Chapter 19: Repayment

Chapter 19: Repayment

In the police station's mediation room.

Lin Yao and Shi Nian sat on one side of the table.

On the other side, Fang Yuhua was desperately defending herself: "Comrades, you can't arrest me, I'm innocent!!"

"It's their family who owes money and refuses to pay. They want to default, so I went to the school to cause a scene! Why shouldn't they repay the debt and instead attack me?!"

"Enough, sit down," the officer who received the call couldn't stand it anymore and sternly reprimanded her.

"The school has provided surveillance footage and many students have testified that they saw you harassing the students there. Don't keep claiming you're innocent."

"How am I not innocent!" Fang Yuhua slammed the table, "They are all in cahoots, of course they would say they saw me push her! Surveillance footage can be forged! Look at my waist, how badly it's injured, oh... oh..."

As Fang Yuhua spoke, she began to collapse onto the ground.

Fortunately, the police station dealt with all sorts of people every day, and the male officer gave a subtle nod to the female officer.

The female officer said, "Alright, since your waist is hurt, let's go get it examined now."

Hearing about getting an examination, Fang Yuhua suddenly seemed less inclined to continue her act.

Her waist was actually fine; going for an examination would reveal no injury.

Just as Fang Yuhua hesitated, a figure rushed in hurriedly.

"Yoyo... is my dear girl alright?" Xia Tingnan anxiously checked Lin Yao for any injuries.

"Mom..." Seeing her mother, the little girl's eyes instantly welled up, and she threw herself into her mother's arms.

Lin Yao didn't say a word, just hugged Xia Tingnan tightly.

"Oh, what happened? Tell Mom what happened, who bullied you!"

Lin Yao remained silent, biting her lip, looking scared, tears welling up in her eyes but not falling, shaking her head slightly.

"You can't just shake your head, speak..."

Xia Tingnan had rushed over immediately upon receiving the police call, without even waiting for Lin Xiong.

But Lin Yao refused to speak, appearing like a frightened little girl, which made Xia Tingnan very anxious. Her gaze involuntarily turned to the side.

When she saw Shi Nian, a momentary awkward expression flashed across her face, but she still asked, "Shi Nian, what exactly happened? You're clear-headed, tell Aunt Xia."

Shi Nian didn't respond right away. She glanced at Lin Yao secretly.

The little girl, protected in Xia Tingnan's embrace, her thin shoulders still trembling slightly, tears shimmering in her eyes.

But in reality, Lin Yao had already subtly turned her head when Xia Tingnan looked at Shi Nian, signaling to her.

Before coming to the police station, Lin Yao had specifically instructed Shi Nian to follow her script and relay it to her mother.

Shi Nian, "..."

Recalling Lin Yao's lines, she began to perform emotionally.

"Aunt Xia, that woman is named Fang Yuhua, one of our creditors. Today, she came to the school and caused trouble, injuring Lin Yao..."

Shi Nian briefly recounted how Fang Yuhua went crazy, cornering Lin Yao and forcing her to repay the debt.

Of course, she left out the details about the milk tea.

But following Lin Yao's instructions, she emphasized how Fang Yuhua injured Lin Yao's wrist, making it difficult for her to hold a pen recently.

Lin Yao had just transferred to Class 13, and now her hand was injured, which would certainly affect her studies.

"What!!!"

After hearing Shi Nian's account, Xia Tingnan turned sharply to look at Fang Yuhua lying on the ground, her eyes blazing with fury.

"What kind of person are you? How dare you injure my precious daughter's hand! Trying to extort us here, I think you don't want to live!"

To Xia Tingnan, Lin Yao was more important than anything else.

She didn't care that they were in the police station; she grabbed her bag and hurled it at Fang Yuhua.

Fang Yuhua, who had been lying on the ground pretending to be injured, immediately got up and ran around the table when she saw Xia Tingnan attacking her.

"Officers, officers, help! She's hitting me!"

"I'll hit you! What kind of skill is bullying students? Come after me if you dare!"

Two officers stepped in to restrain her, but they couldn't use force against Xia Tingnan.

So, in a moment of distraction, Fang Yuhua either had her hair pulled by Xia Tingnan or tripped and fell.

After a while, both sides finally calmed down temporarily.

Fang Yuhua's hair was messier than when she arrived, like a bird's nest, and she had even bled from her nose during the fall.

She took the tissue offered by the female officer, wiping her tears and crying, "Officers, you saw what she did to me! This time, she really hit me. I want to report this, I want to report her!"

Xia Tingnan scowled, speaking louder than Fang Yuhua, "Stop trying to extort us. I'm angry, but I'm not stupid! There are cameras everywhere. If the footage shows me hitting you, feel free to arrest me. You tripped yourself, don't pin it on me."

Fang Yuhua: "You... you hit me and you're still so loud!"

Xia Tingnan raised her voice even higher: "What's wrong with being loud? Is there a law that says I can't be loud!"

Fang Yuhua: "…"

Pfft.

Lin Yao lowered her head beside her, trying hard not to laugh, almost hurting herself internally.

She exchanged a glance with Shi Nian beside her, both seeing amusement in each other's eyes.

She had long known that no one could deal with Fang Yuhua better than her mother.

However, there was still a hint of worry in the girl's eyes.

