CHAPTER 11: CHAPTER 11: DRINKING

Old Feng noticed something off in Old Xu’s tone, patted him on the shoulder, "What do you mean? Drunk?"

Old Xu snorted coldly, pressed the cigarette butt hard into the ashtray, and said loudly, "What do I mean? He’s owed us money for so long, shouldn’t there be an explanation?"

Qiangzi, also on the side, chimed in, shaking his Rolex on his wrist, with a hint of drunkiness, "Exactly, Qi Yun, we’re all brothers, didn’t want to make things ugly.

But we’re not running a charity, the money’s been lent out long enough, you ought to give us an account, right?"

Peng’s face immediately turned awkward, didn’t expect those two to pull this stunt after inviting them for drinks.

Hurriedly picked up a cigarette and tried to mediate, "Old Xu, Qiangzi, it’s rare for us to gather like this, and we’ve all been drinking, let’s not ruin the harmony over this."

Qiangzi didn’t listen at all, with a few more sips, turned to Peng and shouted, "Peng, don’t muddy the waters here, it’s just tens of thousands, but he can’t keep dragging it out, can he? A deadbeat?"

Hearing this, Old Feng’s face turned cold.

He stared at Qiangzi and said in a deep voice, "Don’t you think that’s a bit much, Qiangzi? Didn’t Qi Yun help you a lot in the past? Didn’t he find the connections for your dad’s surgery?

And your two barely surviving gas stations, without Qi Yun bringing those truck drivers, wouldn’t they have collapsed long ago?

Now that he’s struggling, is it right for you to kick him when he’s down?"

Qiangzi, hearing this, seemed to sober up a bit, his tone softened slightly, "I’m also having a hard time..."

Before he could finish, Old Xu interrupted, "That’s true, but friendship is friendship, you can’t not pay back your debts, right? Everyone’s got families to feed."

"Bang!"

As soon as Old Xu finished, a phone was slammed onto the table.

On the screen, there were transfer records of 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, up to the last one of 12,000...

Peng calmly said with a stern face, "It’s only been two years, and I never thought I’d hear such words from you two.

Though Qi’s business went bankrupt, and he left empty-handed.

But he paid me back every penny from delivering food and selling fried rice, is that the debt not repaid you mean?"

"Whose life doesn’t have ups and downs, do you have to press your own brother so hard?"

"If you two really need money, take the Jetta downstairs later, should be enough to cover your debt, right?"

At this point, Old Feng also took out his phone and put it on the table, also showing two transfer records.

He exhaled a long puff of smoke and slowly said, "Qiangzi, your two gas stations earn a profit of hundreds of thousands each month, and Old Xu’s iron mine isn’t making small change either.

In the past two years, neither Peng nor I have done well, he sold his house to keep his factory running, and I have closed two hotpot restaurants, with the remaining one losing money every day.

I think that’s why Qi Yun paid us back first."

"Like Peng said, if you two urgently need money, I can find a way to come up with it for you first."

As these words fell, the room fell into a silence, the transfer records on the phone screens glaringly illuminating Old Xu and Qiangzi’s faces, which turned white and red.

Qiangzi opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but found that his throat seemed blocked, unable to make a sound.

Old Xu also pretended to lower his head, eyes dodging, not daring to meet the others’ gaze.

At this moment, Qi Yun, who hadn’t spoken all along, lifted his cup and downed the remaining half of wine in one gulp.

Paused for a moment.

He put down the cup, took a deep breath, and slowly spoke, "Thanks Peng, Old Feng. I appreciate your kindness."

"Old Xu, Qiangzi, I know you have your difficulties too, it’s my fault for delaying the debt for so long."

"I’ll definitely pay you back within ten days."

"Let’s treat what happened today as a misunderstanding, we all drank too much."

With that, he stood up with a smile, "I live far, so I’ll leave first."

...

Outside, it suddenly began to snow heavily, the cold wind biting.

Qi Yun lit a cigarette, tightened his coat, and walked towards the entrance of the community.

He didn’t really resent Old Xu and Qiangzi’s attitude, after all, they did lend a hand when he was struggling, and he did owe them money.

However, once the debt was settled, there might not be much contact in the future.

Human nature, sometimes, is the hardest thing to stand the test.

In wealth and prosperity, brothers are everywhere around you.

In hard times, even stray dogs feel they’ve done you a favor by not biting you.

Thankfully, after experiencing his ex-wife’s betrayal, Qi Yun had a strong heart.

No longer easily defeated by life.

Besides, with the system now, forty thousand yuan, could certainly be earned within ten days.

Flagged down a taxi on the roadside, by the time he got home, it was nearly midnight.

Qi Yun lay on the bed, staring blankly at the white ceiling, watching time pass by minute by minute.

"23:58"

"23:59"

"00:00:00"

[Today’s intelligence (white): The magazine you sold yesterday at Hongyuan Waste Recycling had a stamp inside.

The stamp was "Ji94m Mei Lanfang Stage Art Small Pane," issued on September 15, 1962, with a market value of no less than 80,000 yuan]

Eighty thousand yuan!

After reading the intelligence, Qi Yun jumped up from the bed, sobering up considerably.

He took out the ten-plus yuan for selling magazines from his pocket, feeling the urge to slap himself hard.

This is really a case of losing a watermelon and picking up a sesame seed.

If he missed this stamp worth 80,000 yuan, he’d be kicking himself to no end.

But there’s still a chance; seeing that the stuff at the recycling station wasn’t much today, those things should not have been transported away so quickly.

"I’ll check it out first thing in the morning."

"Also, that grumpy Old Li, selling such a valuable stamp as scrap, I’ll have a word or two with him next time I see him..."

But judging by his appearance, he’s probably well off not caring about money.

...

The next day, at first light.

Qi Yun was already waiting at the entrance of Hongyuan Waste Recycling.

After waiting anxiously for more than half an hour, the plump middle-aged owner finally pulled open the iron door.

Qi Yun hurried over, smiling as he handed over a cigarette, "Hehe, boss, are the books and magazines I sold you yesterday still there?"

The boss was slightly surprised, "Yes, they are, what’s up?"

"Well, my daughter had a test paper mixed in a book, she’s insisting I find it back."

"Oh, then go ahead and look for it, it’s still piled where it was yesterday."

The boss didn’t suspect anything and took the cigarette while continuing his work.

Qi Yun quickly went under a color steel shed, squatted down, and began searching through a pile of books for the stamp.

But he flipped through dozens of books and didn’t see a trace of the stamp.

Concerning eighty thousand yuan, he wasn’t ready to give up and looked through them carefully again, still to no avail.

He couldn’t help but feel puzzled; the system’s intelligence shouldn’t be wrong...