Chapter 12 Crying over paying back the money is also a matter of time.
"He really has no shame for his age?!"
Yao Ping'an's eyes widened. He knew that Zhen Chengshi hadn't come here with this intention, but he was angry once when paying off a huge debt, and once at the funeral. Even though Yao Tianrui hadn't mentioned being ridiculed for writing the recommendation letter, the Yao family was still holding a grudge.
Once or twice is acceptable, but not a third time. When Zhen Chengshi openly broke his promise and came to demand repayment of the debt, the Yao family was already prepared to make him suffer. They didn't take Yao Xiaoyu's shout seriously, thinking it was just a good excuse to take action.
That ungrateful wretch deserves a beating!
But judging from her daughter's tone, this thing actually had designs on the little fish?!
"I'll chop off that bastard's manhood!"
Zhou Chunhua picked up her carrying pole and was about to leave when Yao Tianrui silently followed behind. Yao Xiaoyu hurriedly stopped the two of them, but a warm feeling welled up in her heart.
"He looked at me like a person looking at money; he was attracted to me, but it wasn't that he was attracted to me."
Yao Xiaoyu's words were grammatically incorrect, but the Yao family miraculously understood them, which did not stop them from getting angry again.
What does he want you to do?
Zhou Chunhua didn't say anything like Yao Xiaoyu was overthinking things. She grew up in the countryside and had seen just as much as people in big city mansions. In fact, the struggles in the village were often more straightforward than those in mansions shrouded in mystery.
Yao Xiaoyu is beautiful and well-educated. In the past, with the Yao family protecting her, not many people dared to make a move against her. But now that the Yao family has fallen, some people want to extend their claws. Yao Ping'an came out late, and she saw it clearly. That brat's eyes were strange!
"There's too little information; I can only make three guesses right now."
Yao Xiaoyu took out her sister's notebook and traced the three keywords she had written down with her fingernails.
Dancing, getting married, spreading your legs.
"They might be trying to set me up with a man who's a complete scoundrel but all show and no substance."
Yao Xiaoyu started by talking about the best possible outcome, but still managed to bring the Yao family to the brink of ruin with just one sentence. Yao Daniu came to Shanghai alone to make his way in the world, and his only descendant was Ping An. Wenrou had three children, but the family was still small, and the grandchildren were all raised with great care.
Yao Xiaoyu was exceptionally beautiful and arrogant. After she skipped her first grade, Yao Daniu declared that he would marry into a perfect family. Now, however, he's forgotten about her...
"It's possible that some important person wanted a concubine, or wanted to find someone who could give birth to a smart child, and I just happened to meet the criteria."
Don't say that they're too old to get up. That satirical poem has been passed down to the 21st century: "An eighteen-year-old woman and an eighty-year-old man, with pale faces and white hair against red makeup, a pair of lovebirds in the quilt, a pear tree pressing down on a crabapple."
Having an educated woman as a concubine was a matter of pride for many people.
As for children... like begets like. Most people who want smart children will find a smart mother if they can't change the father.
"Of course, it could also be a simple resale, selling it to some places to make some money."
Yao Xiaoyu didn't specify which places, but everyone understood. Yao Ping'an and Yao Tianrui gritted their teeth, Zhou Chunhua's face was frosty, and as for gentleness...
"Mom, bring back a kitchen knife later."
It's really inconvenient that we don't even have a chopping tool at home.
...
"Our most important task now is to return these fifty silver dollars, so that the Zhen family won't come looking for another excuse to come knocking on our door."
After they finished speaking, Yao Xiaoyu pointed out the most important matter: no matter how capable Manager Zhen was, the silk shop couldn't afford to hire too many desperate criminals. But if Manager Zhen ever became shameless and used the debt to force his way into the Yao family and take people away, then they would be left with no way to escape.
After all, the written IOU still exists, so even if someone wants to help, they'll have to hold back.
"What if he gets carried away with arresting people and takes one or two more, or even all of them..."
Before Yao Xiaoyu could finish speaking, everyone felt a chill run down their spines, and then realized the situation was tricky—Manager Zhen would need at least ten days to half a month to recover, which was a considerable amount of time for healing, but fifty silver dollars was still too little.
"So that's why you took this order?"
Zhou Chunhua suddenly remembered something and turned to look at her granddaughter. She said that Xiaoyu was not one to change her mind easily. On the way back today, she felt that time was too tight and only planned to copy one or two medical books. However, after leaving the Zhen family, she rushed to the bookstore and took on all the orders.
