Chapter 6: Can’t Pay the Money? Then You Can Only Pay with Your Body
After escaping from the Grand Island Blue Bay Hotel, Qin Wan’s first thought was to go to the hospital.
He had disappeared for the entire night yesterday and hadn’t answered any calls; Aunt Rong must be worried sick.
Standing on the street, Qin Wan rubbed his groggy, heavy head.
Without a phone, he couldn’t even scan a QR code for a shared bike.
However, even if he could scan one, given his current physical condition, there was absolutely no way he could ride a bike.
Fortunately, the Third Hospital wasn’t very far from the hotel.
Swaying with every step, forcing himself to endure the pain in his body and the discomfort of the high fever, he finally walked to the hospital.
He went upstairs to the ward.
“Aunt Rong,” he called out, struggling to pull the corners of his mouth into a smile.
The woman on the hospital bed, looking haggard, struggled to sit up when she saw Qin Wan.
“Xiao Wan, where did you go last night? Aunt Rong was worried to death!” Zhou Rong said, her brows furrowed tightly.
Qin Wan pretended nothing had happened and walked over with a smile.
“Don’t move. I’m fine. The food stall closed late yesterday, so the boss let me stay at the shop.”
“I don’t know where I dropped my phone, so I didn’t get your call.”
To make money, Qin Wan worked as a waiter at the hotel during the day and helped in the kitchen at a food stall on the food street after getting off work at night.
Since Zhou Rong was hospitalized, he had given up his small rented room. Every day in the early hours of the morning, he would return to the ward and sleep on a chair for a few hours.
Zhou Rong reached out her hand toward Qin Wan. “Xiao Wan, why do you look so terrible? Are you sick?”
His small, palm-sized face was pale underneath, but his cheeks were flushed with an abnormal redness.
Zhou Rong wanted to touch his forehead.
Qin Wan dodged slightly to the side, avoiding her hand.
He sat on the stool and gently held Zhou Rong’s hand. “It’s nothing, I just didn’t rest well. Don’t worry.”
Zhou Rong’s nose stung with emotion. “It’s all my fault; I’m dragging you down. At an age where you should be studying properly, you have to work so hard just to make a living.”
“Xiao Wan, I still want to say, this illness, I don’t want to…”
Qin Wan quickly interrupted her: “Aunt Rong, no! Don’t bring this up again. As long as there is a glimmer of hope, we can’t give up.”
“I’m working two jobs now and making quite a bit of money, enough to cover the hospital expenses. Don’t worry about anything; just focus on recovering.”
Zhou Rong’s eyes reddened. “Xiao Wan, you’re only nineteen. Children your age are still acting spoiled in their parents’ arms, but you…”
She couldn’t continue and tears streamed down her face.
Qin Wan reached out and wiped her face.
The expression on his handsome features was gentle.
“Aunt Rong, during those years in the Sheng family, if you hadn’t protected and taken care of me, I probably wouldn’t have lived to see nineteen.”
“So, it’s only right that I take care of you now.”
Zhou Rong gently rubbed Qin Wan’s head, her eyes full of love and pity.
She wiped the corners of her eyes.
“Xiao Wan, look at this!” she said, picking up a ball of red yarn from the inner side of the bed.
“The eldest sister who just got discharged gave me her leftover yarn.” Aunt Rong’s pale face was smiling.
“I’ll knit you a new sweater to wear in the winter, okay?”
Qin Wan grinned happily. “That’s great! A red sweater, how festive! Thank you, Aunt Rong!”
Aunt Rong gently rubbed his head. “Our Xiao Wan is so elegant; you’ll definitely look especially good in red!”
Just as they were speaking, the ward door was suddenly slammed open with great force, and five or six menacing men barged in.
“Qin Wan! Did you run here to hide and relax?” A fat man with a shaved head shouted.
“Do you even know what date it is today?” Beside the bald man, a man in a floral shirt with his chest exposed yelled along.
Seeing this, the other patients and family members in the ward hid far away, whispering amongst themselves.
Upon seeing this group, Qin Wan’s already pale face instantly turned even whiter.
He shot up from his seat and walked toward them.
He forced out a trace of a smile, his voice very low: “Brother Hao, if you have something to say, let’s go outside. Don’t disturb the patients’ rest here.”
The bald man glanced sideways at Zhou Rong on the bed and scoffed.
“Fine, outside it is.” As he spoke, he grabbed Qin Wan’s wrist.
Qin Wan’s wrists had been tied all night. Because of his desperate struggles, the skin had long been rubbed raw and swollen by the tie.
When the bald man grabbed him, he instantly gasped in pain.
Cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
But he dared not show it. Turning his head, he tried hard to pull a small smile and said to Zhou Rong on the bed, “Aunt Rong, I’m going outside to say a few words to my friends.”
After speaking, amidst Zhou Rong’s suspicious gaze, he followed the group toward the door.
Once in the corridor, only then did Qin Wan use his other hand to pry away the bald man’s grip on his wrist.
