Chapter Seventy-six: Countermeasures

  On the other hand, Wang Chengdong heard Ye Zhuo's proposal and hesitated for a moment before nodding his head: "Miss Ye's idea is good, but because of this piece of jade material, my friend spent a lot of money to buy it. It was because he saw that the beautiful color on its surface could be carved into a picture of good fortune and longevity, which would surely delight the old lady. Now that something has happened, even if we carve the jade into another pattern and explain it clearly to him, it will no longer be the design he had in mind. He might not be very happy about it. If he blames me for being incompetent, that's okay, but I'm afraid he'll suspect that I intentionally ruined his plans so that his brother could surpass him. Therefore, my only option now is to find an even better piece of jade and redesign it from scratch, striving to make it even more impressive than the original. I hope Miss Ye can understand my difficulties and quickly compensate me for the silver. I'll go look for good jade material again."

  "What does Master Wang think this jade is worth?" Ye Zhuo asked. Although Wang Chengdong's words were flawless, she was certain that today's events were intentional on his part.

  It's worth noting that a piece of red agate like this is extremely valuable. If Wang Chengdong's words are to be believed, its value is truly immeasurable - "A thousand pieces of gold cannot buy something that pleases the heart," and things one likes cannot be measured by their price. So how could his friend possibly entrust such a rare and important item to someone like Wang Chengdong? And how could Wang Chengdong casually bring it to a small workshop, looking for a jade carver he didn't know or understand to help with the carving? Isn't he afraid that the carving will be ruined, with severe consequences? Unless... his original intention was to ruin the agate and bankrupt the Ye family.

  So what was his reason for doing so? Was it merely to retaliate against the Ye family for refusing to let him work at Yu Zhuo Fang, or for refusing to let him marry into the Ye family?

  "This piece of jade. My friend spent 3,200 taels of silver when he bought it. However, since I was the one who brought this jade to Yu Zuo Fang for carving and caused this situation, I am willing to take some responsibility. You only need to compensate 3,000 taels of silver, and I will make up for the additional cost of buying more jade with my own money." said Wang Chengdong.

  As soon as Wang Chengdong spoke, the onlookers burst into a heated discussion. Three thousand two silver coins! Not many people present could take out such a large sum of cash at once, unless they sold their land, house or shop. As for Ye's family property, due to Ye Pu's death and Jiang's compensation, many people had an idea about it. The most valuable thing was the old mansion of the Ye family, including this workshop, which was worth only a few hundred silver coins at most.

  However, after paying 3,000 taels of silver, the jade material belonged to Ye's family and Luo Jing-sheng. Due to its damage, its value had decreased, at most worth around 2,000 taels of silver, and if they were in a hurry to sell it cheaply, they could only get 1,500 or 1,600 taels. As for the remaining debt of over 1,000 taels, Ye's family would have to pay 60% of it, which was around 600-700 taels. After selling the workshop and the house in their compound, they could barely scrape together enough money. But this way, Ye's family would be left with nothing, without even a roof over their heads or a place to stand, their situation more miserable than before Ye Piao's death.

  However, some people also felt that Ye's family was unlucky and praised Wang Chengdong for being a good person. The value of the jade material is obvious. It's indeed worth three thousand taels of silver. In this situation, Wang Chengdong could have asked for a higher price, and Ye's family wouldn't have dared to refuse even if he had asked for four thousand taels. Now that he only wants three thousand taels, it's already a rare occurrence.

  If there are sons or grandsons of the same age as Ye Zhuo at home, they secretly admire Ye Zhuo's calmness. When they hear such data, even they themselves are frightened. They secretly feel lucky that such a thing did not happen to them. But this 15- or 16-year-old little girl in front of them is calm and composed, without changing her expression at all. This is really a world of difference from the wives and daughters in their own families who only know how to cry and whine when something happens.

  But even if there were people who admired Ye Zhuo, they would not have the idea of marrying him now. With debts to pay and a family that was as poor as could be, who would want to marry into it?

  Ye Zhuo listened, but didn't say a word. Instead, she picked up the jade material and examined it carefully. It was impossible for Wang Chengdong to say how much this jade material was worth, and then compensate her that amount of money. This jade needed to be thoroughly inspected and appraised before its price could be determined.

  She carefully looked at it again, and after rubbing it with her hand for a while, she confirmed that it was indeed a piece of high-quality red jade without any fake phenomena. She then carefully picked up the jade material, glanced at the crowd, walked to the front of the old man who had just praised her, and said: "Cloud Grandfather, would you please help me take a look? How much is this jade material worth?"

  Although she has a good understanding of jade, she is unfamiliar with the jade market. She really can't estimate the value of this piece of jade.

  "Put the jade on that table, I'll get a few old friends to take a look." Yun Lao Tou had a very good relationship with Ye Yu Qi, so he naturally wouldn't decline Ye Zhuo's request. But this piece of jade was too valuable, if it accidentally got broken, those 3,000 taels of silver would have to be compensated by him. So, to be cautious, it's better to put it on the table. He didn't want to examine the jade in this crowded place, what if someone he had conflicts with before took advantage of the situation and bumped into him?

