Chapter 46 Working to Repay the Debt

It seems there is still hope!

Before long, the two old men walked out with helpless expressions, and Lin Feng stopped them outside the courtyard.

"Uncle Li, why so dejected?"

Constable Li said, "The Tian family said that tomorrow is the repayment deadline for the second daughter-in-law's younger brother's gambling debt, and they must have one hundred and fifty taels of silver in hand."

"The two of us put together don't even have eighty taels," Blacksmith Li sighed helplessly.

"Then why did the two of you go in?"

"We figured we would give the Tian family a part of it for emergency use first, and then go back and figure out a way to scrape together the rest. But we didn't expect them to be in such a rush, and with it being so late, there's nowhere to borrow money!" Constable Li shook his head. "I am powerless to help."

"Me too."

The two of them left sighing.

Lin Feng thought to himself, no wonder the Tian family was in such a rush; it turned out tomorrow was the repayment day.

That meant if Tian Xi'er refused, the silver had to be delivered to the Jin family tomorrow.

Yes, so sudden—who could possibly produce that much money on a moment's notice?

Lin Feng looked at the afterglow of the sunset in the west, and Tian Xi'er's sweet smile with her dimples surfaced in his mind. He thought, oh well, the traditional trope of a hero saving a beauty cannot be abandoned.

He returned to the courtyard, went to the open-air kitchen, and looked at Xiaodie, who was stir-frying vegetables. "Xiaodie, how much money do we have right now?"

Xiaodie looked at him suspiciously. "Big Brother, you surely don't want to give the money to the Tian family, do you? Didn't you say you wanted to leave in a few days? This money is our capital for starting a business in Jiangcheng later. If you give it to them, we won't have any capital to do business in Jiangcheng."

Lin Feng gave a dry laugh. "Wrong choice of words, not giving—it's lending. I'm lending the money to them to help them tide over this difficulty, so they can slowly pay me back later."

"Can they afford to pay back this much?! It's one hundred and fifty taels of silver!"

"If they can't afford it, Tian Xi'er can."

Xiaodie was stunned. "Big Brother, do you intend to use one hundred and fifty taels of silver as a betrothal gift to marry Sister Xi'er?"

Lin Feng was speechless. "What are you thinking? I want Tian Xi'er to work for me! Tian Xi'er is so capable; after working for a few years, won't the money be earned back?"

"What about the capital, though? We worked ourselves to the bone for a month and only made a little under two hundred taels of silver."

So much? Lin Feng originally thought it wouldn't be enough, and yet there was an extra fifty taels?

"Don't you know your big brother's earning power? We took a little over a month to go from practically penniless to earning two hundred taels. Even if we lend them that amount, we still have fifty taels left. When we go to Jiangcheng, we can rent a place first, spend a bit less, and start the business."

Xiaodie pouted. "Fine. Anyway, this money is yours... and I believe Big Brother can earn it back..."

With that, Xiaodie went to her room looking quite reluctant.

A moment later, she walked out holding three banknotes. "Big Brother, you said it's more convenient to carry banknotes when we travel, so I exchanged all two hundred taels into banknotes. Here is the one hundred and fifty tael banknote."

Lin Feng took the banknote and smiled slightly. "I'm heading to the Tian family."

He walked through the side door into the Tian family's courtyard and arrived in front of the house, where the Tian family members were eating.

The moment Tian Xi'er saw it was Lin Feng, her expression grew dim and she lowered her head.

The second daughter-in-law curled her lips, thinking to herself that this person must be coming over to ruin her good fortune again.

If not for him, the matter would have already been settled.

"Young brother, have you eaten? Join us?" Tian Shi said with a smile.

"I've already cooked. I just came to say a few words and will head right back."

"Young brother, please sit down and talk," Tian Zhenggen said.

Lin Feng sat down on an eight-immortals chair nearby and cut straight to the point. "I heard you're still short one hundred and fifty taels of silver?"

"That's right..." Tian Zhong sighed. "We had no choice either."

"I can lend you this money."

Everyone looked at him in astonishment, and Tian Xi'er's big eyes were filled with even greater surprise and joy.

"Here is a one-hundred-and-fifty-tael banknote." Lin Feng took out the banknote and looked indifferently at the second daughter-in-law. "Tomorrow, take this back to your maternal family and have them bring the other one hundred and fifty taels, making a total of three hundred taels to pay off your brother's gambling debt."

Tian Shi said in pleasant surprise, "Young brother, you are the benefactor of our Tian family! I don't know what to say, and I really didn't want Xi'er to..."

Lin Feng waved a hand. "Is a grandson important, but a daughter isn't?! Besides, whether it's even a grandson yet is uncertain!"

The second daughter-in-law's expression stiffened, and she said coldly, "Our family's affairs are none of an outsider's business!"

Lin Feng sneered. "What? Do you still want Xi'er to be a concubine to the Jin family's third young master? Do you think that by latching onto this connection with the Jin family, your brother won't have to pay back his future gambling debts?!"

"I—"

Lin Feng looked at Tian Zhong and his wife. "Whether to let their daughter become the umpteenth concubine of the Jin family's third young master, or let her come with me to Jiangcheng to work, earn money, and pay off the debt—you decide!"

Tian Shi asked, "Does the young brother mean that once Xi'er earns enough money, she can come back?"

"Of course. I will pay her wages, and as soon as one hundred and fifty taels are deducted, she can return. Furthermore, I will teach you the recipes for the five-spice garlic peanuts and the rock-sugar-coated haws. Just from those regular patrons alone, you will be able to make quite a bit of money. I'll also leave the food stall to Big Brother Tian; before I leave, I'll teach him how to make a few kinds of noodles, and those few mu of vegetable plots will be left to him as well."

Tian Zhenggen was so moved he nearly dropped to his knees. "Young brother, you are a great benefactor to our Tian family! I truly don't know how to thank you!"

"Uncle Tian, please don't be so polite. I am also very grateful to you all for taking me in and letting me stay at your home to recover when I was gravely ill."

"Compared to what you've done, our contribution is not worth mentioning," Tian Zhong said. "Just based on Brother Lin's righteousness and kindness, I am completely at ease letting my younger sister go with you."

Tian Zhenggen and his wife both nodded, and Tian Yun and his wife kept their mouths shut. After all, the problem was solved; if they complained any further, Tian Shi really might wash her hands of them.

"Xi'er, are you willing to follow Young Master Lin to Jiangcheng?" Tian Shi looked at Tian Xi'er.

Tian Xi'er was so excited she was incoherent. "I... of course... I... am willing!"

She grabbed Tian Shi's hand. "Mother... I will write home, you don't need to worry about me, I will take good care of myself. Father, you don't need to do certain chores yourself, make Big Brother do a bit more..."

Tian Shi was speechless. "Child, you haven't even left yet? What? Are you already saying goodbye to your mother and running off with Young Brother Lin?"

Tian Xi'er froze, a rosy blush spreading across her face. "I... I'll go back to the kitchen to stir-fry another dish."

With that, she scurried into the kitchen looking embarrassed.

"We've already finished eating, what else is there to stir-fry!" Tian Shi was caught between laughter and tears. "Has this girl lost her mind from joy?"

"Of course she doesn't want to be a concubine to that Tian family's third young master," Tian Zhong laughed, thinking to himself that she undoubtedly loved following Lin Feng even more.

"Young brother, if we manage to earn the one hundred and fifty taels, can we bring Xi'er back early?"

Lin Feng nodded. "Of course."