Uncle Wang took his nephew to the house of his cousin, a scholar who had passed the imperial examinations, to see the house. But even then, the door had to be opened first!

"Brother Zhonglin, what brings you here? Is this Sister Yu's second son, the one who passed the imperial examination?"

“It’s him, Shuyun, call him Uncle.”

"Greetings, Uncle! This humble one greets you!"

Jiang Shuyun quickly bowed and greeted him, as he genuinely didn't remember this person. The original owner of this body truly disliked socializing and wasn't familiar with most of the people in the village.

"Okay, this kid is good, he's pleasing to the eye."

Wang Zhongwu disliked studying and was barely literate, but he was adept at hunting in the mountains and fishing in the river. After his brother passed the imperial examination and later obtained an official position, he settled down in another place. His brother took them all with him, but he didn't like life there and returned with his wife and children. It was more comfortable and carefree to stay at home.

"Zhongwu, has your family's old house been sold?"

"It hasn't sold yet. What, Brother Zhonglin, do you want to buy it?"

Wang Zhongwu wasn't surprised; almost everyone in the clan knew his family was selling their old house. It's just that the price was a bit high, and most people couldn't afford it.

“How can I afford to buy it? Besides, my family owns a house. Didn’t Ruyu’s family just split up? This kid wants to buy it.”

Uncle Wang pointed to Jiang Shuyun; his nephew wanted to buy a house.

“I’ve heard about it too, it’s good. After my sons get married, I’ll divide the family property among them. Too many people, too much trouble. I’ll give them all out, and they can live off their own abilities. No one can take care of anyone else for life.”

Wang Zhongwu understood this clearly, so he decisively left his elder brother and returned to his hometown, determined not to let his children develop a dependent nature.

"Your brother must have said a lot about your temper, right?"

“My brother just overthinks things. Come on, I'll take you to see the house. If this kid wants to buy it, I won't worry.”

What Wang Zhongwu said was true; after all, it was their family's old house. They couldn't just sell it to strangers, but leaving it there uninhabited would cause it to deteriorate, which was even more heartbreaking to see.

"This is it. Wait a moment, I'll open the door. I just came over to clean it the day before yesterday, it's clean inside."

Jiang Shuyun glanced at it; the courtyard wall was very high, made of stone at the base and mud bricks on top, covered with a layer of yellow mud. Broken tiles were stuck at the very top to prevent anyone from climbing.

Upon opening the gate, one is greeted by a main house with five rooms, flanked by side rooms on both sides. Vegetables grow in the garden, and the paths frequently used by people are paved with stone slabs, which is quite nice, preventing one from getting muddy feet on rainy days.

The courtyard was large enough, and there was a well next to the west wing. Jiang Shuyun already recognized the well pulley handle.

"How about it? Doesn't this yard look nice?"

"Very nice, it puts you in a good mood as soon as you walk in."

Jiang Shuyun was very satisfied; he felt much more at ease as soon as he entered.

"You've got some sense, kid. I've kept this house tidy and prevented it from falling into disrepair. Let's go check out the backyard. There's a storage shed, a livestock pen, and a well there!"

Wang Zhongwu led the two around from the back of the west wing, where the backyard was also quite spacious.

There were three storehouses next to the back wall, a livestock shed some distance away, and an outhouse on the far east side. There were also a few fruit trees planted along the east wall, but now that the leaves have fallen, it's impossible to tell what kind they were.

"Zhongwu, how much does this house cost?"

Uncle Wang received a look from Shuyun, indicating that she had taken a liking to her.

“Brother Zhonglin, Shuyun is my own nephew, so I won’t mince words. When outsiders ask, I always offer one hundred taels. We’re in a village, so the price can’t compare to that in the town or county. Otherwise, a house like this would easily cost at least two hundred taels.”

"If Shuyun takes a liking to it, your uncle will decide. Ninety-five taels, and we'll go to town to complete the formalities. Keep the vegetables in the yard, the furniture in the house—anything you can use—your uncle won't take anything."

Jiang Shuyun had also learned about the current prices during this time. Ninety-five taels of silver could buy ten acres of paddy fields. Otherwise, no one would buy them. Even if people in the countryside had spare money, they wouldn't buy such expensive houses unless absolutely necessary. They would buy land instead.

“Uncle, I’ve found a house I like, that’s the truth. But the price is really high, I need to go back and discuss it with my wife.”

What Jiang Shuyun didn't say was that this price had almost completely depleted the one hundred taels of silver they had received for the family division.

"That's right, this is buying a house, not a vegetable or a bunch of scallions. Besides, it's good that you discussed things with your wife. A couple needs to discuss things and make decisions together for the family to prosper!"

"Thank you, Uncle. I'll get back to you later."

"Okay, if you've decided, come to my house. That's the price, I can't go any lower. Not to mention the size of the yard, the two wells alone are worth a lot of money."

Uncle Wang knew the price wasn't cheap; in the countryside, very few families could afford a hundred taels of silver at once. However, Zhongwu was right; the two wells in the courtyard were worth a considerable amount of money.

"Uncle, thank you for your help. I'll go back and discuss it now, and I'll write back to you before dinner."

"Okay, you can come by yourself or with Brother Zhonglin."

The matter was settled, and Jiang Shuyun left the courtyard with her uncle.

"Shuyun, you've taken a liking to it?"

"Uncle, to be honest, I really like it. It's not easy to find a courtyard this big in our village. I need to go back and discuss the price with Yi'an. Also, what's the family living on the left like? Are they easy to get along with?"

The Wang family's house is at one end, with other houses on the left, and about ten meters to the right is the road to the town. Uncle Jiang's mule cart is usually parked not far away.

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