102, Bait
102, Bait
Do they really want to sell all the sisters to the old widower as his second wives, and use the betrothal money from the sisters to marry his own wife?
Upon learning that his eldest sister had married a widower older than his father, and especially since she had never returned home since the wedding, Lu Wulang knew that his eldest sister must be resentful of them. His family was now arranging a marriage for his second sister, and his grandmother's words implied that she would marry the family that offered the highest bride price.
What Lu Wulang was thinking was, if his younger brother had the ability to make money, then wouldn't his second and fourth sisters have to marry old widowers?
He and his cousin Liu Lang also discussed this matter secretly. The two brothers both agreed that they did not want their family to marry their elder sister to those old men as second wives just for a few taels of betrothal money.
The villagers were gossiping about their daughter being sold, and Lu Wulang and Lu Liulang had heard all this. Their former playmates now avoided them and stopped playing with them, which made them very sad.
Lu Mingfei looked at his two cousins and asked a question that had been puzzling him for years: "My clan started growing bean sprouts a few years ago. Why didn't you guys think of joining in?"
"I..." Lu Wulang opened his mouth for a moment, but still spoke out what he had been thinking back then: "I don't want to plant."
"We get up early and go to bed late, working hard to grow bean sprouts. The money we earn from selling the bean sprouts will definitely be spent on my eldest cousin and the first wife. It will not be the turn of our second and fourth wives." That's why he didn't want to grow bean sprouts at that time. Not only did he not want to grow them, he also deliberately killed the bean sprouts.
Although he later regretted it when he saw his tribe members growing bean sprouts, he still thought he would do the same thing if he had the chance again.
In fact, it wasn't just Lu Wulang who thought this way at the time. Lu Liulang, Lu Er, and Lu Si also shared this thought. They all knew too well that if they managed to grow bean sprouts, the money they earned would go towards supporting the first wife's family. Therefore, the failure to grow bean sprouts in the Lu family mansion wasn't solely Lu Wulang's fault; the other members of the second and fourth wives also contributed greatly.
Hearing this was the reason, neither Lu Mingfei nor Lu Youtian, father and son, were too surprised.
Lu Mingfei looked at his two cousins and said, "If I give you a recipe for making money right now, can you guarantee that the money you earn will go into your own pockets? Or into someone else's pocket?"
Lu Wulang and Lu Liulang were speechless, because they knew too well that if they made money now, their grandmother would definitely take it away and give it to their eldest cousin and the eldest wife. Especially since their eldest cousin had passed the examination for a Tongsheng, their grandfather and grandmother dreamed of having their eldest cousin pass the examination for a Xiucai or Juren, so that he could become an official in the future.
It's not that they look down on their eldest cousin. It took their entire family more than ten or twenty years to support their eldest cousin and make him pass the imperial examination to become a student. Do they want to spend another ten or twenty years to support their eldest cousin and make him pass the imperial examination to become a scholar?
——Of course they don’t want to!
Lu Mingfei looked at the expressions on his two cousins' faces and knew that his goal had been achieved. He said to them, "Go back and think about what I'm asking. If you can guarantee that the money you earn in the future will be in your hands and that you can keep the prescription I gave you, then come to the city to find me again."
"It's getting late today. If you still have to go back to the village, go back as soon as possible."
He didn't have the time to help his two cousins with strategies to deal with the affairs of the Lu family's old house. The rest depended on the efforts of his two cousins and uncles. He believed that after the people of the two branches had been suppressing and enduring for so many years, the second and fourth branches of the Lu family might not continue to support Lu Dalang and the first branch of the Lu family.
He has never settled the score with those people in the Lu family’s old house because his father was almost killed by them!
"...Okay." Lu Wulang and Lu Liulang both heard the meaning of seeing the guest off in their cousin's words.
The two brothers stood up from the stools they were sitting on, said goodbye to their cousin and their third uncle and aunt (third uncle and third aunt's wife), and then left together.
After seeing his two cousins off, Lu Mingfei closed the gate of the yard and turned back home. After saying hello to his father and mother, he went back to his study to read.
***
After leaving their third uncle's (third uncle's) house, Lu Wulang and Lu Liulang did not stay in the city. They left the city and returned towards Shihua Village.
They walked from noon until sunset before returning home.
As soon as the two came back, they ran into their grandmother. The old lady caught them and scolded them, saying, "Where have you two been running around? You don't even know how to help with housework all day long. You just play around everywhere..."
In the past, the old lady would have just said whatever she wanted to say, but this time, Lu Wulang interrupted the old lady impatiently and asked, "Second cousin and third cousin haven't come home yet, and you haven't said anything about them. Grandma, you are biased!"
Lu Liulang and his fifth brother stood together, looking at the old lady with a little dissatisfaction on their faces.
They had never heard the old lady mention their second and third cousins, let alone their eldest cousin. Especially their eldest cousin, he was like the apple of their grandparents' eyes, the kind they held in their hearts so tightly that they were afraid of him falling.
