Old Zhou sneaked back to the room, where Ms. Qian was sitting by the window, sewing shoe soles. These were for their sons, who often needed to travel. Thicker soles were good for the feet and more durable.
Because there was a screen between them, she didn't see Old Zhou sneaking around, but she heard the noise and raised her voice to ask, "Have they finished arranging the new house?"
Old Zhou was startled and almost fell. He responded with an "Ah" and said, "Almost everything is arranged."
He stood waiting for a while. Seeing that his wife didn't intend to speak further, he quietly turned around and sneaked into the inner room.
He took out two strings of coins from his chest, felt around in the depth of the cabinet at the foot of the bed, and finally pulled out a box. He quickly stuffed the two strings of coins into the box, then glanced at the door. Seeing that no one was coming, he breathed a sigh of relief and pushed the box back in.
