The maid's road to success

After the disaster was alleviated, the water in the city was drained, and the prefect took people to investigate and notified people that they could move back to the city.

Wen Niang and the others also packed up their things and set off as soon as possible, intending to return home before everyone else arrived at the provincial capital.

Julien and Wushan are still staying here, it is quiet and safe here.

After helping the temple monks this time, if anything happens in the future, they can run to the temple on the distant mountain and seek shelter from the temple.

When they returned to Yufuzhai, they found the door was broken and a thief had indeed broken in. They expected that some thieves would take advantage of everyone's escape to steal from people's homes.

All valuables had been taken away, and only worthless or large items were left.

Even so, a lot of things were thrown away, including the bottles, tea cups, rouge and powder, and clothes made of better fabrics that I had bought and put on the shelves. A lot of them were thrown away, and the house was in a very mess.

An Ze brought his younger brother and sister-in-law to help with the cleanup, and it was not until the afternoon that the house was barely habitable.

It took two hours to clear the mud on the ground.

"The families next door have all returned, and I heard they lost a lot of things."

An Ning came in carrying a wooden board.

Bihe felt unhappy when she saw that many things were missing from the room she had carefully decorated and even the window was broken.

"Don't be upset. As long as you come back, everyone's shop will be reopened. Then we can buy new things and decorate them."

An Ning was also trying to persuade him.

"We've all figured it out. Our neighbors left in a hurry, leaving behind a lot of brand new cloth that was stolen. I heard someone near us was forced to sell his house."

"It seems that the evacuation was timely during this flood, but many people still suffered heavy losses and their lives have changed drastically."

Bihe then calmed down a little and went to the kitchen to cook.

The fresh fruits and vegetables were long gone, and the food that was brought to the Spring Garden was left there for the children.

There was only a little rice left at home, so we cooked some rice porridge and added some pickles and had a makeshift meal.

"Go to bed early today. Many people have already returned to the city. Some shops should be open tomorrow. I can buy some things I need then."

After An Ning had settled everyone down, she and An Ping took wooden boards to repair the gate.

At least I can use it tonight. These scoundrels are so shameless that they took advantage of the alley being empty and broke in by force.

Wen Niang stuffed a lot of charcoal blocks into the stove on the earthen kang, but the room was still too damp, so she had to warm it up before she could sleep well.

Covered with a thin quilt and keeping her body warm, Wen Niang finally had a good and comfortable sleep.

The next day, Bihe got up early and took the children to buy things. An Ning and An Ping went to find someone to repair the gate, and Wen Niang stayed in the yard to clean it again.

Wen Niang swept the yard for a long time before it was clean. The few saplings she had planted before had all died. Wen Niang sat on a stone bench and looked at the yard.

I'll buy some slabs of stone and pave the road in the yard so that it won't be covered in mud when it rains.

The stone-paved paths in Wushan are very nice.

If we plant some fruit trees in the spring, this yard will be great.

It was already noon when Bihe finished shopping. She had eaten all the rice she brought back. Wen Niang was almost exhausted from hunger. She had worked all morning and was extremely tired.

"I bought some braised food and pancakes. Let's eat them quickly."

At the dinner table, Bihe thought about what she had just seen and talked to Wen Niang and the others.

"Both of our neighbors are selling their houses."

Wen Niang raised her head and looked at her and asked.

"Why are you selling it? Aren't the two houses next door in pretty good condition?"

Bihe sighed.

"The family on the right left in such a hurry that they forgot to take many things with them. They were completely robbed, including the cloth they had stored. Even the spinning wheel they used to make cloth was broken. It was a big loss."

"The family on the left has an elderly person who fell ill in the disaster. They were afraid they would need someone to take care of them, so they thought of buying a house and some land in the village to live a stable life."

Wen Niang nodded. Their yard was big enough for them to live in now, so they didn't plan to buy a house for the time being, but it still depended on everyone's opinion.

"I don't think we need to buy it, what do you think?"

Bihe nodded.

"It's not appropriate for us to bring all the children here. Chunyuan is fine. We can clean it up after everything is ready."

"We have an open space in the backyard of our house. If it's not enough, we can build a few more rooms. If we need another house, we can build it in Chunyuan. Houses in the capital are not cheap either."

Wen Niang nodded. If they wanted to just buy a yard, they had the money, but there were too many children living there. If people around them gradually knew that they were running a charity, they were afraid that trouble would arise.

"Also, I heard that the inspection delegation has left. Do you want to go and take a look?"

Wen Niang shook her head. Although she didn't know why the inspection team was leaving now, it was a good thing for her, wasn't it?

