Mrs. Chen’s face turned red, and she repeatedly said, "It’s indeed time to repay it. I’m just waiting to sell the grain to pay off the debt."
"I will go and ask my mother-in-law in a moment."
Sun smiled, "Then I will wait for your message."
Mrs. Chen turned around and went to the main room. As she entered, Mrs. Zhou was just closing the camphor wood chest.
Seeing Mrs. Chen enter, she quickly locked the chest and turned to look at Mrs. Chen with displeasure, "What are you coming in for?" Read full story at 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩·𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢·𝔫𝔢𝔱
Mrs. Chen kept her head down, "Mother, you know, earlier when Sanlang went to Prefecture City for the examination, we borrowed ten taels of silver from Zhang Lizheng’s family next door."
"Just now, Sun from the Lizheng’s family asked me when we will repay the silver, saying that her family plans to arrange a marriage and they need the silver."
Mrs. Zhou’s face immediately fell upon hearing this, "I have no money, don’t look for me."
Mrs. Chen was taken aback, "Mother, how can there be no money, didn’t we just sell the grain?"
Mrs. Zhou lowered her eyelids, "Heh, it was decided long ago that the money from this year’s grain sale would be kept for buying coffins for your father and me."
"What, are you even going to grab this money?"
Mrs. Chen’s face flushed red, "Mother, it’s not that I want to grab it, it’s just that since we borrowed someone else’s silver, we have to pay it back eventually."
Mrs. Zhou snorted, "Did I use the silver?"
"Was it me who asked you to borrow it?"
"I didn’t use your silver, so I won’t be responsible for paying it back."
Mrs. Chen was almost in tears, "Mother, you said at the time that the family only had ten taels of silver, which wasn’t enough for Sanlang, so I went to borrow from Sun. Father agreed at the time, and you know it too."
Mrs. Zhou lowered her gaze, "It has nothing to do with me anyway." She waved her hand like shooing away flies, "Go, go, go, don’t stand here being an eyesore."
Mrs. Chen stood in place for a moment, her face turning red and white by turns, and it was a while before she left the room.
Yun Jiao was sitting by the window, looking at the medical file brought from home, when she saw Mrs. Chen wiping her tears as she walked by outside.
She quickly put down the book and went into the next room, where she found Mrs. Chen sitting alone at the table, shedding tears.
Yun Jiao walked over and softly said, "Mother, what’s the matter?"
Mrs. Chen, both angry and anxious, and feeling wronged, poured out the whole story, "I’ve already pawned all my dowry, where do I have the silver to repay the debt now!"
She wiped the corner of her eyes, "I see through them; they can’t bear to spend silver on Sanlang, yet they hope Sanlang will become an official in the future so they can enjoy blessings."
Mrs. Chen spat viciously, "Where in the world is there such a beautiful thing!"
Yun Jiao thought for a moment; in her medicine store, there was valuable musk, deer antler, ginseng, and such. Taking a little out to exchange for silver would be no problem, but this silver wasn’t hers to take, and she wouldn’t.
She softly said, "Mother, why not talk to Mr. Jiang, he is still reasonable."
At any rate, he is better than Mrs. Zhou.
Mrs. Chen nodded, "I need to find Mr. Jiang."
"Since the family hasn’t divided, and Sanlang’s monthly rice allocation is handed over to the family, the owed silver should be paid from public funds. Even if there is no silver, it’s unreasonable not to repay when there is silver."
Mrs. Chen patted Yun Jiao’s hand, eyes filled with comfort, "With Sanlang off to study in the county, luckily, we still have you at home. I have someone to discuss matters with."
Mrs. Chen went out of the room and walked around, but didn’t see Mr. Jiang and had to keep the matter to herself.
It wasn’t until dinner time that Mr. Jiang came back.
After a few bites, Mrs. Chen couldn’t hold it in anymore and said loudly, "Father, today Sun urged us to repay the silver, which was ten taels of silver borrowed for Sanlang’s examination trip to Prefecture City. You said at the time that you couldn’t bring yourself to ask Lizheng, so you told me to ask Sun, saying it would be easier for me as a woman to speak up."
The room fell silent.