Six months passed, in the spring when grass was growing and beetles were flying, Xifu Siquan Lane, Sister E and Ruyi Niang were scrubbing diapers in the well pavilion. Next to it was a four-wheeled car, and two little babies were sleeping soundly in the car.
Ruyi was born with seven kilograms, and Jixiang was less than four kilograms, but Sister Goose grew strong and had good milk. Now Jixiang Ruyi is half a year old. The two are about the same weight and have the same fat breasts. She fell asleep in Youche, her face was pale and red, just like two shrimp dumplings.
I had a mouth at home, and my life became even tighter. The clothes that Sister E and Ruyi’s mother were routine were patches and patches, and I could hardly tell what fabric it was.
With a thud, Sister Go threw an empty wooden barrel into the wellhead, and carried a rope to pull up the water-filled bucket. While saying, “Our Aunt Hua in Xifu is about to give birth. We have to choose a wet nurse. We have to go to the second door to choose. Wet nurse is a fat man. Don’t miss this opportunity. We will wash and dress up tomorrow and put on the most decent clothes. Your brother-in-law will look at these two young people tomorrow. If you are hungry, you will feed rice soup.”
Ruyi’s mother rubbed diapers and looked at the child in Youche, “Do you have to go? If you are selected, what should I do if my Ruyi family is not weaned yet, and she has no personal father to take care of her.”
Ruyi’s mother was worried, while Sister Go was full of anticipation and eager to try, saying, “Master, we are the slaves, so we can say that we can spend money to hire the wet nurse to raise our children. Being the young master’s wet nurse is a decent and good job. I have inquired about it. It’s only 2 taels per month! Eat six meals a day, and you have meat every meal. Make eight sets of good clothes to meet guests all year round – this is not considered a rewarding clothes. It’s all counted, and it costs more than fifty taels a year. With money, you are still worried that you can’t raise your children.”
Brother-in-law is guarding the door and protecting the hospital. The monthly rate is 500 yuan, and the monthly rate of the wet nurse is four times that of his.
Ruyi’s mother said, “I’m not at ease with others. After Ruyi became a woman, I never separated from her. She even tied her back when buying vegetables and cooking.”
“I’ll raise it for you.” Sister Goose patted her plump breasts, “I’m Ruyi’s wet nurse. I will feed Ruyi as much as I feed Jixiang.”
Ruyi’s mother smiled and said, “Okay, if you choose, I’ll leave Jixiang to me to raise.”
Sister Goose nodded repeatedly and said, “Well, I’ll leave it to you, I’m one hundred people to rest!”
The two women settled the children and felt much more relaxed. After washing the diapers, they also dredged the well water to heat them up, and helped each other wash their hair.
Sister Goose was also cruel and took out an egg and moistened the wet hair with the egg white. After rinsing it, her hair was smooth and she could not even use oil to comb her hair.
Wash your hair, cut your nails flat, and pick out the stubborn black mud in the cracks with your ear hairpin.
Early the next morning, Ruyi’s mother put on her only unpatched dress, wrapped her sleeping Ruyi in a swaddle clothes, and sent her to her neighbor E’s house.Brother-in-law E has already boiled the rice, poured the soup and the rice into the basket, and drained the milky white rice soup, which is prepared for good luck and luck.
Sister Go took the cradle, put Ruyi on the kang, and slept with Jixiang in the quilt.
Sister Goose wore the green jacket and red dress she wore when she got married – this was her best dress. After getting married, she only took it out of the box once on the New Year’s Day, which shows that she has invested a lot of money in choosing a wet nurse this time.
Sister E looked at Ruyi’s dress and said, “Hurry to take off the white filial bun on her head.”
My mother didn’t understand her intentions, “But I am a widow who is still in the hot filial piety.”
Sister E said, “We are all slaves from the Marquis’s family. The master is the god. He is bigger than his parents and husbands. When it comes to reason, he can only keep mourning for his master. It’s okay to wear mourning in private. People outside have many eyes and mouths and are broken. If they still wear mourning, 80% of people say that you don’t follow the rules and curse your master to die.”
My mother Ruyi hurriedly took off her filial bun. Sister E helped her comb a round bun, opened her makeup box, and took an ebony hairpin for her hairpin.
Ruyi’s mother left the child for the first time, and she couldn’t bear to leave her. She walked out of Siquan Lane with Sister E and stopped at the entrance of the alley. She stopped and said, “It seems that Ruyi was crying. I’ll go back and take a look.”
Sister E held her hand, “There are children crying there. Spring is here. It’s a cat called Chun. Don’t think about it. Let’s go quickly. If the time of the show is not yet, you will be punished.”
Sister E held Ruyi’s mother and walked to the hanging flower door in the backyard like a gust of wind. There were five or six servants who had just left their heads standing at the door. Thirty women gathered in the open space in front of the door, chatting. They were all slaves in the breastfeeding period in the Western Palace and were here to choose a wet nurse.
Ruyi’s mother just bought it last year and came in to accompany her servant. Apart from going out to buy vegetables, she hardly left Siquan Lane. She was shy and not good at speaking, so she didn’t know any of these women.
Sister Go was sold to the West Mansion as a maid at the age of seven. The women to be chosen were not as familiar to her. She giggled and went up to say hello and greeted each other. “Chunxiu, Chunlan! It turns out that it is you. After marrying and having children, I didn’t dare to recognize you. I could tell you that you were living a good life at first sight.” “Sister-in-law Cao, I heard that your man is in charge of the shop outside. Congratulations, you are wearing a gold bracelet, which is three or two, and you don’t feel heavy. Hiding it in your sleeves, I’m really jealous.”
Sister Goose walked around and led Ruyi Niang who was standing silently under the corner of the wall. “I will introduce to you my new sister, Ruyi Niang, who is steady and gentle, and her cooking skills are comparable to those of the chef in the big kitchen. The girl of Jiujie’s daughter in the twelfth lunar month is her palm.”
The women surrounded and looked at Ruyi Niang.
“Yeah, it looks so beautiful.”
“I gave the full moon banquet of the Nine Finger Girl and ate the mat. The leeks and mutton are cooked well, and I still think about it now.”
“It’s just right to pick the pig’s head, it’s soft but not rotten, and it’s so sticky that it’s going to cover my mouth. I’ve never eaten such a good pig’s head.”