Wealthy beyond measure, yet you call me a sister-supporting-brother demon?

Ma Lai Xi put on an angry look, "Auntie, you don't believe me? Do you know how much trouble you're causing me? How am I supposed to explain this to my friends? This is no way to do things!"

Saving her son's life was the priority, so Ma Guifen gritted her teeth and asked, "How much principal will be deducted, and how much money can I get back?" At worst, she could find Xi Fangdai again later and earn the money back little by little.

"Twelve taels."

Ma Guifen's heart ached at the mention of ten taels of silver! Ten taels of silver! Money that her family had painstakingly saved up. If they used those ten taels to buy meat, how much meat could they buy? Five hundred catties of pork! Even if they ate a catty of meat every day, they couldn't finish it in a year!

Ma Guifen patted her chest to catch her breath. If she lost ten taels of silver, Zhang Wen would beat her up. But if her sons' treatment was delayed because of her, and they died, she would be beaten to death by Zhang Wen, and she would also feel guilty to death.

"Ten taels less is ten taels less, it's forty-five taels, you get it back for me today!"

Ma Laixi and Chef Feng took leave and rushed to find Zheng Dadan, his friend who helped him with lending money. Zheng Dadan was furious when he heard that Ma Laixi was coming to ask for money back, and pretended to go out and run around looking for borrowers.

Malai Xi waited anxiously at Zheng Dadan's house.

Finally, Zheng Dadan returned, frowning. "Brother, I'm sorry, I just found out that our loan shark has run away. Ma Dong's dilapidated house has been sold, and we can't find him anywhere now."

"What?" Ma Laixi was stunned. They ran away?! "Zheng Dadan! This is my two cousins' life-saving money! The lender has run away, give me back my forty-five taels." Ma Laixi was also anxious, not knowing how to explain it to his aunt when he got back.

Zheng Dadan punched Ma Laixi in the eye. "What the hell do you mean! When you asked me to lend money before, I told you that lending money was risky and that you might not be able to get it back. You still asked me to do it, and now you're blaming me?!"

Zheng Dadan's punch woke Ma Laixi up. Zheng Dadan had a group of brothers that he couldn't afford to mess with.

Moreover, Zheng Dadan had indeed told him that lending money was risky and required caution. As long as the borrower was around, they could recover the money, but if the borrower absconded, they would be helpless. Fortunately, he had also told his aunt these things. Alas! It was just bad luck, and his aunt couldn't blame him.

After leaving Zheng Dadan's house, Ma Laixi went straight to find Ma Guifen. When Ma Guifen saw Ma Laixi walking towards her with a black eye and an apologetic look, she sensed something was wrong.

"Auntie, I'm so sorry. That bastard Ma Dong who took out the loan has run away, and we can't get the principal back."

Ma Guifen suddenly felt dizzy. "Laixi, what did you say?"

"Auntie, the guy who lent you the money has run away, you're not getting your money back."

Ma Guifen was so angry that she coughed up blood. "Laixi! How could you treat your aunt like this? This is your two cousins' life-saving money!"

Ma Laixi said weakly, "Auntie, I told you before I lent the money that lending is risky and you should be careful. You still wanted me to lend it to you, so you can't blame me."

Ma Guifen tried hard to recall the events of that day. She had just returned to her parents' home when she overheard Ma Laixi boasting about knowing people who lent money at exorbitant interest rates. He said that it wasn't enough to just work and save money; you had to accumulate interest to get rich.

He seemed to mention the risks briefly, but he talked more about how interest can compound and how to make money!

Ma Guifen weakly extended her finger, "Ma Laixi! You've ruined us! If your two cousins ​​die, you'll be the murderer!"

Ma Laixi felt a little guilty, but it wasn't intentional. He didn't have the money to repay the huge sum of fifty-five taels, so he couldn't back down. "Aunt, if anyone's to blame, it's your greed. You can't pin it on me. When I said there were risks in lending money, others heard me too."

Ma Guifen wanted to curse Ma Laixi's ancestors for eight generations, but saving her son's life was the priority. She had to quickly tell her husband the news, as he was waiting for the money to save his life.

Ma Guifen stumbled and fell as she arrived at Miaoshoutang, the best clinic in the entire Qingshan Town.

Zhang Wen was already waiting at the door. The first day's treatment for his eldest son would cost ten taels of silver, and the first day's treatment for his youngest son would cost five taels of silver. The fifteen taels he brought were just enough.

But we won't have the money for tomorrow. Tomorrow and the day after will be the most dangerous time for the two of them. They'll need twenty taels for the next two days, and the follow-up treatment will cost another forty taels. Fifty-five taels should be enough. We can borrow some more from the villagers to cover the rest.

As soon as Ma Guifen saw Zhang Wen, tears streamed down her face. "Father, that bastard Lai Xi said the person who borrowed our money has run away, and we're not going to get our fifty-five taels back. What are we going to do?!"

Zhang Wen stared coldly at Ma Guifen, "What to do? I have to ask you! That's your nephew! That's money you lent out without telling me!" After saying that, Zhang Wen also spat out a mouthful of blood!

His family's 40 mu of land was accumulated little by little, especially after his two sons came of age! His two sons were very capable. When the government encouraged land reclamation, his two sons reclaimed a lot of wasteland. They often went to the fields to turn the soil and weed, and when they had time, they would go to the mountains to cut firewood and sell it in town.

They worked harder than donkeys, yet they ate the worst coarse grains to fill their stomachs. They saved up their fortune penny by penny, accumulating forty acres of land and seventy taels of silver!

Now, fifty-five taels have been wasted by his wife?

There's still a shortfall of sixty taels! What are we going to do now?! Zhang Wen looked up at the sky and asked!

There's no better way now; selling land is the only option.

Zhang Wen couldn't help but smile bitterly. He had been thinking of buying Yuan Laifu's land at a super low price and making a profit. Now he and Yuan Laifu were in the same boat; he was selling land to save his son, and Yuan Laifu was selling land to save his son-in-law.

As for his wife who caused all this trouble, he could only deal with her later. "You! Go back to your parents' house and borrow money. You're always bragging to me about how awesome your nephews are! How awesome your family is! Now it's time for them to show off their awesomeness!"

Ma Guifen knows she made a huge mistake, and now she can only go back to her parents' home to borrow money.

Zhang Wen sneered. Through this loan incident, he had seen through Ma Laixi and Ma Guifen's family. They were all good at bragging, but actually had no real ability.

If Malay Sze were truly capable and had such connections, he wouldn't have entrusted such risky money to them. He's probably been fooled by someone who thinks he's a fool!

Every time relatives get together, Ma Guifen's older brother, Ma Shanpo, would boast about how capable his sons were, especially Ma Laixi, who was highly regarded by the head manager of Donglaishun Restaurant and had many connections in town! He boasted about how many important people he dined with!

That's all bullshit!

What a bunch of bastards!