It had been a while, and the chubby Wang Rui had slimmed down considerably. The cheerful grin he used to wear was gone.
"What a rare sight!"
Zhu Ju waved for tea to be prepared and gestured for him to sit down.
"You rarely come by."
"I used to be afraid of your father's scoldings—they left a scar. Now, it's just somewhat inconvenient," Wang Rui sighed.
"I wouldn't have come without a reason, so I'll get straight to the point."
Zhu Ju nodded.
"I'm here to..." Wang Rui pursed his lips, an embarrassed look on his face, and said in a low voice,
"...borrow money."
"Borrow money?" Zhu Ju frowned.
"Your family can't come up with the full amount of tax silver either?"
"Hah..." Wang Rui gave a bitter laugh.
"After the Qingyi Gang has extorted everyone time and time again, how many families in all of Taiyuan Prefecture can easily produce that kind of silver?"
"Unless you're the Zhou Family or the Nie Family... For them, paying taxes is just for show, anyway."
That was true.
