Settle down

  Su Hao didn't answer Lu Xiuer's question, he turned his head to Su Xiaohu and said: "Xiaohu, you go back first, tell my mom that I've taken on the task entrusted by County Magistrate, and I'll be staying in the county town for a few days. As for the details, I'll explain it to her when I'm free."

  "Is Xiu'er staying in the county town with you too?" Su Xiaohu asked.

  Su Hao said: "Yes, the county magistrate's entrustment is something I can't handle alone. I need Xiuer to help me with it, so she won't be going back either."

  "What? What can I do about it?" Lu Xiuer was anxious when she heard that there were things related to herself.

  Su Hao glared at her and said, "I'll talk to you later, what's with all the noise."

  "Hmph, I knew it was bullying!" Lu Xiuer muttered softly, but she really didn't dare to say more.

  In the past, Su Hao and Lu Xi'er had little interaction with each other, so naturally there were no disputes between them. Su Hao was a bookworm, who relied on others for everything, and whenever Lu Xi'er looked down on him, she would mock him a few times, while Su Hao usually just acknowledged it silently, because he simply couldn't out-argue his sister.

  But now that Su Hang has crossed over, the relationship between the two people has undergone a subtle change. Lu Xiuer discovered that her brother, who used to be timid and reserved, had suddenly become overbearing and arrogant. Not only did he dare to quarrel with officials and even fight them, but also in front of the county magistrate, he was unyielding and unflappable, making Lu Xiuer feel like she needed to look up to him.

  It was precisely because of this that when Su Hao opened his eyes, Lu Xiuer instinctively felt afraid. Of course, she wasn't afraid that her brother would scold or hit her, but rather she was subdued by his majesty, which is what people often refer to as having an aura of authority without even being angry.

  "Xiao Hu, this is 10 taels of silver. Please take it to my mother and tell her that the county magistrate gave it to me as a reward. Also, please let her know that she can hire some temporary workers to help with the farm work. I've already got a job now, so she doesn't need to go out to work in the fields anymore." Su Hao said.

  "Hao Ge, you've got a job!" Su Xiao Hu asked with delight. In the eyes of the villagers, having a job at the county government was a very glorious thing, which meant that Su Hao had become an official from now on.

  Su Hao nodded and said: "The county magistrate has entrusted me with the task of digging wells. I'll talk about it in detail later."

  "I know, I know." Su Xiao Hu said repeatedly, "Hao Ge, rest assured, the silver and these words, I will bring them to you."

  Su Hao took out another piece of silver weighing seven or eight taels and handed it to Su Xiaohu, saying: "Xiaohu, this silver is for you. Firstly, thank you for driving the carriage to send me into the city. Secondly, I'm asking a favor of you, please take care of my mother these days. After I finish my business here, when I return to the village, I'll thank you again."

  "This I absolutely cannot accept." Su Xiao Hu's face flushed red as if the silver was burning his hands, and he declined, "Your mother is also my aunt, taking care of her is what I should do, how could I dare take so much silver from you, Brother Huang?"

  "Take it, just take it." Su Hao forcibly stuffed the silver into Su Xiaohu's hand. "If you feel embarrassed, then consider it a reward from me. Now that I'm an official, giving you a piece of silver is also acceptable, isn't it?"

  Su Xiaohu had always admired Su Hao and considered himself to be Su Hao's younger brother. When Su Hao said that the silver was a reward for him, not only did he not feel insulted, but he also felt a surge of excitement. After repeatedly declining, he finally accepted the silver with a mixture of shyness and gratitude, patted his chest and said: "Hao Ge, don't worry, if there's anything that needs to be done on Auntie's side, I'll take care of it all. If you need someone in the county town, just send a message, and I'll come immediately to help you."

  Su Hao chuckled and patted Su Xiaohu's shoulder, saying: "Don't worry, Little Tiger, once I make a name for myself, I'll definitely bring you out of the countryside and turn you into a city person too."

  After finishing all this, Su Hao went to the nearby cooked food shop and bought some cooked meat, steamed buns, etc., and handed them over to Su Xiaohu. He explained that some of these were for Su Xiaohu to eat on the road, while others were for Su Xiaohu to bring back for Yang Genie to eat. Now that Su Hao had money in his pocket, he couldn't let his mother just drink thin porridge every day. He thought to himself, for now, he would temporarily settle things like this, but in the future, once he had established himself in the county town, he would definitely move his mother and Lu Xiuer into the city to live with him. As for the few acres of land in the countryside, he would rent them out and collect a few stones' worth of rent each year.

  Seeing Su Xiao Hu off, Su Hao turned back with a smile and spoke to Lu Xiu Er. Lu Xiu Er had been glared at by Su Hao earlier and was too afraid to make a sound. Now that she saw Su Hao coming to talk to her, she intentionally wanted to give Su Hao a hard time. However, all her little tricks were completely useless in front of Su Hao. Su Hao took out a few pieces of silver and flipped them in his hand, and Lu Xiu Er's eyes widened as she eagerly asked Su Hao about the origin of the silver, completely forgetting that she was still angry with Su Hao.

