Afterwards, Xu Lanyin told Qin and Xu Lanzhou how much the embroidery was sold for and the expenses incurred, and handed the two deeds to Qin and Xu Lanzhou respectively.
Because she had the shop, a reward from the Fujian household, and those hidden jewels, she would have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of her life, and she also hoped that her family would have a better life. The shop belonged to Xu Lanzhou because he was the eldest son of the family, and all the property under his control belonged to the family, with the whole family having a share. The house belonged to Qin Shi, and it was her dowry and private property, which she could use at will.
Qin held the deed and glanced nervously at Xu Lanzhou. She didn't care whose name the house was in, but she was worried that her son's stingy nature wouldn't change, and he might say something unpleasant that would upset her daughter.
Xu Lanzhou glanced at Qin's contract, then at the contract in her own hand, and said, "Sister worked just as hard as mother did on that embroidery. You earned so much money, why didn't you buy me something nice too?"
She didn't expect him to say such words. Qin's hands trembled with excitement. She smiled with her eyes curved and said, "Good boy, you care about your sister so much. Your sister's efforts for this family are not in vain."
Xu Lanzhou wasn't stupid. He had already seen why Qin was nervous. He pouted and said, "I'm your brother, so of course I have to think about you. I've always remembered what mother taught me: you can be frugal, but you can't be stingy. You have to be a man like my father who stands tall and proud."
Xu Lanyin had written the name of the house on Qin's head to test his attitude. He praised him highly for doing so. She then explained, "That embroidery helped Mr. Min's insomnia much better. He was so happy that he gave me a shop in the provincial capital. I plan to open a teahouse."
Qin was suspicious, "A piece of embroidery can make Lord Min spend so much money, and even give him a shop. Could he have other intentions?"
She was still afraid that Lord Min would set his sights on her daughter.
Xu Lanyin was embarrassed to elaborate, so she smiled and said, "If Lord Min hadn't met me, he would have relied on knockout drugs to sleep. Knockout drugs are a chronic poison, and you might die any day if you take them. I saved his life, so giving him a shop isn't too much."
Qin was still skeptical.
Xu Lanzhou said generously, "Sister, you shouldn't be so busy buying a dim sum shop. Use the money to renovate the teahouse. When you have more money, you can buy a dim sum shop later."
His statement surprised Xu Lanyin even more. Although his words didn't ring true, he had made great progress and was much more generous than before. He smiled and said, "I still have some money, enough for renovations." He then mentioned that she had spent 60 taels of silver to rent a stall in the department store.
They heard that someone offered 200 taels of silver to rent a stall in the mall for a year, while they only spent 60 taels of silver. Qin and Xu Lanzhou were very satisfied.
Qin then said to Xu Lanzhou, "Look at how good your sister is. She's always thinking about this family."
Xu Lanzhou said, "Even if mother doesn't tell me, I know how good my sister is to us." He added, "The family spent so much money all at once, and there will be more expenses in the future, so we should save as much as possible. We don't need to eat meat every day, and as long as clothes are wearable, a few patches are fine. From now on, I won't eat at noon at the private school. I'll walk a little further and eat at home..."
Xu Lanzhou's heart ached at the thought of spending so much money. He couldn't be stingy, so he offered a few suggestions for saving money.
This child was going back to the poverty of pre-liberation times. Xu Lanyin felt uncomfortable even without meat every meal, let alone every day. She quickly said, "Money isn't saved, it's earned. You run home for lunch every day, tiring yourself to death, and you only save a few dozen coins a month. Look at me and my mother; we sold one piece of embroidery for a thousand taels. Think more about how to earn more money, not how to save ten or twenty coins..."
Qin also said, "We still have money at home, so there's no need to be so frugal. You don't have to go home for lunch; it's more than ten miles round trip. You'll be too tired from running, and you won't have the energy to study in the afternoon. You'll lose more than you gain."
"That's right, my brother still wants to be an imperial guard. If he can't make it into the top three military scholars, then everything is out of the question." Xu Lanyin said again.
His wish to save money was not fulfilled. The problem was that he couldn't refute their words, which made Xu Lanzhou, the head of the family, very embarrassed. He could only say, "The embroidery sold for so much money, and our family is buying a house and a mansion in the provincial capital. Don't tell my grandfather for the time being. Otherwise, our life will be uneasy."
Xu Lanyin and Qin both nodded in agreement to his proposal.
He then described the autumn harvest. This summer had been both dry and flooding, so the harvest wasn't very good. However, because there were so many fields, the rent collected was still quite good.
After saying these things, Qin and Xu Lanyin called Xu Lanting and Zhao Xingchen to the bathroom to take a bath respectively.
After giving Zhao Xingchen a bath, Xu Lanyin applied medicine to him. Zhao Xingchen's injuries had healed considerably, and the two large burns had scabbed over. Since the scars wouldn't be visible, Xu Lanyin didn't hesitate to apply the Ruyu Regenerating Skin Cream.
Qin came in and her heart trembled when she saw the two big scars. She cursed the bad guys and hugged Zhao Xingchen in her arms, loving him as much as she could.
She also compared Zhao Xingchen's clothing and shoe sizes and took over Xu Lanyin's task of making clothes for the child. She added, "Four sets aren't enough. He's wearing autumn clothes now, and winter is coming soon, so we need to make winter clothes. Next year, when he's grown a lot taller, we'll need to make spring and summer clothes too..."
Zhao Xingchen was deeply moved and began to recall the good times. "Grandpa Tu was bad. He burned me with a lamp, burned me with water, and even cut me with a piece of iron. Aunt Hua was bad. She hugged me and asked me for money. If I asked for too little, she would pinch me... Aunt is good, Dad is good, Grandma is good, Little Uncle is good, Sister Jia is good, Lord Min is good, Big Uncle is good..."
This made Xu Lanyin and Qin very sad.
Qin said, "If your daughter-in-law Wu'er dislikes Xiao Xingxing in the future, I will take her in and raise her, and I will also pay for her to get married." After saying that, she turned her head and kissed Zhao Xingchen.
Zhao Xingchen immediately said, "When I get married, I will be filial to my aunt, my father, my grandmother, my uncle, and Sister Jia."
No matter how clever a child is, he still has his limits, so he still expressed his preferred order of priority, much to the amusement of Qin and Xu Lanyin.
Xu Lanyin thought about Zhao Wuhe's previous worries, and thought to herself that if Qin dared to raise Zhao Xingchen, who was not a blood relative, Old Man Xu would have the ability to send Xu Yuan to her for raising, or let her pay for raising Xu Yuan.
At night, after Zhao Xingchen fell asleep, Xu Lanyin sat up, lowered the gauze curtain, and walked to a chest of drawers.
The chest of drawers is divided into two parts, with five drawers on the left and a small cabinet on the right with a secret compartment underneath. This chest of drawers was left by the previous family. Xu Lanyin took a fancy to the secret compartment and asked Ding Gu to repaint the outside.
By the light of the stars, Xu Lanyin gently opened the secret compartment and put the treasures in. The room was dimly lit, and the treasures shone brightly, making Xu Lanyin squint her eyes.
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