I'm in the Red Mansion

Chapter 311 Rongguo Mansion is in economic crisis, Lai family only gives fifty taels

Tanchun couldn't help but say, "I was thinking that we don't know the details of the merchants who come to us for promotion."

"If they sell inferior products as good ones and deceive customers, our promotion will greatly reduce the reputation of Daxia Monthly."

"Therefore, I think it's better not to make this money than to accept this kind of promotion. In the future, this kind of promotion will only help Brother Cong San."

Lin Daiyu thought for a moment and said, "Third sister, what you said is very true, but I think we should ask Third Brother Cong about this matter and see if he has any good ideas."

Hearing this, all the girls nodded in unison.

A few days later, Jia Cong received a letter from Lin Daiyu.

After seeing this question, Jia Cong couldn't help but smile knowingly.

It turns out that people of this era see the effectiveness of advertising so quickly.

And some people have already started preparing to advertise.

The third sister's concerns were indeed correct, and Jia Cong did not want to be as irresponsible as television, newspapers, and media in later generations.

As long as you pay, any advertisement will be put on the shelves.

This resulted in a large number of consumers being deceived.

I still have to take this advertisement, but I have to check the credibility of the merchant beforehand.

Only merchants with a solid reputation can obtain advertising promotion in Daxia Monthly.

In this case, it is crucial to investigate the merchant's reputation.

A group of reliable personnel must be trained, and whoever is responsible for the investigation must be responsible for the results of the investigation.

Once any mistake is made, severe punishment must be imposed.

In this way, we can serve as a warning to others and prevent them from committing fraud privately.

Thinking of this, Jia Cong wrote a reply to Lin Daiyu, telling her his thoughts.

After Lin Daiyu received Jia Cong's reply, she handed the matter over to Xue Baoqin.

Now Xue Baoqin is becoming more and more adept at doing this kind of things, and is gradually developing the temperament of a strong woman.

Meanwhile, the Rongguo Mansion was busy looking for a marriage for Jia Baoyu.

Now Jia She's health is getting worse day by day and he may die at any time.

After Jia She's death, although Jia Baoyu did not have to observe a three-year mourning period, he was still his uncle, so it would be difficult for him to get married within a year at least.

Therefore, Lady Jia and Lady Wang started to get busy.

Soon, they found a marriage.

This young lady comes from a poor and impoverished family called Su.

He was of excellent appearance and character, but his family was very poor and had to rely on selling books to make a living.

Grandmother Jia and Lady Wang were also impressed by the girl's character, so the two families quickly decided on a marriage.

Moreover, the Jia family was in a hurry to get married. The marriage had just been decided and the wedding would be held that month.

The Su family really fell into decline, and for a time, they couldn't even prepare their daughter's dowry.

It was only with the help of the Jia family that he was able to fulfill the etiquette.

Unfortunately, three days before the wedding, Jia She passed away.

The Jia family had no choice but to temporarily suspend the funeral and marry Su into the family first.

A few days later, Jia She's funeral was held.

Although the Rongguo Mansion had declined, they were once wealthy after all, and for the time being, their splendor had not yet collapsed.

These two events, one happy and the other a funeral, were both handled with great pomp and ceremony.

But in this way, money is spent like water.

For these two events, not many friends and relatives came.

Even if they come, the gifts they give are very limited.

People like the Ningguo Mansion and the Xue family have all come.

But they all knew that Jia Cong disliked the Rongguo Mansion, so the dispute between the two families was only a matter of a few hundred taels of silver.

As for other relatives, it was even worse.

However, the Lin family, because Lin Ruhai was the son-in-law of a noble family, gave each person a gift of one thousand taels of silver.

However, the expenses of Rongguo Mansion far exceeded the gift money.

They spent several thousand taels of silver from their family.

I saw that there was only money going out of the house and no money coming in.

As the money became less and less, Lady Jia and Mrs. Wang were both secretly anxious.

However, for matters like this, the women in the inner chambers could not make money no matter how urgent they were, and could not think of any way to earn interest on the money.

Let’s talk about Su, she is indeed a good person.

Not only is he good-looking, but he is also very good in treating people and respecting his parents-in-law.

