Since Steward Evans was willing to pawn even his big red shorts for the sake of this family, he couldn’t dampen the man’s enthusiasm. However, apart from this padded jacket, nothing else Steward Evans had was worth much, so Charles Bennett decided to pawn some of his own clothes as well. After all, as the eldest young master of the The Bennett Family, his clothes were certainly better than Steward Evans’s.

Next, Charles Bennett finally remembered the reason he had come to find Steward Evans. He pulled him to sit down and hurriedly explained his idea. However, when Steward Evans heard Charles Bennett’s plan to rent out the courtyard, a rather doubtful expression appeared on his face.

Chapter 7 Mrs. Reed

“Young master, renting out the courtyard is actually a good idea. As for the inner residence, that goes without saying—we still need to keep it for you and Mrs. Walker and the others. The front yard where I live is divided into east and west side courtyards, and each side courtyard can be split into two smaller courtyards. Right now, I’m living in one of them. This way, at the very least, we can free up three courtyards to rent out. It’s just that…” Steward Evans paused here, looked up at Charles Bennett, as if there was something he didn’t dare to say.

“If you have something to say, just say it. Now it’s just the two of us men left in the house. Don’t treat me as some young master, just think of me as your junior!” Charles Bennett could see Steward Evans’s hesitation, so he spoke up.

Previously, Charles Bennett suspected that Steward Evans stayed just for a free meal, but now, seeing how much he cared for the The Bennett Family, he was a bit moved. Still, even as he was touched, Charles Bennett became more convinced of his earlier suspicion: after so many years as a steward, Steward Evans still hadn’t saved enough for them to eat until the New Year. In his situation, if he left the The Bennett Family, he’d surely starve to death, so naturally, he could only cling to the The Bennett Family for dear life.

Hearing Charles Bennett speak so kindly, Steward Evans looked a bit emotional. In a hoarse voice, he said, “Young master, renting out the courtyard is a good idea, but the key issue is that our Songjiang Prefecture is a small place. There really aren’t many people who need to rent a house. For example, those shop assistants recruited from the countryside—most employers provide room and board. Plus, it’s already mid-October, and in another two months it’ll be New Year’s. So, trying to rent out the courtyard at this time might not be easy!”

After hearing Steward Evans’s explanation, Charles Bennett felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head. He hadn’t considered this problem before. Although Songjiang Prefecture would become Shanghai in the future, right now it was as small as could be, with only Huating and Shanghai counties under its jurisdiction and not a large population. Let alone comparing it to modern Shanghai—even neighboring Suzhou and Hangzhou were countless times more prosperous than Songjiang.

In a small place like Songjiang, there was little population movement, and most people had their own homes. If he wanted to rent out the house, there had to be someone willing to live there! Thinking of this, Charles Bennett couldn’t help but get another headache, and he cursed inwardly—why couldn’t this be twenty-first-century Shanghai? If it were, just this courtyard would be enough to make him a multimillionaire!

Seeing Charles Bennett looking a bit dejected, Steward Evans quickly comforted him: “But young master, don’t lose heart. We can spread the word about renting out the courtyard. Songjiang Prefecture may not be big, but there are still quite a few merchants. Maybe some family will need a courtyard to store goods. If we set the rent a bit lower, we should be able to rent it out!”

Charles Bennett could only nod weakly and say, “Alright, I’ll leave the matter of renting to you, Steward Evans. As for the clothes, just pawn ours. Don’t touch the clothes of the concubine and little sister. And don’t tell them about the family’s situation for now—I’ll think of something myself!”

“Alright!” Steward Evans agreed, stood up, and packed the clothes to be pawned into a bundle. But when Charles Bennett saw him stuffing that pair of big red silk shorts into the bundle, he couldn’t help but stop him: “Steward Evans, just keep the big shorts for yourself. I have more clothes—you can just take a few extra pieces of mine!”

Hearing this, Steward Evans agreed, then rather reluctantly took out his beloved shorts. He thought the material was quite good and could at least fetch a few coins, but since the young master said so, he had to keep them. Actually, this kind of shorts was called in ancient times—a type of short pants that didn’t reach the knees, functioning much like modern underwear, only looser.

Steward Evans and Charles Bennett went to the inner residence together and picked out a few well-made garments. But by then, it was already late, and the wind outside was bitterly cold, so Charles Bennett specifically told Steward Evans to cook dinner first and go to the pawnshop tomorrow.

As dusk approached, Charles Bennett went to the kitchen to find Steward Evans, preparing to take the cooked food to Mrs. Walker’s courtyard. Although there was a dedicated dining room in the house, now there were only five people living in the whole residence. At night, it was pitch dark, and with the cold weather, it was inconvenient for Mrs. Walker and the others to come out, so they usually had dinner at Mrs. Walker’s place.

The kitchen of the The Bennett Estate was located to the right of the main gate. In the past, it had to provide food for the entire The Bennett Estate, so it was quite large. The kitchen was divided into two sections: the big kitchen was for the servants, while the small kitchen was for Charles Bennett and the concubines in the inner residence, and it wasn’t far from the main gate.