“Brother Hao.” His voice lacked strength. “Please give me a few more days of grace. I could have paid you a portion today, but…”
Hearing this, the bald man’s small eyes widened.
“What? Are you f*cking toying with me? What did you say on the phone?” He clamored, raising his hand as if to slap him.
The man in the floral shirt stopped him. “Hey, Brother Hao, don’t hit the face.”
He looked at Qin Wan, putting on a playful, grinning expression.
“Qin Wan, if you really can’t pay it back, we don’t want to drive you to your death either. Our boss said, taking your person as payment works too!”
As soon as these words came out, several thugs laughed.
“This little brat, his face is indeed f*cking good-looking!”
“His body is great too; long legs and a perky butt. If one were to f*ck him, imagine how good it would feel, hahaha!”
“That’s right, you go accompany our boss for a while. If the boss is happy, the debt will naturally be waived for you!”
Qin Wan’s head buzzed, and his expression was ugly to the extreme.
But he could only grit his teeth and endure. “Can you… give me a few more days?”
The floral shirt guy reached out and pinched Qin Wan’s chin. “Can’t give you even a little bit! Our boss said, today we either see the money or the person!”
As he spoke, his other hand dishonestly reached toward the hem of Qin Wan’s shirt.
“Just come back with us and serve our boss! Hahaha!”
“Bastard, don’t touch me!”
Qin Wan couldn’t bear it anymore. He bent his long leg and kneed hard toward the floral shirt guy’s crotch.
This time, Qin Wan didn’t hold back.
The floral shirt guy instantly jumped up, clutching his crotch in pain.
“Ah, you f*cking dare to kick me?”
He raised his hand and slapped Qin Wan across the face.
Seeing this, the people beside him rushed up together, grabbing and pulling.
Usually, even if he couldn’t beat so many people, Qin Wan could at least punch and kick and fight them for a while.
But having been tormented by Gu Xinglan all night, aching all over and running a fever, his physical strength truly couldn’t hold up right now.
He was soon subdued, his arms pulled and shoulders twisted by the gang.
Qin Wan panted heavily; his eyes, already bloodshot, turned even redder.
“Kill me if you have the guts!” he growled through gritted teeth.
Just then, a cold but very pleasant voice rang out.
“Heh, so lively?”
The thugs turned their heads and saw a young man in a suit and leather shoes, with a handsome and upright figure, standing not far away at some unknown time.
Behind the man stood seven or eight burly, imposing bodyguards in black.
“Oh, it’s Qin Wan?” Gu Xinglan put on an expression of accidentally meeting an old acquaintance.
“What, is it stealing this time, or scamming?” The corner of his lips held a smile as he stared at Qin Wan with eyes full of playfulness.
Qin Wan immediately felt a deep sense of suffocation washing over him.
His body couldn’t help but tremble.
He closed his eyes briefly.
Regarding life, he never had high demands.
He just wanted to live, to cure Zhou Rong’s illness, so the two could depend on each other.
But life seemed unwilling to grant even this small kindness.
Life gave him nothing but hardship and suffering, bumps and grinding torment.
Just like now.
He couldn’t handle the debt collectors, and Gu Xinglan had chased him down again.
Waves of dizziness hit Qin Wan’s head.
No matter how unyielding his nature was, he completely didn’t know how to handle the current situation.
The bald man looked Gu Xinglan up and down.
From his attire and the aura around him, it wasn’t hard to guess that this man was definitely not ordinary.
So, his tone became a bit more polite.
“He owes our boss money; we’re here to collect the debt.”
Gu Xinglan didn’t speak; his gaze fell on Qin Wan’s face.
A palm-sized face, pale and flushed red. On one cheek, there was a fresh palm print.
Looking every bit the pitiful little thing.
“Does he have money to pay you back?” Gu Xinglan asked, seemingly casually.
The bald man shook his head. “Of course not! If he did, would we still need to get physical?”
Gu Xinglan nodded. “Oh. Then what do you plan to do?”
The floral shirt guy said, “No money, so we grab the person! Debts must be paid; if he can’t pay the money, then he can only pay with his body! Heheh!”
He wore a lewd smile.
Gu Xinglan’s smile deepened as he looked at Qin Wan.
“So, Qin Wan, look, how does that saying go? If you play the game, sooner or later you have to pay.”
“You brought this on yourself; you can’t blame others.”
Facing the bullying of a group of thugs and Gu Xinglan’s insults, Qin Wan’s entire body trembled more and more violently.
He bit his lip hard.
His beautiful eyes held a pool of crystal tears, which he forced back, refusing to let them fall.
He wanted to struggle, but his body couldn’t exert even half an ounce of strength.
The bald man said no more and waved his hand at the thugs: “Take him away!”
“Let go of me! Bastards! I’m not going…” Qin Wan’s voice was terribly hoarse.
Gu Xinglan glanced at the thin, frail little person firmly shackled by the thugs.
His long finger swept over his brow, and he said faintly: “Wait.”
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