strokinit Chapter 8 Collecting Debts
Chapter 8 Collecting Debts
"Sister, why do you want to make a deal with him? Isn't he a terrible villain himself?" Meng Shao asked, puzzled.
"Evil people need other evil people to deal with them. In the end, he actually helped us in this way," Meng Wanyi said softly.
"But if he takes the accounts and gets greedy, he might not give you a single penny of the money he collected," Meng Shao said worriedly.
"..." Meng Wanyi suddenly felt that her younger sister made sense.
How could he believe Zhao An's nonsense? This guy is clearly a master liar.
"Sister is kind-hearted and always thinks the best of others..." Meng Shao comforted Meng Wanyi when she saw that she was a little dejected.
"If he doesn't hand over the money, I... I'll poison him!" Meng Wanyi gritted her teeth and uttered these harsh words.
On the other side, Zhao An, along with Li Gou'er and Zhao Chunzi, had already begun collecting debts.
In a street corner or alley, several idle men were gathered together playing cards and gambling.
"How come Zhao An from the Tiger Head Gang is so fierce? Just two days ago, he passed three tests and, right in front of Xu Donglai from the Python Gang, killed three Python Gang experts!"
"I've heard about it too. Damn, it seems this Zhao An is just over twenty. So young, yet already so capable. He'll probably become even more formidable in the future. Even that Zhou Tiger might not be able to keep him in check!"
"That'll make for a good show! Two tigers fighting, how exciting!"
The group of people held their cards, looking at the numbers while chatting idly.
Just then, footsteps came from the alley.
Li Gou'er, carrying a short stick, kicked over the card table and arrogantly shouted, "Which one is Zhang Changlin?"
The idlers were about to get angry, but when they saw the tiger-head wooden plaque hanging from Li Gou'er's waist, they immediately knew that he was a member of the Tiger Head Gang, and they immediately suppressed their temper and dared not vent their anger.
One of the idlers looked particularly flustered, and Li Gou'er noticed and pulled him to the ground.
"Zhang Changlin?"
"Sir, sir, I haven't offended you, have I?" Zhang Changlin said timidly.
"You have money to gamble, but no money to pay your debts?" Li Gou'er squatted down, took out an IOU from his pocket, and said to the idle man.
"Give me the two taels of silver you owe Mingyue Medical Clinic from last month."
"Yes, yes, here you go." The idler looked at Li Gou'er, then at Zhao Chunzi, who was also carrying a short stick and had a simple and honest face.
He dared to owe money to the young woman at the clinic, but he dared not offend the Tiger Head Gang.
With a pained expression, he pulled out a tael of silver and several handfuls of copper coins, managing to scrape together two taels of silver, which was almost all of his gambling funds.
At the alley entrance, Zhao An crossed his arms and waited for Li Gou'er and the other man to catch up before striding away.
He doesn't need to get involved in dealing with these idlers.
Thus, in just half a day, he effortlessly recovered dozens of taels of silver simply by virtue of his identity as a member of the Tiger Head Gang.
In reality, there were very few truly impoverished families they encountered.
In this world, human life is as cheap as an ant. Poor people simply cannot afford to see a doctor, nor dare they go to a clinic for treatment.
When you get sick, you just have to tough it out. If you can't tough it out, you die. If there are elders in the family to guide you, you might go to the mountains to collect herbs. But as for going to great lengths to seek medical help, that's impossible.
After all, if the family runs out of money and food, the whole family will be dragged down and starved to death. What use would it be if the illness were cured then?
afternoon.
In Fox Ear Street, within a dilapidated, blackened fence, a few withered yellow vegetable seedlings grow in the dry soil, which looks like it hasn't been turned over in a long time.
Inside the small house, a disheveled man was roughly rummaging through drawers and cabinets, kicking over several pottery jars, which shattered on the floor.
At the head of the bed, a sallow-faced woman sat there blankly, her eyes dark-rimmed, glazed, and lifeless.
Suddenly, after smashing another pottery jar, the man found a few taels of silver and a small pile of copper coins that had fallen out, and burst out laughing.
"Didn't you say you had no money? What's this?!" The man grabbed the loose silver and copper coins and shouted at the old woman.
The woman stared at the man in despair and murmured, "This is my daughter's ransom. If you take it, she will never come back."
The man's smile faltered for a moment, but he quickly said, "This little bit of money isn't enough to redeem the girl. I'll go win some more and make it seven taels!"
As the man was about to push open the door and run out, the woman, as if provoked, suddenly pulled out a pair of scissors from under her pillow and stabbed the man without saying a word.
"You bitch!" The man reacted quickly, snatched the scissors, and slapped the woman to the ground.
"Kill your husband? Aren't you afraid I'll send you to the authorities!" the man said viciously.
Still not satisfied, the man kicked the woman twice more before hurriedly leaving.
However, as soon as the door was opened, the man was kicked back inside by someone outside.
Zhao An looked around, first glancing at the man, then his gaze fell on the woman.
[Liu Tiesuo (red name)]
【Zhang Xiuying (white name)】
"Who are you?!" Liu Tiesuo clutched his chest and curled up on the ground.
Zhao An's kick just now was quite forceful.
"Brother Zhao, this is Liu Tiesuo. He sold his daughter to a brothel to get money for gambling. The whole neighborhood has been talking about it for a long time," Li Gou'er said with disgust.
Even though they didn't consider themselves good people, they still held this kind of gambling addict who sold his daughter to brothels in utter contempt.
Zhao Chunzi picked up the loose silver that Liu Tiesuo had scattered on the ground, counted it briefly, and said with a smile, "Brother Zhao, it's just enough for three taels of silver."
Zhao An looked at the woman and said, "Do you still remember that you owe Mingyue Medical Clinic three taels of silver?"
Zhang Xiuying nodded; that was money she had incurred for her daughter's medical treatment.
She didn't mean to renege on her debt; it's just that her daughter was sold to a brothel by Liu Tiesuo after recovering from a serious illness.
During this period, she had only one thought in mind: to redeem her daughter from servitude. She couldn't care about anything else.
"I need your help with something," Zhang Xiuying knelt before Zhao An, her face pale.
"Don't mention the money. It's something you owe them, not something we forcibly took from you," Li Gou'er said coldly, assuming the woman was trying to gain sympathy and money.
"It's not about the money, I just ask that you kill him before you leave." Zhang Xiuying raised her face, her originally gentle features now showing a hint of ferocity, and pointed at Liu Tiesuo on the ground.
"Zhang Xiuying, have you gone mad!" Liu Tiesuo shuddered and then roared in fury.
"With him here, I can never redeem my poor daughter in this lifetime. I beg you." Zhang Xiuying pleaded with Zhao An repeatedly, promising that she would never tell anyone or report it to the authorities.
"This..." Li Gou'er, who was standing to the side, wanted to advise Zhao An that it was better to avoid trouble, since they were just there to collect debts.
However, after a moment of silence, Zhao An nodded in agreement.
"Can."
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao An didn't hesitate. He raised his hand, drew his knife, and the blade instantly sliced across Liu Tiesuo's neck.
[Those who have committed numerous evils will be accepted as sinful souls!]
He never intended to let this woman with the bad reputation go, and he would have taken action even if she hadn't begged him.