Traveling through ancient times, I led my family to prosperity

The two hens sent by Zhang Shanfeng did not lay eggs. Zhang was reluctant to feed the chickens with the food at home. In addition, the weather was getting colder and the chickens were getting thinner day by day. Today, she was determined to kill both of them. One was to be cooked for lunch today, and the other was to be hung up to dry and eaten slowly.

The beans in the backyard were about to ripen, so Xiaolan and Xiaoting picked some tender ones and filled half a basket. At noon, the three of them planned to make braised chicken with beans.

Xiao Lan thought of the stewed chicken with beans she had made in her previous life, and planned to make it for the whole family to try at noon. She scooped a ladle of white flour and a ladle of bean flour, added water and mixed them well, and set aside. Zhang had already plucked the chicken, cleaned it, and chopped it into pieces. Sheng Xuan heated up the iron pan, added a little oil, and added chopped green onions to stir-fry until fragrant, then poured in the chicken and stir-fried it. When the oil came out, he poured in the picked and washed beans, stir-fried them twice, added soy sauce and salt, and then poured in enough water, and started stewing over high heat.

Xiao Lan took out the dough, rolled it into a thin pancake, put the pancake on the beans and chicken, then covered the pot tightly and continued to light the fire. The whole pot was ready in about half an hour.

The pancake is dipped in chicken soup, which makes it oily and looks delicious.

Sheng Xuan's family sat together to eat. This time, Zhang did not mention sending food to the old man of the Sheng family. After all, these two chickens were sent by Xin to Xiao Lan to replenish her body, and the old man Sheng also said that there was no need to send them. The pancakes were dipped in chicken soup, which was so fragrant that it could make people dizzy. Xiao Lan's family was enjoying the meal when Chunhua came in.

Chunhua glanced at the food on their table and rolled her eyes, "Third brother, our father is calling you over."

"Aunt, what's the matter that grandpa called me dad?" Xiao Lan asked.

"I don't know what it is, Third brother, hurry up." Then he turned and left.

Xiaoting was left at home to accompany Zhang to look after the house, while Xiaolan and Xiaowen followed Shengxuan to the upper room.

On the kang in the main room, the old man was smoking a cigarette, and the smoke filled the room and was very choking. Cui, Sheng Kai and Sheng Hao were all sitting on the kang, and there was also an old man wearing a gray silk gown sitting on the edge of the kang.

Lao Jin is a loan shark in the village. No matter what era, anyone who has anything to do with loan sharking will end up in a bad way. Lao Jin is usually smiling, but I don't know if he looks like this when he's asking for money. Xiao Lan is very puzzled. Why is Lao Jin here? Is he having lunch at the old man's house? Now the old man has called all three sons to come. I'm afraid there is something important to discuss.

"Third brother, you're here. Come and sit down." Old Master Sheng heard the door open, looked up and saw Sheng Xuan coming over, and hurriedly greeted him.

Xiao Lan quickly moved a bench and asked her father to sit down. She and Xiao Wen also sat on the benches.

"Dad, what's the matter?" Sheng Xuan was also puzzled. He had never heard that the old man had any dealings with Lao Jin before. Lao Jin in the village was not a good person. Why did he come to his house today?

"It's not a big deal. Why did the old man call you all here?" Old Jin smiled and took a sip of tea and continued, "I came here today just to remind you that the account will be due in seven days."

This statement caused a huge stir. Not only was Xiao Lan stunned, her father was also stunned. It took him a while to come back to his senses. "Dad, did you borrow money from a loan shark? How much did you borrow?"

"Third brother, it was not our father who borrowed the money, but our eldest brother. He borrowed one hundred and twenty taels of silver." Sheng Hao said in a muffled voice.

"Ah, so much money? Why did big brother borrow usury?" Sheng Xuan was so shocked that he couldn't speak clearly.

"Why else? The Sun family asked for the deposit, and my brother spent all the money, so he borrowed high-interest loans to pay off the debt. That bastard has gone to hide in the town and is living a happy life, without caring about our lives at all." Sheng Kai said angrily.

"Uncle Jin, this loan shark was borrowed from my uncle. Why don't you ask him for it back? What are you doing at my grandfather's house?" Xiao Lan wondered.

"The old man gave the guarantee." Lao Jin took out the deed and showed it to Sheng Xuan and the others, "The old man put his fingerprints on it."

The whole family fell silent.

Old Jin was very perceptive. He knew that the old man had something to say to his three sons, so he said goodbye. In their line of work, debt collection usually emphasizes courtesy before force. Today, he came here specially to have a meal and remind them. When the due date comes and they can't pay the money, there are many ways.

From Sheng Kai's words, Xiao Lan learned that her uncle made trouble while drinking in the restaurant and broke the antique vase in the store. The store owner demanded 200 taels of silver as compensation, and if he didn't pay, he would report to the police. In order to pay back the money, Sheng Nuo set his sights on her. She took the ghost marriage deposit given by the Sun family and paid it to the restaurant. In the end, she escaped from death, and the ghost marriage was about to fail, so the Sun family asked the eldest brother for the deposit. The Sun family was big and powerful, and the eldest brother dared not not pay it back, but he didn't have that much money on hand, so he had to discuss it with the old man.

The old man couldn't bear to see the son he had raised with so much effort go to waste. Although he failed every provincial examination and ranked in the middle or lower parts in the annual examination, the old man still believed that his eldest son was a good student and would bring honor to the family one day.

Old Master Sheng had saved some money over the years, plus a few taels of silver from the bottom of his box, a total of fifty taels. Sheng Nuo took out one hundred and thirty taels, of which one hundred taels was the deposit given by the Sun family, and thirty taels was the income from his lectures in the town's academy in recent years.

Sheng Nuo said he would borrow money to pay back the Sun family first. The Sun family needed the money urgently, so he didn't dare to default on it. First, because the Sun family was powerful; second, he was afraid that the ghost marriage storm that had been finally settled would be mentioned again. If it got stirred up again, his murder of his niece would be confirmed, and his reputation would be ruined, making it difficult for him to make further progress in the future.

The eldest wanted to borrow money from his eldest sister Sheng Chunhua, who opened a grocery store in town and earned several taels of silver a month. The family had made a lot of money over the years. Cui firmly disagreed, saying that her eldest daughter's family was living a tight life and asked him to solve the problem he had caused himself.

An ordinary farmer's family could not afford 120 taels of silver, so the eldest brother suggested borrowing from a loan shark and tried his best to guarantee that he would pay it back within two months. Then Mr. Sheng reluctantly agreed to be his guarantor.

I borrowed the high-interest loan from Lao Jin, 120 taels, for two months, with an interest rate of 3%. If I can't pay it back on time, the interest will be compounded.

Xiao Lan was secretly shocked when she heard this. The principal plus interest for two months was 156 taels. If she couldn't pay it back, the 156 taels would be used as principal in the third month, and 202 taels and 8 qian of silver would be used as principal next month. If she still couldn't pay it back, 202 taels and 8 qian of silver would be used as principal, and so on and so forth, which means interest is compounded.

Listening to her second uncle's explanation and her own imagination, Xiao Lan thought of the most important question, "Grandpa, where is my eldest uncle? It's such a big thing, why doesn't he come back to help us figure out a solution?"