You have quite the temper for someone asking for a favor.
Do you think you're the emperor of the world, deserving of everyone's indulgence?
If you want to leave, Zhan Bei Jue won't stop you.
But Jiang Nan Fang couldn't bear to see him go and reached out to pull him back.
"What exactly happened? Your second brother didn't say he wouldn't help you, why are you in such a hurry?"
Zhou Jin Xiu stopped in his tracks. At this point, there was no turning back.
"I was scammed. We agreed to invest in a new project together, he would put in half the money, and I would put in half..."
"The company's working capital was insufficient, and the money I invested was borrowed. After months of work, I discovered the project was fake."
"The other party was a shell company. After I invested the final payment, they absconded with the funds that very day."
"Now, I have no project and a mountain of debt. I had no choice but to divert some of the company's public funds."
"But I didn't read the loan contract carefully when I signed it. The other party set a trap for me, and I borrowed from a loan shark. The diverted public funds weren't even enough to cover the interest."
"The company, lacking working capital, couldn't sustain its projects. My father is threatening to kill me, and others are threatening to sue me."
"I'm surrounded by enemies. I'm completely ruined now."
Jiang Nan Fang hadn't expected the situation to be so dire.
He had resorted to robbing Peter to pay Paul, with holes everywhere.
"Who introduced you to this business? How could you be so careless, investing without even reading the contract properly?"
Zhou Jin Xiu said, "I knew you'd say that. It's too late for regrets now."
"Those scoundrels intended to harm me. I had a professional team investigate at the time, and they found no loopholes."
Investigated? So it wasn't a blind investment?
It was a planned and premeditated commercial fraud.
Jiang Nan Fang asked, "Did you report it to the police?"
Zhou Jin Xiu looked utterly dejected.
"Yes, but the other party's accounts are overseas, and their exact location can't be traced."
"It's my own fault for being careless and trusting them too much. The identification they provided to the police was fake. Eighty percent of them have likely already left the country and can't be found."
"And what about the loan? Why didn't you borrow from a bank? How did you get involved with a loan shark? How much did you borrow?"
"How was I supposed to know it was a loan shark? If I had known, I would never have signed, even if it meant death!"
Zhou Jin Xiu became increasingly agitated, running his hands through his hair. "Five million."
Such a large sum, and he didn't borrow from a bank, but from private individuals, and without reading the contract carefully...
Hearing this, even a fool would realize it was a planned, premeditated "pig butchering" scheme targeting Zhou Jin Xiu.
Jiang Nan Fang was speechless.
"How much has it accumulated now, with principal and interest?"
"Twelve million. I used two million of the company's funds to pay off the initial interest, leaving ten million."
Zhan Bei Jue was amused by his foolish explanation.
A man in his twenties, who had studied for over a decade, could be so thoroughly swindled.
Being burdened with ten million in debt without reason was quite something.
"So what do you want from me now? For me to lend you ten million to pay off this unfair debt?"
Zhou Jin Xiu really didn't want to talk to Zhan Bei Jue.
But since Jiang Nan Fang was his wife and had overheard the conversation, he couldn't get past her.
However, just because she heard it didn't give him the right to scold him.
"If you want to lend it, lend it. If not, forget it. I'm not begging you, so don't act so high and mighty."
"..."
He actually expected a better attitude?
According to his logic, instead of being scolded for such a situation, he should be applauded?
"Just being aggressive towards me isn't a skill."
"Zhou Jin Xiu, after all this, don't you understand? If you had dared to be a bit assertive with outsiders, you wouldn't have been targeted like a pig."
Zhou Jin Xiu, already embarrassed to come to him for help, was now being directly scolded to his face, his ears turning red with anger.
"Who are you calling a pig? You insult me before even lending me the money. Zhan Bei Jue, do you think you're the only smart one in the world?"
Useless fellow, only capable of bullying those weaker than him.
Zhan Bei Jue ignored him, having many things to attend to.
He gestured to Jiang Nan Fang with his chin.
"Ten million is not a small sum, think carefully. He might not be able to repay you. You don't need to do it for my sake."
Jiang Nan Fang: "..."
How much animosity could these two brothers have?
Couldn't they just talk things through without bickering?
Jiang Nan Fang understood Zhou Jin Xiu. Although his usual conduct was unreliable, he wasn't a bad person.
He certainly didn't intend for things to turn out this way, and there was no need to kick him while he was down.
Similarly, Zhan Bei Jue had a sharp tongue but a kind heart.
If he truly needed to borrow money, he wouldn't refuse.
"It's not that I won't lend it to you, it's that I don't have that much money on hand right now. Jin Xiu, improve your attitude and talk to your second brother properly."
"You don't have money? Fine."
Zhou Jin Xiu deflated instantly, feeling like his entire speech had been in vain.
"Then that's it. No matter what happens, I'll accept it. It's my own stupidity. I'm leaving."
"So you came all this way just to complain and elicit sympathy?"
Seeing him about to leave in frustration, Zhan Bei Jue, with his sharp tongue and kind heart, called out to him.
"After all, you're my cousin, Zhan Bei Jue. Being swindled like this, you've disgraced me."
Zhou Jin Xiu: "?!"
Just as he was about to retort, his phone rang.
He looked at it but didn't dare to answer.
Zhan Bei Jue took in his distress.
"Is that someone calling to collect a debt? What's the deadline?"
Despite being at his wit's end, Zhou Jin Xiu couldn't bring himself to admit it in front of Zhan Bei Jue.
He stubbornly remained silent.
Zhan Bei Jue rolled his eyes at him and instructed Jiang Nan Fang.
"We can't take this leave today. Call her over. I have something for her to do."
Then he looked at Zhou Jin Xiu.
"Don't go out and embarrass yourself. Come inside with me."
The breakfast on the dining table hadn't been cleared yet. As everyone sat down at the table, Zhan Bei Jue asked the nanny to get a set of cutlery for Zhou Jin Xiu.
Zhou Jin Xiu said dejectedly, "Don't bother, I can't eat."
"Is that necessary? Such a small matter, and you won't even eat?"
"Eat your fill, drink your fill. Once you're full, go upstairs, take a shower, change your clothes, and I'll go with you later."
"Someone dared to scam Zhan Bei Jue's cousin. I want to see who they are and how tired of living they are."
Zhou Jin Xiu ate a little and was led upstairs by the nanny to shower and change.
Zhou Jin Bei arrived at the Zhan residence in a hurry.
Although she had quickly applied makeup to try and conceal her fatigue, Zhan Bei Jue and Jiang Nan Fang immediately noticed her poor condition.
However, since she didn't want to talk about it, they didn't press the issue.
Zhan Bei Jue assigned her two tasks.
One: Contact the bank managers in his contact list and arrange meetings to discuss financing.
Two: Go find Shen Min Er and take her mother to the best psychiatric hospital in Nancheng for treatment.