Perhaps it was karma—after the landlord beat He Dazhu to death, he himself inexplicably fell seriously ill and died not long after.
With the landlord gone, the entire household quickly fell apart. The wives and concubines grabbed whatever valuables they could and fled, leaving no one to care about the dead master. In the end, it was his eldest son, before leaving, who arranged for his burial—otherwise, the body might have been left unattended.
The servants also each took what they could and ran off. After all, this was now the new society—those old servitude contracts were no longer recognized by the new government. They didn’t have to worry about being hunted down as runaway servants anymore, so after dividing up anything of value, they packed their belongings and left.
He Dazhu had always been a dull and taciturn man, never making any friends in the landlord’s household. When the landlord had an ox cart, he drove the ox cart; when there was a horse carriage, he drove that. Later, when the landlord acquired a car, he had He Dazhu learn to drive it as well, thinking him honest and reliable. Another reason might have been that since He Dazhu rarely spoke, the landlord didn’t need to pay him wages—just feeding him was enough. For such a stingy landlord, that made him an ideal laborer.
Later, when He Dazhu wanted to get married, the matchmaker deceived him, saying that just the bride price alone would cost twenty silver dollars. With no money, he could only go to the landlord to ask for help.
Of course, he got nothing. Instead, when he returned, the landlord had him severely beaten. Since He Dazhu lived in a dilapidated house belonging to the landlord, he fell ill afterward and died within a few days.
It was Uncle Lin, a friend of He Yuping’s father, who took care of He Dazhu’s funeral. That was why he later allowed He Yuping to assume this identity—it was clean, with no complications or loose ends.
“Mom, aren’t there neighborhood offices here now? Why don’t we go check them out and see how much houses like this sell for? If possible, we could even entrust the sale to the people at the neighborhood office—just pay them a small intermediary fee. That way, we won’t have to run around all day ourselves. We don’t know many people here anyway,” He Caiwei suggested. She remembered that in the novel, the female lead had used the neighborhood office to buy and sell houses.
That should work for them too—no need for the mother and daughter to exhaust themselves running all over town.
“I’ve already inquired about housing prices,” He Youyou said. “Houses like the one we’re living in now can sell for about eighty silver dollars. Ordinary shops go for around a hundred, while larger ones or those with courtyards fetch more. I checked—there are fourteen ordinary shops, twelve with courtyards, six courtyards like ours, and two even larger ones, more than twice the size of ours. Actually, we could wait another month or two. I’ve heard liberation is coming soon. Once that happens, nearby factories will start hiring in large numbers, and demand for housing will increase. It’ll be easier to sell then.”
He Youyou’s father had been an accountant, so from a young age he had deliberately taught her some business sense. As a result, she understood far more than most women confined to the inner household.
“Mom, you’re amazing! Then let’s wait. It’s not like we can sell the house right away anyway, so we might as well hold on a bit longer. Grandpa Lin can also slowly help us get train tickets. It’s just that you’ll have to work hard, Mom—going out every day means you’ll have to keep disguising your face,” He Caiwei said. Waiting a month or two was fine for her, though she felt her mother might be overestimating things—after all, the new authorities had already taken over all departments and factories here, so it might not take that long.
The mother and daughter slept soundly that night. Early the next morning, He Youyou thought that since they would be staying here for a while, they needed to purchase daily necessities. The pots and utensils left behind by the previous owner could still be used after a thorough cleaning.
They only needed to buy rice, flour, and some seasonings. As for vegetables, they could plant bok choy—within about ten days, they could harvest a batch. That way, they wouldn’t have to keep buying vegetables outside.
Thinking about staying for several months made it feel like they lacked everything—rice, flour, cooking oil, a kitchen knife, a cutting board, even a bamboo mat for the kang. The weather was already warm, so they didn’t need quilts; they could just make do with their cloaks.
They could also buy a couple of clay pots for stewing soup—if they couldn’t get train tickets and had to travel by carriage, those would still come in handy.
“Daughter, let’s go. I’ll take you to buy some things. We’ll head to the department store first—I’ll get you some snacks,” He Yuping said. After tidying herself up, she took her daughter out. Since there was nothing at home to cook with yet, they would have to eat out once more. After buying groceries at the department store, they could start cooking at home by noon.
Turning left from their house and walking a few minutes brought them to the main street. As soon as they stepped out, they saw a frail old man pulling a cart loaded with firewood.
Carrying her daughter, He Youyou approached him and asked in the local dialect, “Uncle, are you selling this firewood?”
“Oh yes, miss, I am! This firewood is thoroughly dried and burns well. I’ll give you a good price for the whole cart—normally it’s eight wen per bundle, but I’ll sell it to you for six,” the old man said with a smile. He used to deliver firewood to the Qu family estate, but overnight, the estate had collapsed, leaving him with no buyers. He had no choice but to bring it out to the streets to sell.
“Alright, then follow me,” He Youyou said, leading him to her house. After her daughter opened the door, they had the old man carry the firewood into the woodshed.
Next to the kitchen was a small thatched shed specifically for storing firewood. Since it hadn’t been used for a long time, it was completely empty.
After the old man carried in all the bundles, He Youyou counted them—twelve large, tightly bound bundles in total. Including a little extra for his effort, she calculated seventy-five coins, paid him, then quickly locked the door and left with her daughter before he could say anything. She still had to go to the department store, and with so many things to buy, she wasn’t sure they’d make it back in time for lunch.
Just as they exited the alley, a bus arrived. She paid one yuan in gold notes and boarded.
These buses had originally been brought over from Haishi by the Qu family, along with a bus company. A few months ago, someone had come to negotiate with Master Qu, and for some reason, he had readily handed over the company.
Now that the Qu family had fallen, Master Qu had fled with what remained of his assets, and all of their businesses had been taken over by the new government.
For reasons unknown, neither the main wife of the Qu family nor Master Qu dared to come back and reclaim anything. As for He Caiwei and her mother, it was even less possible for them to make any claims.
Provided by the author Jun Yaling.