NOVPUBChapter 137 -137: It is only right and proper to repay debts.
Chapter 137 -137: It is only right and proper to repay debts.
Yang Mei had just finished tidying up, but before she could get Fang Jianping over, a crowd burst into the yard; Yang Mei recognized them as the gang of hooligans who came to collect the usurious loans.
“Is anyone breathing here? Hurry up and come out, we’re looking for Fang Xiaoshan.” As the newcomers shouted, they kicked over a bucket in the yard, spilling water all over the place. It was the water Yang Mei had drawn to wash the sheets and pillow covers later.
Then another one of them directly pulled down the quilt drying on the rope, dropping it into the muddy water on the ground. Yang Mei felt her heart ache; it was a new quilt, made with five pounds of cotton by her mother when she got married.
The problem was, where could she go to argue about it now? The couple had seen these kind of people before, who were being arrogant.
Fang Xiaoshan drew back the curtain, “Who’s looking for me?” thinking it was his friends coming to invite him to play cards.
But when he saw it was them, Fang Xiaoshan quickly dropped the curtain in fright.
Lord have mercy; they had really come to his door.
Fang Xiaoshan immediately knelt down in front of Fang Jianping, desperately grabbing his hand, “Uncle, Uncle, you have to save me, save me! Otherwise, these people will beat me to death. Uncle, if you can just get me through this ordeal, I’ll be like your own son, taking care of you in your old age, I promise to be filial, Uncle! Please save me.”
How could he not know, after failing to pay back the money last time, these people had nearly beaten him to death. If not for their hope that he would repay, they probably would have broken his legs. Now, thinking about it, Fang Xiaoshan was terrified.
He was a coward, not used to being beaten.
Before Fang Jianping could say anything, the curtains of the room were flung open and a few people walked in. Seeing Fang Jianping lying on the kang, they laughed loudly, “Fang Xiaoshan, paying debts is natural, here is the IOU written in black and white, shouldn’t you be paying us back today?” One of them kicked Fang Xiaoshan, sending him tumbling to the ground.
Fang Xiaoshan had been desperately holding Fang Jianping’s hand, and almost pulled him off the kang; if not for Yang Mei’s quick reflexes, darting over to steady him, Fang Jianping would have really hit his head on the ground.
The couple exchanged looks, Fang Jianping painfully and slowly lying back down with Yang Mei’s support. 𝔫𝔬𝖛𝖕𝔲𝖇.𝖈𝖔𝖒
“Ah, my back!” Fang Jianping winked at Yang Mei.
Yang Mei barely stopped herself from twitching her lips; this man was already so old, yet still making jokes.
But she was here to make sure Fang Jianping’s deception wasn’t discovered, lest the old lady find out their scheme, which could potentially expose them to further mischief.
“Fang Xiaoshan! This is now two thousand one hundred yuan, if you don’t pay today! The interest keeps growing daily; I’m afraid you’ll never be able to repay it in this lifetime.” The leader was a bald man with a face full of scars, clearly a tough character, staring at Fang Xiaoshan like he was looking at a piece of fat meat.
The old lady was anxious, throwing herself protectively in front of Fang Xiaoshan, “What are you doing hitting people? If you owe money, pay it, but you can’t hit people! What will you collect from if you harm him?” Fang Xiaoshan hid behind the old lady.
Baldy laughed, stretching out a big hand and rubbing his bald head, “Oh, so does this mean the old lady has the money to pay? Well then! Brothers, let’s help Fang Xiaoshan stand up; after all, in our line of business, harmony brings wealth!”
Someone had already moved a chair for Baldy, and he sat right in the middle of the room, blatantly.
The old man could only put on a smile and asked, “How should I address this gentleman?”
They absolutely could not come up with these two thousand yuan even if it killed them.
“It’s simple. Everyone calls me Brother Bald. Old man, bring out the money! We made this difficult trip just for the money! Today, if Fang Xiaoshan doesn’t return the money, don’t blame us for not being polite. We’ll have to take a limb. Weigh your options.”
Baldy’s face was fierce, and although he tried to speak loftily, that only made it all the more terrifying.
“Grandpa, Grandpa, I don’t want my arms and legs taken! Grandpa, save me!” At this moment, Fang Xiaoshan could only beg the old man. Fang Jianping, on the other hand, had been silent all this time, being the richest in the family. If he didn’t speak up, who else could bring out the money?
At this time, aroused by the noise, Fang Jiansheng and Fang Xiaoshan’s mother, Yao Pandi, also came over. There were wails and howls, especially from their own son. The couple, who had pretended to know nothing, finally couldn’t sit still any longer.
Seeing Fang Xiaoshan sprawled on the ground, the couple hurriedly pleaded with the old man, “Dad, you can’t just ignore Xiaoshan. He’s our only son!”
They now wanted to press the old man to ask Fang Jianping for money. They had no position to ask Fang Jianping for money; besides, any money they asked for would be considered a loan. But if the old man asked for it, it would be seen as filial piety on Fang Jianping’s part, which was different.
The old man sighed, “Jianping, how much money do you have? Everyone in the family should chip in and let’s get Xiaoshan out of this situation first. Otherwise, we can’t just watch Xiaoshan get killed.” He knew his eldest son’s intentions; at such a time, his eldest was still looking out for himself. The old man was helpless; that was his grandson! He couldn’t just watch him die.
Just as Fang Jianping was about to speak, Yang Mei intervened, “This trouble was caused by Fang Xiaoshan, so how much will his brother and sister-in-law contribute? Xiaoshan is their son, after all. It’s not like they won’t contribute a single cent!” The money was definitely going to come out today. The couple knew this before coming. With loan sharks at the door, there was no escaping, but how much they put out mattered.
Fang Jianping meant, of course, that they could contribute! Of course, it should all come from them! Not to put his parents in a difficult position. But Yang Mei didn’t see it that way. If they gave everything, this family would probably not only be ungrateful but also assume they were obliged to give because they had money.
Fang Jiansheng then spoke, “Sister-in-law, we really can’t come up with the money. You know very well our farm’s yield hardly supports our family’s needs, let alone allows us to save. We absolutely cannot come up with these two thousand yuan.” They resorted to playing poor.
The elderly lady immediately said, “Where would they get any money? If you have it, just give it all. We are facing a crisis here. Why are you quibbling?”
Yang Mei laughed, “Old lady, if we had money, when these people came asking, wouldn’t we have given it? Do you really think Jianping wants to be beaten rather than part with money? We don’t have any. You should think about it! Over the years, every building, every meal and drink in the house was funded by us. Xiaoshan even borrows money from us every now and then. After all these contributions, how could we possibly have money left? You surely don’t think that just by running a small store, we could accumulate wealth, do you?
Now the business has failed, we owe for goods and rent, that’s all money. After we settle debts, we are left with five hundred yuan. Jianping still needs medicine. You’re asking us for money, but we just can’t come up with it.”
Forcing them to give money also depended on whether Yang Mei agreed.
Fang Jianping wanted to pull Yang Mei aside but ultimately didn’t make a move. He needed to see how the family would handle this. Without him, was the rest of the family simply not going to survive?