This made both Lady Jia and Mrs. Wang very satisfied.

The couple are as close as glue after marriage.

But no one is good forever, and no flower remains red forever.

Now Jia Baoyu has long stopped studying, and in the Rongguo Mansion, Jia She is dead, Jia Lian is still in prison, and Jia Zheng has been exiled.

In the entire Rongguo Mansion, Jia Baoyu was the only male left.

Jia Baoyu developed a dandy character since he was young.

Even though the Rongguo Mansion fell into decline, he still had money around him.

Now that he has a family and is no longer under any supervision, he has become even more willful.

He had a few friends outside, such as Xue Pan, Feng Ziying, Liu Xianglian, Jiang Yuhan, etc., all of whom were his friends.

Now Feng Ziying has gone to the south, Liu Xianglian has gone to the north, and Xue Pan doesn't play with Big Face Bao much anymore.

It was Jiang Yuhan who introduced Jia Baoyu to several friends.

These people were having a great time eating, drinking and playing together.

Fortunately, among the three evils of eating, drinking, whoring and gambling, Jia Baoyu only committed three of them, and he did not gamble.

But eating, drinking and whoring also cost money.

After the wedding, Jia Baoyu spent his honeymoon with his bride at ease.

But after the honeymoon, Jia Baoyu's old illness relapsed and he went out drinking all day.

Because the family conditions deteriorated, the food became simple and poor.

Jia Baoyu was not used to the food at home, so he ate more outside and less at home.

When Su first married into the Jia family, she was very satisfied.

But after the honeymoon, Su gradually became worried.

Over the past month, she saw that the Jia family only had people spending money but no one coming in.

Even if you have mountains of gold and silver, sooner or later you will run out of them.

What's more, the Jia family doesn't have mountains of gold and silver.

Although I have a few wealthy relatives who can provide some help.

However, one cannot live on relief, as the saying goes, relief cannot cure poverty.

And although my husband is gentle and considerate, his poetry and songs are also spiritual.

But he is a weak man, has no means of making a living, and has developed a dandy character.

Now, we have been married for only a month, but we are already out drinking and having fun all day long. What will happen in the future?
Su tried to persuade him several times, but Jia Baoyu just wouldn't listen.

After talking so much, Jia Baoyu couldn't help but become cold towards her.

For this reason, Su could only shed tears in secret, lamenting that she had married the wrong man.

As for the Rongguo Mansion, there were two major events and Jia Baoyu's extravagant spending.

The family assets gradually became emptied.

Mrs. Xing became unhappy and said something in a strange voice several times.

Although Lady Jia and Mrs. Wang disliked Mrs. Xing, they knew in their hearts that what Mrs. Xing said was right.

They don't have much money left in the Rongguo Mansion, so how can they afford Jia Baoyu's extravagance?
Just as Jia Baoyu was about to squander all his money, their lives became even more miserable.

Therefore, Grandmother Jia and Mrs. Wang had to call Jia Baoyu and tell him not to squander like that in the future, as the family really had no money left.

Then, he was only given ten taels of silver every month.

If you spend it all, you can't ask for more.

However, it is easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but it is difficult to go from extravagance to frugality.

Jia Baoyu ate his meals obediently at home for a few days, but he found the food really hard to swallow.

Unable to resist the invitation of several friends, he went out for drinks again.

It's just that courtesy should be reciprocated. It's impolite not to reciprocate.

It would be bad for him to just eat other people's food without inviting them back.

But he only had ten taels of silver a month, which was not enough to buy him many nights of drinking and partying.

It was not easy for Jia Baoyu to go back and ask for more money. Fortunately, he knew the owners of the restaurant.

You can also post a bill here, and Jia Baoyu is used to being rich and luxurious.

After that, he became more and more unscrupulous. He would put all the food and drink expenses into his account every day.

More than two months had passed, and Jia Baoyu still hadn't paid back the money, so the shopkeeper had to stop him and ask for the money.

But Jia Baoyu had no way to take it out, and the shopkeeper would not let him, so he detained Jia Baoyu and ordered people to go to Jia's house to collect the debt.

