Climbing on the Sparrow Branch – CH 029

Chapter 29: Family Business

An Zhi was the last one to arrive at the living room. Only after she arrived did she start serving tea to Meng Jie according to seniority.

Meng Jie was wearing a long red silk dress with peony embroidery on the edge, which made her look a little old-fashioned.

After An Zhi offered tea, she casually pinched the envelope she received. It was quite thin. She had seen Meng Jie’s dowry list, and it was less than one-tenth of her mother’s. The Meng family was not as wealthy as the An family, and Meng Jie probably left most of it to her younger brother, which was why she only brought such a small dowry.

But An Zhi doesn’t care how much the dowry was.

“Since you’re all here today, I have something to tell you: the new wife has just arrived, so don’t bully her just because she’s young.” An Chengye’s face flushed, and he looked at Meng Jie with a smile. He had just gotten a young wife, and after a comfortable night, he was feeling very happy today.

The two concubines in the family were not jealous people. They stood aside with their heads lowered and their eyes submissive, not even making a sound.

Only An Zhi remained calm and composed. “Father, since you said so, we will definitely listen to Madam in everything. I also have something to say. Now that Madam has come into the family, she is the mistress of this family. It would be inappropriate for me to manage the household. I heard that Madam was a virtuous woman when she was in her parents’ family. Father, I want to hand over the management power to Madam. What do you think?”

An Zhi would leave the An family sooner or later. It was useless to monopolize the housekeeper power. It was better to hand it over to Meng Jie as soon as possible, do her a favor, and give herself some free time.

An Chengye was eager for An Zhi to hand over the housekeeper’s power, and he nodded repeatedly without any intention of being polite.

So when everyone dispersed, An Zhi followed Meng Jie to the main house.

Meng Jie wasn’t as thick-skinned as An Chengye, but she delayed a few words with An Zhi, “Zhi’er, I’ve just arrived at the An family, and there are still many things I don’t understand. Please leave the housekeeping matters today. I’m afraid there are many things I can’t do well.”

“How can you not do it well?” An Zhi smiled. “Our two houses are similar, and Madam must have learned a lot from my aunt. You don’t have to worry about making mistakes. After all, you are the mistress of the house, and you can run the household however you want. I will tell you a few important things later. If there is anything else, just send someone to ask me at any time. Since Madam has married into my family, we are family, so there is no need to be so polite.”

Meng Jie was touched by An Zhi’s words. She had made many preparations before marrying, especially knowing that An Chengye was a playboy. She was afraid that with so many wives and concubines, she would have a miserable life. But this morning, she saw that there were only two concubines and an illegitimate son. Excluding Mistress Xu, such a family was considered simple in the capital. And An Zhi had not given her any trouble, but had voluntarily handed over the management of the household, which made her feel even more caring.

The two of them entered the main house together. Someone had already brought in the account books, which filled three boxes.

An Zhi pointed at the boxes and said, “There are two boxes here with old accounts from previous years. Madam, don’t rush to look at them. The main thing is this box of new accounts. Before I say anything, do you know how the An family’s current assets came about?”

Meng Jie naturally knew this. Her grandmother had told her before she came, telling her not to be too greedy. An Zhi’s siblings were both capable, and she might not be able to outsmart An Zhi. She just needed to protect her own property and make a living. “I know that my husband was just an ordinary scholar in his early years. It was because he was favored by your maternal grandfather’s family that he was able to acquire all these family businesses.”

An Zhi smiled and nodded, saying yes. Family should settle accounts clearly. If they didn’t make things clear now, it would be hard to deal with problems in the future. “When my father and my mother got married, my grandfather was worried that he would be too poor, so he used his private property to buy him a house and land. These are counted as public property, which means that the wife will need to manage them in the future. When my mother got married, my grandfather also gave her a generous dowry. After my mother passed away, it came into my hands. This part is the private property of my brother and me.”

