Chapter Thirty Borrowing Money

  Lin Dajiang is a honest man, afraid of his wife. When his younger brother's family was having a hard time, he wanted to help out, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he was scolded by He Shi, so he didn't dare to ask his brother for so much money again, and just stood there silently. Hearing his wife say this, he felt it was a bit too much, so he pushed He Shi with his leg, but He Shi ignored him.

  The two cows saw the big sister say this, and their eyebrows frowned even more tightly. They opened their mouths and said, "Big sister, how can you talk like that? I didn't say I wouldn't take care of Qing Shan. Do you think my family is a wealthy one? Fifty taels are not something that can be taken out casually. Just the other day, we built a house, and now we've hired a teacher to tutor at home. How much money do you think we have left? Let me think of a way to deal with Qing Shan's situation. There must be a way."

  "Zhao heard Er Niu say this, and his heart was also unhappy. He opened his mouth and said: "Er Niu, Qing Shan is your nephew, the son of your older brother. Your older brother only has one son, and now all possible methods have been thought of. You know that all the relatives in our family are very poor. You have money to build a house, you have money to hire a teacher, and you have money to raise outsiders. Now that your own nephew is in trouble, you don't want to help? If this gets out, aren't you afraid that others will mock you?"

  Lin He felt a surge of anger upon hearing Zhao's words. She thought that fifty taels of silver were just five copper coins, or that her family was a wealthy landlord who could easily take out fifty taels without any problem. But in reality, her family was just an ordinary farming household. Now that the uncle's family had encountered difficulties, they expected her family to go bankrupt to help them, and even thought it was their duty to do so. Yet when her own family was struggling to make ends meet, why hadn't the uncle's family come to offer any assistance?

  Lin Er Niu heard his mother speak like this, and indeed felt uncomfortable in his heart. Although his mother's words were unpleasant to hear, if he didn't take care of his nephew, others would indeed look down on him.

  "Mother, sister-in-law, I don't have that much money on me right now. Let me think of a way to gather some from around here. I'll come to your room tonight and give you an answer."

  Zhao heard his son say this, and finally felt a sense of relief in his heart. His son was willing to help, he knew that himself, and would never give up on him. He was just worried that his daughter-in-law, being an outsider, might not be willing, so he glared at Huang fiercely a few times before leaving.

  He also said "That's troubling Second Uncle, but you must hurry, it expires tomorrow."

  Lin He thought that this He family was really a extreme product, their own family asked for help to borrow money and opened their mouth to such a large sum of money, not a bit embarrassed, but instead seemed like others owed her money, letting others hurry up. How can every place have several such extreme products? It's really laughable and pitiful.

  After Hei's wife left, the two cows urged Huang's wife to take out the money. Huang's wife sighed and removed a brick from the kang, taking out a small box from inside. She opened the lock and counted the silver coins inside, totaling 62 taels of silver that was all they had for living expenses. There was also the money needed to buy farm tools and seeds in the spring, and there were no income during this winter.

  Erniu asked Huang to take out 50 taels, but Huang just sat there without moving. Of course, she was extremely unwilling in her heart. All women in the world are like this - they save money by being frugal and thrifty, and if it's spent on their own husbands and children, they won't say a word. But now, they're suddenly asked to hand it over to someone else, which is unbearable for any woman.

  In other words, if what was taken away today was only a part of it, Huang would have taken out the money without saying a word, or perhaps because of other things, it would be better. But now Qing Shan is living a carefree life outside, emptying his own home, and now he wants to come and empty her home too, even his own children may have to live in the same way as before when winter comes, Huang thought about it and was terrified.

  But in the end, Huang still counted out 50 taels of silver and handed them over to Er Niu. Lin He looked at the scattered silver coins lying alone in the box and sighed, it seemed that they would have to get through this period again.

  In this era, generally speaking, if one leads a very ordinary life like they did in the past, with occasional hunger and scarcity, a family's annual expenditure would be around three to four taels of silver. However, if their living conditions are slightly better, including food and clothing, it would cost around five taels.

  But now there are so many people in their family, and they will have to spend almost half of the silver here to buy farm tools at the beginning of spring. The farm tools of this era are all made of iron, which is more expensive. Plus, with the New Year's festival approaching, they need to buy some gifts for their elders and neighbors, so I'm afraid this amount of silver won't be enough.

  The shop over there is still decorating and hasn't officially opened for business. I've already told Uncle Wen that before clearing the debt, we shouldn't divide the profits. Now that I've said it, it's hard to change my words. Besides, Lin He doesn't want to take money from there either. Not a single cent has been taken out yet, and if we were to take the dividend and leave, what would that be? How would Uncle Wen think of us then?

  Lin He and Huang Shi had not thought that what was waiting for them was still behind, even this little silver, He Shi did not want to leave any for them.

  The two cows were also clever, knowing that if they let Zhao and He know that they had easily taken out 50 taels of silver, they would be in trouble later, so they deliberately ran to the outskirts of the village for a walk and only returned when it was dark.

  In the evening, Er Niu took the money and walked into Zhao's house, handed the silver to He Shi, saying "Sister-in-law, this is fifty taels, my own family didn't have enough, I made up for it at my eldest uncle's place, making up a total of fifty taels."

  He took the silver and immediately smiled, saying "It's still good for Er Di, thank you to Da Sao on behalf of Qing Shan."

  Lin Dajiang was indeed somewhat embarrassed, holding his younger brother's hand and choking back tears as he said, "Erci, in the past I didn't treat you well. Seeing your family's situation, I didn't even offer to help support you. Now that we're having difficulties, I have to come to you for such a large loan... I really don't have the face to do so."

  "Big brother, what are you talking about? Your family's life isn't easy either. We've been struggling for many years too. Let bygones be bygones, don't mention it again. Now that Qing Shan is in trouble, he's my nephew and I'll naturally help him if I can."

  After a moment of silence, Lin Dajiang said, "Second Cow, don't worry, I will return this money to you as soon as possible. Your family is so big and it's hard for you to make ends meet."

  The second cow smiled and said, "Big brother, don't say so much for now. The two brothers will talk about the money when you have it, no rush."

  He glanced at the Yangtze River and thought to himself, "This dead man is so bad at talking. It's 50 taels, when can we pay it back? Now there's nothing at home, what can we use to repay it?" With a smile on his face, he said, "Yes, Second Uncle says don't rush, we're family, no need to be so meticulous."

  The two oxen heard the words of their elder sister-in-law, and could only smile helplessly. Since they had taken out this money, they didn't expect their elder sister-in-law to return it. Now that their elder brother's shop was gone and the fields were also gone, even if she wanted to return the money, she wouldn't have the ability to do so anyway.