Chapter 7 "Enough with the nonsense."
"In all these years, has he ever taken any responsibility for either of you? If feeding you is considered supporting you, then why doesn't he raise a dog to take care of you in your old age and see you off when you die?"
"I remember when Lin Yi and I first got married, you were in college. You were still working during the Chinese New Year. My mom asked Lin Yi to bring you home for dinner. The clothes you were wearing were so thin that my mom felt sorry for you..."
As Xiang Zhuo spoke, his voice lowered somewhat. After all, this was a painful matter for Mu Yan, and it was always uncomfortable for others to mention it.
Xiang Zhuo was somewhat annoyed by his slip of the tongue and did not continue speaking.
Mu Yan, however, said gently, not caring much, "Brother Xiang Zhuo, how many times have I told Auntie? I just happened to be called to help in the kitchen that day, and I was just wearing less clothing."
Xiang Zhuo smiled helplessly, gave Mu Yan a few more instructions, and then hung up the phone.
Mu Yan sent a message to his boss to ask for leave. He was usually conscientious and rarely late or left early, so his boss did not make things difficult for him. Instead, he told him to get some rest.
Xiang Zhuo and Mu Yan's older brother, Lin Yi, met through a blind date. Logically speaking, a mediocre and honest beta like him shouldn't have been unable to marry an omega. However, Lin Yi knew that his family's financial situation wasn't good, and even if he married an alpha, he would inevitably be mistreated. Xiang Zhuo was gentle and honest, and his parents were down-to-earth and good people, so the two of them lived a peaceful and comfortable life.
Lin Yi was five years older than Mu Yan and had dropped out of school a long time ago. In Mu Yan's memory, it seemed to be one day during his second year of high school, not long after his stepmother fell ill, the money his family regularly deposited into his meal card suddenly increased by two hundred yuan. Mu Yan called his stepmother, but she only said that he was growing and told him to get a couple more dishes instead of always eating only steamed buns.
When Mu Yan came home that week, his brother bought chicken bones to make soup, which was a meat dish. When he saw Mu Yan come home, he smiled gently and told him to put down his schoolbag and come eat.
Lin Yi had a slap mark on his face.
"Mom hit me," Lin Yi said, feeling a little embarrassed as he looked at his younger brother staring at his face. "I told her I didn't want to study anymore, and Mom slapped me." Omegas tend to mature earlier.
"Mom apologized to me, and she's agreed now. Yan Yan, don't look at me like that. I never liked studying. Going to that lousy school was pointless anyway; all my classmates did every day was compare what bags they bought and what alphas they hooked up with..."
It was the first time Lin Yi had ever seen his younger brother's face so gloomy and frightening. That day, Mu Yan didn't eat a single bite of the food he had cooked. He pulled Lin Yi up and went to the hospital to find Mu Juanhua.
He didn't know what Mu Juanhua and Mu Yan said that day, but when Mu Yan left his mother's hospital room, he stopped pressuring Lin Yi to go back to school.
Lin Yi's reasons for not wanting to study were actually quite simple. He wasn't good at studying, the school wasn't a good one, his family wasn't well-off, and he couldn't make any friends at school. He figured it would be better to start working sooner, which would alleviate some of the pressure and save him from the wrath of his teachers and classmates.
In addition, he had a younger brother named Mu Yan, who was a good student from a young age. Mu Yan had always been a good student, and his teachers said that his grades would definitely get him into a good school in a big city. However, after their mother fell ill, Mu Yan always thought about working, and to save money, he would sometimes only eat two steamed buns for lunch.
When I go to work, there's one less mouth to feed in the family, but one more person who can do the work, and everyone's life will be much easier.
Lin Yi was good-looking, meticulous, and had a fairly cheerful personality. She quickly found a sales job and soon met Xiang Zhuo, who worked as an accountant at the company. The two quickly got together.
Xiang Zhuo was honest and kind, didn't care about his family background, and was very good to his mother and younger brother. They got married and had a lovely daughter. Although their work was a bit tiring, they were both people who wanted to make a good living. After being together for several years, they managed to save up for a down payment on a house.
If it weren't for Lin Guojun, they would have lived a peaceful and happy life and successfully settled down in this city.
The scene outside the car window gradually became familiar. Mu Yan came back to her senses, and the taxi was about to arrive at her brother's building.
The rental apartment where Lin Yi and Xiang Zhuo currently live is densely packed with tenants, and the road downstairs is already narrow, with many bicycles and electric scooters parked there. Before the taxi driver could even frown and show any sign of difficulty, Mu Yan got out of the car and headed straight for Lin Yi's house with practiced ease.
Xiang Zhuo had arrived and was negotiating with the debt collectors. Mu Yan had heard of people who specialized in debt collection before, but this was the first time he had actually gotten himself into such big trouble. Lin Guojun had been gambling for over ten years, but Mu Yan had always thought he wouldn't be foolish enough to borrow money from a loan shark.
