Chapter 246: Chapter 228, Taking Over the Kitchen _1
After the start of spring, Daohua had been very busy, busy with her lessons, busy inspecting the various estates. At the same time, Madam Li had also given her a task, which was to learn how to manage the kitchen.
“Mother, why do I have to manage the kitchen all of a sudden?”
Daohua was somewhat reluctant, wanting to shirk the chore, but there was no help for it, she had too much to learn every day—knowledge from books, calligraphy, embroidery, playing the zither and burning incense. In the mornings, she even had to get up to practice with a whip and still find time to manage estates and shops.
It was truly a case of rising earlier than the chickens, sleeping later than the dogs, more overworked than an office drone.
It was just that the rewards were pretty satisfactory; otherwise, she would have wanted to drop everything and quit.
What happened to the promised easy life?
Madam Li glanced at her dismissively, “What do you mean early? Your mother thinks it’s already too late. Once August passes, you’ll be twelve, and you should also start learning things like butler hospitality.”
Hearing about her age, Daohua immediately felt overwhelmed.
If it were modern times, at twelve, she would have just started junior high. But in ancient times, people were already preparing for marriage.
Madam Li ignored her daughter’s sulky face and continued, “Don’t you love making food? It’s perfect, then, starting with managing the kitchen, so you can get the hang of it.”
“Once you’re familiar with the kitchen, you can start taking over the sewing room…”
Daohua hastily interrupted, “Mother, when did we get a sewing room?”
Madam Li gave her daughter another dismissive look, “You focus all your mind on those estates and shops, not caring at all about what’s going on inside the house.”
Having said that, she paused but still patiently explained.
“Nowadays, our family goes out to socialize more, with your father being a prefect, we can’t afford to lose face with our attire. Plus, with more servants in the house, changing clothes every season becomes a major expense. With our sewing room, there’s no need to buy clothes from outside, and we can save a lot of silver.”
“Even though our income has increased, we cannot be wasteful. In a couple of years, when you all grow up, there’ll be even more places needing money.”
Daohua nodded.
Her mother indeed had a talent for household management; she could foresee many things.
Madam Li patted Daohua’s head, “We women can relax a bit only while we’re young ladies, but if we relax too much, we’ll have to make up for it with suffering when we get married.”
“Mother knows you’re busy with your studies, but the harder you work now, the easier your life will be after you marry. At home, if you don’t understand something, you can ask your mother. But once you’re married, even if your mother-in-law is reasonable, you can’t just go asking her about everything, can you?”
“Think about it, would you rather learn everything now while you’re at home, or wait to learn after you’re married?”
Daohua responded gloomily, “Mother, I’ll learn, I will.”
Managing a household is something every legal wife must be capable of. Concubines have an easier life, not having to do anything, but they depend on others for their existence. Not only can they not control their own fate, but even the children they bear are considered lower in status.
With every benefit comes a sacrifice.
To enjoy ease, one must pay a corresponding price.
Madam Li smiled and swiftly took a personnel registration book and a purchasing ledger from Ping Tong, handing them directly to Daohua, “Take these back with you and familiarize yourself. If there’s anything you don’t understand, or if anything is unclear, come and ask me.”
Daohua nodded her head resignedly, taking the two books and leaving.
…
Daohua Pavilion.
Daohua stood under the eaves, playing with a parrot, with the Kitchen Manager, Ren Xiaogu, and the buyer, Fang Gui, standing in the courtyard.
They had been there for a while. Chairs had been set up in the courtyard, along with refreshments, and Wang Manman had offered them seats, but neither dared to sit. They stood respectfully, cautiously watching Daohua.
The eldest young lady…
Honestly speaking, though she was a young lady, not a single member of the Yan Family’s servants dared to take her lightly.
Not for any other reason than the eldest young lady dared to confront the master directly, so no one dared provoke her.
Furthermore, the eldest young lady was indeed formidable; if there was anything happening in the house, she was always helping Madam, with Madam orchestrating things and the eldest young lady plugging the gaps.
The Yan Family had hosted several banquets, each time guests left with smiles on their faces.
Just from this, it was clear to see that the eldest daughter was a careful and thoughtful person.
Now that the eldest daughter was in charge of the kitchen, they had to serve her well.
Seeing the two people in the yard standing without sitting down, Daohua was somewhat at a loss for words.
Honestly, she had never thought about showing them who was boss or anything like that.
The main reason being, most of the Yan Family’s food came from their own farm, so even if they wanted to embezzle, they probably wouldn’t find much opportunity.
Her playing with the bird was simply because she didn’t know what to say to alleviate her own embarrassment, but the two insisted on standing, which made her quite helpless.
Daohua put down the parrot and walked over to sit down, “You two, sit too.”
Only then did Madam Ren and Fang Gui dare to sit, but both only perched on the edge, their backs ramrod straight.
Daohua: “…”
Did she really have the aura of a domineering female CEO?
Looking at the two of them, anyone who didn’t know better would think she was fierce!
“Madam asked me to manage the kitchen, and although I go there often, I still don’t understand many things. Explain to me what’s happening there,” she said.
As she spoke, Daohua paused and looked at Fang Gui, “Why do I feel like I’ve seen you before?”
Wang Manman immediately smiled in response, “Miss, you must think Fang Gui resembles Madam Fang, right!”
Daohua’s face showed realization, “Right, she looks like the butler by Madam’s side.”
Fang Gui quickly replied with a smile, “To answer the Miss’s question, Madam Fang is my sister, and we siblings do resemble each other.”
“Oh…” Daohua nodded, “No wonder.” Then looking at Madam Ren, “Isn’t there a Ren Xiaogu at the gatehouse? Are you related?”
Madam Ren immediately answered, “To answer the Miss, that’s my son.”
Daohua nodded again, picked up the teacup, and began to drink, her eyes lowered.
Without realizing it, the Yan Family, originally simple in personnel, was starting to become more intricately related.
With the gradual increase in the number of servants, the management would definitely become more difficult.
No wonder Madam kept insisting on finding a capable wife for the eldest son, probably also considering this aspect.
Handling both the upper and lower tiers of a complex family was no easy task.
Now she understood Madam Li’s maternal intentions; having her take over the kitchen so early was likely to ensure she could stand on her own in her future marital home.
Seeing Daohua suddenly fall silent, both Madam Ren and Fang Gui tensed up, reviewing their previous words for mistakes.
But after a moment, Daohua put down her teacup, “The rules in the kitchen will remain as before, according to my mother’s, but I will add two more.”
“First, from now on, regardless of which room or who calls for something from the kitchen, it must be logged and recorded.” She wanted to see the expenses of each household.
“Second, the previous purchasing records are not detailed enough. I will provide a form later, and from then on, purchases will be filled out according to my form.”
The current purchase ledger only noted quantities and amounts, with no mention of the source and contact information, which made it easy to embezzle or inflate the amounts during procurement.
Madam Ren and Fang Gui both responded respectfully, but a hint of bitterness crept into their hearts.
The eldest daughter, upon taking charge, had seemingly done nothing but had cut off their unofficial benefits.
Madam Ren, in charge of the kitchen, didn’t dare to take the good items, but would often make a bit more when preparing meals for the rooms, either to bribe the maids under her or to sneak home.
Now, with food and drink to be recorded, the room for maneuver was much smaller.
Fang Gui was the same; he didn’t dare to be too greedy, but would often slightly mark up the price of items he bought. Now with the new purchase ledger and the eldest daughter’s shrewdness, he had to be more careful.