The herbs handed over by the girl was placed into a moisture-removing array by Wang before its weight was measured. The herbs’ weight was checked by Wang, and it would not be a big deal if she made some tiny changes to the number she recorded. But she was incorruptible and mean, so no one could gain any advantage from her.
“Next.”
Wang impatiently waved and ignored the petulant loli.
The loli spat out her tongue and retreated. Behind her were a few of the girls that Yi Yun had met here earlier.
The head of these girls was Zhao Qingcheng, and they were all from the Luohuo Association.
Zhao Qingcheng saw Yi Yun at the outset, but she did not greet him this time.
“Low-grade Yellow-ranked herbs, 545 grams. Rounding down to the nearest 50 grams, it will be counted as 500. A total of 100 dragon scale runes!” Wang deftly kept her steelyard. She rattled off a string of words rapidly. It was impossible to tell what she said without carefully listening.
In fact, with Wang’s cultivation level and keen perception, she could accurately tell the weight of the herbs using her hand. But she liked to use the steelyard to measure because by sliding the scale back and forth, it also pulled on the hearts of many cultivators.
“95 grams…”
Hearing this number, the jovial Zhao Qingcheng could no longer smile.
Typically, only middle-grade Yellow-ranked and above herbs would be computed one by one. Most of the low-grade Yellow-ranked herbs were all mixed together and dried using an array and given 10 dragon scale runes for every 50 grams.
By rounding down the last 45 grams, it made her heart ache!
She just needed 5 more grams!
Although low-grade Yellow-ranked herbs were not valuable, to these herb-picking girls, this was their main source of income. The higher grade herbs were too difficult to find. For example, Yi Yun’s Meteorite Grass was hiding inside a rock. Only by cutting open the rock would one see it, who could find something like that?
Zhao Qingcheng’s little group had four girls. With all their middle-grade and upper-grade herbs, their days’ combined revenue was 166 dragon scale runes.
Subtracting the 100 dragon scale runes rent, there was only 66 left, averaging to about 15-16 dragon scale runes per person.
This income was terrible…
“Ai, why the hell didn’t I pick one more herb. Just a few leaves would make up 5 grams…”
Zhao Qingcheng heart chagrined. She looked at Wang and persisted, “Sister Wang, I’m just short of 5 grams to reach 550 grams. Just let it pass. Do you know, Sister Wang, we had found an extremely good elixir a few days ago. And the price was reasonable and was perfect for us sisters to use. We bit our teeth and borrowed 200 dragon scale runes from the Divine City’s bank and, together with our savings, we bought the elixir. This loan has a 15% interest rate, and the interest compounds. If we can’t return it in 3 months, we sisters will be sleeping on the street.”
“Seeing that it’s nearly the end of the month…We are just short of the 200 dragon scale runes. If we have enough, we can return it. If we can’t return it, we still need to pay a month’s interest! What do you…”
As Zhao Qingcheng said it, she stared at Wang with a watery, wide-eyed, appealingly innocent gaze and fluttered her eyelashes.
Wang had put down her steelyard and was about to take her precious mirror. Hearing Zhao Qingcheng say so much, she did not even raise her head. She adjusted her hair and after a while said coldly, “What has all that crap you said have to do with me?”
Zhao Qingcheng’s smile froze. She carried on smiling obsequiously, “Sis Wang’s mirror is so exquisite… I say, Sis Wang is so pretty. If I were as pretty as Sis Wang, I’ll never part from the mirror.”
“Thanks.”
Wang accepted Zhao Qingcheng’s praise, and then… carried on fiddling with the small mirror in her hand.
She was impenetrable!
Zhao Qingcheng was wrecked. No matter how she counted, there was no way she could pay that sum of dragon scale runes.
15% interest would mean another month of scrimping and saving. If they still couldn’t return it, they had to sleep on the streets.
For a bunch of girls to sleep on the street, and looked at by a bunch of male animals in the Tai Ah Divine City, this was an absolute disgrace!
Yi Yun heard the conversation between Zhao Qingcheng and Wang.
This was the first time he knew that the Tai Ah Divine City had a bank. So it was possible for people with negative dragon scale runes to maintain a decent living by relying on loans.
But…15% compounded interest meant the bank was pretty much an usury!
By lending 100 dragon scale runes, the next month would be 115, and the following month 132!
Even a lot of usuries were not that bad!