Chapter 6: First, Get a Foothold

When Widow Qu heard her asking for tea, she was quite generous and brought out a clay teapot. "This is tea made from the leaves of the kumquat tree. It clears away heat and quenches thirst. I wonder if you guys are used to it."

How could Zhao Liya be picky? She quickly thanked him and took it.

She thought for a moment, then put on a smile and said politely, "By the way, Aunt Qu, can we borrow your stove to make some porridge tonight? It's not for free, I can pay for it, so please do me a favor."

Widow Qu smiled and said, "What's the neighbor talking about money? Just come here!"

"Thank you, Aunt Qu!"

Zhao Liya went there with brisk steps.

The tea was light amber in color, refreshing with a slight sweet aftertaste. The family was very thirsty after working for a long time, so they drank it from coarse earthenware bowls and praised it highly.

After drinking tea and cleaning up for a while, Zhao Liya said something and scooped a large bowl of millet to go to Widow Qu's house.

They had bowls for use on the road, but they had no pots and pans as they had not had time to buy one, so they had to borrow one from Widow Qu's house.

This large bowl of millet must have weighed nearly a pound, enough to make porridge, and enough to share with Widow Qu. If you borrow someone's stove, firewood, and pot, you can't eat all of it. I'll repay this favor later.

Cooking porridge is a real thing, and it is also important to inquire about the situation in the village at the same time.

As it happened, Widow Qu seemed quite interested in their new neighbors and asked a lot of questions. Zhao Liya told her everything she could. And Widow Qu also told her everything Zhao Liya asked.

The two people had a very pleasant conversation.

Zhao Liya only then realized that Widow Qu was a widow, living here with her daughter, Qu Yutao, and she was filled with admiration. They must have some talent to have managed to stay here. She was also a nice person, someone you could get along with.

It took more than half an hour to cook the millet porridge. The cooked millet porridge was thick and smooth, with a strong rice aroma. It felt soothing when you smelled it, and it soothed your spleen and stomach when you took a bite.

Zhao Liya filled two large bowls of steaming hot porridge and placed them on the stove. "Aunt and Sister Yutao, have some too! It's good for your stomach and body to drink some porridge in such hot weather!"

"Oh, I'm asking you to spend money!" Widow Qu didn't refuse. She smiled and thanked him. She took out a few fresh cucumbers from the small basket and put them in the basket: "Take them and try them."

"Thank you, Auntie!" Zhao Liya said with a crisp smile, then took the pot and the basket and said goodbye. "I'll return the pot and basket to you later."

"Hey, no hurry, no hurry!"

Zhao Liya brought dinner home and the whole family shared it.

There were no stools in the room, so everyone spread out mats to sit on.

After a day of hard work, I am tired and the fragrant, golden millet porridge is particularly tempting.

"Hey, this millet porridge smells so good! Is it delicious?"

“Delicious!”

"Your sister's cooking skills are really good, haha!"

"Dad, cooking porridge doesn't require any skills."

"Yes, yes, I, as a mother, don't know how to do it!"

Everyone laughed. In the afterglow of the setting sun, the family chatted and laughed, cherishing and happily sitting together drinking fragrant millet porridge. It was simple but also happy and warm.

The millet porridge was cooked very thickly. The adults tacitly gave the two little ones the first bite to let them eat their fill, while the adults ate until they were about 70% full.

After dinner, the dusk deepened.

They also had moxa sticks bought from the pharmacy, which they used to fumigate various areas of the house and lit outside the door to fumigate mosquitoes.

Then, everyone sat on the mat and discussed future arrangements.

The first thing to do, of course, is to count the money and see how much property is left.

When Zhao Liya came, she extorted two thousand taels of silver from the Duke of Liguo's Mansion. Hu Ling caught up with them later and also brought four hundred taels, a total of two thousand four hundred taels.

It looks like a lot, but it costs even more on the way.

He gave six hundred taels of silver as gifts to the escorting officials, and also had to buy wine, meat, cakes, fresh fruits and other things to bribe them from time to time, which cost him more than two hundred taels of silver.

They themselves spent a lot of money along the way, especially when staying at the post station, where they were treated as suckers and were ripped off. They had no choice but to let themselves be ripped off. If something happened, who knew what would happen?

After counting, there were still more than 1,300 taels of silver left.

Although it seems like a lot, given their current status, they may need to spend money to avoid disaster at any time. Therefore, they must leave about 600 taels as life-saving money, which must not be used easily.

In other words, all they can use now is five hundred taels plus a fraction.

I took a look at this house which didn’t even have a door - it would cost money to fill it everywhere!

Zhao Xiang said, "Ya'er, from now on, you will be the one who manages our family's finances. You are thoughtful and considerate, so I'll make it hard for you in the future."

Mrs. Deng also smiled lovingly and agreed: "Yes, my Ya'er is a good child. Fortunately, you are born. You are a blessing to your parents!"

Hu Ling grinned and said, "I listen to my sister too."

"Okay, then let me tell you my plan."

Zhao Liya had originally intended to worry about this family to the end. Even if she was not the head of the family in name, she wanted to make sure that she had the final say in reality.

It's not that she likes to seize power, but her parents have never lived through this kind of life and have no idea where to start. Hu Ling can give courage, but not much else. If she doesn't stand up, who else can she count on?

Given their family’s current situation, there is nothing to say. They just need to gain a foothold in the village first.

This place is different from other villages. Either the prisoners are exiled or the relatives or descendants of the prisoners are exiled. It cannot be said that all the people here are unforgivable villains, but there are definitely good and bad people here, and there are more evil people.

Everyone's moral sense is also lower.

Therefore, Zhao Liya couldn't tell her how to gain a firm foothold, and she could only deal with it as it came.

For example, if you want to deal with someone like Qu Guafu, you have to make friends with her; if you want to deal with gangsters and scoundrels, of course you have to use your fists.

"Our house must be reinforced and built well to be safe. My brother and I will go to the county town tomorrow to ask around and hire more people to quickly build the house."

This statement was unanimously agreed by everyone.

Mrs. Deng was particularly frightened. She couldn't help but glance at the dark, framed door and said, "This house is really scary to live in. The sooner it's finished, the better. Otherwise, I'm really worried."

Zhao Liya smiled: "Don't worry, Mom, I'll get up early. I'm here with Dad and Brother, so you can just sleep peacefully at night!"

"Not bad!" Everyone laughed.

When the dust settled, the tense spirits that had been building up along the way subconsciously relaxed. Everyone was tired and sleepy, and soon went to rest.

There are too many things to talk about, and I can’t finish them all in a short time. There is no rush to do it tonight.

First, build a good house and ensure personal and property safety, then the rest can be done step by step.

With money in their pockets, they are not worried and still have some confidence.

(End of this chapter)