Exile with Storage Space: Family Fortunes in the Barren Lands-Chapter 634 - 590: Standing Up for My Sister (Part 1)
The Princess Consort Luling asked again about Song Chunniang’s age and character.
Li Yuzhu spoke of Song Chunniang, "She’s twenty-eight, has three daughters, one is eleven, another ten, and the youngest is eight. She doesn’t talk much, is a diligent person, of average height, and somewhat slender. Just as I was leaving the Song Family, I saw her taking her daughters to dig for herbs."
The Princess Consort Luling sighed, "A village woman, abandoned by her husband’s family, often finds no acceptance in her own family. If we offer her a job, she will definitely agree. Yu Zhu, go to the Song Family again and ask if she would be willing to come and cook for us. As for the wages, we will provide board and lodging. It’s not easy for her with three children, so let’s offer her a thousand coins per month, the same as what Aunt Chen at the academy earns."
The Li Family originally intended to offer eight hundred coins for the female cook’s position, but the Princess Consort Luling raised it to a thousand coins.
Li Yuzhu stood up, "I’ll head to the Song Family right now and talk with Aunt Bao Shun."
Leaving Nanny Jiang’s room, Li Yuzhu went to find Mu Yuanxiu.
Mu Yuanxiu was outside the house feeding fodder to the mule.
"How is Nanny Jiang? It’s not serious, is it?" Mu Yuanxiu asked with concern.
Uncle Gui also asked about Nanny Jiang’s condition.
Li Yuzhu said, "Nanny is getting old, twisted the flesh on her waist, but didn’t hurt her bones. It’s not a major injury. With some topical ointment and a few days of bed rest, she’ll be fine."
Uncle Gui exclaimed, "That’s good, that’s good. I thought that old woman would fall to her death."
Nanny Jiang was Uncle Gui’s distant cousin.
After Nanny Jiang’s husband passed away when she was young, Uncle Gui introduced her to work at the Chai Family.
Grateful for this, Nanny Jiang always took care of Uncle Gui, and Uncle Gui also respected this cousin greatly. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚
Seeing Nanny Jiang fall to the ground with a twisted back, he was terrified.
After hearing it was just a minor injury, Uncle Gui breathed a sigh of relief.
Li Yuzhu knew that these two elderly frequently bickered and quarreled, disliking yet caring for each other, she smiled and said, "Nanny has a strong constitution, she will live to be a hundred."
Uncle Gui laughed coldly, "Praising her like this will make her smug. She’ll go fetch water again. It’s better to say she won’t live long; that would frighten her."
Li Yuzhu shook her head with amusement and spoke to Mu Yuanxiu again, "Yuanxiu, I still have to visit the Song Family again. Nanny Jiang is getting old and injured her back; my mother is eager to find someone to replace her work. I mentioned Aunt Bao Shun, and my mother agreed, asking me to inquire at the Song Family right now."
Mu Yuanxiu also said that they should find someone immediately.
He waited for the mule to finish the remaining fodder, then turned the mule cart around, and took Li Yuzhu to the Song Baoshun’s family again.
At the Song Baoshun’s family courtyard, there was a loud quarrel ongoing.
Two people were fighting with Song Baoshun’s parents.
One of them was Song Chunniang’s mother-in-law, and the other was a tall man about thirty years old.
This tall man and Song Chunniang’s mother-in-law looked very much alike, likely Old Mrs. Zhou’s son, Song Chunniang’s former husband.
Li Yuzhu got off the mule cart and pushed open the courtyard gate to enter.
She heard Baoshun’s mother cursing, "No compensation, no taking anyone away! Not a single strand of hair! My son got his leg broken by your family, still lying in bed; if he becomes lame, this old lady will not let your family off!"
"Bah, your son kicked down my front door and trampled two of my chickens to death. I haven’t even asked for compensation from your family, yet you talk to me about paying up? Shameless creature!" Song Chunniang’s mother-in-law, Old Mrs. Zhou, retorted angrily.
"Oh, oh, oh, that shabby door of yours compared to my son’s leg? How much are those two chickens worth anyway? My son is a human life!" Baoshun’s mother laughed coldly.
Song Chunniang’s second and third daughters, timidly hid behind the main room door, looking into the courtyard, not daring to come out.
But Song Chunniang’s former husband still saw them.
He swaggered towards them, "Zhaodi, come over here!"
The two little girls were frightened out of their wits, turned, and ran back into the house.
Baoshun’s father looked back, pushed Old Mrs. Zhou aside, and rushed to the doorway with a stick to block him, "No payment, no one’s leaving with you!"
"Aunt Bao Shun? Is Aunt Bao Shun home?" Li Yuzhu walked over and shouted loudly.
"Not here, not here." Baoshun’s mother, busy driving away the troublemakers and wrestling with Old Mrs. Zhou, replied evasively without looking to see who it was.
"Our family wants to hire Aunt Bao Shun and her three daughters for work. When will she be back? I wish to speak with her directly," Li Yuzhu continued.
Oh, it turns out to be a job offer?
Baoshun’s mother only now glanced towards the direction of the voice.
