Xu Zhengying glanced at Huo Shengnan, signaling for her to leave first. Knowing he had something he wanted to say without her present, Huo Shengnan rose and left the reception room.
Xu Zhengying leaned toward Hu Xiaotian, held up three fingers, and lowered his voice. "Thirty thousand taels..." As he spoke, he felt his heart dripping blood.
Hu Xiaotian chuckled. "Lord Xu, are you looking down on me, or on yourself?" Inwardly, however, he was overjoyed. Thirty thousand taels! He had really hit the jackpot today. To think he had stumbled upon such a fat sheep to fleece.
Xu Zhengying pulled a long face. "I really can't come up with that much."
Hu Xiaotian said, "You weren't the only official involved in confiscating our Hu Family's property, were you?"
Xu Zhengying said, "No, there were quite a few others!"
"Give me their names!"
Xu Zhengying proved remarkably cooperative, writing down all the principal officials responsible for the affair.
Hu Xiaotian put the list away, and Xu Zhengying spoke again. "Commander Hu, about those thirty thousand..."
Hu Xiaotian said, "Then give me thirty thousand for now."
Xu Zhengying had not expected him to become so accommodating all of a sudden. Greatly relieved, he hurriedly instructed his accountant to fetch a banknote redeemable at any branch of the Four Seas Bank in Great Kang.
Hu Xiaotian took the banknote and turned it over several times to examine it.
Xu Zhengying said, "Thirty thousand taels of gold, redeemable at any branch of the Four Seas Bank. That's my entire fortune."
Hu Xiaotian chuckled. "These thirty thousand are the first installment. You have a year to pay off the remaining seventy thousand. For every month you go overdue, I'll charge you one percent interest."
When Xu Zhengying heard that the bastard still intended to