Volume 1: Mission in Danger Chapter 24: Young Master Wu's Conspiracy
Wu Chenggou glared at Wu Chengjian and said, "You are the pawnshop owner of the family now, you approve all the money, and you have the seals. You can give yourself whatever you want, and what's the point of talking about monthly allowances?"
Wu Chengjian smiled and said nothing.
Wu Chenggou continued, "Let's not talk about anything else. Recently, obviously something has happened at home and money is needed everywhere. Father and sister-in-law have to lose face and borrow money, but you still make a big fuss and organize a birthday banquet... Of course, it is right to celebrate father's birthday, but you make such a big fuss and hand it over to that Chuanlongci. Third brother, do you know how loose that man's fingers are? He dared to spend twenty taels to buy something worth ten taels of silver. Do you know how much he embezzled? After holding this birthday banquet, I'm afraid that thousands of taels of silver will be eaten up by others!"
Wu Chengjian laughed and said, "So Master Ci is so greedy. It seems that Second Brother knows more about my servants than I do."
Wu Chenggou snorted and said, "You don't have to be so sarcastic. I just can't bear to see you get cheated. You've always been a troublemaker and a spendthrift. As your brother, I naturally have to help you keep an eye on others."
Wu Chengjian spread his hands: "Then you tell me what to do, second brother."
Wu Chenggou said, "Stop the birthday party. This way we can save a lot of money. We can just have a small party at home to congratulate Dad. Birthday celebrations are not about the show, but about the thoughtfulness. Don't you think so, Dad?"
Wu Chengjian said with a smile: "Second brother, are you kidding? We have been preparing for the birthday long ago. We have already bought all the necessary things and sent out many invitations. How can we not hold a birthday party now?"
Wu Chenggou said, "As for the things, we will return what we can and save as much as we can. As for the invitations that have been sent out, we will still entertain the guests, but we won't make a big fuss about it."
"That won't do!" Wu Chengjian said, "It's so shabby. Yihehang can afford to lose face, but I, the Third Young Master Wu, can't afford to lose face!"
"Father, listen!" Wu Chenggou said, "Does the Third Brother think he is more important than Yi Hexing?"
Before Wu Guoying responded, Wu Chengjian said, "Of course. If Yihehang is gone, Dad can just create another one. If your son dies, you'll have to raise him for another 24 years even if you rush to have another one. Isn't that right, Dad?"
Wu Guoying couldn't help but curse, "Shut up!"
Wu Chengjian chuckled and said, "Okay, but I, Wu Chengjian, recognize one thing: as long as they are true relatives, they will definitely think that people are more important than the business. A few thousand taels of silver is nothing, but my father's sixtieth birthday, how many times can we have it in a lifetime? I will not only hold this birthday party, but also hold it in a grand manner."
Wu Chenggou pointed at Wu Chengjian and was about to scold him, but Wu Guoying waved his hand and said, "That's enough! We have been preparing for the birthday banquet for so long, it will be useless to stop it now. It will suddenly make people look down on us, so let it be."
Cai Qiaozhu also said: "Third Uncle is right. Especially at this time, we can't let people think that our Wu family has no money."
After coming out of the backyard, Cai Qiaozhu said to Wu Chengjian, "You invited people to dinner in Shenxianzhou. It turned out to be about family matters. Why didn't you tell me about it in the right courtyard just now?"
Wu Chengjian smiled and said, "I know my sister-in-law is good to me. Even if I am really confused, my sister-in-law will help me."
Cai Qiaozhu couldn't help but laugh and scold him, poking his forehead with her finger: "You!"
The second young master Wu was watching the affection between the uncle and the sister-in-law from behind. He felt like an outsider and was very suffocated. He felt that his father was partial to him, and his eldest sister-in-law was also partial to him. The whole family excluded him and only cared about pampering Wu Chengjian!
Aunt Yang came over and saw his face, and guessed what had happened, because similar things had happened countless times in the past twenty years, so she advised him: "Gou'er, Gou'er, you... let's not fight over it from now on. It's your fault that you were born into the wrong family, a concubine's child..."
Young Master Wu was furious: "So what if I'm born out of wedlock? Am I not my father's son? The eldest son is fine, he's older and more capable than me, but the third son... do I have to cower under his feet? I don't believe it! Mother, I won't accept it!"
The Wu family was a merchant family, and the rules were not as strict as those of the officials and scholars. Aunt Yang was his biological mother, and Wu Guoying had not originally said that a child born out of wedlock had to treat his biological mother as his aunt. But when the second young master Wu became more sensible, he insisted on calling her aunt in front of others, saying that we were a big family and that the rules could not be violated. But behind people, he called her mother.
Aunt Yang's heart softened when he called her, "So what do you think we should do?"
The second young master Wu said, "Mom, you keep an eye on dad. Now that my eldest brother is dying, will Yihehang be able to rely on the third brother sooner or later? I have been doing business with the eldest brother for several years. Now we are just waiting for the third brother to make a mistake again. If he makes a mistake so bad that dad can't take his side, then I will have to run the family business again."
He returned to his room - the Wu family had only been wealthy for a short time, and Wu Guoying was an extremely frugal person, so the family kept everything simple in the first ten years after they became rich. The house was gradually expanded by Wu Chengjun. First, he bought a piece of land at the back to expand the backyard and let the old man move in. He moved into the vacant main house, which is the right yard. He also bought the three-courtyard house next door and turned it into the current left yard, which he gave to Wu Chengjian to live in. Therefore, the left yard occupies more than a quarter of the entire Wu family mansion. One can imagine how much Wu Chengjun loves his younger brother.
The two rooms that Wu Chengjun had vacated were given to the second young master Wu. Although they were not small, they only had a patio. How could they be like the Zuo Yuan, which had its own courtyard?
