Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 26 Some people are only afraid of weapons (5K2)

"Hey, are you sure you can make me money after this job?"

In the quiet taxi, Huo Xiaowen suddenly spoke.

The target, Mr. Liu, owns a mobile phone shop in Longgang, which is also the largest district in Shenzhen. However, strictly speaking, Bao'an and Longgang, the two largest districts, are not currently considered special economic zones. The four districts along the port—Nanshan, Futian, Luohu, and Yantian—are the special economic zones.

The distance from Futian to Longgang is approximately 30 kilometers.

For the first 15 kilometers, the two remained silent, gazing out the window indifferently, maintaining a deliberately relaxed atmosphere.

In reality, both of them knew that the debt of 15 yuan would be difficult to collect.

These days, 15 yuan can buy a life.

Before setting off, Huo Xiaowen wanted to get a weapon for self-defense, but Chen Xuebing stopped him.

He wasn't prepared for peaceful negotiations because time was tight and the task was heavy, but it didn't come to the point of smashing up the store.

But after Huo Xiaowen finished speaking, his expression turned serious.

Not only was he serious, but the taxi driver who was originally taking a detour to earn more money also glanced at the rearview mirror when he heard the words "this job is done," saw Huo Xiaowen's convict-like hairstyle, immediately turned around and headed back onto the main road, adding somewhat awkwardly:
"Um... my meter is broken, I'll charge you ten yuan less later."

"Ah."

Chen Xuebing answered casually, not paying much attention to the taxi driver's frantic attempt to save his life. He only turned his head and saw Huo Xiaowen's expression, as if he had made up his mind.

Chen Xuebing guessed what was going on and patted his thigh twice.

"Don't overthink it, try not to cause any trouble. If you really have to take action, I'll handle it. You'll still have to stay in Shenzhen. If you end up at the police station, it'll be difficult to get your temporary residence permit."

Collecting debts definitely requires using certain methods.

Chen Xuebing works in construction, and collecting debts is a daily routine for him. Although construction payments and these kinds of private loans are not the same thing, he is quite familiar with the relevant regulations and has a lot of practical experience in getting into trouble with the police station.

If it doesn't cause too much trouble, even if the police come, they will handle it flexibly. As a high school student who took the initiative, I will definitely be dealt with more leniently than Huo Xiaowen, who has a criminal record.

He was afraid that Huo Xiaowen, being ignorant of the law, might act recklessly and escalate the situation.

Huo Xiaowen smirked and said, "I know what you're worried about. Don't worry, I don't know as much as you do about other things, but when it comes to collecting debts, I'm better than you."

As he spoke, he touched his head and said, "15... once you get it, won't you let him share some with us?"

Chen Xuebing shook his head and chuckled: "We haven't arrived yet. We're discussing how to split the money. Don't be too confident."

Upon hearing this, Huo Xiaowen shook his head and chuckled indignantly, then turned his head to look out the window.

……

The destination was on Longgang Avenue, where there was heavy traffic but not many people or shops. It didn't take much effort to find the "Sun Feng Mobile Phone Store".

The two characters "Sun Feng" on the storefront look significantly newer; they must have been replaced after the owner, Mr. Liu, owed money. Before that, it should have been called "Liu Tao Mobile Phone Store".

The two men kept watch.

The flow of people wasn't large, but business was really good. In just 10 minutes, a woman, a father and son, a couple, and a family of three went in.

These days, when someone needs to buy a big item, the whole family comes together. This is a little trick used by appliance and car salespeople: when they see a family or couple coming together, they know that the person is "sincerely interested in buying."

Selling a house is a more serious matter; if you see that the elderly members of the family have been brought along, then things are likely going well.

There should be a cubicle inside the mobile phone store counter, where two men and a woman go in and out, and a young woman is watching the counter and introducing products to customers.

There were four people in the shop; I don't know if there were any others in the private room.

Chen Xuebing and Huo Xiaowen loitered around the door, pretending to chat and wait for someone, until they heard a voice from inside saying, "Brother Tao, can you get a Motorola V3? A customer is asking." They then realized that their creditor was in the store.

Chen Xuebing recognized the face of "Brother Tao," patted Huo Xiaowen on the shoulder, signaling him to stay there, and then walked alone to a copy shop across the street.

When he came out, he was already holding a roll of oil paper in his hand.

As Chen Xuebing reached the door, Huo Xiaowen saw what he was holding, laughed, spat on the ground, and said:
"With this, you can get at most ten thousand yuan."

Chen Xuebing rolled his eyes at him, shoved the oil paper roll into Huo Xiaowen's hands, and went into the shop.

