"Hey, isn't it time to pay back the money?" Ye Chen clapped his hands and said, "I don't have time to keep playing with you guys!"
"Repay... I'll pay now!" The man with the dark face nodded hastily.
"What are you waiting for then?" Ye Chen spat and sloppily sat down on a chair, then commanded another one of his underlings who hadn't passed out yet, "Get me a glass of water!"
"Yes, yes!" The little brother quickly nodded, bowed his body, and ran to get the water. Holding the glass of water respectfully, he hurried over to Ye Chen. The dark-faced man sneakily took out his phone from his pocket, but just as he managed to dial a number, a slap landed on his ear. Ye Chen stood behind the dark-faced man, furiously exclaiming, "Shit, you still dare to make a call? Do you believe I can kill you right now?"
"Big brother, I wouldn't dare, I won't dare again!" The man who seemed to be 1.85 meters tall immediately knelt down to Ye Chen.
"Damn it, aren't you hurrying to get my money ready?" Ye Chen glared at him.
"Yes, yes!" The dark-faced man quickly turned around to face the safe, entered the password, then took out cash totaling over 300,000 yuan from the safe, handing it over to Ye Chen in stacks. Looking at the money, Ye Chen was dazzled. This was money, the root of all evil, the almighty key—money. The dark-faced man hurriedly handed the money to Ye Chen, saying, "Big brother, look, this is it!"
"Hmm!" Ye Chen nodded, stuffed all the money into the cloth bag he carried with him, then tied it around his waist and left.
Just two minutes after Ye Chen had left, the dark-faced man immediately made a call. Meanwhile, in an office of a gambling arcade called Fun Play, Zhang Dadan was holding a meeting with a bunch of his underlings; business was not good lately. The economic crisis had caused a 30% drop in the earnings of his cash cow, which was distressing to Zhang Dadan.
"Damn it, guys, take good care of business these days!" Zhang Dadan pleaded earnestly, saying, "The economy is in the doldrums, so don't just sit around. Advertise our arcade more, draw in more customers to play. Look at our profits this month, they've dropped so much, how am I supposed to survive? I used to flush my toilet with bottled water, but now, I can only use tap water."
"Ha ha..." The underlings all laughed.
"What's so funny?" Zhang Dadan glared at everyone and was about to speak when his phone suddenly rang. He answered the call: "Hello, what?! Shit, whose men? The debt collectors? Tianya Group? Who is he? Alright, I got it!"
After hanging up the phone, Zhang Dadan's face became icy cold. Damn it, I was just mentioning how the economic crisis was making business tough, and now someone dares to take food from my mouth. They must be sick of living. He sprang up angrily: "What kind of times are these, is Zhang Dadan becoming worse and worse?"
"Big brother, what's going on?" The underlings asked one after another.
"Damn, someone actually came to my territory to collect debts!" Zhang Dadan spat out and looked at his men, saying, "What do you think we should do?"
"Isn't it obvious, the usual way, break an arm!"
"Damn it, why just break an arm? Just take care of the body directly!"
The men roared one after another; going against Brother Dandan was simply seeking death. They were filled with righteous indignation, eager to rush over and crush the debt collector right then and there. The atmosphere in the meeting room was lively as everyone stood up. Zhang Dadan glanced at his men and waved his hand, "Good, that's the spirit. Mantis, take a few capable men and handle this matter. As for the money, if it's taken, it's taken; after all, it's Tianya Group's. But bring me that debt collector's hand, as a warning to others, so no one else dares to come to our turf to collect debts!"
"Yes!" A tall man nodded and then exited.
"Alright, let's leave it at that for now. Damn meeting, it's killed my mood!" Zhang Dadan spat, straightened his tie, and said, "Come on, let's go find some ladies."
Roar, roar, roar...
Hearing the mention of finding ladies, they were instantly excited; Zhang Dadan was notoriously generous in the streets, not only with his own women but also with his underlings. More than a dozen underlings jumped up and followed Zhang Dadan out.
...
Ye Chen was feeling quite glum, carrying a thick stack of banknotes—he reckoned it weighed at least a couple of pounds. Driving the little Oto, he checked the time; it was already 8:40. He hurriedly drove to the company, "Damn it, I've collected your debt for you; let's see how I humiliate you now."
He left the car directly at the entrance of the group's headquarters, blocking the way. The security guards quickly came over, but when they saw it was Ye Chen, they stepped back at once. Damn it, this guy was a murderer, and if they offended him, they couldn't be sure they wouldn't be slaughtered.
