Chapter 14 Wang’s Family Working
Mrs Wang’s words were also funny. Whether these jobs were easy or heavy was up to her to decide. Whether they were heavy or not was based on her own interests.
Seeing that she still had no intention of helping, Mrs Wang changed her tone: “Just help me with these chores first. After a month, when Su Wan’s salary comes in, we will hire a maid to do the work. Then, you can continue to live your leisurely life. However, we have to endure this month.”
Wang Luoxue reluctantly went to clean the house with a rag and mop. She would clean the inside of the house, and let her mother clean the outside of the house, after all, the sun was so strong outside.
When she entered the house, she saw a layer of dust on the furnishings. There were several pieces of messy clothes piled in her room and her parents’ room. She didn’t know whether she should put away the clothes first or wipe the furniture. A feeling of not knowing where to start came over her.
On weekdays, clothes are changed every day and placed on the chair beside the bed. Su Wan will wash the dirty ones and fold the clean ones neatly. She has never done this job by herself.
In fact, these clothes are not dirty and do not need to be washed, but they are a little wrinkled when piled here, and it is not appropriate to fold them back into the closet. After thinking for a long time, she decided to wash the clothes. After all, clothes can become smooth after washing.
When she came to the laundry basin, it was already full of dirty clothes and emitting a sour smell, so Wang Luoxue folded the clothes back into the closet.
It took her a whole day to clean up the house. She only had a salty meal made by Mrs Wang, and the rest of the time she was cleaning.
In the morning, a few girls who were good friends with Wang Luoxue went to Qingyun County together. Because she had to clean up the house, Wang Luoxue refused them at the gate.
The girls did not enter the Wang family’s yard, but looking in from the gate, the Wang family’s yard did not seem as clean and tidy as usual. The girls were a little puzzled. Usually the Wang family’s yard was very clean. What happened today? However, they did not say or look at it much. After all, this was a very rare situation and was inevitable.
Wang Luoxue didn’t have time to go out, so several girls went together.
Mrs Wang worked all day and in the afternoon she rejected several of the big ladies who usually chilled with her.
Mrs Wang was usually the most glorious among these women.
According to Mrs Wang, Wang Luoxue does the fine work at home, Su Wan does the rough work, and she has nothing to do.
Of course, Mrs Wang said that the reason why Su Wan did rough work like sweeping and washing clothes while Wang Luoxue did fine work like embroidery and cooking was because Wang Luoxue could do both rough and fine work, while Su Wan was clumsy and could only do rough work.
Mrs Wang also said that her mill could earn a lot of money, so the family would have no worries about food and drink, and could afford to support Wang Luosheng’s studies.
Although these women did not like Mrs Wang’s showing off, they could not help but feel envious in their hearts. After all, it was a fact that Mrs Wang was living a good life.
The Wang family’s mill was able to make money, Wang Luosheng studied well and passed the imperial examination to become a scholar, and there was an endless stream of people coming to propose to Wang Luoxue.
Wang Luoxue does the work in the house and Su Wan does the work outside the house. Isn’t the Wang family living a comfortable life?
Seeing Mrs Wang busying around in the yard, one of the talkative women said, “Mrs. Wang, now that Su Wan is not around, you have to do all the rough work yourself.”
The villagers already knew that Su Wan went to work at the Duan family, but they didn’t know that Su Wan was going there to cook. They just thought that Su Wan was going there to do some rough work.
Wang said nonchalantly, “Why should I do it myself? In a few days, I will hire a maid to do it.”
These women all clicked their tongues. The Wang family seemed to be living too well. They even had to hire a maid to do the work.
Mrs Wang continued, “First, the mill at home can make money, and second, Luo Sheng is a scholar and he doesn’t want me to suffer this, so I must find a maid.”
Mrs Wang’s words were, firstly, to show off her family’s wealth, secondly, to show off that Wang Luosheng was a scholar, thirdly, to show off that Wang Luosheng was filial, and fourthly, to show off that her family was looking for a maid.
Killing four birds with one stone.
The women felt sour in their hearts, and were envious and jealous when they heard this.
Mrs Wang’s life is really good. Unlike me, my sons and daughters are not as promising as Wang’s sons and daughters. They still have to do housework at home.
Why are people’s lives so different?
