The broker had said before that the owner of the house on the left was a butcher named Fang the Butcher.
Fang's family has been butchers for generations. His eldest son, Fang Zheng, is 15 years old and wants to follow him in his footsteps. His second daughter, Fang Lu, is 12 years old and as cheerful as her mother, Wu. His youngest son, Fang Xin, is only 8 years old and still a bit mischievous.
Nowadays, any business related to meat can make money.
The Fang family, the butcher, originally operated a butchering business in the west, near the outer city. They sold not only pigs but also anything else they could, with the exception of human flesh. Their business was booming, and over the past decade or so, they had accumulated a considerable fortune.
Originally, this house was reserved for the eldest son to get married, but for the convenience of business, he lived in the old house and did not move here.
But with the successive disasters and the intrusion of refugees, they decided to just move in now. As for business, they could talk about it later. They still had some savings and food.
"Mom, is that the living devil's house next door?" Fang Xin asked cautiously, biting his chopsticks.
Wu glared at him and pulled out her chopsticks, "Don't call people that behind their backs."
He added, "How would I know if the rumors are true? Normally, we should give gifts to our neighbors when we move, but every household is sad right now, so we won't."
Butcher Fang took a bite of his steamed bun, chewed it, and nodded after swallowing it. He was always busy outside, and the household chores were all handled by his wife, and he never interrupted.
It must be that my wife is a good housekeeper, so she stockpiled food in advance. Otherwise, how could anyone in the family even have a steamed bun? Even if it was a multi-grain steamed bun, many families would not have enough to eat.
Mrs. Wu then instructed the children, "No matter what people say outside, if we don't cause trouble, they won't come looking for us."
Fang Xin nodded. Although he was naughty, he was not stupid. Wouldn't it be courting death to provoke those fierce people?
After dinner, Mrs. Wu was rarely hesitant.
Butcher Fang asked her what was wrong.
"Isn't my mother's family close by? They want to stay here for a while, and then go back as soon as the refugees stop making trouble! They can bring their own food."
Butcher Fang felt a pang of anger when he thought of his mother-in-law's sharp expression. But after all, they were his daughter-in-law's family, so he couldn't ignore them. So he said, "If the children agree, I agree."
Fang Zheng was an upright and bold man, and he didn't think there was anything wrong.
But Fang Lu was smart. She asked first, "How long will they stay? How many people will come in total? How will the housing be arranged? They have to bring their own food, but what about water and firewood? The new wells dug by the government are barely enough to feed our family of five."
Mrs. Wu was speechless and her face was stiff. She didn't ask clearly.
Butcher Fang couldn't bear to see her in such a difficult situation, so he said, "The government should be able to solve the refugee problem within ten days."
She nodded quickly. "Just let them stay for ten days. We'll only give them two rooms to stay in, and we won't take care of the rest."
Fang Lu reluctantly agreed. The house was quite large, and the children each had their own room. There was a water shortage, and even queuing up every day to fetch water only provided enough for meals. They couldn't bathe, and everyone stunk. As long as they didn't share the room, it would be fine.
Although my mother wanted to help her family more out of consideration for their relationship, she was not foolish enough to give away all her own food and money.
The next morning, the two elders of the Wu family came with their two branches, a group of 10 people, and they were very noisy.
Wu's face turned grim. Her mother had clearly said she would only bring the children from her eldest and second brothers' families. She was a little afraid to look at the children's expressions, feeling that she was going to break her promise.
Fang Lu seemed to have anticipated this and said that the eldest brother and the younger brother would sleep together, with herself in one room and the parents in another. The study and two guest rooms would free up three rooms for them.
The old lady of the Wu family smiled and said, "Xiaolu is such a small girl, how much space can she take up? Why don't you let Xiaoxin and Xiaoya sleep in the same room with you?"
Fang Lu shook her head and refused flatly, "I don't like sharing a bed with others."
The scene suddenly became awkward.
Mrs. Wu didn't want to let her daughter suffer, but it would be awkward to start a fight at the doorstep, so she let everyone go inside first.
She felt the gazes coming from all directions. It didn't seem like they were just there to watch the fun, but rather something indescribably strange.
When she looked over, those people quickly looked away and closed the door.
Due to Fang Lu's insistence, the Wu family was only given three rooms. The Wu family was not satisfied, but since they had just arrived, they did not dare to argue.
After everyone settled down, Mrs. Wu breathed a sigh of relief, picked up a bunch of pickled vegetables and took her daughter to the neighbor's house on the right to inquire about the news.
Unexpectedly, she knocked on the door and hadn't said a word before the neighbor said he was busy at home and didn't have time to chat. He didn't even take the pickled vegetables.
Mrs. Wu was stunned. She had never seen such a disrespectful neighbor.
Fang Lu frowned, "Mom, how about we go to the neighbor on the right and ask?"
Wu looked at the Jiang family, feeling a little conflicted. But Fang Lu had already gone to knock on the door.
Jiang Yue was kneading dough with Jiang Nian and wanted to eat hand-rolled noodles.
Hearing the knock on the door, Jiang Yue asked him to continue kneading the dough and went to open the door.
Seeing that it was someone she had never seen before, she reflected, "Is it the new person who moved in next door?"
Fang Lu was still a little stunned. She hadn't expected the "living devil" to be so pretty. Moreover, she was so clean and white, and she even seemed to smell a fragrance. Now she was yellow and slovenly...
Jiang Yue: I didn't expect someone to come over, so I didn't have time to clean up. Next time I'll just scoop some food up at the bottom of the pot.
"Yes, yes, hello, sister. My name is Fang Lu. This is my mother, her last name is Wu."
Jiang Yue was a little surprised. It was the first time she was called "sister" here. "Hello, my name is Jiang Yue. What can I do for you?"
Mrs. Wu also felt that the rumors were not true. She smiled and handed her a handful of pickled vegetables. "We just moved in yesterday and didn't have time to say hello, so we came here today to meet our new neighbors."
Jiang Yue looked at the pickled vegetables in her hand. She didn't want to hit someone who smiled at her, but she still had to refuse. "Thank you, Madam Wu, but our house is a bit messy right now, so it's not very convenient for us to entertain guests."
She turned around and called out, "Anian, please pick some mint leaves for me."
After a while, Jiang Nian came out with a frown and holding mint leaves.
She also thought about Butler Wang's reaction and felt that the mint leaves were quite suitable as a return gift.
She took the mint leaves from his hand and put them in Fang Lu's hand. "This is the mint we have at home. Drinking this leaf in water is refreshing and thirst-quenching. It's more suitable for cold brewing than tea."
Fang Lu smelled the fragrance of the leaves and liked it. "Thank you, sister."
Seeing the couple about to close the door and go into the house, Mrs. Wu quickly said, "I have something I don't understand and would like to ask the neighbor."
"Please go ahead."
"Someone from my mother's family is staying with us today. I wonder if this bothered the neighbors, but why do they all look so unhappy?"
Jiang Yue raised her eyebrows and looked at Jiang Nian.
Wu: Yes, it's that inexplicable expression. It's not displeased, but it's also not curious. It's very puzzling...
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