Chapter Three: You Have to Lend It, Whether You Want To or Not

Suddenly, a luxurious Porsche pulled up in front of the Junyue Accord Club. The instant Hong and the security guards saw the car, their faces grew serious. They hurriedly bowed and stood respectfully to the side, while Hong shot Ling Feng a fierce glare and snarled, “Damn it, our boss is here and you’re still not kneeling?”

The car door opened, and a long-legged beauty in a white office uniform stepped out from the driver’s seat. Her graceful figure was impossible to ignore. She reached back, opened the rear door, and respectfully helped a slightly overweight man out of the car, her deference unmistakable.

“Don’t you dare look, you pauper! Even Helen’s legs aren’t for you to admire. Later, remember to gouge out this kid’s eyes too, damn it. See that? This is the difference between people. The women our boss Huo Du plays with aren’t ones a beggar like you even has the right to look at,” Hong whispered menacingly to Ling Feng.

Huo Du!

“So, you’re Huo Du?” To everyone’s astonishment, Ling Feng didn’t kneel. Instead, he strode towards Huo Du with an air of arrogance.

The long-legged beauty’s brows furrowed immediately, especially when she saw the shabby state of the man before her. Helen’s expression darkened. “What’s going on? Who is this person, and how dare he offend Mr. Huo? What are you people here for?”

“Miss Helen, Mr. Huo, I deserve to die, I deserve to die! This kid’s just a pauper, I was just about to bury him. What are you all standing around for? Hurry up, do you want me dead?” Hong cried, cold sweat beading on his forehead as he anxiously beckoned his men.

“Huo Du, maybe you don’t know me, but do you recognize this?” Ling Feng calmly pulled a bronze token from his pocket and waved it in front of Huo Du.

“The Nine Streets Order!” The middle-aged man’s entire body trembled, his eyes flashing with utter shock.

“Majestic Shenzhou, none but me reigns supreme. Winds rise, clouds surge, Nine Streets dominate the heavens.” Ling Feng sneered. “To see the token is to see its master.”

The Nine Streets Order was the supreme token of the Nine Streets Domination Plan. Every family involved recognized it.

Though Huo Du was only a collateral member of the Huo family in Jiangdong Province, he knew they were but servants to this very token. The Nine Streets Order came in large, medium, and small sizes, each representing a different rank. The one in Ling Feng’s hand now meant only one thing—the master himself had arrived.

Moreover, the Nine Streets Domination Plan was shrouded in secrecy. Anyone able to produce the token and recite the passphrase was a core member of the plan—there could be no mistake.

With that realization, Huo Du dared not hesitate. He immediately dropped to his knees. “Your servant greets the master. May the master live for ten thousand years!”

“You’ve worked hard.”

“All for the great enterprise of the Nine Streets Domination!” Huo Du declared, prostrating himself fully.

What on earth was happening here? How could it be that the supposed pauper didn’t kneel, but the big boss did? Hong was dumbfounded, a sense of doom creeping in.

“Get up,” Ling Feng said coolly, indicating the crew-cut man. “I have urgent matters to attend to, so I won’t hold you accountable for your neglect today. As for him—bury him.”

“Yes, yes! You heard him—what are you waiting for? Get to it, are you trying to get me killed?”

“Boss, boss, please spare me, spare me…” Behind them came pitiful screams, but poor Hong died never knowing exactly whom he had offended. The others present could only stare in shock, completely at a loss for what had just occurred.

Ling Feng had just gone upstairs when he spotted two fashionable, long-legged women emerging from the restroom, laughing as they walked. “Ha, do you think that idiot Ling Feng really came? As if he could get into a place like this.”

“Yeah, Shishi, if it weren’t for Director Chen’s membership card, we couldn’t have gotten in either. You’re so lucky to know such a powerful person. From now on, I’m sticking with you.”

“No problem. Pianpian, remember—if you ever get married, marry someone like Director Chen. Don’t end up like Biyue, marrying a loser. See how miserable she is, practically begging on the streets.”

With that, Li Shishi and He Pianpian entered the private room. Li Shishi crossed her legs ostentatiously and said, “Don’t worry, Biyue. Director Chen is a great guy—way better than that useless husband of yours. Two million is nothing. If you borrow from him, everything will be taken care of.”

Just then, aside from Li Shishi and He Pianpian, another girl’s timid voice sounded. “Shishi, Biyue, I heard Director Chen’s money comes with strings attached. If you borrow thirty thousand, you owe three hundred thousand, and if you can’t repay, he’ll force you into prostitution or kill your whole family. Maybe we should forget it…”

“Shut up, or you’ll never speak again. Director Chen isn’t like that! He’s a model citizen of Jiangzhou. Jiang Yueyan, how can you slander such a great man?”

