Mai's dad blow the his money on building a bunker for Azula (this is stated in Smoke and Shadow). Now he is in jail and thus can't work a cushy job. Mai and her family have a problem, they are Nobles, they have a reputation to uphold. The Mom is working a trade, which suggest she holds no Title, but married up. Mai takes a respectable job of being a teacher at a elite school. They could sale the nice house, but that would be a very public indicator of money trouble. It seems to me that the writers have placed Mai and her family into genteel poverty. I wonder if the writers will revisit Mai's genteel poverty.
u/2TianK — 10 days ago