Chapter 24: How Should One Collect a Headless Debt?

Zou Decheng is the owner of the "Zou's Fruit Stall" in Hejiaying. He was watering the fruit in his shop that afternoon when he happened to look up and see four young men walking over quickly.

Thinking business had arrived, Zou Decheng greeted them with a beaming smile: "Handsome fellows, what fruit would you like?"

"I don't want fruit, I want money."

The leader, Yang Tianxing, replied with a grin.

Only then did Zou Decheng realize the few people before him had ill intentions. He calmly picked up a fruit knife, grabbed a watermelon, and with a "Crack!" split it in two, letting the bright red juice flow onto the ground, then looked up and asked: "What money do you want?"

Seeing Zou Decheng's warning gesture with the knife, Fu Yiming and Song Fei exchanged a glance, their eyelids twitching.

Yang Tianxing gave a mocking laugh and actually pulled over a small stool from the entrance to sit right next to Zou Decheng, only 20 centimeters away from the gleaming fruit knife.

"My uncle is Cai Qiang from the stationery shop across the street. I heard you owe him 3,500 yuan and haven't paid it back?"

As Yang Tianxing spoke, he picked up the cut watermelon and began eating it right in front of Zou Decheng.

The neck he exposed while looking down hung right under the gleaming watermelon knife.

Zou Decheng was stunned at first, wondering when Cai Qiang had such a grown nephew, then he flew into a rage. It had only been half a year, and 2,500 yuan had actually turned into 3,500. This son of a bitch was even more ruthless than a loan shark.

In fact, it wasn't just Zou Decheng; Fu Yiming and the other two were also confused when they heard "2,500" become "3,500," but they assumed Yang Tianxing intended to charge an extra 1,000 yuan in handling fees, so they didn't say a word.

Compared to Cai Qiang, Yang Tianxing was actually more willing to deal with Zou Decheng, because whether Cai Qiang was willing to sponsor was entirely up to him, and Yang Tianxing really had no way to force it; however, there was a huge loophole on Zou Decheng's side, and Yang Tianxing could easily find an entry point.

"Young man, let me tell you, I do not owe your uncle 3,500 yuan," Zou Decheng said sternly.

Yang Tianxing finished the watermelon, casually lifted his shirt to wipe his mouth, and said with a smile: "That's none of my business. That's what my uncle said, and I'm only responsible for collecting the money."

Just as Zou Decheng was eyeing these four people with an uncertain expression, students from the Finance Institute who were watching the spectacle gradually gathered at the entrance of the fruit shop.

"Who are they?" Zou Decheng asked.

These people all had the distinct air of college students, and Yang Tianxing didn't hide it: "These are all my college classmates. If you don't pay me back the 3,500 yuan, I'll have them move your fruit until they've moved 3,500 yuan worth."

"You dare!"

Zou Decheng struck the fruit knife with a "Clang!" and then shouted: "That son of a bitch Cai Qiang, intentionally calling 2,500 yuan 3,500, and even sending a bunch of college students to harass me while I'm doing business. Just you wait."

After saying this, Zou Decheng walked into the small warehouse in the back. After rummaging through boxes and cabinets, he brought out a crumpled IOU and stuck it in front of Yang Tianxing: "Look closely, did I only borrow 2,500 yuan? Your unscrupulous uncle is lying to you!"

Yang Tianxing took the IOU, and it was clearly written on it: "Due to personal financial strain, Zou Decheng has borrowed 2,500 RMB from Cai Qiang, to be repaid within one month..."

Zou Decheng waited for Yang Tianxing to finish reading before saying: "Did you see it clearly?"

"Saw it clearly," Yang Tianxing nodded.

"Then give the IOU back to me."

Zou Decheng reached out his hand and said.

Yang Tianxing smiled, folded the IOU directly, and put it into his pocket: "I misheard just now; my uncle actually said 2,500 yuan. Now that both the witness and the evidence are here, pay up, Boss Zou."

Zou Decheng was stunned for a long time before he finally reacted: this college student had been tricking him out of his IOU.

"You dare scam me? I hope you and your uncle Cai Qiang's whole family dies!"

