Chapter 108: Debt Collection Ultimatum

This story is purely fictional.

At the Hexi Vocational College, another group of unidentified men had arrived at Zhang Chi’s homeroom teacher’s office.

Among them were men dressed in black and wearing dark sunglasses, looking like thugs who had spent years drifting through the underworld. Each wore a thick gold chain around his neck, and some had enormous earrings dangling from their ears. Their appearance alone was enough to inspire fear and make anyone hesitate to approach.

The homeroom teacher knew why they had come. They were debt collectors from the betting company.

Without so much as a word of explanation, one of the gang leaders fixed Zhang Chi’s teacher with a fierce stare. He looked the man up and down.

“You’re Wang Yifa, the teacher at this school, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I’m Wang Yifa. I’m a teacher.” Wang Yifa answered in a trembling voice.

~~~~~~

At Chi Zhaoming’s old family home in Xiaohe, his mother had already prepared several dishes he loved, including a soft-shelled turtle she had just caught from the fishpond.

Chi Zhaoming went into the kitchen to help his mother turn the turtle into the famous dish Farewell My Concubine. Wu Zhengzhe could no longer stop himself from swallowing.

Fresh lotus-root shoots, picked moments earlier from the lotus pond, had just been lifted from the wok and placed on a plate. Steam still curled from them, and their sour, spicy fragrance filled the room.

“Wow, it’s been so long since I’ve tasted your cooking. Even the smell is enough to make my mouth water!”

“To make Farewell My Concubine, you have to boil the turtle in cold water first, until it dies. While it struggles in the pot, it empties its bladder completely. Try it and see whether it tastes the way you remember.”

Chi Zhaoming placed a piece of turtle into Wu Zhengzhe’s bowl.

Wu Zhengzhe took a bite.

“Wonderful! Your Farewell My Concubine is absolutely authentic. Delicious! Truly delicious!”

Chi Zhaoming looked up at Wu Zhengzhe and continued, “You know, when I was in Huacheng, I had a friend who worked as a chef at the Baiyun Hotel in Guangzhou. Back then, there were only two or three five-star hotels like the Baiyun Hotel in the entire country. I learned how to make this famous dish there.”

“Looks like you’ve seen a thing or two. As for me, when I was in Shandong, I didn’t learn how to make any proper dishes. The only thing I mastered was wrapping dumplings. I’ve eaten dumplings with every filling imaginable. One day, we should prepare an entire dumpling feast. What do you say?”

“Of course. Any filling will do—as long as you don’t make them with brown sugar.”

~~~~~~

At Wang Yifa’s office, the leader came straight to the point.

“Do you know why we’re here? We’ve come to deliver a final ultimatum. Understand, boy? I hear you’ve kept putting us off, making fools of every debt collector we sent after you. Is that right?”

“How could that be, big brother? Before this, I paid back every penny I lost on your company’s betting site. It’s just that the person beneath me is one of my students, and he has no way to repay the money at the moment. That’s why I hoped your brothers might give him a few more days. I never meant to make fools of any of you.”

Wang Yifa hurried on. “I’ve already told him to prepare the money. He’ll have it ready by next Monday at the latest, and I’ll personally hand it over with both hands. Would that be acceptable?”

“All right. A gentleman’s word is his bond. I’ll give you three more days. But if the money isn’t here by next Monday, you’d better be prepared to lose one of your fingers. We always do exactly what we say.”

The gang leader sat on the desk and began pounding it hard with his pipe.

As the principal passed Wang Yifa’s office, he saw someone sitting on the teacher’s desk, hammering away at it.

The knock on the door reached Wang Yifa’s ears. He glanced through the glass panel above the door and saw the principal standing outside. His soul nearly fled his body.

“Get down quickly. Show me some respect—the principal is here.” Wang Yifa clasped his hands together in desperate entreaty.

Seeing this, the debt collector’s leader did not want matters to become any more serious than they already were. If things grew too complicated, they might become difficult to handle. He immediately climbed down from the desk.

Wang Yifa opened the door. The principal stood outside.

“Who are these people in your office?” he demanded. “They have no sense of propriety at all. Sitting on your desk—what kind of behavior is that?”

“Good day, Principal. They’re a few friends of mine. They don’t understand the rules of the school. Please forgive them.”

Wang Yifa apologized with the utmost deference.

“You must be careful when choosing your friends, understand? As a teacher, you must set an example. Friends like these are best avoided.”

The principal shook his head as he spoke and walked away.

