Chapter 33 [VIP]
Chen Rong was so angry that she trembled all over and tears streamed down her face. "What kind of father is this? Qiu'er must have had the worst luck in eight lifetimes to end up with such a good-for-nothing."
Wang Ying poured her a glass of water, and it took her a while to calm down.
"I'm sorry to have made you laugh at me. This is my first time here and I've already encountered something like this."
"What are you saying, Aunt? We are your family. Now that your father-in-law is gone, Qingyan and I are your support. We're here to back you up."
Upon hearing this, Chen Rong's tears started falling again. She took Wang Ying's hand and said, "Good child, no wonder your sister-in-law likes you so much. You are indeed a thoughtful person."
Wang Ying handed her a handkerchief to wipe her tears.
Chen Rong had been feeling down lately. She couldn't tell anyone about her family problems, and she couldn't talk to her two children either, so she kept it all bottled up inside. Now that she finally had someone to confide in, she pulled Wang Ying aside and started pouring her heart out.
"You know, he's incompetent and always dreaming of easy money. When he was young, he looked down on merchants and only wanted to pass the imperial examinations. His family supported him for more than ten years, but in the end, he didn't even get a fart out of the exams."
Now that he's older, he's thinking about starting a business again. He decided to close his perfectly good private school and open his own shop, only to lose a large sum of money.
The Lin family used to be quite wealthy, after all, not many families could afford to send their children to school, but even the richest family couldn't keep up with such extravagance. When Old Master Lin was alive, he could still keep him in check, but after Old Master Lin died, Lin Changbin completely let himself go.
Chen Rong took a breath and continued, "Now that I'm working as an accountant at a pawnshop, I thought things would finally settle down, but I didn't expect to get involved with the Fang family."
What kind of family is the Fang family? Their reputation is utterly ruined in Longquan County. They'll do anything with a little money. What decent family would be willing to send their child to them? Wouldn't people be gossiping and cursing them behind their backs?
"It's still far from certain, Auntie, don't worry. We'll try to persuade Uncle in the next couple of days."
"Could you stay a few more days?"
"It depends on the situation. I originally planned to go to the county tomorrow to find a porter to deliver my fourth uncle's New Year's gift, but I have to leave the day after tomorrow. It's the end of the year, and the family shop can't stay closed all the time."
Chen Rong sniffed. "You said you were opening a shop back then, how's business?"
"It's alright, just enough to cover the family's expenses. Life is a little more comfortable than before."
"That's good. As long as you're happy with how much you earn, it's fine. You and Qingyan aren't getting any younger, so why not get married and have a child?"
Wang Ying felt very awkward when she heard this before, but since their relationship changed, she was less resistant and nodded in agreement, whether or not to have the baby.
*
Inside the house, Lin Changbin was also seething with anger. He muttered as he picked up some food, "Your third aunt has no vision. Does she think that finding an honest and hardworking man will make life better? Rice, oil, salt, and everything else cost money. If you don't have money, you can't even afford to eat. What kind of life is that?"
"Uncle is wrong. Whether someone is rich or poor is secondary; character is the most important thing. If my cousin marries into the family and is beaten and mistreated, no amount of money will help."
"Don't listen to your third aunt's nonsense. Fang Erlang is not as bad as you think. He likes to drink and carouse a bit, but that's only because there's no one else at home. If he were married, he wouldn't go out and fool around."
Chen Qingyan couldn't stand it anymore. His uncle was a scholar, after all. How could he say such absurd things?
"Once you get involved in things like drinking, gambling, whoring, and prostitution, it's hard to get rid of them for life! My second uncle's cousin used to be addicted to gambling, and he squandered his entire family fortune. In the end, the gambling den chopped off three of his fingers, but he still didn't repent. How can you be so sure that the second son of the Fang family will settle down after getting married?"
Lin Xiucai realized that his nephew had come to persuade his aunt.
"Enough talk, let's drink and eat."
