CHAPTER 1340: CHAPTER 1318 PERSUASION (ADDITIONAL CHAPTER 2 FOR THE REWARD FROM READER "LUO QING")

Manbao sprinted to the Bai Family without knowing the upheaval her casual remark had caused. Having just finished her noodles, she saw Bai Erlang and Bai Shan sitting at the small table eating, and felt a bit tempted to join them, thinking that perhaps speaking had made her hungry again.

The Bai Family’s servant brought tableware to Manbao. She picked a small white bread roll and carefully ate it with the dishes.

Bai Dalang was already able to get out of bed and walk around. He also sat at the dining table, holding a bowl of thin porridge and eating slowly, raising his head occasionally to look at the dishes on the table, taking a bite, then raising his head again to glance at the three sitting beside him...

He swore he was never one for indulgence, yet now he felt utterly miserable.

Manbao leisurely finished eating her bread before putting down her chopsticks. She looked at the dishes on the table with regret and said, "I can’t eat any more, or I’ll be too full."

Bai Dalang felt even worse.

Because of the medicine, he found the porridge flavorless and could only eat one bowl, without feeling full, just not hungry.

Manbao consoled him, "No worries, the medicine will also make you feel full. In another half an hour, you’ll have to take your medicine."

Bai Dalang: ...

Manbao’s medicine clearly had an effect. With acupuncture, he had stopped having diarrhea. Next was to take more medicine to detox, relax his body, and continue the acupuncture to balance his yin and yang.

Bai Dalang truly sighed with relief, and so did the entire Bai Family. The once-stifled atmosphere became lightened.

Cousin Chen went to Bai Erlang again to borrow money.

Bai Erlang led Cousin Chen to Bai Dalang so the cousins could talk.

Bai Dalang said to the visibly unwell Cousin Chen, "Don’t blame Erlang, he’s not unwilling to lend you money but fears you might get swindled."

"Do you know how much a shop costs in the county town? You can buy one for a hundred and eighty taels, and at most two to three hundred taels for a good location, larger shop. How could it be possible for you to buy a shop for eight hundred and fifty taels?"

The implication was, "Are you being swindled?"

Cousin Chen said, "The shop’s location is excellent, it’s near your academy, in the busiest area. The shop is large with two courtyards and living quarters behind the shop, and the front has two floors with two-door frontage..."

Bai Dalang listened and the more familiar it sounded. He had studied for three years in the academy, and after a moment’s hesitation asked, "I remember that was Yiwei Lou, right?"

"Yes, the owner of Yiwei Lou is returning home, so they’re selling off, and because I’m familiar with their family, they’re giving me a discounted price."

Bai Dalang: "...Why do you need such a large space for a fabric store?"

It used to be a major restaurant!

Cousin Chen replied, "My fabric shop doesn’t just sell fabric, it also sells ready-made clothes. Naturally, it needs to be well-equipped for better business."

Bai Dalang: ...Fabric stores in the capital city are not this grand, let alone having two-door frontage...

He felt a headache coming on and lay back on the bed, waving his hand, "My stomach seems to hurt again, Erlang, you quickly go call Manbao."

Bai Erlang was also stunned by what he heard and turned around, eyes wide open.

After Bai Erlang went out, Bai Dalang couldn’t help but heavily slap Cousin Chen on the shoulder, "Have you told Big Uncle about this?"

"My father won’t agree to me working," Cousin Chen said dully, "He just wants me to study at home. But you know, I don’t like studying, didn’t even pass the County School exam, what’s the point of studying anymore?"

"My wife is expecting a child now, can’t just keep following the family to manage the tiny manor, it’s really uninteresting."

The family’s financial situation was similar to the Bai’s, but his grandfather had three sons, and he had two younger brothers, and his two uncles each had two sons, so expenditures were high, each of them only had two taels of silver as monthly money.

Look at Bai Dalang and Bai Erlang, Bai Erlang had gained two taels monthly silver since he was very young, then five taels as he grew older, later directly assigned a little manor to run, with the profits for himself.

On moving to the capital, his allowance was ample, not to mention the manor’s income.

Then there was Bai Dalang; they were peers, being only two months apart, yet their lifestyles were worlds apart. He had two taels when he had five, he still had two taels when he had ten, and still two taels when his allowance was limitless.

Bai Dalang felt a pain in his chest and said, "This isn’t how you do business. My father said doing business is about leveraging small to gain big. You’ve already spent so much money upfront. Have you thought about how much you can earn in a month?"

"How many people are there in Mianzhou? Who’s going to buy clothes and fabrics from your store every day?" Bai Dalang said, "You’re doing the reverse, leveraging big to gain small, that’s unprofitable, you know?"

Cousin Chen frowned and got up, "If you don’t want to lend, just say so, why undermine me like this?"

Bai Dalang upon hearing that, felt annoyed too and immediately said, "Fine, if you don’t want to listen, I’ll lend to you, no need to borrow from Erlang, I’ll take you to my father, let him lend to you, you can write him an IOU, and repay him later."

Cousin Chen’s neck shrunk, suddenly timid, "How can that be..."

"Why can’t it be, I think it’s perfectly fine. If you have confidence you can manage this shop well, as you said, you can repay the money in a year or two, what are you afraid of?"

Cousin Chen went silent.

Bai Dalang stopped addressing him, turned his back and said, "Go think about it at home, my stomach hurts again, so I’m not in a state to entertain you."

Cousin Chen turned to leave.

Bai Dalang exhaled, slowly calming the anger in his chest.

Manbao was brought by Bai Erlang to check his pulse, indicated nothing wrong, then sat by his side, "We ran into Cousin Chen on our way, he angrily snorted at Bai Er and left."

Bai Erlang stood nearby with his head down, feeling somewhat dejected. Originally, he was quite excited about lending money, after all, lending such a big sum was quite pleasant, yet it ended like this.

He sighed and said, "Actually, if Grandpa and Big Uncle could guarantee for Cousin, I’d be willing to lend to him regardless of whether he ultimately loses."

Bai Dalang, Manbao, and Bai Shan: ...

Bai Shan said, "Don’t let Cousin Chen hear that, he’d be furious."

Bai Dalang rubbed his belly, stood up and said, "Where’s Father, I’ll go find him."

"In the study, I suppose."

Bai Dalang reached out to Bai Erlang, who stared at his hand for a while before realizing, then went up to support him. The brothers headed to the study to find Old Master Bai.

Bai Shan and Manbao exchanged a glance, shrugged, and having nothing else to do, returned to Bai Erlang’s study to read.