By Jia Xiuzhen

When Madam Xu left the mansion, she had her car driven to Qiantou East Street, and bought some pastries at Ganliangji and Duomei Zhai before going to the village.Xiao Qi snuggled up to the side without making a fuss, Nanny Xu opened the big bag that Li Wan had prepared, took out the can of fruit candy from inside, and stuffed one into Xiao Qi's mouth.Xiao Qi smashed his mouth, squinted his eyes for joy.

Nanny Xu waited for him to finish eating the candy, and gave him two sips of water.Thinking of the purse in the baggage, he took it out and untied the drawstring to see, he thought it was true, hesitated for a while, sighed, and packed it as it was.She thought to herself, this grandma treats Xiao Qizhen as her grandson—it can be said that she has found a place to spend money, and her hands are big enough.

When we arrived at the village, it happened to be a rest day in the workshop. As soon as Madam Xu arrived, Yunqiu came out to meet her after receiving the letter. He took Xiaoqi into his arms and said to Madam Xu, "I was thinking that Madam Xu had a good time yesterday." We will be able to come back, it must be that our Xiaoqi is too sweet, and grandma won’t let her out." Seeing that Madam Xu had brought a lot of things, she hurriedly ordered people to carry them.Nanny Xu went back to her residence, took out the brocade box, and set aside a basket of snacks to share with Yunqiu Moyu, and ordered the two women to help take the rest, and then went to Mrs. Qiao go home.

Qiao Niangzi heard the door to the south, and hurried out to look, and sure enough, she saw Nanny Xu coming back with Xiao Qi in her arms.Rubbing her hands on the apron, she hugged Xiao Qi and said hello to Nanny Xu.The two exchanged a few pleasantries, and Madam Xu asked them to take their things to the main room and let them go - this is not Jia's mansion, so there is no need to reward them.Lady Qiao looked at things all over the place and didn't know what to say.

Nanny Xu took the bundle, handed it to Mrs. Qiao, and said, "This time I took Xiaoqi to the mansion, and I voted for our grandma. This is a gift from grandma, so please keep it." Picking up a few baskets of snacks, he said, "These are some snacks. Although they are not from the mansion, they are not bad. They are fun for a few small parties."

Mrs. Qiao didn't even dare to say so, Mammy Xu smiled and said: "I didn't come back yesterday, are you worried?" Mrs. Qiao said, "If I change a few others, I'm really worried about causing trouble. Xiao Qi is usually To be honest, I didn’t cause you any trouble this time, right?” Madam Xu shook her hands and said with a smile: “No, no, but it hurts, our brothers liked it so much, they almost didn’t let us go.” The two were talking By the way, Sun Dabao came back with Da Niu Xiaoer and Xiaowu Xiaoliu. This day, Mrs. Qiao was at home, so they didn't eat at Zhuangzi, and came back for lunch after a break.Mammy Xu looked at several pickled vegetables on the big table in the main room, it seemed that the family hadn't eaten yet.

Seeing Nanny Xu was there, Sun Dabao and the others hurriedly said hello, then hugged Xiao Qi and put his head on his stomach, making Xiao Qi laugh non-stop.Little Three and Little Four rushed in from behind, and asked as they ran, "Mother, is the yuqian steamed?" Halfway through the rush when they saw Madam Xu, they quickly stopped their legs, scratched their heads and smiled a little embarrassedly.Seeing this cheerfulness, Madam Xu found it quite interesting, so she jokingly asked, "What kind of cake? What do you guys have for lunch?"

Xiao San hurriedly answered and said: "Just now, Xiao Si and I went to pick up a lot of elm money, and mother said to eat steamed buns, so Xiao Si and I made garlic juice, and the nurse in charge will eat with us." Qiao Niangzi listened She couldn't help but blushed, and she couldn't say anything to stop her, Mother Xu smiled and said: "I've already eaten, I'll bring you some snacks, here, there, but we can't delay the serious meal."

