Chapter 368 - Crybaby (2/2)
A look of surprise crossed Huang Xiaomei’s face. She had previously thought that since her whole family had been bought as servants, they could only do what the masters told them too. Since they were all considered the master’s people, they couldn’t even receive a salary! She never would have thought that even she could earn three hundred copper coins a month as salary! The young miss was truly too generous and kind hearted. However, the young miss didn’t discuss this with the master, so would the master be angry when he found out they were going to get paid each month?
“Young Miss, we’re servants that were bought by your family. Are we really able to get paid too?” Huang Xiaomei couldn't help but give her a reminder.
Yu Xiaocao gently nodded her head and stated, “All of you will be doing work, so naturally you will all get paid! Don’t think of yourselves as a lower status. Have you seen the servants and stewards of the rich and wealthy? Although they are also servants, they are all incredibly proud and arrogant! That Steward Wang, who was trying to force you, wasn’t he just waving around his master’s power and status for his own benefit ah? What does that Wang Family have anyway? They just have a little extra bit of stinky money that they used to bribe a few officials and yamen, that’s all. Nothing to be impressed with! In the future, we’ll open more branches of our braised food and pickled vegetable shop in the prefectural city and the capital. At that point, we don’t even have to consider Steward Wang, even the Wang Family themselves will be coming over to fawn over us!”
Eh? How did the conversation get more off topic the more she talked? Regardless, everything she said was the truth. There was nothing special about the Wang Family. If they dared to come over to cause trouble, the prefectural yamen was just across the street and they were no pushovers! That being said, apparently the prefectural magistrate’s wife's 40th birthday celebration was the day after tomorrow. She needed to prepare some roasted ducks and roasted chickens for it.
The prefectural magistrate had made it obvious that her family was under his protection. Although he was only doing this for the sake of Royal Prince Yang, she couldn't just take his good will for granted. She heard that the prefectural magistrate had originally planned on holding his wife’s birthday celebration at Zhenxiu Restaurant. Unfortunately, Zhenxiu Restaurant’s popularity had been sky high and he wasn’t able to reserve enough tables there. Thus, he could only invite a chef over to his own residence to hold the banquet there instead.
Tomorrow, she needed to inquire the prefectural magistrate’s head steward just how many tables they were having. Then, the day after tomorrow, she needed to work a bit harder. She wanted to give them a roasted duck and chicken for each table. Was that enough to show her gratitude? Perhaps she also needed to personally make a cake for the prefectural magistrate’s wife too?
Yu Xiaocao was just considering how to best return this debt of hers when a carriage stopped right in front of the Yu’s Braised Food Store. Two charming girls around the age of fourteen to fifteen stepped down.
“Oh my! This is the store that our young miss opened? It smells so good ah! It’s truly the work of our young miss.” The young woman who was clothed in green raised her head to look at the sign at the front of the store and cheerfully blabbered.
Next to her was a young woman dressed in pink who glared at her, “Yangliu, how many times do I have to tell you? Stop chattering so much about everything! We are currently the personal maidservants of our young miss, so we need to be more steady and not lose face for our master!”
Yangliu grinned at her and her eyes suddenly landed at the pickled vegetable shop behind the other girl. Her eyes opened wide when she saw Xiaocao, who was wearing an apron, bustling around the shop. She yelled in surprise, “Yingtao, look! Isn’t that our young miss ah? The Yu’s Pickled Vegetable Store. Every time I eat pickled vegetables that our young miss has made, I can eat an extra two bowls of congee!”
Yingtao scolded her in amusement, “You’re such an embarrassment!”
She followed Yangliu’s line of sight and, when she saw the familiar face, Yingtao also couldn’t stay calm. She immediately forgot that she was previously scolding Yangliu for not being steady as she lifted her skirts to run inside. She leaned over the counter to yell in a voice full of emotion, “Young Miss!”
Yu Xiaocao lifted her head and saw Yingtao standing there, holding back tears. She was a bit flabbergasted, “Yingtao? Yangliu? When did you guys come over to the prefectural city?? Did Godmother come over too?”
Yingtao used a handkerchief to wipe the tears of her face as she replied in a voice that slightly trembled, “Milady didn’t come...Young Miss, you’re so cruel. You left us servants back at the residence and haven’t even asked about us. It’s been more than a few months since you left. We are your maidservants for a reason. In the future, wherever you go, we will go too!”
When their young miss left the capital, she didn’t bring a single maidservant along. This caused them, her personal maidservants, to guard an empty courtyard while earning their wages. The other maids, who weren’t previously chosen to be personal maids, always came around to say some sour remarks. They claimed that the young miss disdained them and that the young miss couldn't refuse the lady’s good intentions, so she left without them. Furthermore, they opined that they weren’t sure whether they could keep their positions the next time the young miss came back to the capital! If it wasn’t for Linglong coming over often to supervise the courtyard and harshly scolding those other maids, they probably would have had to endure a lot more criticism!
The last time the general came back to the capital, he mentioned that Xiaocao had opened a store in the prefectural city and was so busy that she ran around all day and had gotten significantly thinner. He recommended that his wife send a few people over to help her. Yingtao and Yangliu voluntarily came out to take on this task to go to the prefectural city to help their young miss. Yingtao had previously gone with her young miss to the Imperial Plantations and had described everything that had happened there to the other maids. Everyone was envious that she was able to go there with the young miss. This time, if she didn’t strike first to grab the position, she might not be able to go to the prefectural city. Yangliu had also been chosen to go because she had talent in cooking and had learned a few recipes from their young miss. The lady loved the young miss and decided to have Yangliu be in charge of her daughter’s food and drink, while Yingtao was in charge of everything else…
“Alright ah! Look at you, you’re sobbing just like a little crybaby. If you keep crying like that, you won’t be pretty anymore! Quickly wipe those tears!” Yu Xiaocao was also very happy to see Yingtao and Yangliu.
Yingtao suppressed her emotions and wiped the tears off her face. She noticed that there was a young girl behind Yu Xiaocao and had a bad premonition, “Young Miss, who is she ah?”
“I’m a servant that Young Miss bought!” Huang Xiaomei regarded Yingtao and Yangliu with unabashed curiosity. Both of these young women were dressed in such beautiful clothing and they had silver ornaments in their hair and silver bracelets on their wrists. In fact, they were dressed more grandly than the Wang Family’s young miss. The thing she found most surprising was that these two called themselves servants in front of the young miss. Were they, two girls dressed more beautifully and with more jewelry than the young miss herself, truly servants of the young miss?
When Yingtao heard this, her emotions overtook her and tears gushed out of her eyes again, “Young Miss! Do you really want to throw us away? You would rather buy a maid than bring us along with you?”
Yu Xiaocao wanted to slap her head in exasperation. She never knew that Yingtao, who always looked lively and cheerful, was actually a crybaby. She explained somewhat tiredly, “Xiaomei was given to me by Royal Prince Yang. I’m training her so that she can take over the pickled vegetable store in the future. Don’t worry, there’s no one here who will try to take over your duties!”