She had just sent a message to Lin Xiong; he should have arrived by now.

Could something have gone wrong on the way? Why hasn't he come yet?

Just as Lin Yao was getting anxious,

two familiar figures entered the door, one after the other.

The tall figure striding in first was her father, Lin Xiong.

The one who followed was actually Shi Yu.

Her father went straight to Xia Tingnan's side, whispering something to her while showing her his phone.

But Shi Yu's expression made Lin Yao feel an indescribable coldness and sternness.

The moment he entered, his gaze fell on Lin Yao first, but he only glanced at her briefly, as if confirming she was fine, before looking away.

Shi Yu walked to the back of Shi Nian and Lin Yao, leaning against the wall without saying a word.

He pursed his thin lips, lifting his eyelids, his disdainful gaze fixed on the arguing people in front, his eyes dark and unreadable.

"Huh, it can be like this."

After reading the information on Lin Xiong's phone, Xia Tingnan raised her delicately made-up eyes to stare at Fang Yuhua, her lips curling in mockery.

"I said so, which debt collector is as excessive as you? You don't seem to be here for money but for blood. Turns out you're in cahoots with Zhang Qiang!"

"W-What do you mean by 'in cahoots with Zhang Qiang'..."

Hearing Xia Tingnan mention Zhang Qiang, Fang Yuhua panicked.

"Don't make things up. I don't know any Zhang Qiang!"

Xia Tingnan sneered, briefly explaining the situation to the police.

The police frowned at Fang Yuhua and immediately pulled up a recent statement from Zhang Qiang in their system.

It turned out that earlier, Lin Yao had secretly texted Lin Xiong, asking him to check with the officer who arrested Zhang Qiang if there was any testimony about Zhang Qiang and Fang Yuhua knowing each other.

It was lucky.

She remembered the original text mentioning that Fang Yuhua and Zhang Qiang had been secretly in contact, working together to force the Shi family to repay their debts, nearly causing fatalities.

Zhang Qiang had already been arrested, and perhaps Fang Yuhua wouldn't escape either.

Sure enough, under pressure, Zhang Qiang had confessed.

He provided chat records with Fang Yuhua and records of communication with another mysterious person.

It turned out that initially, Shi Mo urgently needed a bridging loan, which he couldn't get from the bank, so he borrowed from a small financial lending company introduced by a friend.

Unexpectedly, Shi Mo had an accident and couldn't repay the loan.

Instead of directly approaching the Shi family, the company transferred the debt to Zhang Qiang and Fang Yuhua, who also had business ties with them.

After receiving the Shi family's debt, both Zhang Quang and Fang Yuhua received mysterious calls.

The mysterious caller instructed them that collecting the debt was secondary; killing the two children was the priority.

Of course, if they couldn't kill them, making them drop out of school and become destitute was acceptable too.

Hearing Fang Yuhua reveal more details under pressure,

not only Shi Yu, Shi Nian, and Lin Yao, but even Xia Tingnan and Lin Xiong furrowed their brows, showing anger and disgust.

What scum.

Who could be so evil, demanding repayment and wanting to destroy two children's lives!

Fang Yuhua didn't expect Zhang Qiang to expose her.

That murderer had assaulted people and instigated fights; if she got implicated, her family would be ruined.

Fang Yuhua's vision went black, and she clung to a policewoman's leg, crying hysterically.

"No, please don't arrest me! I'm a victim too. My husband lent over a million yuan, and now they've transferred the debt through several hands to these two orphans. If I don't help force them to die, who will cover our losses?"

"We can't survive like this! Our family was deceived too. We're all ordinary people, and that money is our life's work. If I get arrested, we'll all have to jump off a building..."

Fang Yuhua cried and ranted for a while, but when no one paid attention to her, her gaze suddenly turned crazed as she looked at Lin Yao.

Of everyone present, this young girl seemed the most gentle and easy to persuade.

Fang Yuhua approached Lin Yao: "Young lady, young lady... please speak up for me. Ask your mother and friends to let me go. You..."

Lin Yao: "..."

"No need."

Shi Yu's cool voice rang out.

He walked up from behind and stood in front of Lin Yao.

Shi Yu's expressionless face and voice were colder and more unpleasant than any time Lin Yao had heard before.

"We'll pay back the money we owe, right now."

...

...

Unexpectedly.

Shi Yu managed to pay off over a million yuan in debt to the Fang family all at once.

Not just the Fang family's debt.

Since he had already started, he decided to settle all the remaining debts as well.

Apart from the Fang family, there were other creditors whose debts could not be repaid even by selling their houses, and he transferred those debts too.

The handsome yet cold young man leaned against the table, his eyelids drooping as he looked down, transferring each debt one by one.

For some reason, when Lin Yao saw Shi Yu like this,

she felt that the atmosphere around him was so low and cold.

He seemed... very unhappy.

After a while, only the Shi and Lin families remained in the mediation room.

Fang Yuhua, after receiving the payment, had been taken away by the police to assist in the investigation of Zhang Qiang's criminal gang.

Shi Nian found it strange.

Seeing that there were no outsiders left, she couldn't help but ask.

"Shi Yu, the money for the house hasn't arrived yet. Where did you get so much money to repay the debt?"