The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 498 Huge Deficit
Although it is now the end of the first lunar month, the weather is still cold and most of the garden trees are still bare, except for the Xiangfei bamboo around Xiaoxiang Pavilion, which is still lush and green.

Jia Huan walked along the path towards the south gate of the Grand View Garden. Just as he passed the fork in the road near the Xiaoxiang Pavilion, Lin Daiyu and her servant Xueyan came out from the bamboo forest path.

"Brother Huan!" Lin Daiyu was delighted to see Jia Huan and waved and called out to him. However, the latter was in a hurry and was thinking about something, so he didn't hear her and just continued walking forward.

Xueyan quickly raised her voice and called out, "Third Master, the girl is calling you!"

Jia Huan suddenly realized what was going on. He turned around and saw Lin Daiyu and her servant Xueyan standing at the fork in the road. The former's eyes looked angry, so he quickly stepped back and asked, "Where are you going, Sister Lin?"

Lin Daiyu asked back, "I want to ask you, where are you going in such a hurry? Look at your handkerchief, it's tied in a mess. Aren't you ashamed?"

Xueyan looked at Jia Huan's waist and smiled, "Isn't this handkerchief of the Third Master tied by Mandarin? He has been following Sister Ping'er for more than half a year, but he still can't learn to serve the master."

Jia Huan looked down and found that his belt was loose, and the sachet and jade pendant hanging on it were hanging down. He said with embarrassment, "I was in a hurry to go out just now, so I tied it casually and didn't pay attention to this."

"What's so urgent that you're in such a hurry?" Lin Daiyu scolded in a low voice while carefully re-tying Jia Huan's belt.

Jia Huan replied with mixed feelings: "The master just vomited blood and fainted in Rong Xi Tang. Steward Lin sent someone to notify me to rush over."

Lin Daiyu and Xueyan were greatly surprised. The former said hurriedly, "There is really no time to delay. Brother Huan, go quickly."

Jia Huan nodded, turned around and walked quickly towards the south gate. Xueyan looked at his back and whispered, "The Jia family has been hit by one bad luck after another this year. If the master gets into trouble again, there won't even be a man in charge. Could it be true that, as played in the opera, the grace of a gentleman is cut off after five generations? But if you count carefully, from the Jia family's ancestors to Lang'er's generation, it is exactly five generations. Is the Jia family's luck really going to end?"

Lin Daiyu quickly scolded him, "What nonsense are you talking about? You little bitch, you have watched a few plays and you have lost your mind. You are imitating others by quoting scriptures and classics. Aren't you afraid of making people laugh?"

Xueyan stuck out her tongue and laughed, "I am talking nonsense. I am wrong. I forgot that Master Huan San is still here. The Jia family will only become more and more prosperous, just as it is said in the history books you read every day, prosperity will eventually decline, and good times will come after adversity. Yes, Master Huan San is the lord of revival in the history books who turned the tide."

Lin Daiyu could not help but laugh, and said with a smile: "Oh, you deserve to die even more. We should really tear off your hoof mouth to prevent you from causing trouble for us in the future."

Xue Yanba blinked her eyes and deliberately asked, "Which we? The young lady and the Third Master, or the young lady and the maid?"

Lin Daiyu's face flushed and she reached out to twist Xueyan's little mouth.

……

Jia Huan hurried to Rong Xi Tang, but did not see his cheap father Jia Zheng. Only Lin Zhixiao was waiting there with two people. One was a middle-aged man dressed as a shopkeeper, and the other was Sun Shaozu, the Zhongshan Wolf. He had a kitchen knife on his waist and an impatient expression. Five or six guards holding sticks stood around vigilantly, obviously on guard against Sun Shaozu hurting people.

When Lin Zhixiao saw Jia Huan, he hurriedly went up to him and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Third Master Huan."

Jia Huan nodded and asked, "Where is the master?"

Lin Zhixiao replied, "The master has woken up, but he is still very weak. He has been taken back to his room to rest, waiting for the imperial physician to come and treat him."

Jia Huan glanced at the Jinshang Money House's Manager Qi and Zhongshan Wolf Sun Shaozu casually, and asked, "What happened? The master has always been in good health, why did he suddenly vomit blood and faint?"

Sun Shaozu interrupted with a sneer, "The butlers of your two mansions ran away with the money, and now they have no money to pay back the debt, so your father is so angry that he is vomiting blood. Jia Huan, you are here at the right time, hurry up and make your father pay back the six thousand taels of silver he owes me before he dies, otherwise I will live here!"

