Chapter 192: Rural Absurd Past Events Chapter 192: Mom, Don't Give Money!

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

In the empty house, Li Xiulan sat at the table, dazed and still as rotten wood.

Sunlight fell from the window onto her dry, wrinkled, aged face; she looked lost in thought, unmoving.

Ever since Second Brother got into trouble, she worried all day and washed her face with tears all day, aging very rapidly.

Originally she only had a few white hairs.

But now, her hair was already nearly half white.

"How about this, when Erhai calls back, let's have those people name a price; as long as Erhai can come back, no matter how much money, we'll give it — money gone can be earned again, but if the person is gone, then everything is truly gone."

Li Xiulan suddenly spoke these words.

Wang Changgen smoked one cigarette after another beside her.

He had also suffered torment these days and aged a lot.

His complexion was dark and weary, no longer as vital as before.

These days he worked during the day, relying entirely on cigarettes to stay alert and sustain himself; previously he smoked half a pack a day, now he smoked at least a pack and a half, sometimes even two packs.

Only nicotine burning his lungs could keep his spirits up and give him energy to do heavy work like masonry.

"The problem now is, ever since we found out he's doing pyramid scheme, he hasn't called back at all; we call him and he doesn't pick up."

Wang Changgen looked worried, the vertical lines between his brows deep and clear, like a big "chuan" character.

His meaning was obvious: if money could guarantee his second son's safe return, he was also willing to spend money to avert disaster.

"What to do about this?"

As Li Xiulan spoke, she couldn't help but cry again.

Her eyes were already swollen from crying.

"Sigh, leave it to fate; Erhai's bazi says he'll live to at least sixty, he definitely won't have any trouble."

Wang Changgen said this, and could only offer such self-deceiving words of comfort; beyond that, he couldn't do anything.

Just then!

Wang Changgen's mobile phone suddenly rang!

He took it out to look — it was actually Wang Erhai calling!

Wang Erhai had been out of contact for over a month; suddenly calling at this time made Wang Changgen's face twitch immediately, seeing a glimmer of hope.

"Erhai called!"

He blurted out.

Li Xiulan's face twitched immediately; she hurriedly wiped the tears from her face and urged:

"Hurry up and answer!"

Wang Changgen hurriedly answered and put it on speaker so Li Xiulan could listen too.

"Erhai, are you okay? Do you know how worried we've been? Where are you!"

The moment the call connected, Li Xiulan hurriedly spoke.

From the other end came Wang Erhai's slightly weak voice:

"Mom, I'm fine, don't worry about me... I, my entrepreneurship failed, I owe quite a bit of money, can you send me twenty thousand yuan to pay off debts..."

When Wang Erhai said these words, his tone was somewhat strange.

It was obviously forced.

This isn't entrepreneurship failure at all; clearly he's being coerced by pyramid scheme personnel to make excuses and ask his family for money.

Those pyramid scheme dog things are very cunning; they won't directly threaten Wang Erhai's family, nor directly demand money from his family.

Because once they speak themselves, the nature changes — it becomes extortion.

But if Wang Erhai actively asks his family for money, it doesn't constitute a crime.

As for pyramid scheme, you have no evidence, you can't do anything to them.

Even with evidence, you don't know where they're hiding; you can't catch them at all.

"Erhai, we all know you were tricked into a pyramid scheme; how long are you going to keep deceiving us!"

Wang Changgen immediately shouted angrily.

He was very angry at Wang Erhai's behavior; if Wang Erhai were in front of him now, he would definitely slap him hard several times!

This beast!

Making the whole family worry for him this long!

Wang Erhai felt very guilty and tormented inside.

But faced with the threats and intimidation of those pyramid scheme personnel who had tortured him for so long, he could only compromise.

This past month, besides himself, no one knew what he had experienced.

His throat was a bit choked, but he still followed the script given by the pyramid scheme personnel, telling lies to his parents:

"Dad, Mom, I didn't go into pyramid scheme, I really failed at entrepreneurship, can you give me twenty thousand yuan? Please, I really need this twenty thousand to pay debts, otherwise I'll die..."

