CH 23

It was almost noon that day, Gu Yin brought Xiao Erhei, Xu Qingchuan brought Xiao Erhi’s master, and the four met at Yaxing.

When Xiao Erhei saw the master, he shrank his neck first, and then immediately smiled to please, “Master, Mrs. Wu has changed her mind and wants to rent that yard.”

Mrs. Xu’s rent was high, and she was picky, which had become a difficult errand for the middleman.

Mrs. Wang’s low cost and high requirements for the living environment were also a chore.

Having solved the two problems at once, Xiao Erhei felt that he had made a contribution that time.

His master hummed, “It’s also you who has good luck. If you boy smashes my signboard, hum…”

Xiao Erhei hurriedly said that he didn’t dare. He was still not up to the job, as he didn’t do a background check in advance, which almost caused a big mess.

On the other side, Gu Yin and Xu Qingchuan also met. The two knew the old affairs of their elders, so the first thing they did was to apologize on behalf of their mother.

Gu Yin was fair-skinned and beautiful, Xu Qingchuan was tall and straight, and two people of similar age standing in one place would be a beautiful sight.

Xiao Erhei smirked and whispered to his master secretly, “Master, the elder sister of the Wu family and Brother Qingchuan look so good. You think if they…can we still receive another matchmaker red envelope (money)??”

Xiao Erhei’s master immediately lowered his face and gave him a heavy look, “You child are really clueless! She wears a bun, and at first glance she looks like the daughter-in-law of Mrs. Wu! You don’t recognize me as a master in the future!”

Only then did Xiao Erhei realize that he had said something wrong, and slapped himself hard.

His little tan face was beaten red, and his master did not continue to criticize.

On the other side of Gu Yin and Xu Qingchuan, although Mrs. Wang said four taels a year, Mrs. Xu said two taels a year, but neither of them were combative at the moment, so they quickly negotiated a compromise price.

After that, Xiao Erhei’s master handed over the deed, and the lease of the house came to an end.

After completing the formalities, Gu Yin returned to the inn.

Mrs. Wang was looking outside with her neck outstretched. When she saw her, she asked anxiously, “Is the contract signed? Xu Jinchai didn’t embarrass you, did she?”

Gu Yin shook her head and said, “I didn’t see Aunt Xu, but her son came. Aunt Xu said that she will only charge us two taels rents a year, but I didn’t dare to agree to her words, so I went with Xu Gongzi. We negotiated a compromise, and the price was fair, and neither of us suffered.”

“You did a good job!” Mrs. Wang still hummed angrily, “Who wants to take advantage of her?!”

Noon was the time to leave. After Gu Yin had signed the deed, Mrs. Wang called them to pack up, and the family of three went to Jinyi Lane with their packages.

When she arrived at the door of her newly rented small courtyard, Mrs. Wang pretended to take a few casual glances, but the door of Xu’s house was closed, so she couldn’t see anything.

It wasn’t until Gu Yin and the others unpacked that the door next door finally opened.

Xu Qingchuan came back from outside holding an old book.

Mrs. Xu had already heard the noise next door, and had been listening to it for a long time through the cracks in the wall.

Seeing her son come back, Mrs. Xu immediately pulled him into the house, lowered her voice and asked him, “Why did you come back so late? Did Wang Baoyun and the others move in?”

There was a smile on Xu Qingchuan’s face, and he stopped laughing after his mother rolled her eyes. He first explained the same thing as Gu Yin, and then said, “I went to the bookstore. Knowing that my mother was worried and waiting to hear my reply, I should have come back and reported to my mother first.”

“Who cares?” Mrs. Xu snorted, “I think she still has some backbone. She didn’t take advantage of us.”

Seeing her son’s insightful eyes, Mrs. Xu looked away and said, “You must be hungry after working for a long time, lunch is ready.”

After she finished speaking, she threw herself into cooking, but after a while, she came out with a big bowl.

Inside the big bowl were three pieces of rice cakes that were deep-fried to golden brown and the size of an adult’s palm.

The Xu family only relied on two small yards to collect rent, and because she was picky about tenants, one room was often vacant, so they were not particularly well-off.

Xu Qingchuan hadn’t seen his mother look so alive for a long time, so he asked knowingly, “Did you fry rice cakes? Didn’t you say that this thing is very oily?”

“It’s because I saw you study hard and did something good, so I wanted to reward you!” Mrs. Xu’s eyes wandered around, “The stove should not have been used next door, you bring it to them and say… that we are the landlord. It’s a little thought from our family, or the people in the province would say we are stingy.”

Xu Qingchuan shook his head and smiled, picked up the bowl and walked toward the door.

However, as soon as he reached the door, he was stopped by Mrs. Xu again.

Mr. Xu had a pair of chopsticks out of nowhere, took a piece of rice cake from the sea bowl, and then said with a smile, “Okay, okay, you go.”

Xu Qingchuan was helpless, “Mother, there are three members of the Wu family, can we just give two pieces of rice cakes?”

Mrs. Xu laughed and said, “Just don’t give Wang Baoyun!” 

Then she urged Xu Qingchuan to go quickly. After she watched him enter the next door, Mrs. Xu happily returned to the house.