It is obvious that Sun Shaozu has given up everything and has completely torn his relations with the Jia family. He speaks without restraint. Moreover, he has seen with his own eyes how dilapidated the Jia family is. The adult men in the mansion have either been arrested or fallen ill. Even the head steward has absconded with the money. There are only a bunch of old, weak and disabled people left in the mansion, and they have also owed a huge debt. Naturally, he looks down on the Jia family even more and becomes reckless!
Jia Huan stared at Sun Shaozu coldly. A cold light flashed in his eyes, as if it was real. The playful smile on the latter's face suddenly froze, and he inexplicably felt a trace of fear.

Shopkeeper Qi had been secretly observing Jia Huan. He could not help but feel a little startled and showed a hint of surprise. He thought, "What a sharp look this boy has!"

Jia Huan's reputation is quite big now, and Shopkeeper Qi has naturally heard of him, but Jia Huan is best known for his literary reputation, such as being the top three in the boy's examination and the first place in the Nanzhili provincial examination. However, due to Lin Ruhai's protection at the beginning, Jia Huan's achievements were deliberately concealed in the memorial, so the outside world generally does not know about his deeds of leading troops to suppress pirates in the south.

Moreover, Jia Huan himself was not very old, and was well-mannered and gentle, so when he walked into Rong Xi Tang, Shopkeeper Qi only regarded him as a weak scholar who was good at studying, and maybe even a pedantic bookworm like his father Jia Zheng, so he did not take him seriously. However, the sharp eyes and momentum that Jia Huan suddenly released just now made Shopkeeper Qi realize that this gentle and elegant illegitimate son of the Jia family might be no easy task.

Jia Huan stared at Sun Shaozu coldly, then withdrew his gaze and asked calmly, "Butler Lin, did Lai Da and Lai Er really run away?"

Lin Zhixiao coughed lightly and said, "It's not convenient here. Third Master, please go to the side hall and let me report in detail."

Jia Huan nodded and followed Lin Zhixiao to the side hall of Rongxi Hall. When they arrived at the side hall, Lin Zhixiao told the story of Jia Zheng vomiting blood, and then sighed and said, "The Lai brothers secretly sold their property, took away the gold and silver and fled with their family, leaving behind a mess of messy debts. I made a rough estimate and found that the deficit was as high as 100,000 taels. If we add the 65,000 taels borrowed for the construction of the garden, the total debt of the two mansions is now as high as 160,000 taels. This is still the amount that can be checked on the books. I don't know how much is not checkable. I told the master about this, and the master was so angry that he vomited blood."

Although Jia Huan had anticipated that the Jia family's financial deficit was serious, he did not expect it to be this serious. The annual land rent of the Rongguo Mansion and the Ningguo Mansion combined was only about 10,000 taels of silver, and now they owed 160,000 taels. Excluding interest, it would take 16 years for the whole mansion to pay off the debt without eating or drinking. Tsk tsk, it was really shocking to see them spending money in advance to the next year's income. Fortunately, the Jia family had a strong financial background, otherwise the debt would have collapsed long ago.

Jia Huan frowned and asked coldly, "Butler Lin is the head of the treasury. Why is he reporting back to the master only now when there is such a serious deficit in the account?"

Lin Zhixiao hurriedly explained, "I am only the manager of the silver vault, and I am only responsible for the money in and out. As long as it passes through the silver vault, every income and expenditure is recorded in detail. But if the income and expenditure do not pass through the silver vault, I have no control over it. For example, in the past few years, when we built the garden to welcome the imperial concubine to visit her parents, most of the expenses did not pass through the silver vault, and the money borrowed from outside was spent directly without being deposited in the vault. Butler Lai has his own set of accounts, and I have no right to interfere.

Yesterday, the master ordered Lai Da to hand in the account books for the accounting. Unexpectedly, this bastard had already sold the house and fled with his family and property overnight. Now he is nowhere to be found, leaving only one set of account books. I roughly calculated it and found this huge deficit. Alas, many years ago, I advised the eldest master and the second master Lian that every income should be deposited first and then used. This is the rule set by our ancestors, but the eldest master and the second master Lian thought it was troublesome and finally abolished this rule. "

Jia Huan sneered in his heart. Jia She and Jia Lian were not bothered by the trouble. It was estimated that the two father and son wanted to make money into their own pockets and then spend it all on wine and women. Little did they know that this also made it convenient for the Lai brothers to enrich themselves. It was really a typical "insider warehouse". After so many years of embezzlement, they finally dug out this huge deficit.

Of course, the Jia family’s large population and luxurious lifestyle were also the main reasons for their expenditure exceeding income.

Lin Zhixiao said worriedly: "When the garden was built, the master borrowed several sums of money from the Shanxi Merchants Bank in the name of Gongzhong. One of the sums of 20,000 taels has expired, and now they are asking for it back. There is also Sun Shaozu, who said that the master owed him 6,000 taels, and now he is also making a scene and forcing the master to pay back the money.

Now the two governments have only collected thirty thousand taels in total. We originally planned to return the stolen money to the elder master and Master Zhen to reduce their guilt. If we return the money, where will we get the money to return the stolen money?"

