Cui Zhiheng, the grandson, looked to be only sixteen or seventeen years old, but he was already very good at dealing with Zhou Shi. He patted Zhou Shi on the back and comforted her softly.
"Grandmother, please don't be angry. Don't get upset with this uncouth little cousin. Since he doesn't want to come to our Cui family, then let it go."
Zhou had unspeakable suffering; she couldn't bring herself to tell her grandson about her family's downfall.
The Cui family is now in decline and ruin, and the treasury is almost empty.
Since her husband passed away, the Cui family has become increasingly impoverished.
Few aristocratic families who knew about the Cui family's situation had any dealings with them anymore. After all, such interactions required money, and without money to maintain connections, who would want to associate with your family?
The Cui family is now often ridiculed and looked down upon by other powerful families behind their backs.
These younger people might not notice, but she, an old woman accustomed to the circles of aristocratic families, naturally understood it very well.
Now the Cui family needs to raise some money to maintain these connections; otherwise, they will truly fall into ruin under her control.
Judging from Baicheng's reaction, they have completely abandoned this branch of the Cui family.
Afterwards, without the support of Baicheng, the Cui family faced even greater difficulties.
The fact that she wasn't notified of the change of ownership of Jincheng is enough to explain the situation.
The biggest problem for the Cui family right now is money.
With a large sum of money, anything can be brought back to life.
However, business in the shops of the Cui family was not good, and they were increasingly unable to make ends meet. Where was she supposed to get money?
But the situation is different now.
That little brat is carrying the He family's fortune on his shoulders.
The discovery of the wealth on this little brat is now her only lifeline and hope.
She was determined to bring the person into the manor.
With a firm resolve, Zhou's gaze involuntarily fell upon her granddaughter Cui Zhiling beside her, and her mind began to race.
"Ling'er, it's been a long time since you've seen your little cousin, hasn't it? I remember you two always got along really well whenever he came to our house."
Upon hearing Zhou's words, Cui Zhiling pursed her lips.
“That boy harbors ill intentions towards me, so naturally I don’t want to see him again, and I don’t plan to see him in the future either. If Grandmother really brings him into the manor, then I will avoid him as much as possible.”
Zhou's old face paused for a moment, then he smiled, took Cui Zhiling's hand, and patted it kindly.
"Grandma really does have something to ask you to do; you need to meet your little cousin."
Her granddaughter disliked that brat, and naturally, she had no intention of putting her precious granddaughter on that cow dung.
However, there were no better plans at the moment, so they could only use their granddaughter as bait to lure the brat back to the Cui family.
"Grandmother, why should I go see him?" Cui Zhiling's little face froze for a moment, then she frowned, looking unwilling and disgusted.
“Grandmother, you have no idea how annoying He Yusheng is. His family is just a merchant family, yet he actually wants to marry me, saying he wants to bring me into the family as his wife. I don’t want to do that.”
His family's status and identity are simply not good enough for me. Being with him makes me feel inferior.
My girlfriends in my circle are all making fun of me, so of course I'm avoiding them as much as possible.
I don't want my girlfriends in my circle to gossip about me!
Madam Zhou patted Cui Zhiling's head reassuringly, her face full of affection. "Don't worry, how could your grandmother marry you off to such a boy? I just want you to meet him once and find a way to bring him into the manor."
In the past, you two had a good relationship, and he really enjoyed spending time with you. He would always listen when you talked to him.
"If this matter is settled, Ling'er, Grandmother will try to arrange your marriage with the young master of the Hongcheng Wei family." Zhou Shi offered a tempting offer to her granddaughter, and she wasn't lying.
She had originally intended to marry her precious granddaughter to the young master of the Hongchengwei family.
However, since nothing was certain yet, she hadn't planned to tell Ling'er first. But now she had no choice but to keep it to herself for the time being.
Upon hearing this, Cui Zhiling's eyes lit up, a strange light flashing within them.
"Grandma, what are you saying? Is it true? You really will try to match me up with Brother Jingyue?"
"Grandmother knows that you have taken a liking to the young master of the Wei family, but this matter cannot be rushed. You still need to cultivate a relationship with him first. Only when the young master of the Wei family has some feelings for you can I bring it up with the Wei family."
The Wei family holds a high position in Hongcheng and is considered a prominent family among aristocratic families.
"If you marry into the Wei family, Grandma will be very happy."
Cui Zhiling readily agreed, her acceptance was remarkably prompt.
“Alright, Grandmother, I’ll go. I’ll bring He Yusheng back to the manor for you. Once he’s inside, you can send a formal invitation to the Wei family to pay them a visit. I need to go to the Wei family to see Brother Jingyue.”
"A young lady should be more reserved. Don't talk about men all the time. You should keep a proper distance and not lose face for no reason."
"Grandmother, why don't you go and send an invitation to the Wei family? I haven't seen Brother Jingyue for quite some time now."
"Brother Jingyue is lukewarm towards me. If I don't make a move on him, he'll end up as someone else's husband." Cui Zhiling clung to Zhou Shi's arm, shaking it and pouting as she whined and acted coquettishly.
"I really can't do anything with you, but Ling'er, what you said is also true. If you want to climb the social ladder, you have to go up there."
However, we must pay attention to the methods and put in some thought and effort; we can't just blindly confront them.
"Hmm? If I don't do this, how can I see Brother Jingyue? Grandmother, do you have any good ideas?"
Zhou smiled, a shrewd glint in her eyes, and slowly offered her advice.
"Ling'er, do you really have to enter the Wei family's gates to see this young master Wei? This young master Wei doesn't stay in the mansion all the time, does he?"
Cui Zhiling blinked, understanding Zhou's words, and after a few breaths, she suddenly realized.
"Ah, Grandmother, do you want me to go and intercept Brother Jingyue?"
"You silly child, what are you saying? How can you call it going to ambush someone? This was a chance encounter, it's all fate that brought the two of you together."
"Yes, yes, yes, Grandma is right, it's fate! Hey, I'm going to find Brother Jingyue right now." Cui Zhiling realized what was happening, grinned, and jumped up and dashed out without hesitation.
"Ling'er, what I wanted to tell you—"
"Don't worry, Grandmother, I will definitely do what I promised you. I'll go find He Yusheng now and bring him back to the manor." Cui Zhiling turned to look at Zhou Shi, smiled brightly, and ran out while lifting her skirt.
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