The group went to the county government office first. The sky was extremely dark and pitch black. It was still 3 p.m. and the government office had not yet closed.

After Xu Qinyu and the others arrived and explained their purpose, the yamen runners took them to meet the county magistrate, a middle-aged man in his forties with a goatee, ordinary looks, and a deep "川" character wrinkle between his brows. After seeing the document that already had the seal of the Raozhou government, he readily and efficiently stamped their settlement documents.

Looking at the document, Xu Qinyu felt a bit inexplicable emotions. She had finally become a member of this dynasty.

After leaving the county government office, looking at the sky covered with dark clouds and strong winds, everyone knew that now was not a good time to look for a house. Moreover, they had just arrived in Yuanbao Town and did not know much about the situation in the town. They would ask the real estate agent tomorrow to see the situation in the town before making any plans.

A few people found an inn near the yamen, as they felt more at ease living next to the yamen.

The yamen is located in the east of Yuanbao Town. Even if Xu Qinyu doesn't know the situation of Yuanbao Town, he has a rough idea of ​​its distribution in the town.

In ancient times, the east was considered precious, and usually there were government offices and houses of some wealthy families in the east.

Some documents have records that say, "East City is rich, West City is noble, North City is poor, and South City is cheap."

The inn that Xu Qinyu found was located at the intersection of the east and west streets. The price was more expensive than the inn owned by Zhou the shopkeeper in Raozhou City. A large inn cost two hundred coins a night. Even though it was twice as expensive, several people still stayed there.

After moving into the inn, Xu Qinyu went to ask the shopkeeper if she could use the kitchen.

But the shopkeeper said that the stove could only be borrowed to boil water or decoct medicine, but not for other purposes. It seemed that he was unwilling to let others borrow his cooking skills to make food. Borrowing the stove also cost ten cents per hour.

Xu Qinyu had no choice but to give up.

It was not yet dark and time for dinner, so she planned to go out to buy some dinner and take a walk around town.

Wen wanted to go out with her, but was rejected by Xu Qinyu. Wen was getting older and had been very tired along the way. Xu Qinyu often caught her crying secretly. Now she just wanted her to rest more, otherwise she was afraid that her body would collapse. Wen was almost forty years old and her body was not as good as hers, so it would be better for her to rest more.

She had just observed that there would be patrolling yamen runners on the street. Moreover, she was wearing shabby clothes and her face was red and swollen. She did not look very good at the moment, and she did not have much money on her. Who would be so blind as to come and rob her?

Xu Qinyu went for a walk around the town by herself, which took her an hour.

Even in such cold weather, the small vendors outside were still there, and the shops on the streets and in the market were also open. It was just snowing so there weren't many customers.

Most of the small vendors gather on North Street, which is close to the pier and is a mixed crowd. There are all kinds of people and all kinds of shops. Most of the small vendors deal in food, because it is close to the pier and there are many fleets and merchant caravans coming and going. People cannot live without food, clothing, housing and transportation, and food is the most important thing.

There are also two markets, West Street and East Street.

East Street is full of nobles' houses and government offices, as well as a large restaurant and a large inn, some jewelry shops, wine shops, bookstores, cloth shops, rice shops, snack shops, butcher shops and the like.

West Street is similar, not so mixed up here. Those who dislike North Street being too chaotic prefer to come to the West Street market.

So, most of the businesses in Yuanbao Town are concentrated in these three places.

After learning all this, Xu Qinyu bought some food from North Street and brought it back.

The food sold at the stalls here are mostly wontons, small noodles, baked cakes, steamed cakes, porridge, dumplings, meat and vegetable soup, and the rest are basically the same.

Xu Qinyu bought some meat and vegetable soup and some steamed buns and took them back. She also bought two pieces of maltose for the two children.

She had just returned to the inn and put the food on the table when Pei Weixuan came over and handed her two small white porcelain medicine jars.

"Fourth brother, what is this?"

Xu Qinyu responded as soon as she finished asking.

This should be the ointment that her cheap husband said he would make for her to treat her wrist bruise.

Pei Weixuan said, "The ointment in the smaller medicine jar can treat the bruise on your wrist, and the larger medicine jar can treat the frostbite on your face and hands." He had just found time to borrow the stove in the kitchen to make ointment. He made three portions of the ointment for treating frostbite, and left two for his mother Jianing, as well as Brother Feng and Sister Yan.

Xu Qinyu happily accepted it, "Thank you, Fourth Brother, Mother, Sister Ning, come and have something to eat."

The whole family sat around the square table and had their evening meal.

Xu Qinyu first took a sip of the meat and vegetable soup. It tasted very ordinary, a bit like meat, and there was no other taste except saltiness.

The buns were filled with carrot and meat, and were also very average. The dough was probably not risen enough, the skin was not fluffy enough, and it tasted a bit sour. The taste was really bad.

She ate a steamed bun and some meat and vegetable soup and then stopped.

The others didn't have much appetite either, but they finished their meals, drank some hot water, and then decided to rest.

…

Xu Qinyu woke up at dawn. She applied the ointment after washing up last night. The effect was very good. Now her wrist was not as painful as yesterday.

Also, we had no conditions during exile and had not washed for more than a month. Now that we have a temporary place to stay, it is natural that we will sleep more comfortably after washing. But we don’t have a change of clothes yet. I will go out and clean the house later, and then buy two sets of clothes for everyone.

