Becoming a Scum A in an Old-School Melodramatic Novel - Chapter 26

Two days later, Jiang Fang and Lin Zhixin were released from the police station. Having lived for most of her life, this was the first time Jiang Fang had ever been detained — and it could be said that it was her own daughter who sent her in. She felt ashamed to face anyone. If word got out in the village that she had been arrested, she’d probably be drowned in spit by those gossiping mouths. So, no matter what Lin Zhixin said, Jiang Fang was determined not to ask Lin Qinghan for money again.

“Mom, you can’t just leave me to die! I’m your own son. Please, I’m begging you, lend me thirty thousand more. I’ll pay you back soon,” Lin Zhixin — an eighteen-year-old young man — cried so hard his face was a mess.

“I can’t help you anymore, either. Your sister even got me arrested. Your father and I are down to our funeral savings. You’ll have to figure out the thirty thousand on your own. I really can’t help you.”

Most of the money Jiang Fang had previously given Lin Zhixin had come from Lin Qinghan. On top of that, Lin Qinghan gave her a monthly allowance for retirement, so she had never felt bad about giving money to her son. But now, being asked to take out their last savings, Jiang Fang really couldn’t bear to do it.

In the end, Lin Zhixin could only watch his mother board the village-bound bus with a grief-stricken face.

Still, Jiang Fang felt sorry for her son. Before leaving, she gave him the few hundred yuan left over after buying her ticket.

Lin Zhixin looked at the few hundred yuan in his hand and thought, What the hell can this even cover? Might as well use it to get a good bath and a nice meal. With that in mind, he did exactly that — hailed a cab straight to his usual bathhouse and enjoyed a long, relaxing soak.

But before he even left the lobby, Lin Zhixin’s face turned green. He turned to flee, only to be blocked by several men.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Lin Zhixin. The money you owe me is long past due. When are you going to pay up?” The speaker was a short man with eyes narrowed into slits and a beer belly. He spoke slowly and without urgency.

Seeing four or five men blocking his path, Lin Zhixin turned around, forced a smile onto his face, and said in a flattering tone, “Brother Qi, I’m really strapped for cash right now. Can you please give me just two more weeks? I promise I’ll get you the full thirty thousand by then.”

The man called Brother Qi sneered. “Thirty thousand? That was ten days ago. You didn’t know you took out a high-interest loan? It’s forty thousand now — not a cent less. And I want it today. How many days have you been avoiding me? Playing hide and seek, huh?”

Cold sweat poured down Lin Zhixin’s back. “No, Brother Qi, I really haven’t been avoiding you. Please don’t joke like that. The interest went up that much in just ten days? I really don’t have that kind of money.”

“No money?” Brother Qi spat on the floor, then sneered, “Ask around — who dares take my money and not pay it back? Since that’s the case, let me help you ‘remember’ a little better.”

He gave his men a signal. Immediately, two men grabbed Lin Zhixin by the arms and dragged him to the middle.

“Brother Qi, I was wrong, I really was! Please, just this once!”

Brother Qi didn’t respond to the yelling. He had Lin Zhixin dragged back to his small house on the outskirts of town.

One of Brother Qi’s lackeys had already prepared a short knife. Lin Zhixin had never seen anything like this before — he was so terrified he collapsed onto the floor. Two men pulled him up and dragged him toward the table where the knife lay.

Lin Zhixin’s face was drenched — no one could tell if it was sweat or tears.

Brother Qi ordered his men to pin Lin Zhixin’s hand to the table. He held the knife above Lin Zhixin’s right hand.

Lin Zhixin was shaking like a leaf. In a flash of desperation, he shouted, “Brother Qi, wait! Please don’t! I — I have an older sister, and she’s an Omega. You know what Omegas are like — way more exciting than normal women. How about this, you take her for a few days, and we’ll call it even for the forty thousand.”

Brother Qi spat again and looked at Lin Zhixin with a cold smirk. “You think I’m stupid? What if she reports me to the cops?”

“She won’t, Brother Qi, I swear! Even if she does, I’ll testify for you. I’ll say she was blackmailing you. I’m her brother — the police will believe me. And besides, with your skills, she’s the one getting a bargain.”

Seeing that Brother Qi seemed to be softening, Lin Zhixin quickly added, “I’m telling the truth. She works at a hospital — there’s a backstreet near it that’s quiet and has no cameras. Brother Qi, let your guys loosen their grip. I’ve got pictures of her on my phone — you’ll definitely like her.”

Brother Qi waved his hand, signaling them to release him. Lin Zhixin, hands still trembling, unlocked his phone and respectfully showed him a photo of Lin Qinghan.

Brother Qi glanced at the photo, then gave Lin Zhixin a half-smile. “Alright. Since you brought it up, you’ll stay here for the next few days. If your sister satisfies me, the forty grand will be written off.”

“Thank you, Brother Qi, thank you!” Lin Zhixin said, grateful. Since Lin Qinghan wouldn’t give him any money, he didn’t mind turning on her. If letting someone toy with her could clear his debt, he thought it was more than worth it.

Meanwhile, Shen Xian had been working at the Muse office building these past few days, planning to rent a space and start a small business. The few stocks she had helped Jiang Xi invest in were performing well. She intended to use this month’s earnings to open a small company, initially focused on stock market financial analysis, helping individual clients manage their finances.

