My Peninsula 2007

Chapter 434 Pay back the money
Even so, Min Soo-jin couldn't shake off those guys' harassment. On the contrary, she brought trouble to Lee Se-young's house.

It's unclear how those loan sharks were so resourceful; they found Li Shiying's residence in less than two weeks. After that, Li Shiying became their target. According to them, since she helped Min Xiujin, she should simply pay off her debts.

To avoid trouble, Lee Se-young paid off her friend's 5000 million won debt, thinking the matter was over. However, after receiving the 5000 million won, the debtors claimed it wasn't enough, as their search for Min Soo-jin had incurred additional fees and interest. They demanded an additional 1.3 million won in cash to get rid of the problem.

At this point, Li Shiying understood that no matter how much money she and Min Xiujin gave them, these "vampires" would never be satisfied. They would suck every drop of blood from their bodies, and even break their bones to extract their marrow, until they had completely given themselves away.

So they called the police, but reality soon showed them that the police couldn't do anything about it. Even if the police arrested the people harassing them, other people would come knocking, and the methods of harassment would escalate.

Ultimately, left with no other choice, Li Shiying had to ask An Rusong for help. It's safe to say that if this woman had any other options, she probably wouldn't have made that call to An Rusong.

“One of the police officers handling the case said that behind that ‘Doli Financial Company’ is Nam Jong-hoon of the United New Village faction,” Min Soo-jin said, her voice choked with sobs as she finished speaking, “The police station can’t do anything about them.”

The so-called Dori Financial Company is the company that provides loans to Min Xiujin. Without a doubt, it is a genuine loan shark company. The so-called "United New Village Faction" is a gang with the same nature as the Zhao brothers' "Southern Cave Faction". In other words, this is a loan shark company operated by a gang.

An Rusong did indeed know about the "United New Village Gang," whose main area of ​​operation was in the Dongdaemun district, and had no connection with the Nanbudong gang. However, the "businesses" these gangs engaged in were all similar, such as collecting protection money, lending money, debt collection, and so on. Among these, lending money and debt collection were arguably their main sources of funding.

The reason why the police can't do anything about these loan sharks is that these gangs are often backed by political officials. Just like the Southern Cave Gang, without Shen Tai'an's support, the Zhao brothers wouldn't have been able to develop the entire Southern Cave Gang.

On the other hand, while these gangs appear arrogant and lawless, they are actually quite cautious. Those who harass debtors are the outermost members of the gangs; they appear to have no close connection to the organization and are essentially doing what they're paid to do. If the police arrest them, they can neither sentence them to severe penalties nor find evidence of gang crimes on them. Meanwhile, the gangs can easily arrange for other outer members to continue harassing debtors. Therefore, ordinary people simply have no way to fight against these gangs.

As far as An Rusong knows, the existence of loan sharks is one of the reasons why South Korea's suicide rate has risen so rapidly in the past few years. On the surface, South Korea has cracked down on loan sharking countless times at the national and judicial levels, but the actual effect has been very limited. This is simply because there are too many stakeholders involved.

Like the Nanbu Dong gang, as a criminal organization, the cash they actually have is very limited. The reason the Zhao brothers have so much money to lend at high interest rates is because the money they lend out isn't their own. In other words, they are essentially someone else's "front men," and only a small portion of the huge profits from lending money belongs to them.

In An Rusong's previous life, let alone ordinary people in South Korea, many of the well-known K-pop stars were burdened with huge debts from loan sharks. Take the actress Kim, who committed suicide because of loan sharks, for example. Her case was only exposed because it had such a huge impact. And there are countless other examples that were covered up and didn't cause a stir.

These loan sharking companies can even drive celebrities to their deaths. Need I say more about how powerful their connections are?

Across the long table, An Rusong smoked his cigarette expressionlessly. Judging from his expression, it seemed that he had listened to what Min Xiujin said, but it also seemed that he hadn't listened at all from beginning to end.

Min Xiujin finished recounting all the troubles she had encountered, but received no response from the man opposite her. She nervously bit her lower lip, secretly glancing at An Rusong. Seeing him sitting there expressionless, she turned to look at Li Shiying beside her.

"Min Xiujin?" After about half a minute, An Rusong finished his cigarette and stubbed it out in the ashtray on the table, saying with his eyes lowered.

