Chapter 279: A lipstick stain remained on the rim of a cup that didn't belong to her.

Chapter 279: A Lipstick Mark Left on a Cup That Didn't Belong to Her

The voice remained casual and nonchalant.

But his eyes seemed somewhat dim.

No one noticed anything amiss and continued chatting and laughing.

Only Zhou Jichen, the man who remained silent throughout, gently placed his wine glass on the table.

"Keep this as a spare tool for when Grandpa Xu beats you up next time."

The orange flames kept leaping.

The lighter is overheating.

Xu Xiangbai's fingertips were suddenly burned.

An Yu really didn't want to dwell on this topic anymore.

Just then, a staff member came over and poured drinks for everyone.

An Yu heard the sound of a glass of wine clinking against a wine bottle beside her ear.

They thought it was their own.

I took it the moment the staff reached out their hand.

He took a big gulp of strong liquor to suppress his unease, leaving a clear lipstick mark on the rim of the glass, and then said boldly, "Let's keep playing!"

The service staff standing nearby were stunned and did not move for a long time.

"Miss... the wine glass you just used was..."

She wanted to offer a reminder.

But the composed man opposite her extended his index finger and lightly touched the tip of his nose, signaling her to be quiet.

The waiter swallowed the rest of his sentence.

An Yu, having only heard half of what was being said, turned her head, confused, and asked, "What's wrong?"

"No, it's nothing. Your voice sounds a little hoarse. Let me pour you a glass of honey water."

*

A warm and tender atmosphere pervades Qiushui Bay.

Meanwhile, on this early winter night when the temperature suddenly dropped, the Tan family's house was in complete disarray.

A group of menacing-looking men broke into the courtyard where the Tan family was hiding late at night.

Tan Donglin was beaten until he was covered in blood, half-conscious, and was thrown to the ground like a dead fish.

A group of men ransacked the place, smashing vases, water cups, and various fragile storage boxes all over the floor.

They couldn't find anything of value.

Zhao Qin's fierce temper was rendered speechless in the face of absolute intimidation.

She squatted down in front of Tan Donglin, crying and trembling like a leaf, begging for mercy incessantly.

"We really have no money left, please spare our lives."

The group of debt collectors sneered, their large iron rods planted directly in front of Zhao Qin's chest. "No money? If you don't have money, we'll exchange your son's life for it."

"Your son is quite the hider! We practically dug up the ground to find him! Paying back debts is a matter of course! Stop crying and begging."

Tan Donglin's mouth was full of blood, and his face was so swollen that his features were no longer visible.

His hands trembled as he gripped Zhao Qin's trouser leg, mumbling, "Mom... help... help me."

Zhao Qin felt as if her heart was being torn apart. "How much...how much money does he owe you?"

The man in the lead had a hideous scar on his face, which became even more terrifying with his sinister grin.

"Four million, principal and interest. If you can't pay it back, I think you two have quite a few kidneys."

The moment the amount was revealed, even Tan Guohao, who had been barely managing to remain calm, felt his world crumble.

"What?! Four million! How could we owe so much?!"

"You'll have to ask your good son. He was having a blast in our underground casino. Oh, I forgot, he's been beaten so badly he can barely speak now."

The scarred man was clearly someone who had long lingered on the fringes of society, and he was adept at this kind of bloody violence. Looking at the half-dead Tan Donglin on the ground, he seemed to be admiring his superior methods.

"If you don't want him to be unable to speak for the rest of his life, pay back the money now!"

Zhao Qin was overwhelmed by immense despair and felt that there was no point in living.

"But we really have no money left, I..."

The scarred man interrupted impatiently, "You think we brothers brought these weapons just to listen to your sob story? Do you think we're doing charity?"

The sudden rise in tone was as terrifying as it could be.

Zhao Qin was so frightened that she immediately shut up.

She trembled slightly as she crouched down and moved to Tan Guohao's feet, grabbing the man's trouser leg.

"Honey, please think of something! We can't just stand by and watch our son die!"

Tan Guohao scratched his thinning hair in frustration.

Having been driven to the brink of despair, he could only jog into the house and find a wooden box left behind by the old lady before she passed away.

