Chapter 333: What Kind of Servants Are These?
Manager Wu possessed high efficiency in handling affairs, delivering the property deed over to Wen Yao when it was merely late afternoon.
“You two, if you have any other needs, just come find me,” Manager Wu said. He knew as well that his business with these two was concluded for this turn, but what about next time? There was no telling if another turn lay ahead.
Receiving the property deed, Wen Yao cast a glance at Nanny Shi, who immediately stepped forward and handed a pouch over to Manager Wu.
Being a shrewd negotiator, Manager Wu knew how much silver lay inside with merely a weigh of his hand, unable to press down the smile at the corners of his mouth no matter what.
By right, the commission was paid entirely by the seller’s side; this extra twenty taels given by Wen Yao counted as a reward for his running back and forth.
Having experienced such matters in the past, Manager Wu accepted it with utmost generosity, adding a question at the end: “Now that you two have bought the residence, does your household require servants to wait upon you? Given my relationship with Old Deng, I certainly won’t pit you two.”
Qiu Rongrong had servants of her own; the servants who accompanied her to the Xie family were currently staying at the estate with her. Since she wouldn’t visit here often anyway, picking two diligent people to come over and mind the residence when the time came would suffice.
Yet the Wen family possessed few servants to begin with, each holding tasks on their shoulders, so hearing Manager Wu’s words sparked a few thoughts in her mind.
“Nanny, what do you think?” Wen Yao consulted Nanny Shi.
Bowing slightly, Nanny Shi replied, “Miss, this old servant feels two young manservants can be arranged at the residence in the prefectural city to clean and look after the residence on ordinary days, while keeping an eye on things at the workshop as well. Furthermore, Master and Lord Chen will inevitably visit the prefectural city frequently, so keeping two young manservants makes caring for them convenient as well.”
Wen Yao nodded—that made sense. If they brought two maidservants, her father might even feel awkward, whereas two young manservants wouldn’t cause such issues.
“Manager Wu, do you have suitable candidates? They must be honest, dutiful, loyal, and sharp in handling affairs. As you know, we won’t reside in the prefectural city permanently either, leaving the residence here vacant most of the time. If we hire people with improper minds, issues will inevitably arise easily,” Wen Yao said.
Manager Wu stole a glance at Nanny Shi beside Wen Yao. He could tell that while Wen Yao appeared easy to talk to, this old nanny beside her was no easy figure to dismiss. Furthermore, she appeared somewhat familiar, though Manager Wu couldn’t recall where he had seen her for the moment, merely saying, “Naturally I do! As long as Miss brings forth the requirements, this humble self can help fetch the people for you.”
Checking the sky, Nanny Shi spoke up: “It is far too late today, and Miss will pack her belongings to move to the new residence tomorrow. Manager Wu, may we trouble you to bring the people to the new residence tomorrow?”
Manager Wu cupped his hands in respect: “Easy to say, easy to say! Then let us settle it as such—this humble self will bring the people over to the new residence tomorrow, and once Miss makes her picks, you may keep them directly.”
“Mm, then we shall trouble Manager Wu.” Wen Yao felt this arrangement worked as well.
Only then did Manager Wu take his leave.
The moment he departed, Qiu Rongrong and Wen Yao finally relaxed, collapsing straight into their chairs.
“Exhausted to death!” Qiu Rongrong leaned half against her chair without a shred of image left, taking the water handed over by Qiaoyan and gulping down more than half a cup.
Wen Yao fared slightly better, yet was exhausted to her limit as well, leaning against her chair unwilling to move.
“Nanny, tomorrow let’s take the luggage and leave. The items here don’t need to be moved anymore. Tomorrow we’ll take a look at what else is lacking over there, list them down on a paper, and buy everything all at once,” Wen Yao said, then turned to look at Qiu Rongrong, saying, “Sister, the Li family hasn’t moved out yet—will you still stay over there with me first?”
