248: When Will the Loan Be Repaid?

If one had seen the prosperity of the city, and had experienced the taste of reaching for tea and opening their mouth for rice*, why would they want to go back to their life when they used to only make two or three yuan? Li was unreconciled, and Wang Ningkai was even more unreconciled - they both felt that they couldn’t be defeated in such a way. So, their house in the city had never been sold. In order to give off a good appearance, Wang Hongwei gritted his teeth and bought a house of nearly 100 square meters. At that time, the price of the house was not that expensive. Including the renovations, the total cost was only about 700,000. Now that the house’s value had increased, and they could sell it for at least one million.

[T/N: *sitting back and having things done for someone, to relax]

After the company was in debt, the Wang Ningkai father and son temporarily transferred the property rights to Li's name in order to leave a last resort for themselves. After the company closed, that house in the city was the only property left of their family's. So, with some discussion, the family finally decided not to sell the house for the time being.

The real estate in Shanhai City was very hot right now. They thought that the price of the house would go up a bit soon, so they wanted to wait until the price was higher before selling it to make the most money. One million would definitely be enough for Wang Ningkai’s comeback, so in any case, it was impossible for Li and the others to sell the house now to pay off the debt.

Li retorted too quickly, so Papa and Mama Wang immediately became suspicious.

It was not like Li and her family didn’t have a place to live now. Their house in the Guan’s Village had been renovated less than a year ago, and could be considered spacious. Even if two families lived there, it wouldn’t be too crowded. They didn’t even use their house in the city at all.

Mama Wang didn't ask her why she couldn't.

However, Li took the initiative to explain. "It took a lot of work for us to first renovate that house after Hongwei started his company. Now that Ningkai's wife is giving birth to a child, they will move there to live with their new family. Also, Ningkai still wants to make a comeback, and renting an apartment in the meanwhile is not so suitable for him."

Mama Wang didn’t believe her rhetoric. Based on what she knew about Granny Wang, she would never let Wang Xiaoyan, Wang Ningkai, and their child leave the Guan’s Village. They must stay in the Guan’s Village. Moreover, if Wang Ningkai really intended to make a comeback, he still needed a certain amount of money. However, where would that money come from? If they hadn't planned well, Li would never say such a thing. Therefore, they must have discussed this long ago.

"Do two people need to live in a house of over 100 square meters? By the way, don’t you have a car? I’m afraid you don’t really have a need for a car. Sister-in-law should also know that keeping a car is a very expensive thing. Not to mention, Ningkai and my eldest brother now have no income from work, so with what money are they keeping the car?"

Li's expression became so ugly that she could hardly hold it back. Guan Lanfang was now mocking that they couldn’t live in a big house and couldn’t drive a car, right?

There is a saying that goes, the feng shui has turned around*.

[T/N: a person’s life will have good fortune and bad fortune in turn]

Li had never thought this day would come, but for the sake of their family’s future, today, no matter what, she would make the Guan Lanfang husband and wife spit out 300,000. Remembering her purpose, Li immediately hinted at Granny Wang.

Granny Wang, who received the message, immediately gave a cold snort. This time, she was not going to talk with Mother Wang, but point the arrow at Papa Wang instead. They had discussed before coming out: there were only two parents in Wang Cheng’s household, Papa Wang and Mama Wang. The more difficult one to deal with was Mama Wang, so instead of Mama Wang, it was obviously better to start with Papa Wang, who had a soft personality.

"Hongxin, do you still consider me your mother? Your eldest brother and sister-in-law are in trouble now. As a younger brother, is it too much to ask to borrow 300,000 yuan from you?”

Younger brother?

Mama Wang sneered in her heart, they only treated her husband as a ‘younger brother’ when something happened. Why hadn’t Wang Hongwei treated her husband as his younger brother when the houses were divided? She would write it in the records now: she was absolutely sure that if they loaned money to Li today, they would never get that money back in the future.

"Let’s not talk about anything else. What I want to hear is when my elder brother and sister-in-law would pay back the money. My family’s money will not be loaned in vain. What if you delay the repayment for decades?"

"You shut up, I'm talking to my son. Who asked you to interrupt?" Granny Wang immediately became furious when she heard her, clearly exposing her intentions.

Let me guess, this was Li’s idea.

Mama Wang laughed in anger. Did Granny Wang really think things were the same as the past where she was able to never accept no as an answer?

"Mother, this is my home, not my sister-in-law's. Why can't I talk? The money you want to borrow is earned by my son. Even if Hongxin agrees, you won't get a cent as long as Chengcheng disagrees."