"When I went to the silver shop this morning, I heard that something had happened somewhere and an official had been killed. The inspector was ordered to find out the truth first."

Anping told what he heard today.

"Don't pay too much attention to it, let's live our own lives."

What worries Wen Niang now is that they don't have much medicine left. When An Yun was delivering medicine to the victims, he went out with his face covered, so it is inconvenient for her to go out often.

"We don't have much disguise drugs, and they will stop working next month at the latest. We have to find a good way to appear in our own appearance."

"How about we also tell others that we want to sell the house?"

An Ning looked at everyone and came up with an idea.

"Yes, we can. But what about Anze and the others?"

Bihe asked.

Everyone was not in a hurry to clear the table and sat down to discuss the matter together.

In the end, it was Anze himself who said it.

"I will be an apprentice here. Anya and the others rarely go out. Even if someone sees them, just say that the master left before. I will give them a much lower price just to let them take in the children for a few years. How do you think?"

Wen Niang nodded. This was the only thing they could do for now. After all, An Ze and the others were still learning skills, and it would be easier to take care of them if they lived here. Apart from An Ze, the others rarely went out, so what if someone asked about them?

It was said that the previous owner was kind-hearted and couldn't bear to see the children being displaced, so he offered a much lower price, and his only request was to give the children a bowl of rice to eat.

"There is another question. How should we four women answer when someone asks us this?"

Wen Niang looked at everyone and suddenly thought of this.

None of them are young girls. At this age, if they don’t get married and have children, others will probably be suspicious.

"so troublesome."

Bihe drooped her shoulders helplessly, looking at everyone and felt that things were becoming more and more troublesome.

Unable to come up with a solution, everyone could only pack up their things and then slowly think of a solution.

When Bihe went to bed at night, she had a dream. She dreamed that she was not sold, stayed with her parents, got married and had children, and many children surrounded her and called her mother.

Bihe woke up and suddenly had a good idea.

"I've come up with a good idea. We're actually not young anymore. Except for Anze and Anya, who are a little older, the others can call us mom. They hardly went out before, so why not just say they're our children?"

Wen Niang asked again.

"What about our husband?"

Bihe said with a smile.

"That's easy. Our husbands are soldiers guarding the border and can't come home."

Wen Niang's eyes lit up. This was a good idea.

Anping thought of another question.

"Then how do you explain the fact that we are four women living together with our child?"

Bihe smiled and pointed at Wen Niang.

"Our husband married Wen Niang as his principal wife, and then asked me to be his concubine. You two have a younger sister of our husband, and you are not too old. If there is a suitable one in the future, you will get married."

An Ning and An Ping couldn't help but blush and said that Bi He was always frivolous and talked nonsense.

Wen Niang thought this was a good idea. It was not easy for her to get married as she was old and had no family. In Chen State, marriage required changing the household registration and recording it with the government.

She can't use this fake household registration to get married. It's too dishonest.

But if there is really a suitable person to marry, he will have to wait until Chen Luoxi is no longer obsessed with him.

Chen Luoxi stood in the yard. The family next door had no intention of selling the house. It was only because Zhushan offered a high price that they were willing to cooperate with them and make up a lie, saying that there were elderly people at home who needed care.

He deliberately moved two trees next to the wall so that he would not be easily discovered when hiding there to watch Wen Niang.

The house on the other side was also bought by Chen Luoxi and his people.

The reason is that Zhushan and Zhuhai are really reluctant to disguise themselves as an old couple, so An Yun can only disguise herself as a lonely old woman, and Chen Luoxi is her nephew.

On the other side, the four people from Zhushan disguised themselves as brothers and sisters.

Thanks to An Yun's love of tinkering with these strange medicines, even the sound can be disguised.

"Bihe, let's wait for a while before opening for business."

Several people decided to settle the identity issue first, and then continue to open the business. However, the cakes had to be changed, and the flavors that Yufuzhai had always sold could not be bought.

"What about the young lady of the Tongpan Mansion? We have done so much just to make the Tongpan Mansion closer to us and protect our shop and Chunyuan."

Wen Niang was not worried.

"It's okay. I've observed for so long that all the ladies and girls prefer Kyoto-style snacks. We still make Kyoto-style snacks and continue to sell honey tea. As long as she still likes our snacks, there's nothing to worry about."

Bihe nodded, and then announced that she wanted to sell her house.

As long as Wen Niang stops taking the medicine this time, her appearance will be restored in half a month. In fact, she can also use an antidote.

However, it has been more than ten days since Wen Niang and the others last took the medicine. As long as they stop taking the medicine in the next two days, their original appearance will return.

