Xu Qiu surveyed the medical clinic. Upon stepping inside, the lighting was quite bright within a spacious main hall, with a smaller room running parallel beside it.
There was also another door leading further into the back.
The spacious main hall went without saying; a row of cabinets could be placed along the walls to conveniently store his medicinal herbs. As for the small side room, Xu Qiu thought he could perhaps renovate it into a study where he could read and write.
Staying near the front would also make it convenient for him to diagnose patients and write prescriptions if anyone came in severely ill.
If his mother encountered anything she was unsure of, finding him would likewise be effortless.
Going through the back door led to a small courtyard.
The entire clinic was set up so that business could be conducted in the front, while the back provided a space for living and resting.
The small courtyard lacked nothing; there were three bedrooms for living, a kitchen, and a utility room. There was even a water well right in the middle of the yard, making it as convenient as could be.
Such a place was indeed wonderful, but if a family of five were to live in it, it would still feel slightly cramped. Xu Qiu vaguely realized something.
Sure enough, he heard his father say, “With this place, you and your mother can stay in the back during your midday breaks. Our whole family will eat lunch right here, which saves us running back and forth between two houses. When you are treating people, the clinic shouldn’t be left unattended at noon either. Besides, you are not young anymore; when you get married in the future, this place will be just right for you and your young wife.”
“As for a place for our whole family to live, I have chosen a separate house. Once your clinic is settled, we will go take a look at that one.”
Xu Qiu had known beforehand that they were going to buy two properties, a clinic and a residence, but he had not expected his father to buy him something so nice, complete with a small courtyard and a water well in the back. The price for this kind of location certainly would not be low.
He hesitated and said, “What about Eldest Brother and Second Brother…”
He was all set with a purchased place, but his two older brothers were older than him and hadn’t bought anything yet.
Father Xu waved a hand. “They are them. If they have the ability, they can earn things themselves, and as their parents, we can support them to some extent. Your clinic is mostly bought with your own silver anyway, so you do not need to worry about them. Besides, your older brothers are not the kind of people to mind these things.”
That was easier said than done, but the silver for his medicinal herbs hadn’t even been paid out yet.
However, Xu Qiu had long since agreed with his parents that those silver taels did not need to be given to him; they could just keep them and use them however they pleased. He earned money mainly to give his family a better life, and keeping it in his own hands didn’t hold much meaning anyway.
Furthermore, his health was poor, and he had worried his parents since childhood, while his two older brothers had always made allowances for him. He actually didn’t mind supporting the entire family himself, even though his family had no intention of making him support them.
Seeing that his father’s mind was made up, Xu Qiu said nothing more. He figured that once the clinic started earning more money in the future, the family would naturally live better, and there was no need to fuss over who got a house bought for them first.
After inspecting the clinic inside and out, the whole family was very satisfied, and it was temporarily settled. Next came their family’s residence.
The property agent, feeling quite pleased, cheerfully led them to view the residential property.
The residence was not situated particularly close to the clinic; there was a certain distance between them. Compared to the clinic, the location here was clearly an area where ordinary commoners lived. They entered an alleyway and eventually arrived in front of a house gate. The agent opened the door and let them inside, saying, “This house is the largest one in this alley. It is very spacious, and since you have many people, living here will be just right.”
Because of that, the price was also higher, which was why it had remained unsold for so long.
Father Xu and Mother Li had not originally considered buying separate houses for all three of their sons. In fact, as parents of this era, they hadn’t thought about splitting the family up so early either, at least, not until there were grandchildren and they themselves had grown old would they even consider such a thing.
Buying a separate clinic where Xu Qiu could live a small-family lifestyle was partly because the location happened to suit the purpose and the silver earned by their son was enough to buy it, and partly because Xu Qiu was the youngest son.
Long ago, because of Xu Qiu’s engagement to Lin Qiong, the couple had tacitly accepted in their hearts that the youngest son would be the one to support Third Uncle Lin and his wife in their old age. Therefore, they accepted the arrangement of letting their youngest son live out quite well.
Of course, it wouldn’t happen immediately either; Father Xu and Mother Li didn’t plan on letting their youngest son live independently right now. The newly purchased residence also included a room designated for Xu Qiu. Father Xu’s idea was that the place by the clinic would be kept for daytime use, but when evening came, the youngest son would simply return home together with his mother.
Only later on, when the family grew larger and conflicts easily arose, would they move out.
Upon entering the front gate of this residence, there was a square courtyard enclosed by perimeter walls. The courtyard was clean and tidy, without any trees, stone stools, or stone tables. The overall appearance looked a bit old, but fortunately, everything was still in good condition, and it was completely suitable for living.
Looking up, there was a two-story house.
The roof was covered with tiles, and when the windows of the upper-floor rooms were opened, they looked out over the eaves covered with tiles extending outward from the lower level. Xu Qiu had never lived in such a house before, and for a moment, he found it rather novel.
He walked quickly inside, went thump-thump-thump up to the second floor, opened the second-floor window, poked his head out, and looked down. It felt genuinely nice.
The view from here was also wonderful. Their house was situated at the very end of the alley, with a river running alongside it. The scenery of green mountains and clear water made one extraordinarily relaxed and happy. Xu Qiu grew quite fond of this place. After staying in the house for a little while, he went around to inspect the other areas, though the choice of this residence wasn’t up to him to decide.
