Chapter 890: A Faint Premonition

At this moment, Li Xiuyu was still shaken to her core; every so often, she would glance back over her shoulder, clearly terrified that the people behind her were catching up.

Hearing Wang An's question, Li Xiuyu suddenly began to sob, and then, in fits and starts, she began to tell Wang An her story.

It turned out that after Li Xiuyu's father borrowed from loan sharks in Xing'an Township, he had gradually paid them back a significant amount of money. In truth, he had long since paid back the principal; even the interest he had paid far exceeded the original loan.

However, loan sharking is a vicious business; not only is the interest exorbitant, but it is calculated daily.

In folk terms, this kind of loan is called "donkey-roll interest," because the interest generated the previous day is added to the principal the next day to calculate new interest.

This meant that if the debtor could not pay off the entire sum in one go, the debt would grow exponentially every single day.

Consequently, the speed at which Li Xiuyu's father repaid the money was nowhere near the speed of the compounding interest.

Previously, Li Xiuyu's father had wanted to marry her off—to put it bluntly, he wanted to sell her. But because he kept raising the price, eventually, no one was willing to take the bait.

Later, one of the loan sharks took a liking to Li Xiuyu and suggested she could be used to offset the debt, but Li Xiuyu refused. Under the weight of the compounding interest, the Li family's debt grew larger and larger.

As the saying goes, "death cancels the debt."

So, Li Xiuyu's father thought to do just that; at the very least, after he died, he wouldn't be a burden to his family.

In a moment of desperation, Li Xiuyu's father took his own life two days ago.

But once a person is dead, the matter naturally becomes a major incident.

Unfortunately, after the "hat brothers" from the township arrived and confirmed that Li Xiuyu's father had committed suicide rather than being murdered, the matter fell outside their jurisdiction.

Mainly, the concepts of "a life for a life" and "debts must be repaid" are seen as absolute truths. The hat brothers were powerless to help, so they simply went through the motions and left.

To be honest, Li Xiuyu's father was a real piece of work, daring to borrow from loan sharks to gamble!

This was just great—he died and left all the trouble to his family.

Because the phrase "death cancels the debt" does not apply to loan sharks; their philosophy is "the son pays the father's debt."

In other words, after Li Xiuyu's father died, the loan sharks still wouldn't let the Li family off the hook.

In short, it came down to two words: "money now."

Li Xiuyu's mother fell ill from grief and anxiety and became bedridden, and Li Xiuyu's three older brothers were beaten by the loan sharks and lay injured on their kang beds.

As for Li Xiuyu herself, she had been captured by the loan sharks.

Fortunately, the Li family was considered a relatively prominent household in Sujia Tun. While the Li clansmen and fellow villagers were fighting with the loan sharks, Li Xiuyu managed to escape.

It must be said that in times like these, one truly sees what "family" and "fellow villagers" mean.

When trouble hits, they really do step up!

However, no matter how you slice it, a debt is a debt and must be repaid. Relying solely on the protection of clansmen was pure nonsense, because they were all just ordinary people.

Above all, how could ordinary people possibly outlast a gang of loan sharks?

The fact that they were willing to help fight a few battles was already impressive; they couldn't solve the underlying problem at all.

After listening to Li Xiuyu's story, Wang An's brow furrowed deeply.

He never expected that things had escalated to this point.

What Wang An found most unbelievable was that he had happened to stumble upon this mess so haphazardly.

Truth be told, Wang An didn't want to get involved.

Mainly because this matter seemed to have absolutely nothing to do with him.

The key was that Li Xiuyu didn't seem to like Wang Li. If Li Xiuyu and Wang Li could get together, then Wang An would have to intervene.

Yet, despite thinking this, Wang An had a faint premonition in his heart: the fact that he had encountered Li Xiuyu in such a strange way was actually a twist of fate.

If Wang An didn't act now, this matter would surely snowball, growing larger and larger until it inevitably crossed paths with him again, eventually forcing him to intervene anyway.

Though it was only a premonition, Wang An felt it was extremely real, as if someone were whispering it directly into his ear.

Thinking of this, Wang An sucked in his teeth sharply, then turned his head to look at Li Xiuyu with a face full of worry.

The ancients did not lie to me; a beautiful woman is indeed a harbinger of disaster!

Suppressing the urge to kick Li Xiuyu off the vehicle, Wang An asked

"So, running toward the county seat, what are you planning to do?"

Tears swirling in her eyes, Li Xiuyu said with a look of utter confusion

"I thought I'd hide at a classmate's house first, but... but I don't know where else to go, waaaaah..."

As she spoke, Li Xiuyu began to cry again, and she sounded genuinely heartbroken.

It had to be said that while Li Xiuyu's father was a scoundrel, these loan sharks were worse than animals.

They had ruthlessly torn a family to shreds, leaving them completely devastated.

No wonder that in the future, China would crack down on loan sharking with increasing severity; these loan sharks simply didn't leave people a way to live!

Seeing Li Xiuyu crying, Wang An glanced at her several times. Although he was a bit annoyed, he was helpless.

To prevent people in the village from seeing Li Xiuyu crying in his sidecar and getting the wrong idea, Wang An drove into a flat wooded area, intending to wait until Li Xiuyu's emotions stabilized before heading back.

He parked, killed the engine, and pulled out a cigarette.

Perhaps because she knew Wang An, Li Xiuyu didn't mind when she noticed this and continued to cry.

Of course, Wang An didn't bother with her; he just lit his cigarette and smoked alone, without offering her one.

By the time Wang An finished his cigarette, Li Xiuyu had calmed down significantly. Thus, Wang An took the initiative to ask her

"Do you have any feelings for my younger brother, Wang Li?"

Wang An still felt that Li Xiuyu and Old Fifth were a good match.

This abrupt question caused Li Xiuyu to freeze for a moment. She didn't seem to understand what he meant, and she asked Wang An through her tear-streaked face

"Big brother, what did you say?"

Wang An glanced at her sideways and said

"My brother Wang Li, who is a classmate of yours. He wants to date you. A while ago, didn't he ask your sister Li Xiuhong to find out your opinion? You didn't agree, right?"

Li Xiuyu said with a bitter expression

"With my family in this state, how could I have the heart to look for a husband?"

Wang An's eyes suddenly lit up as he said

"How about this: I'll help you pay off your family's debts, and I'll help you deal with those loan sharks. In exchange, you marry Wang Li. What do you say?"

(End of Chapter)