Chapter 61: House Arrest Period
After being scolded by Ji Yunqing, the two old women began to wonder if they were really at a disadvantage.
But they are all gatekeepers, is it necessary to compare them like this?
"Of course we have to compare," Ji Yunqing slapped his thigh, "Let me tell you, what in this world doesn't need to be compared?
When it comes to giving birth, compare with your sisters-in-law, relatives, and neighbors to see who gets pregnant faster, whose child is whiter and fatter, and whose child is raised better.
We women still have to compare our looks, men, children, abilities, and when we get old, our jobs and grandchildren. Tell me, isn’t that the truth?”
The two old women couldn't help but nod their heads, this was indeed the truth.
Ji Yunqing smiled secretly, although she didn't understand what there was to compare. Nowadays, young people care about showing off. At most, they would compete to see who can grab a box of paper for a penny or buy a pair of shoes for 9.9 yuan.
But her mother always compared herself with others. When she was a child, what she often said was, "Look at so-and-so's child, they are so good." Ji Yunqing was tired of hearing it.
The two old women gradually opened up and talked to Ji Yunqing through the door.
One said that when she was young, she often suffered from her mother-in-law's anger because she was not as capable as her eldest sister-in-law. Her eldest sister-in-law had two children in three years after she came into the family. She could still work during the confinement period, but she could not.
Another one cursed her mother-in-law for being mentally ill and shameless. Her husband was sick and couldn't have children, but she still forced her to drink bowl after bowl of medicine, saying that her inability to have children had delayed the Zhou family's fortune of having children.
As we all know, these old women are very careless when it comes to their words.
Ji Yunqing sat on a chair that was specially brought here, listening to the story of life and death, which made him feel hopeless.
She didn't want to know at all how the useless Mrs. Zhou had given birth to a child when she was young.
I don’t want to know about the years when Yu Pozi was tortured by her mother-in-law.
When the two of them had almost finished talking, Ji Yunqing finally achieved his goal for today.
She said cheerfully, "Then let's make a deal. I'll take you two with me when I teach you how to read. Two more people doesn't matter anyway."
Mrs. Zhou was worried. Could she really learn that calligraphy?
Ji Yunqing was very firm and said, "Oh, don't you want to learn to teach your grandchildren? Think about it, your grandchild is so smart, isn't it a pity that he can't read?
And Mrs. Yu, didn't you say those two granddaughters were money-losing goods? Wouldn't it be enough to send them to the mansion to serve the master?
When you have learned it, teach them to recognize a few more words. That will give you an advantage when you are in charge of selecting people, right?"
Anyway, she heard that the two little girls were having a hard time at home, and if they were sent here at least they could have enough food and warm clothes.
Just like that, Ji Yunqing gained two more "disciples".
Ji Yunqing immediately taught the two of them how to read.
Although they didn't learn it, the two maids showed a lot more respect to Concubine Ji.
Just like the boys, they also have “teachers” who teach them how to read!
The body straightened up silently.
After teaching them, Ji Yunqing asked them to help fetch some well water. After all, they needed water to irrigate the vegetable fields.
Normally speaking, for doing such things, the people in the courtyard should give some benefits, but the two old women have just learned some knowledge, and this is their husband.
"It's just a small matter, please wait for me."
The two maids quickly fetched some water.
There is a well nearby, which supplies daily water to several nearby courtyards, but there is no water inside the courtyard.
Ji Yunqing guessed that they were probably afraid that someone would fall in the middle of the night, or jump into the nearby well out of despair.
Just think about it, how convenient it is to throw water into the well in the yard!
If I come out and invest again, it will be a lot of trouble.
In the next few days, Ji Yunqing's daily routine became very regular.
He slept until dawn, then got up slowly, ate something, and then taught a few stupid students to recognize words.
Ji Yunqing also did not forget to secretly add his own ideas and instill in them the idea of respecting teachers. Fortunately, most scholars thought so and the textbooks were readily available.
There was just one thing: Ji Yunqing looked at the latest meal that was delivered and was speechless for a long time.
It was just a simple bowl of porridge, the grains of rice could be counted on one hand, a plate of leftover steamed buns, and two dishes of rotten vegetables. There was no meat, vegetables or oil at all.
It was still edible the first two days!
Mrs. Zhou, who was guarding outside the door, was familiar with Concubine Ji and had even received her teachings to read and write. So she couldn't help but favor Ji Yunqing.
"Who are these people? Just give Master Ji this little bit of food, or should I go to the kitchen to ask for more?"
Ji Yunqing shook his head: "No, if they wanted to give it, they wouldn't give so little."
Mother Yu suggested: "Master Ji, why don't we also use silver? It is said that Concubine Zhao charges ten taels of silver for a good meal."
Ten taels of silver!
Ji Yunqing took a breath and said, "No, I don't have any money!"
The two old women: “…” They had guessed it long ago, otherwise they wouldn’t have gone to so much trouble to teach them to read.
But don't be so blunt, you are the master after all.
Seeing that the food being delivered was becoming less and less palatable, Ji Yunqing decided to formally implement the backup plan.
"Let's cook our own food."
To cook, you need a small kitchen, or at least a stove.
There is no room in the small kitchen now, but the stove is still okay.
"Master, we don't have bricks to make a stove!" said Hemerocallis in annoyance.
How could they have forgotten this thing in the first place?
Ji Yunqing walked around the yard twice and pointed at the tall wall. "Let's tear down a few pieces of the wall."
Several maids: "...Huh? Isn't this inappropriate?" What if the princess knew that the master was demolishing the wall during the confinement?
You can't cook without bricks, Ji Yunqing said decisively: "Tear down the wall!"
She didn't just target one wall, but instead removed the top layer of bricks from the entire wall so that it wouldn't be visible.
It was said before that Ji Yunqing had long been prepared for being confined to her home, or falling out of favor and having to take care of herself in her old age, so she had long since found out how to make a stove, as well as many tips for using it in daily life.
At this moment, he was not panicked at all. He directed several people to build a stove in the open space in the yard. He also picked beans and eggplants in the yard and made a big pot of braised noodles.
This is simple and easy to do. She had done it in her previous life. Hong Xing even went to the kitchen for some time and finally succeeded after some trial and error.
But when it came to sprinkling seasoning, Ji Yunqing frowned slightly, because the only seasoning here was coarse salt.
And because fine salt was too expensive, she couldn't bear to buy it at first.
It tastes a bit bitter and not delicious.
But the maids were very happy, "Master, now we have something to eat."
"Master is really amazing. He actually planted the vegetables so early."
"Master, we can eat for a long time."
They later bought rice and flour, so they had no shortage of these things.
Ji Yunqing held the rice bowl and commented calmly: "It's OK. If there is a stone mill, we can also make tofu."
"It doesn't matter. Next time the master is grounded, we will prepare one in advance."