Eight-tailed cat (1): He is poor

“Pay back the money! If you had the guts to borrow it, you better have the guts to repay it!”

Tan Xiao was woken by the sound of someone banging on the door. As he opened his eyes, he felt a dull ache in his head. When he reached up to touch it, he felt bandages—and the spot at the back was slightly damp, with fresh blood seeping through.

His head hurt terribly… What had happened?

He sat dazed on the bed for a while. Slowly, his sluggish brain started to recover its memory—he was a poor college student living in the slums.

Back in high school, his family had actually been quite well-off, and his grades were excellent. But during his senior year, disaster struck—his father, a businessman, vouched for someone else’s loan. That person fled with the money, and the debt landed on their family.

It was a debt worth several hundred million yuan. Their small company was auctioned off, and all their assets were frozen and used to pay off the debt—but it still wasn’t enough.

Tan Xiao’s life fell from heaven to hell overnight. His family moved into the slums, and debt collectors frequently came knocking at their door.

The only somewhat fortunate thing was that the house in the slums was an old home left by Tan Xiao’s grandmother, and it was under his name. Though worthless, at least it gave them a place to live, and they wouldn’t be thrown out by a landlord when collectors came knocking.

But they had no money, and the family was in dire straits—miserable, even if not yet homeless.

Then, Tan Xiao’s father died in a car accident. The car was destroyed, and he died on the spot. The person who caused the accident also died, so there was no compensation to be claimed.

The family lost their main breadwinner—reduced to a handful of ashes in a wooden box.

They didn’t even hold a proper funeral. The cremation fees at the funeral parlor were donated by an old friend of his father.

Since they couldn’t afford a burial plot, the wooden box was brought home, and they set up a small mourning altar. The urn was kept on a table for worship.

When Tan Xiao’s eyes moved toward it, they met the gaze of a black-and-white photo. The whole tiny house felt cold and oppressive.

His grades had been good, but with the family catastrophe, there was no longer any money for university. And during a previous visit from debt collectors, he had taken a blow to the back of the head from a baseball bat while trying to protect his mother.

Since they had no money, even though he was injured, all Tan Xiao received was some simple bandaging. His mother was already doing everything she could to repay the debts.

Their family was very traditional. His father had run a company; his mother had been a housewife for many years. Being disconnected from society and already in her forties or fifties, the only jobs she could get were grueling manual labor positions with low pay—selling her cheap labor for meager earnings.

They still had a debt of over a hundred million yuan. Based on his mother’s salary, even if she worked for 300 years, she wouldn’t be able to pay it off.

Thinking of how terrible their situation was, Tan Xiao’s head throbbed painfully. The banging on the door grew louder, as if it would break down any moment.

Even though they were already poor, if the door got smashed, thieves could come in and steal what little they had—truly adding insult to injury.

He couldn’t let them keep banging. Even though they had just moved in and hadn’t interacted with the neighbors, if the commotion continued, they’d definitely be hated by everyone around.

Tan Xiao got out of bed and opened the door with a pale face.

He was greeted by a ferocious-looking man—your classic thug type. The man wore a floral shirt and oversized shorts, his muscular arms covered in tattoos. A shiny bald head, flower-patterned arms, and a thick gold chain around his neck.

“You little punk, you owe our company a ton of money. Pay up!”

Strangely, even though he had just graduated and should have felt scared facing someone like this, Tan Xiao didn’t feel fear—instead, he was slightly annoyed.

Because he wasn’t afraid, his mind remained calm.

Tan Xiao asked, “How much is a ton of money? Where’s the IOU? Where’s the contract?”

He spoke calmly, “If you have no proof, I’ll call the police and report you for extortion and blackmail.”

The tattooed thug spat on the ground and said, “We’re a debt collection company. We’re running a legitimate business.”

He pulled out a contract showing that Tan Xiao’s family owed them ten million yuan.

Tan Xiao brought out a small box from the house. “The person who borrowed your money is in here. According to the law, if we don’t inherit his assets, we’re not liable for his debts. If you want your money, go ask him underground.”

The thug’s expression changed instantly. He cursed and raised a huge palm to slap Tan Xiao: “You little f***er—!”

These kinds of companies operated in a legal gray area. For most debtors, even if they didn’t incur the debt themselves, they’d still feel forced to repay—otherwise their lives would be made miserable.

Tan Xiao dodged. Just then, the sound of a police siren rang out behind the thug: “Stop right there!”

That’s right—Tan Xiao had already called the police before opening the door. Since this world had laws, reporting it could solve a lot of problems.

The loud, disruptive thug was taken away by the police car, and Tan Xiao was also required to go to the station to give a statement. At least for now, that unruly collector wouldn’t be back anytime soon.

After giving his statement, Tan Xiao left quickly. He had been lying in bed for a long time and now felt very hungry. He dug out the last of his change from his pocket and bought some oden from a 24-hour convenience store.

The clerk, seeing that he looked handsome yet pitiful, generously added two extra sticks of daikon.

Carrying his bag of oden, Tan Xiao made his way back by memory. The slum’s environment was terrible—many streetlights within a few hundred meters were broken, and the alleys were full of dirty water and trash.

Using the flashlight on his phone to light the way, he stepped into one of the alleys. Suddenly, a shadow shot out from an overturned garbage bin.

A pitch-black body, eyes like green gemstones, and a soft “meow”—it was a black cat, thin and bony.

The cat pounced on Tan Xiao’s bag of oden and snatched the most valuable item inside—the lucky pouch.