  "Brother, how do you still have money?!"

  "This is all thanks to the magistrate's reward." Su Hao said with a smile.

  "County Master's reward silver, didn't you let Xiaohu take it back for Mother?" Lu Xiuer asked.

  Magistrate Su said: "The county magistrate rewarded me with 20 taels, I took 10 taels and let Xiaohu take them back to mother, and gave Xiaohu less than 1 tael, and there are still 9 taels left, you see, they're all here."

  "Oh my, so much silver!" Lu Xiuer held a few pieces of broken silver, feeling somewhat unreal. At home, they had never saved more than 5 taels of silver before, and these silvers were always carefully hidden away by Yang Genjuan, only to be taken out when Su Huan was about to go into the city for school, and even then, it was just a little bit of broken silver as pocket money. As for Lu Xiuer, the most she had ever handled was tens of wen, let alone seeing 9 taels of silver at once.

  "Come on, brother will take you to eat something delicious." Su Huan had silver in his pocket, and he was confident. Someone compared the prices of later generations and thought that one or two silver coins in the Ming Dynasty were equivalent to about 1,000 yuan in later generations. In other words, Su Huan now has a full 9,000 yuan in his pocket, which is enough to squander for a while in such a small county town. Especially before, Su Huan was almost a poor man, and the feeling of being rich from poverty was always very good.

  "Brother, you just said you wanted me to stay and help you with something, what is it?" Lu Xiuer started to care about the issue from earlier.

  Su Hao said: "Didn't you say you wanted to eat stir-fried noodles from Nan Tou Xiang? Let's go now."

  "What you said, isn't it this matter?" Lu Xiuer was shocked.

  Su Hao smiled and said: "Isn't it this matter? What else can you help me with besides eating?"

  "You're dead! Dead!" Lu Xiuer swung her small fist and pounded Su Hang, but in her heart, she didn't have any anger at all. On the contrary, she was using this method to vent out the happiness feeling inside her.

  The brother and sister walked forward along Dongmen Street, the scorching sun shining down on them at noon, but neither of them felt the heat, they were both immersed in their own joy.

  Su Hao briefly introduced the conversation he had with Han Wen to Lu Xiuer. Lu Xiuer didn't understand the twists and turns, but at least she understood one thing: her brother had become a government official, and a very high-ranking one at that. Even Zheng Dianli, who dug wells in the village, would have to obey her brother's orders from now on.

  Apart from getting promoted, my brother can also earn money now. The 20 taels of silver given by the county magistrate are only a part of it. In the future, my brother will have a salary of 2 shi of rice every month, which is equivalent to more than 1 tael of silver at market price. In a year, he can earn over ten taels, which is not much different from their family's annual income from farming.

  According to Brother's words, working at the county government office requires living in the county town. Therefore, today they have another very important thing to do, which is to rent a house. Renting a house and cleaning up after renting a house are not things that Su Huan is good at, so Lu Xiuer needs to come up with a plan and take action. Su Huan said that he would leave Lu Xiuer behind to take care of something, actually referring to this matter.

  "Brother, you've rented a house, can mom and I come over to stay sometimes?" Lu Xiuer asked longingly.

  Su Hao said: "It's not about coming over to stay temporarily, but you have to completely move out of the countryside and live in the city. So, the house we rent must be big, preferably with a courtyard."

  "What? You want to rent a house with a yard again?" Lu Xiuer was surprised, "Isn't that the same as the house in Li Chang's family?"

  In Longkou Village, only the house of Suzhong, the village head, has a courtyard. The courtyard is divided into main rooms and wing-rooms. Other villagers have only one independent house, at most they use branches or bamboo to enclose a small piece of land in front of their houses, which can't be counted as a courtyard.

  Rumors had it that even their own family could live in a house with a courtyard, and Lu Xiuer was so happy that her heart almost jumped out.

  "We rent a yard with three rooms, one for you, one for me, and one for mom. How about it?" Lu Xiuer proposed, she used to live in the same house as Su Hang when she was young, but after growing up, it was inconvenient to live together with Su Hang, so she moved to live with Yang Genie in a room. One of her dreams is to have a room of her own, and if possible, she wants to decorate the room like the embroidered building of the county magistrate's daughter - just need to be one-tenth as good as the embroidered building.

  "Let's see," Su Hao said, "Maybe not just three rooms, we need a living room, a study, and also a guest room. What if your parents want to come to the city and stay for two days?"

  "Will it cost a lot of money?" Lu Xiuer was moved by Su Hang's description of the beautiful prospect, and she couldn't help but hold onto Su Hang's arm, asking timidly.

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