"Uncle, marriage is a serious matter and should not be taken lightly..."
"Snap!" Lin Changbin slammed his chopsticks down, picked up his hat, got up, and went out the door.
Chen Qingyan was about to chase after the person when her aunt stopped her, saying, "Never mind him, let him go out."
"Where are you going so late?"
Auntie sneered, “He doesn’t lack a place to stay. You two should wash up and rest. It’s good that the east room is available for you to sleep in. I’ll take the two children and sleep in the west room.”
*
After turning off the lights, neither of them could fall asleep in bed.
Even when they were at someone else's house, they didn't dare to easily enter the experimental field. Wang Ying simply sat up, still wearing her clothes, and asked, "What exactly do you think your uncle means?"
"I don't know, maybe that Fang Erlang really has some extraordinary abilities."
Wang Ying shook her head. "I don't think so. I suspect that the man surnamed Fang promised my uncle some benefits, otherwise he wouldn't be so eager to send his son to someone as a second wife."
Chen Qingyan said, "My uncle's family has no male members. After my second cousin gets married, there will only be the two of them left. What use are so many benefits to them?"
"That makes sense. So why is he so insistent on marrying his cousin off to someone else?"
"I can't figure it out either. I always feel like there's something else going on here."
Wang Ying said, "Forget it, there's no use in guessing. Why don't we ask Cao Kun about it tomorrow? He has a lot of connections in the county and should know this guy surnamed Fang."
"good."
The next morning, Lin Changbin returned with a beaming smile. He entered the house and greeted the two men with a smile, seemingly unaffected by what happened the night before.
His aunt didn't ask him where he had been all night. The atmosphere was awkward and tense, as if it might explode at any moment.
After breakfast, Wang Ying and Chen Qingyan were about to go out to find a porter, and her third aunt's husband wanted to go with them, but Wang Ying refused.
"No need to trouble your uncle. We're planning to stroll around the streets for a bit and come back later."
Lin Changbin stopped talking as soon as he heard this. He didn't want to go out and run around in such cold weather.
It was Auntie San who spoke up, "Qiu'er, why don't you go out for a walk with your cousin and his wife? They don't know the area well, they might get lost."
Lin Sui also wanted to go, but after being glared at by his mother, he obediently stayed at home.
Lin Qiu put on a thick cotton-padded coat and followed the two out the door. The child was introverted and didn't say a word the whole way, following behind the two like a little tail.
Wang Ying took the initiative to ask, "Cousin, do you know where the porters are in the city?"
Lin Qiu, wrapped in a cotton scarf with only her large eyes showing, pointed south and said, "Just keep walking straight ahead and you'll see it."
After walking for about half an hour, we finally saw the sign for the footcart. There were four or five flatbed carts parked at the entrance, and workers were loading and unloading them.
Wang Ying stepped forward and stopped one of the shop assistants to ask, "Brother, do you have a man named Cao Kun here?"
The young man shouted at the top of his lungs, "Second Master, a young man has come looking for you!"
The people around burst into laughter. Cao Kun came out of the house and was startled when he saw who it was. He quickly scolded, "Stop talking nonsense! Manager Wang, what brings you here?"
"I came here on some business. I want to send some things to my fourth uncle in Laizhou. There are no long-distance transport companies in the town, so I came to the county to ask."
Cao Kun thought to himself: Doesn't your family get vegetables from Laizhou every day? Why not just deliver them over there?
Wang Ying seemed to see through his thoughts, "We only pick up vegetables along the way, we've never traveled that far before, and besides, we only have one mule at home, we won't be able to pick up vegetables once we get to Laizhou."
"It's cold outside, let's go inside and talk."
Chen Qingyan and Lin Qiu followed them in. The shop was spacious, with many goods displayed on the side. Six or seven shop assistants were busy running around, and business seemed to be doing well.
Cao Kun led them into the room next door and closed the door behind him.
