Chapter 17 Renting a Room

Seeing that there was no way to turn the tide, Zhou Lao Er collapsed to the ground.

After the people from the gambling den left with the IOU, satisfied, the people from the Zhou family's old house also arrived.

"You! You really are... fifty taels! If you can't pay this back, and you're associated with the gambling den, your reputation is ruined! How could you be so impulsive!"

The old lady Zhou's hard-won energy vanished in an instant, and she could only vent her frustration by crying and hitting Zhou Lao Er, who was unable to stop her.

“Zhou Chengli signed this himself, it has nothing to do with us. Second brother, you know that we have spent a lot of money on Chengli over the years, and we really can’t come up with anything else. Since Zhou Chengli has the ability to sign the gambling house’s IOU, then let him pay it back and not blame us!”

Qian Yue wasn't one to suffer losses, so she wasn't willing to spend any more money to clean up Zhou Chengli's mess.

"How could you do this! We're family!" Zhao Yuzhi exclaimed, standing up for Zhou Chengli.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chengli's face darkened. Ever since he passed the imperial examination and became a scholar, everyone in the Zhou family had treated him with utmost respect, unlike now when they avoided him like the plague.

"We've already separated the family, so this has nothing to do with us. Second brother, you'll have to figure it out yourself." The people from the eldest and third branches of the Zhou family originally thought that Zhou Chengli would bring them benefits if he passed the imperial examination and became an official. However, they didn't expect that he would cause a lot of trouble before he even passed the examination. Whether he could pass the examination was another matter, and they dared not gamble on it.

As long as they are unwilling to spend money, no matter how capable Old Madam Zhou is, she will not be able to help Zhou Chengli resolve this matter.

As expected, seeing their attitude, Old Madam Zhou didn't say anything. She glared at Zhao Yuzhi a few times and pulled Zhou Chengli aside, trying to persuade him to divorce Zhao Yuzhi as soon as possible. However, Zhou Chengli was unmoved by her words and had no choice but to leave in a huff.

Zhou Lao Er was devastated and went to town to do carpentry overnight. He didn't want to stay in this house for even a day longer. Now, only Zhao Yuzhi and Zhou Chengli, the couple, were left in the second house, staring blankly at the empty house.

After Zhou Chengli left for the academy, Zhao Yuzhi lived alone, so she simply brought her younger siblings over to take care of them as well. Now, the Zhou family avoids them whenever they see them, and no one has noticed that the Zhao family's children have moved in.

After the divorce, Song Yushu took his two children and temporarily moved into the Wei family's home.

There were too many chickens and ducks, so they had to be sold first. The two sheep and the pig would be kept by the Wei family for the time being.

Song Yushu kept his promise and earned a little over two taels of silver from selling chickens and ducks, which he divided equally between his brother and sister as their private savings.

“These three pigs of yours are clearly from the same batch as the pigs in the pigsty, but they look even fatter. It seems your method really works,” Wei’s mother said with surprise as she looked at the piglets that Song Yushu had brought.

"Mother can have my eldest and second eldest brothers raise more pigs. Once I've rented a place in town and opened a restaurant, I'll order a lot of pork," the Wei family said. They had plenty of manpower, so raising pigs wouldn't interfere with their work since they only had one pork shop to run.

“I think it’s a good idea. My eldest son’s wife and second son’s wife have the time, so they can raise a few more pigs and take care of them. After our sows give birth, we won’t sell the piglets; we’ll keep them and raise them ourselves.”

"Alright, I'll castrate them all then, they'll grow back fat faster!" Boss Wei is no longer opposed to this method, after all, he has seen the results with his own eyes.

The Wei family's decision to bring Song Yushu back to the village caused quite a stir among the villagers. After all, these days, most daughters who have married out are considered like water spilled from a cup, and no one would willingly bring their daughter and grandson back to raise them for so long.

When the villagers had nothing to do, they would stir up trouble between the two wives of the Zhou family.

"Why is Wei Fang back? Every time she comes, your mother-in-law practically empties the Wei family home for her. This time she's staying for so long, you two better be more careful!"

"Yes, they even brought their child this time. Were they kicked out?"

A group of women were talking excitedly, their eyes full of schadenfreude.

“You don’t need to worry about that. My sister will be moving to town soon, and her life won’t be any worse than yours,” Sister-in-law Wei retorted immediately.

"What's there to be so smug about? Everyone knows Wei Fang has always been feisty; she was probably kicked out by her husband's family!"

"You're not just jealous of my sister's success selling food in town, are you? I've heard that your wife can't even sell a pound of tofu in half a day. It's embarrassing to talk about!" Sister-in-law Wei retorted before pulling Sister-in-law Wei away.

After returning home, he naturally had to tell Wei's mother about it.

Although Song Yushu didn't care about other people's opinions, he was afraid of affecting the Wei family, so he had to temporarily stop setting up his stall and go to town to find a house to rent.

She wanted to rent a larger place, with living quarters in the back and a shop in the front, but it wasn't easy to find one.

The broker took her to see two houses, but either the location was too desolate or the houses were too dilapidated, making repairs too costly.

"How about this, I'll ask the landlord if he's willing to lower the rent, since this place has been vacant for two or three years," the broker said, seeing that she genuinely wanted to rent the place. It was rare for someone to be interested in the place, so they had to find a way to rent it out.

He was referring to that very dilapidated house. It was spacious and had a yard with a persimmon tree and a well. In theory, it shouldn't be difficult to rent out, but the owner had set the price too high five years ago. The location wasn't even that good to begin with, so who would be willing to pay such a high price?

The rent has been lowered, but the property has been vacant for so many years, it's dilapidated everywhere, the roof has a huge hole, the yard is full of weeds, and the doors and windows are rotten, so it's even harder to rent it out.

Song Yushu did feel it was a pity to leave such a large courtyard, but she didn't have much money on hand right now, so she only told the broker that she could consider it if the price was right.

Unexpectedly, the broker actually gave her a surprise: the landlord agreed to lower the rent to thirty taels a year, but the lease would have to be for two years.

Song Yushu also felt that he couldn't find anything more suitable, so he simply settled on it and went with the broker to complete the rental agreement.

After paying a year's rent, Song Yushu didn't have much money left, so he could only set up a stall while tidying up the rented house.

The Zhou siblings were also busy, either helping Song Yushu set up a stall or tidying up their lodgings.

After a month of busy work, we finally managed to tidy it up and move in.

“You have to spend money everywhere in this town. Why don’t you plant some vegetables in the yard? It’s just sitting empty anyway,” said Mother Wei, seeing that the yard was quite big and that planting some vegetables would save some money.

“Okay, I’ll plant them when I have some free time,” Song Yushu said. He was so busy that he wished he could split himself in two and didn’t have time to plant vegetables.

Mother Wei didn't say anything more, but the next day Song Yushu saw two ridges of land on both sides of the courtyard.

"Mother, ask my brothers if they want those two sheep and three pigs? I can't raise them anymore. If they want them, I'll give them a low price," Song Yushu said, thinking about the two sheep and three pigs that were still being raised at the Wei family's house.

"I'll take the pigs, and as for the sheep, I'll ask around in the village if anyone wants to buy them."