Chapter 3: Hard Lands and Harsh Waters Breed Good People
“Online loans?”
Those two words felt somewhat unfamiliar to Lin Yaodong, Lin Yaohua, and the others.
“Online loans... you mean... internet loans? Loans!” Lin Yaohua muttered under his breath, then immediately widened his eyes and glared angrily at Lin Wendong.
“Loans have to be repaid! Interest accumulates—how do you expect us to pay this back?!”
The other committee members were equally baffled by Lin Wendong’s recklessness. The interest on loans was exorbitant!
Borrowing a hundred thousand yuan? They’d have to repay at least 120,000!
Lin Wendong’s behavior was sheer madness.
Loans and the “big matters” of the village were entirely different. The latter could remain secret if handled discreetly, with no one ever finding out.
But loans were out in the open!
Once overdue, the lender could legally sue them.
Even Lin Yaodong’s forehead darkened at this point. He never imagined that the outstanding graduate he had personally mentored would act so absurdly.
Moreover,
he had used his own identity information to take out the loans!
Such ingratitude!
Seeing the tense atmosphere, Lin Wendong cleared his throat and began to explain the law to them on the spot:
“According to Chinese law, any interest rate exceeding 35% is legally invalid; such debts are not recognized by the law.”
After speaking, he turned to Lin Yaodong: “Uncle Dong, the 130,000 yuan I borrowed through the online lending apps carries an annual interest rate of 40%, which already surpasses the legal limit of 35%.”
“However... we must be cautious of offline collections by aggressive enforcers.”
---
Lin Wendong’s words left Lin Yaodong and the others utterly bewildered.
Having seen much in life, Lin Yaodong gradually grasped the implications and tentatively asked,
“So, these online loans won’t be recognized by the law?”
Lin Wendong nodded firmly, “Correct. But we must beware of violent debt collectors...”
Before he could finish, he suddenly froze.
“These people in front of me are lawless maniacs! The ones to really fear are the violent collection gangs!”
Upon receiving this confirmation, Lin Yaodong’s breathing grew heavy.
“Violent collections?”
“Our village has thousands of households. If they dare to enter, they won’t leave alive!”
“This... this is an absolute path to wealth!”
---
Meanwhile, Lin Yaohua and the others, who had just looked down on Lin Wendong, exchanged glances, stunned beyond words.
As Brother Dong said,
Who are the people who come for violent collections? The mafia?
Well, with thousands of village households united, we would be the largest mafia in the region!
When the reckless ones come to violently collect in our village,
The only thought in everyone’s mind was:
They’re basically bringing us money!
---
“Gulp~”
Someone’s throat moved involuntarily, swallowing hard.
Lin Wendong observed everyone’s reactions and felt relieved.
“With this method, surely there won’t be any more illegal activities, right?”
“Well…”
Lin Yaodong’s expression fluctuated repeatedly.
He calculated in his mind: if every adult in the village did this...
Our village would take off!
At that thought, his gaze toward Lin Wendong changed.
“No wonder you’re a university graduate! I really wasn’t mistaken about you!”
Lin Yaodong slammed the table and said solemnly,
“All those who agree with Third Household Head Lin Wendong’s proposed plan, raise your hand!”
Almost instantly, every hand shot up in unison.
Complete agreement!
Although the village committee members had doubted Lin Wendong’s capability earlier, now they had all changed their minds.
No wonder he was a top law graduate!
Seeing the unanimous agreement, Lin Yaodong nodded and said,
“Call all the villagers to the square outside the ancestral hall!”
Lin Wendong didn’t waste time either; he began filtering ‘qualified’ online loans, eliminating any with annual interest rates above 35%.
“Why are these loan rates so low? Can’t they be higher? How else do we make money without 40%?”
Eventually, Lin Wendong found ten loan platforms that met the ‘criteria.’
The lowest annual interest rate was 40%, and the highest reached 60%.
---
In other words: borrowing 100,000 yuan would demand repayment of 160,000 yuan after one year!
The level of greed was obvious.
---
In the village square before the central ancestral hall,
All the villagers were gathered.
“Why are we suddenly called here? What’s going on?”
“Could it be ready? I heard Uncle Dong is leading us to...!”
“Really? I’m so poor I’m scared, but if Uncle Dong says so, I’ll follow him through fire and water!”
“...”
The villagers chatted noisily.
After a while, Lin Wendong and his group emerged from the ancestral hall.
The chatter ceased instantly, and the villagers fell silent.
“Ahem~!”
Lin Yaodong cleared his throat; as head of the main household, it was naturally his place to speak first:
“If one day, outsiders enter our village and try to take away our people, what should we do?”
He didn’t address the matter bluntly at first but aimed to rally the villagers’ emotions.
In southern Chinese villages, clan loyalty was deeply ingrained.
Some local laws even yielded to clan regulations.
A village was usually made up of a single surname, and the villagers were united like a solid iron fortress!
Hearing Lin Yaodong’s words, someone immediately shouted back loudly,
“If anyone dares to touch our people, we’ll fight them!”
“My family still has an old gun passed down from my grandfather. If anyone comes to cause trouble here, don’t blame my gun for going off!”
“Fight! Let’s fight!”
“...”
In an instant, the entire village’s spirit was ignited!