Chapter 96: How much money did they swindle?
Tang Shaotao's youngest son is named Tang Qiming. He was spoiled from a young age. When he was very young, his family would mention the Song family...
They all wore expressions of disgust, and all said they wanted to sever all ties with the Song family. Tang Qiming remembered it all; he disliked the Song family.
Now, the Song family has been exonerated, and they've even started a company that's making a fortune. Aunt Song's assets have also been returned, and she's living a very comfortable life.
Tang Qiming felt that Aunt Song should have given the things to them instead of them coming over.
"Grandma's family background was bad, she..."
"Don't talk nonsense." Sister-in-law Tang quickly covered her son's mouth. "That's all in the past, not now, understand? Now we need to make your grandma treat you well, get her to arrange a good school for you, and have her pay your tuition, do you understand?"
“I…I don’t understand, why do we need her to do it?” Tang Qiming said, “Our family is so powerful…”
"Say less." Tang Shaotao frowned; he did hope his own side would be more powerful.
Unfortunately, the youngest son didn't understand the situation at all. The Tang family had never been powerful; it was just an illusion created by Tang's father.
In his early years, Tang's father relied on the Song family. When the Song family fell on hard times, he used the money left by Song's third aunt to bribe others for promotions. In short, Tang's father himself didn't have much ability; he was just a gigolo who lived off women.
He lived off a woman and then looked down on her. As soon as she got into trouble, Tang's father couldn't wait to cut ties, as if that would free him from the label of a gigolo.
“Dad,” Tang Qiming said, “it’s foolish of us to stand here. Didn’t the people inside say Grandma isn’t home?”
“She said your grandma wasn’t home. Does that mean your grandma wasn’t home? Your grandma is just deliberately avoiding us. She just doesn’t want to see us,” said Sister-in-law Tang. “If we stand here a little longer, maybe we can go in soon.”
Tang Qiming had been standing there from morning until noon, and he was starving, but no one came out from inside.
Aunt Song had instructed the servants not to serve them tea or water, nor to cook for them. If those people came and insisted on standing there, then let them stand there.
That day, Aunt Song didn't plan to go back. She stayed at Song Fenglan's house for the night; there were rooms and beds there, so she could sleep there. Aunt Song had brought clothes with her when she left, but she could always go out and buy some if she didn't bring any.
Song Fenglan was naturally happy for her third aunt to stay, and since her third aunt didn't say anything bad about Song Fenglan, she was even willing to play with Qin Zihang.
“These TV programs are all pretty much the same, very similar.” Aunt Song sat on the sofa watching TV. “At home, I just watch TV and read books. I’ve seen a lot of the content before.”
“I can watch it again after watching it, but it would be even better if it were a different TV series,” Song Fenglan said. “The domestic TV series industry is not developing fast enough, and there aren’t that many programs.”
“When we were in the countryside, there used to be a special place to show movies. The projector would be placed there and the movie would be shown,” Aunt Song said. “We rarely went to see movies because of our bad class background. When we went to see movies, people would say that we were indulging in luxury and that we couldn’t cut off the tail of capitalism.”
It's just watching a movie, those people are making such a fuss.
Aunt Song understood that those people were simply resentful of the rich. When wealthy families fell on hard times, those people would do anything to bully them.
“Even if it’s just to watch from a distance, I won’t go,” said Aunt Song. “It’s best to stay in your own place, go out less, and avoid getting in other people’s way.”
“Aunt, you’ve had a tough time,” Song Fenglan said.
“We’re having a hard time, but you’re having it easy? Everyone has their own difficulties,” Aunt Song said. “I heard from your mother that your cousin has kicked you out many times.”
“Yes, she wants to marry her first love, but her first love doesn’t want me to stay at her parents’ home,” Song Fenglan said.
“These are all excuses,” Aunt Song said. “If you really like someone, you wouldn’t care about so many things. Besides, the fact that you were able to stay means there’s not much of a problem. That man doesn’t like your cousin that much; he probably has other ulterior motives.”
“I don’t want to give a bride price,” Song Fenglan said. “I also want my aunt to give me more dowry.”
