Chapter 68
Struggle in Ancient Times
âThis shop of yours shouldnât be worth that price at all. Donât bully us, although we are villagers, we still understand some things. No matter what the shop was before, it has been empty for so long. There must be some things we need to replace when we moved in. if there is no one living there, it definitely wonât be in great condition. You said it was empty for months, God knows how the shopâs condition right now.â Mother Deng shouted.
âIf you want to see it, I will take you there. You can see the house, whether it was dilapidated or not, as long as you wrote the contract with us, we will send someone to fix it.â the real estate agent felt that mother Deng was slacking some sense.
âYou hire someone to take care of it, donât think I didnât know. You must make sure the house didnât collapse; you donât care about the inside.â Mother Deng said proudly, although she never worked in the town but her eldest son did odd jobs here,
âIn my opinion, it must be filled with spiders and mice. I donât know how long the house and shop could last!â
âNo way. The shop and house were built with brick and tiles. Itâs only a few months empty, it wasnât as serious as you said. When you go there, at most you should replace a few tiles. Except those landlordâs family and noble relatives in this town, how could ordinary people have such good shop?â the real estate agent said unhappily. Where is the mouse and spider? There had been no one living there so long, why would a mouse stay there?
âMoreover, the well inside is worth several taels. It was built with bricks, a house using blue brick would cost ten taels in the village. It would be more expensive in the town.â The real estate explained to the two idlers because mother Deng seemed unable to understand him,
But the two idlers were looking around, didnât even glance at the man.
Mother Deng didnât know that the man disliked her. She still coming strong, this was a bargaining. She must receive the good price, âDo you mean, the small house behind is also made from blue bricks?â
The real estate agent felt mother Deng was a little delusional, âThat was a place for the waiters to live in the shop. How could it be built by blue bricks? You reallyâ¦â
âOh! It turns out that the small house wasnât from blue bricks. That means, only the shop is made from it. How can that house be worth it? it had been there for so long. In our village, ten taels could make up three houses from blue bricks.â Mother Deng caught the manâs mistake and stepped on it,
âDonât tell me that the price is different in the town and villages. Letâs just charge the thing a little less, it hadnât been used for so long.â
The real estate agent felt this old woman must have big status in the family. He looked at the two men, hoping they would stop this old woman but they didnât look at him.
âOkay, okay. I admit defeat. I will charge you a little less. The old lady is a person who knows how to live. The guests have good sense. Let me give you seventy taels.â
Liao Tingyu didnât think that in the ancient times, the real estate would allow people to bargain. Luckily, there was his mother who could casually done it.
He didnât have much awareness about money, but when he saw Liao Ming looked motionless; he also turned to look at the street, watching people walked around.@@novelbin@@
âFifty taels. Thatâs it.â as soon as she heard the man compromised, mother Deng immediately climbed up.
She continued, âDonât look at them. I am in charge of the money in our family. That father and son couldnât do anything.â
That was true but Liao Mingâs face was slapped by his wife.
Liao Tingyu saw his father squatting down, he admired him from the bottom of his heart.
Such a shameâ¦
Liao Ming winked at him and asked him to learn from him. Liao Tingyu silently gave him a thumb up in his heart.
The real estate agent glanced at them and knew he had encountered a tough family. He thought about it and these fifty taels were impossible. He only bought it for forty taels back then, he didnât dare to sell it for meagre fifty taels.
âI think you are so powerful. Letâs call it a day, I couldnât give you any less. If you want to buy it, buy it or not. I will pay for the workersâ fee.â
Mother Deng saw the determined look on the real estate agentâs face, she knew she couldnât bargain anymore. She looked at her husband.
Liao Ming didnât hesitate, he held mother Dengâs hand and said, âOkay. Letâs go with the price. When will we go to transfer the deed?â
âGive me the money first. I will take you right away.â The real estate agent lamented in his heat that business wasnât an easy thing to do.
âDo you need to prepare anything?â Liao Tingyu asked, he thought they might need ID card or something, âDonât you need our household registration?â
âYou are still from around here; your identification must be in the yamen office. You just need to sign the land deed.â The real estate agent shook his head.
Liao Tingyu felt relieved when he heard it. He thought the procedures were complicated, it was actually very easy. At first, he thought he might stuff some money to the yamen but now, there was no need for it.
It was nice to be convenient.
