Chapter 398: Chapter 398 I Have Money Chapter 398: Chapter 398 I Have Money “Brother! Brother! Stop hitting me! Stop hitting me!” Fang Xiaoshan tumbled and crawled to his older brother, clinging desperately to his legs, begging for mercy. In essence, he was a spineless man, already in so much pain from the beating he felt like dying.
Now, he’d do anything as long as they spared him.
“Stop hitting you? Then tell us! How do you plan to pay us back? You owe us five thousand all together. You were supposed to use your wife to settle the debt, but now she’s also run off. So, we can only come after you.” This time, the loan sharks were a new group of people.
Fang Xiaoshan cursed Bai Mei silently, thinking if only she hadn’t run away, he wouldn’t be suffering this torture now.
Bai Mei knew too, she must have thought, if she didn’t run, she’d be the one suffering.
Only a fool wouldn’t run.
“Brother, brother, I really have no money. Give me a couple of days to gather some; can’t I try to repay you then?” Fang Xiaoshan knew clearly that with Bai Mei gone, he had nothing substantial to offer. It’d be strange if they didn’t demand money from him.
His current plan was just a stopgap; he was still figuring out a better one, planning to flee in the middle of the night just like anyone else with legs.
Fang Xiaoshan had made up his mind already; trapped without options for the moment, he thought he’d try asking his parents for some money later, and then he’d leave in the middle of the night himself.
The outside world was vast; the sky was the limit, where birds fly freely. He planned to make his way to the city, perhaps even make a name for himself one day.
Then, repaying the money would be a trivial matter.
“You want two days? You make it sound so easy. Do you think we are fools? Your wife has already run away, and if you run away tonight, then whom shall we go after? Your old man and old lady don’t owe us money. It’s not right nor reasonable to demand money from them. You better explain clearly today how you intend to repay us. If you can’t come up with a solution, the guys here will break your legs for you.”
So we don’t have to worry about you running off and Monk losing his temple. We can’t afford to have our efforts wasted.
Thinking loan sharks are fools?
They’ve seen many like Fang Xiaoshan before, always eventually running away.
Now, if they don’t sort this out properly, they’ll definitely not get their money back in the future.
Several thugs held sticks, sporadically tapping them in their hands and glaring threateningly at Fang Xiaoshan’s legs, almost as if they genuinely wished to break them.
Fang Xiaoshan was terrified.
“Don’t! Don’t, dear brothers, please show mercy, don’t break my legs. I’ll figure out a way to get you the money, I really will repay you. I still have money. My uncle is rich; he does business in town and has money,” Fang Xiaoshan blurted out in desperation, finally remembering he had a wealthy uncle.
“Who are you fooling? Do you think we’re idiots? We’ve already checked everything thoroughly. Your uncle has long severed ties with your family. He even gave your grandparents his house for their retirement, a fact well known around your village, clearly documented in black and white. You, a mere nephew, dreaming of getting money from your uncle? You must be dreaming,” the loan shark leader sneered, not to be taken for a fool. Those in this business don’t survive without thorough investigations.
Loan sharking also requires homework; first, they need to thoroughly investigate the debtors’ family circumstances, identifying who is easy or difficult to deal with. For those who are difficult, they approach in a relatively gentler manner, and can’t excessively jack up the interest rates.
But for those who are easy targets, there’s no mercy in how they are squeezed.