Cheng Yue looked down at the money in his hand, counted it again, and confirmed he couldn’t repay the debt. He considered running away with the IOU in hand.
As Cheng Yue was lost in thought, the three men in black vests across from him exchanged glances, and their expressions grew particularly complicated.
The burly man on the left, after glancing at Cheng Yue, leaned in cautiously towards the man in the middle and whispered, “It’s just a kid. Look at him, he’s such an idiot. I can’t be harsh with him. Who the hell set this job up?”
“Damn it, how was I supposed to know it was a kid?” The man in the middle looked troubled, ruffling his hair. “We’ve already taken the money; we have to finish the job.”
“I’m not doing it. I can’t intimidate a kid.” The burly man said, glancing at the frightened Cheng Yue, and then he grabbed the middle man and headed towards the exit.
Cheng Yue was startled by their movement, thinking they were about to beat him up. He stood up abruptly, ready to run.
“Hey!” The middle man, now standing, shouted, “Sit back down!”
Cheng Yue swallowed nervously, complied, and carefully placed the few bills he had on the table.
“Damn!” The man on the left looked at the crumpled money on the table, grabbed the middle man, and started to leave.
As they walked, he muttered, “Every family has kids. This kid looks like he’s only fifteen or sixteen. Isn’t this a bit inhumane? You need to call the client and say we can’t intimidate kids.”
Cheng Yue watched the two men leave, feeling frustrated. He touched his nose and was about to leave, but the man in black still sitting across from him made him hesitate. Cheng Yue took a deep breath and said, “Can… can I pay it back slowly?”
The remaining man in black looked a bit awkward, waved his hand dismissively, and, in a gruff tone, said, “Quiet down,” while stirring his coffee with a small spoon, adopting a prissy demeanor.
He was only there to make up the numbers, not involved in the main task, and didn’t even have any lines…
Cheng Yue was intimidated by his attitude and remained seated, not daring to move.
Suddenly, Cheng Yue’s phone vibrated in his hand, startling him. He glanced at the men across from him and, seeing they had no reaction, quietly looked at his phone.
The message was from Ji Xu.
[Are you home yet?]
Seeing the message made Cheng Yue feel suddenly distressed. He tried to type a reply but deleted it several times. Eventually, he gritted his teeth and shoved his phone into his pocket.
He was afraid he’d give in and tell Ji Xu about the situation. He knew that once Ji Xu found out, he’d try to handle it himself, and Cheng Yue couldn’t drag someone else into his mess. He’d rather deal with it himself.
Anyway, he could pay back the debt slowly. These people wouldn’t just slit his throat and bury him in a hole. Besides, he had insurance; if he died, the insurance money should be enough to cover it.
At this moment, the two men standing by the door were having a conflicted conversation, looking as if they were holding in a lot of frustration.
“What did the client say?”
“She said to go ahead and handle it. The money can be negotiated. We need to deal with the kid some more.”
“Heartless… I’m not doing it. Your kid is about the same age, aren’t you soft-hearted?”
“Damn it! What can I do? We’ve already taken the money. What do you suggest we do?”
“Here’s what we’ll do. Find out if the kid has other relatives. Call them over, and we’ll negotiate. We’ll just settle for whatever we can get and get this over with.”
After Tang Jing had the middle-aged woman across the table sign several documents, Ji Xu checked his phone again.
He had sent a message to Cheng Yue five minutes ago, but Cheng Yue hadn’t replied.
“Thank you so much! Really, thank you!” The woman, holding her documents with red-rimmed eyes, said, “I will definitely testify in court! I will!”
“No need for you to testify, don’t cry…” Tang Jing said with a sheepish smile. He hadn’t expected things to align so perfectly today.
The woman’s husband and son were hit by Luo Fengxing’s son. The husband died on the spot, and the son was left partially paralyzed, requiring intermittent hospital care for two years.
When they arrived at the county today, the woman’s son was about to be forcibly discharged due to unpaid medical bills.
When they arrived, the woman was kneeling outside the hospital, crying while holding her son. Ji Xu had paid the bills to get them back into the hospital.
From the woman, they learned that Luo Fengxing’s son had not only failed to compensate them but had also forced them into this poor county.
It was truly harmful. Tang Jing sighed and packed the documents into his briefcase, then glanced at Ji Xu, who had been looking at his phone, and asked, “Why are you glued to your phone today?”
