Chapter 457 - 232: Cable Car Accident?

Chapter 457: Chapter 232: Cable Car Accident?

He opened his phone, tapped on WeChat, and saw a flood of red notification dots.

Even classmates and friends he hadn’t spoken to in ages had sent him messages.

After all, he’d been on the news. It was his moment in the spotlight...

Xie Yuan read through them one by one. A warmth grew in his heart, but he didn’t reply to a single person.

These friends felt like they belonged to a distant past life, and his present self wasn’t sure how to communicate with them.

He sighed, downloaded a job-hunting app, and started looking for work.

He browsed the dazzling array of job postings, his brow furrowing as he saw prompts like "Pay for more information" and "Pay to contact HR directly."

Suddenly, Xie Yuan’s hand froze. He looked up slightly and cocked his ear to listen.

A moment later, a KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK sounded at the door.

"I’m coming! Who could that be..."

Wang Yafang, who was in the middle of stewing chicken soup for Xie Yuan, came out of the kitchen. She wiped her hands on her apron, opened the door, and saw several burly men in black leather jackets. Her expression immediately grew tense.

"What... what are you doing here?"

"Sister Wang, we heard Xiaoxie was finally out of the hospital, so we came to pay him a visit! Congratulations!"

The burly man in the lead, carrying a fruit basket, shoved it into Wang Yafang’s arms and barged straight into the apartment.

"Hey, hey, wait a minute!"

"It’s fine, Sister Wang. We don’t need any tea. We’ll just sit for a bit."

The four burly men entered the room and plopped down on the sofa. Only three of them could fit, so the last one had to sit on a small stool to the side.

The living room instantly felt crowded and oppressive.

Xie Yuan walked out. Seeing his mother at a loss, he frowned and said:

"If you have business, come back another time. Old Xie isn’t here today..."

"Talking to Sister Wang is the same. Or what, if Sister Wang can’t handle things, should we go find Brother Xie at his school?"

The man in the lead said with a grin.

Wang Yafang’s eyes shot wide.

"No, don’t... What is it you want?"

She glanced at her son, wanting him to go back to his room, but Xie Yuan didn’t budge. He just quietly scanned the four burly men, who were all a good deal larger than him.

The leader wasn’t in a hurry to state his business. He just looked at Xie Yuan, seemingly a little curious.

"So this is Xiaoxie, huh? Quite the looker. I can’t believe you actually woke up. That’s the power of a mother’s love... and the power of cold, hard cash.

"A whole month in the ICU... just thinking about it makes my ass pucker! If it were me in that bed, my old lady would’ve pulled the plug for sure! Hey, Xiaoxie, you’d better thank your mom properly."

Xie Yuan’s expression remained calm as he nodded.

"You needn’t worry."

The burly men were all stunned. They’d dealt with college students who owed them money before. The moment they showed up at their door, even before a word was said, the kids would be so scared they couldn’t even speak straight.

’But this guy, who’d just woken up from a coma, seemed like he’d seen a thing or two?’

’Or maybe his brain was still slow...’

The leader grunted and said with a smile:

"Xiaoxie, do you have any idea how much money your parents spent on you this past month?"

"Boss Tian, if you have business, talk to me and Old Xie! There’s no need to bring my son into this!"

Wang Yafang suddenly shrieked, startling the group of men.

Boss Tian frowned and held up a hand.

"Calm down, everyone calm down! Alright, Sister Wang, I’ll talk to you, then. Isn’t it time to pay this month’s debt?"

"But I already transferred part of it to you yesterday..."

"That was days ago, and you’ve only paid back less than half. You’re already in default! My boys have to eat. If you don’t pay up, we can’t eat, so we have to come to your place and beg."

Boss Tian sniffed the air and grinned.

"Is that black chicken soup? Excellent. Looks like we’re in for a treat today."

Wang Yafang was breathless with anger.

"This soup isn’t for you... Just go home for now. I’ll have Old Xie figure something out. Just give us two more days."

"Sister Wang, it’s not that we won’t give you leeway, but you’re already several days overdue. The contract states in black and white: payment is due on the fifteenth of each month. Today’s the twentieth. Isn’t that enough leeway? Man, being a lender these days is tough."

Boss Tian sighed dramatically, and his men started to cry out in agreement.

"Yeah, that’s right! Who borrows money and doesn’t pay it back? Is that any way to be!"

"You’re a family of deadbeats!"

"Call the cops! We’ll call the cops!"

"Let’s go to the school and find the husband! Make his boss lend him the money!"

Their chaotic shouting made neighbors in the hallway poke their heads out of their doors, which made Wang Yafang even more anxious.

"Hey, stop shouting! All of you, be quiet!"

’This is a rental. It was so hard to find a place this cheap and convenient. It’ll be a disaster if we get kicked out because of this.’

SLAM—

The door was slammed shut.

Boss Tian flinched and shot a surprised look at Xie Yuan, who was standing by the door. He muttered:

"What’d you shut the door for? We’re doing legitimate business. We have a clear conscience, so we can leave it open."

"Loan sharking is a legitimate business?"

Xie Yuan said coldly.

Boss Tian held up a hand. "Hey now."

"Young man, you can eat the wrong food, but you can’t say the wrong words! Our interest rates are completely legal. The company is registered with the Bureau of Industry and Commerce, and we have a business license! See for yourself on the contract. We live in a society governed by laws; we don’t mess with that illegal stuff."

Xie Yuan glanced at Boss Tian and took the contract from his hand.

As Boss Tian met Xie Yuan’s eyes, his hand suddenly trembled. He instinctively pulled it back, and the contract dropped, only to be caught deftly by Xie Yuan.

The burly man swallowed and explained reflexively:

"My hand trembled. Didn’t do it on purpose. Ah, getting old..."

He took a sip of mineral water, his heart pounding with a mixture of shock and unease.

’That really wasn’t on purpose. I just glanced at the kid, and my heart suddenly skipped a beat.’

’That feeling... it was just like those people from the past...’

Xie Yuan looked over the contract but didn’t see any obvious problems.

’It was just that the interest rate, if he remembered correctly, was the maximum allowed by law.’