Chapter Thirteen: The Substance of the Void

  "You'd die if you spoke less!" Xu's elder sister jabbed her finger at Xu Yuansu's forehead in annoyance.

  Xu Yuansuo was unwilling to argue with girls, let alone his elder sister who had much more strength than him.

  "I'm just uncomfortable in my heart." Xu Yuansuo turned his head to avoid the fishy-smelling fingers: "A family has something to say, can't they just open their mouths? Do they still need to make fake accounts! Last year's fake account was still thoughtful, this year even the fake account is perfunctory!"

  Sister Xu pulled her brother back, and the front hall was already filled with the sound of a fierce storm.

  Xu Yuansuo's parents in his past life had never quarreled before, and when he heard this commotion for the first time, he was really startled.

  "Father and mother won't fight, will they?" Xu Yuansu shrank his head.

  "Doesn't it meet your expectations!" Xu's sister glared at her brother with a scowl.

  Xu Yuansuo flipped his hand and sat on the stove, just about to speak, when he saw his sister raise her hand to hit him, and hastily dodged out of the way.

  "What's with the big temper?" Xu Yuansu said with a wronged tone.

  Xu's elder sister, however, paid no attention to him. She clasped her hands together in front of the stove and prayed for a while. Faintly audible were words like "Stove King Grandfather forgive my sins".

  Xu Yuansuo pursed his lips and disagreed.

  Xu's elder sister continued to arrange the crucian carp that was about to be served for dinner, and asked: "How much silver did Father embezzle?"

  "I don't know, but fifty taels are definitely not enough." Xu Yuansuo was still unfamiliar with the market price and had only made an estimate based on last year's profits.

  It's said that a peddler's annual income of fifty taels is not bad, especially when there are no cheap and reliable channels for purchasing goods, all the money earned is hard-won through blood and sweat.

  This income is already higher than the salary of County Mayor's parents - of course, County Mayor also has many other white, gray, black and bloody welfare.

  However, for ordinary people, it absolutely belongs to a high-income family.

  At least one more meat dish can be added every day, and glutinous rice may be added to the plain rice - the japonica rice eaten now is a bit too hard in Xu Yuanshuo's mouth.

  What is the concept of eight taels and seven mace of silver?

  The current price of rice is eight coins per stone. Eight taels and seven mace silver can buy ten stones, eight dou, seven sheng, five ge of rice - without considering the fluctuation in rice prices.

  Ten shi eight dou seven sheng five he of rice, if eaten in a year, averages out to two sheng nine he seven ge nine zhu per day. Xú Yuán Zuǒ had no concept of this unit of volume, but after a moment's thought, he calculated the weight, which was roughly equivalent to five and a half catties of rice per day.

  Normally four people at home, which is equivalent to a daily ration of more than one catty per person.

  If we count the days when Father was at home, the per capita grain ration fell below one kilogram.

  All this is still based on the father not taking more family food money due to socializing.

  Considering the scarcity of non-staple foods in this era, just staple food and vegetables, fish, three children who are still developing will definitely not be full.

  Moreover, there can't be expenses for headaches and brain fever, buying clothes, socializing, and many other miscellaneous items, let alone supporting scholars!

  Thanks to mother and sister doing needlework, patching up household expenses.

  Xu Yuansuo finished calculating the account in one breath, and then looked at his sister's quick movements as she worked, a warm feeling rising up in his heart.

  "Fifty taels?" Xu's older sister was clearly startled, and hastily lowered her voice: "Why does Father keep so much private money? Isn't all the family's money his?"

  Xu He is not a hen-pecked husband, and there's no need for him to hide his private money. Moreover, in the Ming dynasty, it's more accurate to say that it's a patriarchal society rather than a clan-based society. The father holds the power at home, and even if the wife and children earn money, it belongs to him. Why would he need to hide his private money? If anyone needs to hide it, it should be the mother or sisters!

  Even if it's a private stash of money, can't you at least guarantee that the whole family has enough to eat and stay warm?

  "You've gone gambling again, haven't you! You must have gone gambling again!" Xu's mother's voice was shrill and piercing, loud enough to be heard throughout the entire Zhu household.

  Xu Yuansuo and his sister were both as if they had been struck by a magic spell, frozen in place.

