Chapter 198: I Want To Bully Others

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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 condition the Hanlin family had proposed was for Liu Lin’s textile store to be part of his betrothal gifts to her. 

Everything in the store, including the stock, the ledgers, the silver for transactions couldn’t be taken away. The entirety of the store would be handed over to the Hanlin family’s First Young Master to be managed. From today onwards, the Liu family would have nothing to do with it. 

When Liu Lin heard, he nearly exploded! If it weren’t for Song Yao, he would have immediately fallen out with them!

When the matchmaker came to tell of the Song family’s request, the entire family was around. Liu Changgeng and the rest were shocked silly. Liu Shu made sure to clarify if there were any other requests before sending away the matchmaker. At the door, he told the matchmaker, “We need to discuss this first.”

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Liu Xu’er shook her head, “Their family has worked as officials in the capital – they wouldn’t necessarily bother with our small county magistrate. As for the other big families, there really aren’t many that the Hanlin family would bother associating with… Furthermore, this isn’t the crux of the problem. The Hanlin family  is right now facing financial difficulty. We went forward to propose marriage, so they probably feel that we are in the weaker position. In addition, their daughter is marrying down, so they decided to ask for a mile. But they definitely wouldn’t want it broadcast that they are effectively selling their daughter. If we were to look for someone to help, it might backfire.”

Liu Changgeng nodded his head, “What Xu’er said makes sense.”

He shi worriedly said, “What can we do?” They had already clarified the matter with Xiuxiu’s family – that wasn’t possible anymore. Now, she started to feel anxious again. Her son wasn’t young anymore! He was twins with Liu Shu – Shu had already gotten married, while there wasn’t a partner for Lin!

Liu Changgeng stretched out to gingerly take the needle from her hand. “Be careful, don’t accidentally poke someone with that!”

He shi turned to stare at him. 

Liu Lin suddenly ran out. 

Liu Shu was about to chase him out when Liu Xu’er quickly held onto him. She smiled, “There’s no need to chase him… He’s probably looking for Song Yao. It’s best for erge to clarify this matter. That way, we too will be able to find out who’s the instigator of this mess!”

Liu Shu fell silent. After a long time, he poked her on the nose, “How can you still smile!”

Liu Xu’er was unprepared. She squawked, “Ah! My nose!”

That made Liu Sen roll around the kang  laughing, and the atmosphere in the room eased. Liu Changgeng and He shi were both exasperated and amused as they watched their children. 

Liu Shu hadn’t thought that his poke would be that hard. He quickly smiled and apologised. So Shao Rong started to giggle as well, causing everyone in the family to burst out laughing.

Liu Xu’er hadn’t guessed wrongly. Liu Lin had indeed gone to look for Song Yao to find out what had happened. Actually, even if he hadn’t tried to look for her, Song Yao was already anxious to explain the situation to him. So, when he got to the store, the wet nurse was already waiting with a letter from Song Yao —- Right now, Song Yao didn’t dare to leave the house casually. 

Liu Lin opened the letter for a look. Sure enough, the idea had been proposed by Song Yao’s saozi and Song Yao’s mother – that is her father’s legitimate wife – had agreed. Although the First Young Master hadn’t expressed an opinion, it was clear that he wasn’t bothered about the matter. Although they had told the matchmaker that the management of the store would fall to the First Young Master, it would actually be going to Song Yao’s saozi’s hands!

Song Yao expressed her regret in the letter. She had never expected that the First Young Madam would propose such a condition. Also, she had told Liu Lin not to agree to this condition – this was clearly just a request for money. If he agreed, the matter would never end, and they would continually request money and gifts during the different festive occasions. They would never be satisfied; in fact, they would probably grow greedier and greedier!

When Liu Lin saw the letter, he was speechless, but his ire had soared. From Song Yao’s letter, he could tell that she too was infuriated, and wanted to make sure that Liu Lin wasn’t duped! It was just that she didn’t know what else he could do. 

Everyone in the family had been discussing the matter over the past few days. Liu Changgeng and He shi discussed it and called Liu Shu over to ask. How much had the textile store cost?

Liu Shu was very clear. He answered, “About 700 taels of silver. This includes everything – rental, stock, renovation etc.”

Liu Changgeng and He shi looked at each other, “700 taels in betrothal, that’s still… After all, the other party is still from a prestigious family. In their eyes, do they think that it’s not much? If so, we can give it to them.”

Liu Lin came in from outside. He shook his head and said, “We cannot give in. This isn’t the betrothal money, this is just the betrothal gifts. They would still demand money. In fact, they might want 500-800 in silver. I cannot empty our family’s coffers just to marry someone.” There was still another sentence he hadn’t added. Dage had given 200 taels to dasao for their betrothal, he definitely couldn’t exceed this amount. No matter who he married. 

