56: Chapter 56: Time to Take Action 56: Chapter 56: Time to Take Action Gao Yang’s father was also someone who had struggled through all walks of life for half his life; how could he not know what to do in such a situation?
He didn’t fly into a rage, nor did he panic, instead he calmly said, “I understand what you mean.
There’s no need for more words, let’s go find your boss now.
Some things are better said face to face.”
The muscular man leading the group didn’t pay attention to Gao Yang’s father but walked around the round table in the living room and plopped down onto the sofa with a nonchalance as if he were in his own home.
Leisurely crossing his legs, he said, “Old Gao, right?
Don’t overthink this.
The money, it definitely needs to be repaid.
However, we’ve come unannounced and don’t want to make a big scene.
It’s not an issue if you can’t produce the money today, but you need to give us an explanation.”
Gao Wu said in a grave voice, “What do you want?”
“Simple, you owe Boss Zhao five hundred thousand, with a daily interest rate of five percent, that’s twenty-five thousand a day.
Two months to this day makes one million two hundred fifty thousand you owe in total.
Our boss is a man of honor; he’s not calculating compound interest for you.
Otherwise, with interest, it would be over three million now.
If you acknowledge the debt, write us another IOU for one million two hundred fifty thousand and agree on a day to repay it, if not, heh heh, then don’t blame us for being inhospitable.”
Even as composed as Gao Wu could be, he trembled with anger and shouted, “Not to mention I’ve already repaid the money to your boss; even if I hadn’t, he can’t charge me usurious interest rates.
I will not write an IOU.
Tell this Zhao character if he wants his money, we’ll see him in court.”
The muscleman smirked coldly, “You can sue if you like.
The IOU is in our hands, and you’ll lose the lawsuit anyway.
But if you think you can just get away with not paying the interest, you’re mistaken.
Let me tell you, you won’t get away with a penny less on your debt.
Boys, you know what to do.”
As soon as the words fell, the four muscular men who had been standing silently began to smash things.
One of them lifted his hand and overturned the dining table where Gao Yang and his family had been eating, immediately turning the small living room into a mess.
“Stop, what are you doing, ouch.”
In desperation, Gao Yang’s mother tried to stop a muscleman from smashing things.
The man pushed her, and she immediately fell to the ground, blood from the back of her head flowing out, lying there motionless.
Gao Yang had been quiet all this time, but he didn’t expect that these people would turn to violence so readily, nor that his mother would be shoved to the ground.
Having fought his way out of life and death situations, he wasn’t scared by such a scene.
But seeing his mother pushed right in front of his eyes, Gao Yang’s eyes turned red with fury.
Gao Yang was very good with a gun, and if he had one in hand, none of these men would leave alive.
But now he was unarmed and knew that in a brawl against five rugged men, he would certainly be beaten down.
Gao Yang didn’t immediately fight back but turned and entered the kitchen instead.
Then, he charged out wielding a kitchen knife and ran straight to the man who had pushed his mother, bringing the knife down on his head.
If Gao Yang’s strike had been accurate, the man’s head would have split in two, but the men were prepared after seeing Gao Yang charge into the kitchen.
As Gao Yang swung the knife, one used a chair, already in his hand, to smash it down onto Gao Yang’s back.
Gao Yang’s knife missed its target, and he was knocked to the floor by the chair.
Immediately, two men started kicking him wildly.
One shouted, “I’ll teach you to mess with us, I’ll teach you.
Want to chop me, huh?
I’ll kill you first.”
From the ground, Gao Yang could see his father also beaten down, and his mother lying motionless, his heart nearly bursting with rage, but he knew that resistance would only lead to greater beatings.
“Stop!
I’ll pay you the money, just stop hitting!”
The debt collectors didn’t want to escalate the situation too far; their ultimate goal was still to get the money.
Hearing Gao Yang’s shout, the men ceased their assault.
The lead muscleman squatted in front of Gao Yang, patronizingly patted his face, and arrogantly said, “It’s all settled now, isn’t it?
Why did it have to come to this?
We’re only after the money, not your life.
Just pay us back, and we’ll call it even.”
After saying that, the muscleman got up and said to Gao Wu, who was also lying on the ground, “We’re a bit embarrassed to have messed up your home like this.
Here’s what we’ll do: we’ll forget the odd amount, just give us one million two hundred thousand, and we’ll consider the debt settled.”
Before his father could speak, Gao Yang interjected, “We definitely can’t give you the money today.
You have to wait for me to figure out a solution.
I have a sum of money that will soon be wired to me.
One million two hundred thousand, I will pay it on behalf of Old Gao, but you have to wait.
Three days at the least, five days at most, you’ll definitely have the money.
Leave me a phone number, and as soon as it’s in the account, I’ll send it right to you.”
After thinking for a moment, the head muscleman nodded, “Alright, that’s the deal.
We can wait three to five days for you to gather the money.
