Chapter 34
Chapter 34
This doesn't sound right.
It is true that he did have a meal in Cui Nian's teahouse today, and he did take the ten taels of silver that Zhou Kuang gave him.
This kind of situation had happened before he went bankrupt. Not to mention a meal, even if several people went to Zui Xiang Lou, most of the money was paid by Xie Shao.
Today, I just ate a meal with Cui Nian, and I didn't have any thoughts at first, but after what the young lady said, I couldn't help but think more. He couldn't support his wife, and he had to rely on her to sell jewelry to make a living. He couldn't afford to eat and had to ask friends for help. Isn't this what he is like now?
Apart from being hungry, I didn't feel ashamed in the past few days after my bankruptcy. Now, the young lady is putting a high hat on me. Although the speaker did not mean it, the listener took it seriously. It is inevitable that I will be hurt again.
Knowing that she was still hungry, Xie Shao had specially asked Cui Nian to cook a few dishes when he came back. Now he couldn't bring them out anyway. He walked forward, ignoring the young lady's surprised look, and casually greeted Ming Wanrou, "Mrs. Ming is here."
Ming Wanrou was so frightened that she turned her head suddenly.
Last time, I plotted something behind someone's back on the wall, but he heard all my bad thoughts. I feel embarrassed every time I think about it, and I wish I had the ability to erase the other person's memory.
Because of this, he has never been ashamed to come to the Xie family to see Wen Shuse.
If I hadn't heard today that Wen Shuse went back to the Wen family and was driven out by the eldest lady, I'm afraid I still wouldn't have the face to visit him.
Before she could recover from the shock, she was eavesdropped again. Ming Wanrou's first reaction was to think about whether she had said anything offensive just now.
But every time she talked to Wen Shuse about the "youthful recklessness" in Fengcheng, she never had anything good to say.
The owner of the garden had already walked up the steps and entered the house, intending to close the door. Ming Wanrou just reacted, her face flushed, and she stammered, "Third, Third Young Master."
Unable to stay any longer, Ming Wanrou quickly stuffed a bag of silver into Wen Shuse's pocket and said, "Gaoxian, I have to leave in a hurry today. This is all the cash I have. Take it first and I'll come back to see you in two days."
Wen Shuse didn't answer, "I said I can't have it."
"You take it."
"Really, don't listen to the rumors outside. The Xie family has such a big mansion, are you afraid that I will starve? It's just that I can never go back to the comfortable days before..."
The two of them kept making excuses, and the voices became farther and farther away.
Xie Shao entered the room and closed the door. Just as he was about to tell Min Zhang to take care of the food box he brought back, he saw a piece of braised beef and two jugs of wine on the table.
Xie Shao was stunned.
She really didn't eat?
Wen Shuse had just sent Ming Wanrou away. When she came back and passed the west wing, the door next to her suddenly opened from the inside. Xie Shao stood on the threshold and asked her in a gentle voice, "Aren't you hungry?"
Even if she swallowed her anger and didn't tell anyone about her suffering, she probably wouldn't feel full.
After Wen Shuse finished his lunch, he walked out of Zui Xiang Lou and secretly vowed not to eat for three days. He shook his head slowly and said, "I've already had lunch at Wen's house. I'm not hungry."
Clearly lying.
He added, "Use them together."
Wen Shuse still refused, "No, I have had the habit of not eating after noon since I was a child. My dear, you have been busy outside all day today, so you probably haven't eaten yet. I asked Nanny Fang to send the braised beef to my dear's room. My dear, please have a meal first, and I will think of a solution tomorrow."
What else could she do, other than pawn and sell the jewelry?
At this glance, the most conspicuous gold and jade hairpin that used to be on her hair seemed to have disappeared.
He finally listened to what Zhou Kuang said, and then he recalled the three rules that the young lady had made with him on their wedding night, one of which was that they could not live a hard life.
The young lady did not take the initiative to mention it to him. Although she was somewhat self-aware and felt guilty, at least she was sensible and not the kind of person who would make a fuss.
He said, "You don't have to pawn your jewelry and hairpins anymore. I'll find a way to deal with the money."
The young lady looked at him unexpectedly, as if she was moved by his words. She stared at him blankly for a while, pursed her lips and lowered her head, saying in a buzzing voice, "I ruined your family, you don't blame me, I am already very grateful, how can I have the face to ask you to make money..."
What he said was true, and Xie Shao forgot to refute it for a moment.
In the silence, the young lady turned around and ran back to the east room.
The next day, Xie Shao slept until 9 o'clock again. He saw that the door of the east room was wide open. He asked Nanny Fang, who said, "The third lady searched for some hairpins and went to the pawnshop early."
Xie Shao: ...
Xie Shao had just received ten taels of silver from Zhou Kuang yesterday. After learning from the previous lesson, he did not dare to give the money to Wen Shuse again. He gave it to Nanny Fang instead, "Tell her not to pawn her jewelry anymore. Tell me if it's not enough."
After giving the instructions, Xie Shao did not stay at home, but went to find Pei Qing to ask him about the copying of books he mentioned yesterday.
Pei Qing helped him find out and found out that the price was five cents per thousand words.
Before Xie Shao could say anything, Min Zhang frowned, "So low? How many words do you have to copy to earn one tael of silver?"
Thinking about the money that had slipped out through his master's fingers before, much more than this, five cents for a thousand words...Min Zhang felt that he was humiliating his master.
Pei Qing smiled, "This is still a relatively high price. For people with poor handwriting, it's only three cents per thousand words. Even so, this industry is still popular in Fengcheng. For people who are used to it, copying tens of thousands of words a day is no problem."
