Niu Chengzhi truly regretted it this time. If he had known things would turn out this way, he would have tried harder to change his bad habits.
Now, he was brought to this dark and lightless place, getting less than five hours of sleep each day. The money he earned from his work wasn't even one ten-thousandth of his debt.
If things continued like this, when would it ever end for him?
"Niu Chengzhi! Why are you slacking off again? Hurry up and get back to work!"
The foreman said, and a group of them started hitting him on the back.
This was a black coal mine. The workers here were all forced to come for various reasons.
There were no friends or family here, only relationships based on profit.
There was only one way to leave this place: wait until the day his debts were repaid, and then he could naturally leave.
But could he ever repay all that money in his lifetime?
"Look at that new guy. He can't take any hardship. Maybe his family background was quite good before."
"Yeah, yeah. It's a shame he's fallen to this point."
As they chatted, the group walked towards Niu Chengzhi.
"Hey, newbie, how about we be friends? This is our boss, you can call him Brother Liu."
Niu Chengzhi looked up at Brother Liu. He could tell he was not someone to be trifled with.
"Hello, Brother Liu." All he could do was greet him obediently.
"From now on, as long as you're with us, you'll enjoy privileges here. At least the supervisors won't beat you as easily.
But there's one thing you must promise us. Enjoying privileges isn't free. You can share your resources from outside with us brothers. For example... I imagine your wife must be quite attractive."
Niu Chengzhi couldn't bring himself to betray Chang Xiuxiang again for such a reason, so he politely refused, "I'm very sorry, Brother Liu. The reason I'm in a place like this is precisely because I have nothing left, and I have nothing to share with you."
However, Brother Liu was convinced of his judgment and thought Niu Chengzhi's family background was good, insisting on getting some benefit.
"Are you trying to lie to me? I've been here the longest. I can tell at a glance what kind of family background you have. Don't refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit. This entire coal mine is full of my people!"
"I'm not lying. I really have nothing."
Brother Liu snorted and looked at the thugs behind him, "This is the first time I've met someone so uncooperative. Tie him up. I'll teach him a lesson today!"
"No!" Niu Chengzhi looked to the coal mine supervisors for help, but they were nowhere to be seen, clearly avoiding such scenes.
Looking at these people, Niu Chengzhi's spirits sank to the bottom. He had even prepared himself mentally, perhaps he would die here today.
At this moment, Zhan Mohan arrived at the usury company where Niu Chengzhi owed money.
"President Zhan, you're here at this hour. Have you changed your mind again? Do you want to take Niu Chengzhi back?"
The other party said with a hint of mockery, "President Zhan, you're the CEO of a major company. You wouldn't possibly have problems with small companies like ours, would you? It's not easy for us to earn a little money, yet he owes so much and refuses to pay."
Zhan Mohan only snorted upon hearing this. Niu Chengzhi was already a notorious defaulter, repeatedly borrowing money and not repaying it. Yet they kept lending him money. Wasn't that proof that their targets were people like Niu Chengzhi?
Such usury companies, though called companies on the surface, were in reality private enterprises organized by people from society.
"Tell me, what will it take for you to release Niu Chengzhi?"
"One million. As long as President Zhan is willing to pay one million to redeem him, I will guarantee he comes back unharmed."
Zhan Mohan could clearly see that the other party was simply trying to extort him, as he currently had no capital to negotiate with.
"I imagine this one million is nothing to President Zhan, right?"
Fang Xun, standing nearby, was getting impatient. He had initially disagreed with Zhan Mohan negotiating with such people. With a company like this, a simple police report would be enough to bring them down.
But Zhan Mohan was worried that the other party might not reveal Niu Chengzhi's whereabouts, which was why he opted for this milder approach.
Zhan Mohan didn't answer directly but looked at the other party, who seemed to be deep in thought.
However, just by meeting Zhan Mohan's gaze, the man uncomfortably turned his head away.
Even though he was somewhat able to negotiate with Zhan Mohan as an equal, in reality, he had mustered all his courage to reach this point.
He couldn't let Zhan Mohan's demeanor scare him away at this crucial moment.
Niu Chengzhi had already been severely beaten by Brother Liu's men.
"How is it? Do you submit? If you obediently agree to us, perhaps you can have an easier time."
"I... I..." Niu Chengzhi endured the pain but refused to compromise.
Even though he was beaten to the point of being unable to speak, his eyes still looked at Brother Liu with determination.
Brother Liu was surprised that Niu Chengzhi had more backbone than he expected. He knew that if he didn't teach him a real lesson, Niu Chengzhi might even become an obstacle to his dominance here.
"Cut off his little finger."
"What?" Niu Chengzhi couldn't believe his ears. "You can't do that! I'll call the police!"
"Call the police? Do you really think the police are useful here? Since you could come here, you should have been prepared."
Saying that, Brother Liu waved his hand again. His thugs grabbed Niu Chengzhi's arms, and another person picked up a cleaver.
Niu Chengzhi's eyes were filled with terror. "Don't... don't!"
After a few minutes of thought, Zhan Mohan finally spoke, "Alright, I agree. Fang Xun, get them a check."
"President Zhan, we can't..." Fang Xun was about to say something but was silenced by a look from Zhan Mohan.
Having received the money, the usury company's demeanor completely changed. "President Zhan, don't worry. I'll call them now and have them release him. Just go to the intersection of West Suburb Industrial Park Road, and you'll find him there."
"Good." Zhan Mohan said, and stood up to leave.
"President Zhan, we're leaving now?" Fang Xun felt like the million dollars had been too easy to obtain.
Zhan Mohan merely curved his lips. "Naturally, it won't be that simple. We'll go find him first. Once we find him, the outcome will naturally become clear."
Fang Xun was still a bit confused about the situation, but since Zhan Mohan said so, he could only follow him.
Meanwhile, at the black coal mine, Niu Chengzhi's screams echoed.
He still couldn't save his finger. The pain was almost enough to make him faint.
Perhaps at this moment, he truly realized how utterly wrong his past actions had been. But was it too late for him to repent now?