Ji Xu frowned as he looked at the still-unresponsive message and immediately made a phone call.
However, the call was disconnected automatically after no one answered.
Seeing Ji Xu’s grim expression, Tang Jing asked, “What’s wrong? What happened?”
“You stay here and reorganize the information. I need to head back first.” Ji Xu said, stuffing the documents into his bag and grabbing his coat from the chair before heading out.
“Hey! Take the keys!” Tang Jing threw his car keys into the air towards Ji Xu. “Drive my car, hurry up!”
Cheng Yue let out a sigh of relief after the call was automatically disconnected. He looked up at the three men across from him and, with a defiant attitude, said, “No money, then take my head.”
“Hey…” The man in the middle glared, “Where did you learn this kind of nonsense? I told you to bring someone who could handle this, and it would be none of your business. Can’t you understand plain language?”
“It’s you who’s talking nonsense…” Cheng Yue muttered under his breath.
“Hey…” The man stood up and walked towards him.
As Cheng Yue, frightened, recoiled and prepared to shrink back, his phone suddenly vibrated again.
He glanced at the phone and saw it was another call from Ji Xu. He was about to stuff it back into his pocket.
But the man in the black vest was quicker and snatched the phone. He answered it and started shouting into it.
“I don’t care who you are to this kid! But since you answered the call, I’m telling you, this kid owes us 500,000. Come here and pay up, or we’ll tear up the ticket. The address is…”
After the man quickly rattled off the address, he hung up the phone.
Cheng Yue was stunned and furious, trying to grab the phone back.
“There, now it’s done. No need to keep whining.” The middle-aged man tossed the phone back to Cheng Yue, feeling relieved. They had seen how nervous the kid was; they didn’t want to bully him, but it was their line of work.
Cheng Yue was so enraged that his hands began to shake, his face turning pale as he gripped the phone, struggling to breathe.
He already felt unlucky enough to be caught up with Ji Xu. He had tried hard to adapt to this situation, thinking he could take care of Ji Xu once he started making money.
Now, with that call, everything was ruined. Cheng Yue was suddenly worried that Ji Xu might just throw him aside with his burdens.
“Hey! What’s wrong with you, kid?” The man, who had initially relaxed, looked at Cheng Yue, who was pale and breathing heavily, with concern. He hurried over and patted Cheng Yue’s back.
“You’re so easy to scare! Act like a man!”
“You’re the one who’s pathetic!” Cheng Yue glared and pushed him away.
“Watch… watch yourself!”
The man scratched his head, stopped a passing waiter, and ordered a cup of hot water, then pointed at Cheng Yue and said, “Damn it! If you can’t catch your breath, I’ll… I’ll give you mouth-to-mouth!”
Hearing this, Cheng Yue felt his breath catch in his throat.
As time passed, the three men in the café started to look increasingly uneasy.
It was already late, around seven or eight in the evening, and they still needed to go home for dinner.
“Damn it, call again!” The man on the left nudged the man in the middle.
“Hey, kid, give me your phone.”
The man reached out for Cheng Yue’s phone while complaining, “Who called you earlier? Why haven’t they arrived yet? They should crawl over if they have to!”
Cheng Yue’s face turned completely white. He didn’t know how big the city was, but Ji Xu’s location couldn’t be that far.
There was only one reason Ji Xu hadn’t arrived.
Cheng Yue sniffed, pinched his palm to distract himself from the feeling of abandonment.
He had experienced this sense of abandonment once before, when he saw his parents in the hospital morgue.
“Damn it, what a mess!” The man across from him complained again.
Cheng Yue wiped his face, lifted his head after several hours, and spoke slowly but firmly, “I will repay the money my father owes you, but right now I can only give you…”
Before Cheng Yue could finish, the roar of a sports car engine and the screech of brakes came from outside the café.
The loud noises made all four people at the table stand up simultaneously.
The café had transparent glass walls near the door, and outside, a sleek, bright yellow sports car was parked.
The car looked very expensive, the kind that made you feel like breaking your own legs just to look at it.
The three men in black vests were about to sit back down, but then they noticed Cheng Yue across from them, whose eyes were suddenly red with excitement.
Kids and their excitement over sports cars.
As the three men followed Cheng Yue’s gaze with a sense of paternalistic confidence…
The car door opened.
Soon, a tall figure in a black suit, exuding a commanding presence, stepped out of the sports car.
