A group of people came over recently. When I asked them who they were, they said they were distant relatives. Judging from their accents, they definitely weren't locals."
"Don't always stare at other people's children. Have your children fallen behind in their studies during the winter?"
“They are very hardworking!”
The woman couldn't help but want to ask the neighbor, "Master, you are a small official, why don't they come to curry favor with us?
"It's better for them to have an official to support them than to fight alone, right?"
"Stop talking. It means they don't think highly of me. They have a strong backing."
"Really? But I've noticed that they don't usually have many guests. Even if there are two people who come occasionally, they are mostly classmates from the academy."
The clerk thought to himself, "If they dare to stay in the capital, they must not be as simple as we think."
"I'm saying, if they only have money but no power, can you find a few brothers, scare them, and make some money?"
Seeing that the school is about to close, the family is in dire straits. Their son will have to pay his tuition fee after the school closes, and it will be difficult for them to have meat and egg dumplings in the near future.
He is just a petty official, but his family is so miserable. Just think about how unsuccessful he must be as the head of the family.
Looking at this alley, it seems that their family is the poorest.
She always felt like she had no one to lean on next door. If she could get some money out of their pockets... These outsiders were most afraid of being harassed and facing officials. If the head of the household could just find a few people and threaten them a little, wouldn't that be enough...
She thought threatening them was more practical than trying to please them. They avoided her a lot, so how could she please them?
She also tried to curry favor with several well-off families nearby, but what did she get in the end? These people were so stingy that they wouldn't teach her how to make money and wouldn't even give her a single bite to eat.
The Zhao family is just like those people, they are cunning and stingy businessmen, that's for sure.
That was why they could get along well with the Zhao family. They were often seen giving each other food but excluding her.
"What do you mean? Don't overthink it. There are some people we can offend and eat, but don't think about this kind of thing."
"No?"
She also wanted to do something big, so that she could have enough money to support her son and his wife, and maybe even buy two more houses.
"No, what do you think I am in the government office? I am just a minor official, the lowest of the low, doing the hardest work. Let alone not being able to get a salary, even if I did, how much would my colleagues get? At most, a few taels of silver as hard work compensation.
We work so hard, but we are only making wedding clothes for others. We bear all the risks, so what do you want?"
"We're going to figure this out. Shouldn't you take the lion's share?"
"Whoever has the power gets the lion's share. Your husband, me?" the clerk laughed self-deprecatingly. "I'm just their lackey. Don't think so highly of yourself. We're nothing in their eyes."
You think my life is easy when I go to work, but I just do the most tiring work as a handyman, and I still have to act like a grandson.
Why do you want to take good care of your sons and let them focus on their studies? Only by studying can we change our family's plight. As long as they study well, they won't have to worry about anything in the future. "
The woman's heart ached. She knew being the head of a household wasn't easy, but she had never imagined he had it this hard. How could these people bully others?
"I told you to build good relations with the Zhao family, so you just did what I said. I've been pretending to be your grandson for half my life, so what's wrong with you being patient for a while?"
“They don’t pay much attention to me.”
"What about other families?"
The woman stopped talking.
"You should think about your own problems. Why do people dislike you after just two meetings? Why are other neighbors unwilling to get too close to you besides the Zhao family?
Don't tell me they are snobs. You have a big problem. You talk and act the way you do.
It's my fault too, I've raised so many of you and ruined you. You don't think before you speak or act, you just blurt out whatever you want.
You should really look for your own strengths. You've seen how hard it is for me to survive on my own. They're kind and well-connected, and if they were willing to help a little, things wouldn't be this difficult."
"I see."
The woman was a little desperate. She was wrong about this and that, and she couldn't even bow her head and please others.
It's not easy to be the head of the household, and she is actually in a difficult position too.
What should I do?
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