Chapter 112: Repayment

Chapter 112: Chapter 112: Repayment

"Th-this... I... I don’t know. Everyone’s opinion is different, isn’t it?" Lin Guishan stammered, looking extremely conflicted.

"I just want to know *your* opinion. Go on, tell me," Wei Junchao said, his tone aggressive and vaguely threatening.

"I... I think... I..." Lin Guishan was in an impossible position. He couldn’t speak, but he couldn’t stay silent either. His eyes were red with distress.

"Wei Junchao, you’ve gone too far. What gives you the right to force Guishan to answer your question?" Ye Xing frowned and said in a low voice, "Let’s just drop this. Everyone, take a step back. We’re not discussing this anymore."

"Yeah, yeah, let’s not talk about this. Let’s talk about something else," the other classmates chimed in.

"Not discuss this? Ye Xing, who the hell do you think you are? What gives you the right to order me around? I want Lin Guishan to answer this question today, and there’s nothing you can do about it!" Wei Junchao was becoming furious out of sheer embarrassment. Coupled with his naturally arrogant personality, he was now completely ignoring the classmates trying to break up the fight.

Zheng Yiming, who was beside Ye Xing, also flew into a rage. "Wei Junchao, who the fuck do you think *you* are? You can ask your question, but so what if our Eldest Brother doesn’t answer you? Don’t think you’re so great just because you walk around with your nose in the air like some jackass. I’m not buying any of your bullshit!"

Seeing the confrontation in the private room about to completely blow up, the other classmates felt a massive headache coming on.

"Heh, you think he dares to refuse? If I tell him to lie on the floor, he lies on the floor. If I tell him to squat, he squats!" Wei Junchao sneered, pointing at Lin Guishan. "Lin Guishan, I want you to answer me right now. Otherwise, give me my money back immediately!"

Lin Guishan’s face was pale, a bitter look on his face. He pleaded, "Junchao, you... didn’t you say I could borrow it for a few months? My dad’s surgery already used up the money. Where am I supposed to come up with that much cash to pay you back on such short notice?"

"I don’t care about that. I helped you out when you needed to borrow the money. Forget a few months—honestly, paying me back in a year or so would have been fine. But now, I ask you one simple question, and you just hem and haw without answering. It’s clear you’re trying to make me lose face." Wei Junchao snapped, "Well, I’m not happy anymore. Hurry up and pay me back."

"Junchao, I really can’t come up with the money right now," Lin Guishan said, pacing anxiously.

The classmates around the table also tried to persuade him. "Junchao, we’re all classmates here. Just give him some more time. Guishan is probably really short on cash. If you suddenly demand the money back, he won’t be able to come up with it."

"I don’t care if he can come up with the money or not. I’m in a bad mood now. If he doesn’t pay up, I’ll send debt collectors after him. We’ll see how he likes that," Wei Junchao sneered. He had dropped all pretenses.

"Eldest Brother, how much do you owe him?" Zheng Yiming asked.

"One hundred thousand yuan," Lin Guishan said with a bitter smile.

"Ugh, that much?" Zheng Yiming was a bit discouraged. He muttered under his breath, ’No wonder Eldest Brother was being so deferential and even carried his things for him. What are we going to do now?’ One hundred thousand yuan was no small sum for an ordinary person. Although Zheng Yiming had some savings, one hundred thousand was still a huge amount for him. He wanted to help, but he really couldn’t.

Zheng Yiming hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Guishan, how about I spot you fifty thousand? You can try to raise the other fifty thousand to pay him back. Being indebted to someone like him must be hell."

Lin Guishan shook his head with a bitter smile. "I only have a few hundred yuan for living expenses right now, and that has to last me until I get paid at the end of the month!"

The atmosphere in the private room grew somber. The classmates all sympathized with Lin Guishan, while Wei Junchao wore a smug look, his eyes full of ridicule as he stared at him.

At that moment, no one noticed that Ye Xing had already pulled a black leather wallet from his pocket and taken out a bank card.

"Fourth Brother, are you familiar with this area? Do you know if there’s a bank nearby?" Ye Xing asked.

"I know this area very well. There’s an Agricultural Bank on the street right next to the restaurant," Zheng Yiming replied, looking a little puzzled.

Ye Xing handed the bank card to Zheng Yiming. "Take this card and withdraw one hundred thousand yuan for me."

"There’s a hundred thousand on the card? Alright, Third Brother, I didn’t realize you were so loaded." Zheng Yiming’s eyes lit up. "Third Brother, how about this: we’ll each put up fifty thousand to cover it for Eldest Brother. That way, we won’t have to look at a certain someone’s smug face anymore."

"Third Brother, Fourth Brother, I can’t let you guys cover this for me. That’s not right. I’ll go home and figure out a way to raise the money myself," Lin Guishan said. "It’s not easy for you to earn money either. Third Brother, didn’t you just buy a house in Luoxian County? You have to make mortgage payments every month..."

"What mortgage?" Ye Xing turned to Zheng Yiming. "Fourth Brother, what are you waiting for? Go withdraw the full hundred thousand. Keep your fifty thousand for yourself!"

"No way, we agreed to split it fifty-fifty. Eldest Brother can pay us back whenever he gets the money. I’m going to get it now! I’ll be quick, be right back." With that, Zheng Yiming immediately left private room 206 of the Longwan Grand Restaurant.

The atmosphere in the private room was now extremely tense. The party wasn’t over, but it might as well have been. Things were incredibly awkward.

"Heh, what loyalty. One hundred thousand yuan. Looks like someone’s about to sell everything they own and bleed themselves dry for a ’brother’!" Wei Junchao said sarcastically. He had originally thought one hundred thousand yuan would be enough to stump the three of them. But now, seeing Ye Xing and Zheng Yiming each putting up fifty thousand, it seemed they could actually solve Lin Guishan’s crisis. Still, it would surely be a major financial blow for them.

Ye Xing couldn’t be bothered to respond to Wei Junchao’s taunts. He simply took out his phone, logged into the Qidian app, and started reading a novel. The atmosphere in the room was ruined anyway, and no one was talking much. Everyone kept to themselves in silence, most of them on their phones—chatting on QQ, watching videos, or reading novels.

The novel Ye Xing was reading was titled *My Ancient Well Leads to the Martial Arts World*. It was a popular new book about traversing between two worlds, and it was really good. ’After such a long book drought, it’s not easy to finally find a novel that suits my tastes. The only problem is that the goofy author, Qing Feng, updates a bit too slowly—only two Chapters a day, which I finish in a flash. It would be amazing if he could drop ten or twenty Chapters at once.’ Ye Xing swiped his phone screen, scrolling through the table of contents, and was shocked to see that the author had, for the first time ever, updated five Chapters today. ’Holy crap, the sun must have risen from the west! No time to waste. I, Ye, am a whale who isn’t short on cash. I’ll drop a 10,000-coin reward for encouragement first,’ he thought, then eagerly clicked in to read. The story had stopped at a critical moment last night; five new Chapters definitely meant one hell of a satisfying climax.

Ye Xing was scrolling through his phone. He had just finished one Chapter and was about to start the next when his phone suddenly vibrated and rang.

RING RING RING... "You’re my little apple..."

The phone screen showed the call was from Fourth Brother, Zheng Yiming.

’Strange, why is Fourth Brother calling me now?’ Ye Xing thought, puzzled. He swiped the screen to answer. "Hey, Fourth Brother, did you get the money? Why are you calling?"

(I might have been bragging a little just now. Actually, two Chapters a day is a pretty normal speed.)