To Hold One’s Joy

  Chapter 365 Make money

   Facing the crowd who were getting tighter and tighter, Xu Qi tensed up and said through gritted teeth, "It's only 800 taels, I will pay it back."

   "Will you pay back?" The leader smiled, "It would be great if Mr. Xu would pay back."

  He stretched out his hand in front of Xu Qi: "Then don't waste time, Mr. Xu has paid off his gambling debts, and we are still rushing back to Qianjinfang to work."

  The debt collector was big and thick, and the hand spread out in front of Xu Qi was like a broken cattail fan.

  Xu Qi took a deep breath and said, "I don't have any money now, please give me some time."

   Several people looked at each other and laughed.

The big palm-like hand slapped the young man's shoulder hard, and said with a smirk: "Master Xu is just joking, if you don't have money now, how can you have it in the future? Take the money that the Hou Fu sent you to Qianjinfang Copy it?"

  One person's eyes lit up: "That's right, the Marquis of Changchun kicked Mr. Xu out of the house, and they will definitely give money!"

  The leader winked at his companion.

  Several people came together to grab the bundle that Xu Qi was carrying on his arm.

   "You guys are robbing!" Xu Qi yelled, holding on to his baggage.

  The people who watched the excitement stood still.

   When there is a real robbery, there will be strong men to help, or people will go together to beat the robbers in broad daylight into pigs.

   But this is not the case at present.

  Can't control my gambling debts, if my family doesn't care, why should others help?

   That is, Mr. Xu is young, so he looks a little pitiful. If he were to change to that kind of rotten gambler, he would just spit and say he deserved it.

  While people looked on coldly, Xu Qi couldn't deal with a few big men, and the burden he was guarding in front of him was snatched away by one person in the blink of an eye.

   "Brother." The man handed the burden to the leader.

  The leader looked at the boy who was held tightly by several strong men, and opened the bag with a grinning grin.

  A few pieces of clothes, shoes and socks fell off, other than that was a royal blue brocade purse, which was very conspicuous lying on the snow.

  The leader immediately picked up the purse, and smiled excitedly: "Let me see how much the Hou Mansion has given Mr. Xu to settle down."

  Xu Qi stared at the purse made of excellent material in a daze.

  He didn't know how much money was inside, and he didn't bother to open it after being swept out.

   But it shouldn't be a problem to repay the 800 taels of gambling debt.

  Xu Qi thought of what those people said to him after losing money for the first time: "It's so convenient to borrow money from a gambling shop. You are a master of the Hou family, so you are afraid that you will not pay more than ten taels of silver?"

  Ten taels and ten taels, and when it reached eight hundred taels, the gambling house stopped lending him, but did not press him to pay back the money.

   Then, he wrote one IOU after another to several poker players.

  Even if his father was extremely disappointed in him, wouldn't it be possible that he wouldn't even give him eight hundred taels of silver?

  Xu Qi stared intently at the big fan-like hand that took out a stack of banknotes and scattered silver from his purse.

  The leader did not shy away from it, and counted it in public.

  As he reported the number, Xu Qi's face became paler.

  The number of leaders was exhausted, he looked at the young man with sympathy, and sighed: "I really didn't expect the dignified Houfu to sweep Mr. Xu out of the house, and he sent it away with five hundred taels."

  One person followed and said, "That's right, five hundred taels is a huge sum of money for us ordinary people, but what is it for the Hou's mansion who always pays out ten thousand taels of silver? Isn't this sending beggars away?"

  The spectators discussed and finally came to a conclusion: These clothes, shoes, socks and money were not prepared by a man in Changchun Hou, but must have been arranged by Mrs. Hou. As expected, there is a stepmother and a stepfather.

   From this point of view, Miss Luo is right, it was Mrs. Changchun Hou who arranged for the servants to go after the money.

   There were two people from the Marquis' Mansion in Changchun mixed in the crowd. Hearing these discussions, one of them ran to the Marquis' Mansion immediately.

  The Marquis of Changchun sent someone to follow Xu Qi quietly, not because he was worried about his hardship after being kicked out of the house, but just to pay attention to the movement.

   "Master Hou, the people from Qianjinfang surrounded the eldest son and asked him for gambling debts." The servant who rushed over reported the situation panting.

  The Marquis of Changchun's complexion suddenly changed, he gritted his teeth and said, "That **** still has gambling debts?"

   "Yes, the eldest son still owes Qianjinfang eight hundred taels of silver—"

   "There is no big prince!" Marquis Changchun angrily interrupted the servant.

  The servants quickly changed their words: "Xu Dalang owes Qianjinfang 800 taels of silver, and the people from Qianjinfang snatched Xu Dalang's baggage, and put 500 taels of silver in the purse..."

  Marquis Changchun frowned, and blurted out: "Only five hundred taels?"

  Seeing the suspicious look on Changchun Hou's face, the servants hurriedly assured: "The people in Qianjinfang counted it in public, and the banknotes totaled five hundred taels, and there are still a few taels of silver."

  Hou Changchun's face was ugly.

   What Xu Qi took away was prepared by Mrs. Yang. He thought it was at least one thousand taels of silver.

  This Yang family!

  For a moment, that gentle and careless face became blurred.

  A thought faintly flashed in Changchun Hou's mind: He didn't seem to know this cousin well.

   "Master Hou, Xu Dalang is still short of three hundred taels—"

   "Leave him alone! Keep watching, and report back immediately if there is any new news."

  The servants left in a hurry, and the Marquis of Changchun's expression remained uneasy.

  At his age, of course he knows how terrible it is for the casino to turn their faces and be ruthless, but the Hou Mansion can't take the money.

  Everyone knew that Xu Qi was expelled from the Hou Mansion. If he took out the money, Xu Qi's actions would have nothing to do with the Hou Mansion.

   That's a huge hidden danger.

  But even though he made such a decision, thinking of what Xu Qi was about to face, the Marquis of Changchun couldn't help but feel a little bit unbearable.

  He quickly turned this bit of intolerance into anger towards Yang.

  If that **** prepares some extra money for Xu Qi, why bother him!

  Not to mention that the Marquis of Changchun was more disgusted with the Yang family, Xu Qi's retreat had been completely blocked by a few strong men.

  The leader put away the bank notes, and then threw the purse containing a few dimes of silver back into Xu Qi's arms.

   "We are not the ones to kill everything. A few pennies of silver are left for Mr. Xu to buy steamed buns. But Mr. Xu has to make it clear, how can we pay back the remaining three hundred taels?"

  Xu Qi bit his lips: "I... will find a job as soon as possible."

  The leader was happy: "Young Master Xu is really a noble son who doesn't understand the sufferings of the world. Do you know how much money you get for ordinary work a month?"

  Xu Qi was stopped by the question.

  He didn't know.

  From childhood to adulthood, he has never been harsh on food and clothing.

  The leader stretched out two fingers: "It's a good job to get two taels of silver a month. Mr. Xu, calculate how long it will take to pay off the three hundred taels?"

  Xu Qi felt cold all over without counting.

  The leader suddenly laughed: "However, Mr. Xu has his strengths, maybe he can really earn three hundred taels of silver."

  Xu Qi looked at each other in confusion.

  The leader waved his hand: "Brothers, send Mr. Xu to the opposite side of the gambling house to exchange money!"

  The fever reaches 38.5, and I am going to sleep. If I feel better at night, I will write the second update. If not, everyone will wait for tomorrow.

  (end of this chapter)