Inside is a small jade pot passed down from the Republic of China era. The old man bought it from a scrap collector's cart for just a few cents.

After being verified, it became a family heirloom of the Tan family.

Apart from that, the other items in the box weren't very valuable.

A completely oxidized silver ring, an ordinary-looking necklace, and a two-mao banknote that has been replaced and reissued for a long time.

Tan Guohao respectfully presented the small jade pot.

When Tan Donglin got into trouble last time because of debt, Tan Guohao thought about pawning this thing to get some money.

I estimated its market value to be around 300,000.

But in the end, I couldn't bear to part with it.

After all, it's a family heirloom.

But now, they have nowhere else to turn.

Tan Guohao said, "I estimated its value last time, and it's worth 300,000 yuan, which is all the money we can come up with."

The scarred man looked completely bewildered when he took the small jade pot.

Upon hearing what Tan Guohao said, his expression instantly changed.

"Three hundred thousand? Are you trying to fob me off like a beggar?"

He impatiently snatched the wooden box from Tan Guohao's hand.

They roughly dumped everything on the ground.

They discovered there wasn't even a piece of gold.

He spat directly onto Tan Guohao's face.

“I’m giving you a week to raise the money. In one week, I want to see four million, not a penny less. You better not try anything funny this time; our patience has reached its limit.”

The scarred man slapped Tan Guohao's face roughly, as if he were patting a dog.

He warned menacingly, "Otherwise, what you'll see next is Tan Donglin's mutilated corpse. After all, if we don't have money, we brothers all need to eat. We're not doing charity, so we'll have to dismember his body to pay off the debt."

Together they're worthless, but separately they're incredibly profitable.

As soon as he finished speaking, several burly men behind him lifted him up roughly, as if carrying a pig for the New Year, regardless of whether Tan Donglin was alive or dead.

"I can still keep Tan Donglin alive for the next week. As for whether he lives or dies after that, you parents will see what you're capable of."

The scarred man lowered his head and lit a thick cigarette, flicking the ash directly onto Tan Donglin's bloodied and mangled face.

"Finally, let me give you some advice: don't call the police. We've been in this underground scene for years, and it's not like we did it for nothing. If you call the police, you'll have to bear the consequences."

After saying that, without paying any attention to Zhao Qin kneeling on the ground and begging, the group of people got into a van and left in a large convoy.

Only the undried bloodstains on the ground proved that Tan Donglin had been there.

Zhao Qin felt as if her heart was being torn apart.

Now that the person is gone, they start crying uncontrollably, as if their mother has died.

"Tan Guohao, you useless thing! You had 300,000 yuan, why didn't you give it to our son earlier? If you had given it to him then, our son might not have ended up like this! It's all your fault!"

She swung her fist at Tan Guohao.

Tan Guohao pushed him away.

"If I had given it to him then, he might have caused even more trouble!"

Zhao Qin was pushed so hard that she stumbled and fell backward, not knowing what she stepped on.

As if venting her anger, she kicked everything around her.

He's gone mad, yelling, "You dare to ride roughshod over me!"

Zhao Qin kicked the chain to Tan Guohao's feet.

Zhao Qin cried hysterically, "God, what should I do? Why am I so unlucky?"

Tan Guohao's ears hurt from her nagging, so he pointed at Zhao Qin's nose and scolded, "Instead of acting like a shrew who cries and wails, you should use your energy to think of a solution!"

"What can I do? Four million? Even if we sold ourselves, we couldn't get that astronomical sum back. We only wanted to sell Wen Jinye back then, and he was only worth half a million!"

Zhao Qin paused abruptly after finishing her rant.

"Yes! We still have that brat Wen Jinye. We can't just support her for nothing! She's climbed up the social ladder now, she must be rich! That Hong Kong playboy could easily come up with four million! Honey, we can't just watch our son die!"

As she spoke, she got up and said, "I'm going to make a scene right now, I'm going to demand my money right now."

"stop!"

Tan Guohao suddenly noticed the chain at his feet.

He bent down and picked it up.

His rough fingertips rubbed against something, his eyes deep and thoughtful.

“We have better ways to get money than to make a scene.”

"She cares most about her deceased parents."