Seeing it was Li Yuzhu speaking, she didn’t care if they truly wanted to employ Aunt Bao Shun or not, she quickly said, "Alright, alright, I’ll go fetch her back right now."
She pushed Old Mrs. Zhou aside and came to the main entrance, blocking the way, not letting the Zhou family’s mother and son take away the two nieces.
As long as her sister-in-law and daughter had something to do, they wouldn’t be eating her food for free, and the three girls wouldn’t be easily given to the Zhou Family.
But Old Mrs. Zhou was not having it.
If the three girls went to work for someone else, who would take care of the grandson? Who would serve the newlywed daughter-in-law?
The new daughter-in-law had quite the temper; except for feeding the baby, she did nothing, not even changing the child’s diaper.
She ate and slept all day, all over again.
And always wanted the best food.
If it weren’t for the fact that her grandson was still breastfeeding, she would have chased away that lazy woman.
Old Mrs. Zhou pointed at Li Yuzhu and cursed, "Well, it’s you again! Who asked for your concern about my granddaughter? Get lost!"
"Our family’s affairs, stay out of it, outsiders!" Old Mrs. Zhou’s son also shouted.
Mu Yuanxiu tied the mule outside the courtyard gate and strode in to stand in front of Li Yuzhu, "No one’s meddling in your affairs; we’re just here to recruit workers. Aunt Bao Shun and the three cousins are diligent in their work, and we’re willing to offer a high price to hire them."
Baoshun’s mother put her hands on her hips and laughed, pointing at Li Yuzhu, she said to Old Mrs. Zhou, "Zhou family, do you even have the right to have her meddle in your business? That’s a real laugh!"
Old Mrs. Zhou didn’t recognize Li Yuzhu and Mu Yuanxiu and shouted angrily, "Oh, is this the Emperor’s daughter or something? As if our family isn’t good enough? Talking big doesn’t even fear tongue fatigue."
"Whether she’s the Emperor’s daughter, I don’t know, but I do know, she’s Lady Li Sanniang of a distant branch of the County Magistrate, and her second sister, Li Erniang, is the fifth daughter-in-law of our Lord Prefect of Zhen’an. Her father is Mr. Li from Taohua River Village. Do you think your little affairs are worth her meddling? Hahaha, what a laugh." Baoshun’s mother laughed heartily.
Hearing her long string of words, the faces of the Zhou family’s mother and son gradually changed.
What? This is someone from the Li Family of Taohua River Village?
The Li Family’s reputation is so renowned that people from two or three nearby townships and more than a dozen villages mostly know of the Li Family.
Those who know the Li Family hold them in respect.
Those who don’t know them are afraid to offend them, all racking their brains to meet and curry favor with them.
The Zhou family had long wanted to connect with the Li Family, but never had the opportunity. They never expected that the ones coming today to contend with them were the Li family’s youngest daughter.
The mother and son exchanged a glance, not daring to say another word, and turned around to leave.
Dare they even try to take anyone?
Baoshun’s mother was even prouder, jumping up and scolding the two from the Zhou family who slunk away, "To have divorced her, yet still have the face to come snatch people? Take someone back to serve your that shameless mother-son duo for free labor? Dream on! Pah, what a thing!"
After the Zhou family’s mother and son ran off, the two little girls hiding in the house dared to come out.
Baoshun’s mother patted the head of the older one, "Quick, go to the back mountain to find your mother and older sister, and tell them there’s an emergency at home."
The little girl glanced at Li Yuzhu, then turned and ran.
Baoshun’s father held her, "Be careful on the way, don’t let your grandma and dad see you."
"Understood, uncle," the little girl responded crisply, quickly running off to find them.
Baoshun’s mother smiled as she moved a chair to invite Li Yuzhu and Mu Yuanxiu to sit, "Please have a seat."
The two thanked her and sat down.
Baoshun’s father also sat down opposite them.
Baoshun’s mother asked Li Yuzhu about the hiring.
She needed to strike while the iron was hot to ensure it wasn’t false news.
Li Yuzhu talked about her family’s situation, "Our family’s nanny who cooks is getting old, and we want her to retire peacefully, so we plan to hire a young and diligent woman to replace her for cooking. However, she needs to stay at our home, with room and board provided, plus a monthly pay of a thousand coins. We also want to hire the three young girls; my sister-in-law just gave birth and needs help with childcare. They’re young, so we’ll start each of them at six hundred coins a month, including room and board."
Getting paid while doing household chores and having room and board provided means the mother and daughters would earn a total of 2,800 coins a month.
The housework isn’t a twelve-hour-a-day task, and during idle times, they can do some needlework to earn little extra money. Such a position is hard to come by.
Baoshun’s mother immediately said, "Alright, our family has no objections."
Baoshun’s father wasn’t concerned with how much his sister’s family could earn; he was thinking about finding a secure place to settle her, with something to eat and a place to stay before finding a man to marry her off.
So that the Zhou family wouldn’t keep trying to take advantage of the three nieces.
"I’ll make the decision for my sister, we agree to this job," Baoshun’s father said.
