Quick Wear: Men Farming and Women Weaving

Li Jinrong's illness had been getting worse for some time, and he finally passed away. He privately told Li Changgui about his old house and the things he left behind, and asked him to return to the old house and live a good life after he passed away.

There was only a twenty-year-old servant in Li Changgui's yard, who usually took him to school or kept the yard clean.

When he was six years old, his father persuaded his stepmother to let him and his elder brother go to study at the Zhao family, and asked him to choose slaves to accompany and take care of them. He saw that the nanny brought were not family-born sons, but slaves who had signed death indentures and were hired by human traffickers from outside.

A dozen or so children aged seven or eight looked eager to be chosen so that they could stay in the mansion and have a full meal.

He looked around at the children and finally chose the thinnest boy in the corner because his eyes were clear and bright. When he saw that he was chosen, he was very grateful to the young man in front of him.

"Young Master, how is it? Did Madam give you any trouble?" Sanbao asked worriedly when he saw the Young Master coming back.

"Sanbao, we will be returning to our old house in Suzhou soon."

"Do you want to come back with me or stay here?"

When Sanbao heard what the young master said, he immediately replied that he wanted to go together.

After hearing what Sanbao said, I asked him to pack up the things in the yard first and they would move away together when the time came.

After hearing what the young master said, Sanbao hurriedly packed up the belongings he had acquired over the past few years, reluctant to throw them away immediately.

Li Changgui put all the books into a big box in the study next to the bedroom, along with the writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstone given by his father and stepmother.

I went to the room where my mother lived before she died and collected her clothes and some of her belongings into a box.

At noon, the food was delivered by the big kitchen, which was some cold dishes and cold rice in a rather perfunctory manner.

Seeing that these servants had started to curry favor with the legitimate wife not long after the master's death, Sanbao was about to step forward to argue with them, but was stopped by Li Changgui, who asked him to put down his lunch boxes and leave. Sanbao could not help but complain angrily about the servants in the mansion looking down on others.

"Sanbao, take the food to the kitchen to heat it up."

Li Changgui didn't care about these things. They were all going to leave, so there was no need to argue with these people.

Not long after lunch, someone from my stepmother's side sent something over.

He opened it and saw that it was full of house deeds and land deeds, and at the bottom there were five silver notes worth one thousand taels.

He knew that this was the last care his stepmother gave him, and he respected Madam Zhao very much for not being harsh on him on a daily basis.

The property deed lists a three-story house in the south city, close to Literati Lane, where many scholars live.

The remaining deeds are for the old house in Suzhou and the 100 acres of wasteland.

In fact, he could stay in the capital and not go back to his hometown, but living in the capital is not easy. People without power and influence will be bullied. Relying on the Li Mansion would lower his status to please his eldest brother. It would be better to just go back to the old house and live.

In the afternoon, Sanbao tied up some seldom-used things and put all of the young master's clothes and bedding in the box.

Li Changgui planned to pack his clothes within a few days and hire an escort company to return to Suzhou.

The next day, he took Sanbao to the West City car dealership outside the mansion to buy a car. He chose the carriage with the largest space. With the introduction of the car dealership owner, he selected two dark horses from the North.

Sanbao drove the carriage outside the bookstore, waiting for the young master to come back.

Li Changgui bought some books in the bookstore, including a complete set of the Four Books and Five Classics, as well as annotations by famous scholars and calligraphy copybooks.

I also selected five pieces of high-quality rice paper and bought a lot of paper for daily reading.

The clerk helped to carry the things into the carriage, and Sanbao also took the book from the young man's hand and put it away.

"Sanbao, keep this silver. If you need to buy something in the next few days, just buy it. If it's not enough, tell me." He took out ten taels of silver and handed it to Sanbao, asking him to buy some things he would need on the road.

Not long after returning to the Li Mansion, the eldest brother asked the maid beside him to notify him to come over.

The decoration inside Qingyun Courtyard is very gorgeous. Many things were sent by the stepmother, and all kinds of furniture are made of pear wood.

Li Changyu was brought to the study by a servant, where he was sitting at the desk, flipping through a book.

Seeing his second brother being brought in, he stood up to greet him.

"Second brother, I heard that you have been packing your things these two days."

"You don't have to be so anxious to leave here"

Li Changyu was satisfied with his second brother's sensible behavior, unlike the illegitimate sons who had not taken any action so far. His father's aunt was also making trouble in the backyard, and his mother planned to deal with these aunts.

"I'll pack up early so that nothing will be left behind." He didn't take his brother's words seriously. He probably wanted them to leave earlier.

"This is a gift from my heart. You keep it. When you return to our old house in Suzhou, please write to me often." Li Changyu took out a silver note of 1,000 taels and gave it to him with satisfaction.

"If you need anything, just tell me."

"Brother, can you help me arrange an escort agency to send me to Suzhou?"

Li Changgui thought that using the Li Mansion's name card to arrange the escort agency would be safer and the people in the escort agency would not dare to offend him.

Li Changyu quickly agreed to arrange for the housekeeper to look for a reliable escort agency outside.

After returning to the yard, I felt happy looking at the harvest of the past few days.

His stepmother gave him 10,000 taels of silver as a separation fee, and an additional 5,000 taels of silver. Together with the 1,000 taels given by his eldest brother, the total was 16,000 taels. In addition to the silver peanuts and gold beans he received during the New Year and other festivals, he also had a small box of them. Before his father passed away, he also gave him some silver privately. Together with the property left by his mother, it can be said that he had more property than most illegitimate sons in the capital.

Several days passed without any incident. After all the things were packed up, the people from the escort agency started to come and help carry the things. Sanbao followed behind and kept an eye on them, fearing that anything would be bumped or scratched.

The other half-brothers, seeing that their second brother was in such a hurry to leave, all laughed at him, saying that he was too stupid for not asking for more things.

Madam Zhao looked at these illegitimate sons coldly. Their aunt had been making trouble these days. If it wasn't for the fact that the master had just passed away and it was difficult to take action, she would never have spared them.

The maids nearby were gloating, looking at these concubines who couldn't see the situation as fools. Now that the master was gone, they dared to take advantage of the master's love for them and lose their temper at will. The lady had already made up her mind to sell them off one by one after this month.

Li Changgui bid farewell to Mrs. Zhao and his elder brother in his final moments.

He got on the carriage and left the capital with the people from the escort agency.

In the carriage, Sanbao looked at the scenery outside excitedly. He had not been outside since he was sold to the human traffickers.

"Sir, look at how beautiful the scenery outside is."

"Do you think we can still live in that old house when we go to Suzhou?"

The sound of the three treasures chirping in my ears, and I closed my eyes and began to rest.

"I haven't been back to the Li family's old house for more than ten or twenty years. When the time comes, I'll hire someone to renovate it."

"Master, we don't have to go back, so why should we go back?" Sanbao asked curiously.

“We can’t stay in Beijing.”

Li Changgui did not explain the reason and asked Sanbao to have a good rest as the journey ahead would be long.