  She didn't hear her father make any excuses, only a brief silence after which Madam Xiu's crying voice exploded throughout the house again: "You heartless thing! Why doesn't heaven take you away?! Are you trying to kill our whole family?! You gambled away our original three-section five-room mansion and now you're starting again?! This is leaving no way out for your mother and son at all!"

  "Our family used to have a big house with three entrances and five rooms, right?" Xu Yuanshuo apparently had a different focus from his sister.

  Xu's older sister was immersed in the same sorrow as her mother, with tears welling up in her eyes. When she heard her younger brother ask so callously, she simply nodded perfunctorily: "You were sent away by Father not long after you were born."

  Xu Yuansuo helplessly shook his head and took a few more steps forward into the front hall, wanting to hear more clearly.

  "I really won't gamble again." Xu He said palely and weakly: "I have a mistress in Suzhou."

  "Don't try to fool me with this nonsense! You must have been gambling outside again! Why don't you sell me and my sister off then!" Xu's mother refused to believe, insisting that her husband had relapsed into his old habit of gambling.

  Xu Yuansuo believed it.

  "Sister, if Father has a concubine in Suzhou..." Xu Yuansuo turned his head and asked.

  Xu's older sister looked disbelieving, waving her hand and saying: "That's just Father making up a lie in his anxiety. With two sons like you, why would he keep a concubine? Besides, keeping a concubine is so expensive!"

  Hmph, a 16-year-old girl still lacks experience and doesn't know about men's innate desire for procreation.

  On this point, Xu Yuanshuo didn't intend to educate his sister, revealing his usual silly smile: "That's also true."

  Although, Suzhou's outer room had become a ferocious beast that had taken root in Xu Yuansu's mind. He didn't think that his father's assets should naturally be inherited and enjoyed by him as the son, but it had to be said that under the current family environment, investing a large amount of funds in luxurious entertainment with no output was extremely irresponsible behavior.

  But even if you know, what can you do?

  Never mind if it's an outside room, even if Mother believed Father gambled, what could she do?

  Husband and wife have no overnight feud, quarreling all day, in the end still a family sitting down to eat together.

  After the head of the household returned, his mother could still eat at the table, but his sister would always wait until everyone else had finished eating before she ate in the kitchen. Xu Yuanshuo was very curious and didn't know if this was a Ming dynasty custom or just a habit of the Xu family, because he had seen many families that didn't have this habit, where people sat together to eat regardless of age or sex.

  Xu He looked at his son with a mixture of anger and helplessness, no matter how much trouble his son caused, after all, he was his own flesh and blood, could he really beat him up just because he could read accounts?

  But the fake account book was exposed, and the following days were even more difficult. Don't look at the calm surface now, as soon as the weather changes, that old mother tiger will still bring out this matter with a fierce attitude.

  "For these few months, I won't be going out, so I'll stay home and tutor you all." Xu He announced after finishing dinner at the table.

  Xu Yuansuo looked down on Xu He's words and didn't believe he had much culture. Xu Liangsuo still didn't know what happened at home, and was still immersed in the joy of his father's return, hastily agreeing.

  Mrs. Xu urged her daughter to eat quickly, as she still had to go to someone's house to do needlework in the evening.

  "The money we lost could have bought enough oil to flood this house!" Xu's mother said resentfully.

  Xu He just remained silent and didn't say anything.

  Xu Yuansuo was actually on his mother's side. Not to mention lighting up, relying on eight taels and seven mace to get through the year would put a lot of pressure on survival! Moreover, it was impossible to go to Lu Fu's place to urge him, otherwise he would be annoyed and casually assign a poor task, and in the end, it would still be himself who suffered.

  No!

  In another half month, it will be Winter Solstice.

  In Jiangnan, the Winter Solstice is more important than New Year's Day, not to mention the Longevity Festival. It can be said that the current Winter Solstice is the Spring Festival of later generations, and every household must prepare offerings to worship their ancestors - this is not only a traditional folk custom but also a clear provision in the Ming Code. Even the poorest families will not be frugal on this occasion, otherwise they would lose face when going out.

  It looks like eight taels and seven mace will be spent soon!

  Xu Yuansuo finished eating the rice in his bowl and began thinking about what other ways he could help his family solve some practical problems.