BXBX NOVEL Chapter 59.2 - IOU and cards
In that year, there was a calligraphy class every week. Although Jiang Zhen often changed it into a Chinese homework class and didn’t practice any calligraphy at all, he could at least write a word with a brush, and his skills were quite standard.
“Today, Liu Dacheng and Liu Ermao owe Zhao Jinge one hundred silver,” Jiang Zhen read and wrote at the same time, and soon, he finished a decent looking line of writing.
These words were very simple, like “Zhao”. Because it was Zhao Jinge’s surname, he specially used branches to write it several times in a row on the ground, so naturally, there was no mistake. At first glance, he was almost like a scholar.
After the fight, Zhao Jinge felt that it was not good for him to wear only undergarments. No matter how hot it was, he put on his new clothes again.
When he finished dressing and tidying himself up, he came out of his new house. Jiang Zhen had already spread out his brush and paper to calculate the silver that the Liu family owed him. Hearing that Jiang Zhen made the Liu family pay back one hundred silver, made Zhao Jinge delighted. Then he saw Jiang Zhen could write.
Jiang Zhen can write! Jiang Zhen can read!
Zhao Jinge looked at Jiang Zhen in shock and was unable to recover from it. After being in contact with Jiang Zhen for a long time, he felt that Jiang Zhen was very powerful, but he didn’t expect that he was even more powerful than he had thought.
Jiang Zhen even knows how to read!
Zhao Jinge, who didn’t know a single character, suddenly felt some inferiority complex again—compared to Jiang Zhen, he was really nothing special.
As for why Jiang Zhen could read . . . Zhao Jinge soon found a reason for him. The Jiang family’s second son and third son had both gone to school. He assumed that Jiang Zhen had watched them and learned something. Jiang Zhen was really powerful. At that time, if his family had let him go to school, he might have even been able to take the examination to become a scholar!
Zhao Jinge believed in Jiang Zhen inexplicably and felt that Jiang Zhen had the ability to become a scholar, and other people felt the same way too. Jiang Zhen could read and write . . . It had a big impact on them.
Even though Hexi was quite rich, the number of literates could be counted on two hands! Even Jiang Ping, the head of the village, barely knew a few words.
Zhao Liu was very excited and even more satisfied with her son-in-law. Her Jinge was so amazing that he could find such a good son-in-law!
“Come on. Stamp it!” Jiang Zhen put the debt note in front of the He brothers and said to Wang Haisheng, “Hold their hands and let them press their fingerprints.”
Wang Haisheng and He Chunsheng immediately got to work. At the same time, Jiang Zhen said, “Liu Dacheng, Liu Ermao, right? You’d better pay the money back quickly. Otherwise . . . I’m going to take this debt note to the yamen to sue you. It’s not good to owe money.”
Yang Jing: “. . .” You forced people to write a debt note in front of me, and you still want to complain to the yamen?
“If I tell the people in the yamen that I only need fifty silver out of these hundred silver, they would certainly be happy to ask for your debt,” Jiang Zhen added.
Yang Jing said, “Of course!”
When Liu Dacheng and Liu Ermao heard Jiang Zhen’s words, they felt like crying. When they didn’t have any money, how could they get a hundred silver? Of course, if they were to sell their land, it would be enough, but how could ordinary people be willing to sell land?
“Alright. Throw them out,” Jiang Zhen said. In fact, what he just said had the same intent as that debt note, and that was, from the one hundred silver demanded, he only wanted fifty. So should the Liu family come to pay back the money obediently, he wouldn’t really force them to give him all one hundred silver.
After the Liu family left, Wang Haisheng and the others started cleaning up the house, and Jiang Zhen talked with the shopkeeper of the porcelain shop.
The shopkeeper of the porcelain shop had negotiated a good price with the samples given by Jiang Zhen. In Jiang Zhen’s house, he wanted to quote a bit lower price and get more money himself, but now . . . thinking of Jiang Zhen’s ferocious appearance just now, the shopkeeper of the porcelain shop immediately rejected that thought.
Jiang Zhen was involved, and since he was so ferocious, it would be better not to offend him.
The shopkeeper of the porcelain shop reported the price he had negotiated, not daring to conceal it. After hearing the price, Jiang Zhen was extremely satisfied. The price was much higher than he expected!
After making an appointment with the shopkeeper to deliver the goods to the county town the next day, Jiang Zhen invited the shopkeeper to stay for the wedding reception.
“No, I have work to do. I need to go back,” the shopkeeper of the porcelain shop hurriedly said. He was a little afraid of Jiang Zhen from that moment on . . . Besides, was there any wedding wine left to drink in such a mess?
When Jiang Zhen heard his refusal, he didn’t try persuading him and sent him out. The cook they had hired had already ran away, so Zhao Liu went to the kitchen to prepare some food herself.
Meanwhile, Jiang Zhen took Yang Jing to his former house, and asked, “What is Liu Heitou’s background?”
“Liu Heitou is a thug of the gambling house in the county town,” Yang Jing directly reported everything he knew, and added, “That gambling shop is not easy to mess with. You . . .”
“What’s the style of the gambling house?” Jiang Zhen asked suddenly.
“It’s not bad. If you’ve already lost everything, you’re not allowed to go inside again. They don’t force people to sell their sons and daughters either,” Yang Jing said. The people behind the gambling house still needed some reputation, because the gambling house couldn’t do too much.
“Can you make an appointment with the manager of this gambling house for me?” Jiang Zhen asked again.
“Yes, I can . . . Why do you want to meet the man in charge?” Yang Jiang asked, confused.
“Do you think it’s better Liu Heitou to be in charge of the affairs, even though he causes a lot of trouble and has many thugs, or someone like me?” Jiang Zhen asked.
Jiang Zhen wanted to recommend himself? In other words, Jiang Zhen was stronger than Liu Heitou. Confronted with such a choice, the steward might really not want that Liu Heitou.
Liu Heitou privately lent money and gathered a group of people to gamble in Qiaotou Village. That steward must not like it. Without the gambling house in the background, Liu Heitou was nothing.
Jiang Zhen gave an explanation but didn’t say that he actually had other ideas. He didn’t like living under others, so of course, he didn’t want to be a thug, but at this moment . . . he actually remembered something.
After crossing over, Jiang Zhen always felt that he had nothing to exchange for money and no useful skills, but now, he suddenly thought of something. It may not be able to earn him money, but it should make the people in the gambling house think highly of him, and that thing was . . . cards.
In fact, Jiang Zhen didn’t know much about gambling, but even so, he knew several card games and could write down all the fifty-four cards.
In modern casinos, cards were absolutely essential, but here, there was no such thing at all. Jiang Zhen couldn’t make money with this idea, but the goodwill gained from the gambling house would be enough . . . Without this method, Jiang Zhen might have to work as a thug to solve this crisis, but this way, it would be different. Of course, the most urgent thing was to eat enough and then go to the bridal chamber.
Speaking of which, fortunately, Liu Heitou hadn’t destroyed his bridal chamber; otherwise . . . he wouldn’t have let him go so easily!