Chapter 394: Loan Shark, 62 Days Left

Chapter 394: Usurious Loan, 62 Days Left

Brother Bao looked at Zuo Shangdang, who had come knocking, with a glint of interest.

"Boss Zuo, to what do I owe this visit? Quick, pour tea for our big benefactor!"

The henchmen nearby hurried to serve tea and offered him a chair.

Zuo Shangdang suppressed his anger. "Brother Bao, is that good-for-nothing son of mine, Zuo Zuying, here?"

Brother Bao crossed his legs on the sofa. "Zuo Zuying? Oh, he came by, but that was ages ago."

Zuo Shangdang didn’t believe it. "Brother Bao, this is private family business. I hope you won’t interfere. Produce that little shit—I need to talk to him."

"Hey now, Boss Zuo, cool your jets. Let’s talk properly. Since when do I lie? He did come before—that time you sent him to borrow money. But I haven’t seen him since."

"Who the hell are you trying to kid? My car is still—"

Zuo Shangdang was about to say something when he suddenly froze, his eyes widening.

"What? When did I ever tell him to borrow money?"

Brother Bao's grin slowly died. "Boss Zuo, you’re a guest here, and I’ve treated you politely. What’s this about? Don’t make me remind you who you're talking to. Trying to play games with Liu Bao? Don’t push your luck."

Zuo Shangdang panicked. "I never told him to borrow money! How much did that little thief walk away with?"

"If you didn’t send him, then you two were scheming against me? If it weren’t for your reputation, Boss Zuo, who the fuck is Zuo Zuying to me?"

"On the 7th of last month, he took 200,000 from me."

"What? 200,000?!" Zuo Shangdang jumped up, his eyes nearly popping out, his voice breaking like a teenager's in shock.

"You just casually handed him 200,000? Brother Bao, I have some weight to throw around in A City now—I’m not someone you can push around. Don’t try to play me!"

Brother Bao slowly stood up and suddenly lashed out with a backhand across Zuo Shangdang’s face.

The blow sent Zuo reeling, blood trickling from his lips.

"The fuck, I tried talking nicely, but you wouldn’t listen. You think just because you have some standing out there, you can get uppity in front of me? Seems like I’ve been too damn soft these past couple of years, making you forget what I used to do for a living. Now you’re trying to skip out on my debt?"

Zuo Shangdang barely steadied himself, his head ringing, completely disoriented. He landed hard on his ass, looking up at Brother Bao in terror.

Brother Bao gave a cold laugh and waved at his advisor. "Show him the documents and explain what’s going on. I run my business with integrity—I don’t screw people over."

The advisor nodded and said to the henchmen, "Help Boss Zuo sit properly."

Trembling, Zuo Shangdang sat back on the chair, shrinking his neck, not daring to twitch.

Soon, the advisor returned with a file and sat beside Zuo Shangdang, laying out the deed to Longxiang Mansion, car keys, the engineering contract, and the company seal one by one.

Zuo Shangdang seemed to understand—Zuo Zuying had mortgaged all his assets to Brother Bao.

"You… he… that little shit actually…?! These are all mine!"

Zuo Shangdang grabbed the advisor’s arm. "These are mine! Only I have the right! He doesn’t! You guys follow the rules, don’t you?"

The advisor said gently, "Easy now, Boss Zuo."

"If these weren’t yours, we wouldn’t have shown them to you, right? Precisely because they are yours, that’s why…"

"Here, take a look at this."

The strategist pulled out the most crucial loan mortgage IOU and handed it to Zuo Shangdang.

Zuo Shangdang only glanced at it before slapping the strategist’s hand away in agitation and standing up. "Bullshit! This is forged! How much did that little shit pay you? You’re all in on this against me, aren’t you?"

"That little shit, that backstabbing bastard! After everything I’ve done for him, he’s colluding with outsiders—"

With a single glance from the strategist, Zuo Shangdang was violently shoved back into his chair, jolting him back to his senses.

"Zuo, I said chill the fuck out. Look at you, getting so worked up. Hear me out first."

"You’re a big-shot businessman, but you’re acting like a hothead. As the old saying goes, 'You should keep a straight face even if the sky falls.'"

As he spoke, the strategist placed two IOUs side by side for Zuo Shangdang to compare. "See this? This one was brought by your precious son last time, and this one was signed by you personally. We cross-checked them—otherwise, how could we have let him take the money?"

The strategist slowly tidied the documents on the table. "Brother Bao’s operation is legit. If it were anyone else causing this kind of scene, they’d be crawling out of here in pieces."

"Only ’cause you’ve got some pull in City A that I’m bothering to explain all this. Everything your son brought—ID card, household register, property deed, contracts, mortgage IOUs—we checked every damn thing! It’s all legit!"

"You’re an old client with ties to Brother Bao, and he trusted you. Seeing how desperate your son was, saying the money was needed to save your life, Brother Bao didn’t blink—just fronted the 200k on the spot!"

"Come, take a good look. Open your fucking eyes and look for yourself. Brother Bao’s rep is everything. Don’t tarnish our name."

The strategist waved the documents in front of him. "Your family’s dirty laundry is your own affair. Brother Bao lent the money by the rules, and we’ll collect by the rules. The rest is none of our concern."

With that, he gave a signal, and one of the goons behind Zuo Shangdang grabbed his head and slammed it hard onto the table.

*Bang!* Zuo Shangdang screamed like a stuck pig.

The strategist picked up a small notebook and patted Zuo Shangdang’s face with it, laying out the numbers. "See it clearly now? 200k! Eight points a month! Three months total!"

"The calculations are all done. Let me read it for you: 200k principal, eight points interest per month."

"First month: 200k principal plus 16,000 interest, totaling 216,000."

"Second month: 216k principal plus 17,280 interest, totaling 233,280."

"Third month: 233,280 principal plus 18,662.4 interest, totaling 251,942.4. We’ll call it 251,942 when we come to collect on the seventh day after the New Year."

"You’ve got 62 days left, Zuo. Better get your ass in gear. Don’t come crying later."