Farmhouse Green Plum

Chapter 542 Calculation

"To keep a servant, you have to be responsible for his food, clothing and other expenses. You also have to pay him a monthly salary, and buying a servant also costs a large sum of money." Song Ying explained patiently.

Aunt Meihua did not make up her mind immediately and planned to go back and think about it carefully.

After returning to Yingnuoxuan, Song Ying took out a set of four treasures of the study that he had prepared in advance and gave it to Song Yuan as a gift.

Three days later, Song Yuan successfully entered the academy. In the evening of that day, he rushed to Yingnuoxuan and had a dinner. He ate until his stomach was full, and then he rushed back to the academy with satisfaction.

That evening, after seeing Song Yuan off, Song Ying washed up and sat in the patio, drying his hair while reading a book.

When she turned the page and looked up, she suddenly caught a glimpse of a student shirt among the clothes washed by Aunt Song. She was stunned at first. Her two cousins were both in their hometown in Guoxiang and had not been here recently. How could they have left the clothes here?

But soon, as Second Aunt Song turned the clothes over and shook them, she saw that the student's shirt was not big, and she immediately realized that it was not her two cousins'.

"Second aunt, are you washing clothes for my younger brother?" she asked.

Second Aunt Song flipped the clothes over neatly and placed them on the washboard to wash again. "Yes, Yuanwa is so young, there's no way he could wash clothes. It was only when your grandmother and Second Aunt came to Yunxiu Tower to ask me for help that I remembered."

Song Ying frowned, thinking that her grandmother and the others had really calmed down. Unexpectedly, her ideas didn't work, so she turned around and went to find Second Aunt Song.

"We all started washing clothes at the age of six, so 6 is not young anymore. Besides, my younger brother is a boy and has more strength, so washing clothes is easier for him. He will have to learn to take care of himself when he goes out to take exams, so now is the perfect time to start learning."

Aunt Song said, "He is a boy, he doesn't need to learn this. Washing clothes and cooking are women's things, which grown man would do this?

If he has the potential to go out and take exams, I'll give him some extra money and hire someone to wash his clothes."

Song Ying disagreed. If Li and the others really loved their second aunt's daughter, and if relatives helped each other, then it would be fine for them to help Song Yuan with the laundry since they lived nearby.

But the Li family clearly did not treat Song Ergu as their own daughter. They wanted them to come out and support them, but a daughter who was married off was like water spilled, and they had no right to interfere.

Now, they are begging others to wash clothes for their children. It’s not just one or two times, but for many years, at least three to five years.

How can you be so shameless?

And Song Ergu also didn't understand at all.

"Second aunt, grandma and the others don't care about you, why did you agree? My younger brother is studying here, and we can occasionally look after him among relatives, but how can you agree to do something like washing clothes for a long time?"

"This is also taking care of it. Yuanwa can wear so many clothes by himself. It can be cleaned in a few strokes. It's not a big deal."

After a pause, she continued, "Besides, wasn't it your grandma who washed our diapers and dirty clothes when we were little? Let's just consider it a way of repaying her."

Although she spoke tactfully and focused more on herself, Song Ying still sensed a hint of accusation against her.

She curled the corners of her lips and sneered, "Second Aunt wants to say that I'm too calculative, right? But I learned this from them.

On my sixth birthday, after eating half a boiled egg, my grandmother told me how hard my second aunt worked to wash my diapers when I was a child. Now that I am six years old and grown up, it is time for me to repay my second aunt.

So, the next day I carried all the clothes of my family to the river to wash them. You know, my birthday is in winter, which is a cold time.

I was inexperienced the first time and my cotton-padded jacket sank into the water. It was extremely heavy and I almost couldn't pull it out. Later, I could only put the clothes on the stone slab and pour water on them one basin at a time. I couldn't swing the clothes beater, so I took off my shoes and stepped on it.

They washed my clothes for six years, and I washed their clothes for their whole family for four years. I have long since repaid the favor."

"No, I don't mean to blame you." Aunt Song quickly denied, "Your grandmother and the others don't know, but I know that you are very busy every day, so how can you have time to wash clothes?

I have told you many times that you don’t have to pay me for washing clothes in winter. I feel embarrassed to pay for it.

You are my biological niece, and you have been with Yan Xing for so many years. You are no different from my biological niece. As an elder, I live and eat here for free, and I am at ease if I can wash your clothes for you."

Winter clothes are heavy and difficult to wash. Song Ying and Luo Yan didn't want to wash them after they had been busy, so they originally planned to hire someone, but Song Ergu took it over.

They lived under the same roof, and as an elder, if she really asked her two children to ask outsiders to do their laundry, what would others say about her?

Unable to persuade her, Song Ying and Luo Yanxing calculated the money and gave Song Ergu the same amount as the laundry women outside.

"It's so cold in winter, and the cotton-padded jacket is so heavy, it's a hassle to wash it. I can't let you go through that in vain."

"That's nothing. I've washed clothes all my life, so a few of yours won't hurt me. Come on, go read your book. I'll be done in no time."

The parties involved were both willing to fight and the other willing to be beaten, so Song Ying had no choice. However, given Second Aunt's personality, since she was washing Song Yuan's clothes for free, she would definitely not charge for washing their winter clothes in winter.

She frowned and thought for a while, then decided to go to the silver shop tomorrow to look at some silver hairpins and bracelets, and give them to Aunt Song Er on the Double Ninth Festival in a few days, as a thank you gift in advance.

Thinking of this, she was suddenly stunned. Giving silver hairpins and silver bracelets as gifts during festivals could not only compensate Second Aunt for washing their clothes, but also enhance their relationship. Why did they choose to settle the account directly and give her money?

After sorting out her mood at that time, she couldn't help but smile bitterly. Once bitten by a snake, one will be afraid of ropes for ten years.

For the past half of her life, the Li family has been constantly talking about how they raised her, asking her to repay them. They also act like no matter how much she does or how much she gives, she will never be able to repay them. This makes her afraid from the bottom of her heart to owe them any more favors.

Reward her for her hard work with a silver hairpin or bracelet of equal or even greater value, and you can repay the favor you owe her for the help you have given her, but she may not think so.

At least the Li family would definitely not think so.

They only think that giving them jewelry and money is the due filial piety, and they will always wait for repayment for their efforts to her.

Therefore, when the second aunt insisted on washing clothes for them, she chose to pay them clearly for the laundry, turning what could have become a favor into an employment relationship, with the money and work being settled in due time, and neither owed the other anything.

If Li had not asked her to wash Song Yuan's clothes that day, leaving them aside, when she thought that no one had to wash Song Yuan's clothes, she would have given him more money and asked him to hire the helpers in the academy to wash them.

But when Li brought it up, he still treated her as a matter of course as before, using fake promises to deceive her, which made her alert.

If Li's old rhetoric works again, there will be a constant stream of things in the future that will naturally require her to contribute.