Fengtian's Deterrence Remains, Interest Cannot Be Avoided

The room was so quiet you could hear dust falling.

The bowl of long-cold tea held a few withered yellow tea stems floating motionlessly.

Pan the stonemason rubbed his hands, the "heart-to-heart" expression on his face faltering. He let out a couple of dry laughs, trying to break the suffocating silence.

"Qingxuan, you see... your Uncle Pan, I'm not someone who goes back on his word. It's just that our family's fortunes have been truly dire these past few years, and your auntie's health isn't good, she needs medicine every other day, it's really..."

Ye Qingxuan raised his hand, stopping him.

"Uncle Pan, my family is also in hardship," he said, his voice flat and unwavering. "My father lending you money was a matter of goodwill. Your family repaying it is a matter of principle. These two things are unrelated."

He paused, his gaze shifting from Pan the stonemason's face to Auntie Pan, who sat fidgeting beside them.

"I'm not here today to ask how your family is doing, only to retrieve what belongs to my family. If your family truly had difficulties, you should have said so back then. Now that so many years have passed, I'm afraid it's too late to discuss it."

His words were clear and logical, leaving no room for argument.

Pan the stonemason was so choked up he couldn't speak, his face turning the color of liver.

Auntie Pan, however, sprang up from her stool like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, pointing at Ye Qingxuan's nose and shrieking, "You child! How can you speak like that! We owe your family money, but you can't push us around like this! When your father was alive, was he ever as aggressive as you are? You're trying to force us to our deaths!"

As she spoke, she began slapping her thighs, preparing to wail.

"It's not that we won't repay, it's that we're short on cash! You're a young man, working for the government, eating well and drinking heartily. Must you insist on us being unable to live for the sake of this half-tael of silver?"

Ye Qingxuan sat on the chair, unmoved. He looked at the shrewish woman, his expression still impassive.

He didn't argue with her. He slowly stood up and straightened his worn, short-sleeved shirt.

"Uncle Pan, Auntie Pan."

As he stood, the light in the room seemed to dim. Though not a tall man, his presence exuded an undeniable pressure.

"Since this account cannot be settled here, perhaps... we should take it elsewhere."

Pan the stonemason's heart skipped a beat, a bad premonition dawning. "Take... take it where?"

Ye Qingxuan turned to him, the corner of his mouth twitching, though it wasn't a smile.

"I work for the Fengtian Division now. Although I'm just a temporary constable not on the official registry, the officials there are most concerned with law and justice. I believe they would be willing to hear a case about debts owed."

The mere mention of "Fengtian Division" struck the Pan couple's hearts like three heavy hammers.

Auntie Pan's wailing stopped abruptly. Her mouth hung open, unable to continue.

The color drained from Pan the stonemason's face. He instinctively took a step back, bumping into the corner of the table, crying out in pain.

"No... no need! Qingxuan, it's not necessary!" He waved his hands repeatedly, beads of sweat the size of soybeans forming on his forehead. "We're neighbors, we see each other every day. For such a small matter, how can we bother the officials?"

The common folk do not fight the officials. This was an ironclad rule etched into the bones of every citizen in Linyuan Prefecture.

What kind of place was the Fengtian Division? It was a den that devoured people without spitting out bones! Ordinary folk avoided it their entire lives; who would dare approach it willingly? If one were taken in, even with a just cause, they'd be stripped bare.

"Is it a small matter?" Ye Qingxuan retorted. "I think it's a grave matter. A person without integrity cannot stand. Uncle Pan, wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Pan the stonemason replied repeatedly, no longer daring to hesitate. He shot his wife a fierce glare, as if to say, "You disastrous woman, you nearly caused a major catastrophe."

He turned and hurried into the inner room, the sound of rummaging through chests and cabinets echoing out.

A moment later, Pan the stonemason emerged holding a cloth bag, a smile plastered on his face that was more mournful than a cry.

"Qingxuan, look... here... this is five hundred copper coins. Count them."

He offered the bag, but Ye Qingxuan didn't take it, merely gesturing to the table.

Pan the stonemason understood and quickly poured the copper coins from the bag onto the table.