They were four strong alphas, tall and muscular, wearing cheap leather jackets, carrying steel pipes, with cigarette butts scattered at their feet, and the air filled with the smell of cheap tobacco.
"Can't you even open the door and invite us for a cup of tea if you can't afford the money? It seems that the debtor is the master and the creditor is the servant."
Patches of red paint snaked down from the lintel like thick blood, a shocking sight. Mu Yan and Xiang Zhuo exchanged a glance, knowing full well that they couldn't open the door and let them in now.
Inviting gods is easy, but sending them away is difficult. Once they're let in, it's very hard to get them out. What's more, there's a three-year-old girl named Jiajia inside.
"Brothers, I've made myself perfectly clear. The gambling debts are owed by my father-in-law. We haven't been in contact with him for many years. You all know Lin Guojun; he's always been a gambler..." Xiang Zhuo said gently, trying to calm them down.
"The sins of the father are the sins of the son," the leading alpha man with the buzz cut sneered, raising his chin towards the door. "He can't afford to have his two sons pay it off, so what's the problem?"
Mu Yan's heart sank, and he said in a deep voice, "Give me some time, and I will find a way to raise the money."
"Time?" The man with the buzz cut scoffed. "You think this is a bank? Your old man owes money and won't pay it back. We brothers have been waiting for far too long."
Mu Yan knew that these people were completely unreasonable, and since they had come to his door today, they would not give up easily.
Delaying was the only option at the moment, and he tried to calm himself down.
This was the first time Lin Guojun had owed money to the casino, but he had borrowed money from his gambling buddies countless times. Even though Mu Yan was not good with words, he reflexively managed to squeeze out a few perfunctory words.
My mother is still in the hospital... They've exhausted all their borrowing power with the neighbors and relatives... Even if they had to sell land or blood, it would take time...
"Tsk, you're quite the smooth talker." The tall, thin man scoffed, his eyes filled with impatience. "Fine, let us in first and get some of the collateral."
Xiang Zhuo's expression changed: Jiajia was still inside the house.
These people who enter the workforce early actually understand the psychology of ordinary people very well and know how to maximize their profits. Children are a parent's weakness; they just want money, and they know that it's impossible to get all the money back in this situation, and they don't want things to escalate to a bad end.
Mu Yan knew that Xiang Zhuo was not good at dealing with them, so he wanted to hint to Xiang Zhuo to take Jiajia out first so that she wouldn't see her, and then he would take them inside for a look around. At most, he would let them take away the TV that Xiang Zhuo had bought for 800 yuan.
However, Xiang Zhuo did not seem to understand his gaze.
"Brother, you've seen it yourself... I live in this shabby place, and I really don't have anything of value at home. Even if you need money, please give us some time to borrow it..."
Xiang Zhuo's stalling tactics were rather clumsy, even causing Mu Yan to frown slightly. This meant the debt-collecting alphas were going to leave empty-handed. Their offer of some collateral was already a concession; they needed something to appease their superiors.
But Xiang Zhuo's parents were the most honest and upright people. They would even return a piece of salt they borrowed from a neighbor immediately. Growing up in such a family, how could he possibly understand these things?
"Enough with the nonsense." The man with the buzz cut stubbed out his cigarette on the doorframe, his smile chillingly cold. "Either you hand over the money today, or—" He tapped the steel pipe in his palm, "we'll go in and grab something valuable ourselves."
"I've collected more debts than you've earned in eight lifetimes. You think you can fool me with this?" Behind the crew-cut man, a shorter alpha sneered. "You really don't have anything valuable at home, huh? Well, then, you can always have your omega wife sleep with us."
Mu Yan's heart clenched.
Even he found such foul language unbearable to hear.
Xiang Zhuo was different from him and his brother. Although his family was not wealthy, his parents taught at the town's primary school and had never experienced the dark side of society, let alone such filthy words.
Even the most honest and upright person has an inviolable bottom line. Xiang Zhuo's eyes turned red and his blood boiled after just a few words. Mu Yan wanted to stop him, but it was too late. Alphas have an overwhelming physical advantage over betas, and these debt collectors are all trained fighters. Beating up Xiang Zhuo, an ordinary beta, would be a piece of cake for them.
Xiang Zhuo took a solid punch, staggered and crashed into the wall, blood immediately seeping from the corner of his mouth.
"Brother Zhuo!"
"Damn it, if we don't teach you a lesson, you'll really think we're pushovers?" The man with the buzz cut shook his fist and continued to approach, looking eager to fight. "You look like an idiot, but I didn't expect you to have some guts. A beta who's broke and useless, yet you married an omega wife and you're still so tough. You deserve to get beaten up."
Mu Yan instinctively stepped in front of Xiang Zhuo, his body slightly curled up.
These people know exactly where to hit to hurt the most but can't get a diagnosis. They're in this line of work, and they definitely have people protecting them at the police station. As long as no one gets killed, they just have to pay some money and that's it.
Having been beaten since childhood, Mu Yan has a wealth of experience and knows how to dodge attacks without provoking the other party while protecting himself to the greatest extent possible.
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