Chapter 187 New Year’s Money
After the New Year's Eve dinner, it's time to give out lucky money, but what the boss gives to the servants is not called lucky money, but called red envelopes.
And this moment, all the servants of the Chu family have been looking forward to this moment for a whole year.
Although Mrs. Zeng was usually frugal, she was never harsh to her servants.
The size of the red envelopes was given out according to everyone's position. Mother Su, Mother Cui, Aunt Yu, Manager Lu, Second Housekeeper Cui, and He Donglin received the largest red envelopes, each with twenty taels of silver.
The first-class maids and junior stewards and guards each receive fifteen taels of silver each, the second-class maids receive fifteen taels of silver each, the third-class maids and young servants receive five taels of silver each, and the coarse maids and coarse servants receive three taels of silver each. Two silver coins.
Old Man Bai and Master Qi also had red envelopes, but theirs were much larger, two hundred taels of silver each.
The red envelopes for these people were distributed by Zeng herself, while the red envelopes for the others were distributed by Manager Lu and Butler Cui.
Seeing that Zeng's lips were turning purple from the cold, Xia Zihan hurriedly accompanied Zeng back to the house.
It's freezing cold today, and it's easy to catch a cold when eating outside. Zeng is old and can't stand the cold after staying outside for a long time.
As soon as she entered the house, Mrs. Zeng climbed onto the hot bed. Xia Zihan took a blanket and covered her legs, and then asked Hongmei to make a cup of hot tea and bring it over.
"Grandma, drink a cup of hot tea to warm yourself up first."
Xia Zihan took the tea from Hongmei's hand and personally fed Zeng to drink more than half the cup.
"How's it going? Are you feeling better?" Xia Zihan asked worriedly.
"It's just a little bit of wind. I'm fine. I can still hold on." Zeng pulled her onto the kang and sat beside her.
Seeing Zeng's pale complexion gradually returning to rosy, Xia Zihan felt relieved.
Mrs. Zeng took out a big red envelope from her arms and handed it to Xia Zihan, "This is the New Year's money given to you by your grandma. You should take it and put it under your pillow when you sleep at night. It can drive away evil spirits and avoid disasters."
Xia Zihan would not refuse this.
She continued with a smile and put it in her arms, "Yes, I understand."
Su's mother, Qingya, Nuanyu and others came in.
Mrs. Zeng wanted to play leaf cards, "Tonight is the Chinese New Year. We are playing leaf cards. It's so lively that we won't go to bed before midnight."
"Count me in." Mother Su said with a smile, "Everyone has received big red envelopes. Today I am going to show off my power and make all the money of these girls."
"Mother Su has such a loud voice. Whether she can make all our money is not based on her words." Hongmei joked.
Mother Su and Hongmei climbed onto the kang, and together with Xia Zihan, Zeng Shi, Nuanyu, and Si Cao, the six of them played together.
Vanilla and Qingya were serving everyone below, serving tea and water.
Although Su's mother said so, she still gave way to the Zeng family when playing leaf cards. Hongmei and Nuanyu were all involved. After a round of play, several people lost, but Zeng family won. Quite a few.
How could Mrs. Zeng not guess their little thoughts?
Mrs. Zeng laughed and scolded, "You two have a good fight and don't hide it. Today is the Chinese New Year. Isn't there a saying that those who win at cards tonight will win every day in the future, and those who lose today will win every day in the future." Lose.”
It's very surprising to hear this. They are all servants, and their monthly salary is only two or three taels of silver. If they lose every day, they have to take off their shoes and pants.
The most important thing is that everyone gave in to Zeng. Zeng only wanted to win. He couldn't find any fun in it and was a little bit resentful.
Later, everyone started fighting for each other, coming and going, and no one gave in.
Mother Su is indeed a veteran. In less than an hour, she won a bunch of broken silver. Xia Zihan also won a lot, with five or six taels of silver. Nuanyu and Silk Grass lost a lot. The two of them did not have Hongmei and Mother Su played a lot of leaf cards, but she was not very good at it, and she lost the most.
Zeng also poured out a lot of money from his win, just like Hongmei, just enough to protect his capital.
After Haishi, Xia Zihan couldn't sit still. He was restless and often made mistakes.
Seeing that she was in low spirits, Mrs. Zeng thought she was tired, so she asked Xianghua to come over and replace her, "You are young and can't stay up late. Go to bed first. Nuanyu and the others will stay here to accompany me. In the evening, They just squeezed together with Hongmei and others in the side room."
Both inside and outside the words were intended to keep Nuanyu and the others busy and lively.
Xia Zihan smiled and said yes, and Chu Cong and others accompanied him back to his yard.
She made an excuse and sent Chu Cong and others to rest in the yard next door, while she stayed in the room alone.
Knowing that Chu Jingqi would come tonight, Xia Zihan leaned on the big pillow and waited for him. Who knew that after waiting, she fell asleep.
"Ayu, why did you sleep here without covering yourself with a quilt? What should I do if I catch a cold?"
