Chapter 107 More Important Than Anything Else
It may be a bit painful to say it so frankly, but the actual situation on the books is indeed like this.
The house is now in a mess and it seems that everyone has found a suitable way to survive. The daily income is pretty good when you calculate it carefully.
However, it is difficult to make money at the bottom of society. It is difficult to have much surplus on the books just by selling the labor.
At least not on the public books.
Xu Yu's neck stiffened, but his tone remained unchanged: "Oh, a little bit actually."
Sang Zhixia was inexplicably curious.
"Is there?"
"Where did you come from?"
Xu Wenxiu and her two aunts were now in charge of the accounting, and they did not hide it from her, either openly or secretly. They even wanted to teach her some tips on housekeeping, but she didn't see any extra income from them.
Seeing that he couldn't fool anyone, Xu Yu touched his nose with a guilty conscience and mumbled in a muffled voice, "Well, I gave it to my grandfather privately."
"You gave it to me?"
"No, where did you get the money?"
A flash of understanding flashed across Sang Zhixia's eyes, and she said with a hint of surprise, "You didn't sell your lifeblood jade buckle again, did you? Why didn't you tell me you wanted to spend money?"
Xu Yu, feeling both amused and helpless, reached out from under his collar and pulled out a piece of red string. He shook it and said, "You bought it back with your own money. How could I possibly sell it again?"
"Didn't Bai Ziyu send someone to deliver a letter to me before? He also sent me some silver as a subsidy."
He naturally attributed the source to Bai Ziyu, who was far away in Kyoto, and said casually: "He didn't send much, but it was enough to buy some land and build a greenhouse."
"Just do whatever you want to do, and don't worry about the money."
Sang Zhixia subconsciously felt that something didn't make sense.
Given the friendship between Xu Yu and Bai Ziyu, it seems reasonable for Bai Ziyu to give him some money privately.
But is Xu Yu the type of person who would accept money from his friends for help?
She doesn't think so.
Sang Zhixia couldn't explain where this strange feeling came from, and after a pause, she said, "That's fine."
"Did you tell the truth to Grandfather?"
Xu Yu nodded vaguely: "Yes, my grandfather said that Bai Ziyu and I borrowed it, and I will find a chance to return it someday."
"But our family is in big trouble, so we can't rashly involve the Bai family. Mother and the others don't know about this, so don't let anything slip when you go back."
Sang Zhixia seemed to understand and said, "Okay."
"But now that I've said it all, if you need anything later, you can tell me. I still have some."
The hidden treasure is her confidence, but if there is a special need, she is not completely stingy.
Xu Yu laughed and said yes. He was afraid that Sang Zhixia would worry about the money. After thinking for a moment, he walked over, held her shoulders with both hands, looked into her eyes and said, "Zhizhi."
"You don't have to worry about anything."
"The most important thing for us now is to turn your idea into reality."
"Whether your prediction can come true is very important to me, you, and the entire Xu family. It is more important than anything else."
Sang Zhixia couldn't understand the undercurrent and gloom in Xu Yu's eyes, but she had studied for half her life and was doing what she was best at, so this was what she was least afraid of.
She raised her hand and poked Xu Yu's unconsciously furrowed brows. Seeing a muddy handprint between his brows, which were as dark as distant mountains, she smiled.
"Then you just wait and see."
"We will succeed."
Sang Zhixia's confidence comes from his knowledge that is unknown to others, and it is the unified support of the whole family that facilitates the experimental conditions.
Of course, there is not no opposition at all.
It’s just that the old lady herself is living in fear and caution now, so her objection can be ignored.
The old lady was very dissatisfied with being ignored, but she seemed to have finally realized the reality overnight. She grumbled and complained, but finally did not dare to make a fuss.
The old man’s in-depth conversation was still very effective.
That night, the old man put down the bowl in his hand and said, "I have already discussed the matter of that piece of land with the village chief. I am just waiting to invite the Xue family back tomorrow to discuss it. The specific price will be known then."
"only……"
"That piece of land is a total of fifteen acres. Add to that what we have, and the work we have on hand will be much heavier."
Matters concerning land are no jokes, and no lies can be told.
If you are unwilling to put in the effort and try to cheat and fool the mud under your feet, no matter how long you wait, the expected crops will not grow in the ground.
All achievements must be irrigated with sweat.
Uncle Xu felt a little anxious when he thought about the hard work of digging the ground.
