The Daily Life of the Daughter of a Minor Official

Chapter 4 Eight Liang

Su Ruojin prepared dinner after a while. Su Yanli and Shutong hadn't come back yet, so she put the cooked dishes on the grate to keep them warm.

Su Sanlang looked anxiously towards the entrance of the courtyard, "Sister, why isn't dad back yet?" His stomach was already rumbling with hunger.

Su Dalang also worriedly stood at the door of the kitchen and looked at the dark night sky. He heard the north wind blowing, and the cold man shrank his neck: "If you haven't come back so late, you must not have borrowed the money."

Su Ruojin's eyebrows moved. If Dad borrowed money again, would he be promoted to a higher level like before? That would be from the seventh grade. If he were placed in the county government office, he would really have to catch up with the county magistrate. It would not be an increase of one or two silver coins. Something happened.

The wind was getting stronger and stronger, and in the dark and cold night, it unknowingly made people feel frightened. Su Ruojin couldn't help but bend over and walked into the night. She ran straight out of the courtyard with her calves and was about to stand on tiptoe to look towards the entrance of the alley. , I heard someone shouting, "Second Lady..."

　　It was Uncle Shu Tong's voice. Through the light from the neighbor's house, Su Ruojin saw her father next to Uncle Shu Tong. She was overjoyed and waved to Su Yanli, "Dad...Dad..."

Su Dalang also came out of the courtyard and said, "Dad!"

Su Sanlang's calves couldn't bear the howling north wind, so he screamed anxiously: "Dad...Dad...and me."

Su Yanli, who had not borrowed any money, felt as if he had fallen into an ice hole. He was walking on the street in a daze. There were so many people on the street that no one would look at him, let alone anyone who would know that he had no money to pay for his wife's childbirth. money.

If anyone knew that he was a big man, but he couldn't even support his wife and children. His face... Su Yanli was like a walking corpse. If the young man Shutong hadn't found him, he wouldn't have known where he had drifted to.

The children's calls suddenly rang out, awakening Su Yanli who was in a state of despair. He stretched out his hand to catch his daughter who was running over: "Ajin..." He picked up his daughter and held it in his arms, "Why are you out in the cold!"

 He quickly entered the courtyard gate, and Su Dalang followed him.

His colleagues came in and closed the courtyard door.

Su Yanli looked over from the corridor, "Ma..." He didn't dare to ask the midwife if she had left or if she was waiting for his money.

 Did Uncle Shutong not tell Dad? Su Ruojin looked towards Shutong.

Shutong's face was frozen, and he rubbed his hands to breathe, "Master Fan is stumbling when he walks. I thought Master Fan invited him to drink and he was drunk!"

Su Yanli:…

He couldn't even get into Mr. Fan's house, so he went to find his colleagues. As a result, he either went out to meet friends or was short of money. He couldn't even borrow a copper. He was so frustrated that he didn't know how to face his wife and children. , that came drunkenly.

“Sir, you walk...”

Su Yanli glared at the boy and put down his daughter, "How are your mother and brother?" She didn't see Mrs. Ma who was delivering the baby, so she thought they were not in a hurry to ask for money.

"Dad, my little brother went to bed after eating enough, and my mother also drank a bowl of sweet rice soup and went to bed. Let's..." Before Su Ruojin could finish her words, Su Sanlang called out anxiously, "Dad, eat... eat..."

 Speaking, he pushed open the curtain and went into the kitchen.

As the curtain lifted, the aroma of meat wafted out from the kitchen. Su Yanli took a breath and asked with some confusion, "Ajin, did you cook the meat from Washan?"

Su Ruojin nodded, "Yes, Dad."

"You..." Su Yanli's anger suddenly rose, but his voice was suppressed: "Why are you so ignorant? How can you wash three meat..." He turned around twice angrily, "What should I do..."

 I didn’t borrow any money tonight, but now the child has cooked the meat for washing. What will I use for washing the day after tomorrow?

Su Ruojin pursed her lips and looked at him with a smile. "Are you still laughing?" Su Yanli glared at his daughter, "Do you believe I will hit you?"

Whenever the adults were angry with the children, they threatened to beat them, but never actually hit them. Shutong also grinned.

　　Why are both of them laughing? When Su Yanli was about to lecture the female servant in a long speech, Su Ruojin finally couldn't help it anymore and said, "Uncle Shu Tong, tell dad how much money those two stone paintings were sold for."

Su Yanli: "..." He stared at the young man and wrote the same letter.

He smiled back: "Sir, I sold it for eight taels of silver."

 “Someone bought it?” Su Yanli couldn’t believe it and asked quickly, “Who bought it? How could anyone buy it?”

Shutong was about to reply when he was interrupted by Su Ruojin, "Dad, it's cold outside. Let's go into the kitchen and eat and talk."

 Do you really have any money? Until her daughter told the boy the whole process of making money, Su Yanli still couldn't believe it, "Eight taels, it's almost as much as my monthly salary."

Shutong held his rice bowl in his arms and dug into the food whenever he could. "If it hadn't been for the second lady's idea, I wouldn't have been able to earn these eight taels of silver."

There was a rice bowl on hand, which was piled with pork belly and braised tofu from her daughter. Su Yanli was not in the mood to eat, so he still asked, "What's going on?"

The master didn’t even eat and still didn’t believe it. Shu Tong had no choice but to put down the bowl and explained the process of making money from beginning to end.

Before today, the owner had three children, two boys and one girl, two boys, one aged eight and one three. The eight-year-old was studying. He had a gentle personality and was neither naughty nor talkative. The three-year-old was Baby, I just started talking and walking, so there’s not much to say.

But the second wife, a girl, is completely different from her elder brothers. She has to read books like a big man and ask questions like an adult. Shutong is asked about a lot of things every day when he comes back.

No, half a month ago, after he sent the adults to the Imperial College, he went to the market to buy daily necessities. Going out on the street, it was inevitable that he would watch the excitement and chat with him. In the bookstore, he met a steward who was looking for paintings.

The steward spent a long time searching for the paintings in the bookstore but couldn't find the paintings he wanted. He kept mumbling that although Su Yanli was a doctor of the Imperial College and was quite good at calligraphy and painting, what kind of place was the capital? Let alone ancient collections. Too many to mention.

Shu Tong heard about it and passed it. When he came back, when Su Ruojin kept asking questions, he said something. Unexpectedly, the second lady's eyes lit up and she thought of a way to let him meet the steward again on the street.

I don’t know if it was God’s help, but a few days later, he actually met the steward again, so he told the steward about the second wife’s idea. The steward was very surprised when he heard the paintings on the rocks.

So Su Ruojin took out the stones he found while out for fun and asked his father to paint them. He was a second-ranked Jinshi and a doctor of the Imperial College. His painting skills were not bad, but he caught the attention of the steward and got eight taels of silver.

 That’s it.

Su Yanli looked at the shining silver coins on the table, two of which were more than seven taels, and he was filled with emotion for a moment.

Shutong took a big mouthful of food into his mouth and said, "In the future, I will go shopping on the streets. If I have any news, I will bring it to the second lady and let her think of ways to make money."

Su Ruojin curled her lips and said, "Such a coincidence is rare. If we expect to get rich from this, we all have to drink the northwest wind."

 Shu Tong: ...why still dampen his enthusiasm? The young man in his mid-twenties pouted and looked aggrieved.

Su Ruojin bared his teeth and smiled, and said to his father, "Dad, Mom is in confinement and you have to work as an errand. Let me and Uncle Shutong take care of the family affairs."

 (End of this chapter)