A great man? Ridiculous. Just because he had money and power, a notorious scoundrel was being hailed as a hero. Money really could whitewash any crime, beautify any deed, make up for any flaw. It could turn the ugly beautiful and the beautiful ugly. How true those words were.

“I think Jiang Yueyan is wrong. Not only should you borrow Director Chen’s money, you should borrow as much as you can. In fact, borrow all of it—and never pay him back,” Ling Feng said as he strode in from outside.

“You—how did you get in here? Where are the security guards? What did you just say? Are you insane?” Li Shishi turned in shock, even more stunned by Ling Feng’s words than by his appearance.

Was this guy crazy? Daring to badmouth Director Chen—did he have a death wish?

Outrageous!

How could someone as lowly as him slander a “great man” like Director Chen? Even a millionaire business owner who borrowed money from Director Chen and failed to repay would pay with his life, let alone a useless son-in-law like this.

Li Shishi felt that if this frog in the well were allowed to keep up this disrespect, the entire world would be thrown into chaos. After all, the world was divided into ranks. It was time she taught this pauper a lesson.

“You country bumpkin, how dare you offend Director Chen? Are you tired of living? I used to think you were just pathetic and poor, but now I see you’re also mentally deranged. Spouting such nonsense—you’d better get out of here right now before you ruin things for Director Chen and Biyue.”

Years ago, when Ling Feng was training in the mountains, he was betrayed at a critical moment and suffered a serious qi deviation. He was saved by a tourist couple, and since then, he could only remember his name and deduced from his clothes that he was from the countryside.

Later, he worked at the Chu family’s car dealership and, by chance, married into the Chu family to bring good fortune to the ailing Chu Biyue. The Chu family had tricked him into it, seeing he was honest and timid.

Half of Jiangzhou knew about this, and so did Li Shishi.

Ling Feng chuckled. “You’re right—I am a pauper, a country bumpkin. But what right do you have to order me around? Weren’t you the one who called and asked me to come?”

“As if! Just because I told you to come, you think you belong here? Do you even know your place? The owner here is Huo Du. If he finds out you’ve lowered the club’s standards, he’ll smash your face in. If you’re smart, get out—no one wants to hear from you,” Li Shishi snapped.

“She’s right, Ling Feng. If you can’t learn your place, you’ll spend your life getting slapped around. Just leave,” He Pianpian said with disgust, as if Ling Feng were a bag of garbage.

Li Shishi couldn’t understand how this pauper had gotten past the security downstairs.

“Hey, Li Shishi, that’s enough,” Chu Biyue finally interjected. “He’s my husband—I’ll scold him if I want, but it’s not your place. Besides, you offered to lend the money. I never asked you. I won’t borrow it, all right?”

“Don’t fight over a loser, you two. Biyue, Shishi is only thinking of your best interests. Don’t be ungrateful,” He Pianpian sneered, then turned to glare at Ling Feng. “Why are you still here? Get out.”

“Biyue, I think you’re right… You shouldn’t borrow from Chen Mingsheng,” Jiang Yueyan mumbled quietly.

At that moment, the door to the private room was flung open. Several burly men barged in, followed by a pockmarked, middle-aged man in his forties.

“Damn it, who dares slander Director Chen? You must have a death wish!” The lead thug kicked Jiang Yueyan in the stomach, sending her flying.

“Sorry I’m late,” Chen Mingsheng announced, swaggering in. “Got held up with a little two-hundred-million-yuan deal.” He flashed a smug smile at Li Shishi, who responded with a self-satisfied smirk. Then his expression darkened as he turned to Chu Biyue, whose face had gone pale with shock.

“Chu Biyue, do you take me for a fool? First you ask to borrow money, now you say you don’t want it? Let me tell you, you’re borrowing this money whether you like it or not.”

“Give her the one and a half million,” Chen Mingsheng ordered.

His men dropped a large suitcase onto the table. “Miss Chu, count it. Not a cent short—one and a half million. According to the rules, our boss has already deducted half a million in interest. Next month, you pay back five million, and we’re even.”

“Of course, if you really can’t pay, it’s no problem. Our boss is generous with beautiful women. As long as you spend a night with him, you won’t have to pay for that day.”

In other words, when he tired of her, she’d still have to pay back every cent—after being used for free.

Chu Biyue trembled with fear, but faced with the terrifying Chen Mingsheng, she dared not protest. She stammered, “I—I—I don’t want to borrow it.”

“Too late. You already have. The money is here. Sign the agreement,” the thug said with a sinister grin, suddenly reaching for her hand.