  "Thank you, Grandpa Yun." Ye Zhuo expressed his gratitude and turned back to the case table, putting down the jade material.

  The old man in the cloud pointed to three people in the crowd, and they walked over together, surrounding the case table, carefully examining it. Then he whispered again and said to Ye Zhuo: "This piece of jade is indeed a high-quality red jade. At current market prices, its value is around 3,000 taels of silver."

  Ye Zhuo bowed to them, thanked them for their help, and turned to Wang Chengdong: "Wang Gongzi should also know that if Yu Yuzi ruins the jade carving, he will have to bear the compensation responsibility together with Dongjia. Three thousand two silver coins, our Ye family only needs to pay one thousand eight hundred; as for the other one thousand two hundred, please ask Wang Gongzi to find Luo Shifu. However, even one thousand eight hundred is a large sum of money that our Ye family cannot afford to take out immediately. Please ask Wang Gongzi to wait for a few days, and we will write an IOU first. When the money is gathered, we will exchange it back. What does Wang Gongzi think?"

  Her words were indeed true; at the same time, she also wanted to further probe Wang Chengdong. If Wang Chengdong had a mind to harm the Ye family, he would not allow them to owe debts, but instead would force them to pay back immediately.

  As for Luo Jing Sheng, when Ye Zhen heard Uncle Li tell the story, she had already deeply suspected him.

  As a woman who grew up in the inner chambers, she knew that some risks were not worth taking. Luo Jing Sheng had been a jade carver for many years and should have known how to avoid risks. However, he took on this valuable jade material without being able to afford compensation, just for the sake of a small processing fee. Having taken on the material, he should have been extremely careful with his work, even if there were problems, they should be within the scope of repair. But he made such a huge mistake. And coincidentally, everything happened when her grandfather was not around. This couldn't help but make her suspect that Luo Jing Sheng was instructed by someone and did it on purpose.

  If he was indeed instructed by someone and did it on purpose, then it's likely that he won't compensate with money. Instead, he will ask the Ye family to pay first, in order to drive them into bankruptcy.

  As soon as Ye Zhuo's words fell, Wang Chengdong hadn't spoken yet, and Luo Jingsheng hastily said: "Miss Ye, Miss Ye, I was nervous because it was my first time carving such a fine piece of jade, so I accidentally damaged it. According to the contract, if I damage the jade, I have to compensate 40%, that's 1,200 taels of silver, which I should naturally pay. However... however, Miss Ye, you also know our family's situation, where can we get out so much money? So please, Miss Ye, show some kindness and help us pay together first. After all, the jade is in your hands, it's more convenient to carve it together without splitting it up. When I sell my house and borrow some money, I'll come back and repay this debt to the Ye family."

  In the crowd, there were those who were on good terms with Ye Yuxi. As soon as they heard this, they became anxious and were about to speak up to remind Ye Zhuo not to agree to this request. But before they could, Ye Zhuo spoke out loudly: "Lao Shifu, when I heard about what happened at home, it was like hearing thunder on a clear day - I felt as though disaster had struck from the heavens! In our ignorance, you let us take on such a huge debt, letting us lose everything. Now that we're here, do I have one word of blame for you? No? I'm thinking that since things have already happened, regardless of who was right or wrong, as the master of the house, we should take responsibility for what we should be responsible for. So for the silver we need to compensate, we won't say this matter was caused by you - let's just add a bit more to your share. But you can't just lightly say you have no money and dump all the debt on us! We still need to think of ways to borrow from all sides to pay off our part of the debt. As for the silver you owe Wang Gongzi, it's best if you figure out a way to resolve that yourself."

  Everyone listened to this and cast a few more admiring glances at Ye Zhuo.

  This young lady from the Ye family, not only is she beautiful in appearance, but also her words are very pleasant. In the jade carving industry, such things happen frequently, many masters and their apprentices have fallen out with each other over this matter, even after years of friendship. They all want to shift the responsibility onto the other party, making them pay more, so they can save themselves some trouble. But Ye Zhuo's words clearly explained the situation, it was Luo Jing Sheng who brought disaster to the Ye family without their knowledge. The Ye family treated him with kindness and did not blame him; the part that he should compensate for, he acknowledged without hesitation. What a noble act!

  Looking at Luo Jing Sheng, this matter was handled extremely improperly. He got himself into trouble and instead of kneeling down to apologize to his master, he actually wanted his master to help him bear the debt, his face is really thick-skinned.

  There are jade carvers among the crowd, and they are all impressed by the way the Ye family handles things - even the young girls of the Ye family are like this, let alone their grandfather. If the Ye family's workshop doesn't go bankrupt after this incident, they will be willing to work for such a master from the bottom of their hearts.