Chapter 182 Educating Children
As for Lü Songli and the others, ever since the caravan split into three, the Qin family had resumed their treatment as exiles. The adults had to walk the entire journey, but they were a little more lenient with the children.
On the first day, we hiked for two hours, one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon.
The next day, we walked for two and a half hours.
The time children spend walking is gradually increased.
However, because the food standards had declined, they had only been walking for a few days, and their faces were already looking pale. But the children didn't complain about the hardship or fatigue, and they all persevered with their short legs, except for Qin Yu, who was a bit of a spoiled brat. Occasionally, when he got tired, he would act like a spoiled brat with the male elders of the Qin family, and the other children would watch with envy. The three Qin brothers would not bear it, and would bring baskets and give them a ride for a while.
The little ones didn't have a hard time. The food was cheaper, but they had some money, so they would give some to the guards to buy candy and snacks.
Lu Songli watched with a smile and did not stop him.
The last time they deposited gold to earn interest, Lu Songli set rules for them.
At that time, Lu Songli said, "You are still children. Originally, we, as parents and elders, have the obligation to support you, take care of your food, clothing and daily necessities, and give you a monthly allowance as before."
"But the situation is special now. We have been exiled, so our masters have guaranteed your three meals a day. Apart from that, there are no snacks or anything else. Your monthly allowance will be temporarily gone. Is that acceptable?" Some objective facts should be taken into consideration.
"However, we also know that you children are greedy, so after discussing it with the adults, we allow you to use your own private money to buy snacks."
The children thought it made sense and agreed.
Because of this premise, recently when the children want to eat snacks, they spend the little money they had left before saving gold.
That day, after arriving at the camp and having dinner, the little guy Qin Yu wanted to eat candy.
But Qin Yu didn't leave himself any way out. Recently, he has been relying on other brothers and sisters to get candy.
Now, he could only follow his previous idea and ask his parents for money if he ran out of money.
"Mom and Dad, please give your son some pocket money."
Qin Zhao and Nie Yunniang looked at each other and said, "Son, we don't have any money either."
"You're lying. Mom and Dad got a lot of gold back then, and Dad got another share later. Don't you want to spend it on me?" The little guy thought he had a good memory, and his eyes were full of tears as he spoke the rest of the story.
Nie Yunniang coughed lightly and said, "We've also deposited it with your Sixth Aunt." Previously, the Sixth Sister-in-law had approached several of their elders and told them about her plans. She was taking so much trouble for the good of the child, so how could the elders not cooperate?
Qin Zhaocun was angry with his son, "You deserve it. I asked you to stay with your father before, but you refused."
Qin Yu opened his mouth wide when he heard this. He was dumbfounded. Who was he going to ask for money? Would he be unable to eat his candy?
Qin Jia, who was following along, asked, "Uncle San and Aunt San, you deposited your money with Aunt Liu. How much did she give you?"
"Ten."
Qin Jia frowned, "Why did Sixth Aunt give you so much?" "Give them so little? Do you look down on the children?"
"Your sixth aunt said that we have a large amount of silver, in the form of large-denomination certificates of deposit."
Several children pouted when they heard this, as they felt that they had less gold.
Qin Yu asked his parents, grandmother and uncle, but couldn't get the money.
The little guy's gaze finally fell on his sixth uncle, "Sixth Uncle, can you lend some to Yu'er?"
"Sixth uncle doesn't have any money either." Qin Sheng spread his hands in a very helpless manner.
Qin Yu looked at him suspiciously. "Go ask Aunt Six for it. Will she refuse to give it to you?"
It was normal that his parents and great uncle and aunt could not borrow money, but his sixth uncle and aunt were a couple, and he had seen that every time his father asked his mother for money, his mother gave it to him.
Qin Sheng: How should he answer this?
Qin Sheng didn't say anything. Qin Yu thought that he wouldn't get the money even if he asked his sixth aunt.
Uncle Six is so miserable. Qin Yu looked at his uncle with sympathy.
Qin Sheng: "Little brat, what are you looking at me with? Back when your Sixth Aunt wasn't married yet, she earned over 10,000 taels and even gave him 2,000 taels as pocket money."
How could his wife not love him like this? Qin Sheng shook his head proudly.
Qin Yu couldn't borrow money from his elders, so he had to ask his eldest cousin for help.
Qin Han made a bitter face, "Brother Yu, I don't have any money either."
"Ah? Brother Han has no money left?"