Jia Huan's eyes flickered, and he thought, if Jia She and Jia Zhen, these two beasts, are not removed, the Jia family will never be well off. He even wanted to reduce the guilt, which was wishful thinking, so he said calmly: "After such a commotion today, even the chief steward ran away. I'm afraid that there will be more people coming to collect debts tomorrow. Thirty thousand taels will not be enough to fill the gaps in our teeth."

Lin Zhixiao said worriedly, "That's exactly what I'm worried about. The mansion is now almost empty. In the past, we could still borrow new money to pay off old debts under the name of the Duke's Mansion, but now that there's a commotion, I'm afraid it will be hard to borrow a penny. When the creditors come to demand payment, the seven or eight hundred people in the two mansions may not even have food to eat. Third Master, you are resourceful, so hurry up and think of a solution, otherwise there will be a big mess."

As the saying goes, man is iron and rice is steel, if he doesn't eat a meal he will be hungry. There are nearly a thousand people in the two mansions, if there is no food, there will be trouble. But old man Zheng is such a fool and he doesn't even realize it. He even wants to use the remaining money to save Jia She and Jia Zhen, the two black sheep.

Jia Huan glanced at Lin Zhixiao and said calmly, "Butler Lin is too flattering to me. How can I make up for the deficit of nearly 200,000 taels of silver? Do you really think I am a god who can turn stones into gold?"

Lin Zhixiao said awkwardly, "I am not asking Third Master Huan to make up for the deficit, but we have to find a way to temporarily get through the current difficulties. Now, in the whole mansion, I am afraid that Third Master Huan is the only one who has this ability."

Jia Huan frowned and said calmly, "I can't do anything about it. Besides, it's not like a bastard like me can have the final say in the mansion."

Lin Zhixiao's eyes lit up when he heard this. He obviously heard Jia Huan's subtext and said hurriedly, "Master Huan San is a man who has seen a lot of things. Others may not know your abilities, but don't I know them? The master is ill now, and Master Bao Er is ignorant. If Master Huan San has a good way to solve the current predicament, I believe the master, the old lady and the mistress will agree."

Jia Huan remained silent. It was not impossible for him to step forward to solve the problem, but the prerequisite was that the power of the steward must be handed over to him. For example, the 30,000 taels of silver must be at his disposal.

Seeing that Jia Huan remained silent and seemed to have no intention of taking on the responsibility, Lin Zhixiao could not help but feel a little disappointed. At this moment, Sun Shaozu was shouting loudly in the Rong Xi Hall next door: "Damn it, have you discussed it? Hurry up and return the money, otherwise I will kill myself here, and then my family will report you to the police to settle the score."

Jia Huan could not help but raise his sword-like eyebrows. He had long disliked the Zhongshan Wolf Sun Shaozu, and coldly ordered: "Housekeeper Lin, immediately send someone to find Shitou and get rid of this noisy nuisance first."

Lin Zhixiao was secretly delighted when he heard this, and hurriedly ordered a servant to call Shi Tou Xing Wei. Soon, Xing Wei arrived.

When Jia Huan brought Shitou and Lin Zhixiao back to the main hall, Sun Shaozu was still shouting and waving a kitchen knife around, while the shopkeeper Qi sat calmly on the side drinking tea, looking like he was watching a show.

"Hehe, you finally stopped being a coward. If you are sensible, you should ask your father to return the silver. Otherwise, you will be in trouble. Now the male master who is in charge of your Jia family is in prison. If someone dies again, I'm afraid you will be in big trouble!"

Sun Shaozu was frightened by Jia Huan's look just now, and probably felt ashamed afterwards, so he stared at Jia Huan provocatively and spoke foul language, clearly trying to get back at him.

Jia Huan glanced at Shitou, who immediately revealed a ferocious grin and strode towards Sun Shaozu. Sun Shaozu was startled and shouted, "What do you want to do?"

Without saying a word, Shitou quickly pulled out the sharp axe from his waist and chopped Sun Shaozu's wrist with a snap.

Hey, this kid Shitou was originally a street thug. After the baptism of blood and fire on the battlefield, he became even more ruthless and his skills became more powerful. Although hereditary military officers like Sun Shaozu had also practiced boxing and weapons, he was no match for Shitou. He was cut on the wrist in just one move. It was fast, accurate and ruthless.

Sun Shaozu screamed, and the kitchen knife in his hand fell to the ground with a clang. Fortunately, Shi Tou used the back of the axe. If it was the axe blade, one of Sun Shaozu's hands would have been chopped off.

Even so, Sun Shaozu's face was twisted in pain, and he fell to the ground howling. Shitou picked up the kitchen knife on the ground, flicked the blade leisurely, and said disdainfully: "This broken thing can also cut people? Bah!"

(End of this chapter)