Chapter 6 The Necklace and the Magic of Interest: The Lady Who Lives in Venice is Actually...
"How about it?"
After Mrs. Bianchi's gondola had gone far away, Lilith happily stretched, lay down on the sofa with a sigh of relief, and asked Heinrich with a smile.
“It seems Tata won’t be able to leave work on time tonight.” Heinrich stood behind Lilith and gently massaged her shoulders. “You received 20 ducats in cash from Mrs. Bianchi, and Tata will have to pay out 55 ducats in cash later. You’re using 35 ducats of net cash outflow to get 40 ducats of accounts receivable, which is 5 ducats of net profit. The repayment deadline is in June… 28% annual interest rate, no wonder they say you’re a loan shark.”
“Nonsense.” Lilith smiled and rolled her eyes at him, counting the gold coins in her money bag one by one. “How can this be called usury? Usury refers to charging interest, but I didn’t charge her a single penny of interest. I even helped a poor lady and her husband solve their business cash flow crisis.”
Yes. On the surface, Lilith only sold a necklace for 60 dollars and allowed the buyer to pay in installments. But in reality—she colluded with Tata to enable Mrs. Bianchi to exchange 20 dollars for a total of 55 dollars in cash—more than doubling the amount of cash.
The so-called necklace was just a facade. This applies to both Madame Angie and Lilith.
Mrs. Bianchi was, after all, a member of high society. No matter how short of money she was, she couldn't bring herself to ask a small Jewish bank for a loan. So she came to this Christian lady and bought a necklace under the guise of buying it on installment, which could be used to withdraw cash.
As for Lilith, she made a very considerable profit from the transaction. However, this profit was not the "loan interest" that the church strictly forbade to collect; it was simply the price difference between selling and buying back the necklace.
Concealed by a necklace, the two women thus legally and legitimately completed a loan transaction in their private quarters. This preserved Madame Bianchi's dignity while avoiding the risk of "illegal lending." The jewelry box no longer contained an emerald necklace, sapphire earrings, or a gold ring, but rather chips and bonds of varying denominations.
"That spice ship belonging to the Bianchi Company that was plundered by Genoese pirates," Heinrich said, referring to the first news Tata broadcast that morning. "It must have been the merchant ship her husband operated."
"Yes. I hope her husband's ship has a safe journey. It's hard on her that she has to run around raising money for her husband's debts. Look at the old clothes she's wearing, how pitiful. I guess she's pawned all the decent clothes in her closet to pay off the debts."
"The necklace you sold to her is only worth 40 dollars on the market. If she goes to any pawn shop other than Tata, they will only buy it for 40 dollars, or even less. So you are sure she will go to Tata."
“Tata knows the rules for doing business with me.” Lilith put all the spread-out gold coins back into her bag. “If she hadn’t gone to Tata, I would have essentially only paid for a necklace that cost 40 dollars, and in return received 20 dollars in cash and a 40-dollar debt, or even made more. But I really wanted to help her. Everyone might encounter such a desperate situation. If I give her a hand, she’ll remember the favor I did for her today once she catches her breath. Favors are more valuable than money, because debts can be repaid, but some favors, once incurred, can never be fully repaid in this lifetime.”
The sun had already set, and the sky outside the window had turned a calm, deep blue, like the sea. Heinrich watched Lilith's retreating figure with mixed feelings, thinking of the evening he had led his wedding procession to set sail for Venice, when the sky had also been this beautiful color.
"Why didn't you sell her that emerald necklace?" Heinrich asked, even though he already knew Lilith's intentions perfectly well.
“That’s worth at least 200 ducats… After all, it’s our first transaction, and I don’t want to lend her that much money.” Lilith took the necklace out of the jewelry box and played with it in her hand.
The answer was as expected. Heinrich raised an eyebrow helplessly. Even the most sincere sentiments and the most beautiful gems were nothing more than price tags and numbers to her.
"She must have begged Sofia to come here. Sofia is a kind-hearted person and has definitely helped her a lot. So she must have more than 20 ducats in cash right now. She realized that I was unwilling to lend her too much, so she said that in order to increase the loan amount."
"Is Sofia also a loan shark?"
“She’ll be furious when she hears that,” Lilith laughed. “Sophia is the Marquis of Esther’s wife, my good friend, my biggest client, and a widow. You’ll meet her this Friday, because I’m taking you to my husband’s funeral.”
"..." Heinrich hesitated, unable to speak. Yesterday he had been sent to assassinate the person who had tried to kill him, and in a few days he would have to attend his own funeral with the very person who had ordered his execution.
“But these jewelry and stuff… are all small businesses after all. My real way of making money isn’t here.” Lilith cast her gaze out the window at the shimmering river. “Money is like a river, and I just want to be the one rowing it. To make the water flow faster, and also to let myself drift forward with the current…”
Just as Lilith was about to continue speaking, she saw the noblewoman's gondola parked in front of the main gate facing the river.
