I was a queen in ancient times, no, a maid!

Cheng Yu walked in and took a quick look at the furnishings in the house. It was extremely simple and the furniture was all old. He thought they were already there in the house.

There are two rooms in the house. Madam Li lives in the east room, and the west room is for the maids and some sundries.

There was a slight smell in Madam Li's room. Perhaps it was because the windows had not been opened for a long time and the smell was trapped.

Madam Li was still coughing when she heard some noise outside the door. She wanted to ask the maid outside, but she couldn't open her mouth to shout because she started coughing again.

Ping'er was a maid she bought for five strings of cash, with the idea that she would serve her until the end of her life.

But the one I bought is not my own after all, and is an ungrateful person who can never be tamed.

Cheng Yu put down the pastry, patted Madam Li on the back, and helped her breathe a sigh of relief.

After a while, Madam Li finally stopped coughing.

Without waiting for her to ask, Cheng Yu took the initiative to speak.

"I made some cakes for the Madam today. When I was making them, I thought if you were here, I would definitely ask you to help me taste them. In this small kitchen, you are the one I trust the most."

"I went to see the lady and found out that you are sick again?"

Mrs. Li softened her tone rarely.

"It's an old problem."

"It's hard for you to remember me."

Cheng Yu said, "You are my master, am I wrong to worry about this? That day I said I wanted to be your disciple, and you didn't refuse, so I shamelessly agreed."

Cheng Yu did not mention anything about the eldest lady's suggestion to send Madam Li to a farm in the countryside.

Madam Li has a sensitive personality and she is sick now.

If she said this in front of Madam Li, she would definitely be depressed and her illness would get worse.

"My lady said that she would let me learn cooking from you when you get better."

Madam Li was also worried. Now that Cheng Yu was in the small kitchen, the meals she cooked were the most favorite of the eldest lady. And there was also Madam Wang who was the most expressive. She was afraid that if she didn't take the initiative to say she would step down, the eldest lady would find a chance to let her live on the farm in her old age.

Madam Li was ready to live out her retirement on the farm, but she was unwilling to go in her heart.

Hearing Cheng Yu say this, Madam Li's face showed some more joy.

"Did the lady really say that?"

Cheng Yu said: "Of course, can I still lie to you?"

Cheng Yu's words comforted Madam Li's heart. She let out a breath of relief. Just then, the maid Ping'er came in with some medicine.

"Madam, the medicine is ready, you can take it now."

Ping'er said this and placed the medicine on the table.

She had no intention of coming forward to serve, so Cheng Yu brought the medicine. It was the coldest time of the year, and the servants would only burn coal in their room when it snowed, so the charcoal had to be bought by themselves.

If he weren't the master, the Lu family would never give the charcoal to the servants.

Even if the master rewarded her with some charcoal, it would not be given to Madam Li, the mother who worked in the kitchen.

It's very cold in the house.

Servants' rooms rarely face the sun. If they are in the shade, it will be colder inside than outside.

The medicine cannot be added too much, as it will make your body cool after a while. Cheng Yu held a handkerchief to the bottom of the bowl and brought it to Madam Li.

"Drink it while it's hot, it'll warm you up. It's really cold in this room, if you can't get it, buy some charcoal and light it."

Nowadays, if you don’t spend the money you earn on yourself, you’d be doing yourself a disservice.

Madam Li was moved again.

After drinking a bowl of medicine, Cheng Yu took a small taro dumpling and took a bite. It was filled with red bean paste. But there was some hawthorn in the red bean paste. It didn't taste as sweet as the red bean paste, but had the sourness and sweetness of the hawthorn.

"These little taro dumplings are really good."

Cheng Yu smiled and said, "As long as you enjoy your meal."

"Yu'er, go open the drawer on the second floor of my cabinet. There's a food miscellany inside. Take it."

Cheng Yu took the food record as Li Niang said. After she opened it, she found that the book contained many cooking recipes.

"You're going to give this to me?"

"Just take it."

Putting aside other things, just because Cheng Yu came to see her today, Madam Li felt that she was not a bad person.

"This book was also given to me by an old maid when I was learning to cook. I also learned to read from her. I heard that you studied for a few days with the old lady, and she praised you for being smart and learning quickly."

Cheng Yu smiled embarrassedly.

It’s not that she is smart and learns quickly, but she can read while the original owner cannot.

You have the basic knowledge of literacy, so you just learn these words faster.

There was a figure outside the door. Cheng Yu saw it when he got up to get something.

There was no need to think too much, the figure must be Ping'er, the maid bought by Madam Li.

Madam Li then whispered to Cheng Yu, "She is just cunning. I originally wanted to buy her so that she could learn from me, but she is stupid. I taught her to be sneaky when cutting vegetables, and she gossiped about me outside..."

Madam Li didn't say anything, but Ping'er said outside that she was an old, miserable woman that no one wanted.

She heard these words from other people.

The reason why she didn't sell Ping'er was that she was used to using her. Ping'er said bad things about her outside, but she was still obedient in front of Madam Li.

There is also the attachment that comes from raising a cat or a dog for five or six years. Even if you raise a cat or a dog, you still have attachment to it.

I couldn't bear to sell Ping'er away.

But she knew that Ping'er had always wanted to know about her food diary.

Cheng Yu vaguely guessed something. She took the food record in her hand, then knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

"Today, Yu'er will kowtow to mom and become her disciple. When mom is well again, Yu'er will go to you and tell you that you will be my disciple. Let you bear witness that Yu'er has accepted me as your disciple."

Unexpectedly, Madam Li said, "Yu'er, there's no need to do this. Your cooking skills are better than mine. All I can teach you is knife skills and some nutritious meals. I will treat you as a verbal master and apprentice. There's no need to formally become your apprentice."

Fearing that Cheng Yu would not understand, Madam Li added: "As for cooking skills, there are always better people out there. There are many capable people. I hope you can meet someone with better cooking skills in the future and become her apprentice."

"Then you are also my master."

Cheng Yu agreed to Lady Li's request and only wanted to be a simple chef who could cook a few dishes, rather than a master who had to go through the apprenticeship ceremony.

It’s better to just call her Master in normal times.

Madam Li knew that Cheng Yu had a father, brother, and grandparents.

If this child had no father or mother, she would have adopted him as her own.

Another thing is that Madam Li knew that Cheng Yu was a good cook. She couldn't teach her any useful cooking knowledge, and she didn't dare to call herself her master.

I am not worthy of the title of Master.

Cheng Yu visited Madam Li once, and then went to a clinic outside to get some medicine to dispel the wind and cold and some plaster to treat rheumatism for Madam Li.

The good news is that every clinic has plasters for treating rheumatic bone pain, and they are not expensive.