Chapter 054: The Highest Realm of Repaying Debts

Just moments before, Gu Ya had been waiting for Lin Le outside the school gates, but he never appeared. Her calls went unanswered, so she had no choice but to go inside and look for him. She hadn’t expected, upon entering, to witness Lin Le surrounded and blocked by a group of people.

When the crowd saw Gu Ya step forward to defend Lin Le, they were all taken aback, struck first and foremost by her remarkable beauty. There was no denying that, as the eldest daughter of the Gu family, Gu Ya stood out from ordinary girls both in appearance and aura. The onlookers were momentarily spellbound.

After a brief pause, the debt collectors finally came to their senses.

“You say you gave this car to the boy? Who exactly are you?” To be able to give away a luxury car worth two million yuan on a whim was no feat for an ordinary person.

“Gu Ya of the Gu family in Haizhou,” Gu Ya replied calmly.

Her tone was even, without a hint of emotion, but to the crowd’s ears, it was like a thunderclap, shaking them to their core.

“What? The Gu family? You... you’re actually from the Gu family?” the man who had spoken earlier exclaimed in disbelief.

“It can’t be wrong, look at the license plate…” someone else pointed out.

Only then did they notice that Lin Le’s car had a license plate starting with “GU,” the Gu family’s exclusive plate, a well-known secret in Haizhou.

At that, the crowd was utterly stunned.

The Gu family of Haizhou! In Haizhou, their name was almost legendary. How could any of these office workers not have heard of them? The Gu family’s reputation was so vast that even the CEOs of their companies would give anything just to curry favor with them.

One word from the Gu family could easily cost these people their jobs, or even wipe out the entire corporations they worked for. How could such ordinary employees dare not to show respect?

Even the students gathered around were greatly astonished. That someone would gift Lin Le a luxury car was surprise enough, but even more shocking was that the giver was none other than the heiress of the illustrious Gu family!

It was almost beyond belief.

The crowd couldn’t help but envy Lin Le. What virtue or ability did this fallen young master possess to earn such favor from the Gu family’s eldest daughter?

At that moment, some of the wealthy young men recalled that they had seen Gu Ya personally picking Lin Le up from school not long ago.

First, she had come herself to drive him home, then gifted him a luxury car, and now she was standing up for him. Could it be that the esteemed Miss Gu truly fancied this Lin Le?

All the male students watching couldn’t help but look at Lin Le with envy and jealousy, each wishing they were the one favored by Gu Ya.

To marry such a beauty and climb the social ladder of the Gu family in Haizhou—this was nothing short of overnight success!

“Lin Le is an honored guest of our Gu family and a close friend of my grandfather. If any of you have grievances with him, perhaps our family can help mediate and make things right,” Gu Ya said, her voice gentle but carrying an undeniable force.

The debt collectors exchanged glances, silenced and terrified.

Standing aside, Lin Le listened and couldn’t help but admire the formidable Miss Gu. She first asserted his status as a Gu family guest, then highlighted his relationship with Old Master Gu. Such connections had already intimidated the debt collectors into submission. Only a fool would dare challenge her authority now.

She was clearly warning them: to trouble Lin Le was to oppose the Gu family itself. With the Gu family’s standing in Haizhou, who would dare cross them?

“This… it’s nothing, really. It’s just a small financial dispute with Mr. Lin. Since he’s a friend of Miss Gu, let’s forget about it for today. We’ll be on our way…” they stammered, eager to withdraw.

“Wait!” Lin Le suddenly called out.

“I’ve already said, whatever the Lin Group owes you, I’ll settle it today. Our family will never renege on a debt,” Lin Le declared calmly.

“Er… let’s just drop it. The money was owed by the entire Lin Group, not you personally, Mr. Lin…” They believed that even their own bosses would have made the same decision.

“No, the debt must be repaid. Our Lin family is the Lin Group,” Lin Le insisted.

