Brother-in-law borrowed 50 taels of gold to buy a house, when paying back, calculate the money according to the value when borrowing.

10 years ago, my brother-in-law bought a house but did not have enough money, so he asked my husband and I to borrow money. At that time, we already had a decent house, so we thought of helping him in his difficult time. So I lent him all my savings.

I have a habit of buying gold whenever I have some savings, so when my brother-in-law asked to borrow 50 taels of gold, I lent him all. My brother-in-law and his wife were like they had struck gold, grateful that if I hadn't lent them, they wouldn't have been able to buy a house.

I thought that lending gold would not lose value in the future, and if I didn't lend it, I would just keep it in the safe, so I didn't think about it. Since then, my brother-in-law hasn't talked about paying back the debt, and I haven't needed the gold yet, so I didn't ask for it. Recently, my daughter bought a house, so I plan to give her the gold my brother-in-law borrowed.

When I asked for the gold back, my brother-in-law seemed unhappy and said he would arrange to pay me back. I was sure that I would pay back the loan as I had borrowed it, but my brother-in-law paid me back in cash, the value of 50 taels of gold 10 years ago. With that amount of money, I would not be able to buy 20 taels of gold now.

I did not agree with the calculation, so my brother-in-law said that if I asked to pay back 50 taels of gold, it would be like lending money to a family member with high interest rates. When he borrowed the gold from me, he also had to sell the gold to pay for the house, so the value was calculated in money, not gold. If I insisted on paying back 50 taels of gold, he would pay, but it would sever the family relationship.

I never thought I would be in such an ironic situation. I wanted to help my brother-in-law in his difficult time, but it was so difficult to get it back. Was I too calculating or too foolish to lend all my assets to my brother-in-law?