141: Ask your son

The busy signal coming from the receiver felt like heavy hammers, pounding against his increasingly anxious nerves.

Why isn't he answering the phone? A terrifying thought emerged uncontrollably: Could he have been finished off?

This thought made him shiver instantly, cold sweat seeping from his back.

For the first time, he began to think seriously; that Young Man named Chen Li was probably far less simple than he appeared on the surface...

In fact, Li Weishan was not the only one infatuated with Liu Nansheng.

On the other side of the county, Wu Li, the owner of the repair shop, had also been unable to sleep or eat well because of Liu Nansheng these past few days.

That afternoon, he arrived at the Liu family home, carrying carefully selected fruit as usual.

This was already his dozen-plus visit this month, and he never came empty-handed—bringing fruit today, supplements tomorrow, and expensive tea the day after.

"Auntie, has Nansheng not returned today yet?"

Wu Li sat on the old sofa in the Liu family's living room, took the water cup handed to him by Mrs. Liu, and asked urgently.

Mrs. Liu wore a smile, but her heart was in turmoil: "Little Wu, don't worry. Nansheng went out of town to handle some things and will be back in a few days."

"Then did she say exactly which day she'd be back?"

Wu Li leaned forward, "I have the bride price ready on my end; I'm just waiting to marry Nansheng."

Upon hearing that the money was ready, Mrs. Liu's eyes lit up immediately.

Five hundred and twenty thousand! That was no small sum.

She wished she could find her daughter immediately and stuff her straight into Wu Li's wedding car.

But the problem was, she couldn't contact Liu Nansheng at all.

The phone was always off, and she wouldn't reply to WeChat messages.

Her daughter's clothes were still at home, so where could she have gone?

The more she thought about it, the more she regretted it. She really shouldn't have let her daughter leave the house; it would have been better to lock her inside.

Mrs. Liu forced herself to remain calm: "Little Wu, don't worry. Leave this to Auntie. You just focus on preparing to marry Nansheng."

"Then I'll leave it to you, Auntie." Wu Li stood up and took his leave, looking slightly disappointed.

Mrs. Liu enthusiastically saw him to the door: "Don't worry, don't worry... Goodbye."

As soon as the door closed, the smile on Mrs. Liu's face vanished.

She walked quickly back to the living room and complained to her husband, who was looking at his phone: "Old Liu, where on earth do you think Nansheng ran off to? It's really worrying me to death."

Mr. Liu finally put down his phone and looked up: "I told you long ago, with our daughter's personality, she isn't someone you can keep locked up just by holding onto her suitcase."

Mrs. Liu was instantly furious: "You only know how to make hindsight comments. Why didn't you stop her back then? Now you're blaming me?"

Their son, Liu Tianbao, who had been curled up on the sofa playing games, interjected without looking up: "What are you arguing about? It's affecting my game."

Mrs. Liu immediately switched to a gentle tone: "Tianbao, when you go out to play recently, keep an eye out and see if you can find your sister, okay?"

"Got it, got it... I'll keep an eye out." Liu Tianbao responded impatiently, his fingers sliding rapidly across the phone screen.

This couple was still thinking about how to 'marry' their daughter off for a good price, completely failing to treat her as a person with feelings and thoughts.

In their eyes, Liu Nansheng was more like a commodity that could be exchanged for wealth, rather than their own flesh and blood.

What a truly pathetic pair of parents—holding their son in the palm of their hands, while treating their daughter as a cash cow.

They could never dream that the commodity they currently viewed as something to be sold to the highest bidder not only already possessed a net worth in the tens of millions but also had a boyfriend worth billions.

This was also Liu Nansheng's greatest sorrow growing up.

She had always tried to use filial piety and dedication to move her parents, but she could never melt their hearts, which were biased toward favoring sons over daughters.

Fortunately, she had now finally broken free from this cage and started her own brand-new life.

Yet her parents were still dreaming of getting rich off their daughter, completely unaware of what they had missed.

...

Li Chang's hand holding the phone began to tremble slightly, and fine beads of sweat seeped from his forehead.

He suppressed the panic in his heart, trying his best to keep his voice steady:

"President Fu, did you make a mistake? Didn't we already agree on everything when we met last time? We were just waiting for the final signature and the standard procedure, so why suddenly..."

"Chairman Li, I'm truly sorry. This is the latest instruction from the head office, and there is nothing I can do."

"President Fu, could you please fight for us again?"

"Our Gaoshan Group has developed so many projects in the county and has always been a high-quality client."

"This loan is beneficial for both of us. Can you please make an exception?"

"Chairman Li, this decision cannot be changed. I suggest you try other Banks."

Li Chang felt the world spinning; he had to hold onto his desk to barely stand steady: "President Fu, what exactly is going on?"

"We were just having dinner together last week, and you said this loan was a sure thing. Now that you've suddenly gone back on your word, you must give me an explanation, right?"

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a few seconds, followed by Fu Mingyuan's meaningful words:

"Chairman Li, for this matter, you should ask your son. I have a meeting here, so I'm hanging up."

Listening to the busy signal on the phone, Li Chang froze completely.

He slowly put down his phone, his face as pale as paper.

It's over, it's all over.

This fifty-million loan was their group's last lifeline.

To maintain their capital chain, they had already been in arrears with the construction teams for three months of payments, and the construction sites had long since stopped work.

If they couldn't get the loan in time to pay off the debts and resume construction, they wouldn't be able to deliver the houses on schedule, let alone sell them to recoup funds.

By then, the Bank would come to demand repayment of previous loans, suppliers would come to collect debts, and workers would block the door demanding wages...

This chain reaction would be enough to cause the entire Gaoshan Group to collapse in an instant.

"Ask your son... Ask your son..."

These four words echoed crazily in his mind, and every time they repeated, his blood pressure spiked a little higher.

He swung his arm violently and smashed the expensive purple clay tea set on the table onto the floor.

Bang—crash—

Porcelain shards splattered everywhere, and hot tea spilled all over the floor.

But he felt that wasn't enough to vent his anger; he kicked over the solid wood tea table beside him, breathing heavily, his eyes bloodshot as if they were about to drip blood.

"Li—Wei—Shan—"

He squeezed these three words out through his teeth, each word dripping with monstrous rage.