Wu Chenggou looked at the house, at the maid who served him, and then thought about how the third brother was having a good time somewhere else. The fire in his heart became uncontrollable. He could no longer bear it, so he changed his clothes and went straight to Yihe.
Shopkeeper Dai Er was currently serving as a director in the bank, so it was not surprising for him to see Wu Chenggou. Wu Chenggou had been assisting Wu Chengjun over the years and he often came to Yihe Bank, unlike Wu Chengjian who seldom came here.
If it were usual, Dai Er, the shopkeeper, would have just said hello to Wu Chenggou and continued working, but the shopkeepers who could become the big shopkeepers were all very smart. With just one look, they knew that the second young master had something to say, so they put down the account book, quickly sent the person who reported the matter away, and asked, "Second young master, is there anything wrong?"
Wu Chenggou said, "I wanted to ask Uncle Dai about tomorrow's birthday party, but when I went to your house, I couldn't find Uncle Dai."
Shopkeeper Dai Er knew that there was something behind this. First, the birthday banquet was not his responsibility, nor was it Wu Chenggou's responsibility. Second, he was usually at Yihe Bank at this time. The Second Young Master would know about it, so why would he come to his house to look for him? So he said, "Okay, there is nothing urgent today. I will give you instructions and then go out with the Second Young Master."
Wu Chenggou left Yihe Bank first, and Dai Er, the shopkeeper, followed closely. The two of them found a teahouse and booked a private room. Wu Chenggou said, "The third brother is getting more and more naughty, but my father still favors him. If Yihe Bank is left in his hands, it will be finished sooner or later."
Shopkeeper Dai Er asked what happened.
Wu Chenggou then told him how Wu Chengjian had not returned for two nights last night and how Wu Guoying was biased towards him today.
After listening to this, the second shopkeeper Dai pondered for a moment, then sighed and said, "Since the third young master took over Yihe Bank, he has not set foot in the business! If it weren't for the first shopkeeper watching over him, Yihe Bank would have been disbanded long ago. People love their youngest sons, and I understand that the old boss dotes on the third young master, but I don't understand why the eldest young master handed over Yihe Bank to him at this critical moment. Logically speaking, since the eldest young master is seriously ill, it would be best for the old boss to take over. If the old boss is also ill, then the second best choice should be you, the second young master. After all, you have been following the business for several years, and you are familiar with the affairs of Yihe Bank."
Wu Chenggou kept grumbling and said, "It's because the boss and I don't have the same mother!"
Shopkeeper Dai Er sighed, "We are a merchant family, and we are not as strict with the legitimate and illegitimate children as they are with the officials. But we are not from the same mother, so there is a difference after all."
Wu Chenggou vented his anger and gradually calmed down. He poured a cup of tea for Shopkeeper Dai Er and said, "Uncle Dai Er, I asked you to come out today because I really hope you can help me teach me."
"Second Master," Shopkeeper Dai Er asked, "What are you doing?"
"I really can't stand it anymore." Wu Chenggou said, "And if this continues, I'm afraid I won't have a place to stand in the Wu family and Yihe Bank. The eldest son is sick, so he points to the third son. The third son is making trouble, but the old man indulges him. Do they want to watch the third son ruin this family before they are satisfied?"
"In recent years, Yihe Bank has indeed made a lot of profit." Shopkeeper Dai Er said, "But the majority of the profit each year is taken away by the eldest son. And judging from the expenses of the third son, I'm afraid... Alas, his expenses alone account for most of Yihe Bank's annual net profit. For example, the big ship , I asked someone about it, and that ship was built by the English, with more than 100,000 taels of silver, and every piece of armor, every nail, and every piece of wood was the hard work of the Yihe Bank's employees."
"I just don't understand why the big boss would indulge the third brother to be so wasteful!" Wu Chenggou said, "I really can't stand it anymore. Second Uncle Dai, you have to help me. You are also an old man in Yihe Bank, you can't just watch the business go down the drain like this."
"The Second Young Master wants to..." Shopkeeper Dai Er said, "After all, the Third Young Master is the one appointed by the First Young Master."
"I think my eldest brother is simply confused because of his illness!" Wu Chenggou gritted his teeth and said, "Even my father is confused because of his old age."
Shopkeeper Dai Er pondered for a while and said, "The eldest young master probably can't stand up to support the third young master anymore, but from what the second young master just said, the old boss still dotes on the third young master. If we really want to seize the third young master's power and force the old boss to recognize the second young master, it would be very difficult. However, the birthday day might be an opportunity."
"birthday?"
Shopkeeper Dai Er said, "The old boss is going to celebrate his birthday. When the time comes, not only will people from the shops in Xiguan come, but also the relatives of the Wu family. Yihe Bank is the Yihe Bank of the Wu family. Although the Wu family is from Fujian, the entire Fujian Wu family has been in Guangzhou and Xiguan for three or four generations. Many of them have business dealings with Yihe Bank, and the two have long been entangled. If something happens to Yihe Bank, many relatives will also suffer."
Wu Chenggou's eyes lit up: "Uncle Dai is saying..."
"We can use this birthday banquet and the power of many relatives to put pressure on the old boss!" Shopkeeper said, "If one or two elders are willing to stand up for the second young master, that would be even better. At that time, as long as the old boss understands how the third young master is notorious and that the second young master is the popular choice, then things will be easy. The old boss is now half sick, and when people get old, they miss their relatives. If he sees that many relatives are supporting the second young master, the old boss may come to his senses. Even if he is still obsessed, he will have to give everyone face."
Wu Chenggou was overjoyed and said, "Okay, okay, this is a good idea! Sixth Uncle has always loved me the most. I will go find Sixth Uncle right away."
