He bought a large amount of frosting again, along with some suitable tools, and also procured some fabrics and clothes for them. Han Mo's money bag quickly deflated again.
"Second Brother, will these things really sell?"
Seeing so much money spent, the little maid felt a pang of heartache.
"Don't worry, when have I ever lied to you?"
"It seems like, apart from these past few months, it was like that every day before..."
Listening to the little maid's mumbling, Han Mo felt his face flush.
To be honest, it was quite shameful. This big man actually had to rely on a little maid to supplement the household expenses.
"Even if they don't sell, we won't lose money!"
Han Mo's old face reddened, a little embarrassed and angry.
"Alright, alright!"
Hearing Han Mo say that, the little maid pouted directly, her small mouth pursed, and she turned her head to the side, clearly a bit upset.
"This is for you!"
As Han Mo spoke, he flipped his right hand and produced a jeweled hairpin, then casually placed it on the little maid's head.
"Where did you get this? This is very expensive, you've spent money carelessly again..."
The little maid was easily appeased. A jeweled hairpin sent all her anger flying to the nine heavens.
"How is this spending carelessly? Once I earn money, I'll buy you two boxes and you can wear them alternately every morning, noon, and night!"
Han Mo's casual remark made the little maid's pretty face turn crimson.
By the time Han Mo returned to his courtyard with the maids, the day was already in the afternoon.
"Young Master is back!"
Seeing Han Mo return, Xu Sanbao quickly greeted him with a smile.
"Mm, these few are the new maids I bought. They'll be living in the east courtyard from now on. Don't let anyone disturb them there."
Han Mo had no intention of trusting the people in this courtyard. He could use them, but he definitely couldn't rely on them.
"Yes! I'll arrange it right away!"
Xu Sanbao quickly agreed with a smile.
"You girls follow Steward Xu for now. Oh, and leave the things in this cart here with me. You all go settle in first, and I'll come over tomorrow at Chenshi."
As he said this, Han Mo looked at Yue Nu again.
"Find someone to invite a bone injury doctor back, and also, prepare two extra servings of fresh milk for her every day from now on."
Han Mo pondered for a moment, directly pointed at Yue Nu, and then said.
"Yes!"
Hearing Han Mo's words, Xu Sanbao cautiously glanced at Yue Nu from the corner of his eye.
Although this girl was already eighteen or nineteen years old, her eyes still held a touch of childish innocence.
Han Mo couldn't tell, but this old fox could see that the girl was clearly still a maiden.
She was clearly a young lady, yet she was holding a baby. This matter was truly quite strange.
However, since Xu Sanbao didn't say anything, he didn't dare to ask, so he could only respond and then went to make arrangements.
"Why did you save me?"
Just as these maids were walking to the door with Xu Sanbao, Yue Nu, limping, gritted her teeth and looked at Han Mo earnestly, asking.
This was the first time Han Mo had heard her speak. Her voice was pleasant, and although she spoke in official Mandarin, there was a hint of Wu dialect in her accent.
It sounded somewhat incongruous, but coupled with her bell-like voice, it was quite striking.
However, when she spoke, her face was full of tension and wariness.
It seemed as if she was constantly guarding against Han Mo developing improper intentions towards her.
"Why? Because I need you to serve me!"
Han Mo smiled and then said earnestly.
"Serve?"
Yue Nu repeated, frowning.
This was the first time she had heard someone use this word in relation to a woman.
"That's right, you don't need to be nervous. For now, I'm not particularly interested in you. You think too highly of yourself! Hurry up and recover from your injuries, there are still many things waiting for you to do!"
After Han Mo finished speaking, he turned and walked back into the room. Only after he had gone far away did Yue Nu breathe a long sigh of relief.
However, upon carefully savoring his words, her expression became somewhat complicated.
On one hand, she felt fortunate that Han Mo wasn't interested in her. On the other hand, looking at Chun Tao beside her, she felt a little bit of unwillingness.
A woman's intuition is always accurate, and this intuition is generally independent of age.
The little maid glanced at Yue Nu, and for some reason, felt a sense of threat.
Fortunately, Yue Nu did not linger. Holding the baby in her arms, and with the assistance of another maid, she walked towards the courtyard at the east end of the village, looking back every few steps.
"In the evening, go check on them in their rooms and see if they need anything. After all, they have a child with them, so don't let the child freeze."
After the little maid entered the room, Han Mo said casually while rummaging through the things on the table.
"Second Brother, I always feel like that woman has some interest in you..."
"What kind of interest? Don't you see she's holding a child? Alright, if she weren't literate, I wouldn't have bought her."
Seeing the little maid's guilty look, Han Mo chuckled.
"Do we have any more food at home? I'm really a bit hungry now."
"Second Brother! You're back. Look quickly, this is the pastry sent to us by our grand-uncle!"
While they were talking, Han Yan entered with two large food boxes.
"There's good news like this?"
Han Mo smiled, he really hadn't expected Han Jiayan to still be thinking of him.
"Steward Liu from over there said that Grand-uncle ordered that the manor over there would send you pastries every day. Oh, and they also sent a large box with a seal on it."
"A box? Where?"
Han Mo's interest was immediately piqued.
"It's outside. Didn't you see it?"
Han Yan said, pointing to a corner in the outer room.
"I came back in a hurry, I didn't even notice!"
Han Mo said, walking over to the box, tore off the seal, and lifted the lid. Inside, indeed, were densely packed scrolls.
He imagined that these must be past exam papers and highly-rated essays from previous years.
He really hadn't expected that he had only casually mentioned it to Han Jiayan, and the old man had actually managed to get it done.
"From now on, no more miscellaneous people are allowed in this room, especially these things. No one is allowed to touch them!"
After casually flipping over a page, Han Mo immediately instructed the little maid.
"What are these?"
The little maid looked at Han Mo with curiosity.
"These? These are the stepping stones to officialdom!"
There were less than three months left until the grand examination, and his time was now exceptionally precious.