"That's generally how it is," said Aunt Song. "You guessed?"
"I heard them talking to my aunt." Song Fenglan still remembers that scene.
Jiang Yufei's first love's mother sat in the living room, looking superior. Aunt Yu told Song Fenglan to go to her room and not to stay in the living room. Aunt Yu also told Song Fenglan not to come out no matter what happened.
Song Fenglan could only nod and go back to her room, but she pressed her ear against the door to listen to what they were saying.
Jiang Yufei's first love's mother immediately said, "Given your family's situation, if you insist on keeping one with a bad class background, our son will be implicated if he marries your daughter."
“She is my own niece, I can’t possibly send her away,” Aunt Yu said.
“It’s fine if you don’t drive her away, but then your daughter won’t get a bride price. Not only will you not get a bride price, you’ll also have to give your daughter a dowry,” the mother of the first love said. “You’ll have to buy my son a watch and a bicycle, and your daughter will have to have a sewing machine.”
The mother of her first love thought that the Song family must have given the Jiang family some benefits. Aunt Yu was once a wealthy young lady from a bourgeois family, and the Jiang family had a lot of money hidden away. The mother of her first love wanted to plunder the Jiang family's wealth.
"No, there can be no bride price. The dowry can be two quilts and a thermos, that's all," Aunt Yu said.
"It seems we can't reach an agreement. Your daughter likes my son so much; if you don't agree, she'll be heartbroken," said the mother, the woman's first love.
“This is her fate. She and your son are not meant to be,” Aunt Yu said firmly. She knew that if her family had given away those things, there would definitely be conflicts in the family, and others would think that the Jiang family had a lot of things. “Our family doesn’t have that kind of money, and even if we did, it wouldn’t be for her.”
"You..." The mother of his first love was very unhappy. "If you don't give it to him, I'll make my son marry another woman. There are so many women lining up to marry him."
“Then let your son marry another woman,” Aunt Yu said. “There are other men in the world besides your son. My daughter can marry another man too.”
Aunt Yu was at the very bottom of the Jiang family hierarchy, and she had to bow her head to outsiders. However, she couldn't continue to bow her head to Jiang Yufei's first love's mother. If Aunt Yu met these demands from Jiang Yufei's first love's mother, they would become increasingly demanding and want even more.
It's obvious they don't really care about Jiang Yufei; they just want what belongs to the Jiang family.
"You'll regret this!" said the mother of your first love. "Aren't you afraid your daughter will hate you for the rest of her life?"
"Don't be afraid!" Aunt Yu said calmly and without any panic.
Jiang Yufei's first love's mother left angrily, and only after she left did Song Fenglan come out of the room.
Song Fenglan had already heard what Aunt Yu said, "Aunt."
“This has nothing to do with you; they’re just making unreasonable demands,” Aunt Yu said. “If it happens once, it will happen again. We can’t compromise; this isn’t a good match for Jiang Yufei.”
As Song Fenglan's recollection ended, she remembered Aunt Yu telling Jiang Yufei that Jiang Yufei didn't think her first love's mother was wrong. Jiang Yufei believed that her first love's mother was only thinking of her and her first love's family, wanting them to live comfortably.
Jiang Yufei meant that she wanted Aunt Yu to prepare something, saying they could discuss it further. If the family couldn't afford that much, they could bring a small amount, enough to buy her first love a watch. Jiang Yufei even suggested that Aunt Yu could sell her current watch and buy a new one for her first love.
Listen to this, does this sound like something a daughter would say to her own mother?
Back then, Jiang Yufei's heart was filled with her first love, and everyone else was a villain who was trying to ruin her relationship with her first love.
Even now, Jiang Yufei knows her first love wasn't good, but so what? What you can't have always seems more alluring. Thinking back on the past, Jiang Yufei still harbors resentment towards her aunt and Song Fenglan.
Song Fenglan didn't want to think about the past, but the memories were too vivid.
“When I heard those words, my aunt told me not to care and to pretend I didn’t hear them,” Song Fenglan said. “My aunt went to talk to Jiang Yufei herself. Jiang Yufei didn’t think that her first love’s mother asked for too much. She said that she only asked for those things for the sake of her and her first love’s little family.”
