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It seemed that the fierce and ferocious crowd had been led by this middle-aged woman, each one looking nothing like a decent sort, and by comparison, the slightly petite Mother Su appeared rather vulnerable.

The neighboring women stood by silently, none daring to step forward and support her, at most just whispering and discussing amongst themselves.

While such discussions were hardly of any substantial help, Qin Fang standing to the side had figured out the identity of the middle-aged woman who had come to cause trouble.

This woman was actually a relative of Mother Su, the wife of a cousin of Mother Su's who had passed away a few years ago.

With the cousin dead and only being a distant relative, this connection was practically nonexistent for the next generation; politely they might address you as "aunt," impolitely they would call you by your name and you couldn't do anything about it.

"Liu Ying, what do you mean by this?"

Mother Su looked extremely angry. She had been overjoyed by her daughter's return today, but that good mood hadn't lasted long before being ruined by this woman.

"What do I mean? I'm here to collect a debt!"

The middle-aged woman, named Liu Ying, scoffed sarcastically.

"Collect a debt? When did I ever owe you money?"

Mother Su looked even more furious, as if she wanted to slap this woman into the air, "If we're really talking about owing money, it seems like your family borrowed several thousand from me a decade ago and haven't paid it back to this day…"

Back then, that cousin's family had been struggling, with a child of only a few years old, living day to day with difficulty. Mother Su, taking pity on their condition, and since the child was about the same age as Xiao Xiao, had lent them money out of affection for her own Xiao Xiao.

But that sum of money was never returned, and Mother Su, being kind-hearted, hadn't really minded and had never intended to demand it back.

What she had never expected was to lend money without intending it to be repaid, only for them to come demanding repayment…

"You go ask my dead husband about that money; what does it have to do with me…"

Liu Ying showed no weakness and was very assertive.

Her man had been dead for seven or eight years, his bones turned to ash, and how could she go about asking for money now? Did she also need to carry it to the afterlife?

"You…"

Mother Su was choked up by Liu Ying's words. The woman was truly an irresponsible shrew, making such outrageous claims with such righteousness, angering her until her face turned pale, but she couldn't really do anything about this woman.

"Fine! Let's leave the owed money aside, tell me when did I ever owe you money, make it clear…"

It was clear that it was impossible to reason with this shrew. Mother Su resigned herself to the fact, after all, she never intended to get back the money she lent, and she usually didn't have any expenses; she never owed anyone.T

"Heh, since I came to demand money today, naturally I'll make it clear to you… Did you not act as a guarantor for your nephew a month ago?"

Liu Ying displayed a smug smile on her face as she finally spoke in a cheerful tone.

"A guarantor? A month ago… Yes, that happened, what about it?"

Mother Su was slightly startled. After quickly recalling, indeed there was such a matter; her cousin's son, her nephew, had lacked capital for his business and needed a guarantor for a bank loan. Mother Su, being soft-hearted, had agreed to be the guarantor, but this seemed to have nothing to do with Liu Ying at present?

"That's right…"

However, Liu Ying seemed even more pleased when Mother Su nodded, "Just take a look at this then…"

She then handed over a photocopy of a loan contract, clearly marked with a loan limit of three hundred thousand, with the guarantor as Li Wenxiu, and a very clear handwritten signature.

"What about this then?"

Mother Su was still puzzled; she had indeed signed this contract, but it was a bank loan contract…

Wait a second…

Mother Su suddenly thought of something, and her face changed drastically.

"This isn't a bank loan contract?"

Despite her feeling that things shouldn't be like this, given Liu Ying's actions today, it seemed she really had been deceived.

"It's indeed a loan contract, but not from a bank! We charge interest…"

Liu Ying's face was filled with smugness, and her eyes radiated a strong sense of satisfaction, which made her hostility towards Mother Su glaringly obvious.

Upon hearing those words, Mother Su's suspicions were confirmed, and her face turned pale all at once. "Then... the child, Deliang, now..."

However, what she first thought of was not her own troubles but the situation of her nephew, Li Deliang, who had deceived her. This showed how kind Mother Su was—she even admired her from afar.

"You can rest assured about that! Although Deliang was a bit irresponsible, running off without repaying the money he borrowed, my son is clever and had been watching him closely. Deliang is now my guest, quite safe for the time being, but..."

