Chapter 34

Another side.

Xixi Village.

A dusty minivan drove up, passing the big banyan tree at the village entrance; the passenger window rolled down, and a fat‑headed, big‑eared man smiled and called out, "Ma'am, may I ask how to get to Wu An's home?"

The ma'am, hard of hearing, asked: "What Wu?"

The man said, "Wu An!"

The ma'am replied, "What An?"

"【…】 The man cursed while rolling up his window, and someone far away shouted, 'Are you looking for Wu An? Are you Lao Tan's men?'"

The man poked his head out and asked, "Who are you?"

"My name is Chen Gui; I've had a few drinks with Lao Tan." Chen Gui trotted over and asked, "Brother, what should I call you?"

"Call me Lao Wu." Lao Wu said, "That's the call you made to my boss."

Chen Gui glanced at the old men and women cooling off under the tree and said quietly, "Let's talk as we walk; otherwise I can hop in the car and show you the way."

Lao Wu shook his head: "No room."

Chen Gui tiptoed to look inside the van and was startled—goodness, seven or eight burly men were packed in tight.

He asked, "How come there are so many people?"

Lao Wu muttered, "My boss said that for those who refuse to pay their debts, we shouldn't be polite—we need to teach them a lesson, and having more people makes it easier."

Chen Gui gave a thumbs‑up: "Exactly, exactly, exactly."

"Your boss is right."

"Then follow me in your car."

Lao Wu nodded.

As one person and one car headed into the village, the old woman who had just been questioned spat on the ground with a look of disdain, and the other old men and women whispered among themselves.

The Yingwei family has only just had a few days of peace.

"Yeah, trouble's brewing again."

"A Gui's been like this too, always scheming about this and that, never doing any real work."

Though these old men and women look elderly, they can tell who's human and who's a ghost perfectly well.

On the road.

A villager saw Chen Gui bringing a minivan into the village and asked curiously, "Uncle Gui, what's this for?"

"You go ahead on foot, and the car will follow behind."

"I thought you'd brought the Japanese into the village."

After saying that, he laughed.

But Chen Gui didn't find the joke funny at all; he felt it was an insult, and snapped angrily, "Kang Zai, if you can't speak properly, shut your mouth!"

"These people came to collect money from Wu An, asked me for directions—I didn't want to tell them, but when seven or eight burly men showed up ready to beat me, I had no choice but to lead the way."

He's also a person who cares about face.

What?

Really? This too?

Kang Zai, who loves to jump into the excitement, also headed toward the Wu family's place.

The villagers kept gathering in greater numbers.

As they were nearing the destination, they ran into Lao Meng.

Lao Meng greeted him proactively: "A Gui, what's this for?"

Chen Gui gave a casual reply.

Upon hearing that, Lao Meng's face changed and he asked, "Are you here to collect a debt?"

"There might be a misunderstanding here."

"I just ran into Wu An not long ago, and he said he was heading into town to repay a debt."

Everyone laughed.

Chen Gui laughed loudest, saying, "Lao Meng, you lie without even drafting a script?"

"Wu An's only been on the job a few days—where would he get the money?"

Wu An has been working for a few days; where did he get the money?

Or is it Old Wu who claims to have severed father-son ties with Wu An in words, yet secretly gave him money?

Kangzi also chimed in: "Uncle Meng, if you say you gave Wu An money to pay off his debt, I might actually believe you."

Other villagers joined in the teasing.

This isn't a matter of a few hundred or a few thousand yuan.

It's tens of thousands of yuan.

Not to mention Wu An doesn't have it; even the Wu family probably couldn't come up with that amount.

Why?

Because Wu Yingwei and Wu Ping, this father-son duo, are wholly devoted to work—Wu Yingwei need not be mentioned; many promotional flyers are printed at his own expense.

Wu Ping is a privately hired teacher who teaches grades one to three at the village school, also handles several other subjects, serves as homeroom for a few classes, and it's said that most of his salary is funneled back into the school.

No matter what people say behind their backs, openly no one fails to admire this father-son duo.

As for the Wu family, the only disgrace is Wu An, a good-for-nothing that draws condemnation.

This family barely makes ends meet; let alone savings—Wu Yingwei's severing of father-son ties isn't due to inability, but because he simply can't control Wu An.

Now Lao Meng says Wu An went to town to repay his debt, and naturally nobody believes him.

Chen Gui said: "Old Meng, this has nothing to do with you, so don't get involved."

Lao Meng was sweating profusely from anxiety.

He hurriedly turned and ran, sprinting to the Wu family gate, then shouted at Mei Yueqin, who was busy in the courtyard: "Mei Yueqin, hurry and close the gate."

"The loan sharks have sent people to collect the debt."

"Hurry up."

As he spoke, he helped close the door, letting Mei Yueqin quickly bolt it from inside.

Mei Yueqin, voice somewhat panicked through the door, asked: "Uncle Meng, what's going on?"

"Erzi said the loan shark loan was for one year, to be repaid in twelve installments; it's only been half a month, why are they already demanding payment?"

Lao Meng's face darkened: "I don't know, but I suspect it's related to Chen Gui."

"No matter what, you must not open the door."

"Go back inside and call Old Wu and A Ping first."

Mei Yueqin answered.

As a woman of the household, she didn't know what to do, so she hurried back inside and used the phone to contact Wu Yingwei and Wu Ping.

Listening to the loud banging on the door outside.

Lao Meng's voice also rose: "Don't cause trouble here."

"Wu An is not at home."

"Nobody is home right now."

"You'd better leave quickly."

Mei Yueqin's tears spilled uncontrollably; she was extremely anxious.

After two attempts, she finally got through: "Dad, come back quickly, the loan sharks are here to collect the debt."

……

In town.

Third-floor office.

Wu An saw Lao Tan; Lao Tan wasn't fierce, wearing glasses and looking refined—who would have thought he was the biggest scourge of Fu Yuan Zhen?

He remembered seeing the news that, sometime in the future, he and his underlings were all caught in one sweep, apparently even involving loss of life; anyway, it was quite serious, and they were all sentenced.

Lao Tan puffed on a cigarette and asked: "What are you here for?"

Wu An shouted "Boss Tan!" and said: "To repay the debt."

"I've only had it for less than a month, but calculating one month's interest, how much should I owe?"

Lao Tan exhaled a puff of thick smoke: "Principal and interest together, eleven thousand."

Wu An said nothing, took out the money from his pocket, counted it clearly, placed it on the table, and said: "You count it."

"Give me the IOU."

Lao Tan looked at the stack of money on the table and fell silent.

This left him at a loss.

Chen Gui called him early in the morning, saying Wu An wanted to default on the debt and had even staged a father‑son rift.

He was familiar with this act.

Some people try to avoid paying without dragging in family, so they pull this trick.

So he sent Lao Wu and a few men to collect the debt, to give Wu An and his family a lesson.

The result.

His men hadn't yet called to report the situation, but Wu An had instead shown up at the door to repay the money.

After a while, Lao Tan finally said: "The IOU isn't with me."

Wu An slammed his hand down on the money on the table, his face grim, and said: "Boss Tan, you're supposed to be a notable figure on the streets."

"If you swallow my money, who will dare to borrow from you in the future?"

Upon hearing this, Lao Tan burst out laughing and said: "This bit of money is nothing."

"Today there was a little hiccup, which caused the misunderstanding."

"I'll make a call first."