enter just now, and she was very afraid that her son would be bullied by her mother-in-law.
Zhu Hao said: "They just asked me about my experience in the palace... I didn't encounter anything special this time. The palace was still very wary of me. I told them the truth, and then my grandmother left."
Zhu Niang nodded doubtfully.
She always had concerns about her son entering the palace as a companion to a scholar.
That morning, Yu San drove a horse-drawn carriage to the rice shop to pick up Zhu Niang and her son, and went out of the city to recruit maids.
Yu San was notified last night and sent someone to the village early this morning to inform them. At this moment, several old women were waiting under a big tree at the entrance of the village.
Zhu Niang asked her son to stay in the carriage and followed a few old women into the village to talk to the village elder.
Introducing young girls from the village to work as maids in wealthy families in the city has always been done in the village, but they all signed a contract to sell themselves directly. Now they hire one to work as a long-term worker. Unless the girl is unmarried, they can only find a widow, so finding a village elder is the safest choice.
"Brother Hao, the bookstore business has been very good these past two days, but troubles have also come along. Some people have come to our stall to collect taxes, and there are also police officers from the government office who have come to collect protection fees. It's really annoying..."
Yu San looked helpless.
With his network of connections, he can prevent thugs from coming to cause trouble, but when he encounters local security guards with official backgrounds or even people from the government, he is helpless.
When others see that you are making money, they will definitely try to take advantage of you.
Zhu Hao said: "Even if we buy a shop and open a bookstore, the result will not be much better. They will still blackmail us. We have to pay according to the rules... I will think of a solution later!"
Although Zhu Hao is the son of the late Captain of the Imperial Guard, and his family has a grandfather who was a Captain of the Imperial Guard, no one else knows that he is the behind-the-scenes boss of the bookstore. Even if they know, they are well aware that he and his mother have a bad relationship with the family, making it difficult for them to take advantage of him.
Zhu Hao originally wanted to recruit Lu Song to join him and use the power of Prince Xing's Mansion to suppress the local people, but unfortunately Lu Song refused. Now it seems that he must find a way to use his connections to support the reputation of this bookstore.
"Oh, right? There are other storytellers who come to our theater specifically to listen to stories, take pen and paper to write them down and prepare to tell them back. If I find them when I'm patrolling the theater, I'll immediately chase them away. But some people have very good brains, and they can memorize them after listening to them a few times. I can't prevent them..."
When business is good, people are paying attention to every place you go.
Some people came to collect heavy taxes and fees, while others tried to steal the business.
Zhu Hao thought for a moment and said, "Well, you can build a few more sheds next to the storytelling venue, and then go visit the storytellers in the city and invite them to our storytelling venue. I will give them different scripts, and tell stories in different sheds every day.
"Given the quality of our storytelling and the speed at which it is updated, I think it will attract a lot of people. I believe that it won't be long before we are the only storytelling company in Anlu... From now on, city dwellers can only come to our storytelling venue on West Street to listen to stories. This way, we can avoid vicious competition!"
Zhu Hao could only come up with a temporary solution.
Yu San looked smart, but he had no business experience, so he was at a loss when he encountered trouble. Now Zhu Hao came up with an idea, and Yu San only needed to be responsible for the specific implementation, and the worry on his face disappeared.
As for the effect, you can only know it through practice.
Just then, Zhu Niang came out.
"Mother, why didn't you let me follow you into the village?" Zhu Hao didn't continue talking to Yu San. He came to Zhu Niang and asked, "Did you find the maid?"
Zhu Niang said: "There are many young girls and wives in the village. After all, you are a boy, so it is not convenient... Let's go back to the city. The village will send the selected girls to the city later..."
Zhu Hao looked surprised: "It hasn't been finalized on the spot?"
Yu San reminded, "Most of the girls in the village who are not married are helping their families with farm work. Now is the autumn harvest season. Although the grain has been harvested, they still have to dry it in , turn the soil, and plant vegetables. There are too many things to do at home. I'm afraid they will have to wait until the farm work is done before they can go to the city to participate in the selection."
Zhu Hao looked at him and said, "Little Third Brother, how come you know everything?"
