Whether it was retribution or not, after beating He Dazhu to death, the landlord himself inexplicably fell seriously ill and died.

The landlord's house was immediately thrown into disarray. The ladies of the house simply looted everything and left, leaving no one to care for the dead lord. It was only thanks to his eldest son's burial before he left that the body was properly disposed of, preventing him from being left unattended.

The servants in the house also grabbed some things and ran away. Anyway, they had already entered the new society, and these indentures were no longer valid with the new government.

They weren't afraid of becoming runaway slaves anymore, so after dividing up all the valuables, they packed their clothes and ran away.

He Dazhu was a quiet, reserved man in the landlord's household, and he didn't make a single friend. He drove the landlord's oxcart when the landlord had one, and the horse-drawn carriage when the landlord had one. When the landlord finally got a car, he thought the man was honest and sent him to learn how to drive. Another reason might be that because the man rarely spoke, the landlord didn't need to pay him wages; a full meal was enough. For the stingy landlord, this was a valuable source of labor.

He Dazhu wanted to get married, but the matchmaker tricked him by saying that the bride price alone would be twenty silver dollars. He Dazhu didn't have the money, so he had no choice but to ask the landlord for it.

Of course, he didn't get anything out of the house. After returning home, he was severely beaten by the landlord's men. Because he lived in the landlord's dilapidated house, he fell ill there for several days and died.

It was Uncle Lin, a friend of He Yuping's father, who collected He Dazhu's body. That's why he let He Yuping use this identity, since it was a clean identity with no worries.

“Mom, aren’t there neighborhood offices around here? Why don’t we go and take a look and see how much houses like these are selling for? If possible, we can ask the people at the neighborhood office to help us buy these houses and just pay a small commission. That way, we won’t have to run around all day, it’s too tiring, and we don’t know many people around here.” He Caiwei remembered that in this book, there was a story about buying and selling houses, and the female protagonist went to the neighborhood office.

That should work too, so the mother and daughter don't have to run around all over the streets.

“I’ve already inquired about house prices. The place we live in now can sell for eighty silver dollars. As for shops, an ordinary shop is a hundred silver dollars, and a larger one or one with a courtyard will cost more. I looked at fourteen ordinary shops here, twelve with courtyards, six with courtyards like the one we live in now, and two with courtyards more than twice the size of ours. Actually, we can wait another month or two. I heard that liberation is coming. After liberation, the factories nearby will definitely need to hire a lot of people, and then the demand for houses will increase, making it easier to sell houses.” He Youyou’s father was an accountant, so from a young age, he would intentionally or unintentionally instill some business acumen in her. Therefore, she knew much more than the women in the inner quarters.

“Mom is really amazing. Let’s wait a little longer. Anyway, our house won’t sell anytime soon, so let’s just wait together. We can also ask Grandpa Lin to help us buy train tickets. It’ll just be hard on you, Mom, as you’ll have to take care of your face every day before you go out.” He Caiwei felt that it was only a month or two, and she could wait. However, she felt that her mother wasn’t entirely right. After all, the people over there had already taken over all the departments and factories here, so they shouldn’t have to wait that long.

The mother and daughter slept soundly. The next morning, He Youyou thought that since they were going to stay here for so long, they should buy some daily necessities. The pots and pans in the house were left by the previous owner, and they could still be used as long as they were washed.

Now all we need to do is buy some rice, flour, and seasonings. As for vegetables, we can grow bok choy in two months, and it only takes about ten days for a new crop to grow. This way, the mother and daughter won't have to keep buying vegetables from outside.

The thought of living here for a few months makes me feel like I'm lacking everything. I need to buy rice, flour, cooking oil, a kitchen knife and cutting board, and even a kang mat. The weather is quite hot now, so I won't need a quilt. Anyway, they have two cloaks, so I can make do with those.

You can buy two earthenware pots for stewing soup. If you can't get a train ticket, you can use them to travel by horse-drawn carriage.

"Daughter, come on, Mom will take you shopping. We'll go to the department store first, and I'll buy you some snacks later." After getting herself ready, He Yuping took her daughter out. The two of them didn't have anything to cook at home today, so they would have to eat out again. After buying some food at the department store, they could cook for themselves at noon.

They turned left after leaving their house and walked for a few minutes to reach the street. As soon as they came out, they saw a frail old man pulling a cart piled high with firewood.

He Youyou carried her daughter over and asked the old man in their local dialect, "Uncle, do you sell this firewood?"

"Oh, little girl, it's for sale, it's for sale, little girl! This firewood of mine is thoroughly dry and burns well. I'll give you a discount if you buy the whole cartload. A bundle that originally sold for eight coins, you can have it for six." As soon as the old man heard that someone wanted to buy his firewood, he immediately started introducing it to the young woman in front of him with a smile. He used to deliver his firewood to the Qu family, but who would have thought that the Qu family would disappear overnight? He could no longer sell his firewood and could only push it to the street to sell it.

"Alright, Uncle, bring the firewood and come with me." He Youyou led the old man selling firewood to her front door, put her daughter down, opened the door, and asked the old man to help carry the firewood into the woodshed.

Next to the kitchen is a small thatched hut, which is used to store firewood. It hasn't been used for a long time, so the whole thatched hut is empty and there's nothing there.

After the old man carried the firewood in bundle by bundle, He Youyou counted them. There were twelve bundles of firewood in the cart, each bundle very large and sturdy. Including the time it took to carry it in, He Youyou calculated the cost to be seventy-five coins. After paying, she locked the door and left with her daughter without waiting for the old man to say anything. She still had to go to the department store; with so many things to buy, she didn't know if she would make it back in time for lunch.

Just as I came out of the alley, there was a bus. I gave them a gold yuan and got on. These buses were originally sent from Shanghai by the Qu family. There was also a bus company. A few months ago, someone came to the Qu family to negotiate with Master Qu. For some reason, Master Qu readily handed over the bus company.

Now that the Qu family has fallen, Master Qu has fled with his share of the assets, and all of the Qu family's businesses have been taken over by the new government.

For some unknown reason, neither Madam Qu nor Master Qu dared to come out and ask for these things back, and He Caiwei and her daughter were even less likely to ask for them back.