Chapter 4: A Written Agreement Can Be Made

Tong Chuxue quietly made her way to the main house of the Luo family, where an argument was raging over whether to let her and her mother stay in the old ancestral residence.

Inside, the family had split into two camps, one in favor and one against. When they saw Tong Chuxue at the doorway, everyone tacitly fell silent; after all, quarreling in front of an outsider was hardly honorable.

Lin Chunyan was the most embarrassed of all. She hurried over with a smile. “What is it? Feeling thirsty after eating all those noodles? I’ll pour you a bowl of water.”

“No need to trouble yourself, Auntie,” Tong Chuxue said calmly as she stepped into the main room. “I thought it over. Borrowing a house is a serious matter, and it is too difficult for you to speak for us alone. I’d better explain it myself.”

Seeing this, Luo Guihua, the eldest daughter-in-law, gave a cold snort. “No manners at all. No wonder Old Madam Tong was dead set on driving you out. What right does a junior have to interrupt when the adults are speaking? If she were my daughter, I’d have beaten her to death long ago.”

Old Madam Luo’s attitude toward Tong Chuxue was still passable. She said, “Xue girl, it would be better if your mother handled this.”

Tong Chuxue understood Old Madam Luo’s intent perfectly. Xu Jinniang was soft-tempered; if Xu Jinniang came forward, there was no way they would get the house today.

To put it plainly, the Luo family’s greatest worry was that once the house was lent out, it might never come back. Yet, being neighbors and kinfolk, they could not say so too bluntly.

Tong Chuxue said, “I am sure all the elders know what happened earlier today. My mother and I had no other choice, so we thought to borrow the Luo family’s vacant old house for a while. We won’t stay long. In a month, we will move out.”

Luo Guifang let out a sneer. “You say you’ll stay a month, and so it’s a month? What if you move in and refuse to leave? How could we possibly drive you out then? If anything goes wrong, even with reason on our side, it can all turn against us.”

Luo Huikang, Luo Guifang’s youngest son, heard that the old house was to be given to outsiders and immediately threw a tantrum. Clutching his mother’s sleeve, he said indignantly, “Mother, didn’t you say the old house would be saved for me to marry in the future? How can you give it to someone else?”

He was only seven years old, far too young to be thinking about marriage, but because he had heard Luo Guifang say such things since he was little, he had come to believe the old residence ought to belong to him alone.

At his words, Luo Guifang hastily covered his mouth and gave him a few light swats on the backside. “What nonsense are you spouting? You’re still so young. That old house belongs to your grandfather and grandmother. What has it got to do with you?”

Old Madam Luo was displeased as well. After all, the ancestral house had been built through the hard labor of her and her old man. They were not even dead yet, and already several daughters-in-law were coveting it. But with outsiders present, she could not lose her temper. She could only shoot Luo Guifang a sharp look, signaling her to behave.

Tong Chuxue understood the Luo family’s concerns and made an offer. “We will not stay for nothing. How about one hundred cash a month as rent?”

Old Madam Luo’s eyes lit up at the mention of money. “Xue girl, you don’t need to ask your mother first? What you say counts?”

Tong Chuxue smiled and nodded. “Of course it counts. If Granny Luo is worried there may be trouble, we can draw up a written agreement.”

Since Tong Chuxue was willing to pay, Luo Guifang had nothing more to say. Given their mother’s love of money, she was certain she would not refuse.

As expected, Old Madam Luo put on an air of reluctant generosity and nodded. “Since you’ve put it that way, I’ll trust you this once. Eldest daughter-in-law, you heard what Xue girl just said. Go tell Huize to draft something.”

Luo Huize was Luo Guifang’s eldest son and the Luo family’s eldest grandson. The Luo family was fairly well-off, so from a young age they had sent their grandson to the village school, hoping he might earn a title one day.

Though years had passed, he still had not even passed as a mere beginner scholar, yet because he was a man of letters, the Luo family still treasured him like a jewel.

Luo Guifang exchanged a look with Old Madam Luo, then took her youngest son to find Luo Huize and have the agreement written up. Tong Chuxue could not shake the feeling that things were going far too smoothly. Moments ago the Luo family had been arguing fiercely, but the instant she mentioned rent, Old Madam Luo agreed at once, without the slightest hesitation.

One hundred cash was indeed tempting for an ordinary farming household, but the Luo family was not poor enough to change their minds so quickly over such a small sum.

Very soon, Luo Huize returned with the drafted agreement. With him came another person.

When Lin Chunyan saw who it was, her expression tightened. She hurried forward. “Huian, why have you come out? It’s chilly at night. Don’t catch cold.”

Luo Huian lifted his head, and his handsome, refined features stunned Tong Chuxue for a moment.

She had heard that he had been born prematurely, leaving him with a frail constitution. He rarely stepped outside his room and was often stricken with serious illness several times a year. By rights, Tong Chuxue should have had no fondness at all for such a weakling.

In the apocalyptic world she had lived in, only the strong survived. The frail were always the first to be eliminated.

Yet Luo Huian gave off a different feeling. Though his face was pale and his frame looked fragile, his eyes were startlingly bright.

Tong Chuxue knew that look all too well, because nearly everyone in the apocalypse had eyes like that: the desperate resolve of those determined to stay alive.

Seeing Luo Huize come in, Old Madam Luo beamed. “Huize, is it written?”

Luo Huize held the drafted agreement out for Old Madam Luo to inspect. Though she could not read, the sight of neat black writing on white paper still delighted her. “Good, good. It was written according to what your mother told you, yes?”

Luo Huize replied, “Don’t worry, Grandmother. It’s all according to Mother’s instructions.”

Holding the two thin sheets of paper, Old Madam Luo said, “Xue girl, you just said you want to rent our old ancestral house for one hundred cash a month.”

Tong Chuxue nodded. “That is correct.”

Old Madam Luo somehow produced a small box of sealing paste. “You said yourself we could make a written agreement. Huize has finished it now. You only need to press your thumbprint, and you and your mother can move into the old house.”

Tong Chuxue glanced at the item in Old Madam Luo’s hand. The script here was square in form, much like Chinese characters, and the structure was similarly composed, yet it was not truly the same; in short, it was a kind she did not recognize.

Tong Chuxue pressed her lips together, regretting her earlier suggestion a little. She had not expected the written language to be different.

Seeing her hesitate for a brief moment, Old Madam Luo warmly took Tong Chuxue’s hand. “What’s the matter, girl? Why have you stopped? Should I call your mother over after all?”

Lin Chunyan also felt it was a little improper to have a girl of only thirteen or fourteen press her thumbprint, and said, “Why don’t I go call Jinniang over? After all, Chuxue is still young.”

Old Madam Luo was immediately displeased. “If anyone is to be called, it should be Xue girl herself. Why are you sticking your nose in?”

After being sharply reprimanded, Lin Chunyan could only stand by helplessly.

Whatever the case, she could not show weakness in front of others. Tong Chuxue pretended to examine the drafted agreement carefully.

Old Madam Luo paid her no mind. Ordinary farm families already found it a heavy burden to send their children to school. The Tong family was poor to such an extent that Old Madam Tong had even embezzled her own son’s compensation money just to send her eldest grandson to the village school.

As for Tong Chuxue, being a girl, it was all the more impossible for her to know how to read. She was merely putting on an act.

Inside her head, Tong Chuxue’s thoughts raced furiously, searching for a way to deal with this.

Then a figure suddenly leaned in close. Tong Chuxue tilted her head slightly, and found that it was Luo Huian.