Chapter 2： Second aunt Wei Xing

Chapter 2 Er Guwei

These days, eating meat is a luxury. Being able to eat meaty soup is much better than that of ordinary wealthy households.

“The radish stew is almost ready, brother Wei, give it a try and see if it’s salty.”

The stove was full of flames. Wei Tu moved the mat under his buttocks, took a few steps back, and stopped adding firewood.

At this time, the cook Xinghua looked at Wei Tu with a smile, scooped out a bowl of vegetables with a wooden ladle, and handed it to Wei Tu.

There is a way.

If the cook does not steal, he will not harvest the grain.

The cook couldn't stop eating if she wanted to. The mistress of the Li family turned a blind eye to the apricot blossoms.

You can't steal much food.

"Okay." Looking at the pieces of cooked pork at the bottom of the bowl, Wei Tu's throat rolled a few times. He quickly glanced out the window and swallowed when he saw no one.

Just a moment.

The radish and meat at the bottom of the bowl were licked up by Wei Tu.

"What day is it today? Why are you eating radish stew?" Wei Tu put the bowl on the table and asked the cook Xinghua curiously.

Zhaizhu Li's family doesn't eat much meat, only twice a decade, that is, once every five days.

It has only been two days since Xinghua last cooked meat.

It’s not that the Li family doesn’t have the money to eat meat all day long, but doing such a thing will ruin the family fortune for the rich, and they will be scolded by their ancestors after their death.

It only took about a hundred years for the Li family to become rich. The family business was accumulated step by step by the Li family's ancestors as traveling merchants.

“The eldest young master has returned from his study tour in Fucheng. The eldest grandma was very happy and asked me to go to the butcher shop to cut two kilograms of meat yesterday.”

The cook Xinghua replied.

“Young Master?” Wei Tu’s heart moved, and he thought of his young playmate.

pity.

Time has changed.

The distinction between master and servant gradually became clear.

Even though there is old friendship, when he sees the eldest young master, he still has to call him young master to distinguish himself from master and servant.

"You can help me get a leave for grandma later. I have something to go out for."

After Wei Tu added a handful of firewood, he stood up, patted the ash that fell on his body, and said.

Although the eldest grandma of the Li family runs the house rigorously, as long as she completes her duties, taking a break from her busy schedule is not a big deal.

Wei Tu said he was asking for leave, but he was just saying hello to his host's family.

"No problem..." the cook Xinghua responded, holding an iron spoon in hand and starting to stir-fry the next dish.

But as soon as she finished speaking, she said "Ouch", her face flushed, and she glared at Wei Tu who was walking out of the kitchen.

Just now, Wei Tu pinched her butt.

Country people don't have any sense of propriety, justice or shame. She and Wei Tu had been flirting with each other a few years ago, and they were just waiting for the eldest grandma to give her permission and then get married and start a family.

…

After leaving Li's house, Wei Tu did not go directly to Huang's house in a hurry. Instead, he took out the wages he had saved over the years and ran to Rouge Shop.

In the first few years after her second aunt Wei Xin married into the Huang family, she stayed close to his family and came back to visit him every once in a while.

But in the past ten years, I have moved less and less. After my grandparents passed away four years ago, I only went back to the Wei family twice.

One of them was a funeral.

This time I asked my second aunt Wei Xing to do something, and Wei Tu didn't want to be looked down upon. It was better to go with a gift than to go empty-handed.

There is no shortage of rice, grain, cloth and yellow houses.

The only thing he could give was rouge and gouache for women.

“Shop, what are the cheap rouge gouache...”

After hesitating for a moment, Wei Tu gritted his teeth and walked into the rouge shop and asked about the price.

Rouge and gouache have always been of high value. With the money he had in hand, he would not even dare to touch high-end rouge. "Cheap one?" The store owner looked at Wei Tu and saw that Wei Tu was wearing patchwork gray clothes, and he immediately had an idea.

He took a brocade box from the locker and said, "This is Jinyanzhi. A box costs five cents, which is enough for two months."

