Chapter 314: Yu Luo Would Never Take Him Along
The room fell silent for a moment before Liu Mingxia finally broke it. Though he hadn’t outright refused, Yu Luo could already tell from his tone that they were unlikely to accept her offer.
“Teaching is an honorable profession. If the two of you agree, you’d be helping to cultivate talent for Luo City’s future. I’m willing to provide you with a courtyard to use as a private academy, free of charge, forever. You won’t have to pay any rent, and all tuition fees will go directly to you. Would you be willing under these conditions?”
The moment Yu Luo finished speaking, Bai You and Liu Mingxia’s eyes widened in shock, unable to react for a long time.
The surprise was too overwhelming—they could hardly believe it was real.
“Xiao Luo, do you mean that as long as Bai You and I remain teachers in Luo City, our families can stay here, and you won’t evict them or charge us rent?”
Liu Mingxia, still stunned, quickly sought clarification. He feared he had misunderstood or that Yu Luo might change her mind.
Even Yu Haojie hadn’t expected his daughter to be planning for Luocheng’s future at this stage.
But regardless of how prosperous Luo City might become, wouldn’t the four surrounding nations and the ever-watchful Fengcheng try to suppress them?
Meeting Liu Mingxia’s hopeful gaze, Yu Luo nodded. “That’s exactly what I mean. If you accept, your families can live at the academy as well.”
“Yes! Yes, I agree! I accept!”
Before Yu Luo’s words had fully settled, Liu Mingxia responded instantly, without hesitation.
Bai You, still in a daze, glanced at Liu Mingxia’s reaction, then turned back to Yu Luo and nodded rapidly, accepting the offer just as quickly.
“The academy is meant to support Luo City’s growth. Right now, there aren’t many students, so the two of you will be enough to handle them. In the future, if the student population exceeds one hundred, I’ll hire additional teachers. You don’t need to worry about that.”
“We trust you completely, Xiao Luo! We have no other demands. If teaching allows our families to have a stable home, we’re more than satisfied. We just need to discuss with our family members—some of them might want to continue farming as laborers, while others might prefer to settle in Luo City and start businesses. Once we’ve decided, we’ll inform you and Lord Yu—ah, I should say City Lord Yu. If any of our people want to start businesses, we may need your help again.”
“Of course. We’ve all been through hardships together, and I’ll always be happy to help.”
With that, all the families had their matters settled. Since there was still time, Yu Haojie and Yu Luo personally took them to see the available shops, allowing them to choose for themselves.
Being guided by the city lord and his daughter personally made the group even more excited. Although there were only a few businesses in Luo City for now, since the city gates had opened yesterday, nearly 500 outsiders had already arrived to explore.
Previously, the only people on Luocheng’s streets were members of the settlement, all dressed in uniform work attire. But now, the city was filled with a variety of people from different places.
For these long-exiled people, seeing new faces felt almost unnatural. In their casual stroll through the city, they had temporarily forgotten they were still exiled criminals.
“This steamed bun shop seems to be doing well. I wonder if our baked flatbread business will be just as successful.”
Passing by a restaurant, they noticed a few people dining inside. The more frugal ones were buying steamed buns and plain buns outside in small groups. There weren’t many of them, though—most of the newcomers had already settled in yesterday and weren’t willing to spend silver on food just yet. Many preferred to ration their own supplies or had gone to the grain store to buy or barter for ingredients.
But for Yu Shanhai, who hadn’t seen an open market in ages, this was an unexpectedly good sight.
At least it wasn’t as desolate as he had feared.
“Uncle Shanhai, if it weren’t for you and Chunmu, I wouldn’t bother giving you this advice. But since I think you’re a decent person, I’ll offer you a warning.”
Yu Luo’s sudden, blunt words caught Yu Shanhai off guard. But instead of getting angry, he only smiled bitterly.
After all, he knew his family members’ personalities all too well.
“Xiao Luo, I know you always have good intentions. If you have something to say, just say it. No matter how harsh it is, I’ll listen.”
Seeing that Yu Shanhai was receptive, Yu Luo nodded.
“You’ve seen the shops here in Luo City. The smallest one, even with a back courtyard, has at least four rooms. If you want to rent a shop like that, the lowest price I can offer you as family is thirty taels of silver per month. That’s already a discount—regular tenants will be paying at least fifty taels a month, and they’ll have to pay for the full year in advance. For a single storefront with a four-room courtyard, that’s a total of six hundred taels per year.
“Now, think about it—how many flatbreads can you sell in a day?”
The moment Yu Luo finished speaking, the entire group was stunned.
What shocked them the most was the rental price. Compared to their hometown, this amount was outrageous. In their old county town, six hundred taels could buy a small courtyard house outright, and this was just for rent.
Now, looking at the meager silver they had saved, they realized it wasn’t even enough to cover half a year’s rent. The fear set in quickly.
“X-Xiao Luo, are you serious? The rent is really that high?!”
Everyone was shocked, but no one was more flustered than Yu Shanhai.
The others had some reassurance—Zhang Yuan had Yu Haojie as a business partner for their blacksmith shop, meaning Yu Haojie would cover half the rent.
Yu Shanhe, Yu Yongjun, and Yu Yongcai were also covered—Yu Luo was investing alongside them in a joint business.
As for Bai You and Liu Mingxia, they wouldn’t have to pay anything. Their status as academy teachers allowed them and their families to live in Luo City for free.
That meant the only person left to bear the full rental cost was Yu Shanhai himself.
Deep down, Yu Shanhai had already understood the truth—Yu Luo and Yu Haojie had deliberately chosen not to partner with him in business. And the reason was simple: his wife.
