"I heard Wan'er mention yesterday that you've been having a hard time lately, Young Master. I have some savings here, and I'd like to give them to you now, in the hope of helping you get a foothold in Luoyang City."
As Ye Tian was silently mulling over the imperial examinations, Zhao Qinghuan suddenly pulled out her purse and took out several silver banknotes—the savings she had managed to accumulate over the past few years.
At this sight.
Before Ye Tian could even open his mouth, Lin Wan immediately chimed in from the side, "Young Master, I also have some savings here. Please take them as well and use them first."
Huh? ? ?
What?!
Hearing what the two of them had to say.
Ye Tian couldn't help but pinch himself a few times in secret.
Good grief?
This wasn't a dream, was it?
Could this be some kind of sci-fi movie?
How else could something like this possibly happen?
"This... wouldn't be very appropriate, would it?" Ye Tian said with some hesitation.
Although he had accepted Lin Wan's silver yesterday, that was because she was dressed in fine silks and satins, meaning a dozen or so taels of silver were nothing to her, and besides, he genuinely needed the money.
While it was true he still needed money now, having them hand over their entire savings like this made it genuinely difficult for him to accept.
"Does the Young Master perhaps think that taking our money would bring shame upon you? Or do you worry that we'll go running our mouths and ruin your reputation? If that's what's bothering you, Young Master, you needn't worry at all—the two of us sisters certainly won't tell a soul about this!"
Zhao Qinghuan assumed Ye Tian was like other men, who felt that taking money from a woman would damage their reputation.
"Miss Zhao has misunderstood. I'm not worried about you talking, nor do I feel this would bring me any shame. It's just that we've only just met, and for me to simply take your savings—even if word never gets out, my conscience wouldn't allow it."
After a moment of thought, Ye Tian continued, "How about this: I'm planning to start a small business soon. Let's treat this money as a loan from the two of you, and once I've made some money in the future, I'll pay you back. How does that sound?"
To speak from the heart.
For a grown man to take the savings of two young ladies was indeed rather awkward.
Yet right now, he only had a dozen or so taels of silver to his name. If he were in some remote countryside, that might be a different story—with careful budgeting, he could probably scrape by for a year or two. But here in Luoyang, that amount would be stretched to its absolute limit after two or three months.
So, while he felt embarrassed, to say he wasn't tempted would be an absolute lie.
"That sounds terrible! In the traditional hierarchy of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, you're a scholar, Young Master! How could you lower yourself to become a merchant just to make money?" Lin Wan directly retorted.
"Wan'er is right. To the two of us, this money is of no real consequence. Please just accept it, Young Master, and don't stoop to becoming a merchant over this, lest it ruin your reputation," Zhao Qinghuan chimed in.
Hearing this.
Ye Tian fell silent for a moment.
He knew that ancient society strictly ranked people into scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, with merchants holding a particularly low status, but he had never imagined the prejudice against them ran quite this deep.
"Very well, we'll put the business talk aside for now. But you can rest assured that I will always remember your kindness." Ye Tian ultimately put the money away.
There was no help for it.
Living off a woman was still better than starving to death.
As for going into business?
He could always find another way to spin it later; as long as he had capital, opportunities to make money were everywhere.
"Young Master, do you have any plans for the Mid-Autumn Festival? My cousin and I are planning to go to the Bright Moon Pavilion to attend a poetry gathering. If you have some free time, would you like to go with us?" Seeing that Ye Tian had accepted the money, Lin Wan took the initiative to invite him.
"I was busy trying to make a living before, but now that my livelihood is secure, I naturally have nothing else on my plate. Just tell me the exact time, Miss Lin, and I'll go ahead and wait for you there," Ye Tian replied.
Although he hadn't counted the exact value of the banknotes just now, both girls had given him sums starting at a hundred taels each, adding up to at least a thousand taels. That was more than enough to sustain his life in Luoyang City and give him even greater opportunities to make money.
Under these circumstances, let alone attending one poetry gathering, going to one every single day would be a breeze.
Moreover, today's events had given him a new revelation: the influence of poetry and literary compositions was far greater than he had previously imagined. Case in point—just by virtue of two poems and a story, he had managed to make Lin Wan and Zhao Qinghuan value him to this degree.
They were even willing to dig into their own savings to help him tide over a difficult time. In his past life, this would have been far more fantastical than any sci-fi film.
Of course.
He had seen it in plenty of books before—how talented maidens or daughters of noble families would fall in love at first sight with a scholar they had only met once, or how some wouldn't even have to meet him in person, falling hopelessly in love simply because the man had written a fine piece of verse.
At first, he had thought those stories were exaggerated, but facts proved that in ancient times, genuine talent truly mattered more than anything else.
Having figured this out.
Even if Lin Wan hadn't invited him to the poetry gathering at the Bright Moon Pavilion, he had already planned to go there another day to flex his literary muscles.
After all, for a man of letters, as long as his literary fame was high enough, his status would naturally rise right along with it, invisibly providing him with a protective umbrella.
……
Roughly half an hour later.
Ye Tian took his leave and departed, having agreed with Lin Wan and Zhao Qinghuan to meet the day after tomorrow in the afternoon to attend the poetry gathering at the Bright Moon Pavilion.
Only, to his surprise.
The moment he stepped out of the Lin Estate, he was intercepted once again by the guards who had come looking for him that morning, told that the master wished to see him. The master of the Lin Family was, naturally, Lin Wan's father, the current Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review.
Although their sudden appearance was a bit abrupt, ever since he had spotted the guards that morning, Ye Tian had already guessed that the man was keeping an eye on him. After all, when a man's daughter brings a strange man back to her home, what father wouldn't keep watch?
Facts proved his guess was correct; otherwise, he wouldn't have been hauled right back the second he stepped out the door.
Only, compared to earlier—when he had used the back door both upon arriving that morning and just now when leaving—this time, the man had him enter through the front.
Such was the advantage of having a massive estate: even if he was dragged back in, Lin Wan and Zhao Qinghuan in the back quarters remained completely oblivious.
Still, Ye Tian wasn't particularly nervous or worried. The man had allowed him to eat lunch at the estate and linger all the way from morning until now.
That single fact alone indicated that the master still held a certain degree of favorable impression toward him; at the very least, outright annoyance was out of the question.
Before long.
Ye Tian was led into a study, where he immediately caught sight of a middle-aged man clad in official robes, currently eyeing him with a stern expression.
"This junior, Ye Tian, greets Uncle Lin," Ye Tian took the initiative to offer a formal bow.
"Hmph, you certainly know how to cozy up to people, calling me 'uncle' right off the bat. Anyone unaware would think we were the closest of relations," Lin Sheng said coldly.
Ye Tian naturally understood the implication behind Lin Sheng's words—nothing more than an insinuation that he was trying to curry favor and latch onto a powerful family. But he was no mere bookworm easily frightened by a single remark.
And so, he immediately replied with an explanation: "Uncle has misunderstood. This junior calls you uncle not to prove how close our relations are, but because Miss Lin and I are good friends, and her father is naturally my uncle as well—it has nothing to do with your official status."
……