An Zhi didn’t tell her exactly how much dowry Madam Bai had.

She took out a new account book, sorted it out, and explained to Meng Jie, “The tribute from our paddy fields, manor, and forests is paid every six months. Except for years of disaster, the annual tribute will not vary much. Madam, you can refer to the harvests of previous years for the specific amount. There are five shops in the capital, and they hand in silver every month. The annual harvest money not only provides for daily necessities of the mansion, but also covers the expenses of repairs, building schools, etc. for the clan. These are the main expenses, and there are some smaller ones…”

An Zhi spent an hour explaining the An family’s assets to Meng Jie. Finally, she talked about the arrangements for the household personnel. “We have a fixed number of maids and servants in our family. For example, the concubine can have one first-class maid and three second-class maids, and the wife can have two first-class maids and six second-class maids. You brought two maids with you as dowry, and you can ask the housekeeper to pick six more. Of course, if you feel it’s not enough, you can add more.”

“Enough, enough.” Meng Jie was getting a little impatient. The An family looked about the same size as the Meng family, but they were completely different. Her parents had died young, and she wasn’t very good at running a household. Her uncle was a fussy spender, and her aunt always liked to help her family. So even Madam Li had only three maids, so there was no way they could afford eight.

“Don’t be embarrassed, Madam.” An Zhi smiled. “In fact, our family has not been as good as it used to be in recent years. Since my mother passed away, I have been immersed in grief and neglected the management of the property. I am afraid there are many problems that I need you to take care of.”

“You’re being polite.” Meng Jie couldn’t help but relax a little after hearing An Zhi’s gentle and polite words. “To be honest, I’ve never run such a large household before. I really need to learn a lot from Zhi’er.”

Before her wedding, Madam Meng spent the entire evening talking to Meng Jie. Although she was in poor health and had rarely left the house, she had heard people’s opinions and had a pretty good idea of what kind of person An Zhi was. Madam Meng urged Meng Jie to treat An Zhi well, saying that a girl was already sixteen and wouldn’t stay at home for many more years. When An Zhi got married, she would be a great help to her.

Living in a large mansion, it was impossible to live without relying on others.

An Zhi had almost finished her talk, so she said goodbye to Meng Jie. As for how to treat the concubines in the mansion, An Zhi did not deliberately mention it, because she felt that Meng Jie would not be stupid enough to make her unhappy.

After coming out of the main house, An Zhi breathed a sigh of relief.

She had been in charge of this household for so long, and now she could throw away the clutter, which felt really great.

“Miss, you can have a good rest from now on.” Binglu had watched the young lady run the household for three years and knew that it was a very hard job.

“Yes, that way I’ll have time to find you a suitable husband.” An Zhi said with a smile. Binglu was a year older than her and was already at the right age to get married. “Tell me if there’s anyone you like right now. If so, I’ll go and find out about his character for you.”

Binglu was An Zhi’s closest maid and the one who cared about her the most. Even An Chengye didn’t care about her as much as Binglu did. So An Zhi must find a good husband for Binglu, so that Binglu would not be in vain after following her for so many years.

“Miss, what are you talking about?” Binglu puffed up her cheeks, her ears reddened, “I have never thought of getting married, and I will never get married until you marry yourself.”

“Are you stupid? If I never get married in this life, will you not get married too?” An Zhi asked.

“How could Miss not get married? You are the most beautiful woman in the capital. Those noble gentlemen can’t take their eyes off you.” In Binglu’s eyes, her young lady was the best person in the world and it was impossible for her not to get married.

Hearing this, An Zhi smiled and sighed. Binglu didn’t understand, but she did. Those noblemen were attracted to her because of her beauty, not because they wanted to marry her. If she were truly so popular, how could it be that in the month after the broken engagement, only one notorious bastard from the Wang family came to propose marriage?

But this also happened to suit An Zhi’s wishes. If too many people came to propose marriage, it would be difficult for her to handle it.