Hearing the word "die," Li Xiulan's heart immediately gave a violent start.

Her face full of panic, no longer calm.

"Erhai, if we give you this twenty thousand yuan, you'll be able to come back, right? If you can come back, I'll send it immediately!"

Li Xiulan hurriedly said.

As long as Second Brother could come back, she was willing to spend money to ward off disaster.

However, on the other end of the phone, Wang Erhai's response was only silence.

Because he knew very clearly in his heart that even if they gave these twenty thousand yuan, he still could not go back.

Those scoundrels doing pyramid schemes, they are heartless beasts; they won't stop until they've squeezed every last cent from your family!

"Mom, don't give money, the more you give, the less I can go back!"

Wang Erhai didn't know where he suddenly found the courage; after being tortured for over a month, he suddenly shouted this at his parents on the phone.

He had just shouted these words when the phone was forcibly hung up.

Li Xiulan and Wang Zhanggen both looked astonished upon hearing these words.

They were speechless, facing the already hung-up phone, unable to say a word for a moment.

Someone might say, since Wang Erhai had the courage to shout not to give money, why didn't he have the courage to shout out his location directly?

The reason is very simple, because even he himself didn't know exactly where he was!

He only knew he was inside a dilapidated building in Beihai City; as for the exact location of this building, he simply didn't know!

Wang Erhai suddenly shouting at his parents like this was also something those pyramid scheme personnel hadn't expected.

After they hurriedly hung up the phone, they immediately flew into a rage out of humiliation.

"Wang Erhai, you're looking to die, aren't you!"

The first to beat Wang Erhai was unexpectedly his former good classmate, good buddy, Yang Xiaoxiong.

Yang Xiaoxiong at this time had completely changed.

He had been mixed with the pyramid scheme organization for over a month, completely integrated into the pyramid scheme organization, and had become a backbone force among those scoundrels.

Yang Xiaoxiong was afraid of being poor; his family was extremely, extremely poor.

Poor to the point where it was very difficult to even take out five thousand yuan in savings.

And he had no parents; his mother ran away after giving birth to him, and his father, because of his habitual drinking, died of a stroke when he was in his first year of high school.

Only his grandfather and grandmother were left at home.

And his grandfather and grandmother didn't really care about him; most importantly, his grandfather and grandmother didn't know how to use a mobile phone.

So it was impossible for these pyramid scheme personnel to get his family to pay money; seeing Yang Xiaoxiong so active and initiative in joining, they let Yang Xiaoxiong do other business, forcing others to cheat money from their families.

And Wang Erhai, this good friend of Yang Xiaoxiong, among a large group of cheated victims, could be considered Old Stubborn; no matter how they persuaded and brainwashed, no matter how they beat and kicked, he didn't cooperate, so the heavy responsibility of settling Wang Erhai fell onto Yang Xiaoxiong's shoulders.

Originally Yang Xiaoxiong had already persuaded Wang Erhai, letting Wang Erhai ask his family for another twenty thousand yuan in the name of business failure.

Unexpectedly, as Wang Erhai was speaking, he suddenly shouted not to send money over, which Yang Xiaoxiong hadn't expected at all.

At the same time, he also flew into a rage out of humiliation.

So he gave Wang Erhai a sound beating.

To earn money, Yang Xiaoxiong didn't care about any classmate or buddy anymore.

He only wanted to earn money, then buy a house in the city and get rid of rural poverty.

To earn money, he could use any means.

Wang Erhai was beaten black and blue all over; he cried out in pain, begging for mercy repeatedly from this former good classmate and buddy, but it was of no use.

Yang Xiaoxiong beat Wang Erhai like a madman, striking without restraint.

Even the pyramid scheme personnel around him couldn't bear it, and hurriedly went to stop him:

"Stop hitting, if you hit anymore someone will die! We're just after money; if someone dies, the nature of the thing changes, and we'll all be cooked together!"