Chapter 107: Chapter 98: Is Usury Illegal?_1 Sun Chao drove back to the People’s Hospital, feeling a bit dazed. The full spectrum of experiences he’d been through in just a single afternoon had left him feeling as if he were in a dream. All sorts of sudden events played back repeatedly in his mind - being despised at the car shop, the despicable Xu Xiangdong, the clever and quirky Dou Jiao, the fact he now had a job, Tang Qing’s lending business and his company, those frightening women, the beautiful Qi Yan. The overload of information he had encountered that day was enough to make his stoic nerves feel a bit hectic. The people and things he had encountered were all foreign to him, and the sheer shock of it all was understandably immense given he had experienced it all in a single afternoon. Upon arriving at the hospital parking lot, Sun Chao didn’t immediately exit the vehicle. Instead, he sat in the car, lost in thought - a completely new life was waiting for him, and he didn’t know how to face it. Ten minutes passed. He sat in the car for ten whole minutes, with his thoughts still in disarray, his heart filled with agitation. At that moment, Sun Chao suddenly remembered a saying by a drill sergeant he respected greatly back in his army days, "A real man should stand tall and firm. Regardless of whether it’s right or wrong, as long as it doesn’t betray the country or the people, go ahead and do what you think is right." "Slap..." Sun Chao forcefully smacked the steering wheel of his car. Why hesitate so much? What the hell is there to be afraid of? Let’s do it! Even though a multitude of doubts remained in his heart, since he had already resolved to follow Tang Qing, there was nothing left to think about. Even if it was illegal, as long as he was indebted to Tang Qing - and given that Tang Qing held him in high regard, there was nothing left to say. As long as it didn’t go against his country and people, he would do it without hesitation. Having resolved his inner confusion, Sun Chao returned to his mother’s hospital room, carrying some fruit in his hands. These fruits were bought by Tang Qing earlier, and they were the most expensive ones available. "Chao, why did you buy more fruit? It’s a waste of money." Sun’s mother’s face instantly lit up when she saw her son enter, but upon seeing the fruits he was carrying, her joy turned into worry. She was aware of the huge debt that her son was under. Every time he bought something for her, she couldn’t help but think about the burden and debt he was carrying. Even though she was touched, she believed in saving every little bit as much as possible to free her son from this debt sooner. Otherwise, with such a huge debt, it would be difficult for him to find a wife. She believed that this was all because of her old age and illness, which was a huge burden on her son and that was why no one was willing to marry him. "Mom, I didn’t buy these. They were bought by the person who lent us the money." Sun Chao said with a smile. Earlier, Tang Qing had bought a lot of fruit by the roadside. At first, he thought they were for his uncle’s family, but it wasn’t until they left that he learned they were for his own mother. Because there was so much fruit, not even one third of it was in the bags he brought up with him - there was still a lot left in the trunk. Tang Qing was now quite financially well-off, and he didn’t count how much he was buying. Any fruit that looked good was added to the lot. If he wasn’t afraid of the fruit spoiling, he would have filled the entire trunk because even a full trunk would cost, at most, a thousand. Right now, for Tang Qing, spending this amount was no different than spending a hundred. "Oh, is that so? Chao, this time you’ve really indebted yourself to him. It’s all my fault, making you owe so much money to him, it’s all because I’ve been dragging you down." Sun’s mother said, unable to hold back her tears. "No, you gave birth to me and raised me, that’s a huge kindness in and of itself. Even if I have to owe more money for your sake, I’m willing to do so." Sun Chao quickly handed his mother a tissue to wipe her tears away. She just had surgery and couldn’t even get out of bed. Just sitting up was an arduous task. Seeing his mother cry, Sun Chao, despite his tough mindset, couldn’t help but feel his eyes well up with tears. "Chao, come and sit down. What did the boss want you to do earlier?" Sun’s mother managed to calm her emotions and asked. "He introduced me to a job. Tomorrow, I’ll go and handle the onboarding formalities. I even drove the car we got under the employment agreement back and parked it outside the hospital." Sun Chao did not dare to mention that he would be working as a bodyguard. He was afraid that his mother would worry about his safety. If she knew he was going to be involved in dangerous work like being a bodyguard, it would undoubtedly make her more guilty, which wouldn’t be good for her recovery. Upon hearing that her son found a job, Sun’s mother joyfully replied, "That’s good. Make sure you do your work well and don’t be half-hearted about it. Remember, we won’t demand a high wage, especially since we owe him so much money. As long as you can support yourself, it’s enough." "Yes, I know. I’ll rent a place near the company to take care of you." Sun Chao agreed. "I don’t need your care. After my recovery, I’m not incapable of movement. When the time comes, I’ll find a light job to earn some money. I’ve also spoken to the doctor; he said there’s no problem as long as I don’t overwork myself." Sun’s mother said. She wasn’t willing to have her son bear the debt alone; she wanted to pay it off as soon as possible so that she could help her son find a wife. "No, you’ve already worked hard enough for your whole life. You should rest. I’ll earn money. Even if he didn’t tell me how much the salary would be, considering his personality, he wouldn’t shortchange me." Sun Chao stated. He didn’t know how much the Deputy Chief of Security post that Tang Qing previously mentioned offered, but he believed it wouldn’t be low. He would then only keep enough for his and his mother’s expenses from it. "Alright. You must repay him well. Our Sun family