Chapter 139: You Tell Me

"Let's go. We're leaving."

Seeing that Xu Fei remained unresponsive no matter how much he called out, Ma San realized things might have gotten out of hand. He waved to his two henchmen, preparing to take them and leave.

"You stop right there!" Du Man cried out, holding Xu Fei in her arms.

"What are you doing?" Ma San turned back to look at her, pointing a finger with a touch of guilty conscience. "He was the one who came at me with a knife first. This is self-defense, understand?"

"Don't you dare leave! You've beaten him into this state; I'm going to report you to the police station!"

Ma San sneered, "Report us? Go ahead. Who saw it? Hmph, with no evidence, do you really think I’m afraid of you?" He glanced down at the still-unconscious Xu Fei. "Let me tell you, even if you’re dead, this debt isn't going anywhere. If you don't pay it back, I'll go find your wife to collect!"

With that, Ma San turned and left with his men. Being just a woman, Du Man was helpless against him. She could only hold Xu Fei and weep.

"Sister-in-law..." Xu Qing and Xu Yun stepped out from the house.

"Are you, are you alright?" Xu Yun rushed over to Du Man's side. "What happened to my brother?"

Du Man reached out to touch Xu Fei's head. He was still breathing, but no matter how long she called his name, there was no reaction.

"Sister-in-law, should I go call the police?"

Du Man shook her head. "It’s no use. Ma San is a notorious rogue. Even if the police come, we have no witnesses, and if that guy denies it, there’s nothing we can do."

"So, he was beaten like this, and we're just going to let it go?"

Du Man thought for a moment. "Let’s carry your brother inside first. As long as he's alright, we'll let him figure it out when he wakes up."

Xu Qing and Xu Yun helped Du Man, and the three of them worked together to carry Xu Fei into the house. Du Man applied a hot compress to his head, and soon, Xu Fei began to show signs of life.

"My... my head hurts so much!" Xu Fei reached back to touch the spot, where a round, swollen lump had formed. "Where’s Ma San?"

The first thing he asked upon opening his eyes was about him.

"They left."

"Left?" Xu Fei looked at Du Man. "Did he do anything to you?"

Du Man shook her head.

"That's good."

Du Man asked with a troubled expression, "He said the money has to be paid back. Fifty thousand! That's so much money, what are we going to do? And he said it would accrue interest, so won't it just keep growing?"

"That's true..." Xu Fei frowned and pondered. "It seems this matter has to be resolved sooner or later." He paused, then said, "Help me up."

Du Man helped him to his feet. Xu Fei walked over to the wardrobe and took out all the money he had stored there.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm checking how much I have. If I can scrape enough together, I'll pay him off."

"Fifty thousand is such a huge amount, how can we possibly scrape that together?"

Xu Fei thought for a moment. "Third Brother and the others should still have a few tens of thousands. I have fifteen thousand here. Let me go find them and see if we can come up with a plan."

With the money tucked into his pocket, Xu Fei left the house and headed straight for Zhang Mingyang's place. When he knocked on the door, it was Zhang’s father who opened it.

"Old man, where is my Third Brother?"

"Him? He didn't come home last night."

"What?!" Xu Fei was stunned. That couldn't be right; when he left the Xu house yesterday, it was only a little past four in the afternoon. Could he have gone somewhere else?

Xu Fei nodded to the old man. "Sir, I won't stay, then."

"Alright. If you see Mingyang, tell him to come home early."

"I will."

After greeting the elder, Xu Fei left the Zhang residence. Since he hadn't returned all night, Xu Fei thought for a moment and headed straight for Sun Qigong's place, as Zhang often went there when he didn't return home. To his surprise, Sun Qigong hadn't seen him either.

"What’s going on?" Xu Fei began to grow worried. He immediately went to the offices of Chen Da and Wang Yiming to inform them that Zhang had not returned home.

"Where could the Third Brother have gone?" Chen Da tried to think of any leads but came up empty.

The three of them had no choice but to head out into the streets, searching every alley, lane, and route Zhang might have taken between Xu's house and Zhang's house. They eventually regrouped at the Li Laosi Restaurant in front of Xu’s home.

"Well?" Xu Fei asked Chen Da and Wang Yiming.

"Nothing. Where did that kid go? Did he just vanish into thin air?" Chen Da looked at Xu Fei. "Old Four, don't worry too much."

"Exactly. He's a grown man, where could he possibly go?"

Just as the three of them were at a loss, Fu Chun from the police station happened to ride his bike past them.

"Brother Chun!" Xu Fei greeted him.

Fu Chun nodded, but not far past them, he stepped off his bike. "I say, Xu Fei..."

"Yes? What is it, Brother Chun?" Xu Fei walked over.

"Last night, your friend Zhang Mingyang was picked up by us. If I hadn't seen you, I might not have remembered."

"What?!" Xu Fei was shocked. "Brother Chun, what happened? We've been looking for him all morning!"

"It’s like this: yesterday we received a report from a woman claiming her daughter was being followed. We went to her house and saw Zhang Mingyang nearby, acting suspiciously, standing on a wall and peering into the courtyard."

"You're saying my Third Brother was peeking over someone's wall? No way!"

Fu Chun looked equally puzzled. "I know Zhang Mingyang. To be honest, I don't believe it either, but my colleagues caught him red-handed. How do you explain that?"

"Then, what does my Third Brother say?"

"Him? He won't say anything, just sits there chain-smoking."

"Brother Chun, can we go see him?"

"Sure. It’s not a major offense, and the other party isn't pressing charges, so as long as someone comes to bail him out, we can let him go."

Fu Chun led the three of them straight to the Xinghai Street Police Station. Inside an interrogation room, Zhang Mingyang was squatting in a corner, with dozens of cigarette butts scattered on the floor in front of him.

"Hey, Zhang Mingyang, Xu Fei and the others are here."

Fu Chun ushered them into the room. Zhang Mingyang looked up. "You guys are here?"

"Third Brother, what happened to you?" Xu Fei was deeply confused, given that Zhang had been perfectly fine when he left his house yesterday.

"It's nothing, I just... I just saw an acquaintance."

"An acquaintance?" Xu Fei and Chen Da were taken aback. "Who?"

Zhang Mingyang looked at Fu Chun. "Brother Chun, can I go now?"

Fu Chun nodded. "You lucky kid, you've got good friends. Alright, Xu Fei has signed for you. Don't do this kind of thing again. If you don't care about your reputation, at least think about your father."

Zhang Mingyang nodded. "Got it, Brother Chun. Thanks. I'll pay you back for the cigarettes."

"Forget it. Just make sure you don't end up back in here."

Zhang Mingyang looked at Fu Chun and bowed in gratitude before walking out of the interrogation room. Once Zhang, Chen, and the others had left, Xu Fei pulled Fu Chun aside.

"Brother Chun, can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."