Domineering husband

Chapter 126

Dasheng has very strict requirements on the attendance of officials on weekdays, but when it comes to a big festival like the Chinese New Year, the father and son of the Sheng family are still very humane.

Considering that some officials who are far away will go back to their hometowns, officials who want to go back to their hometowns after the twelfth lunar month can ask for leave.

Officials who do not ask for leave, if there is no major event in the court at that time, they will have a holiday on the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, and they will not start working until the Lantern Festival.

Li Qiao originally wanted to ask for leave.

However, Tao Zhu felt that he was in good health, and there was no need for Li Qiao to give up his business to accompany him. In addition, Li Qiao's first reference book on water conservancy was about to be finished, so under Tao Zhu's insistence, Li Qiao I stayed in the Hanlin Academy until the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month before the official holiday.

After the holiday, although Li Qiao wanted to focus on Tao Zhu for twelve hours a day, but now that he is an official, he can no longer care about human relations as he did when he was studying.

It was the first New Year's Eve after becoming an official, and he had to prepare a New Year's gift for his colleagues. There was no housekeeper or elders in the family, so Li Qiao could only serve it by himself.

Li Qiao has been an official for half a year, and he doesn't know many people. He still has to stand outside the Tai Chi Hall when he goes to court. In addition, he has hugged Sheng Hong's thigh early and doesn't need to rely on anyone, so , The annual gift he prepared is very simple, it is the food in his shop.

On the twenty-second day of the twelfth lunar month, Li Qiao stood in the yard and looked at the exquisite food boxes all over the yard, the more he looked, the more satisfied he became.

In fact, after Laba, some people sent New Year gifts to his house.

However, at that time, the gift-givers were all businessmen, some were neighbors on the left and right sides of his shop, and some were completely unknown.

Tao Zhu accepted the person he knew, and the annual gift was not expensive, and prepared a gift in return.

Those who do not know each other will not be accepted.

Later, when the officials were on vacation, his family received New Year gifts from his colleagues in the Imperial Academy in the past few days.

They are not expensive, some are worth more than a dozen taels of silver, while others are worth tens of taels.

Although the salaries of Dasheng officials are high, there are many exchanges of favors on such a big festival like the Chinese New Year. If the gifts are too expensive, then in terms of the salaries of the members of the Imperial Academy, they cannot afford to give them at all.

Since the gifts from colleagues are not expensive, Li Qiao naturally can't give too expensive ones. The annual gifts he and Tao Zhu prepared are eight-inch cream cakes, duck products, vermicelli, and puffs.

Each item is individually packed into a large three-story food box. Considering the popularity of these foods in Shengjing, their family's New Year's gift is completely handy.

Because just for the eight-inch cream cake, Sheng Hong priced it at twenty taels of silver.

He originally thought that he was already very merciless in doing business, but Sheng Hong was even more ruthless, relying on this being a fresh food, he charged skyward prices.

But the wealthy people in Shengjing don't care about this little money at all, and grab a hundred cream cakes every day, and they can finish them in minutes.

Some who run slowly or are unlucky have never eaten cream cake so far.

Therefore, the annual gift he prepared was really handy.

"Okay, let Li Dao and the others drive the ox cart to set off."

After Li Qiao finished admiring it, he began to assign tasks to Li Dao, Li Jian, Li Gong and Li Nu.

He bought another five ox carts and put them in the yard where Li Dao, Guofu Min'an and others lived, which was enough for these few people.

Give presents to colleagues first today, and prepare another annual gift for Mr. Zhao Youzhi and the Seventh Prince tomorrow.

Of course, because these two have high status and are relatively close to him, the portion of all kinds of food should be increased.

Prepare for friends and relatives the day after tomorrow.

After all these major events were arranged, Li Qiao looked at Tao Zhu beside him.

Tao Zhu's belly is already obvious, and now he feels complicated when he sees Tao Zhu's belly, pregnancy is really a miracle, it can stretch a person's belly to such a big size... "Let's go back to the room, it's cold outside

. "

Li Qiao said, carefully hugging Tao Zhu's waist with one hand, and grabbed Tao Zhu's hand through the cloak with the other.

The two of them stood in the yard for more than half an hour, but Tao Zhu was wearing a thick cloak, and his head and hands were hidden in the cloak, so his hands were warm at this time, Li Qiao was just wearing normal cotton clothes, standing in the yard. After so long, my hands are already a little cold.

