novelhk Chapter 269: Loan sharking
Chapter 269: Loan sharking
Where's the money? Where's his money? Si Chengren began to tremble uncontrollably. Fortunately, he was sitting on a chair, otherwise he would not be able to stand.
His mind gradually became clearer. He realized that he had lost all the two thousand taels of silver.
That was two thousand taels, and he lost it all. He wanted to lend it to Li Xiaoxiao, and he was originally short of one thousand taels, and now he was short of three thousand taels. Si Chengren was so scared that he didn't dare to think any further.
What should he do now? Si Chengren kept searching through his clothes, and the more he couldn't find it, the more anxious he became.
Suddenly he saw a jade pendant hanging around his waist. No, he couldn't leave. Even if he didn't make any money, he could at least win back what he lost.
With this thought in mind, Si Chengren pawned the jade pendant on the spot. Since he had no money in the gambling house, he could sell his personal belongings at a low price in exchange for gambling money.
Si Wei Zhong originally bought the jade pendant for him for one hundred taels of silver, but he only sold it for seventy taels.
Si Chengren didn't care about so many things now. He only wanted to redeem the silver. He took another gamble with hope. The moment he saw the dealer show the dice, he slumped down in the armchair with disbelief on his face.
Just when Si Chengren was feeling discouraged, a man suddenly walked over and looked like the owner of a gambling house.
"Young master, what happened? Did you lose money?" The shopkeeper asked with a smile, as if he didn't notice his depressed look.
How could Si Chengren hear what he said at this moment? His mind was in a mess.
The shopkeeper then continued to talk to himself, "I see you came here alone today. Did you have bad luck just now? Actually, this is normal. As the saying goes, fortune changes. Just because you had bad luck just now doesn't mean you won't have good luck now."
"We are open for business, so we will naturally consider our customers wholeheartedly. If you don't have any money and still want to continue gambling, we can lend it to you first, and you just need to pay it back to us later."
The shopkeeper was an old man, and as he spoke he stroked his long beard with both hands and had a kind smile on his face.
When he heard that he could be loaned money, Si Chengren suddenly became excited. He wanted to borrow the money. He wanted to win back all the money he had lost.
"I'll borrow it." Si Chengren grabbed his arm and said anxiously.
"Haha, don't worry, sir. Please follow me." The shopkeeper gently patted his hand away, smiling kindly like a kind old man.
After saying that, he turned and went to a private room upstairs. Si Chengren quickly stood up and followed him.
"How much silver do you want to borrow, sir?" The shopkeeper went straight to the point without wasting any words.
Hearing this, Si Chengren hesitated. How much money should he borrow to win back what he had lost before?
Seeing his hesitation, the shopkeeper kindly reminded him, "Judging from your attire, you must be from a wealthy family. Normally, our gambling house only lends you a few hundred taels at most. Since you look kind, I will make an exception and lend you a thousand taels today. If you win, you can always pay it back. Today is the first day that I won't charge you interest."
With one thousand taels, Si Chengren seemed to come back to life. He firmly believed that with this one thousand taels, he could win back all that he had lost before.
It’s a pity that ideals are full and reality is very skinny.
Soon he had lost all the 1,000 taels of silver. He could no longer sit on the chair and actually slid down from it.
It was already dark and oil lamps were lit in the hall. Si Chengren's face looked extremely pale under the flickering light.
The waiter who led the way earlier called out to someone as usual, and the two of them lifted him up from the ground and took him to a corner.
At this time, the owner of the gambling house came over and was not surprised by Si Chengren's current appearance.
"Sir, do you want to continue gambling? Or do you want to return the money?" The owner of the gambling house looked expressionless, but his tone of voice was relaxed.
What was originally a normal sentence sounded like snow in June to Si Chengren, and he couldn't help but shiver.
What did he do not long ago? He actually borrowed 1,000 taels of silver from the gambling house owner, and then lost it all.
At this moment, he wanted to slap himself twice. Losing two thousand taels was enough, why did he need to borrow more money? I really don't know what he was thinking at that time.
This time he actually lost three thousand taels. That was three thousand taels. He only had fifty taels of pocket money a month, which was only six hundred taels a year. If he wanted to pay back the money, it would take him five full years.
Thinking of this, Si Chengren felt like he was falling into an icy cave. His mind was in a mess and he didn't know what to do.
Now he dared not borrow money again. Although he might win it back, what if he lost again? If his father knew about this, would he break his legs?
Seeing Si Chengren's look, the gambling house owner knew that he would not lend them any more money. So, then don't lend them any more money. The rich young man is stupid and has a lot of money. He has already given them a lot.
"Sir, when are we going to your house to collect the money?" When writing the IOU just now, Si Chengren had written his identity and address on the note, in black and white, with his signature and fingerprints, so he couldn't deny it even if he wanted to.
People who run gambling houses like this always have someone behind them, otherwise they wouldn't dare to do this so blatantly.
"No, no, don't go. I will definitely send it to you when I have it." Si Chengren was so scared that he hurriedly stopped them. If these people went to the Marquis' Mansion to ask for money, he really couldn't imagine what would happen then.
"That's fine. We'll give you three days. Also, this silver has interest, starting from tomorrow, twenty taels of interest every day. I hope you can return it as soon as possible." The gambling house owner reminded him that their gambling house was not a charity, so of course they had to charge interest.
Twenty taels of interest a day, Si Chengren was almost frightened to the point of falling down. He staggered a bit and managed to hold onto the table beside him.
Yes, there was this clause on the interest rate at the time, but he thought he would be able to earn it back soon, so he just glanced at it and didn’t take it seriously.
The interest for one day late was twenty taels. Where could he get the money? He had just asked his mother for two thousand taels. If he went to ask for more money, even though his mother loved him very much, she would not give him any more.
What should he do then? How can he pay back so much money?
Asking his father for the money was scary. His father was the most ruthless. If he knew he had done this, he would never let him off easily. He walked out of the gambling house in a daze.
It was already dark outside, with a few stars sparsely scattered in the sky. The bright moon stretched his shadow very long on the ground.
A gust of night wind blew, and he shivered from the cold. His mind suddenly became clear, and he wondered if he had been tricked.