Chapter 86

Chapter 86: Planning

Li Tao Hua still couldn’t understand why they wanted to build a big house in the village.

If they were going to leave sooner or later, wasn’t it a waste of silver?

So Qin Hui Yin sat her down and walked her through it, patient as an old accountant.

Even if Tang Yi Chen sat the Imperial Exam this time, it would take half a year to a year for the results to be posted on the golden list. And if he had to go to the capital for the highest exam, the rest of them couldn’t possibly follow. Someone had to keep the household running, keep the stall running, keep the children fed.

In other words, they would still be here another two or three years at least.

Since they would be here that long, spending some silver to live more comfortably wasn’t a mistake—it was simply choosing not to suffer when suffering wasn’t necessary.

Besides, fallen leaves return to their roots. The Tang family’s genealogy was here. If they ever returned home, sooner or later they would come back to this place. Forget old age; even if they only wanted to honor their ancestors, they would have to.

When that day came, wouldn’t it be better to have an old home they could actually live in?

Houses in the county seat were outrageously expensive and impractical for them. They would rather save up for a carriage and travel back and forth than throw everything they had into a cramped place behind the city walls.

At last, Li Tao Hua sighed. “Then how much silver do you think we need?”

“More than 50 taels,” Qin Hui Yin said after a moment. “We go into the county seat once every three days. Each trip brings in five taels after costs, so in a month we can earn 50. But we still have household expenses. We still have to buy Elder Brother supplies—brush, ink, paper, inkstone. We spent the big portion on those last two trips, so there isn’t much left to spare.”

She tapped the ledger with her finger. “If we earn for another month, we can start thinking about building. It’s just that the weather is turning cold, and a lot of materials have gone up. Building in this season isn’t cost-effective.”

“Then we’ll build next year,” Li Tao Hua said at once, relieved.

Qin Hui Yin shook her head. “This house is too small and too shabby. Winter will be hard, and I don’t want everyone to suffer through it. Even if building now means taking a loss, I’d rather take the loss than endure the hardship.”

Her eyes brightened as she spoke, already drawing the new house in her mind. “When we build, we can design a heated kang bed inside. Then it won’t be cold at night.”

She closed the ledger with a soft thump. “It’s settled. We’ll earn one more month, then build.”

Out in the yard, Tang Lu Wu—dressed in her new clothes—lifted a wooden washbasin and headed for the river.

The basin was heavy with the whole family’s dirty laundry. The cloth slapped damply against the wood with every step.

When she reached the bank, the women who had already washed and were about to leave slowed, then shifted aside as if making space for a noblewoman.

Tang Lu Wu stopped, heat rising to her cheeks.

Madam Wang called out with sudden warmth, “You girl, why are you just standing there? Come over!”

Tang Lu Wu still remembered Madam Wang’s hand fisted in Li Tao Hua’s hair, remembered the way she’d screamed. Seeing that eager smile now only made Tang Lu Wu want to turn around and leave.

She’d come early on purpose, thinking there would be almost no one at this hour. She’d misjudged it.

Seven or eight women were watching her. If she walked away now, who knew what they’d say? Yin Yin had told her not to dodge trouble, but to meet it head-on.

So Tang Lu Wu carried the basin over and forced herself to squat by the water. She soaked the clothes and began to scrub.

All the family’s clothes were here. They had just changed out of their old garments, throwing away the ones too torn to be saved—like Tang Da Fu’s and Tang Yi Xiao’s—and keeping only what could still be worn.

The women traded glances, elbows nudging ribs, until they finally shoved the nosiest one forward.

“Lu Wu,” Granny Zhang began, eyes sliding over her sleeves, “those new clothes look really new…”

Another woman giggled. “What kind of talk is that? If they’re new, of course they look new. Are they supposed to look old?”

Granny Zhang didn’t blink. “I’m just saying, I’ve never seen this pattern. It doesn’t look like anything Li Tao Hua wore, and I never saw that girl Hui Yin wear it either. Didn’t Lu Wu used to wear Hui Yin’s old clothes?”