“She’s so narrow-minded,” Aunt Song said. “When I married that guy from the Tang family, I thought the same thing: since they were poor, my family would prepare more things for me. My family was also willing to prepare things for me, not wanting me to live a hard life. But then, as you’ve seen, those people weren’t genuinely looking out for me; they just wanted the money in my hands. Some things were confiscated by the relevant departments, and some were hidden by the Tang family.”
"You're not thinking of coming back?" Song Fenglan asked.
“We can’t get them back. They’re shameless and there’s no way they’ll give them back,” said Aunt Song. “Even if we have a dowry list, they can say that the things are gone, that they were all confiscated, and that they’re in someone else’s hands. It’s impossible to explain. Arguing with them will only make you more annoyed.”
Aunt Song was very open-minded; she didn't need to get entangled with the Tang family.
“Some things should be let go, and you have to let go,” said Aunt Song. “Just consider it as feeding the dogs.”
“Your son and daughter are over there,” Song Fenglan comforted her.
“They are worse than dogs, worse than pigs and dogs,” said Aunt Song. “They are all bad people. If you see them, you must stay away from them and not get close to them. They will never really care about you; they will only think about taking things from you. If you don’t give them anything, that’s your problem, not theirs.”
"..." Song Fenglan looked at her third aunt's calm expression. Her aunt didn't seem sad at all. Fine, those people are worse than pigs and dogs.
Qin Yizhou brought over a sliced pineapple, which had been soaked in salt water and cut into small pieces.
"Did you carve this?" Aunt Song asked Qin Yizhou.
"I peeled it," Qin Yizhou said. "The maid went home and will come back tomorrow morning. She has some things to do at home; she has children to take care of."
“It’s all in the capital, thankfully, it’s the same city, so I can still go back to see the children.” Aunt Song didn’t speak ill of Sun Mei, “We should be understanding.”
When she was young, Aunt Song had a fiery temper, but after being sent to the farm, her temper gradually softened to what it is now. Aunt Song has come to terms with things and is no longer as concerned about this and that as before. Now she only feels that her family is invaluable, and that she can no longer rely on her own sons and grandsons in the future, but can only rely on her family.
Aunt Song doesn't need to please her family; they will take care of her on their own.
"
"Before we were sent to the farms, we had servants. Before I got married, we had quite a few," Aunt Song said. "We treated them all very well. Later, during those special times, some of the former servants started criticizing us. But some were very kind; they didn't think it was our fault."
The Song family treated their servants well, providing them with good benefits and various perks. However, some people were narrow-minded; even if you gave them a meal, they would complain that you didn't give them meat.
Aunt Song thought about these past events and realized that there are too many people in the world, all kinds of people. She couldn't always expect gratitude from others; she had to be prepared for others to be ungrateful. Only in this way could she avoid becoming too heartbroken.
“Things are better now. We’ve gotten through those special times. Now, hiring servants is a matter of mutual consent. If they don’t want to do it, then they don’t have to. Someone else will do it,” said Aunt Song. She treats her servants well now, but she also observes their behavior to prevent them from getting too arrogant and causing a repeat of the past.
The employer and the maid are unlikely to be sisters or family members. Not every maid is like Aunt Tao from the Song family. Aunt Tao does less work now, and the Song family employs other people so that Aunt Tao can have a better retirement in the Song family.
Aunt Tao receives a monthly salary but does very little work, which makes her feel bad, so she tries to find other things to do. So, Song's mother lets Aunt Tao do the work to avoid making her anxious, but she still tells her not to let Aunt Tao do heavy or tiring work.
“Your maid is quite good,” said Aunt Song. “When I came here, I saw her several times, and she was always very well-behaved.”
“She used to be a soldier,” Song Fenglan said.
"Oh right, she was... all arranged." Aunt Song realized she had forgotten this detail. "She's getting old, her memory isn't very good."
“Sometimes I do forget,” Song Fenglan said. “Aunt, you should rest well and don’t worry about those things. If the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up.”
