Chapter 719: Something Went Wrong
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Although He Lulu didn’t point out clearly that Shen Yueping’s car was a counterfeit, she still hinted that meaning.
Shen Yueping smiled a little and didn’t say much. She was an elder, so she didn’t like to compete.
He Lulu got a number from the phone and dialed it.
“h.e.l.lo, Uncle Yao. It’s me, Lulu. I have come back to China…” He Lulu said with a smile, “I didn’t call in advance because I wanted to give my dad a surprise… Where is my dad?”
No one knew what the person on the other end of the phone said. He Lulu’s face changed dramatically and exclaimed, “What? Uncle Yao, what did you say?”
“…” The person on the other end of the phone replied with a few words and He Lulu’s hand shook. “Then why didn’t you call the police?… Oh… I got it…”
He Lulu’s hung up the phone, but she was stunned there.
“Lulu, what happened?” Shen Yuefeng originally was slightly displeased with He Lulu’s sarcastic remarks in front of his big sister, but when he noticed her dazed expression, he became nervous. After all, He Lulu was Shen Yuefeng’s girlfriend. How could he not care?
“Yuefeng!” He Lulu grabbed Shen Yuefeng’s arm in a panic. “Uncle Yao said that my dad’s company is blocked by loan sharks! Uncle Yao won’t let me go back. He wants me to hide first…”
“Loan sharks? What the h.e.l.l is going on?” Shen Yuefeng was shocked, “How did Uncle’s company get involved with loan sharks?”
“Uncle Yao said that since the beginning of this year, my dad had been fascinated with gambling. As a result, all the money in the family had been lost. Later, he mortgaged the company to loan sharks and borrowed a sum of money. He lost the money in the end. Now, the loan sharks have come to the door to claim my dad’s company…” He Lulu couldn’t care less about maintaining the n.o.ble image of a lady as she spoke in a trembling voice.
“Ah!” Shen Yuefeng was shocked and said, “Let’s go and take a look… How much did he owe? Let us find some ways to raise the money back for them…”
“Well…” Although He Lulu knew that it wasn’t a good time to go now, if she didn’t go, she would always be worried. So she nodded as she decided to go and take a look.
She didn’t think that the matter was so serious that it was out of control. Her father’s company had a market value of ten million yuan. How could it not overcome any problem?
After listening to He Lulu’s words, Yang Ming frowned and looked at Bao Sanli, who was driving at the front seat.
Bao Sanli was also nervous at this moment. He had been paying attention to Yang Ming’s expression through the rearview mirror. When he noticed Yang Ming staring at him, he became nervous.
Usury was a gray area business on the edge of the underworld. Yang Ming once ordered Bao Sanli not to get involved with this business. Moreover, Yang Ming also had him to strengthen the supervision on the small gangs dealing in usury in Song Jiang City.
Although usury was profitable, this business was the easiest way to get into trouble. It wasn’t the same as the protection fee. The security company’s protection fee was now in a legitimate name. Those who were protected were also willing to pay this fee voluntarily and happily.
But the usury wasn’t the same. Those who were put into a desperate situation by loan sharks would do anything. If the matter became serious, it would be hard to deal with. In the end, it would attract the official parties to repress the underworld holistically. During that time, it would be easy to get implicated.
Although the security company wasn’t afraid of this, there were still some less legitimate things in Bao Sanli’s hands. Therefore, in order to ensure the stability of the entire environment, Bao Sanli would often find those loan sharks to have a chat with them. Bao Sanli would tell them to be careful, otherwise, the consequences would be at their own risk.
At this moment, they had marched to other’s company. If it went on like this, it would easily attract news reporters. It wasn’t that Bao Sanli’s words had no power to put them under control. On the contrary, if they were to live in Song Jiang, they relied on Bao Sanli’s words to survive. Otherwise, their demise was just a matter of words from Bao Sanli.
However, under the temptation of huge profits, there would still be people who wanted to take risks.
Du Duzi [1] was such a person. Du Fuzi [2] was also an old senior of the underworld. In his early years, he was the driver of Hu San, the boss of Song Jiang City’s underworld. Later, because of Hu San’s case, Du Duzi was arrested alongside him.
Du Duzi wasn’t called Du Duzi initially. He was called Du Shangjin. It was the result after a group fight in prison where one of his arms was crippled. In the end, he became a one-armed person.
Du Shangjin probably felt that his name wasn’t so good. Du Shangjin? How could a person do better if he mingled in the underworld? He would be a laughing stock if the others heard it, so Du Shangjin simply changed his nickname into “Du Duzi.” Anyway, his trait of having one arm was also widely known.
After coming out of prison, the Song Jiang underworld had changed vastly. Since Hu San screwed up badly, after he was arrested, no one dared to stand out in Song Jiang’s underworld. People like Yu Xiangde and Bao Sanli mingled quite well, but after all, they were just in the rank of punks. It was too far from the underworld.
