The door of Lao Zhu's house was closed from the inside, blocking out the curious eyes of the neighbors. Only sporadic sounds could be heard, which were vague and inaudible.
The atmosphere in the yard became even more tense.
Under repeated questioning by everyone, Uncle Zhu finally could not hide it anymore and revealed the whole truth.
"Dad, I am helpless. I only have so little money in my hand. How can it be enough to give gifts to my friends and mentors? I have to borrow money from a loan shark. As for why I put my second brother's name on the IOU, it is also helpless. My son still has to take the imperial examination. If my name is on this IOU, it will be a stain on my son's imperial examination. Who will be a guarantor for my son? Even if my son passes the examination and becomes a scholar, with this stain, I am afraid it will be difficult for him to be an official. Son, son, all this is helpless."
As my uncle Zhu Shouren spoke, he knelt on the ground, crawled a few steps on his knees, hugged my grandfather's thighs, and cried out heart-wrenchingly.
It was clear from his uncle's words that he was picking himself out of the picture, and portraying him as a Goujian who endured humiliation and hardship for the sake of his family's revival!
"How dare you say that!" Grandfather's face turned black with anger, and he began to tremble all over. He waved his hand and slapped my uncle hard on the face. "The whole family tightened their belts to support your studies, and you tell me what kind of evil thing you did!"
Uncle Zhu Shouren did not dodge and took the slap from grandfather head-on, his face being distorted.
"Dad, I am doing this for the family!" Uncle Zhu Shouren cried even more sincerely after receiving the slap. "I am also doing this to revitalize the family. Dad, I got the secret from the master I met. I cannot leave a stain on him, Dad!"
The grandfather looked at his eldest son kneeling at his feet, then at his second son lying on a stretcher with a bloody leg, his two grandsons with angry faces, and his second daughter-in-law who wanted to scratch his eldest son into potato shreds. He felt a wave of powerlessness in his heart.
"Oh, this is a future scholar, a future juren. Uncle Zhu has such a son, it's a cause for celebration... your Zhu family will soon prosper." The fat man watched the farce with a fake smile, and said, "But even if you are the king of heaven, it is only natural that you should pay back your debts."
At this point, the fat man's smile disappeared, replaced by a fierce look, fierce eyes, and threats in his words, "I don't care how your family tosses me around, you owe me the money, not a penny less. It's still 15 taels of silver now, if I come to collect it in three days, it will be 16 taels of silver, and then the people who come here will not be my men, if they don't know how to control their own strength and let your future scholar get into trouble, then don't blame me for being ruthless."
After saying that, the fat man waited for a reply from the Zhu family with a gloomy face.
15 taels of silver, how could the family have so much money now? The grandfather closed his eyes, feeling exhausted. After thinking for a while, he walked to the fat man and bowed, saying, "My family is unfortunate, and I am sorry to make a fool of myself. I know that you have to pay back your debts. Today, the family really can't raise 15 taels of silver, let alone 16 taels in three days. Tomorrow afternoon, please come again, and we will prepare 15 taels of silver. Is that okay with you?"
The fat man grinned, thought for a moment, and nodded, "Okay, I'm not a hard-talking person. After all, maybe we can still do business in the future. Okay, tomorrow afternoon, I'll bring people over to get the money. But let me be frank, if you have money, we can talk. If you don't have money, these reckless brothers under me will be in a bad mood."
"Let's go!" The fat man said this and led his little brothers to leave.
At this moment, a childish but firm voice called him.
"stop!"
Everyone was still in shock. When they heard Zhu Ping'an's voice, they were all terrified. "My dear ancestor, why are you calling him? Send this plague god away quickly."
The fat guy was also shocked. What's going on? Is he going to go back on his word? It doesn't take a little kid to tell him to go back on his word!
"What's wrong?" The fat man stopped, turned around and asked with a gloomy face.
Zhu Pingan raised his head, not afraid at all, and stared at the fat man for a moment, then said loudly with red eyes:
"You beat up my father and wanted to leave without saying a word! Now you know that my uncle is the real borrower, but you beat up my father!"
"It is only natural to pay back a debt. Although I am young, I have heard that blood debts must be paid with blood! It is your fault for making the wrong borrower, and it is also your fault for accidentally hurting my father!"
"You want to leave like this after you hurt my father?"
Hearing the questions from a little brat like Zhu Ping'an, the fat man couldn't hold his face anymore and said gloomily, "Why, do you still want to pay your debt with blood?"
"Zi'er!"
"Little pig!"
The family is very worried.
"I'm small and can't beat you now, so I'll just pay with blood. But you have to give us an explanation. If you were beaten for no reason, could you just let it go?" Zhu Ping'an twisted his strength and looked at the fat man.
Zhu Pingchuan also stood up, stood next to Zhu Pingan, and looked at the fat man with the same eyes.
The fat man was stunned for a while, thinking of what the storyteller often said: Don't bully the poor young man. Then he looked at the little brat Zhu Ping'an and the gaze of the boy next to him, muttered "bad luck", then took out a hundred coins from his pocket and threw them on the ground.
Just throw it on the ground.
Zhu Ping'an didn't force the fat man to pick up the money and hand it to him like the protagonists in some novels. What kind of scene is this? Who am I? It's good enough to have this one yuan as compensation. Forcing the fat man to pick up the money again, come on, you're asking for trouble!
A man must have courage, but he also understands that a man who knows the times is a hero.
The fat man left, but the loan sharking problem was still not solved.
My uncle used my father Zhu's name to borrow money, which resulted in my father Zhu being beaten. The family has to give an explanation for this matter.
Chen led her two sons and stood there, looking at their grandparents.
"Dad, I will be taking the exam soon, and I can't leave a stain on my father's name! I have no choice, and I am doing this for the family." The eldest uncle hugged my grandfather's thigh and cried loudly.
"Don't cry." Grandfather patted my uncle on the shoulder and sighed.
The uncle immediately stopped crying and began to sob, which made Zhu Ping'an despise him. He thought that using such means was too despicable.
The afterglow of the setting sun spread over the ground, staining it with mottled spots. The door of the Zhu family opened again! Zhu Ping'an's family walked out, each carrying large and small bags on their shoulders. His mother Chen and eldest brother Zhu Pingchuan carried a stretcher. The man on the stretcher, who was beaten and bleeding but did not shed tears, looked at the Zhu family compound with tears streaming down his face.
All things are inferior, only reading is superior!
It was also at this time that Zhu Pingan truly understood this sentence!
"Yier, Daddy is sorry for you!"
No matter how sorry the grandfather was, no matter how many tears he shed, he could not hide the fact that in order to protect the reputation of his uncle, for his uncle's imperial examination, for... Zhu Ping'an's family was separated! Or rather, they were kicked out of the house! Zhu's father also had to bear the reputation of borrowing usury!
Two acres of paddy fields, five acres of dry land, a few bags of grain, broken pots and pans, and a thatched house at the east end of the village without even a courtyard wall.
In the morning, I am a farmer, and in the evening, I ascend to the emperor's palace.
There is no special breed of generals or ministers, men should be self-reliant!
Looking at the Zhu family compound, Zhu Ping'an muttered silently, and then murmured to himself in a low voice, "It's a poor family, so let it rise."
(This is the last plot. After writing this plot, the protagonist has grown up)