Old Master Lian said that because he wanted his sons to share the burden of the 500 silver coins.
"Why scrape together anything at all, doesn't all our money sit in the hands of father and mother?" Lian Shouli earnestly said. The Lian Family was under the reign of Old Master Lian and Old Lady Lian, and their sons did not have a single penny in their possession.
Five hundred silver coins was not a small sum, and for the Lian Family, it could indeed be described as risking their entire wealth. Old Master Lian seemed to be a cautious and prudent man, so why would he make such a decision?
Speaking of which, Old Master Lian was quite a legendary figure in the village.
The Lian Family's ancestors were untraceable, and Old Master Lian truly started from scratch. He lost his parents at a young age and was forced to become an apprentice elsewhere. Because he was diligent, trustworthy, and kind, he was well-liked in the shop. He was ambitious, had a sharp mind, loved to learn, and was especially determined to improve himself. While other apprentices slacked off and wasted their days, he quickly mastered the abacus and without anyone noticing, he also developed fine calligraphy. Nobody knew the hardships he endured, but eventually, he became the shopkeeper of a large shop.
After two decades of being a shopkeeper, Old Master Lian had also amassed a sum of silver coins. However, he felt that these achievements were mere menial tasks; farming and studying were the foundations. Once he had saved enough money, he resigned from his position at the shop, moved back to the village, bought property, and focused solely on supporting his sons' education, hoping to change the family's social status.
Old Master Lian was quite willing to spend money on his sons' education. At last, the Eldest of the Lian Family became a Scholar at the age of twenty, and Old Master Lian was ecstatic. From then on, he supported his eldest son even more. But fate played a cruel trick; after that, the Eldest of the Lian Family failed the provincial examinations several times and could only rank as mediocre in the annual exams. The Lian Family's Second Son studied with the eldest and quite a bit of money was spent, but he failed to achieve even the Scholar title. He was never fond of studying, and eventually, he completely abandoned his studies.
At that time, the Lian Family already had many mouths to feed, and they were tenant farmers with only some produce from the fields. Both the Eldest and the Second Son were careless with money, and after Old Master Lian sold several plots of land for the eldest's provincial exam, the Lian Family's fortune dimmed even more. By the time it came to Old Three and Old Fourth, they had merely recognized a few characters at the private village school before returning to farming.
Despite this, Old Master Lian still believed his eldest son had the makings of a scholar and that one day he would succeed.
Gaining office through the imperial examinations would bring glory to the family, and obtaining a minor official position would do the same. Although there was a gap between the two, it was still fulfilling his long-cherished wish. Additionally, out of pity for his eldest son, Old Master Lian eventually made this decision.
Lian Shouren, Lady Gu, and Lian Huahua had clearly found Old Master Lian's soft spot.
"How much silver does our family still have?" Old Master Lian asked Lady Zhou.
"Only the twenty silver coins that the eldest brought back, plus a few pieces of broken silver that we have as our last resort, no more than forty in total," Old Lady Lian said.
The gap between forty and five hundred silver coins was far too great.
"Father, Yang Chengfeng is waiting for the money in town; he wants it tomorrow," Lian Shouren whispered.
"We only have thirty mu of land left," Old Master Lian sighed.
Did he mean they had to sell the land? That was a family's lifeline.
"Father, the eldest should pay this money himself!" Lian Shouyi said.
"Second brother, we haven't divided our family estate, so there's no point in talking about mine and yours," Lian Shouren said.
"Wasn't Young Master Song insistent on marrying our Lian Huahua?" Lady He's eyes flickered as she thought of a good idea, "Huahua, you talk to Young Master Song, it's just 500 silver coins. For us, it's a huge ordeal, but for him, it's just loose change. Isn't Huahua, a precious young maiden, worth his 500 silver coins?"
Lady He spoke crudely, and Lian Huahua's face turned bright red with embarrassment.
"Second Aunt, if I ask for money from his family before we're married, how can I hold my head high in his house in the future?"
"If you're afraid of not being able to hold your head high, you shouldn't have shown off and smashed his Jade Pendant," Lady He was never one to be outdone in a verbal exchange, and immediately retorted.
"You..." Lian Huahua felt both ashamed and angered, turning her head to bury it in Lian Xiuxiu's embrace, and began to sob again.
