Long Xiao missed lunch again, and Nangong Yue's scolding was unavoidable.
Just as Nangong Yue started to scold, Lin Shijie rushed out and asked, "Long Xiao, where's my jade?"
Long Xiao raised his hand to hand the jade to Lin Shijie. Lin Xuan came downstairs and said, "Dad, Long Xiao bought that with his own money."
"I can afford fifty thousand. I'll give him the money right now."
Long Xiao looked at the jade in his hand, which had lost its luster and was no longer crystal clear. Without its vital energy, the jade was worthless to him.
"Dad, no need for the money. The jade is for you," Long Xiao said, handing the jade to Lin Shijie.
Lin Shijie, holding the jade, returned to his room in high spirits, not even coming out for lunch.
When Nangong Yue learned that Long Xiao had spent fifty thousand to buy the jade and given it to Lin Shijie, her expression softened a bit when she looked at him.
During lunch, Nangong Yue started nagging Lin Xuan to find a job quickly. Lin Xuan, however, was more concerned about Long Xiao and asked how he dealt with the two robbers after they left.
Lin Shijie's monthly salary was less than ten thousand. Lin Xuan's income of over a hundred thousand a month, no longer earned as CEO of Lin's Group, had caused their family's living standards to plummet. In another two months, they wouldn't even be able to afford the villa.
"Lin Xuan, keeping a useless freeloader. If you don't go out and work, we'll all starve to death!"
"Mom, I'm already looking for a job. I'll have an income soon."
Nangong Yue glanced at Long Xiao and said, "You too. Your dad isn't hospitalized anymore, so you don't need to take care of him. You can't just eat for free and not earn money every day."
Long Xiao smiled and said, "Mom, I've already found a job. I'll start in a few days, and my monthly income will be a little over ten thousand."
Hearing that Long Xiao had found a job with an income of over ten thousand, Nangong Yue's mood improved considerably, and she began to plan to find a nanny. With Long Xiao working, the family would still need someone to cook.
"Mom, you spend your days playing mahjong and shopping. Can't you cook at home?" Lin Hao said.
Nangong Yue glared at Lin Hao and retorted, "You ungrateful wretch! Your mother has worked her fingers to the bone for this family, and you want her to cook? Have you no conscience?"
Nangong Yue was a master of unreasonable arguments. After a few exchanges, no one dared to say much more, finding it too troublesome.
In the afternoon, after Lin Xuan went shopping with her friends, Li Yizhen called. He informed Long Xiao that the small auction would be held tomorrow morning in a private room on the top floor of the Donghai Grand Hotel.
Since Li Yizhen was handling the auction, Long Xiao only needed to attend, so no special preparations were necessary.
Having nothing to do in the afternoon, he called Brother Hu of Xicheng and asked him to accompany him to his farm in the suburbs to check on the detained Young Master Jin.
Young Master Jin had been inexplicably captured. Although he recognized the captors as White Dog, one of Brother Hu's men, he had no idea why he was being held. No one would tell him.
After being confined for two days, Young Master Jin looked haggard and worried. As Long Xiao pushed the door open and entered the room, he was sitting in a chair, lost in thought.
Upon seeing Long Xiao, he seemed to understand something.
"Long Xiao, you good-for-nothing, you had someone capture me!" Young Master Jin suddenly stood up and roared at Long Xiao.
Brother Hu of Xicheng, who followed Long Xiao in, stepped forward and kicked Young Master Jin to the ground. "Be polite to Brother Long, or I'll cripple you."
"Brother Hu, why are you calling him Brother Long? He's just a live-in son-in-law with no background, a man who lives off his wife."
Brother Hu of Xicheng swung his right arm and slapped him.
The crisp sound brought Young Master Jin back to his senses. He knew that if he spoke any more, he would be beaten into a pulp.
Seeing that Young Master Jin had stopped talking, Long Xiao pulled a chair over and sat down. "Young Master Jin Huai, do you remember the agreement you and Xiao Hui forced me to sign after you ran me over with your car?"
