Siheyuan: Starting from 1958

Although the couple had already decided to prioritize saving the smaller investment over the larger one, the 3,000 yuan fine was still an unimaginable sum for them, especially after the several thousand yuan they had invested in Xu Damao had gone down the drain.

He forced himself to stand up from the chair, walked step by step back to his room, found the metal box where he kept his money, and began to take stock of his possessions.

Five minutes later, the glimmer of hope that had just appeared on Yan Fugui's face was once again covered by despair.

Looking at his wife's helpless face, he said, "All the money in our house adds up to only 836 yuan, which is more than 2,100 yuan short of 3,000 yuan."

"Although I receive a pension of over thirty yuan every month, I only collect it at the beginning of each month; they never give it to me in advance..."

"And with such a big incident, every neighbor in all four courtyards already knows that we lost the several thousand yuan we invested in Xu Damao, and the three Jie brothers were arrested by the police and need to pay a fine of nine thousand yuan to get them released..."

"At this point, no one would lend us money for no reason."

Yan Fugui's wife suddenly spoke up: "The eldest son's bicycle can still be sold for seventy or eighty yuan..."

"The fourth brother has been working for several years now. Although he sends money home for food every month, he should have saved quite a bit of money."

“Although we promised him that the money he saved would be her future dowry, now that her own brother is in trouble, we have to help him out, otherwise, after he gets married, the fourth sister will not even have a family to rely on.”

"Moreover, the relationship between the fourth brother and the third brother has always been very good, and this money is all for the third brother to pay the fine. I estimate that borrowing five or six hundred yuan should not be a problem."

Yan Fugui nodded, but his furrowed brows did not relax. He continued, "That's still 1,500 or 1,600 yuan short..."

At this point, Yan Fugui suddenly clenched his fist and slammed it on the table in front of him, as if he had made a great decision, and said, "It seems that mortgaging the house is the only way to go."

"The Jia family in the middle courtyard mortgaged their house to Lao Wang for 1,500 yuan, promising to repay 1,700 yuan a year later."

“Our house is bigger, so mortgaging it to borrow 1,600 yuan shouldn’t be a problem…”

"Try to get them to agree to repay the loan in two years, with only 300 yuan in interest."

Yan Fugui's scheming was on full display here.

If we can rescue the third son and let him work a few more hours outside each day, earning fifty or sixty yuan a month will definitely not be a problem.

With my own pension and another ten or so yuan from my fourth brother each month, the family's monthly income can exceed one hundred yuan. If we save seventy yuan and keep thirty yuan for living expenses, we can save up one thousand seven hundred yuan in two years.

If I could scrape together another two or three hundred yuan from other sources, I could easily pay back the two thousand yuan I owed others.

But all of this is just Yan Fugui's wishful thinking.

To put it bluntly, if you borrow 1,600 yuan for two years, the total interest is only 300 yuan, and not many people would be willing to lend it.

Even if someone were willing to lend it, they would still need to have the capital to do so.

Only a handful of families in a traditional courtyard house could afford to pay 1,600 yuan at once.

Liu Haizhong, who had also invested money in Xu Damao, had lost it all and certainly couldn't lend him any money.

The Jia family in the middle courtyard had mortgaged all their houses and had no money left.

Although Old Wang in the front yard was wealthy, he lent his money to the Jia family in the middle yard.

Based on this calculation, the only families left who can lend me money are He Yuzhu, Tang Dashan, and Wang Dong.

I heard that He Yuzhu and Tang Dashan both bought courtyard houses outside and are currently renovating them. Their finances must be very tight, and they might not be able to come up with the money. So, to be on the safe side, it's best to ask Wang Dong for that much money.

Just as Yan Fugui made up his mind to go find Wang Dong, the door to the Yan family's house was suddenly pushed open, and then the second son's wife rushed in.

"I heard that something happened to the Liberation Army..."

"What Xu Damao was doing outside wasn't foreign trade at all, it was smuggling..."

"Is it true that they were caught red-handed and have to pay a 3,000 yuan fine to be released...?"

Yan Fugui's original plan was to rescue Lao San quietly.

If the family doesn't have any extra money by then, and even the house has been mortgaged, they won't be able to come up with any money even if the second son's wife comes to make a scene.

Before he could even mortgage the house, his second son's wife rushed back in a panic.

Faced with his second son's wife's questioning, Yan Fugui still felt somewhat guilty. After all, he was the one who encouraged them to invest in Xu Damao, and now that things had gone wrong, he bore some responsibility.

More importantly, he had already decided to pay the fine for the third child and temporarily abandon the eldest and second children, which made him feel even more guilty.

But I forced myself to stay calm, frowned and asked, "Where did you hear all this from... I'll tell you when I get back, I have something to do outside now."

If it were anything else, the second son's wife might have compromised, but this matter was too big; it concerned her husband's potential imprisonment. She had only heard some general information from outside and didn't fully understand the details, so she was determined to find out.

He blocked the doorway and asked, "Don't worry about where I heard it from, just tell me if it's true..."

"I also heard that the three brothers who were supposed to be liberated either have to pay a fine or go to jail, and each of them has to pay a fine of three thousand yuan..."

"Are these reports true?"

Faced with his daughter-in-law's persistent questioning, even the thick-skinned Yan Fugui could no longer hide the truth and could only grit his teeth and answer, "It's all true..."

"The three men were smuggling with Xu Damao and they were all arrested."

“Not only was he detained by the police, but the several thousand yuan we invested in Xu Damao was also lost, and we can’t get a penny back.”

"Father is now trying to borrow money; we must find a way to redeem them..."

Upon hearing that Yan Fugui was going to borrow money to pay the fine, the second son's wife's expression immediately softened considerably.

As long as we can redeem the person, we can always earn more money.

He quickly asked, "How much money can you borrow?"

Yan Fugui knew that if he didn't give his second son's wife an explanation or put an end to her hopes, he wouldn't be leaving today.

Although she knew the outcome would greatly disappoint her, she still forced herself to answer, "I'm going to find Uncle Chen..."

"Have him act as an intermediary, mortgage the house to Wang Dong, and borrow 1,600 yuan back..."

"We still have eight or nine hundred yuan at home. We'll sell the eldest brother's bicycle, borrow a few hundred yuan from the fourth brother, and try to scrape together three thousand yuan to pay one person's fine first." (End of Chapter)