It's hard to be a prodigal

Le Lian was sitting beside the tank boat with a small bundle on his back, quietly watching the reflection in the water without speaking, with a cold expression on his face.

The night was cold and rainy, and the boatman was busy laying tarpaulins to keep out the rain on the boat. There was a batch of medicinal materials stacked on the boat, which Lelian bought with some money he had saved, and was going to take them to the north for business.

The boatman's son was sweating from the busy work of moving the goods. He put down the last box of goji berries and wanted to come over to say hello to Le Lian with a simple smile.

But his father grabbed his arm, lowered his eyes and shook his head, signaling his son not to approach Lelian.

Several boatmen sat down on the ground and took a sip of tea foam, muttering softly: "Even the young master is leaving, I'm afraid he won't come back."

"The food and drink in the Le Family Courtyard are delicious, but why do you have to go to the north to suffer, even the young master?"

"Hey, if you live comfortably at home, you won't go away quietly. You don't know. I heard that even the young master was picked up. He died of his parents. Master Lejia was kind enough to keep him. In the house, give me something to eat."

"It's no wonder, that child is a stalker at first glance. Since I was a child, I have told my little children not to get too close to Master Lian, and even a little bit of bad luck will be terrible."

"It's no nonsense, Master Lian's fate is not good, he is good at doing business at a young age, I just see how good Master Lian is! Going to the north is appointed to bring back a lot of wealth." The naive son of the boatman said with a silly smile, "Lian I still have a big brother, if he leaves, I will be so worried."

Le Lian sat alone. Although he was sitting far away from the boatmen, he had good ears, and occasionally could hear them talking about him from a few words, but he was indifferent. Ever since he entered the Le family compound at the age of five, the discussions around him Never stopped, got used to it.

As a result, he developed a withdrawn personality and was not close to others. He carried a knife with him since he was a child. It was a foot long and had blood-red lines. He hung it on his waist and was inseparable from each other.

Le Lian wiped the blade clean, and a pair of dull eyes reflected on the back of the black blade, slowly retracted into the sheath.

He had just given away the only valuable thing he had on him.

The earrings were saved by himself, and they were inlaid with a rough stone given by a businessman who was doing overseas business. The shape of the stone is the most suitable for earrings, and they are very beautiful, but he can't wear them himself. Single earrings are not as good as paired earrings, so he hasn't sold them yet. There was no one to send him away, he kept it for a few years, and he was going to go to the north to take it with him, to see if he could find a suitable person to exchange for some money, and today he sent Jiang Zong by a coincidence.

However, the Jiang family is rich and powerful, and Jiang Zong likes to be extravagant and extravagant, so the gemstone earrings must be nothing in the eyes of others.

He didn't expect Jiang Zong to lend him the money, Jiang Zong was used to taking advantage of the fire, and Le Lian just wanted to take a look at his acquaintances before leaving.

Hearing the boatman's idiot son mention his elder brother's name, Le Lian regained his senses a little, and frowned.

If anyone in the Le family compound could say something to keep Le Lian, he would not leave.I watched the goods being moved by myself, and sat by the river alone, with no one seeing me off.

The boatman approached Le Lian cautiously, rubbed his hands together and asked, "Master Lian, the goods are all loaded, let's go now?"

Just as Le Lian was about to nod, he heard a few noises behind him.

The naive son of the boatman laughed first, pointed to the tree not far away and said, "Isn't that the young master of the Jiang family!"

Jiang Zong held a ruler in his hand, pressed Jiang Heng under the tree, slapped his butt hard, and cursed: "How dare you run outside, I told you to memorize the book, and memorize it for a whole day to achieve this virtue? What are the three misdeeds of the pawn shop? Recite! If you can’t recite it, I will beat you to death, you little trash.”

With tears in Jiang Heng's big eyes, he lay on the tree aggrievedly, crying and reciting: "The god's robes and costumes are inappropriate...qigong...qigong..."

He stuttered for a long time without reciting the reason, and got another ruler on his buttocks, which was burning and painful.

The little scholar was so frightened that he wiped away his tears, and retorted in a stern voice: "A gentleman convinces others with reason, how can you teach the younger generation in public like this... You are rude! You are self-serving and not blaming others... You are still an idiot!" A good-for-nothing prodigal, what face does he have to care about others..."