"It's all spent." All the money spent recently was theirs.
Qin Yu covered her mouth. Did her brothers and sisters spend all their money? Could he eat so much?
So, little Qin Yu had no choice but to go find his dearest Sixth Aunt. Maybe she would pay him next month's interest in advance?
Lu Songli was not at all surprised by what happened to little Qin Yu.
She smiled, but her words were the coldest. "I've already paid your interest monthly. It was originally paid annually, meaning it was settled once a year. Now I'm paying you monthly, and I think as your Sixth Aunt, I'm being very kind. Now that you've spent all your money, you want an advance on next month's interest? No way!"
Little Qin Yu was dumbfounded. What should he do? "Sixth Aunt, don't you love Xiaoyu anymore?" He ran over and snuggled into her arms.
Lu Songli reached out to stop him, "This is business, don't play this game." She said she didn't want to be cute, as she didn't buy it.
"However, you can get a loan, which means your dear Sixth Aunt can lend you money." She said with a smile.
"Then let's take out a loan." Before his brothers and sisters could say anything, Qin Yu waved his hand proudly.
"If you lend me money, I'll charge you interest."
Huh? And interest?
"Of course. When people deposit money with me, I have to pay them interest. This is an expense. If I lend you money, shouldn't you give me some interest? Otherwise, if I don't make any money, won't I be losing money? Sixth Aunt doesn't do business at a loss."
The little ones: Borrow money and pay interest, it seems like that.
"Then Sixth Aunt, how much interest do you want?" Qin Jia was still alert.
"Not much. If I borrow ten taels, I only need to pay five cents in interest a day." Lu Songli slapped her hand. Recently, she had been teaching them math. It wasn't difficult; it was just addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
Five cents a day doesn't seem like much. Qin Yu wanted to agree, but was stopped by Qin Jia.
After hearing what she said, several children began to count with grunting voices.
Qin Jia was the first to figure it out. After she did, her eyes widened. "Sixth Aunt, you're actually charging us 18 percentage points of interest?"
"Sixth Aunt, why is the interest so high when you lend us money?" The other kids were surprised.
"Of course." Lu Songli said coldly, "Because Sixth Aunt's place is currently used as a storage and lending place, it must make money. Buying and selling are free, lending is free, Sixth Aunt is not forcing you."
The kids: ...Okay, Sixth Auntie certainly didn't force them to borrow money.
"Then will you repay the loan?" Lu Songli finally asked Qin Yu.
"Lend it to me." The little man crossed his fingers. He hadn't had candy for two days and was craving some. Besides, he had savings. The interest he earned from the gold he deposited with Aunt Six should be enough to buy him a few candies, right?
After Qin Yu signed his handprint and received the silver, Qin Jia said to him seriously, "You should borrow less money from Sixth Aunt. Otherwise, at the end of the year, not only will you not get the interest on the gold we deposited, you may even owe Sixth Aunt money."
Qin Yu: ...Will it be like this?
"It doesn't matter. The gold is given for free anyway." The little guy waved his hand with a carefree attitude.
Qin Zhao, who was standing by, heard the heart attack and said, "What a prodigal son!"
In fact, by now, the children's personalities were already becoming apparent. Qin Jia was smart and cautious, while the twin brother, Qin Han, was a bit of a weakling and followed his sister's lead. Qin Yu was smart, thick-skinned, and a bit of a spoiled brat, a generous person—a nice kid. Qin Zhenzhen was well-behaved and clever, a refined child.
After Qin Yu used the money borrowed from his sixth aunt to buy some candies and gave two pieces to each of his brothers, sisters, and Chen's brother, he ate the first one.
Qin Yu held a candy, his eyes full of anticipation, and asked her, "Sixth Aunt, do you want some candy?"
"I don't want to eat it." Lu Songli was still not clear about his little plan, but these two words directly shattered his little plan.
Qin Yu sighed in disappointment.
Qin Jia: "Sixth Aunt, you are really good at business."
"Sixth Aunt, no wonder they say you are a profiteer, you are really so cunning." Qin Yu said as he stuffed candy into his mouth.
"Who said that?" Lu Songli raised her eyebrows.
"My father."
Qin Zhao: ...We really can’t keep this son who betrayed his father!
He had whispered to his wife that it would be a good idea for his son and daughter to be disciplined by the profiteer, his sixth brother's wife, or they would become fools in the future. Unexpectedly, he heard it, and even though he heard it, he brazenly said it in front of his sixth aunt.
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