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Chapter 37 Qiu-ge'er: Don't worry, I'll take care of it.
After the other creditors left that night, the three of them rolled up their bedding and went to sleep in the main room.

The next day, at the crack of dawn, the three of them got up, rolled up their bedding, and began another day of debt collection. Hmm, no more worrying about not getting a chair...

Hungry, Su Tai and Su Lu went to the back distillery to find crushed sorghum; a pot of it would last them three days. For some reason, the sorghum in He Ji's warehouse was all ground to a pulp. Of course, otherwise, they wouldn't have had a chance to enjoy it; the creditors would have taken it all long ago.

The two brothers also found quite a few tangerines and hawthorns in the warehouse, bright yellow and red, looking very tempting, but they were so sour they made their teeth ache... That's probably why they survived. No one would agree to let the young widow pay off her debt with these rotten, sour things.

But the three of them didn't mind; they cooked oranges, hawthorns, and chopped sorghum together to make "fruit sorghum rice." Surprisingly, the sourness of the fruit and the bitterness of the sorghum were neutralized quite a bit, making it much more palatable.

The three of them, father and son, decided to make the best of it, but the young widow's family was in for a world of trouble. Before, no matter how much noise they made during the day, they could at least catch their breath at night. Now, however, there were outsiders in the house all day long, and her daughter was so scared that she dared not leave her room day or night.

Madam He was naturally at her wits' end, yet utterly helpless. As a deadbeat herself, she couldn't stop the three men's shameless behavior...

The young widow said to the old widower, "Don't sleep in my house."

Su Youcai said, "We'll go back right away after you pay me back. Your main room is so cold, who would want to sleep there?"

She added, "Then don't eat our food. My daughter and I only have that little bit of food left."

“My rice jar is so full of starving rats. Once you pay me back, I’ll buy rice and won’t touch a single grain of yours,” said the old widower, Su Youcai.

“Brother, staying overnight at a widow’s house isn’t good for your reputation,” Madam He had no choice but to resort to ethical arguments.

“My son can’t go to school, what do I care about my reputation? Between two evils, I choose the lesser, so I still have to stick with it.” Su Youcai remained unmoved and said, “Besides, I don’t live here alone. I have my child with me. Who would gossip about me?”

He spoke politely, but on matters of principle, he was unyielding. Faced with such a man, seemingly gentle but actually sharp-tongued, the young widow had no choice but to let him have his way…

~~
It should be said that the young widow's delaying tactic was quite successful. As the Lunar New Year drew closer, fewer and fewer creditors came to report for help.

They waited like this until the morning of New Year's Eve, when finally only Su Youcai's family of three remained...

Early in the morning, sparse firecrackers sounded in Erlangtan, announcing the arrival of New Year's Eve.

Su Youcai and his two sons couldn't afford firecrackers, so they cut down a few bamboo stalks and threw them into the fire to make a crackling sound.

“These are the real firecrackers for ‘sending off the old year with the sound of firecrackers.’ What they’re setting off are just firecrackers, which are weapons,” Su Youcai told his two sons with conviction.

Su Luxin thought to himself, "Isn't this just sour grapes?"

"Oh, I was wondering why firecrackers, which are clearly made of cardboard and gunpowder, have the character 'bamboo' in their name." Su Tai said with admiration, truly the best listener.

Furthermore, someone has just died, is it really appropriate to set off firecrackers in their yard?
"It's alright. They say we can't set off firecrackers, but we're burning them." Su Youcai said calmly, "If you don't pay me back, I'll keep burning them until next year."

The three of them have been waiting here for twelve days; today they must find out the outcome.

Su Lu had heard that only in dire straits could a person's true nature be revealed. So, his dear father's true nature was... ruthless.

This is forcing the young widow to pay money to buy peace on New Year's Eve...

When Su Youcai set off the fourth wave of firecrackers, Madam He Cheng finally couldn't take it anymore and came out to stop him, saying, "Brother, please stop setting them off. I'll give you money, okay?"

"You should have said so earlier." Su Youcai immediately waved his hand, signaling his sons to stop setting off the firecrackers.

He walked up to the young widow, bowed deeply, and said, "I'm so sorry, if there had been any other way, I wouldn't be in this situation."

“I know you are a good man, sir,” Madam He sighed softly. “It’s just that, like me, we are both people with tragic fates.”

She was always very polite to Su Youcai, not just as a debtor would be to a creditor, but also because she had received his help the day before yesterday...

~~
On the 28th, someone, frustrated by their inability to collect a debt, lost their temper and, disregarding whose daughter she was, blurted out:
"Why don't you sell yourself to pay off your debt? Work for my family for a year, and we'll be even."

“No way, she owes my family the most money. If anyone’s going to do it, it has to be my family first.” Seeing someone take the lead, another creditor shouted.

"Stop talking big, your wife can't break your crutch." The creditors chuckled.

"If all else fails, I can come over..." The creditor became increasingly audacious.

"Go to hell!" A furious curse rang out from the corner. Su Youcai, unable to bear it any longer, slammed his hand on the table and stood up, saying, "We're all from the same village, how can you say such a thing?!"

"If you want me to have any shame, then pay me back!" The creditor, unable to save face, yelled at Su Youcai.

"Just say you're paying back the money, don't drag people into this. The Ming Dynasty doesn't practice selling oneself into servitude to pay off debts!" ​​With Su Youcai's abilities, he could easily crush an ordinary person. Then he declared loudly, "The Great Ming Code clearly states that anyone who lures or sells a free person into slavery shall be punished with one hundred strokes of the cane and exiled three thousand li!"

"Why are you having such a long story in this remote mountain village..." The creditor could only resort to shamelessness to get away with it and fell silent.

