Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 231 Now I feel at ease

Shen Yu turned to ask Li: "Mother, what should we do with Xiao Zhuzi?"

"A three-year-old is very active, and I am a little worried about letting him play alone in the store or in the backyard."

Li said, "I discussed this matter with Sanniang last night."

"Today, when Sister Liu closes her stall, we will go to her and discuss giving her some money every month so that her parents-in-law can help take care of the child at home. We can do that in two years when the child is older."

Only then did Shen Yu feel relieved. He decided to make proper arrangements for Xiao Zhuzi before letting Zheng Sanniang work with him.

After noon, when the market was about to close, Shen Yu was packing up the shop with Jiang and others. Qi Xi came over and handed the three deeds to Shen Yu.

Qixi said, "The young master asked me to tell the young lady that the money has been returned to Master Song. Here is the release deed that Master Song wrote for me."

"The names of both parties on the new contract are filled in. The witness is my young master. As long as Zheng Sanniang puts her handprint, Zheng Sanniang and Xiao Zhuzi will belong to Miss Shen's family from now on."

Although Qixi has a lively personality, he is very serious when it comes to doing things.

He not only brought the deed, but also the ink box for fingerprints.

Qi Xi paused, and then said, "The young master also said that the young lady should not be soft-hearted and must let Zheng Sanniang press her handprints."

"If she doesn't have this deed, she will still have to return to her parents' home, and her life may not be as good as it would be if she stayed at the girl's home."

Shen Yu listened to Zheng Sanniang and Li's explanation yesterday and understood the pros and cons of the matter, so he went to the backyard with Qi Xi.

Zheng Sanniang had almost finished sewing the dress she was making for Yutao and was putting the finishing touches on it.

Seeing Shen Yu explain his intention, Zheng Sanniang did not feel sad about selling herself as a servant. Instead, she pressed her handprint very quickly and said with a smile, "Now I finally feel at ease."

After handing the deed with her handprint back to Shen Yu, Zheng Sanniang bowed solemnly and said, "Sanniang greets the young lady. If you have anything to ask in the future, just let me know."

Shen Yu felt a little uncomfortable seeing that she regarded herself as a servant, but she also knew that this was the best way out for Zheng Sanniang at the moment.

She could only smile and say, "Sister Zheng is still the same as before. We are a family from now on, so there is no need to talk about these empty formalities. You can continue to sew clothes. I still have things to do in the shop."

Sanniang nodded, and Shen Yu came out with the deed and the ink box. He returned the ink box to Qixi and showed Qixi the two deeds with his fingerprints on them.

Qi Xi said with a smile: "That's all right, I can go back and report to the young master."

Shen Yu stopped him and said, "My family will start selling thousand-layer meat pies tomorrow. I will also make new sauce-flavored pies and red bean paste pies. I will save one for you. Come and get it at noon tomorrow and take it back for your young master to try."

When Qi Xi heard that there was something delicious, he quickly responded, "I will definitely come early tomorrow, thank you young lady."

After seeing off 7-Up, we cleaned up the shop and prepared to close.

Zhou Dalang had just put on the last door panel and was about to close the door when he heard Mrs. Liu's voice: "Wait a minute, wait a minute."

Zhou Dalang leaned over to take a look and saw that it was Mrs. Liu who was pushing a small cart with two bulging bundles on it.

Mrs. Liu parked the car in front of the store and said with a smile, "Fortunately, I made it in time. Otherwise, I would have to walk a long way to get to the back door."

Zhou Dalang helped Mrs. Liu carry the bag to the backyard. When Li and the others saw that it was Mrs. Liu who came, they quickly put down their work and went into the house with Mrs. Liu.

Seeing that Mrs. Liu had only come to see Zheng Sanniang and there was nothing important, Shen Yu said hello to Mrs. Liu and went back to work with Zhou Dalang and Jiang.

After about an incense stick of time, Mrs. Liu said goodbye and left.

After seeing off Mrs. Liu, Mrs. Li came over to continue her work. Only then did Shen Yu realize what Mrs. Liu came for.

It turned out that the two large bundles were sent to Mrs. Liu's house by Zheng Sanniang's parents-in-law last night, and they asked her to bring them over to Zheng Sanniang.

Mrs. Liu said that the two elders of the Li family felt ashamed to face their daughter-in-law and grandson.

Knowing that Zheng Sanniang would live with Xiao Zhuzi in the Shen family's restaurant in the future, they felt relieved. It was much better than being sold to a gambling house and then being resold to who knows where.

The bundle contained clothes and bedding for all four seasons for Zheng Sanniang and Xiao Zhuzi, as well as Xiao Zhuzi's silver lock. Mrs. Liu was also asked to bring two taels of silver to Xiao Zhuzi.

The two elders of the Li family prepared to pack up and take Li Changgen back to their hometown in the countryside.

Thinking that the countryside is far away from gambling houses, Li Changgen has no place to gamble, and wonders if he can get back on the right track.

The house here needs to be sold quickly before Li Changgen is sold out.

Li sighed, "Sanniang's parents-in-law are quite decisive. If they can really help Li Changgen quit gambling, returning to the countryside is indeed a solution, but I don't know if it will work."

Shen Yu smiled and said, "Let's not worry about it. What happens to the Li family in the future has nothing to do with us. It's better for them to move away, so that Li Changgen won't come to bother Sister Zheng again when he runs out of money."

Li nodded and said, "Yes, although he has nothing to do with his family, he is Xiao Zhuzi's father after all. It is difficult for him to ignore it."

Shen Yu then asked, "Has mother discussed with Sister Liu about asking her parents-in-law to help take care of Xiao Zhuzi?"

Li then put aside her feelings towards the Li family and said hurriedly, "Yes, as soon as Sister Liu came, Sanniang told her about the contract with our family and that we didn't need to borrow money from her anymore."

"Mrs. Liu thought this was the best way to go, and it was a hundred times better than going back to her parents' home to get married."

"As for Xiao Zhuzi, Mrs. Liu's mother-in-law said yesterday that she would help take care of him. When it was mentioned today, Mrs. Liu agreed on behalf of her mother-in-law."

"From now on, Xiao Zhuzi will be sent to Sister Liu's home every morning, and brought back after dinner in the evening. He will give Sister Liu's parents-in-law 500 coins for their meals every month."

Shen Yu felt very satisfied. In this way, Zheng Sanniang no longer had to worry, and Xiao Zhuzi would have a playmate every day without having to be locked up in the room.

Li smiled and said, "Mrs. Liu didn't want any money at first. She said she was helping her sister take care of her child. If she asked for money, people would laugh at her."

"After Liu's mother-in-law knew that Li Changgen's family was moving away, she no longer objected to Liu's helping Sanniang."

"I must give this money. I think it cannot be saved. After all, they are her parents-in-law. If I don't give them some money, Mrs. Liu will have a hard time in the long run."

Shen Yu nodded: "Mother is right. Although Sister Liu and Sister Zheng are sisters, they can't stand the long-term relationship. It's better to give them some money. The old lady will benefit from it and treat the children better."

After arranging all this, Shen Yu suddenly felt relieved. Finally, everything was resolved and he no longer had to worry.

When the shop assistant delivered the ingredients today, Shen Yu also ordered additional minced meat, pork fat, vegetable oil and some spices.

The most surprising thing was that the clerk in the spice shop said that the store had newly arrived dried dogwood fruit and asked Shen Yu if he wanted to go and take a look.