never produces ungrateful people." Sun’s mother reassured him. "I know, mother. Here, let me peel an apple for you. The doctor said..." ... The next day Tang Qing received a call from Dou Jiao on his way to school. It was done. With Tang Qing’s prior suggestion and after a night of consideration, Dou Jiao has come to consider Xu Xiangdong as a mental patient. The more she thought about it, the more afraid she became, deciding to resign the next day to keep a distance from this ’mentally ill individual’. She couldn’t bear to stay in the car dealership for another second, fearing Xu Xiangdong’s sudden mental health attack. Although rushing to Tang Qing, a person she barely knew, seemed hasty and inconsiderate, for some reason, her instinct told her that Tang Qing was a good guy. She attributed her inexplicable trust in him to being an only child longing for a brother. She knew this was not love – she was not a child anymore and could tell. Besides, she wasn’t easy to deceive; not many dared to trick her in Qingyan City. After hanging up, Tang Qing couldn’t help but laugh. Thinking of Xu Xiangdong being labeled mentally ill made him feel amused. It was indeed satisfying, considering how displeased he was with Xu Xiangdong’s display earlier. Now that Dou Jiao had established a preconceived notion about him, even if Xu Xiangdong was not mentally ill, it didn’t matter. As for Dou Jiao, Tang Qing didn’t specifically hire her to manage his loan business. To be precise, loan management was just a minor part of her job. The company that Dou Jiao was building was merely an embryonic form of a future asset management company. Its main role, currently, was not to supervise other companies, but to provide information consulting services and handle a variety of tasks. For example, if he wanted to venture into an unfamiliar industry, who would undertake the industry research, preliminary preparations, staff recruitment, and the array of miscellaneous tasks? Certainly not him, he didn’t have the time. For instance, if he wanted financing or detailed economic data from a specific country, this company would handle it. In short, the primary business of this company was to serve him, with loan management serving as a menial task for now. Moreover, the scale of the company didn’t have to be large at present. The initial operations of this company would primarily involve business information investigation. Although the country had not yet fully opened this industry, everyone was doing it anyway. Since they were not conducting business with the public, he didn’t have to worry. At noon, Dou Jiao arrived at Baiwei Restaurant as agreed. Tang Qing, too, had arrived early and was waiting in the private room. To familiarize Dou Jiao with the business, he skipped his last class. "Here, this is our goal for today and will be part of your future work." Tang Qing handed over the prepared blank contract. Even though it was blank, it missed only a few details like customer information, every other clause was already printed. As Dou Jiao glanced at the title of the loan contract on the first page, she angrily stared at Tang Qing and said, "You, you are engaged in lending? It’s not usury, is it? I am not doing this job." "Look at the content more carefully, my dear Jiaojiao, what high-interest loan are you talking about?" Tang Qing said with a wry smile. Upon hearing this, Dou Jiao did not say anything more and delved into the details of the contract. "One percent interest per month is indeed very low. You won’t make any money with such a low interest. However, the penalty for breach of contract is a bit high. You don’t plan on making money from the other party’s breach of contract, do you?" Dou Jiao, who was accustomed to contracts, finished reading the contract in three minutes and looked suspiciously at Tang Qing. Unlike Sun Chao, she saw some obscure conditions in the contract. "I ... it’s like this ..." Tang Qing was speechless, thinking, ’I am a good person, okay?’ Without delay, he explained what he had already said to Sun Chao. "Alright, if I find out you are charging usurious interest, I’ll quit immediately." Dou Jiao pondered for a while before saying, as long as it wasn’t usury and there’s money to be earned, she felt okay about the job. "Alright. If I engage in usury, you can even report me to the police." Tang Qing assured confidently. "Tch, you thought I do not understand the law? Usury is not illegal; reporting it to the police won’t do anything." Dou Jiao looked at Tang Qing dismissively, giving him a look as if to say, ’do you think I’m unaware of the law?’ "Uh, well, that’s true," Tang Qing chuckled awkwardly, rubbing his nose. This was indeed true. Our country does not recognize usury as a crime. Engaging in high-interest lending is not illegal. Only peripheral behavior might be illegal, such as violent collection methods, illegal detention, re-lending state loans, and illegal fundraising. As long as the money is your own and is neither from a bank loan nor illegal fundraising, you can set the interest rate as high as you want without breaking the law. Since it falls under economic disputes, even the police won’t intervene. Unless there is personal injury or mental harassment, the police at most take a written record and let you go, leaving you to negotiate privately or approach the court. Even if you go to court, you will at least recover the principal and twenty-four percent annual interest. The national standard stipulates that annual interest rates over thirty-six percent is usury. Interest rates less or equal to twenty-four percent are legally supported, while interest rates between twenty-four and thirty-six percent are considered a natural debt. If you have already paid this part of the interest, the court will not support your claim to get it back, but if you haven’t paid, the court won’t help others to ask for it either. Simply put, in our country, usury is not illegal. Even if taken to the Supreme Court, you will have to pay back at least the principal and a minimum of twenty-four percent interest. Hence, accusing someone of usury to evade repayment is impossible. PS: Brothers, I’m looking for your recommendations and subscriptions.