"Chen... Brother Chen, good morning!" The security guard called out a greeting before leaving.
"Good morning!" Ye Chen carried his bag inside.
Entering the lobby, he saw that the fat lady already stood at the door, hands on her hips, her face full of rage, glaring at him as he arrived. Behind the fat lady gathered many of the company's gossip-loving women. The receptionist, Little Mei, watched the scene with intense curiosity. As Ye Chen walked in, she hastily fetched a cup of water and stood by to enjoy the show. However, Ye Chen completely ignored the scene before him, planning to just walk past.
"Stop right there!" The fat lady suddenly pointed at Ye Chen, her anger palpable.
"What do you want?" Ye Chen glanced at her.
"I'm here to pick a fight with you today!" The fat lady, with a face as broad as a sausage, a pair of black-framed glasses perched on her collapsed nose, and no less than a pound of makeup on, twitched the corners of her mouth as she spoke. Some foundation flakes even fell off her face, making Ye Chen feel nauseated.
"And how do you propose we do that?" Ye Chen asked with curiosity.
"I'm going to curse you out so bad, smoke will rise from your ancestors' graves and your mother won't recognize you..." The fat lady couldn't stop once she started, hands on her hips, her fighting spirit quite awe-inspiring, with several dozen people from up and down the company surrounding them.
"Wait a second!" Ye Chen waved his hand and spread open the bag he had thrown on the ground. He pulled out a stack of ten thousand yuan bills. "I'll give you ten thousand to curse yourself as a fat lady!"
"What!" The fat lady was stunned, gawking at the bright red bills Ye Chen stuffed into her hand. Could it really be this easy to make money? She was incredulous, yet she had to believe it, as it was happening right before her eyes. She held the stack of ten thousand yuan bills, felt it—damn, it was real. She couldn't help but swallow her saliva, looked around—fortunately, not many people were present—so even if she cursed herself, it wouldn't matter much since she had no image to uphold. Thus, the fat lady opened her mouth and said, "I... I am a fat lady!"
Ha ha...
The onlookers burst into laughter, finding the scene incredibly endearing. They laughed until tears streamed down their faces. Little Mei at the front desk choked on her water while laughing, and her teased eyes brimmed with tears.
"Not bad! But you need to be louder!" Ye Chen said with a slight smile, "Here's another ten thousand for you. If you can shout that you're a pig, this ten thousand is yours. How about it?"
"Alright, alright!" The fat lady nodded eagerly, agreeing without hesitation. She snatched the ten thousand yuan note from Ye Chen and, with a lion's roar, bellowed in the hall, "I am a pig!!"
The sound was so loud it made everyone's ears hurt. The crowd once again erupted into laughter. It seemed money really could make the world go round—just for twenty thousand yuan, you could make a fat lady curse herself. But it wasn't his money; Ye Chen grinned from the corner of his mouth, chuckling, thinking, if you're going to play, play big.
"Well, I still have three hundred thousand here!" Ye Chen weighed the heavy bag in his hand, smiling, "If you dare show off your body here... heh, all this will be yours. How about it?"
The fat lady hesitated upon hearing this, a bit embarrassed by the proposition of stripping down to her underwear and walking around the place. But when she saw the dozens of bright red bills in Ye Chen's pocket, she was tempted again. Damn it, I'm going all out—you're only screwed by your husband once a night, right?
"Come here, Little Mei, hold this for me!" The fat lady quickly turned to the receptionist.
"What?!" Little Mei was taken aback, hurrying to take the twenty thousand yuan from the fat lady's hand. She glared at Ye Chen, seemingly displeased by his prank. Does having money make you so great? Her look suggested Ye Chen should back off. But Ye Chen paid no attention to this. He hurriedly said to the fat lady, "Sister-in-law, I think you better not?"
"No way, that's three hundred thousand!" The fat lady shook her head and said, "Just consider it a trip to the beach. It's fine!"
Without another word, the fat lady stripped off her uniform, revealing her flabby flesh, and proudly strutted around the hall. The crowd laughed wildly, their tears already dried from amusement. When the fat lady approached Ye Chen, she smiled and asked, "Mr. Ye, the money?"
"Ha ha... it's yours, all yours!" Ye Chen hastily handed her the bag of money.
"Thank you so much!" The fat lady was overjoyed, holding the bag of money so tightly she nearly cried from excitement.
"What on earth are you all doing?"
Just then, a cold voice came from outside. They didn't see the person yet, but just from the sound they knew who it was. Everyone turned their heads in unison, standing erect and bowing, respectfully shouting, "Mr. Li!"