Chapter Nineteen: A New Life Begins
Twenty-five coins a day, so the monthly rent would be seven hundred and fifty coins.
Fortunately, she has now signed a contract with the Yuanbaolou main store, which will allow her to earn at least five or six taels of silver a month. Otherwise, she really wouldn't have dared to rent this house so easily.
We'll move into the city first, and then set up a small stall to sell snacks and make some money.
Now that the price had been agreed upon, the payment method was also settled. Li Yan managed to secure a deposit and two months' rent in advance. That is, she would pay three months' rent upfront, totaling 2,250 coins.
Li Yan came to the city today to prepare to finalize the house deal, so she brought plenty of money with her.
Li Yan said she would be moving into the city in the next few days. Before moving, she hoped the brokerage firm could tidy up the place. She also kept two hundred coins in her hand, saying she wouldn't give them back if the brokerage firm didn't help tidy up as promised.
Cheng Yalang had finally witnessed Li Yan's prowess and dared not treat her with the same disdain as before, thinking she was just a country bumpkin who had never seen the world and was easy to bully.
When Brother Xu came to greet him and said that someone would be looking to rent a house from him, he didn't take it seriously at all.
Now he finally understood why Brother Xu said, "She's very smart, so don't judge a book by its cover and look down on her."
There is naturally a contract for renting a house, and both parties sign and affix their seals, each receiving a copy.
The rent was paid two months in advance and one month's rent as a deposit, so Li Yan first signed a one-year contract.
After finalizing the rental agreement, Li Yan hurried towards the city gate.
After rushing around, I finally arrived on time.
When I get home, it will be just in time to go into the kitchen and make braised pork.
Because she went to the city today, Li Yan didn't have time to work on the mulberry drink. After delivering the meat to the town, she drove the oxcart straight home.
During this time, whenever she went up the mountain to pick fruit, Xu Ge'er would silently accompany her from behind.
Even though Li Yan didn't go today, Xu Ge'er still carried his basket and went into the mountains by himself.
To avoid wasting the fruit, Li Yan, despite her slight fatigue, continued to make drinks from the fruit after delivering the meat home.
The hottest days of summer are over, and it's getting cooler every day. So there's no need to keep this drink chilled; it's perfectly fine to drink it at room temperature.
Li Yan usually leaves a few cups of her homemade drinks for the family every day. Xu Ge'er and Yue Jie'er love to drink them, but knowing that these drinks can be sold for money, they both say they don't like them. Even if they do drink them, they only drink a little bit.
Even though Li Yan told the siblings that a bowl of drink would only cost one coin, they still couldn't bear to part with it.
It's all good today. We can't sell the drinks, and they can't be kept overnight, so the four of us can just enjoy them to our hearts' content.
But this drink shouldn't be consumed in large quantities, as it might cause diarrhea. So, after some thought, Li Yan decided to send the remaining portion to the Zhang family next door. Since Mrs. He has two children, she would give it to them.
Just as they reached the door, they saw Mrs. He rushing in.
Judging from the way it looks, something seems to have happened.
"Sister-in-law, what's wrong?"
Without saying a word, Madam He immediately knelt down before Li Yan.
This action startled Li Yan.
Upon seeing this, Aunt Xue, who had come out of the house, rushed to Li Yan's side and helped He Shi up.
"What happened? Get up quickly."
Li Yan also lent a hand, helping Xue Da Niang up from both sides, and then helped her into the house.
Upon entering the house, he examined He Shi by the light of the oil lamp and noticed that her eyes were already red and swollen from crying.
There happened to be some mulberry juice left, so Li Yan poured a bowl and handed it to her: "Sister-in-law, have some juice to soothe your throat first."
He Shi had no appetite for drinking at the moment, and just cried as she said, "I don't know what happened, but after finishing up at the restaurant today, Manager Xu suddenly settled my wages for this month and told me that I didn't need to come back anymore. When I asked why, he didn't say anything. He's a very cold and serious person, so I didn't dare to ask any more questions."
"But if I lose this job, I'll lose a hundred coins a month." She was anxious and cared a lot about those hundred coins. "Yan Niang, you have connections with Manager Xu, could you help me?"
In this matter, Li Yan could only offer to ask her why. But if she were to go and speak to Manager Xu to persuade Madam He to return, she probably didn't have that kind of influence.
"Don't worry, sister-in-law. I'll ask around for you tomorrow." Li Yan made it clear beforehand, "But I can only ask about the reason for you. As for anything else, I'm afraid I can't do that."
Mrs. He knew she had done some things wrong, but there was nothing she could do about it.
“Sister-in-law knows she’s wronged you, and she apologizes,” He Shi said, crying. “Sister-in-law shouldn’t have deliberately kept her distance from you like the other villagers. But, but I didn’t want to either. Now that you have money, you can move away whenever you want, but our family still has to live in this village. I have two sons who need to grow up safely, and I don’t want them to be ostracized. Yan Niang, you’re kind-hearted, so please don’t hold it against your sister-in-law.”
