Chapter 16

Returning to the inn, Xu Qinyu saw her husband sitting by the window, reading a tattered book he had somehow found. Her sister-in-law, Pei Jianing, was staring blankly out of another window. The two children were listlessly playing with their fingers on the bed.

Seeing this scene, Xu Qinyu couldn’t help but feel a bit helpless. Why was everyone so silent and withdrawn?

Hearing the door open, the four people inside the room looked towards the entrance, their eyes instinctively falling on Xu Qinyu.

Xu Qinyu entered the room, picked up the teapot from the table, and poured herself a cup of slightly cold tea, drinking it in one gulp.

Madam Wen wanted to stop her but was too late, worried that drinking cold water in such weather might make her daughter-in-law sick.

Quenching her thirst, Xu Qinyu eagerly shared the details of the house on South Street with Pei Weixuan and Pei Jianing. “Mother and I both liked the house. It’s really nice, with brick floors and a well in the courtyard. It’s comfortable to live in. Because Sister Xia’s son liked the food I made, she is willing to rent it to us for two hundred wen per month. If we want to buy it, it’s eighty taels of silver. She would sell it to outsiders for ninety taels and won’t lower the price by a single wen. Fourth Brother, Jianing, do you think we should rent or buy it?”

She naturally hoped to buy it. Modern thinking always leans towards owning a home and having a place to call your own. As the saying goes, “A golden or silver nest is not as good as your own doghouse.”

Pei Jianing was indifferent. To her, there was no difference between buying and renting. They were already in such a remote and poor place, living in a slum. What difference did it make?

The southwestern border town was indeed a remote and poor place for a princess who had lived a luxurious life in the capital.

The two children didn’t understand and naturally didn’t speak.

Pei Weixuan only observed Xu Qinyu’s expression. When she talked about buying the house, her eyes lit up, revealing her preference. He said, “Let’s buy it. Living in our own home is more comfortable and free.”

Xu Qinyu’s eyes brightened even more. “Fourth Brother, I think so too. After buying it, we will still have more than ten taels of silver left, enough for our daily expenses. With a stable place to live, I can set up a small food stall. It won’t earn as much as in Raozhou City, but it will be enough to support the family.”

Madam Wen wanted to save more money and preferred renting. However, Sister Xia was willing to sell the house for eighty taels because of her daughter-in-law’s cooking skills. They had ninety taels, fifty of which belonged to her daughter-in-law. Even Pei Weixuan thought buying the house was a good idea, so Madam Wen had to agree. Besides, even if they rented, the ninety taels wouldn’t be enough for Pei Weixuan’s medicine and health care. In the past, the medicine Pei Weixuan took in the palace cost dozens of taels per dose.

Buying the house would give the family a place to settle down, and Madam Wen could earn some money by embroidering and washing clothes for others. As for Pei Weixuan’s illness, she had always thought it was due to weakness. Now, she knew he had been poisoned in the palace, and ordinary medicine might not be effective.

Seeing Madam Wen nod in agreement, Xu Qinyu looked expectantly at her sister-in-law.

Pei Jianing, meeting her sister-in-law’s hopeful gaze, had no choice but to nod, “Let’s buy it.”

With the whole family agreeing to buy the house, Xu Qinyu was overjoyed and filled with anticipation for their future life. No matter what situation they found themselves in, she didn’t want to give up on herself or her future.

Having decided to buy the house, Xu Qinyu wasted no time and immediately went with Madam Wen to finalize the purchase.

Madam Wu was delighted to hear they wanted to buy the house and even lowered the price to seventy-five taels. She had tasted Xu Qinyu’s cooking and knew that Shao Ge’er’s meals would rely on the young lady in the future. A chef at a good restaurant could earn several taels of silver a month, and there was no guarantee Xu Qinyu would stay home to cook. Madam Wu just hoped the young lady would take care of Shao Ge’er, ensuring he ate well and grew up healthy.

This was indeed a very reasonable price. Houses in the south of the city costing seventy-five taels were usually in narrow alleys, dilapidated, without wells, and with dirt floors.

Xu Qinyu appreciated Madam Wu’s kindness and planned to send a portion of their meals to Shao Ge’er in the future.

The house was finally purchased for seventy-five taels. The transfer documents were quickly stamped and processed. Xu Qinyu didn’t have to worry about the broker’s commission, as the seller paid it. By the time the house transfer was completed, it was already late afternoon. They went to the yamen to process the house deed, riding in Madam Wu’s donkey cart.

Madam Wu left Xiao Cui at home to watch the child and took Xu Qinyu and Pei Weixuan to the yamen. The house was registered under Xu Qinyu and Pei Weixuan’s names, so both had to go to the yamen in person.

After completing the paperwork, Madam Wu knew they had no household items and took them to buy cooking utensils, bedding, and other necessities.

Except for the iron pot and spatula, cooking utensils were relatively inexpensive. Bedding was more costly. There was no cotton here, so there were no cotton quilts or mattresses. Wealthy families and nobles used fur or animal wool and silk for bedding, which was extremely expensive. Xu Qinyu couldn’t afford it, so she bought bedding filled with reed fluff, which was still not cheap. Some poorer families used straw or rushes for padding and stuffed their quilts with rushes. They bought three sets of bedding, cooking utensils, and several sets of undergarments and jackets for the family.