To write tens of thousands of words a day, the young master would probably have to sit at his desk and copy books all day without eating or drinking.
Xie Shao also had this concern. He never did business where the input and output were not proportional.
The deal failed, so he went to several job recruitment sites. As soon as the other parties heard his name, Xie San, they all avoided him.
Either they praised him to the sky and thought he was joking about themselves, or they were scared away by his reputation as a playboy and no one dared to hire him.
A few days passed without any results, and I was busy until dusk every day.
Several times when I came back, I saw the young lady standing in a corner, gently waving the silk fan in her hand, and stretching her neck to look at the wall opposite.
The direction I was looking towards was the courtyard of the second son of the next door eldest son.
At first I didn't know what she was looking at, until today when I came back and heard her sigh, "I really want to tear down this wall. It won't fill my stomach, but at least it can smell the food."
Ten taels of silver can only provide food for a few days.
She could still hold on, but as a spoiled girl, used to eating delicacies from land and sea, she couldn't stand it for long.
Lying in bed at night, I glanced at the two untouched bottles of Zui Xiang tea on the table and fell asleep.
After all, she followed him and was the third grandmother of the Xie family. He couldn't really let her starve to death. At dawn the next day, he gritted his teeth and got up to call Min Zhang, "Go ask Pei Qing what book to copy."
Just copy it first. Every penny earned is a penny earned. It’s better than wasting time like this and starving.
However, after one day and then two days, the copied papers piled up into a mountain, but they were exchanged for less than three hundred coins, not even enough to buy a pound of good meat.
Not only did his knuckles have deep indentations, but his waist, back, neck, and shoulders ached so much that he couldn't straighten up. It was obviously a physically demanding job that wasn't suitable for him.
Xie Shao was tired of doing this, so he put down the pen in his hand and asked Min Zhang again, "Is there still no news from the old man?"
Min Zhang shook his head.
Since the last letter with a few words sent back, there has been no news from Erye.
It's been almost three months, and Xie Pushe is planning to become a son-in-law and not come back?
To make matters worse, at this critical moment, Mrs. Xie suddenly fell ill and had a headache.
Before they went bankrupt, Wen Shuse had bought a lot of Gastrodia elata for the old lady to cure headaches. Every few days, Nanzhi would make soup or steam eggs according to Wen Shuse's method, and the old lady's headache was indeed relieved a lot, and it had not occurred for a long time. But recently the Gastrodia elata had run out, and the second wife had no money to buy more, and the expenses of the house were all paid by the first wife, so they were not willing to spend money to buy it. As soon as they stopped, old lady Xie's headache started again, and this time it was quite severe. She tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep, and kept calling "Xianwei" in her mouth.
Nanzhi called Xie Shao to Ningxin Hall, and Xie Shao stayed with her for more than an hour before she fell asleep.
After coming out, Xie Shao went to ask the palace doctor, who said, "The old lady's headache is a chronic disease, and it cannot be cured in one day. It needs to be cured slowly. Third Master, you should try to buy some ingredients to treat headaches. Warming up the body every day is much more effective than taking medicine."
Xie Shao immediately asked Min Zhang to go to the drugstore. The inferior Gastrodia elata was sold at one tael of silver per catty, while the better ones were sold at five or ten taels.
He had less than one or two taels of silver left in his pocket, and with the several hundred silver coins he earned from copying books, he could barely buy one pound of silver.
This time he was completely penniless. Copying books made money too slowly. Although the other party was impressed by his handwriting and raised the salary to seven cents, it was still far from enough to cover the family's expenses and survival.
It was already stressful enough, and at night Fang Ma came to report, "Third Madam has no hairpins left now."
Nanzhi also came over, "I stewed the Tianma that the Third Young Master bought for the old lady today. The old lady said the taste was not right and astringent, so she put down the bowl after eating a few pieces."
It's going to cost someone's life.
But what else can we do? The old man and the second wife are not around, and the first wife is turning a blind eye.
It is true that having money is not everything, but having no money is absolutely impossible.
There seems to be only one way left now. People are forced into a desperate situation and all principles no longer exist.
Do it for two months first and wait for Xie Pushe to come back.
At night, Zhou Kuang had already washed up and was about to go to bed when he suddenly heard a servant come to tell him that the third son of the Xie family had arrived. He was startled and quickly put on some clothes and went out to greet him.
As soon as he stepped out of the mansion, he saw Xie Shao standing outside the door. Zhou Kuang stepped forward and called out, "Brother Xie." Before he could lead him in and ask him why he came to see him in such a hurry in the middle of the night, he heard him ask, "How much is your salary?"
As soon as the next day's morning came, Xiangyun hurried in and shook Wen Shuse's shoulders, "Madam, Madam..."
In the past, if Wen Shuse fell asleep, Xiangyun would never interrupt her.
Wen Shuse was suddenly awakened. His eyes opened, but his brain was not following. He stared at the auspicious clouds in a daze, not understanding whether the sky was falling or the earth was cracking.
Xiangyun's expression was filled with great surprise, "My son-in-law came over and asked where you put the document from the official last time."
After a moment's silence, Wen Shuse sat up from the bed, turned around and fumbled under her pillow, took out three documents, found Xie Shao's, and hurriedly rubbed the shoes beside the bed, without even bothering to put on clothes, wearing a loose inner garment, with waist-length black hair loose on one shoulder, and hurried out, "My dear..."
My dears, it’s very late today, oooo, please wait for me for one more day. I will go back the day after tomorrow.
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