Chapter 9 Preparation

After a good night's sleep, the mother and daughter woke up and began planning the supplies and itinerary for their journey south.

You have to have a backup plan for everything, after all, it's uncertain whether her father's old friends will be able to buy train tickets at this time.

Food and clothing need to be provided. Money cannot be put in a box as it is easy to be stolen; it must be sewn into the corner of the clothes.

These two gold hairpins on my head can no longer be used; their patterns are too beautiful and too eye-catching. The cloak I brought from the mansion can have another layer sewn on, so it can be used as both a cloak and a blanket.

They sewed small portions of gold and silver into the cloak, and also sewed some into the inside of their daughter's padded jacket. They even put the entire sole of their shoes with Yuan Shikai silver dollars inside, using them as height-increasing insoles.

After a busy day, they sewed and patched up whatever needed mending, sewing the money they had on various corners of the mother and son's coats, clothes, and pants. To make the two of them less conspicuous, they even sewed patches onto their perfectly good clothes, making them look quite tattered.

He Youyou kept six silver dollars in her hand, gave two to her daughter as pocket money, and told her to buy any snacks she wanted. Then she went out.

She planned to visit her father's old friend when it got late in the evening when there weren't many people on the streets. Although she was worried about leaving her daughter home alone, it was already evening, and it was inconvenient to take the little girl out, so she had to lock the door inside and out.

Seeing the keys in her hand, she suddenly remembered that they were about to leave and the house hadn't been sold yet. She needed to make a plan and see if that uncle could help her sell the house.

The money for the house was used to buy train tickets. The money she had originally set aside for train tickets could now be used as travel expenses for her and her daughter.

Pingcheng has textile factories, power plants, thermos flask factories, soap factories, battery factories, and meat processing plants. Most of these originally belonged to the Qu family, but during the war, Old Master Qu, Qu Weiwei's grandfather, wisely handed them all over to the state.

The Qu family held the title of the richest family in Pingcheng City since the time of the Qu family patriarch, who wisely paved the way for his son's future before passing away.

Who knew that his son would not follow the path he had paved for him, but instead would spend his days marrying concubines, patronizing actresses, and indulging in a life of debauchery.

The old master had only been gone for a few years, and this spendthrift son had already squandered most of the Qu family's wealth. Now, upon hearing that liberation was imminent, he was preparing to abandon his ancestors and flee abroad with his family.

But man proposes, God disposes. His carefully laid plans were ruined by his aunt and the housekeeper. When he saw his house burning down, he turned around and ran away without hesitation.

Within two days, he found a way to get himself a ticket to go abroad. He took the things he had taken with him before, abandoned his wife and children, and boarded the ship to leave the country.

This guy is definitely a spineless scumbag, but he happens to have a handsome face. The first wife fell for his face back then and married him against her family's wishes.

In their Pingcheng, the class divisions were still the same as in ancient times: scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants. Merchants were at the very bottom of the class. So even though the Qu family was already the richest family in Pingcheng, the Zhang family still looked down on these merchant families.

If it weren't for Zhang Sumei's attraction to his face and her insistence on marrying him, the Qu family, no matter how wealthy, would never have reached that level.

Zhang Sumei was attracted to his face, but he particularly disliked her, always saying she was ugly. However, no matter how ugly she was, she was still a member of the Zhang family.

You have to understand that the Zhang family are the city lords of Pingcheng, which is equivalent to the current provincial governor. There are plenty of people who want to curry favor with them, and the Qu family is no exception. However, the Qu family is the richest.

Of course, marrying a daughter from the Zhang family would mean receiving a considerable amount of annual tribute, given that they were, after all, the richest family in Pingcheng.

Now that liberation is imminent, the head of the Zhang family has been sent to the countryside, and the Zhang family has lost power in Pingcheng. They have also been targeted and suppressed by their political enemies.

While modifying the documents, Zhang Sumei also planned to change the information of her two nephews and take them away. However, when she discovered this, the Zhang family had already disappeared. Of course, they had secretly taken a lot of the Zhang family's property. They dared not take the property openly, since it had already been seen by others and would be easily recognized if taken away.

Their family was suppressed, and the descendants of both families would definitely be implicated, so they dared not stay in Pingcheng any longer.

Qu Weiwei was overjoyed when she heard that the Zhang family had been implicated and brought down. The First Madam always put on airs in the mansion. The little girl was once punished by being forced to kneel in the freezing cold for more than an hour for talking back to her eldest sister. Her little knees were almost ruined.

Such things are quite common. Anyway, those who do wrong are all the illegitimate sons and daughters born to these concubines. They use the indenture to control these concubines and usually take a lot of their filial piety from them.

Before the Fifth Concubine came along, her mother was the most miserable. After all, among the ladies and concubines in the mansion, she was the youngest and also the most beautiful.

The First Madam was always jealous of the concubines who were prettier and younger than her. She would make things difficult for them on a daily basis. After all, her philandering husband would be away for one or two months at a time and sometimes he would forget where his home was. So the First Madam was ruthless when she bullied people.

Qu Weiwei overheard gossip on the street today that the Zhang family had been imprisoned, and she felt a strong urge to go and see them. After all, they had been city lords for so many years and must have amassed a lot of good stuff; she couldn't let them get away with it.

So she planned to sneak off to the Zhang family's house after her mother left. She had already inquired about the Zhang family's address when she returned from dinner. After all, it was the city lord's house, so it must be decorated extravagantly and be magnificent, making it easy to find.

The two most beautiful houses in Pingcheng are the city lord's house and the Qu family's house, the richest family in Pingcheng.

The Qu family's house has now been burned down to ruins, so the most beautiful place is now the Zhang family's mansion.

After her mother left, Qu Weiwei quickly followed her over the wall and climbed out. Because it was evening, there were few pedestrians on the street, and the few who were there were in a hurry and did not pay attention to the little radish head dressed like a beggar.

Qu Weiwei arrived at the most beautiful house in Pingcheng without any trouble. The house was a combination of Chinese and Western styles, with a large courtyard within a smaller courtyard.

Like the Qu family mansion, each lady had her own small courtyard. Of course, those in higher positions received courtyards that were more luxuriously decorated and more spacious.

For example, the principal wife's house is the largest courtyard in the backyard, and its decoration is the most beautiful and luxurious.

After the Zhang family members were pulled off their horses, they were immediately taken away. Because the officer who pulled them off had not yet arrived, no one dared to enter the Zhang family's house or touch their belongings.