Daydreaming

  The young girl knelt quietly in the mourning hall, turned her head to glance at the two people wandering around near the entrance, then turned back and attentively burned a handful of paper money in the incense burner.

  Those two people at the door are obviously sent by the creditor to monitor, in case they run away. The young woman didn't mind either, this is human nature, who's money isn't blown in by the wind? Being able to live a carefree life now is already a great kindness.

  After burning the paper money, he looked up and heard a faint clinking sound coming from inside. It was Liu Yuan doing something, but when his wife asked him several times, he just told her not to mind it and focus on guarding the mourning hall instead.

  Liu Yuan now has to do is that within seven days, he must raise at least 400 taels of silver. A fourteen-year-old child wants to make at least 400 taels of silver in seven days with empty hands, which is simply a crazy dream in the eyes of many people.

  For some reason, Xiaoniang deeply believed in Liu Yuan's words.

  Tomorrow is the seventh day, after the seventh day, my old father can rest in peace. In other words, there are still four days left, and after four days, the creditors who had dispersed will come back to find us again. At that time, if we cannot repay the debt, Liu Yuan and I will have to sell ourselves to pay off the debt.

  Although the young lady has great confidence in Liu Yuan, three days have passed since the seven-day deadline, and not only did Liu Shixiong not earn a single copper coin, but he also spent a lot of money. When asked what he was doing, he wouldn't say anything. Can he make 400 taels of silver in four days?

  The back house of Liu's room was tightly locked, and it was unknown what he was doing.

  The incense in front of the coffin was about to burn out, and the young woman immediately put aside her distracting thoughts and stopped thinking.

  Even if it's selling myself into slavery, I hope to be sold together with Brother Liu Yuan, so we can take care of each other.

  .......

  Some people are happy and some are worried. Some worry about having three meals a day, while others have enough clothes and food, thinking about how to spend their leisure time after eating.

  Zhou Yuanwai is just such a person who throws away money like dirt.

  Don't look at Zhou Yuan, who is already over 50 years old. In fact, he has taken good care of himself and still has a lot of energy. When he smiles, his two small eyes become a line, with an innocent and harmless appearance. However, he actually made his fortune by exploiting the poor, and every copper coin in his hand is stained with the blood and sweat of the poor.

  He borrowed his money and returned it on time, but if he didn't return it, he would be in trouble. If there were things, they would take the things; if not, they would seize the house, land, and everything else. If there was really no money, they would force people to sell their sons and daughters, and even a single copper coin couldn't be spared. People who knew him called him Zhou Bapi.

  That plump belly, people in the countryside all say that it's not fat, but rather poisonous water that harms people.

  Don't look at his advanced age, he has already married four wives and is still not satisfied. Last month, he newly married the fifth wife, and now he is in the backyard, embracing the beautiful and delicate fifth wife while frolicking.

  "Old master." A trusted house servant walked into the backyard and bowed respectfully to him.

  Zhou Yuan didn't even lift his head, while flirting with his concubine, he casually asked: "Ah Cai, I had you keep an eye on those two brats from the Jin Yu family, has anything unusual happened?"

  "In response to Master's words, Xiao has been keeping a close eye on things these past few days, nothing out of the ordinary, just that..."

  .......”

  "Just say something."

  A Qian said cautiously: "That fellow with the surname Liu, he has been locking himself in the back hall for several days, I don't know what he's doing. Ah yes, he also bought a lot of wine and had some strange things made, saying they were local customs that Manager Yuan would appreciate. The price wasn't expensive, it was reasonable, so I didn't stop him."

  "Those are minor matters, the most important thing is to keep an eye on people." Zhou Yuanwai said coldly: "The deadline has not arrived yet, don't bother with him. If he dares to run away when the time comes, catch him immediately and sell the men into slavery, and the women into brothels. Remember to be careful when taking action, don't hurt them, especially their faces."

  "Yes, yes, sir."

  "Alright, get out! For the next two days, keep a close eye on things and don't slack off. If those few dozen taels of silver run off, I'll skin you alive."

  "Yes, sir."

  The amount borrowed was thirty-five taels, and the amount collected back was fifty taels. It's simple, the borrowed amount was indeed fifty taels, but the interest had already been deducted at the time of borrowing. In other words, when borrowing fifty taels, only thirty-five taels were actually received.