Liu Ying's face wore a faint scorn, and her gaze towards Mother Su was even more schadenfreude.

"How much does he owe you exactly?"

Taking a deep breath, Mother Su's emotions calmed down significantly. At least her nephew wasn't suffering. As long as the money was repaid, the matter could be resolved.

"Not too much, just half a million with interest..."

Liu Ying extended a palm, speaking quite matter-of-factly, as if the half million was merely a small amount for her, not considering that she had defaulted on borrowing a few thousand herself for over a decade...

"What? Half a million!!"

The number also greatly shocked Mother Su. Just a month ago, she had guaranteed a loan of three hundred thousand for her nephew Li Deliang, but in just a month, the principal plus interest had ballooned to half a million. The usury was indeed exorbitant, almost doubling the amount.

"Hmph... You think that's too much? This is after giving you a discount because we're still somewhat related. Otherwise, considering the kid Deliang's attempt to run off without paying his debts, we would have doubled it again, plus we would break both his legs..."

Liu Ying snorted coldly, seemingly dissatisfied with Mother Su's reaction and rather indignant, as if she had already been very lenient.

"You..."

Mother Su was speechless. Arguing with these loan sharks was pointless; these people never reasoned.

Those in this line of business didn't recognize faces. What nonsense about relatives? There was even a saying about slaughtering acquaintances in business, let alone usurious loans which were even more ruthless.

"Fine, I will pay you. Let Deliang go immediately, and don't hurt him..."

Although this nephew was quite troublesome and had deceived her, the situation Liu Ying described suggested that if the money wasn't repaid, her nephew might really suffer a brutal beating and have his legs broken.

Li Deliang was her brother's only son, almost thirty and still unmarried. He had finally tried to start a business, and she had guaranteed a loan for him, not realizing it was a usurious loan, dragging her into this as well.

But for Mother Su to abandon him to his fate was definitely impossible—her heart couldn't bear it, so she had no choice but to agree to pay the ransom...

"Empty promises! How do I know you actually have that much money? Either pay up now and release him, or I'll assume you don't have the money and break one of his legs first..."

Liu Ying clearly had a purpose for coming today; perhaps she harbored some grudge against Mother Su from years ago and had chosen today to show off and seek revenge.

"I have half a million! But as you saw today, I have a visitor at home and I can't leave. Come back tomorrow, I'll have the money for you—it's the same thing. My house is right here, where could I run?"

Mother Su's face looked extremely troubled. She had barely managed to let go of some resentments and her daughter had just come back for a visit, but before they could even speak, this incident happened. How could she possibly feel at ease?

Half a million was a substantial sum, perhaps unattainable until yesterday, but Qin Fang had given her a bank card with a million yuan, more than enough to cover the usurious debt.

However, facing someone like Liu Ying, who was deliberately provoking and unreasonable, her heart was more uncomfortable than ever.

"Hehe, since you've said that, letting me leave isn't a problem! But I must remind you, for every day delayed, the interest will increase by ten percent... Think it over for yourself!"

Liu Ying's ugly, heavily made-up face, which resembled an old witch's, showed a sly smile as she spoke with self-satisfaction.

During the conversation, she even waved to the menacing group that had followed her, seemingly ready to leave.

"Wait..."

But just as Liu Ying was about to lead her group away, a clear voice suddenly rang out from the crowd, immediately drawing everyone's attention to that direction as the crowd automatically parted.

"Xiao Qin..."

The speaker was naturally Qin Fang. Mother Su looked at him with a slightly astonished expression, not understanding what he intended to do.

"Who are you? Is this a place for you to speak?"

Liu Ying, truly a brazen woman, confronted Qin Fang with a haughty demeanor, speaking very arrogantly.

At the same time, she signaled to a few menacing individuals beside her, and soon two burly, fierce-looking men glared at Qin Fang, ready to pounce at any moment with a posture that screamed, "Make one move, and I'll tear you apart."

Such posturing might intimidate the ordinary folk, but to scare Qin Fang was evidently a far cry from enough—only a couple of grandmaster-level experts would suffice, not these two mere Level 1 thugs who were hardly impressive.(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for your favorite books and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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