Sun Bu shook his head. "Don't worry, Mother. We'll see how it goes when the time comes. I heard we can owe the government and pay it back slowly."
Sun Bu's mother sucked in a sharp breath and sat up straight. "Really? That... that's a great kindness indeed."
Ge Feng had always allowed credit, but it had been small amounts before — owing a month or two of wages at most. Buying a house was big money. If everyone could owe the government money, how much would that add up to?
Thinking about it, she grew worried again. "Wouldn't the government be drained dry?"
"No, no." She shook her head. "I'm telling you, every one of the neighbors wants to buy a house. The government might really be emptied out. What if they can't pay the soldiers then?"
Sun Bu smiled. "The government probably collects some interest, but it shouldn't be much. I heard that family members of soldiers get more benefits."
Sun Bu's mother showed a worried look. "Interest?"
She remembered when villagers borrowed from the local moneylender to pay for medical treatment. The interest was so high that in the end, unable to repay, the family had to sell their two daughters to settle the debt.
Sun Bu saw the look on her face and knew what she was thinking. He reassured her, "Mother, what are you thinking? Is the Lord such a person?"
"Look at everything the Lord has done so far — every single thing has been for the good of the people. We need to trust the Lord."
Sun Bu's mother felt ashamed. "Mother was thinking wrong."
Then she grew worried again, glancing around and lowering her voice.
The Village Head wants to buy the courtyard he currently lives in. That’s a large compound—it must cost dozens, or even a hundred, strings of cash.
"And lots of other people want to buy courtyards too. So many people — how much money would that be? And what about the other counties?"
"If the Lord charges low interest, wouldn't he lose money? Lose a lot, even."
Sun Bu took the vegetables off the stove. "I don't know the details either. Don't worry, Mother. We'll do whatever they say from above. When the notice comes out, we'll act accordingly."
These days, everything important was published in the paper, reaching everyone's ears within a day.
"If we really can buy a house then, Mother, let's get a small courtyard." He suggested.
Though living in a single room was fine, mother and son sharing one kang was not convenient. Besides, without a courtyard, they could only grow vegetables in wooden boxes inside the house.
Sun Bu's mother was tempted too. "I wonder how much it costs. I'm just afraid we can't afford it."
Her thinking was simple: though her son didn't come home often now, he would eventually marry. Then a single room wouldn't work.
Sun Bu didn't push it. "Mother, you see how it goes. If it works out, buy a small courtyard."
"I make two hundred forty-nine copper coins a month at the military headquarters. Food and clothing are provided, so I don't need to spend my pay. I can put it all toward the house."
He found it odd why it was exactly two hundred forty-nine and not a round two hundred fifty.
Sun Bu's mother nodded. "Alright, I'll decide on my own then."
Smelling the aroma of meat, her nose suddenly stung. "Life is so good now... If only... I don't ask for anything else now, just that your older sisters are still alive."
Before New Year, grain prices had dropped another twenty percent, and the general store had increased its meat supply. She gritted her teeth and bought two jin. It was New Year after all — she wanted to splurge a little.
Sun Bu served her rice and put several pieces of meat in her bowl. "Mother, eat more meat."
"You eat it. Mother's not hungry." Sun Bu's mother put the meat back in his bowl. She took a whiff of the rice stained with meat juice. "So fragrant."
The New Year's Eve dinner was no longer coarse grains, but pure white rice.
In fact, this was the first time Sun Bu's mother had ever eaten white rice.
Life had improved, but she still couldn't bear to spend money. On ordinary days, with her son away in the army, she kept her meals simple and quick — coarse grain porridge with pickled vegetables or greens, the same thing for a month straight without variety.
For her, this was already a good life she once couldn't have dreamed of. The coarse grain porridge now was nothing like the old kind mixed with bitter wild greens — it was pure grain porridge.
Sun Bu helplessly put two more pieces of meat in her bowl. "Mother, I can eat meat at headquarters. Don't worry about me."
On the sixth day of the first month, another issue of the Jinyang Times caused a stir among the people of the three Ge Feng counties. Everyone who met was discussing its contents.
"Did you know? The government is setting up some kind of bank. You can deposit money there safely, and it even earns interest."
"I know, I know. But the bank isn't the main thing. The main thing is housing — we can buy houses now!"
"The bank is definitely the main thing. You don't know yet — at the bank, not only can you deposit money, you can also borrow money. Otherwise I could never afford a house."
"Really! Does the paper say what it takes to borrow?"
Amid all the discussion, Yu Shu of Chunrong County almost yanked out his own beard. "This... this government, they really dare to dream. Borrowing money is one thing, but deposits? Who would dare?"
Nest Man laughed darkly. "I don't have money, so this has nothing to do with me. But I heard you can borrow money to buy a house. I want one."
Straw-Raincoat Man glanced sideways at him. "You don't even have a wife. Why buy a house?"
Nest Man rolled his eyes. "Once I buy a house, won't it be easier to find a wife?"
"But..." he looked Straw-Raincoat Man up and down. "You're out of luck. Even if you had a house, with your... small equipment, you're destined to stay single forever."
Straw-Raincoat Man's face flushed in a mix of rage and embarrassment. He suddenly stood up. "Who are you calling small? Let's go, fight it out. Loser's is the smaller one!"
Watching the two drag each other outside, Yu Shu shook his head helplessly. "At a time like this, and they're still..."
Yu Zhu snorted coldly. "Guys like that want to join the army, and then they wonder why the Jinyang Army won't take them."
The Jinyang Army had recruited again before New Year. Gu Zhuo went, passed the examination, and entered the ranks. Nest Man and the others followed, but unfortunately the Jinyang Army didn't want them.
Yu Shu shook his head. "Working at the workshop is fine for them. It would be good if the government really does let them borrow money for houses."
Yu Zhu pointed at the paper. "Didn't it say? You can borrow."
Yu Shu glanced at her. "You sure trust the government."
Yu Zhu nodded. "I do. I trust both that they'll lend money and that depositing money with the government is safe."
Yu Shu frowned. "Don't be naïve. You know what our government used to be like."
Because he had been a county magistrate himself, he understood the true nature of governments, so he was not easily convinced.
Yu Zhu looked up at him. "Grandfather, you said it yourself — that was the past. That was the Yan State. Now it's the Jinyang Army."
She lowered her gaze to the table. "We both work at the county office now. With all due respect, the current Lord is not the old emperor, and the current Jinyang Army is not the old army."
Yu Shu was taken aback. He and his granddaughter had both started working at the county office. Apart from the New Year holiday, they'd only been there half a month. He never expected that in such a short time, she would become completely loyal to the Jinyang Army.
"Grandfather, maybe you'll say we should be cautious. But..." her tone grew wistful. "Everything here — what I see, what I hear, what I feel — it's so real and so beautiful. I choose to believe in it."
“My lord, she genuinely wants to give all of us a better life. She's working hard, the Jinyang Army is working hard, and I want to work hard alongside them too.”
Yu Shu was silent. He lowered his head to look at the newspaper, and only after a long while did he let out a relieved smile.
Perhaps he shouldn't keep judging the current leader of the Jinyang Army through the lens of his old prejudices.
Unlike his inner turmoil, Village Head Su was absolutely delighted, his eyes glued to the newspaper. They were among the first to follow Jiang Jin to Gefeng, trusting her completely—whether it came to saving money or borrowing it, he believed everything the newspaper said.
His family was thrilled as well, starting to discuss how much they had saved up, how much they'd need to borrow to buy this house, how much interest they'd have to pay, and so on.
“We're not buying yet,” Village Head Su spoke up.
