Chapter 3 Buying a House! Buying a House!
Miaozhen wanted to study medicine, and her father agreed. Xu's father was actually a very farsighted man. He had even made some inquiries and believed that to do a good job, one must first have the right tools. Therefore, he said to his daughter, "The Medicine King Sun Simiao once said that anyone who wants to become a great physician must be well-versed in the *Suwen*, *Jia Yi Jing*, *Huangdi Zhenjing*, *Mingtang Liuzhu*, the twelve meridians, the three parts and nine pulses, the five viscera and six bowels, the exterior and interior orifices, and the herbal formulas. He must also be familiar with the prescriptions of Zhang Zhongjing, Wang Shuhe, Ruan Henan, Fan Dongyang, Zhang Miao, Jin Shao, and others. Furthermore, one must have a profound understanding of the physiognomy of Yin and Yang, the divination of the tortoise shell, the divination of the five omens, and the *Zhouyi* and *Liuren*, and be proficient in all of these. You should study hard first, otherwise you'll end up like those quack doctors and herbalists."
"I'll buy these books for you to read first. If you don't understand them, I'll explain them to you. Then you can study the Book of Changes. Once you've mastered it, I'll take you to see a famous doctor so we can talk."
He feared that his daughter's enthusiasm was just temporary, so he needed to see if she could persevere. Besides, while his daughter was working hard, he was also managing the shop, which would give him some standing and prevent him from being looked down upon for becoming an apprentice.
Therefore, after receiving seventy taels of writing fee at the end of the year, Xu Erpeng bought his daughter an acupuncture bronze figure, as well as the "Nan Jing", "Mai Jue", and "Danxi Xinfa" for her to study on her own.
He put the rest of the money away for Madam Mei.
When the New Year was approaching, the school was closed, so Miaozhen took out her medical books to study. You see, the acupuncture and massage techniques learned in modern times are different from those in ancient times. Modern methods use electroacupuncture, pulse therapy, and various auxiliary means such as X-rays, while in ancient times, diagnosis was the only way to make a difference. Even a slight difference can lead to a huge error.
The closer it got to the Lunar New Year, the better business became at Uncle Xu's tea and snack shop. In the past, there would be leftovers to share with everyone, but now they couldn't keep up with demand, and even Miaolian had to be asked to help out. Xu Erpeng was also busy, writing diligently even during the New Year. When he went out to eat, he would hardly spend more than an hour there, writing all day long. He even felt annoyed that he had only earned seventy taels of silver last year, thinking that he had earned too little.
Therefore, when Xu Dalang returned with his wife and daughter, he found that while other families were busy celebrating the New Year, his own family was busy with their own affairs and there was no festive atmosphere at all.
He wasn't very happy with his job at the academy. Everyone thought he was a tribute student, and some even inquired about what year he was a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the imperial examinations). He casually mentioned it, and someone said they knew him from the same year and wanted to introduce them.
This threw him into a panic...
Xu Erpeng had no idea about any of this. All he knew was that when he was young, his elder brother was an unattainable goal for him. His brother was handsome and had the help of benefactors, while he was born ordinary and could only rely on himself. His brother was intelligent and favored by his teacher, while he was only barely considered good. He was also not very lucky. Every year when he went to his wife's family for the New Year, he was treated differently by his brothers-in-law, who openly and secretly compared him. His elder brother, on the other hand, was favored by his wife's family and they took the initiative to pay him a thousand taels of silver.
The two were worlds apart, so when he heard that his elder brother was leaving the academy because he couldn't get along with people, he found it strange.
Miaozhen, who was reading medical books inside, overheard the conversation between the two people in front of her and suddenly remembered an old saying: "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river."
I need to work harder too!
Compared to Miaozhen reading medical books, the eldest sister Miaoyun was becoming more and more like a well-bred young lady. Her sitting, lying down and eating were different from ordinary girls, and she was very beautiful. Even Madam Mei praised her: "The eldest sister is really becoming more and more outstanding."
"Sister-in-law, stop praising her," Huang said, though she was secretly pleased.
This is what Madam Huang thought: if her daughter became a private tutor in the future, she would not only have an income, but also be able to frequent wealthy households. For girls from humble families, this was the only way to socialize.
Her daughter was even better than her. Her father was plain-looking and only the daughter of a scholar. Her daughter, on the other hand, was the daughter of a tribute student. She resembled her father and was quite beautiful. If she could marry into a wealthy family, that would be better than anything else.
