Three black commercial vans with tinted windows skidded diagonally across the cobblestones of the narrow alley behind the North Campus gate, blocking both ends of the lane.
A dozen men in leather jackets stepped out to form a circle, holding steel pipes, tire irons, and wooden bats while crude tiger and dragon tattoos rippled across their forearms. In the center of the circle huddled thirty university students.
The students trembled against the damp brick wall. Among them was Chen Yu, clutching his phone with white knuckles. Beside him were nineteen undergraduate girls and ten young men, their faces streaked with tears.
Standing before Chen Yu was a burly thug with a scarred cheek and gold teeth, known in the underworld as Brother Biao. He tapped an iron crowbar against his palm, a cruel grin stretching his lips.
“You borrowed thirty thousand on our Golden-Campus App for your mother’s dialysis, Chen Yu,” Brother Biao sneered, blowing foul cigarette smoke directly into the young scholar’s face. “With compound weekly service fees, late penalties, and risk management premiums, you and these thirty students owe six million yuan today!”
“Six million?!” Chen Yu cried out in anguish. “I borrowed thirty thousand yuan six months ago! I already paid back forty-five thousand from my lab stipend! How can thirty thousand turn into two hundred thousand per person?!”
“That is compound interest in the real world, little scholar,” Brother Biao chuckled, his gold tooth glinting. “You clicked the terms on the screen. A five percent daily penalty compounded hourly. Either wire six million yuan right now, or our boys at your county hospital will disconnect your mother’s dialysis pump before the clock strikes three!”
A female student in a gray coat collapsed onto the pavement, sobbing uncontrollably. “I only borrowed eight thousand yuan to pay my father’s surgery deposit! You told me it was a zero-interest government grant! You took pictures of my identity card and threatened to send shame notices to my village!”
“Shut your mouth, little girl!” Brother Biao barked, raising his crowbar. “In ten minutes, my men will start breaking kneecaps!”
SCREEECH!
The screech of burning rubber tore through the narrow alley.
Three black executive vans smashed through the perimeter, braking hard inches from the thugs’ vehicles. Heavy sliding doors flew open with a metallic crash.
Lin Mo stepped down onto the cobblestones, his eyes as cold as a frozen lake. Beside him walked Shen Qiaoqiao, clutching an encrypted tablet.
Towering between them was Commander Tie Niu. Behind Tie Niu marched twelve Iron Guard veterans, their eyes locked on the thugs like hunting hawks.
Brother Biao spun around, clutching his crowbar. “Who the hell are you?! This is private debt collection on contracted commercial debt! Get lost before we crack your skulls!”
Lin Mo didn’t even stop walking. He kept his hands in his dark overcoat pockets.
“Tie Niu,” Lin Mo said softly. “Clean the trash.”
“Understood, Chairman Lin,” Tie Niu rumbled.
Tie Niu took a single step forward. The concrete beneath his combat boot cracked into a web of spider lines.
Brother Biao roared, swinging his heavy iron crowbar directly at Tie Niu’s skull with lethal force.
Tie Niu did not flinch. His right hand shot out like an iron clamp, catching the swinging crowbar mid-air. The massive kinetic force vanished into Tie Niu’s palm without bending his wrist an inch.
Brother Biao’s eyes widened in terror. He yanked at the crowbar with both hands, but the metal bar felt welded into a granite cliff.
CRACK!
With a casual twist of Tie Niu’s wrist, the solid steel crowbar snapped in half like a dry twig.
Tie Niu stepped into Brother Biao’s chest, driving a palm strike into his sternum.
BANG!
Brother Biao flew through the air like a ragdoll, smashing into the side panel of his black van. The metal door caved in six inches, and the thug slid down into the mud, spitting teeth and blood.
The other eleven thugs charged forward with pipes and knives, shouting curses.
Tie Niu moved like a hurricane of iron.
He ducked under a pipe swing, swept two men off their feet with a low kick, and caught two more by their collars, smashing their heads together with a dull thud. Behind him, twelve Iron Guard veterans disarmed the remaining thugs with military efficiency.
