She took out a slender, lady's cigarette from her bag and lit it. She looked at Liu Kai with a playful glint in her phoenix eyes and said languidly, "Boss Liu, don't treat me like a three year old. As far as I know, the government doesn't protect interest rates exceeding 40%. Including the principal, my ex-husband owes you at most 9 million. The rest is illegal. If this goes to court, you won't get that part either. Surely you understand this, don't you?"
Her words, spoken one by one, left the two men dumbfounded. They weren't ignorant of the law, they knew their high-interest loan was illegal. That's why they could only rely on intimidating me, who knew nothing of the law, and my father, who was cornered. They never expected her to expose their scheme so incisively.
At that moment, Liu Kai tossed the cigarette from his lips to the ground, crushing it with his foot. He said with a fleshy smile, "Beauty, even if you know that 5 million can't be collected, my 9 million principal plus interest, not a penny can be missing!"
With that, he looked at my mother's gorgeous body like a victor, smug and triumphant.
Seeing his vulgar display, a hint of disdain flickered in my mother's eyes. She gave a slight smile, took a folded document from her Chanel handbag, and tossed it into Liu Kai's hands. She said with a smile, "Boss Liu, take a look at this first. It's quite interesting."
Not knowing what she was up to, Liu Kai opened the file. After scanning it for just a few seconds, his face turned ashen. He stared, dumbfounded, flipping through the pages one by one, his voice trembling. "You... where did you get these..."
The skinny man also came over to see. After a moment, he was so shocked his jaw nearly hit the floor.
"Interesting, isn't it, Boss Liu? You've been in this business for so long, how could you be so careless? Seeing this, I got nervous for you, so I made a few extra copies and saved them on my computer to keep them safe for you."
My mother said in a coquettish voice, her tone carrying an indescribable, flirtatious wantonness.
Sweat broke out on Liu Kai's forehead. He shoved the documents into his pocket, his earlier arrogance completely gone. He wiped the sweat from his brow and said with a slight tremor, "Gu... Miss Gu, I have a bunch of guys under me who need to eat. You... you are a generous person. You... you wouldn't let these things get out for others to see, would you?"
My mother let out a string of charming "giggle-giggle-giggle," her body trembling like a flower in the breeze, indescribably alluring. She took a drag from her feminine cigarette and said slowly, "The 5 million my ex-husband owed you should have been transferred to your personal account just now. As for that 4 million in interest, I suppose you won't be wanting it, right?"
Liu Kai froze for a second. He took out his phone, checked, and indeed saw a notification for a 5 million deposit. His eyes darted around as he forced a smile. "Miss Gu is indeed straightforward. In that case, we won't take advantage of your predicament. How about this, Miss Gu? You agree to one request from us and this request won't be excessive at all. If you agree, we can forget about the interest."
"Boss, you can't be serious. That 4 million..." the skinny man said anxiously from the side.
"What money? Miss Gu is a heroine among women, a true hero. Don't talk nonsense." With that, Liu Kai waved his hand generously, as if the 4 million were Monopoly money.
"Oh? And what is this request?" my mother asked, her beautiful body reclining lazily in the chair. Her languid tone held a hint of a seductive charm that felt strangely unfamiliar to me.
Liu Kai said with a smile, "My friends and I recently took over a nightclub. It's one of the top spots in Jingzhou. We're opening in a little while, and I'd like to invite you, Miss Gu, to be a guest and help us kick things off. As long as you show up, our popularity will skyrocket and business will be booming!"
My heart sank. To my surprise, however, my mother didn't seem the least bit shocked. A seductive smile played on her lips as she giggled, "Hehehe, and here I thought you were going to ask for something difficult. But it's just a small matter like this? No problem at all."
I was stunned. How could Mom agree to such an outrageous request so easily? Could it be that she was truly willing to do anything, no matter the cost, to pay off Dad's debt?
This Liu Kai was clearly up to no good. What good could possibly come from going to a place like a nightclub!
Liu Kai, clearly not expecting my mother to agree so readily, beamed with delight. He laughed loudly, "Great! In that case, we'll consider the interest on the debt wiped clean. I look forward to your support, Miss Gu. We're leaving!"
Liu Kai called for the skinny man, and they left quickly. Before he went, he turned back for one last, lingering look at my mother's full, ripe body, then finally departed.
