From the look of how the account notes were maintained, I could tell immediately that there was no organized form for maintaining such information in this world.
Just looking at all these unorganized numbers and calculations made me feel dizzy.
Some numbers were overwritten more than twice.
Instead of starting the calculation, I took a sheet of paper that had been unused this whole time, dipping the tiny brush slightly into the ink.
This was the first time I was writing using ink.
My parents usually gave me charcoal sticks and leather sheets for writing, since they were easy to clean and reuse, allowing me to write as much as I wanted.
But I remained calm, as I already knew how to write.
I separated the paper into six distinct columns: month, description, inflow, outflow, interest, and balance.
Simple, but organized.
Looking at Uncle Chen, I noticed he, along with Yuer and Yulan, was watching me with great interest.
Honestly, it wasn't that impressive, just a basic structure for accounting.
I was actually amazed that Uncle Chen hadn't done this himself.
From what I had learned from that kind person, everyone should know this.
Did he lie to me? No, he had no reason to.
Shaking my head, I focused on the task.
One of the biggest flaws I noticed while reading the accounts was that there were no fixed units in the notebook.
Sometimes entries were recorded in silver, other times in copper, without even a symbol to identify which was which.
So I chose to convert everything into copper values.
"Uncle Chen, is this also in silver taels?"
Every time I was unsure, I asked him for clarification, and he patiently answered.
"Yes, this one too…"
Next, I noticed that sometimes the same amount was recorded twice in the same month.
"Uncle Chen, was this mistakenly entered twice here?"
"This one… no. Zhou Fusheng paid twice that month."
"In this month as well, he paid twice?"
"Ah! That one is a mistake. Look here.... I struck it down in the corner and rewrote it. Just take this one as the payment."
Just like that, I slowly organized every detail.
With this new data, anyone could clearly understand every detail without making any mistakes.
It showed everything: which month he paid more, how much principal was deducted, which months he didn't pay and postponed the amount to the next month with a small fine, and why there were hyphen marks in the months when he paid nothing at all.
Looking at the newly organized records, I felt proud and satisfied.
Only after that did I begin calculating the interest and the remaining balance the shopkeeper owed.
It should have been simple, calculating a basic 4 percent interest and deducting paid amounts, but there was a specific condition.
At the end of every 12 lunar months, any unpaid interest would be added to the principal.
From the 13th lunar month onward, interest would be calculated based on this new principal.
For example, at the end of the first year, shopkeeper Zhou Fusheng had paid a total of 16 taels of silver and 500 copper coins, but failed to pay the remaining interest of 2,700 copper coins.
This unpaid interest was added to the original principal of 40 taels of silver.
On the 13th month, the new principal became 42 taels and 7 qian of silver, and the 4 percent interest was recalculated based on that amount.
Thus, the interest for the next year became 1,708 copper coins per month, totaling 20,496 copper coins annually.
In the second year, Zhou Fusheng paid 21 taels of silver and 500 copper coins, exactly 5 taels more than the previous year, and 1,004 copper coins more than what he was required to pay.
The excess amount was deducted from the principal of 42,700 copper coins.
As a result, the third-year principal became 41,696 copper coins, with a monthly interest of 1,668 copper coins, totaling 20,016 copper coins annually.
However, Zhou Fusheng paid only 8,500 copper coins during the third year, leaving 11,516 copper coins unpaid.
This unpaid amount was added back into the principal of 41,696 copper coins.
Thus, at the end of the third year, the new principal became 53,212 copper coins, with a monthly interest of 2,128 copper coins.
Only two months had passed since the start of the fourth year.
As usual, during the first two months of winter, Zhou Fusheng paid nothing.
So the total amount the shopkeeper owed Uncle Chen was 57,468 copper coins.
The total amount already paid was 46,500 copper coins.
Not only had the principal not decreased, it had increased by 43.67%.
By the time I finished writing, my hands began to tremble as a chill ran down my spine.
What the hell?!
I had always thought Uncle Chen was a kind and good person.
But I was wrong.
I immediately looked at his face.
He was intensely focused on the papers in my hands, a bright glint visible in his eyes.
Before, I had seen him as a good man, almost saint-like.
Now, he looked like nothing more than a demon wearing human skin.
His smile terrified me, more than even my wicked uncle and aunt.
According to my parents, Uncle Chen was someone who charged reasonable interest compared to other lenders, who charged as high as 8 to 10 percent.
But after going through this single account, I was no longer sure.
Is this what money lending is supposed to be?
The debtor had already paid more than what he borrowed, yet the amount he owed had increased by more than one-third, almost half.
I could see the cycle clearly: a man paying money his entire life until he became unable to pay, eventually selling everything he owned.
If Uncle Chen, who charged the minimum, could be this terrifying… then what about the others?
Would they also suck their debtors dry to the bone?
Somehow, I began to understand why my system had a instruction of fixed lending interest rate below Uncle Chen's 4 percent.
This… was simply not right.
"Mm?... What happened? do you need something?"