Luo Zhiyong was also furious about this matter, waving his hand dismissively, "Whatever."
Fang Pingying glanced at Luo Zhiyong, then added, "Yes, it doesn’t matter to us whether we break his arms and legs or even kill him. He borrowed the money, he spent it, and it’s his responsibility. Go find him for it."
Those high-interest lenders had their own set of principles, after all. The money wasn’t borrowed by Fang Pingying and Luo Zhiyong, and they were looking for repayment only because they couldn’t find Zhiming, hoping against hope.
They initially thought the family had many ways to make money, and two thousand yuan wasn’t a big deal—that they would certainly help pay it back.
But now, seeing Fang Pingying’s tough stance, they were out of options.
The man in the lead tried to intimidate Fang Pingying, pointing at her and shouting, "This woman is really..."
Fang Pingying was not intimidated, figuring they could just take it to the Police Station, where she had no reason to pay the debt irrespective of the situation.
Before the man could finish, she spoke with even more resolve, "I want to clarify once again that this money has nothing to do with me, I will not pay it back. You should go find Luo Zhiming. If you come looking for trouble with me, I won’t be easy to talk to. Here in the provincial city, I won’t be bullied by anyone."
"Juzi, Pingying, what exactly happened?" Fang Pingying had barely finished speaking when Zeng Weiguo approached from a distance. Arriving closer, he addressed the debt collectors with a frown, "Shuanzi, what are you doing here? Whose money are you here to collect?"
Zeng Weiguo was called over by Juzi, who, guessing he had arrived, was also coming down from upstairs.
Descending the stairs, Juzi called out, "Uncle."
Shuanzi recognized Juzi as the girl who was just with Fang Pingying. Hearing her call Zeng Weiguo "Uncle," Shuanzi immediately bowed and scraped, handing a cigarette to Zeng Weiguo with a pleasing look, "Brother Zeng, you know them?"
Having mixed in the provincial city for many years and running a significant business, Zeng Weiguo naturally knew many people from both the legitimate and underworld societies. This Shuanzi was a well-known local ruffian in the provincial city, who specialized in collecting debts and such matters.
Zeng Weiguo accepted the cigarette symbolically, frowning as he asked the man named Shuanzi, "This is my niece, and this is my granddaughter-in-law. What, they don’t owe you money, do they?"
"No debts, no debts, there’s just been a little misunderstanding. We came to ask around and didn’t expect they would be relatives of Brother Zeng," Shuanzi seemed reluctant to discuss too much with Zeng Weiguo and quickly said, "Brother Zeng, we’ll leave now and will treat you to a meal next time."
However, before leaving, he addressed Luo Zhiyong, "Mr. Luo, this time I’ll give face to Brother Zeng and let this debt go. But I am a businessman, and there are rules in business. I’ve lent out the money and naturally want it back. Please notify your brother to come and repay the money within five days. At most, considering Brother Zeng’s face, I won’t charge him interest for these past few days."
Debts must be repaid; that’s only fair, and Luo Zhiyong had nothing to say in response.
After Shuanzi and his people left, Zeng Weiguo frowned and asked, "Pingying, Zhiyong, this Shuanzi is not someone to be trifled with. What exactly is going on?"
Fang Pingying and the others did not want to say too much, but Juzi spoke up for them, "It’s the younger brother of Battalion Commander Luo who put up the name of Battalion Commander Luo to borrow money, and those high-interest lenders have come knocking."
Zeng Weiguo was also aware of Zhiming’s situation but saw it as a family matter for Luo Zhiyong and his family and didn’t probe further, simply asking, "How much does he owe?"
Juzi said, "Including principal and interest, a total of two thousand yuan."
Zeng Weiguo pondered for a moment before saying to Luo Zhiyong, "Zhiyong, you’d best find your brother and handle this matter. If this Shuanzi comes knocking, I’m afraid your family will not have peace."
"Okay." Luo Zhiyong agreed, then turned to address Zeng GuoWo, "Uncle Zeng, thank you for your help today."
Zeng Weiguo nodded, then remembering that he had an appointment with Fang Pingying to discuss purchasing land, he said to her, "Pingying, let’s talk about our matter tomorrow, you take care of your family issues first today."
Fang Pingying, not wanting to postpone important matters, asked, "Is it urgent? Otherwise, we could talk at my place too."
Zeng Weiguo said it was not urgent, "We’ll talk at the supermarket tomorrow, and also gather some more opinions." ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ n0velfire.net
Hearing this, Fang Pingying nodded, "Alright, we’ll head to the supermarket tomorrow morning at the same time."
After exchanging a few more words, Zeng Weiguo mentioned he had to leave. Juzi also felt it wasn’t right to interfere in their family matters, so she said to Fang Pingying, "Sister-in-law, I’ll go to the shop. If you need anything, just call me, I’ll be at the shop all day."
Once Juzi and the others had left, Luo Zhiyong and Fang Pingying looked at each other. As they walked towards their home, Fang Pingying said, "We’ll talk when we get back."
Luo Honglan, who was at home with the two children and heard that someone had come looking for Luo Zhiyong for trouble, was worried at home. Upon seeing Fang Pingying and Luo Zhiyong walking back, she immediately ran over anxiously, "Big brother, sister-in-law, are you both all right?"
Fang Pingying nodded at her, "We’re fine."
"What exactly happened? Juzi came up and said big brother owed people money, what’s going on?" Luo Honglan really thought it was Luo Zhiyong who had borrowed money and spoke with displeasure, "Big brother, why would you go borrow money from others? If you really needed money, why not come to me and sister-in-law?"
Upon hearing this, Luo Zhiyong exploded in anger and shouted, "It wasn’t me, it was your wonderful second brother Luo Zhiming. He borrowed high-interest loans outside and even dragged me into it as a guarantor. Now he’s gone back to the countryside, untraceable, and they came knocking on our door."
"Again, Luo Zhiming, causing so much trouble, always implicating others, why doesn’t he just go die," Luo Honglan heated up again upon hearing it was about the family members, and yelled, "Big brother, call home and let Luo Zhiming come and repay the money himself."
Fang Pingying also agreed, urging Luo Zhiyong, "Yes, Zhiyong, you call back home and tell Luo Zhiming to come to the city and pay the money himself."
Luo Zhiyong had already planned on doing this without needing Fang Pingying and Luo Honglan’s urging.
He made a call to the home of the Village Branch Secretary, asking for Luo Zhiming to come and take the call.
After waiting for around ten minutes, guessing that Luo Zhiming had likely arrived, Luo Zhiyong dialed again and the person on the other end of the line was Luo Zhiming himself.
Luo Zhiming sounded surprised on the other end of the phone, "Big brother, why are you calling me?"
Luo Zhiyong’s voice on the phone was grim, "Luo Zhiming, you remember the good deeds you’ve done in the city, don’t you?"
"I..." Luo Zhiming’s voice was clearly guilty, "What deeds? I’ve not done anything."
Even though the principal was five hundred yuan, it was no small sum at that time, and he would surely remember having borrowed money.