One of the women, Sun, was very jealous and said, “Didn’t you say before that Su Wan couldn’t do any work? How come after Su Wan left, you were too busy to find a maid?”
Mrs Wang rolled her eyes at Sun and said, “I’d just like to find a maid.”
Mrs Sun said, “I just think it’s a pity. Su Wan doesn’t have much work to do. It’s a pity to hire a maid who earns so much money.”
Mrs Wang said unhappily, “It’s none of other people’s business whatsoever about my family’s money.”
When the women saw that Mrs Wang was unhappy, the others hurriedly said a few words of envy to her, and only then did Mrs Wang feel relieved.
The Wang family produced a scholar named Wang Luosheng. Not only people in Qingshi Village, but even people in Qingyun County respected Wang Luosheng to a certain extent, and also respected the Wang family as well.
Therefore, these women from the same village would not offend Mrs Wang.
As the women left the Wang family’s home together, they were all talking about the good life the Wang family was living and expressing their envy for being able to have a maid to work for them.
Mrs Sun, who had just said something that Mrs Wang didn’t like to hear, said, “I think the Wang family may not be able to afford a maid. Even if the Wang family’s mill can make money, Wang Luosheng spends a lot of money on his studies, and the Wang family may not be able to afford it.”
When the women heard this, they agreed. The Wang family was wealthy, but they were not rich enough to hire maids. Only the wealthy families in the county would employ maids.
Who in the village would employ maids or servants ?
However, after a few days we will be able to see whether the Wang family hired a maid or not, and whether what Mrs Wang said is true or false.
Mrs Wang worked hard all day and finally finished all her work. It was time to cook dinner. She had no free time at all the whole day.
Mrs Wang felt that she could not hold on for a month. If Su Wan’s money had not come yet, Mrs Wang would have to find a maid tomorrow.
Despite being exhausted, Mrs Wang had to cook. Father Wang had been busy at the mill all afternoon, and would definitely scold them if he didn’t have any food to eat when he came home in the evening.
By the time Mrs Wang had finally cooked the meal, Wang’s father came back.
Wang’s father was a little disappointed. On weekdays, he would not go to the mill after eating. Su Wan would go back to the mill and drive the donkey to work for another hour, which also added a lot of money to the family.
Now that Su Wan is not here to help, the work can never be finished.
Wang’s father sat down to eat. As soon as the rice entered his mouth, he spat it out. Wang’s father was dissatisfied and said, “This dish is too salty. How can I eat it?”
Having been accustomed to the delicious meals prepared by Su Wan, Wang’s father felt that the meals prepared by Mrs Wang were even more unpalatable than pig food.
Although Mrs Wang had a bad temper, she did not dare to contradict her husband, the head of the family. Her husband ate a few more bites, threw down his chopsticks, went back to the room, took off his dirty clothes, threw them away, and went to bed.
As the head of the family, Wang’s father was still very authoritative, and Mrs Wang didn’t dare to say a word.
Mrs Wang and Wang Luoxue were eating the hard-to-swallow food with water when they saw Wang’s father come out again with his bare chest. Wang’s father said, “Wait until Luo Sheng comes back and ask him to work in the mill for an hour. Since Su Wan is not here, the work in the mill cannot be delayed.”
In Wang’s father’s mind, studying is equivalent to enjoying a leisurely life. In the past, Su Wan worked at the mill, so Wang Luosheng could enjoy a leisurely life. Now that Su Wan is not around, Wang Luosheng is the man of the family, so naturally he has to go to work at the mill.
What Wang’s father was thinking was that even though someone wouldn’t earn a lot more money if they worked one more hour every day, the little would add up to a lot, and at the end of the month, so the family could have a few more meals of meat.
Two years ago, before Su Wan came to the Wang family, Wang Luosheng would go to the mill and work for more than an hour every day after school. The Wang family and Wang Luosheng were used to it.
Later, Su Wan came to the Wang family and saw that Wang Luosheng had to work at the mill after school. She felt that Wang Luosheng was too tired and that after working at the mill, he would have no time to review his lessons. So Su Wan went to work at the mill on behalf of Wang Luosheng so that Wang Luosheng could stay at home and study well. Gradually, the Wang family and Wang Luosheng got used to it.
