strictlysupreme Chapter 534: Borrowing Usury from the Shadow Clan
Chapter 534: Borrowing Usury from the Shadow Clan
It was late at night, and the candlelight was still on in the main hall of the Taoist temple. Youmei glanced at the prescription handed over by Si Yao, but did not reach out to take it. A sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth: "Miss Si Yao, are you ordering me around?"
Si Yao lowered her eyes slightly, raised her hand and bowed respectfully to him, then said leisurely:
"Si Yao doesn't dare, but she is about to save someone, so she wants to ask Youmei to help her get some medicine back from outside."
"Help?" Just as Si Yao finished speaking, two sneers were heard in the main hall. You Mei crossed his arms, his eyes full of disdain, and then snorted coldly: "I am a mean-spirited person. I can still remember clearly how Miss Si Yao teamed up with that vicious woman to play tricks on me. Do you think I will help you with this?"
Si Yao paused for a moment, then raised her eyes and looked directly at Youmei, her eyes full of sincerity:
"The people living next door are three orphans and a widow. After losing the mainstay of the family, the mother took on the responsibility of raising two children alone. It was a hardship that was beyond words. Now she is seriously ill and on the verge of death. As the saying goes, saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. We are all flesh and blood raised by our parents. I don't believe that the heart of the dark is really as cold and hard as stone. Your mother..."
"Shut up! It's not your turn as a junior to comment on my mother's words." Before Si Yao could finish, You Mei interrupted her in a deep voice, then snatched the prescription from her hand, glanced at it and said:
"Ginseng is expensive, and for a poor person like me, we can just use codonopsis instead."
"Ginseng is a great supplement for vital energy, nourishes blood and promotes the production of body fluids. Its medicinal effect is far better than that of Codonopsis. This sister-in-law's illness can no longer be delayed. Moreover, there are two children at home who need to be taken care of. She must get better as soon as possible." Seeing that Youmei was willing to accept the prescription, Si Yao secretly breathed a sigh of relief. While speaking, he took out another IOU and handed it over: "I only have some small change on me, which is far from enough for the medicine. How about this, just treat it as a loan from Youmei, and when I raise the money in the future, I will repay it in full with interest."
After hearing this, the pair of eyes under the black veil narrowed slightly, and his gaze moved back and forth between Si Yao and the loan note. After thinking for a moment, he said again:
"It's not that easy to borrow money from the Shadow Clan. The highest interest rate on the black market is 50% per month, and the Shadow Clan charges 20% per day. Even if you have a close relationship with the clan king, you can't break the rules of the Shadow Clan. Also, ginseng is a rare and precious medicinal material. You may not be able to find it in a pharmacy within a hundred miles. You can only buy it in a county town that is farther away. If you are in a hurry, you have to hurry. It's not easy to rush back and forth. My people are also born by their parents, so they have to be paid so that they can do this job well."
Youmei's words made Si Yao's heart sink into the abyss. Although she knew that the other party was obviously taking the opportunity to ask for an exorbitant price to make things difficult for her, she could not stand by and watch the seriously ill woman next door and the two helpless children. She had to grit her teeth and said resolutely: "As long as I can save people, I will agree to all the conditions. Please ask Youmei to send someone to buy medicine quickly and don't delay the treatment."
Youmei was slightly startled, and at the same time, a playful smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. It was interesting. How dare she agree to the conditions of the Shadow Clan for an unrelated person? Then Youmei thought again, maybe she was just relying on the support of the King of the Clan. Forget it, just give the King of the Clan a face. He wanted to see whether this girl was really brave or just relied on the King of the Clan to satisfy her so-called holy heart?
Youmei said nothing more. He turned around and called in the shadow warrior who was waiting outside. He handed him the prescription and whispered a few words to him. The shadow warrior then took his orders and left.
"I've made some estimates, and the money for the medicine and the labor fee will be considered as the principal of one hundred taels of silver. The interest will be calculated from tomorrow." Youmei looked at the IOU in his hand, and then smiled lazily at Si Yao.
Si Yao took a deep breath when she heard this. The principal of one hundred taels of silver, with a 20% interest rate, would have to be increased by twenty taels every day. The Shadow Clan was really ruthless! But now that she was in this wilderness village, she had no other choice but to let him slaughter her. Si Yao sighed secretly, then raised her hand and thanked Youmei solemnly: "No matter what, Si Yao still has to thank Youmei for saving Fubao's family!" After saying that, she walked out of the main hall.
"It's a pity that he is already the prince's man, otherwise he could become an excellent chess piece." Seeing Si Yao's calm attitude, Youmei said to himself with a bit of regret.
The next day, at dawn, the morning birds were noisy, and the shadow man who went out to buy medicine had not yet returned. Si Yao bought some buns, pancakes, and sugar porridge from Youmei and sent them to the neighboring farmhouse. At this time, in the straw shed next to the thatched house, the sick woman's eldest son Shitou was cooking shepherd's purse porridge. The child was only about seven or eight years old, but he worked like an adult.
"Si...Sister Si Yao...I slept late last night...My mother and brother are still not awake." After Shitou put the brown rice into the pot, he turned around and was surprised to see Si Yao walking towards the straw hut. He hurried out to greet her. He was honest and not as clever and sweet-spoken as his brother. He stammered and finished his words, then lowered his eyes, looking embarrassed and shy.
"Heat these up and eat them together with your mother and brother when they wake up." Si Yao smiled calmly, and then handed the bamboo basket in her hand to him.
"Thank you, Sister Si Yao!" Shi Tou timidly took the bamboo basket. Although the basket was covered with a layer of gauze, the fragrance inside had already reached his nose, making him swallow his saliva.
"I'll come back later." Si Yao glanced at the slightly closed wooden door of the thatched hut and continued talking to the child in front of her before turning around and going back to the Taoist temple.
Si Yao had just walked out of the farmhouse when she saw an old woman walking towards her slowly, holding a few potatoes. The two looked at each other, and Si Yao smiled and nodded at her. Seeing this, the old woman dared to ask curiously, "You look unfamiliar, are you Chunying's distant relative?"
"Auntie, you have misunderstood. I am a doctor passing by here. I am staying in the Taoist temple next door with my companions. Sister Chunying is my patient." Si Yao replied truthfully.
"It turns out to be a female doctor, that's great! I said Chunying had a hard life, if God has eyes, he will make her get better!" The old woman couldn't help but get excited when she heard it, and her vicissitudes eyes were immediately filled with tears. Then she walked closer to Si Yao and continued in a low voice: "Chunying had been married for less than two years when her husband went out to row a boat to transport goods, leaving Chunying to work alone at home. At first, the unfaithful man would come back every year during the busy farming season, but the money he brought back was getting less and less every year. He just said that it was hard to get work. It has been rumored in the town that he has a widow outside. Look, he didn't even come home two years ago. He didn't want his wife and son who were suffering at home, but only wanted that mistress outside. He has no conscience! Chunying doesn't know about this yet, and we dare not mention it to her, for fear that she would be sad and worse. Fortunately, she is now heartbroken and just thinks that her husband died outside!"
Si Yao couldn't help but sigh when she heard this. She thought that this family was doomed to be unlucky, but she didn't expect that it was all caused by a heartless man who abandoned his wife and children!