The two of them walked back to the main courtyard slowly along the corridor.

There is a stove in the house, and the kang is always burning. However, in this cold winter, it is freezing outside, and the ancient houses were not insulated, so there is not much heat in the house.

Li Qiao supported Tao Zhu to sit on the kang, and asked, "The venison and chicken soup stewed in the kitchen should have been stewed. After standing outside for so long, it's still early for lunch. Let's eat some other food first." "Yes.

" ...I don't want to drink."

Tao Zhu thought for a while, then shook his head.

With the increase of the month, his appetite has increased a lot, and he has to eat five or six meals a day. However, the extra meal between breakfast and lunch is basically soup.

There are rare ones such as sea cucumber, bird's nest and venison, as well as common fish, chicken and pig.

This cook Zhao is the cook of the Seventh Prince's mother's family. He is good at taking care of the pregnant wife and can cook all kinds of delicacies from mountains and seas.

Of course, in order to prevent the stomach from being too big to be born, the portion of these meals is strictly controlled.

But he was a little tired of eating these every day.

"Aren't you hungry?" Li Qiao immediately asked.

"I'm not hungry yet." Tao Zhu said, patting his stomach: "Maybe it's because the baby didn't kick me today, so the consumption is less?" "

Then eat when you're hungry. But, what do you want for lunch?" Li Qiao asked again. ask.

"Look at the arrangement, everything is fine."

Tao Zhu said as he untied the cloak on his body, and then slowly fell back.

He was a little tired after standing for so long.

I didn't feel much at first, but as my stomach grows, every time I stand for a long time, I will feel a little tired.

Seeing this, Li Qiao hurriedly brought over the two quilts that were used as pillows, squatted down and took off his shoes so that he could lie down for a while.

When Tao Zhu lay down, Li Qiao couldn't let go of his frown.

Tao Zhu's pregnancy was so sudden that he was unprepared. If it was in Sanliu Village, he would have to build Tao Zhu a big room with constant temperature in all seasons, but in Shengjing, the house is so big, it's impossible Build a greenhouse in the house.

Pregnancy is hard work, and the weather is still so cold, Brother Zhu suffered too much.

Moreover, although Brother Zhu's appetite is normal, every time he is asked what he wants to eat, he will say that it depends on the arrangement in the kitchen. Eat it as a meal. Seeing Li Qiao standing by the kang, Tao Zhu

frowned, and immediately smiled: "What are you thinking about?"

I've suffered."

Li Qiao had a serious face.

"Fortunately, I'm used to it, and I don't feel that cold. And when I give birth, it will be warm." Tao Zhu said and waved to him: "Lie down together." "But there will be winter next year,

you What about the baby?" Li Qiao asked while taking off his shoes and jacket.

"...Yes."

Now Tao Zhu also frowned.

He can bear it, but the baby is so small and the winter is so cold.

When Li Qiao hugged him from behind, he grabbed Li Qiao's cool hand and put it on his stomach.

"Then buy a big house."

"Okay. Then what do you want for lunch?" Li Qiao asked while responding.

Tao Zhu couldn't help laughing again.

Li Qiao really liked him.

He didn't want to make things difficult for Li Qiao, so he thought about it for a while, and said, "...how about letting Chef Zhao arrange it? I really don't know what to eat."

Li Qiao: "..."

Sensing Li Qiao's speechlessness, Tao Zhu laughed out loud. He patted the place in front of him and motioned Li Qiao to turn over on him.

He likes Li Qiao who is so distressed for him.

want to kiss.

Li Qiao was not fooled by Tao Zhu's kisses, and spent a long time in the bed with Tao Zhu's ears, but after lunch, he continued to think about what Tao Zhu hadn't eaten and could still eat now.

Li Qiao has always been a man of action, and the next day, after sending off the annual presents for the Seventh Prince and Lord Zhao, Li Qiao entered the kitchen.

Tao Zhu didn't want to go back to his room, so he moved a high stool and sat aside to watch him work.

"Are you... making vermicelli?" After watching for a while, Tao Zhu couldn't help asking.

"Yes, potato vermicelli."

Li Qiao nodded.

Since the meals carefully prepared by Chef Zhao did not attract Tao Zhu's interest, he could only start with the snacks that Tao Zhu had never eaten before.

