Volume One: High School Days Chapter 086: Bringing Down Your Business Only Takes a Word

The boss, who had been sitting nearby, stood up and addressed Liu Sheng. “Kid, if you don’t need the money, then get lost. There are plenty of students who do. Do you have any idea how many classmates have stripped off their clothes waiting to borrow from us? We’re not hurting them—we’re helping them!”

“If it weren’t for your existence, I believe the campus would be a beautiful place. But you’ve cast the darkest of shadows over these students,” Liu Sheng replied coldly.

“Get out of here, now! If you don’t leave, don’t blame me for getting rough! Killing you would be as easy as playing a game!” Manager Zhao shouted impatiently.

The smile vanished from Liu Sheng’s face. He was reminded of Xiaoya’s boyfriend from university who, like so many others, had borrowed from loan sharks like these. In the end, Xiaoya had been forced to work at a KTV, giving up her dignity to earn money to pay back his debts.

With a fierce tone, Liu Sheng declared, “Your service fees are outrageous! Not just students—even working adults couldn’t pay off your loans. How many young female students have you forced into KTVs, nightclubs, or even bathhouses? Their entire lives destroyed at your hands! Don’t you have a shred of conscience?”

“Lending them money helps them through hard times. If they can’t repay, we arrange jobs for them so they can work off the debt. That’s helping, not harming. Besides, we never begged them to borrow from us—they came to us, asking for loans. Morally and logically, we’re doing good deeds,” the boss insisted, still convinced he was a saint, a savior guiding students through hardship to a brighter future.

Just then, Manager Zhao’s phone buzzed several times. He glanced at it and held the screen out for Liu Sheng to see. “There’s always someone else wanting to borrow,” he said.

Liu Sheng saw a video of a female university student on Zhao’s phone, and his anger flared. Zhao ignored Liu Sheng and began watching.

After viewing, Zhao commented, “At most, she gets five thousand. Not only is she ugly, she’s got a huge birthmark on her backside—kills the mood. No one would want her, even if she tried to sell herself.”

Liu Sheng’s rage was barely contained, but Ren Xiadong spoke up. “How do you know she can’t repay? Why are you already finding jobs for her?”

The boss interjected, “You already said it yourselves—how many students can actually repay? I think you’re just here to cause trouble. Unless you give me an explanation, don’t expect to leave!”

Manager Zhao’s next words sent Liu Sheng over the edge.

“The boss says you’re not leaving, so I’ll tell you a bit more. No student can really pay this money back. We judge their looks and bodies to decide how much they’re worth for a night. The videos are just for leverage. Sending them to entertain men is how we recoup our principal. If they want to waive the fees, they have to entertain us. Since I’m telling you this, I’m not afraid of you spreading it around—students who need money never care about consequences!”

Grinding his teeth, Liu Sheng spat, “Animals!” Then he grabbed the ashtray off the table and smashed it over Zhao’s head, once, twice, three times. Even as Zhao took the blows, he laughed, “Go ahead, hit me! I’ll bleed you for a whole apartment!”

Liu Sheng didn’t stop. He muttered as he kept swinging, “Fine! I’ll give you a three-bedroom, one-living-room grave as a gift today, and a deluxe urn for good measure!”

The boss realized Liu Sheng was going to kill him, and, together with another man who had been silent until now, stood up. Only then did it become apparent that this man was a mountain of muscle, towering and broad, the sort who could knock down ten Liu Shengs with a single punch.

“Impressive! The strong, silent type. Let’s play, then!” Ren Xiadong swung a chair at the muscleman. Tang Xin hurried to the corner by the door.

The chair crashed into the muscleman, but he remained unscathed; the chair fell apart instead. The boss pulled out his phone to call reinforcements, but Liu Sheng darted over, snatched the phone, and smashed it on the floor. He said, “Don’t worry, I’ll call someone for you—someone tough!”

Then, waving the bloodied ashtray at the muscleman, Liu Sheng declared, “With your size, I’ll get you a four-bedroom, two-living-room grave and a top-quality willow coffin to go with it!”

The muscleman was instantly enraged. The boss tried to join the fight, but Liu Sheng knocked him down with another blow from the ashtray.

Faced with the muscleman’s attacks, Liu Sheng and Ren Xiadong took a beating. Even their kicks couldn’t budge him. Both men’s faces were already bloodied. Desperate, Liu Sheng froze time—if he didn’t, soon he and Ren Xiadong would be the ones lying on the floor.

Seeing the muscleman frozen, Liu Sheng didn’t hesitate. He smashed the ashtray into the man’s nose, then quickly released his power. The muscleman, feeling the sudden pain, clutched his bleeding nose.

Liu Sheng and Ren Xiadong seized the moment to launch a fierce assault—Liu Sheng wielding the ashtray, Ren Xiadong breaking off a mop in the corner and lashing the muscleman with the handle.

