Chapter 277: A Mess, Ms. Qiao is Suspected of Murder?
Nowadays, Lunar New Year’s lively atmosphere only lasted a few days. After the fifth day of the new year, many people who worked in other cities started to return for work from their hometowns. After the seventh day, the festive atmosphere had already faded.
Ever since Song Fengwan started school again, her cla.s.ses were packed. She spent her time in piles of books every day, and there were always endless mock examinations on her table.
At the beginning of February, there was a joint examination held in four cities. It was considered a very large-scale standardized a.s.sessment examination, and the difficulty was similar to that of the college entrance examination. Everyone was putting in their utmost effort for it, as they wanted to see where their grades stood.
After Song Fengwan got busy, she rarely called Fu Chen.
She had already finished her evening self-study tonight, but she didn’t see Qiao Aiyun around. So she took out her phone, which she had turned off all day, from her bag.
While waiting for her phone to turn on, she looked around. She had been on duty today, so she came out ten minutes later than usual. Other than street vendors, there were hardly any students at the school gates.
Why isn’t she here yet?
Right at this moment, she saw two people in their twenties standing in front of a barbecue stall not far away. They were eating skewers, but they seemed to be looking in her direction from time to time.
She moved a few steps to the side toward a vendor in order to avoid their gazes.
Her phone turned on. Just before she called, Qiao Aiyun’s car arrived. She hurriedly opened the car door and got in. “Mom, why are you so late today?”
“I was busy meeting with a friend.” Qiao Aiyun smiled slightly unnaturally.
“Is it about the store?” Song Fengwan raised an eyebrow.
Qiao Aiyun just smiled and didn’t say anything.
***
During the Lunar New Year period, the Jade Hall of Spring’s jade sales were booming. Two thieves had been caught in the store. When one of them was captured, not only had he hurt two employees, but he had also hurt a customer. Since all of this happened in the store, Qiao Aiyun naturally had to be responsible for it.
The man was a repeat offender and didn’t have any money for compensation, so up until now, Qiao Aiyun had been paying the medical expenses.
Song Fengwan thought something had happened to the store. But she also thought that with Qiao Aiyun’s ability, she would definitely be able to handle the problem well, so she didn’t take it to heart.
When they arrived home, Geng Ying was already waiting at the door.
“Sorry, I went to pick her up. You must have been waiting for a long time.” Qiao Aiyun saw that Geng Ying was standing in the cold wind and felt apologetic.
“I just arrived too.” Geng Ying smiled.
“h.e.l.lo, Auntie,” Song Fengwan greeted. Even the lawyer was called over. What’s going on?
After the three of them entered the house, Song Fengwan returned to her room to continue studying while Qiao Aiyun and Geng Ying went to the study.
…
Near midnight, Song Fengwan went downstairs to find something to eat. Upon seeing that the lights in the study were still bright, she furrowed her brows slightly. What are they talking about that they’re still going at it so late?
She warmed up a gla.s.s of milk and took the opportunity to send Fu Chen a few messages. The landline phone in the living room suddenly rang…
She was startled. Who would call us so late at night?
As soon as Song Fengwan answered the call, the person on the other end started shouting before she even said anything.
“… It’s only right to repay your debts! If you don’t return the money, don’t blame us for being rude!
“You’re also a person of status in Yuncheng. Don’t you tell me you don’t even have this bit of money.
“If you don’t return us the money, I will bring people to the entrance of the Jade Hall of Spring tomorrow and create a ruckus. Don’t blame us when you can’t continue doing your business then.”
…
Song Fengwan was dumbfounded. “Who are you?”
Before the other party could answer, the phone was s.n.a.t.c.hed away from her. It was unknown when Qiao Aiyun and Geng Ying had left the study.
“Let me warn you. This money has nothing to do with me. Go find the person who borrowed your money.” Qiao Aiyun looked sullen. She hung up the phone and even directly pulled the phone line.
“Mom, what exactly happened?”
Qiao Aiyun’s face was ashen with anger.
“Let’s tell Wanwan so that she can be prepared,” Geng Ying suggested. Qiao Aiyun stayed silent, tacitly agreeing.
“To explain this matter, we’ll have to mention Song Jingren.” Geng Ying sighed.
“Huh…” Song Fengwan had not heard this name for a long time and was a little stunned. “What about him?”
“At the time, the Song Group didn’t have any cash flow, and the major banks wouldn’t give him any loans either. So he borrowed from loan sharks at a high interest rate.
“He said he would repay the money in a few days. But after the incident happened, he was arrested, and the company was shut down.”
Song Fengwan was a little dumbfounded.
“The bank will be liquidating the company’s a.s.sets. And after the new year, this money will start being transferred to the credit companies and banks he took out loans from. These corporations are all legal, while the loan sharks naturally won’t be getting a single cent.
“They don’t dare to look for the court or the bank, and they also can’t contact Song Jingren, so their only way was to contact your mother.
“They keep saying that he borrowed this money while they were still married, so they want your mother to return it.”
