sbdcsierra Chapter 156 Li Baolin comes to visit
Chapter 156 Li Baolin comes to visit
Being looked at like this by everyone, Erniu looked suspicious and her face turned red instantly.
Seeing Zhong Yunfeng looking at the shy Erniu with a silly look on his face, Ye Changyan had a strong intuition in his heart, could it be that Zhong Yunfeng was planning to take advantage of Erniu?
Ye Changyan thought about it carefully. During this period of time, he did not notice any unusual behavior between Zhong Yunfeng and Erniu. When did Zhong Yunfeng and Erniu fall in love with each other?
Looking at Erniu's suspicious expression, maybe it's not that the two of them are attracted to each other, but that Zhong Yunfeng is just attracted to Erniu.
Ye Changyan decided to observe the matter carefully, but it was rare to see Zhong Yunfeng looking so silly.
Judging from the current family situations of both parties, if Zhong Yunfeng really likes Erniu, then Erniu can be considered to be marrying above her station.
The Zhong family is considered a large and powerful family in Yuzhou Prefecture. Zhong Dingyi's cousin Zhong Dingren can be appointed as a fifth-rank deputy governor in a wealthy place like Yangzhou. He must have some connections behind him.
Although Zhong Yunfeng was a bastard, his academic performance was no worse than that of his brother who was taken to Yangzhou by Zhong Dingren.
As the patriarch of the Zhong family, Zhong Dingyi had to manage the huge family business, so naturally he could only register as a merchant. However, according to the laws of the Dasheng Dynasty, men could leave the family and re-register after they came of age.
The current Great Sheng Dynasty has strict restrictions on the children of businessmen from taking the imperial examinations, which is also one of the focuses of debate between reformists and conservatives in the court.
If Zhong Yunfeng wanted to take the imperial examination again, or let his descendants take the imperial examination, he only needed to transfer the property under his name to other people, and step out of the front stage and behind the scenes. Zhong Yunfeng still held the deed to the more than 100 acres of fertile land in the old house, so it was not too difficult for him to become a farmer.
It is common to see family businesses being registered in the names of relatives, friends, or even servants. These are common methods used by large families. As long as the business taxes are paid in full and on time, the government will not investigate unless the people report it.
A year has just passed and Zhong Yunfeng is exactly twenty years old this year, reaching the age of adulthood. If Zhong Yunfeng really has any feelings for Erniu, these things should be planned.
After delivering the New Year gifts, Zhong Yunfeng hurriedly got on the carriage and went back to the city. Ye Changyan planned to stay there during the Spring Festival. Regardless of whether he had any feelings for Erniu, he should have a good talk with Zhong Yunfeng.
Not long after Zhong Yunfeng left, he heard someone knocking on the door.
The Ye family thought that someone had come to deliver New Year gifts again. When Fang Xiaotong opened the door, they saw Zhang Fei and Li Baolin standing at the gate, asking Fang Xiaotong questions.
"Is Mr. Ye home?"
During the past few days that Mr. Cai and Liang Jingcheng have been staying at the Ye family, they have basically been eating vegetarian food like the rest of the family. Considering the health of his teacher and the fact that Liang Jingcheng seemed to be still growing, Ye Changyan asked Fang Xiaotong to buy some mutton as they planned to eat dumplings tonight.
Fang Xiaomei had already kneaded the dough at home. Considering that she and Fang Xiaotong were still in mourning, Ye Changyan prepared a variety of fillings, including mutton and celery filling, mushroom and egg filling, leek and egg filling, black fungus and cabbage filling, etc. The mutton filling was for the teacher, Liang Jingcheng and Lu Tingfeng.
Everyone was sitting around making dumplings. Ye Changyan, who was teaching Liang Jingcheng how to make dumplings, heard Zhang Fei's voice outside the courtyard gate.
"Uncle Zhang, hurry up, come into the house."
Zhang Fei and Li Baolin entered the house and saw everyone sitting around making dumplings. After a brief greeting, Zhang Fei said with a smile.
"It's still warm inside. It's the beginning of spring tomorrow, but the weather is still so cold."
"Little boy, get a hot water bottle for Uncle Zhang and Uncle Li. Uncle Zhang, Uncle Li, please sit down first. I'll go wash my hands and come back."
Today is only the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, and Zhang Fei and Li Baolin came to see me. Seeing that Li Baolin looked anxious, I was afraid that something had happened to him.
Soon seeing Ye Changyan wash his hands and sit next to him and Li Baolin, Zhang Fei was the first to speak.
"Sanlang, today is the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, and I shouldn't have come to disturb you, but Brother Li's family had some problems, so I had no choice but to come to your house.
"No, it's the New Year, so if you walk around more, you'll be more popular. Uncle Li, what happened? You can tell me about it."
Seeing Li Baolin's anxious face, Ye Changyan asked him directly about his purpose.
"My dear Mr. Ye, I came to your house today because I have some difficult matters to discuss with you. I wonder if you are still planning to buy the land?"
Li Baolin's words took Ye Changyan two seconds to react.
"Uncle Li, what happened? Why are you in such a hurry to sell the land during the New Year?"
Then Li Baolin said with some excitement.
"My boss is doing business in another place. He encountered some problems in his business before. At that time, he sold some land to you. Then he collected enough money and sent it to my boss."
After hearing what Li Baolin said, Ye Changyan nodded, because he knew all of this.
"My eldest son is in big trouble in another place. He was accused of fraud and arrested by the government. He asked someone to send me a message, but because it is close to the end of the year and it is snowing heavily in another place, I didn't receive the news until last night."
Seeing the emotional Li Baolin, his eyes began to turn red.
"It's been nearly a month since this news came back. I don't know what my eldest son's condition is like now. My old lady cried all night last night."
Seeing that Li Baolin was very emotional, Zhang Fei on the side took over the conversation.
"Brother Li came to my house early this morning to look for me, but I was at a banquet. Fortunately, I returned home after the banquet, so I hurriedly brought Brother Li here."
Seeing Ye Changyan nodded, Zhang Fei patted Li Baolin on the shoulder and then continued.
"Brother Li plans to sell some of his land to raise some money to rescue his eldest brother."
After learning the reason, Ye Changyan's intuition told him that this matter might not be as simple as it seemed, so he asked Li Baolin.
"Uncle Li, I wonder what exactly your Dalang said in the letter he brought back?"
After hearing Ye Changyan's question, Li Baolin told Ye Changyan the general situation of the letter.
It turned out that during the Spring Festival last year, Li Baolin’s eldest son Li Rongxu learned from a friend a way to make money, and after the New Year he went to Liangzhou with that person.
He invested thousands of taels of silver in total, including all the cash in the family. Last time, he even sold land to raise the money. But this time, not only did he not make any money, but he also received news that he was involved in a lawsuit. This made Li Baolin very anxious.
What Li Baolin said seemed very simple, but Ye Changyan felt that it sounded somewhat familiar. This experience seemed to be very similar to that of the father of Fang Xiaotong and his sister, so Ye Changyan continued to ask.
"Uncle Li, what kind of business is your Dalang doing with others in Liangzhou?"
"Every time he sent a letter home, he never mentioned what business he was doing. Apart from simply reporting that he was safe, the rest of his message was that he had encountered difficulties in business and asked his family to find a way to raise money."
After hearing what Li Baolin said, Fang Xiaotong and Fang Xiaomei, brother and sister who were sitting around making dumplings, became depressed and their eyes seemed to be a little red.