Liu Dalang wailed, "Uncle, I only lent them two taels of silver! Not five!"
The thug on the side sneered, "It's been a month since you took our two taels of silver. I don't want to settle the interest with you!"
When Wang heard the gangster say this, she covered her chest and trembled with anger.
Seeing her mother so angry, Liu hurriedly called her brother and sister-in-law to help Wang into the house.
Li Dalang looked at the chaotic family, old and young, while the instigator was kneeling on the ground crying. He could only bite the bullet and said to the gang leader, "I don't have the five taels of silver, but we borrowed money and won't default on it. How about this, we both make a concession and try to figure this out?"
The gang leader was not buying it: "You asked me to take a step back, so I took a step back? If this gets out, will my reputation as Hu Lao San be ruined? Will my brothers still be able to eat?"
The younger brothers who followed him echoed him, hitting and banging with the sticks in their hands, intimidating Li Dalang who wanted to bargain.
One of the thugs sneered, "Solution? What solution do you have? Pay the money back today, or this matter will be ruined!"
Li Dalang's heart tightened, but he knew that he could not be weak now and had to be tough.
He gritted his teeth and said firmly, "You've seen that this family is destitute. Instead of making a scene here, why not take a step back and take half of the money back? If you want to continue making a scene, that's fine. I don't know if the county magistrate will do anything about your reckless lending. My younger brother works for the county magistrate. If you really want to sort things out, let's go to the county government hall now. We'll pay you back every penny the county magistrate asks us to pay!"
These words made the gangsters hesitate a little. They didn't know whether Li Dalang's brother really worked in the county government!
One of the thugs shouted, "Stop talking nonsense! Don't think you can fool us with your tricks. You look so poor, and you think you know the county magistrate?"
Li Dalang looked at the thugs, his tone clearly revealing hesitation: "If you don't believe me, you can go and ask now. If what I said is false, you can come find us later."
Seeing Li Dalang's confident look, the leading thug began to hesitate.
The county magistrate had just cracked down on the wealthy families in the city a while ago. If he ran into his own gambling house at this time, he would definitely be skinned alive. Thinking of this, the gang leader said in frustration: "Half of the silver is not enough, at least three taels of silver!"
Seeing the gangster's attitude soften, Li Dalang bit even harder and refused to let go of the money: "It's only two taels and five cents of silver. I only lent it to you for a month, and the interest is already quite a lot!"
The gang leader weighed the pros and cons again and again, then gritted his teeth and said angrily, "Two taels and five cents is two taels and five cents of silver. Pay up the money immediately!"
Wang, who was supported by her daughter into the house, had been paying attention to the conversation between her son-in-law and the group of people. After hearing that the discussion outside was completed, she took out a small bundle from the bedside while cursing. When she opened the bundle, strings of copper coins appeared in front of Liu.
Wang handed all the copper coins in the bundle to her daughter with a broken heart: "This is just enough for that rebellious son to pay off his gambling debts. Take it out and pay Dalang back!"
Seeing her mother who seemed to have aged a lot in an instant, Liu knew that now was not the time to comfort her, so she took the silver and handed it to her husband.
Li Dalang took the money and said to the leading thug, "Here's the money, bring me the IOU!"
The leading thug was too lazy to bother with this family anymore, so he waved his hand and asked his men to return the IOU signed by Liu Dalang to Li Dalang.
Li Dalang got the IOU and then handed the money to the gangster.
The gang leader took the money and said to Li Dalang contemptuously, "If you don't have money, just keep an eye on this guy. If he falls into our hands again next time, we will make sure you are in trouble!"
He went to collect debts during the New Year's Day, but he didn't get any benefits and was threatened by others. The leading thug was very unhappy. Before leaving, he kicked Liu Dalang, who was curled up on the ground, several times: "What bad luck!" Then he left with his men.
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