I had just borrowed three thousand taels of silver, thinking that I could use it to slowly turn my life around, but I never expected that I would lose it all again.
Their kiln actually exploded. It hadn't happened in years. They didn't know which part had gone wrong. Could it be that God wanted to destroy their Luo family?
It was just a small order, with a profit of only a few hundred taels of silver at most. Now, he has lost everything and owed an additional three thousand taels of foreign debt. Mr. Luo and Mr. Lu signed a document that requires them to pay back the three thousand taels of silver within two years. Now, it seems that he couldn't borrow more working capital, and now it's even worse.
Mr. Luo was so angry that he fell ill. He had a whole family at home waiting for food. His reputation was damaged once again. This time he really had no one to turn to.
Mr. Luo was seriously ill and lay weakly on the bed. His concubines were crying inconsolably. As for his concubines' daughters, since they were born out of wedlock, they didn't marry into any particularly wealthy families and they had tried their best to send money back to their parents' home to subsidize the family expenses. Now the entire Luo family could still have food to eat only thanks to the money that the married concubines took from their husbands' families.
Luo Ming is now the only man in the Luo family and has the obligation to take on the responsibility of supporting the family. He kneels in front of his father's bed, looking at his father holding his hand, and says weakly:
"Ming'er, our Luo family's century-old foundation must not be destroyed in the hands of us father and son. Otherwise, when I go to hell, I won't know how to explain to the ancestors. I will die with regrets!"
"Dad, don't talk nonsense. You are in your prime and will live a hundred years. How can you talk about whether you will die or not?"
"Ming'er, you don't understand. After these few short months, your father is really tired and exhausted. I tried every way to save the situation, but God was determined not to be kind to our family. Dad is unwilling but powerless. Now I can only rely on you. We have to try again, right?" Master Luo thought about it over and over again, but he was still unwilling, but there was nothing he could do.
The house has been mortgaged, and now the whole family lives in a small house with two entrances. Not only is the location remote, but most of the servants have also been laid off, and now they have to be self-sufficient even for three meals a day.
They were all used to having everything provided for them, so now they suddenly had to do things on their own, so they couldn't help but feel resentful. The pregnant concubine took advantage of her pregnancy to act domineeringly, making the other concubines dissatisfied. If it weren't for Madam Luo, they would have probably turned against her.
Mrs. Luo is just a woman. She may be good at managing the backyard, but she is not very good at doing business.
Luo Ming was also exhausted. His family was in trouble and he could not help at all. He was a filial son. Seeing his father working so hard and his mother crying all day long, he was also anxious. If someone was willing to lend him money to get by, he would be willing to do anything.
…
Somehow the news of the misfortune that befell the Luo family reached Ye Congwen. Ye Congwen thought about it and realized that he had been very worried about choosing a husband for his daughter. He had gone to several groups of people to look at Ye Shu, but he was not satisfied with any of them. He could hardly find a suitable candidate.
It was at this time that he heard about Luo Ming's affairs. Now the Luo family was borrowing money everywhere in an attempt to make a comeback. Except for the porcelain kiln used for eating, almost everything that should be sold had been sold. Now that the kiln had exploded again, it was even worse for them.
I guess the Luo family is as anxious as ants on a hot pan.
Ye Congwen thought about it carefully. In fact, when Luo Ming first entered the academy, Shu'er seemed to have specially inquired about him and was curious about him. Later, she must have known that he came from a wealthy family and she could not control him, so she gave up on her own initiative.
Now that Luo Ming has lost his pride and has no family to rely on, he really needs someone to help him. This is a good opportunity for him.
If he was willing to marry into the Ye family and become his own son-in-law, he would be able to pull up this sinking ship.
Luo Ming is much better than those he originally chose in terms of both appearance and qualifications. If he agrees, Shu'er will probably have no reason to refuse.
Whatever came to his mind, Ye Congwen immediately got up and went to Jiazitang to look for Luo Ming, but ran into Xiao Hechuan on the way.
When he saw Xiao Hechuan, he immediately called him over warmly, as if he was treating him as a counselor:
"Hechuan, come here, I have something to tell you!"
Xiao Hechuan stepped forward and saluted, respectfully called him "Dean" and asked him what was the matter. Ye Congwen looked very excited, as if something good was about to happen.
"Nothing, I just thought that you and Luo Ming are both students of Jiazitang. You have good vision and unique insights. What do you think of Luo Ming?"
Ye Congwen did not hide his intentions from him. When he said this, Xiao Hechuan knew what he meant. He probably heard about the Luo family and wanted to extend an olive branch to Luo Ming.
Xiao Hechuan frowned unnaturally. He thought to himself, his plan seemed to hurt Luo Ming by mistake. Letting him go to the Ye family as a son-in-law would probably be more painful than killing him, right?
Moreover, it seems that he has only this one way to go now. Whether to compromise or resist depends entirely on one thought. If he fulfills himself, he will be destined to disappoint his family and go against filial piety. But if he fulfills his family, he will have to compromise himself and regret it for the rest of his life.
"To be honest, Luo Ming is very talented and has the ability to pass the imperial examination. He is also a child of a wealthy family. His words and deeds are polite and courteous. There is nothing wrong with him."
Xiao Hechuan gave a very conventional answer, and Ye Congwen felt the same way, so he went to find Luo Ming with peace of mind.
Luo Ming was suddenly summoned by the dean. He was a little confused and followed him stupidly.
Ye Congwen was polite to him at first and asked about the current situation of his family. Ye Congwen had a very lofty image in Luo Ming's mind. Luo Ming felt that he was highly respected, so he did not put on guard. It was as if he had found an outlet and he poured out all his troubles.
Ye Congwen wanted him to be so unreserved. The more desperate and helpless he appeared, the easier it would be for him to open his mouth. He used the same old familiar formula. He expressed sympathy for what the Luo family had gone through, said some flowery words of comfort, and finally asked:
"Luo Ming, what do you think of my Shu'er?"
Luo Ming, who originally felt relieved that he had found someone he could trust to talk to, suddenly felt his scalp tingling because of Ye Congwen's question, and had a bad premonition.
Since he asked this, it was really hard to offend Luo Ming. He struggled in his heart for a long time, and sweat began to appear on his palms again.
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