Volume 1: Mission in Danger Chapter 23 Borrowing Money
When Wu Guoying said he was going to beat him, Wu Chengjian asked, "Oh, wait, Dad, why are you beating me?"
"Why else?" Wu Guoying asked, "Tell me yourself, you didn't come home these two nights, where did you go?"
Wu Chengjian said, "I heard that tea leaves of unknown origin appeared in Nanhai County. I held a banquet in Shenxianzhou the night before last and invited the clerk of the Nanhai County Criminal Office and the head of the third shift to have a drink. I asked them to help me keep an eye out."
The Wu family kept the incident of lost tea in Huizhou a secret at that time, hoping to resolve the matter before the news spread, in order to restore the confidence of Chinese and foreign customers in Yihe Bank. Unexpectedly, the situation not only did not improve but worsened. The Xiguan business district had already received the news in recent days. Naturally, the people in the Wu family mansion were most concerned about it. After word of mouth spread, even the servants knew about it, so Wu Chengjian did not hide it anymore.
Wu Guoying was stunned and asked, "You invited them to drink in Shenxianzhou, is it to find tea?"
The founder of Yihehang was an irritable person, but years of business experience gradually made him calmer and his anger would not last long. Once he got too angry, he would contemplate the cause and effect of the situation, and he would gain something from his contemplation.
He was indeed furious the night before, but it was partly because of anger and partly because of fear - the news brought by Cai Qiaozhu made him feel really uneasy, but he had to remain calm in front of his daughter-in-law and not reveal this uneasiness, so the two emotions combined to form anger. If Wu Chengjian had come back last night, he would have asked for a beating as soon as he entered the door.
But after a day and two nights of buffering, he had calmed down a lot. Although Wu Chengjian had a bad reputation, he knew the many hidden stories behind this "spendthrift" better than anyone else. Moreover, given the relationship between Wu Chengjian and Wu Chengjun, he would not be in the mood to indulge in wine and women when his eldest son was seriously ill.
However, with so many people watching at home and outside, Wu Chengjian did not behave properly, so she was ready to punish him according to the family rules, and wanted to hear how Wu Chengjian would respond. At this time, Wu Chengjian gave a legitimate reason, and Wu Guoying's anger suddenly disappeared.
Wu Chenggou secretly thought that something was wrong. The night before, Wu Chengjian and the head clerk of Nanhai were drinking and having sex. Dai Ershiliu, who he had sent, had been watching them the whole time. He didn't hear a word they said about asking for tea. He was about to point out that Wu Chengjian was lying, but he suddenly fell speechless - he had denied in front of Cai Qiaozhu that he had sent anyone to Shenxianzhou!
“You…you!”
Wu Chengjian glanced at Wu Chenggou and said with a smile, "Second brother, what's wrong with me?"
Wu Chenggou was so angry that he couldn't speak. He said to Wu Guoying: "Father, he, he..."
"What do you mean by him?" Wu Guoying said, "You too, you heard someone say that your younger brother was in some immortal island, and you didn't even find out why he went there, but you came to tell me nonsense, and you almost beat your younger brother. If I really used family rules, your eldest brother is ill and can't stop me, and the third brother has been delicate and tender since he was young. If he gets hurt, how can you, as the second brother, bear it?"
Wu Chenggou and Aunt Yang were both stunned and speechless, and they knew that Wu Guoying's anger had subsided. There was no hope of getting a punishment today, as she was just so angry that she could not control herself!
Young Master Wu asked about the whereabouts of the tea leaves, and Young Master Wu had spies so he knew it was a lie, but even if the old man didn't have an insider, with his shrewdness and experience, couldn't he hear any clues? Now, just based on Wu Chengjian's empty words, the old man actually believed it and even blamed himself - this is clearly biased!
"It's not my fault, second brother," Wu Chengjian defended Wu Chenggou, but seeing that face, Wu Chenggou wanted to rush over and tear it apart: "I haven't drunk for too long recently, so my alcohol tolerance is not good. I drank with them for half the night, and the next day I had a hangover and a headache. I collapsed in Shenxianzhou and couldn't move. I was afraid that you would see me and worry when I came back, so I lay outside for another night. Then I came back."
Wu Guoying asked: "How are you now? Does your head still hurt?"
Wu Chengjian said: "I feel much better now, but I am still a little confused when thinking about things."
Wu Guoying sighed softly and said, "It's hard for you. It's hard for you."
After hearing these words of loving father and filial son, Wu Chenggou was so angry that his lungs were about to explode. If Aunt Yang hadn't pulled his sleeve and stepped on his feet, he would have almost rushed out to curse.
Wu Guoying seemed to have forgotten about the family rules. He waved his hand and asked everyone else to leave, leaving only Cai Qiaozhu and the two brothers Wu Chenggou and Wu Chengjian. Then he said, "Third brother, I don't really care about things anymore, but something happened the day before yesterday, so I had to call you brothers here. This matter is of great importance, so we must be cautious and discuss it with the whole family."
Then he asked Cai Qiaozhu: "Sister-in-law, you go ahead and tell me."
Cai Qiaozhu recounted what happened before and after she returned to Daxin Street the day before.