"I've never held a grudge against you, sister-in-law." Li Yan paused for a moment, then smiled and asked, "Sister-in-law, you don't think I was gossiping behind your back about you being fired from the restaurant, do you?"
Madam He did not reply, but only asked Li Yan to help her.
But Li Yan still said the same thing: "I can ask my sister-in-law why she was fired, but if you want me to do anything else, I really don't have the ability."
Left with no other option, Mrs. He had to go home.
Li Yan decided against delivering the mulberry drinks that were originally intended for the neighbor next door.
"Let's see if it's drinkable tomorrow. If it's not, then throw it away."
Keeping her promise, Li Yan went to deliver the meat the next evening. She first told Manager Xu that she had gone to the city the day before to sign the contract with the head office and to arrange the rental of a house. Only then did she inquire about He Shi's dismissal.
Seemingly surprised that Li Yan would ask this, Manager Xu's expression visibly stiffened.
But soon, Manager Xu readjusted his mind and replied, "I just feel that she is an unreliable person."
Li Yan was silent for a moment, then asked the question that had been on her mind: "Is it because she has been gradually distancing herself from me lately?"
Shopkeeper Xu: "You treated her well. I heard that... that day, she only helped you bring that bowl of meat to the customer's table, and you paid her one hundred coins. After that, you kept your promise and gave her one coin every day. With such a relationship, it's no exaggeration to say that you were kind to her. But what did she do? Without distinguishing right from wrong, she turned her back on you like the plague? I really can't stand such a person who values profit over relationships."
So, this matter is actually somewhat related to her?
But judging from Manager Xu's tone, this matter was related to her, yet it also seemed unrelated.
This Manager Xu must have been betrayed by a friend in the past, which is why he hates those who easily abandon friendship.
It wasn't simply out of pity for her; he was just using her situation to vent his anger.
Li Yan thought for a moment and said, "If it's for my sake, then there's no need for that, because I don't really care about Madam He's distance from me. But if it's for something else, then I don't care. You can make the decision yourself, Manager."
Li Yan's words had a hidden meaning, but Manager Xu understood the implication.
For a moment, Manager Xu seemed slightly embarrassed, but finally, after calming down, he said, "I'll think about it some more."
Since he had said that, Li Yan stopped talking about it.
"By the way, yesterday when I went to Huating County, I heard Manager Huang mention it, and that's when I learned that you, Manager Xu, were a student who passed the preliminary examination." The next step after passing the preliminary examination is to become a scholar who passes the county school. The next step after that is to take the provincial examination in autumn to become a successful candidate in the imperial examination. Once you pass the provincial examination, you can become an official. "You are truly remarkable."
Upon hearing this, Manager Xu replied humbly, "Madam Li, you flatter me."
Li Yan also generously offered her blessings: "Manager Xu, you are very knowledgeable, and you will surely achieve great things in the future."
Seeing that she spoke in a refined and scholarly manner, and that her choice of words and sentence structure clearly indicated that she had studied for many years, Manager Xu's liking for her grew even stronger.
"Thank you for your kind words, madam." Manager Xu cupped his hands in a respectful bow.
.
The family of four has already rented a house in the city and has been busy packing for the past two days. They plan to rent a carriage from the carriage shop in town after they're all packed, and then they'll move into the city for good.
Although Li Yan pointed out many flaws in the house in front of Cheng the broker that day, she was actually quite satisfied overall.
The furniture in the room was a bit old, but thankfully it wasn't broken and was still usable. We can just clean and tidy it up properly after we leave.
Since there are furniture, kitchenware, and other items there, you have to be selective when tidying up this place.
Bringing too much stuff is unnecessary; it takes up space, and you'll probably have to pay more for a rental car later.
Besides, it's just moving to the city, not abandoning the house in the countryside.
If Aunt Xue and her two children ever miss home, they can come back to visit anytime.
Li Yan practically wore herself out trying to persuade Aunt Xue to give up many things.
Finally, besides the clothes I usually wear, as well as rice, flour, oil, etc., there were also the dozen or so chicks that Li Yan had bought before, the duck feathers that cost two coins a day, and the big bath tub, etc... After discarding everything else, the cart was finally filled to the brim.
Seeing that there were many people and a lot of goods, the carriage shopkeepers were initially reluctant to rent them carriages. In the end, considering that the journey was a bit long and that it might be uncomfortable for people and goods to sit together, Li Yan gritted her teeth and rented a carriage specifically for passengers.
Seeing that she had rented two cars, the broker finally beamed with joy.
The two children were so excited that they couldn't sit still the whole way.
He couldn't sit still; he always couldn't resist lifting the carriage curtain to peek outside.
This was Yuejie'er's first time in the city. Xuge'er had been to the city once when he was very young, with his second uncle. However, he was so young then that many of his memories were hazy.
All I know is that the city is very big and nice, and the food is delicious.
Although it only happened once, he will never forget it for the rest of his life.
"We've arrived, get off the carriage." The driver called out, then with a "whoosh," the carriage stopped.
A note from the author:
----------------------
There are 20 red envelopes dropping in this chapter!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com