Volume One: First Signs of Brilliance Chapter Twenty-Five: Usury

Although their families didn’t live in the same neighborhood, they always spent holidays together. Sometimes Wang Jue’s family would visit his aunt’s home for the festivities, and other times his aunt’s family would come to theirs. To say their relationship was good would be an understatement; in fact, his aunt and uncle sometimes worried that the two families might one day run into the kind of financial disputes that had plagued his uncle’s relatives in the past. But after more than a decade, not only had there never been any arguments, they hadn’t even raised their voices at each other.

What puzzled Wang Jue was that in recent years, his aunt’s restaurant business had gradually improved, seemingly turning a decent profit. Based on what he knew of his own parents, he was sure they would never do something as shameless as demanding money from relatives. So how had things gone wrong at the restaurant now?

Sensing his confusion, Wang Jue’s mother said with a resigned sigh, “Don’t bother guessing. This has nothing to do with your aunt or uncle. It’s all Xiao Hao’s doing.”

“Did Hao get himself into trouble again?” Wang Jue’s heart sank at the mention of his aunt’s son. His cousin’s full name was Yang Hao, three years older than Wang Jue. Since he had no talent for cultivation, he was just a senior in an ordinary high school, but his grades were poor. Nobody in either family held out much hope that he’d get into university this year.

Sure enough, his mother’s next words confirmed Wang Jue’s fears. “Xiao Hao skipped school without telling your aunt and uncle, went off to play, got mixed up with gamblers, and ended up borrowing money from loan sharks. Now those people have come to the restaurant looking for him. Xiao Hao seems to realize he’s in trouble—he hasn’t gone home, and nobody knows where he is. Your aunt and uncle are being harassed by those people day and night, and at the same time, they’re worried sick about his safety.”

Wang Jue’s mother didn’t know what to say about her sister’s son. How had such a sweet, obedient child turned out like this?

“Mom, you said those loan sharks already showed up at the restaurant?” Wang Jue’s tone was exasperated. What kind of decent people loaned money at usurious rates? From the sound of it, they weren’t just looking for someone—they were actively disrupting the restaurant’s business. The restaurant had never done particularly well, only improving in recent years. Now, thanks to these troublemakers, business might plummet again.

“That’s right. Those people have been causing a scene at your aunt’s place all day—customers are too scared to eat there. After we closed our noodle shop and rushed over, they were still making trouble,” his mother said, her expression growing grim as she recalled the day’s events. “In the end, your father and your uncle discussed it and decided it was best to just close the restaurant for now.”

Wasn’t this the classic case of a child dragging his family down?

“Looks like Hao owes quite a bit, doesn’t he?” Wang Jue couldn’t help but ask, though he already suspected the answer. If the sum were small, both families—being peace-loving by nature—would have quietly come up with the money and settled the matter, rather than letting it drag on.

“The principal wasn’t much, just over five thousand, but with their interest rates, it’s ballooned to over a hundred thousand. They say Xiao Hao borrowed the money half a year ago, but who knows how they’re calculating it,” his mother said, looking even more distressed.

Wang Jue was incredulous. “How can it be that much?”

He hadn’t expected that this “special” profession—loan sharking, which he’d thought only existed on Earth—also existed here on Azure Star, and with even more terrifying interest rates than on Earth!

What Wang Jue didn’t know was that in Jiangnan City, the loan sharking industry was legal. The rules were clear: any annual interest above thirty percent was considered usury. Any excess interest wasn’t protected within the safety zones, so borrowers could refuse to pay it. Of course, the principal always had to be repaid—if you refused even that, you’d have no moral high ground, no matter where the case was heard.

“All right, it’s getting late. You should get some rest,” his mother said, clearly not wanting to discuss the upsetting topic any further. “Your father, your aunt, and I will find a way to resolve this. Don’t worry yourself—just focus on your studies.”

Their little noodle shop didn’t make much in a year. If the sum was just ten or twenty thousand, they could scrape it together, but over a hundred thousand was far beyond their means. Besides, Wang Jue’s own cultivation required a large investment. With so many problems converging at once, his mother felt lost.

