"How about this," Lin He proposed, "since no one in our family will feed this ox anyway, you bring your grandson and stay at my place to help me. When we need fieldwork done, you can use the ox to plow for us. When I go to market, you can ferry people. In your downtime, just take good care of the ox. I'll give you two hundred da qian a month. Any money you earn from ferrying people to market is yours to keep. Your grandson is little; he can play with my younger brother here. My little brother is only three. We also have a spare room usually used for storage; you and your grandson can stay there, eating and living with us. Mind you, we're just a very ordinary farming family; I hope you don't mind."

The old man was overwhelmed with gratitude, quickly replying, "To have someone take in this old man and my young grandson, and even receive a monthly wage—I am grateful beyond words. How could I possibly mind?"

Lin He nodded. "Then it's settled."

The old man's surname was Qin, so the Lin family called him Old Man Qin. His grandson they called Qin Junze, or just Little Jun. After sitting in the ox cart for another hour or so, they finally arrived home.

When Madam Huang and Little Bao saw the ox cart stopped outside, they thought guests had arrived and rushed out, only to see their children returning. Madam Huang was startled when she saw Da Bao, and though overjoyed, she was also somewhat worried. Seeing them unload so many things from the ox cart, her mouth dropped open wide enough to fit an egg.

Lin He, seeing her mother's reaction, simply said, "Mom, I'll explain everything in a moment."

Then she introduced Old Man Qin and Little Jun to Madam Huang. Madam Huang immediately told Da Bao to take San Ya and Little Bao to clean out the storage room. Old Man Qin and Little Jun helped with the tidying. Lin He went inside and recounted the whole story to Madam Huang, giving her the remaining silver ingots—one hundred and twenty liang—as she had spent several dozen liang on various things throughout the day.

Next, she explained the circumstances of Old Man Qin’s family. To her surprise, Madam Huang was very warm, inquiring kindly after Old Man Qin and Little Jun. She even brought out an old quilt, telling the pair to make do for the night and they would figure out something better tomorrow.

Madam Huang decided to first make the cotton they acquired into quilts and clothes, figuring they could buy more cotton in a few days to sew more. It wasn't bitterly cold yet anyway. Since her daughter had taken in Old Man Qin and his grandson, they needed to be treated like family, especially given the truly pitiable state of the Qin family.

However, with Da Bao's return, the sleeping arrangement became complicated. When Da Bao was small, the siblings shared a room without issue. Now Da Bao was ten, and Er Ya was seven; they couldn't share anymore. In ancient times, there was the saying about boys and girls not sharing a room after the age of seven. Though Da Bao and Er Ya were brother and sister, cohabitation was improper. Thus, Da Bao and Old Man Qin would have to share a room temporarily, with future arrangements to be decided later.

That evening, when Lin Er Niu returned, he was quite delighted to hear how much silver his daughter had earned from selling the cloth dolls. He even specially went to the village wine seller and bought a few jin of wine, sharing a few cups with Old Man Qin over dinner.

Later that night, just before sleep, Madam Huang said to Er Niu, "Don't you think Er Ya has changed a lot recently? She's much sharper than before, not quite like my Er Ya."

Er Niu thought Madam Huang was overthinking it. "It's still your daughter, Er Ya. She’s older now and more sensible, that's true enough