Wu Chenggou was still holding back his anger, but the more he listened, the more shocked he became. He finally couldn't hold it back any longer and asked before Cai Qiaozhu finished speaking, "What big deal is it that made my father-in-law want to make things difficult for my sister-in-law?"
Cai Qiaozhu didn't answer, but just finished telling the whole story before stopping.
Wu Guoying said: "Come on, you two brothers, tell me what's going on." But his eyes were only on Wu Chengjian.
Wu Chenggou said, "It must be that the news of our lost tea in Huizhou has spread, and someone is trying to take advantage of our illness and kill us. On the one hand, they want to embezzle my Wu family's property, and on the other hand, they may be trying to seize my Yihe Bank's merchant qualification."
"That's right!" Wu Guoying nodded and said, "You've made progress by thinking of this. When tea was lost in Huizhou, it wasn't just money that was lost. Even if the tea could be recovered, some of our reputation would be lost. If it can't be recovered, our credit with the East India Company will be greatly reduced. However, this only hurts the skin and bones of our Wu family. But if someone makes a big fuss about it and adds fuel to the fire, forcing our Wu family to run out of money, and the foreign merchants come to our door, then our Wu family will not only be injured, but will end up with our property confiscated and exiled."
Wu Chenggou was shocked and said, "Then...then we must prepare for the worst!"
Wu Guoying turned around and asked, "Does your family have enough money to pay the compensation?" He hadn't been in charge of the household for several years, and he only knew the general situation of the family business, but not the details.
Cai Qiaozhu shook her head: "Now it's just to maintain daily expenses. If not, I wouldn't have withheld Third Uncle's monthly allowance. Although there are some valuable jewelry in the bride's room, the bride dare not take them out at this time, for fear that people will see through our Wu family's true intentions."
Wu Guoying was silent for a while before he said, "If that's the case, I have no choice but to swallow my pride and go find an old friend to borrow money."
Cai Qiaozhu said, "If the news of the lost tea in Huizhou had not spread yet, it would be fine. Now that it has spread, there are many people who are willing to add icing on the cake , but few are willing to help in times of trouble. At this time, are you sure, sir?"
Wu Guoying said, "Before I founded Yihe, I was the shopkeeper of the Pan family for many years. I had a deep relationship with my old boss. Even after Youjie became the head of the family, he still called me uncle. The Pan family is rich and vast, so we should be able to borrow some money. Ye Dalin and I worked under Pan Jinao, and later we left one after another. I founded Yihe and he founded Xingcheng. The two families have been sharing what they have for many years, and we are about to become in-laws..."
At this point, he stared at Wu Chengjian and said, "Go back to your future father-in-law's house and talk to him nicely so that he can help us."
Wu Chengjian said, "I won't go."
Wu Guoying slammed the table and said, "Why are you being so awkward? Now is not the time to be willful!"
Wu Chengjian said, "Ye Dalin is a snob who only cares about the rich and the poor. In the past two years, our Wu family was on a roll and was about to surpass Xie and Lu and become one of the four major families. Ye Dalin wanted to marry his daughter to me no matter how bad my reputation was. Now that our Wu family is in trouble, father, you don't think he would spend money to help us out just because of the marriage of our two daughters, do you? You have known him for at least thirty or forty years. Is Ye Dalin such a person?"
Wu Guoying was so angry that she slammed the table: "Just go if I tell you to! How can you know the results of many things if you haven't done them? In the current situation, it is impossible not to do anything, but if you lower your head and bend your waist, there will always be a glimmer of hope!"
Wu Chengjian was helpless: "Okay, okay, why don't we wait until . If he comes, I'll invite him to the accounting office to beg him. But if he doesn't come... considering your friendship, if he doesn't even come to your 60th birthday, then there's nothing else to talk about."
Wu Guoying said, "No! It's too late. Well, you can take the invitation and go to invite him to the banquet in person, and take the opportunity to mention this matter."
Wu Chengjian was well aware of the old man's stubbornness. It was this Fujianese stubbornness that allowed him to establish Yihe despite countless obstacles. But as his son, being forced to do something that had no hope and was very difficult was not a good feeling.
After being glared at by Wu Guoying for a long time, Wu Chengjian finally gave in helplessly: "Okay, okay, if he doesn't help, I will definitely ask him to help."
Wu Guoying nodded: "That's the way it should be." He turned back to Cai Qiaozhu: "And Mr. Cai..."
Cai Qiaozhu said, "I will go to my uncle's place and beg him. Even if I have to kneel down and break the Cai family's bricks, I will still beg for a glimmer of hope for our Wu family."
"Okay, okay, let's do it!" Wu Guoying said, "As the saying goes, unity is the best way to achieve success. If our family works together, we will definitely be able to get through this difficult time!"
Seeing that the old man had already come to a conclusion, Wu Chenggou suddenly said, "Father, what you just said was about borrowing resources. In addition to borrowing resources, do we also need to save money?"
Wu Guoying said: "The source of money is the source of money. If you can save money, it is also good. What do you think?"
Wu Chenggou said: "Although I don't know the amount of the family's expenses, but seeing how my third brother spent a lot of money at Baietan, I know that his monthly allowance accounts for a large part of it."
Wu Chengjian said with a smile: "Second brother, are you trying to cut down on my income? But my monthly allowance for this month hasn't even been paid yet."
