Brother Hui glanced at him, knowing his situation at home was difficult, and said, “Fine. Take a few more people with you. If you can collect it, collect it; if not, just pull out. Do not be stubborn.”
“Thank you, Brother Hui!” Lin Zili beamed with joy, his smile nearly blinding the group of old bachelors present.
Brother Hui waved him away with a look of mock disgust. “All right, get out of here. And stop smiling at people like that; you will cause trouble.”
Lin Zili acknowledged him and left. Once he was gone, Brother Hui turned his face stern and slapped the nearest lackeys.
“Look at you! What the hell are you staring at? If any of you gets any twisted ideas, do not blame me for being heartless!”
The lackeys shrank their necks and shook their heads frantically.
“No way, no way. Brother Hui, do not worry, we are not that low.”
“Exactly. Zili is our brother; why would we lay a hand on him? We were just looking because he looks so good now.”
“Do not worry, Brother Hui, we brothers are still more into women.”
Brother Hui scanned them for a moment. He believed them; although his men were slacker hoodlums who did not do honest work, they still had basic principles. They used to be petty thieves, but usually only stole food when starving. Now that they could earn money following him, they had broken that bad habit.
“All right, stop looking so scared. Continue, continue. I have not finished my last hand.”
The group gathered again to continue playing cards.
Lin Zili did not go to collect the debt immediately; instead, he went home first. By the time he arrived, Lin Ruoxi had already left for school. She was a senior now and lived in a dormitory, returning only every two weeks for a day.
Lin Zili took out his phone and transferred 800 yuan to her.
Lin Zili: “Little sis, transferring your food money for the next half-month. Keep the extra for some new clothes. Let me know if it is not enough.”
There was no reply after sending it, so he assumed she had not checked her phone and put the matter out of his mind. He took a quick shower, changed into clean clothes, and headed out.
He gathered a few of his lackeys and headed to the address on the debt slip, navigating through twists and turns until they reached a rental house in the suburbs. The surroundings were messy, with garbage scattered along the roadside, emitting a sour, pungent odor.
Lin Zili and his group stood before the door and knocked hard. “Wang Yu, open up! I know someone is inside. Open the door, and do not make me use force!”
After shouting for a while with no response, Lin Zili cursed, “Damn it, they are asking for it. Smash the door open!”
Two lackeys stepped forward, lowered their shoulders, and lunged at the door with all their might. With a deafening bang, the dilapidated door creaked open, sending wood splinters flying.
Lin Zili strode into the room, frowning as he inspected the interior. The stove was cold, the furniture was dusty, and it felt as if no one had lived there for a long time.
“Damn it, could they have run off? Go search the place. Take anything valuable; get what we can.”
The lackeys complied and began rummaging through the cupboards. Lin Zili paced the living room, feeling incredibly annoyed. It seemed he had made a wasted trip again.
Suddenly, a lackey shouted from the inner room, “Zili, come here! There is a kid!”
Lin Zili hurried over, followed by the others.
In the corner of the wardrobe, a five or six-year-old girl huddled in terror, her eyes filled with tears as she watched them. She was thin, her complexion sallow, wearing tattered, patched clothing.
One lackey, seeing her clear signs of malnutrition, cursed under his breath, “That motherless bastard ran off and left a kid behind. Truly an animal!”
Seeing the girl reminded Lin Zili of his own sister, and he could not help but curse under his breath as well.
A lackey beside him asked harshly, “Hey, kid, where is your dad? Why are you all alone?”
The little girl, never having experienced such a thing, burst into tears. The sound was piercing in the empty room. Lin Zili glared at the lackey. “Can you not speak properly? Can you not see you are scaring the child?”
The lackey looked flustered and muttered irritably, “I have never had to coax a kid before. It is not my fault I look scary; my mom gave me this face. What do you want me to do?”
Someone else patted him. “What now? We cannot collect a debt from a nursing babe, right?”
Lin Zili scratched his head in frustration. “What else can we do? Send her to an orphanage. I do not know if we can catch Wang Yu, but we are definitely reporting him for child abandonment.”
With a plan in mind, they tried to bring the girl out, but she was so hysterical that she would not let them touch her. Their eyes shifted to Lin Zili.
“Zili, we look too scary, and she will not let us hold her. You are the handsome one here, you do it.”
Lin Zili gave them a helpless glare but had to harden his heart and step forward. He crouched down and whispered, “Little one, Uncle is going to take you to a place with lots of good food and other kids to play with, okay?”
The girl seemed to sense they meant no harm and stretched out her arms, sobbing. Lin Zili took the opportunity to scoop her up.
The group made a grand procession to the orphanage by taxi. By the time they were done, it was already dark.
They squatted by the roadside to smoke. Lin Zili waved away the smoke and said, “Alright, thanks for your help today. Let us go to a night market stall; dinner is on me.”
The lackeys cheered, “Boss is generous!”
They walked toward the restaurant with their arms around each other’s shoulders. Not far away, near a convenience store, they heard sounds of a scuffle.
“Mr. Xie, I really do not know you well. Could you please stop harassing me?”
“How can you say that? You did me a favor; it is only natural for me to invite you to dinner.”
“I do not want to have dinner with you! I have a class tonight, I really do not have time!”
Lin Zili frowned and turned to see a handsome man pulling on a beautiful woman who looked anxious and annoyed.
“Broad daylight, and someone is still trying to force a girl?” a lackey muttered.
As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a gust of wind as someone rushed past. Turning around, he saw the man who had just promised to treat them to dinner was gone.
Lin Zili, face full of anger, ran up and kicked the man. Taken by surprise, the man fell to the ground, tearing his expensive suit pants.
“What are you doing?!” Xie Chenxi stood up, glaring at Lin Zili with dark, murderous rage.
Never in his life had anyone dared to treat him like this! Damn him! He would make him pay later!