Yunling had given some thought to the newly arrived thousand catties of cotton. She remembered that Old Man Yun had already led people to ram the outer walls of the house with mud and mortar, and each space inside had been partitioned off.

More importantly, a well has been dug near the large vat for washing cotton, which is very convenient for them. After washing, they can dry the cotton without worrying about anyone causing trouble at night.

"Grandma, why don't we just put the cotton in the old house? It'll be easier to wash and dry it then."

"No, that's a new house. You can't move in without offering sacrifices to the spirits inside."

Yunling was a little confused. "Grandma, we're not moving in. We're just using the place to wash and dry cotton. Besides, their side is only part of the new house. Our side will be renovated later. Where will we stay then?"

Old Lady Yun grabbed a tung oil tree branch and hit Yun Ling on the bottom.

"Why are you talking so much? You silly kid, you're such a chatterbox. When the project comes to our area, you'll have to live outside. After it's finished, the whole family will come back. How can you save money?"

This is when Yun Ruoxia has something to say.

"Mom, if we have to live outside, where can we live? Our house isn't that big, but it's not that small either. It'll take at least two or three months. What will happen to the bees and the mushrooms then? Will we not care about making any money?"

Old Lady Yun's tung oil stick finally landed on Yun Ruoxia.

"Are your eyes glued to a money hole? I told you to live outside, not to live in Fujian or Bianjing. Is the Fan family out of place? Or is it that the neighborhood can't accommodate someone like you? As long as you spend enough copper coins, you can even find a place in front of the Prime Minister's mansion."

Yun Ruoxia then stopped speaking, and the atmosphere in the room immediately became awkward and heavy. Zhang quickly spoke up to ease the tension.

“Mother, I think it would be better to go to the river to wash the cotton this time. The Lin family and the Wu family came to try to establish a relationship with Chun Jie because she became a yamen runner. I think that the people in the village are more or less mindful of Chun Jie’s status and won’t do anything bad to our cotton.”

“I think Mother is right.”

“I also think my sister-in-law makes a good point.”

Seeing that the two of them had stopped trying to be clever, Old Lady Yun felt relieved, but she was still being competitive. She snorted and then gave up.

The four men chopped down the tung trees, quickly carried them home to burn, and waited to collect the ash water. The next day, carts carrying cotton arrived one after another. Knowing that the Yun family was going to wash their cotton, the village women, in groups of two or three, came to the Yun family's door.

Firstly, they knew the wages for washing cotton were high and they were quick to pay in copper coins; secondly, they could take this opportunity to build a good relationship with the Yun family, killing two birds with one stone.

Yunling was short-handed at the time, but she didn't just choose anyone randomly. Instead, she first picked out the woman who brought the wooden basin, and then selected two other women she found agreeable to help. She then entrusted the task of washing cotton to Yun Ruoxia and Zhang Shi.

After Yunling returned to the house and pressed down the ashes, she carried two baskets on her back and went up the mountain to collect medicinal herbs.

As soon as she reached the top of the mountain, Yunling grabbed a big tree and hugged it. With her feet firmly planted on the ground, her whole body continuously absorbed the energy from the mountain. She felt her meridians relax and she felt much more comfortable.

She was lost in her own world when she was suddenly tapped on the shoulder.

"What are you doing, you little idiot? Are you daydreaming?"

Yunling was startled by the sudden palm strike. She opened her eyes, saw Pei Lin, and glared at him hatefully.

"Are you blind? I'm just hugging a tree."

"Why are you hugging this tree for no reason? You look like a bald monkey."

Yunling's biggest pet peeve was her hair, so she retorted fiercely:

"You're the bald one, your whole family is bald! Hey, I'm telling you, you don't even live here, so why are you coming up to our mountains and picking our herbs? Did you pay us any money?"

Pei Lin moved the basket back slightly, trying to avoid Yun Ling's gaze, and answered "naturally":

"That's all your and your sister's fault. One of you is busy with business, and the other is stuck at Ren'an Hall. Naturally, we've run out of medicinal herbs, so the errands have fallen on me."

When Yun Chu was mentioned, Yun Ling became less competitive and her attitude towards Pei Lin softened.

"How is my elder sister doing at Ren'an Hall? Has she been bullied?"

Pei Lin mimicked Yun Ling's earlier manner, giving the man a disdainful glare, exuding an air of arrogance.

"How can she possibly live like this? She's just a young woman surrounded by men. Isn't she just as miserable as a son-in-law who's married into the family?"

"Hey, you're wrong about that. What's wrong with a son-in-law who marries into his wife's family? I don't think he's feeling aggrieved at all. On the contrary, I think he's sincere towards the woman."

As soon as she finished speaking, Yunling was poked hard on the head.

"You've been reading too many storybooks. Aside from those who are orphans, have all their neighbors dead, or are just trying to swindle you out of your money, who would want to be a live-in son-in-law?"

"Orphaned..." Yunling murmured, a name popping into her mind, "Chief Escort Chen, that Chief Escort Chen is an orphan, and a simple-minded person, he..."

"Hey, hey, hey, you're not thinking of taking a son-in-law into your family, are you?"

“Recruiting a son-in-law to join the family… Oh, right, I can recruit a son-in-law to join the family, so he can stay by my father, mother, grandmother, and grandfather’s side.”

Pei Lin immediately wanted to slap himself twice. What was he thinking? It turned out that this person didn't mean it that way before, but after he reminded him, he did.

How can this be done?

He won't become a live-in son-in-law!

But if he doesn't acknowledge that family back, he'll only have one grandfather...

Pei Lin coughed twice to clear his throat.

"Those sons-in-law are cunning. They say they have no parents, but what if an old man suddenly appears halfway through the journey? How will you handle that? Will you kick him out?"

"What's this talk about dealing with him? Since he's married into our family, his family is naturally our family too. We should help and take care of them, that's all."

Pei Lin's lips curled up slightly, and for some reason, he was happy. He was simply happy, but if asked to elaborate, he wouldn't know what he was happy about.

He won't become a live-in son-in-law.

Who wants to be a live-in son-in-law?

**

After Yunling gathered the herbs and brought them down the mountain, Yunling's mother, along with a woman, carried the wood ash and water from the house to the riverbank. The two large pots on the stove in the house were nowhere to be found, presumably they had been moved to the riverbank and a makeshift stove had been built to steam cotton.