Little three and little four quickly agreed.Mother Xu stood up with a smile and said: "You eat, there are still good things in my village. Take Xiao Qi to my place when you start work tomorrow." Mrs. Qiao agreed, and sent Xiao Qi to Mother Xu When she came out, Mother Xu looked back at the children in the main room who were busy carrying bowls and chopsticks, sighed in her heart, smiled and said to Mrs. Qiao: "You take good care of it. Bring me one." Qiao Niang was stunned, and agreed with a smile.Then Nanny Xu smiled and went to the village.

The whole family had a meal of mixed noodles mixed with steamed elm money. When Mrs. Qiao mentioned the words left by Madam Xu, Sun Dabao widened his eyes and said, "How can such rough food be eaten by the chief steward? I'm afraid it's the same as We're just joking, don't take it seriously." Qiao Niangzi said: "There are still so many elm coins, and we still have two meals. Tomorrow morning, I will take two for the chief steward. It's up to others to eat or not. "

Xiaosan heard this and said: "Isn't this delicious? The steward's mother may like it." Xiaoliu muttered to the side: "Give it to Granny Chen too, and give it to Granny Chen too." Qiao Niangzi laughed and said: "You think it's something good, okay, okay, let's get some for the mothers-in-law in the kitchen tomorrow, and try something new." Xiao Liu stopped talking.Everyone worked together to clean up the table and wash the dishes.Qiao Niangzi asked Xiao Er to bring several baskets of snacks to the table, and opened them to have a look.

Smelling the sweet aroma, the young and the small couldn't move their feet. Even though they had just finished eating, they all gathered around the table and refused to leave.Qiao Niangzi asked Xiaoer to bring a thin wicker basket from the stove, and took out all the dim sum in that basket.Opening the oiled paper bags one by one, there are honey cakes, jujube cakes, oil-faced mung bean cakes, butterfly rolls, hemp seed shortcakes, mincemeat cakes, muffin cakes, and cloud cakes; , Ginger candy, candied plums, licorice peach sticks, fragrant grapes and various candied sweets.

Everyone looked in a daze, Qiao Niangzi smiled and said: "What are you doing in a daze, pick up a piece and eat it." They looked at each other, and hesitantly reached out to take what they wanted to eat, but Xiao Wu and Xiao Liu couldn't reach it, Qiao Niang I picked up the jujube cake and handed it over.Xiao Liu picked up the cake and looked at it repeatedly, carefully took a bite with his long mouth, held up the cake and said loudly: "Sweet! This flower is delicious!" The jujube flower cake was wrapped in date paste and cut into petals. Put a red dot in the middle, and it looks like a flower.

Seeing Xiao Liu like this, Mrs. Qiao laughed and said, "I haven't heard our Liu'er talk so loudly, this time I won't let your fifth brother speak for you?" Xiao Liu pursed his lips and smiled, bowed his head and continued to eat his cake.Daniel ate a piece of mincemeat and sighed: "There is still such a delicious thing in the world!"

Sun Dabao was reluctant to eat it, but Mrs. Qiao forced him a piece of shortbread, and just after eating two mouthfuls, she laughed when she heard what Daniel said, "It's your fault! To be more specific, let alone us, there are a few people in Chang'an who are willing to eat it." Buy? This top-heavy egg cake costs about one or two hundred yuan a catty, how much rice noodles can you buy!" Qiao Niangzi wondered: "How do you know so clearly."

Sun Dabao scratched his head and smiled, "I heard that when I was working in the village, I was chatting with others. The idiot's sister came back and brought his mother a box of pastries from the city, but he made his mother angry. They said it as a joke." Yes, the price of the pastry sounds scary, so I remembered it." Qiao Niangzi nodded and said: "Sister Qiu and Sister Mo Yu had people go to the town to buy pastries a few times before, but they didn't like it, so they shared it with us. According to the chef, like the Tiaotou cake and steamed cake, it costs about fifty or sixty yuan a catty. If it is good, it will cost hundreds of yuan. If it is a well-known fine point in a big shop, it is from a wealthy family. It’s only used when visiting relatives, and there are four or five hundred cash per catty.”