"What my wife says is true, eldest brother, these years, you've been living in town, enjoying the government granary as a scholar and the money from teaching, yet you've never brought back even one wen money to the family. Your nephews at home can't even get enough to eat. Every year we make a little money, and it all goes to your tea and alcohol. You always say that once you make progress in your studies, your brothers and nephews will share in your good fortune. Well, we haven't seen any fortune, but over half of our family land has been sold. If we sell these last few acres, what will your nephews do, drink the northwestern wind?" Lian Shouyi said with a smile.
Lian Shouyi's words stirred up all of Lady He's old and new resentments. The eldest of the Lian Family were cunning calculators, only giving her and her daughter a single outfit each in exchange for helping to advocate for selling Lian Manman, and even these two outfits together were not worth as much as a single one of Lian Xiuxiu's. If it weren't for something Lian Manman said earlier to remind her, she would have been deceived by the eldest of the Lian Family again.
Talk of sharing in future prosperity was always forthcoming from the eldest of the Lian Family, but when had they ever made good on it? Lady Gu, that vixen, always thought she could fob her off with mere scraps.
"Oh my, this is killing us." Suddenly, Lady He started clapping her hands and wailed, "Five hundred silver coins, and you don't go after those who actually have money but instead, with your black hearts, plan to sell the land. You might as well tie all of us mothers up and sell us together. As if Huahua's just a girl is so valuable, and Erlang and the others aren't the flesh and blood of their grandparents, as if they were bastards I raise in secret, starving to death with no one to pity them..."
Lian Manman was once again dumbfounded, witnessing such a spectacle for the first time.
"Erlang, Sanlang, Si Lang, Liulang..." Lady He listed a string of names; she was the daughter-in-law of the Lian Family who had given birth to the most boys and usually took great pride in this, "You heartless ones, where have you run off to? If you don't come back now, your uncle's family will drive us to our deaths. The eldest son of your eldest uncle is already married with children. Our eldest is of marriageable age, but because all the money has gone to you, he still hasn't been able to marry..."
Lady He's crying grew louder, and the faces of Lian Shouren and Lady Gu darkened by the minute.
"Second brother, keep your wife quiet," Old Master Lian commanded, "Who said anything about selling the land? We are not selling that land."
Immediately after Old Master Lian said this, even without Lian Shouyi having to speak, Lady He stopped crying at once.
"Father, if not from the land sale, then... borrow money?"
"Why not borrow from your elder sister? I heard her grocery store makes a good few silver coins a month," Lian Shouyi proposed immediately.
"Who did you hear that from?" Lady Zhou said harshly, "Your elder sister's household is also scraping by, they don't have any spare silver. If you dare aim for your elder sister's assets, I'll break your legs."
Lian Shouyi muttered under his breath, no longer daring to suggest borrowing money from his elder sister.
"There's a place to borrow from, but Mother won't let us. Then we might as well send Huahua to the Sun Family and get a few hundred silver coins," said Lady He.
Lian Huahua covered her face, hating Lady He through and through. Yet at this moment, she dared not openly confront Lady He. Knowing Lady He's temper, she might just give away their clothes and blurt out the plan to sell Lian Manman in exchange for silver, and then everything would be ruined.
"Father, if elder sister's mother-in-law won't allow it, then we can only turn to Old Jin," Lian Shouren suggested.
"Old Jin!" Lian Shouxin suddenly lifted his head with a start, "Eldest brother, are you talking about that Old Jin from the east end of the village!"
Astonishment flickered through Lian Manman's heart. Who was this Old Jin that even the always mild-mannered Lian Shouxin would get so excited?
*****
With keen eyes, everyone could see that the heroine's parents were a pair of big softies. If the heroine wanted a happy life, she first had to transform these softies. In fact, Ruoyan originally wanted to name the novel "**Softies**," but that idea was shot down, heh heh.
Softies often have qualities like kindness and generosity. In the story, the heroine's parents are "meat-filled softies," meaning they could do some hard work, hehe. All the Jerk Protagonists build their happiness on the softies' pain; but when softies awaken and stop being pushovers, their happy life begins and the Jerks' tragic lives kick off, ah, that's a spoiler.