“Young man, take them to the house.” The attendant who brought them in pointed to a boy, who quickly ran over to them.
“Alright! Master!”
“Follow me, this way…”
The boy led them through a maze of streets until they reached a house, tapped on the door, and waited until someone responded from inside. Once the door opened, the boy waved and darted away.
“Are you here to look for a place?” A middle-aged man in a thick robe emerged from inside, a long beard adorning his face, and he held a large ring of keys. He looked them up and down. “What kind of place are you looking for?”
“Is there a difference in price?” Lin Ya and the others followed him into the house. “What are the prices for buying and renting?”
“My surname is Ruan; just call me Ruan Yaren. Naturally, there are good and bad houses. If your family is tight on money, it is better to rent. A typical courtyard will suffice for you to live in, even if it’s cramped.” He jiggled the keys in his hand. “Places like this usually rent for one or two silver coins a year.”
“Can we take a look?”
“Of course.” Ruan Yaren smiled and got up to lead them.
After viewing several houses, they finally chose a courtyard that rented for two taels of silver a year. Upon entering, there was a bare peach tree in front of the gate, and next to it stood a water well. Going further in, they found two rooms on each side, with the kitchen on the far left and a small wood shed nearby.
Although this place was pricier than the other homes they had seen, at least they wouldn’t have to cram together to sleep. After all, this wasn’t an emergency situation; it was essential to maintain proper gender separation.
“Dad, is this our new home?” Ren Zhao ran excitedly around the yard.
“Yes, no more traveling.”
“Oh my gosh! That’s great!!”
After signing the contract, Ruan Yaren handed them the keys. They could move in that day, but looking around, they saw nothing but a bed, a cabinet, and a few worn-out tables and stools.
After allowing Xu Yue and the others some time to clean away the accumulated dust, Lin Ya and Xu Jin set out with the receipt for purchasing grain and some silver, ready to buy additional necessities.
Once on the main street, Lin Ya noticed it seemed busier than when he had been there a few days prior. It was clear that the male protagonist’s crew taking over territory had benefitted many. After all, the previous official was a corrupt and greedy man.
“Brother-in-law, this city is quite lively. It seems the local magistrate is governing well. But why before…” Xu Jin’s words were interrupted by an angry voice from the teahouse next door.
“What do you mean?! Are you suggesting that dealing with corrupt officials was wrong?!”
“Dealing with corrupt officials is not wrong, but they executed officials without the emperor’s order, and even joined forces with the bandits outside the city… That’s the behavior of rebels!”
“What if they are rebels? As long as they ensure we have enough food! As long as they don’t bully us anymore, what does it matter if they are rebels?”
“The grain from the city stores these past few days was all brought in by those rebels you spoke of! If you can, don’t eat it anymore. Otherwise, you’ll turn into a rebel and a conspirator!”
“Right! Well said!” Suddenly, numerous voices of agreement echoed in the teahouse, showing just how much discontent the previous magistrate had caused.
“Sister, brother-in-law… did you hear that?” Xu Jin gulped nervously, stammering, the color draining from his face.
Lin Ya showed little reaction, remaining calm as he nodded. “I heard.”
“Isn’t he right?”
As light rain pattered outside, the earthy scent of wet soil and foliage filled the air. Thunder rumbled, and the gentle rain transformed into thick downpours, knocking down the blossoms from the peach tree. Soon, only a few flowers remained on the branches.
Since the end of February, the rain in Liu City had noticeably increased.
“If this rain continues, I’m afraid the fields will be flooded, and we won’t even be able to plant rice anymore,” Xu Father said, sitting by the window as he put away his writing materials. Even Zhang Shi, sitting nearby, could barely hear him under the noise of the rain.
The rain was indeed quite loud.
Xu Yue and Zhang Shi sat nearby mending clothes. Suddenly, dark clouds gathered, plunging the room into darkness, making it hard to see the fabric. She set down her needle and thread, lit an oil lamp, and continued working once the dim yellow flame flickered to life.
“Mother, Lin’er has grown taller; the sleeves need to be longer,” Xu Yue said as she looked at the dress in Zhang Shi’s hands, recalling how much Ren Lin had seemingly grown this past year.
Ren Lin was nearly eight years old now and towered over six-year-old Ren Zhao by a head or more.
“I know,” Zhang Shi replied, pulling out a piece of new fabric from the sewing basket. “This material isn’t bad; once I finish this one, I’ll make a shirt for your brother-in-law. He’ll be able to wear it as soon as he gets back.”
“Brother and brother-in-law should be back soon, right…” Xu Yue worried about the two who were out.
The way things were outside was chaotic; soldiers roamed, disasters struck, and it wasn’t easy to trade. But they had no choice if they wanted to provide for the family.
“The letter said they won’t arrive until around the middle of the month. There’s still a few days left.”
…
“Achoo!” Xu Jin sneezed, having listened to the conversation, waking up more. He glanced at the others on the other side of the dilapidated temple and nudged the person next to him.
“Brother-in-law, are you awake?”
Lin Ya opened his eyes and gave him a helpless look. “I’m awake.”
“Such heavy rain again; it seems we can’t leave today.” Xu Jin sighed and pulled out two small, hard cakes from his bag, handing one to Lin Ya.
“I wonder how our parents are doing back home. I had some snacks for Lin’er and Zhao’er, but they got ruined by the rain.” Irritated, he took a big bite of the dried cake, only to choke and roll his eyes, accepting the bamboo tube from Lin Ya and gulping down a mouthful to ease his throat.
“If it keeps raining like this, how are we going to make it back?”
Lin Ya took his time chewing a small piece of the dry cake, remained silent, but he understood in his heart that another disaster was about to befall them.