Chapter 2443 Reaching out
Old Madam Liu cheered up, her face full of approval. She pulled the person who was trying to persuade her and whispered, "My dear sister-in-law, how could I not know about this? But you have been in the capital for a while, you should know that it is not so easy to buy a house in the capital."
She said, "In the inner city, any small courtyard would cost thousands of strings of cash. Since Shanbao's father passed away, Shanbao's mother and I have been barely making ends meet and supporting Shanbao's studies. How could we possibly have that much money to buy a house?"
"We can't afford to lose that man if he buys him a house in the outer city," said Old Lady Liu. "Besides, the people living in the outer city can't compare to those in the inner city. We can't just have our two children move from Chongyuanfang to the outer city when they get married, can we?"
"Don't say that I, your relative, am unhappy. Even I can't joke with Shanbao's future."
The person who proposed it forced a laugh. She didn't believe that Old Madam Liu couldn't even come up with a thousand strings of cash. Their family had considerable assets, and even if part of it had been handed over to the clan that year, she had taken away quite a bit as well.
She still has a lot of land and farmland in Longzhou. That area also has the Bai family's land. I heard that the harvest is quite good every year.
A few years ago, there was a lot of new wheat seeds in Longzhou. I heard that their family brought them from the south, so they must have made a lot of money.
But Mrs. Liu said she had no money, so she couldn't bring it up and could only smile.
Madam Liu didn't let her go, pulling her aside and continuing, "Sister-in-law, you don't know that the expenses of being an official are different from those of not being one. His mother and I just need enough to eat and drink, but the child can't be wronged."
She counted on her fingers and said, "They want a fine Xuan brush. Our Shanbao can't use such a fine one, but he should at least use a Hu brush or a Shanlian brush, right? They want a Taohe inkstone, and we always have to prepare a Chengni inkstone at home, not to mention the paper and ink sticks we use every day. If he's so poor, how can he hold his head up in public?"
Zheng, who was standing by, was stunned. Their family did have these things, but the ones her son used in daily life were obviously very ordinary. On the other hand, the pens, inkstones, and paper that his mother mentioned were basically only used when he wanted to paint or write calligraphy at home.
Madam Liu continued, "There's also the child's clothing and accessories. After all, he's the son of a noble family. Even if he doesn't have a father and has less than others, he can't be short of things. He needs to change his clothes from time to time, so he needs accessories too. He can't be any shabbier than his classmates when entertaining guests. He needs to maintain this decent spending..."
Old Madam Liu didn't say much, she just wiped her tears with a handkerchief.
She said, "Of course I know that living in the Zhou family isn't a good idea. Not to mention the long-term consequences, when the two children get married, how will his mother and I face this granddaughter-in-law?"
"I only said this because you are family. If it were someone else, I wouldn't say so much. Well, it's because my widow lost her job and lost many of the things left by her ancestors, so the child has to suffer this injustice."
The sister-in-law whose hand she held changed her expression slightly and she dared not bring up the subject again.
When she returned to their home, she couldn't help but call her son over and told him what she had said, asking, "What do you mean by that?"
Bai Min frowned, "Is she trying to pass on a message through her mother and the clan?"
The old lady said with a worried look, "I feel the same way. It's impossible to say that she's short of money. Everyone in the clan knows that she's a capable person. When the ancestral property incident became such a big deal, we invited her nephew from her mother's side to come over. Everything was fine until he came, but after less than two days, he changed his tune, took the clan's things, and went to help her instead."
Otherwise, Madam Liu wouldn't have been able to just leave back then.
"Although we haven't had much contact in recent years, her family's farmland and estates are not far away. Those in the clan who care about her know that she's doing well," she said. "I believe Bai Shan's expenses are high, but who doesn't have one or two students? No one is struggling like that. She's probably saying this because she's eyeing the family's ancestral property."
Bai Min pursed his lips in displeasure and asked, "Why did she suddenly bring this up?"
The old lady felt a little embarrassed. She couldn't say that she just couldn't stand him and took the initiative to bring up the matter of buying a house in Beijing, right?
Seeing the old lady's reaction, Bai Min vaguely understood something and asked, "Were there many people there at the time?"
The old lady said helplessly: "The only people who were talking about our private conversations were me, your wife and your sister-in-law."
Bai Min: ...
The old lady waited for his decision.
Bai Min thought for a long time, and finally said, "Forget it, I'll discuss it with Lao Wu. I'll also tell Big Brother, and as for the decision, I'll follow Big Brother's lead."
This eldest brother is naturally Bai Wei, the current patriarch of the Bai family. Two years ago, his father Bai Jing was old and fell ill twice. Not only did he retire and return home, he also gave the position of patriarch to Bai Wei.
Like most heads of aristocratic families, Bai Wei did not take up an official position. Instead, he focused on managing the family at home and now strictly enforces family education.
The fifth brother is Bai Heng, who has been close to the Baishan family of the Zhou family in the past two years. Zhou Silang now calls them uncle and nephew.
When Bai Heng heard that they had such a serious illness, he almost vomited blood, "Third brother, why did the old lady say this to their family for no reason?"
He said, "I've been avoiding this matter for the past two years. Everyone knows that the Fourth House's aunt is powerful. Back then, so many elders couldn't do anything to her. Why did you go out of your way to deliver this message?"
Bai Min said, "What can I do when the old ladies are comparing and mocking each other?"
"Besides, hiding from this matter all the time is not a solution." Bai Min sat down on a chair and drank a cup of tea. He pondered: "If you ask me, since the Fourth House is so tough, why not give them the things?"
"Give it to them?" Bai Heng smiled bitterly, pointed at himself and asked, "Should I give it to them, or will you?"
He said, "Even if our two families are willing to give it, what about the other families? They've been holding it for over ten years. What has everything they've eaten turned into? Is it possible for them to spit it out?"
"Is this something we can do?" Bai Min asked. "To be frank, the Fourth House was unwilling to give it back then, but didn't they give it up in the end? The same goes for us. It just depends on who is more powerful and who is weaker."
Bai Heng couldn't help but mutter, "Their family isn't that powerful, is it?"
Bai Min glanced at him and said, "We should return it when they are no longer powerful and repair the relationship. If their family is really so powerful that we have to return it, then it would be better not to return it and just find a reason to separate their family."
Bai Heng's face paled when he heard this. "Branch? Third brother, their family is not far from our main branch. If this gets out, how can we, the Bai family, survive?"
"So we should take out all those things while Bai Shan is still young, and even add some to it, and find a reason to give it to the fourth room. I think the reason given by the fourth room's aunt is a good one. Bai Shan has grown up, and it's time for him to buy a house and get married. It's only right for our clan to give him something."
See you at 9pm
(End of this chapter)
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