Li invited Shen Muqing and Shen Yuerong to have breakfast together. After the meal, since Shen Muqing still had to follow Li to learn about managing the household, he personally escorted Shen Yuerong out of the door.

  Standing at the door, Shen Yue said repeatedly, letting Shen Muqing remember the afternoon appointment.

  Shen Mu Qing smiled and responded, seeing Shen Yue Rong off before turning back into the house.

  Back in the house, Li's expression was a bit cold, and she let Shen Muqing stand in front of the wooden bed to see how she handled household chores.

  Before long, Shen Muqing was a bit overwhelmed.

  She kept shifting her weight back and forth.

  Madam Wang saw this and took advantage of the pause in their conversation to smile and say, "How can we let the young lady stand like that! I'll go get a chair for her!"

  "Otherwise, if you behave like this in front of your mother-in-law in the future, it won't be proper."

  "Isn't this right in front of you? This woman has become someone else's wife, and there are still bitter days to endure! As a mother, I'm heartbroken, who else would be heartbroken?"

  Li hummed softly.

  Tangerine saw an opportunity and hastily placed a small, black lacquered tray in front of Shen Muqing.

  Shen Mu Qing Xin was empty and didn't dare sit down. He smiled and said: "I should also learn to stand up straight... Let's just stand for now!"

  Mr. Li sighed and said, "Sit down! These rules aren't something you can learn in a day."

  Shen Mu let out a quiet breath and smiled as he sat down.

  Everything has been said, Wang's mother smiled and was about to leave, but Li called out to her: "Tell someone to pass a message to Zhang's wife, asking her to come home for a visit."

  Zhang Pozi is an official tooth.

  "Is our family short of people?"

  Li covered her mouth and smiled: "Do you want to keep those few in your house until old age?"

  Shen Mu smiled quietly and humbly.

  Yes, it's time for Luomei and a few others to get married... They left, but the position next to me can't be empty, so naturally new people need to come and replace them.

  Although I understand that all banquets in the world will eventually disperse, hearing Li say this still fills me with a few pangs of sadness.

  A daughter getting married is like being reborn for the second time. Whether it's good or bad, that's half a lifetime of things... Who knows how Li will arrange their marriage?

  ******

  The next day, Zhang Pozi indeed brought people over.

  Wang's mother first picked out some clothes in the ear house next to the second gate, then let Li's mother lead them to the kitchen, where they used honeysuckle, chamomile, and peppermint to boil a large pot of hot water for them to bathe and wash their faces. They also gave them clean coarse linen clothes that had been prepared in advance to change into. Only after this did they go to the corridor of the Chaoxi Hall to wait for Li's inspection.

  Mr. Li let Shen Muqing take charge: "You go and have a look first, see if there's anything suitable, and then bring it back here to me."

  Shen Mu Qing took in a deep breath of cool air.

  This was her second time encountering a servant being bought for the household. The first time was seven years ago, when they had bought Lu Mei.

  At that time she was still young and met when coming to pay respects to the Li family.

  At that time, she only felt a chill on her back. In her heart, she thought: Fortunately, her luck was not bad... If she had crossed over to become Lu Mei or Ying Fen, she would have been humble and courteous whenever she saw someone, and it could have been herself!

  So she treated the several maids in the house not only with respect as if they were friends, but also with a kind of compassion, helping them whenever possible and making things convenient for them whenever she could.

  This time, let her take charge of buying a maid... She felt like Huang Shiren, very nervous and uneasy.

  What right does one have to decide the life of others? Or, will someone encounter misfortune because of their own choices... The feeling of shouldering a heavy burden for the lives of others is unbearable!

  Madam Wang noticed Shen Muqing's hesitation and thought she was inexperienced and a bit shy, so she smiled and said: "Why don't we let Yiniang accompany the young lady to take a look? By the way, since this spring when the senior maid in Yiniang's house, Xianglian, got married, there is still one person missing to serve."

  Aunt Chen hastily smiled and said, "Today is for selecting a maid for the young lady, how can we reverse the order? There are few people at my place, and there's nothing much to do, having Xianghe serve in front of her will be fine."

  "Hmm!" Li was satisfied with Chen's answer and smiled: "I also overlooked this matter... Mu Qing, you go take a look with Jie Hong."

  Shen Mu Qing let out a sigh and went to the main hall with Chen Niang.

  Madam Chen invited Shen Muqing to sit on the Arhat bed.

  That was Li's exclusive seat, and Shen Muqing naturally declined, sitting on the first armchair on the right side of the Luo Han bed.

  Aunt Chen sat down on the last armchair.

  The little maid delivered the message, and Li Mama and Zhang Ya Po brought in 14 or 15 young girls between the ages of 7 to 12.

  They all had a vegetable color on their faces, wearing a newly changed but not very fitting light green coarse linen shirt, with wet hair simply tied back with a red string, carrying a medicinal smell, with tense and frightened expressions, standing in the main room with their hands hanging down, waiting for Shen Muqing to choose.

  Madam Chen smiled at Shen Muqing, meaning for her to take charge.

  These little girls had already eliminated some, and the remaining ones were all spirited and lively in appearance. Shen Muqing looked left and right, thinking they were all good, and it was really hard to make a decision.

