Others are fleeing famine, but I am a salted fish

When they arrived at the inn, the Lin family team and two other families who had settled in Wanbao Town had already completed the check-in procedures.

Grandpa Lin was grateful for the care and advice the three officials had given them along the way, and for taking care of their noodle business, so he returned the favor by renting a room for the three officials, and even paid the room rent in advance.

It's not that Grandpa Lin is poor and generous, but Grandpa feels that no matter whether it's the local county yamen runners in Wanbao Town or the officials in Yongzhou City, who can predict what will happen in life? Will we definitely not meet in the future? It must be the time to trouble the other party.

When you are out, be kind to others and make more good friends, which will be convenient for yourself.

As soon as Team Leader Shen arrived at the inn, he met the other two officers. Unexpectedly, the Lin family team had already booked a room for them and even paid the room fee.

Team Leader Shen nodded with satisfaction at the Lin family team's progress, and sighed in his heart that it was worth it for him to go back to the county government office to pave the way for them so that they would not be ostracized and bullied by the locals in the town in the future.

The two officers were taking a break with Team Leader Shen in the lobby of the inn while they talked about how the Lin family and the other two families had sent their men to the town's pawnshop to inquire about information on renting and selling houses, and then make plans based on the specific situation.

What the two officers didn't tell Team Leader Shen was that the little girl they saw last night, who was very good at climbing trees, had gone out with several of her sisters to join in the fun. However, the officers thought that the little girl was just going out to see the excitement in Wanbao Town, so they didn't mention it to Team Leader Shen.

Although Wanbao Town is not as prosperous as Yongzhou City, the town is quite large. Just as Team Leader Shen said, the east is rich and the west is noble, while the south is poor and the north is desolate. They now live at the junction of the east and the west, and the two adjacent areas happen to be the two areas with the most wealthy people.

At a glance, the houses here are all made of blue bricks and large tiles, and the tallest one is as high as a three-story building. The weather is so hot that it makes people feel suffocated. Most of the shops are still open, but there are only a few pedestrians on the street. I think they are afraid of the sun and don't come out. Therefore, the business in the shops is much quieter.

Occasionally, there are patrolling soldiers passing by, which shows that the safety factor in the town is still very high.

The women walked and strolled along in a daze, not knowing where they were. There were restaurants, teahouses, pawnshops, grain shops, candy shops, cake shops, government salt shops, etc. In short, there were all kinds of shops.

There are horse-drawn carriages parked in front of some shops. The horse-drawn carriages of this dynasty are equivalent to modern imported luxury cars. Needless to say, the things sold in the shops on West Street must be very expensive, otherwise those rich people would not be willing to come here to shop.

They walked aimlessly for a long distance and finally came to a pawnshop, where they ran into the men who came out to inquire about the house at the door of the pawnshop.

Everyone thought that since they were already here, they might as well stay and watch the fun.

A yahang was a trading intermediary in ancient times. It was not limited to the sale and leasing of houses, land, and people. As long as it was an intermediary type, it would do any business.

The dental clinic they were looking for was quite large, but due to the scorching heat, there were not many customers in the clinic.

The broker welcomed so many guests at once. When he learned that they wanted to buy property in the town, he immediately led them into the inner room, made tea for them, and asked them about their intentions with a smile.

"Come on, guests. It's hot. Let's drink some tea to moisten our throats first." After everyone sat down, the broker pulled over a large pile of rice paper, which was painted with house layouts and orientations. "I wonder if any of you have any ideas about houses. There are several good houses in the east and west of the city, which can be rented or bought. There are also several small houses with two entrances and small courtyards in the south and north of the city. It depends on what you are interested in."

Lin Xiaoyue thought to herself, this dental office is quite similar to a real estate agency, and it even has floor plans for customers to screen first.

After looking through the drawings, I found that either the houses were extremely expensive or in bad locations. I finally found a house with a suitable location and a suitable house size, but it would cost more than three hundred taels if I bought it. The most important thing was that such a house was only big enough for a family of about ten people. If there were more, it would be too crowded.

But now, the members of the Lin family team have settled in Wanbao Town because of Lin Xiaoyue's suggestion, and everyone wants to do business together. It would definitely be inconvenient if they live separately, but if they live together, either the houses cannot be too far apart, or they have to look for a bigger one.

However, the houses shown in the drawings that the broker brought out were only large enough to accommodate the thirty-two people of them, except for those of wealthy families in the east and west of the city. It was difficult to find other suitable houses.

They couldn't afford to buy or rent houses in the east and west of the city. Houses in the south and north of the city were cheaper, but they were scattered, not to mention those next to each other, and the distance between them was very far.

When everyone came out of the dentistry, they all had sad looks on their faces.

However, the other two families had houses they liked and had made appointments with the real estate agent to go house viewing together tomorrow morning. They all looked very happy at the moment, which formed a sharp contrast with the melancholy look on the Lin family's team.

The sisters and men around Lin Xiaoyue were still looking sad even after they left the dental clinic.

On the way back to the inn, the sun was almost setting. The group of men reported to everyone at the dinner table with bitter faces the results of their afternoon visit to the pawnshop.

Everyone at the dinner table was almost worried to death after hearing this. They all had bitter faces and were thinking hard about what to do.

The men were dejected, the women and children were wiping their tears silently, and Lin Xiaoyue secretly clenched her fists under the table, regretting that she had not thought comprehensively enough, which had put everyone in a dilemma.

After finally overcoming numerous difficulties and dangers, they encountered a situation that left them helpless after settling down.

It was at this time that Team Leader Shen and the two officials who escorted them to Wanbao Town came over with some wine, breaking the stalemate of the Lin family's team and bringing everyone unexpected good news.

"After you left the government office this afternoon, I thought of asking the chief clerk if there were any houses waiting to be auctioned off. Now it seems that my question was not in vain."

Everyone perked up after hearing that. Their dejected eyes suddenly lit up and they looked at Team Leader Shen expectantly.

Team Leader Shen was also straightforward and told everyone with a smile the news he had gathered from the county government office that afternoon.

He also judged based on the emotions of these people. He thought that since they had just arrived in a strange place, they would probably want to live together and not live separately. Otherwise, they would not have come back with nothing after going for a walk in the afternoon.

Seeing more than thirty pairs of expectant eyes cast at him, Team Leader Shen did not keep anyone in suspense and relayed the information he had obtained to everyone as completely as possible.