Chapter 184 — Zhang Naipao's Plea
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"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.