"Calm down, calm down." The creditors were also intimidated by Su Youcai's righteousness and Su Tai behind him, and quickly softened their tone, saying, "We were just anxious and made a slip of the tongue."

"That's right, that's right. They're all from the same village, and the proprietress is even Mr. Cheng's daughter. He wouldn't dare to do anything reckless even if he had the guts."

“You can’t just talk nonsense, even debt collection has to be civilized!” Su Youcai said firmly, “Otherwise people will think we’re thugs.” After that day, no one dared to make lewd jokes with the young widow again.

Okay, actually it's only been two days...

~~
Madam He knew that Su Youcai was a gentleman who upheld propriety, and since there were no men in the house, she hired him and his two sons as security guards.

In the following days, we even cooked for them...

So the two had become like friends. The young widow smiled bitterly and said, "I never expected Brother Su to be so persistent, even more so than me. I'll pay you back."

As he spoke, he took out a brocade pouch with a faint fragrance from his sleeve and presented it with both hands.

"Thank you." Su Youcai quickly and carefully picked it up, as if afraid of skin contact.

The young widow couldn't help but sigh inwardly; he was indeed a gentleman of propriety, and a handsome man at that...

But then the handsome man weighed the money pouch in his hand, his handsome face suddenly furrowing as he hurriedly poured out the few loose coins inside. He exclaimed in utter disappointment, "You have at most one tael of silver!"

“Brother, your hand is like a scale, not too much, not too little, exactly one ounce.” The young widow nodded.

"That's way too far off, there's still two and a half ounces left!" Su Youcai said, his smile fading.

"This is the last bit we managed to scrape together after turning everything upside down," the young widow said with a wry smile. "We originally planned to keep it to tide us over during the spring famine, but my brother is just too persistent, so we'll give it to you to take back for the New Year."

“Okay, I’ll keep the money, but I won’t use it for the New Year, because I need to pay my son’s tuition after the New Year.” Su Youcai said seriously, “The tuition is three taels and five cents, you can give me two taels and five cents more, no need to pay interest.”

"Let's talk about it next year. Today is New Year's Eve, you men have to go home, right?" The young widow was speechless. How could this man be like this? Giving him a tael of silver was practically asking him to go home, wasn't it?

"It's alright, the three of us are home together, anywhere is home." Su Youcai said with a smile, "Sister-in-law, can I borrow your cutting board for a moment? We'll knead some dough and prepare to make dumplings."

"What kind of dumplings do Sichuan people eat?!" The young widow blushed and finally broke down.

“We are military households who moved here from Fengyangwei, we must not forget our roots,” Su Youcai said emphatically.

"..." A strand of the young widow's hair fell from her forehead, flying wildly in the mountain wind.

She was completely defeated, and pointed helplessly behind her, saying, "Big brother, do you see anything else in my house that you like? Take whatever you like. There are still several thousand kilograms of sour oranges in the warehouse. If you don't mind how ugly they are, you can take them all."

"What would I need your things for?" Su Youcai shook his head. All the valuables in her house had long been taken away. What was left was either too heavy to move or worthless, so he had no interest in them.

“I just want the money,” he emphasized again.

"Alright, let's celebrate the New Year together then..." the young widow said dejectedly, "I'll go get you the chopping board."

"Sigh, sister-in-law. I really have no choice, it's all for the children..." Su Youcai said apologetically.

"Brother, please go back. I really have no money left." The young widow was desperate and said with tears in her eyes, "If you don't leave, I'll have no choice but to do what they said... sell myself to pay off my debts."

"That won't do!" Su Youcai hurriedly clutched the one or two taels of silver, backing away in fright, saying, "I'm not that kind of person... and I can't bear to carry your debts..."

Whether it was his retreating action that was too hurtful, or the young widow who discovered his weakness, she pressed closer, her face defiant, a smile tinged with tears, and said:

"It's fine if you stay at my house normally, but you want to spend New Year's Eve with a widow like me. Our relationship is now completely ambiguous. If you don't leave, I'll have no choice but to stay with you!"

"No, no, sister-in-law, please have some self-respect..." Su Youcai retreated repeatedly in fright. He really wouldn't be able to handle it if the landlady got serious...

Just as her father was about to lose, Su Lu suddenly stepped in front of the young widow, laughing, "You want to be my mother? Did you ask for my opinion?"

"Don't talk nonsense, who wants to be your mother?!" The young widow's pretty face instantly turned red to the tips of her ears. She was too excited just now and forgot that the other woman's son was still right next to her.

"Didn't you want to cling to my father?" Su Lu sneered.

"I, I..." The young widow was Cheng Xiucai's daughter. Her personality was a contradiction, a mix of the local people's free-spirited and passionate nature and the constraints of traditional social norms. Just now, she had said anything to get rid of Su Youcai, but now she was overwhelmed with shame and wished she could find a block of tofu to smash her head against.

She finally lost control of her emotions and covered her face with a handkerchief, crying. This crying brought back all the hardships and sorrows she had endured since her husband's death, and she cried so hard that her heart was broken and tears streamed down her face.

The mother's cries attracted her nine-year-old daughter, who ran out and hugged her mother, wailing together.

The scene was heartbreaking for Su Youcai and Su Tai. Su Tai whispered, "Old man, if it really comes to this, let's go back first..."

"Sigh..." Su Youcai was also helpless. He was about to nod when he heard Su Lu say leisurely:
“I’ve thought of a way that might help your family get through this difficult time, but you have to promise to pay us back as soon as you earn the money.”

"What method?" The crying stopped abruptly, and the mother, daughter, and father and son all looked at Su Lu.

(End of this chapter)