Chapter 143
143
Yuan Bao had never known that Yang Shiming actually had such feelings for him: "Did you misunderstand? He did help me draw pictures, but we only had some business dealings at most. Apart from business, we had no private interactions."
"I know you are a good boy, so I hope you can stay away from my son. He is crazy." Yang's mother said that he was a good boy, but in her heart she looked down on Yuanbao and felt that Yuanbao lied to her.
As soon as she saw Yuanbao in person, she thought Yuanbao was a witch who used some tricks to seduce her son.
Although Yang Shiming was an honest official and his family didn't have much money, he had great potential in officialdom. In the future, he could at least reach the position of Lord Feng. How could he be with someone like Yuanbao?
Yuanbao has been doing business for such a long time that he naturally knows how to read people's expressions. He would not really think that the other person is praising him just because Yang's mother praised him as a good child.
He could already see from Yang's mother's expression that she hated him in her heart.
Yang Shiming is currently a sixth-rank official and a well-known figure in the officialdom. If his mother secretly asked someone to say such things, how would Yang Shiming save face if the news got out? How could his mother do such a thing?
He felt that he could not agree immediately, nor could he show weakness, otherwise Yang's mother would think that her method was effective. In the future, if she saw Yang Shiming liking someone else, or making friends that made her dissatisfied, she would go to that person and persuade him to stay away from Yang Shiming. How would Yang Shiming survive in the capital in the future?
Plus, Yuanbao was also very angry. He didn't do anything, but he was being picked on. The other party was Yang Shiming's mother, so he would not tolerate her.
"You want me to leave him? Okay," Yuan Bao stretched out a hand to her: "Give me fifty thousand taels, and I will leave your son."
"What?" Yang's mother didn't expect him to make such a request. He was so shameless.
"Haven't you read the storybook that's been very popular recently? In the story, when the wealthy mother asked someone to leave her son, she threw out five million taels of silver notes to the other party? Since your family is poor, I'll give you a discount. It only costs fifty thousand taels. Can you afford it?" Yuanbao asked her with a smile.
Yang's mother really couldn't afford it, so her son would hand over his salary to her every month, asking her to be responsible for the family's food, clothing, housing and transportation, as well as managing the servants.
At first, the money was enough for household expenses, enough for her to buy clothes and jewelry, burn incense at the temple, go to the theater to watch operas, and even save some money. But some time ago, she spent all the money on buying medicine for Yang Shiming. As a result, her son stopped drinking it after two times, and the money was wasted. How could the family have 50,000 taels of silver?
"Yang Shiming draws pictures for me. Does he give you the money he collects every time?" Yuanbao asked her.
Yang's mother was shocked. She had never received the money. Moreover, she believed that her son should keep some money on him for social activities, so she never asked Yang Shiming for it.
"Isn't it because you are not frugal that he doesn't give it to you? It's okay, you can give it to me later. But I don't like the money your family has. With your family's conditions, it's probably impossible for you to marry a wife in the capital. No wonder you went to the countryside to bring his cousin over a while ago. It was just to save money. Not everyone is your puppet. Don't always think about manipulating other people's lives." Yuanbao's long words confused her. He was afraid that she would go crazy and curse at people, just like when they were in the village. He once saw several aunts pointing at each other and cursing. It was too horrible. There was still business to do here. He wanted everyone to be decent and asked people to see the guests off.
Yang's mother used to be well-known in the village for her gentleness and she never quarreled with others, but in fact she endured everything. She was a widow and her health was not very good, so she had to endure being bullied by the villagers.
She was just waiting for the day when her son would become an official so that she wouldn't have to tolerate anyone anymore. But now, whether it was Yang Shiming, Yuanbao or Yang Shiming's cousin, no one would do what she said, which made her very angry.
"I raised my son, so of course I have the right to control everything about him. If he doesn't listen to me, he is unfilial. Do you want him to bear the stigma of being unfilial because of you?" Yang's mother asked him.
"He is your son, but I am not. You have no right to control me. My cousin is a fifth-rank official, which is higher than your son's. If you want to affect your son's career, continue to make trouble for me. I will go back and talk to my cousin and ask him to make things difficult for your son." Yuanbao would naturally not do that, and his cousin would not make things difficult for Yang Shiming. He said these words just to scare Yang's mother.
After returning home, Yang's mother cried to Yang Shiming and told him how Yuanbao had made things difficult for her today. Only then did Yang Shiming realize that his mother had actually gone to find Yuanbao.
"Since you don't like the capital, why don't you go back to the countryside to retire?" Yang Shiming suggested.
"You want to drive me away? I'm your mother. Aren't you afraid that others will poke your spine if you do this?" Yang's mother thought her son was really crazy, otherwise how could he say such a thing?