"Ah, yes!" Min Xiujin was startled and quickly knelt up straight, responding.

“I can help you solve this problem, but you have to answer one question for me first,” An Rusong said, looking up at her.

“Okay, okay, Mr. An,” Min Soo-jin said cautiously.

"Why should I help you?" An Rusong asked calmly.

Min Xiujin was stunned. She stared blankly at An Rusong, and after a moment, she turned to look at Li Shiying beside her. She saw that Li Shiying also looked blank. Obviously, she didn't know how to answer the question either.

Fortunately, An Rusong obviously didn't expect her to be able to answer the question, at least not at the moment.

After asking the question, he reached into his pockets and searched through them, but after searching through all the pockets, he still couldn't find what he was looking for. He then said to the still dazed Li Shiying, "Give me your phone."

"Ah!" Li Shiying was startled. After regaining her senses, she stared blankly at An Rusong, probably not having heard what he had just said. "I said, give me your phone," An Rusong repeated, frowning.

This time, Li Shiying heard it. She hurriedly grabbed her handbag, pulled out her phone, and handed it to An Rusong.

Taking her phone, An Rusong turned on the screen and dialed a number.

A moment later, the phone emitted a "beep beep" standby tone. After ringing six or seven times, the tone suddenly stopped, presumably because the person on the other end saw that the number was unfamiliar and hung up directly.

An Rusong smiled and dialed again.

He dialed three times in total, and it wasn't until the fourth time that the other end answered. Immediately afterward, a soft, effeminate voice, clearly impatient, came through: "Hello, who is this?"

“Brother Jingsheng, it’s me, Rusong,” An Rusong said with a smile.

The person on the other end of the phone was naturally Zhao Jingsheng. After hearing An Rusong's voice, he asked in surprise, "Rusong, when did you change your phone number?"

"No, it's just that my phone wasn't with me, so I temporarily used someone else's," An Rusong explained.

"Oh, you're in some trouble, aren't you?" Zhao Jingsheng asked with a smile.

“There is indeed something I need your help with, Jing Sheng,” An Rusong said bluntly. “Do you know Nan Zhongxun from the United New Village faction?”

"What, did that guy provoke you?" Zhao Jingsheng asked in surprise. "That shouldn't be the case. How could he have such audacity?"

“No,” An Rusong said. “It’s just that a friend of mine owes money to ‘Doli Financial Company’ and has come to me for help. I want to pay it off for her.”

“I understand,” Zhao Jingsheng immediately understood what was going on, after all, he was also involved in this kind of “business.” “Although I’m not very familiar with the people from the United New Village faction, I can still exchange a few words with them. I’ll call that guy Nan Zhongxun right now. Um, tell me your friend’s name.”

“No, no, no, Brother Jingsheng, you don’t understand what I mean,” An Rusong said with a smile. “Like I said, I want to pay off my friend’s debts, hmm.”

At this point, he glanced at Min Soo-jin, who looked nervous, before continuing, "1.3 million won. This is the amount from yesterday. I will transfer the money to your account later. Please give it to Mr. Nam Jong-hoon for me."

He paused, then added, "By the way, my friend's name is Min Soo-jin. If it's convenient, Mr. Nam Jong-hoon, after receiving the money, could you please arrange for someone to deliver the original loan agreement to room 3307 of the Jeonju Central Hall Myeongdong Main Store?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone. After about seven or eight seconds, Zhao Jingsheng said with a smile, "Okay, I'll do it your way. But let's not talk about money. I'll take care of it for you."

"Thank you, Brother Jingsheng," An Rusong said with a smile, "That's settled then. I'll treat you and Brother Chenghao to dinner in a few days."

"Okay," Zhao Jingsheng replied, and then hung up the phone.

After the call ended, An Rusong placed the phone on the table and pushed it in front of Li Shiying. The latter pursed her lips and whispered, "Xiujin doesn't owe that much money, those people..."

Before she could finish speaking, An Rusong had already stood up, leaning on the table. He walked around the long table to Min Xiujin's side, reached out and pinched her chin, forcing her to tilt her head back and look him in the eye. He said, "Think carefully about the question I just asked you. Why should I help you?"

(End of this chapter)