After the New Year's Eve dinner, Xu Erpeng hurriedly had someone return the pig's head used for the sacrifice to the butcher's house. Xu Dalang was still puzzled: "Since this was used for sacrifice, why return it?"
"It was originally rented, but now there are shops that specialize in slaughtering and renting pigs and sheep. Brother, you're really out of touch with reality," Xu Erpeng joked.
Xu Dalang felt somewhat offended, thinking that his younger brother had become arrogant ever since he passed the imperial examination. In fact, it wasn't that others had changed, but that he no longer accepted the praise of others. His second brother was a scholar, and his third brother's business was doing well. Although he had a high social status, he didn't spend a penny during the New Year. People might not say anything, but they certainly had their opinions.
It was also said that Madam Mei was about to give birth, and she had people prepare toilet paper, bandages, and a small mattress. Now that she had money and help, she felt much more at ease.
Xu Erpeng also paid a deposit of two taels of silver early on to hire a well-known midwife from the neighborhood.
After all preparations were completed, Mei gave birth to a son on the eighth day of the first lunar month. His name was Jian.
Everyone said it was a coincidence that Miaozhen was born on the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, while Jian'er was born on the eighth day. The two siblings were born in the same month.
After Madam Mei gave birth to her son, an aunt from the Mei family came and brought a silver necklace. She left without even having lunch. Miaozhen heard that this aunt disliked the smell at the Xu family's house and didn't want to stay long. She knew that this meant the aunt thought her family was poor.
The fifteenth day of the first lunar month was Miaozhen's birthday. Her father bought her a copy of "Taiping Huimin Heji Jufang" and also bought her some delicate pastries. Mei asked Fengniang to make her a bowl of longevity noodles with two eggs.
After finishing the noodles, Madam Mei promised to take her to see a Spring Stage opera once she finished her postpartum confinement.
The fifth Wu day after the Beginning of Spring is the Spring Festival. Spring operas are held around the Spring Festival and are also called community operas. Every year, her parents would take her to see them. The men would crowd in front to watch, while the women would watch from inside the wooden enclosure. There were also vendors selling bean drinks nearby, which were very delicious.
She actually lived a very comfortable life in ancient times. In modern times, her parents divorced and remarried. Later, seeing that she was doing well in her studies, they all took credit for her.
On the contrary, she found warmth in a family in ancient times.
After the Lantern Festival, Miaozhen will go back to school. This year, Yu Xiucai's daughter will get married. In the Ming Dynasty, a woman's dowry was usually very generous. Wang Yangming once said: "When men and women grow up, they should get married in time. Often, the bride's family complains that the betrothal gifts are not enough, and the groom's family complains that the dowry is not generous enough, which leads to delays."
There were even cases where the groom broke off the engagement because the bride's dowry was meager. Yu Xiucai, who was usually carefree, now recruited people haphazardly for the sake of the dowry, mixing those who had just started their studies with those who had been studying for two years.
Xu Erpeng said to his daughter, "I will help you find a good girls' school in the future."
As he spoke, he made Miaozhen recite the "Nan Jing" and "Mai Jue". When she couldn't recite them, he would give her a hint or two, while his hand was constantly writing.
Miaozhen noticed the dark circles under her father's eyes as he spoke, knowing he often stayed up late writing and suffered from poor sleep, experiencing insomnia for seven or eight days a month and then catching up on sleep every hundred days. She wanted to offer some prescriptions, but then thought that she was nothing yet, and her father wouldn't listen. Just like before her father passed the imperial examination, even if what he said was correct, no one agreed with him; after passing the examination, his words carried much more weight.
She already had a foundation in the subject, so memorizing these things was very smooth for her. After listening, Xu Erpeng was deeply impressed by his daughter's perseverance at such a young age. Could it really be divinely inspired? Therefore, he praised his daughter generously: "Second sister, you are really smart, with a good memory and good comprehension. Father wants to reward you. What do you want? Father will go buy it for you."
She shrunk in size and truly acted like a child: "I want a lotus lantern."
He readily granted such a small request, not only buying a lotus lantern but also an extra gauze lantern. He was overjoyed and insisted on lighting the lantern instead of candles when he went to the outhouse.
But this only made Xu Si Niang and Miao Lian jealous. Children are naturally envious, and they all clamored for the lanterns.
Uncle Xu quickly bought a rabbit lantern for his daughter, but there wasn't one for Aunt Xu. So, Uncle Xu secretly bought one for his sister, Bao Shi, who then made sarcastic remarks for a while.
