Chapter 458 - 232: Cable Car Accident?

Chapter 458: Chapter 232: Cable Car Accident?

He pressed his lips together, his expression hardening.

"That’s way too high."

"It’s all perfectly legal. It was a voluntary agreement. Ah, the things parents will do for their children..."

Boss Tian said with a chuckle,

"How should I put this, Xiaoxie? You’re a college student. You’re educated, you understand how things work. Shouldn’t we stick to the contract? If you’re not going to cooperate, we’ll just have to eat here and wait for Old Xie to get back so we can discuss it with him."

Xie Yuan shook his head.

"I don’t have the money today, but I’ll figure something out. For now, please leave. It’s not convenient for us to entertain so many guests."

Boss Tian scoffed.

"Acting so tough for someone with no money. If we don’t get our money today, we’re not leaving!"

"Trespassing isn’t exactly legal,"

Xie Yuan said coldly.

Boss Tian started to say something, but paused when he looked at Xie Yuan. He cleared his throat and said,

"If you’re not going to be welcoming, we’ll just sit in the hallway. Or at the entrance to the complex. Hmm, we even brought a banner. That’s not your property, is it? We’d be well within our rights then, wouldn’t we? Sister Wang, I’m sure you don’t want it to come to that."

Xie Yuan’s brow furrowed. He was suddenly at a loss.

’The methods I know... they’re useless against loan sharks who hide behind reason and the law. These thugs have evolved with the times. This isn’t a problem I can solve by just killing them and burying them in the mountains.’

Wang Yafang pulled on Xie Yuan’s arm, insisting,

"Forget it, son. Just let them stay. Ignore them."

At the coffee table.

Several large men were squeezed together, each with a pair of chopsticks, wolfing down the few small side dishes.

"Is this all the food there is? This isn’t enough to fill us up! And there’s no booze..."

one of the thugs yelled. Wang Yafang ignored him.

In the already cramped apartment, the living room doubled as a dining room and the coffee table as a dinner table. The four thugs and the mother and son were all gathered around it, the atmosphere thick with tension.

Xie Yuan frowned. His mother, Wang Yafang, gave him a look and quietly called him into the kitchen.

"The chicken soup... quick, drink it..."

"Hey, there’s chicken soup! Bring it out, now!"

One of the thugs immediately pushed his way to the kitchen doorway, reaching out to grab it.

Wang Yafang grew frantic. She and the thug jostled for a moment, nearly spilling the soup. The kitchen floor was slippery, and she stumbled, almost losing her balance.

Xie Yuan steadied his mother with one hand while grabbing the thug’s collar with the other. His eyes blazed.

"Get out!"

He gave a light push, and the thug stumbled back several steps, only stopping when he hit the wall. The man instantly grew furious.

"You’re starting a fight now? What the hell is wrong with you!"

The others crowded the kitchen doorway. They didn’t make a move, but just started shouting:

"Pay your debts! It’s the law of the land!"

"Deadbeat, deadbeat!"

"We’ll have you thrown in jail!"

One of them "accidentally" knocked over a glass. CRASH! Shards of glass scattered across the floor.

The tremendous noise from the thugs made Wang Yafang’s face go pale. She suddenly clutched her chest, struggling to breathe.

Xie Yuan’s eyes narrowed. "Mom! Mom!" he cried out.

His mother’s lungs had been damaged during the big flu pandemic years ago, leaving her with chronic asthma that often made it hard for her to breathe.

Seeing the fright trigger his mother’s attack, Xie Yuan’s eyes went wide with fury.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!!"

He shoved the men in front of him aside, sending them stumbling, then helped Wang Yafang to the sofa. He quickly got her asthma inhaler and helped her use it. It took a moment, but her breathing finally eased.

The thugs quieted down, exchanging glances. One of them muttered with a sneer,

"That fragile? Don’t blame us if she croaks."

Xie Yuan’s head snapped up. In two strides, he was in front of the man who had spoken and hoisted him into the air by his throat.

"You’re the one who broke the glass, aren’t you?"

The man was a head taller than Xie Yuan, with a powerful, V-shaped torso and bulging muscles. Yet, with Xie Yuan’s hand around his neck, he was lifted into the air, unable to move a muscle. His face instantly turned a deep, purplish red.

Boss Tian was stunned.

"Stop, stop!"

"Don’t do anything rash!"

"Let him go!"

The other two thugs, also shocked, tried to pry Xie Yuan’s hand off. But his seemingly slender arm was like an iron band; the two of them couldn’t budge it in the slightest. They looked on in horror.

Xie Yuan turned his head and said coldly,

"Clean up the glass on the floor. When it’s clean, I’ll let him down."

The two men froze and glanced at Boss Tian. "Do it! Hurry up!" Boss Tian yelled.

As he watched the two men scramble to sweep the floor, Boss Tian shot a look at Xie Yuan, who was radiating a murderous aura. He sucked in a sharp breath, then turned his back and made a call.

"Old Zhou, you need to get over here. We’ve got a situation. Right, the address is..."

A moment later, the floor was spotless. Xie Yuan loosened his grip, dropping the thug to the ground.

The thug crumpled to the floor, clutching his neck and gasping desperately for air. However, when he took his hands away to look, there wasn’t so much as a fingerprint on his skin.

Boss Tian saw this and his eyes went wide. This...

’Xie Yuan remained expressionless. With his level of control, it would have been effortless to either snap the man’s neck or simply hold him there.’

Before anyone could say another word, footsteps approached the door, followed by a knock.

"Police! We received a call from this address."

Frowning, Xie Yuan opened the door to find two uniformed police officers. A crowd of neighbors had already gathered in the hallway.

Boss Tian let out a breath and said warmly,

"Old Zhou! You’re here!"

Old Zhou shot him a look.

"What’s with the warm welcome? You’re the one who called and said there was a problem?"

Boss Tian hesitated, then pointed at the thug on the floor and then at Xie Yuan.

"Officer Zhou, you see? This kid attacked my man! He choked him, lifted him off the ground, and nearly killed him!"

Old Zhou paused, a skeptical look on his face as he sized up the slender Xie Yuan and the burly thug on the floor. He fell silent, contemplating the scene.

He looked at Boss Tian.

"You’re here to collect a debt?"

"That’s right. They won’t pay, so we had to make a house call."

Old Zhou turned back to Xie Yuan and asked hesitantly,

"Young man, why don’t you tell me your side of the story?"

"They came into my home and refused to leave. They smashed a glass and started screaming, which scared my mother and triggered her asthma attack."