The children nodded in agreement, and Big Head stepped forward.
"Madam, I don't quite understand. If you have money, why don't you keep it for your own family to buy meat to eat? Why do you care about us poor, helpless beggars?"
Huang laughed, "Yes, we're not related, why should we care about you little beggars?"
Consider this my old woman doing a good deed for the day.
You are young now, and I feel I have some ability to help you. When you grow up, you will have to work for me to repay this favor.
You need to learn to read, learn to use an abacus, and also learn some skills.
Then when you grow up, or learn a skill, you can work for your wife's family to earn money.
"When the time comes, whether you get married or build a house is entirely up to you."
Big Head's eyes lit up.
"Madam, is what you're saying true? We can learn to read and write, and we can also learn to use an abacus, which are things that accountants can do."
Also, my father said when he was alive that you had to pay your master money when learning a trade.
"There's no guarantee that someone will be willing to teach us real skills. Madam, what crafts do you intend to teach us?"
Mrs. Huang smiled.
“I run an orphanage in Qingyang County, where there are hundreds of children like you.”
Every day they learn to read, use an abacus, cook, do needlework, make furniture, and some even make calligraphy brushes.
Learn whatever you like; there are many skills available.
However, no matter what kind of craft you have, you must first learn to read and do accounting.
Otherwise, no matter how skilled you are, you'll be blind to everything, and you'll be sold off and still have to count the money for the seller.
The children laughed heartily, and finally, Da Tou made an appointment with Madam Huang to go with her to the prefectural government office the next day to witness whether what happened at the orphanage was true.
After the children left, a large crowd gathered around.
"Madam, what does your family do? How come you have so much money?"
What's the point of supporting those little beggars? They're all born poor.
If you have a lot of money, why not give me a few copper coins? My son wants to eat a steamed bun too.
"Exactly, exactly. This is nonsense, isn't it?"
"Any family with such a spendthrift wife would squander a fortune. Tomorrow I'll go to the prefectural government office to see if this is true or not."
"Oh dear, madam, how can you earn so much money? Raising children is not an easy task; it costs a lot of money."
"Take a look at my son, what do you think? Why don't you take him in? I don't care about the amount, just teach him to read for free."
One by one, they were saying all sorts of things, and Huang didn't hear a single human word from them.
With a glare,
"Shut up, all of you. I adopted the child to do good deeds and accumulate merit."
You're all still alive!
"You just want the child to take advantage of you? What, are you tired of living? Do you want the child to be an orphan?"
He then pulled Zhao Qinglin up, preparing to return to the inn.
There were too many people surrounding them, so Huang gave a gentle push, knocking the man blocking her way to the side.
The scene was like a domino effect, with many people falling over.
The grandfather and grandson stepped over the fallen man and quickly returned to the inn.
The next day, when Lord Duan learned that Lady Huang was requesting an audience, he was stunned for a long time.
"What's this old lady doing here? Is this a good thing or a good thing?"
Lord Duan only hoped that the Zhao family could bring him good news; to be honest, this family was a bit mysterious.
When Lord Duan learned of Madam Huang's purpose, he was quite surprised.
"No, Madam Zhao, are you sure you want to build an orphanage in the prefectural city?"
This will cost a lot of money.
Huang laughed heartily.
"I'm sure, since the Emperor gave me some reward, I'm planning to add some more silver and set up another orphanage."
Otherwise, this old woman wouldn't feel at ease accepting the Emperor's rewards.
Lord Duan smiled helplessly, "Does Old Master Zhao know about this?"
For the first time, Huang realized that the adults were being incredibly indecisive. "It's my decision-making power. Why bother informing him?"
Lord Duan thought to himself, "Well, this is a case of good intentions being wasted. I won't ask any more questions."
He summoned the clerk, opened the map of the prefectural city, and decided to allocate a piece of land in the north of the city to the Huang family.
Although this is a poor and remote area, it is fortunate that it is in the city.
However, the area is limited, and if the Huang family wants to expand the scale, they will have to negotiate with other parties themselves.
After some deliberation, Huang decided to abandon the area within the prefectural city.
"Sir, as you know, even if this old woman has some spare money, it's still limited."
Instead of buying land in the city to build a house, it's better to get a piece of land outside the city for your wife.
It's cheap, and not too far from the city gate.
This way, if the children get a headache or fever, it will be convenient to come to the city to get medicine.
Lord Duan discussed it with his advisor for a while.
“Building houses outside the city gates is not a wise move, as military locations have always been city gates.”
Why don't you take a look here? It's in the north of the city, to the west. The area here is quite large. The only downside is that there's a family here named Feng.
There was a rascal in the Feng family who was always harassing the neighbor's daughter one day and peeping at the neighbor's wife taking a bath the next.
When people came to his door to argue with him, he would grab a knife and fight them.
A few days ago, I injured my last neighbor. After paying them two taels of silver in compensation, that family moved away.
He's now the only one left in the area; houses here are cheap, basically selling for whatever price you can get.
"That scoundrel is a bit of a problem, though. Madam, what do you think?"
After thinking for a moment, Huang said,
"Could you please trouble Lord Duan to send a constable to accompany me on a tour? If so, then we'll decide on that place."
"I'll need your help, sir, to spread the word and get the homeowners to the yamen. Otherwise, this old woman won't be able to find them."
Lord Duan nodded and casually assigned a constable to accompany Madam Huang to look at the house.
Soon the carriage arrived at the area designated by Lord Duan. There was indeed a vacant lot there, about an acre in size.
However, this open space wasn't truly empty; some vegetables were planted on it.
The surrounding houses are sparsely populated, and some are clearly uninhabited for a long time.
Only one house still had smoke coming out of its chimney.
The constables informed them that it was the Feng family's residence.
Huang looked around the area several times, and even measured its size with her feet.
Pointing to the vegetable patch, he said, "Is this plot of land definitely vacant, unclaimed?"
The constable nodded. But he added a sentence afterward...
"This land was cultivated by the Feng family. Someone wanted to buy it before, but that scoundrel from the Feng family scared them away."
Later, everyone knew there was such a scoundrel here, and no one came to buy houses, let alone open spaces.
In this once-prosperous city, the housing prices here are ridiculously low.
People usually burn incense and pray to the gods for children and blessings, but the people here burn incense and pray that the gods and Buddhas will take care of that scoundrel.
As soon as the constable finished speaking, Zhao Qinglin, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but burst out laughing.
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