Zhou Chengkang could return to Li's house at noon but he usually does not. He would typically randomly settle his meal on the mountains. In fact, the both of them have been rather busy and did not have proper rest ever since they got married.
Li Qinghe didn't go home either. She pushed the door and entered, and asked with a smile, "Wanwan, when did you come back?"
Zhao Wanwan smiled sweetly. Li Qinghe noticed she even applied powder on her face when she approached nearer, which she looked more delicate/refined, "I just arrived. I was even about to invite you here and then I saw you passing by. Sister, I wasn’t there when you got married. Sorry!”
"It’s alright." Li Qinghe waved her hand, "Where’s Father?"
"He’s managing the crops in the backyard." Zhao Wanwan pointed to the back and pulled Li Qinghe into the door. "Sister, let me tell you, the city is really prosperous. There are many delicious and fun things, especially fabrics and jewelry. There are so many. If I had silvers, I would buy at least eight to ten of it."
"Are these new? They are beautiful." Li Qinghe said sincerely.
Zhao Wanwan smiled somewhat contentedly, "My husband bought them for me."
"That’s good." Li Qinghe suppressed her curiosity. She was actually curious about where he got the money. Earlier, the Hu family wanted the Li family to send a betrothal gift to cover the trip’s expenses. So she asked casually,"Will you still be working in town?"
Zhao Wanwan smiled and said, "I’ll be going tomorrow."
Oh, it seemed that they didn’t have much money. If they really got rich, why would she still need to work?
“I still want to go to the city next year.” Zhao Wanwan was excited, “Sister, let’s go together then.”
"I'm not going." Li Qinghe shrugged, "I’ve too much work at home."
After entering the house for a long time, except for Zhao Wanwan, Li Qinghe did not see anyone else. She was curious and asked, "Is brother-in-law back?"
"No, he found a new teacher in the city. That teacher has groomed a lot of scholars. Almost in every ranking that was published, his students would be amongst them.” Zhao Wanwan's eyes were bright, "My husband was close this year. I’m certain he’ll get it next year."
"Congratulations." Li Qinghe turned to leave, planning to go to the backyard to see Li Fu. Zhao Wanwan followed her, "I bought meat. Stay for dinner later."
She thought Li Qinghe was going home, "I’m checking out on Father."
In the backyard, Li Fu was sowing seeds. When he saw the sisters coming, his expression eased, "You sisters have not seen each other for a long time. You should have a good chat."
Li Qinghe took the seeds in his hand, "I’ll help you."
Zhao Wanwan stood by the side. Her clothes were pretty, but not suitable for her to work. Standing by the side, watching the two people, she thought for a while before suddenly saying, "Sister, can you lend me some money?"
"No." Li Qinghe not only didn't ask the reason, but even rejected without lifting her head.
Zhao Wanwan was surprised, "You didn’t even ask me what I’d do with it?"
"What else could it be?" Li Qinghe laughed. "You have said that the city is prosperous and expensive. My brother-in-law is still living there. Just a little money is not enough." After the seeds were sowed, Li Qinghe walked out of the field and asked with a smile, "Actually, I don't understand. Since the helpers in the city are paid much higher, why did you return?”
She could also tell that Hu Yanxi bought Zhao Wanwan this outfit and sent her back just to help borrow money.
"There are things you don't know." Zhao Wanwan waved her hand and lowered her voice. "The scholars are elegant. They can be poor, but they cannot serve others. Otherwise, if the outsiders know that Yanxi's wife is a dishwasher, how would people think of him?"
Li Qinghe was speechless over this reason.
Depending only on Hu Mu and Zhao Wanwan’s income were definitely insufficient for Hu Yanxi. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law’s combined wages for a month is not even enough to pay for his meal. Like she said, if the family lacks sufficient backing, he shouldn’t have remained in the city.
"Father, what did you say?" Seeing her silence, Zhao Wanwan turned to look at Li Fu who was digging in the ground.
Say what?
Didn’t she just want to get Li Fu's approval, and then ask him for money?
To be honest, Li Qinghe wasn’t feeling very well, she had even shown it on her face, “Father’s money is for retirement. Not for you to spend.”
Hearing this, Li Fu nodded his head in agreement. Seeing this, Zhao Wanwan frowned her brows, “Sister, it’s alright if you don’t want to help. Why are you even barging into how Father spends his money?”
