"Innkeeper, I have a question for you. My family and I are looking for a place to stay, but we can't afford an inn. I wonder if there is any place in Zhujia Town where we can spend the night?"

When Tao Wanniang was paying the bill, she casually asked the shopkeeper.

"If you gentlemen really have nowhere to go, why don't you stay at my house for the night?"

The shopkeeper received the money and happily agreed, but as soon as he said it, his wife kicked him.

"Gentlemen, my husband is easy to talk to. It's not that I'm stingy, but our house isn't big. Although there's an empty room, it's filled with clutter. How can we let you gentlemen stay there?"

The woman said with a forced smile, although she had misjudged them; she hadn't expected these down-on-their-luck refugees to actually have some money.

But if she doesn't tell him about her own situation, does she think her husband doesn't know?

As she spoke, the woman glared at her husband with a hint of reproach.

The man grinned sheepishly, scratched the back of his head, and said apologetically, "My wife is right, the house is just sitting there unused, but I don't think you gentlemen are picky, so..."

Seeing this, Tao Wanniang deliberately spoke up, "Your shop isn't doing very well, is it? I've been watching for so long, and only a few of us have come to eat. I think it's because your wontons are just too awful!"

As soon as Tao Wanniang finished speaking, the smiling man's face froze, and his wife's eyes widened, looking like she was about to explode.

"Five coins' worth of wontons shouldn't taste like this. If I were in charge, I could make your business thrive!"

Tao Wan's mother looked very serious, while her son and daughter-in-law behind her exchanged bewildered glances. What was their mother pretending to be? How could she say that such delicious wontons were bad?

"Sir, what are your thoughts on this?" The man's attitude was quite sincere.

"I'm too tired to talk today. Let us stay for the night. Tomorrow we'll see what you have at home, and I'll make you a bowl of wontons. You can see for yourself then whether I'm right or not."

This guy just wanted to freeload, and the man and his wife held their tempers and didn't get angry.

“Auntie, I have a straightforward temper and my words may not be pleasant to hear. But I see that your family has had a hard time. Alright, you can stay in that room.”

The woman said, "Just turn two corners ahead. Okay, there's no one here now. I'll take you there. The house is very dusty, so you'll have to sweep it yourselves."

Tao Wan's mother didn't stand on ceremony and turned to greet her son and daughter-in-law.

"Let's go, we have a place to stay!"

"Wife, Mom is so amazing."

Ling Dahu whispered to Wang Hongyu.

"Mom, are you kidding me?"

Wang Hongyu spoke to her husband in the lowest of voices, saying that in the years since she married into the family, her mother-in-law had never cooked. If there was any skill involved, it was only during their escape from famine that her mother-in-law had demonstrated it a few times.

"Perhaps it's Father's spirit in heaven protecting Mother!"

Ling Dapeng leaned closer and whispered, "You should know we have a father who's an official down there!"

It seemed that this was the only plausible reason, and the group nodded in unison.

"Auntie, my name is Cuihua, and my husband's name is He Dazhu. He is honest and upright, but that doesn't mean that others can lie to him!"

On the way, Cuihua spoke very seriously to Tao Wanniang.

"I don't usually lie!" Tao Wanniang replied seriously, only lying when she had no other choice!

"If you stay the night, I'll make your business thrive tomorrow."

Cuihua glanced at Tao Wanniang but didn't say anything more. After turning through a few alleys, they arrived at their house.

"Don't look down on this dilapidated house. Dazhu lost both his parents when he was young, and this is the only house they left him."

As Cuihua spoke, she pushed open the gate. "And the wontons you said weren't good, those are a family recipe passed down through my family. I've been selling wontons with my grandfather since I was little. You say they're not good? I'd like to see what tricks you can pull tomorrow."

Tao Wanniang smiled without saying a word. Only when she saw the scallions in the yard did she speak: "These scallions are quite nice! And you've even planted ginger! It seems you're blessed with good weather here; you really haven't suffered from drought!"

"We grow vegetables and raise chickens and ducks in the front yard. It's a bit dirty, but that's how we are."

Cuihua said, unlocking the door. Although the house was dilapidated, it had a front room and a back room.

"I still need to go to the stall. You guys sweep and wipe it yourselves. Here, the stuff is!"

As Cuihua spoke, she hurriedly went out.

"Mom, you rest, we'll take care of it!"

Wang Hongyu spoke first, saying that her mother-in-law had her father-in-law's protection, and that with her mother-in-law, life wouldn't be too bad.

Zhou Xiaoyun, who was holding her son, saw her sister-in-law take the initiative, so she shoved the child into Ling Dapeng's arms and stepped forward as well:

"Mom, it's dusty inside, why don't you go outside and rest?"

"Isn't it obvious? If you don't do it, who will?"

Tao Wan's mother said bluntly, "Little Qiao'er, come on, let's go outside and look at the stars!"

"Grandma Tao, aren't they worried that we'll take their things from their house?"

Xiao Qiao asked, somewhat confused, "That woman clearly doesn't like them, yet she lets them stay."

"They probably thought there wasn't much in the house that could be stolen!"

Tao Wanniang said jokingly, "Little Qiao'er, actually we've never been too unlucky. There are still more good people than bad in this world."

Although Cuihua was not very happy, she eventually let them stay. Although the house was empty, it could at least keep them out of the wind and rain!

After a long day of travel, and after cleaning the house, everyone laid out their beds on the floor to rest. In her drowsy state, Tao Wanniang seemed to hear the sound of the front door opening, which meant that the shopkeeper and his wife had returned from their wonton stall.

The next morning, the rooster's crow woke Tao Wanniang. She glanced at the sky; it was still not fully light.

However, seeing the light in the front yard, she knew that the young couple had started working.

"I'm up. I keep my word. Where's the kitchen? I'll cook you some wontons."

Tao Wanniang walked straight to the front yard and saw He Dazhu and Cuihua coming out of the house.

"Auntie, you don't need to get up so early. We're going to set up our stall, that's why we got up so early," He Dazhu said with a smile.

"You need to chop the meat and roll out the wonton wrappers. Go to the kitchen!" Tao Wanniang said frankly.

"This way, ma'am!" He Dazhu said immediately, his eager manner earning him a glare from his wife.

The kitchen was cluttered with many items, but not in a messy way. Watching the young couple skillfully begin their work, Tao Wan's mother suddenly spoke up:

"That fatty meat, yes, the kind with a little bit of lean meat, bring it out here. Don't you guys render lard?"

"Lard?" He Dazhu was stunned for a moment, then said, "Auntie, that's such a waste. Pork costs 120 coins a pound, and we have to buy a pound of pork every day."

"The oil we usually use is soybean oil, which is sold by oil vendors who go from street to street for fifty coins a pound."

“That’s right. It costs 100 coins to buy pork every day, and we also need 2 jin of flour every day. Flour costs 200 coins a jin, but a bowl of our wontons only costs 5 coins. You still think it’s expensive!”

Cuihua, who was kneading dough nearby, said indignantly, looking at Tao Wan's mother with a hint of mockery. This old woman was so down on her luck that she didn't even know that lard was expensive. How ridiculous!

Tao Wanniang knew that everything had become expensive after the famine, but she was also shocked that prices were so high here. This wonton shop was selling wontons for five coins, which was quite reasonable.