Top Scholar

Chapter 190 Moving
That night, the family stayed at the county office again. The courtyard had enough rooms, and with the meticulous steward Tian there, they naturally had no trouble finding a place to sleep.

The next morning, after seeing the Su brothers off to school, Su Youcai said to Manager Tian, ​​"Mr. Tian, ​​you work so hard getting up so early every day to take care of them."

"It's no trouble at all, it's what I should do," Steward Tian said with a smile. "I only get to see the two young masters once in the morning and once in the evening, and I still feel like I don't spend enough time with them."

Then Steward Tian asked, "Mr. Su, what are your plans for today? Why don't you rest for a day or two first, and then I'll take you and your wife around to see the sights? There are many more fun places in Luzhou than in Hejiang."

"We can't trouble Mr. Tian any further," Su Youcai said frankly. "We've decided to stay in Luzhou to accompany our child while he studies."

"Oh." Steward Tian was slightly surprised, then smiled and said, "Of course, of course. No matter how well I take care of them, I can't replace my parents."

"Yes, I asked them about it yesterday, and the problems are quite serious. We need to keep a close eye on them." Su Youcai agreed wholeheartedly and then asked, "Sir, do you know any real estate agents you could recommend?"

"Why are you looking for a real estate agent?" Steward Tian asked, frowning slightly. "Do you need to rent a room?"

“Yes, the government office isn’t a place where we ordinary people live all the time,” Su Youcai said with a smile. “The kindness of the magistrate and the care of Mr. Tian are already too great for us to bear.”

"Oh, it's alright, I can stay here!" Steward Tian tried his best to persuade him to stay, saying, "This office is empty all year round, and there's no one to talk to most of the time. Mr. Su, please take pity on this humble person."

His words were an exaggeration; there were about ten people working in the government office, enough to fill two tables for playing cards. But this also expressed Manager Tian's eagerness to retain them.

"We really can't cause any more trouble." Although Su Youcai didn't know why he insisted on keeping his family here, he knew that what's free is often the most expensive, so he tried to decline, saying, "Besides, my wife and I are thinking of opening a shop and starting a small business. We need to make a living..."

Su Youcai's statement made it difficult for Steward Tian to persuade him to stay any longer, but how could he let it go so easily? His eyes darted around, and he slapped his thigh, saying, "Isn't this a coincidence!"

"What?"

"I happen to have a vacant house with a shop in the front and a yard in the back. It's not big, but it's enough for your family!" Steward Tian said with a smile. "Moreover, the location is quite good, close to the government office, so we can look after each other. Mr. Su, please be kind enough to patronize my business."

"Really?" Su Youcai asked in surprise.

"That's what they call fate," Steward Tian said with a smile. "Then it's settled. Take a break today, and go see my set tomorrow. If you're not satisfied, we can change to something else."

"Alright, then I'll trouble Steward Tian." Su Youcai couldn't refuse any longer, and besides, he and his wife still had to travel back and forth between the three places. Staying closer to the government office would put their minds at ease when they left.

"No trouble at all, you all rest well, I'll bring lunch again." Steward Tian said with a smile as he took his leave.

~~
After leaving the courtyard, Steward Tian went straight to the gatehouse.

The doorman, Yu Men, and the head chef, Lao Hu, were brewing tea and chatting when they saw him come in. They quickly stood up to greet him, saying, "Manager, you've come at the perfect time. We've just brewed some old white tea."

"Don't drink your tea yet, go to the house across the street for me," Steward Tian instructed Yu Men. "Tell the tenants to move out before dark."

"No, they just rented it before the New Year and haven't opened for business yet..." Yu Men said in surprise.

"Isn't that perfect?" Manager Tian said impatiently, "Let them move out, why all the nonsense? Tell them that if they move out today, the rent will be fully refunded, which means they can stay for free for two months! If they drag it out until tomorrow, I'll send someone to help them move, and they won't get a penny of the rent back, consider it moving expenses!"

"Yes, sir, I'll take care of it right away." Seeing the steward's unfriendly expression, Yu quickly left.

"What's wrong?" Old Hu handed a cup of tea to Steward Tian.

Manager Tian plopped down, took a sip, and cursed, "Damn it, you just got here and you're already trying to hog all the food!"

"Who is it?" Old Hu asked.

"Who else could it be? That couple who came yesterday!" Steward Tian recounted the events of the previous day with a sour tone. He concluded angrily, "Are they afraid of causing me trouble? They want to monopolize Young Master Su, and then all the benefits will be theirs! All our hard work these past two months has been for nothing!"

"What good could it possibly do for the steward to be so concerned?" The cook was puzzled. Apart from the master himself, he had never seen Steward Tian fawn over anyone like this.

"Even disregarding the connection with the master, Young Master Su is a renowned child prodigy in Luzhou! How many times do you think we'll encounter someone like him in our lifetime?" Steward Tian, ​​of course, couldn't go into too much detail, so he said generally:

"Let me put it this way, if Young Master Su passes the county-level exam and becomes a scholar, we'll be guaranteed a profit. If he passes the provincial-level exam and becomes a scholar, I'll have someone to rely on for the rest of my life! Don't you think I should be interested?"

"That's certainly right!" Chef Hu quickly nodded.

"Therefore, I will continue to serve as their steward, you will continue as the head chef, and the two pageboys will continue to serve the two young masters... We'll continue as before!" Steward Tian said in a deep voice.
"It's just a matter of changing the location to continue serving them, making them feel comfortable."

