A ragged cub at the beginning

"Why don't you accept it?" Tang Ling asked.

"His children are difficult to take care of, and I don't want you to be too tired." Tang Xu said.

"His child is a good kid, but he just can't stop. In the past, when he saw me carrying a lot of things, he would help me carry them." Yu Xiaotao sighed, "Mrs. Qi's family is also suffering. Her husband is a bodyguard in town. He earns a lot, but he is never at home. His parents are not in good health, and Mrs. Qi is the only one who has no time to take care of the child. The child used to follow Jiang Xiaobei everywhere to make trouble. Mrs. Qi beat him so hard that he couldn't get out of bed for several days. The crying could be heard throughout the street. Later, he didn't dare to play with Jiang Xiaobei. But the child is so young, how can he not cause trouble. Mrs. Qi doesn't have the energy and patience to discipline him. She beats him when he makes a mistake. The child is also pitiful."

Tang Ling didn't say anything and continued to go to class.

Tang Xu frowned and decided to go to the dental clinic to start looking for a house tomorrow.

The next morning, Tang Xu went out with Tang Qing's jogging team. The neighbors heard the noise and opened their doors, and the sleepy children were pushed out.

"Hurry, catch up!"

"You are not allowed to come back until you finish running!"

"Follow the scholars and get some scholarly air."

"Run fast, or I'll beat you up if you're lazy!"

The parents "encouraged" Tang Xu in their own way and greeted him again.

The running team suddenly became much longer. The first few were full of energy, while the last few were half dead. Tang Yao followed at the end, yawning.

Tang Xu smiled secretly, and when they were almost at the entrance of the alley, Jiang Xiaodong led Jiang Xiaonan out stealthily. The redness and swelling of the slap marks on his face faded, but the bruises were still there, and the purple bruises were scary.

"Aunt Xu, I want to run too." Jiang Xiaodong said.

"Go ahead. If you can't run anymore, take a break. Don't push yourself too hard." Tang Xu replied.

"Got it!" Jiang Xiaodong pulled his sister to follow. Wang Yan came out holding her waist and scolded, "Little bastard! Is the meal ready? You just run outside all day long! You waited for me, okay! You ungrateful bastard! You little beast!"

Tang Xu looked at her coldly. Wang Yan turned around and rolled her eyes with a mocking smile on her face. "Hey, isn't this Boss Tang? If you love taking care of children so much, you should have ten or eight. Why do you always pick up other people's children to take care of?"

"You didn't pick up other people's children, but it's easy to beat them. People say that stepmothers are the most vicious. I didn't believe it at first. How cruel could they be? After all, it's just a child. Now I know. It's best to beat it to death. If you can't kill it, it will have to work like a cow or a horse for you." Tang Xu sneered, "If this child is gone one day, it means you beat him to death. I will report it to the police."

The words "report to the police" frightened Wang Yan, but she was not the kind of person who would admit defeat. Besides, she had never heard of anyone being thrown into jail for beating their children. She put her hands on her hips and said, "You can't control the world, and you can't control people beating children! My child! Who dares to do anything if you beat him to death! But you, you lead a bunch of children all day long, who knows what you are thinking."

"Well, I don't hit children anyway. If someone's child gets beaten for no reason and gets hurt, it might be you who did it. I heard that people who like to take their anger out on children are mentally ill, so everyone should be careful next time." Tang Xu said and left.

"What are you talking about! You're the one with a problem in your brain! I'm fine! Why don't I take it out on my own child!" Wang Yan was so angry that she realized she had said the wrong thing after she finished speaking. The neighbors who were watching the fun looked at her with contempt. Someone even spat at her. She was so angry that she was about to scold the person who spat, but the person closed the door and ignored her.

"You can't hit a child if he's not your own. Ugh, you're worse than an animal."

"If I don't beat him every day, I'll see injuries on his body every day."

"She has a vicious heart. Sooner or later, the child will die in her hands."

"Bah, not a human being."

"If you dare to touch my child, I will beat you to death!"

"That's right. How can I be a neighbor of such a person? It's unlucky for my whole life."

Others also started to scold her and then closed the door. Wang Yan was so angry that her chest rose and fell violently and she almost couldn't breathe.

At the dental clinic, Li Guiping greeted Tang Xu warmly as soon as he saw her. "You are a distinguished guest. What would you like to see this time, Miss Tang?"

"I want a yard. I don't care if it can be lived in. But it has to be big and not too remote." Tang Xu stated his requirements directly as usual.

"No one lives there? You want a dilapidated one?" Li Guiping asked.

"Yes, it should be big, not too busy, and not too remote," Tang Xu emphasized.

Li Guiping looked through it and said hesitantly, "There really is such a place. It's big, but it's too big to be sold. It's not that remote either. It's the residence of a corrupt official. That man..." He turned around and glanced at the others, whispering, "That man's wife hanged herself in the yard. I heard it's haunted."

Tang Xu raised his eyebrows. Haunted? I'm afraid someone is playing tricks on me. Maybe a homeless person has moved in, or there are small animals like stray cats and dogs. "Let's go and take a look."

