The next morning, a crowd of workers demanding their wages gathered outside Wang Ningkai’s home. They had kept their promise not to surround the house for three days. Now those three days were over.
Dozens of workers blocked the entire road, chanting for their money in unison. It was an imposing sight. Wang Hongwei did not appear until fifteen minutes later, and when he did, he put on a performance calculated to bring tears to anyone’s eyes.
Following the script they had worked out the night before, Wang Hongwei told the workers that the money they had prepared was stolen yesterday. Since it had happened so suddenly, they now had nothing to pay with. He hoped everyone would grant them a little more time. Once the thief was caught and the money recovered, they would definitely pay the wages.
But the workers refused. They had already waited long enough. More than a month had passed since Wang Ningkai first withheld their wages. He had promised to pay them in three days and was now making another excuse. Who knew if it was even true? And even if it was, they could not afford to wait any longer.
A debt was a debt and had to be repaid. When Wang Ningkai first decided to withhold their hard-earned money, he should have expected this day. Did they really think everyone would wait another few days? What if the whole family fled? Where would the workers find them then? They were not leaving without their money.
The workers’ furious complaints left Wang Hongwei thoroughly embarrassed. Wang Ningkai came out to help but fared no better.
Secretary Guan also stepped in to say a few words. The two sides had reached an agreement three days earlier, and now the father and son were the ones breaking it. They had to bear responsibility; otherwise, the secretary himself would be placed in an impossible position.
With matters put so plainly, Wang Hongwei and Wang Ningkai had no choice but to consider asking Wang Cheng again. He was the only person who could help them through the crisis. Before they could even go to see him, however, a man suddenly pushed through the edge of the crowd and punched Wang Ningkai without a word.
Wang Ningkai had no time to react. The fist struck him squarely in one eye.
Wang Hongwei was startled, thinking some furious stranger had gone berserk. But when he saw the man’s face clearly, his expression changed at once.
“Damn it! What bastard hit me?” Wang Ningkai clutched his injured eye. It hurt so badly he could barely open it. After blinking several times, he finally recognized the man standing before him. His legs nearly gave out. “You? H-how did you…”
“How did I find out you lived here? Wang Ningkai! Wang Hongwei! You pair of swindlers! You cheated me out of five hundred thousand yuan and disappeared. Well, listen carefully. I’ve gathered all the evidence. If you don’t give me my money back today, I’m going straight to the police and reporting you for fraud. You can wait to go to prison!”
The man was Jiang Jiarong. After searching for the swindlers for so many days, he had finally found them. He was so furious that the veins on his forehead stood out.
Everyone was stunned.
What sort of drama was this now?
How had Wang Ningkai and Wang Hongwei suddenly become swindlers who had cheated someone out of five hundred thousand yuan?
“You’re lying! Who are you to slander my husband and son?” Madam Li, who had been secretly watching from behind the door, finally reacted. She rushed out and shouted angrily at Jiang Jiarong. She refused to believe that her husband and son were fraudsters.
Jiang Jiarong sneered. “Slander? Ask your husband and son whether I’m slandering them. I have evidence, written down clearly in black and white. I’ve spent four days looking for them and called hundreds of times, but they never answered. I never imagined they were hiding in their hometown. Let’s see where they run now.”
Wang Hongwei and Wang Ningkai naturally dared not admit the truth. If they were convicted of fraud, they would go to prison.
Wang Hongwei hurried forward to soothe Jiang Jiarong. “It’s a misunderstanding. This really is all a misunderstanding, Mr. Jiang. I was wrong to disappear without informing you, but afterward I simply forgot. I didn’t even realize my phone had run out of credit. I absolutely never intended to cheat you out of five hundred thousand yuan. There have just been too many things happening lately. The whole family is exhausted. I’ll pay you back the full five hundred thousand, I promise. Give me three days. How does that sound?”
“Three days? I won’t trust you again. I’m getting my five hundred thousand back today, or I’m going straight to the police!” Now that he had finally tracked them down, Jiang Jiarong was afraid they would escape again. If they did, where could he possibly find them?
Wang Hongwei smiled bitterly. “Mr. Jiang, you can see for yourself that we still owe all these workers money. We finally scraped together some cash yesterday, only to have it stolen. If we had money, I’d have paid you back long ago. But don’t worry. Our family still has an apartment. I’ll sell it and raise the five hundred thousand for you. It takes time to complete the paperwork and find a buyer. Could you give me another two days?”
“No!” Jiang Jiarong refused without hesitation. “I’m telling you now, my patience has run out.”