Liu Changgeng then said, “But in that case, her family won’t agree. What should we do?”

Liu Lin said, “We need to think of a plan… No matter what, we cannot give it, and I won’t give it.”

Liu Xu’er nodded her head, “That’s right, we can’t give it. What’s the difference between this and extortion?”

He shi started to worry again. She said, “To begin with, a Young Miss from the Hanlin family was never on the same path as people like us! You just won’t listen, look at what’s happening now….”

Liu Changgeng quickly cut her off. He smiled and pulled her, “Don’t talk nonsense… Let’s discuss it. There’s bound to be a solution….”

Liu Xu’er had already started to pull her erge outside. “That’s right! There’s bound to be a solution!” Then she pulled him toward Liu Lin’s room.

Liu Shu had followed along. When they got to the doorway, he turned and saw that Liu Sen had slowly started to creep out, scratching his head. Knowing that he had no interest in these matters, he said, “You can do what you want… But you best be careful! You better not be gallivanting off while no one is watching!”

Liu Sen stuck his tongue out as he ran away, “I’m not gallivanting! I’m off to study… or something.”

Liu Shu didn’t notice Liu Sen’s little addendum. He had no time to manage him right now. He went into Liu Lin’s room and urgently said, “Think of a plan. Mum is so worried, you shouldn’t…. Overthink matters.”

Liu Lin sat down with a sigh, “Do you think I don’t know my mother’s temper. I didn’t overthink it….” He became gloomy and looked at Liu Xu’er, “Do you have a plan?”

Liu Xu’er started to sit down. She blinked and said, “I don’t have one yet. Why don’t I call Shi Cheng over to discuss the matter.”

Liu Shu sat down and said, “That would be good. Shi Cheng has many creative ideas – ask him to think of a way to get this marriage settled without having to give away our store.” Then he thought for a moment before looking out. Seeing that Shao Rong hadn’t followed them in, he softly said, “Liu Lin, you really don’t need to worry about me. Your saozi and Song Yao’s circumstances are not the same. She definitely won’t compare matters like this, so….”

Liu Lin shook his head, “I definitely will not give them more betrothal money than you gave to saozi. That’s a hard no. No matter what her family thinks, I don’t believe that I am marrying up.” He paused for a moment and said, “But I still want to marry Song Yao.”

Liu Xu’er and Liu Shu both burst out laughing.

Liu Lin himself laughed, “Actually, what dage just said was right – how can I get married without giving away the store?”

Liu Xu’er started to ponder the situation. She turned to look at Liu Shu. Liu Shu was puzzled, “What are you looking at me for?”

After a long time, Liu Xu’er smiled and asked, “Dage, when you helped my saozi take revenge, didn’t you get to know the county magistrate? The county magistrate… has a good relationship with you?”

Liu Shu could sense that she had a plan. He nodded his head and agreed, “That’s right, I did get to know him. Niangou Village Head’s matter – I didn’t want to implicate too many people, I just wanted him punished, so I got the county magistrate’s help.”

“Why did the county magistrate cooperate?” Liu Xu’er smiled and asked, “Was it because you bribed him?”

Liu Shu smiled, “I wanted to, but he refused. He hinted that it was just a little Village Head – there was no need for that, but he hinted that he wanted to get to know me better…. I thought about it, it’s probably because I am the eldest in our family. We have three xiucai, four, if you include Shi Cheng. Apart from me, the rest are my brothers and meifu. If he has a good relationship with me, then if anyone of us passes the next round of exams, or perhaps becomes an official, he can benefit from the relationship.”

Liu Xu’er nodded her head, “The county magistrate position isn’t high. If he wants to continue to climb, he needs to be smart. At the beginning, it’s best to cultivate all kinds of relationships… This way, he should agree to any requests we have, so long as they aren’t excessive.”

Liu Lin was listening to all this. He seemed to understand. 

Liu Shu nodded his head. He started to joke, “Actually, even if it’s a bit excessive, he would probably still agree. The Village Head’s previous support was the county office itself, it was just that he hadn’t managed to flatter the county magistrate yet. With just a few minor officials as his support, he was already behaving so extravagantly, taking so many advantages from his fellow villagers? He kept bullying the weak, and was behaving like a tyrant.” Liu Shu said, “What excessive thing could we possibly do? Surely we aren’t going to bully others.”

Liu Xu’er smiled as she thought, “Dage, don’t be so quick to speak. This time, I really do want to taste what it’s like to bully others… I want to use our position to bully others!”