Jiang Zong persisted: "Just because I am your elder brother and elder brother is like a father, you have to listen to me. Don't talk nonsense. If you can't memorize this page today, you can sleep on the street for me."

I can't make money blatantly, someone has to support the family.

He finally knew why his younger brother failed the exam. He said that he was immersed in his studies in the room, but his mind wandered away after reading a line of words. When he picked up the book and looked at the inkstone at hand, he thought it was very interesting.

Just as they were arguing, Jiang Zong suddenly noticed someone approaching, looked up, frowned and said, "What are you looking at?"

Le Lian quietly stood behind the tree, silently watching the two brothers quarreling, and seeing Jiang Zong questioning himself, he said softly: "Three inappropriate pawnshops, inappropriate god robes and costumes, inappropriate flag gongs, umbrella fans, and low tide jewelry."

Jiang Zong was stunned for a moment, pointed at Jiang Heng with a ruler, and reprimanded him: "Look at him, and then at you, he will also be able to do business, you can do whatever you want, eat whatever you want not enough."

Le Lian's fingers hidden in his sleeves gently twisted the cuffs of his inner jacket, silently listening to Jiang Zong's words of praise.

This is the first time someone has praised himself.Lelian was distracted for a moment and didn't move.

"..." Jiang Heng looked down on Le Lian from the bottom of his heart. After all, he was also the young master of the Jiang family's grand courtyard. What is Le Lian? The words were left unsaid.

"Go, go home and clean you. If you dare to run out next time, I will break your leg. Do you hear me?" Jiang Zong carried Jiang Heng back to the house, and turned around to teach Le Lian, "You too, the child will grow old at night. What are you hanging around outside, hurry home."

Le Lian was startled slightly, his eyes brightened.

Jiang Zong walked about ten steps, the gemstone earrings in his sleeve fell out, there was a crisp sound, he lowered his head to pick it up when he heard the voice, wiped the dust on his sleeve and put it back, it was a valuable thing, it was a pity to lose it .

Le Lian held his breath and silently watched the young master of the Jiang family disappear around the corner, until he could no longer see him, then he exhaled slowly.

He actually cherishes it so much.

Including Le Lian's family, no one paid attention to him, and no one kept him.Only Jiang Zong wanted him to stay.

The boatman was impatient and came over to urge him to ask, "Master Lian, when will we leave?"

Le Lian said: "Unload the goods and move them back to the warehouse."

The boatman was surprised: "Aren't you leaving again? This..." He was already impatient to wait, but he was even more annoyed when he heard that he had been taken for a walk. He was about to say a few contradictory words right away. It was Lelian, who still shut up in fear.

After all, the last businessman who didn't have eyes to offend Le Lian had his finger chopped off by this crazy boy.

In fact, Le Lian was quite gentle when he was young, but he became cold and indifferent when he grew up.

Le Lian took out a bunch of copper coins and threw them to the boatman as a labor aid. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly saw several tank boats docking. The draft was very deep and the cargo they carried was heavy.

Le Lian stopped without saying a word, and watched the shopkeeper and the guys of the Lin family unload the goods with cold eyes.

The boatman next to him just took the foot money, and he was very happy in his heart, so he flattered him and said: "That is the tank boat hired by the Lin family. The shopkeeper of the Lin family brought many people to Bagan for a year. It seems that he brought a lot of people. When the goods come back, I don’t know much about the villain, I only heard them say that they are in the jade business, and I don’t understand the rest, Master Lian, if you are interested, the villain will ask you?”

Le Lian didn't appreciate it: "Go unload the goods."

He knew that Bagan produced emeralds, and the Lin family had been running a deficit in recent years. He went to other places to try his luck, and he could vaguely see some rough stones in those wooden boxes and sacks, and Le Lian knew it.

In Jinzhou, there are a lot of merchants, and those who can be called rich and powerful include the Jiang family, the Lin family, the Le family, and many large and small houses. Once a person becomes rich and has no worries about food and clothing, he will spend money on luxury jewelry. In the past, the business of the Lin family was booming. Since the head of the Lin family died and Lin Fusheng, the second head of the family, was incompetent, the business has been declining day by day. It seems that this time he wants to make a fortune with jadeite.

Le Lian didn't have much savings. This time, he purchased a batch of medicinal materials to sell to the north, and spent all his savings. There was only 50 taels of silver in his pocket, which was all his net worth. The trip to the north was put on hold. I have to quickly get some money to turn around. I can't expect Le Jia to be kind and help, I can only rely on myself.