After two months of work, he spent more than seven hundred taels of silver.

It was actually more than what he had spent before, and he didn't know if the shopkeeper had done anything tricky.

After paying more than 700 taels of silver, there was really no money left in the Rongguo Mansion.

After Jia Baoyu returned home, Grandmother Jia and Mrs. Wang couldn't help crying bitterly.

Mrs. Wang took Jia Baoyu's hand and said, "Baoyu, our Rongguo Mansion is really out of money. If you continue to squander money like this, this family will be ruined sooner or later."

"Even if you don't miss the old lady and me, you should still miss your wife. Now she is pregnant."

"Give birth to a boy next year, and he will continue the Jia family's lineage."

"If you continue to neglect your family like this, this family will break up sooner or later. You should change it sooner rather than later."

Mrs. Wang was at her wit's end. This was the harshest thing she had ever said to Jia Baoyu.

Because the Rongguo Mansion was almost unable to sustain itself, it could not allow Jia Baoyu to continue squandering like this.

Jia Baoyu also cried bitterly, and when he learned that his wife was pregnant, he swore and vowed that he would change his behavior in the future.

From then on, Jia Baoyu really changed.

Stay at home and take care of your wife.

However, as the money kept coming in but not going out, the money in Rongguo Mansion was gradually spent.

Su's belly was slightly bulging, so she had to take care of herself.

In desperation, Jia Baoyu had no choice but to go out and shamelessly look for his old friends to borrow money to deal with the situation.

After borrowing from around, not only did he not get any money, but he was also met with a lot of ridicule.

Jia Baoyu had never suffered such humiliation in his life. He was so angry that he wanted to die. For the first time, he experienced the fickleness of human nature.

As a last resort, Jia Baoyu had to go to the Xue family again.

Xue Pan hosted a banquet and personally attended it, but Jia Baoyu did not say anything until the meal was over. In fact, in front of those friends, he could still ask for money.

In the Xue family, he really couldn't speak.

He could not utter a word until the time of farewell, but Xue Pan gave him fifty taels of silver.

Holding the silver, Jia Baoyu felt his face burning and dared not look up at anyone.

When Xue Pan saw Jia Baoyu walking away with his head down, he could not help but sneer.

He couldn't help but sneer and said, "You really want to be a big shot and also want to be a saint?"

"They say he was born with a jade in his mouth, so he must have great fortune and be a master craftsman. So what is he like now?"

"If I were in such a poor situation, I would definitely be able to lose face. But I'm almost starving to death, what's the point of saving face if I have nothing left?"

"If I want to support my mother, my wife and my children, I would rather work as a porter at the docks than be as incompetent as him."

Aunt Xue, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but sneer when she heard this: "Stop bragging. With your physique, you can't even stand it for a moment."

"You are just saying it nicely now, but you still look down on Baoyu."

"After all, Baoyu has married, established a family, and will have children next year?"

"You are so good. You can't even get married now. You can't even cry at your own ancestral grave, and you still have the heart to cry at the mass grave!"

Xue Pan grumbled, "Can you blame me for not being able to get married? Everyone's marriage is decided by their parents and the matchmaker's words. How can I find a marriage on my own?"

"You are incompetent and didn't find a good marriage for me, but now you blame me."

"Besides, aren't they talking about Baoyu? Why are they talking about me again?"

Aunt Xue was so angry that she went to find a feather duster to beat him, but Xue Pan ran away and disappeared without a trace.

After Jia Baoyu returned to the Jia family with the fifty taels of silver, he was happy again.

With these fifty taels of silver, I can buy an old hen for my wife to make soup to nourish her body.

He walked quickly to Mrs. Wang's room, ready to give the silver to her.

Now that Mrs. Wang is in charge of the household, all the money is in her hands, and the ingredients are all purchased by the little maid with Mrs. Wang's approval.

Just as I reached the door, I heard a cry from inside the room.

Then Jin Chuan said, "Ah, Madam, your finger is bleeding. Wait a minute, I will go find some cloth to bandage it for you."

Then Mrs. Wang laughed and said, "How can you be so delicate? I just dozed off and didn't notice it, so I pricked my hand."

