A carriage was parked outside of the many years dilapidated Jun Jiuling Hall. Obviously, it was much busier than before.
"What is going on there?" asked a pa.s.serby.
"Hu Gui is picking up the house; someone bought it and wants it renovated," someone answered.
Runan City was not big; everyone knew everything about their neighbors.
But this time, there was a refute.
"No, it’s said that someone from the Jun Family has returned," said one of the employees at a shop facing the street. He leaned against the door and watched the Jiuling Hall.
The people who heard this were all surprised.
"There’s still someone in the Jun Family?"
"Old Doctor Jun died, and wasn’t Lord Jun buried?"
"It’s Miss Jun, Lord Jun’s daughter."
"Aiyo, that young lady. Wasn’t she taken in by her maternal family?"
"After she was taken in she can still come return. She is still a Jun."
"Hurry up, let’s go see."
Not just a few people gathered around the Jiuling Hall. There was even a small child poking his head past the door.
The room was dimly lit. Although it was shabby, it was not messy.
"I am Hu Gui[1]. Niece, you might not know who I am…" The bearded man used his sleeve to wipe a wooden bench. A layer of dust arose and he coughed again.
"I know you," Miss Jun said. Without fuss she directly sat down onto the wooden bench and put the signboard onto the table. A layer of dust rose again. "You sold this house to my family."
He Gui coughed. Wasn’t this young lady a bureaucratic family’s young miss? Not only did she not snoot at the dirt, she even sat down.
"Yes," he confirmed. He saw Lei Zhonglian support Fang Chengyu.
The youth was fourteen, fifteen years old. It was difficult for him to walk with crutches, so he pitied him again.
"Young n.o.ble Son, sit here." He moved over a bench.
"Thank you, Uncle," said Fang Chengyu gently, nodding and bowing.
Lei Zhonglian helped him sit, then stood behind him.
"Miss Jun is right." Hu Gui pulled out his own bench to sit on. "My forebear sold this house to your family. I don’t know if you remember, but when your father came back for Old Master’s funeral, he entrusted it to my care."
At that time Jun Zhenzhen should have been six or seven. Of course she didn’t remember this.
Hu Gui did not wait for Miss Jun to say anything before he smiled and sighed.
"I did not think that Lord Jun would come to such an untimely end," he said. He rubbed the tears in his eyes with his sleeve.
Miss Jun inclined her head to him.
The room was silent for a moment.
"We have inconvenienced Uncle Hu to look after the house. Now that I have married, I can personally look after the house that father and grandfather left behind," she said.
Married?
Hu Gui looked at her with surprise.
Miss Jun was fifteen this year so it was not a strange time, but who did she marry?
He could not help but look at where the youth was seated.
The young man smiled at him.
"Uncle Hu, I am her husband," he said warmly.
No way; she married a lame person.
Hu Gui looked surprise.
And it was this frail looking lame boy who looked even more delicate than a girl.
The Jun Family truly had toppled.
"Niece and Niece"s husband, you should come to my house to rest first. There is nothing here," said Hu Gui, standing up.
Miss Jun remained seated.
"No need, but thank you, Uncle Hu. I need to collect something from here first," she said, pointing at the signboard. "At least, hang this board back up."
When Lei Zhonglian heard her say this, he immediately stood up.
"I am here, Young Lady," he said.
He picked up the signboard while also grabbing a bench to step on.
"Slow down, slow down." Hu Gui had to speak up here. He reached out to step in. "Miss Jun, you do not live in this house."
And finally they reached the main topic.
Miss Jun pulled out the deed from her sleeve.
"I have the house deed," she said.
Hu Gui grunted.
"Miss Jun, I know that the house is your Jun Family"s." He stroked his beard. "But there"s one thing you don"t know."
"What is it?" she asked.
"We sold this house to you, but the land was originally farm land. When the house was built the details were not hashed out, so we sold you the house, but that was just the house deed. The land deed remains in our family," said Hu Gui. "So as a result, the house is yours, but the land..."
He pointed at himself.
"Is mine."
So there was actually something else.
Miss Jun frowned.
"So you"re saying that during the purchase of the house, your family cheated," said Fang Chengyu.
Hu Gui smiled and bowed at Fang Chengyu.
"Young n.o.ble Son, I cannot refute this," he said. He smiled bitterly. "But that was something from several lifetimes ago. If you say you want to blame someone, I really do not know who is to blame. Our Hu Family has already split several times. I also don"t know how this happened; I just hold the land deed."
He then bowed to Miss Jun.
"Miss Jun, I am just a common person. I have to take care of the elder generation but also the younger generation. I cannot have such n.o.ble character like those gentlemen and saints. Young Miss was not here so she wouldn’t know, but I have known about the land deed for many years. But Old Master Jun was a man who aided the people, and he opened a benevolent clinic, so I left the deed alone."
At this he sighed in sincerity.
"You see, for the last ten years I did not come to talk about the house with your family. I was thinking of waiting till the house had fallen into disrepair to talk to you about it. Now Old Master is not here and Lord Jun had become a bureaucrat and not a doctor, so the house was abandoned and left to decay for many years. My mother had become ill several times with her advanced age, and my sons and daughters are of the age to be married, my life is not doing so hot either, so I was going to connect with you."
Fang Chengyu smiled.
"Uncle Hu, you tease too much," he said, his young voice clear and bright. "Aren"t you just saying that Old Master Jun was too famous so you didn"t want to provoke him, then Lord jun became an official and you didn"t want to provoke him either,
Having that said to his face made Hu Gui embarra.s.sed.
"See here, you are always going to think this way, and there’s nothing I can do about it," he said. "What can I do? I am also at a loss. You are innocent, but I am too. My ancestors have long since divided up the family. This is a matter of grain, money, could I just throw it away?
"Yes, you couldn’t just toss it," she soothed. "As such, can I just buy the land back?"
His eyes gleamed, but his gaze swept over Fang Chengyu and Lei Zhonglian.
The weak crippled husband, the lifeless and shriveled servant, and the carriage outside spoke of hidden misery.
The Jun Family had always been poor. Where was this money going to come from.
"Miss Jun, actually it is pointless for you to keep the building," said Hu Gui. "It’s right next to the street so it’s not suitable for a residence. It would be better for you to sell it to me, and find a nicer courtyard in the city—"
She shook her head go interrupt him.
"I do have a use for this building," she declared. "Again, this was left to me by my grandfather; the inheritance cannot be broken. How much will you sell this land for? Do not be reserved with opening a price,"
Hu Gui scratched his beard again. "Miss Jun, it’s not that I won’t quote a price," he said with narrowed eyes. "I have already sold this land. I am no longer the owner."
[1] Hu can mean beard.