CHAPTER 251: CHAPTER 250: HE PROBABLY HAS SOME MONEY IN HIS HAND

Sun Siye and his wife, arranged by Yu Changhe, were placed in the main courtyard’s side room; Sun Wuye was staying next door to them.

As for the others, all the men of the family crowded into one room. In these rooms, Yu Changhe and Sun Fengshou had prepared a super large wooden bed in advance, which could sleep four or five people without issue.

The women also slept two or three to a room, all staying with their mothers and sisters.

Although the rooms had been arranged, it was still early, not yet dark, and everyone had matters on their minds, so no one could sleep.

After arranging rooms for the Sun family, Yu Changhe walked through the courtyard and noticed the bound Sun Manyu was missing, but he didn’t pay much attention.

He was anxious to find his wife to discuss matters; in truth, he was reluctant to handle these Sun family people, and only agreed to take them in out of respect for his wife and mother-in-law.

He thought he would help them once and be done with it, but now it seemed that it wouldn’t be so simple; it was unlikely he’d shake off the Sun family anytime soon!

His head ached!

When Yu Changhe lifted the curtain and entered the room, he found Sun Shi and Old Madam Sun murmuring together about settling the Sun family’s registration.

Old Madam Sun was very supportive of Yu Xiaolian’s initial method, suggesting that the Sun family sign an indenture contract to work for them, and once they earned enough money to buy a house and land, they could then regain their freedom.

Sun Shi had just heard back from Madam Gao, knowing that those women of the Sun family privately gossiped about her household, saying they had money but were unwilling to pay the registration fees for these people.

Sun Shi was furious, thinking, even if I did have money, it’s mine; what does it have to do with you? Why should I give it to you for free? What did you ever give us?

Had it just been her fifth uncle’s family, it would have been easier; they had only fourteen people in total, including adults and children. She’d handle the registration for them, but put the two families together, and it was forty-nine people, which meant over two hundred taels.

Another thing, back then, her fourth uncle and her parents were as good as strangers, merely exchanging a few words when they met.

Zhao, the father of Sun Siye’s wife, only had one daughter, so Sun Siye actually married into the family. However, Zhao’s parents died early, and after their deaths, Sun Siye changed all the children’s surnames from Zhao to Sun.

What Sun Siye did was quite unscrupulous, as on his deathbed, his father-in-law had given him a lifetime’s savings including a small brewery and a secret brewing recipe, hoping Sun Siye would at least keep the Zhao family line going.

Sun Siye relied on the small brewery left by his father-in-law in town, along with the Zhao family’s ancestral brewing recipe, to live quite well. Proud of being better off than his brothers, he rarely associated with them, especially those who mocked him for marrying into the family, whom he ignored altogether.

The small brewery supported multiple generations comfortably enough, but now Sun Siye had a great-grandson, and life became tight. With no money to marry off his sons, he sold the town’s small brewery and opened a small distillery in the village, supporting four generations of the Sun family.

Once his sons were all settled, Sun Siye considered splitting the household and living with his youngest son, Sun Wulin, but his four other sons disagreed. Wherever their father lived would mean the distillery and the secret recipe would go, representing wealth everyone wanted.

Unable to fairly distribute the family estate, his sons stood their ground. Now that his father’s beloved youngest son had been sent to the army, his four sons once again found hope.

Old Madam Sun said, "Your fourth uncle may seem confident because he likely has some money; he won’t bring it out until necessary.

And holding that secret recipe, which is probably worth a lot."

Sun Shi, holding Yu Ziqian in her arms, teased her son while sighing, "Mother, to be honest, I somewhat regret letting Lian’er go to bring them here; now... alas, they’re here, and it’s too late for regrets."

Yu Changhe took his son from Sun Shi’s arms with a smile, "Don’t worry too much; our daughter just went to ask Su the Scholar to help us think of a plan. He’s got a sharp mind, much better than ours by a mile."

"Then let’s wait; Lian’er should be back soon, right?"

Yu Changhe nodded, "Yes, she should come."

Seeing Yu Ziqian fussing about sleeping, Yu Changhe rocked the child gently and asked his mother-in-law, "Mother, do you think my fourth uncle intends to use that recipe to start over?"

Old Madam Sun said slowly, "I’m not sure; maybe you should ask him directly?"

Yu Changhe replied, "No rush, let’s wait for Lian’er to come and hear her thoughts first."

Sun Shi looked at her daughter sleeping soundly and then at her little boy, who was being difficult, saying, "Qian’er is not as easygoing as Xuan’er."

Yu Zixuan didn’t need much coaxing; she’d eat, then sleep, wake up, and eat again.

But Yu Ziqian wasn’t like that; he fussed even after eating, and fussed after waking up, always needing to be held. It was hard to get him to sleep, and as soon as laid down, he’d cry, a typical fussy child.

Yu Xiaolian had Su Jingchen brought to the pavilion in the second courtyard by Little Tiger.

This second courtyard was unoccupied and peaceful.

Yu Xiaolian shared her troubles, and Su Jingchen, after a moment’s silence, said, "I am a Scholar and a top candidate, so I can register with the yellow registration in Luocheng.

The law states that those with yellow registration can get white registration for their relatives who come to rely on them, free of charge."

Yu Xiaolian tilted her head, "So?"

Su Jingchen raised an eyebrow and clarified, "I can tell the government they’re my distant relatives."

Yu Xiaolian frowned, "But... won’t that affect your future exams? If anyone in the Sun family reports favoritism, it might impact your career."

Su Jingchen stepped forward with a mischievous grin, "That’s simple. We can just get engaged."

When Yu Xiaolian left the pavilion, her mind was spinning.

To get the Sun family registered, she almost had to sacrifice herself. Was it easy for her? No way!

Forget about troubling Su Jingchen; she could handle this. Stay calm and believe in herself; she could manage.

As Yu Xiaolian was about to go to her mother’s room, she saw Sun Siye’s wife and Sun Dalin’s wife sneakily passing through the crescent moon gate to the screen under the corridor.

Yu Xiaolian followed without thinking.

As Yu Xiaolian reached the moon gate, she overheard Sun Dalin’s wife saying to Sun Siye’s wife Zhao, "Mother, the thing I mentioned before, you need to discuss it with my aunt and Sun Shi. We can’t come forward ourselves."

Sun Siye’s wife’s voice was hesitant, "This... I’m embarrassed to ask; it’s not like they owe us anything, so why should we get registration for their family?"

Sun Dalin’s wife urged, "Why? Because we’re Sun Chunfang’s maternal family.

Mother, don’t be deceived by Sun Chunfang’s good life; she might be suffering in private.

If Sun Chunfang had a say, getting us white registration would just be a matter of a word.

Yu Changhe has a hold on Sun Chunfang and wants to control us too. We can’t agree to this; becoming their servants would leave us without any chance to turn our fate."

Zhao lamented, "She’s not in control; I’ve seen that. When Manyu was thrown out by her daughter, she didn’t even dare to utter a word.

In our family, the girl would’ve been slapped.

Since she’s not in charge, is there any point in telling her?"

Sun Dalin’s wife replied, "Oh, how can it be pointless? Even if a husband is strict at home, he can’t resist his wife stirring up trouble. If Sun Chunfang whispers into Yu Changhe’s ear for a few days, he surely won’t be able to take it.

Mother, trust me, go find them tomorrow. This plan will surely work."