Chapter 128: Borrowing Money
At the mention of caning, the crowd fell silent.
Not yet fully recovered, Boss Zhang leaned against the mule cart and struggled to ask Gu Zhang, "Second Brother Gu, what’s your family’s plan for entering the city?"
All eyes turned to Gu Zhang.
His family had money; that much was certain.
Setting aside the silver Little Fei had brought home, Young Master Su alone had given them one hundred taels just a short while ago. No matter how they did it, his family could afford to pay their way into the city.
After a long pause, Gu Zhang finally spoke. "I don’t know either. Let’s all talk it over first. We’ll rest here today. Perhaps we can still find another way."
The village chief took out and lit his dry-tobacco pipe, taking a long, deep drag before saying to his family, "I think we should find someone to forge our household registrations. We might be able to sneak through."
"And if we don’t make it through, the worst that can happen is a beating. Ten whacks with the plank won’t kill a man."
The words were barely out of his mouth when his eldest daughter-in-law, Jinfeng, cried out, "Father, how can that be an option? We women aren’t like you men. If they really make us take down our pants for a beating, how could we live with the shame!"
His second daughter-in-law, Hongxia, added, "That’s right, Father. It’s too risky. If we get caught, everyone in the family will be beaten. There aren’t even any clinics outside the city. I’m afraid we wouldn’t survive!"
The village chief’s face creased with worry. "Then what should we do? Our family needs eighty taels of silver to enter the city. That’s not eight taels!"
He could have gritted his teeth and paid eight taels of silver.
"Our family just doesn’t have that much silver!"
Aunt Liu said nothing. Her family had brought their entire life’s savings, but it amounted to less than seventy taels of silver. It was the fruit of several generations of saving, and it still wasn’t enough to get them into the city.
The families were all gathered in one spot, and upon hearing the village chief’s family talking, they all grew anxious. ’What are we going to do?’
Just then, Boss Zhang, still leaning against the mule cart, suddenly spoke up. "Second Brother Gu, I... I want to borrow some silver from you."
Gu Zhang gave a bitter smile. ’Silver? What silver?’ The one hundred taels from Young Master Su was considered family money. The rest was Little Fei’s silver, and he couldn’t just lend it out to others.
When Gu Zhang didn’t answer, Boss Zhang said with some effort, "Second Brother Gu, I know I’m putting you in a tough spot, but I’ve thought it through. We have to get into this city."
"The whole way here has been chaos. We can’t go back home, and even if we could, there’s no way to survive there!"
"My family still has a horse-drawn carriage. Once we’re in East Sea County, I’ll sell it and pay you back. I’m sure it can fetch twenty or thirty taels of silver."
The village chief exclaimed in surprise, "Boss Zhang, with five people in your family, it’ll cost you fifty taels of silver to get in. Are you really willing to spend that much?"
Boss Zhang laughed bitterly. "What does it matter if I am? Elder, haven’t you realized it yet? There’s no way to survive in any of the surrounding counties. The only way to live is to get into this city and find a place free of refugees!"
"No matter how important silver is, it’s not more important than our lives!"
His words gave everyone pause for thought.
’That’s right. Haven’t enough people died along the way? As long as we’re alive, we can always earn more silver.’
At this, an uncle-in-law nodded. "He’s right. A person has to live first and foremost!"
"Besides, I’ve heard East Sea County is rich enough to be oozing oil. It’s got to be easier to earn silver there than back home. As long as you’re diligent and not afraid of hard work, you can make a life for yourself."
This wasn’t untrue. East Sea County was south of the Yunjiang, in the region commonly known as Jiangnan. The climate was pleasant, its lands were bountiful, and salt merchants flocked there. No matter the dynasty, it had always been a most prosperous region.
Gu Zhong quickly chimed in, "Gu Er, my family doesn’t have enough silver to enter the city. Lend me twenty taels of silver, and I’ll write you an IOU. Once we get there, I’ll sell my mule cart and pay you back."
He was worried that every household would start asking Gu the Second for silver. ’If I don’t ask now,’ he thought, ’it’ll be too late.’