A moment later, the Shopkeeper smiled cheerfully and gave him a cupped-fist salute. He took the silver note and IOU, then led his men away on horseback.

He’d come to establish good relations. Since that didn’t work out, he couldn’t afford to make an enemy either.

The people from the old house only came running over after the group had left.

When the old madam and old master heard Chen Lin had taken out a high-interest loan and already spent eighty taels of silver, the old couple were so frightened their legs trembled, their faces as pale as ghosts.

The old madam rushed in and pounced on Chen Lin, slapping him again and again. "You beast! How are your son and I supposed to survive?"

Meanwhile, Chen Dachang ran to the woodpile, grabbed a stick, and started beating Chen Lin with it without saying a word.

Chen Lin screamed and wailed from the beating, his face a mess of snot and tears, much to the amusement of the gawking villagers.

But in the end, the old madam couldn’t bear to see her son hurt and stopped Chen Dachang. "He’s the only considerate one we have! If you beat him to death, who will support us in our old age?"

Mrs. Li snatched the stick from the old man and started beating Chen Lin herself, a crazed look in her eyes. "This animal! And you two still expect him to provide for you? In your dreams! I knew something was going on with you and that little widow. I asked you, but you denied it. And what’s the result? You took out a high-interest loan to keep her! Oh, dear heavens! What terrible deeds did I do in a past life to deserve a husband who does nothing but eat, drink, whore, and gamble? Why is my life so miserable!"

Suddenly recalling something, Mrs. Li threw the stick to the ground. "I heard a few days ago that the widow bought her house. I was wondering what fool she’d found to pay for it. Turns out, that fool was you! This won’t do! That house was bought with our family’s silver, which means it’s *my* house. I’m going to get it back."

As she spoke, Mrs. Li clenched her fists, gritted her teeth, and ran outside.

She could turn a blind eye to Chen Lin’s philandering, but if he dared spend a single one of their coins on another woman, she would raise enough hell to tear the family apart.

As Mrs. Li ran out, she called to a young woman who was from the same village as her own family. She asked her to pass a message to them and to join her in getting the house back.

Meanwhile, she first darted back to her own home and stuffed all her personal savings into her pockets, just in case the old madam came looking for her private stash.

Mrs. Li was gone, but the crowd of onlookers remained, as did the old couple, Chen Dachang and Mrs. Fang.

Mrs. Fang was shrewd. She looked directly at Chen Song. "You work at the government office now..."

Chen Song knew what she was about to say and immediately waved a dismissive hand. "A debt must be paid. That’s simply how it is. Even if you take this to the county government, you’ll still have to pay what is owed."

Frustrated, Mrs. Fang changed her tack. "We’re not saying we won’t pay. It’s just that high-interest loans are illegal. Doesn’t the county government forbid them...?"

What Mrs. Fang didn’t know was that the lenders had just tried to curry favor with Chen Song by offering to cancel the debt entirely. But Chen Song, being obstinate, had refused their offer.

It was only because she was unaware of this that the old madam could speak so calmly. When she found out later, she was so furious she could have spat blood, and she ended up cursing out Chen Song’s own mother as well.

"It’s not a high-interest loan. The interest is only three percent, to be paid back within a year."

Who cared what was written on the original IOU? Even if the note had specified a fifteen-percent interest rate, it had certainly been taken back and destroyed. All that remained now was a perfectly reasonable and legal one.

This interest rate was within the legally stipulated range, conforming to the regulations for private lending. No matter who you took this to, trying to get out of the debt was impossible.

Of course, Chen Song had no intention of getting involved. If he really wanted to, he could probably find a loophole.

But it wasn’t worth the risk.

Most people who engage in high-interest lending have powerful backers and no conscience. He was afraid that if he tried and failed to move that "mountain," he would only provoke them into threatening his wife, sons, and daughter.

’The timing isn’t right. Why pick a fight to the death?’

Chen Song ushered them out. "You owe the debt, so hurry up and repay it. If you do it now, they might even waive the ten days of interest out of consideration for me. But if you wait until next year... heh..."

What Chen Song meant was that waiting until the new year would mean paying several extra taels of silver in interest for no reason, which was a bad deal.

But what the old couple thought was, ’Chen Song is just a peasant who got lucky. His position as county deputy probably isn’t secure. Who knows when he’ll be kicked out?’

’We should take advantage of the fact that he’s still in office and has some sway to settle this debt quickly. Otherwise, if those people change their minds later, won’t we be the ones to suffer a great loss?’

’Still, it’s a debt, and there’s interest. Even if it’s just a tiny amount, they didn’t want to cough up the silver.’

The thought of having to repay a debt of eighty taels of silver made the old couple’s hearts sink. Where were they going to get that much money?

"Dasong..."

"Dasong," she began, then her tone shifted abruptly. "It’s already dark. How come your wife and daughter aren’t back? Hurry to the edge of the village and meet them. I hope nothing’s happened."

Chen Song had been busy for the past couple of weeks. Now that the treasure chests had been shipped off, it was a designated rest day. The county magistrate had even given them an extra day off to let everyone rest up at home.

Chen Wanqing and her mother had left shortly after dawn. Chen Song had personally taken them, but he didn’t need to go pick them up. Today was also a day off from the private school. In total, six children from the village studied in the county town, and on every rest day, Dashan would fetch them with his cart—with each family chipping in for the service, of course.

Chen Wanqing and Xu Su Ying were supposed to come back on Dashan’s ox-cart today, but it was already this late. Why weren’t they home yet?

Anxiety gripped Chen Song. Forgetting everything else, he started for the village entrance. "I’m going to check on my wife and daughter. My two sons are coming back from school today as well. I hope nothing happened on the road."

The moment he said that, other families with children studying in the county town cried out in alarm. "Our children aren’t back either!" "Let’s go check! We’ll all go together!"