Li Wenyuan, seeing the Sun Family demanding exorbitantly, angrily shouted, "You poor bastards, hoping to fatten yourselves off my family in one go. Even if I give up this year's Autumn Examination, I will not let you despicable people have your way!"
"Hey, you call us despicable? How can a Scholar like you open your mouth and shut it with insults?" Sun Manying's wife chimed in.
Madam Li pulled her agitated son aside, whispering, "Wenyuan, a wise man doesn't take immediate losses. As long as they don't cause trouble at your academy and let you take the exam smoothly, once you're an official, we can deal with them however we wish in the future."
Li Wenyuan found his mother's words sensible and bore his indignation, saying, "Five hundred taels is impossible. The most I can give is fifty taels. Consider it another dowry for your family. Fifty taels is not a small amount; just recently, a guy from Xinghua Village only spent fifty taels to marry a wife."