"How dare you talk to your grandma like that, kid?" Little Wang, who was in the room, heard her son talking to her mother-in-law and came out. She glared at her son and said to her mother-in-law with a smile, "Mother, don't bother with this kid. He's just young and doesn't understand."
"Hmph, you can get married tomorrow, but you are still young and ignorant!" Old Mrs. Lu snorted coldly and said with an unhappy look on her face.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Wang pretended to be surprised and asked her mother-in-law, "Oh, really? Did you ask a matchmaker to find a wife for Wulang?"
"Erlang, Sanlang and the others haven't gotten married yet. If you want to say anything, tell them first. You little ones, just wait!" Old Mrs. Lu glared at her second daughter-in-law, then glared at her two grandsons, then went back to the main house.
Seeing her mother-in-law leave, Xiao Wang reached out and patted her son.
"Mom, I have something to tell you." Lu Wulang gave his sixth brother a look that told him to go back and wait for news. He pushed his mother into the house and closed the door behind him. The mother and son talked inside.
When the sun set in the afternoon, the other members of the Lu family returned one after another.
Today it was the fourth room's turn to cook. Chen and her daughters cooked for the whole family. After the whole family had eaten, the mother and daughters had to clean up and wash the dishes before they could take a break.
Lu Liulang waited until it was dark, and when his mother and father went back to the house to rest, he followed them into the room where his father and mother lived and told them about his and his cousin's trip to the city during the day.
In the opposite room, Xiao Wang was also whispering to her son what he had said to her today. She also told her husband, "Second Brother Lu, if you want to continue to support your nephews and your eldest brother's family, that's your business. My son and grandson will not support your Lu family's eldest branch!"
"I've been with you for so many years, and I've given you so many children, but I haven't had a good day. At worst, I can take the two girls and Wulang out to find a job, and you can continue to stay at home."
"What are you talking about! I haven't said anything yet, and you said to take the girl and Wulang out to find a job! Don't you have any understanding or trust in me, the man you have slept with for more than ten years?" Lu Laoer grabbed his angry wife to comfort her. In fact, he was also thinking about what his wife said to him.
Lu Lao Er knew that his mother and the first wife had severely offended his third brother's family. His second wife had at most watched them perish without helping, and had never harmed the third wife's family. They did not have any hatred or enmity with the third wife.
Now the life of the third house is getting better day by day. The nephew has even passed the examination for Tongsheng, and even ranked first. He is much more capable than the eldest nephew who passed by by a narrow margin. If nothing unexpected happens, this young nephew will definitely be more promising than the eldest nephew in the future.
You have to know that their family did not help their nephew at all in his studies and examinations, and in the future they probably won't need their second branch to spend money or effort to support their nephew's studies.
Therefore, if they stood on the side of the third branch at this time, it would be a hundred benefits with no harm. If their nephew passed the imperial examination and became an official, it would bring honor to him as the second uncle, and their second branch might even benefit as well!
Hearing this, Xiao Wang turned around, poked the man's chest with her finger with a seductive look, and asked with a slight smile on her lips: "Then tell me, do you have any good ideas?" Otherwise, if they proposed to divide the family for no reason, not to mention that the parents-in-law would not agree, even if outsiders knew that they were the ones who started it, it would not be good for the reputation of their second house.
"Well, we need to think about it. We'll go discuss it with the fourth brother and his family tomorrow." Lu Laoer knew that his son went to the city with the kid from the fourth room today. He knew that the fourth room must have some ideas as well.
He didn't want the second branch to take the lead and let the fourth branch reap the benefits, so the best way was to drag the fourth branch into the water as well.
Just as Lu Lao Er and Xiao Wang were discussing how to divide the family property, the couple from the fourth room also closed the door and discussed the matter with their son in the room.
That night, Lu Liulang stayed in his father and mother's room for a long time before leaving and returning to the room where he and his fifth brother lived. The two brothers lay on the bed and chatted for a long time, imagining that they would live a good life together in the future.
Lu Mingfei, far away in Kyoto, didn't know what was happening at the Lu family mansion. Perhaps it should be said that he hadn't cared about what was happening there for many years. As for the bait he set today, if it worked, it would work. If not, he would try again next time.
"Bang! Bang!——"
"At midnight, close the doors and windows to prevent theft!"
Hearing the second watchman's call outside, Lu Mingfei closed the book in his hand, tidied up the things on the table, then stood up from the chair he was sitting on, went over to open the door and wanted to go out.
As soon as the door opened, he saw someone standing outside, raising his hand to knock on the door.
The two looked at each other, and Lu Mingfei couldn't help but smile as he looked at Zhao Lang, who was carrying a lunch box. This man had been sending him snacks and late-night snacks lately, and he even suspected that he had gained a lot of weight recently.
"Come to this room." After closing the door of the study, he took Zhao Lang's hand and walked to the bedroom next door where he slept.
Zhao Lang looked down at his wrist, which was being held. His expression did not change, except for the tip of his ear which turned red.
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