“If I plan to give a gift, this Jinyanzhi is more suitable.”

The shopkeeper paused and added: "Our store also has cheaper rouge, such as purple cloud jelly, which costs three yuan per box, but giving rouge as a gift is inevitably inappropriate..."

“Let’s choose Jin Yanzhi.” Wei Tu thought for a moment, nodded, took out five large coins worth “a thousand coins” and put them on the counter.

The second aunt, Wei Ying, was a noble lady of Huangzhai. She went to the rouge shop much more often than he did. If he gave Ziyunzhi as a gift, Wei Ying would not be happy even if she didn't say it openly.

The most important thing is the most important etiquette, and the most important affection!

In addition, since Ziyunzhi is the cheapest rouge in the rouge shop, the probability of applying this rouge will be very low due to Wei Xun's status.

The Ziyunzhi given as a gift will also be shelved.

As for bargaining…

They are all fellow villagers. If the rouge shop deceives customers, the business will not last long.

The only thing that made Wei Tu feel good about coming to ancient times was the reputational environment in ancient times. Except for despicable foreigners, locals rarely committed fraud.

Such a large store rarely allows customers to negotiate prices, and prices are all clearly marked.

Wei Tu was short of money, but he didn't want to waste time for a few coppers.

“I’ll pack it for you.” The store owner said with a smile.

Shao Qing and Wei Tu carried the gift box and came to a street lined with official residences.

Compared with Li Zhai, Mr. Huang of Huang Zhai has more financial resources and is richer. Shengyefang where he is located is the residence of dignitaries in Qingmu County.

Finding the mansion with "Yellow" on the plaque, Wei Tu knocked on the side door and explained his intention to the door.

“Are you from Second Grandma’s family? Wait in the sedan hall first, and I’ll call the maid in the inner courtyard.”

Menzi made way for Wei Tu to sit in the sedan hall, and then started walking towards the inner courtyard of Huang Mansion.

The sedan hall is the place where large families leave their sedan chairs. They are usually located in the front yard.

Wei Tu waited for a while, and was led by a maid named "Qing He" to a wing in the front yard, waiting for his second aunt Wei Tu.

The rules of wealthy families are strict and outsiders, especially men, are not allowed to enter the inner courtyard.

After waiting for about half a quarter of an hour, a beautiful woman with a gorgeous appearance and skin like suet opened the wooden door of the wing and walked in.

There were two maids behind him, one of whom was "Qing He" who led the way earlier.

"Wei Tu, why did you come to see your second aunt? But something happened at home?" Wei Xin sat on the stool next to the table in the side room, took a sip of the tea poured by the maid, and said with a smile.

"Nothing happened at home." Wei Tu stood up, stopped sitting down, bowed slightly and said, "I came to see my second aunt this time because I have something to ask my second aunt."

Although he was sold to Li Zhai by Wei Bao, his contact with his family was not severed.

Wei Bao was forced to sell him out of necessity.

Six years ago when Chilong was overturned, there was a severe drought in Qingfeng Mansion, and there was almost no harvest. It was better to go to Li's house to beg for food than to starve to death at home.

Wei Xin stopped smiling, put the tea cup on the table, and looked at Wei Tu with sharp eyes. Although he didn't say anything harsh, his attitude said everything.

When Wei Bao has something to do, she, as a younger sister, can still help and take care of the brother-sister relationship.

But a nephew…

“This is the rouge my nephew bought. Please accept it from my second aunt...”

Wei Tu took out the gift box, placed it on the Eight Immortals table, and pushed it in the direction of Wei Xin.

Wei Xin's face looked better when she saw the gift. She knew that Wei Tu was not a person without shame or etiquette.

Having been married into the Huang family for many years, she is already the wife of the Huang family, not the Wei family.

“What’s the matter?”

"If I can help, my second aunt will try my best to help you. If I can't help..."

Wei Xin shook his head and said nothing more.

(End of this chapter)