Chapter 903: Quite a Spectacle

It had to be admitted that at this moment, Li Xiuyu's family had been truly devastated by those loan sharks.

However, Wang An couldn't help but admire the restraint of these people, because from beginning to end, they had never proactively taken a human life.

As for the fact that Li Xiuyu's father had been driven to his death by them, he had indeed committed suicide; it was possible that the loan sharks didn't actually want him dead.

One could imagine that if they had dared to kill anyone, the three Li brothers would certainly not be the cowards they were now.

The reason these three were so docile now was simply because they all had elders to support and children to raise, so they all shared a mindset of enduring it just one more step, and then one more.

Otherwise, how much chaos could three ruthless men with guns cause?

After scanning the room once more, Wang An spoke to Li Xiuyu's family

"My name is Wang An. I'm the son-in-law of the Lao Mu family in your village. I reckon you should all know me; even if you don't, you should have all heard of me."

Pausing for a moment, Wang An continued

"Your Li Xiuyu is currently dating my younger brother, Wang Li. After they told me about your family's situation, I found people to help. By the way, these gentlemen are police from the county, not those useless bastards from the township. We are here to get some payback for your family. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Wang An's words were very clear. Most importantly, he took the opportunity to bring up the relationship between Wang Li and Li Xiuyu.

Upon hearing this, the three Li brothers and their wives subconsciously looked toward Wang An and his group.

Immediately after, they looked toward Li Xiuyu, clearly seeking confirmation.

Although Wang An's previous shout hadn't allowed Li Xiuyu to fully grasp the situation, it had at least focused her attention on this area.

Noticing the looks from her brothers and sisters-in-law, Li Xiuyu nodded while crying

"Yes, Fourth Brother is the one I asked to help our family."

It had to be said that family was indeed the most trustworthy. Once Li Xiuyu finished speaking, the eyes of the three Li brothers lit up.

Furthermore, Li Dashan and Li Dahe no longer sat with their heads bowed on the stools; they both stood up to show respect to Wang An and the others.

Even Li Dajiang, who was half-lying there, hurriedly sat up and struggled to shuffle toward the edge of the kang to get on the floor.

There was no other way; it was the local custom. When guests came to the house, one had to stand up. If one remained seated and motionless, they would certainly be looked down upon.

Of course, there was one exception: those bedridden on the kang or elders of sufficient age.

Since ancient times, there had been no such thing as an elder paying respects to a junior.

Standing up, Li Dahe looked at Wang An and said very sincerely

"Thank you."

In truth, in the local countryside, few people ever said the words "thank you." On one hand, it was hard to bring themselves to say it; on the other, everyone operated on a system of reciprocity—you help me, I help you—which was considered normal.

Actually, Li Dahe had recognized Wang An earlier, but since Wang An's reputation in the surrounding villages was truly not great, Li Dahe had assumed Wang An was in league with the loan sharks.

Wang An nodded slightly, raised an eyebrow, and spoke again

"We came today specifically to deal with those animals. Besides, with Xiuyu here, we aren't outsiders. So, just speak plainly; no need to be polite. The more detailed, the better."

And so, the three Li brothers began to recount the events, one after another.

It turned out that after Li Xiuyu escaped yesterday with the help of the villagers, those dozen or so loan sharks had beaten the three Li brothers again.

Most importantly, after the loan sharks left, the "hat-wearing brothers" from the township had come by to take a look.

However, they only came to tell the Li family to repay the money as soon as possible. But how could the Li family have any money left now?

One must realize that Li Xiuyu's father had only borrowed 300 yuan, and the actual amount received was only 240 yuan.

Yet by now, the Li family had paid back nearly 900 yuan in total.

Of those 900-plus yuan, aside from the 500 yuan provided by the three brothers, the remaining 400 yuan had all been borrowed.

According to the loan sharks, the Li family now owed them another 600-plus yuan that remained unpaid.

And this didn't even count the grain, poultry, and livestock they had plundered yesterday...

It had to be said that these high-interest loans were a damn bottomless pit; they could absolutely never be paid off.

Wang An knew that once the amount of a high-interest loan accumulated to a certain point, the numbers became meaningless. To put it bluntly, it was whatever they said it was.

Mainly, regardless of the amount they claimed, it was always an astronomical figure—unpayable either way.

It wasn't until last night that the loan sharks left, though they mentioned upon leaving that they would return today.

Hearing that they would return today, Wang An, Sun Nian, and the others couldn't help but look pleased.

They were just worrying about where to find them, and here they were, delivering themselves to the door.

The reason the Li family had gathered here was to discuss a countermeasure.

However, since all three brothers had elders to support and children to raise, they couldn't win by risking their lives, couldn't afford a fight, and couldn't pay the money. The whole family was agonizing over it.

But it wasn't hard to tell from their words that Li Dashan and his brothers had already planned to send their respective wives and children back to their natal homes. After that, the three brothers intended to trade their lives for the loan sharks'.

Hearing this, Wang An had to admit he actually admired the three brothers.

Since things had already reached this point, even if they didn't trade their lives, the Li family would eventually be bullied to death by those loan sharks anyway.

Therefore, holding the mindset that killing one was breaking even and killing two was a profit was actually quite a good plan.

Mainly, if this had happened to Wang An, he likely would have wiped out the entire clan of those people.

Basically, if you won't let me live in peace, then let's see who dies first.

Wang An always believed in one thing: beneath the muzzle of a gun, all living beings are equal.

Since they didn't know when the group would arrive, Sun Nian immediately began making arrangements after hearing the brothers' story.

Some police officers stayed in the house, and some stayed in the yard, waiting quietly.

Of course, Sun Nian and Wang An didn't forget to hide the heavy machine gun and the sidecar motorcycle.

Those two things were far too conspicuous; they had to be hidden.

Thus, without noticing, more than two hours quietly slipped away.

Around ten in the morning, fourteen or fifteen fellows riding "28-inch" bicycles arrived.

It had to be said, this was quite a formidable display.