Chapter 222: Please Stay
The departure of the six households of tenants turned into a grand, chaotic spectacle.
They packed up their belongings with lots of clattering and banging, clearly harboring an attitude.
Seeing this, Sister-in-law Cen said to Shishi, Ningxiang, and Helu, “They’re probably planning to cause trouble. Let’s go keep an eye on them.”
The four of them had nothing else to do anyway, and having just eaten a full meal at the Xu residence, they felt too self-conscious to sit by and watch. So, they hurried forward to keep watch.
Sure enough, they spotted one family trying to carry away chairs and tables that originally belonged to the Xu family, but Sister-in-law Cen intercepted them.
Another family intended to smear feces all over the walls, causing Helu to shriek in fright. Her screams drew over the other girls and passersby, who all severely berated the culprit.
There was also a person who was quietly using a kitchen knife to slash the begonia tree in the courtyard. Ningxiang discovered this and promptly reported it to the neighborhood warden, forcing the tenant to pay an extra three hundred copper coins in compensation.
It was just a pity for that begonia tree, which had a large main branch completely severed.
Fan Shishi stationed herself right by the fish pond, remaining highly vigilant to prevent anyone from poisoning the water.
The wet nurse was overjoyed by the sight, feeling both thrilled and deeply moved. “Oh, my children! Thank goodness for you! Thank goodness for you!”
If Fan Shishi and the others hadn’t been there, these six families would likely have ruined the rooms beyond recognition before moving out.
The girls quickly returned the courtesies. “It’s all because Yinyin is kind-hearted and allowed us to eat a full meal. It’s only right for us to do this…”
Saying this, the several of them exchanged glances. Now that the wicked people had moved away, they felt it wasn’t right to shamelessly overstay their welcome anymore.
Earlier, when Butler Chen had been quietly advising Xu Shaoyin in secret, they had actually heard it all.
The elderly man was hard of hearing, so he naturally spoke much louder to compensate.
Moreover, as singing and dancing girls, they possessed exceptionally sharp hearing and had caught every word clearly.
Combined with the tenants barging in to cause trouble over the lease termination, the girls had gradually snapped out of their panicked helplessness. In their initial panic, they had only thought of turning to Shaoyin to figure things out, completely unaware that Shaoyin herself was under immense pressure.
With them staying there, the four of them had already consumed the breakfast meant for Shaoyin, the wet nurse Madame Tong, and Butler Chen.
Now that the business with the tenants was resolved, they truly couldn’t be thick-skinned enough to keep waiting around.
Otherwise, Shaoyin might even have to go out and borrow grain.
In fact, it wasn’t just a possibility; Helu had just spotted Shaoyin stealthily slipping out through the back door carrying a small bundle.
Once the four of them compared notes, they were instantly overwhelmed with shame.
They could only suppress the ache in their hearts and their utter blindness toward the future to bid the wet nurse farewell.
“Please tell Yinyin, Mother Tong, that we won’t stay any longer. If… if we manage to find a place to settle down, we will definitely come back to catch up with her.”
The wet nurse was greatly shocked. “Where are you going?”
Fan Shishi assumed the wet nurse was asking for a specific location, so she shook her head. “We don’t know yet. But… we can only take things one step at a time. We’ll go look around the west side of the city first.”
The west side of the city was the most chaotic and complicated area of Xiqiao Town, but it couldn’t exactly be considered dirt-cheap either; the rent there was still far from inexpensive.
However, the four of them had discussed pooling their money together to rent a tiny single room, as long as it was big enough for the four of them to squeeze together and sleep.
The wet nurse hurriedly stopped them. “I’m not asking where you’re going—I’m asking why you’re leaving!”
“Ah?” Fan Shishi turned her head, terrified that she had misread the wet nurse’s intentions.
She found it somewhat hard to believe.
With a smile, the wet nurse took the hands of Shishi and Ningxiang, who stood closest to her. “Oh, my children! You are already facing such a severe plight; where could you possibly go!”
The wet nurse pointed toward the newly vacated courtyards. “Though it’s a bit of a mess right now, it can still barely house people. Please, stay for the time being!”
The girls froze in a daze, before hurriedly turning her down. “No, no, no! You’ve gone through so much trouble to get those old tenants out, so you can rent them out to new people for a proper price!”
Just now, when the old tenants were clattering about while packing and hurling curses left and right, the girls had heard everything.
A single household’s monthly rent had actually been only two to three hundred copper coins, yet it granted them almost half of the front courtyard or a whole small side courtyard.
The tenants had been grumbling, “If we had known, we shouldn’t have gone to cause trouble. Now we’re done for. A small side courtyard with four rooms could originally be rented for just two hundred and sixty copper coins, but now that we’re moving out, a courtyard like this outside would cost at least six to eight hundred copper coins!”
A difference of four to five hundred copper coins a month meant six to seven taels of silver a year, didn’t it?
It was truly enough to cost someone their life!
