Ye Erquan, holding the money, entered the main room with some displeasure.

Old Mrs. Ye and Mrs. Du were sewing shoe soles when Ye Erquan pulled up a chair and sat down opposite Old Mrs. Ye.

"Mom, we're having a housewarming party in a couple of days, what should we cook?"

Grandma Ye asked, "How much money are you planning to spend?"

"I only have 5 taels and 4 mace..."

"Our relatives all know that we need at least 15 tables, otherwise there won't be enough seats." Old Mrs. Ye frowned slightly. "If we want it to be respectable, it should at least be like a wedding with five members."

"Eight dishes, five meat and three vegetable dishes are a must. We won't count the vegetable dishes, we have them in our garden, and if we need more, we can get some from your second uncle's house. But oil, salt and rice aren't cheap either, so a meal will cost at least 500 coins."

Du said, "I asked my second aunt, and the last banquet cost a full 10 taels of silver. How many banquets were there? I think it was 18, and each banquet cost about 550 coins."

“Second brother, if you host 15 tables, it will cost at least 8 taels.”

Ye Erquan was furious: "I originally had enough, but the wife of my child insisted on taking three taels of silver!"

Grandma Ye frowned, and finally sighed softly: "Alright, it's not a big deal, there's no need to make a fuss over a few taels. She insists on saving some money only for your little family."

Ye Erquan nodded in agreement: "She said she wanted to save up to get Peng'er a wife."

"That's fine then. It's all for your son and daughter, so don't be angry with her. I'll give you three taels first, and you can pay her back when you have more money."

"Thank you, Mother." Ye Erquan was delighted. "I'll ask my second uncle to see what their banquet menu was like last time."

He gave gifts at the banquet, and by the end of the month, after he and Mrs. Wei received their wages, they would have almost paid back the money.

...

Soon it was January 23rd, and Ye Erquan moved to a new house.

Relatives and friends all came, and the whole family was busy coming and going, making it very lively.

Ye Hufen has come again.

This time, she looked radiant, and even Yang Xiaoyan appeared fairer and plumper.

Ye Caiping, Old Lady Ye, and Second Aunt Ye quickly pulled her aside and asked with gossipy expressions, "How is Yang Guangzong now?"

"Don't worry, he's doing great! He even went to the village chief to complain at first," Ye Hufeng said. "He's really something!"

"What kind of person is our village chief? He loves to stay out of things that don't concern him. If things really escalate to him, he'll just try to smooth things over and make a big deal out of it."

“The village chief didn’t care about his affair with Widow Chen before, so why would he care now?”

Aunt Ye breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this and smiled, "Did the villagers say anything about you?"

“At first, a few gossipy women came over and said that I couldn’t be so fierce and that I couldn’t hit my husband. So I told them that since they cared so much about Yang Guangzong, why didn’t they come in and be his concubines? It’s more lively with more people.”

"They all ran away in fright when they heard that."

"Pfft, hahaha!" Aunt Ye and her three daughters-in-law all burst into laughter.

"After that, no one spoke ill of our family anymore," Ye Hufen said.

Yang Xiaoyan sighed softly: "My mother used to be virtuous and hardworking, and they all looked down on her and laughed at her. Now that my mother is fierce and lazy and does nothing, they respect her instead. Many women look at my mother with envy."

Ye Caiping thought to herself that so-called dignity and respect are all earned by oneself.

“Let’s go see Second Brother’s house!” Ye Hufen said.

"Walk."

The group left Aunt Ye's house to go see Ye Erquan's house.

Ye Erquan's house has the same layout as the old house, but it's bigger. After all, the old house and vegetable garden together only occupy four-tenths of an acre.

Ye Erquan's homestead was 6 fen, of which 4 fen was used for building houses, not including vegetable gardens.

The entire house was made of blue bricks and large tiles, and it was very spacious.

Aunt Ye and Ye Hufen were all incredibly envious.

Ye Erquan and Wei Shi were greeting their relatives when they saw Ye Ershen arrive and quickly came out.

"Second Brother, congratulations." Ye Hufen gave a gift of money.

“This house is really big and bright,” Yang Xiaoyan said.

Ye Erquan said with a proud look, "Luckily, I listened to my father and younger sister and built a brick house. Look how beautiful it is."

Mrs. Wei smiled broadly, feeling very proud and pleased with herself.

Soon it was time to eat.

The banquet dishes were decent, not particularly delicious, but not shabby either. It certainly made them look good.

...

After a busy day, it's finally over.

Ye Erquan and Wei counted the gift money.

The gift money was more than expected. Ye Caiping alone gave 1 tael, Ye Daquan gave 500 wen, Ye Ershu's family gave 100 wen, and Ye Lizheng also gave 200 wen.

Other relatives and villagers, scattered here and there, added up to more than 600 coins.

Lady Wei was delighted: "That adds up to 2 taels and 4 mace!"

Ye Er picked them all up: "I borrowed three taels from my mother, and I'll pay her back one tael tomorrow. My little sister is also moving in a few days, and we should give her one tael as a gift."

Mrs. Wei nodded: "It should be one tael, otherwise it won't look good."

When giving money as a gift, you give the same amount as others when they do something. You can't take advantage of others.

...

Five days later was Ye Caiping's housewarming party.

The villagers were already envious of Ye Erquan's house last time, but now, stepping into Ye Caiping's house, all they could say was shock.

“Why is this house like this? The gate is quite large, but once you enter, there’s a wall, and that wall is rather beautiful,” said Du’s wife.

“This is a screen wall,” Ye Caiping smiled. “There’s an archway on the left.”

The villagers followed Ye Caiping through the archway and saw a row of five rooms. The houses were facing away from the main gate and were upside down.

"Why do these houses face such a strange direction?" Tie Niu's wife said.

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