Zhenfubao waved his hand and the warehouse was full of grain, and the whole family regretted it

Old Mrs. Zhao, carrying a bag of snacks, looked at Mrs. Bai and said, "Let's go now! I just want to go get familiar with the place."

Madam Bai sighed helplessly, and the group boarded the carriage. After a cup of tea, they heard Madam Zheng say, "Madam, we're here..."

Mrs. Bai and her family got off the carriage. In front of them was an old house with the paint almost peeling off the walls. The window paper was torn like a fishing net and creaked in the wind.

Old Mrs. Zhao pouted and shook her head, "This house is about to collapse! You have such a nice house, why do you insist on living here?"

Mrs. Bai gently patted the dust off her body and said with a smile:

"Baiyin and I love quietness. Even though this old house only has one entrance, it can be lived in after cleaning.

Qiaolan, if you want to live here, you can move in with us."

Zhao Qiaolan stared at the leaky wall and stamped her feet anxiously: "Mom, doesn't Sister Qiaoniang have a house? Why don't we stay with my sister?"

Mrs. Bai sighed, took her hand and said:

"Silly girl, Qiao Niang has already married into the Huo family, and that is the Huo family's house.

We eat and live for free. If outsiders find out, won’t they gossip about us?

The house has been almost repaired and we can move in in the next two days."

Zhao Qiaolan frowned and said, "But..."

Mrs. Bai pushed open the mottled wooden door, and the creaking sound startled two sparrows in the beam.

As soon as Zhao Qiaolan stepped over the threshold, she stumbled over the crooked blue bricks. The weeds in the yard were growing wildly, and several withered wormwood plants were taller than people.

There was a pile of half-collapsed adobe bricks in the corner of the wall, and a few clusters of tender green wild onions emerged from the cracks.

In the open space opposite the main hall, a few bamboo fences were inserted crookedly, enclosing a palm-sized piece of mud.

"This piece of land can be cleaned up and used to grow vegetables." Mrs. Bai squatted down and wiped the mud off her palms with a handkerchief. "In the spring, we'll plant some vegetables and radishes, in the summer, we'll build a melon rack, and in the fall and winter, we'll make pickled cabbage."

She pointed to the west wall, where a thick layer of spider webs lay. "Let's build a chicken coop over there and raise seven or eight hens. We can eat the eggs ourselves and also sell them for money."

Zhao Qiaolan stared at the weeds on the ground and couldn't help but smack her lips. "But... Dad is a second-rank official, and he still needs this?"

Mrs. Bai chuckled when she heard this:

“The court salary looks respectable, but in reality it is only one hundred and fifty-five taels of silver a year.

Just think about it, the fees for the upper and lower government offices, the monthly wages for the advisors and staff, the wages for the servants, and the social obligations for weddings and funerals..."

She sighed and shook her head, her skirt sweeping through the overgrown weeds. "The money left at home isn't even enough to buy a night out for the gentlemen in the city."

She turned around and held Zhao Qiaolan's hand, the calluses on her palms hurting.

“But it’s not difficult to support your family.

If you are willing to learn needlework, I will ask someone to send you to an embroidery workshop.

If you can also master other skills, we can open a small shop."

Old Mrs. Zhao felt something was amiss. She frowned and said, "That's not right! Isn't that Jinxiu Cloth Shop yours? I heard it makes tens of thousands of taels of silver a year."

"Oh...you mean the cloth shop? That's not ours. We just work for others. When I have time, I go to the cloth shop to embroider. I only make a few taels of silver a month." Mrs. Bai said, looking at them.

Zhao Qiaolan frowned and walked around the dilapidated yard. The more she looked, the colder she felt.

She tugged at Mrs. Bai's sleeve and shook her head:

"How can we accommodate them in just a few rooms? There are more than 20 people in my husband's family!

With four brothers-in-law, two sisters-in-law, my parents-in-law, my wife, and my own children, there's not even enough room to stand here!"

She stamped her feet anxiously, and her coarse cloth shoes made two deep pits in the mud.

"When it's time to eat, my husband's family has to set up three big tables, and in this small yard, they can't even set up a pot!

You can't let the whole family sleep on the straw and starve, right?"

Mrs. Bai stared at Zhao Qiaolan with wide eyes. "What did you say? Are you really planning to bring all twenty-plus people from your in-laws' family here?"

Zhao Qiaolan nodded vigorously, her eyes full of pleading:

“Both my parents’ and my husband’s family live in thatched huts, and life is tough right now.

If there is a house to live in, bring them in and settle them down first, and you will always be able to get through it.

My parents-in-law are down-to-earth people and are not picky about places.

Mother, please help me!"

She rolled her eyes and suddenly grabbed Mrs. Bai's arm:

"How about you talk to Qiao Niang and ask her to vacate the house for us to live in?

General Huo is back, and his house is so big it's empty anyway. It shouldn't be a problem for him to give us a few rooms, right?"

It's just shameless...

Baiyin said lightly:

"I'm afraid that won't work, after all, their house belongs to them.

It has nothing to do with us. This house is so small, you can do whatever you want with it!"

Zhao Qiaolan looked dissatisfied, but since Bai Yin had spoken, she didn't dare to make a fuss anymore. "Okay then! I'll let them come over tonight."

Bai Yin and Madam Bai nodded and went straight back to the house. Bai Qiao Niang said with a distressed look on her face, "Dad and Mom, are you really planning to suffer?"

Baiyin sighed and said:

"How can a woman like this be my daughter?

My daughter has also learned music, chess, calligraphy and painting since she was young, and now she has no idea what is going on.

Maybe Zhao Qiaolan and the others know the whereabouts of my daughter. If Zhao Qiaolan is really our daughter, I will accept it.

It's just a courtyard house anyway, they can't do anything serious."

Bai Wanwan hugged Bai Yin and said, "Grandpa, but I don't want to be separated from you..."

Bai Yin picked up Bai Wanwan and said:

"My dear, grandpa doesn't want to be separated from you either. It's okay, we can still meet often.

Grandpa will come back to accompany you after the court every day, okay?"

Bai Wanwan finally nodded. Madam Bai took a sip of tea and said, "I just want to see how far this family can go. Anyway, I'll just treat it as a show."

Zhao Qiaolan hurried back to tell her parents-in-law, and the whole family packed up their bags and headed towards the courtyard.

The oxcart creaked to a stop in front of the ruins, and the wheels made a harsh sound as they rolled over the gravel.

Zhao Qiaolan's father-in-law jumped down, holding the shaft of the cart and said:

"Is this the nice place you were talking about? Just a courtyard this small as a palm?

I thought I could live in a wealthy family, but it turns out my thatched cottage is not even as good as mine!"

The scholar lifted up the hem of his washed-out gown and got out of the car. He frowned at the peeling paint on the wall and muttered:

“If I had known it was so shabby, I wouldn’t have bothered traveling all this way.

A second-rank official actually lives in such a shabby courtyard. If this gets out, wouldn't people just laugh their heads off? "

Master Bai lifted the door curtain and came out, saying:

"what's so funny?

I don't steal or rob, and I'm a hundred times better than those who try to be rich!"

The scholar's face suddenly changed. He hurriedly adjusted his hair crown, hunched over and trotted forward. When he bowed, the patch on his cuff was exposed. "Father-in-law! I am honored to meet you!"