Looking back now, Hu Xingfa almost wanted to slap himself twice.
Incompetent?
His elder sister was too capable!
So capable that she had taken all the money from his card!
Thinking of this, Hu Xingfa couldn't help but feel a bit fortunate. Fortunately, most of his money over the years had been tied up in buying excavators. Although there were over two million in his card, it wasn't his entire fortune.
At worst, he could use the excavators as collateral to get a loan from the bank to pay last month's wages first. When someone rented an excavator this month, he could use the rent to repay the loan.
It would just mean tightening his belt for a while.
Thinking of this, Hu Xingfa suddenly remembered the hotel where he had asked Hu Jin to book the full moon banquet.
"A full moon banquet is such an important event, it can't be canceled. Last time, looking at Zhang Lili, she probably saved up quite a bit of private savings behind my back. This is a good opportunity to use it."
With that thought, Hu Xingfa sat in the car and stepped on the accelerator.
He drove into the residential area, gave the doorman a dollar for staying up late, and then entered the community. He drove around for a while before finding a parking spot. After parking, Hu Xingfa took out his phone and saw it was almost three o'clock in the morning.
After locking the car door, Hu Xingfa took the elevator upstairs to go home.
He inserted the key, but the door wouldn't open.
The anger that had been suppressed all night suddenly found an outlet, and Hu Xingfa took a step back and kicked the door.
"Bang!"
"Open the door!"
The loud banging in the middle of the night woke up both Zhang Lili and Hu Qian.
However, the mother and daughter tacitly pretended not to hear, hoping that Hu Xingfa was drunk and had the wrong address. After knocking a few times and finding no one opening the door, he would go to his mistress's house!
"Bang bang bang!!"
"Open the door! Zhang Lili, get up and open the door for me!"
Hu Xingfa's loud voice and the deafening kicking sound woke up everyone in the building.
A strong man living upstairs, who was sleeping soundly, was woken up by the kicking and shouting. Full of anger, he stomped down the stairs in the elevator, grabbed Hu Xingfa by the collar, and roared in his face:
"Be quiet! Do you know it's three in the morning! If you keep making noise, I'll show you why the flowers are so red!"
Seeing the burly man whose arms were thicker than his legs, Hu Xingfa smiled awkwardly and apologized:
"I'm sorry, it's late, my wife locked the door from the inside. I'm a bit anxious, sorry, sorry!"
After the strong man left, Hu Xingfa stood outside the door. Seeing that no one was opening it, he calmed down and stopped shouting like before.
"Zhang Lili, if you don't come out and open the door, you won't get any living expenses from now on."
Less than three minutes after he said this, the door was opened from the inside.
Zhang Lili, with her hair messy, stood behind the security door and said softly,
"The children upstairs have been running around at night these past few days, so I've been wearing earplugs to sleep. Husband, why are you back so late?"
Hu Xingfa walked into the house with a dark expression and sat on the sofa.
"Close the door and come here."
Seeing Hu Xingfa's gloomy face, Zhang Lili's heart began to sink. She had tried calling Xu Sheng recently, but each time she was told that the number she dialed was out of service.
She had a vague, bad premonition.
Had Hu Xingfa discovered Xu Sheng and locked him up?
But she didn't dare to go, she was afraid that if she went, Hu Xingfa would discover the connection between her and Xu Sheng.
Hu Xingfa spoke first, but his question puzzled Zhang Lili.
"How much money is left in your card?"
"Husband, you haven't given me much money lately, so I only have a few hundred yuan left in my card."
"Zhang Lili, stop pretending. I need money urgently right now, so I'll ask you, how much private savings do you have? Tens of thousands?"
Zhang Lili's heart skipped a beat.
What did Hu Xingfa mean by this?
Was he asking for money from her?
Thinking of the missing Xu Sheng, Zhang Lili's unease grew stronger.
Over the years, Zhang Lili had indeed saved up a considerable amount of private savings, not a small sum, forty thousand.
It was enough to buy a small apartment.
Zhang Lili's heart pounded, but her face showed no emotion. She pursed her lips and walked to Hu Xingfa's side, massaging his shoulders, and said softly,
"It's not really private savings, it's just a little dowry I've saved for Qianqian. It's not much, only a little over forty thousand yuan. If you need it urgently, I can go with you to get it."
Hu Xingfa stared at Zhang Lili for a long time, then his expression softened and he said,
"Okay, give me the card. After this matter is settled, I'll increase your monthly living expenses by a thousand yuan."
Zhang Lili got up and went back to the bedroom to retrieve a bank card from a drawer in the closet.
This was the card she had put in a prominent place, supposedly for Qianqian's dowry, after Hu Xingfa had warned her, to prevent him from pressing her about her private savings.
It contained forty-three thousand yuan, a not insignificant amount, which perfectly fit the approximate amount Hu Xingfa expected her to have saved.
After handing the card to Hu Xingfa, Zhang Lili was about to see him out when she saw him walk into the bathroom and start undressing, preparing to take a shower.
"I've been busy with business lately and have neglected you. I'll make it up to you tonight."
Zhang Lili's gentle smile almost cracked.
"Husband, it's okay, I understand. Business is naturally the most important thing."
Before Zhang Lili could finish speaking, she saw the bathroom door slam shut.
...
The night passed. The next morning, Hu Xingfa took the company's business license to the Construction Bank to apply for a loan. Hearing that he was there to apply for a loan, the lobby manager enthusiastically led him to the VIP room.
He handed his business license and ID card to the other person.
The clerk inside smiled as she swiped the ID card through the machine and asked Hu Xingfa, who was sitting outside the glass,
"How much are you looking to borrow?"
Hu Xingfa thought about the combined wages for the past month and this month for the company's thirty-odd employees.
"I'll borrow two hundred thousand."
As soon as Hu Xingfa finished speaking, he saw the clerk, who had been smiling, glance at the computer and then turn to look at him, her smile freezing.
"Mr. Hu, our system shows that you have already borrowed one million yuan using your business license and ID card. It is to be repaid over three years, and this month should be your second repayment."
Hu Xingfa's first reaction was disbelief, but thinking about how Hu Jin had concealed her divorce for so many years, what else could she not do?
The thought that his company had been mortgaged and even borrowed over a million yuan made Hu Xingfa's head spin, and he felt himself falling backward.