With a clatter, a pile of dark green copper coins spread across half the tabletop, still bearing traces of dust and emitting a musty, aged smell.

Ye Qingxuan reached out and sifted through the pile of coins, beginning to count.

He counted slowly, each coin clearly distinguished.

With every coin counted, Pan the stonemason's heart twitched.

"Four hundred and ninety-eight, four hundred and ninety-nine, five hundred."

Ye Qingxuan finished counting the last coin and looked up.

Pan the stonemason let out a long sigh and quickly said, "Is that right? Half a tael of silver, five hundred coins, not one less."

"The principal, not one coin less," Ye Qingxuan nodded.

Just as Pan the stonemason was about to smile, he heard Ye Qingxuan's tone shift.

"But something is still missing."

"Wh-what's missing?" Pan the stonemason's heart leaped into his throat again.

"Interest," Ye Qingxuan uttered the two words.

"What?" Auntie Pan shrieked again, her voice piercing and painful to the ears. "You want interest too? Ye Qingxuan, don't push your luck too far!"

Pan the stonemason also looked astonished, he could hardly believe his ears.

"Qingxuan, this... this isn't how it works! When your father lent the money, he never said anything about calculating interest!"

Ye Qingxuan tossed a copper coin between his fingers, catching it steadily.

"When my father borrowed the money, he probably never imagined that it would take so many years to get back this half tael of silver." He looked at Pan the stonemason. "Liu San, who practices usury in the east of the city, charges one hundred wen in interest for one tael of silver per month. Uncle Pan, my father borrowed half a tael of silver from you, and after so many years, I'm only asking for fifty wen in interest. Is that considered bullying too much?"

His words were well-reasoned and supported by facts.

In this world, even between brothers, accounts must be settled clearly. Lending money and charging interest was a universally accepted practice. It was just that out of politeness, ordinary families wouldn't state it so plainly.

Pan the stonemason and his wife were speechless.

They weren't ignorant of this principle; they simply had never intended to repay the money, let alone the interest.

In their minds, the Ye family was an orphaned mother and child, their fortunes in decline. They thought the debt would simply be written off.

Now, not only did they have to return the principal, but they also had to pay an additional fifty wen. This felt worse than having their flesh cut off.

Aunt Pan trembled with anger, pointing at Ye Qingxuan, her lips quivering, but she couldn't utter a single curse.

Pan the stonemason's face shifted from green to pale, a truly colorful display.

He looked at Ye Qingxuan's calm face and suddenly felt that this young man before him was a hundred times more troublesome than the ruffians on the streets.

Those people would leave if you gave them money.

But this kid, he argued based on principles.

After a long stalemate, Pan the stonemason finally deflated.

He was scared.

He was afraid this kid would be stubborn and drag him to the Fengtian Division. It wasn't worth it for fifty wen.

Gritting his teeth, he fumbled in his money pouch for a long time before reluctantly counting out fifty copper coins and slapping them onto the table with a "snap."

"Here!"

Ye Qingxuan gathered the fifty wen with the other five hundred wen and put them into the money pouch he had brought, tying it shut.

The string of copper coins felt heavy in his hand.

He tucked the money pouch into his embrace and turned to leave, without another word.

From beginning to end, he hadn't touched the bowl of tea, nor had he glanced at the Pan couple again.

It wasn't until his figure disappeared from the courtyard entrance that Aunt Pan recovered her senses and began to curse loudly at the door: "You damnable little beast! Black-hearted, rotten gut! I hope you get run over by a cart the moment you leave the house..."

Foul language poured out endlessly.

Ye Qingxuan walked down the alley, the curses from behind him scattering with the wind.

His steps were steady, and the five hundred and fifty wen in his pouch made a soft, pleasant clinking sound with his movement.

This sum of money wasn't much, but it was enough for him and his sister to eat a little better in the coming days.

Eating well would give them the strength to train.

With strength, they could fight for a way to survive.

As for the curses from the Pan family, he paid them no mind.

In this turbulent world, the curses of the weak were the most powerless sounds.

What he needed to do was to ensure he never became someone who uttered such sounds.