Hearing this, Sister-in-law Cen and the others felt even more embarrassed to stay.
Even though the tenants breaking their leases had nothing to do with them, they now understood Xu Shaoyin’s difficulties.
As it turned out, despite guarding such a massive residence, Xu Shaoyin hadn’t been collecting much rent at all.
Now that the leases were terminated, she could finally rent them out for a proper price.
Sister-in-law Cen shook her head and said to the wet nurse, “Mother Tong, don’t blame me for prying, but now that this courtyard of yours is vacated, it can bring in real money. We cannot afford to live here, nor do we have the face to do so.”
The wet nurse let go of Fan Shishi and Ningxiang’s hands to grab Sister-in-law Cen’s instead. “Oh, my child, you don’t look that old yourself, yet you are so sensible it breaks one’s heart!”
But the wet nurse’s attitude remained steadfast. “If you want to leave, you can only speak to our young miss about it. Before she went out, she specifically instructed me that I must ensure you stay and are well hosted.”
Xu Shaoyin had long made arrangements for Fan Shishi, Sister-in-law Cen, and the others.
It was only because she was rushing to go outside that she simply commanded the wet nurse and the butler to handle the tenant relocation while making sure the girls stayed.
Shaoyin had even thoughtfully considered the possibility that the girls might refuse to stay out of face and pride.
She had quietly whispered to her wet nurse, “If they refuse to stay, tell them we are hiring them to clean up the place… With a two-entry grand courtyard plus the east and west side courtyards, there will likely be plenty of areas to clean up once the tenants move out.”
The wet nurse had agreed.
Hearing the wet nurse say this, the four girls felt both shocked and delighted, yet they also felt an even greater surge of shame.
They worried that their act of rushing to Shaoyin in their panic had inadvertently placed a burden on her.
Ningxiang asked in a low voice, “Did Yinyin really tell us to stay?”
The wet nurse nodded. “Yes, the young miss has a stubborn streak, and I can never win an argument against her.”
Following Shaoyin’s narrative, the wet nurse directly requested assistance from Sister-in-law Cen and the others: “As you can see, young ladies, the tenants have just moved out of the residence, leaving behind quite a disaster. Old Chen and I couldn’t possibly clean it all up by ourselves, so we must ask for your help.”
Seeing that the several of them were still hesitating, the wet nurse listed out the tasks one by one: “The broken items left behind by the tenants need to be thrown out, the furniture needs to be rearranged, the filth must be swept and washed clean, the plants in the courtyard need to be cataloged, and the damaged doors, windows, and roofs need to be repaired. We also need to re-paste the window papers and repaint the walls… It truly is an exhausting amount of work!”
The wet nurse put on an expression of a splitting headache. “To say the least, this will easily keep us busy for half a month. If you ladies are willing, please stay and help! For these next few days, you can stay in the front courtyard. We will host you with meals, and you can help with the work. How does that sound?”
Sister-in-law Cen and the others were exceptionally delighted. “That works! That works perfectly!”
If it were a matter of free lodging and free meals, they naturally wouldn’t dare accept.
But listening to the wet nurse and seeing the chaotic mess left by the relocating tenants with their own eyes—where flower pots kicked over by the tenants and loose floor tiles still littered the ground alongside courtyard-wide dirt…
Half a month might be an overestimate, but cleaning it meticulously would definitely take a good eleven or twelve days.
Seeing that the several of them were willing to stay, the wet nurse smiled. “Ah, that’s more like it! Follow me, everyone. These two rooms look relatively intact, and the doors and windows aren’t broken. Please settle in here first.”
She then took Sister-in-law Cen to the rear courtyard to carry over some quilts and bedding.
“Please don’t look down on these; they were all used in the residence before. The creditors didn’t care for them, and they couldn’t be sold off even for a cheap price…”
They were all old, yellowed bedding—exactly as Xu Shaoyin had described to Jian Xingxia, lumpy and greasy, yet they couldn’t bear to throw them away.
But Sister-in-law Cen and the others were absolutely ecstatic, hurriedly accepting them. “We don’t mind it at all! Not at all!”
No matter what, these were still cotton quilts!
Helu murmured in a tiny voice, “When I went home yesterday, I had to sleep on a straw mat…”
Fortunately, the weather wasn’t cold; otherwise, a straw mat with only a thin layer of padding would likely have frozen someone sick.
The several girls immediately began busywork around the courtyard.
Fan Shishi gathered a few pieces of old rope and scraps of cloth, weaving them together with Helu to create a clothesline.
Sister-in-law Cen and Ningxiang worked together to strip the old quilts, taking the quilt covers that needed washing to be laundered, while hanging the padding out to bake in the sun.
Helu gathered a bunch of pine needles and tied them together carefully, fashioning a tiny handheld whisk broom that could sweep away dust or beat the quilts to make them fluffy.
With tasks occupying their hands, the girls’ steps and expressions gradually grew lighter and more relaxed.
