Chapter 160: Gone Bust

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1. This is an unofficial translation and no permission has been obtained from the author/ official publisher. It may be taken down if the author/official publisher requests. 

2. This is a fan work and the interpretation represents only the translator’s personal views without any input from the author. 

3. No permission has been granted to use, publish, upload and/or copy this translation to any other site except for Second Life Translations.

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The Mid- Autumn Festival celebration was very lively. There were already two tables in the main room, but even that wasn’t enough. They had to add another table in the courtyard and get the children to eat there. 

Liu Changshi had gone to look for Yuan Hao and Liu Hong, to check if they would be coming over. If they were celebrating it with Yuan Hao’s two elder brothers, they wouldn’t ask them over, but if it was just their family, they would be invited to join their meal. 

Yuan Hao’s dasao’s maiden family was in mourning, so this year, they didn’t plan to celebrate the Mid Autumn Festival. Each of the brothers were celebrating it on their own. Since Liu Changshi went over to check in, Yuan Hao grabbed hold of their two children, while Liu Hong carried her youngest, and came over. 

Immediately, the courtyard became an explosion of activity. 

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The entire family were all on good terms with each other, so the meal went by rather joyously. The sound of laughter kept ringing throughout the meal. After eating, the servants helped to clear the tables, and everyone separated into two different rooms; one group with Old Man Liu and the other with Liu Gao shi. 

It was very late when Yuan Hao and Liu Hong started to make noises about leaving. Their children were all sound asleep. The family were all very clear that there was no way for everyone to sleep over in this place, so they started to discuss the sleeping arrangements. In the end, He shi, He Ruyu, Liu Xu’er and Yang shi went over to Liu Hong’s to stay, while the males would stay in these rooms. 

When Liu Xu’er and the rest had arrived at her xiaogu’s home, the courtyard looked the same as always. Because the children were already asleep, they all began to quietly wash up and go to bed. 

The next day, everyone got up and washed up. Yuan Haa and Liu Hong actually wanted He shi and Liu Xu’er to stay a couple more days with them, but He shi was worried about home, so she refused. 

But last night, He shi had again brought up the topic of them moving to town to stay. She asked Liu Hong – why was Yuan Hao unwilling to move?

Liu Hong said that there wasn’t any big reason. It’s just that Yuan Hao felt that his own land was close to Taohua Village, and he was familiar with the people there. If they were to move all by themselves to town, it would be lonely. And it would be difficult to find help from others. Of course, now that Liu Changgeng and Liu Changshi’s families were all based there, he had started to think about it. He was actually in the middle of discussing it with his elder brothers. 

He shi nodded. She rather hoped that Liu Hong would move to town. After chatting for a while, they returned to Liu Changqi’s place and said goodbye to everyone. Then they rushed back to town in their cart. 

The instant Liu Lin got home, he immediately went over to the street Liu Yun’er’s store was on to have a look. Sure enough! Liu Yun’er’s store had already closed down. 

Liu Lin stared at the tightly shut doors for a while. He just wasn’t certain if the store was closed because of the Mid Autumn Festival, or if it was because they had gone bust? Although by all rights, they should be keeping the store open over the Mid Autumn Festival, Liu Yun’er had no head for business. She might have gotten lazy and decided to close shop to head back for the festivities. 

The main reason was that there wasn’t a “For Rent” sign at the door. Liu Lin started to walk around the door for a while, before entering a neighbouring store. Smiling, he asked them about it, but the shop assistant there was new, so didn’t know anything. 

Liu Lin could only leave, walk around for a while longer, and return home. 

That day, he shared his findings with everyone. Sure enough, they were all stunned. Liu Xu’er asked, “When did they go bust? I really…. Hadn’t noticed!”

Liu Shu said, “Neither did I. But thinking about it, her store was losing money from the get go. The longer they kept the business open, the more they would lose. For them to persist for seven, eight months – I don’t know how much money they must have lost.” 

“That’s not for sure. We’ve been busy these past few months, so haven’t been paying them any notice. They could have been closed for a month or two.” Liu Lin said. Then he continued, “But we should definitely be alert. Now that Liu Yun’er’s store has gone bust, she would definitely be feeling very frustrated and upset! She might even be blaming us, or scheming against us…. Whatever the case, we’ve to be careful.”

The instant he said that, everyone agreed. That was for sure! No one here would say that Liu Yun’er was a good person!

After that day, Liu Shu recalled the Shao family’s issue of buying land. He had just heard Liu Xu’er lament that it was a huge pity about the pond of flowers. Now there was no way for them to have flowers in their own pond. Liu Shu thought for a moment. It was likely that the Shao family’s finances would be very tight and they might not be able to borrow money to buy land. Furthermore, they would definitely not feel comfortable asking to borrow money from him. 