Li Guiping drove over anyway. The yard was indeed dilapidated. Most of the wall had collapsed, and the weeds were overgrown inside, almost as tall as a person. There were ruins everywhere, and one could easily fall if not careful. But it was really big, and maybe it could be used to build a playground for the children? "How much does it cost?"

"No bargaining price, one thousand two hundred taels." Li Guiping said.

Tang Xu calculated it, it was so cheap? But she couldn't afford it. The odds and ends she had in her hand added up to less than a thousand taels. She didn't show it on her face, looked around and said, "It's just a piece of land, but it costs one thousand two hundred. Someone died there, and it's haunted. We are acquaintances, do you want to think about it again?"

Li Guiping said with a bitter face, "Auntie, this is a bargain for such a large area. There is no place cheaper than this in the whole town."

"But if this place is to be used, it will all have to be demolished and rebuilt, which is not cheap. I'm not a wealthy family. Look at my small shop, the business is getting worse and worse, otherwise I wouldn't have found another way out, right?" Tang Xu began to play the victim, "Look at this place, even a dog passing by would shake his head."

Li Guiping smiled helplessly, "This is a government property. If it hadn't been abandoned for so long that it couldn't be sold, you wouldn't be able to get this price."

"But you have to be able to afford it, right? Why don't you go back and ask? A hundred or two hundred less is not too much, and a few dozen taels is not too little." Tang Xu thought this place was good. It was at the junction of the east and south of the city, and there were residential houses everywhere, but it was too troublesome to clean up.

Li Guiping frowned, looked at Tang Xu several times, gritted his teeth and said, "Then I'll go back and ask. I can't make the decision on this place."

"Well, if it can be less, I'll give you a commission. If it's one hundred less, I'll give you ten taels. If it's ten taels less, I'll give you one tael. How about that?" Tang Xu glanced at him sideways. She didn't believe that this price couldn't be negotiated!

"Auntie, you really want to kill me." Li Guiping cried, then gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, "I did it, wait for my good news."

"Okay." Tang Xu turned around and smiled, "That's it for now. If I can finish the story, I'll have to find someone to clean up."

"Okay, I'll take you back." Li Guiping couldn't hold back his excitement. If the deal was successful, the brokerage would give him a reward, but the big part would depend on his final price. This place has been around for more than 20 years, and those who have money think it's unlucky, while those who don't mind it can't afford it. Maybe the price can be reduced.

Tang Xu did not return to the shop, but went straight home to continue painting the Yang family's selection of concubines. This order should be a little more, and considering the Yang family's eagerness to show the world how rich they are, I believe they will not cut corners for the sake of face.

Just after arriving home and sitting for a while, the children came back from running. They were all sweating. Tang Ling did not let them sit down, but gave each of them a small cup of water and asked them to walk slowly in the yard.

Tang Xu stretched her neck to look for a while, then continued to paint. The day passed quickly, and she didn't finish her work until midnight. She stretched and kissed July Piglet on the face.

The Yang family was still received by Wu Xigou, who brought the man to his wife, who was very satisfied. Tang Xu directly offered a price of 180 taels, and because the Yang family urged her to hurry, she stayed up late to finish the painting and did not care about the shop.

Mrs. Yang didn't care too much. These jobs for scholars were all expensive, so she not only paid the price, but also asked the butler Wu to add five taels of silver as a reward.

Wu Xigou wanted to say something, but Tang Xu looked at him with a half-smile, and he immediately shut up. Forget it, he didn't pay for the money.

With an extra sum of money, Tang Xu returned to the shop happily.

"Miss Xu, Wang Chun sent something." Qi Qing said.

"Who?" Tang Xu couldn't remember for a moment.

"It's the one whose husband is in the army. She has a little girl and was treated badly by her mother-in-law. The girl gave her some advice. She got the money back and brought some things with her daughter today. But the girl is not here." Qi Qing glanced at Tang Xu and said from the bottom of his heart: "The girl is really a kind person."

"Haha, not really, mainly because I have nothing to do." Tang Xu took a look and saw two pieces of cloth. One piece was green and the other was yellow. She could wear the green one and make clothes in July. Ordinary people would give snacks and meat as gifts, but Wang Chun probably saw that her family made snacks last time and didn't buy these, which was thoughtful. Dong Wanwan must have no time to make clothes, so she should ask Aunt Wang for help and make two new sets of clothes for the New Year.

The Little New Year has passed and there are only a few days left.

She looked outside and saw that there were more people on the street these days, all carrying large and small bags. "Let's start buying New Year's goods now. I'll give you two taels of silver. You can use it to buy some cloth from Wang Hong and the others to make new clothes in preparation for the New Year."

"No, no, no." Qi Qing quickly refused, "Miss, you have helped a lot. Now we all have wages, and we have money to buy whatever we want." She smiled, with confidence and ease on her face, "We can also support ourselves, and we don't have to look at anyone's face. It's a great blessing."

Tang Xu smiled, "Who would complain about having too much silver? Just listen to me and take it."

Qi Qing looked at the silver that was forced into his hand and smiled, but a tear slipped across the corner of his eye.