It turned out that in this world, Jin Chuan did not instigate Baoyu to be caught, so she did not jump into the well. Therefore, she was kept by Mrs. Wang.

Jin Chuan said, "Madam, you worked until midnight yesterday. You must be tired. Why don't you go and have a rest?"

Mrs. Wang said, "If I work harder, I can finish this today. If I just rest, how can I make any money?"

Jin Chuan couldn't help but sigh: "Madam, don't just focus on making money, you should also take care of your body."

Mrs. Wang couldn't help but say, "Now the mansion only spends money, but has no money. If I don't find something to do and make some money, what will I do in the future?"

"Back then, Mrs. Mei was able to raise Cong through her handicrafts. Later, Cong won six consecutive top prizes and was even awarded the title of Champion Marquis."

"If Madam Mei can do it, why can't I do it?"

"Even if Baoyu doesn't like to study, when he has children in the future, won't they also not like to study?"

"As a grandmother, I have to work harder to save more money for them so that I can support his education in the future."

"If he becomes successful in his studies in the future, I won't have to worry about my Rongguo Mansion not being able to rise again."

Hearing this, Jia Baoyu outside the door could no longer hold back and burst into tears.

Only then did he realize that he had been spending money extravagantly on wine and women in the past few days.

But his wife took on needlework at home and earned some money from it.

In order to earn more money, my wife would work until midnight every day.

When he thought of this, Baoyu felt so ashamed that he wished he could die immediately.

Seeing that Jia Baoyu heard what he said, he went into the house crying.

Mrs. Wang hurriedly took his hand and tried to comfort him, but after just a few words of comfort, she could no longer hold back and burst into tears.

And this backyard is not very big.

Soon, even Lady Jia, Lady Xing and Aunt Zhao were brought over.

After learning the reason, Lady Jia and Mrs. Xing also felt sad and couldn't help but burst into tears.

Even Aunt Zhao shed a few tears.

But Aunt Zhao didn't feel very sad in her heart.

Although life is hard, she has hope.

My daughter found a good marriage and Huan'er has also become successful.

Although life is difficult nowadays, she still has some money.

I would sneak out every now and then to satisfy my cravings, and if that didn't work, I could go to the Grand View Garden and have a big meal with San Yatou.

Although the Jia family has declined now, there are fewer things to do, and she lives a very comfortable life.

But everyone was crying, so she couldn't help but cry. Besides, hearing them crying so sadly made her feel compassionate.

This mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are really miserable.

After everyone cried for a while, Jia's mother couldn't help but say, "Second brother, although our Jia family has fallen, you don't have to work so hard."

"Well, I will write a letter to the Lai family and ask them to borrow a few thousand silver coins."

"With these few thousand silver coins, I'll see if I can find a shop and figure out a way to make a living."

"This shop can earn several dozen taels of silver in interest every month, which can support my family."

Grandmother Jia’s plan is a very good one, but how easy is it to make?

With several thousand taels of silver, you can only buy a very small shop in a bad location.

Furthermore, if a person without solid background is the shopkeeper, the shop may not be able to succeed.

But at least this is a way out.

No matter how difficult it is, you should always give it a try.

At this time, Jia Baoyu also said: "Madam, you are old, how can I let you work to support the family?"

"Although I don't have any special skills, at least I can write and do math. I can go out and take on some work writing letters and copying books for others, and I can earn some money."

"This is easier than my wife doing manual labor, and the benefits are greater."

After hearing this, Lady Jia and Lady Wang said in unison, "Baoyu, absolutely not. No matter how poor our family is, how could we have come to such a state that we would let you do such a thing?"

Jia Baoyu couldn't help crying, "Grandfather, Madam, you don't have to persuade me anymore."

"Our family has come to this point. How can we still have dignity?"

"How can I feel at ease if I don't work and my wife has to work hard to support the family?"

"Now that I am the only male in the family, I naturally have to support the family."

After hearing this, Lady Jia and Mrs. Wang couldn't help but burst into tears again.

Grandmother Jia couldn't help but sigh and said, "Baoyu has grown up and become sensible! However, there is no need to be so anxious."