"Auntie, have some pineapple." Qin Zihang handed a piece of pineapple to Aunt Song.
"Okay, Auntie, you eat." Aunt Song said with a smile, "You eat too."
"I ate it, it's very sweet and delicious," Qin Zihang said.
"It's sweet, which means this pineapple is good," said Aunt Song. "Want some more?"
"I can't eat too much." Qin Zihang shook his head. "I'll have two more slices, then I'll stop."
Qin Zihang was afraid that eating too much pineapple would cause blisters in his mouth.
"..." Song Fenglan looked at Qin Zihang. Her son was like that; he couldn't eat too much, just a little bit more.
At this time, some people in Aunt Yu's neighborhood knew that the people who had collected investment funds were out partying, staying in luxury hotels and eating lavish meals. When caught red-handed, they claimed it was just business entertainment. One person might believe them, two people might believe them, but not everyone did.
The truth eventually came out. Some people wanted their money back, but those people were not going to give it back. They didn't want to come back; they just stayed outside, intending to spend all the money.
Those people didn't have anything valuable in their homes. They took the money for themselves and didn't care about their parents at all.
When Jiang Ersao learned that the money was going to go down the drain, she was completely stunned. How could such a thing happen in just a few days, only three or four months? How could it be possible?
"Did they make a mistake?" Jiang Ersao shook Jiang Erge's arm.
Under the dim yellow streetlights, several winged flying ants circled around the lamp. Under the streetlights, Jiang Erge stood there, lost in thought.
Jiang Erge just went to inquire about the situation, asking those people if they saw it with their own eyes, and they all said they saw it with their own eyes. They took the money to enjoy themselves, and didn't open any factories, buy any land, build any new factories, or buy any of the old state-owned factories.
“No mistake, those people have spent a lot of money,” Jiang Erge said. “They stay in hotels, buy houses, and have cars, but they haven’t opened a factory.”
“How could that be? Didn’t you say you were going to open a factory?” said Jiang Ersao.
"They said they wanted to package themselves and gain the approval of relevant people. But... when others followed them, they found out that it wasn't like that at all," Jiang Erge said. "They spend money to find women and are very generous, but they have no intention of opening a factory at all. When people ask them, they say that they are investing in them, that the money is theirs, and that this is an investment in them."
Jiang Erge was disheartened. He had gone to borrow money from relatives at his wife's insistence, and now that money had just vanished.
"Impossible, impossible!" Jiang Ersao kept shaking her head. How could this be? It must be impossible.
Jiang Ersao refused to believe it; she was still waiting for her share of the profits.
“It’s true,” Jiang Erge said. “They found out early on. If they hadn’t, they would have said they lost all their money. A group of people surrounded them, demanding an explanation. One of them was caught and, fearing a beating, confessed everything. The others ran away and went into hiding. They probably won’t be back anytime soon.”
It turned out that his own mother was right. Those people didn't seem like the type to start a factory or do business at all. It was his wife and he who were ignorant and insisted that their mother was trying to stop them from getting rich. Their mother was actually trying to prevent them from suffering even greater losses, but they didn't believe her and even wanted to increase their investment.
If those people hadn't been out of town at the time, Jiang Ersao could have forced Jiang Erge to borrow money.
Now, Brother Jiang and his wife are heavily in debt, and they have to pay it all off themselves.
"Not coming back?" Jiang Ersao's eyes widened.
“Yes, how could they dare to come back at this time?” Jiang Erge said. “Some of them don’t even own a house; they just have a household registration here.”
Looking back on what happened, Jiang Erge now finds it laughable. If there really were such a lucrative opportunity, it's impossible that it would have fallen into their laps. They were the ones who thought they could make a fortune, assuming that since everyone was from the same neighborhood, people would genuinely help them make money. It wasn't like one person was looking for investment; it was several people from the neighborhood working together to find investment, so there couldn't be any problems.
“They went somewhere else. We’ve been keeping an eye on them, but it’s no use. They’ve spent almost all the money,” Jiang Erge said.
