Exile with Storage Space: Family Fortunes in the Barren Lands

Chapter 452 - 431: Saving More Money Is Always Right

Lady Liu took a deep breath, "..."

Li Yuzhu sneered, "Go ask around in the county town, see which family doesn’t need to pay the master when becoming an apprentice? Which doesn’t require a formal apprenticeship ceremony? Your family is pretty good, not only do we have to come up with money? Do you believe that I’ll report you to the government office!"

Liu Yanbai gratefully glanced at her.

The mention of reporting to the government office scared Lady Liu’s eldest son, who shrank his neck and backed away.

Li Yuzhu continued, "To apprentice at my house, it costs three hundred coins a month, plus ten coins a day for food expenses. After three years of apprenticeship, you’ll still owe twenty-one thousand six hundred coins, and with the previous debt, that’s a total of thirty-three thousand seven hundred fifty-five coins, or thirty-three taels and seven hundred fifty coins, Lady Liu, will you pay this in advance, or deduct it from Liu Yanbai’s wages after three years?"

What a scam!

Lady Liu cursed in her heart, the money hasn’t been received, and she is asked to pay for her useless son first? Impossible!

She would never give a single coin for Erdan!

"Make him pay by himself, I don’t have a single coin!" Lady Liu huffed and stormed off.

Liu Dalang was still counting on his fingers, calculating the figures Li Yuzhu mentioned, and seeing his mother leaving suddenly, he shouted loudly, "Mom, are we just going? We haven’t got the money yet!"

Li Yuzhu chuckled, "Want the money? Alright, first pay us back the thirty-three taels and seven hundred fifty coins your second brother owes."

"Wha...what? Repay? We have no money! The debt is his to repay!" Liu Dalang also ran off.

The mother and son ran as fast as they could, truly like someone was chasing them for a debt.

"How can there be such shameless people?" Uncle Gui shook his head, face full of anger.

Liu Yanbai clasped his hands towards Li Yuzhu in thanks, "Thank you, Miss Li, for resolving the situation."

Li Yuzhu looked at him, "Liu Yanbai, I can help you for a moment, but not for a lifetime. When you really start making money in the future, they will definitely come after you demanding. You need to think of a strategy."

Liu Yanbai bit his lip and said, "Thank you, Miss Li, for the reminder."

Li Yuzhu said, "There’s still time before class ends, you should go listen to the lecture. You can pack your things at night, there’s no rush."

"Okay." Liu Yanbai nodded to Mu Yuanxiu and Uncle Gui before striding towards the classroom.

.

During the lunchtime break, after eating, Chai Eying shared the news of expecting a boy with Li Xingmao.

Li Xingmao embraced her with a smile, "So that means I need to work hard to earn money to build a house."

Chai Eying smiled, "My old house, my brother wouldn’t want it either, let’s give it to him in the future, Jingjing will live with us."

Chai Eying’s old house, though a brick house, is reportedly thirty years old and quite cramped with only six or seven rooms and a small courtyard. Li Xingmao said, "Would such a dilapidated house be to our second treasure’s liking? I should still build him a house."

Chai Eying always knew that as a stepmother, she had to be a bit tougher on her own son, so the son of the previous wife wouldn’t be neglected.

She smiled slightly, "Jingjing is the elder brother, his house should be built first. As for the second treasure, I think living in that house is quite fine, there’s no need to exert effort building another house for him."

Li Xingmao looked at her, "Eying, are you worried I will neglect Jingjing?"

Chai Eying lightly nodded, "Jingjing doesn’t have a mother."

"Aren’t you his mother?" Li Xingmao stroked her face.

Chai Eying was taken aback.

Li Xingmao said seriously, "Both sons, I won’t favor one over the other, I’ll build the same house for both when they marry."

Seeing his insistence, Chai Eying had to smile and say, "I worry it would be hard on you, building an extra house is costly."

"It’s not hard, it’s not hard, even if you have more kids, I can still support them." Li Xingmao laughed.

Chai Eying laughed in exasperation, is she a pig or something, constantly giving birth?

.

Li Yuzhu and Li Xing’an are set to depart for the county town tomorrow, so Nanny Jiang prepared dinner early, allowing them to have dinner earlier and rest sooner.

As dusk settled, each member of the Li Family went to bed.

Everything was packed and ready during the day, just needed to be loaded onto the cart in the morning.

Liu Yanbai was too excited to sleep, thinking about life after arriving in the county town.

To ensure he wouldn’t forget the characters he learned, Mr. Li even gave him two books, some paper, and pens, instructing him to read and write more when idle in the county town.

The Li Family treated him so well, it was only right that he repay them well.

