Zhou Yiming showed a helpless look, then looked at his parents with both eyes, and said slowly: "Mom and dad, I don't tell you this matter, but I am actually thinking about it for you, because if you know the matter The truth is not good for you."
Zhou Ruhai had already guessed what Yi Ming was going to say, so he stopped talking at this time. Only Mrs. Zhou still broke the casserole and asked to the end, as if she had never realized the seriousness of the problem.
"Son, what you said is wrong. If you really encounter any difficulties, even if you know the truth of the matter, it will not be good for your father and me. You should tell us. After all, one person's power is very small. Yes, no matter how big the problem is, the three of us will discuss it together and we will always find a solution." Mrs. Zhou tried her best to keep a patient tone and told Yi Ming a lot of truth.
Seeing that the words had reached this point, Zhou Yiming knew that his opportunity to do something bad had come. He smiled slightly and pretended to be enlightened: "Oh, my mother, don't say it yet. What you said is still... That makes sense. Why didn't I think of it at the time?
If I hadn't sent Dad out at that time, I might have been able to solve the problem that the housekeeper asked me to do. "
After seeing Yi Ming's expression, Zhou Ruhai's heart suddenly sank to the bottom, because he became more and more sure that his idea just now was correct. The servant in Han Ping's house who came to Yi Ming was definitely here to borrow money. The reason why Zhou Yiming sent himself away before was because he was afraid that he would be involved. After all, he was the head of the family. If he were present, it would be very difficult for his son to pretend to be poor and not lend money to others.
After thinking of this, Zhou Ruhai felt very regretful, because he knew in his heart that when he was angry with his son before, he completely misunderstood his son's good intentions. Now it would be better. After calling him here and scolding him, if he did it in front of his wife, , tell the truth of the matter, where should I put my face?
After thinking about how difficult this matter was, Zhou Ruhai immediately began to think of a way, because he understood that if he wanted to save his face, he must send his son away before he told the truth.
He pretended to be out of sorts and in a daze, and then wanted to say that he was sleepy and asked Yi Ming to go back to sleep first and talk about anything tomorrow.
As a result, before he could speak, Zhou Yiming took the lead and said, "Mom and Dad, to be honest with you, the housekeeper came to see me. It was actually nothing serious. It's just that Han Pingzhi felt that after taking this credit, he had a past. He wanted to seize the opportunity to climb up the ranks, so he wanted to spend some money to make some arrangements. In this way, he could calm the jealousy of the officials in the court and make his promotion path smoother.
To do these things, a large amount of money is needed. The money he has now is simply not enough, so he sent this butler to ask me to borrow it. "
After hearing these words, Zhou Ruhai suddenly felt a trembling feeling. After thinking about it, it turned out to be exactly what I thought. The housekeeper really came to borrow money. If he had known this, why would I ask about this stupid thing? If he pretends not to know, won't he be nice? In that case, the responsibility for lending money to others is all on Zhou Ming. Even if he doesn't have enough money to lend to others, he will not be shameless enough to ask for it. When it is absolutely necessary, given his son's character , even if he went out to borrow it from others, he would not open his mouth to himself.
But now it's good. After I know the truth, the burden on my son falls on me. If my son is so smart, he will definitely take this opportunity to borrow money from me.
Thinking of this, Zhou Ruhai felt bitter and regretful. He carefully calculated in his mind how much money was left in his family. The final result shocked him. The Zhou family had such a big family business before. , the money I can take out now is no more than two thousand taels.
These two thousand taels of silver were just scraps of silver for a high-ranking official like Han Pingzhi. Even if Yi Ming asked for money to lend to others, it would not be enough to put a hole in his teeth. I couldn't save my face at that time. After people got the money, they would immediately look down on the Zhou family. If Han Pingzhi had a conflict with his son because of this incident, the loss would be huge.
After all, this Northern spy case was completed by the two of them working together. If the two of them had a falling out before receiving the reward from the court, it would not only make other officials in the court laugh, but also affect the investigation of this case. With the progress of the Northern spy case, if the current emperor is angered by this, let alone getting a reward, he may not even be able to save his head by then.
After thinking of these terrible possibilities, Zhou Ruhai was so frightened that his back went cold. He didn't know what to do for a moment. He sat back on the chair blankly, staring at the ground with his eyes. He felt very sad. Understand that the matter has come to this, and we can only bite the bullet and move forward step by step.
Because there were so many thoughts in his mind, he did not respond to what Zhou Ming said.
