Wen Lao Da scooped Wen Mei into his arms and carried her into the house.
Thinking about how all their savings had been drained away, Wen Lao Er snorted coldly. Ignoring Fang Shi and her daughter, he turned and went back to his room.
Fang Shi’s heart was full of bitterness. She had no choice but to carry Wen Liyue on her back herself.
Old Madam Wen looked as though she wanted to devour Wen Ye alive. She glared at her and snapped, ‘Why aren’t you getting lost already?’
‘Don’t worry, we’re leaving right now.’
As she spoke, Wen Ye closed the door and turned to Lin Shi and the others, who were packing.
‘Let’s hurry.’
They didn’t have much luggage—two hard, tattered quilts, a few sets of clothes, a cabinet, and two chests. All of it had originally been Lin Shi’s dowry when she married into the family.
Watching them carry out their bundles, Old Madam Wen shrieked, ‘So many things! What did you take?’
Before Wen Ye could answer, Wen Lan spoke in a trembling voice.
‘Then tell us, Grandma, besides a few ragged quilts and some clothes, what else could there be? Do you want to inspect everything?’
Even a clay figure had some temper left in it, and she had finally been pushed too far.
Old Madam Wen had already been driven half to death by today’s events and no longer had the energy to make trouble. Besides, she knew there was nothing but junk in the thatched hut.
‘Hmph. You’d better not have stolen anything from the family, or I won’t let this go!’
Hearing her words, Wen Lao San felt a wave of sadness and bitterness.
At that moment, Wen Chui Zi pushed a handcart into the courtyard. It had been borrowed from Wen Yu’er’s family.
Together, they loaded the old cabinet and several chests onto the cart and slung their bundles over their shoulders.
Wen Lao San and Wen Chui Zi pushed the cart while Lin Shi and the Wen sisters steadied it as they slowly made their way out.
Old Madam Wen stood at the entrance of the main room with her hands on her hips, her sinister gaze following them as she cursed.
‘I raised you ungrateful wretches with my own hands, and not a single coin of filial money have I ever received from you. Now you’re just walking away!’
‘You unfilial beasts who have forgotten your ancestors! You think you’ll prosper after leaving home? Without land or fields, let’s see what kind of miserable lives you’ll end up living!’
Listening to her constant abuse, Wen Lao San felt both frightened and heartbroken.
With a loud bang, the gate behind them closed mercilessly.
Unable to help himself, Wen Lao San looked back at the home where he had lived for more than thirty years. His heart was filled with sorrow and reluctance, and in the end, he let out a long sigh.
Lin Shi and the children, however, felt an enormous sense of relief. They looked up at the same sky as always, yet for some reason it suddenly seemed wider and higher, filling them with a sense of freedom and joy.
‘Let’s go. We’re going home,’ Wen Ye said with a gentle smile.
‘Mm.’ Wen Lan pushed the cart from the side. ‘Ye’er, how does the second branch have so much money? They actually managed to come up with seventy taels all at once.’
Even Wen Lao San and the others looked over curiously.
Wen Ye replied, ‘They must have underreported their income. Once, I heard Fang Shi let it slip that her monthly wages weren’t four hundred copper coins but five hundred. She hid one hundred coins. So after handing seven hundred coins to the family each month, they still had six hundred left.’
‘Besides, she worked in the kitchen. Not only were meals provided, but she could secretly bring leftovers home. That alone was enough to feed the whole family. The cloth shop also had scraps and leftover pieces of fabric, saving them the expense of buying cloth for clothes. They practically had no expenses at all. Even if she didn’t dare use the scraps herself, she could secretly sell them and earn a little extra money.’
‘The second branch has worked in town for sixteen years. If they saved four hundred coins a month, they’d naturally have accumulated a fortune by now.’
Wen Lan quickly did the math in her head.
One thousand copper coins made one tael of silver. If Fang Shi saved four hundred coins each month, that was four taels and eight mace a year. After sixteen years, saving seventy or eighty taels was entirely possible.
Wen Ye had guessed correctly.
This was exactly how the second branch had accumulated such a huge sum.
Not only had they saved on food by taking advantage of the Liu family’s kitchen, but selling scraps of cloth alone brought in another two or three hundred copper coins every month.
After the third branch left, Old Madam Wen dragged Fang Shi and her husband into the main room for questioning.
In the end, she and the eldest branch searched the second branch’s room and luggage and found another eight taels of silver. Old Madam Wen gave Fang Shi another beating and scolding.
The second branch wanted to cry but had no tears left.
They had originally planned to sell Wen Ye and her sisters to make dozens of taels, but instead they had emptied all of their own savings.
They had tried to steal a chicken only to lose the rice used as bait.
…
Pushing the handcart, Wen Ye and her family soon arrived at the row of thatched cottages at the end of the village.
Wen Yu’er was standing at the entrance, looking into the distance.
‘Ye’er, you’ve finally arrived.’
‘Yu’er, thank you. Yiran can come eat at our house…’ Lin Shi suddenly paused because there was nothing at home. What would they eat?
Wen Ye said, ‘Let’s move the luggage inside first.’
During this period, Lin Shi and the others had already cleaned and repaired the place. The roof and broken windows had been patched, and the rooms had been cleaned spotless.
There were two thatched rooms lined up on the north side and two on the east side, forming the shape of the number seven. A shed on the west side served as the kitchen, and a bamboo fence enclosed a small courtyard.
There was also some simple furniture inside, left behind by Wen Yu’er’s family. Though old and worn, it was still usable.
The place was small, but at least it was a home.
And finally, they no longer had to squeeze the whole family into a single room.
‘Father and Mother can stay in the north room. Little Brother gets the small room on the east side, and Sister and I will share the large room,’ said Wen Ye.
‘All right.’
Although there were two north rooms, one had to be kept as the main hall.
At the thought of finally having rooms of their own, everyone was delighted and quickly moved their belongings inside.
After much bustling about, everything was finally put away, and it had already grown dark.
Now everyone was worrying about dinner.
Just then, Wen Shengli’s family of three arrived.
Wen Shengli was carrying pots, bowls, and cooking utensils, along with oil and salt. Aunt Guihua carried a basket.
Inside were five catties of coarse rice, ten eggs, some salt, and a small jar of lard.
‘Just make do with these for today,’ Aunt Guihua said as she handed over the basket.
Lin Shi and Wen Lao San were deeply moved. They were already living in someone else’s house and using someone else’s furniture, and now they were even receiving food.
The couple was too embarrassed to accept it.
But they were simply too poor and had absolutely nothing, so they could only take it with gratitude.
Lin Shi’s eyes reddened with shame.
‘Sister Guihua, thank you. We’ll definitely repay you in a few days.’
‘Oh, what’s the hurry? Settle yourselves first. By the way, hurry and plant the vegetable patch behind the house. You can dig up seedlings from my place. If you don’t have vegetables to eat right now, just pick some from my field. We can’t finish them all anyway, and it’d be a pity to let them rot in the ground.’
‘Keep the handcart for now and return it when you’re done. If you need anything, just come over and let us know. Don’t be so polite.’
Aunt Guihua laughed heartily and called to her daughter.
‘Let’s head home.’
‘Okay.’
Wen Yu’er left with her parents. As she stepped outside, she turned back and waved at Wen Ye.