Chapter 2 Dealing with the Present
After lying down for a while, Su Qing felt much better and his body relaxed. He slowly sat up and looked around. This was a wing room in the side courtyard. The roof was a slope. It was fine near the door, but it got lower as he went inside. When he reached Su Qing's bed, he stood by the bed and his head hit the beam.
Su Qing was actually very familiar with this type of house, similar to the side shed where she stored sundries in her grandmother's house in the northeastern countryside where she lived in her previous life. It was damp, dark, and airy...
Su Qing was looking at the layout of the room when she heard a creak and a girl pushed the door open. She looked at Su Qing who had sat up and exclaimed, then walked over happily, looked her up and down for a while, turned around, put the tray in her hand on the table next to her, and reached out her hand to touch Su Qing's forehead.
"That's great. It's not hot anymore. You're getting better at the right time. If you're not feeling well again today, Mother Yu will have someone carry you out."
Because of the original owner's memories, Su Qing knew that Yu Mama was the woman who bought her that day and was also the manager of the inner courtyard of the west house.
The girl in front of him was called Cai'er, and she was bought in together with him. Before they were bought in, they lived together in the house of the traffickers for the longest time. The girl's surname was Shi, and her name was Cai'er. She was the same age as the original owner, but her birthday was younger than the original owner, so he called her Sister Qing'er.
Cai'er is not particularly good-looking, but she is likable. She has a baby face, a slightly plump figure, and is not tall. However, her voice is pleasant, clear and crisp. She only listens to what others like to say. Even Yu's mother will smile at her. She is a very easy-going girl.
"Cai Er, why are you back at this time? How are the preparations going over there?"
Caier picked up a large coarse porcelain bowl from the tray, stirred it gently, blew on it, and was about to feed it to Su Qing. Su Qing waved his hands repeatedly, indicating that he could eat by himself.
The thin noodles were soaked in the oily soup, and there were a few green rapeseeds. Su Qing felt that his whole body, including his toes, had awakened. He picked up the chopsticks and started eating in big mouthfuls.
Cai Er looked at her and was happy. She smiled and said, "Wait a minute. I wanted to give you two pieces of meat, but I thought you haven't eaten well these days and I was afraid you wouldn't be able to digest it. I just came here to try my luck. If you're still confused, I'll go get some rice porridge to feed you."
Su Qing swallowed the noodles in his mouth and sighed with satisfaction. They were so delicious, much better than those made by the famous chain stores in his previous life.
"Cai'er is still the best. She always thinks of me. When I recover, you can let me do any work you want."
Cai Er heard her say this and laughed, "Great, being sick makes you sweeter. We have lived in Renyazi's house for so many days and never saw you talk so much. Now that you are in the mansion, you are even more like this. When others bully you, you don't say a word."
Su Qing chuckled and drank the soup from the bowl, "Mother Yu said she wanted to send me away?"
"Yes, I heard her tell Sister Wanxiang the other day that if you don't feel strong before the lady comes this time, she will go find someone from the outer courtyard to take you away."
Wanxiang was in charge of the maids, and was like a class monitor. She seemed to be some cousin of Yu Mama, older than them, very pretty, and literate. She was a very smooth person on weekdays.
"When will the lady come?"
"I don't know yet. It's just that the servants from the East Mansion have arrived one after another in the past few days. The people around Madam and the Fourth Miss have already started cleaning the house. Didn't you see that there is no one in our yard? They all went to help."
Su Qing drank up the noodle soup in the bowl. She was really hungry. "Is it okay for you to come back and bring me food? Don't let Wanxiang scold you again."
"It's okay. Mother Yu arranged for me to come back to get something. I heard from Sister Wanxiang that the master of the mansion hasn't come to our house for more than ten years. Not to mention the master, even the servants who are worthy of serving the master don't come. If it weren't for the Marquis' illness this time, he had to go west because of his zodiac sign conflict, and he couldn't leave the capital, how could we have served the Madam?"
Su Qing nodded. The original owner's memory told her that the house she was in was a courtyard in the current Huainan Marquis Mansion to the west of the capital. The mansion called this place the West House. The ancestors of the Huainan Marquis Mansion three generations ago lived here.
At that time, the Meng family was not a marquisate, but just a wealthy family. Later, when the ancestors of the Meng family were given the opportunity to become marquises for their meritorious service to the emperor, they moved to the east side of the house granted by the emperor. This side gradually became deserted, and the masters of the mansion would not come here easily.
The West House is actually not small. Although it is a house with five courtyards, it also has a small garden, a small fish pond, and a large garden where fruits and vegetables are grown. A lot of food is sent to the East House all year round.
But without the master, there are fewer people, all of them are family children, and they just need to do their job well on weekdays. The treatment is naturally not as good as in the East Palace, so those who work here are either those who have made mistakes or have no foundation. Fortunately, there are fewer things to do, and it is comfortable and peaceful.
This place became busy because the madam was going to bring the fourth young lady here. Su Qing and the others were bought in because of this matter.
"What's wrong with you?" Su Qing put down the bowl and pointed at Cai'er's pants.
"Just now when I was selecting vegetables in the kitchen, one of my sisters-in-law accidentally spilled it while serving soup."
"Are you going to work in the big kitchen?" Su Qing thought that the newcomers were always assigned to weeding and doing rough work in the yard.
"Well, he said he was too busy in the kitchen, so he just went there for a short break. Mother Yu said this morning that she would reallocate some work among us." Cai'er said as she walked towards her bed.
There are six or seven beds in this room. Except for my bed at the innermost, the others are placed side by side at the door. There is a table with a cabinet next to each bed, which makes it look like a student dormitory.
Cai Er took out a blue-gray linen suit worn by the lowest-ranking servants in the Marquis' Mansion from the cabinet and put it on while saying, "Now that you are well, I will go to report to Mother Yu in a while. Take this opportunity to do some work. No matter what happens, it is best to let Mother Yu see that you are fine. This way, when the Madam comes, Mother Yu will not ask to carry you out again."
Su Qing nodded, thinking about the pitiful experience of the original owner, who had no food to eat and no place to sleep. It seems that gaining a foothold here first and then planning for the future is the wisest choice at the moment.
Cai'er changed her clothes swiftly, came over to pick up the empty bowl and put it on the tray, "If you feel refreshed, go wash yourself while no one is around. I'll report back to Mother Yu later, and she'll arrange some work for you. I heard that if the Madam serves well during this visit, she will be taken back to the East Palace. Everyone is eager to get started."
Su Qing nodded, thinking that it would be a fantasy for someone like me who had just bought the house to go to the East Palace, but she had to work hard and behave well. The lady had only been living here for more than a month, and she would be leaving soon. If she didn't do a good job or something went wrong, it would be bad if Mother Yu sold her out.
There is only one principle: before you understand everything clearly, it is more important than anything else to stand firm.