Oh no! Seven kids at the start, all yellow and skinny.

Chapter 11 Xiajiazhuang

The more joyful it was just now, the quieter it is now.

Sixteen dared not move, trying to shrink herself into a corner of the ruins, afraid that the woman would drag her over and whip her corpse.

Sibao wanted to go and hug it, but Dabao held him back.

Seeing Yunyi's pale face, Sibao didn't dare to insist, and none of the others dared to speak up either.

Previously, people felt more disgust and resentment towards Yunyi, but starting yesterday, perhaps due to her change, people felt less disgust and resentment towards her and more of an indescribable feeling, which made them feel somewhat guilty and apprehensive.

"Sixteen!" Yunyi closed her eyes briefly. Although she had been thinking about building a house, she hadn't expected to do it so late at night.

Sixteen shuddered, but still tentatively poked her head out: "Boss, I really didn't mean it. Don't be angry, women age easily when they get angry."

But Sixteen is a monkey now, and to outsiders, all they see is a little monkey timidly sticking its head out and squeaking twice at Yunyi.

Yunyi bent down and picked up a wooden stick.

Not only did Sixteen tremble, but the rest of the people trembled as well.

"Wah..." Suddenly, Xiao Bao burst into tears in fright.

Da Bao was so frightened that he quickly covered Xiao Bao's mouth.

Xiao Bao was so frightened that he quickly covered Da Bao's hand with his little hand, trying hard to hold back his tears, but ended up hiccuping instead.

"Yunyi, don't be angry. If you want to hit someone, hit me instead, don't hit the children." Xia Songshi took two steps forward. "They are still young."

Sibao ran over and knelt down, his big eyes blinking as he looked at Yunyi. Then he pointed at Sixteen, and then at his own buttocks, as if to say, "Don't hit Sixteen, hit yourself instead."

Everyone's expression changed, and Xia Songshi rushed over and hugged Sibao: "Yunyi, you... hit me."

Yunyi finally sighed: "I didn't mean to hit anyone. Never mind, let's figure out how to solve the accommodation problem first."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Wuya and Sibao, you two go find the village chief and see if there are any vacant houses we can stay in temporarily." Yunyi began assigning tasks. "The rest of you, come with me and dig out our things."

Although Sibao couldn't speak, everything else was fine, so he hurriedly pulled Wuya and ran outside.

"Boss, I'll go protect them." Sixteen gave instructions and then went with the two younger ones.

Yunyi did not stop them; with Sixteen there, she wasn't worried about the two little ones getting into trouble.

Xiajiazhuang has only twelve households in total, two of which are from outside the village.

One household is theirs, and the other household is the home of Dr. Wang Tianshun.

Dr. Wang came to the village early; he bought an abandoned house there.

Xia Songshi and Xia Tianyin arrived in Xiajiazhuang last January with a string of radish heads. It is said that this is the hometown of Xia Tianyin's father, but his branch of the family had gone out to make a living a long time ago.

Tianyin's father also married a woman surnamed Song outside the village. When he was dying, he hoped to return to his roots, so Xia Song brought her son and husband's ashes to Xiajiazhuang.

The elders of Xiajiazhuang knew about Tianyin's father's branch of the family, so they easily accepted them and even included Xia Tianyin in the family genealogy.

However, that branch had been gone for many years and no longer had a homestead, so a piece of land was set aside at their current location to build them simple dwellings.

Although it's simple, at least it can provide shelter from the wind and rain. When I have more money in the future, I can build a new house.

Therefore, the two families are slightly closer together, but the distance between them is still about 20 to 30 meters.

It's even further from other people's houses, about a mile from the village chief's house. It would take the two little ones ten minutes to run there and back.

However, Yunyi had a question: Xia Tianyin was only eighteen years old, while Dabao was already eight. Could it be that he started having children at the age of ten? Even if people in ancient times were precocious, it wouldn't be that early, right?

Therefore, this family should not be related by blood.

Moreover, of the nine people in this family, only Xia Songshi could speak the local dialect; the rest could not. In fact, Xia Dabao's accent even had a hint of Mandarin.

Everyone has secrets, but they don't tell her, and she won't ask them either, since her secret is bigger and more mysterious.

"Sister-in-law, what's wrong?" Everyone was busy at work when Wang Tianshun, who had heard the commotion, ran over with his granddaughter.

"Dr. Wang, the shed has collapsed." Xia Songshi said, her voice trembling with tears. "Tonight, I'm afraid..."

“Grandpa, why don’t we let Da Bao and the others stay at our house for a while?” Wang Qiao’er suddenly spoke up. “We have two side rooms in our house, and they’re just sitting empty anyway.”

“Yes, we can’t just sleep outdoors. Even though it’s summer, there are still snakes and insects around.” Wang Tianshun nodded in agreement.

"Why is this so embarrassing?"

"So what are you going to do? The adults are fine, but what about Xiaobao? And Liubao's health isn't good to begin with..."

"Then thank you very much, Doctor Wang," Yunyi said. "I have some money on hand and will build the house as soon as possible." Or we could buy a house in town, but we need to discuss that with Xia Songshi first.

Moreover, she only had five hundred taels of silver. Although Longxi Prefecture was a remote and relatively desolate area, the prices were not low at all. In fact, compared with the original owner's memories, some things were even more expensive than in the capital.

Take refined rice, for example. Here it costs 1,000 wen, which is one tael of silver per shi (a unit of dry measure), while in the capital it costs only 800 wen. If you buy it at retail, the difference is even greater. Here it costs 12 wen per jin (a unit of weight), while in the capital it is only 8 or 9 wen.

Pork was even more expensive, with fatty pork costing forty coins per pound and lean pork costing thirty coins.

If an adult man does odd jobs, he can earn at most fifty or sixty coins a day. If he encounters a demanding employer, it is common for him to only pay thirty or forty coins. Therefore, a person can only buy one pound of meat after working all day.

This is why meat is rarely seen on the villagers' tables; it's simply too expensive.

Therefore, life is much easier if someone in the family can hunt.

In the past, Xia Yin went into the mountains every day and never came empty-handed. Even without big animals, he always caught wild rabbits and pheasants. He would keep one at home and sell the rest. If he could make a living, he would be able to manage. Later, he even hunted wild boars and saved up enough money to build a house. But as soon as he got into trouble, the original owner of the body squandered it all.

Life has gone back to square one.

The five hundred taels she had sounded like a lot, but she didn't know if it would be enough to settle down in Carp Town. She'd have to ask around next time she went to town.

"Don't be so polite, let's deliver the things first." Wang Tianshun glanced at Yun Yi with surprise, then began to help with Qiao'er.