Du Shangjin didn’t have backing. However, he rose up on his own with the reputation of Hu San, and had gotten a few underlings under him to start his usury operation. Since Du Duzi’s old base was in the north of the city, he had a good relations.h.i.+p with Yu Xiangde in the past. Later, when Yu Xiangde was finished, he looked for Bao Sanli through his relations.h.i.+p, hoping to get some care in the name of old predecessors.
Bao Sanli didn’t want to let others be disappointed, so he didn’t touch Du Duzi. After all, Du Duzi only depended on his usury business to survive. There was no conflict of interest with Bao Sanli. But he still warned Du Duzhi not to make a fuss, otherwise, Bao Sanli wouldn’t act politely.
Since Bao Sanli took over the underworld of Song Jiang, Du Duzi was still obedient. However, as Du Duzi thought about it, he was almost fifty years old this year. How many more years could he work?
So, Du Duzi pondered all day long to do something big! Then his chance came.
It was He Zhibo, the father of He Lulu. If Du Duzi could acquire his company, it could be considered becoming a legitimate business from an illegitimate business. He could settle the rest of his life!
Now, Du Duzi was sitting in the big leather chair in He Zhibo’s CEO office. “Like I said, President He, shouldn’t we clean up our score?”
“Brother Du, can you give me a few more days grace period…? When the Australian loan comes into my hands, I will pay you back…” He Zhibo stood by the side with an apologetic smile.
“Grace period? I had given you a month! D*mn, if you don’t take out the money today, I will give you a bloodbath!” Du Duzi glared as he bared his teeth.
“This… Brother Du, you also see that I really have no money. Even you make me bleed, you won’t get any good benefits.” Hu Zhibo said with a bitter face.
“If you don’t have money, you can take the company to pay the debts. Ok. Stop uttering that useless stuff. Go to the Trade and Industry Bureau to change the legal person later!” Du Duzi said as he waved his only arm.
“Brother Du… I only borrowed one million yuan. This company is worth more than ten million yuan…” He Zhibo was shocked. He didn’t expect Du Duzi to take his company to pay off his debts.
“One million yuan?” Du Duzi sneered, “The interest rate acc.u.mulates. It was originally one million. Now it is already a month. It went up to thirty million! If I counted it, I would still lose money just by having your company!”
“Ah? Thirty million yuan? Why is it so much? Are you mistaken?” He Zhibo said to his driver, “Old Yao, didn’t you say that when borrowing one million yuan only I need to return one million and two hundred thousand yuan?”
Old Yao was the driver of He Zhibo. Seeing He Zhibo calling him, he quickly said, “President He, one month is still one million and twenty thousand yuan, but you have dragged on for another month… The usury is usually calculated like this…”
He Zhibo also met Du Zizi through Old Yao. He Zhibo also heard that the interest rate of the usury was high, but he didn’t expect it to be so terrifying! He thought that after dragging it for a month, it wouldn’t be more than a few hundred thousand! After a few days, when the three million yuan arrived, he would be able to return the money. He didn’t treat it as a serious matter, but he didn’t expect Du Duzhi to lock him up in the company today!
The initial one million and twenty thousand yuan a month ago actually turned into more than thirty million yuan! He Zhibo was dumbfounded at once. He lowered his head with gloominess enshrouding his expression.
Do I have nothing left? Did I lose everything? He Zhibo looked at the familiar environment. The boss’ chair I’m familiar with will no longer belong to me in the future? I have struggled for twenty years and yet it became a gift for others in the blink of an eye…
“Have you made your decision? My men have no patience. If they were impatient, I won’t care what will happen later.” Du Duzi’s words carried a faint threatening tone.
“President He, give him the company. When there is life, there is hope!” Old Yao advised.
“Old Yao, if I give him the company, I would have nothing! My daughter is studying abroad which needs a lot of money… I…” He Zhibo said painfully.
“Oh? I heard that your daughter is even a Ph.D.… Not bad. I like highly educated girls. How about you ask her to stay with me for two nights? Probably I will pay for her university?” Du Duzi smiled lewdly.
“You…” He Zhibo was enraged as he pointed at Du Duzi. “Aren’t you afraid of my revenge? The barefooted aren’t afraid of those who wear shoes [3]. I have nothing. Don’t force my hand!”
Looking at the enraged face of He Zhibo, Du Duzi also had a bit of guilty conscience! If the incident became serious and pa.s.sed to the ears of Bao Sanli, then he wouldn’t be able to survive!
So, Du Duzi’s changed his expression. “I’m just joking. President He, let’s quickly finish up the company’s transfer problem.”
“Ai!” He Zhibo sighed. It has come to this point. What can I do now?
……
“Elder sister, can we go to Lulu’s company first? Lulu’s father’s company is facing some trouble…” Shen Yuefeng said to Shen Yueping.
He Lulu’s voice wasn’t loud, but the s.p.a.ce in the van was small, so the people inside could hear it clearly. Shen Yueping also knew that He Lulu’s family had something going on, so she said, “Yang Ming, let’s go to my sister-in-law’s company first then?”
“No problem.” Needless to say, Yang Ming had to follow Shen Yueping’s intentions. “Where is it?”
He Lulu quickly relayed the address. There was none of the arrogance she had before in her tone.