The Zhang family.
Zhang Cheng walked into the room and saw the old man sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed) smoking, while the old woman sat beside him, looking displeased.
"Father, I saw the Lu family arrive. What are they doing here?" Zhang Cheng asked.
"What else can they do? The Lu family isn't short of money, so why are they coming to us?"
"I won't lend it." The old lady raised her voice, glancing at Zhang Cheng beside her as she spoke.
Zhang Jin had sensed something was wrong when he saw the Lu family earlier, and now, upon hearing their story, he knew it was indeed bad. Zhang Cheng said sullenly, "Isn't this just borrowing money? It's not like we're not going to pay it back."
The old lady said unhappily, "Pay back? When will you pay back? The Lu family has so much land. If they are really short of money, they can just sell a few more acres. Why do you have to pretend to be rich when you can barely afford to eat? You want to give money to that other family. Who are you living with anyway?"
Zhang Cheng glanced at the old lady and said, "Isn't the Lu family a little short on funds because they're getting married?"
"The Lu family is not short of money. Lu Tong's husband's family gave a dowry of twenty taels of silver. They also got ten taels of silver from selling Lu Lin. They have plenty of money. They don't need you." The old lady said with a slight contempt.
Zhang Cheng, smoking a cigarette, said, "What nonsense are you talking about? How is it selling Lu Lin?"
The old lady said discontentedly, "How can it not be sold? Taking away the only son left by the second wife and letting him marry into another family, thus ending the family line, isn't that selling him?"
Zhang Cheng sighed and said, "Aren't Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi doing quite well now?"
"That was Lu Lin's own luck. Before, he was carried out with just a door plank. That old hag Wang Shi, she married him off and then stole money from Chen Xiaomi. She's shameless. You should stay away from families like that instead of going out of your way to give them money," the old lady said disdainfully.
"Father, how much silver did you borrow?" Zhang Jin asked.
"Not much money."
The old lady said sullenly, "Those shameless people, they ask for five taels of silver as soon as they open their mouths, do they really think we are rich people? We should just ignore such shameless people, but your father insisted on lending them two taels of silver. I think Tang Shi's attitude is that she thinks the money is not enough."
When Zhang Jin heard about the two taels of silver, his heart skipped a beat. He thought to himself: "It won't be easy to get those two taels of silver back after I've lent them out."
Zhang Jin looked at Zhang Cheng and said, "Dad, your grandson can't even bear to eat a steamed bun, and the family isn't particularly well-off. You shouldn't take on so much responsibility for the Lu family's affairs."
Being scolded by his wife and son, Zhang Jin felt embarrassed. "Isn't this all I wanted? If a scholar comes out of the village, the reputation of our whole village will be improved."
Zhang Jin said unhappily, "That depends on Lu Chengyu passing the Xiucai exam!" Before, Madam Tang had made a promise to someone that Lu Chengyu would pass the Xiucai exam this time, but what happened? He still failed.
“Things will be different once I marry the daughter of a wealthy family in town,” Zhang Cheng said sheepishly.
Zhang Jin glanced at Zhang Cheng and said, "Father, I work so hard not so that you can subsidize that family. If you continue like this, I'll keep the money for myself from now on."
Upon hearing Zhang Jin's words, Zhang Cheng couldn't help but feel angry, realizing that his family didn't understand his good intentions.
Before Zhang Cheng could get angry, Zhang Jin turned around, said, "I'm going to work!" and left.
When Wang saw Tang return, she immediately went up to her and asked, "Did you borrow the money?"
Mrs. Tang sighed and said, "I can only borrow two taels of silver."
Upon hearing Tang's words, Wang's expression immediately turned displeased. "Only two ounces? The village head is getting more and more stingy."
Tang said somewhat dejectedly, "The village head is quite easy to talk to, but his wife is not so easy to talk to."
Madam Wang gave a displeased snort and said, "That woman always likes to interfere in the affairs of the village head; she's really annoying."
Mrs. Tang sighed and said, "I'm afraid two taels of silver won't be enough!"
Wang said sullenly, "Then let's sell the land."
Without the help of the second wife, the family simply couldn't manage to cultivate all the land. Since they couldn't manage the land, Wang Shi also had to work in the fields. However, Wang Shi was already quite old, and farming was becoming increasingly difficult for her. Therefore, she wasn't particularly reluctant to sell the land.
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