"I'm determined to save more money this year." Xu Erpeng couldn't stand it either; with so many people living together, the trivialities were getting annoying.
Madam Mei said, "Once I'm out of confinement, I'll start weaving, and we can save up some money together."
Xu Erpeng quickly said, "You don't need to be busy. You should take good care of Jian Ge'er."
"Otherwise, we can rent a shop to run a bookstore; we don't necessarily have to buy it." Madam Mei was afraid that Xu Erpeng was under too much pressure, so she had no choice but to suggest this.
Soon, Madam Mei couldn't finish her sentence, because the landlord of Uncle Xu's shop was not renting it to them this year, saying that he was planning to take it back. You see, this shop had been rented by two generations of the Xu family. Back then, Old Master Xu opened a rice shop here and started it up. When it was handed over to his youngest son, the tea and snack shop was thriving, especially in the last year or two, Uncle Xu's business has been getting better and better.
When business is good, people will come to grab a spot, right?
Therefore, the shop had to close down, and Uncle Xu would go out every day in straw sandals to look for a shop in the streets and alleys.
Because the third house tea and snack shop closed down, Aunt Bao spent more time at home. The rooms of the second and third houses faced each other. Aunt Bao was shameless and loved to take advantage of others. At first, she would ask Feng Niang to help her fetch water or pick some vegetables, which was fine.
Later on, she would often call someone over to watch over Zhang Ge'er for a while, or to sew shoe soles for her. Was Feng Niang acting like her servant? So much so that when Mei was in confinement, Feng Niang was still full of anger when she called for help.
Xu Erpeng had been looking for a house these past few days. He liked to prepare in advance; even when buying a house, he would first consult with a real estate agent and compare prices. When he returned home at night, he would still be writing stories by himself. Madam Mei didn't want to bother her with this matter, but Miaozhen found it inappropriate. So, when Madam Bao came to the second house's door to call for someone again, she came out.
"Third Aunt, go and ask someone else to help you. Feng Niang still has to take care of my younger brother. Last time you called Feng Niang away, my mother couldn't get out of bed, and no one changed my brother's diapers."
Seeing her niece come out to speak, Madam Bao smiled and said, "Fengniang is a good person and is happy to help me. Let's talk about it when she's free."
You can't really say anything to such a tough nut to crack, so Miaozhen had no choice but to tell him on the way to school with her father that morning.
Xu Erpeng also felt that staying at home was becoming increasingly inconvenient, especially after his youngest son was born. The family of four, plus Feng Niang, were living in two rooms, and the house was very noisy. Not only could he not write his storybooks well, but his wife was also being bothered.
There was originally a mansion inside Changmen Gate, which belonged to a gentry. The descendants had fallen on hard times and were preparing to move to the countryside to live off the land. The mansion was about 1.3 acres in size, with two rooms at the entrance, facing south, and had three courtyards in total. The innermost courtyard was a two-story building. The owner was asking for 600 taels of silver.
The man was in a hurry to get money to buy land and said he could pay three hundred taels first, and then he could write an IOU for another three hundred taels, with an interest rate of 40%, which was one percent higher than normal. He would also sell his house.
He was still hesitant, because the engraving workshop street in Changmen was an extremely prosperous area, and normally it would cost eight hundred taels. If he hadn't been in a hurry for money, he wouldn't have sold it for six hundred taels. In the past few days, he had looked at several houses, even looking in Wu County, but only this one suited his taste.
The area is lush with vegetation, with white walls and black tiles. The second hall can be used as a reception room or a study, while the third courtyard is for the daughter to have her own embroidery room...
Upon hearing about this today, he immediately made a decision. He went back and discussed it with Madam Mei. Madam Mei was initially somewhat opposed, but after a few days, she went to see the place with her husband after finishing her postpartum confinement and also fell in love with it.
Mei had a total of 320 taels of silver. Xu Erpeng also gave his wife the 30 taels of silver he had prepared as dowry for Xu Siniang. Last year, he only wrote one book because of the imperial examination and only received 70 taels of silver as payment. This year, however, he devoted himself to writing for two months and has already written 18 volumes, nearly 300,000 words. The books are selling very well, and he will receive a payment in April, which will be enough to pay off his debts.
At the end of March, the house was purchased. Xu Erpeng, being a scholar, was able to deal with people in the government. With the red contract in hand, the two usually cautious people took a gamble for the first time.
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