Volume 1: Mission in Danger Chapter 70 Debt Collection
This old man is called Bo Siyou. He is as weak as Wu Guoying, but he is nearly twenty years older than Wu Guoying. Wu Guoying's generation is not low, so even Pan Youjie has to call him uncle. But this Bo Siyou's generation is even higher, even Pan Zhenchen and Wu Guoying are one generation younger than him. Although the Bo family is somewhat in decline now, Wu Guoying has always been nostalgic, so he naturally dare not neglect him when he saw him coming in person.
Bo Siyou stood up and said, "Guoying, it's your birthday. I, Uncle Bo, will come here to congratulate you while I am still able to move."
Wu Chenggou had already seen Wu Guoying's eyes, so he pulled a chair and helped Bo Siyou sit down. Bo Siyou pointed at the child and said, "This is my great-grandson. Boy, kowtow to Grandpa Wu."
The child lay on the ground, saying stiffly that Grandpa Wu had good fortune and a long life. It was difficult for Wu Guoying to bend over, so Cai Qiaozhu helped the child up in the morning and stuffed a red envelope into his pocket.
Wu Guoying said: "Good boy, good boy. Four generations of our uncles live together under one roof, which is the envy of others."
Bo Siyou said, "Four generations living under one roof, ah - in the eyes of others that is a blessing, but who knows the hardship of an old man? I gave birth to seven sons in my life, four of whom survived. I won't talk about the six daughters, but these four sons gave birth to seventeen grandsons, and the seventeen grandsons have twelve great-grandsons and great-granddaughters. Thirty or forty years ago, half of the family assets were spent on marrying off my daughters, and in the past ten years, half of the remaining family assets were spent on marrying off my granddaughters. These children and grandchildren of mine are useless. Few of them can make a living, and most of them just eat for free. With four generations living under one roof, it's all up to me, an old man, to support the livelihoods of the whole family of sixty or seventy people. I don't know how long my old bones can hold on..."
Wu Guoying also sighed: "What Uncle Siyou said is true. Others only envy our family's wealth and prosperity, but who can understand the hardships involved?"
Bo Siyou reached out and held Wu Guoying's hand and said, "Guoying, you are the one who knows me well." He lowered his voice and said, "I know the difficulties your Wu family is facing now, but I, your uncle, am in a worse situation than you. If we can't get back the money invested in your Yihe Bank, all 67 members of our Bo family will be left with nothing tomorrow. Guoying, no matter what, you have to think of a way for me..." After he finished speaking, tears welled up in his old eyes.
Cai Qiaozhu's heart skipped a beat and she realized that this person was not here to celebrate birthdays but to collect debts.
Wu Guoying felt extremely uncomfortable when she saw Bo Siyou's appearance.
Cai Qiaozhu knew that her father-in-law could not let go of their old friendship. She glanced at Wu Chenggou, but Wu Chenggou did not move. Cai Qiaozhu had no choice but to do it herself. She stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Grandpa Bo, no matter how difficult the Bo family is, they are just short of rice to cook. The Wu family is in trouble, and they can't even keep the people eating. Today is a good day for our master. Grandpa Bo is a long-lived person, so he naturally knows the taboos and rules of birthday celebrations. Grandpa and my master have been friends for decades, and they are elders. Why don't we just talk about friendship today and not talk about interests?"
Bo Siyou glanced at Cai Qiaozhu, his face darkened, and said, "Who is this?" He hadn't been to the Wu family for more than ten years and didn't recognize Cai Qiaozhu.
Wu Guoying said: "She is Chengjun's daughter-in-law."
Bo Siyou said, "Guoying, you and I are talking, and you have to interrupt us, a young woman. Is this the rule of your Wu family?"
Although Wu Guoying was nostalgic, he was not stupid. He was very satisfied with his daughter-in-law Cai Qiaozhu and relied on her very much. However, Bo Siyou was an elder who had not visited him for more than ten years and came to collect debts today. He knew who was more important and said, "She is the head of my Wu family. Now my son is ill, my second son is useless, and my youngest son likes to make trouble. I am also old and sick, so I can only rely on this daughter-in-law to hold the scene and deal with the debt collectors outside."
Bo Siyou was blocked by him, and his face was embarrassed. He said, "Good bride, good bride, you are really virtuous. Although what you said makes sense, today is Guoying's good day, and I shouldn't come, but your Wu family's door is too strict, and my sons have never been able to enter the house. After today, I am afraid I will never be able to enter again, so I have to say it all at once."
Cai Qiaozhu was emboldened by her father-in-law's words, and said, "Grandpa Bo, our Wu family has never had strict door control. These days, they are being watched by soldiers from the imperial court, and the Wu family can do nothing about it. Before this, Grandpa Bo was the elder and didn't dare to condescend to his position during festivals, but the sons and grandchildren of the Bo family didn't often visit the Wu family, so I, the granddaughter-in-law, couldn't recognize the uncles and aunts of the Bo family, and it was my fault."
This sentence was a hint that Bo Siyou's family usually didn't visit, but today they wanted money and played the friendship card. Bo Siyou's face darkened again. Cai Qiaozhu continued, "Since the grandfather knows that today is a good day for my master, if he still cares about the decades of incense, then those words that should not be said logically should not be said."