“Maybe Li Tao Hua bought Lu Wu new clothes, too,” someone chimed in, as if kindly. “Either way, Li Tao Hua is her stepmother. She can’t have her own daughter in new clothes while her stepdaughter wears hand-me-downs.”

Madam Wang’s mouth curled. “Lu Wu calls Li Tao Hua ‘Mother,’ doesn’t she? Buying her new clothes is only right. Li Tao Hua didn’t do a thing and still got a few sons and daughters for free.”

Tang Lu Wu kept her eyes on the cloth in her hands. She beat it against the stone, water jumping.

“Whether my clothes are new or old,” she said flatly, “what does it have to do with you? New can be worn. Old can be worn. As long as I’m willing, that’s enough.”

Madam Hu clicked her tongue. “You really are a foolish girl. Your father listens to your stepmother about everything. All the money your family earns goes through her hands. If you work yourselves to death, what do you even get?”

Another woman leaned forward, voice too casual. “By the way, Lu Wu, I heard your family is doing a food business. What exactly do you sell? We’re all neighbors, and we’ve never even seen it.”

Tang Lu Wu squeezed water out of a sleeve, then said, “What else would a food business sell? Food.”

A few women snickered.

“If you’re curious, Auntie,” Tang Lu Wu added, “it’s five wen a serving. Get one of each and 100 wen will cover it all. If you really want to know, pay up, and my Sister Yin and I will deliver everything to your house.”

“A hundred wen!” someone yelped. “Why don’t you just go rob someone?”

Tang Lu Wu slapped the cloth harder. “You’re the one who’s curious, so I’m giving you an idea. If you want to know, buy it back and study it slowly. How does that mean I’m robbing you?”

Madam Wang’s eyes sharpened. “You’ve really been spoiled by Li Tao Hua. You used to be such an honest child. Now you’re not polite to us elders at all.”

“Auntie Wang,” Tang Lu Wu said, finally glancing up, “you live right next to us. If you have questions, ask my mother. Why ask a junior like me? I don’t know anything.”

She kept scrubbing, as if the conversation was just another stain to scrub out. “And I still have laundry to do. If you’re done, go home and hang yours up. The riverbank isn’t safe. Last time Tang Ming Xiu fell in, and we even had to make Yin Yin go into the water to pull her out. I can’t swim. I won’t be able to rescue anyone.”

The women’s faces tightened.

“Lu Wu has really grown up,” someone muttered. “Her temper has grown, too. We elders can’t even speak to her anymore. I say you’ve been tricked by that stepmother of yours, fooled until you spin in circles.”

“They toss her a set of clothes their daughter won’t wear, and she treats them like her birth mother,” another added. “If the family ever runs short of money, she’ll be the first one they sell—just like last time, when they tried to marry her off for a bride price.”

“Not necessarily,” a third said, grudgingly. “I think Sister-in-law Tao Hua treats Lu Wu pretty well. Clothes this nice can’t be cheap. Looks like they really have been making money lately.”

“A new well, new clothes, and they eat so well,” someone whispered. “They got rich and didn’t even tell us neighbors—they’re afraid we’ll show up to mooch off them!”

Tang Lu Wu’s face burned. She’d managed to talk back, but courage came bite by bite. One retort had already used up most of her strength; facing eight women at once was like standing in front of a wall.

Smack. Smack. Smack.

She lifted her washing stick and brought it down hard.

Soap pods frothed in the water. With every strike, foam splashed up—right onto the women nearest her.

“Hey! Watch it,” someone snapped, yanking her skirt back.

Tang Lu Wu didn’t even look. She kept pounding. “My father’s clothes are caked with mud. If I don’t use force, they won’t get clean. Aunties, maybe chat somewhere else, or I can’t guarantee your clothes won’t get wet.”

She brought the stick down again—deliberately, this time—sending a bigger spray of foam toward their basins.

Those women had already washed but hadn’t hung anything up yet. If foam got into their tubs, they’d have to wash everything all over again. Cursing under their breath, they hurried to gather their basins and carry them farther away.