My father and I were both stunned. This bully, who had been so arrogantly oppressive just moments before, had backed down in front of my mother in less than half an hour.
I couldn't help but look up at my mother, meeting her gentle gaze. It was the same look that had soothed me countless times in my childhood when she would hold me as I cried. In that instant, I realized that the mother who had nurtured and protected me since I was a child had finally returned. Tears almost welled up in my eyes. Feeling a bit embarrassed, I quickly forced them back.
Suddenly, only the three of us were left in the room. My mother stubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray on the table. Looking at the ashtray full of cigarette butts and the messy, cramped apartment, her delicate brows furrowed slightly.
"Zhou Wen, you're living in a place like this with Xiao Bin?" My mother's tone turned cold as she addressed my father, a stark contrast to her earlier demeanor.
My father said nothing. He glanced at her, then went to the kitchen on his own, grabbed a few cups, and poured some hot water.
"Don't bother with the water. We're leaving," my mother said, rising to her feet.
"I've also paid off the 5 million you owe. I don't want a single cent back. Consider it for our son's sake. Tomorrow, you and I will go to the Civil Affairs Bureau. You will sign over custody of Xiao Bin to me."
With that, she opened her handbag, took out a check, and placed it on the table. Looking at my father's expressionless face, she sighed softly and said, "Our fate as husband and wife ends here. Consider this a parting gift. I hope you won't appear in our lives again."
My father set down the cup he was holding. He looked at my mother as if she were a stranger and said flatly, "Fine. But the family trust fund I set up... once I give up custody of Xiao Bin, the property rights will belong to you and our son. You can take it and live there. Then I'll owe you nothing."
My mother looked at my father with a surprised expression, gave a slight nod, then walked over to my side. She looked at me, standing there dumbfounded, and gently took my arm. Smiling warmly, she said, "Let's go, son. What's in the past is in the past. From now on, Mom will be with you. We'll have a good life together, and we'll never be apart."
Seeing my mother's incredibly gentle expression, a warmth spread through my chest. My eyes reddened, and I felt tears welling up again.
"Wait. I have a few more words to say to my son. It's a private matter between father and son," my father suddenly said from behind us.
We were both taken aback and turned to look at him. Seeing his grave expression, my mother immediately understood it must be important. She released my arm from her fair hand, and walked out the door on her slender, silk-stockinged legs to wait quietly.
At this point, I had no idea what else my father could possibly have to say to me, but he was the one who had called me here today, so I figured it must be something important.
I watched as my father took a worn, oilcloth bundle from his pocket. Its surface was mottled and looked ancient. He walked over and solemnly handed it to me. He pressed my fingers down to make me grip the bundle tightly, then stuffed it into the pocket of my shirt, making sure it was deep inside. He then buttoned my shirt pocket closed.
He leaned in close to me and said in a low but firm voice, "From this day forward, you are the head of the Zhou family. This bundle contains our Zhou family's heirloom treasure, passed down for nearly 600 years. You must guard it well."
A family heirloom!? I was astonished. I had never heard of any such thing.
My father continued in a low voice, "Inside, there is also a key. It's for the door to the basement on the second sub-level of the garden by the river. It's a secret door, located by a stone in the southeast corner of the first sub-level. If you look carefully, you should be able to find it. Use this key to open it, and there will be a path leading down. Our Zhou family's mission is in there. You will understand when you see it."
"This treasure... I have never dared to let it leave my body. It has been passed down by our ancestors for so many generations, I didn't dare to be the least bit careless. Now that our Zhou family has fallen on hard times, you are the only one left to carry on our bloodline. Your mother is smart and capable and she can keep you safe. You must guard this well. You must fulfill our mission, no matter what. You must not be careless! Remember this! Remember this!"
"And also, you must not let anyone know about this mission. Not even your mother. Do you understand!"
My father spoke with all his might, as if giving his last words, right into my ear, yet his voice never rose, as if he were afraid a third person in the world might hear. I listened to everything he said in a daze, my mind a complete mess. The fingers of the hand touching the pocket holding the treasure trembled as if they had lost all strength.
"Go! And do well!" my father said loudly. He gave me a hard shove, pushing me out the door, and then slammed it shut behind me.
"What happened? What did he say to you!?" my mother asked, looking at my pale face with concern. She walked over and stood beside me.