  "Let me tell you, when I was at home, I also used to pick out maids. The housekeeper told me that the first thing is to have a good body, no illness or pain, so you can work with energy. The second thing is to listen to orders. You're sold to serve people, if you don't listen to them, what's the point of being here? The third thing is to talk less. When serving the master, every day gossiping about this and that, talking about rumors and scandals, even a kind master would be annoyed, like a shrew from the streets... The fourth thing is to do things with care. If the master asks you to bring a cup of tea, you just bring one over, without caring if it's hot or cold, or whether the master likes Longjing or Maojian..."

  Just these few words made the little girls standing in the house begin to feel uneasy, and a hint of embarrassment seeped into Zhang's smile that had been hanging on her face.

  Their emotions soon affected the atmosphere in the house, and a sense of unease hung in the air.

  Aunt Chen's eyes sparkled, and she quickly dropped the subject, laughing: "Oh dear, I'm just parroting nonsense, don't listen to my idle chatter, miss."

  Shen Mu Qing smiled slightly: "Auntie is too modest, what you said is indeed the truth!"

  Aunt Chen's face flashed a hint of unease. As if to cover up her previous loss of composure, her mouth opened wide and she laughed exaggeratedly: "Miss is always praising me!"

  Shen Mu smiled faintly and said to the children in the house, "You all heard it just now - Shen's family rules are big, once you arrive here, you must be highly spirited and do things with great effort. Whoever is willing to stay can take a step forward. Those who don't want to stay will let Zhang Mama find another good home for them, and this set of clothes will serve as a keepsake from the Shen family."

  As soon as she finished speaking, a little girl of about ten years old walked out without hesitation. Others looked at each other and followed her out, four people in total. The rest of you look at me, I look at you, and two more hesitated and walked out.

  "Alright, let's just go with these few. Bring them in for Madam to take a look."

  Zhang Pozi listened and then suddenly pushed out a little girl who was standing still on the spot: "Girl, there's another one here."

  Deep and serene, with a clear view into the distance.

  The little girl was only seven or eight years old, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, a sturdy build, dark and coarse skin, and a very rustic demeanor.

  She was pushed out by Zhang Pozi, and didn't say a word. A pair of big black eyes stared straight at Shen Muqing, revealing several childish airs.

  "Xiuzhi, hurry up and call the girl!" Zhang Baozi urged her anxiously from the side.

  She stood there stiffly, saying nothing.

  "She's a relative of mine. Her parents are gone, and none of her relatives can afford to raise her." Zhang's face was very awkward, "Your Excellency has always been generous to people, please take her in, don't ask for money, just give her some food to eat will do."

  For a moment, everyone's eyes were focused on Shen Muqing.

  Shen Mu Qing smiled and said: "Is it Xiuzhi? As long as she is willing, let her go with these few to see the madam!"

  Zhang Pozi hastily pulled Xiu Zhi to thank her, but Xiu Zhi stood there motionless and instead asked: "Miss, what do you want me to do? I don't know what kind of tea you like!" As soon as she heard it, she knew that Chen Niang had told her everything.

  Everyone in the house was delighted.

  "Bring her in, I'll take a look!"

  Zhang Pozi was like a nun who had heard the Buddha's words, and she took Xiu Zhi into the western wing.

  With this interlude, the atmosphere became much more relaxed.

  A few little girls followed Wang's mother into the house and stood in front of Li's family.

  Li let Tachibana bring some mandarin cakes for Shūei to eat: "How old are you? Where are you from?"

  "Thank you, grandma!" Xiu Zhi also didn't feel shy, took over the tangerine cake: "I'm seven years old this year, and I'm from Yan State."

  Zhang Pozi hastily shouted: "Call Madam!"

  Mrs. Li just smiled: "The old lady can also be called!"

  Zhang Pozi saw that Li Shi liked Xiu Zhi's appearance and finally put her mind at ease, accompanying him by his side.

  "Are you willing to stay in our home?"

  Zhang Pozi was overjoyed, but Xiuzhi said: "Can't you give him food to eat? Can't you give him clothes to wear?"

  Everyone laughed uncontrollably.

  Mr. Li said: "Of course there is food to eat and clothes to wear."

  "I'm willing."

  Li looked at Xiuzhi eating tangerine pastry in front of her and said to Zhang Pozi: "Xiuzhi is not a good name. Let's call her Puyu!"

  Zhang Pozi listened and was overjoyed, just about to say something when Xiuzhi already smiled: "Grandma, I like this name."

  "Oh!" said Mr. Li with a smile, "Why?"

  Everyone in the room listened quietly as Xiuzhi replied.

  "In our village, those called Branch and Leaf are not pretty, while those called Gold, Silver, and Jade are all pretty."

  Everyone burst out laughing again.

  Li smiled and nodded, pointing at Xiuzhi and saying to Zhang Baozi: "This girl doesn't want the money for selling herself, but I'll still give eight taels of silver... This eight taels of silver will be given directly into her own hands as private money, what do you think?"

  (Waaa... too excited... finally reached 900 points... thanks to all the sisters...)