"Of course you won't go back alone. I will go back with you. I will resign tomorrow. Everything I have is given by you. Mother is more important than the official position. If a son is an official and has no time to accompany you, that would be truly unfilial. If we go back to the countryside, we won't have such thoughts." Yang Shiming said, "I will never marry in this life. I will only take care of mother. Don't worry, no one else will come to snatch me away."
Yang's mother was stunned and didn't dare to say a word. She felt that her son had gone crazy. How could a normal person not want to get married?
Besides, he had finally become an official, so how could he just resign? If they returned to the countryside, they would become orphans and a widow, and would continue to be bullied by the villagers. That was why she didn't want to go back.
She was afraid that her son would talk about resigning from his official position, so she did not dare to force him to become famous for his poetry. The days that followed became very quiet.
The next day, Yang Shiming was on his way home from work. When he passed by the soap shop, he asked the driver to stop. He lifted the curtain and looked at the ingot by the window.
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After a while, the servant next to him asked him if he wanted to go in, as there didn't seem to be too many people today.
There haven’t been many activities recently, and the popularity of new models has dropped a lot, so there are not as many people as usual.
Yang Shiming shook his head, "No need, let's go back home."
On weekdays he restrained himself from meeting Yuanbao, but soon when it was time to paint a new work, the two had to meet.
Cheng Yeran suggested a different style this time, "We always painted gods in the past, how about a fallen god this time? Originally it was a god, but now it has become a demon, which is more in line with the lipstick color this time."
He took out the lipstick and showed it to Yang Shiming, who immediately understood what he meant, "You can try it."
Yuanbao was watching the two of them talking from the side. Yang Shiming was still the same as usual. Why had he never noticed that Yang Shiming liked him before?
Why does Yang Shiming like him? This man is so upright, and he doesn't seem like the kind of man who would be seduced by beauty.
When he looked at Yang Shiming, Yang Shiming seemed to sense something and turned his head to meet his eyes.
Yuanbao's heart skipped a beat, and like a kid who was caught doing something bad, he didn't hide his thoughts at all and quickly turned his head away.
…
After Cheng Yeran recovered from his injuries, he began to set up his own news department.
The emperor arranged a separate office for him, which was very large.
Many people were jealous because he had only been in office for more than two years and had already been promoted to the fifth rank. Now the emperor had set up a new department for him.
Although they were jealous of Cheng Yeran, they were also envious. Some of them even recommended themselves to Cheng Yeran and wanted to be transferred to Cheng Yeran's department.
Cheng Yeran transferred Zhou Hua over.
Zhou Hua's family was engaged in printing, and he felt that Zhou Hua had an advantage in this regard. The imperial court had its own printing factory, so there was no need to look for one outside. He could let Zhou Hua communicate with the printing factory, and he could also let Zhou Hua be responsible for some typesetting matters.
When Zhou Hua heard that he was going to transfer him there, he was very grateful: "Originally, I was going to be transferred to a local government next year. If I leave, my parents and brothers will stay in the capital. I am worried about them."
"Our two families have been working together for so many years, and we are as close as a family. Don't be formal with me. I'm afraid that if you leave Beijing and your parents go with you, there will be no one to help me print magazines," said Cheng Yeran.
Although his words were direct, Zhou Hua knew that with his current status, many printing factories would be vying to cooperate with him, so he would not worry if his company did not cooperate with them.
He felt that Cheng Yeran was just considering his self-esteem. After all, they were admitted in the same group, but Cheng Yeran's development was better than his, and he was afraid that he would lose face.
However, Zhou Hua is not a sensitive person and never has any bad thoughts about these things.
"Who else are you planning to transfer over? Or should you call Yang Shiming as well?" Zhou Hua asked him.
They are all family members in this department, so they feel comfortable working this way and there won't be any disagreements.
"He has his own development. If he develops well in other departments, he will be a help to us in the future. There is no need to gather us all together," said Cheng Yeran.
"You are still thinking long-term." Zhou Hua asked him, "The two of us can't accomplish anything. Have you thought about the rest of the list? I'll help you with some advice."
"First, transfer three people from the Hanlin Academy. I have discussed the rest with His Majesty, and we will select them from a new batch of candidates next spring." Cheng Yeran handed the list of three people to Zhou Hua.
Zhou Hua also knew these three people. They were close to Cheng Yeran. They wrote good articles and often criticized some bad phenomena in the officialdom.
"The new students have little experience, why not find older ones?" Zhou Hua was quite satisfied with these three people and thought that he could just recruit some more similar ones and there was no need to wait.
"They are like fresh graduates, obedient, easy to manipulate, and easy to deceive. Moreover, most of them are brought up by us. They are our students and will stand on our side and protect us." Cheng Yeran blinked at him, "Don't you think so?"
Zhou Hua felt that Cheng Yeran was smiling like a devil. Although he didn't understand the term "fresh graduates", he was very worried about the next batch of candidates. He didn't know which ones would be selected by Cheng Yeran.
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