When she was drifting off to sleep, she seemed to hear Chu Jingqi's voice.
Then, he took off and flew.
She opened her eyes dizzily, and saw Chu Jingqi's face very close at hand, a pair of deep eyes staring straight at her, almost sucking her soul in.
She quickly looked away and whispered, "Aqi, you're here."
"Well, you fell asleep without even a quilt covering you." He carried her back to the bed, put her down gently, and then gently covered her with the quilt. Only then did Xia Zihan realize that when she woke up, she was being held in his arms. Her little face turned red instantly and she didn't dare to look at his face.
For her, she is already thirty years old, and Chu Jingqi is only ten years old, but...but...
For some reason, the atmosphere in Aimei gradually rose between the two,
The only small lamp that was lit at the corner of the room was a long fire, illuminating the surrounding area dimly and dimly, making the warm and romantic atmosphere even stronger.
Chu Jingqi was fascinated by her shy look, and was in a trance. Her scorching eyes stared at her with obsession and greed.
Feeling a little uncomfortable being stared at by him, she glared at him angrily and said angrily, "What are you doing here tonight? Are you coming here just to see my face?"
"Well, who told my Ayu to be so good-looking? No one can get enough of her."
Without noticing for a moment, I let out my inner thoughts.
This sentence was often said by Chu Xuanyu to Mr. Zhuo in private, and his son, who had not yet grown hair, learned it to comfort Xia Zihan.
After Chu Jingqi realized what she had said, she said nervously, "Don't be angry. I mean you are cute and everyone likes you. You see, my mother likes you, even my own son." Nothing compares to it.”
"That's because my aunt loves me." Xia Zihan blushed and looked away uncomfortably. Suddenly, something was placed on her hand. She picked it up and saw that it was a red paper bag with two silver coins inside. Something as bulging as an ingot.
"New Year's money for you." Chu Jingqi said gently, her voice was particularly low, as if there was something hidden in it.
Xia Zihan felt that the red envelope in her hand was as hot as a soldering iron, so she hurriedly threw it back to him, "I don't want it, I am your sister, I don't need you to give me lucky money."
How can any brother give New Year's money to his sister?
In the Dasheng Dynasty, only the elders would give lucky money to the younger generation, and then... the husband would give lucky money to his wife.
She is not his junior, let alone his wife, so she doesn't need him to give her new year's money.
"You just accept what I give you, and I will give it to you every year in the future." Chu Jingqi stuffed the New Year's money back into her hand and threatened, "If you don't take it, I'll throw it on the street."< br>
Seeing his serious expression, Xia Zihan knew that what he said was serious and definitely not a joke.
It would be a shame to throw two silver ingots into the street.
Forget it, don’t give it up, so Xia Zihan gritted his teeth and accepted it.
Chu Jingqi grinned, her smile as tender as water, "Put this under your pillow and it will get rid of a year's bad luck."
"It'll hit my head." She said dullly.
"Put it on top so it won't rattle. I put it on every year." He coaxed her to put the New Year's money he gave her under the pillow, together with what Zeng gave her.
The pillows are very big. If you put some on top and rest your head on the bottom, you won't feel any headache.
"Well, what I said is right." He smiled a little excitedly.
"Yeah."
"From now on, I will come to accompany you every New Year's Eve." He said softly.
"No, I have a maid with me."
"How can it be the same? I'm here to talk to you." He was very insistent and used a bitter trick, "My mother only gave birth to me, and I don't have any brothers or sisters. Just because I am lonely, Just stay with me.”
Of course she would be willing to simply accompany him, but he clearly had bad intentions and was hiding evil intentions. She was worried that if time went by, he would become addicted and sink into deep trouble.
What should she do then?
What should he do?
What should aunts and uncles do?
Xia Zihan gritted his teeth and finally agreed to let him do whatever he wanted next year. When he was eleven years old the year after that, it was time for men and women to be on guard.
"I will be twelve years old tomorrow. If I am not engaged, I should prepare to find my husband's family after spring. I can't always play alone with you. You are two years younger than me, so you don't have to worry about these things, but I Not too small.”
She tried to use a softer voice to persuade him, hoping that one day he would stop focusing all his attention on her.
"My aunt and grandmother now allow you to come and go as you please in the Chu residence and the inner courtyard of Duke Anguo's mansion. That's because you are still young. After two years, my aunt and grandmother will not indulge you."
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"Aqi, at your age you should practice martial arts well and help your uncle in the future. As a man, you should focus on your career and everything else is trivial."
But to me, you are the big deal.
Chu Jingqi said in her heart.
But he didn't dare to say it, because he was afraid that if he did, Ayu would be angry and kick him out, and he would not be allowed to see her in the future.
Because he knew that Ayu seemed to be resistant to him again.
Is it the New Year's money that caused the fuss?
Did it scare her?
It seems that she knows that apart from elders who can give lucky money to younger generations, only husbands can give lucky money to their wives.
No wonder she didn't accept it at first, it turns out she knew it all.
But in the end, I didn’t accept it.
(End of chapter)