In less than five seconds, all twelve debt collectors lay flat on the cobblestones, groaning in agony with dislocated shoulders and fractured wrists. Their weapons were kicked into the gutter.
The thirty students stared in stunned silence.
Chen Yu fell to his knees in the puddles, gasping for air. “Chairman Lin... my mother... they sent men to her hospital bed!”
Before Chen Yu could break into fresh tears, the thrum of heavy rotor blades echoed above the campus.
A sleek twin-engine medical helicopter bearing the emerald lotus emblem of Taichu Hospital roared over the trees.
Shen Qiaoqiao tapped her tablet screen, switching the satellite feed to a secure high-definition video link. She handed the screen to Chen Yu. “Look, Chen Yu. See for yourself.”
On the glowing screen, Chen Yu’s mother rested on a cushioned medical stretcher inside the heated helicopter cabin. A gentle saline infusion warmed her arm, and a clean thermal blanket covered her frail frame. Beside her, Chen Yu’s sixteen-year-old sister wiped tears from her smiling face, waving through the camera lens.
“Xiao Yu,” his mother whispered faintly on the screen, her voice peaceful. “A kind doctor in a white coat arrived like a guardian angel. They said your chairman sent them. Don’t worry about me, son. Study hard.”
Chen Yu clutched the tablet against his chest, breaking down into tears of overwhelming relief.
“Mom is safe...” Chen Yu sobbed, kneeling on the damp cobblestones. “Chairman Lin, you saved my mother’s life! You saved our entire family! I have nothing in this world to repay you!”
Lin Mo knelt down, placing a warm hand on Chen Yu’s trembling shoulder.
“You don’t need to repay me, Chen Yu,” Lin Mo said gently, pulling the young scholar up. “You invented technology that will power our nation. Your mother gave this country a genius son. It is our duty to protect her and ensure she receives the finest medical care in Jiangcheng.”
Lin Mo stood up and looked at the thirty terrified students.
His [Pure-Heart Eye Lv.1] swept across the group.
[Target: 30 Impoverished University Students.]
[Average Goodness Score: 87/100.]
[Moral Status: Honest scholars, trapped by predatory usury while seeking medical care and tuition for destitute families.]
Lin Mo pulled his Black-Gold Card from his coat pocket and handed it to Su Wan, who had just arrived with two executive security sedans.
“Su Wan,” Lin Mo announced in a clear, resonant voice. “Establish the Taichu Zero-Interest Student Medical and Family Relief Fund immediately with an endowment of fifteen million yuan.”
Su Wan tapped her tablet screen. “Endowment portal initialized, Chairman Lin.”
“Allocate six million yuan right now to settle every penny of legitimate legal principal for these thirty students and their families,” Lin Mo instructed. “Wipe out every trace of this predatory debt. The remaining nine million will fund emergency medical grants, tuition subsidies, and housing aid for any student family facing catastrophic illness.”
Su Wan swiped the card on her terminal: ¥15,000,000.00.
BEEP.
A magnificent, resonant celestial chime echoed deep within Lin Mo’s consciousness:
[Ding! Detected spending of ¥15,000,000.00 RMB on Taichu Zero-Interest Student Medical & Family Relief Fund!]
[Beneficiaries: 30 Impoverished Scholar Families (Avg Goodness: 87/100) & Chen Yu's Ailing Mother (Goodness: 92/100)!]
[Target Integrity Verified: Crushing predatory usury syndicate, saving thirty families from debt slavery and physical endangerment.]
[Triggered 100x Pure Benevolence System Refund!]
[Received Cash Refund: +¥1,500,000,000.00 RMB!]
[Funds deposited directly into Host Personal Liquid Vault!]
[Personal Liquid Vault: ¥62,000,000,000.00 RMB!]
[Personal Wealth Milestone: Vault Reaches ¥62,000,000,000.00 RMB!]
[Benevolence Merit Points: +1,500,000 BMP | Total BMP: 154,949,528 BMP!]
[Good People Network Expanded: 9,200 Verified Righteous Allies (Existing Campus Sanctuary Beneficiaries — Debt Relief & Medical Aid)!]