He has read the news before that some pregnant women are not interested in carefully prepared meals for pregnant women, but want to eat outside snacks.

Tao Zhu should be like this too.

But because Tao Zhu hadn't seen those snacks in his previous life, every time he asked him what he wanted to eat, he didn't have any other food in mind except answering that he didn't want to eat.

That being the case, he made all these snacks.

Thinking of this, the movements of Li Qiao's hands became faster and faster. The weather has been gloomy recently, and the potato starch is not easy to dry in the sun, so he dried it in the oven.

So, on the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, Tao Zhu ate steaming potato noodles.

The taste is slightly different from that of sweet potato vermicelli, and Liqiao also modified the seasoning to distinguish hot and sour vermicelli. Therefore, Tao Zhu is quite satisfied with this bowl of luxurious version of potato vermicelli with sea cucumber, chicken fir fungus and fish balls.

Even if it's only slightly spicy, he still ordered it to be eaten tomorrow.

But Li Qiao didn't stop there. Anyway, he was on vacation, so he didn't have to work on compiling books anymore. He stayed in the kitchen, cooking those Internet celebrity snacks in his previous life in different ways.

These snacks are all handmade and do not contain any additives. Even if Tao Zhu is pregnant, she can eat some in moderation.

The food is not the same every day, Tao Zhu now looks forward to the daily food, and he will eat everything Li Qiao brings to him.

After eating, he praised all kinds of food. It is really amazing that Li Qiao can come up with so many delicacies.

Soon it will be the 30th of the twelfth lunar month, and it's time to make dumplings again.

Tao Zhu couldn't stand or sit for a long time, so he packed a few bags while standing, and then went back to the house with Li Qiao. He and Li Qiao also had business to do.

This year, the family has added a lot of people. Although these people are servants, since the surname is Li, they must be included in the New Year's red envelope tomorrow morning.

Tao Zhu glanced at the ledger, the current salary of these people is one hundred cash a month, which is very little, far below the ordinary level of Shengjing's servants.

"Give them a salary increase next year, they are all hardworking and honest," Tao Zhu said.

These people were all in the assessment period before, but now that the assessment period has passed, their wages must increase.

"Okay."

Li Qiao and Tao Zhu sat on the same chair, stretched out one hand around Tao Zhu's waist, and gently touched Tao Zhu's belly with the other hand, not paying attention to these trivial matters.

"Hmm... How will Baiyou and Brother Dazhong be paid?" Tao Zhu turned to ask him.

With the new year, the business of dim sum shops and duck shops has improved a lot, because some wealthy people buy dim sum and duck products as New Year gifts.

Moreover, these wealthy families not only brought dim sum and duck products as gifts for the year, but also wanted to be able to eat their dim sum and duck products during the Chinese New Year.

Li Qiaoyuan wanted to directly refuse this kind of request.

Those who celebrate Chinese New Year must rest for a few days.

But who knows that Baiyou and Li Dazhong disagree. Baiyou and Li Dazhong said that they have never experienced this kind of happiness-

although Baiyou has a shop and the business is still going well, but it is far inferior to the duck shop and dim sum shop. This kind of popularity can only be bought by robbing.

The two of them felt that it was new and wanted to experience more.

The couple came to the capital to visit friends and have fun, but Shen Hua was busy painting clothes and Tao Zhu was pregnant. The two of them walked around the capital for a few days and didn't find much fun, so they went to the shop to help.

This help made them find fun.

It's a joy to do this kind of business.

The husband and wife worked so hard, Li Qiao and Tao Zhu naturally wouldn't make people work for nothing.

"Just follow Chunsheng's standard." Li Qiao said.

"Okay." Tao Zhu bowed his head, picked up a pen and wrote it down in the account book.

Li Qiao didn't allow him to settle the accounts, fearing that he would bother him, but since Chinese New Year, he and Li Qiao didn't need much effort to calculate together.

However, there are still too few people in his family. It seems that he has a relatively good family background. He is accompanied by a servant girl and a driver when he goes out. Their family still orders their nephew... Take a pen and tap on his

forehead , Then he turned his head and asked Li Qiao: "Why don't we also buy a few maids and servants who

are close to you?"

Laughing: "I think 80% of them are willing."

Li Xia's marriage has been settled.

The man is Zhao Youzhi's distant nephew of Mr. Zhao, named Zhao Shen, who does some errands at Mr. Zhao's residence.