"After two days we said the house was sold, and then we went to Spring Garden to hide for a while and came back."

Listening to Wen Niang's words, Chen Luoxi couldn't help but sigh that it was a good thing that she was anxious and moved here before the other two families moved out, otherwise she would have heard that Wen Niang and her family were going to sell the house.

They were so panicked that their plans were disrupted.

The original owner of the yard next door saw Chen Luoxi lying on the tree and watching, and he felt something was wrong.

An Yun noticed it and took out a banknote from his pocket.

"My nephew is capable, but he's not very smart, and sometimes he does things in a weird way."

The other party was so happy when they got the silver note that they didn't care whether the person who bought their house was smart or stupid.

I told my family to pack up their things and move out today.

With this money, why would you do any business? You can go to the village and sell a few dozen acres of land and build a few large brick and tile houses. Isn't that better than the one or two taels of silver you earn by working hard for a month?

Just go back to the village and become a small landlord.

At night, Zhuhai changed into night clothes and came to Chen Luoxi to complain.

"Sir, can I stay here? Zhushan keeps asking me to change into women's clothes."

Chen Luoxi raised his eyes and glanced at him, but ignored him.

Later, he found Zhushan useful and had a way to control the people below him, and he was also happy to let Zhushan take care of those miscellaneous matters.

"If you can persuade Zhushan, it's up to you."

Zhuhai was immediately discouraged. He had no way to deal with Zhushan, and the young master was really angry with himself.

"Okay, go back, I'll go take a look."

Chen Luoxi stood up, flew onto the roof, and came to Wen Niang's room.

He lifted the tile familiarly and looked down.

Wen Niang is making an embroidered bag for a hand warmer.

Anze knocked on the door and walked in.

"Second sister, I want to talk to you."

Wen Niang put down what she was holding and asked him to sit down.

"what happened?"

An Ze looked at Wen Niang hesitantly.

"Second sister, are the eldest and second brothers women?"

Wen Niang didn't expect that he would ask this, but she didn't intend to hide it from them, so she nodded.

"No wonder the eldest and second brothers never told us not to have close contact with them. I thought the eldest and second brothers didn't like me."

Wen Niang touched his head and encouraged him to continue.

"Then how should we call each other Big Brother and Second Brother from now on?"

Wen Niang ignored how the children would be called later.

"You and Anya call us Master, and the younger ones call us Big Aunt and Second Aunt. An Ning and An Ping are your aunt, Big Aunt, and Little Aunt."

An Ze nodded. He preferred this way of addressing her, as it made them feel closer. However, since he and Anya were older, they couldn't follow in calling them Auntie or Second Auntie.

"Anze, it will be inconvenient for me to go out more often in the future. There are many women and girls in the family. You are a boy, so you need to help the family more."

An Ze nodded vigorously, saying that he would grow up quickly and help share the burden at home.

Chen Luoxi watched Wen Niang send An Ze out the door, and only left after she washed up and lay down.

Zhu Hai watched Chen Luoxi return to his residence before walking towards him miserably.

He resigned himself to his fate, picked up the women's clothes and returned to his room.

After Bihe released the news, they packed up their things and took a carriage to Chunyuan.

An Ze and Yu Lian Wushan explained the secret of Wen Niang and the others. Everyone was shocked, but there was no resistance at all.

In fact, they had long seen that Wen Niang and the other three all had their own secrets.

The way they get along with each other, behave, and do things are not like those of ordinary people.

Many times, Wushan felt ashamed in front of them.

They are everyone's savior, and they can accept anything well, no matter what it looks like.

The managers of the charity could see their true colors at a glance, but they did not treat them well.

For these children, as early as when Chunyuan began to accept them, they had already regarded this place as their home and Wen Niang and others as the leaders of the family.

No matter what happens, it won't change their minds.

Wen Niang asked Julien to find a bricklayer and a carpenter to repair the house as soon as possible, and left him five taels of silver.

"I, I don't know how to manage money. I'm afraid I can't do it well."

Wen Niang encouraged him with a smile.

"You are the oldest and most stable of these kids. You are the big brother when we are not around. You have to learn to take over these things. If you don't have enough money, you can always come to us for it."

Bihe also said.

"Yes, didn't you say you wanted to save a large sum of money to buy land? You don't even dare to manage it when you only have five taels. When you earn more in the future, won't you be even more unable to manage it?"

Julien looked at the heavy silver in his hand. This was the first time he had received so much money. It was the first time someone trusted him, gave him money, and asked him to be responsible for repairing the house.

"I will definitely fix it, don't worry, sisters."

Wushan was also very happy that Julien could integrate into this family, and encouraged him that he would definitely succeed.