Later, once she had accumulated some wealth, connections, and financial backing, she planned to transform it into a venture capital firm. There were two reasons, first, venture capital made money fast; and second, with the foresight from her past life, she knew which industries would take off and wouldn’t invest blindly.

Linhai City wasn’t exactly a booming metropolis — the average housing price was around 10,000 yuan per square meter. There were plenty of office spaces to choose from. Shen Xian had her eye on Jinxiang Mansion, not far from the city center. The unit she was interested in was about 120 square meters, with an annual rent of 35,000 yuan. It could be divided into three office rooms, perfect for starting operations.

Shen Xian was just waiting for her payment at the end of the month to come in so she could rent this place and start renovations. The rest of the office supplies weren’t much of a problem, but when it came to hiring employees, the company was just starting out, and she didn’t have much money. The best option was to find some senior-year college students looking for internships.

Just as Shen Xian was about to head to a nearby office furniture mall to take a look, she got a call from Lin Qinghan,
“Shen Xian, I have to work overtime for a bit, so I’ll probably be home late. After you pick up Tian Tian, you don’t have to wait for me to eat.”
“Alright. Just be careful tonight.” Shen Xian reminded her before hanging up.
Since Lin Qinghan often had to work overtime, Shen Xian didn’t think much of it. She found a few sets of office furniture she liked at the mall and then went to pick up the kid from kindergarten.

The system had hesitated several times, clearly wanting to say something, but in the end couldn’t hold back and asked,
“Are you really that at ease with Lin Qinghan coming home alone at night?”

Shen Xian was startled by the sudden voice of the system “coming back from the dead” and replied in her mind,
“You’re still around? I thought you weren’t with me anymore. What do you mean by that just now? Are you hinting that Lin Qinghan is in danger?”

“If the host wishes to know the specific details, a service fee of { ‘10,000 yuan’ } must be paid. Thank you for your cooperation,” came the sharp metallic voice in her mind.

She knew it wouldn’t be that easy to get information. This system, she realized, was obsessed with money.
“Fine, I’ll send it.”

Shen Xian opened the chat window and transferred {- “10,000 yuan” -} to the system. Only then did it continue,
“This system has detected that the female lead is at risk and is issuing an early warning. Specific time and location will be announced separately.”

Shen Xian thought for a moment and recalled the timeline from the original novel. In the original story, Lin Zhixin’s 30,000 yuan debt was repaid by Lu Jianbai, who wanted Lin Zhixin to stop pestering Lin Qinghan. After getting the money, Lin Zhixin didn’t cause any more trouble. So according to the original plot, nothing dangerous happened to Lin Qinghan around this time.

However, since the system had issued a warning, Shen Xian didn’t dare take it lightly. She hurried to pick up the kid from kindergarten and took her to her mother’s place.

Without much time to explain, Shen Xian simply asked her mother to help take care of Tian Tian and then took a cab to the hospital. She figured Lin Qinghan wouldn’t want her to show up at the hospital, and it would be a bit strange to suddenly pick her up from work. So she simply sat on the curb nearby and waited for Lin Qinghan to get off work.

She waited from just past 5 p.m. until after 8 p.m. Only then did Lin Qinghan come out of the hospital with a few colleagues. After saying goodbye to them, she went to the bike shed to get on her electric scooter. But she didn’t get far before stopping to check the rear wheel.

From a distance, Shen Xian guessed that the scooter must’ve broken down. But could it really be such a coincidence? The system had just warned that Lin Qinghan was in danger, and now her scooter’s tire was flat?

Shen Xian didn’t think any further and walked over toward Lin Qinghan. Lin Qinghan noticed her too, her brows slightly furrowed as she asked,
“Shen Xian? What are you doing here? Where’s Tian Tian?”

“I was a bit worried about you coming back alone at night. Tian Tian’s with my mom, don’t worry. What happened to your bike?”
Shen Xian pinched the rear tire as she spoke. It went flat at a touch — completely deflated.

“I don’t know. It was fine this morning. Maybe I ran over something just now.” Lin Qinghan didn’t think much of it.

“I’ll push it. You’ve been working all day.”
Seeing that Lin Qinghan was about to refuse, Shen Xian quickly took hold of the handlebars first. Lin Qinghan didn’t try to stop her. Although she was still upset with Shen Xian, it was a kind gesture to come pick her up, so she didn’t say anything more.

Shen Xian pushed the scooter while Lin Qinghan walked a few steps away beside her. Under the orange streetlights, their shadows stretched long on the ground. Shen Xian didn’t know what to say, so she simply stayed silent. The street was quiet, which made her pick up her pace instinctively, and Lin Qinghan, walking next to her, matched her speed.

Just then, the system’s warning voice echoed in her mind,
“Host, please be advised. The system has detected a total of five dangerous individuals approaching from both front and back. Please make arrangements immediately.”

Shen Xian nearly laughed from frustration. So now the system decided to give a warning — when it was already too late? People were already surrounding them; how were she and Lin Qinghan supposed to escape?

Five men. Even though Shen Xian had learned self-defense, sheer strength-wise she couldn’t take on five men. Fortunately, they weren’t too close yet, and were only pretending to stroll casually, so there was still some distance between them and Shen Xian and Lin Qinghan.