There are still guests inside, so we'll proceed with courtesy first, then force.

Liu Tao was at the counter at the very back of the hall. Chen Xuebing ignored the young girl watching the counter at the door, walked up to Liu Tao, knocked on the glass, and got straight to the point.

"Mr. Liu, business is booming! We've been told by General Manager Zhao to inquire about payment for the goods."

"I'm not the boss."

Liu Tao was sitting in front of the computer to top up a customer's phone credit when she heard this. She reacted very quickly, stood up, looked around, and wanted to leave.

But Chen Xuebing was staring at him with his hands on the counter, and Huo Xiaowen was blocking the doorway, so there was no way to avoid him.

Liu Tao then chuckled and said, "I'm really not the boss. Just call me Lao Liu. I already told Lao Zhao that I'm divorced and all the money belongs to my ex-wife. Now I'm just selling some loose goods to my ex-wife and paying her back when I make a profit."

Chen Xuebing gave a forced smile, looked around, and said, "This shop used to be yours, right? You used this shop's name to buy goods and still owe so much debt. Even if you're divorced, you don't have the right to transfer this shop to your ex-wife. Come out and let's talk this over."

Within a few words, the voices must have been heard inside the cubicle. The woman who had just come out immediately glared at Liu Tao and said coldly, "Liu Tao, what are you doing in my shop again? Get out, get out!"

She's very familiar with the role; as soon as she heard the debt collectors were coming, she immediately distanced herself from the store.

"I understand! I won't come anymore, okay?" Liu Tao followed suit and started to walk out.

The couple is a natural performer.

Liu Tao's debt mainly came from the store, so they couldn't easily cause trouble for the store. Liu Tao was probably penniless, with all his money with his wife, so they couldn't force him to give anything away.

The banner that Chen Xuebing just printed at the copy shop, which read "Liu Tao owes money, pay it back," is now useless.

If you go outside, who are you going to show your dirty hand to? Who are you going to make a scene for?
No wonder it's so hard to collect this money; even finding the right person doesn't help.

However, in the short time it took to exchange just a few words, all the customers in the store had left, and the witness was gone.

Chen Xuebing's expression changed, his eyes turning sinister. He sneered and grabbed Liu Tao as she came out from behind the counter: "Fine, Liu Tao, that's perfect. Boss Zhao said that even if you don't have money, it's fine. He can take something from you to pay off the debt. Otherwise, if everyone does business like you, there will be no rules."

Liu Tao stopped abruptly and began to back away, pointing to a corner of the shop as she did so.

"Brother... don't talk nonsense! There are security cameras in my shop! If anything happens to me, your boss Zhao will be responsible!"

Chen Xuebing had noticed the camera long ago.

"Ha, don't fucking fool me. The camera has video, but no sound."

As soon as he finished speaking, Sun Feng, the current legal representative of the store, put his hands on his hips and looked them over.

"Brothers, I'm trying to talk to you nicely, are you going to act tough?"

Sun Feng didn't seem to be afraid at all.

The atmosphere in the store began to turn cold. Another man immediately came up with an unfriendly expression, grabbed Liu Tao's other side, and yelled at Chen Xuebing, "Let go!"

After yelling, he turned to Sun Feng and said, "Sister, call and tell A-Yun and the others to come over!"

This stalemate finally broke Huo Xiaowen, who had been guarding the door the whole time.

"Why bother talking to those bastards?" Huo Xiaowen rushed up, grabbed Liu Tao, and shouted fiercely at him, "One word: pay up or not!"

The fierceness of the Chongqing dialect made it seem as if Huo Xiaowen was about to take action.

Liu Tao was clearly the most timid person in the store. He immediately took out his phone from his pocket and said tremblingly, "Brother, you...you wait for me to make a call."

In that instant, Huo Xiaowen snatched the phone Liu Tao had just taken out, held the screen up to his head, and slapped it hard.

"Give it back now!"

Another shot.

"Give it back now!"

Blood began to trickle down Huo Xiaowen's head, slowly flowing down his cheek. He glanced at his phone; surprisingly, it hadn't shattered as he'd expected. He glared at the usually assertive landlady, slammed the phone down, and roared a third time:
"Aren't you going to pay me back?!"

Snapped!
The phone smashed against the wall behind Sun Feng, disintegrating with a thud and scattering its parts everywhere.

This finally triggered the fear that a woman should have; she screamed and hid under the counter.

The whole process was smooth and quick, taking only a few seconds.

Chen Xuebing really wanted to stop it, but since the first blow had already hit, there was no point in stopping it again.

He keenly noticed that there had only been one woman's cry in the hall, which seemed amiss. He scanned the room and realized that the other young woman was gone.