Last month, Mrs. Zhao sent Zhao Shen to deliver supplements to Tao Zhu, and it turned out that Li Xia fell in love with him at first sight.

After being absent-minded for several days, he finally found Li Qiao, expressing his heartbeat.

Li Qiao was shocked.

He originally thought that Li Xia would have to marry into a wealthy businessman's family no matter what, but...how did he explain to Li Chunsheng?

And that Zhao Shen was actually born with a little boy face, not to say that his appearance is outstanding, but he has fair skin, single eyelids, and is tall, so he can bluff people at first glance.

But not masculine enough.

But Li Xia really liked it, so much that he didn't think about it, and judging people by their appearance was not acceptable, and Mr. Zhao was a staunch centrist who would not participate in any disputes between princes, so he went to Zhao's mansion to visit Mr. Zhao.

Master Zhao was very surprised when he heard this.

This Zhao Shen was promoted from his hometown the year before last. Although he is young, he has a high seniority, so he is indeed his nephew.

It's just that this relationship is a bit far away, and it can't be compared with cousins ​​like Li Qiao and Li Xia.

Although Zhao Shen didn't look very manly, he was quite reliable in his daily affairs, he was very clever, and he didn't play tricks.

That is, Zhao Shen is only sixteen years old, more than one year younger than Li Xia.

After listening to Zhao Shen's basic information, Li Qiao silently apologized to Zhao Shen in his heart. He was indeed wrong in judging people by appearance.

This is still a child.

Since Zhao Shen has no problem with his personality, and Mr. Zhao doesn't mind this marriage, let Zhao Shen and Li Xia meet each other.

Li Xia's appearance can only be regarded as handsome, but the boy who is about to turn eighteen has a thin body, his skin is pale because he hasn't been working in the fields for the past few years, he has a good temper and a simple mind.

The whole person can be called innocent.

Zhao Shen is quite satisfied with Li Xia, of course he didn't fall in love with Li Xia at first sight, only slightly fond of Li Xia.

In his capacity, under normal circumstances, he couldn't reach Li Xia.

Li Qiao is not an ordinary sixth-rank official, but he and Mr. Zhao are almost out of the fifth service, and his distant nephew is really far away.

Feelings can be cultivated slowly, but such a good marriage, if you miss it, you can't find it.

Both of them are quite satisfied, but Zhao Shen's identity is definitely not up to Li Chunsheng's expectation, Li Qiao repeatedly confirmed with Li Xia, is it really necessary to get engaged?

Li Xia is very firm, yes!

Therefore, Li Qiao could only comfort himself by citing what he said to Li Dong. Forget it, it's fine that Li Xia likes it. Anyway, with his champion uncle in his pocket, Li Xia has a way out.

That's how the marriage was settled.

When Li Gu's family is taken over next year, they will get married.

Li Xia is very happy every day now. Zhao Shen will come to him every day. Zhao Shen has a sweet mouth and can coax people. Because of his good hearing, Li Qiao has heard it many times by accident, and every time he wakes up sweetly. goosebumps.

He felt that he and Tao Zhu were already very tired, but compared with this young couple, there was still a gap.

However, it was precisely because Zhao Shen was so good at coaxing people that he was worried.

But Tao Zhu couldn't say this clearly, so he said, "Zhao Shen has nothing in the capital. After the two get married, I can't let Brother Xia go out with him to rent a house. Brother Xia will probably stay at home." "

That's right. Then ask Brother Xia later."

Tao Zhu nodded.

Li Xia is naturally willing to live in Li's house, as Li Qiao said, Zhao Shen has nothing in the capital, and he is not much more courageous than Zhuang Quan and Zhou Yun, asking him to move out and live in a strange house, even if With Zhao Shen around, he didn't want to either.

He likes to stay at Li's house.

peace of mind.

What's more, he will definitely have to work after he gets married, otherwise, Uncle Zhu can't take care of two babies by himself. If he moves out, he will have to run back and forth to take care of the babies, which is very troublesome.

Li Qiao was very satisfied with Li Xia's choice, so on the first day of the Lunar New Year, he specially sent Li Xia a red envelope of two hundred taels, asking him to save it up as a dowry.

Of course, the same is true for Li Ershan, Li Xia's life-long event has been settled, Li Ershan has to hurry up.

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