"Yes, we need to copy this book ten times. At the rate of three cents per thousand words, we can earn more than five yuan per book. After copying all of them, we can still have some money left over for household expenses."
Currently, one silver jiao (a unit of currency) can generally be exchanged for more than ten copper coins. The official price of one silver coin is one hundred copper coins, but Yao Xiaoyu still calculates it according to the exchange ratio of official price to market price, that is, one jiao is worth ten copper coins, and one hundred and twenty-eight copper coins are worth one silver coin, and even rounds down.
If the money received is more than this, it is considered a pleasant surprise, lest someone give you a well-paid job and then complain about it—even so, the price per thousand words is more than 23 cents.
"But the timeframe is very tight. Starting today, we have to copy ten books in twelve days. The three of us have to copy about eight thousand words every day."
Before the father and son could even calculate the concept of 8,000 words per day, Yao Xiaoyu quickly assigned tasks—the designated rest time had already exceeded the limit, and if they delayed any longer, the amount of copying would be even greater.
"Mom, Grandma, this job is very hard. We basically have to copy from morning till night. It's very tiring. We must make sure to prepare good food for us these next few days."
Traditional Chinese characters are already difficult to write, and the whole family is malnourished. If they continue with the original food standards, Yao Xiaoyu is really worried that her body won't be able to handle it.
“You all have to eat like this too, otherwise if you run into Manager Zhen on the road, he might get up to something bad again, and you won’t even be able to run if you’re not full.”
With her feet bound, Wenrou is unlikely to go out, but Yao Xiaoyu doesn't need to leave her behind and scrimp and save; she won't be able to have surgery without a strong body.
"What constitutes eating well?"
Zhou Chunhua's words sounded sarcastic at first glance, but they were actually just a simple inquiry. She could earn 12 days' salary for 50 silver dollars, as long as the food wasn't ginseng or bird's nest.
"Everyone must eat at least one pound of meat every day, regardless of whether it's chicken, duck, pork, or fish. Each person must also eat one pound of vegetables every day. All meals must be plain white rice, the kind that's filling. If you're cooking porridge, you must be able to stand the chopsticks upright without them falling over."
Considering the family's circumstances, Yao Xiaoyu had already restrained herself as much as possible. A pound of meat sounds like a lot, but if it's shared among six people, each person won't even get two ounces. Even so, Zhou Chunhua gritted her teeth and agreed.
The Yao family was malnourished, and their appetites were quite large. Even if each person ate one pound of raw rice a day, it would cost thirty copper coins a day (the retail price of rice was five copper coins per pound). Adding two or even three copper coins for vegetables, and five copper coins for Japanese fish, even without firewood, it would cost around forty copper coins a day, which would amount to nearly four silver dollars in twelve days.
But all they have left is a little over a hundred coins, not even enough to eat for three days... It seems they'll have to pull the night cart again later.
As Zhou Chunhua was pondering which car would be more convenient, two gleaming silver objects appeared in front of her—
"Grandma, please take these two silver dollars to buy rice and vegetables. Let me know if you run out of them."
Yao Xiaoyu placed the two silver dollars Jin Youwei had given her on the table. Although Manager He could pay for each book copied, the three of them would need at least three books to make copying convenient, and Yao Xiaoyu was worried that the family's savings wouldn't last until then.
"When you go grocery shopping, tell me more about our current difficulties and how bad Dad's condition is. By the time we finish copying the book and get the money, Dad and my older brother will be exhausted."
Yao Xiaoyu winked at her grandmother, and Zhou Chunhua immediately understood the key point, quickly applying it to other situations:
"I won't be pulling the cart for a while; I'll take on some manual labor instead."
The two silver dollars in my hand are enough to last me a few days. It's a good opportunity to show others how the Zhen family has driven them to this point.
Yao Xiaoyu gave a thumbs up, then suddenly thought of something else:
"Grandma, you also need to buy a pound of kerosene. If we don't finish copying the book during the day, we'll have to keep copying it by lamplight at night."
A kerosene lamp can be replaced with an ink bottle from a fountain pen, but kerosene is simply unavoidable; the oil in the bamboo tube had long been used up when pasting the paper box.
"I'll go buy it later."
