After Cao Xiaobei asked me to lend him money to open a guesthouse, I was extremely unwilling. I felt that Cao Jinbo had played too many tricks with these 16 shops, even causing a lot of trouble between Ye Zhi and me. So, I said to Cao Xiaobei with a cold face, "Even if you talk the world upside down, I won't lend you this money... because you're not my son, I have no obligation to give you my own money to start a business."
Cao Xiaobei replied with complete confidence, "If my inn doesn't succeed, a large part of your commercial street will become deserted. Aren't you afraid at all?"
I laughed: "Just because you know I'm scared, you ask me for 320,000 right off the bat. Isn't your appetite a bit too big?" After a slight pause, I continued: "I know what kind of business your family made your fortune in, but even if you're extorting money, you should still have some bottom line, right?... Cao Xiaobei, I'm putting this out there today. Neither you nor your father are going to use these 16 shops to make trouble for me. I'd rather not do this than let you two, father and son, play me for fools."
That's a pretty harsh statement!
“You’re a fucking parasite… If you ask me, you shouldn’t even think about starting a business. You should go out on the street, find a car, crash into it and become paralyzed. Your dad will treat you like a king for the rest of your life. But today, he really treats you like a grandson. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have let you do such a cowardly thing.”
Cao Xiaobei's face turned green. In their several exchanges, he not only failed to gain the upper hand in actual combat, but he also lost miserably in verbal battles. Perhaps Yang Sisi's comment about his naivety was because he was not good at fighting with people.
Thinking of Yang Sisi, I cursed again: "No wonder Sisi looks down on you... because what you're doing now is not something a man with any backbone would do. You're a fucking scoundrel."
These words were incredibly damaging to Cao Xiaobei. He glared at me, his cheeks trembling with anger, and then yelled at me, "Stop trying to twist my words! I'm here to borrow money, not to ask for it... I'll pay you back when I make some money."
I looked at Cao Xiaobei, my fists clenched so tightly they cracked, and then replied, "I've never liked arguing with unreasonable people. I've already made my reasons very clear. If you still think you can get money from me, then feel free to stand here... Or, you can find someone who can commit violence. I actually have some money in my pocket. If you're not afraid of getting beaten up, then come and try... Anyway, extortion and robbery are both despicable. Since you're capable of extortion, why not just rob me? At least the latter shows more guts than the former."
"You're fucking insulting!"
"You can blackmail others, but you can't be insulted?... Cao Xiaobei, let me tell you, with your character, you'll never amount to anything in your life!"
Just as I was continuing to verbally torment Cao Xiaobei, Cao Jinbo's voice suddenly came from behind me. He took over my words and said, "If my son can't accomplish anything, then who can?"
I looked back at Cao Jinbo. Besides Cao Jinbo, there was also Cao Xue, who was standing right next to Cao Jinbo...
I'm quite familiar with these three men surnamed Cao, but this is the first time I've seen all three of them at the same time... and it's hard to tell who's friend or foe. At least Cao Jinbo has never been polite to me...
I smiled at Cao Jinbo and replied, "Mr. Cao, please don't mind. If your son hadn't come to me asking for a loan, I really wouldn't have dared to say such a thing to him, because I don't have the right to... But because he came and asked, I suddenly feel like I've been there... I think that starting a business requires the quality of hard work and perseverance. If you only try to take from others and are unwilling to give anything yourself, you've already fallen short in terms of entrepreneurial spirit. As someone who's been there, I definitely have to correct him... Please consider this bitter medicine; I mean no harm... If someone had been so kind to me when I was starting my business, I would have been incredibly grateful... It's just a pity that I've encountered so many bad people along the way!"
Cao Jinbo, being a shrewd man, could definitely tell I was targeting him, but he still smiled and said to me, "Before I sent him to borrow money from you, I really didn't expect you to gossip so much... I was just thinking of finding an opportunity for you younger folks to get to know each other better... There's a saying that goes, relationships are built through mutual favors. I sincerely hope you can give Xiao Bei some pointers. Today he's the one who's bothering you, that's true... Maybe one day you'll be the one bothering him... People make friends wholeheartedly so that when they encounter difficulties, someone will lend a helping hand."
"I'm just worried that some friends are too expensive; those of us who have worked our way up from nothing really can't afford to make friends with them!"
"You little rascal, your most impressive thing is your mouth...!"
Cao Jinbo pointed at me, looking quite helpless...
After pausing briefly, he turned to Cao Xiaobei and said, "You must remember what Michael just said to you... If you can really take these words as a lesson, then you won't lose out at all today... Understand?"
Cao Xiaobei glanced at me but didn't say anything. Cao Xue, on the other hand, secretly gave me a thumbs up, seemingly happy to see Cao Xiaobei get the short end of the stick.
Cao Jinbo glanced at Cao Xue, who quickly avoided his gaze, pretending nothing had happened. It was clear that although he harbored many grievances against Cao Jinbo, he was still afraid of him at heart.
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