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In the end, Lu Songli gave the children a seven percent annual interest rate.
“Sixth Aunt, isn’t seven percent too little?”
The children were very surprised. Previously, when she was teaching, she used an example with an eight percent interest rate. Why was Sixth Aunt only giving them seven percent?
The children understood the concept of annual interest rate as Sixth Aunt had explained to them before. They knew that one point was equivalent to one percent.
The adults found themselves feeling confused and embarrassed, while the children seemed to have understood everything.
The Qin family members were completely taken aback. They had not expected Lu Songli, who had been playing with the children all along, to also be teaching them so many things!
The children were not happy.
The other members of the Qin family wanted to speak up and suggest giving the children more interest, as the children were so smart that they could cover the interest themselves.
Lu Songli glanced at them.
Qin Sheng shook his head at the family members.
Lu Mingzhi also felt nervous. His second sister often said that when parents were teaching children, the other family members should remain quiet and not contradict the teaching. Otherwise, the children would be confused. This teaching session seemed to be a failure.
Previously in Chang’an, his father had agreed with his second sister’s approach. So, when his father was teaching his nephew Lu Xiao, his elder brother and sister-in-law were not allowed to speak. Of course, they could offer their opinions or suggestions afterwards, but they were not allowed to disrupt the teaching.
Facing the children, Lu Songli smiled but her words were cold, “Actually, I initially only wanted to give you six percent. Giving you an extra point is a reward for doing well.”
Upon hearing the first sentence, the children’s faces fell. Was seven percent already considered high?
“You see, you entrusted your gold to Sixth Aunt because you wanted to make money, right?”
“But Sixth Aunt doesn’t need money right now, and there are no better investment options available. All the funds she has are idle. In this situation, if she still has to pay you interest, isn’t Sixth Aunt at a loss?” Lu Songli explained to them.
The older children, Qin Jia, Qin Han, and Chen Chang’an, tried hard to understand her words, realizing that Sixth Aunt was right.
The other two, Qin Yu and Qin Zhen, were still too young and looked confused.
“In this situation, of course Sixth Aunt would want to incur as little loss as possible, right?”
The children looked up at her, understanding. So, Sixth Aunt didn’t want to give them an eight percent interest rate. They felt sad.
Lu Songli suggested to them, “Otherwise, you can entrust your gold to your father or grandmother? They should be willing to pay you a higher interest rate.”
Upon hearing this, the Qin family members all looked at the children.
Qin Heng found it interesting and smiled at the children, “If you entrust your gold to me, I’ll give you eight percent.”
Old Madam Qin quickly added, “I’ll give you nine percent.”
Qin Zhao, not wanting to be left behind, declared, “I’ll give you ten percent!”
The children looked at Qin Sheng, “What about Sixth Uncle, aren’t you willing to give us a high interest rate?”
Lu Songli pulled Qin Sheng over and said with a smile, “Your Sixth Uncle’s gold belongs to Sixth Aunt, he doesn’t have the money to pay you interest.”
The children sighed in disappointment.
“So, have you decided where you want to deposit your gold?”
Qin Zhao’s competitive spirit was suddenly ignited. He loudly declared to the children, “Deposit it with me, I offer the highest interest rate!”
However, as soon as he finished speaking, Qin Zhen and Qin Yu shook their heads like a rattle, their refusal clear. They were afraid that if they deposited their gold with him, it would all disappear.
Qin Zhao: … His son and daughter were too good at undermining their old dad!
Qin Han followed her sister Qin Jia’s lead.
Qin Jia hesitated. She felt that her father was okay, he probably wouldn’t embezzle her and Qin Han’s gold, but her third uncle and aunt were less certain. This was also the reason why the four siblings had decided to deposit their gold with Sixth Aunt after discussing it.
“Sixth Aunt, can we discuss this?”
Lu Songli gestured for them to go ahead.
The children huddled together and whispered for a while.
Lu Songli noticed that Chen Chang’an could also play with them, and they got along quite well.
The other adults were also curious about what the children would finally decide.
Soon, they reached a consensus and told Lu Songli, “Sixth Aunt, we’ve decided, we’ll still deposit our gold with you.”
Lu Songli raised an eyebrow, “Why? My interest rate is the lowest.”
“We’ll deposit it with you because although the interest rate is only seven percent, it’s safe. If we deposit it elsewhere, it’s not safe. You said that high interest rates usually come with high risks. If we deposit our gold elsewhere, we might end up losing even our principal.”
Lu Songli facepalmed. This was another lesson she had taught them, a mini-class on preventing financial scams. She had presented it as a story, but why did they remember it so well?
Qin Heng: …
Qin Zhao: …
Their hearts ached, and the two brothers couldn’t help but question themselves. Were they really that bad as fathers? What about the trust between parents and children? Were these little brats raised for nothing?
The children told their fathers, “We trust Sixth Aunt the most. She always keeps her promises to us. She doesn’t try to cheat us just because we’re kids.”
“Alright, since you trust Sixth Aunt so much, then Sixth Aunt will accept your gold. Shall we sign a contract?”
“Yes,” the children nodded solemnly in unison.
The Qin family members finally understood what the children meant by their earlier statement. Imagine, which adult would solemnly sign a contract with children who were eight or nine years old?
“Children, your dearest Sixth Aunt kindly reminds you not to deposit all your gold, keep some for yourselves as spending money.”
Some children listened and kept a little, like Qin Jia and others. Some children didn’t listen to her advice and deposited all of it, like Qin Yu.
When asked why, the kid was blunt and said that if he ran out of money, he would just ask his parents for it, wouldn’t they give it to him?
Qin Zhao and Nie Yunniang exchanged glances. Was this son even salvageable?
Finally, Lu Songli happily collected the signed contracts. Little cucumbers, you still have much to learn, take your time and figure it out.
This night’s campsite was destined to be a night of celebration.
Everyone was excited, with nowhere to release their energy. They decided to put together a feast, and everyone started to get busy. They slaughtered sheep and chickens, and caught fish in the water…
While everyone was busy, they saw Sixth Aunt, the sixth young mistress of the Qin family, talking to the three Qin family masters. They also noticed that the relaxed smile on the third master’s face briefly disappeared for a moment, but then it returned as if they had imagined it.