The counter is quite high, and there's only one exit, so you should probably hide in a cubicle.

Could they have hidden inside and called the police?

"I'm asking you, are you going to pay me back or not?" Huo Xiaowen grabbed Liu Tao's ear with his slightly bloodied hand, as if to slap him.

Chen Xuebing's strategy was to first pull up a banner, then block the road, and then make a scene.

Huo Xiaowen's plan was to first smash himself, then attack others, and finally kidnap them.

No one could withstand the third round of debt collection he had pursued, so he was very confident.

But this time Chen Xuebing raised his hand to block him.

So far, Huo Xiaowen has only smashed a creditor's phone, and he's the one who got hurt; the situation can still be contained. Thinking this, Chen Xuebing grabbed Liu Tao's neck with his arm, secretly pulling him away.

"Mr. Liu, didn't you just want to leave? Let's talk outside."

The man beside her no longer dared to stop her. Liu Tao couldn't break free at all, and she didn't want to go out and face them alone. Her will finally broke down, and she quickly shouted, "Give it back! Give it back!"

The intense situation finally subsided.

Chen Xuebing patted his face and laughed, "A smart man."

He appeared calm, but inwardly he was also filled with emotion.

You want to resolve the issue within the legal framework, but some people aren't afraid of you using legal means; they're susceptible to Huo Xiaowen's tactics.

Abandon the law, pick up weapons.

"How long will it take to get the money here?" Chen Xuebing didn't want to waste any time.

"Wait a minute, bro. You smashed my phone, so I can't reach anyone. I talked to my wife... my ex-wife, about having someone withdraw money!"

As Liu Tao spoke, he tentatively stepped back, ran behind the counter, pulled Sun Feng up, and whispered something to her. Sun Feng nodded quickly, took out her phone, and started making a call.

Huo Xiaowen didn't even wipe the blood off. He walked up to the two men and listened to Sun Feng making a phone call. After a while, he turned around, nodded to Chen Xuebing, and indicated that they were calling someone to withdraw money.

Chen Xuebing also felt that things should be going smoothly.

But less than two minutes later, a series of motorcycle roars approached from afar, then stopped at the door.

"Who's causing trouble?"

They made a preemptive strike. Five burly men jumped off three motorcycles and shouted at the area around the store:
"What are you looking at?!"

Several passersby who were watching from a distance were frightened away. The five men took a standard iron bar from their motorcycles and entered the store as a group.

They were very efficient; when the last person came in, they immediately pulled the roller shutter shut.

Sun Feng, who had just lost her aura, suddenly felt a surge of strength, jumping up and down and pointing at Huo Xiaowen, whose face was covered in blood, shouting:
"it's him!"

The group immediately surrounded Huo Xiaowen.

Huo Xiaowen subconsciously reached down to his lower back, only to find it empty, and a chill ran through him.

Liu Tao also chimed in, pointing at Chen Xuebing: "Ayun, and him too!"

The five men turned to look at Chen Xuebing and found that he didn't seem as difficult to deal with as Huo Xiaowen. One of them grinned and walked towards Chen Xuebing.

Chen Xuebing smiled and slightly moved his shoulders and neck.

……

From inside the closed roller shutter door, there was a commotion of people selling everything they owned.

Like a couple getting a divorce.

However, it went completely silent after three minutes.

The last sound was Huo Xiaowen's outburst of curses:
"Hit me? Fuck your mother!"

The camera pans into the store, where five people are lying sprawled on the floor, trying to get up but too afraid to, because Huo Xiaowen will rush up and deliver a fatal blow to anyone who tries to stand up.

Seeing the five people lying on the ground pretending to be dead while clutching their wounds, Huo Xiaowen leaned back on the sofa, panting heavily, and hissed as he clutched his thigh.

Chen Xuebing also clutched his lower back, walked to the computer behind the counter, grabbed the mouse with his slightly trembling right hand, and searched for surveillance footage.

The shop was in a mess, but the two men and two women who owned the shop were unharmed, standing in a row in the corner without uttering a sound.

That young man who was using his hands to pry open the mouse was ruthless.

The seemingly fierce-looking crew-cut man was quickly subdued by A-Yun and the others, but the young man took down one of them with an elbow to the face. In just over a minute, he had knocked five people to the ground. The first person he hit spat out a bloody tooth on the ground. The young man dodged in such a small space and only took a few blows in total.

The mobile phone counter, however, was smashed to pieces by A-Yun and his gang.

The four spectators were unharmed and had seen everything clearly from beginning to end, not daring to breathe.