“This…” The debt collectors looked troubled.

They had offered to let it go, but he insisted on paying. Yet, even if he gave them the money, who would dare take it?

To be dunned for a debt and have it come to this—these people felt utterly humiliated.

Even the students watching were impressed by Lin Le’s determination. “Our Lin family is the Lin Group!” That was a bold statement indeed.

“If Lin Le says he’ll repay it, then he must,” Gu Ya added, supporting him.

“Lin Le is a guest of our Gu family. The money—we’ll cover it,” she said.

“Ah?” The debt collectors nearly felt like falling to their knees.

If their bosses learned they’d pressed the Gu family of Haizhou for payment, they could forget about keeping their jobs.

The crowd was in awe of Gu Ya’s generosity.

It was, after all, tens of millions in debt, and she offered to pay it without hesitation—something ordinary families could never dream of.

“Thank you for your kindness, Miss Gu, but this is a debt owed by our Lin family. It is only right that we pay it ourselves,” Lin Le said, even as others marveled at Gu Ya’s magnanimity.

Once again, everyone was astonished. Did Lin Le have a screw loose? That was tens of millions owed! With someone willing to pay on his behalf, he should be secretly delighted, not insisting on taking the burden.

“Lin Le…” Gu Ya looked at him with worried eyes.

“Don’t worry, I can cover this amount,” Lin Le assured her, knowing she was concerned about his finances.

Though he had mentioned the Tang family’s affairs to Gu Huaishan and the others the day before, he hadn’t brought up the two hundred million.

Everyone was surprised that, despite his current circumstances, Lin Le still had the means to pay off such a massive debt.

It wasn’t a matter of thousands or tens of thousands, but tens of millions! Even for a thriving corporation, it would not be easy to produce such a sum at once, let alone a bankrupt young master.

Not far away, Ma Zhifeng was quietly sneering to himself. Gu Ya’s appearance had startled him, but now, hearing that Lin Le intended to pay his debts himself, his confidence returned.

Ma Zhifeng had already investigated Lin Le’s background. He knew Lin Le had served three years in the military and had only recently come back, while his father had spent those years selling breakfast on the street.

With such an impoverished pair, tens of millions was out of the question—even a few hundred thousand would likely be beyond their reach.

Ma Zhifeng felt certain Lin Le was setting himself up for humiliation and could hardly wait to see him make a fool of himself.

“Why don’t you tally up exactly how much our family owes you?” Lin Le said to the debt collectors.

They did not dare delay and soon came up with a figure.

“It’s eighty-three million yuan in total,” someone reported.

At the sound of that number, the crowd collectively gasped.

Eighty-three million! Nearly a hundred million!

Ma Zhifeng nearly burst out laughing. Eighty-three million—let’s see how you talk your way out of this, Lin Le!

Lin Le took out his bank card, only to freeze.

It wasn’t the amount that stopped him, but rather the awkward realization that he couldn’t transfer such a large sum at once. The previous transfers involving the Tang family and Liang Qiuyang, in sums of one or two hundred million, had all been handled through special channels. Now, Lin Le simply didn’t have that capability.

“Gu Ya, I might need your help with something…”

Twenty minutes later, to the gasps of those present, an armored cash transport truck drove straight onto the Haizhou First High campus.

Several fully armed security guards jumped out, followed by a group of bank personnel who approached the assembled crowd.

“Miss Gu, the funds you requested have arrived,” one of the staff announced.

“They’re not for me—they’re for Mr. Lin,” Gu Ya replied, gesturing toward Lin Le.

“Mr. Lin, here is the eighty-three million yuan in cash allocated for you,” the staff member said respectfully.

Normally, withdrawing such a large sum would require an appointment, but after Gu Ya’s call to the bank, none of that mattered.

“Open it,” Lin Le said evenly.

With that, the staff opened the armored truck’s doors, revealing stacks of gleaming red cash filling half the compartment before everyone’s eyes.