Le Lian went back to a small courtyard where he lived alone, lit a fire and cooked a bowl of porridge, took a small dish of tofu with sauce, and ate in silence.

This small yard was bought by secretly saving money when he was living under the fence. The young master of the Le family, Le He, was annoyed at seeing him. Ask him to pay 3000 taels of surplus a year, otherwise he will be kicked out.

Unexpectedly, at the end of the year, Le Lian really returned the surplus of 3000 taels, and the cloth workshop that was about to close down was also brought back to life.

The young master refused to give up, and forcibly took back the cloth workshop.

Fortunately, Le Lian had been prepared for a long time, and made some manipulations in the account, leaving 1000 taels of silver out of the surplus. This year, when he returned home, he took advantage of the opportunity to quarrel with the young master, and used the knife with Le He. He couldn't tolerate him either, so he took the opportunity to move out and bought a small, cramped yard.

I wanted to start my own business, but unfortunately I had no capital and it was very difficult.

I will go to Lin's house tomorrow to have a look.

On the second day, Jiang Zong got up early and asked the servant girl to buy him a sliced ​​cake in South Street for breakfast, and then he wandered to Jiang Heng's room to have a look.

The little trash is making progress a bit and is studying.

His butt was hurt last night, Jiang Heng tilted one butt, muttering the words, funny and aggrieved.

Jiang Zong leaned against the door, looking at him with folded arms.

This child hadn't been very close to him since he was a child, and hated him until he died, but he cried so sadly while holding his tablet.

Jiang Zong walked over and stroked his hair.

Jiang Heng was startled suddenly, raised his eyes and looked at his brother in surprise, as if he was afraid of being beaten, he quickly covered his buttocks, and tremblingly explained: "I'm working hard."

Seeing that Jiang Zong didn't refute and was not angry, Jiang Heng gained some confidence, slapped the book on the table, and negotiated with Jiang Zong harshly: "I can study hard and support you in the future, but you can't waste any more... do you know……"

Jiang Zong couldn't hold back, he burst out laughing, leaned down slightly, and supported Jiang Heng's head: "Yes."

Jiang Heng saw the ridicule in his brother's eyes, and his cheeks immediately flushed with embarrassment: "Then you hand over the land deeds of bank notes, and I will keep them for you. If you want to spend money, you must tell me."

"Yo, why." Jiang Zong raised the corners of his beautiful eyes and said with a smile, "I'm riding on your elder brother's head."

The little scholar choked up when he spoke in a hurry: "I don't care..."

Seeing that the little crying bag was about to cry, Jiang Zong pressed his temple, took out the banknote and handed it to Jiang Heng: "I'll give it to you, study hard, don't play around anymore."

Jiang Heng sniffed, took the bank note with a blushing face, carefully folded it neatly, and put it in his close-fitting pocket.

"You blush when you say something, how can you do business with such a thin skin." Jiang Zong sat on the desk, lifted Jiang Heng up, straightened his collar, "You go to Lin's house today."

"What to do, I haven't finished memorizing the book..."

Jiang Zong took out an account book from his pocket, and found the IOUs inside: "The Lin family borrowed money from me two years ago and owed us 3 taels of silver. Now the Lin family is short of money. I think it's because they want to default on the debt. Go ask for the debt."

Jiang Heng: "..."

Zongheng Bank was cheated by the second uncle and third uncle two years ago, but unfortunately the management was not good, the old man died, the bank changed hands, and the reputation became a problem. , if there is no turnover of 100 million taels of silver on the books, the bank will not be able to continue to operate. A good big money begets small money, and a big business with a lot of money will be defeated by the second uncle and the third uncle.

The old master of the Lin family had a good relationship with Jiang Zong's father back then, and he paid their father an IOU in private. The loan was borrowed by the old master Jiang out of his own pocket, and it didn't go into the account of the bank. Once the old master Jiang and the old master Lin died, no one raised the debt. up.

"I'll go alone?" The little scholar is too thin-skinned, asking him to ask for debts would be better than giving him a knife.

Jiang Zong deliberately said: "It's 3 taels, it's useless."

"...I'll go and have a look, you wait for me, you are not allowed to go to flower houses to buy jokes, and you are not allowed to go to gambling houses to burn money." Jiang Heng quickly rolled up his sleeves and ran out aggressively.