Wang Yifa nodded repeatedly, bowing and scraping.

~~~~~~

At the old home in Xiaohe, Chi Zhaoming and the others ate and chatted. Time slipped easily by amid their laughter, and before long it was time for Chi Zhaoming and Wu Zhengzhe to return to Dahe.

Whenever this moment arrived, Chi Zhaoming’s mother always looked reluctant to see them leave. His father, however, behaved as though nothing unusual were happening. He reached into the fish basket, caught several lively fish, and put them into a snakeskin sack.

“Once you get home, have them cleaned and prepared at the market before bringing them inside. Otherwise, you’ll get blood all over the house.”

“There are several fish,” his mother added. “Give a few to Zhengzhe as well. There aren’t many people in your household, and you won’t finish them in two or three days. They can’t be stored for too long.”

“I don’t need any,” Wu Zhengzhe said with a laugh. “I’m all alone, and I have assignments every day. I hardly ever cook at home. If Zhaoming has food, then I have food. I’m always freeloading at his place. Didn’t you know?”

After lunch in their hometown, Wu Zhengzhe and Chi Zhaoming returned to Dahe together. It was just about quitting time. Chi Zhaoming hurried to the market to buy vegetables, while Wu Zhengzhe rushed back to the police station.

In one of the classrooms at the Hexi Vocational College, the students left one after another.

Zhang Chi, Fan Wei’s childhood friend, gathered the students’ assignments, arranged them neatly on his desk, and tucked the stack beneath his arm. He was preparing to take the exercise books to his homeroom teacher’s office.

Before gambling had entered his life, he visited the office every day without a second thought. But ever since he had fallen in love with that detestable betting, he had not enjoyed a single peaceful day.

Because of his family’s circumstances, he had wanted to earn a little money for his father’s medical expenses. That was how he had stepped onto this road into the underworld—and once he had entered, he had gone all the way.

Zhang Chi knocked and entered his homeroom teacher’s office. No one was inside, and he felt relieved.

He placed the exercise books on his teacher’s desk and prepared to slip away at once.

But when he closed the door and turned around, his homeroom teacher was already standing behind him.

“What’s wrong? You look as though you’ve seen a ghost. Am I really that frightening?”

“I saw that you weren’t in your office, so I thought I’d come back later.” Zhang Chi sounded somewhat uneasy.

“If I hadn’t run into you, you’d already be halfway home. And you expect me to believe you were going to come back later? Are you trying to fool me?”

The homeroom teacher was annoyed by Zhang Chi’s attempts to avoid him.

“Do you know what? I just saw those men off—the very ones who came to collect the debt. You’d better get ready. If your money isn’t paid by next Monday, I may lose one of my fingers. So I’m begging you: think of every possible way to get the money to me before Monday. Those people are not the sort we can afford to offend, my young ancestor!”

“If they’re people we can’t afford to offend, then you shouldn’t have led me into this trap in the first place.” Zhang Chi sounded resentful toward his homeroom teacher.

“Yes, I shouldn’t have brought you into this trap. But I had no idea your self-control was so poor. Don’t you understand the principle that small gambling is harmless? I have an income. Every time I place only a small bet—three or five thousand at most. Even if I lose, I can still find a way to manage. But you? You place twenty thousand on a single bet. Good heavens! When you wager, don’t you ever consider how much capital you have? Don’t you think about whether you can bear the consequences if you lose? Even men worth tens of millions wouldn’t behave like you. You truly stake everything on one throw.”

The homeroom teacher beat his chest and flung both hands upward.

“No. When people say they stake everything on one throw, they mean they calculate how much capital they possess and wager that amount. That is staking everything. What you’re doing is risking your life!”

Wang Yifa was beside himself with anger.

“I am risking my life. If I win, all my problems will be solved. What happened was only a temporary setback—a setback, do you understand? I’ve already discussed it with my childhood friend Fan Wei, who plays football in Dahe. The moment he gets any useful inside information, he’ll tell me. Then I’ll pass it on to you, Teacher. We’ll both wager the maximum amount allowed, and by then we’ll be able to win back everything we lost, along with the profits. Just wait for my good news.”

Wang Yifa stared at him.

“And how long are we supposed to wait? The urgent matter now is to repay the money. As long as we do that, our account can remain safely open for the time being. Otherwise, the betting account will be frozen. Once it’s frozen, even the best information in the world will be useless. Do you understand?”

“Yes, yes, I understand. I’ll think of something and try to keep our account from being frozen. As the old saying goes, it isn’t losing money that frightens you—it’s having no money left to gamble.”

“All right. I hope I’ll be hearing some good news from you.”

The teacher seemed slightly less tense.

“If there’s nothing else, you can go home.”

“Then I’ll be leaving. The moment I have good news, I’ll tell you. Don’t worry.”

With that, Zhang Chi left Wang Yifa’s office.

After returning from Xiaohe to Dahe, Chi Zhaoming took care of a few matters at the television station, then left early to pick up Xiyu from school.

After dinner, he went to Xiyu’s school as usual and brought the child home. Once Dujuan and Xiyu were settled, Chi Zhaoming poured a cup of warm water and handed it to Dujuan so she could take her medicine.

Dujuan accepted the cup and placed it on the stool beside her.

“I still have some work to do tonight, so I’ll be working late at home. There’s a script at the station that needs revising, and it has to be used tomorrow. You watch some television by yourself. I’ll come and keep you company after I finish.”

His voice was exceptionally gentle.

“Then hurry up. My lower back is unbearably sore today. It looks as though it’s going to rain. Whenever rain is coming, my back aches terribly. Finish your work quickly, then come massage it for me. I really can’t stand it.”

Dujuan urged him on.

“All right, all right. I’ll try to finish within two hours. As soon as I’m done, I’ll come and massage your back.”

Chi Zhaoming readily agreed to her request.

(To be continued)