Liu Zhiqiang, a long-term heavy drinker and smoker, had never exercised his body. How could he stand a chance against Mu Jinyu?
There he lay on the ground, his body aching and devoid of strength, unable to even curse loudly. Another firm stomp on his chest by Mu Jinyu nearly left him gasping for air, incapable of uttering a word in response to his affable comment about someone's mother.
Observing this, Mu Jinyu lifted his foot slightly, allowing Liu to breathe and speak.
"Huff... huff..."
Liu's face turned beet red, almost suffocating alive, but as soon as Mu Jinyu raised his foot, he began to breathe greedily in deep gasps, reveling in the sheer joy of being alive.
Mu Jinyu gave him a few dozen seconds to catch his breath.
Then he spoke, "Feels good to live, doesn't it? That was just a small greeting. If you don't pay me back the money now, I'll make you understand what it means to truly wish for death over life!"
"I'll pay, I'll pay..."
A flicker of spite crossed Liu's eyes, but he concealed it well and promptly cried out.
He was genuinely afraid that Mu Jinyu, the hotheaded youngster, wouldn't care and would just thrash him. With so few people in his medicine hall right now, if he dared to put on airs, he might actually be toyed with to death by Mu Jinyu!
"Then hurry up and pay the money. I don't have time to play games with you," Mu Jinyu said indifferently.
Lin Qiaoxia had been stunned by the terrifying skills of Mu Jinyu, but after hearing the conversation between the two, she snapped out of it. The worry in her beautiful eyes dissipated a great deal, replaced by a mixture of shock and joy.
Suddenly, she felt that perhaps this task was not impossible after all.
Then, she remembered her promise to Mu Jinyu—if she could recover this debt, she would forgo the bonus from the company and give it all to Mu Jinyu.
Instantly, her gaze became sad and conflicted.
Having caught his breath, Liu managed to regain enough composure to speak normally. He attempted to struggle up from the ground, but seeing that Mu Jinyu didn't intend to move his foot away, he gave a resigned smile, giving up the struggle.
"I don't have that much cash on hand; I'll make a call right now to have someone bring the money over," Liu explained, then reached into his trouser pocket, fumbled around, and took out his mobile phone to make a call.
"Hello, bring five hundred thousand over here. Yes, yes, yes, right away. My creditor is at the door asking for debts. How could I have any money here? No choice, I can't pay it back, I can only ask to borrow some from you. Yes, thank you."
Liu spoke hurriedly and quickly; the person on the other end had hardly said a few words, and Mu Jinyu hadn't caught what was said before Liu hung up the phone.
"All set, I've asked a friend to lend me the money, and he will deliver it shortly," Liu said from his position on the ground, his body aching, looking up at Mu Jinyu's indifferent face with an ingratiating smile.
Mu Jinyu, stepping on Liu's abdomen, looked down at him and the resigned smile on his face, feeling suspicious.
He faintly sensed that Liu's words were a bit off, not sounding like he was borrowing money, but more like he was signalling his friends that a creditor had come knocking, hinting for his gang of friends to come and save him.
But...
Was he afraid?!
Mu Jinyu didn't know whether his suspicion was correct or not, but it didn't matter; he wasn't afraid and was curious to see what tricks Liu Zhiqiang had up his sleeve!
If it was really about paying back the money, he would let it pass.
But if it was about calling people over, heh-heh...
Lin Qiaoxia, just out of college and new to work, didn't have much wariness. Hearing Liu's words, she was quite happy.
She tugged on Mu Jinyu's clothes and said with a smile, "That's great, I didn't expect you to be so formidable. It looks like we'll be able to complete this tough task after all. How wonderful..."
Mu Jinyu just laughed, without responding.
Liu, feeling uncomfortable lying on the cold ground being stepped on by Mu Jinyu, gave a resigned smile and said, "Big brother, I've already made the call, and they will bring the money shortly. Can you let off my foot?"
Mu Jinyu coolly glanced at him.
Liu Zhiqiang was so frightened that he shrank his neck and dared not speak any further.
But after five minutes had passed, he felt so sore all over that he couldn't help but gather his courage and say, "Big brother, isn't it tiring for you to keep stepping on me like this?"
He thought that if Mu Jinyu was also getting tired from standing, reminding him might make him sit on a chair to the side, and then he could get up too.
But who would have thought…
Upon hearing his suggestion, Mu Jinyu tilted his head to look at Lin Qiaoxia, who was standing next to him, and asked, "Are you tired from standing?"
"Not tired?" Although Lin Qiaoxia's feet were a bit sore, she still shook her head.
Mu Jinyu said, "But I'm tired, go bring over two chairs."
"Oh," Lin Qiaoxia obediently responded and went to get two chairs from the side.
Then, Mu Jinyu let her sit on one and sat down himself, continuing to step on Liu Zhiqiang with his foot to prevent him from running away.
Seeing this, Liu Zhiqiang truly felt like crying but had no tears.
If he had known it would turn out like this, he would not have spoken up and reminded Mu Jinyu. If he remained in discomfort while being stepped on, Mu Jinyu, standing and stepping on him, wouldn't be too comfortable either.
Now, it was great, Mu Jinyu was comfortably sitting on a chair, stepping on him without getting tired at all.
In the long and torturous wait for Liu Zhiqiang.
About ten or so minutes had passed.
His phone in his pocket started ringing.
Liu Zhiqiang quickly took out his phone, answered with a few muffled sounds, hung up, and then looked up at Mu Jinyu with a pitiable expression, saying, "Big brother, they have arrived but they don't know the way, let me go pick them up…"
"They are friends, and this shop of yours is quite famous, how could they not know the way?" Mu Jinyu said casually.
Hearing that, Liu Zhiqiang's heart skipped a beat, feeling that things were going south.
Just when he thought things were going to get worse, unexpectedly, Mu Jinyu actually lifted his foot and released him.
"Go ahead," Mu Jinyu crossed his legs and said indifferently.
Liu Zhiqiang struggled to get up from the ground, bowed to Mu Jinyu and quickly said, "Thank you, big brother, I'll bring them over right away."
After speaking, he ran out of the pharmacy as if fleeing and went to meet the people.
Even though Lin Qiaoxia lacked a sense of guard, she still felt something was off, glanced at Liu Zhiqiang's gambling buddy pretending to be dead at the side and whispered, "Why do I feel like he isn't going to borrow money? It's more like ..."
Before she could finish.
Suddenly, Liu Zhiqiang's arrogant, triumphant laughter echoed at the doorway, saying, "Haha, you fool, how dare you let me make a call and let me go, you didn't expect that, did you? I don't have five hundred thousand, but it would only take me minutes to find fifty brothers!"
With that.
Mu Jinyu and Lin Qiaoxia saw a completely different Liu Zhiqiang from when he was subdued under Mu Jinyu's foot, instead striding in with the swagger of a big boss, full of vigor, just like the Gambling God from the movies, followed by a large crowd!
This group of people were all wearing tank tops, displaying their Azure Dragon Pattern tattoos on their arms, wearing flip-flops, and holding pipes as they followed Liu Zhiqiang in.
Mu Jinyu, sitting leisurely in his chair, didn't show the slightest hint of panic and retorted, "Didn't you just say you were calling people to borrow money?"
Liu Zhiqiang glared hatefully at Mu Jinyu and cursed, "If I had a way to borrow money, would I be stuck in this dump playing games for one or two hundred bucks a round?!"
"So, you have been fooling me and wasting my time the whole time?"
Having said that, Mu Jinyu suddenly looked up, his gaze piercingly cold as he watched Liu Zhiqiang.