Chapter 40 - Chapter 40: Chapter 40: Grateful for Your Gift (1/2)

Chapter 40: Chapter 40: Grateful for Your Gift

Translator: 549690339

“Those people? What kind of people are they?” Mrs. Wang was still very concerned about her elder brother and immediately asked, sensing a bad premonition.

“They were from the gambling house. Your brother owes them money, and they came to collect the debt. They were fierce and menacing, saying that if your brother still couldn’t pay up next time, they would chop off his fingers— one for each time he fails to pay, until the debt is settled. Your father and I have been so worried about this that we are literally going gray. Your brother is the only male heir in our family, the pillar of our home. If something happens to him, what are we to do? It doesn’t matter if something happens to us, but your brother mustn’t be harmed. Yet those people don’t care at all about our pleas.’

Mrs. Wang was a considerable character herself and had only panicked for a moment when she first heard the troubling news. Now she quickly regained her composure, “Father, mother, how much does elder brother still owe the gambling house?”

“It seems he still owes the gambling house fifty taels of silver. We’ve already given up the livestock and other valuables in our home to pay off the debt, but we simply can’t come up with such a large sum of money.”

“Then we must borrow it. Those people from the gambling house only recognize money, not faces. They’re incredibly vicious. If we don’t show the money by the deadline, they will not spare elder brother. Let’s first borrow the silver to pay off the debt and worry about the rest later. Under no circumstances can we let anything happen to brother,” Mrs. Wang said firmly. However, Mr. and Mrs. Wang Desheng were not so optimistic.

“Daughter, it’s easy for you to say, but hard to do. With such a large sum of money to borrow, from whom shall we borrow? Your mother and I have already exhausted all possible lenders, and nobody is willing to lend us the silver. Even those who are willing can only scrape together three or four coins, not even close to enough.”

“Go to eldest uncle’s house and ask him for a loan. Eldest uncle’s family is quite well-off. Our cousin has been working as a servant girl at the Su Family for years and has saved quite a bit of silver. The money our grandparents managed themselves is also in their hands. They can definitely come up with fifty taels. The word ‘Wang’ cannot be written without two strokes; although our families split a long time ago, we are still kin. And our families have maintained good relations over the years. They won’t stand by and watch us suffer.”

“If your eldest uncle was willing to lend us the money, we wouldn’t be in such a predicament now. When we went to your eldest uncle’s house to borrow money, they wouldn’t even open the door for us and didn’t let us in,” Wang Desheng said, furious at the recollection.

“How is that possible? Eldest uncle’s family can’t be so heartless. Even if not for the sake of family ties, out of respect for grandma, they couldn’t possibly do this. Could it be some kind of misunderstanding?”

Mrs. Wang thought that although eldest uncle’s family was opportunistic, they couldn’t possibly be so cruel. In the past, they were still willing to help with small favors. Now with no other choice, they had to ask for help. Although it might be impossible to borrow the full fifty taels, they could probably borrow some portion of it. If all else failed, she would have to return to her husband’s family for help. After all, the Fourth Daughter-in-law’s family was so wealthy that fifty taels of silver should be nothing more than a trivial matter for them.

In the past, Mrs. Wang always felt aggrieved and thus disdained the small benefits Su Wenyue offered. It was not that she was truly above such things but rather more greedy. In her eyes, the benefits Su Wenyue brought to the family amounted to nothing. She had her eyes on other things long ago—Su Wenyue’s dowry surely included some fine items.

Rejected and at his wit’s end, Wang Desheng had been bitterly angry about being turned away by his own eldest brother. If such treatment came from one’s family, no wonder he was so enraged. Now he reconsidered, thinking there might indeed be a misunderstanding, as the daughter suggested: