All The Villain Wants Is Money - Chapter 8

Guang Liang had already been rendered speechless when Xie Gu called him out and his usually quick-witted mind went completely blank at Xie Gu’s final question. He couldn’t come up with a single rebuttal.

Xie Gu, however, smiled brightly. “Cousin, do you agree with me too?”

Guang Liang instinctively wanted to deny it but couldn’t figure out what excuse to make to fool Xie Gu. He stood there frozen, unsure whether to speak or stay silent. The expression on his face kept shifting, making the moment intensely awkward.

Xie Wenxin, unable to stand it any longer, stepped in to defend her son. “Xie Gu, don’t you know how to respect your elders?”

Xie Gu retorted, “Well, that depends. Do you and Cousin know how to respect the people who provide for you?”

Xie Wenxin was immediately choked into silence, and the other relatives of the Xie family also jumped in to defend her. “Xie Gu, what are you implying?”

“Do you have no manners?”

“Does your father know how unreasonable you are?”

Xie Gu glanced at his jabbering relatives, but his face showed no anger. Instead, he looked almost amused, as if watching the family’s monkey throw a tantrum because they were given less for breakfast. Just as the noise in the room reached a peak, a voice suddenly rang out with a roar, “Enough!”

Even Xie Gu was surprised and he looked over at the speaker.

“I can’t believe you’re all even Ah Gu’s relatives!” The woman’s voice was trembling with anger. “Has Xie Wentang’s support over the years turned you all into fools?!”

Xie Wenxin sneered. “Zheng Wen, what are you acting all innocent for? Who among us present isn’t here for the mine? At least I’m Wentang’s older sister, the one with real blood ties! You’re just someone surnamed Zheng who’s taking advantage of your relationship with that dead woman, Zheng Fei!”

Zheng Wen’s face turned pale. “I’m not! How can you say such things about my sister?!”

“Enough already,” Xie Wenxin pressed, her tone aggressive. “Then tell me, what exactly are you here for? If you can’t explain, then let Zheng Ting speak!”

Zheng Ting hesitated before speaking, “I came… just to ask…”

Zheng Wen abruptly cut him off. “Shut up.”

She turned to look at Xie Gu, her gaunt face now drained of color. Her once charming features have been warped by anxiety. “Sorry to bother you, Ah Gu. My brother and I will leave right away.”

Without waiting for a response, she roughly dragged Zheng Ting out of the office. Despite his large frame, Zheng Ting was surprisingly no match for Zheng Wen. He complained as she pulled him along, “Sister, what are you doing?”

Zheng Wen, who was only about two years older than Guang Liang, was now full of explosive energy. “Shut up! Are you not embarrassed enough yet?”

The scene of the Zheng siblings’ departure felt like a farce and Xie Gu’s relatives were left dumbfounded. What was Zheng Wen doing? Wasn’t the plan supposed to be forcing Xie Gu to reverse his decision to sell the mine? If Xie Gu claimed the mine was already sold and couldn’t be reclaimed, they would have pressured him for more money.

Once the sounds of Zheng Wen and Zheng Ting arguing faded, Guang Liang finally returned to his senses and put on the airs of an elder. “Cousin, now we can talk about the family coal mine, right?”

“Hm?” Xie Gu placed the financial report down and sipped from his Yixing clay cup. “Cousin, I actually think Aunt made some valid points.”

He lifted his head slightly and met Guang Liang’s gaze, speaking with an amused and detached tone. “Have all of you become foolish from the old man’s support over the years?”

Guang Liang was subdued by the sudden eye contact with Xie Gu. The message in his gaze seemed to be questioning why these uninvited imbeciles haven’t scampered off yet.

Guang Liang involuntarily took a step back. He broke out in cold sweat, but he had forgotten that behind him was Xie Wenxin and ended up stepping on his own mother’s foot. The pain made her shriek, and at the same moment, the sound of Xie Gu’s cup thudding onto the desk echoed through the room.

Thud!

“Previously, I was just being respectful.” Xie Gu’s smile grew even brighter as he continued, “Do you want me to start calculating how much the old man has lent you all over the years? Ten thousand? A hundred thousand? A million? Or is it ten million? Do you think we’re your father? Do you think we have a duty to support you? Sorry, but the law doesn’t recognize that.”

He spoke at a steady pace and a neutral tone, as if he was just asking a simple question instead of interrogating them. Yet, the faces of the Xie family went pale, unsure of how to respond.

Seeing them silent, Xie Gu finally stood up, leaned forward slightly as his fingers began tapping rhythmically on the desk. “The money that old man had given you all over the years definitely isn’t just ten million, right? Consider this the last shred of family affection. I won’t pursue this matter any longer. Now, I kindly ask you all to leave.”

Guang Liang, who was closest to him, was still more than a meter away from Xie Gu, but everyone else was visibly frightened and stepped back, the image of them asking Xie Wentang for money resurfacing in their minds.

How much had they borrowed in total?

Guang Liang recalled that he alone had borrowed over five million.

He trembled and tried to argue, “We borrowed the money legitimately. We didn’t break the law.”

“Is that so?” Xie Gu smiled. “Telling the old man it was an investment, but actually using the money for gambling—would you call that legitimate borrowing? If you really believe that, I might have to sue you for fraud. If I recall correctly, you could be sentenced to life imprisonment if the amount exceeds 200,000.”

He looked directly into Guang Liang’s eyes. “Tell me, cousin, how long do you think your sentence will be?”

Guang Liang finally couldn’t stand it any longer, his legs giving way as he dropped to his knees.

How did Xie Gu know all this?!

He wanted to beg for mercy, but Xie Gu impatiently waved him off. “Hurry up and get out of here. Do you really want me to call the police?”

The next second, the Xie family relatives immediately scattered in a hurry. When Guang Liang and Xie Wenxin rushed out of the office, they even got stuck at the door.

“Tsk,” Xie Gu disdainfully sighed, “What a bunch of fools.”

“Host, why not just call the police?” the system popped up again. “If you could get these people arrested, you’d earn some ‘face slapping’ points.”

“System, you really are a rookie.” Xie Gu held it in even more contempt. “I just scared them a bit, and you’ve been fooled too? Xie Wentang is a pushover. He didn’t even make these relatives sign any promissory notes when they borrowed money and just treated it as supporting the development of his hometown. How could I sue them with no evidence?”

“… ” The system suddenly felt looked down upon. “So what’s next? Lies are always exposed eventually.”

“Before these halfwits snap out of it, I have plenty of time to send them to jail.” Xie Gu was unconcerned about the relatives, because there was something more important at hand. “But, excluding my presence, are you sure everything else in this world is working as normal?”

The system quickly replied, “Yes, I’m sure. Host, is there a problem?”

“Zheng Wen’s attitude is off,” Xie Gu said firmly.

In the original world’s plot, Zheng Wen had little presence, but she was definitely not a good character.

So where was the problem?

Xie Gu sat back down and started flipping through the financial report again. Just then, Secretary Qin, who had just hurriedly returned from Douliao, knocked on the door. “President, Kong You is outside and wants to see you.”

Kong You, the last person from the RC group who had yet to make his appearance.

Xie Gu was not surprised by Kong You’s visit at this moment. “He’s here, huh.”

He raised his head and smiled. “Let him in.”

It was the same radiant smile he had given to Guang Liang and the others earlier.