Song Fengwan was stunned. “This is his personal loan. What does it have to do with us?”
Geng Ying chuckled. “It has nothing to do with us in the first place, unless he and your mom signed it together. Besides, the money wasn’t even used on their shared living expenses.
“But these hooligans don’t think so.
“Since your house and store are all here, they are being scoundrelly in all sorts of ways.”
“Then, what should we do now?” Song Fengwan didn’t expect Song Jingren to leave them such a mess.
“We are taking legal action, but these people are all shameless scoundrels. I’m afraid they’ll still cause trouble.” Geng Ying sighed.
“Can’t you ask the police to arrest them if they cause trouble?” Song Fengwan frowned.
“These people are professional debt collectors, so they know how to do it without breaking the law. They won’t hit you, but they will hound you and disgust you. Even if the police come, they need a reason to arrest them.
“The worse ones will even come to your doorstep to strike gongs and beat drums, making everyone in the neighborhood know about it to shame you.”
Song Fengwan nodded.
“I’ll deal with this. Don’t worry about it. Go back to your room and sleep earlier. I’ll see her out.” Qiao Aiyun patted her hair.
While watching the two of them leave, Song Fengwan felt uneasy. She kept having a feeling that this matter wouldn’t be easy to handle.
The loan Song Jingren borrowed is definitely not a small sum, and it’s been a few months since he went to jail. This kind of high-interest loan is very scary when the interest starts racking up.
She couldn’t worry much about this matter. Since they chose to take legal actions, she thought that this matter would definitely be resolved satisfactorily.
***
Until one morning, when Qiao Aiyun was sending her to school, a white banner with black words written on it was being held up at the gates of the community.
Written in large words was:
[Boss of Jade Hall of Spring Not Repaying Debts, Utterly Heartless]
They were standing in a public area, and the security guards of the community were put into a difficult spot. The people living in the community were all acquaintances, and this time, they completely got on Qiao Aiyun’s nerves.
She lowered the car window and said, “Cheng Hu, what do you want? I told you long ago that I have no obligation to pay this money.”
One of the men, who was short and fat, stood out. He had a tuft of greyish-white hair, a greasy face, and a big belly. He had a cigar in his mouth, and there were tattoos on the exposed parts of his neck and arms.
Just one look, and it was apparent that he was an old fox who had been in society for years.
“Ms. Qiao, you were married at the time. Your husband borrowed money, so why aren’t you obligated to return it?”
“If you continue being like this, I will call the police to arrest you.” Qiao Aiyun had interacted with them before. They were unreasonable and shameless hoodlums, so she knew that trying to reason it out with them wouldn’t work.
When the man heard that she was going to call the police, he laughed out loud. “If you have the ability, try calling the police. We’re standing in a public area, and we’re only holding a banner. What can the police do to us? I didn’t hit you nor scold you.”
Qiao Aiyun was furious. She closed the car door and stepped on the accelerator, preparing to leave.
Just as the car drove less than a meter out…
A man suddenly rushed out from the side and knocked into the front of her car.
Qiao Aiyun immediately stepped on the brakes, her face pale from fright.
Song Fengwan was so frightened that her entire body stiffened, and she was panting heavily. For a moment, her mind was completely blank.
“Mom—” Song Fengwan was dumbfounded to see this.
Qiao Aiyun hurriedly pushed the door open and got out of the car. The man she had b.u.mped onto was lying on the ground, wailing and shrieking wildly, and he was indeed bleeding. He was holding his leg and kept shouting that his leg was broken and that she had tried to kill him.
Cheng Hu’s group immediately rushed over and grabbed her arm. “Ms. Qiao, now that you’ve hit someone, you can’t possibly run away from this, right?”
“You…” Qiao Aiyun wasn’t stupid. This group of people was obviously here to extort her money, and when their plan failed, they started using despicable means.
They were obviously trying to pester her until she gave in.
“Mom—” Song Fengwan was anxious and wanted to push the door open to get out of the car.
“Don’t come out! Lock the car!” Qiao Aiyun shouted.
Just before someone tried to open the car door, Song Fengwan quickly locked it.
“Ms. Qiao, even if you don’t want to repay the money, you don’t have to deliberately hit someone with your car. This is attempted murder.” Cheng Hu smoked his cigar, and his teeth were revoltingly yellow from him smoking all year round.
Song Fengwan took out her phone and dialed 110 with trembling fingers to call the police. Then she called Fu Chen, but the line was busy, so she could only call Yan w.a.n.gchuan.
She really hated Song Jingren to the core. Not only had he caused them so much trouble last time, but he had even left behind this mess for them even after going to jail.
Meanwhile, Yan w.a.n.gchuan had just arrived in Yuncheng and was waiting for his luggage at the airport. When he received the call, he ran out and left his luggage behind.
“President Yan! President Yan…” His a.s.sistant was dumbfounded. He ran away without taking his things? How am I supposed to carry these six suitcases all by myself?