Young Master Jin had already given that agreement to Brother Hu of Xicheng through Xiao Hui. He looked up at Brother Hu.
"Don't look at me. I've already destroyed that agreement."
Young Master Jin's eyes flickered as he looked at Long Xiao. "Long Xiao, Brother Long, I was wrong. I apologize."
Long Xiao shook his head. "If apologies were useful, I'd truly be a son-in-law who could be bullied at will."
"Brother Long, I'm willing to accept punishment. I'll give you money."
Long Xiao smiled and nodded. "That's a good suggestion. I'm very poor, and you're a rich second-generation heir. If you give me enough money, you might be able to move me and make me spare you."
Young Master Jin secretly rejoiced, thinking money was indeed useful. A poor person who had never seen money would immediately agree when offered money.
Just as Young Master Jin was about to ask how much money would get him released, Long Xiao said, "White Dog, bring paper, pens, and ink."
Soon, White Dog brought paper, pens, and ink from the farm's office. Everyone in the room wondered what Long Xiao was going to do. These items weren't much use for extorting money from Young Master Jin.
"Young Master Jin Huai, do you have a mother?"
Jin Huai didn't know why Long Xiao was suddenly asking this. Everyone has a mother. He casually replied, "Of course, of course, I have a mother."
Long Xiao nodded. "Do you still want her?"
Jin Huai became angry upon hearing this. Who would abandon their mother and throw her on the street?
"Of course, I want her." Jin Huai looked at Long Xiao strangely.
Long Xiao chuckled. "I'll sell you your mother. Fifty million. Not too much, is it?"
"Long Xiao, what do you mean? You're selling me my mother? Are you crazy..."
Long Xiao interrupted him. "I'm speaking in your logic. You made me sign an agreement to divorce my wife, which is like selling my wife, isn't it?"
Now, everyone in the room understood. Long Xiao was extorting Young Master Jin.
"Long Xiao, you..."
Before Jin Gongzi could say anything else, Long Xiao interrupted him again. "You can refuse to buy. White Dog, I'll count to five. If he hasn't agreed by then, go to his house immediately and capture his mother. Your mother is a bit old, but you can make do with her. If no one needs her, feed her to the dogs."
White Dog immediately agreed, "Yes."
Long Xiao began counting. When he reached four, Jin Gongzi was on the verge of a breakdown and quickly shouted, "Okay, okay, I agree. I'll give you fifty million."
The Jin family was only a mid-to-upper-tier family in Donghai, with a total family fortune of only a little over ten billion. Fifty million was not a small sum for him.
Jin Gongzi agreed, but he didn't have that much money on hand. Long Xiao immediately wrote an IOU for him to sign and stamp with his thumbprint.
While signing, Long Xiao had White Dog film the entire process to show that he was not being coerced.
After collecting the IOU, Long Xiao said, "Young Master Jin Huai, you have a father, right? Am I guessing correctly?"
"Long Xiao, are you finished? This is ridiculous!" Jin Gongzi roared in fury.
Long Xiao kicked Jin Gongzi's mended leg with a snap. The leg, not yet fully healed, broke again.
Amidst Jin Gongzi's screams, Long Xiao wrote another IOU and had him sign it.
An hour later, Long Xiao had sold all of Jin Gongzi's family members to him, even the remains of his deceased grandparents. If he didn't buy them, Long Xiao threatened to desecrate their graves.
Counting the more than a dozen IOUs in his hand, the total came to six hundred and fifty million.
Long Xiao shook the IOUs and said, "Young Master Jin Huai, although I'm a reasonable person, you can't keep owing this money forever, right? Starting tomorrow, there will be a 10% daily interest rate. Not too much, is it?"
Jin Gongzi glared at Long Xiao viciously, thinking, "Once I get out, if I don't kill you, I'm not surnamed Jin."
Long Xiao looked at Jin Gongzi's malevolent gaze and could naturally guess what he was thinking. This was just a lesson for now. If he dared to trouble him again, or pester his wife, money wouldn't be the solution.