Zhao Yingzi failed to swindle any money and was even pointed at and berated, leaving in a furious rage.
Returning to the two cramped, narrow rooms they rented, she saw her mother-in-law stuffing her face with peaches. "Mom," she said, "that wretched girl won't lend us a single cent. We only paid for one month; what are we going to do next month?"
Don't let the small size of the two rooms fool you; the rent was far from cheap. Being near the Imperial University meant a high demand for housing, making the rent thirty percent higher than elsewhere. These two tiny rooms in the west wing alone cost eighty yuan a month—half a month’s worth of food money for them.
Chapter 1034