Unfortunately, when it came to fighting, Wang An was the real expert. Before Du Bin's basket could even smash down, Wang An swiftly raised his foot and kicked Du Bin squarely in the stomach.
Du Bin stumbled backward in a series of short, frantic steps until his backside slammed into the reception desk behind him, shoving the desk half a meter sideways before he finally came to a stop.
That single kick left Du Bin feeling truly miserable; he clutched his stomach and began to vomit.
Wang An didn't continue the assault. Instead, he spoke to a clerk in the pharmacy
"You, go and call Du Huaiping here."
Mainly, the stuff this kid was vomiting looked far too filthy and smelled of distillery waste; Wang An really didn't want to get close.
Once Wang An finished speaking, the clerk nodded hurriedly and turned to run toward the back door.
In the county towns of this era, whether it was a pharmacy or any other storefront, most were self-built houses. Commercial halls like those in later generations were extremely rare.
That was why, in later years, there were so many "demolition millionaires" from commercial land requisitions—it was enough to make anyone die of envy.
For instance, the three shops owned by Han Xiaomin's family would very likely be requisitioned in the future.
Once the land was taken, Han Xiaomin would instantly become a millionaire, or perhaps even a ten-millionaire.
Most of these self-built business premises were "door-hole houses."
To put it simply, the front room facing the street was used for business, while the rooms in the back courtyard were used for living.
After the clerk left, Wang An found a random chair and sat down, waiting for Du Huaiping's arrival.
Soon, in less than ten minutes, the clerk returned leading a shouting, clamoring crowd.
Yes, a crowd. Each of them was cursing and swearing, all striking poses as if they were going to beat Wang An's trio to death.
Furthermore, this group was armed with iron shovels, hoes, pickaxes, and four-pronged pitchforks—all agricultural tools.
Seeing this scene, Wang An's eyelid twitched. Mainly, what the hell kind of contestants had shown up?
They were clearly a bunch of unruly peasants!
Without needing orders from Wang An, Mu Xueli and Wang Li pulled out their Type 54s and pointed them at the crowd.
Once the "Great Equalizer" appeared, the cursing crowd instantly shut up. Staring at the dark muzzles of the guns, every single one of them froze in place.
Wang An said to the group with a smile
"I'm here to collect a debt. I don't want to involve innocent people. This has nothing to do with you, so get the hell back to wherever you came from, quickly."
By the last sentence, Wang An had reverted to his usual persona—a mix of a street thug and a rogue.
It had to be admitted that while Wang An's arrogant demeanor was irritating, it was indeed very intimidating to ordinary people.
Because any normal person had certainly seen the street thugs and loafers that were everywhere during this time.
And this group, holding shovels and pickaxes while wearing tattered, patched clothes, were clearly the most ordinary of ordinary farmers living along the street.
And how could ordinary people dare to act tough or pretend to be hard against thugs and rogues?
To be honest, they usually spent their lives trying to avoid such people!
Moreover, Wang Li and Mu Xueli were still holding the Great Equalizers.
So, although Wang An's voice wasn't loud, the crowd was extremely obedient. They turned around and walked back through the door they had just entered.
When they don't encounter a truly ruthless person, they are all brave and full of hot air; but when it's actually time to fight, they are all cowards and run faster than anyone.
In the end, only a middle-aged man, roughly the same age as Ma Xingyao, remained.
If Wang An guessed correctly, this man was the person he was looking for—Du Huaiping.
Wang An didn't waste words and spoke directly
"You're Du Huaiping, right? We've taken over Han Xiaomin's account. Including interest and our travel expenses, it's a total of 1,200 yuan. Pay up."
Without those unruly peasants with shovels to lean on, Du Huaiping looked at Mu Xueli and Wang Li's handheld Type 54s and became no different from the previous Ma Xingyao.
At this moment, Du Huaiping was trembling all over, his face full of fear. He was angry but dared not speak. Even though his son was vomiting right beside him, he didn't dare step forward to help him up.
Hearing Wang An's words, the old fellow forced a sliver of a smile and said
"Uh, comrade, I don't recall having any debt-related dealings with this Han Xiaomin you mentioned."
Wang An was momentarily stunned. Mainly, how could this old guy be so terrified yet still be this stubborn?
Wang An smiled and didn't answer. He turned to Wang Li and said
"Old Five, go beat him. Beat him hard."
Wang Li agreed, put away the Type 54, and lunged forward.
Against a middle-aged man with aging limbs, beating him was child's play for Wang Li.
Thus, after only a brief moment of resistance, Du Huaiping began to wail and howl under Wang Li's beating.
Two minutes later, perhaps unable to endure the physical pain any longer, Du Huaiping clutched his head and begged for mercy
"I'll pay! I'll pay! Please stop hitting me, stop hitting me!"
Only then did Wang An wave his hand, signaling Wang Li to stop.
Du Huaiping whimpered on the ground for a long while before he managed to climb up with great difficulty.
Once up, Du Huaiping stopped acting tough. He didn't question the interest or the travel expenses; he very readily produced the 1,200 yuan. Moreover, among the 1,200 yuan, there wasn't a single small bill—they were all ten-yuan "Big Unity" notes.
This scene actually left Wang An feeling a bit bewildered.
He didn't know what Du Huaiping was thinking, insisting on getting beaten before paying the money. To put it in common terms, the man was just a masochist.
Taking the money, Wang An didn't linger and led Wang Li and Mu Xueli out the door.
Back in the car, Wang An handed the recovered money to Han Xiaomin as usual.
Perhaps because of the previous payments, Han Xiaomin wasn't as excited this time. Instead, she suddenly wanted to give half the money to Wang An's trio as a thank-you.
Wang An naturally couldn't accept such money and declined for a while. Finally, he said helplessly
"Alright, alright. How about this, Xiaomin: tonight, call Yuan Hongmei and Tao Wenjing over. We'll have a proper drink and party all night. Let that be your reward."
As soon as Wang An finished speaking, Wang Li and Mu Xueli, sitting in the back, instantly widened their eyes, their faces full of pleasant surprise.
Han Xiaomin's pretty face flushed. She immediately stopped trying to give the money and said shyly
"Hmph, you're all just a bunch of big hooligans."
Returning to Anguo, the three of them went back to the hotel to catch up on sleep.
The first thing Han Xiaomin did was call back all her previous workers and clerks one by one and pay them the back wages for the first few months.
After receiving the money, all the workers and clerks chose to stay; not a single person resigned.
Furthermore, according to the employees, when Han Xiaomin couldn't pay the wages back then, they hadn't wanted to leave on their own; it was Han Xiaomin who had told them to go home.
It had to be said that being able to keep all her employees loyal, Han Xiaomin was definitely a very qualified boss.
Next, Han Xiaomin's shop began to operate at full capacity, and everyone became busy.
Of course, the main tasks were stocking and coordinating goods. One had to realize that the single business deal Wang An brought in was nearly equivalent to half a year's worth of Han Xiaomin's usual business volume.
Whether it was because of the business Wang An brought or not, the shop that had always been quiet suddenly saw an influx of customers.
It felt as if these customers had been specifically brought in.
With more people came more actual orders and purchases. For a time, Han Xiaomin's business exploded, and orders flew in like scraps of paper.
By the time they closed for the night, the turnover for medicinal herbs reached over 700 yuan, with a gross profit of nearly 100 yuan.
Of course, these figures were mentioned intermittently and with great excitement by Han Xiaomin while she was chatting nonsense with Wang An late that night.