“Go tell Ivanka that I’m having guests for dinner tonight.” She turned to Heinrich and said, “You go and rest, Cecilia will come and keep me company.”
After dinner, Mrs. Bianchi thanked Lilith profusely and said goodbye.
Lilith took ten grosso from her purse and gave them to Heinrich as a reward for witnessing the first transaction. In exchange, Heinrich had another unfinished task. He had to make copies of the relevant contracts and supporting documents for the new transaction before starting work tomorrow—one copy for his own records, one to send to Mrs. Bianchi tomorrow, and one to Sherlock for accounting.
Thus, he finally had the opportunity to be alone in the office. Stealing two sheets of white paper for copying, he gripped a quill pen and wrote a letter to his most trusted brother, William.
“I am not dead. I am staying at Liliana Knarro’s house under a… somewhat special identity. Please keep this a secret…”
After finishing writing, he immediately put the letter into the inside pocket of his jacket. The Schmidl family crest ring was lost, so he couldn't use sealing wax and could only seal it with glue, waiting to mail it from the post office in the square after work the next day.
The square was still bustling with people at dusk on Tuesday. Heinrich rushed into the post office before it closed to buy stamps and drop the envelopes into the mailbox. As he was on his way home, he noticed a person wearing a cloak and mask watching him from behind.
It's Cecilia.
Heinrich cursed under his breath, realizing his carelessness; someone had been following him for so long without him noticing. Now he could only pray that the Knarro family's authority in Venice wasn't so great that they could infiltrate the post office to open and inspect his mail.
Whatever the reason, Lilith's desire for his death is a fact she has openly admitted. If she discovers Heinrich Schmidl is still alive, she certainly won't let it go. Conversely, if he continues to play the role of a docile dog, he can protect himself while awaiting his brother's aid.
A letter from Venice to Frankfurt takes at least four weeks to arrive, so Heinrich won't receive a reply for eight weeks. This means he'll have to continue serving this eccentric young lady at Lilith's house for at least the next two months.
Heinrich was deeply troubled. Although Lilith always smiled at him on the surface, she still sent people to follow him during his rest time, indicating that she didn't truly trust him. This was understandable. He needed more time to lower Lilith's guard.
Therefore, revenge needed to be planned carefully. Cecilia was the most dangerous henchman he needed to be wary of on his path to revenge. However, generally speaking, maids who were so trusted and entrusted with important responsibilities by their masters were usually household servants who had grown up with the master. But Cecilia was different; she was bought from the slave market by Lilith herself. Even Tata and Ivanka had no connection with the Knarro family. Perhaps it was unavoidable for illegitimate daughters to be ostracized by their masters, but to be ostracized to the point of near isolation was quite rare.
I wonder if the Knarro family knows about the credit business Lilith is running in her private quarters? If they did, they'd probably be furious with this unruly illegitimate daughter.
Heinrich had to admit that he greatly admired Lilith's management skills. Everyone in the building had their own role, helped each other, and worked diligently, making it far more rigorous and organized than many makeshift operations managed by men. Her methods of circumventing church law in lending money were even more ingenious, as exquisite and beautiful as the patterns embroidered by a skilled embroiderer on wool fabric—a work of art unique to women, something men could never conceive of.
Heinrich had accompanied his father to business negotiations with arms dealers or mercenary leaders. These negotiations usually took place in the office building next to their steel factory or in a magnificent banquet hall, where several burly men—sometimes with women who were not treated as human beings—would noisily try to close deals.
Heinrich disliked that scene, yet he forced himself to adapt and get used to it. This was his entire understanding of business. The business world, like war or politics, was a world ruled by men. It was considered shameful for women to be associated with "making money," not only making their husbands appear incompetent but also attracting gossip. Yet, these women clearly possessed powerful creativity, efficient execution, and the courage to make decisions; they were not the indecisive, short-sighted appendages that men perceived them to be.
If a man had come up with a business model or financial method, he would probably have been given exaggerated titles like "Wolf of Venice" or "Father of Jewelry Lending." It's only because Lilith is a woman that they slander her as a self-exiled witch.
But that wasn't a reason for her to plot against her innocent fiancé! Heinrich reminded himself. Stop trying to justify Lilith's actions. What were you thinking? The image of Lilith's bright green eyes when she smiled at him flashed through his mind. He shook his head, trying to banish these inexplicable images, and walked home along the alley.
As he approached the small building, he saw Lilith sitting on the windowsill pruning the flowers. Lilith smiled at him again, and the image in his mind was replayed in reality. Heinrich felt his cheeks burning involuntarily.
A note from the author:
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Actually, you don't need to worry about the details of these calculations at all! They don't affect your understanding of the plot, so just skip them. The next chapter is the much-anticipated scene of a fierce dog protecting its master [Let me see!].
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