~~
My uncle is really diligent these days; he took a boat back to Hejiang that very day.

The next morning, Su Youcai and his wife went out to look at houses with Manager Tian.

As soon as they stepped out of the government office, Steward Tian smiled and pointed to the door across the street, saying, "This is the house."

"Huh?" The couple knew it was close, but they didn't realize it was this close. "So close?"

"To be honest, we've bought all the properties around the government office, in preparation for future expansion," Steward Tian said with a smile. "We can't leave the properties that we don't need right now idle, so we rent them out to help with our expenses."

He then took out his key, unlocked the door, and invited the couple inside to take a closer look.

Su Youcai and the proprietress took one look and found the property to be truly excellent. Facing south, with blue bricks and gray tiles, it was divided into three sections: front, middle, and back, containing shops, a central courtyard, and a residential area, separated by a screen wall and a hanging flower gate. This layout ensured both the business space in the front yard and the privacy of the living space in the back yard, making it far superior to the Sweet Water Shop in Taiping Town!

In terms of refinement, it's incomparable. The backyard has three main rooms and two side rooms, all paved with blue bricks inside and out, and fully furnished with finely crafted camphor wood furniture—both insect- and moth-proof. Speaking of which, the courtyard where Su Lu and his brother live is also filled with this kind of furniture, even the style is identical…

The transitional courtyard leading to the front yard is paved with bluestone slabs, lined with peonies and osmanthus trees, and features stone tables and benches for resting. The courtyard is divided by openwork flower walls, ensuring both ventilation and natural light in both the front and back, while also allowing for scenic views through the windows.

What pleased the proprietress most was that the front shop was located right on the bustling Dahe Street. According to Manager Tian, ​​this was the closest commercial street to Guanyizui Wharf.

The shop has two floors and the space is spacious enough. It looks like it has just been renovated. I can find someone to remodel it again and it will be ready to use.

It couldn't be more perfect...

"So, does it meet your standards?" Steward Tian asked with a smile. "If you're not satisfied, let's go look at the next one."

Don't even mention the next set, even the set after that, it'll still be his...

The landlady glanced at Su Youcai, and seeing him nod slightly, she asked calmly, "How much is the monthly rent?"

"We're all family here, just give us whatever you think is appropriate," Manager Tian said with a smile.

“We wouldn’t dare rent it then,” the landlady said, shaking her head. “We can’t give people something to say about it.”

"Then let's stick to the previous rent." Manager Tian had anticipated their response; they just didn't want him to take credit. He pulled out the previous rental agreement and smiled, "Two taels of silver per month, that's fine."

Actually, the previous tenant had given him another gift. He waived that fee, making the rent for the apartment quite cheap, but not ridiculously cheap.

"Okay, this one it is." Although the proprietress also felt it was too cheap, at least it was still working properly.

"..." Su Youcai wasn't one to tolerate any injustice. Seeing that the explanation was acceptable, he remained silent.

"I see that neither of you has brought any attendants. Are you going to personally prepare three meals a day?" Steward Tian added, "Then Madam won't have to do any important work."

That really struck a chord with the landlady. Cooking was her biggest chore; she and Su Youcai could manage, but now they had three children to feed, and they were all growing up; making do every day wasn't sustainable…

"How about this, you two can contribute another tael of silver and join our kitchen," Steward Tian suggested. "That way, we can save on buying groceries, cooking, washing pots and dishes, and it'll be cheaper if we buy and cook together."

"..." Under the landlady's eager anticipation, Su Youcai had no choice but to nod and say, "I'm going to trouble Mr. Tian again."

"No trouble at all," Steward Tian said with a sigh of relief. "I was just afraid that Mr. Su wouldn't be willing to trouble me, otherwise we would become estranged."

"I'll be troubling Mr. Tian a lot in the future," Su Youcai decided to accept it.

~~
When the two brothers returned home that night, they felt that apart from living in a different place, nothing had changed.

Dinner was still four dishes and a soup, but the portions of each dish were much larger.

"All the dishes taste the same..." Su Tai could tell.

“Nonsense, if it’s made by one person, it won’t taste the same…” Su Youcai said in a muffled voice.

"Then why should we move? It's so much easier to live across the street," Su Tai said. "It also saves Uncle Tian the trouble of sending things here."

"How can that be the same? At least this is our own money," Su Youcai said calmly. "It's all about peace of mind, you understand?"

"Hey hey..." Su Tai then ate with peace of mind.

"What did Miss She say to you today?" Su Youcai couldn't help but ask again, as this was what he was most worried about.

"..." Su Tai immediately lost his appetite. He lowered his head and said, "She invited me to go on a spring outing next time I have a holiday."

"Hiss..." Su Youcai and the proprietress exchanged a glance. Was that Tusi Miss really going to do it?

"What did you say?" Su Youcai asked hurriedly.

“I said I’m not going,” Su Tai said in a muffled voice. “Don’t worry, I keep my word.”

"That's right, that's a good boy." Su Youcai happily put a piece of braised pork on Su Tai's plate.

"Don't follow your uncle's example, we still have to do things the proper way."

“Yes, I’ll learn from my dad.” Su Tai nodded.

"Cough cough!" Su Lu and Xiao Tiantian coughed at the same time, and their godmother blushed deeply.

"Eat your food!" Su Youcai shoved the meat into his mouth, looking annoyed.

He never expected that his son, whom he thought was the most obedient and well-behaved, would become a problem youth.

"Sigh, is no one interested in learning anymore?"

(End of this chapter)