He knew that most of the charcoal used in the county town last year came from Chijia'ao.

The fact that Chijia'ao could provide so much charcoal shows that every household was burning it.

This means that every household made a considerable amount of money.

Then the families of Chi's brothers must have made a lot of money as well.

Unfortunately, they've all divorced!

Otherwise, Chi Dahu and his family would have been able to send some charcoal and silver to their family so they could have a good New Year.

Qi Mingyu actually knew his parents quite well, so when he saw that they disagreed, he reached out his hand.

"Okay, I'll listen to you, Mom and Dad."

Since you feel this is inappropriate, then give me the silver. I will have someone return it to the Xue family when I return to the Zhong family later.

Let's call off this marriage proposal for now!

However, Father and Mother, the provincial examination is not far away. Although the clan will help me with travel expenses, our family cannot afford to contribute nothing.

"You might have to work hard then, so please help me save up as much money as possible."

Both Old Man Qi and Madam Shen were the type of people who, once they had the money in their hands, were unwilling to part with it.

Seeing the heavy purse in his hand, how could he be willing to return it?

Therefore, both of them showed hesitation.

After a long while, Madam Shen finally spoke: "Second son, as you know, your parents are getting old and can't do much work."

In addition, since the disaster last year, our family has not earned a single penny.

My parents are currently very short of money and are having a very difficult time. Most of the time, they need help from the clan.

Could you tell the Xue family that this money is a loan from our family?

Tell them to rest assured, our family will definitely repay them after you pass the imperial examination!

Now it was Qi Mingyu's turn to be speechless. He never expected his parents to do something so outrageous.

Didn't he make it clear why the Xue family gave him this silver?

Since they disagreed, how could they possibly ask him to tell the Xue family that the money was a loan?

Aren't they afraid that if he really did that, people would laugh at him if word got out?

Qi Mingyu, feeling exhausted, understood that if he didn't make things clear, his parents would continue to harbor unnecessary illusions.

So he simply said, "Impossible!"

If you want to keep this money, you can only consider it as a betrothal gift from someone to our family.

Since you disagree, the money must be returned.

If you don't pay me back and insist that I ask the other party to say it's a loan, I will be ridiculed by the world if word gets out.

You all know how important a scholar's reputation is; the matter of the Chi family hadn't spread yet.

But it's not a secret. Even if the people in our village don't say it, the people in Chijia'ao might.

One day, everyone will find out.

The Xue family already knows that if I really do this, my reputation will be ruined.

How can someone who has lost their reputation hold office in the future? They'll likely be constantly attacked by their political enemies.

At this point, he didn't want to mention the promises his future in-laws had made, but he still brought them up.

Finally, he added, "Father and Mother, think about it, as long as we marry Mengyu, not to mention what her dowry will be."

They'll cover all our family's expenses from now on; that's better than many other families.

The Xue family has plenty of money. Even if you spend eight or ten taels a month, it will be nothing to them.

Where else could I find such a wonderful in-law family besides the Xue family?

Old Qi had complete confidence in his son.

In his view, his second son was a shoo-in for the imperial examination.