books44 Chapter 11 First-Class Maid
Chapter 11 First-Class Maid
Tan Chun was suddenly startled to see someone coming from Jia Huan's courtyard. She couldn't help but feel uneasy: Huan'er always liked to compare himself with Bao Yu. Why did he suddenly send someone over? Could it be because I'm getting close to Bao Yu now and he's trying to cause trouble?
But the person doesn't look like it.
Tan Chun asked, "Did Huan'er send you? What does he want with you?"
"Replying to Third Miss, Third Master said that today is Third Miss's birthday, and he should have come to congratulate you in person. However, he is not yet fully recovered and is afraid that the illness will affect you, so he will not come. He sent the two of us to deliver congratulatory gifts to you, hoping that you will have a smooth and worry-free life and that all your wishes will come true!" Qingyun Nuanxue then presented the wooden box.
Tan Chun breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. While happy, she also felt that she had been petty. Huan'er was seriously ill but still remembered her birthday and prepared a gift for her. However, she had not visited Huan'er since he fell ill. She felt really ashamed.
"How is Huan'er's health now?" Tan Chun asked.
"Yesterday, Physician Wang came to examine me and said that Third Master is currently in poor health and needs to take good care of himself. Otherwise, he would absolutely not be able to miss Miss's birthday celebration." As she said this, a timely expression of apology appeared on Qingyun's face.
Tan Chun quickly waved her hand: "It's good that Huan'er is alright. Let him rest well and don't worry about me."
After delivering her congratulatory gifts, Qingyun Nuanxue took Tanchun's reward money and returned to Qingfeng Courtyard with light steps.
At that time, in the tea room at the west end of Qingfeng Courtyard, a delicate white porcelain teacup was filled with bright red tea. The aroma of tea permeated the space, rich and long-lasting, with white smoke swirling around. Jia Huan sat at the tea table, his slender fingers turning the teacup, his eyes closed as he enjoyed the tranquility and leisure.
But this tranquility was suddenly disturbed.
"Third Master, the Third Miss's congratulatory gift has been sent." Qingyun Nuanxue stood up straight, her lips curving upwards involuntarily.
Jia Huan frowned slightly, neither moving nor responding, but instead closed his eyes to continue resting.
Qingyun Nuanxue thought he hadn't heard her and was about to say something more when Xiuyun and Xiuyu quickly stepped into the room and whispered, "Third Master is enjoying tea in the west wing and no one is allowed to disturb him. No one is allowed to stay in the room either. We were just serving him outside. How did you two get in like this? Get out of here now."
Jia Huan had previously asked Xiuyun and Xiuyu to guard the door, but the two of them had nothing to do, so they sat on the porch outside the door, studying patterns with their embroidery frames. They were so engrossed that they didn't notice Qingyun and Nuanxue coming in.
Upon hearing this, Qingyun and Nuanxue came to their senses, remembering Jia Huan's instructions earlier. They lowered their heads sheepishly and quietly followed Xiuyun and Xiuyu out, where the four of them waited at the door.
Xiuyun and Xiuyu had no interest in embroidery. They glared at Qingyun and Nuanxue, then stood on either side of the doorway, staring intently at it.
The two women were so angry for a reason: Jia Huan wanted to choose two first-class personal maids from among the six of them.
Although Zizai, Feihua, Xiuyun, Xiuyu, Qingyun, and Nuanxue are all senior maids in Jia Huan's household, senior maids like Jia Huan and his juniors are only considered second-class in the household, and junior maids are only considered third-class.
Only elders in the mansion, such as Grandmother Jia, Lady Wang, and Lady Xing, had first-class maids. Even Jia Baoyu, who was the most favored and valued in the mansion, did not have one.
It was only because Grandmother Jia doted on him that she transferred a maid named Xiren from her own side to take care of him. She was also on Grandmother Jia's side of the allowance, so strictly speaking, Xiren was not Jia Baoyu's maid, but only a temporary transfer. Grandmother Jia could send her back at any time.
Only when Jia Huan and his juniors grew up, officially opened their own courtyards, or got married could their personal maids be promoted to first-class status.
Jia Huan originally had two personal maids, but they were used to bullying their master and continued to act lawlessly and disregard hierarchy after Jia Huan arrived. Naturally, Jia Huan would not tolerate them any longer. In addition, he was in a bad mood after just transmigrating, so he gave each of them forty lashes and sent them away without any politeness.
When the two men carried them away, they were barely clinging to life. Their pitiful appearance greatly shocked the other servants in the courtyard, saving Jia Huan a lot of trouble when dealing with the people in the courtyard later.
Now that Jia Huan has opened the courtyard ahead of schedule, he naturally has the right to use first-class maids. So Jia Huan proposed to select first-class maids to help him manage the affairs of Qingfeng Courtyard, and even divided them into two groups to work together, with the three groups taking turns to serve him.
After all, even if Jia Huan had nothing to do, he couldn't do everything himself and personally contact and arrange matters with his subordinates.
After he revealed this meaning, all six of them were very enthusiastic. They were all head maids, and if they were outshone by others, wouldn't they feel inferior and lose face?
Moreover, in the Jia family, a third-class maidservant received 500 coins a month, a second-class maidservant received 1 string of cash, which is 1,000 coins, while a first-class maidservant received 1 tael a month.
Silver is expensive now, one tael of silver can be exchanged for nearly 1,500 coins, which means their monthly allowance will increase by nearly half. Naturally, they are eager for such a double improvement in status and allowance.
This time, Qingyun Nuanxue caused Xiuyun and Xiuyu to make a mistake, and Xiuyun and Xiuyu were naturally angry. However, what had happened was already done, and there was no use in regretting it. They could only secretly hope that they had not disturbed the Third Master.
Qingyun Nuanxue was even more annoyed than Xiuyun Xiuyu, wondering how she could have lost her mind and forgotten the rules!
Ever since Jia Huan moved into Qingfeng Courtyard to "recuperate," he has never left the courtyard or interacted with people from other courtyards. This time, for Tan Chun's birthday, it was the first time Jia Huan had sent someone out. Qingyun and Nuanxue naturally assumed that Jia Huan had sent the two of them, which was a sign that he valued them.
So the two of them rehearsed their words and actions repeatedly last night, making sure there would be no mistakes today. Who knew that they would make no mistakes at Qiushuangzhai and on the way there and back, but they would make a mistake when they returned to Qingfengyuan.
Regardless of how frustrated the four people outside were, after a while, Jia Huan slowly opened his eyes, returned to the west side room and sat down on the kang (heated brick bed). He had already decided on the person to be his personal maid.
His maids were all handpicked by Madam Wang, and none of them had much ability or connections. He could only choose the best among the worst, selecting two who were roughly the same, so he didn't pay much attention to this matter.
The Xiuyun and Xiuyu sisters are clever and quick-witted, but not careful or cautious enough in their work; Qingyun and Nuanxue are kind-hearted but shallow and easily distracted; only Zizai Feihua is unremarkable, without any particularly outstanding qualities, but also without any major flaws. They seem to know that they are not capable enough, so they always listen to Jia Huan and consciously or unconsciously learn his way of doing things. They are very ambitious and do things in a meticulous and reliable manner.