"Get up! We all know your determination! You’ve finally thought it through! From now on, you’ll follow . In your spare ti, learn more from Aunt Wu and Aunt Ding. I’ll teach you the other rules slowly. You can settle in with peace of mind!" Wang Yongzhu nodded approvingly at Yang Zaizhao.
Yang Zaizhao couldn’t help but let tears flow but quickly blinked them back and gave Wang Yongzhu a heavy kowtow, "This servant greets the lady!"
Wang Yongzhu signaled her to rise with a gentle gesture and said, "Our family is small and doesn’t have so many rules like large households. As long as you are honest, simple, and obedient, there’s no need to kowtow frequently. You don’t have to call yourself a servant either; just use your na—"
She hesitated for a while, "Your na really doesn’t sound good. If you don’t mind, shall I give you a new na?"
Yang Zaizhao had attended Aunt Wang’s pre-job training a few days earlier, so she knew that when you have a new master, if you get favored by them, you’ll surely be given a na. This is the start of becoming a trusted aide.
Moreover, she also knew her na wasn’t pleasant, and she was often mocked for it in the village.
So she hurriedly nodded, "Whatever the lady decides."
Wang Yongzhu, having said the words, found herself at a loss when it ca to naming. She truly didn’t know what to choose at the mont.
Recalling that Gu Zikai’s student attendant was nad Lang Hao, which sounded literary.
Ninth Master Lee’s personal young servant was nad Wang Cai, a na that suggested making money.
She too needed a na whose aning was imdiately clear. She was here to farm; she certainly couldn’t call it Transplant Rice Seedlings, Pick Tea, or Dye Cloth, could she?
Scratching her head, Wang Yongzhu finally managed to co up with a na after quite so ti. "You’ll be called Gu Yu!"
Farming can’t do without the twenty-four solar terms. Now that Grain Rain has passed and Li Xia hasn’t co yet, we’ll call it Gu Yu.
If the family buys another maid or young servant in the future, you won’t have to worry about naming them anymore. You can casually choose from the twenty-four solar terms.
Wang Yongzhu inwardly gave herself a big thumbs up!
In order not to let Yang Zaizhao feel that the na was too perfunctory, she ca up with an explanation after racking her brains. Why the na Gu Yu? Because it’s the last season of spring. This is the ti for sowing seeds, aning the end of the cold wave and the rise of temperature, signaling everything will get better.
Yang Zaizhao, now Gu Yu, upon hearing the na, found it lodious and much better than Zaizhao or Youzhhao. She thought to herself, "Indeed, as expected of a scholar’s lady, even the na she casually gives to a young maid has such profound aning." Her eyes were imdiately filled with gratitude.
Wang Yongzhu wiped her sweat, feeling a little ashad, but seeing the grateful look in Gu Yu’s eyes, she even started to believe in her own nonsense.
These were minor things. Since they had bought Gu Yu to be a maid, they certainly needed to train her as a personal maid.
Wang Yongzhu then carefully explained the household rules to Gu Yu: Be observant, diligent, and love cleanliness. Be honest and sincere, and most importantly, keep your mouth shut! If you manage these basics, it’s good enough. Personal special talents are considered a bonus, like Old Granny Wu is especially good at gathering information, and Old Madam Ding can manage accounts—these are unexpected surprises.
It was also decided, being the new young maid, Gu Yu would follow and learn, and receive a monthly allowance of twenty Large Coins. As for Old Granny Wu and Old Madam Ding, since they had already been sold to the Song Family, they naturally also received an allowance—four hundred Large Coins each, after deducting all living expenses.
It seed less than before, but Old Granny Wu and Old Madam Ding were very happy. The master household provided good food, warm clothes, and clean, comfortable living conditions without any worries.
Previously, although they earned an ounce of silver a month, they would often worry about the next master and live off their savings once the current one was gone.
Now, as long as they didn’t spend indiscriminately each month, they could save all the allowance.
Occasionally, the family would also gift so cloth and purses, which pleased them greatly.
Therefore, they taught Gu Yu diligently, cleansing her mind from the training that Granny Wang hadn’t completely instilled.
The idea was to inform her that with such a good master, if she followed them for a lifeti, she wouldn’t worry about anything, but mustn’t lose her head and do anything to betray the master. If the master ever got angry and decided to sell her off, she would be screwed.
Gu Yu rembered all these lessons, repeating them to herself every night before going to bed, hoping to carve them into her bones.
In the front courtyard, Lang Hao, upon hearing that the Scholar’s Lady had bought a little girl, beca curious.
The attendants like him, in the academy, interacted only with fellow attendants. At ho, they either faced their own young masters or their parents.
Let alone girls of their age; even seeing won was a rarity.
It reminded him of the past in the Capital City, where the mansion was full of pretty little maids, each with sweet mouths, calling him Brother Lang Hao, following him all day, bringing him snacks or soups.
His young master never wanted these, so he had them all for himself, collecting quite a bit of pocket money annually.
Ever since following his young master to Jing County, logically, the scholar friends of his young master, or their sisters and the masters’ family mbers, should have a few maids, right? Not to ntion anything else, just seeing lively young girls every day made the heart happy.
But his young master chose Changqing Academy, and it seed not even flies in the academy were female.
The teachers’ family mbers lived separately outside the academy, and students were strictly prohibited from visiting there.
Chatting with other attendants, their young masters returned ho, where maid sisters would tidy beds—forget it, his young master!
If he couldn’t rely on his young master, maybe he could look for the maids in Scholar Song’s rear courtyard and enjoy the sight of others’ little maids.
Lang Hao kept thinking about it and subtly hinted, hoping to suggest visiting the backyard with his young master.
Gu Zikai knew what Lang Hao was up to; he should have sternly scolded Lang Hao. But inexplicably, he swallowed his words, and, as if by a stroke of fate, seized the opportunity when things from the Capital City arrived.
He selected a few items, had Lang Hao take them, and go knock on the backyard door.
When the door opened, Old Granny Wu, seeing it was Scholar Gu from the front courtyard, hurried to report to her mistress.
Song Chongjin was inside talking with Wang Yongzhu, and both of them quickly ca out.
These days, Gu Yu had at to eat every day, ate to her fill, wore comfortable clothes, and had a bit of flesh and color return to her cheeks.
Her hair, treated daily with hair oil given by Wang Yongzhu and cared for by Old Granny Wu, although still sowhat dry, was not as frizzy.
Seeing guests arrive, she followed Old Granny Wu, learning how to serve tea and snacks.
Gu Zikai’s relationship with Song Chongjin had grown slightly closer these days as his suspicions disappeared, and he no longer carried that guarded and calculating deanor.
Song Chongjin, ever so keen, though unsure why Gu Zikai showed more sincerity, decided to accept the goodwill as Gu Zikai restrained his malice.
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