For breakfast, Xu Qinyu also bought wontons from a nearby store, and asked the waiter to help run errands.

The Pei family took a bite of the wontons and paused. Some of the wontons had their skins broken. The wonton skins were too soft and rotten, and the fillings tasted average, too soft and the soup base was not fresh. In comparison, they missed Xu Qinyu's breakfast even more.

Before Pei Weixuan's lineage got into trouble, they also lived a life of luxury in the palace. But after eating the food prepared by Xu Qinyu, they realized that although the food was more exquisite and tasted slightly better than that in the restaurants outside, it was still far inferior to the food prepared by Xu Qinyu.

In fact, they also felt that Xu Qinyu's cooking skills were too amazing. It was just a simple bowl of wontons, but the flavors were so varied.

After breakfast, Xu Qinyu announced, "Sister Ning and Fourth Brother are at home looking after the children. Mother and I will go to the pawnshop to find out about the housing market in Yuanbao Town. What do Fourth Brother and Sister Ning think?"

Pei Jianing was only eleven or twelve years old, and she could only give a reference on matters such as renting or buying a house, so she naturally agreed.

Pei Weixuan also agreed, and Xu Qinyu went out with Wen.

It was snowing heavily outside, and there was a thick layer of snow on the ground. The two of them borrowed an umbrella from the inn and went to the dental clinic first.

It snowed so heavily that there were few people on the road. Most shops were still open, but the small vendors on the roadside could not come out and continue to set up their stalls, so the scene was much quieter.

A yahang is a transaction intermediary in ancient times. They do all kinds of business, as long as it is an intermediary type, which naturally includes the sale and rental of houses.

Xu Qinyu had asked someone about the location of the dental clinic yesterday. It was about 25 minutes' walk from their inn.

The dental clinic is quite big, but because of the snow, there were not many customers.

When the agent learned that the two wanted to rent or buy a house in Yuanbao Town, he immediately led them into the inner room, made tea for them, and said with a smile: "You two guests can drink some tea to moisten your throat first. I wonder if you have any houses you are interested in. There are several good houses in the east and west of the city that can be rented or bought. There are also two three-story houses in the south and north of the city, as well as several small courtyard houses. Let's see what you are interested in."

After saying this, he went over and got a stack of rice paper, on which were drawn the shapes and orientations of these houses.

Xu Qinyu thought to herself that this real estate agency was quite innovative, much like the real estate agencies of her time.

They can't afford to buy or rent a large house with two or more rooms, so they just want to buy or rent an ordinary three-room farmhouse, so they naturally see it this way.

In the east and west of the city, even an ordinary three-room courtyard would cost seven or eight hundred coins a month to rent, which is almost ten taels of silver a year. How could it be affordable? You have to know that ten taels of silver is enough for a family of four or five people to live on for a year.

The same type of house in the north and south of the city is more than half the price, and can be rented for only two or three hundred coins a month.

The houses in the east and west of the city are so expensive to rent, so buying them must be even more expensive. Xu Qinyu asked about the price of buying a house, and sure enough, the minimum price for an ordinary three-room courtyard is at least one hundred taels of silver.

If you go to the south or north of the city, it’s much cheaper, you can buy it for about ten taels of silver.

Xu Qinyu and Wen looked carefully and both fell in love with a three-room courtyard in the south of the city. Although the courtyard was not big and was located in the south of the city, there was a well in the courtyard, which saved them a lot of trouble. If there was no well, they would have to go to the well in front of the town to fetch water, and they would have to go to the small river in the town that was connected to the canal to wash clothes.

Since both of them liked this set, they naturally went over to take a look first.

The clerk from the brokerage firm immediately harnessed a horse-drawn carriage and drove the two men to see the house.

With the carriage, they no longer had to run errands themselves, which was much more comfortable. They reached the south of the city in just a quarter of an hour.

When they arrived at the south of the city, Yazi drove the carriage directly to the entrance of the alley where the houses were.

When they arrived at the entrance of the alley, the carriage could not go in. The broker pointed to the entrance of the alley and told them, "This alley is called Osmanthus Alley. The house you are looking at is here, but we have to go find the owner first to get the key and take us to see the house. The owner runs a cloth shop for a living. After making money, he bought a two-story house in front of Osmanthus Alley, and this small courtyard is vacant. He wants to sell it or rent it out."

The two followed the broker to find the owner of the house.

The two-story house the owner bought was just in front of Osmanthus Alley and they arrived there quickly.

The broker knocked on the door, and a maid about 11 or 12 years old opened it. When she saw the person, she turned around and shouted inside, "Madam, there are guests."

A woman's voice came from inside, "I told you to come inside and let me know when you have guests, not to stand at the door and shout, why can't you change your ways?"

The little maid grinned and heard her mistress' helpless voice, "Please invite the guests in."

After hearing what the mistress said, the little maid took the three of them to see her own mistress.

The little maid led the three of them to the living room. Before they entered, Xu Qinyu saw a woman in the living room feeding a three or four-year-old child breakfast. The child's lips were tightly closed, and there was a circle of food residue on his mouth, but he refused to open his mouth.

The woman was sweating profusely and yelling, "Little ancestor, just have a bite. Look at you, you are almost as thin as a monkey."