Velvet Chains of a Tycoon

Qin Ran rushed to the entrance of the gas company just in time to see Qin Jian being escorted out by security guards.

"Brother!"

She hurried over, her heart sinking as she took in his dejected expression. A wave of guilt washed over her without warning. "I'm so sorry—it's all my fault!"

Qin Ran knew that this trouble stemmed from her conflict with the Yang family. Although Ren'an Clinic had managed to pressure them into a temporary retreat, buying them a month's reprieve, the Yangs had now retaliated by targeting her brother.

"It must be something that went wrong at the copy shop," Qin Jian muttered, shoulders slumped. "But there are no surveillance cameras there, so we can't find any evidence."

"There's no other way now," he continued, his voice heavy with resignation. "I'll have to pay 500,000 yuan in compensation. I guess I'll go back and use the house as collateral for a second mortgage."

The house was still under its original mortgage, with only two years of payments made. Even if they applied for a second mortgage, it would be nearly impossible to secure 500,000 yuan.

"Brother, you gave me 100,000 yuan, and I haven't used it yet," Qin Ran said quickly, pulling out the card and pressing it into his hands. "But do you think you can get 400,000 yuan from a second mortgage on your house?"

"I'm not sure—I need to check with the bank," Qin Jian replied thoughtfully. "If we take out a loan, it might have to be a renovation loan. The house hasn't been renovated before, so we should qualify for one."

Qin Jian had been able to buy a home in Bincheng, a first-tier city, because he had cared for Old Master Liu for ten years. Grateful for his dedication, Old Master Liu's children sold him the property at a steep discount—less than half the market price.

Old Master Liu's son and daughter lived abroad, but he refused to leave China, insisting on staying behind. When Qin Jian helped install piped gas in his home, the elderly man suffered a heart attack and collapsed. Qin Jian rushed him to the hospital, signed the surgery consent form, and stayed by his side during recovery.

At just eighteen, Qin Jian treated the lonely old man like his own grandfather, caring for him faithfully for a decade. Two years ago, when Old Master Liu lay on his deathbed, his children returned from overseas. Upon learning how Qin Jian had devoted himself to their father, they decided to sell him the house for 1.5 million yuan—a fraction of its market value.

With a loan amount of 1 million yuan, Qin Jian only needed to make a down payment of 500,000 yuan. Securing a second mortgage shouldn't be too difficult; the house's current market value exceeded 4 million yuan. The real challenge was how to repay the loan, given that Qin Jian was currently unemployed.

Qin Ran took a deep breath. "Brother, go home and discuss this with your wife. I'll also try to think of a solution."

Qin Jian nodded. Without the blueprints, compensating for the damages seemed like the only option.

When Qin Jian returned home, Du Xiaomei was on a video call via WeChat. Seeing him, she hastily ended the call and asked, "Did you resolve the issue with the gas company?"

Qin Jian shook his head, his demeanor defeated. "We reviewed the surveillance footage, but the blueprints in the video don't match the ones we used for construction."

"What?!" Du Xiaomei's eyes widened in alarm. "What are we going to do? Where will we get 500,000 yuan for compensation?"

"We might have to take out a renovation loan on the house," Qin Jian explained. "Our current mortgage isn't very high, so we should be able to borrow 500,000 yuan through a renovation loan."

"A renovation loan?" Du Xiaomei exclaimed. "Do you even realize what taking out another loan means? We're already paying over 5,000 yuan a month for the mortgage! And now you want to borrow another 500,000 yuan?"

"You don't even have a job right now! You can barely afford the monthly mortgage payments, and you're talking about borrowing more? How do you plan to repay it? Are you going to sell a kidney?"

Qin Jian fell silent, his mind racing. He had been focused solely on finding a way to pay the 500,000 yuan compensation and hadn't considered how they would manage the repayments.

"If we don't take out a renovation loan, what else can we do?" he finally said, slumping onto the sofa. "The gas company wants the money within three days. If we don't pay, they'll sue me."

Du Xiaomei's frustration boiled over. "How could you not think this through? But one thing is certain—we absolutely cannot take out another loan."

"But what choice do we have?" Qin Jian shot back. "You know we're struggling to make ends meet. Even feeding ourselves has become an issue."

"Feeding ourselves is an issue?" Qin Jian stared at her incredulously. "I earned 15,000 yuan a month, and after the mortgage, that left nearly 10,000 yuan. I rarely ate at home, so how could you possibly spend 10,000 yuan on food for yourself?"

"How dare you accuse me of spending recklessly!" Du Xiaomei raised her voice. "Do you think our expenses are limited to food? What about property management fees, utilities, and medical costs? Last year, I started preparing for pregnancy—hospital visits and medication aren't free, you know!"

"The doctor suggested artificial insemination this month," she added bitterly. "I didn't even have the courage to tell him we can't afford it."

"I never said we needed to rush into having a child," Qin Jian countered weakly.

Du Xiaomei grew angrier. "Are you saying I was wrong to prepare for pregnancy? I'm thirty-four years old! If we wait much longer, I'll be considered a high-risk mother!"

Qin Jian fell silent. His wife's efforts to prepare for pregnancy were certainly not wrong.

Seeing his hesitation, Du Xiaomei softened slightly. "Is your sister really married?"

Qin Jian frowned. "Why are you asking that?"

"To solve our problem, of course!" she snapped. "The gas company's manager, Mr. Zhang, is Yang Cheng's uncle. This whole mess started because your sister refused to marry Yang Cheng. If she isn't married, maybe we could convince her to come back and marry him..."

"No!" Qin Jian cut her off sharply. "Qin Ran is already married. Don't bring up that idea again."

"If Qin Ran is married, then let her help us pay the 500,000 yuan," Du Xiaomei insisted. "Didn't she promise to give 400,000 yuan as a dowry? Now, let her give 500,000 yuan—it'll cover the compensation to the gas company."

"She married an ordinary working-class man," Qin Jian argued. "Where is she supposed to get 500,000 yuan?"

"I don't care!" Du Xiaomei retorted coldly. "One thing is certain—don't even think about using this house. I won't agree to a second mortgage, no matter what."

"This house belongs to me," Qin Jian said, growing increasingly frustrated. "You didn't contribute a single penny toward it."

"So what?" Du Xiaomei shot back. "My name is on the property deed. As long as my name is there, this house is our joint property. Without my signature, you can't take out a second mortgage."

Qin Jian: "..."