Liu Shu had the heart to help them. Since he had already started to help them, then he should see this matter entirely through. He started to think – what would be an appropriate amount of money to loan them? It couldn’t be too much – if it was, they wouldn’t dare to accept it. But it also couldn’t be too little. If it was, there would be no point in loaning them the money. He figured that loaning them enough money to buy two mu of land to plant flowers should be good – not too much, nor too little. So he took 10 taels of silver and drove the cart over to Niangou Village to check on the Shao family’s situation. 

When he got to their home, he saw that the door was closed, but since it wasn’t locked, he figured there was someone in the house. He got off the cart to knock on the door. “Is Shao Huai at home?”

After a while, a voice rang out, “Is it Liu Shu ge?”

Liu Shu heard that it was Shao Rong and said, “That’s right… Is your brother at home? I was checking to see if everything was alright. If everything’s fine, there’s no need to open the door.”

Just as he was saying that, the door opened. Shao Rong stood inside, smiling at him. “Come in. My ge and jie are both out. They should be back in a while.”

Liu Shu hesitated. If it was before, he would have refused to enter, but now, he didn’t know what to do. He wondered how he would find out about the matter of their buying land…..

He entered the courtyard, but refused to enter their room, sitting himself down in the courtyard while the door was left open. Shao Rong went to get him some water, so he asked, “Why did your ge and jie leave you alone at home?” Wasn’t the Village Head’s youngest son eyeing her? How could Shao Huai dare to leave her alone?

Shao Rong placed the water on the table, and sat down on a stool. She said quietly, “My future saozi’s family had some issues. My ge and jie had to go over.”

Liu Shu was stunned when he heard. After a long while, he said, “I hope it’s nothing serious? Your brother…. I heard you mention before that your brother’s marriage has been fixed?”

Shao Rong nodded. Filled with worry, she said, “Originally, an aunt in the village really liked my ge. Her maiden family had quite a few girls, but because they had to be in mourning for a while, they had to delay their marriages. She felt that my ge was suitable, so helped us to arrange a match. The girl and her mother have both met my ge, and they had already agreed to the match. The guodali has already been held, and the wedding date fixed. But a few days ago that aunt came to tell us that they wanted to break the engagement…. She said that my family had offended the Village Head, and our days after would be uncertain….”

Liu Shu understood, “How is your future saozi related to this aunt?”

“She’s her niece. Aunt was unwilling, but my future saozi is willing. She kicked up a huge fuss yesterday… She closed her door and refused to allow anyone in. It went on for an entire day. Helpless, Aunt came over to look for my ge, and asked my jie along as well. Just in case….”

Liu Shu shook his head. He really wasn’t in a position to comment on this matter. After a long while, he said, “You don’t have to worry. It will be resolved.”

Shao Rong nodded, “So long as my saozi is willing, it’s enough. They’ve already had the guodali, and cannot change their minds anymore.” She looked at Liu Shu and said, “After the guodali, is it true that they cannot just cancel the wedding?”

Liu Shu nodded, “The government office would have already published their wedding matters and registered it. A contract would already have been drawn up. It definitely cannot be cancelled willy nilly…. It would be extremely difficult for her side to just withdraw from the wedding.” After thinking a moment, he continued to comfort her saying, “It probably won’t be easily cancelled. They’re probably just trying to remind your brother not to offend the Village Head anymore…. That’s right, what’s the situation with your family’s land?” Although he asked this, Liu Shu had a pretty good idea of what the answer would be. What else could that Aunt be worried about? Wasn’t it the Shao family’s situation? If the Shao family’s situation had already improved, she definitely wouldn’t be kicking up such a fuss.

Shao Rong shook her head, “There’s no news…. It’s not that easy to buy land….”

Liu Shu nodded his head. She had just mentioned the guodali – it was probable that whatever spare cash the family had had gone into preparing for Shao Huai’s wedding. Furthermore, there was still Shao Gui who wasn’t that young herself. Her marriage definitely couldn’t be delayed any longer…. The biggest stumbling block here was still the lack of money. 

Liu Shu thought for a moment before saying, “I was going to talk to your brother, but since he’s not around, I will share it with you first. Firstly, about my family’s pond. My sister really wants to plant some flowers in it. You should still have seeds right? When you’ve the time, could you come over to plant them for us?”

Shao Rong nodded when she heard, “Yes! We’ve the seeds! Alright, I will definitely tell my ge. We will go over in a few days to help you plant….” Then she paused and said, “Actually, we should probably also go and check on how the roses are doing.”

Liu Shu replied, “They’re growing well. But it would be best for you to go over and have a look.” After pausing for a moment, he said, “When I went back, I had a think. You guys probably don’t have the money to buy any land right now. So, let’s do it this way. I will lend you some money and when you’ve made enough, you can repay me.” Then he took the 10 taels of silver out.