Chapter 178
178, Asking for a Loan at the Door (3rd Update)
Xie Zhinuan invited several people to dinner.
They ate in the outdoor shed, relishing Aunt Chen’s cooking so much they nearly swallowed their tongues.
Delicious, truly delicious.
They could never cook like this in their entire lives.
After the meal, Xie Zhinuan did not invite them to stay, and after thinking it over, having sat in a mule cart all day, they decided to find a place to rest and headed to the town.
Luckily, it was not yet dark, and the town had an inn. Business was not very good, and it was rare to have several people arrive at once, each wanting their own room and also baths.
The innkeeper immediately greeted them with enthusiasm.
Xie Zhinuan sat in the courtyard enjoying the cool breeze, humming a tune, foreseeing how she could “make a fortune every day”.
However, buying shops and properties would require quite a lot of silver, and she only had a little over one thousand taels at the moment. A few shops would deplete it, not to mention there were expenses everywhere, even spices would cost a significant amount of silver.
“…”
Xie Zhinuan pondered.
The fifty thousand taels that Li Hengyi had given her were still with her, not much used, but she had not reached the point of audacity to divert them for her own use.
She wondered whether she could ask him to lend her some silver.
As she thought about this, Xie Zhinuan returned to her room, entered her space silently, found a jade pendant, recorded it, and then exited the space.
The blood-red warm jade felt extremely smooth in the palm of her hand. Such a fine object was truly priceless. The jade pendant was undecorated, but its edges were very smooth, indicating that it had been well polished initially, handled frequently afterward, and eventually collected.
Source: Webnovel.com, updated on ɴονǤο.сο
If she pawned the jade pendant, it should be worth some money.Sell it? If she encountered a wealthy connoisseur, she could expect a good price.
By that time, it was already deep into the night.
From the house across the way, the sound of a guqin played, low and lingering.
“…”
After hesitating for a moment, Xie Zhinuan went to pick some oranges and carried them next door.
Yuanbao was surprised to learn of Xie Zhinuan’s visit and quickly came out to welcome her inside, giggling when he saw her carrying a basket.
“Miss Xie, what brings you here?”
“I need a favor from your master, so I came over!”
“What is it?” Yuanbao asked.
“To borrow some silver!”
Xie Zhinuan was direct.
Yuanbao was taken aback.
Surprised, he looked at Xie Zhinuan, “Miss Xie, are you serious?”
“Of course, I am serious. I’ve brought something for collateral and will pay interest on it!”
Yuanbao was even more surprised.
There had been no one asking his master for a loan before. Everyone tried ways to present gifts, but Xie Zhinuan was the first to ask for a loan.
Even Li Hengyi was astounded when he found out that Xie Zhinuan came to ask for a loan.
“Borrow, how much?”
But he quickly adjusted his emotions.
He whispered to Xie Zhinuan, sizing her up.
He knew that Xie Zhinuan had a strong sense of pride. For her to ask him for a loan was indeed not easy.
“Fifty thousand taels,” Xie Zhinuan said softly after calculating carefully.
“An agreement for one year, I will borrow fifty thousand taels from you, and I will leave this jade pendant as collateral. I’ll come back to retrieve it with principal and interest after a year!” she said, pausing before adding, “I’ll also write a promissory note specifying the amount, the time frame, and the interest rate!”
“…” Li Hengyi stopped short, about to speak.
Looking at the earnest Xie Zhinuan, he nodded, “Alright, do you want a silver note or silver?”
“If there’s a silver note, that would be best; I can exchange it in the county town!”
After a moment’s hesitation, Li Hengyi said, “I don’t have that many silver notes on hand right now. How about I accompany you to the county town first thing tomorrow, and we’ll withdraw them from the bank for you?”
Chapter 179