Bo Siyou couldn't even say a word in reply, so he resorted to his old trick of taking advantage of his age and said to Wu Guoying: "Guoying, I don't care about other people's money! But my money... I'm dying, you can't deny it!"
Cai Qiaozhu frowned and said, "Grandpa, the current situation is not that our Wu family wants to owe everyone a debt, but what else can the Wu family do in this situation? It's not just Grandpa Bo's money, but the money of so many people present today. The Wu family is not unwilling to pay it back, but it can't. Grandpa Bo, don't you see that our Wu house is full of officials and soldiers? The Wu family's ship is in danger of sinking, and Grandpa is still coming to the door at this time to force it, isn't it too much?"
Bo Siyou was cornered and didn't want to hide his feelings anymore. He spoke the truth: "Of course I know the situation of your Wu family, but as the saying goes, even a rotten ship needs three pounds of nails. Since this ship is sinking, it doesn't matter who gives these three pounds of nails to it. Why not give them to our Bo family before the ship sinks?"
After hearing this, Cai Qiaozhu looked at the old man again and suddenly felt sick. Although she had experienced many dangerous things in the world, she was kind by nature after all. She never expected to hear such shameless words from an octogenarian!
She couldn't help but think, "His family's intentions are so despicable, no wonder their family's fortunes are getting worse and worse."
Bo Siyou kicked his great-grandson. The little boy, who must have been taught a lesson, burst into tears and threw himself at Wu Guoying's feet. His tears and snot flowed and rubbed Wu Guoying's trouser legs. Several grandchildren of the Bo family rushed in from outside and cried together, "Uncle Guoying, Uncle Guoying! You can't do this to our Bo family."
Wu Chenggou and Wu Erliang hurried forward to stop them, not letting them get close to Wu Guoying . Suddenly, two old men, about sixty years old, walked in and shouted, "Brother Guoying! If you want to pay back the money to the Bo family, don't leave us out!"
Manager Liu recognized the two men as Lin Ruda and Ren Hanxiao. They were both veteran business people of the same generation as Wu Guoying. They also had some young men behind them who were squeezing in from outside.
Now the situation showed signs of getting out of control.
The first shopkeeper Liu and the second shopkeeper Dai hurried over to greet them. Ou Jiafu brought relatives from the Wu family and blocked the entrance to the main hall. Once there was a commotion inside, the guests outside who had no interest in drinking also became eager to try. Some were shouting, some were crying, and some were about to rush in. The birthday party that had been barely maintaining politeness and warmth was instantly ruined.
Cai Qiaozhu watched the situation become ugly and whispered, "Master, don't be sad, these people..."
Unexpectedly, Wu Guoying smiled softly and said, "Why are you so upset? If I can't even see through this, then I have been in the business world for decades in vain."
However, being forced like this was a rare experience in his life, so he was about to stand up and rage. Wu Erliang was so shocked that he threw away the people around him and came over and said, "Master, don't get excited. Hao Guan has ordered that no matter what happens today, you can't get excited."
Just at this moment, there were a few cold chuckles outside, coming from far away and getting closer, and the crowd, which was about to make a fuss, gradually quieted down, as if some important person was coming over, and his momentum overwhelmed the debt collectors outside the hall.
Cai Qiaozhu was alert: "Who is this powerful person coming?"
Then the crowd outside was split into two, and three people walked in from the middle. After the three entered the door, the man on the left had a scar on his face that almost cut half of his face in half, making his face look extremely hideous. He looked around, and Lin Ruda and Ren Hanxiao were so scared that they stepped aside, and even Bo Siyou pulled his great-grandson back.
The one in the middle of the three people who entered the room stretched out his hand, and two strong men came trotting over. After entering, they bowed at the same time. One of them offered the wine glass, and the other helped to pour the wine. As soon as the wine was full, they immediately bowed and stepped back. Every move showed that they were well-trained.
The three men stepped forward, raised their cups and said, "We are here to toast the old merchant!"
Wu Guoying felt that these three men were unfamiliar. He glanced at Wu Chenggou, and Wu Chenggou's mouth twitched. He recognized the man on the left as Ma Dahong, a famous gang boss in Guangzhou, who controlled thousands of coolies in Shamian. The man on the right was Duan Xiantong, one of the few big bosses in the Guangzhou section of Beijiang River, who monopolized the golden inland waterway of dozens of miles. It was said that as long as he issued a ban, the waterway in and out of Guangzhou would be paralyzed immediately. The man in the middle was even more all-powerful and was called Liu Sanye. No one knew his real name. It was said that he was a leading figure in a branch of the Hongmen. Wherever his orders reached, from Zhaoqing to Macau, the entire Pearl River Delta had his eyes and ears and thugs.
If those who stole the Huachai last night were small fry in the underworld, then these three were well-known figures in the Guangdong underworld. Wu Guoying didn't recognize them, but Wu Chenggou knew that some of the goods in Yihehang were related to them - whether directly or indirectly - although the share was not large, it was a lucrative and stable investment for these gangs. Because of this relationship, these gangs would secretly take care of Yihehang and the Wu family in normal times, but now that the Wu family is going bankrupt, these people are going to come to withdraw their capital.