"What should we do then?" Jiang Ersao asked. "What about all that money?"
"You still know about so much money?" Aunt Yu asked when she saw that Jiang Erge and his wife hadn't returned yet and heard some noises outside. She went out to check and found Jiang Erge and his wife talking under the streetlight.
Aunt Yu had long anticipated this would happen; she had spoken to her second son and his wife, but it was to no avail. Besides, she found out relatively late; everyone else had already taken the money and gone elsewhere.
“I…” Jiang Ersao turned to look at Aunt Yu, feeling guilty.
"Do you think we'd lie to you and prevent you from making big money?" Aunt Yu said coldly.
Zhang Lian said, "Now look what's happened, the money's gone. You've probably borrowed money from someone else!"
Aunt Yu's expression was certain; she had overheard relatives saying that Brother Jiang had gone there to borrow money. Aunt Yu rubbed her temples, almost losing her balance, but thankfully she didn't faint.
After all, Aunt Yu is a woman who has seen the world; she can't possibly collapse so easily.
The entire Jiang family sat together, including Jiang's elder brother, sister-in-law, and others.
Late at night, everyone discussed and came up with a solution regarding the debt owed by Brother Jiang and his wife.
“They borrowed the money,” said Sister-in-law Jiang. “It wasn’t us who borrowed the money. The two families have already separated, so it’s not our place to handle this.”
Aunt Yu didn't speak ill of Sister-in-law Jiang, and it was indeed not the money borrowed by the eldest son's family.
"I'm afraid those people will be coming to collect their debts soon," Jiang Ersao said in a low voice. "I still... I still..."
"What else do you want?" Aunt Yu asked.
“I borrowed some money at high interest rates,” Jiang Ersao said. “I thought that the dividends and profits would be greater, which would completely cover the interest, so I… I borrowed it.”
"How dare you?" Aunt Yu exclaimed in shock.
"You borrowed money from loan sharks?" Jiang Erge looked at Jiang Ersao in disbelief. He thought that borrowing money from relatives was already a huge debt, but he never expected that his wife would borrow money from loan sharks.
"Why are you yelling at me? I'm just trying to earn more money too!" Jiang Ersao said. "Our family is destitute. Our children's clothes are torn, and we don't have any new clothes to wear. Look at your cousin's child, so many people give him gifts, and he can wear new clothes every day."
Qin Zihang doesn't wear new clothes every day; he just has a lot of new clothes.
Jiang Ersao had met Qin Zihang before, but she didn't see him every day; she only saw him once in a while. Naturally, she felt that Qin Zihang wore new clothes every day.
"I did it for this family, for our children," Jiang Ersao said, her eyes red. "How could I have known it was a scam? If I had known, I wouldn't have done it."
"Mom, are you going to pay them back?" Sister-in-law Jiang asked. "If you pay them back, does that mean the money is being shared with them? They get a share, but we don't?"
Sister-in-law Jiang didn't want her family to suffer losses. Jiang Erge's family had already spent a lot of money returning to the capital, while her own family hadn't spent nearly as much. She always said that Jiang Erge's family had worked too hard as educated youth in the countryside and that they should be taken care of more, but that wasn't how she should be taken care of.
"How much do you owe?" Aunt Yu asked.
"one……"
"One hundred?" Aunt Yu asked.
“No, it’s a thousand,” Jiang Ersao answered truthfully. “I owe a thousand to loan sharks.”
"Does this mean it doesn't include the money you borrowed from your relatives?" Aunt Yu asked.
“We just want to become major shareholders,” said Jiang Ersao. “To be big bosses, just like the people on the Song family’s side.”
Jiang Ersao always dreamed of emulating the Song family, hoping her own family could be as wealthy as them, without ever considering whether she actually had the ability. Jiang Ersao didn't have a formal job; she spent all her time thinking about getting rich overnight.
“Major shareholder? I think you’re crazy,” Aunt Yu said. “You owe the money yourselves, so you should pay it back yourselves.”
“Mom, that’s usury. Usury interest compoundes, and we’ll have to pay back even more money in the future,” said Jiang Ersao.
