Chapter 69 Today's Debt Repayment: The sedan chair landed in the Liu family's side room...
The sedan chair landed in front of the side room of the Liu family. A few people were gathered at the door, all of them pot-bellied old men with greasy faces and lewd smiles. They didn't look like good people at all.
The matchmaker called out with a smile, "Master, hurry up and kick down the sedan chair door to welcome the young lady out of the bridal sedan chair!"
Master Liu, his body bulging with fat, rubbed his hands together with a lewd grin as he approached. He had just lifted a corner of the sedan curtain when he suddenly panicked and stumbled backward, tripping over the sedan and falling flat on his face.
"Ha ha ha ha..."
Everyone burst into laughter, about to tease Master Liu for being too hasty, when the curtain of the bridal sedan chair was suddenly lifted from the inside, and the bride, dressed in a bright red wedding gown, walked out shakily, holding a pair of rusty scissors in a flustered manner.
Only then did everyone understand why Master Liu had been in such a sorry state.
The housekeeper, Zhang Cuiping, and Lin Yongwu rushed over upon seeing this, but were stopped by Master Liu before they even arrived.
"etc..."
The fat, big-eared Master Liu quickly scrambled to his feet. Lin Pan'er wanted to step past him, but his size was too large, and she couldn't escape for a while.
Seeing the fat man in front of her stand up quickly, Lin Pan'er was so frightened that her hands trembled like leaves. Although she was holding scissors, she was no threat at all.
Seeing her wary look, Master Liu spat and approached while cursing, "You little wench, you actually have some temper!"
"You...you...don't come any closer, if you come any closer I'll...I'll...kill you!" Lin Pan'er was trembling, the scissors in her hand were shaking, and even the harsh words she spoke were stuttering and lacked any force.
"Hahaha...I love this stubbornness!"
Master Liu showed no fear whatsoever; instead, he laughed with even greater excitement. Taking advantage of Lin Pan'er's momentary distraction, he grabbed her hand as she prepared to commit the crime. Before Lin Pan'er could struggle, she was shoved hard on the wrist, her slender back slamming against the sedan door. A dark shadow followed, pressing down on her, rendering her completely immobile.
"Don't touch me! Ah..."
Lin Pan'er's screams were filled with an irresistible childishness, and no one present would step forward to help her. Even her biological parents were only worried about angering Master Liu.
Besides Lin Qingan and Chen Gengnian who came along.
Seeing Lin Pan'er's resistance, Lin Qing'an was very grateful for everything that Chen Gengnian and he had arranged before coming.
The two kept their eyes on the intersection. Seeing that the person was still not coming and that Lin Pan'er was putting up a desperate fight, they felt a little sorry for her. So they were about to go and rescue her, but Chen Gengnian grabbed them and gestured for them to wait.
Soon, a group of thugs carrying sticks suddenly rushed out from a distance and headed straight for Master Liu.
Among the spectators, some sharp-eyed individuals immediately recognized the leader, shouted "He's from the gambling den!" and scattered in all directions.
Those thugs and hooligans were far beyond their ability to deal with, and they were all afraid of getting involved with Master Liu in the slightest.
Mr. Liu was also dumbfounded. What was going on? Didn't he agree to repay the money within ten days?
Seeing the gambling den's thugs approaching, Master Liu quickly released Lin Pan'er, raised his hands, and shouted, "Let's talk this out! I signed an agreement with your den's owner, you can't just do whatever you want... ah..."
Before Master Liu could finish speaking, a flying stick came hurtling towards him. It was so fast that he didn't have time to dodge and it hit him squarely on the calf, causing him to sit on the ground clutching his leg in great pain.
The burly man at the head of the group stopped in front of Master Liu, unfolded an agreement in his hand, and looked down at him coldly, saying, "It's all written clearly in black and white. Pay up today, or we'll confiscate your property!"
Master Liu immediately saw his own handprint, and the date written on it was indeed today.
"How could this be..."
He excitedly raised his hand to grab it from the burly man, but before his hand could even touch him, the burly man kicked him away. His obese body had extremely poor balance, and the burly man was a trained fighter. With one kick, Master Liu was turned into a wobbly tumbler.
"Brothers, grab your weapons! Master Liu is a liar; it's only right to pay back debts. According to the rules, take everything of value from the Liu family. If that's not enough, make him pay with house deeds and land deeds. If that's still not enough..."
The burly man stomped on a dead tree and crushed it. He glared fiercely at the shivering Old Master Liu, and the rest of the words were left unsaid, as he was already half-dead with fear.
The burly man rudely spat on the ground, then led the way into the Liu family compound.
Master Liu was crying and wailing outside, completely oblivious to everything else.
He kept muttering that it was impossible. He had clearly made an agreement with the gambling den owner that he would sell this young woman to a brothel ten days after marrying her, and then redeem her later. But why...?
He couldn't understand why the date on which he pressed his fingerprint had changed.
The sounds of smashing and looting inside the house caused the servants to scream and run out, while the onlookers outside kept their distance. The entire Liu family was in complete chaos.
Zhang Cuiping and Lin Yongwu had already fled far away in fright when the people from the gambling den appeared, while Lin Pan'er was also so frightened that she clung to the doorpost of the side room, trembling.
Suddenly, a pair of men grabbed Lin Pan'er's arm, lifted her up, and said, "Come with me." Lin Pan'er was then effortlessly pulled into the alley behind the house.
Lin Qingan and Chen Gengnian breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that the person had been taken away. Then they quickly looked at Lin Yongwu and Zhang Cuiping. When they saw that they were still protecting Lin Tianyou and had not noticed Lin Pan'er, they felt a complicated mix of emotions.
