mtl008 Chapter 654 Night Chapter
Chapter 654 Night Chapter
It was still early when they got home, so Du Mingxian and Ling Silang discussed it and decided to let their family know about their plans first. Fortunately, everyone except Ling Sanlang was there.
Given Ling Sanlang's current condition, it's impossible for him to return to the village in the short term, so we have to prevent him from participating for now.
That evening, all the adults in the house were present, except for Ling's mother.
The family sat together, and Ling Silang first recounted how Ling Sanlang had been injured.
Ling's father and the others were a little anxious, so Ling Silang quickly spoke up to explain, "Third brother, it's alright, but you need to rest and recover properly now. The things we need to discuss next are quite urgent, so we can't wait for you, third brother."
"It's good that you're alright. You can't lie to your father. I want to go see your third brother tomorrow." Ling's father spoke first. They were all his sons, and he was worried about both of them.
Ling Silang nodded, "Alright, Third Brother is at the Xu family now. I'll take Father there tomorrow. But... Father, you and Eldest Brother have important matters to attend to tomorrow."
Ling's father also knew that there were priorities in things. If Si Lang said that San Lang was fine, then he must be fine. It was okay to go see him later.
"Alright, tell me, and I'll do it."
“Father, we plan to give up a business to a member of the clan. Our family will take the lead, and then all members of the clan will participate. There are only a few people with different surnames in our village; the rest are all from the same clan.”
"Therefore, it would be better to unite everyone into one force."
Seeing that no one spoke, Ling Silang explained the result of his discussion with Du Mingxian: "If everyone takes this matter seriously and knows that we can't do without our family, they will definitely come to help as soon as possible, which will be an extra layer of protection for us."
The Ling family was happy to hear this, but also felt sorry for the business they had given away.
Madam Zhou was the first to stand up and express everyone's thoughts, "Fourth Brother, wouldn't we just be giving them money for nothing? Such a good business opportunity is just going to be given to them for nothing."
"Second sister-in-law, everything is reciprocal. If we give them our way out now, they will be the first to stand up for us if anything happens to our family in the future."
Thinking of what had happened to her family before, Xiao Zhou kept shaking her head, "No, that's not how it was. When our family was in trouble, very few people in the village stood up to support us."
Ling Silang knew what she was worried about. "Second sister-in-law, this is what I'm going to talk about next. Tomorrow, Father and eldest brother will go to the clan chief's house and say that they hope the clan members can help us pay off the loan sharks."
“Consider these interest-bearing loans as a loan from our family to them. We will repay these loans with profits from our business in the future. It’s a long-term arrangement, and we will give them a percentage of our business profits.”
Ling's father was surprised, but he immediately understood what Ling Silang meant. "Your idea is... to screen people?"
“Yes, since they want to do business with us in the future, we can’t just take anyone. If we say it directly, everyone will definitely participate, but if we say it’s to pay off our family’s debts, then many people will definitely be unwilling.”
"But some people who are on good terms with us will help us with money without our knowledge."
Ling Silang's father nodded after only a slight hesitation, "Alright, I think this will work too. How about we put aside business for now and just say that you're back, and in order not to affect your participation in the imperial examination, our family really can't come up with that much money, so we'd like to ask everyone for help."
"You can also tell which people genuinely want what's best for you and which people just want to take advantage of you."
It's already good if a village can produce a scholar; if it produces an official, the whole village will become arrogant. So using Ling Silang as an excuse will reveal more about people's hearts.
After a slight hesitation, Ling Silang nodded, "Alright, I think this is a good idea."
Ling's father also said to Ling Dalang, "Dalang, you come with me tomorrow. We'll talk to the clan chief and see how the clan reacts."
Ling Erlang also stepped forward, "Father, I'll go with you and my elder brother. I'm free tomorrow."
"Okay, then you can come with us."
That's settled then; other plans can't be implemented for the time being.
"Sister-in-law, Third Sister-in-law, the shop that our family gave to Third Sister-in-law before is not doing well because people who collect exorbitant interest keep coming to make trouble. Third Sister-in-law's eyesight is also failing now, and she can no longer continue embroidering. So I want to take the shop back and open a restaurant together."
Little Zhou already knew about this, so she remained seated.
Liu knew all this. Although she hadn't heard any definite news, she still ate the meals cooked by her second sister-in-law, who prepared different dishes every day. After the meal, her second sister-in-law would ask her if the food was good and if there was anything that needed improvement.
Second Sister-in-law has always been interested in food and gossip, but she has never been interested in what other people eat. When Second Sister-in-law asked her this, she guessed something.
"I have no objection," Liu said first. After all, her eyesight was failing, and giving away the shop would be beneficial to her. She wouldn't have to do embroidery, but she wouldn't go blind in the future.
Wang was already ill, and because of her health, everyone was in this room to discuss things tonight, but she was the only one sitting on the bed.
"I have no objection." Only now did she realize how frightening it was; if Silang and Mingxian had returned any later, she might have really lost her life.
The most important thing now is to take good care of her health. She still wants to see her sons get married and have children, and have a house full of children and grandchildren.
Du Mingxian looked at the men, and Ling Dalang and the others shook their heads in unison. What opinions could they have? The family business had been led by their fourth sister-in-law, and it had been done very well.
Later, it was because his fourth brother and sister-in-law were not around that the business did not do well, and then a family accident happened.
If my fourth brother and sister-in-law had been home when the accident happened, things would definitely not have been the same, and life wouldn't have been so difficult.
Father Ling was the last to speak, saying, "Mingxian, it's up to you to decide. Your sisters-in-law are capable, but they don't offer advice. You're smart, so you can lead them. They won't complain. You're all good people, and the Ling family is blessed to have you all."
For a father-in-law to say such things shows his approval of his daughters-in-law.
Except for Du Mingxian, all the daughters-in-law were deeply moved.
Seeing that the conversation had reached a point where it was almost over, Ling Silang said, "Father, then it's settled. These days, my second sister-in-law and Mingxian have been discussing the menu. After you and the clan leader finish speaking, we will also discuss renovating the restaurant so that it can open soon. Our family's life will only get better and better."
"Alright, alright, the family depends on you all. Even if things are like this, Silang, you can't give up on your studies. We have the power, so we're not afraid of being bullied."