flstandardbreds Chapter 224 The Poor Scholar's Wife 5
Chapter 224 The Poor Scholar's Wife 5
Li Qingshan hesitated for a while, but still spoke. After all, if he didn't speak, his family would be left with nothing.
He went to the kitchen and took a look today. Apart from a few sweet potatoes, some millet and eggs given by the neighbors, there was no other food.
"My dear, I only regret that I am useless and cannot take good care of you and the child.
But you have to understand that if I pass the imperial examination, our family will really prosper. Now that the autumn imperial examination is about to begin, I must devote all my energy to continue the imperial examination. I am afraid that you will need to work hard on the family affairs."
Su Tong understood that the other party was just trying to make big promises for her. He was so shameless. She really wanted to slap him hard, but she still forced a smile.
"My dear husband, you and I are one, there is no need to be so polite. Don't worry, my daughter and I will not hold you back. At most, I will not take my medicine.
But now we really don’t have the money to pay for the exam, so if it doesn’t work out, we can just mortgage our house. If we fail again, we can think of another way then.”
As soon as these words came out, Li Qingshan's face changed suddenly, because he himself could not guarantee that he could pass the imperial examination, but if he failed, the house would become someone else's, and then their whole family would have to go out and starve, which would be truly embarrassing.
Li Qingshan was too embarrassed to tell his wife to go out and find some work. There are some things you can't say because it would be embarrassing to say them. But unfortunately, the other party didn't seem to understand his hint.
"This house is our Li family's ancestral home. We definitely can't mortgage it like this. We'll think of a solution when the time comes." Li Qingshan forced a smile, but looking at the house that was more shabby than the house and even had some leaks, Li Qingshan's heart sank.
Su Tong sold the handkerchief he had made and got more than 20 copper coins in exchange. He first paid the doctor's medicine bill, and then used the remaining copper coins to buy a few pounds of coarse grains and some sweet potatoes, which would be his meals for the next few days.
Li Qingshan was naturally not used to such food. It was difficult to go from luxury to frugality. Su Tong, on the other hand, enjoyed the meal very much. After eating too much delicacies from land and sea, he sometimes had some light porridge and side dishes, which were also quite good.
By the way, taking advantage of the good weather these days, I reclaimed the land around the house, planted some green onions, sowed some rapeseed, and also planted some radishes.
In the past, Li Qingshan would definitely not allow this. Their Li family is a family of scholars and cannot do such a shameful thing. But now he is almost hungry and can't care about these things. It's a pity that the growth cycle of these vegetables is too slow. It would be better if it could be faster.
The family was now maintaining a posture of not starving to death. Whenever Su Tong ran out of money, he would take out the handkerchiefs he had made, exchange them for dozens of copper coins, and buy some coarse grains. However, the weather was getting colder day by day, until the cold wind raged, and Li Qingshan realized that this year's cotton clothes had not been made yet, and even the quilts at home were too thin.
Su Tong didn't care. Although the quilt he was covering himself with looked dirty and torn, it was actually made of good cotton and was very warm.
The couple had been sleeping in separate rooms for a long time. Li Qingshan moved to the study early on the pretext that he needed to study for the imperial examination.
It was terribly cold there in the winter. The original owner felt sorry for his father and would often make thick clothes for him and even buy some coal for him. But now...
Su Tong shrank his neck as he watched the other person move. You know, Li Qingshan would never make such a move in the past, because it was too vulgar (ps: Jia Huan in Dream of Red Mansions was like this, and was nicknamed Frozen Cat by others)
Li Qingshan had gotten frostbite while writing, and the food and drink at home were not to his liking. In just less than a month, Li Qingshan had lost nearly 10 kilograms, and his clothes were not as clean as before. Sometimes he even had to wash them himself after they got dirty.
Li Qingshan also thought about throwing the matter to Ruyi, but he didn't know what was wrong with the child. She would have seizures when she saw him. When she had seizures, he had to spend money to buy medicine. Once he bought medicine, the family's conditions became even worse. Later, Li Qingshan didn't dare to see his daughter. He was really afraid of hunger.
Li Qingshan lost the dignity that a scholar should have. He had borrowed some money from his classmates before, but he hadn't paid it back for a long time. His classmates were not well off either, so they came to his house to ask for the money back. Later, Li Qingshan had no choice but to take some work from the owner of the bookstore and copied books overnight before he could pay back the borrowed money.
Li Qingshan never did such a thing before, because he felt that as a gentleman, he should not bow down for a few pieces of silver. But now he is almost tortured to death by the heavy burden of life.
"Brother Li, I haven't seen you out for a while recently, but what happened at home?"
After Li Qingshan saved some copper coins by copying books, he did not think about subsidizing his family or buying some food or clothes for the winter. Instead, he took the copper coins and went out to drink.
Li Qingshan sighed and told others about his financial difficulties. He even had no confidence in passing the imperial examination next year.
Thinking of this, Li Qingshan was filled with anger. He immediately criticized Su Tong and his daughter for nothing, thinking that they were the ones who dragged him down.
The man rolled his eyes and said, "I do have an idea. It depends on whether you are willing to give it up. However, this method is too despicable. If you are not interested, then I won't tell you..."
Li Qingshan only cares about money now. When he heard about a way to make money, he immediately asked the other party to tell him.
"I have a brother who is a businessman. I met your cousin and his wife by chance before. They were stunningly beautiful. And your little daughter is also very cute. If..."
Before the man finished speaking, Li Qingshan's face changed immediately. Even if he was incompetent, he could not betray his wife and daughter. Otherwise, he would be no different from a beast. He refused without hesitation.
"Don't be in a hurry to refuse. Guess how much silver others gave?" The man made a three gesture. That was not 30 taels of silver, but 300 taels of silver.
"Brother Li, you have to think clearly. This money is enough for you to find a new wife.
I know you can't bring yourself to do this. You don't have to solve this kind of thing yourself. You just need to bring the person to your house and get your wife drunk. After the good deed is done, you can pretend that nothing happened. You can even put all the blame on your wife.
You can accuse her of being fickle and kick her out without hesitation. Even if her parents come to you, you still have a reason to divorce her."
Li Qingshan was a little hesitant at first, but after hearing about 300 taels of silver, his heart started pounding. That was 300 taels of silver, enough for him to take part in the imperial examinations several times. Besides, it was just his sick wife and daughter, so it was no big deal.