Reassurance

The fourth old lady was only in her fifties this year, and was in good spirits. She was very warm towards Lady Zhu.

After exchanging a few pleasantries with her and presenting her with some gifts, Lady Zhu said, "I'll bring Sister Xie to see the house."

The fourth old lady said to Tenth Madam Zhao, "Lady He, take them there, and give the key to Madam Xu while you're at it."

She nodded and smiled at Madam Xie, saying, "If you need anything in the future, Madam Xu, just come and find me. My daughter-in-law and I are always home. If your son has nowhere to eat, he can come to my house for a meal, just don't complain that the food isn't plentiful."

Madam Xie quickly expressed her gratitude, exchanged a few more pleasantries, and then took her leave with Lady Zhu.

The rented house was right next door. Lady He opened the door and smiled, "It has the same layout as ours. They were built at the same time; they're the same age, both new and old."

Everyone went inside and took a look. Sure enough, it was the same as the Lady He's place, and it was very clean, obviously because they came to clean it regularly.

Madam Xie was most satisfied with was that there was a well in the courtyard and a vegetable garden in the back. The only problem was that there were too many houses, with more than ten rooms in the front and back courtyards combined.

More houses mean higher rents.

"Tenth Madam Zhao, how much do you plan to charge per month for this courtyard?" she asked.

Tenth Madam Zhao glanced at Lady Zhu, then smiled at Madam Xie and said, "One tael of silver."

"Why is it so cheap? Even a small house in our county, with just one courtyard and few rooms, costs two taels of silver to rent." Madam Xie wanted to know how much rent Lady Zhu had advanced for her family.

Beining County is close to the capital. Travelers heading north from the capital all pass through Beining, and many of the capital's powerful and wealthy people own estates there, making business easy. As a result, houses in Beining are more expensive and rents are higher than in other places.

If things are like this in Beining, then the situation in the capital is even more dire.

Tenth Madam Zhao smiled and said, "There's a reason for that. As you can see, we live as a clan. I don't usually want to rent to just anyone because I don't know their background and I'm afraid it might cause trouble for the clan. Because of this, this house is not easy to rent out, so the rent I charge is not expensive."

Madam Xie shook her head and said to Lady Zhu, "Madam, if you pay the rent for me, I won't rent this house. You helped me find a house, got Chongwen into your clan school, and today you gave them such a generous gift. You've already done me a great favor. If you were to pay our rent every month, this gift would be too much for me to bear."

Lady Zhu shook her head helplessly. "You're being too polite!"

She turned to Tenth Madam Zhao and said, "In that case, you should collect the rent from them as it is."

Tenth Madam Zhao then said, "In the capital, a house of this size and in this location usually costs between eight and sixteen taels. It's true that my house is difficult to rent out, so I'll only charge you eight taels."

Madam Xie felt a sense of relief.

Eight taels is alright; business here is good these days, and you can earn back the rent in a day.

Zhao Ruxi glanced at her mother.

This house doesn't look like it could be rented for eight taels of silver. I guess my mother still added some money to it.

At this moment, Zhu Yuanxun arrived with the Xu Family father and son.

After inspecting the house, Xu Yongyi was very satisfied. Upon hearing that the rent was eight taels of silver per month, he glanced at Zhao Ruxi, remained silent, and immediately signed the lease agreement with Tenth Madam Zhao's husband, with Zhao Yuanxun acting as the middleman.

With the matter settled and it getting late, Xu Yongyi and his family bid farewell and left.

Originally, the Earl of Suiping's Residence wanted to send a horse-drawn carriage, but Xu Yongyi refused and instead hired a mule cart to return to Beining.

Once in the carriage, he said to Madam Xie, "Miss Xi advised us to buy people. When I was traveling around the capital these past two days, I inquired with middlemen about the rent for houses. A house like the one belonging to Master Zhao Shi, which is so large and in such a location, would cost at least twelve taels of silver. If we find a suitable one, people will rent it for sixteen or even twenty taels."

Madam Xie was taken aback. "So expensive?"

"That's right," Xu Yongyi said. "Those who pass the imperial examination stay in the capital to serve as officials, those who come to the capital to do business, those who come to the capital to take the exam and rent houses for a year or two while waiting for the exam, or those who go to study at the Imperial Academy... there are so many people from other places who need to rent houses. There are only so many houses in the capital, and the supply can't meet the demand, so of course they're expensive."

"Think about it, because Beining is close to the capital and it's convenient to travel there, how much higher are the rents compared to other places? Otherwise, how could our little courtyard be rented for two taels of silver?"

Thinking back to the previous tenant of her family's house in the county town, who was a merchant who transported goods to the capital for business, and who stayed for a few months until he sold all the goods he had brought before leaving. The one before that was a scholar who was going to take the imperial examination, and who stayed there for a year with three servants, Madam Xie understood.

"Then we've hit the jackpot! Their house is big and clean, and the buildings are new. If it weren't for the fact that it's within the clan, we really couldn't have rented it for eight taels of silver," Madam Xie said happily.

Seeing his wife's Gao Xing expression, as if saving money was equivalent to making a profit, Xu Yongyi couldn't bear to tell the truth. But in the end, he said, "This house is definitely worth more than eight taels; presumably, the extra portion was paid for by the Earl of Suiping's Residence."

A bucket of cold water was poured over Madam Xie's head.

"What... what do we do then?"

"Once we move in, we can slowly try to get information out of Master Zhao and Tenth Madam Zhao. I think they're honest people, and they should be able to understand our thoughts."

Madam Xie nodded and sighed, "But if they say the house costs sixteen or twenty taels, should we still rent it?"

"Do you know why Miss Xi wants to rent this house for us? It's to protect us from being bullied. If we rent a house outside, and someone comes to ask us for protection money every month, how much money will you have to give them? What if someone comes knocking on our door and tries to force us to give them our prescription for two hundred taels of silver?"

Xu Yongyi patted his wife's hand. "Don't dwell on the old days when I toiled through wind and rain, barely managing to save any money all year. Just think about how we can rent a house like this with the money we earn in two days, or even just one. We can earn more money here. Thinking like this will make you feel much better. Our family is different now; don't keep thinking about the past."

"Mom, Dad is right. Besides, I can earn money too. Once I make money from selling my books, I'll contribute some of the rent, so you won't feel so bad."

Madam Xie chuckled at this, tapping Xu Xue's head and saying, "Isn't your money still my money? I'll feel the pinch if you spend it."

Xu Xue pouted.

"Alright, alright, I understand. I won't worry about it anymore. You're all successful, I can just wait to enjoy my retirement as an old lady," Madam Xie said with a smile.

Xu Xue then smiled, hugging Madam Xie's arm and saying sweetly, "Mother, it's wonderful that you think this way."