Old Man Ye understood this principle, sighed slightly, and nodded. He then looked at Ye Daquan:

"Daquan, how much money did you borrow from Master Zhao?"

Master Zhao was a wealthy man in the town and was very willing to lend money to people in the neighborhood because he charged extremely high interest rates.

Ye Daquan stammered, "Well, not much. I borrowed four hundred coins, and we agreed to pay it back in a month. The interest is four coins a day, so I'll have to pay back five hundred and twenty coins... It's all gone."

"But I've already made up my mind. In a couple of days, I'll go to town to carry heavy loads. I'll earn twenty coins a day. I haven't thought about asking my family to pay me back."

Old Man Ye's face darkened: "There are so many people in town, who would it be your turn!"

"Everyone suffered from the disaster this year, and everyone is scrambling to find work outside, whether it's washing clothes or carrying heavy loads. Even if you lower your wages, you still can't find work. It's still twenty coins a day, but if you're only offering ten coins a day, no one will hire you."

Ye Daquan wanted to argue, saying that he earned twenty coins a day last year when he was carrying heavy loads, but he kept quiet when he thought about this year's harvest.

Old Man Ye sighed heavily: "Go to town and return the things. I'll go with you."

Ye Caiping said, "No matter how urgent it is, we have to eat lunch first."

Mrs. Wei hurriedly went to the kitchen: "I'll go get the food."

Seeing this, Ye Yinhua quickly followed behind her.

Old Man Ye was worried that if he was too late, the shops in town wouldn't allow him to return the money, so he was very anxious. But he didn't want to offend Ye Caiping, so he nodded.

Soon, the food was placed on the table.

The whole family sat around the large round table.

Each person received a bowl of thin, watery brown rice and radish porridge, mixed with some rice bran, and a small dish of pickled vegetables as a side dish.

Ye Caiping gasped when she saw the lunch. It was clear how little food the family had stored and how poor they were!

In this situation, that scoundrel Ye Daquan actually went to borrow money to buy white rice!

No wonder the Du family collapsed!

If she hadn't transmigrated, the original owner would have happily enjoyed the white rice provided by Ye Daquan. But Ye Daquan couldn't find work, and the family would have incurred a debt.

This is truly unbearable!

"Little sister, if you don't like this, how about we add some white rice?" Ye Erquan saw her unpleasant expression and assumed she was dissatisfied.

Old Man Ye and the others looked at Ye Caiping with worry. In the past, she would have made a scene immediately.

Ye Jinhua glanced at Ye Caiping with a dark expression, knowing that she was indeed saying one thing and doing another.

Seeing that they had misunderstood, Ye Caiping quickly said, "No, I'm just a little worried about the situation at home."

The Ye family breathed a sigh of relief.

The old man and his wife looked at Ye Caiping with satisfaction.

It seems that after being divorced, my daughter has indeed grown up.

Ye Caiping picked up the bowl and drank, but the brown rice porridge mixed with rice bran really hurt her throat!

Moreover, it has no oil, is bland, and only a little salt was added.

Having grown accustomed to refined grains in modern times, she now truly understands what it means to eat coarse grains and wild vegetables!

This tastes absolutely awful!

No wonder this idiom is used to describe hard times.