After listening to this, Daniel retracted his outstretched hand, and Mrs. Qiao smiled when she saw it: "Niuzi, if you want to eat, you can eat two more pieces. I'm just talking to your father. No matter how expensive this cake is, you can still eat it." It’s not possible to get the money back. The manager said, it’s for you to try something new, and it’s lively.” Xiaoer picked up a peach stick and threw it into his mouth: “That’s right, bro, let’s work hard, and I’ll buy it later in the city. Let’s eat when we come back.” Xiao Liu suddenly said again: “I’ll make it for you when I grow up!” Xiao Wu patted his head and said with a smile, “Well, let’s go together.”

Talking and laughing like this, after all, they just ate a meal and it was a delicate thing, so everyone just tasted a piece or two and gave up.Qiao Niangzi wrapped up the rest as usual and put them in the basket, Xiaosan looked at them and asked: "Mother, you won't share it with others this time?"

Qiao Niangzi said with a smile: "If we make it ourselves, it's a good idea to distribute it everywhere. This is specially brought from the city by the head steward. Bring it, it’s easy to cause trouble if you share it like this. By the way, don’t gossip about it with others, so as not to cause gossip.” The younger ones nodded after hearing this.

After cleaning up, Sun Dabao saw Mrs. Qiao giving him winks, so he dismissed the younger ones, picked up Xiao Qi and went to the back room together.But there was a big package on the bed, and the package was made of silk. Just as she was about to ask, Mrs. Qiao stretched out her hand to untie the package, and said: "Just now the manager sent Xiaoqi back, it is the grandma of the master in the house." The meeting gift for Xiaoqi, I just opened it in person, and I can’t open it to see it, and the chief manager didn’t go into details, I’m afraid I’ve got too many things from people, and I’m really ashamed.”

Sun Dabao said: "I was just about to ask you, on weekdays our Xiaoqi always stays with the stewards, why was he taken to the city this time, and also, why did the steward bring so many snacks so well?" , but also got a lot of money!" Mrs. Qiao shook her head and said: "I am also puzzled. The chief manager only said that Xiao Qi fell in love with the master's grandma, and this time I took her to the city to be a company with her on the road. I think Seeing that Xiaoqi is not a troublemaker, he didn't stop him."

While speaking, he untied the burden, and saw that there were some clothes inside, and took a look one by one, they were all worn by children, they were brand new, the material was either silk or satin, or gauze, roughly counted There must be more than a dozen pieces.The two looked at each other, knowing that these were clothes for Xiao Qi.There are two more pieces of material, one of fine wool and the other of soft cloth, so smooth, but neither can be named.There are two very fine purses inside, embroidered with patterns of peace and auspiciousness, which are quite heavy when weighed, but when they are taken out, they are actually a pile of gold and silver pouches.

Inside one is a pair of walnuts, a pair of peanuts, a pair of pine cones, and a pair of longan, all of which are golden zizi.Sun Dabao stayed there, woke up suddenly, scratched his head twice, and asked Mrs. Qiao: "Is... is it Xiaoqi's meeting gift?" Mrs. Qiao nodded, not knowing what to say.

In the early morning of the next day, I steamed elm money again and ate all of it. Mrs. Qiao carried Xiaoqi on her back, and took a clean bamboo basket to fill two cakes and went to look for Madam Xu.Xiao Wu and Xiao Liu also went to the kitchen with a small basket of pastries. Now they are still helping in the kitchen during the day, but they buy lunch outside.Seeing that Mrs. Qiao was determined to do this, Mrs. Chen knew that there was a lot of gossip outside, so she followed her.When Mrs. Qiao arrived at Nanny Xu's yard, she just caught up with Yun Qiu and Mo Yu coming out of it. Yun Qiu hurriedly hugged Xiao Qi and said with a smile: "Baby, you came at the right time, and you brother Hu Zi didn't want to It's time to eat, help me to persuade him."