"I thought Manager Wang was planning to do business in the county town."
Wang Ying knew what he meant. Vegetables in the county town were so expensive that he was afraid he would cut out the middlemen and open a shop directly here.
"We're unfamiliar with the county town, and we don't have that much money. We haven't thought about these things yet."
Cao Kun laughed when he heard this, "What does Manager Wang want to send to Laizhou?"
"Five baskets of food, nothing valuable, how much would that cost?"
"I'll bring it to you on my way in a few days, no need for money."
Wang Ying said, "One thing at a time. We're all in business, so we should calculate it however we need to."
"Then I'll give you two strings of cash."
Two strings of cash isn't expensive. Before coming here, I asked around in town and found out that it costs one string of cash to transport a cartload of goods to the neighboring county.
"I'll write down the address for you later and have the servants bring the things over."
"Okay, don't worry, I'll make sure it's delivered to you."
"There's something else I'd like to trouble you with, Mr. Cao," Wang Ying said. "I'd like to inquire about someone. I wonder if you know anyone in the city with the surname Fang?"
There are quite a few people with the surname Fang in the city. I wonder which one you're referring to, Manager Wang?
"He is the second son in his family, and I heard that his family is quite wealthy and owns many shops."
Upon hearing this, Lin Qiu suddenly looked up, surprised that his cousin-in-law had been asking for information on his behalf.
Cao Kun stroked his chin and pondered for a moment before saying, "The Fang Er you mentioned, could it be Fang Shen? His family sells gold and silver jewelry, antiques, and calligraphy and paintings; they have five or six shops."
Lin Qiu nodded repeatedly and whispered, "It's him."
Cao Kun looked up at the sound, and their eyes accidentally met. Cao Kun's doe-like eyes were startled, and he immediately looked away.
What kind of person is he?
"It's hard to say about his character, since I haven't had much contact with him. But I've heard that he frequents brothels and has spent a lot of money on prostitutes. He's a well-known playboy in the city."
Well, after hearing this, Lin Qiu was almost in tears.
Chen Qingyan's expression was also unpleasant, but he didn't say anything out of consideration for his cousin's feelings.
Wang Ying asked, "Where can we find this person?"
"You should be able to run into him at the Drunken Flower Pavilion or Autumn Moon Pavilion in the city. May I ask what business Manager Wang has with him?"
"It's a personal matter, thank you, Mr. Cao."
Wang Ying got up to say goodbye. Cao Kun saw the three of them to the door, his gaze lingering on the quiet young man until he was completely out of sight before he looked away.
A few of the younger guys came over and teased, "Second-in-command, who are those people?"
"He's a regular customer. The tall guy next to him is her husband. Don't talk nonsense next time."
"Hey, you'd better hurry up with your marriage, or your stick will rust!" The men burst into laughter.
Cao Kun was so angry that he kicked one of them, "Get out, get out, go do your work, and don't bring up things that are hard to talk about."
*
On the way home, Lin Qiu's tears never stopped. He never expected his father to tell him about such a person. He felt utterly hopeless and thought he might as well hang himself.
Wang Ying felt terrible seeing this. If it were an outsider, it wouldn't be so bad, but this was her own cousin. She couldn't just stand by and watch him go down a path of fire.
Chen Qingyan stopped and said, "No, I have to see this person with my own eyes. If he is really as bad as outsiders say, why is your uncle so insistent on marrying you off to him?"
Wang Ying thought the same way, so she simply led Lin Qiu to a nearby clothing shop, where she bought a set of coarse men's clothing, intending to sneak into a brothel.
The young men's clothes were mostly double-breasted dresses, while the men's clothes were short robes and long robes with diagonal openings. Both of them bought short robes in a grayish-blue color. Their hair was tied into a bun with a hairband, and the pregnancy marks on their necks and faces were covered, making them look like teenagers.
"Let's go, let's go and meet this Fang Erlang!"
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