When Mrs. Lin saw her granddaughter's little money-obsessed look, she smiled and curled her lips. Even so, how could a fleeing family really expose their wealth? After Xiangyun got over his addiction, Mrs. Lin took the bracelet away personally. .
Thirteen members of the Lin family, plus a big ox, are on the road again. The top priority right now is to find a place to stay.
The price of the inn was too high. A third-class room in the lowest-end hotel cost one denarius. It was also stipulated that no more than two people could live in a room at the same time. There were so many Lin family members that, excluding children, they would have to open at least four rooms.
Four taels of silver a day, four taels in ten days, was far beyond what a family like the Lin family could afford.
The consultation fee given by Mr. Xie, plus the Lin family's previous savings, totaled one hundred and twenty taels. Mrs. Lin deliberately concealed the fifty taels and told her son and daughter-in-law that they had seventy taels of savings on hand.
It was the first time that everyone in the Lin family saw so much silver at home. They all smiled happily and thanked the master for his generosity. You must know that their family's income in the previous year may not have been as much as twenty taels of silver.
Excluding daily expenses, including Lin Silang's money for repairs and Mrs. Lin's medical expenses, at the end of the year, it is already a blessing to have two or three taels of money left over. Most of the time, you can't even save even half of it, and you still have to pay for it in years when the harvest is not good. Ask your neighbors to borrow money.
Mrs. Lin was not so happy: "In the future, when you settle in a new home, there will be a lot of money needed. The whole family will tighten their belts, and the money may not be enough."
"Don't worry, mother, as long as we think in one place and work hard in one place, life will definitely get better and better in the future."
The Lin brothers said something to me to comfort my mother.
Mrs. Lin looked at the energetic family, and the depression in her heart was swept away. A heroic man has changed the world, and his hands are like Wanbaoshan. As long as he is diligent and steadfast, his life will be passed little by little.
Mrs. Lin asked her eldest son and her third son to find a place to stay. The two strolled around the market and quickly brought back the news.
"Mom, we found a place to live. There is an old man named Zhong who is willing to take us in. His son lives in the capital. He and his wife are the only two people at home. There are three or four spare bedrooms. They were originally rented out because the residents before the drought moved out. I’m leaving, and I won’t be able to find anyone to take over for a while. The old man said that we can take in individual visitors, and just pay one penny a day, and we can take care of ourselves.”
The Lin family did not expect that the accommodation problem was solved so smoothly, and they were very happy. For them, who had been fleeing for many months, it was normal for them to use the sky as a quilt and the ground as a seat. Nowadays, the roof has tiles and there are walls around it. Satisfied.
Mrs. Lin happily took her family and drove to the old man's house.
The old man waiting at the door, who was in his fifties or sixties, had a fairly strong body, but walked a little unevenly, led the Lin family inside. The courtyard was a little desolate because no one lived there.
The old man hadn't seen so many people for a long time, and he was a little nagging for a while.
"One of the houses on the east and west sides belongs to my wife and I, and the other belongs to my son and his wife. Your family lives in the north and south wing rooms. It's a bit crowded, but it's more cost-effective.
The kitchen latrine can be used, but don't touch the things in it. My wife and I are light sleepers, so we should go to bed early at night and don't make any big noise. "
The old man leaned on a crutch and looked at the Lin family who were carrying large and small bags. They were tired but not embarrassed. They were much better than the refugees who poured into the city a few days ago. The key was that they all had peaceful faces. Unlike those people, they looked like mice falling into rice. Tanks, all eyes are shining with green light.
"I'll start with the ugly words. This is not a relief center. You have to pay for one day's stay. If one day you can't come up with the money, I will kill you!"
Mrs. Lin first handed over the three-day accommodation fee, and then gave an additional fifty cash as firewood for the kitchen.
"Don't worry, my sons are very strong. If you need help, just let me know. They can chop firewood, carry water, and move Kang Kang!"
The old man was originally worried that taking in the refugees would affect the future rental of the house, but now that he saw the Lin family on the road, he was no longer so worried.
Especially the baby girl held in the arms of the old lady, who had been raised soft and round, with a small face like a white steamed bun freshly steamed in the basket, not at all like a baby raised by someone fleeing the wilderness.
It can be seen that the Lin family still has some wealth, and he does not have to worry about the evil behavior of homeless people occupying empty houses.
"Okay, I won't interrupt you to pack your things. If you don't understand anything, you can come to me in the east room."
Before he left, he made a face at the girl who had been staring at him for a long time. Unexpectedly, the girl was brave and not afraid at all. Instead, she grinned cheerfully with her gums grinning, which suddenly reminded the old man of his little granddaughter whom he had never met.
If it hadn't been for the drought, the son would have brought his bride and granddaughter back to see them.
After everyone picked up some things, Boss Lin quickly went out with his wife Zhang to buy daily necessities, basic seasonings such as oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar, plus cheap and hungry radishes, sweet potatoes, and tofu.
Since it was her first meal out of the house, Mrs. Lin thought it should be more substantial, so she asked Zhang to buy five kilograms of white flour, two kilograms of cornmeal, and two kilograms of fat and thin pork.
White flour and cornmeal are used to make steamed buns and steamed buns, so that the Lin brothers will not go hungry when they go out to find errands.
Zheng divided the pork into two parts. One part was cut into minced meat, mixed with white flour shredded radish, pressed into a cake shape and thrown into the oil pan. The oil exploded with a "sting" sound, and the aroma spread in the kitchen. More than a dozen people The shredded radish cake is quickly fried until golden and crispy.
The remaining unused minced meat was used to make fragrant minced meat tofu.
The other fatter part is boiled into lard, poured on the hand-rolled noodles, sprinkled with chopped green onions, drizzled with balsamic vinegar, and the steaming lard noodles are served to the table.
That night, the Lin family gathered together, slurping noodles. The grown-ups had their mouths full of oil. From time to time, they would run to the stove to take a look at the white-flour steamed buns that were not out of the pan.
Mrs. Zheng followed Mrs. Lin's instructions, brought two bowls of lard noodles and three or four shredded radish cakes, and knocked on the door of the east room.
The two old men and women smelled the fragrance in the house early in the morning. They only had some white porridge and pickles for dinner, and they got over it with a simple meal.
Unexpectedly, the greedy thing squirming in his stomach was actually attracted by the new tenants and started to protest wildly.
While the couple was sniffing, there was a knock on the door. The Lin family's daughter-in-law held the bowls and chopsticks and nodded at them with a smile.
"Uncle Zhong and Aunt Zhong, my family made some noodles and pancakes tonight. I'll bring some for you to try. Don't be dissatisfied if your craftsmanship is not good."
When the old man saw the noodles in the bowl with the same thickness and the pancakes of almost the same size and shape, he knew that Mrs. Zheng was humble.
"You're so polite. We smelled it in the house. Just by smelling it, we knew it tasted the same!"
He was also a gourmand when he was young, and his nose was famously sharp. As he got older, his sense of taste deteriorated and he fell in love with heavy oil and salt.
I have to say that the Lin family is really good at their craftsmanship. The lard noodles are even more delicious than those in big restaurants.
He was even thinking that it would not be impossible if the Lin family could provide him with three meals a day and rent the house to the Lin family for free.