Mo Yu greeted Mrs. Qiao, and seeing the bamboo basket in her hand, she smiled and said, "Nurse Xu was thinking about you just now, go in quickly." Yun Qiu hugged Xiao Qi, Qiao The lady followed behind into Nanny Xu's room.Seeing the little girl who took the basket and handed it to the little girl, Mother Xu said, "Get a plate and put it on for me to have breakfast." Huzi was lying on the side of the kang, covering his eyes and sticking his buttocks, listening to someone come. He turned his head to look, and when he saw Yunqiu coming in again, he quickly turned his head back and pretended to be asleep.Yun Qiu laughed out loud, couldn't help but slapped his butt, then put Xiao Qi aside and said: "Don't pretend to me, let's see who is here."

Xiao Qi stretched out his hand to grab Hu Zi, and Hu Zi raised his head to rush at Xiao Qi Le.The little girl put the yuqian baobo on a plate and brought over a bowl of porridge for Mammy Xu.Mother Xu smiled and hugged Xiao Qi to her lap, and asked Mrs. Qiao, "Have you had breakfast?" Mrs. Qiao said, "I got up early and fed her milk, and I didn't eat anything serious." Mother Xu laughed and said : "It's just right, the bone porridge boiled today is delicious, let Xiaoqi come to eat too."

After talking, he fed Xiao Qi to drink porridge, and Xiao Qi ate happily with a spoon. Mammy Xu broke off a piece of pastry and ate it, "There is a scent, I didn't understand it yesterday, what is it?" Qiao Niangzi Said: "It's the elm money on the elm tree and steamed noodles. They are all rough food that can't be put on the table." Xiao Qi also opened his mouth when he saw Mammy Xu eating pastry, and Nanny Xu broke a piece and stuffed it into his mouth. inside.

Huzi looked at it, helped Yunqiu's arm to stand up, pointed at the pastry and said, "Eat that." Yunqiu then broke off a piece for him, Huzi was a few months older than Xiao Qi, The strength of eating was already a little bit accurate, he took the piece of pastry by himself, turned it over and over again, put it in his mouth, chewed it, and then stretched out his hand and said: "I want more!" Give it to him, the tiger just sat there with his head bowed, eating most of the pastry in silence.

Mother Xu smiled and said to Yun Qiu: "How about it, let me tell you, it must be edible, you still don't believe it." Yun Qiu smiled and said to Mrs. Qiao: "I've been coaxing around the house for almost half an hour, but I just don't want to eat it." Hey, I’m so angry that I want to beat him! I can’t help but hug him to Mammy, as expected, Mammy has a solution.” He said again, “Okay, that’s the end of it.” He told the mother-in-law and the girl who were watching the baby Just leave.The little girl came up and twisted the handkerchief to wipe Huzi's hands.

Seeing that Mrs. Qiao was hesitant to speak, Xu Momo smiled and said: "I know why you are hesitating, the rules in the mansion are like this, once the master and grandma are happy, there is nothing! There are people who reward houses and land, You can take the one for Xiaoqi." He said again, "You come over after lunch today, and Yunqiu and I will discuss something with you. Don't think about it, it's a matter of work. " Seeing what Madam Xu said, Mrs. Qiao agreed, and then told Xiaoqi a few words before going to the workshop.

As they walked, they thought about it, and the mother said that it was rewarded by the master's grandmother. What kind of family is this? It's either gold or silver. A family who works in the farm for a year can't catch up with the master's reward. House slaves are better than officials and gentry.Not to mention the burden of clothes, how can Xiao Qi wear such clothes, I am afraid it will be a blessing.With my mind wandering, I went to the workshop and took Xiao San and Xiao Si to work.If she knew how many things Nanny Xu had left for Xiao Qi, I'm afraid that this blessing would not be worth it.