Regarding ingredients, Xu Qinyu bought some radishes, cabbage, tofu, and a basket of eggs, the most common winter vegetables. She also bought a fish, five jin of ribs, two jin of pork belly, and two jin of pork lard. Pork belly was the most expensive, costing thirty-five wen per jin, while lean meat was priced at twenty-seven to twenty-eight wen per jin. Ribs were only twenty-two to twenty-three wen per jin, and pork lard was thirty wen per jin, more expensive than lean meat and ribs. This was because oil was inherently expensive, and the rendered lard residue could still be eaten. Ordinary people were very frugal with oil when cooking, only lightly greasing the bottom of the pot. A jar of lard could last half a year.

She bought a lot, and since there were few customers due to the cold weather, the butcher gave her two large bones for free. Seeing a set of pig intestines and stomach at the stall, Xu Qinyu asked about the price and learned they were both two wen per jin, the same as the large bones. A pig’s intestines and stomach set weighed about twenty jin, and the butcher said she could have it for thirty wen. Large bones had no meat and were two wen each, with few buyers. Occasionally, someone would buy them to feed their guard dogs.

Pig intestines and stomach were even more foul-smelling and difficult to cook well, priced at two wen per jin, with few buyers, especially in the cold weather. Seeing her interest, the butcher offered them at a discount.

Xu Qinyu was delighted to get the large bones and intestines. The bones could be used to make nourishing soup, and the intestines and stomach, when braised, were delicious. The stomach could also be used to make pork stomach chicken soup, which was nutritious and good for the spleen and stomach. So she bought both the intestines and stomach.

After buying these, Xu Qinyu also purchased fifty jin of white flour and fifty jin of polished rice, which were considered fine grains. Ordinary people mostly ate coarse grains, such as bean rice and bean porridge, as polished rice and white flour were too expensive.

However, Xu Qinyu felt that the family had suffered a lot during their exile, and their bodies were weakened, so they needed to eat fine grains to replenish their strength. Moreover, coarse grains were not as tasty as fine grains. She also bought some coarse grains, such as various beans and taro.

Additionally, she bought various seasonings, including ginger, garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, and salt, along with some Zanthoxylum and Sichuan pepper. Other spices like star anise and cinnamon were similarly priced to Sichuan pepper, but she didn’t buy them for now, as there were too many expenses.

These items filled the cart to the brim, leaving no room for Xu Qinyu and Pei Weixuan to sit. They walked in the snow, their footsteps crunching on the accumulated snow.

Pei Weixuan had been running a high fever for the past two days, and Xu Qinyu was still a bit worried. As they walked, she occasionally glanced at him and asked, “Fourth Brother, are you tired? Do you want to rest? Or maybe you should sit in the cart. We can squeeze in.”

“No need,” Pei Weixuan replied calmly.

Seeing his reluctance, Xu Qinyu didn’t insist. All the way, she was calculating what else the family needed to buy. They had bought a lot today, covering all their needs for food, clothing, and daily use, spending eight taels of silver. They had eleven taels left. Once they settled in tomorrow, she would think about what kind of business to start, whether to set up a food stall or something else, but it would definitely involve her cooking skills.

Back at Osmanthus Alley, Madam Wu helped unload the items from the cart into the main hall. She couldn’t help with anything else, so she prepared to leave. As she was about to leave, she discussed with Xu Qinyu, “Young lady, you know Shao Ge’er’s situation. I was thinking, could I give you some money every month to take care of his breakfast and dinner? Don’t worry. You only need to take care of his meals. I’ll give you one tael of silver per month.” She was willing to spend more money for Shao Ge’er, and one tael of silver was enough to support an ordinary family.

They had five people, including Xiao Cui, her husband, and a young servant. The young servant usually helped her husband with the shop. Xiao Cui and the young servant were siblings, bought by the broker out of pity.

Madam Wu only hoped the young lady could take care of Shao Ge’er’s meals. She didn’t have the face to ask her to take care of the whole family.

Xu Qinyu quickly said, “I can’t accept your money, Sister Xia. Don’t worry, we live close by. I’ll make breakfast and dinner every day and send some over for Shao Ge’er, or Xiao Cui can come and get it.”

Sister Xia had helped her so much, reducing the house price by fifteen taels. She couldn’t possibly charge for Shao Ge’er’s meals.

Madam Wu thanked her and then drove the donkey cart back.

Madam Wen was sitting in the main hall with the two children, while Pei Jianing was likely in the left wing room. Hearing the commotion outside, she didn’t come out.

It was already dark, around the time for dinner, and most families had already eaten.

Xu Qinyu looked at the pile of items in the main hall and began assigning tasks.

“Jianing, come out,” Xu Qinyu called.

Pei Jianing came out of the wing room, standing in the main hall, unsure why her sister-in-law had called her.

“Mother and Jianing, please get some water and wipe down the wooden beds in the three rooms, then lay out the bedding I bought. Fourth Brother, bring Feng Ge’er and Yuan Jie’er to the kitchen to help me with the fire. I’ll make dinner, and we can all rest early after eating,” Xu Qinyu instructed.

Pei Jianing hesitated. She had never done such chores before.

Seeing this, Madam Wen quickly stood up and said, “Yuniang, you go to the kitchen. I’ll wipe the beds and lay out the bedding.”

She couldn’t bear to let her daughter do the work. As a concubine’s daughter in the Anping Duke’s Mansion, she had learned to do these chores because her stepmother was difficult to get along with.

Xu Qinyu glanced at Pei Jianing but said nothing more, taking the rice and flour to the kitchen.

Pei Weixuan helped carry the other ingredients to the kitchen, and even Feng Ge’er and Yuan Jie’er followed, carrying radishes and cabbage, stumbling along.