At last, the muscleman collapsed. Liu Sheng tossed the ashtray aside; Ren Xiadong threw away the mop handle and kicked the man on the ground. “Damn it! Made me work this hard—trying to kill me with exhaustion?”

Tang Xin, seeing all three adversaries down, pulled tissues from her pocket to staunch Liu Sheng’s and Ren Xiadong’s bleeding. Noticing his own blood, Ren Xiadong kicked the muscleman again. “Making me bleed! Good thing we won. I’ve only ever lost one fight, and I still remember—”

Ren Xiadong stopped himself, for the only fight he’d ever lost was the day Xiaoya left Liu Sheng—a subject he dared not bring up with him. So he chose not to continue.

Liu Sheng, sitting on the floor, pulled out a cigarette, handed one to Ren Xiadong, and lit one for himself. Gazing at the boss, he said, “Now I’ll call someone for you—and trust me, it’ll be someone formidable.”

The boss, sinking into the sofa with a cold sneer, retorted, “No matter who you call, it won’t matter. We’re backed by Ruiyun Technologies, one of the top ten companies in the city. Cross us, and you’re finished!”

Liu Sheng left the office, stepped into the corridor, and dialed the number Zhou Jin had given him.

“Hello, Mr. Wu is in a meeting. I’m his secretary. If you have any questions, you can tell me and I’ll pass them on,” came a clear, gentle female voice.

Liu Sheng skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point. “This is Liu Sheng—do you know who I am?”

“Of course, Mr. Liu—new owner of Liuyao World Film Company. Please hold, I’ll get Mr. Wu for you right away.”

A minute later, a middle-aged man’s voice came through. “Mr. Liu, what can I do for you? If you need anything, I’ll do all I can to help!”

Wu was delighted to receive Liu Sheng’s sudden call—whatever the matter, it was a golden opportunity to curry favor.

“That student loan company is under your group, isn’t it?”

“Student loans? Ah, Mr. Liu, we have so many subsidiaries, I can’t recall off the top of my head.”

“I don’t care whether you remember! You’ve got half an hour—I want to see you here, now!” Liu Sheng snapped, then hung up.

Wu, hearing Liu Sheng’s anger, put down the phone and asked his secretary anxiously, “Is that company under us?”

“Yes.”

“I thought student loans were a good thing—why is Mr. Liu so upset?”

“Sir, that company specializes in lending to students.”

Wu slapped his forehead. “This is bad—we’ve run into real trouble. Go get the driver, have him wait downstairs, and come with me to the student loan company—quick, hurry!”

Meanwhile, Liu Sheng returned to the office. Manager Zhao had come to, sitting on the floor, pressing a towel to his bleeding head. When he saw Liu Sheng enter, he shrank away, terrified he’d be attacked again.

The muscleman was back on the sofa. Seeing Liu Sheng, he tried to get up and fight, but his injuries made him sway and fall back down.

“So you know who backs us, and yet you still do this? Are you that desperate for money? Name your price!” The boss, seeing the unfavorable situation, assumed Liu Sheng was just after cash—students these days would do anything for money. Get rid of Liu Sheng now, gather some muscle, and settle the score later.

But Liu Sheng answered, “I don’t want your money. I want you to shut down for good. I don’t want to see students destroyed by you anymore!”

The boss snorted with laughter, lit a cigarette, and said, “You’re dreaming. Who do you think you are, telling us to close shop? Just because you can fight? You’re just students—so naive! These days, money talks, not fists. I don’t believe you’d dare kill me here. After you leave, I’ll go to your school, hand out a hundred bucks each to a hundred students, and they’ll beat you to a pulp. That’s the power of money!”

Liu Sheng lit a cigarette and said nothing more, waiting quietly for Wu’s arrival.

The boss was already planning how to deal with Liu Sheng afterward.

At that moment, there was a knock at the door. Liu Sheng turned to the boss and said, “The help I called for you is here.” Then he looked at Manager Zhao. “Aren’t you going to open the door?”

Manager Zhao, holding a towel to his bleeding head, shuffled over and opened the door. He froze at the sight of Wu, then suddenly recognized him—the CEO of Ruiyun Technologies, and the real owner behind the student loan company.

“Mr. Wu…” Manager Zhao stammered in disbelief. Wu’s arrival in such a small, shabby place was beyond comprehension.

The boss was equally shocked. “Mr. Wu, what brings you here? We were just beaten up by these two kids! They’re slandering our company, saying we’re ruining students. They’re smearing us—and you!”

The boss, seeing Wu, felt triumphant, eager to see Liu Sheng get his comeuppance. But then he remembered Liu Sheng had said he’d called for help—could Wu have come at his request? At that thought, the boss’s face fell ashen.

“You two brats will get what’s coming!” Manager Zhao sneered at Liu Sheng and his friend.

“Shut up!” Liu Sheng barked, pointing at Zhao. Then, turning to the boss on the sofa, he said coldly, “If I want your company shut down, all it takes is a single word.”