"Now you know about compound interest? Why didn't you mention it before?" Aunt Yu said. "With compound interest, you still dare to borrow money from loan sharks. Do you think our money grows on trees? Do you think we'll pay you back?"
“Mom, you have money, so please help us pay off the loan sharks first,” said Jiang Ersao. “We can pay back the money from our relatives later. If you don’t have enough money, you can borrow from my aunt and uncle; they have so much money…”
"Their money didn't grow on trees!" Aunt Yu gritted her teeth. "Don't even think about borrowing money from them."
“If we don’t lend them money, what can we do? The interest will just keep compounding,” said Jiang Ersao. “Mom, you have money, you can’t just stand by and watch someone die. You’re not without options, you have a way. Song Fenglan was still living with you back then, if you asked, they couldn’t refuse. I heard that other people asked Song Fenglan for money, and she lent it to them.”
Aunt Yu was surprised that her second daughter-in-law thought this way. "We said we took her in, but we also took money from her. We didn't take her in for free! In a way, it's a clean break, and no one owes anyone anything. How can you have the nerve to suggest that we borrow money from Fenglan?"
Aunt Yu couldn't bring herself to ask Song Fenglan, nor could she ask her sister. She did have some money left, money she intended to keep as a precaution. Aunt Yu only had so much money left, and these people were being so reckless. If she gave them the money, would they think she had more?
"I have no money left," Aunt Yu said. "Don't even think about getting money from me. As for loan sharks, that's your own doing."
“If you don’t pay back the money, loan sharks will come knocking on your door demanding repayment,” Jiang Ersao added.
Aunt Yu understood that Jiang Ersao was threatening her, and Jiang's father sighed.
"How much money do we have left at home?" Jiang's father asked Aunt Yu.
"Don't you know how much you earn?" Aunt Yu is no longer the Aunt Yu of the past; she can no longer be submissive. "With so many mouths to feed at home, how much money can we possibly have left? Less than six hundred yuan in total."
Aunt Yu certainly had more than six hundred yuan in her possession; she didn't reveal it all, wanting to keep some hidden. Given the attitude of Jiang Erge and his wife, Aunt Yu was afraid that if they knew she had money, they would spend it all.
“Mom is getting old, and if she has any minor illness, it will cost money,” Aunt Yu said. “We need to save this money.”
"Take out five hundred," said Old Madam Jiang. "We won't act until we see a profit. Those people can't possibly refuse to pay. If the second branch of the family takes this money, they won't get any more shares. Consider this an advance distribution to you. The house has been distributed, and the money has been distributed. Don't even think about getting anything else in the future."
“This isn’t enough,” said Jiang Ersao. “How could Mom and Dad only have this little money? The money from the Song family…”
"Do you think we've had no expenses all these years? Have we been living off the northwest wind?" Aunt Yu was very angry.
“Mom, if you don’t have any money, then go and borrow some,” said Jiang Ersao. “If I can borrow money, I will.”
Aunt Yu was furious with Jiang Ersao, but she couldn't possibly lend her money. If anyone wanted to borrow money, Jiang Ersao and her husband would have to do it themselves.
The next day, Jiang Yufei went to her parents' home. When she learned that her second sister-in-law had borrowed money from loan sharks, she thought her sister-in-law had gone mad. That was loan sharking, not just any loan sharking; loan sharking was a scourge.
"Second sister-in-law, how could you borrow money from loan sharks?" Jiang Yufei said.
“I only borrowed money from loan sharks because you wouldn’t lend us any. I did it all for your second brother and for your nephews and nieces,” said Jiang Ersao. “If we had made money, would you still be saying this to me? It’s because we haven’t made money that you treat me like this.”
"you……"
"We're all family, why don't you help us? Instead, you're saying things like this at a time like this," said Jiang Ersao. "What if loan sharks come knocking? Are you going to make us give them our children as collateral?"
“Taking away a child is human trafficking, it’s a crime.” Jiang Yufei never expected her second sister-in-law to say such a thing.
"Then lend us the money," said Jiang Ersao.
“I have no money, not a single penny,” Jiang Yufei said.
