However, everyone understood the situation and didn’t ask any idle questions.
He said, "It’s easy to handle the house and land deeds. I can do that right away. I’ll keep a record of these documents and register them at the yamen later. But I can’t process the household registration for now. That has to be taken to the county and get stamped by the Lord County Magistrate."
"Then please help us with the house and land deeds first, Uncle Liu. We’ll trouble you with the household registration later," said Ye Zi’an.
Broker Liu waved his hand and said, "Don’t worry about it. I go to the county office every day, anyway. I’ll have to go there tomorrow, so you can come pick up your papers the day after."
"Ah, thank you so much, Uncle Liu."
"No need to thank me. It’s just part of my job."
As they were talking, the servant brought Yang Dachuan over. When Broker Liu saw him, they exchanged greetings.
Afterward, the people from the broker’s office brought their purchases over, and Yang Chuxia’s group bid farewell to Broker Liu.
When they got back to their shop, Yang Chuxia let the servants stay there while she, Yang Dachuan, and Ye Zi’an went to buy bedding, clothing, and other necessities.
They didn’t return to their village until the afternoon, having hired a cart to take them back.
In the past few days, villagers heard rumors that Yang Chuxia’s family had bought some servants, but they didn’t fully believe it until they saw them on the cart, along with Yang Chuxia, Yang Dachuan, and Ye Zi’an.
Seeing this, they couldn’t help but feel envious. In the past, they knew the family was doing well in business, and they had bought land, carts, and houses. But they still seemed like ordinary villagers.
Now, with servants, their status had seemingly improved overnight.
Moreover, there were no other families in the village that had servants. So, when the oxcart reached the third branch of the family, many villagers followed them to watch the commotion. Even Ms. Luo, Ms. Liu, Yang Xiaochuan, and Yang Da’an came running over.
Land Officer Yang, who had heard the news earlier, came over as well. He seized the opportunity to tell villagers that there were several new people in the village. Although everyone was not familiar with them yet, and they didn’t have a good hukou (household registration), villagers shouldn’t treat them poorly.
The last sentence was added by Yang Chuxia.
Yang Chuxia’s intention was clear: even if they were servants, they were still her family’s servants, not the whole village’s. She didn’t want others to rally against her servants or create trouble for them.
"Brother- and sister-in-law, your family is living quite lavishly now, even having servants. Our father’s life would be much better here in the third branch, with people taking care of him." Ms. Luo looked quite envious, but she wanted Old Yang to stay put in the third branch home.
Yang Xiaochuan chimed in, "My wife is right. I’ll pack up our father’s belongings later and bring them here. The rooms are spacious, and the food is better. It’s perfect for Old Master to enjoy his retirement."
Ms. Luo’s calculating thoughts were transparent, but Yang Chuxia knew what she was plotting.
However, her words made Old Yang uncomfortable. He had lived with the third branch for a few days, and he knew the difference in treatment between the two branches all too well. The contrast was stark.
But, ultimately, he was supposed to live with the fourth branch since the property was divided amongst them. Therefore, his daily needs had to be met by the fourth branch. The expenses for his medical care and other things were shared by all branches, and they exchanged gifts during festivals.
With that in mind, Old Yang planned to return to the fourth branch in a few days. Upon hearing Ms. Luo’s words, his face darkened.