When signing and stamping in the yamen, Liao Tingyu stepped aside but Liao Ming handed him the pen.
Liao Tingyu shook his head and asked Liao Ming to write it. Liao Ming confirmed Liao Tingyuâs idea and was hesitate a little bit. Then, he wrote down Liao Shiâs name with himself as the donor.
Mother Deng felt something was wrong. Why did they write two pieces of paper? She quickly pushed Liao Tingyu aside to ask him and see what was going on.
But Liao Tingyu grabbed her hand and shook his head.
Mother Dengâs eyes widened and looked at the paper, her face was bad. She thought it was a public space with official in the yamen office, so she didnât dare to mess around but her expression was really ugly.
Liao Ming held the new deed in his chest, it was a piece of paper changed from seventy taels. His dream for most of his life had come true.
Mother Dengâs face turned cold as soon as they left the yamen office. She didnât say a word and the two men were silent on their way to the shop.
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Once they arrived, Liao Ming pushed the dusty door open and a large puff of dust came over his face. The real estate agent didnât lie, this place was empty for months. There were dust and spider webs everywhere.
âLetâs clean up now. When itâs done, we could take our eldest son here.â
Mother Dengâs eyes flashed when she heard about the eldest son.
There were a lot of fire in her stomach, she looked at Liao Tingyu who held his nose and took care of the chairs and tables silently.
Liao Tingyu looked at her motherâs dark face, âMother, donât be upset. You see, our family has purchased a property now. We should be happy.â
Mother Deng looked at her son who was smiling happily, she felt she was worried over nothing for this stupid young man.
Such a filial son, very kind and respectful. If she didnât help him fight, what could he do in the future?
Mother Deng remembered it and said it gentle voice, âCome, son, you go and borrow cleaning tools from the neighbour.â
Liao Tingyu wanted to say something but Liao Ming stopped him with his eyes.
.
When Liao Tingyu was gone, mother Deng said loudly, âWhat do you think you have done? Old man, whose name did you write on the deed?â
Liao Ming said indifferently, âIt was our eldest son.â
It was enough to spark the fire inside mother Dengâs heart and stomach, âOld man, what were you thinking? Most of the money came from our youngest son. Why did you give it to our eldest one? He didnât even pay for anything. He is so stupid; how could he keep such a big property?â
Mother Dengâs cried and continued, âMy poor youngest son, he wracked his brain to study and earned the scholar title. He made so much money but he gave it to his eldest brother like it was nothing. And you, as the father, didnât even try to stop him!â
She thought about her thin youngest son, no matter how much he ate, there was no weight on his body. People said they wanted to have the same son like Liao Tingyu but they didnât know the hard work behind her sonâs success.
âYou think I was biased? Our eldest son is a bit stupid, if we didnât provide a way for him, will he just live in the fields for his whole life? You have to let him a way to live nicely. Besides, Liao Tingyu is a capable person. In short period of time, he wrote a few books and earned hundreds of taels. Does he need to care about these small money? His da-ge had helped him so much these years, why couldnât he gift something for his eldest brother?â
Liao Ming felt what he did was right and he argued with good reasons.
âI know you donât like our eldest son. But he is your son and mine, they are doing serious business now. Unlike you and I, back then we were working with our backs bent down to the sky. Such a hard living, can you bear him to be like us?â
Mother Deng flicked the rag in her hand, âAre you saying that I am cruel? Our eldest son has no future, who is the one to blame? Was it the blood and flesh of his little brother? How come my youngest have to pave a way for him, Liao Tingyu is capable and can make money, why does it have to be given to his da-ge?â
âThey are the same blood brothers. If he wanted to give something to his da-ge then let him. my youngest son will have family in the future, he knows what to do. You canât take care of him all his life.â Liao Ming showed the mighty aura as the head of his family.
âWhat does it mean to know what to do? Look at him now, isnât it was you who make the decision? Donât think I didnât see it today; you use my youngest sonâs money!â mother Deng said angrily.
Liao Ming actually wasnât a fierce person, he didnât like to make too much trouble, âWhatâs wrong with using his money? Thatâs just how family works, I supports him all his whole life, why canât I ask him for a little money? He is my son and I am his father.â
Mother Deng was unhappy when she heard it, how could such a thing be said like that. A man who was a father actually took his sonâs money by force.
The two of the were so thick-skinned that once they fought, the topic changed direction.