“Okay,” Wang Jue nodded, saying nothing more.

Now that he understood the situation, he felt much lighter—at least there was no trouble at home. As for his cousin, he was simply exasperated. How had such a decent family ended up in this mess?

If possible, Wang Jue would rather not get involved at all, but he knew his parents would never abandon family, and he couldn’t bring himself to do it either. After all, his aunt’s family had always been generous to him, sometimes even slipping him pocket money when they crossed paths, better treatment than her own son received!

Wang Jue resolved that he would soon receive a six-thousand subsidy. With some savings from both families, they might be able to scrape together enough. If it still wasn’t enough, he could borrow a little from Luoshui. He had no doubt Luoshui would lend it—such was their relationship. The only question was whether he was willing to ask.

In any case, the sooner this matter was resolved, the better—no need for the interest to keep piling up.

His mother paused at the door and said, “That’s enough for tonight. Don’t overthink.”

“Mm, I know. By the way, Mom, try to find out the specifics and let me know tomorrow night,” Wang Jue said as he walked her to the door. After a moment’s hesitation, he added, “If you’re short on money, just let me know. If all goes well, I should be able to get a decent sum.”

“Money? What money? What are you planning? Don’t you dare do anything reckless—we can’t afford you getting into trouble!” his mother exclaimed in alarm.

“Relax, Mom, it’s all legitimate. It’s a subsidy from the safety zone,” Wang Jue explained, seeing her worried face. “There’s a new policy at school—students who break through to the next stage of cultivation get subsidies. First stage gets ten thousand, second stage twenty thousand, and so on. I’m at the third stage, so I’ll get sixty thousand. If everything goes as planned, I’ll get it tomorrow. It’s not a huge sum, but it should help.”

“Sixty thousand? Really?” His mother was skeptical, but, seeing that Wang Jue didn’t appear to be lying—and knowing her son had never lied—she chose to believe him.

She thought of their noodle shop, which made only twenty or thirty thousand a year, and realized her son’s subsidy was equivalent to two or three years’ profit. She felt a surge of comfort—her son, whom she’d raised through hardship, had finally grown up and was thinking of the family.

“It’s true. There were officers at our school today for the testing, which is why I got home so late,” Wang Jue said honestly. “Everyone at school knows about it. If you don’t believe me, just ask around. I bet other schools have similar policies too.”

His mother was speechless. The news was simply too much for her to absorb at once.

In the end, she said nothing more, only nodded absently and left, her heart even more convinced that her son had grown up.

Wang Jue watched his mother leave, then closed the door and lay back on his bed. Now that he understood everything, his worries melted away, and he felt much lighter.

What surprised him was that, for the first time, he felt no resentment at the idea of helping others with his own money.

“Maybe I should look for ways to earn more, and try to figure out what that diamond-shaped gem actually is,” he thought, taking a deep breath and making up his mind.

With his current cultivation, he could get sixty thousand, but if he advanced another level, he’d receive forty thousand more—a sum it would take their noodle shop a year or two to earn! Forty thousand might not be much to the wealthy, but to a poor family like theirs, it was a fortune.

“Come to think of it, there must be more ways to obtain Star Source than just this diamond-shaped gem, right?” Wang Jue muttered to himself.

He suddenly remembered the jade box he’d hidden under his pillow. Could it hold some secret mechanism, like in the novels from his previous life? Last time in the bathroom, most of his attention had been on the gem and the cultivation manual, and he’d been so absorbed in practice that he hadn’t really examined the box.

Thinking this, Wang Jue reached under his pillow, fished out the jade box, and began to study it, his eyes fixed on the mysterious patterns covering its surface, as if hoping to decipher some hidden clue.

But no matter how hard he stared, he couldn’t make sense of the arcane lines. He opened the lid—the inside was just large enough for a cultivation orb and three diamond-shaped gems, almost no space left. He even tried shaking it, but it made no sound at all.

Time slipped by as Wang Jue spent nearly an hour examining every inch of the box, inside and out, but found no sign of any hidden mechanism. Apart from the box itself and the enigmatic designs on its surface, he was forced to conclude that it was, after all, just an empty box…