The Eldest Daughter of a Rural Family
Chapter 188 A Concubine is Better than a Mistress (6)_1

Chapter 188: Chapter 188 A Concubine is Better than a Mistress (6)_1

San Ya and Si Ya never used to play with the girls in the village; Pei Wendong always followed Pei Wenbo around, doing as he commanded and was laughed at and looked down upon by the other children in the village. Whenever someone came to ask them to play, Si Ya shooed them away, "We’re busy working and studying at home! We don’t have time to go out and play!"

Pei Qin was somewhat vexed, their new cotton-padded jackets were all red, and apart from Pei Wendong’s, she, San Ya, and Si Ya, who were in mourning, could not wear them. But their old cotton clothes were not warm at all.

After some thought, Pei Qin went to the tailor shop in town to have new cotton clothes made. The mourning period was twenty-seven months long, and the jackets that Lady Fang made for them couldn’t be worn for two years. By the time the two years were over, they would have grown and wouldn’t be able to fit into them anymore. So she had the tailor remove the outer fabric and replace it with a moon-white color.

They paid extra, and in two days the jackets were ready. They even embroidered simple patterns on the collar, cuffs, and hem without charging them extra.

Lady Zhu saw that the villagers’ attitudes were gradually changing, becoming kinder toward Pei Qin and her siblings, and she was sure they would not return to Old Pei’s House, a place she had mentioned a few times she wanted to drive them out of. After all, with two rooms in the west wing gone, the two families were squeezed together, and there truly wasn’t enough space.

Pei Qin ran to the town and found Sun Tiezhu, asking for his help to rent a small courtyard for her and her siblings to live in, preferably to buy it, planning to have the house built there next spring.

Sun Tiezhu was very pleased to hear they would be moving to town and immediately offered them to move into his house, "My house is big enough for you all! You can stay as long as you want! When your house is built, you can move whenever you wish!"

"We are mourning for our mother, and it’s fine in our own home, but it would be inconvenient if we move in with you during the mourning period. The Chang’s house has given us some, and the Wang family, too, has contributed; we’re not short on silver," Pei Qin said. She still preferred to live in her own place.

Knowing he couldn’t persuade her, Sun Tiezhu immediately went to inquire who was renting out houses or selling their homes.

Though he didn’t speak ill of Old Pei’s House in words, he was very urgent, saying that Pei Qin and her siblings had to move out right away.

People began to speculate that Old Pei’s House, having failed to bring them back, had decided to evict the siblings.

With this news spreading quickly, the same day word came that a family had two courtyards, originally one for each of their two sons, but the younger son had not grown up. Now that they had built a new house, the whole family was living in the new home, and the old one, which was meant for the grandchildren, collapsed under heavy snow. However, the two western rooms had been renovated in recent years and could be made habitable with some cleaning.

Another family was also selling a home site, but it was just a piece of vacant land and further from the street, not as expensive but uninhabitable for the time being.

Pei Qin spent twenty-five taels of silver to buy the first compound, and Grandma Sun, Sun Tiezhu, and Zou Xing came over to help with the cleanup, as did the neighbors.

In just one day, they got everything in order. Sun Tiezhu and Zou Xing brought over two donkey carts. They loaded the bedding, Lady Fang’s chests and cabinets, pots, and pans, and food supplies including grain, as well as the firewood. With an axe in hand, Sun Tiezhu also dismantled the kitchen, loading all the wood onto the carts.

Si Ya shouted from the side, "The wooden boards inside are nailed on and hard to remove, but we paid silver for these two doors! We should take them! Even if we don’t need them later, they can be chopped up for firewood!"

Sun Tiezhu and Zou Xing then also took off the two doors, leaving the house empty except for two old mattresses.

After they left, Lady Zhu rushed over to take a look. Seeing that everything was stripped clean, she was furious, grinding her teeth and cursing in her heart over and over again.

The villagers, watching them move to town, felt somewhat disgruntled, realizing they would not be able to rely on or take advantage of them anymore. Immediately, some people flocked to Old Pei’s House, joining Lady Zhu in conversation.

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