Chapter 39.2

Translated by Aviana

Yang laoyezi couldn’t help but look at He-shi. All of Yang jia’s finances are in her hands, and all the silver are in He-shi’s care. Yang laoyezi felt He-shi could take out approximately thirty taels of silver, and the rest they could get by selling the grains.

He-shi saw Yang laoyezi looking at her and at once became dissatisfied. With her eyes opened wide, she glared at him, “How can I manage? As a woman, what sort of ability do I have to manage?”

Yang laoyezi realized his wife was once again becoming muddle-headed and was reluctant to part with silver.

Unhappy, he glared at He-shi, “This matter is related to your son’s xucai qualification exam. If you are unwilling to pay, then forget it. Xuezhang also need not take the exam.”

As soon as Yang laoyezi took out the ‘trump card,’ He-shi wilted away. After dillydallying for half a day, she opened her mouth: “From where can I get any silver? Every day at home, there are these many mouths to feed.”

“Okay, now don’t go on talking all of these things.” Yang laoyezi impatiently spoke.

He-shi’s face was extremely reluctant as she squeezed out the number.

Twenty taels?!

Yang Tieshuan and Wang-shi gasped at He-shi’s wealth and also felt reluctant. For He-shi to willingly fish out twenty taels from her pocket, only Yang Xuezhang possessed such ability. As for other people, don’t even think about it.

Yang Tiezhu and Lin Qingwan frowned. He-shi took out twenty taels; altogether, it was still only 27 taels, they are still 23 taels short. It seems that this matter is still far from over…

Sure enough, Yang laoyezi, upon hearing He-shi utter twenty taels, his brows at once creased. They still lack 23 taels. Even if they sold all the grains, it still wouldn’t add up, not to mention if they sell all the grains, what will they eat?

Yang laoyezi got up from the kang, walked to the place by the door, picked up the tobacco pouch, tapped the tobacco pipe’ bowl against the wall before returning to the kang and sitting down.

He took out a handful of shredded tobacco from the small pouch, added it into the tobacco bowl, compressed them, ignited the pipe, and took a puff – Yang laoyezi’s entire set of motions were relatively slow. Every time he pondered over an issue or encountered a complex problem, he would be like this.

(If you are wondering (like me) what tobacco bowl is, refer to the pic below)

After a while, the sound of Yang loayezi taking a draw sounded once again in the room….

The grey smoke gradually rose and spread all over the room. Looking at the Yang laoyezi’s old face vaguely through the curls of smoke, a kind of impulse suddenly arose in her heart, making her hesitate to the extent that she wanted to open her mouth to say that let it be, second branch would make up for the rest of the silver….

But when she saw a bit diffident faces of the eldest branch’s husband and wife, silently sitting Yang Xuezhang with an appearance of staying out of the matter, and upright figure of He-shi who was staring at them sharply, for some reason her sudden impulse extinguished…

She and Yang Tiezhu still had 30 taels of silver in their hands, naturally was all hard-earned silver by her man. It is not that they cannot take out 23 taels of silver, but to take them out and put them out in front of all these people…once she thought of this, resistance immediately rose in her heart.

She cannot; she cannot open her mouth in such a way. If there is a first time, there will always be a second time. In the future, absolutely, there wouldn’t be an end to it…

He-shi’s sharp voice broke the silence in the room and also interrupted Lin Qingwan’s chain of thoughts.

“Needless to say, the remaining 23 taels of silver, have lao er find a way to make it up!”

老二 (lǎo èr): appellation used for the second-eldest child in a family

As soon as Yang Tiezhu heard He-shi’s words, he immediately became rigid.

It wasn’t the issue of the silver; rather, it was because of a sort of familiarity in the setting.

Every time their family encounters an issue where they lack money, her mother always seems to have this opinion….

He-shi precisely as this intention…

According to Yang laoyezi’s guess, He-shi ought to have at least 30 taels with her. Actually, his estimate should still be less. Over the years, He-shi had been looking for her sons and daughter-in-law to collect the silver from them, and her savings shouldn’t be less. She should at the least be having 40-50 silver taels.

Actually, Yang laoyezi had thoughts of letting He-shi buy the exam topics for Yang Xuezhang, and not have his other sons share the costs; but in reality, this was nothing but an impossible feat.

It wasn’t that He-shi doesn’t care about her treasured son; rather, she is aware that there is still Yang Tiezhu in the family to make money…. when didn’t the family push lao er to make money? Just like two years back, to have a house a built and like the other time when they wanted to add few more acres of land ….

At times, He-shi also felt her second son was quite troublesome in her heart. Why does she have to be the one to employ various means to force him every single time? Can’t he be more understanding and take the initiative quickly?

But, He-shi had never tried to stand in Tang Tiezhu’s shoes and think from his point of view. If it was truly that simple to earn silver, would Yang Tiezhu sit till he was forced by her every time using various means? There isn’t anyone who doesn’t want to let their family live easier. It’s just that having their family live easier means he would have to work with one’s life at risk…

Who would be willing to put one’s life at risk? Let alone to be forced against their will…

Lin Qingwan’s face immediately sank. She caressed Yang Tiezhu’s big hand, which was folded into a fist at the moment, to comfort him. She remained silent as she deliberated what sort of words she should use to convey her bad mood at the moment.

Would it be okay to just hurl abuses, or should she just directly flip the table?

Before Lin Qingwan could process, He-shi’s voice could rang out in the room.

“Lao er, tomorrow you go on to the mountain and bring something that could be exchanged for silver,” He-shi commanded.

Yang Tiezhu looked straight at his mother, his complexion unsightly.

When Wang-shi heard He-shi saying so, she also felt this idea was not bad. In that case, their eldest branch also won’t have to pay any more, and He-shi would also won’t keep staring at them any longer. Thus, she quickly added: “Yes, with second brother’s skills getting 20 taels of silver is just a matter of flipping his hand.”

Yang Tieshuan also immediately added: “Yes, I think this is a pretty good idea.” Then, with an appearance of as-it-should-be-by-rights, he turned to look at Yang Tiezhu, “Lao er, you go into the mountains, lest the family falls into dire straits because of lack of silver.”

理所当然 (lǐ suǒ dāng rán): as it should be by rights (idiom); proper and to be expected as a matter of course / inevitable and right.

Lin Qingwan wanted to say something, but Yang Tiezhu tugged her hand.

Even Yang laoyezi felt as if this was the last straw that could save them. He turned his head and looked towards his second son, hoping that his second son would have some way to resolve the issue so that they could avoid seeing grains to gather the money. He was also aware that doing this would be wronging lao er, but…

But this matter concerns lao si’s xucai qualification exam. After all, this is the family’s major event…

老四 (lǎo sì): endearme nt used by family members to address fourth child.

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