On the other end of the line, Qin Guangliang was thrilled to hear this and quickly asked:
"So how much can I borrow?"
Liu Dazhuang thought about the loan approval process—wasn't the first step usually checking the applicant's fund flow?
"This depends on your fund flow. If you have a high transaction volume, you can borrow more. If it's low, the amount will be smaller," Liu Dazhuang replied, mimicking what he'd heard from the loan team.
"Huh? What's fund flow?" Qin Guangliang was completely lost.
"You don't even know what fund flow is?" Liu Dazhuang grew impatient, but then it hit him—this guy was basically handing him money. His attitude instantly improved.
He explained to Qin Guangliang what fund flow meant.
Although Liu was just a debt collector, he'd spent enough time around the loan officers to pick up some of the jargon.
About ten minutes later,
Qin Guangliang's loan limit was determined: eleven thousand.
It took so long purely because Liu Dazhuang was unfamiliar with the process. He had to recall each step as he went, and at times had to backtrack when he made mistakes.
If the professional loan team had handled it, it would've taken two minutes at most.
"Wait, why is my limit only eleven thousand? Qin Feng got thirty-six thousand!"
"How could mine be less than his?"
"Qin Feng just started working this year, right? And I think it's just an internship—his salary must be even lower... How could his fund flow be higher than mine?"
Qin Guangliang was utterly confused.
Liu Dazhuang didn't know the specifics either and shrugged:
"Not sure. According to our standards, your fund flow places you in this loan bracket."
What they didn't know was that before Qin Feng borrowed from Liu Dazhuang's platform, he had already taken out several loans from other lending platforms.
Back then, it was mostly to juggle debts—using new loans to pay off old ones, while occasionally buying expensive gifts for his "goddess."
In fact, when Liu Dazhuang first started pressing for repayment, Qin Feng had multiple loans due across several platforms, not just Liu's.
So, naturally, Qin Feng's fund flow was higher.
When he was actively borrowing, his transaction volume was even greater—otherwise, he couldn't have possibly taken out over three million in loans.
Qin Guangliang decided not to dwell on it and asked how to proceed with the loan.
Liu Dazhuang told him he needed to download a certain app...
Qin Guangliang glanced at his button-operated phone and asked, puzzled:
"Download an app? How do I do that?"
After another round of explanations from Liu Dazhuang, Qin Guangliang finally understood what an app was and that only smartphones could download them. He sighed in defeat:
"My phone isn't a smartphone. Hold on, I'll borrow one to apply."
Liu Dazhuang quickly gave him a referral code and urged:
"Remember, when you apply for the loan, you must enter this referral code!"
"Don't forget!"
He was counting on getting the commission. If the referral code wasn't entered as instructed, his bonus would vanish.
So, he was extra attentive.
Qin Guangliang had no idea what the referral code was for. He simply assumed it was something essential for the loan application—
that without it, he wouldn't be able to get the loan.
After hanging up, to avoid forgetting it, he kept repeating the code aloud:
"X, I, O, 6693..."
"X, I, O, 6693..."
While muttering to himself,
his first thought was to go find Qin Feng. Qin Feng must have a smartphone.
At that time, smartphones weren't yet widespread.
This was true not only in poor, underdeveloped Qinjia Village but even in big cities—only a minority had started using smartphones.
In fact, Qin Guangliang hadn't even known what a smartphone was until Liu Dazhuang explained it roughly. He still didn't fully understand.
But that didn't matter. He figured that since Qin Feng had managed to take out online loans, he must have one of those smartphones.
So, his first instinct was to go to Qin Feng and ask for help.
As he walked, he kept repeating:
"X, I, O, 6693..."
"Guangliang, where are you off to?"
Someone greeted him along the way. He replied:
"Going to see Qin Feng. Got some business."
Then he continued walking and repeating:
"X... X... Oh, right—X, I, O, 6693..."
...
Back with Liu Dazhuang,
after hanging up, he felt quite pleased.
He thought to himself, Isn't earning commissions from issuing loans much easier than debt collection?
With debt collection, you had to resort to threats, notify the borrower's friends and family, and sometimes even use violence.
But with loan issuance, all you needed was smooth talking—no physical effort required.
He even considered asking his boss to transfer him to the dedicated loan issuance team.
But then it occurred to him that the loan issuance team might not have it easy either—landing this client was probably just luck.
So, he continued making calls:
"Uncle Guangyuan, you're next."
Once the call connected, he slipped back into his aggressive, cursing tone:
"Hey, are you Guangyuan? Do you know Qin Feng?"
"He's your nephew?"
"Did you know he borrowed money from us and hasn't paid it back?!"
"You're his uncle, you damn—"
"Huh? You want a loan too?"
Liu Dazhuang's tone shifted instantly, and he repeated the same process he'd followed with Qin Guangliang.
This time, since he was more familiar with the procedure, he wrapped things up for Qin Guangyuan in just a couple of minutes.
Qin Guangyuan also didn't have a smartphone, so Liu Dazhuang again emphasized the importance of the referral code.
After hanging up,
Liu Dazhuang felt even more pleased:
"Hey, is today my lucky day?!"
"Something like this happens once in a blue moon, and today I got two of them!"
Over the next hour or so,
Liu Dazhuang called nine more contacts whose names started with "Guang"... All of them were from Qinjia Village and were of the same generation as Qin Guangzhi—meaning they were all Qin Feng's uncles or elder relatives.
By the time he finished these calls,
Liu Dazhuang was over the moon!
Of those nine people, two had expressed interest in taking out loans, just like Qin Guangliang and Qin Guangyuan.
The other seven had also asked for details about the loan process, their tone suggesting they were tempted.
To Liu Dazhuang, these were potential clients. Before ending each call, he warmly encouraged them to contact him if they decided to proceed.
"Haha, today's luck is unbelievable! It's like my ancestors are smiling down on me!"
"I was just trying to collect a debt, and I ended up with several new clients."
"Boys, drinks are on me today!"
Liu Dazhuang announced grandly to his underlings.
Even though his commission hadn't come through yet, that didn't stop him from celebrating in advance.
...
Back in Qinjia Village...
"Guangyuan, where are you headed?"
Qin Qifeng greeted Qin Guangyuan when he saw him.
Qin Guangyuan replied:
"Uncle Qifeng, I need to see Qin Feng about something."
Then, he resumed repeating the referral code he'd been given earlier.
But as he started again, he paused for a moment:
"What was it... X? Oh, right—X, I, O, 6693..."
After Qin Guangyuan walked away,
Qin Qifeng felt puzzled:
"First Guangliang went to find Qin Feng, and now Guangyuan is too."
"And why are both of them muttering something under their breath..."
A short while later,
Qin Qifeng grew even more confused. After Qin Guangyuan, he encountered two more people on their way to see Qin Feng—and they were also mumbling as they walked.
"What's going on today? This is really strange."