“Five hundred yuan isn’t much. You can borrow one hundred yuan from your family. One hundred yuan isn’t much for you,” said Jiang Ersao.
"Not much? How much is our monthly salary? Isn't that a lot?" Jiang Yufei rolled her eyes. "Don't even think about borrowing money from us. If you do, do you think you'll pay it back?"
Jiang Yufei didn't intend to lend money to her second brother and sister-in-law, saying, "Our family's meager savings are so small that we might not even have a hundred yuan left over in a year. A hundred yuan isn't much."
“Go and borrow from the Song family!” said Jiang Ersao.
"You and your second brother aren't going, but you want us to go? Do you think we're stupid?" Jiang Yufei couldn't possibly ask the Song family for money. She was already lucky to be able to go with her mother for a free meal. Her relationship with the Song family hadn't really improved yet. If she went to borrow money, they would just shut her out.
When Jiang Yufei went to see the Song family alone, she only said she wanted to see them, but the Song family wouldn't let her in. Jiang Yufei didn't think she could borrow any money, and besides, she wasn't really in dire straits.
The Song family would never lend money to Jiang Yufei at this time, and Jiang Yufei thought that she would never borrow money for the sake of her second brother and his wife.
"If you need to borrow money, go yourself. Don't expect others to do it," Jiang Yufei said.
My second brother was happily selling stinky tofu, but you insisted on investing and even borrowing money at exorbitant interest rates, which is why things have turned out like this.
"It's all for this family..."
"Stop making excuses. It's not like we can't make ends meet. Everyone does it this way. If you can't, and you're going to borrow money from loan sharks, that's your problem." Jiang Yufei looked at her mother. "Mom, I'm going back."
Jiang Yufei didn't want to stay here any longer, to avoid Jiang Ersao bringing up money issues.
Jiang Ersao herself didn't dare to borrow money from the Song family, fearing they would ignore her. Instead, she sent Jiang Erge to borrow money from the Song family. Unbeknownst to them, Aunt Yu had already called Song's mother, telling the Song family not to lend money to Jiang Erge.
If Jiang Erge and his wife don't learn a lesson, they can borrow even more money in the future. Spending some money to learn a lesson is still worthwhile. The real fear is that even after spending money, these people still won't learn their lesson.
When Jiang Erge went to the Song family, Song Dage wasn't home, nor was Song Erge. Jiang Erge initially went to see Song Erge, believing he must have a considerable amount of money from his company. Cao Fang met Jiang Erge; she had just heard that Song's mother tell her not to lend him money that morning, but since they had just met, she pretended not to know anything.
Jiang Erge sat for a while, but Song Erge didn't come. He looked at Cao Fang, a little embarrassed to speak.
"Hasn't he come back yet? When will he be back?" Jiang Erge asked.
"That's not necessarily true. He's busy with work at his company and might be back quite late," Cao Fang said. "Do you need me to tell him something?"
"I...I want to borrow some money," said Jiang Erge.
“Money? That’s difficult. I heard from my husband that the company is short of funds,” Cao Fang said. “He’s invested all the money in the company, and we don’t have any savings left. But you can ask him. I’m just a woman, so he probably didn’t tell me much. My salary is just enough to cover the household expenses; it’s a backup plan.”
"..." How could Brother Jiang possibly believe Cao Fang's words? The Song family would never spend a woman's money. But Cao Fang was not Brother Song after all, and she was not related to Brother Jiang by blood, so Brother Jiang couldn't say that Cao Fang was too cold-hearted.
Then, Jiang Erge had no choice but to go find Song Dage. Song Dage wasn't home, but Song's mother was. Song's sister-in-law had gone out to buy groceries.
Jiang Erge felt uneasy in front of Song's mother, as if his thoughts had been seen through.
"Weren't you selling stinky tofu? You were making quite a bit of money, so how come you suddenly ran out of money?" Song's mother asked.
"My wife borrowed money from loan sharks, and with the interest compounding, we need to pay it back as soon as possible," said Jiang Erge. "Auntie, could you lend us some money?"
