"Sweet Treasure, you should worry about your own home first!" Liu Cuirong said resentfully.
At this time, who still had the mind to care about others' lives.
Yun Erman frowned and cursed, "What do you know, you shrew? If you dare to blabber one more word, I'll break your teeth off!"
He realized Liu Cuirong was acting up again...
If his mother kicked her out again this time, Yun Erman would definitely not plead for her.
Let her go wherever she wanted, preferably never come back.
Old Man Yun sighed, "Natural disasters and man-made calamities are unavoidable. We need to think of another way, preferably to rebuild a house in the village..."
When Madam Gu heard this, her face was covered in worry, "It's possible, but to build such a large house again, it's probably not as simple as fifty taels of silver!"
When they first moved in, the villagers said the house was haunted, so no one dared to approach it.
The Old Yun family didn't believe in evil and bought this large house at a bargain price of fifty taels of silver.
It even came with over fifty mu of fertile land...
But to rebuild a house like this would cost at least eight to nine hundred taels of silver.
With the rise in prices, the cost of hiring craftsmen was also not low.
It was heard that a square stone slab alone cost three hundred copper coins.
The area around Dashui Village was all earthen mountains, lacking stones.
The required stone slabs had to be transported from the county town.
Not to mention blue bricks, tiles, timber, digging wells, and so on. Calculated this way, perhaps one thousand taels of silver wouldn't be enough...
"Dad, Mom, it's time to eat!" Zhao Guihua called from the doorway.
She was nearly three and a half months pregnant and was already showing.
Normally, at home, Madam Gu didn't let her do heavy work.
Fortunately, Hu Xi'er had settled down and hadn't caused any trouble for the time being.
With Jin Huai'er watching her, even if Hu Xi'er wanted to cause trouble, she would have to think twice.
She had signed a letter of guarantee in front of the elders and young of the Yun family before...
Madam Gu took Xiao Xitian's hand and forced a smile, "Let's go, back to the room to eat!"
No matter what difficulties they had to face next, life had to go on.
At the dinner table, the Yun family members were all quiet and their spirits were very low.
"Old woman, how much silver do we have on hand now?" Old Man Yun asked abruptly.
There had been no major income at home in recent years.
The money was all managed by Madam Gu. He and his two sons just worked diligently and didn't know how much they had...
Liu Cuirong paused her eating and quickly looked at Madam Gu.
She thought the family must have saved several thousand taels of silver.
Let alone building a large house, even building ten of them would be more than enough.
Unexpectedly, Madam Gu only said, "Not enough to build a house!"
She didn't reveal much.
But she knew clearly whether the money was enough or not...
The family hadn't made a fortune in recent years, and they also had to support Jin He's studies. Relying solely on that bit of land, they couldn't save much.
After harvesting the grain, a portion had to be handed over to the yamen, a portion was kept for their own consumption, and the rest could be sold to grain shops in the county town.
The Yun family had many members, and the children were growing up, eating more than each other.
If they didn't keep enough, they might not even get through the winter...
Yun Daman smiled and said, "Then let's build a smaller house. It's fine if we squeeze in a bit!"
"Elder brother is right!" Yun Erman nodded in agreement, "From now on, I'll let Jinshan live at the academy and not let him come home!"
There was already no space at home, and he still came back often. How troublesome was that!
"That won't do!" Liu Cuirong put down her chopsticks, "Our family originally lived in a large house, why should it shrink now?"
She was used to living in a spacious and comfortable house and couldn't adapt to squeezing into a thatched hut.
"Dad, Mom, Big Sister-in-law is pregnant now. It would be troublesome if she miscarried the baby!"
Liu Cuirong tugged at Zhao Guihua and started using her as an excuse.
When Yun Daman heard this, he immediately got angry, "What do you mean by that, second sister-in-law? Are you wishing Guihua would miscarry?"
What did she mean by squeezing the baby out?
Was the whole family sleeping on the same kang?
Xiao Xitian held back her laughter and expressed no opinion...
This time, Dashui Village suffered a flood, and not only their family needed to rebuild houses, but other villagers who were flooded were also very troubled.
"Why are you getting angry? I'm just stating a fact!" Liu Cuirong rolled her eyes.
Madam Gu frowned and stared at Liu Cuirong, "Second daughter-in-law, if you feel that the house is too small and can't contain you, then pack your bags and go back to your maiden home early."
"From now on, whether our Old Yun family lives in a big house or a thatched hut will have nothing to do with you!"
After speaking, Madam Gu looked at Yun Erman, "Go pack her things. Our temple is too small to accommodate this great Buddha..."
Yun Erman was quite obedient. He stood up and walked towards the east wing.
"Hey, hey, hey, Er... Erman, what are you doing? I, I didn't say I wanted to go back to my maiden home!"
Liu Cuirong was greatly alarmed. She stopped eating and rushed into the east wing to block Yun Erman.
She wasn't stupid.
The Yun family's life was getting better and better. If she were really kicked out, where else would she find such a good family?
Madam Gu was just trying to scare her. At this time, when the family was in such trouble, she didn't have the energy to punish her daughter-in-law...
Yun Erman scolded Liu Cuirong, and the matter was over.
In the afternoon, a layer of dark clouds drifted over Dashui Village again.
After a muffled thunderclap, a drizzling rain began to fall.
"Alas, what is going on with the heavens? It doesn't rain when it should, and it cries its eyes out when it shouldn't!"
Old Man Yun sat by the window. In this gloomy and rainy weather, he couldn't even go out, let alone work in the fields...
Xiao Xitian lay by the quilt pile, fast asleep.
This kind of continuous rainy weather was the most suitable for napping.
Falling asleep to the sound of rain was a beautiful enjoyment.
Madam Gu sat on the edge of the kang and took out the silver she had saved over the years.
There were banknotes, as well as broken silver, and a large amount of copper coins.
She counted carefully, a total of five hundred and ten taels...
Madam Gu took out four hundred taels and put them aside, and kept the remaining one hundred and ten taels.
This was for emergencies.
In a few more days, Jinshan and Jinhe would have to pay tuition fees, and brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones all cost money.
The family also needed working capital, so she couldn't leave nothing...
Old Man Yun put down his tobacco pipe, turned his head to look at the four hundred taels of banknotes on the kang, and asked, "Old woman, this money can't build a large house!"
The old woman also said that she was saving the money for their youngest daughter's dowry.
Now it seemed that everything had gone to waste.
Plans could not keep up with changes. Who could have predicted a landslide?
Madam Gu sighed, "I know this money is not enough, but it's better than sleeping in the open!"
Four hundred taels of silver was also a astronomical sum in the eyes of the people of Dashui Village...
Even the village chief's family couldn't come up with so much money.
"Old man, you go to the village chief's house tomorrow and ask if the dilapidated temple at the east end of the village is still available?"
"If not, we'll tear it down and build a house there!"