Cao Yan's ancestor was once the governor of the Daxing Dynasty, and his family owned thousands of acres of fertile land.
His father, Cao Kun, was once the Minister of Rites, and Cao Yansuan, the third generation official, was born with a golden key.
Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. When he was ten years old, his father Cao Kun was imprisoned for corruption. In the end, he squandered the family wealth and finally survived.
But from then on the Cao family declined.
Cao Yan has been smart since he was a child, and he was admitted as a scholar at the age of fifteen. However, due to his family's poverty and the sins of his father's generation, he was still unable to become an official when he was over thirty.
As the saying goes, a person who is useless is a scholar.
In the Daxing Dynasty, reading books was a game only wealthy people could afford. For the poor, studying was not as good as learning to farm. Cao Yan was full of poems and books but could not become an official. In fact, Cao Yan was worse than a peddler on the street.
Although the traffickers and lackeys were illiterate, they could earn three meals a day for their families by relying on their own brute force. But he could only rely on the few copper coins his wife earned from doing laundry for wealthy families.
If it weren't for the occasional help from relatives and friends, he might have starved to death on the streets.
Mr. Luo gasped lightly and stood in front of Cao You's door. The dilapidated door of his house couldn't help but make him feel sad. I recall that during the heyday of the Cao family, there were many crowns and crowns in front of the Zhumen Courtyard.
Nowadays, Cao Yan lives in the mud house that the tenants of the Cao family used to live in. It is low, dark and sparsely populated.
"You surnamed Cao, you are a poor scholar with no hands or shoulders, and you only have to hold a broken book every day! Why don't you die? If you die, you can save some rations for us two!"
"Get out, get out of here..."
Mr. Luo was sighing to himself outside the door when a roar of a Hedong lion almost pierced his eardrums in the room. Just as he shook his head helplessly, he saw Cao Yan running away in confusion.
As soon as he escaped to the door, a gust of wind chased him behind him. A black shadow hit him on the back, and then landed with a thud. Mr. Luo lowered his head and took a closer look. It turned out to be the woman's laundry stick.
Speaking of Cao Yan, he was suddenly attacked. He staggered and threw himself forward. The book in his hand was thrown three feet away, and he was gnawed on it by a dog.
When he got up from the ground, he suddenly saw Mr. Luo. He couldn't help but feel embarrassed. He didn't even have time to pick up the book and hurriedly saluted as a junior.
"Cao pays homage to sir. Sir, what are you doing..."
He looked at Mr. Luo and then at the door of the house he had destroyed, feeling very confused. Mr. Luo looked very unhappy. He knew that Cao Yan was having a hard time, but he didn't know that Cao Yan was so abused by a rough woman.
He is a scholar and a world-famous Confucian. He has the pride of a scholar in his heart and has deep-rooted traditional concepts. Cao Yan can't calm down when he is so abused.
"Sir, I don't blame her."
Cao Yan saw that Mr. Luo was unhappy, so he softly excused the shrew.
In fact, he didn't want to revive his husband, but if he left this rough woman, he would eventually starve to death or freeze to death on the streets.
His feelings for her were actually very complicated. He said he was afraid of her, but he couldn't live without her; he said he despised her, but he was grateful to her; he wished he could divorce her. Seeing his husband's face, he instinctively defended her.
Poor and humble couples suffer from everything, just pretend you don't see anything. Mr. Luo took a long breath.
"Come on, let's go inside and talk."
"gentlemen……"
Cao Yan took one look at the earthen house, which was not as good as the pigsty of a wealthy family, and hesitated to speak.
Mr. Luo didn't say anything, just glared at him and continued walking forward. As soon as he crossed the threshold, a figure rushed out of the room and said, "Damn it, come back to me."
She shouted out the door, and suddenly saw Mr. Luo who was about to enter, and was stunned for a moment.
She knew Mr. Luo. Last year, his son Cao Bin fell ill, and the Cao family was poor and had no money for medical treatment. After hearing this, Mr. Luo asked someone to send him a hundred taels of silver.
Although Mrs. Cao was rough, she also knew how to be grateful. After her son recovered from the illness, she took her son to the Luo Mansion to kowtow to Mr. Luo and thank him, carrying the only reed chicken in the family.
"First... sir... you... are here..."
The family was in ruins, and even her biological parents rarely came to visit. She never expected that Mr. Luo would come, and she was so nervous that she had nowhere to put her hands and feet.
Mr. Luo said "hmm". Seeing that the woman was originally in her twenties, but now looked like she was in her early forties, his heart suddenly softened, and his dissatisfaction with her for humiliating her elegance disappeared instantly.
"How is Bin'er?"
He suddenly regretted that he had come in a hurry and forgot to bring some snacks.
"Okay, okay, Bin'er is fine." Mrs. Cao rubbed her hands, her face turned red with excitement, and she called out: "Bin'er, Bin'er, come out quickly, I've seen you sir."
Cao Bin came out of the room and timidly saluted Mr. Luo.
"Bin'er, hello sir."
The child's voice was timid and endearing. Mr. Luo smiled and bent down to hug Cao Bin. Mr. Cao immediately stopped him, "No sir, Bin'er's body is full of dust and it will stain Mr. Cao Bin."
"Don't guard, don't guard." Mr. Luo picked up Bin'er. The three-year-old child only weighed about fifteen or six pounds. He was a little sad.
"Sir, please sit down." Mr. Cao moved a bench. Mr. Luo waved his hand and said, "It's getting late, so I won't sit down. Cao Yan, I'm here to tell you something."
"Sir, please speak."
Cao Yan felt a little uneasy. There must be something wrong with Mr. Luo's visit, but he didn't know whether it was a good thing or a bad thing. The family has fallen to the bottom, but it can no longer withstand any hardships.
"Our Qinghe County magistrate needs to find a ghostwriter. I think you are very suitable, so I intend to recommend you. I wonder if you are willing."
"Yes." Cao Yan said without hesitation.
Mr. Luo was stunned for a moment, "You don't have to think about it?"
Cao Yan smiled bitterly, "What else is there to consider? I can't support my wife or my son without lifting my hands or shoulders. I can ghostwrite for the county magistrate. If it suits me, if the county magistrate takes care of my three meals a day, It can also save some food for the family..."
Cao's eyes were red, "Ms. sir, I..."
Cao Yan shook his head, "I don't blame you. It's a man's job to support a family. You have worked hard these years."
Mr. Luo felt sad when he heard this and stopped him: "Okay, don't talk about that. The county asked you to write for me, so I won't treat you badly. I don't know whether you have three meals a day, but he told me personally that he will treat you every month." Twenty-five taels of silver..."
Before he finished speaking, Cao suddenly fell to the ground with a "plop", his eyes turned white, and his hands and feet twitched. Cao Bin was so frightened that he cried "Wow" and Cao Yan was also confused.
"Pinch her." Mr. Luo shouted.
Cao Yan woke up from a dream and quickly pinched the Cao family. After a while, she woke up leisurely and looked at Mr. Luo with blank eyes.
"Sir, the magistrate is really willing to give your husband twenty-five taels of silver a month?"
Mr. Luo nodded.
Ms. Cao suddenly hugged Cao Yan and cried bitterly, as if she was venting some emotion. Cao Yan was embarrassed, and it was neither persuasive nor persuasive.
Mr. Luo sighed softly.
"Ms. Cao, please don't be so excited. This ghostwriting job won't last long, only about three months. As for the future, it depends on Cao Yan's luck."
