It's hard for my elder sister. I rely on the mountains to farm and pay off my debts.

The next day, more villagers came to help pick tea leaves, dry them, and make tea.

Song Zhi was completely free now. She packed herself up, took Xiao An and the team selling jelly and set off to the county government office.

As usual, after entering the city, Song Zhi separated from her elder brother and took her younger brother to deliver the jelly first.

After coming out of the pastry shop, Song Zhi went straight to the Wang family pastry shop to look for the little beggar.

But this time, Song Zhi wandered around Wang's pastry shop for a long time, but still couldn't see the monkey.

Song An frowned and said, “Sister, isn’t it too early for them to come yet?”

Just as Song Zhi was puzzled, a little beggar, only seven or eight years old, trotted up to her and asked timidly, "Good man, are you here to look for Monkey Brother?"

Song Zhi saw that the other person was wearing tattered clothes and had a thin body, but his eyes were particularly bright. She smiled and nodded.

Seeing her nod, the little beggar exhaled and said, "Monkey Brother asked us to wait here. Yesterday afternoon, we discovered something. Monkey Brother went to the grass market to deliver a message to you, but there was no jelly sold there."

"Early this morning, Brother Monkey went there again, so we'll keep an eye on this place first."

Song Zhi hadn't expected such an incident to happen. She explained to the other party, "I forgot to tell you that the jelly in Caoshi is only sold for half a day now."

The little beggar murmured, "Why is this delicious jelly only sold for half a day?"

Seeing that he couldn't help swallowing his saliva, Song Zhi asked again, "Have you had breakfast?"

The little beggar shook his head honestly, "It's still early, we have to beg first. When we can't beg for food, Brother Monkey will take us to buy food."

When Song Zhi heard this, she felt quite uncomfortable.

They have been helping her keep an eye on the place these days. There are few restaurants and eateries in this area, so it will definitely not be easy for them to beg for food.

Although I gave them some money, judging from their expressions, they would not spend it easily.

Song Zhi thought about it and asked the little beggar to go back to the alley entrance and squat first.

She took her younger brother and bought six sesame cakes from a stall not far away.

She took a piece and handed it to the younger brother beside her, "It smells strange, try it."

After spending so many days with his sister, Song An already knew what his sister was going to do.

He didn't act coy and took the pancake generously. The pancake was freshly baked and the crust was crispy. Song An tore off a piece and handed it to Song Zhi's mouth, "Sister, try it too."

Song Zhi did not refuse the little guy's kindness. She took the pancake he handed over and put it into her mouth. The aroma of sesame mixed with the aroma of flour and green onion was very good.

Song Zhi nodded, "That's right. When we go back, we'll buy a few pieces for Huanhuan, Xiaocheng and the others to try."

Seeing his sister eating it, Song An happily tore off a small piece and put it in his mouth. It was crispy, salty and fragrant, and indeed delicious.

After hearing what his sister said, he nodded repeatedly.

The little beggar squatting in the alley couldn't help but brighten his eyes when he saw Song Zhi walking towards them with food.

Monkey Brother said that this kind person had a kind heart and told them to be attentive in doing things.

Brother Monkey was right. After giving them jelly and meat patties last time, he bought them sesame cakes when he heard that they had not had breakfast yet.

Song Zhi handed the pancake in her hand to the other party and did not leave. She sat down with them and started chatting.

While chatting with them, Song Zhitong learned that one of them was ten years old, the other was eight years old, one only remembered that her name was Xiaotao, and the other was called Xiaotou.

In addition to the monkey who went to Caoji to deliver the message, they had two other companions, both of whom were children around eleven or twelve years old. They were currently watching outside the shopkeeper's house.

The reason why they became beggars was mostly due to the war in previous years. Their parents and family members were all gone, and they were forced to become beggars at a young age.

After a period of precarious living, they finally had a place to live when a new county magistrate took office last year.

But because there were so many children in the orphanage, the conditions were not very good.

The small group was led by Monkey. After Monkey left the orphanage, the children also quietly followed out.

Although I sometimes went hungry, it was better than being ostracized and bullied by some other kids in the orphanage.

The little beggar named Xiao Tao ate the pancake and told Song Zhi all about their situation.

When the monkey came back, he saw his companion sitting together with the kind man and chatting happily.

The monkey rubbed his eyes, making sure he was not mistaken, and then he trotted forward and said in surprise: "Good man, I didn't expect you to be here. I just went to the grass market to pass on a message to you."

Song Zhi nodded and stood up from the ground, "I know, Xiao Tao just told me!"

Xiao Tao also hurriedly got up from the ground, wiped the crumbs from his mouth, and handed a piece of pancake to the monkey.

"Brother, the sesame cakes that the kindhearted man just bought for you are still warm. You can have some too."

The monkey did not eat the cake first. Instead, he thanked Song Zhi and told her what he had discovered yesterday.

"Good man, a young lady came to the pastry shop yesterday. After she left, Shopkeeper Wang hurried back home and came out with a group of servants."

"I quietly followed them and later found out that they were there to collect debts. They were very aggressive and I could hear their wailing from outside the house!"

Song Zhi rubbed her chin thoughtfully, and asked in confusion, "If you owe money, paying it back is only natural, isn't it? Is there something fishy going on here?"

The monkey gave Song Zhi a thumbs-up and said flatteringly, "A kind person is very clever and can guess things at once."

Song Zhi looked at his cleverness and couldn't help but smile and shook her head, "Stop teasing me and tell me."

The monkey curled his lips and said, "If it was a normal loan, I wouldn't say that to a kind person."

"After the Wang family left, the neighbors came into the courtyard to ask about it, and then I learned that the Wang family was actually lending money at high interest."

"I borrowed ten taels of silver for medical treatment, but only received eight taels from that family. The remaining two taels were said to be interest, which had to be deducted in advance. This time, I came here to directly ask them to return the ten taels they owed me."

The monkey tutted twice and secretly spat.

"This is too shady. I was supposed to pay you ten taels of silver, but only eight are left before I even receive them. I have to pay you back ten taels in two months, and now I'm in debt of four taels."

The monkey shuddered at the thought of such a heavy burden. "Good man, I don't know what's wrong, but I know this is wrong!"

"How is this any different from a blatant robbery? Don't you think so?"

Song Zhi also snorted coldly. Isn't this even more evil than modern loan sharking?

The money is first lent at an extremely high interest rate, and is often accompanied by various unreasonable terms, such as pre-deduction of interest, which results in the borrower actually receiving far less than the loan amount, while having to repay the full amount when it is time to repay.

Eventually, it leads to the ruin of the borrower’s family!

(As an aside, the law no longer permits the practice of pre-deducting loan interest from the principal. If it is deducted in advance, the refund will be calculated based on the actual loan amount.)