Chapter 468: Achieved a Ranking
Editor: Atlas Studios
“He made it! He made it!” Yanmo and Fei Bai shouted as they rushed up, grinning widely and saying, “Congratulations Young Master Zijin for ranking fourth in the second class of the imperial examination!”
Qi Haoran jumped up and laughed loudly. “I knew you would definitely make it!”
All the cronies in the private room congratulated Fan Zijin. The corners of Fan Zijin’s mouth curled up slightly, and he heaved a sigh of relief. At least this ranking was not too bad.
Everyone in the restaurant knew that today was the day the rankings would be released, so they were very tolerant of the noisy Yanmo and Fei Bai. When they heard that someone had achieved a ranking, they even stuck their heads in to see who that person was. If they knew them, they would even come over to congratulate them. After all, becoming a juren1 meant that that person had a chance to become an official.
When Steward Qian heard the news, he excitedly turned around and kowtowed to Fan Zijin. He was really ecstatic. His master was now a juren, which meant that his future would only contain more possibilities.
The few of them drank happily. During this period, Chen Qian denounced Qi Haoran unhappily. “Haoran is so mean. You refused to tell me the truth even when I asked you. Now that your sister-in-law and nephew are back, you should be able to tell us if they’re safe and sound, right?”
Qi Haoran drank a glass of wine and said in a daze, “Didn’t I tell you long ago that my sister-in-law and nephew are fine? You were the one who didn’t believe me, yet you blamed me for not telling the truth.”
Chen Qian and the other rich kids perked up and asked, “Are you serious?”
“Of course it’s true. The 100-day banquet is in two days. When you come over, I’ll bring my nephew out to greet you.”
The few cronies patted their chests and rejoiced. “Fortunately, we gave you face and bet that the mother and child are both healthy. Otherwise, we would have been screwed this time.”
Another crony also nodded and said, “It was a close shave indeed. But in three days, we should be able to get a few thousand taels.”
When Qi Haoran heard this, he knew that they did not bet much, at most only about 100 taels. He pursed his lips in disdain. “Why don’t you bet more? What’s just a hundred taels good for?”
“Do you think we have a family business like you? With a doting older brother, you don’t have to worry about your pocket money. Besides, Zijin has your back outside. It’s not like we don’t want to squander hundreds or thousands of taels of silver, but we have to have that money in the first place. We can’t very well go back and take our wife’s dowry, right?” The hundred taels of silver were invested into the casino to support Qi Haoran. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have played this game.
Although Qi Haoran and Fan Zijin had not returned for five years, they had been exchanging letters all this while. In addition, one tended to have the fondest memories of their youth. Since the two of them had returned and treated them as usual, they naturally treated them as before.
Although they complained to each other, they were still very happy that they could win 1,000 taels with 100 taels. Including Fan Zijin’s high ranking in the examination and the news of Madam Li and her son’s safety, it could be considered a triple blessing. Everyone laughed and toasted rowdily.
“It’s a pity that the casino stopped letting people bet on the day Haoran returned. Otherwise, I would now place a bet of 10,000 to 20,000 taels even if I had to borrow the money.” One of the friends drooled. “When the time comes, I’ll win 200,000 taels…”
Although they were the second generation of officials and usually did not lack money, they typically did not spend a lot of money because their family was very strict with them.
Chen Qian, who had the best family background, was also a little reserved in his spending before he became a jinshi1. The only two weirdos in their group were Qi Haoran and Fan Zijin.
The Qi family had always been stingy towards Qi Haoran. Feeling sorry for him, Qi Xiuyuan would send him some money from thousands of miles away from time to time, while Madam Xia would also often give him pocket money.
Hence, on the surface, Qi Haoran seemed to be living the most difficult life, but in reality, he had the most money and splurged most freely. At the very least, didn’t he still have Fan Zijin?
While Qi Haoran relied on the pity of his loved ones, Fan Zijin was perfectly capable of earning his own money.
Although Fan Siwen was very strict with his legitimate son and was a little biased towards his illegitimate son, the expenses he gave Fan Zijin were actually similar to that of other young masters. However, the quick-minded Fan Zijin could always coax money out of his mother. Once or twice, when he would fail to coax her, he would take something from Fan Siwen to sell when he quarreled with him.
The next day, rumors of Fan Siwen mistreating his legitimate son would immediately appear. A second or third imperial censor would definitely come forward to impeach him. Even if Fan Siwen hated him so much that he wanted to skin him alive, he didn’t dare to do anything.
After all, there were so many pairs of eyes watching him.
Chen Qian and the rest were not as ruthless as Fan Zijin and did not have the guts to go against their father like this. At that time, everyone was only in their early teens.
Of course, very few people could be as biased as Fan Siwen and Qi Feng towards their illegitimate son. Back then, when everyone talked about the two of them, they always brought them together. The two old men were especially similar, and the strange thing was that their sons were like a pair of conjoined twins.
Qi Haoran chuckled, making Fan Zijin glance at him. Seeing that he still knew how to hide his joy and not shout so loudly that the entire world knew that he had bet money, he knew that he was not dead drunk.
However, Chen Qian was a little worried. After everyone left, he tugged at the slightly drunk Qi Haoran and said, “I heard that you also invited the Zhang and Shu families to your 100-day banquet. Previously, you extorted a lot of things from them because of this. I’m afraid the two families aren’t too pleased.”
Qi Haoran immediately said unhappily, “What do you mean by extortion? It’s a fact that they harmed my sister-in-law and nephew. They did walk through the gates of hell and came back. Isn’t that bad enough? Must something happen to my sister-in-law and nephew before they’re satisfied?”
“That’s not what I meant.” Chen Qian immediately explained. “I’m just saying that it’s a little awkward for your families to meet each other now. Why do you have to invite them?”
Qi Haoran said unhappily, “If they feel guilty and don’t dare to come, then so be it. I deliberately sent them an invitation because I want them to see that although they did something wrong and harmed my sister-in-law and nephew, they were lucky enough to escape that calamity.”
Qi Haoran glared at Chen Qian in dissatisfaction. “Chen Qian, don’t think that I’ll give the Shu family face just because your wife’s surname is Shu. Let me tell you, absolutely no way.”
Chen Qian was speechless and couldn’t understand what he was saying at all. He could only continue, “My wife’s maiden family isn’t that Shu family that you seeked compensation from. My wife is from the first branch…”
Qi Haoran pursed his lips and shouted, “What do you mean by seeking compensation? It sounds like you’re on the Shu family’s side. If you’re on my side, you should refer to them as the Shu family that harmed my sister-in-law and nephew…”
Fan Zijin also came out in a daze. He pushed Chen Qian and said, “Alright, can’t you see that he’s drunk? Why are you explaining things to a drunkard? He’ll forget everything after he wakes up. You’re just wasting your breath.”
Chen Qian agreed when he heard that. Looking at Qi Haoran, who was obviously drunk and delirious, he gently slapped himself. He was really stupid. Why did he say so much to a drunkard?
Chen Qian said, “Let’s go. I’ll send the two of you back now.”
Since this place was relatively close to the Fan Residence, he got Yanmo and Fei Bai to help Qi Haoran into the car. Just as he was about to order the coachman to go to the Fan Residence, Fan Zijin lifted the curtain and stuck his head out. “Let’s go to the Qi Residence. I’m in a good mood today, so I won’t be going back.”
Chen Qian paused and sighed, then said to the coachman, “Go to the Qi Residence.”