But the young man who had attacked so fiercely had been staring at the computer for a long time, then turned his head and said with a resentful look:
"Boss Liu, it's all very clear on your surveillance footage! They started it! That guy lying next to the sofa, he even raised his stick, that's when I made my move. Come over here and take a look!"

Liu Tao was incredulous.

He looked like a student complaining to the teacher.

He... seems to be asking me to settle a score?
"Yes Yes."

The roller shutter was closed, and the man with a head full of blood was still standing guard nearby. What could he do besides nod?
Ah Yun, who used to dominate the street, is still lying on the ground. He was beaten even worse than the guy who spat out his teeth. His face was covered in bruises, and he was clutching his stomach, unable to make a sound. It seems that he was also kicked twice in the face by the guy whose head was bleeding. I'm afraid that for a long time to come, the throttles of those motorcycles in front of the gate won't be able to turn.

"By the way, Mr. Liu, how long will it take for the money delivery person to arrive?" the young man asked naturally.

Liu Tao and Sun Feng exchanged a startled glance.

"I...I'll call and ask!"

"Never mind, I have cash at home, shall I go get it from home?... Is that alright?" Sun Feng asked cautiously.

The young man smiled and pointed at the people on the ground: "Boss Sun, you're not going to call the police, are you? This is a gang fight, and you're armed. You're the one who called these people. As soon as they came into the store, you pointed at my brother and told them to beat him up. My brother got hit several times. Look, it's all clear on the surveillance footage."

His smile was so natural, as if he hadn't even been fighting.

He held the only complete evidence in the store firmly in his hands, acting like a judge, and no one dared to protest the trial.

"Don't worry, brother, nothing's wrong! I definitely won't call the police!" Sun Feng waved his hands repeatedly.

"Then what do they do?"

"We'll handle it! We'll handle it! I know a clinic!" Liu Tao answered quickly.

The young man smiled with satisfaction.

“We should go to the hospital if we need to, but we can go separately. Making a scene is bad for everyone. We just came to collect a debt, but you’re trying to kill us inside. That’s too violent.”

The four people in the store and the five on the ground cursed at least a gigabyte in their hearts.

……

Sun Feng hurriedly opened the roller shutter door a crack and crawled out, not daring to let outsiders see what was happening inside.

People gathered around, but no one dared to get closer.

Ah Yun's gang is pretty ruthless; they cause trouble for people, but no one dares to call the police.

When Sun Feng returned carrying a black bag, two passersby were still standing there waiting to see what would happen. But when they saw that Sun Feng seemed completely unharmed, with even her wavy hair intact, they left disappointed.

There was only one pickup truck, which had been parked on the roadside in front of the store an hour ago. There was a person lying down in the driver's seat with the seat reclined, as if they were resting.

The roller shutter door was finally opened halfway.

The first to emerge were five brave men.

They were just supporting each other, their clothes were sloppy, their gait was not very graceful, and they could no longer ride their motorcycles. At Liu Tao's urging, they walked towards a clinic not far away.

Chen Xuebing, who came out later, was also supporting Huo Xiaowen with one hand and carrying a bag in the other. He walked to the door and smiled at Sun Feng, who came out behind him, saying, "Boss Sun, my brother might need stitches. It's only three thousand for medical expenses. That's not too much, is it?"

Sun Feng smiled wryly: "It's not excessive... but could you please return that USB drive to me? It contains the store's documents and accounts."

Chen Xuebing waved his hand: "I don't need this. I'll copy the surveillance footage and send it to you."

Sun Feng looked conflicted, but could only say, "Then please be sure to send it back to me!"

You'll definitely receive it within two days!

Chen Xuebing replied with a sentence, then helped Huo Xiaowen to the roadside to hail a taxi.

After walking a few steps away, Huo Xiaowen coughed twice, looking sullen.

"Mai Pi, it's a good thing you were fierce today, otherwise I would have gotten myself into trouble."

Chen Xuebing grinned, rubbed his lower back, hissed, looked back at the three motorcycles in front of the mobile phone shop on the street, and laughed and cursed: "It's a good thing they are Chinese motorcycles. There are only five people on three motorcycles. If they were Indian, I would have been in deep trouble too."

Huo Xiaowen: ? ? ?

...

As the mobile phone store closed completely, a person suddenly sat up in the pickup truck parked by the roadside.

Looking around, he noticed that Sun Feng had already entered the store, so he quickly picked up his phone and made a call.

After a few beeps, a voice came from the other end of the phone.

"how's it going?"

The person in the car looked shaken: "Mr. Zhao...they're really arriving."

"Huh? Really? Liu Tao's hired thugs didn't come?"

"...They're here. They seem to have been crippled by those two."

(End of this chapter)