"I grew up in this village. I don't need to ask to know these things."
Yu San touched the back of his head and said embarrassedly.
While Zhu Niang was talking to the maids who were seeing off the guests, Zhu Hao asked quietly, "Little Third Brother, is there anyone you love in this village?"
Yu Sanda was shocked and said quickly, "Brother Hao, please stop joking with me. How dare you say such a thing... If the news gets out, the elders in the village will break my legs!"
"hehe."
Zhu Hao smiled and said nothing more.
Afterwards, Zhu Niang came back, and the group went to check out the salt fields hidden in a valley nearby before entering the city.
…
…
Before sunset in the afternoon, the selected maid arrived at the shop as expected. A familiar-looking old woman led the way, and the driver stayed behind to guard the ox cart.
A total of four people entered the room. The old woman brought three unmarried girls aged thirteen or fourteen and stood in front of Zhu Niang and Aunt Li, waiting to be selected.
"It's like this. Madam Zhu San, you said that you would not sign a contract to sell your body. Many families are very excited. Many girls want to participate in the selection, including some from the neighboring village. After discussing with the village elders, I selected those who are nimble, can find life, and are pretty and sent them to you. You can choose which one..."
Zhu Niang said, "Thank you for your hard work."
Then he asked Aunt Li to give a tip to the old woman.
This kind of thing is equivalent to a broker helping to introduce a servant, except that the situation this time is a little special, so a reward will definitely be required.
In an agricultural society, women are weak and it is difficult for them to gain a foothold on their own. This time, Zhu Niang hired a maid and paid her the same salary as a laborer working in the city, three cents of silver per month, with food and accommodation provided. Naturally, the families in the villages outside the city flocked to her and vied to send their daughters to apply for the job.
"Mom, can I choose? I think this one on the side... looks pretty good."
Zhu Hao was like selecting an oiran in a brothel, only paying attention to appearance.
There is no other way. If I hire a maid, how can I save face if she is not pretty? How can I be a leisurely and dissolute young master?
"Nonsense, stand aside!"
Zhu Niang looked over and found that the girl at the edge was already blushing, which made her look even more charming.
Zhu Niang called the maid to her side and asked her in detail about the girl's family background. She scolded her son, but she was more inclined to listen to her son's opinion on matters like this.
"Her surname is Bai, and her father is not from this village. More than 20 years ago, the Bai family fled from the south of the Yangtze River and gave birth to several of them. She has an older sister who works as a maid in a wealthy family. She has a bond and it is estimated that she will not be released until she is 20 years old... She has two younger brothers and two younger sisters... Her father is in poor health..."
Four daughters and two sons.
It was not easy to support everyone. Her father was in poor health, and her sister was sold to a wealthy family as a maid early on, so she had to work too.
Zhu Niang nodded: "Then it's her. When the family is in trouble, she knows what's good for her and works harder and more diligently."
Afterwards, Zhu Niang discussed the specific matters with the old woman.
The remaining two maids who were not chosen went out to wait in front of the carriage for the maid to leave the city together. Of course, even if they were not chosen, they would be given enough money for the carriage and tea, but it is hard to say whether the maid would embezzle it in the end. Even if they were chosen, they would probably have to give the maid a lot of benefits.
"Your last name is Bai? What's your name?"
Zhu Hao forced a harmless smile.
This girl was six or seven years older than Zhu Hao, which made her a grown-up girl in that era. But when facing Zhu Hao, a little brat, her pretty face turned red.
Or maybe her sister would occasionally come home and instill some ideas in her, that the young masters of wealthy families are all bad people, they are all perverts and the like...
"My name is Erdan..."
This name sounded like it was randomly chosen. Zhu Hao pursed his lips. The Bai family really didn't take their daughter seriously.
"Erdan? That's not a good name... My name is Zhu Hao. I'm not at home most of the time. I study in the palace. I only come back on Fridays or holidays. My mother and aunt are very busy at home. I rely on you to help take care of them!"
Zhu Hao spoke very politely, without any airs of a young master.
After she finished speaking, the little girl's expression was no longer as nervous as before. She looked at Zhu Hao carefully, as if she wanted to remember this face.
