133, a good calculation
133, a good calculation
When he heard his mother asking, Lu Mingfei told her that his two uncles were going to distribute dividends to their family.
"This won't do, this won't do. Take it back quickly." When Liu Sanniang heard this, she also asked the two uncles to take the silver back quickly. It was really difficult for them to get the money.
"You must take this silver. If you don't take it, we won't feel at ease." Lu Lao Er waved his hands and refused to take the silver back.
What Lu Lao Er and Lu Lao Si wanted was to continue their dealings with the Third House and maintain their family relationship. So what they gave out now was a dividend, but what they would receive in the future would be no less than this little bit of money.
If this nephew could achieve further success in the imperial examinations and become an official, their second and fourth branches would be able to benefit from the third branch's influence. Even if they set up stalls in the city, no hooligans would dare to wreak havoc there. If they expanded their business, they would have someone to support them. If their descendants also wanted to study and take the imperial examinations, having a nephew who was an official behind the scenes to help them would make their future much easier.
However, Lu Mingfei understood what his two uncles were planning. It was precisely because he understood that he did not want to be too involved with the families of his second and fourth uncles.
When he met his mother's gaze, he already had an idea in his mind, and he immediately suggested: "How about this, you give me twenty taels of silver in one go, as if you are buying out my barbecue recipe." He did not want to have any financial dealings or involvement with these two uncles, so the best way was to sell the recipe in one go, which would save him a lot of trouble in the future.
"This..." Lu Lao Er and his younger brother looked at each other.
They all knew very well that such a good recipe cost only twenty taels of silver, which was definitely not expensive. They would earn more than that in a month. Even if it was two hundred taels, it would be worth it.
Meeting the look from their nephew, Lu Lao Er and Lu Lao Si both had a feeling that their plan had already been seen clearly by their nephew. They both understood the nephew's intention of insisting on selling the prescription to them all at once.
Finally, the two of them looked at each other, and finally could not resist the huge temptation of getting more money from the two families in the future, so they agreed to do as the nephew said, pay the money in one lump sum, and buy out the prescription.
There happened to be enough for twenty taels of silver in the dividends, so Lu Lao Er directly took out twenty taels of silver from his purse and gave it to his nephew. He looked at his nephew with a questioning look in his eyes and said, "Just twenty taels of silver, isn't it too little? How about we send another twenty taels later? I really don't have that much silver on me today..."
The latter part of the sentence explained that it was not that they did not want to give more, but that they simply did not have that much silver on them, and it also gave their nephew a chance to ask for more. However, Lu Lao Er was afraid that his nephew would ask for too much, so he limited the amount to another twenty taels of silver.
Lu Mingfei could hear the clever tricks his second uncle used, which was why he didn't like him very much. He was so calculating and calculating in everything he said and did. If it weren't for his two cousins, he wouldn't want to bother with them at all.
"No need, this is enough." He took the silver and handed it to his mother, not caring too much about the silver.
Liu Sanniang asked her eldest son to take it first. She handed the two bags of things in her hands to her second uncle and younger uncle, "Take this back and eat it."
"No, no." Lu Laosi waved his hands quickly.
"Here, here. You brought something here, we can't let you go back empty-handed." Liu Sanniang stuffed the food into their hands and said, "If you're not in a hurry, stay here and have dinner with us before leaving."
"No, no, we have to hurry back to open the stall." Lu Lao Er declined the kindness of his third brother's wife and prepared to leave.
Before leaving, he showed a bit of hesitation on his face, and finally made a request to his nephew, "Qilang, can you please not give this barbecue recipe you gave us to other people?"
Are you trying to buy an exclusive deal with twenty taels of silver? Lu Mingfei raised an eyebrow inwardly, looked at his second and fourth uncles, and smiled and reminded them, "Barbecue is something that can be easily learned. If someone else opens a barbecue stall like yours, don't say I gave them the recipe."
"No, no." Lu Lao Er could see that his nephew was unhappy, so he didn't want to continue talking about this issue. He smiled awkwardly, said a few words of encouragement to his nephew, and told him to study hard, and then left with his brother.
After Lu Mingfei sent his two uncles away, he came back and saw his mother standing behind him waiting for him. He handed the silver in his hand to her and said, "Mother, take it. Here are twenty taels of silver for the barbecue recipe. The other few taels of silver are what my father lent to my second and fourth uncles. They just returned them."
"Take it and use it. You need money to buy pens, ink, paper, and inkstone." Liu Sanniang waved her hand and refused to take the silver from her eldest son. She was also a little unhappy about what her second uncle had said before he left.
"Mother, take this. I still have some money here. My father gave me twenty taels of silver last time, and I haven't spent it all yet." Lu Mingfei forcibly stuffed the twenty or so taels of silver into his mother's hands.