Remember, don’t try to run or hide.”
After he finished speaking, the lead muscleman gestured with his hand, and the five men filed out one by one, slamming the door shut behind them.
Once free, Gao Yang immediately crawled to his mother’s side.
She was lying face up, a pool of fresh blood under her head, motionless on the floor.
“Yangyang, watch over your mother.
I’m going to call the police.”
Gao Yang stopped his father, who was frantic to the point of madness, and said in a grave voice, “Dad, call the ambulance quickly, and don’t call the police, it’s no use.
Those people aren’t afraid.
Let’s save mom first.”
From the moment his mother was pushed to the ground, Gao Yang had made up his mind, he was going to kill someone.
But when he himself was knocked down, completely unable to fight back, Gao Yang immediately changed his mind.
He couldn’t just rush in with a knife, that wouldn’t work.
War really could completely change a person.
If it had been the old Gao Yang, when faced with this kind of situation, he would have chosen to call the police and take legal action.
Beyond that, he couldn’t have done anything.
But now, Gao Yang was thinking about how to take down the five people who had attacked today as well as Boss Zhao behind them.
Gao Yang was like a volcano about to erupt, but there was no sign of extreme anger on his face.
After his father called for an ambulance, Gao Yang held his mother’s hand and went to the hospital together in the ambulance.
The emergency room results came out quickly, Gao Yang’s mother was not in serious trouble.
She had already awakened, suffering only a slight concussion.
Besides that, her head had been lacerated and stitched up with four stitches, but she would be fine after resting for a few days.
After Gao Yang and his father had admitted his mother into the ward, Gao Yang pulled his father aside.
Outside the ward, Gao Yang said in a solemn voice, “Dad, you stay here and watch over Mom.
I have some things to take care of outside, I’ll be back soon.”
Gao Yang’s father grabbed him and said anxiously, “What are you planning to do?
I’m telling you, you had better not do anything rash.
You’ve just returned home, if something else happens, how could your mother survive?”
Gao Yang shook his head, “Dad, what are you thinking?
I’ve just come back and know nothing.
What could I possibly do?
Right, give me a bank card, I need to go to the bank to transfer my money over.
Also, give me the keys to the house.
I’ll go clean up first.
My mom is just under observation and can come home today, and we can’t expect her to clean up when she gets home, right?”
Gao Wu hesitated for a long time before saying, “Alright, you can go back first.
But remember, do not do anything foolish.
We could just give those bastards the money, but you must not get into trouble.”
Gao Yang left the hospital with his father’s two bank cards and the keys to the house.
He first bought a SIM card, the kind you can get without registering an ID, and then spent a little over two hundred yuan on the cheapest mobile phone.
Gao Yang found a quiet spot on the street and called Morgan, knowing that Morgan’s satellite phone was on 24/7.
Sure enough, the call connected quickly.
“Mr.
Morgan, this is Gao Yang.
I’ve already made it home.”
“Haha, Abdul told me, you move quickly.
Congratulations, my friend, and send my regards to your parents.
They must be overjoyed.”
“Thank you very much, Mr.
Morgan.
Um, I have an urgent issue right now.
Could you transfer my money to me?”
“Of course, of course.
Is renminbi okay?
If so, give me an account number, and I’ll have someone transfer your money based on today’s exchange rate.
I have friends in Huaxia too, they can transfer the money to you first, that would be the fastest way.”
“That’s fine.
Please take down the account number and account name.”
“Hold on, I need to find a piece of paper and a pen.
Alright, now you can tell me.”
After Gao Yang repeated the account number and name twice and confirmed they were correct with Morgan, he hung up the phone and then dialed Cui Bo’s number.
When Gao Yang left, he left the satellite phone Morgan had given him with Cui Bo and Glolov so that he could contact them after returning to his country.
Cui Bo answered the call, and after the phone connected, Cui Bo’s voice came through, “Hello, is that Brother Yang?
You got home so quickly?”
Gao Yang paused for a moment before replying in a low voice, “I’m home.
Pass the phone to Glolov, I have something to discuss with him.”
Once Glolov got on the phone, Gao Yang said in a low voice, “Glolov, you told me before I left that you had a friend who did business on the border between Russia and Huaxia.
I’m in need of his help with some matters now.”
Before returning from Libya, Glolov mentioned in a casual conversation that he had a comrade-in-arms who did business on the border between Russia and Huaxia.
The so-called business was smuggling and occasionally helping people with illegal immigration, also known as a ‘snakehead’.
Gao Yang didn’t take it seriously at the time, but he didn’t expect he would need to call on that connection so soon.
“I have his phone number, but we haven’t been in contact for a long time.
I’ll give you the number; you can try to reach him.
As long as you get through, just say you are my friend and give your full name; he is sure to help you.
If I may ask, what are you planning to do?”
After a long silence, Gao Yang finally said in a low voice, “I’m going to kill someone.”