On the other hand, Mrs. Zhou, after hearing what Zhou Ming said, immediately asked with concern: "Then how much money does he want to borrow?"
As soon as this question was asked, it immediately attracted Zhou Ruhai's attention. He secretly thought that if the amount of money borrowed by the housekeeper was not too large, he could mortgage some land and sell all the antiques left in the family warehouse. , I guess I can still get enough by piecing together some here and there.
Although the life of the family will be more tense after this large sum of money is loaned out, these are secondary to the future of his son, because as long as Yi Ming's career goes smoothly, all these efforts will be worth it. of.
Although Zhou Ruhai is petty and has the stubborn habit of a scholar, he still understands this truth.
After hearing his mother's question, Zhou Yiming smiled and said nothing at first. He hoped that in this way, he could make the burden on his father's heart heavier, so that he could learn some lessons from this matter and use it in similar situations in the future. Don't get yourself in trouble when it happens again.
Things were just as Zhou Ming expected.
When Zhou Ruhai saw that Zhou Yiming just smiled and said nothing when facing this question, and did not give an answer immediately, Zhou Ruhai had an ominous premonition in his heart, because he knew in his heart that the reason why Yiming showed such an attitude was only because of one person. The first possibility is that the butler borrowed too much money, and he was afraid that he and his wife would be frightened after telling him, so he pretended to be relaxed and acted like this.
Zhou Ruhai thought to himself that if the housekeeper only borrowed a few thousand taels of silver, he could still raise the money if he worked hard. If it exceeded ten thousand taels, he would not be able to raise the money even if he sold the small courtyard. This money.
He frowned and looked at Zhou Ming, his eyes full of worry and uneasiness.
"Son, why are you laughing? Tell me how much money that person borrowed?" Mrs. Zhou obviously did not realize the seriousness of the problem, so she continued to ask.
Zhou Ming coughed slightly and did not give a direct answer. Instead, he raised his hand and stretched out five fingers.
After seeing this gesture, Zhou Ruhai finally relaxed a little, because he thought that although five thousand taels of silver was not a lot, he would have to sell all the antiques and borrow some from relatives and friends to make up for it. Money shouldn't be a problem.
"Five hundred taels of silver?" Mrs. Zhou asked with some emotion, "That's not much. Since you have a good relationship and friendship with the housekeeper's master, you can lend it to others. If you don't have any money, , Mom supports you."
Zhou Ruhai sneered in his heart, thinking that his wife is a womanly family after all, and her thinking is so simple. Can a big shot like Han Pingzhi borrow from his son for a mere five hundred taels of silver? If that's the case, he not only devalued himself, but also disrespected his son very much.
After hearing his mother's words, Zhou Yiming couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Mom, can you stop being so funny? They worked so hard to come to our house in the middle of the night just to borrow five hundred taels of silver from me? He This is not only looking down on me, but also looking down on himself.
Let me tell you, even the slaves in Han Ping's mansion can probably come up with this kind of money. "
Zhou Ruhai, who was sitting aside, seemed to have regained his confidence at this time, and echoed Zhou Ming's words: "Although your mother is also a scholar, she has never been outside, so naturally she doesn't know much about these things."
Mrs. Zhou blushed because she was told this. She originally had good intentions and was afraid that the father and son would quarrel over this matter and cause a huge quarrel, so she tried her best to persuade them in the middle.
But it wasn't until this moment that she suddenly realized that after all the hard work she had just done, she didn't get any better. Instead, she was ridiculed and ridiculed by the father and son together.
Mrs. Zhou deliberately put on a serious face and said angrily: "You two, father and son, are really like dogs biting Lu Dongbin and don't understand good people.
If I had known that you would laugh at me, I shouldn't have interfered with your bad affairs and let you father and son have a happy quarrel. "
Zhou Ruhai and Yi Ming looked at each other and felt that what they did just now was a bit too much.
Both of them spoke at the same time, making Mrs. Zhou happy and apologizing at the same time.
Mrs. Zhou was originally a reasonable person. When she saw the father and son apologizing to her at the same time, she knew in her heart that her purpose of persuading them had finally been achieved, so she quickly lost her temper.
"Son, tell us how much money the housekeeper borrowed from you?" After Mrs. Zhou regained her composure, she immediately asked the question she was most concerned about.
Zhou Ruhai sat aside calmly, because he always felt that his guess must be accurate, so he planned to express his thoughts before Yi Ming could answer, in this way to steal the limelight.