There was too much information to process. I stared blankly at the closed door, then turned to look at my worried mother, my feelings a tangled mess. I was about to tell her about my father's instructions, but his words "Not even your mother. Do you understand!" echoed in my ears. I swallowed the words back down.
"N-nothing... He just gave me some instructions. He also said that from now on, I'm the head of the Zhou family. Al-although... that's a bit ridiculous," I said, not daring to meet my mother's eyes.
My mother didn't say anything. She just came over, took my arm, and started walking with me. "Son, no matter what it is, don't worry. You need to know that as long as Mom is here, no one can bully you," she whispered softly in my ear.
Smelling the sweet, fragrant scent of her body and feeling her soft, warm body pressed tightly against me, I gradually began to calm down. As we walked out of the building, the city's neon lights were just beginning to flicker on. And I knew that my life had finally turned a new page.
On an elevated overpass, in a speeding BMW...
"Boss, that bitch is one hot piece of work. She must be almost forty, right? But she still looks like a young woman. Those huge tits and that fat ass, her clothes look like they're about to burst. Fuck, if I could just have a go at her..." the skinny man who had been with Liu Kai said, spraying spittle as he drove and spoke to the fat Liu Kai in the back seat.
"Alright, alright, haven't you embarrassed yourself enough? Fuck, where did that slut get that thing?" Liu Kai cursed, pulling the documents from his pocket, looking as if he wanted to tear them to shreds.
"Yeah, I heard she's been in America all this time. Does she have someone working for her here? I bet there's a mole in our company. But damn, look at that slut's big ass and huge tits, and she's dressed so provocatively. She's been divorced for so many years, I don't believe she doesn't hook up with other men."
The skinny man said, his mouth watering.
"How do you know she doesn't have a man? At her age, she's in her sexual prime. She's probably wilder overseas than you can imagine. Besides, no one would know, and she's single, so she can just fuck with any guy she wants, shit!"
As he spoke these vulgar words, Liu Kai felt the rod in his crotch begin to harden.
"But I didn't expect her to agree to come to our club so readily," Liu Kai said after a moment, a lecherous smile on his face.
"Since she said she'd dare to come, once she's here, won't she just be meat on your plate, Boss Liu?" the skinny man said with a lewd grin.
Liu Kai lit a cigarette and said with a smile, "She said she'd come herself. Fuck, when the time comes, she'll turn into a horny slut in no time. Just watch me fuck that bitch inside and out!"
"Yeah, yeah, haha!" the skinny man also laughed smugly.
After a while, Liu Kai tossed his cigarette butt and took out his phone to make a call.
"Hello." A calm, male voice answered on the other end.
"Mr. Jiang, we ran into a bit of trouble with today's matter..." Liu Kai said into the phone.
"They wouldn't sign? And you couldn't handle it?" the man said, his tone impatient.
"No, someone showed up halfway through. Guess who it was," Liu Kai said.
"Spit it out. Don't waste my time."
"It was his ex-wife. The number one beauty of Jingzhou, Gu Wanxin."
"It's her!?" The man on the other end of the line sounded surprised, and he quickly continued, "She's back from America? What for?"
"It seems she investigated my company's accounts. She got the transaction records for all those high-interest loans and money laundering businesses I ran. I don't know how she got them, fuck!" Liu Kai cursed.
"Hmph, that does sound like her style. So you were threatened by her?"
"Mr. Jiang, I don't know where she got those records. I'm afraid she has other things on me. I had no choice but to back down. But on the bright side, she just paid me the 5 million principal that Zhou Wen owed me."
"She paid off Zhou Wen's debt? Did she go back to him to get back together?" the man on the phone said, sounding displeased.
"I don't think so. Their son was there today too. I waited outside for a bit and saw that slut leading her son out and leaving," Liu Kai said.
"You bunch of trash. Don't get involved in their affairs for now," the man said, then hung up the phone.
"Fuck, I work my ass off for him, and he treats me like a fucking dog, shit!" As soon as the call ended, Liu Kai cursed viciously.
"Yeah, boss, I've been putting up with him for a long time too," the skinny man in the front, seeing Liu Kai's anger and guessing what had happened, chimed in to agree.
"Sun Lei, head to Da Tong Hua. Tonight, I'm going to blow off some steam!" Liu Kai ordered.