One point five billion cash refund, Lin Mo thought, watching his liquid vault balance reach sixty-two billion yuan. Spending fifteen million to wipe away the nightmare of thirty families and heal a sick mother, while gaining one point five billion in cash. Doing good is the most untouchable armor on earth.
The thirty students stared at their phones as settlement confirmations arrived from the banking authority:
“Your student loan balance has been paid in full by Taichu Relief Fund. Remaining balance: ¥0.00. Credit rating restored to excellent.”
Weeping and crying out in joy, the thirty students surrounded Lin Mo, bowing with their hands pressed together in eternal gratitude.
“Zero yuan... our debt is gone!”
“My family is free! Thank you, Chairman Lin! Thank you!”
At the end of the alley, three police cruisers arrived with sirens flashing, accompanied by Municipal Economic Crimes investigators.
Shen Qiaoqiao stepped forward, handing a thick forensic folder and an encrypted USB flash drive to the lead police captain.
“Captain Liu,” Shen Qiaoqiao said with a crisp smile. “This drive contains the complete server logs of the Golden-Campus App, owned by Zhao Financial Services and managed by Zhao Kai’s cousin, Zhao Long. It records illegal interest rates exceeding three hundred percent, extortion threats, and unlawful detention.”
Captain Liu reviewed the files, his expression hardening. “This is open loan-sharking and organized extortion. We have already issued arrest warrants for Zhao Long and frozen all bank accounts linked to Zhao Financial. Officers, cuff these twelve thugs and haul them into the precinct!”
The police dragged Brother Biao and the other eleven thugs into the paddy wagons, their blood-soaked faces filled with terror as they realized their micro-lending syndicate had been wiped out.
Just then, an elderly figure hurried into the alley, leaning heavily on a wooden cane.
It was University President Gu. Behind him ran the Dean of Student Affairs and three senior faculty members, their faces pale with concern.
When President Gu saw the thirty weeping students holding their debt-free certificates, and when he saw Chen Yu standing safely beside Lin Mo, the old president stopped in his tracks.
Two tears rolled down President Gu’s wrinkled cheeks. He walked forward and grasped Lin Mo’s hands with immense emotion.
“Chairman Lin,” President Gu said, his voice trembling with heartfelt respect. “These loan sharks have preyed upon our poorest students for three years. The administration tried to stop them, but our legal hands were tied by complex commercial corporate shells. You disarmed them in an afternoon and healed a student’s dying mother.”
President Gu looked back toward the campus, where thousands of ancient dormitories stood under the gray autumn sky.
“Chairman Lin,” President Gu spoke solemnly, looking into Lin Mo’s eyes. “Our North Campus dormitories were built in nineteen seventy-five. The roofs leak in the winter rain. There is no central heating, no air conditioning, and students study in unlit hallways. The university has twelve million yuan in civic repair budget that was frozen by Ma Guoliang’s corrupt syndicate.”
President Gu took a deep, resolute breath.
“I am officially offering Taichu Group the complete North Campus Dormitory Renovation Contract,” President Gu announced before all the faculty members. “Will Taichu Group help our students live and study with human dignity?”
Lin Mo smiled warmly, holding President Gu’s hands.
“President Gu,” Lin Mo said in a clear, confident voice. “Give Master Lu Jian forty-eight hours. We will build our scholars a home worthy of their brilliant minds.”
Right at that moment, Master Lu Jian pulled up to the alley curb in his yellow engineering pickup truck. He leaped down, his yellow hard hat tilted back on his head, tapping a massive roll of architectural plans against his denim thigh.
“Did somebody say forty-eight hours?!” Lu Jian shouted with a booming laugh. “Chairman Lin, my two thousand steelworkers and array engineers are already on standby! We will install central climate pods, noise-dampening insulation, and a five-star student dining canteen before Monday morning!”
President Gu looked at the detailed blueprints, his face glowing with newfound hope. “Master Lu, you are truly the modern Luban of our age.”
“Forty-eight hours,” Lin Mo repeated, his eyes glinting in the autumn light. “Let us show Jiangcheng how fast righteous people can rebuild what corruption destroyed.”