The two lingered for another two minutes, and only felt relieved when they saw Lin Jing and Liu Yiyi come out.
They had intended to wait for the two of them to leave together, but Lin Jing waved to them and gestured with her eyes for them to go first.
Lin Qing'an was somewhat confused, but seeing that Lin Jing was still waving her hand, he had no choice but to leave first.
As soon as the two returned to the shop, there was someone waiting for them. Lin Qingan and Chen Gengnian both recognized the man; he was a waiter from Jinyun Restaurant. Uncle Hu had brought him to help them for a few days during the last opening.
"Boss Lin, Boss Chen..." the waiter greeted them, and then whispered in their ears as Lin Qing'an and the others approached, "Your sister doesn't want to go back, so Uncle Hu respected her wishes and found her an easy job at the shop. Uncle Hu asked me to tell you that he will take care of your sister, so don't worry, and he won't tell anyone about you."
Lin Qing'an cupped his hands in thanks.
The man returned the greeting and went home.
Lin Qing'an exhaled a heavy breath, the worry that had lingered between his brows for the past few days finally dissipating. He looked at Chen Gengnian, and their eyes met. Suddenly, Lin Qing'an raised his hand and made a high five gesture. Chen Gengnian was a little confused, not knowing what it meant. Lin Qing'an smiled, took his hand, and gently patted his broad palm.
"What?" Chen Gengnian asked.
Lin Qingan said in a serious tone, "This is the 'Good Person Award' for you."
Chen Gengnian's bewildered mind finally cleared up. He smiled, revealing a row of neat white teeth, and patted Lin Qing'an's palm, just like he had done. Then he said, "I'll give you the award too. My husband is the kindest person in the world!"
This mutual flattery was indeed very successful; the two good-natured people couldn't stop smiling.
It turned out that after returning from Lin Pan'er's place a couple of days ago, Lin Qing'an couldn't help but feel guilty. But how could he help without getting rid of Zhang Cuiping and Lin Yongwu, those two heartless people? The main problem was that these two were like a leech, once you got on them, you couldn't get rid of them. So, on Chen Gengnian's suggestion, he went to Uncle Hu for help.
Lin Qing'an was unaware that Chen Gengnian had secretly followed Master Liu. He only learned that Chen Gengnian and Uncle Hu had personally gone to find the gambling den owner after everything was settled.
When Lin Qing'an first heard this, he was extremely nervous. Who was the owner of the gambling den? He was like a local tyrant in the town. How could people like them afford to offend such a person? In fact, it was not as he feared. The owner of the gambling den was not only unpretentious but also extremely polite to Chen Gengnian, personally serving him tea and water, and doing whatever Chen Gengnian said.
Chen Gengnian himself was also puzzled, but Uncle Hu only told him that he was an upright person and that his employer always mentioned him to others.
Lin Qing'an didn't believe it at all, though he didn't think so at all. The excuses he used to coax a child were too obvious.
However, Lin Qing'an didn't think too much about it. Anyway, the truth would eventually come out. As long as their safety wasn't involved, he would wait patiently.
After arranging everything, Lin Qing'an and Chen Gengnian were still uneasy. If Lin Pan'er returned to Zhang Cuiping's side after being rescued, then this kind of thing would happen again. They might be sent back to the Liu family that same day.
Fortunately, it was worth the effort.
Although she was young, she had her own ideas and knew that if she went back, her parents would only treat her like a blood-soaked bun.
Not long after, Lin Jing and Liu Yiyi returned to their residence with a woman. Lin Qing'an and the others were told about this by Lin Jing later.
That was Liu Yiyi's mother. At that time, the Liu family was in chaos, and Liu Yiyi had to use all her persuasive skills to coax and trick her into coming out.
Lin Qing'an then learned that after they left, Master Liu had mortgaged most of his shops and land because he couldn't repay the money. Madam Liu, who was already sickly, fainted during the robbery. The servants of the Liu family also took advantage of the chaos to steal the indenture and fled in all directions.
After this incident, the Liu family was completely ruined. Even if they still had some assets, they had no way to make a comeback. After all, the old master Liu was addicted to gambling and had no skills. The people he associated with were all snobbish and didn't care about him anymore. They were just plotting to swindle him out of his last remaining assets.
Although he has two daughters, Liu Yiyi was sold by him, and his wife's daughter was already married and had children. However, her husband was a poor scholar who relied on them for support. So now he is truly destitute and helpless.
Lin Qingan and Chen Gengnian didn't react much. This Master Liu had no connection with them, but karma is a cycle. Even if they didn't set a trap today, they would suffer the consequences in the future, so they didn't think they had done anything wrong.
After returning home from school in the afternoon, Lin Qing'an told A Bao about everything that had happened that day. He mainly wanted to tell Lin Yanfeng so that he wouldn't have to worry about it and could just focus on his studies.
Lin Yanfeng's eyes were red like a rabbit's as he looked at Lin Qing'an and Chen Gengnian. Before he could open his mouth, Lin Qing'an slapped him and warned, "If you say anything like thank you again, then don't call me brother."
Before Lin Yanfeng could even purse his lips after hearing this, A Bao covered them tightly.
"Brother, if you can't keep it in, I'll help you!"
Ah Bao looked serious, as if he had taken on a huge responsibility.
Chen Gengnian and Lin Qingan couldn't help but laugh at the little expression on A Bao's face, while Lin Yanfeng's eyes crinkled, showing no blame for A Bao's actions.
Just as the family was enjoying a happy time together, Zhang Cuiping's urgent shouts came from outside.
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