Chapter 21: County Office Chief

The house that the Xu family was allocated had five main rooms and a side room on each side. Although the house had not been occupied for a long time, it was not dilapidated and only needed some tiles to be replaced.

There was a layer of snow in the yard, which made a crackling sound when stepped on. The wall was also broken in several places, but fortunately it was an earth wall, so the Xu family only needed to bring soil to repair it themselves.

Xu Nian also looked around, mentally calculating where he would need to spend money to buy more things.

The Zhu family helped put the things away, and then went home to get rags and other things to help clean the house.

The Xu family felt embarrassed watching so many people busying about, but the women from Wanying Village were very cheerful and just a few words made the Xu family feel less uncomfortable.

Wang and her daughters-in-law also started chatting with the women of Zhu's family, and the atmosphere was very warm.

Just as they had cleared out two bedrooms, Old Mrs. Zhao came into the room carrying a bowl of bean flour cakes.

"Take a break, everyone. Here are some freshly baked pancakes for you to eat."

Wang took the basin quickly and said with a smile:

"Thank you, sister, for letting you spend money."

"It's not worth much, just an ordinary bean flour cake. I don't know if you can get used to it."

"Yes, yes, yes. Why can't I do that?"

The Zhu family and Old Lady Zhao didn't stay long, and the Xu family really didn't have anything good to offer them, so they didn't try to keep them.

Xu Weian brought a table, and the Xu family sat around it and ate their first meal here.

It was the first time in Xu Nian's life that he ate pancakes made of soybean flour. It didn't have the bean smell as he had imagined, and apart from being a bit rough in texture, it was quite delicious.

While eating, Old Man Xu explained the next arrangements.

"The second and third sons will go fetch some soil tomorrow to repair the courtyard wall, and the fourth son will go chop some wood to make the beds, tables, chairs and benches that are missing in the house.

Wait for the eldest brother to come back and see what's going on. If everything is ok, I'll go buy some tiles tomorrow to fix the roof. This is the main thing."

The three Xu Youliang brothers all agreed.

Just as everyone had filled their stomachs, they saw Xu Yaozu enter the yard.

"Yaozu is back, how do you know where our home is?"

Wang pulled Xu Yaozu's arm into the house and said with a smile.

"The yamen runner who sent me back brought me to the village chief's house. The village chief sent me here."

"Then why didn't you let the village chief in?"

As soon as Old Man Xu finished asking, he looked around the house and saw that there was no place to sit, so he asked:

"What does the county magistrate say?"

Speaking of this, Xu Yaozu's voice became a little higher.

"Dad, the master asked me to go to the government office to work tomorrow."

The Xu family was very happy. This was really great news.

Wang asked hurriedly, "Can you tell me what position it is?"

"A ninth-rank chief clerk."

"Okay, okay."

Old Man Xu said "good" three times in a row, and their family's fate had really changed.

The Xu brothers were also happy for their eldest brother. Even Zheng and Xiao Wang were eager to express their congratulations to Tian.

"But Dad, I have to live in the county government office starting tomorrow, and I probably won't be able to come back except for holidays."

Old Man Xu disagreed. As an official, he must do his job well.

"Go without worry, and let your wife go with you."

Wang also agreed with what Old Man Xu said.

"Yes, let your wife go with you to take care of you, otherwise mother will be worried."

After hearing this good news, the Xu family seemed to have endless energy, and all the houses and yards were cleaned up before dark.

Even Father Xu built a shed for the donkey in the backyard.

At night, everyone spread their bedding on the floor and slept together. At dawn the next day, everyone in the family except the two children got up.

Because Xu Yaozu and his wife were in a hurry to go to the county government office and had to leave without having breakfast, it just so happened that Old Man Xu was going to the county town to buy tiles and could give them a ride.

Wang heated up the leftover biscuits from yesterday and put them in the bag in Tian's hand.

Tian was reluctant to leave her two children, and her eyes were as red as rabbits.

Xu Nian handed over the five taels of silver that he had left over from yesterday to Tian.

"Mom, you and dad should use this money first. Don't be frugal. Especially since dad has just started working, he still needs to spend the money on social interactions.

I will be able to earn money soon and send it to you then."

Seeing that her daughter was so sensible, Tian felt even more reluctant to let her go.

Zheng nudged Xiao Wang who was standing beside her and whispered, "Third sister-in-law, don't you think the eldest girl is more like a mother, and the eldest sister-in-law is like a little girl?"

Little Wang, who was originally feeling a little sad, was broken down by what Zheng said and started crying and laughing in a very strange way.

After giving the instructions, Xu Nian hurried the couple into the car, waved his hand, and went back to work.

Really, it’s not like she won’t see him anymore. The most urgent thing now is to get some money quickly.

Although Wang Liehu and others sent the IOUs yesterday, the money could not be repaid all at once, so she still had to earn the money herself.

"Second aunt, third aunt, come over here and help me wash these cotton clothes."

After the cotton-padded clothes were distributed, there were still 68 pieces left. They had been piled up in the side room. Xu Nian planned to deal with them quickly so that he could exchange them for silver.

Xu Nian went back into the house and poured the laundry detergent into a bowl before bringing it out.

"Second aunt, third aunt, use this to wash your cotton clothes."

The two of them didn't ask too many questions, as they were already used to the eldest girl bringing out some new food from time to time.

Wang also came over with a basin to help.

Xu Nian washed one piece first to try it out, and the effect of using laundry detergent was very good, and the marks were almost invisible.

Wang's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law also stared in amazement. They didn't expect this thing to be so useful.

Xu Ling and Xu Cai also ran over, but they were not there to help. They came because they were curious about the foam in the basin.

Xu Nian found it funny, so he took another bowl, mixed some foamy water and gave it to the two naughty kids.

"Go outside and find a straw stalk to blow bubbles with."

The two of them ran out cheering.

Little Wang couldn't help but sigh: "I didn't expect the eldest girl to be so fond of children."

"She has reached the age. In less than three years, our eldest girl will be old enough to get married."

"Then we have to look carefully. The eldest girl is so capable, and we don't know which boy will get her."

"Ha ha……"

Xu Nian was confused after hearing this. How did this relate to her marriage? She was still a child, and these were such lewd words.

When Old Man Xu came back with the tiles, half of Wang and the others' clothes had not been washed yet.

Old Man Wang, Hunter Wang and several other strong men also came over to help.

"We're here to help you."

Old Man Xu smiled and said, "That's great. Do you need to change the tiles in your house?"

Old man Wang is very happy when talking about this.

"My house has not been vacant for long, so the tiles and other items are in good condition."

Old Man Xu was also happy for him. After all, every penny saved was a penny earned.

Old Man Xu gave the bean flour and soybeans he bought to Wang.

Wang looked at it and couldn't help wondering, "Why did you buy so many soybeans?"

Xu Nian wiped the water off his hands, walked over and said, "Grandma, I asked Grandpa to buy it."