This time, it depended on his mother’s opinion.
Xu Qiu walked downstairs, where his mother was also inspecting the rooms one by one. In the end, this dwelling place was decided upon. The agent grinned from ear to ear while Father Xu negotiated the price with him. Once an agreement was reached, they headed together to the county yamen to update the deed contracts. Although in this region the county yamen and local factions refused to submit to one another, for ordinary commoners, such matters still required going to the yamen, especially since this place had long since been conquered by the imperial court.
With the house bought, a heavy stone in Mother Li’s heart finally fell to the ground.
Looking at the deed contract, her face beamed with smiles.
After purchasing the house, they didn’t return immediately. The property hadn’t been lived in for a long time, so there was some dust inside that needed to be cleaned up. The family worked for a whole day before the entire place was more or less cleaned up. After finishing the work, Xu Qiu was exhausted; his body still hadn’t fully recovered.
Watching him like that, Mother Li chattered away, “I knew you should have rested after working for a while, but you just wouldn’t listen. Don’t go getting yourself sick from exhaustion again tomorrow.”
“Mother,” Xu Qiu flopped onto a stool and panted, “I am studying medicine myself. I know my own limits; I will not get sick.”
Despite looking like this, he actually wouldn’t face any life-threatening issues.
Mother Li retorted uncharitably, “Go on and push yourself then. Hurry up and wipe the sweat off your body, otherwise you will feel chilled later and easily catch a fever.”
She herself was soaked in sweat from working too; in this region, there was simply no avoiding the relentless heat, though it was somewhat better under the eaves.
“All right,” Xu Qiu said. “Mother, you should take a rest too.”
It might look like simple chores involving wiping things down everywhere, but doing it for a whole day was genuinely no easy feat. Mother Li’s waist and back were also aching. Hearing this, she simply went and sat down beside her son, spreading out her limbs, and instantly felt a good deal more comfortable.
Before long, his two older brothers had also finished for the day.
After they arrived, the cleaning was already mostly done, so they just helped with some finishing touches, and the family leisurely walked back home.
Mainly, Mother Li and Xu Qiu couldn’t walk very fast, but having the whole family together chatting and laughing made the pace feel unhurried.
On their way back, villagers who saw them inevitably asked a couple of questions: “Have you got the house bought and settled?”
When they asked days ago, Mother Li and her family were still looking for a house, but seeing them looking so beaming and joyful now, could it be that it was all done?
“Yes,” Mother Li said happily. “Today we went and finalized all the houses. Once we tidy them up a bit later, we can slowly move our things over.”
Previously, she had been anxious out of her mind, always thinking about moving quickly, but now that things were truly settled, Mother Li instead felt quite at ease. Speaking of the move, they really needed to wait a few days; along the way, they chatted about repairing and renovating the places that needed fixing before moving in.
There was also Xu Qiu’s clinic, which needed cleaning up and outfitting with some shelves and the like.
When they returned home, another round of discussion stirred up among the villagers.
Mrs. Zhao kept her eyes fixed on these developments every single day; how could she not notice the Xu family returning? Just to keep tabs on them, she had been doing superficial farm work outside these past few days. Every word Mother Li spoke to the villagers upon her return was heard loud and clear by her.
Immediately, she couldn’t even continue working and hurried off to discuss it with Third Uncle Lin.
Nearby, Lin Qu’s gaze flickered, but he ultimately chose not to follow along.
He had grown up in the Lin family and possessed a sharp mind, so he naturally understood the temperament of his third uncle and third aunt. Lin Qiong was praised as a person of fortune, but in reality, nobody had ever seen the family experience any actual fortune because of him. Given Lin Qiong’s reputation, coupled with the utterly unreasonable and unprincipled nature of Mrs. Zhao and Third Uncle Lin, no respectable family dared to marry Lin Qiong.
It was only because Mother Li was from the same village as Mrs. Zhao, shared a good relationship, and was easy to fool that this match had been settled in the first place.
For the Xu family to be willing to let Xu Qiu marry Lin Qiong and then support Third Uncle Lin and his aunt afterwards was a piece of good fortune you couldn’t find even with a lantern. If it were any other family, even if they were willing to marry Lin Qiong, they wouldn’t take in the father-in-law and mother-in-law as well.
Third Uncle Lin’s side had scored a massive bargain with this engagement.
Yet now that the engagement was off, the Xu family’s fortunes were growing more prosperous by the day. Putting everything else aside, just the fact that they could afford a clinic and a residential house for the whole family was no small sum. It showed that the family still had deep financial resources. Once they moved to town, they would be townspeople who wouldn’t need to farm the fields every day, a completely different life.
It would be a miracle if Mrs. Zhao and Third Uncle Lin were willing to let go.
Didn’t everyone see that even though the engagement had long been broken off, Mrs. Zhao and Third Uncle Lin stubbornly refused to let the news out?
Lin Qu sneered inwardly. In the past, they always harped on about how their precious Lin Qiong deserved better; now that the other party had truly broken off the engagement, they were shamelessly crawling back to cling onto them again.
He knew Mrs. Zhao and Third Uncle Lin must be plotting some bad ideas, but it didn’t matter. He wouldn’t let them succeed, Xu Qiu belonged to him alone!
Sometimes, a better strategy than parrying blows one by one was simply to pull the firewood from under the boiling cauldron.