"Child, don't be hasty. Since this is what they do for a living, they have their own circle here in the City of Brisk. We can't afford to provoke them."
Qing Qiao snickered, "Whether we can afford to provoke them or not, will be up to me. All you need to do is follow me."
At an underground casino.
The moment Qiao Qing arrived with her suitcase, the person in charge walked up to her, "Little kid, are you here to gamble money, or here to get a loan?"
Normally, people here ignored high schoolers who came here in their uniforms.
But this manager charge checked out Qiao Qing's cold but pretty face and decided that there was a huge market for good-looking girls like this.
Qiao Qing threw the suitcase onto the ground, "I'm here to pay back a loan."
The person in charge eyed the familiar suitcase, then looked to Qiao Qing's sides. Only then did he notice Shen Yun and her daughter.
"This is...?"
"Didn't you hear what I said? I'm paying back the loan. The $300,000 we took not long ago is all here. Not a single cent is missing." Qiao Qing's tone was already sounding impatient.
The manager's gaze switched between Qiao Qing and Shen Yun several times. He had a good idea of what happened.
He played with his hands behind his back and he had a smile on his face. Obviously, this man only appeared friendly and was a very cruel person on the inside.
"Loan repayments are outside of my responsibilities. Please wait here for a moment. I will go and fetch the Sixth Lord."
After the manager left, Shen Yun gave Qiao Qing a nervous look, "Ms... Ms. Qiao, will he let us just return the money?"
Qiao Qing responded, "Don't worry, just leave it to me."
Shen Yun didn't say anything else after she heard this. However, her hands grabbed tightly onto her clothes and revealed how unsettled she felt.
Before long, that manager came back with a grin, "Miss, madam, the Sixth Lord invites you in."
Shen Yun grabbed onto Qiao Qing's arm, "How about I go by myself? You can stay here with Yanyan."
Qiao Qing shook her head and silently exclaimed at Shen Yun's naivety. "If you and Xiyan are scared, you both can wait outside. If you want to put an end to this whole thing, I have to go."
Then she lifted up the suitcase and walked inside.
How could Shen Yun and Lin Xiyan let her go in alone? They followed along.
When Qiao Qing arrived at the room the manager led her to, she saw a middle-aged man sitting inside; he looked around 40 years old.
His figure was on the chubby side and his hair was parted in the middle. He wore traditional Chinese garments and had a greasy look on his face.
"Sixth Lord, they are here." The manager announced and then retreated.
The man who goes by "Sixth Lord" was named Li Gan. He was infamous in the City of Brisk for being ruthless.
He pushed the tea leaves in his teacup away with the cup's lid when his eyes lifted to give Qiao Qing and her company a look, "Didn't you just borrow the money? Why are you paying it back now?"
Qiao Qing placed the suitcase on the ground, "We don't need it anymore. We don't want the loan."
Li Gan put the cup of tea back on the table. He had an expression that was neither kind nor ferocious.
"You borrow when you want to borrow, you give back when you don't want it anymore... what kind of place do you think this is? You think my men don't need to eat?"
Qiao Qing crossed her arms, "What are you saying? You allow people to borrow money, but don't allow them to pay you back?"
"You can pay it back." Li Gan stood up and marched towards them, "But this $300,000 had left my door, which means it's been loaned. By the time it comes back to me, I would need more than the $300,000 I lent out."
"Oh?" Qiao Qing tapped her fingers against her forearms, "Then how much do you think we should be repaying?"
"Our rule is that people need to repay five times the principal annually. Since this woman is pitiful and she hasn't borrowed it for long, I will only ask for $600,000 back."
"What?" Yun Shen widened her eyes. Her lips quivered as she said, "It... it hasn't been long since I took the money. How could it have already flipped to twice the amount?! You are bullies!"
"Auntie," Qiao Qing gave her a look to stop her from speaking again.
Then, with a cold expression, she looked back at Li Gan, "What if we just return the $300,000?"