With myriad thoughts drifting, Liu Yanbai gradually fell asleep.

The light was still on in Li Yuzhu’s room. She wanted to sleep early, but the Second Princess and the Great Princess wouldn’t let her.

The two kept instructing Li Yuzhu on various matters.

Basically, the Second Princess wanted specific fruits and snacks, insisting that Li Yuzhu must bring them back. The Great Princess wanted to buy a certain type of fabric and rouge, claiming the local items were of poor quality, and now that she had money, she wanted the best.

Li Yuzhu sat by the table in her robe, taking notes according to their chatter.

The things they asked her to buy filled up two whole pages.

Li Yuzhu grimaced, shaking the papers at them, "You two spendthrifts, you just know how to eat and buy with money, have you saved enough for your dowries?"

She had long wanted to say this to them and seized the opportunity to do so today.

The Second Princess sighed, "Third Sister, Second Brother and Third Brother say my figure is a sure nobody would want, so if no one wants me, why should I save for a dowry? Might as well spend all the money on eating and live a happy life."

Li Yuzhu, "..." She seemed unable to refute this reasoning.

The Great Princess smiled and said, "Third Sister, you don’t need to worry about me. Anyone who truly wants to marry me wouldn’t require a dowry."

Li Yuzhu, "..." Right, back in the Capital, the Great Princess was quite a heartthrob, and those noble young men were begging for her hand, why would they need her dowry?

Alright, these two both have their reasons not to save money.

She tucked the two lists into her backpack and said, "Though there’s some reason in what you both say, but ah, suppose, and I mean suppose, if our Emperor cousin loses his mind and turns against our family again, demoting us to another place, what will you do without money then? Remember how terrible it was living in a cave when we first got here!"

This scared the two of them.

Back then, when the Great Princess was starving, she would reminisce daily about the delicious meals she discarded, the beautiful clothes she gave away on a whim, and the money and jewelry she squandered lavishly.

Thinking of the money spent on servants each month, which now could buy a year’s worth of beautiful cosmetics and clothing, made the Great Princess’s heart bleed.

She quickly retrieved the shopping list from Li Yuzhu’s backpack and began crossing items off one by one.

Although each strike pained her, it was nothing compared to the potential future of wearing tattered clothes, living in a dreadful cave, and suffering from hunger.

She vowed that she would never go hungry or cold again in this lifetime! She must save money, save money, save money, save money!

As for the Second Princess, she didn’t care about dressing up, but she feared hunger, having woken up starving every day upon arriving here, searching for food in her dreams only to find inedible stones, often waking up crying when she couldn’t find food in her dreams.

No no no, she couldn’t go hungry, even if she had to eat black bread every day, she couldn’t starve to death.

To avoid starvation in the future, the only solution was to save some money first, with money you can buy food.

The Second Princess also fetched the list from Li Yuzhu’s backpack and crossed off a pile of tantalizing snacks.

Seeing only the lonely name "Red Bean Crystal Cake" remaining, she exhaled a long breath, surely buying just one type wouldn’t make her eat poor, right?

Li Yuzhu watched them busy themselves, nodded with a smile, and said, "Ah, that’s how it should be."

Guoguo, lying in bed, shouted at them, "Aunt, sleep, sleep now, noisy."

Laughing, Li Yuzhu climbed into bed, "Alright, sleep sleep, Aunt has to get up early tomorrow."

She was going to the county town tomorrow, and Guoguo had to return to Princess Consort Luling’s side, and she was a bit reluctant to part with this little girl.

Holding the soft little bundle in her arms felt really nice, and she wouldn’t have this tomorrow.

She cuddled Guoguo closer, and Guoguo giggled, snuggling obediently into her embrace.

.

Soon it was the next day.

The three Li sisters quietly got out of bed, without waking up Guoguo.

Princess Consort Luling, holding a small lantern, came over to keep Guoguo company as she slept, signaling them to hurry on, pack up, and leave quickly.

The three of them moved exceptionally quietly, got dressed, and left the bedroom together.

The Great Princess and Second Princess were headed to the market, while Li Yuzhu was going to the county town.

The sisters went to the kitchen, where Li Xingmao and his brothers were already present.

Nanny Jiang had prepared breakfast and was smiling as she called, "It’s red bean and red date porridge, piping hot, eat some to warm up."

On the table, besides the red bean and red date porridge, there were also some beef pancakes, all hot, each bite more fragrant and warming than the last.

The Li siblings chatted and laughed as they ate, and also encouraged Liu Yanbai to eat quickly.

Liu Yanbai, eager to get to the county town, was gulping down the porridge.