“Mm, living over there by myself is meaningless anyway. At any rate, you’re the only one at home right now, so I’ll hang out with you for a few days. Still, now that the building and storefronts are bought, shouldn’t we prepare for the subsequent matters?” Qiu Rongrong said.
Wen Yao didn’t want to move in the slightest, waving her hand: “Let’s move house first before saying anything else. The workshop needs to be set up first as well.”
The two sisters reached a consensus, returning to their respective rooms to take a comfortable bath. The next day, once Nanny Shi and Qiaoyan gathered their belongings, Xun Feng drove the horse carriage directly to the newly purchased house.
Although this two-entry courtyard compound lacked the pavilions, terraces, small bridges, and flowing water of the Li family’s residence, its advantage lay in being sufficiently large with plenty of rooms, conforming quite well to the Wen family’s pragmatic traits—though cleaning it up was quite an exhausting task as well.
Almost the very moment their front feet stepped through the door, Manager Wu arrived with people on their hind feet.
Xun Feng temporarily filled the role of a doorkeeper. Catching sight of Manager Wu’s arrival, he offered no report, leading the people straight inside.
This made Manager Wu steal several glances at Xun Feng on the sly.
“Nanny! Manager Wu is here!” Reaching the courtyard, Xun Feng called out carelessly several times, devoid of even a shred of a servant’s self-awareness.
Manager Wu was left utterly bewildered—was this person a servant of the Wen family or not?!
Wen Yao and Qiu Rongrong were still inspecting the various rooms in the back courtyard, so Nanny Shi brought Mingyue out herself, her gaze scanning the six individuals brought by Manager Wu.
All were young lads of seventeen or eighteen, looking sufficiently energetic, and upon arriving here, none looked around randomly, proving themselves to understand rules.
Feeling slightly satisfied in her heart, Nanny Shi said to Manager Wu, “Manager Wu, my young mistress and Miss Rongrong are busy cleaning in the back courtyard, so she sent me out to inspect the people brought by the Manager.”
Wen Yao didn’t feel her eye for judging people matched Nanny Shi’s, so she simply left the selection for her to handle.
Manager Wu dealt with managers from wealthy households most often. Thinking it through carefully after returning yesterday, he finally recalled where he had seen this Nanny Shi before.
She belonged to that family from the capital that moved to the prefectural city previously, who later committed crimes and were arrested, resulting in the household servants who committed no fault being sold off. This nanny was among them; back then, he and Old Deng were together, with Old Deng taking away three elderly ones while he took away a few for heavy labor.
However, Manager Wu was not so muddle-headed as to recognize Nanny Shi at a time like this, merely nodding and having the six step forward to offer greetings.
Nanny Shi ultimately retained four, paying the silver with swift agility.
Manager Wu collected the money with joyful delight; while two were mentioned originally, buying two extra now counted as quite good. He had originally brought six out of fear that Wen Yao might find it hard to pick, yet ended up earning a bit extra instead—a happy accident of sorts.
Handing the four deeds of indenture over to Nanny Shi, Manager Wu departed with the remaining two.
Nanny Shi cast a glance at them and spoke up: “Miss has no free time at the moment, and will summon you later when she is free. All of you go find tasks to do first—clean up this new residence. Furthermore, you four are responsible for the front courtyard only; without permission, you are not allowed to step into the back courtyard. Is that clear?”
The four hastily complied.
Waving her hand to send them to work, Nanny Shi cast another glance at Xun Feng, who was hiding off to the side slacking off and watching the show, speaking up: “I shall leave them for you to keep an eye on.”
Sitting on the railing of the hallway, Xun Feng munched on fruit he had bought from who knows where, nodding: “Nanny, go tend to your work—I’ll keep watch for you.”
Nanny Shi bowed slightly: “Then I shall trouble Young Hero Xun Feng.”
With that, she brought Mingyue back to the back courtyard to continue helping out. The moment she returned, she saw Wen Yao and Qiu Rongrong rolling up their sleeves, doing the wiping and washing chores that ought to belong to servants like themselves, and Nanny Shi hurriedly joined in with Mingyue.