He raised his hand and said, "The rest is easy to deal with. Can we rent an ox to turn the soil?"
The old man said: "Of course we have to rent oxen to plow the land, otherwise it would be difficult for all of us in our family to live on the land."
Xu Wenxiu and her two younger siblings exchanged a glance, each with a hint of dilemma on their faces.
She hesitated and said, "I do have the money to rent the cows, but... I'm afraid I won't be able to come up with the money to buy the land in a short time."
Fearing the old man would get angry, she quickly explained, "I went through the accounts with my sister-in-law and the others during the day, and we still have eighteen taels and six qian of silver in our account. Even if we add in the wages for the three of us next month, and the wages Minghui sent back from the county town, there will still be less than twenty taels."
The price of an acre of good farmland varies from three to five taels. Buying fifteen acres at once is a considerable sum, and the family really cannot afford such a large amount of money.
Third Aunt Xu and Second Aunt Xu looked at each other, feeling very embarrassed. Seeing this, the old lady wanted to interrupt: "As a housekeeper, you should leave room for maneuver. You can't empty the family funds all at once. What if you spend it all and then encounter something else? You can't spend all this money at once!"
The others thought almost the same thing, and their eyes fell on the old man at the same time.
But the old man said, "I don't have to worry about money."
"A few days ago, I got in touch with a student from my early years. He privately sent me two hundred taels of silver for my retirement. This is more than enough."
Those who were worried about having no silver to use felt relieved. The old lady was stunned after hearing this, and a light of expectation immediately flashed in her eyes.
She said, "The old man's early disciples are probably officials in the court now. Since he has received the favor of the Xu family and is able to express his position at this time, can he find a way to help... help the descendants of the Xu family to arrange a more respectable career path?"
Everyone could see that what she originally wanted to say was that she was helping Uncle Xu, but she abruptly changed the topic in the end.
But the old lady was completely unaware of anything.
Since there is a ready-made channel available, why not use it?
If you can find a decent job, wouldn't it be better to be respectable than rolling in the mud?
Seeing her eyes full of impatience, the old man felt inexplicably complicated.
He said cryptically, "What do you think?"
"I said of course it's possible!"
The old lady's mind was full of ideas, and she said with lingering excitement, "Minghui's father is so knowledgeable and talented, but being just an accountant is a waste of his talent. If there was a suitable opportunity for him to become a teacher, or to find a living somewhere else, that would be better than..."
"Other people have bright futures. Why should they risk being implicated by the Xu family for such a small favor?"
Uncle Xu, hearing her constantly referring to Minghui's father, was filled with rage. He sneered, "They're taking the risk of sending some aid to Father right now, which is already better than most. Why should they ask for anything else? Do we still have the nerve to speak up?"
The old lady was choked so hard that her face turned purple: "Why not?"
"You're enjoying yourself at home, eating and drinking well, but why don't you think about the suffering your second brother is going through out there? Your second brother..."
"Minghui is also outside with his father. If the child can endure the hardship, why can't he?"
Aunt Xu replied with an unclear expression, and in the old lady's eyes that seemed to want to tear her apart, she said lightly: "Old lady, you are not the only one who feels sorry for your son. I feel sorry for him too."
Uncle Xu was like being tied up together with Xu Minghui. As long as Xu Minghui didn't say he couldn't bear it, Uncle Xu would have to bear it with him.
Why should he make himself worse than a teenager?
The old lady wanted to run away, but she was suddenly startled and met the old man's deep and unfathomable gaze.
She tightened her lips in a lack of confidence: "I just said it casually, why is it worth you guys getting so angry?"
"You don't even respect me as your elder? Is this what you, as the younger generation, should say?!"
"I can't find anything wrong with what they said. Don't let your thoughts go astray. That's not what you should be thinking about."
The old man's decisive words completely shattered the old lady's wishful thinking, and the bruises on her face were silently glanced over by everyone.
Aunt Xu said softly, "Since you're not worried about the money, it will be much easier."
If you have enough money, what can't you do?
The old man nodded and said, "That's what happened."
He took out the banknote Xu Yu had given him privately, motioned for Xu Wenxiu to take it, and then said, "Keep the silver. Now that the land and sheds have been purchased and the seeds have been purchased, we can debit the money from the account book as needed."
"That's settled. Everyone go back and rest."
After the meal, the little ones were so sleepy that they went back to sleep, and the adults who participated in the meeting also got up and prepared to go back to the house.
The old man suddenly said, "Yu'er stay."
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