“All right, all right, please don’t get upset.” Terrified that Jiang Jiarong would report them to the police, Wang Hongwei finally promised to pay back the money that very day.
Five hundred thousand for Jiang Jiarong, another two hundred thousand for the workers, and two hundred thousand already stolen. Altogether, they had lost almost a million yuan in one stroke. Even Wang Ningkai could barely endure it. How had things come to this? Only the day before yesterday, they had still been planning to use the million yuan from selling the apartment to start a new business.
Inside the house, Old Madam Wang suffered such a blow that this time she truly fainted.
A few minutes later, Wang Ningkai and his father left to find Wang Cheng. Of everyone they knew, he alone could produce a million yuan at once.
Wang Cheng had been expecting them. Sending his parents to Chengping had indeed been the right decision. The New Year had barely begun, and Wang Ningkai’s family had already staged the drama of the year. If his parents had witnessed it, they might have softened. After all, Old Madam Wang and her husband were still, at least in name, his father’s parents.
The moment Wang Ningkai and Wang Hongwei came in, they explained their predicament. They hoped Wang Cheng would help them through it for the sake of their former family connection.
“Those excuses you fed other people won’t work on me. Others may not know whether the missing two hundred thousand really was money you had just borrowed, but it would take me almost no effort to find out whether you’re telling the truth. You’ve lied from beginning to end. Do you really think I’d fall for it now?”
Both men were stunned by his words.
Wang Cheng smiled faintly. “That doesn’t necessarily mean I can’t lend you money.”
“What do you want?” Wang Ningkai asked.
“It’s very simple. I’m no longer interested in taking the apartment as collateral. I’m afraid you might refuse to leave, stay there while it’s still registered in your names, and cause trouble. I’ve had a very thorough education in Old Madam Wang’s talent for making scenes,” Wang Cheng said sarcastically.
Their expressions grew ugly. “So you mean you want to buy the apartment?”
Wang Cheng spread his hands. “You’re welcome not to sell it. It makes no difference to me.”
His condition struck exactly where it hurt. Selling and pledging an apartment were entirely different matters. Once sold, it no longer belonged to the family, and they could not continue occupying it as if by right. Collateral, by contrast, was temporary. More importantly, Wang Cheng’s parents were their relatives, so even if they made trouble, Papa Wang might be too embarrassed to object.
“My time is valuable. One answer. Will you sell or not?”
Wang Hongwei and Wang Ningkai discussed the matter briefly and ultimately agreed to sell. They had little choice. A large crowd was still waiting outside for payment.
Wang Ningkai went home to fetch the property certificate and other documents. When Madam Li and Old Madam Wang heard they were selling, both refused. But as soon as Wang Ningkai explained that he and his father could go to prison if the apartment was not sold, the women reluctantly agreed.
Wang Cheng examined the documents Wang Ningkai brought, made sure there was nothing wrong with them, then said, “There’s one more thing you need to know.”
“What is it?”
“At market value, this apartment might once have sold for a million yuan, but now you’ll be lucky to get about eight hundred and fifty thousand,” Wang Cheng said calmly. The apartment was over a hundred square meters, but its location was not especially good. Eight hundred and fifty thousand was already a reasonable offer.
Wang Ningkai immediately erupted. “Wang Cheng, don’t go too far! Who are you trying to fool? We’ve already had that apartment valued. It could definitely sell for a million! You’re deliberately lowering the price because you know you’re the only person who can help us.”
Wang Hongwei said nothing, but he was plainly unhappy.
Wang Cheng smiled. “It seems you haven’t watched yesterday’s news. There was a report on Shanhai City’s property market. Too many buildings have been developed over the past few years, and buyers’ purchasing power hasn’t kept up. Many apartments remain unsold, and property prices across the city are dropping. If you don’t believe me, look it up online.”
They naturally did not believe him. Wang Ningkai immediately took out his phone and searched for the news. He had entered only a few keywords when rows of results appeared. After opening several articles, his face changed drastically. The report was true.
“Well? I wasn’t lying, was I?” Wang Cheng asked pleasantly.
Father and son felt as though the sky were falling. How had property values dropped so quickly in only a few days? One hundred and fifty thousand yuan was no small amount to them, especially now when they so desperately needed money. Was heaven deliberately playing a cruel joke on them?
Wang Cheng spoke leisurely. “All right, now you’ve seen it for yourselves. Eight hundred and fifty thousand, final offer. If you agree to sell, I’ll transfer the money to your account as soon as the paperwork is finished.”
Gritting their teeth, they agreed.
Time waited for no one, and life had to go on. Unless, of course, they preferred prison.