All the Gus were stunned.
They did not expect An Nuan to suddenly say something like this.
An Nuan felt a little embarrassed under their gazes. "Did I say something wrong? I thought uncle has been saying he wants to pay us back, precisely because uncle does not want to take advantage of our family. So I said, write an IOU, this way outsiders will also know uncle is creditworthy, lest there be unfounded criticisms of uncle."
Gu WenQuan snapped back to his senses.
At that moment, he felt a little unhappy in his heart, as he did not expect that his attempt to demonstrate the Gu family's financial strength would instead lead to this misunderstanding.
But, was it really a misunderstanding?
Now he was actually having some doubts.
But looking at An Nuan's appearance, especially since An Nuan had always listened to their family, he also felt that An Nuan could not have any ulterior motives.
Thinking of this, Gu WenQuan quickly said, "Of course An Nuan did nothing wrong. Borrowing money should indeed come with an IOU. Even if An Nuan didn't say it, I would have taken the initiative to write one."
"Mm," An Nuan smiled very brightly.
Back then, they did give the Gu family 20 billion yuan.
But after giving it to them, the Gu family never mentioned anything about paying it back!
In this life, how could she possibly let them get away with it!
Gu WenQuan immediately instructed the servants to bring paper, brush and seal paste. "I will write it myself."
Then he fluidly wrote it all out.
After finishing writing, he handed it to An Yanyuan and said, "Old An, take a look to see if anything needs to be added. If not, I'll stamp it with my seal."
An Yanyuan took it and looked it over together with An Nuan.
After looking at it, An Nuan said with a face full of confusion, "Uncle, you only wrote borrowing 20 billion, but didn't say the repayment deadline, nor what should happen if it's not repaid by the deadline. This IOU seems no different than not having written one at all."
An Nuan's seemingly casual words directly made Gu WenQuan's old face turn red.
But she was as if she didn't notice anything, and directly handed the IOU to Gu Yan Sheng, asking in all innocence, "Yan Sheng, you're so knowledgeable, what do you think?"
At that moment, Gu Yan Sheng was left speechless by An Nuan's question.
If he agreed with An Nuan, it would be slapping his father's face. But if he contradicted An Nuan, it would be slapping his own face.
Although An Nuan's words were somewhat hurtful, they were reasonable sentence by sentence.
Gu WenQuan had no choice but to immediately explain, "Look at me, never having written an IOU before, I don't even know what I should write. Let me add a deadline to the IOU now, the deadline will be..."
An Nuan said, "Half a year should be about right."
Gu WenQuan was still hesitating between three or five years, and was directly shocked by An Nuan's "half a year".
"A few days ago I happened to read a financial report published by the Gu Group to the public. In the first half of this year, the Gu Group's net income was 3.8 billion. With an upward trend in the second half, the income should be even more." An Nuan explained clearly.
Gu WenQuan could only smile awkwardly, "I didn't expect An Nuan to take an interest in financial news."
"It's because both our family and the Gu family are on the leaderboard, so I took a extra look." An Nuan smiled sweetly.
"Alright, half a year it is then." Gu WenQuan gritted his teeth as he wrote down the deadline.
An Nuan watched him put down his brush, and suggested, "If it's not repaid after half a year, then use the Gu family's shares as collateral."
Gu WenQuan's hand that was writing clearly stiffened.
"I overheard QiQi say this a few days ago. That's Xia Qiqi, the daughter of Xia Huiyin, chairman of Xia Bank. She's my bestie. She said when uncle mortgaged loans from their family's bank, it was always with the Gu family's shares. She even said uncle took out loans of 5.4 billion from them, putting up 18% of the Gu family shares as collateral. So based on market value, 20 billion should be 6.67%." As An Nuan spoke, she counted along as if merely stating a matter of fact, with a face of pure innocence.
No matter how much Gu WenQuan endured, his complexion still turned ugly.
At this moment, An Yanyuan finally saw through her daughter's intentions.
Her daughter was leading the Gu family step-by-step into this pit, in a way that left them no reason to refute, and unable to refuse either.
Ultimately, the Gu family did lack money. If the An family did not invest now, even the Gu family's own interests would be jeopardized, leaving them no choice but to not tear apart their dignified facade.
Especially facing An Nuan's calm and matter-of-fact demeanor.
For them to reject An Nuan's proposal, would be openly admitting they don't intend to repay the debt. The Gu family still could not shamelessly sink to this level!
An Yanyuan secretly laughed to herself, truly surprised by An Nuan's cleverness.
Her cleverness forced the Gu family into a dilemma, hard-pressed to advance or retreat.
"Did I calculate wrongly?" Seeing Gu WenQuan not putting brush to paper, An Nuan doubted herself somewhat.
She deliberately said she might have miscalculated.
Rather than her proposal having displeased the Gu family.
She counted on her fingers again.
Gu WenQuan glanced at his son.
At this moment, Gu Yan Sheng was clearly also put in an awkward predicament by An Nuan.
But now their family really had no other choice.
Without the bank's loans, their only recourse was the An family. If they didn't acquiesce to An Nuan's desires now, it was equal to rejecting the An family's investment.
Clearly, they were being coerced into agreeing.
Gu WenQuan was an old fox, certainly able to think this far.
He signalled his son with his eyes, just reminding him not to let An Nuan have good days in the future.
Whether An Nuan had intentions or was innocent,
since she made their family lose face like this, she better not expect to have it easy!
Gu Yan Sheng nodded slightly, understanding his father's meaning.
Gu WenQuan put brush to paper again, saying, "An Nuan is meticulous as always. No mistake, it's 6.67%."
As he spoke, he finished writing out the complete IOU.
Seeing the black and white words on the IOU, and confirming her goal was achieved, An Nuan praised, "Uncle's calligraphy is so beautiful. In the future, my and Yan Sheng's child must learn calligraphy from uncle!"
"Look at you, not even married yet already talking about children." Li YaJu reproached in a doting manner.
"I'm looking forward all the more to holding a grandchild soon." Ni Lan chimed in, "Best if it's a granddaughter."
The two families were in high spirits again, seeming without the slightest hint of discord over the IOU.
The An family only left after dinner at the Gu residence.
Before leaving, An Nuan went to use the bathroom.
Coming out from the bathroom, one would pass through a corridor connecting to the backyard garden of the Gu house. She took a few steps and paused.
She faintly heard Gu YanXuan talking with someone in the backyard garden.
Her voice was lowered, but still clear in the quiet night.
"Help me make an appointment with Xiao Nanchen to go out, I heard he's back in the country." Gu YanXuan's tone was somewhat bossy.
This former "little aunt" acted arrogantly superior before anyone.
Not sure where she got the confidence from, thinking everyone was beneath her.
"Can't tonight. My brother's girlfriend is here today, don't know when she'll leave. If I go out I'll get scolded to death by dad."
"You said An Nuan is pretty? Yes, that woman is naturally graceful, but so what? She's still toyed around in my brother's palm. You don't even know how servile she is before my brother. After she marries my brother, I'll make her wash my feet for me, believe it or not?"
"If you wanna bet then bet. When the time comes I'll really send out those photos, don't go back on your word!"
"It's a deal."
An Nuan indifferently left the corridor.
So back then when Gu YanXuan coquettishly asked her to help wash her feet, it was only to humiliate her in front of her friend.
Very well.
Another debt noted down!