Tang Xu didn't see it, she was carrying cloth to Zhou's cloth shop. There were two big baskets on the counter, with a lot of dolls crowded inside, and a few little girls were looking at them eagerly.

Aunt Wang was cheerful and didn't rush or chase anyone away. When she saw Tang Xu coming in, she immediately came forward to greet him warmly, "Xiao Xu, how come you have time to come here?"

"Someone sent me some cloth, and now it's the New Year, I would like to ask you to help make clothes." Tang Xu said with a smile.

"Let me see, the color is nice. The person who gave it to you is nice. You can wear it." Aunt Wang took a look and said, "The material is good too."

"My sister and I each have one set. You know Qiyueyun and Zijun. We made one set for each of the three children. There is also a half-grown boy, about this tall and thin." Tang Xu gestured, "If there is not enough fabric, I will make up for it in your store and we will pay for it together when the time comes."

"Okay, I've seen that young man too. Is he the one who ran away with a bunch of kids from your house that morning?" Aunt Wang said.

"It's him. My sister is a little taller than me, and we have similar body shapes, but she likes to be active, so please help me pick out the style. Children also like to be active, so we need to be able to move around as much as possible." Tang Xu said, "We also need to match the shoes, can they be ready before the New Year?"

Aunt Wang hesitated, because the Chinese New Year was only a few days away and there was other work to do in the shop.

"We can do it." Boss Zhou came out at some point, "We can do it. Just wait."

Aunt Wang glanced at him and smiled and said that she could do it.

Tang Xu achieved her goal and didn't say much, as she still had a lot of things to do.

"How can you catch up? You just agreed to it." Aunt Wang complained.

"Hurry up, she's helped so much, can't you do this little thing?" Boss Zhou took the cloth and said, "Do it for her first."

Tang Xu went home to put away the banknotes, and then went to the Sansi Embroidery Tower.

"Hey, isn't this Boss Tang? Are you thinking of my little Three Silk Embroidery Building?" Shopkeeper Qin greeted him in a sarcastic tone.

"Hello, Sister Qin. Have you eaten yet?" Tang Xu said with a smile, "I brought you something."

"Stop talking nonsense and show them to me." Qin Wen flipped through the pictures one by one. They were all common flowers in spring. She liked the picture of forsythia the most. On the forsythia branch, there was a magpie with its head tilted, which was playful and cute. "Not bad, you didn't give me a perfunctory answer."

"I dare not. Sister Qin is my big client." Tang Xu smiled and asked about the two girls before.

"They are fine. They are obedient and honest. Everyone likes them." Qin Wen said, "Do you want to go and see them?"

"No need, as long as I live well, thank you Sister Qin for taking care of me." Tang Xu thanked sincerely.

Qin Wen waved her hand, "They are doing it on their own, I didn't take care of them, would you like a cup of tea?"

Tang Xu saw that she was tough on the outside but soft on the inside. Although he wanted to accompany her for a cup of tea, he had to go to the carpenter's shop soon. "No, there are many things to do during the New Year. I'll come and chat with my sister next time."

"I know you're busy. Take the money and leave." Qin Wen stuffed two banknotes over and leaned back in the chair.

Tang Xu saw two 100-liang silver notes and said hurriedly, "Sister Qin, why are there so many?"

"I'm giving you money to celebrate the New Year. Are you short of money again?" Qin Wen looked as if she could see through her.

Tang Xu was shocked, "How did you know?"

"I guessed that you are short of money every time you come here." Qin Wen waved her hand, "Okay, okay, let's go."

Tang Xu held the banknotes in her hand, her eyes a little sore, she blinked hard, "Sister Qin, do you have any children? I'm going to open a kindergarten, and I can send children aged 4-8 to learn some simple literacy and basic martial arts."

"Is the business going to my head? I haven't. My brother has two kids of your age at home, and they're very naughty." Qin Wen said, "Wait until you open the business and ask me to go take a look."

"Okay, you will definitely be willing to send it over when the time comes! You must bring the child with you!" Tang Xu said confidently.

"Tsk, then I'll wait and see." Qin Wen said with a smile.

Tang Xu turned to the carpenter and took out a bunch of drawings. "Can this be done?"

“So many? Do you want it to be so big?” the carpenter boss asked in shock.

"Yes, they are all for children. Please be careful and make sure there are no splinters." Tang Xu said.

The boss looked insulted and said, "If you find even a tiny bit of wood, you can smash my shop! I won't say a word."

Tang Xu heard the slapping sound of his chest. Was he really not in pain? "How long will this construction take?"

The boss flipped through the drawings and roughly calculated the time. "At least three months. That's too much."

"Okay, thank you for your trouble. How much is the deposit?" Tang Xu asked.

"Just give me five taels, we're an acquaintance," said the boss.

"Okay, thank you for your hard work. I'm leaving now."

Tang Xu came out of the carpenter's shop and went to the braised meat shop. He asked Fang Yuanqin about the craftsman he met last time and learned that he had not received any work recently. "Then please help me find him, brother-in-law. I have a big job for him."

"Big job? Great." Fang Yuanqin agreed happily, happy for his old friend.