Chapter 718: Opening of the Nursery
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Ah Yu wanted to add more people to the family and had also informed her family in advance.
Other than her Second Uncle who was serving as an official, her Eldest Sister-in-law, Qu Shuqiu, and herself, no one else in the family had personal maids to serve them.
There were several sister-in-laws who originally had personal maids, like Zhou Chuchu and Jiang Wujing. Later, in order to align with everyone else, they sent their personal maids back to their maternal homes and became self-reliant.
The servants in the courtyard who handled the tough chores were mostly old servants. They were not enough.
In the future, the family would become bigger and bigger. They could not let the main family do everything themselves. That would be too tiring and inefficient.
According to Old Madam Wang, after a family grew stronger and richer, they had to be more particular about certain things. It was not like they couldn’t afford that bit of extra expense.
Ah Yu’s initial plan was to assign a personal maid to each sister-in-law. However, she didn’t want the type that did nothing but arrange tasks for other maids. She wanted diligent and obedient maids who were willing to work.
As for her Big Brothers, they were naturally paired with the young male servants. Although they might lack maturity due to their age, the advantage was that they would share a bond from growing up together, making it easier for them to adjust in the future.
As for the uncles and aunts, they could choose according to their preferences whether to have one servant per person or to share one between two. It wasn’t much of an issue.
Old Madam Wang said, “There’s no need to arrange anyone by my side or your grandfather’s. The old servants at home are enough. Having people wandering around makes my eyes tired.”
Of course, this request had to be fulfilled. All Yu did not say much.
The next day, Qian Guanya brought 20 people to Ah Yu. Among them were 10 young girls, all of whom had worked as maids. The best one among them had even served in the study room for the Young Lady of the house. However, she was dismissed because she was too good-looking, and the other households were worried she might influence their Young Masters.
This maidservant’s name was Qiu Shi. Ah Yu looked around the house and finally asked Liu Shi, “Mother, aren’t you taking care of the nursery? Let her follow you. She’s knowledgeable, has even attended school with her previous mistress, and understands some basic principles. Perhaps she can be of assistance.”
Liu Shi just happened to be worried that there was no one useful around her, so she naturally accepted it. Because Qiu Shi’s name coincided with the name of her eldest daughter-in-law, Qu Shuqiu, she changed her name to Zhi Nuan.
Ah Yu also asked her sisters-in-law first, “If you don’t like to use the new maidservants, you can also ask your former maidservants to come back. In any case, the family still needs to recruit more people. If you’re more used to your previous maidservants, it’s fine to continue using them. In any case, their wages will be paid from me.”
“How can it come from you? Of course, we’ll follow the established procedure.” Jiang Wujing was the first to speak. “There’s nothing good about my previous maidservant. I trust you, so just pick one who is diligent and that will be fine for me. I won’t be picky.”
Wei Qianying also nodded with a smile. “My previous maidservants were all given to my sister. In order to prevent her from acting shamelessly with me, I’ll have to trouble you, my sister, to help me choose a suitable person.”
As for Zhou Chuchu, she straightforwardly stated, “It’s better to find someone nearby. If I were to write a letter to ask for my previous maidservant from home, it’s not only the long journey that’s a concern. If my grandfather misunderstands and thinks I’ve been mistreated here and that’s why I’m asking for someone from home, that wouldn’t be a good impression.”
Seeing everyone’s expressions, Ah Yu had nothing else to say. Of course, she arranged for more people according to her original plan.
Not all of the 10 maidservants were suitable. Ah Yu also wanted to arrange better people for her sisters-in-law to use in case of trouble in the future.
Therefore, she only picked out three maidservants first and gave them to Liu Shi, Jiang Wujing, and Zhou Chuchu. She also chose two boys, one for Erlang and the other for Silang.
The remaining people were retained for further training. In addition, they’d decided on a quota of 20 people with Official Qian. If there were more suitable ones, they could just ask him to send them over.
He was so happy that he nodded repeatedly and bowed as he left the Wang Family.
He was also a smart person. After leaving the house, he did not say that the Wang Family wanted to find suitable servants, but he praised the Wang Family to the skies outside. He said that they were rich, generous, and straightforward. They were a very nice family, easy to get along with.
He also mentioned that the Wang family is a virtuous household, not the kind of extravagant nouveau riche as the rumors suggest.
With Qian Guanya helping to push public opinion from behind, the Wang Family’s reputation gradually improved. There were faint voices in Wanning City saying that the Wang Family was actually a branch of a hundred-year-old family. They had returned to Wanning City to establish themselves again.
Regardless of what these people were saying, Liu Shi’s nursery was finally opened on Ah Yu’s birthday..