After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 736 Good people will fight to the end

The broker and the middle-aged agent directly left the Li mother and daughter in the Hai family.

They had no luggage. Apart from the clothes they were wearing, they had nothing with them. All the clothes and utensils they had brought from the capital to Chang'an were confiscated by Li's husband, and they must have been pawned and sold now, right?
When Ma learned of their predicament, she could only sigh: "It shows that one must be cautious when choosing a son-in-law. If she finds an unreliable one, not only will her daughter's life be ruined, but she will also lose her ancestral property and descendants!"

She told Aunt Cui to take the people downstairs to wash and change into clean clothes, so as not to bring in any dirty things from the dental shop. As for what kind of work they would do after they were bought in, she was a little hesitant: "I'll ask them carefully later to see what they can do. They come from good families and originally had servants at home. I'm afraid they don't know how to serve others."

Haitang smiled and said, "What's the big deal? Ask them if they can do needlework and if they are good at it. If they are good at it, just let them go to the needlework room. It's convenient and quiet. The needlework in our family now depends entirely on Ma Changnian's wife, and it's too tiring."

"I didn't ask Changnian's wife to make clothes for the whole family alone. Isn't there her mother-in-law? I asked outsiders to make clothes for the servants." Ma said, "The mother and daughter of the Li family have just arrived, so they should learn the rules with the Qiu family first, and then we can see about the others. If they are all suitable people, I will arrange them. But I think the girl of the Li family is grateful. When she heard you persuade me to buy them, she kowtowed to you. If there is nothing wrong with her, I will let her serve you. Even if she can't stay at home for a long time, it's good to accompany you for two years. You live in the backyard on weekdays, and only Shi Liu is with you at night. You don't feel scared. You are really brave. But I am worried. I have to arrange two more people."

Haitang smiled and said, "The wall is so high, and there are familiar neighbors around, and outsiders can't get in. What do I have to be afraid of? It's enough for me to have Shi Liu stay in the room with me at night. If there are more people, I'm afraid someone will snore and keep me awake!"

"I won't put a snorer in your room!" Ma disagreed, "I can't do it without arranging someone. What if the wall is high? Didn't those thugs sent by the Sun family climb over the wall and run into your house to kidnap people that year? That was in broad daylight! Chang'an City is different now. Swindlers and profiteers have emerged, and there may be a few bandits with bad intentions on the street. You are a girl, and it is not too much for your family to take good care of you. Shi Liu is a little girl, she is not very smart, and I am afraid she sleeps more deeply than you at night. How can we rely on her alone? Even if there is another girl Li, I still think it is not enough!"

She thought for a moment and said, "Let's ask them to live together in the backyard. The sewing room is empty and the space is spacious." As for whether Ma Changnian's wife in the sewing room would have any objections, she didn't care. Anyway, Ma Changnian's wife didn't live in the sewing room. She lived in the servants' room in the front yard with her husband and parents-in-law.

Haitang was not happy to have a new neighbor in the backyard, but she thought that there was not much space in her house. With the addition of six people, the servants' house in the front yard could no longer accommodate them. There was no reason to leave the empty house in the backyard. Moreover, if Li moved into the sewing room in the backyard, her daughter would be more likely to move in with her. It was also a good thing that Haitang could have one less person in her house. Now that Shiliu was here, she actually felt it was very inconvenient.

With this in mind, Haitang did not object to her grandmother's decision. She even asked curiously, "This Li family's surname is Li, right? What's her daughter's name? Is she also surnamed Li? Didn't they say that her husband changed his mind after her parents died and refused to be a live-in son-in-law? Why does her daughter still follow her mother's surname, Li?"

Ma was also curious. When the mother and daughter of the Li family washed and changed into clean clothes and came to kowtow, she asked this question.

Upon hearing this, Li couldn't help crying again: "To answer your question, Madam, Xiangcao originally had her father's surname. But now her father doesn't want us mother and daughter anymore, and he is cruel enough to sell us off, not caring about our life or death. Since he is so heartless and ungrateful, we can't blame him for not acknowledging her. We made up our mind at the pawnshop, and Xiangcao will take my surname Li from now on. As for her father, we will just treat him as if he is dead!"

She was originally looking for a son-in-law, and her children should have taken her surname Li. It was only because her husband changed his mind that she reluctantly let her children take their father's surname. Now that the relationship between him and his wife has ended, she no longer needs to look at her husband's face. As long as the master family has no objection, she will restore her daughter's original surname.

Ma, the head of the family, had no objection at all. Instead, she thought she had been weak for too long: "If you could have stood up earlier, why would you have fallen to the point where you are today?! So what if he is a man? You are the flesh and blood of the Li family. Neighbors and relatives are all people you are familiar with. At worst, you still have money and can hire useful helpers! You didn't have any children at the time. If you had been cruel enough, you could have kicked him out and found another husband, and you wouldn't have let that bastard squander the ancestral property!" Li thought of the situation when she had just lost her parents. She was so sad that she couldn't care about anything else, and naturally she didn't have the mind to fight with others. She thought that her late father had chosen a husband for her, and whether he came to marry or married down, she would just live with him... Madam was right, she was too weak, so she made one mistake after another and lost everything. Now she has caused her daughter to suffer with her, and her son is with that man, and she doesn't know how he is doing...

As Li thought about it, tears kept falling: "It's my fault... It's all my fault..."

Ma was bored when she saw her crying endlessly, but she also knew that it would be difficult for a weak-tempered person to change in a short time. Besides, now that Li's mother and daughter were out of danger, although they became servants in other people's homes, they were no longer at risk of falling into prostitution. Even if Li had cheered up a little, she was now relaxed, so she really couldn't expect too much.

Ma turned around and asked Li Xiangcao: "Your name is Xiangcao? How old are you this year?"

Li Xiangcao was much calmer than her mother. She bowed her head and answered honestly, "Madam, Xiangcao is fifteen years old this year, and her birthday is in July."

Ma looked at Haitang: "He is one year younger than you, but he is quite tall."

Haitang smiled and asked Li Xiangcao: "Where is your brother now? How old is he this year?"

Li suddenly raised her head and looked over with tears in her eyes. Li Xiangcao blinked and answered carefully: "My brother is eleven years old this year and now lives with my father. But my mother and I have been away from home for a few days. I don't know if my father and brother have left their original residence..."

Li's heart tightened, remembering that the lease of the small courtyard she rented was about to expire. She had finally waited for her husband to come home, and told him that the landlord was here to collect the rent. He suddenly got angry and ran out of the house. Not long after, he brought the traffickers to the house... If her husband thought the small courtyard was too big and the rent was too high, the father and son would not need to live in such a spacious place, and it was possible that they could just return the house and find another place to live! But in this case, where would she go to find her son's whereabouts? Could it be that she was going to be separated from her son? !

Li's face turned pale, and she heard Haitang say to Ma, "We should just be good people and send someone to find out where her kid is now. What if Xiangcao's father is a bad man and owes gambling debts, and sells his son impulsively? Besides, even if he doesn't sell his son, how can an eleven-year-old child live a good life alone at home? Why not hire someone to work at home, and let his mother keep the wages. The three of them, mother and son, can take care of each other, and little Shitou can have another playmate of the same age!"

Ma was moved by what she heard, while Li and her daughter were surprised and happy, and kowtowed to Haitang again.

(End of this chapter)