We Are in Debt?

Fu Mei Li followed the brothers outside, curious to see what the noise was about.

The Jin brothers' home was actually on the large side in terms of land area and they had to pass an inner and outer courtyard before reaching the wooden main gate.

A quick glance showed that, at one point, the Jin family was well-to-do. They lived in a remote village yet they were able to build a sizable compound like this.

However, the current situation doesn't seem to be good. Fu Mei Li noticed the general disrepair of the tiled roofs and brick walls. The East and West residences were looking dilapidated. The inner and outer courtyards had a few trees here and there but, overall, they looked unattended.

Before she could take a closer look at the property, they arrived at the main gate.

Fu Mei Li saw an older woman, who seemed to be in her early forties, trying to fend off two angry-looking men who were about to barge inside. Their clamor has also attracted a few of the neighboring villagers over.

Fu Mei Li stayed at the back and decided to just watch. She did not know these people and didn't have the mind to interfere.

"First uncle, second uncle. What can we do for you today?" Jin Mingyu asked those two middle-aged men. In fact, he had a good idea why they were here.

"First Jin! We are here to collect the debt payment but your servant here won't let us in!" One of the guys shouted.

"Pui, just a servant who doesn't know who the masters are!" The second man added while spitting on the ground near the older woman's feet.

"Yu-er, I just told them to wait for me to call you. I know your wife was ill so I didn't want to disturb her rest." The elder woman told Mingyu.

"It's okay, Aunt Li. We will talk to our uncles." Turning to the two men, Mingyu invited them to go inside and discuss matters.

Who knew that the two uncles refused this time. Seeing as there was now a crowd, they puffed up their chests and shouted even louder.

"Is this how the Jin family repays kind favors? Defaulting on their debts and even treating their uncles rudely?!"

"First Uncle, you know we don't mean that." The Third Brother, Jin Weimin, tried to calm the man down to no avail.

"What do you mean by this then? When your fathers died, we immediately lent 20 taels to your family for their funeral. Over the past three years, we were not stingy in lending you money for your mother's medical fees." This time, it was the second uncle who was shouting.

"Your mother was our sister and so we, the Sheng family, will naturally help you in times of trouble. But it has been over three years. You even promised to pay an interest but since we are relatives, we have not calculated that. But now, are you planning to not pay at all? Your grandma's health is not good and we need the money for her medicine too!"

The surrounding crowd started murmuring amongst themselves after hearing these things.

"How the Jin family has fallen. They used to be the richest in the village, now they're even running away from their debts."

"That's right, they have more than a hundred mu of farmlands and even own two mountains. Aren't the Jin brothers being too unscrupulous?"

"Poor Sheng family, their kindness has been returned with viciousness. Now, grandma Sheng is even sick. Have the hearts of these Jin brothers been fed to the dogs?"

The crowd's murmurs became more and more piercing while the faces of the Jin brothers became blacker by the minute.

Jin Weimin interjected once again. "Uncles, you know it's not like that. It hasn't been over a year since our mother passed away. We brothers are working hard to earn money and we promised to pay you this year."

"You keep saying you'll pay each year, but nothing happened. Now your grandma is sick, how are we supposed to pay the doctor?" The two uncles were unreconciled.

The brothers were speechless. They too wanted to pay off this debt as soon as possible. It's true that they own a lot of farm plots but these were all rented out. Because of last year's drought, the harvest wasn't so good and the grains received from the tenant farmers were barely able to pay off their other debts and support their household expenses.

Their two shops in town have been closed for many months now since there weren't many customers. People everywhere were also tightening their pursestrings just in case there was another natural disaster. The family income right now really wasn't enough and they just got a wife, too.

They had to spend money to fetch her from the capital and now there's one more mouth to feed. If not for their mother's dying wish that they honor the engagement and if not for the Grand Tutor covering the bridal gifts, they would have delayed the marriage further.

"If you really cannot pay your debt, just give us half of your farmlands!"

Jin Shufen sneered. "Second Uncle's appetite is really too large. We owe your family 120 taels of silver. That's worth 10 to 15 mu of land at most. Now you want us to give you more than 50 mu?"

"You have been dodging this matter for months and months. We deserve at least this much compensation!"

Shufen wasn't convinced. "Oh, I thought you needed silver for grandma. How come you want plots of land now?"

Fu Mei Li also found it suspicious. Plus, she didn't agree to give away the farmlands. No matter what era, real estate is a valuable investment. It's best to keep the farms and grow food for future economic stability.

"Uncles, we will really pay the debt this year. We just need a few more months." Weimin tried to diffuse the situation again. At worst, they could just ask the first brother to request the Grand Tutor for assistance, although they'd really have to thicken their skins to do that.

Fu Mei Li, who was getting a headache from hunger and the noise, chose to step in. Anyway, she decided to be a part of this family, so she should help where she can right?

While the uncles were preparing for another round of shouting, they heard a soft but clear voice coming from behind the brothers.

"We'll pay half now and the rest will be paid by the end of the sixth month."

The brothers were stunned as they turned to look at the frail woman standing behind them.