A Tale of Golden Heiress: Lady Wanjin - Chapter 35

Wen Wan smiled gently. “Father, you mustn’t be the kind of father-in-law who both hopes for a capable son-in-law and fears his capability. As they say, pushing too hard can lead to the opposite reaction. When it comes to a married couple living their lives, what’s there to control?”

Old Master Wen clearly disagreed with this perspective. “If he hadn’t married into our family, I’d wish for him to achieve the highest military honours! What man in this world would willingly remain subordinate to a woman? You mustn’t let your guard down. It’s the quiet dogs that bite the hardest.”

Wen Wan adopted a deferential expression. “I’ll follow your advice, Father. I absolutely won’t allow him to meddle in the Wen family business in the slightest.”

Satisfied at last, Old Master Wen let out a heavy breath. “Then do you plan to have him wear that mask for the rest of his life?”

“Let’s wait a while longer. Zhao Heng’s agreement to marry into our family was partly obtained through my… less than straightforward methods. Shou’an County isn’t too far, but it isn’t exactly close either. What if someone recognizes him, strikes up a conversation, and jogs his memory?”

The thought of this gave Wen Weiming a headache as well.

If he hadn’t been forced into this situation, would he ever have resorted to such bully-like tactics?
“Since we’ve already played the villain, we might as well see it through. Find a back-alley doctor to prescribe some medicine to… slow down the recovery of his memory. At the very least… wait until you’ve borne a son or daughter for the Wen family. If he still insists on leaving then, we can reconsider.”

Wen Wan smiled but didn’t engage further on the topic, instead turning her concern to her father’s health. “Father, you stayed up all night again? This Shi Jinquan situation… it hasn’t reached a dead end yet.”

“I was about to ask you, how do you plan to handle this?” Old Master Wen had put on a brave face to avoid worrying his family, but how could he not be furious?

After decades of building the business, he had never suffered such a major loss.

What stung more was that the betrayal came from a brother he had started the venture with.

Wen Weiming, worried sick, had lain awake all night, turning the problem over and over without finding a solution.

The family’s funds were entirely depleted to repay the debt, leaving them a thousand taels of silver in the red. They hadn’t even purchased the grain needed for the second half of the year’s wine production.

The entire Wen family winery was now at a complete standstill.

“I’ve thought it through last night. Both reneging on the debt and finding Shi Jinquan are unworkable paths. Xinhong Money Lending is not to be trifled with. They are thick as thieves with the County Magistrate, and it’s said their backer has connections to the imperial family. Even though Xinhong exploited a loophole, we have no grounds to sue them. That legal battle… is unwinnable.”

Xinhong Money Lending has such powerful backing?
They’re actually connected to the Great Chen royal family?
No wonder they had branches everywhere, and no wonder Manager Ding spoke with such arrogance.

“As for Shi Jinquan, having caused such a disaster, he’s certainly gone into hiding. Never mind whether we can find him; even if we do, there’s no guarantee we’ll recover the silver. If he’s sentenced to exile or execution, he still won’t be able to produce the money, and we’ll be left with nothing.”

Wen Wan was all too aware of these realities.

“At this point, we have no choice but to liquidate our stock.” Old Master Wen’s night of contemplation hadn’t been entirely fruitless. “The winery still has reserves of aged wine, our family’s foundational stock. I originally intended to unveil it at next spring’s Bozhou Green Plume Wine Symposium… but now… we’ll have to sell it off cheaply first to get through this difficult period.”

The Green Plume Wine Symposium was a major event held in Bozhou every five years, arguably the biggest gathering in the industry, drawing wine merchants from all over and creating a bustling crowd.

Wen Wan thought it probably resembled the food and beverage trade fairs of her past life.

“Leave the liquidation of the stock to me, Father.”

Old Master Wen’s face remained etched with worry. After the creditors had stormed the wedding yesterday, likely that the entire Ping County now believed the Wen family was on the verge of collapse. Their aged wines, which should have commanded a high price, would now probably have to be sold at a discount.

The sun was setting on their fortunes.

And this was only the beginning.

The road ahead promised only greater darkness.

“We must report the Shi Jinquan matter to the authorities. Separate the issues. We need to let others know the Wen family are victims in this too.”

Old Master Wen wasn’t comfortable leaving this to Wen Wan. The world outside was full of wolves and tigers; how could his daughter’s tender shoulders bear such a burden?
Even though Wen Wan had recently proven herself ten times more capable and resolute than he ever imagined.

But… she was still just a young girl, after all.

Of course, in a parent’s eyes, even a sixty-year-old is still a child.

“Also, money lending houses usually keep loan details confidential. The fact that Manager Zhu knew about our loan from Xinhong means he was likely in cahoots with Shi Jinquan. I’ll go meet that old Zhu today under the pretext of buying grain.”

Talking business seemed to breathe some life back into Old Master Wen.
Elderly people often fear nothing more than feeling useless to their children.

Wen Wan listened to her father’s every word with a deferential attitude, which finally helped clear the gloom from his heart.

She even seized the moment to flatter him, giving his spirits a full boost.

“You’re so wise, Father. Ah, I would never have thought of these things. It shows this family still needs you. I’m still young and inexperienced with many matters; I need you to spare no effort in teaching me. You must take care of your health. Wen Jing and I are counting on you.”

This finally soothed Old Master Wen.

“If we really started talking about business matters, ten days and nights wouldn’t be enough. You, you’re still young and lack experience. You need to observe more and learn more. Once you’ve fully mastered the trade, your father will step down and peacefully enjoy his retirement, dandling his grandchildren on his knee.”

Great, just great.
Two pretty faces at home, while I break my back working outside.
Life just gets more and more promising.

Meanwhile, Zhao Heng, holding a book in one hand, led Wen Jing outside by the other.

After a short while, the little girl ducked into a secluded spot and beckoned to Zhao Heng conspiratorially.

The little girl crossed her arms, her cheeks puffed out like a well-fed goldfish, looking fiercely adorable.

“Brother-in-law—” Wen Jing began, her tone challenging, arms still crossed. “You can’t bully Sister. If you bully Sister, I’ll beat you up when I grow up!”

Finding her adorable, Zhao Heng reached out to pinch her cheek. “How have I bullied Wen Wan?”

Wen Jing dodged his hand, saying angrily, “Don’t try to deny it! I heard it last night! You were hitting Sister, and she was crying out so miserably!”

Zhao Heng was stunned.

It took him a long moment to understand what Wen Jing meant, his face flushing red all the way to the tips of his ears.

Zhao Heng coughed lightly. “You came to our courtyard last night?”

“Yes!” Wen Jing looked up, straining her neck to see the tall man. “I was hungry and remembered Sister had food in her room, so I went to find her. But then I heard Sister almost crying from you hitting her! I wanted to go in and help, but Lanxin said you were busy and wouldn’t let me disturb you! Hmph! If it weren’t for the fact that Sister likes you, I would have told Father just now!”

Zhao Heng’s face was burning with embarrassment.

Had they been that loud last night?
It was only three or four times the whole night; was that really such a big production?

Now he was in a difficult position.

Zhao Heng didn’t know how to explain this to Wen Jing. He could only squat down, pat the little girl’s head, and deliberately change the subject. “Little sister, do you want your red envelope back? If you promise not to tell anyone about this, I’ll secretly give you back the red envelope your big sister confiscated. How about that?”

The little girl frowned deeply, clearly torn.

A red envelope! There’s silver inside, enough to buy candy!