"I will write to the Lai family and ask them to lend me a few thousand taels of silver to see if I can buy the shop."

"If I hadn't stepped in, the Lai family would have been confiscated by Cong."

"Madame Kuang Lai has served me since she was a child. Her family must have at least hundreds of thousands of silver coins in its assets."

"Now I'm borrowing several thousand taels of silver from her to marry her. I still have some face."

After saying this, Grandmother Jia asked the maid to bring out pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and then she asked Jia Baoyu to write this letter.

Now the Lai family has gone to the place where Lai Shangrong is an official, which is only a few hundred miles away from here.

Nowadays, the efficiency of the post stations has become increasingly higher. For example, if two places are very prosperous, even if they are hundreds of miles away, the mail can be delivered within a few days.

After writing the letter and sending it out, the people in Rongguo Mansion waited patiently.

Half a month later, Grandmother Jia received a reply.

Grandmother Jia was overjoyed and opened the envelope.

Beside them, Madam Xing and Madam Wang were also watching.

Soon, Grandmother Jia took out a letter and a silver note.

But when Lady Jia saw the face value of the banknote, her expression changed instantly.

Because it's just a fifty-dollar bill, and there's only one.

Grandmother Jia opened her mouth to retort, and she only got fifty taels of silver?
Grandmother Jia put on her reading glasses (in the book "Dream of Red Mansions", Grandmother Jia had reading glasses) and read the letter with a gloomy face.

I only saw in the letter that they wrote that they had been away from home and were now having a very hard time making a living.

Lai Shangrong was an honest official. He was not greedy or selfish. Instead, he was sympathetic to the people and helped them out of his own pocket.

Therefore, the family is so poor now that it is difficult to make ends meet.

These fifty taels of silver were obtained by pawning a gold hairpin. They hope that the ancestor will be magnanimous.

After reading the letter, Grandmother Jia was so angry that she trembled all over.

Nanny Lai was her personal maid, who had been with her since she was young.

Now she has been slapped in the face like this, how can Lady Jia swallow this?

Grandmother Jia trembled and said, "This is really a good servant I used. How dare she do this? How dare she do this?"

"I am so blind that I have been fooled by them for so many years and I didn't realize that they are all ungrateful people."

"If I had known this would happen, I should have asked Brother Cong to raid their house and beat them all to death!"

"This family is full of ungrateful bastards, this family is full of ungrateful bastards..."

As she spoke, Grandmother Jia rolled her eyes, and suddenly her vision went dark, and she fell backwards.

Fortunately, Mrs. Xing was right beside her and she quickly supported her.

After a lot of hard work, everyone finally woke up Lady Jia.

After waking up, Grandmother Jia couldn't help but shed two lines of tears.

After a while, Jia's mother could not help but pick up the banknote and said with gnashing teeth:
"Haha, these fifty taels of silver are humiliating me, an old woman?"

"It's better not to take this little bit of money, but I still have to remember this favor from them!"

As she spoke, Grandmother Jia stretched out her hand to tear up the banknote.

Mrs. Xing quickly reached out to stop Lady Jia and said, "Grandma, please don't tear it up."

"Even if it's torn, the Lai family won't be able to see it. It's better to stay and buy some chickens, ducks, fish and meat to nourish Baoyu's family."

"If the old lady is still angry, she can wait for Congge to come home one day and let him punish the Lai family again."

After hearing this, Jia's mother snorted angrily and let go of her hand.

Mrs. Xing quickly put away the banknotes and a look of joy appeared on her face.

Several thousand taels of silver suddenly became fifty taels and fell into Mrs. Xing's hands.

Their original plan came to an end before it even began.

As a result, the family still has no income.

Under no circumstances could Jia Baoyu have to take on some jobs such as writing letters, copying books, and even painting to make a living.

Although Jia Baoyu was not good at studying, he did have some talents.

Although the calligraphy and painting are not top-notch, they are barely acceptable.

Although his paintings were far from the level of Jia Cong, they were worth less than one or two taels of silver per painting.

A painting only costs a few dozen dollars, but it can still get some business.

(End of this chapter)