Granny Wang felt that if she was ten or twenty years younger, she would definitely slap her face. She had been in the Wang family for decades, and her prestige in the hearts of her three sons was higher than that of her husband’s. No junior in the Wang family had ever dared to talk back to her, yet that Guan Lanfang even dared to refute her words over and over again. She angrily said to Papa Wang: "You unfilial son, this is the good wife you married? She’s crawling all over your head and you’re still not saying a word. Keep your mind clear. If this woman is able to ignore you, the head of the family, today, she may do even more shameful things in the future."

"Mother!" Papa Wang roared.

Granny Wang was taken aback.

"Lanfang is my wife. I won’t hear anyone insult her. Though you are my mother, even you aren’t able to. And, I’ve already said that the money is indeed made by Chengcheng. If you want to borrow from him, I can call him now. If Chengcheng agrees, I will definitely not oppose it." After speaking, Papa Wang immediately took out his phone and called Wang Cheng. It was too late for Li to stop him.

Papa Wang went out to take the phone call, and Wang Cheng's voice immediately came over. "Dad, why are you suddenly calling me?"

"Chengcheng, are you at work now? Is your father bothering you?" Hearing his son's voice, Papa Wang's mood suddenly calmed. As his mother, Granny Wang had wiped out the little familial affection left in his heart over and over again. Now, he felt increasingly helpless. However, the gratitude of Granny Wang prevented him from being completely disconnected from them.

Wang Cheng felt that something was wrong, so he gestured for Pan Zhihai to leave first with his eyes. "No, I don't have work today, Dad. If you have anything to say, just tell me, I'm free."

Papa Wang didn't know that he was lying and said, "A while ago, your uncle's company closed down, but still owe hundreds of thousands of workers. They want to borrow 300,000 from us. Your mother asked me to ask you what decision you want to make."

"Dad, it is not actually impossible to lend them money, it just depends on how to best lend it," Wang Cheng said calmly.

Papa Wang was a little surprised. "What do you mean?"

Wang Cheng said: "Based on what I know of them, after you lend money to them, they’ll definitely keep making excuses to dodge repaying it. At that time, you will probably not go to remind them of the loan every day, in order to save face. That way, they’ll have even more excuses not to repay it. So, after borrowing the money, they will almost definitely not return it."

"What should I do then?"

"If you don't lend them money, Li and Granny Wang will never give up. With their characters, they will definitely publicize this. Then, everyone will know that now that our household has developed, we are regardless of the life or death of our relatives. Even if their household is solely responsible for owing money, in the eyes of most people, you are still spineless and disregarding the life or death of your parents. In such a relatively conservative village, this kind of behavior is very serious. The ‘bad people’ will be immediately kicked out, so this matter must be dealt with properly."

"This problem is actually not difficult." Wang Cheng said: "Hard evidence is unreliable. In the future, if we go to the police station for this, the police will only treat this as our family affair and will not interfere. So, Dad, let them mortgage the house."

"What? Mortgage the house?" Papa Wang didn’t react at first when he heard it.

"Yes, doesn't my first uncle have a house? Three hundred thousand is not a small amount, after all. If Dad feels too embarrassed, you can say that these are my own ideas. I just don’t believe them, and I have reason to suspect that they don't need three hundred thousand. However, if they deliberately reported a large amount to borrow, they can still squander an extra amount of money. Such profitable schemes, I believe that my first aunt had definitely implemented such a plan."

Papa Wang was a little surprised, "Really?"

"If Dad doesn't believe it, find an opportunity to test them. Just ask them to take out the salary sheet of what they owe the workers. If they evade the question, then the truth is obvious."

Papa Wang rubbed his eyebrows, not doubting his words. He thought about it, and felt that the possibility of this was very high. In fact, he didn't really know much, but based on the virtues of his elder brother and sister-in-law, they really must have thought of this.

"Dad, you shouldn’t find this difficult. In their hearts, I am afraid that they have already regarded our family as soft persimmons. You are the kindest in our family, so they are bound to start with you. However, this kind of thing will happen again once it’s happened once, so the best solution is to fundamentally put an end to such things."

"I know, your Dad understands how to do this."

Wang Cheng comforted him and said, "Dad, don’t be sad. Even without them, you still have us. My mom, elder brother, and little sister will always be by your side. It’s enough for us, our household, to be happy. Since they’ve asked something that shouldn’t be asked, why should we bring our faces to their fists and let them beat us?"

Papa Wang smiled. Indeed, he still had his family.

***

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