Ever since his family moved to Kyoto, he'd never been short of money. Early on, when he helped with chores around the house, his father and mother would give him pocket money from time to time. Later, when he was a little older, he started writing storybooks for bookstores, and over the past few years, he'd earned a bit of money from his writings.
Also since this year, because of the exams, the storybook work has stopped, and there is no income.
"If you need money, just tell me and I'll get it for you." Liu Sanniang had no choice but to accept the silver her eldest son stuffed into her hand and said to him, "We're not short of money at home now. You don't have to worry about family matters. Just focus on your studies."
She knew her eldest son was worried about the family's purchase of land, ducklings, and piglets, and that they might not have enough money. They had been short of money a while ago, but now that the stall had started bringing in some income, their finances were no longer so tight.
Looking at the chicken coop with two chickens on the ground, Liu Sanniang said to her eldest son, "Just now, your second uncle and your fourth uncle each sent a chicken and a lot of vegetables."
"Just accept it if they send it to you. If they send you anything in the future, give them an equal gift in return." Lu Mingfei didn't want to take advantage of those people in the Lu family's old house. It was not easy to take advantage of those people.
"Yes, I know. Among the things I just brought back to them, there were several kilograms of brown sugar. Your stepmother bought them last time, and I couldn't bear to eat them, so I kept them until now. I just put them in a basket and gave them away." Liu Sanniang didn't want to be talked about behind her back by her two sisters-in-law just for taking these things from others.
"You go study. I'm going to cook. I'll call you out to eat when the meal is ready."
"good."
Seeing his mother go into the kitchen, Lu Mingfei went into the study and greeted Zhang Lingxuan and Ye Zhuoran who were studying inside. Zhang Lingxuan happened to have a question that he didn't understand, so he stayed in the study to discuss it with Zhang Lingxuan.
It was not until sunset that Zhang Lingxuan and Ye Zhuoran left the Lu family courtyard.
After Lu Mingfei saw Zhang Lingxuan and Ye Zhuoran off, the sun in the west was about to set.
They could hear the evening drums beating at the city gates from their homes.
Knowing that the city gates were already closed and her husband would not be coming back, Liu Sanniang withdrew her gaze from the door and said to her eldest son standing beside her, "Oh, it looks like your father will not be coming back tonight."
"Mom, do you miss Dad?" Lu Mingfei teased his mother.
Liu Sanniang glared at her eldest son who was teasing her. She missed her husband and was worried about him.
"How about I go out of town tomorrow to see how things are going with Dad and the others?" Since the family bought the land, Lu Mingfei has not had time to go out of town to see it.
"You don't know where our land is? Do you know which way to go?" Liu Sanniang asked her eldest son with a smile.
“…” Lu Mingfei.
"Okay, okay, you don't have to worry about your father's affairs. After you finish your exams, when you have time, ask your father to take you there. And Mingrui and the others, take them out of the city and take a walk outside." Liu Sanniang looked at the three boys running around in the yard, and remembered that they had never taken their second son out of the city since he was born.
They have been busy with business these years. Except for a few days of wind and rain, they basically set up their stall the rest of the time. Sometimes it is even windy and rainy, because they have to set up the stall the next day after buying vegetables the day before.
It is precisely because of this that not only has Mozi never left the city since he was born, but even Liu Sanniang herself has not left Kyoto for seven or eight years.
However, as a son, Lu Mingfei knew the hardships his parents had endured over the years.
After hearing what his mother said, he continued, "Okay, I'll be able to take a break after I pass the next exam next month. Mother, you can make some arrangements in advance. We can take a three to five day break and go out of town as a family to see how our duck farm is doing."
"Okay, okay." Liu Sanniang responded with a smile.
The mother and son stood in the yard and talked for a few words.
Liu Sanniang still had to take the three boys to take a bath, so she let the eldest son go and do his own thing first.
Lu Mingfei was sitting in the study reading a book until Zhang Qi came over to remind him to take a shower. He put down the book in his hand and went to the bathroom. When he got to the bathroom, the water had already been drawn for him. He knew without guessing that it must have been Zhang Qi who drew it for him.
When he came out of the shower, he ran into his mother outside.
"Mother, go back to the room and rest. Don't read too late at night and go to bed early." Liu Sanniang had just packed up the things at home and was ready to go back to the room to sleep.
"Okay, mother, you go ahead. I'll read for a while and then go to bed." Lu Mingfei replied.
Liu Sanniang nodded, and asked Ruyi, who was following behind her, to rest, and then she went back to the bedroom in the main house.
"Xiao Qi, you should pack up and go back to your room to sleep." Lu Mingfei also asked Zhang Qi to go to sleep and he didn't need to follow him.
Zhang Qi replied "OK" and watched his elder brother go into the study before he went to fetch water for a bath.
When he came out of the shower, he saw the light in the study was on. Through the open window, he saw someone sitting at the table reading. He took a look and walked away lightly.
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