Yao Xiaoyu gave her some more instructions, and after confirming that there were no mistakes, she began copying books with her eyes open and closed. The daily task of writing 8,000 traditional Chinese characters was more difficult than she had imagined. Every day, her wrists ached so much that she could not hold the pen. When she got up and stretched her whole body, she could hear her bones cracking.
Yao Ping'an and Yao Tianrui weren't much better off. Within two days, they were tormented to the point of being expressionless and their eyes lifeless. The worst part was the pressure of being paid only three cents a thousand words and burdened by a debt of fifty silver dollars. They were writing and writing from dawn till dusk, tears streaming down their faces, yet they dared not stop—
"Cry? Crying also takes time!"
The three of them worked hard, while Wenrou and Zhou Chunhua also ensured logistical support.
Wenrou has to take care of Yao Xiaoli who is in school, and also cook three meals a day for the whole family. When she finally has a little time to rest, she still has to do some handicrafts.
Zhou Chunhua was even busier. She was in charge of purchasing ingredients, bringing back and delivering handicrafts, and taking every opportunity to complain about the Yao family's hardships. She was also the one who trampled on Zhen Chengshi's reputation a thousand times.
In addition, she had to make repeated trips to the He family bookstore: ink and paper ran out, books were copied, and some pages of the copied books were not up to standard, so she had to take them back to rewrite them and come back again... She was busy with all these trivial matters.
"Have a meal."
Zhou Chunhua tapped the table, and seeing that none of the three reacted, she skillfully snatched the pen away between finishing copying one sheet of paper and getting the next one, and smacked each of them on the head.
"Have a meal."
The three of them slowly stood up, their hands trembling violently as they ate. It took them half a bowl of porridge before their eyes gradually regained focus.
"Just hang in there a little longer. Today is the last book. Once I finish writing it, it will be finished."
Yao Xiaoyu looked at the checkmarks on the paper and encouraged the two of them in a hoarse voice. She had drawn a table with ten squares after finishing the first day of copying. She would put a checkmark in the square after copying a book. Now there was only one blank space left.
"After I finish writing, I'm going to get a good night's sleep, and nobody should touch me."
Upon hearing this, Yao Tianrui's eyes finally lit up a little. Yao Ping'an, whose face was ashen, was too weak to speak and could only nod silently.
"Brother, send the silver dollars over first, so the Zhen family can see the sins they've committed, otherwise all our suffering will have been in vain."
Yao Xiaoyu was so thin she was practically skin and bones, but her eyes were sharp. Upon hearing this, Yao Tianrui forced out a "good" through gritted teeth.
After finishing her last word, Yao Xiaoyu tidied up her medical books and went to the He Family Bookstore with Yao Tianrui and Zhou Chunhua. Perhaps because of her disheveled appearance, Manager He was startled when he recognized Yao Xiaoyu.
"Why do you look so haggard?"
Zhou Chunhua gave a wry smile and briefly explained the reason, successfully making Manager He's dislike for Zhen Chengshi even stronger.
The last handwritten copy had no pages that needed to be rewritten. Manager He took out fifty silver dollars, wrapped them in newspaper, and handed them to Zhou Chunhua. Yao Xiaoyu then stopped Jin Youwei, who happened to be passing by the entrance of He Family Bookstore, and asked him somewhat embarrassedly if he could take the three of them, grandfather, grandmother, and grandson, to return the money.
Fifty silver dollars was no small sum. Jin was tall and strong, and he was accompanied by two bodyguards. If the three of them walked with them, there would be fewer ill-intentioned glances.
Jin Youwei, who loves gossip, readily agreed to this seemingly reasonable excuse. Fearing that the commotion might not be enough, he skillfully gathered a group of idlers and marched in a grand procession to the Zhen family's doorstep.
Because of Zhen Chengshi, the Zhen family's reputation has been ruined, so naturally they have to take action. This repayment is the best opportunity.
Bad news: The Zhen family has been whitewashed.
Good news, except for Zhen Chengshi.
Better news: Zhen Chengshi proved that even in his most infamous state, there was still room for his reputation to decline. Now, people who know what he did are ashamed to be surnamed Zhen, and even his children have changed their surname to Yu. In the eyes of the world, he has many children and grandchildren, but he is now childless and without descendants.
A note from the author:
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A little secret: In the middle of the night after the Yao family had paid back the money, a cloth bag was thrown into the Yao family's house from outside. Inside were exactly fifty shiny silver dollars.
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