"Whatever, I'm not that close with Boss Cai anyway."

……………

Inside the stationery shop, looking at the 25 one-hundred-yuan bills in front of him, Cai Qiang's face bloomed with a smile.

"I really didn't expect it. I had already given up on this money, but I didn't think you'd actually be able to get it back."

As Cai Qiang spoke, he reached out to gather the money.

"Slap."

Yang Tianxing pressed his lighter down on it.

"Classmate, what is the meaning of this?"

Cai Qiang looked up and asked.

"No special meaning, just reminding Boss Cai that this is my money."

Yang Tianxing said with a chuckle.

"That's going too far. You can take 500 yuan as a commission, but taking it all isn't reasonable, is it?"

Cai Qiang said with a dark face.

The two, who had just been in a state of cooperation, instantly had a falling out over the money, but Yang Tianxing was clearly being more unreasonable, and he didn't intend to be reasonable anyway.

Liu Lei also sneered from the side: "Did Boss Cai forget what you said just now? You said whoever got this money back could keep it."

"This..."

Cai Qiang was taken aback, thinking who knew you bunch of bastards could actually get it back. He pushed up his glasses and said with a sheepish smile: "I was just saying that."

"You can say what you want, but I took it seriously."

Yang Tianxing put the 2,500 yuan into his pocket while holding a cigarette in his mouth. Cai Qiang spat in frustration, but there was nothing he could do.

When the money was in Cai Qiang's hands, Yang Tianxing really had no way to get it, but once it was out and in Yang Tianxing's possession, Cai Qiang couldn't get it back.

"Minister Zhou, wait a moment. Didn't you just manage to get a 500 yuan sponsorship?"

At this moment, Zhou Yang and Long Fuxin were preparing to leave quietly. Who could have guessed that Yang Tianxing would be both cunning and fierce, not only tricking Zou Decheng out of his IOU but also swindling the money right in front of Cai Qiang.

Now Zhou Yang just wanted to be invisible, but Yang Tianxing wouldn't let him off the hook.

"How about this: I'll put up 500 yuan and 50 cents as a sponsorship for the Freshman Gala, just barely edging out Minister Zhou."

Yang Tianxing pulled out the 500 yuan in bills, then borrowed a 50-cent coin from Fu Yiming and handed them both to Zhang Wei.

Zhang Wei was stunned, not knowing whether to accept or refuse.

"What's wrong? Not good enough for you?"

Yang Tianxing asked with a smile.

Zhang Wei gritted her teeth, pretended not to see the gloomy look from Vice Chairman Long Fuxin, and took the 500 yuan and 50 cents.

"Good!"

Song Fei suddenly shouted. The surrounding freshmen began to cheer; they didn't know the reason either, but they felt this must be a victory—the kind they had personally participated in.

Fu Yiming still felt it wasn't chaotic enough, so he shouted at the backs of Long Fuxin and Zhou Yang, "What happened to the agreement to step down as vice minister? Why are you chickening out now?"

"Forget it, he won't step down now."

Yang Tianxing said indifferently.

Although Zhou Yang had sworn in front of so many people, as long as his skin was thick enough and he had Long Fuxin backing him up, he could continue to serve as vice minister all the same.

"Drinks tonight, my treat!"

Yang Tianxing called over all the classmates who had specifically come to Hejiaying to show their support; this afternoon, Yang Tianxing had shown them another side of himself, one far more complex than that of a student.

But fortunately, he is our class monitor.

Fu Yiming and the others drank while cursing, all of them saying that Zhou Yang was shameless and refused to admit defeat, and Liu Lei even specifically asked, "Is there any way to make Zhou Yang obediently quit the External Liaison Department?"

Yang Tianxing was drinking at the time and didn't think too deeply about it, so he just said offhandedly, "Unless you make his face fall to the ground so he can't pick it up; the intensity of this afternoon's incident wasn't enough."

Liu Lei let out an "Oh" and continued drinking without saying anything else.

After returning that night, Yang Tianxing was playing cards with some people when Song Fei suddenly ran in in a panic and said, "It's bad, Liu Lei beat up that son of a bitch Zhou Yang."