The two brothers followed each other through the streets and alleys and came to the door of a courtyard. There was a man in his forties sitting on the threshold. When he saw them walk down the two steps at the door, he came to greet them:

"Hey, here I am. I am the head of this courtyard. My last name is Li. You two little brothers, just call me Lao Li."

Fu Dabai said hurriedly: "That's not appropriate. You are older than us, so we should call you Brother Li. I am the eldest in the family, so you can just call me Fu Da. This is my younger brother Fu Si."

After a few polite words, Lao Li went straight to the point, rubbing his hands and saying a little embarrassedly:

"What do you want? Why don't you take a look at the house first? Our house is pretty good."

The two brothers followed each other into the courtyard, which was not small. There were two rooms on the east, south, west and north sides. There was a room on the east side which was a kitchen. It was fully equipped with firewood, dishes and other utensils.

There is a vegetable garden in the backyard, and the house is equipped with cabinets, beds, and tables. There are also kangs in the two northern rooms, all of which are upright and clean, without any major problems.

This price is a bit...

Fu Dabai complained sincerely and bargained for the price, finding faults from time to time, and the waiter also helped to speak up.

Old Li seemed to be an honest man who didn't like to talk, but his face turned red after being surrounded and talked to for a while, which made the two brothers of the Fu family feel a little guilty.

They feel that this is a bit of bullying honest people, but they really can't afford it because it is too expensive.

Fortunately, Old Li was easy to talk to, and he said hesitantly:

"Then it's four taels! No, it can't be any lower, or I won't rent it!"

Probably because he had never said such words before, his legs were shaking and he avoided looking at people.

The waiter nodded behind Lao Li, indicating that the two brothers agreed.

And mouthed "OK, that's cheap enough!"

Fu Dabai took a deep breath and thought the price was outrageous, but he didn't think too much about it. He didn't have enough money to stay in the inn for another day, so he nodded:

"OK!"

After paying the money, writing the contract, taking fingerprints and getting the keys, the Fu family carefully learned a lot of words and had no problem writing the contract.

Old Li took the money, took a contract, gave the keys to the two men and left in a hurry.

The waiter also said that the work in the store was not easy and was kept delayed. They had found a room here, so he went back first.

From a distance, I heard him calling Lao Li to wait for him. I guess they might be going the same way and wanted to go together.

The two brothers didn't care. They looked around the house and got some firewood from the kitchen to burn on the kang.

Fu Dabai asked Fu Sibai to help sweep the dust and tidy up here, and he went back to call the whole family over.

Having a place to stay is better than sleeping on the floor of the inn's woodshed. Besides, it's easier to check out now and discuss whether I can get a refund.

Even if I could get half of it back it would be good. Now I'd rather spend every penny in half. I really can't afford to lose any money.

The shopkeeper was easy to talk to. He returned the money, looked at the family and asked:

"Did you find a place to live so quickly?"

Fu Dabai smiled and said:

"Yes, we found it. Thanks to your good friend for helping us. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to afford to stay here tomorrow. We might even want to sleep in a dormitory."

Fu Dabai was afraid that the shopkeeper would blame the waiter when he found out, so he said that even if he couldn't find them, they wouldn't be able to stay tomorrow, so that the shopkeeper wouldn't lose money.

The shopkeeper understood what I meant, but:

"That's not right," the shopkeeper thought for a moment, "Today is a festival, and I only have an old cook here, and my youngest son to help serve the dishes. Neither of them is that capable, so who helped you find a house?"

The old Fu family member was startled.

Fu Dabai thought for a moment and said, "When we came this afternoon, there was a man standing in front of your door greeting guests. Wasn't he your son?"

The shopkeeper's calculations were all pushed aside:

"Oh! Him! That's not our store! Oh, I told him to leave, but my son was hesitant and couldn't save face, and kept putting it off.

I don't know where that guy is from. He said these days that he wanted to be a waiter here, but I didn't need anyone, so I didn't want to use him. But he kept waiting at the door every day, but he didn't come in.

When did they go to the backyard woodshed? Oh! They saw that you were from a foreign land and they might have some money in their pockets, so they were thinking of cheating you!

How much did he charge to find you a house?"

Fu Dabai swallowed his saliva, his throat became hoarse, and he forced out a voice: "Five taels, everything is expensive here, this price..."

The whole family stared at the shopkeeper with wooden faces and eyes.

The shopkeeper slapped the counter and said, "You are confused! That's because the inn is expensive! All inns are expensive! It only costs three or four taels to rent a courtyard!

You didn’t sign the contract?”

Fu Dabai's eyes were red, and it was unclear whether his expression was crying or laughing. He propped his hand on the counter and said to him, "Pay it!"

The shopkeeper stamped his feet and said anxiously, "That's the end! We won't be able to get the person back even if we find him!"

The whole family was in a daze. They didn't know how they got to the courtyard, nor what they said afterwards. Anyway, when they came to their senses, they were holding the 400 coins returned by the shopkeeper.

The family went into one of the rooms in the north wing, the kang was lit, and the room was warm.

The whole family, however, looked as if they were frozen to death. They all sat on the ground, shivering and huddled together, like a group of little animals huddling together for warmth in the cold wind.

Fu Dabai slapped himself in the face: "Damn it! How can you believe this! How can you believe this!"

Li hurriedly pulled him and yelled at him in a crying voice: "What are you doing? You haven't reacted yet!"

Old Madam Yang also slapped the ground and cursed: "Your mother didn't even say to cut you, how can it be your turn to do it yourself? Your own mother and father can't react, it's strange that you can react!"

No one would blame Fu Dabai for this, but they are just too miserable!

“Why aren’t there good times?”

Yuan was crying and sobbing,

"How can there be no good times? Why are we always unlucky? What did we do wrong?!"

Even if everyone is unlucky again and again and knows why it is so, they still can't help but wonder if they really did something unforgivable bad in their previous life, so they met Fubao and encountered these things!

Everyone couldn't help crying.

Old Yang cursed with tears in her eyes:

"Just hold it back! Why are you crying? Are you wailing? I'm not dead yet!

Such a poor old lady dared to give birth to you and want you grandchildren. As long as I am in this family, we will not break up!

If you don't have money, make some; if you've been cheated, learn your lesson; if you remember your enemies, you'll get revenge sooner or later. How many times do you have to teach them this truth before they'll remember it?"

Niu Wa cried so hard that snot bubbles came out of his nose: "We, we can't help it!"

Old Yang held her breath and said firmly:

"Then cry! When you're done crying, go to sleep! Eat well tomorrow, find work if you need to, and clean the house if you need to!

No matter how hard the times are, even if we have to beg on the streets, we can survive, and sooner or later we can live like a human being! "

She said it so confidently that the whole family nodded and cried, muttering:

"That's right! We will be fine!"

In a corner where no one was paying attention, Fu Erbai shrank himself again and again, hugged his legs and lowered his head. His face, which should have had a crazy and stupid expression, was now filled with tears and unspeakable regret and guilt.

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