  Jokes, without usury, how could Zhou Yuanwai's huge industry come from? How to support several concubines, and how did the servants, house slaves, guards, and luxurious life of brocade clothes and jade food come from.

  Zhou Yuanwai's motto is that being kind to others is being cruel to oneself, so Zhou Yuanwai has always been very kind to himself.

  In the wealthy Jin Yu family, the young girl stood in front of Liu Yuan's door, hesitating about whether to knock.

  Yesterday, Father has been buried, but Liu Yuan is still mysterious, although he was also present at the funeral.

  But as soon as the ceremony was over, he immediately ran back to his room and closed the door, not knowing what he wanted to do. The creditors would come tomorrow, but now there was no movement at all. Xiaoniang was anxious and couldn't help but walk to Liu Yuan's room to see what he was doing.

  But she hesitated at the moment she was about to knock on the door.

  The smell of wine, a very strong smell of wine, these smells wafted out of Liu Yuan's room. The young woman stood for a while, didn't even knock on the door, weakly hung her head and slowly walked back to her own room.

  It's clear that Brother Liu Yuan's plan was to ensure Father could rest in peace, knowing he couldn't escape now. With food and drink available, he ate and drank, and Brother Liu Yuan in the room should be drowning his sorrows with wine.

  .......

  Thinking about it, I feel relieved too - how could two teenagers possibly earn nearly 500 yuan in just seven days?

  The little girl didn't know that Liu Yuan, the senior brother in her heart, was busy sweating profusely in his room, with a face full of sweat and no time to wipe it off.

  .......

  That night, the young woman thought a lot, her heart was in a mess, thinking about the past days and worrying about the future days, she had been thinking wildly for a long time, and finally didn't know when she fell asleep.

  It was this very evening that the little woman, who usually got up early, overslept and didn't wake up until the sun was high in the sky. She was woken by a series of knocks on the door. When she opened it, she saw that it was Liu Yuan, her senior fellow disciple.

  "Master brother, it's you, good morning!" The little girl lazily called out, stretching her waist while speaking.

  She's still a little girl who never grows up, and she doesn't even bother to wash her face before opening the door.

  "The sun has already shone on your buttocks, and you still haven't gotten out of bed. Who will dare to want you in the future?" Liu Yuantai teased her.

  Little girl pouted and said: "You just have to be fine, eh? Brother Shifu, what's wrong with you today?"

  It wasn't until now that I realized Liu Yuan's hair was combed to a glossy sheen today, wearing a sky blue silk robe, holding a gold-painted fan and wearing black leather boots, looking particularly spirited.

  "Hurry up and wash, we're going to earn some money."

  "Make some money? Are we going to do odd jobs?"

  Liu Yuan shook his head and said: "How many copper coins can we get that day? What we want to earn is big money."

  "A lot of money?"

  "Right."

  "Big brother, how old are you?"

  Liu Yuan pointed to a vase on the table: "At least fill this vase with silver."

  "This package is full? Brother, let's go grab"

  "What robbery? That's a capital offense." The young woman said in surprise.

  Two people, how much money can they make in a day? That vat is so big, it's no problem to hold over a thousand taels of silver. Just two people, in one day, earning over a thousand taels of silver?

  It's just a dream, but it can't be this much.

  Liu Yuan just smiled and didn't explain. He patted the little girl and said, "I told you to go wash up quickly, or else I won't take you with me later."

  "Uh-huh, okay." The little girl replied obediently.

  Watching Xiaoniang go to wash her face, Liu Yuan smiled slightly.

  Actually, I wanted to go by myself today, but I didn't know when I would be back, and I was afraid that my wife wouldn't be able to find me, thinking that I had run away or something, and she might get scared or do something stupid, so I woke her up and brought her along.

  Otherwise, when she gets back with the silver, she'll ask this and that again, and waste her breath explaining once more.

  Soon, the little girl finished washing and dressing up neatly as Liu Yuan requested, and then followed him out.

  Before leaving, Liu Yuan really carried the jar out, and the young woman muttered to herself, thinking of using this jar to hold silver coins. Brother Liu, wouldn't you be crazy for money?

  .......