“That won’t do. Your mother told me not to lend you money,” Song’s mother said. “That’s exactly what your mother said, and she asked me to tell you this too. It was her idea. You’ve already borrowed a lot of money from relatives, and you can’t borrow any more. You have to rely on your own hard work, not on borrowing money to make a living.”
"What?" Jiang Erge couldn't believe his ears.
"Yes, your mother said so. She asked me to tell you that she doesn't want us to lend you money." Song's mother repeated again, "You are adults and should be responsible for your own actions. It's impossible for us to lend you money. Don't go to Fenglan to borrow money either. She went to work this morning and doesn't know about your request for money. Try other relatives and see if they will lend you money."
Aunt Yu refused to let the Song family lend all the money to Jiang Erge at once. She wanted Jiang Erge to find someone else and experience how painful it would be to borrow money at this point. Since Jiang Erge was already helping Jiang Ersao borrow money for investment, then let him borrow again.
"Aunt..." Jiang Erge's feelings were complicated. He had originally thought that if he came to borrow money, the Song family would give him eight or nine hundred at a time, and he could pay off the loan shark debt in one go. But several months had already passed, and the interest on the loan shark debt had already ballooned.
“I am your mother’s older sister, and only secondarily your aunt. Without your mother, I have no relation to you at all,” said Song’s mother. “Go back. If you want to borrow money, go ahead and see how much they can lend you. Just because someone has money doesn’t mean they have to lend it to you. They don’t owe you anything.”
Song's mother felt heartbroken for her sister; having such an incompetent son was worse than not having one at all. Jiang Ersao was a fool with ambitions that seemed to reach the heavens, always dreaming of making a fortune. Did she think making a fortune was so easy? Jiang Ersao didn't even bother to check the situation or see if things were really as they appeared. Now, she'd been scammed and was burdened with huge high-interest loans.
That amount of money was indeed nothing to the Song family, but since Aunt Yu wanted to educate Jiang Erge and his wife, Song's mother naturally couldn't lend money to Jiang Erge.
“Don’t always think that your mother owes you something just because you were a sent-down youth in the countryside,” said Song’s mother. “That was a special era, and your mother had no choice. Now that you’re back, you should work hard. Selling stinky tofu isn’t bad; earning money with your own hands isn’t shameful. If your wife doesn’t want to work, then she doesn’t have to work. She can stay at home. Don’t bother with these things.”
If it weren't for the fact that Jiang Erge was Aunt Yu's biological son, Song's mother wouldn't have said any of this. She would have simply locked Jiang Erge out of the house and wouldn't have let him in.
Jiang Erge left the Song family dejectedly. He never expected his mother to do such a thing—she wouldn't let the Song family lend him money. Aunt Yu's relatives were wealthier, while Jiang's relatives were relatively poor. Jiang Erge had already borrowed money from several relatives before, some of whom had refused to lend him money in the first place.
Now, if Brother Jiang were to ask those people for money again, they would never lend him any.
"We're out of money. The money we lent you last time was borrowed with great difficulty."
"We have no money, we really have no money. We were even thinking of borrowing money from your family."
“We don’t have that much money. We have to tighten our belts to make ends meet.”
“Loan sharks? How much money would that be? Our money can’t fill your hole.”
"Go, go, go borrow money from someone else."
"What does it matter if we're relatives or not? You only knew we were relatives when you borrowed money?"
...
Some relatives said some very unpleasant things, thinking that Jiang Erge and his wife were causing trouble by borrowing so much money at once. They argued that if they had that much money, they would have bought plenty of meat instead of eating bland food. They wondered if Jiang Erge and his wife would repay the money they lent them.
By evening, Jiang Erge returned home dejectedly. He went to several relatives' homes and finally managed to borrow ten yuan, which was given to him by his aunt, who said she pitied him.
"Did you borrow the money?" Jiang Ersao asked as soon as she saw Jiang Erge return. "Did you borrow the money? I'm asking you a question. Did you borrow the money? The loan sharks will come over as soon as they hear you. They're going to press us to pay back the money. We can't not pay it back. They're all very fierce."
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