Chapter 184 — Zhang Naipao's Plea

"Brother Liang, please say yes. Say yes, and I'll get up..." Zhong Yongliang was now Zhang Naipao's only hope. If Zhong Yongliang was willing to help him, his family might still escape this disaster...

"Fine, I agree. Now get up!" Zhong Yongliang pulled Zhang Naipao to his feet. "Paozi, if you have something to say, just say it. This is a school. How does it look to others, you kneeling on the ground?"

"Brother Liang... I'm sorry, I was just too frantic!" Hearing Zhong Yongliang's words, Zhang Naipao realized his own behavior had been somewhat inappropriate.

"Frantic or not, you can't carry on like that!" Zhong Yongliang said. "All right, first tell me what this is about!"

"Brother Liang, my dad was doing business and got set up by a rival..." Zhang Naipao explained. "Now he can't repay the debt. They're going to accuse him of fraud, and he'll be going to prison..."

"Oh?" Zhong Yongliang frowned. He knew the Zhang family's circumstances—fairly comfortable, actually. The father did business outside, the mother was a full-time housewife. How had such a mess come out of nowhere this time?

"But what does this have to do with your brother?" Zhong Yongliang asked.

"They're pressuring my dad to pay up, and they want my brother to sell a kidney..." Zhang Naipao said.

"Sell your brother's kidney?" Zhong Yongliang found it scarcely credible. "Why not have you sell one?"

"If I could sell one, I'd have gone already—how could I let my brother do it?" Zhang Naipao said. "I went and checked. They said I've got some negative blood type or whatever it is—I don't really understand it either. Anyway, it's that people with my blood type don't match easily, few people need it, so it can't be sold off in a hurry!"

"So that's how it is." Zhong Yongliang nodded. "Then how do you want me to help you?"

"Brother Liang, could you lend my family some money, enough to tide us over this crisis?" Zhang Naipao said. "Even if I have to toil like an ox or a horse, I'll repay your great kindness for the rest of my life..."

"How much?" Zhong Yongliang was not much of a man, but Zhang Naipao had followed him all this time, always serving as his henchman and trailblazer. So Zhong Yongliang really could not just wash his hands of the matter.

"Seven hundred thousand..." Zhang Naipao said cautiously.

"What? Seven hundred thousand? That much?" Zhong Yongliang was stunned. If it had been eighty or a hundred thousand, he could scrape together his New Year's money and cover it, but seven hundred thousand was a sum he could absolutely not produce.

"That's right, Brother Liang. If it weren't such a huge amount, I wouldn't have come begging you!" Zhang Naipao said with a bitter face. "Brother Liang, please help me. From now on, whenever you need me, just say the word. If your house lacks an ox, I'll be an ox; if it lacks a horse, I'll be a horse! Brother Liang, you could tell me to kill myself and I wouldn't so much as blink!"

"Hey, Naipao, don't get worked up yet. This is a serious matter, and I don't have that much money, as you know," Zhong Yongliang said. "I can only give my dad a call. You go back to the classroom first. I'll think about how to broach this with him."

"Brother Liang, you've got to help me..." Hearing this, Zhang Naipao thought Zhong Yongliang was just putting him off and had no intention of helping.

"Naipao, listen to me. You've been with me three years now, and I will certainly do my utmost for your business! Don't think too much of it. I just need to consider how to bring it up with my dad." Zhong Yongliang patted Zhang Naipao's shoulder and spoke reassuringly.

"All right then, Brother Liang. I'll head back first. You have to help me..." Zhang Naipao nodded.

Back in the classroom, Zhong Yongliang kept turning Zhang Naipao's matter over in his mind. By any reckoning, seven hundred thousand was only a small sum to his own family, but after all, that money could buy a luxury car. Zhong Yongliang could not afford to consider it carelessly!

By rights, Zhang Naipao had been with him for three years, served as his underling for three years, attending him at every turn each day, and had never once complained. That fact moved Zhong Yongliang somewhat.

Yet moved or not, what Zhong Yongliang valued more was the benefit those seven hundred thousand would bring him.

Throw out those seven hundred thousand, and Zhong Yongliang believed Zhang Naipao would owe him a favor—a favor of the highest order. In the future, if he needed Zhang Naipao to step up for something, given Zhang Naipao's character, he would surely not refuse...

But seven hundred thousand—was it truly worth it? Zhong Yongliang secretly weighed the pros and cons.

Judging by the way Zhang Naipao had risked himself to save his father and his younger brother, the kid had at least a shred of loyalty. But loyalty or no loyalty, did he himself have any need of it? Zhong Yongliang decided he had better call his father and ask his opinion.

At that thought, Zhang Naipao took advantage of the time before morning self-study began, slipped out of the classroom, and made his way to the restroom. Finding it empty, he pulled out his phone and dialed his father Zhong Fabai's number.

"Pinliang?" Zhong Fabai had just arrived at the company when he received the call from his son, and his heart immediately sank. These days were troubled times indeed; he had only just smoothed over the Black Panther business, and he could not afford another mishap.

Under normal circumstances, Zhong Yongliang would not call him of his own accord, and if he did call, then something serious must have happened. He hurriedly asked, "Has something happened?"

"Dad, there's a matter I need to discuss with you..." Zhong Yongliang said.

"Oh? What matter?" Hearing that Zhong Yongliang only wanted to discuss something with him, Zhong Fabai breathed a sigh of relief. So long as it was nothing too serious, all was well.

"It's like this. You remember Zhang Naipao from my class, don't you?" Zhong Yongliang asked tentatively.

"Zhang Naipao... oh, I know him, that little sidekick of yours. What about him?" Zhong Fabai did know Zhang Naipao; the kid often came over to the house to play, together with one called Gao Xiaofu.

"It's like this. Something has happened in Zhang Naipao's family. His father got cheated in business, and now he's up to his neck in debt. The other party is demanding repayment and threatens to sue him if he doesn't pay..." Zhong Yongliang explained, keeping it brief. "Now Zhang Naipao has come to me, hoping I'll lend him a sum of money to tide him over..."

"Oh, so that's what this is about!" Zhong Fabai roughly understood. In truth, the matter was simple enough: his son's classmate's family had run into trouble and had come to his son for a loan. "Son, what are you thinking?"

"Dad... by rights, Zhang Naipao is my brother. He's followed me all this time, running errands and serving at my side. Now that he's in trouble and asking me for a loan, I ought to lend it to him," Zhong Yongliang said. "But the amount he wants to borrow is really a bit large!"

"How much?" Zhong Fabai asked.

"Seven hundred thousand. And once this money is lent out, I'm afraid it won't be coming back..." Zhong Yongliang said.