“That’s because he is my father.” Li Qinghe refused to take a step back. Li Fu didn’t have much savings to begin with. If she were to touch them, who would fork out the money if he were to fall sick or get injured?
She didn’t think about asking Li Fu for money. If someone wanted to borrow his money, she’d let it go if she didn’t know. But if she knew about it, she would definitely not agree to it. Of course, if Li Fu was willing, she wouldn't stop.
But obviously, Li Fu didn't want to leverage on the glow of his talented son-in-law. He just wanted to live his own life after his daughters were married.
“He is also my father." Zhao Wanwan also became impolite. After going to the city, she seemed bolder, and dared to argue with Li Qinghe, "If he was an outsider, I wouldn’t have asked."
Is it an honor to be called by her to lend out money? This was the same as Mei Shi’s thinking -- those who can help are the closest people, and there won’t be such opportunities in future even if she wants to.
"I also don't have much money." Li Fu said, "I’ve spent 5 taels on your dowry already. For the past half of a year, we’ve used the grains harvested from last autumn for two weddings. Your mother and I have almost run out of grains and will need to buy them starting next month. You can’t possibly also take away the money meant for food, right?”
Zhao Wanwan looked embarrassed, "Father, I wasn’t… I was thinking, it will be alright until next year."
What a shameless mentality. Who said that he would succeed next year?
Li Fu waved his hand, "You came back in a hurry. I haven't asked about your uncle yet. Is he back?"
Zhao Wanwan’s face paled upon being asked about Qian Laiwen, “Not yet. My uncle asked me to convey the message. He wants to stay in the city like my husband. He also asked me to bring a message to the Qian’s family to quickly send him some Shuxiu. I still haven’t gone to Qian's family. I’ll tell them later.”
Now is the time when the green and yellow are not picking up, as Li Fu said, many people have no food in their homes, and they have to buy back the food to eat, and no one has spare money.
This is the season where the crops have not been harvested. Just like what Li Fu said, many families have run out of grain and even have to buy them. Which household would have such spare money.
Great. Looks like the meal won’t be happening. Someone tried to ask her for money but Li Qinghe refused to. This meal definitely won’t happen. So she left for her home. Li Fu didn’t keep her and asked her to come back another day.
Li Qinghe returned home and cooked her own meals. Zhou Chengkang came back very early today. He brought firewood and got a wild chicken.
"Don't go to town tomorrow. Let's eat this chicken." Zhou Chengkang said with a smile.
"Let's build a house soon." Li Qinghe suggested. Otherwise, if people learn that she has money from selling fish, they would all want to borrow from her.
She could have lent some money to Zhao Wanwan, but she didn’t even have enough money for herself. If she lends it out, she would have to continue to live in this yard. She wasn’t so stupid to compromise herself to accommodate others.
Besides, there is a saying to help those in urgent need and not the poor. If Zhao Wanwan really needed the money, for example to save a life, she would have forked some out. But she was instead waiting to repay after Hu Yanxi passed the exam. To say that he would succeed next year is easier said than done. How could the exams in the city be so easy?
When they first headed there, they vowed that Hu Yanxi would pass. And what was the result? If he fails for another 8 to 10 years, he would have exhausted the Hu’s family's money and they would owe huge debt. Wouldn’t this be like forfeiting the money?
In fact, Li Qinghe was also a little sorry for not lending a single cent to Zhao Wanwan.
The two had discussed building a house before. Upon hearing this, Zhou Chengkang smiled and nodded, "Okay."
The next day, the two went to the wasteland. After going around, they confirmed the foundation. It was not far from the pond, which meant that the pond would be right next to the house. The chicken coop would be on the left and the wasteland would be behind.
After finalizing the foundation, Zhou Chengkang and Li Qinghe opened a patch of land to grow crops. Then they brought some people to look for suitable wood on the mountains for the windows and doors. These would require a lot of wood after calculating. They even got people to start bringing some blue bricks for building the house.
By this time, many people in the village knew that the fourth son of the Zhou family was going to build a house.
It was needless to say that the source of the money was from the past year of selling fish. To put it more straightforwardly, it was the wife’s dowry.
Quite a few people are secretly envious, while some said sour words -- as if it was the Zhou family’s fourth son who was the one being wedded off.
Speaking of it, it really was so. The silver belongs to her, and the foundation also belonged to her. Wasn’t this the same as being married away?
No matter what the outsiders say, the raw materials for building houses on the wasteland continue to pile up.
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