Chapter 32: The Legendary Loan Shark Trap

Staring at the money in Xu Shaochen’s hand.

The traffic cop was totally dumbfounded. This was his first time encountering such a situation, with no idea how to handle it! Is this what they call “throwing money around”?

But Xu Shaochen’s attitude was incredibly polite, making him feel both infuriated and amused at the same time.

Zhou Li and Zhang Liang were also left speechless. That stack of cash had to be at least two thousand, right? He just casually pulled that out to prepay a fine? How impressive is that? “Forget it, just move the car out of the way quickly, and I won’t hold you accountable this time.”

After a moment, the traffic cop tossed that line before turning around to leave.

“Hey, officer, wait a second, let me buy you a cup of milk tea.”

“Smack!”

Xu Shaochen watched the traffic cop’s back as he called out, then slapped a hundred yuan bill onto the counter: “Liangzi, two large pearl milk teas.”

“Huh? Oh, sure, right away.”

At first, Zhang Liang didn’t react, but after a while, he snapped out of it.

“Thank you.”

A moment later, with a cup of milk tea in hand, the traffic cop thanked him before leaving the milk tea shop.

“Um, I’m really sorry about earlier. I’ve been in a bad mood these days, a little clouded in my thinking. Please don’t take it to heart, my apologies, my apologies.”

Zhou Li’s face turned beet red as she kept apologizing to Xu Shaochen. She wanted to dig a hole and crawl into it from sheer embarrassment.

Given how things turned out, was this what they call “looking down on the wrong person”?

“Sister-in-law, what are you apologizing for? Think I don’t know what kind of person Liangzi is? He’s just a good guy. You did the right thing.” Xu Shaochen said with a smile as he looked at Zhou Li. Although her attitude had been rude earlier, he didn’t take it to heart.

From Zhou Li’s point of view, she wasn’t wrong at all. Business is business. What’s the point in constant free treats?

After all, in this world, everyone’s just trying to earn a living.

Besides, he was just getting the heat. It’s not like he knew those shameless old classmates would keep coming back to take advantage after getting a freebie.

“Sit tight, I’ll fry up some chicken wings and popcorn chicken for you. My treat. It’s to apologize for what I said earlier.”

Zhou Li said this to Xu Shaochen, then hurried to the side and got busy, working quite efficiently.

“Your wife’s a good person. You married a great woman.” Xu Shaochen said to Zhang Liang, who was a few months older and deserved to be called brother-in-law.

Zhang Liang scratched his head with a smile and awkwardly replied, “Hehe, she’s alright, I guess. By the way, you’ve made a big splash, huh? It’s only been two years, and you’re driving a big Benz.”

“Just made a little bit of money,” Xu Shaochen replied with a faint smile, neither confirming nor denying it.

Zhang Liang didn’t pursue the topic further and instead asked, “So, how are things with Wang Ying? Did you two patch things up?”

“Liangzi, are you kidding me? I’d have to be insane to get back with her.” Xu Shaochen replied, taking a sip of milk tea with a self-deprecating smile, shaking his head.

Zhang Liang sighed, “If Wang Ying knew about your current situation, she’d probably regret it big time.”

“And how’s your business going? I didn’t make it to your wedding. We were supposed to be each other’s best man back in the day.” Xu Shaochen asked.

Zhang Liang shook his head, “Business is alright. As for the wedding, to save money, Xiaoli and I didn’t have a ceremony. We just got the marriage certificate and had a meal with family.”

Xu Shaochen felt slightly envious of Zhang Liang. In this restless society, how many women like Zhou Li were left?

“Zhang Liang, when are you going to pay me back? You keep postponing—today to tomorrow, tomorrow to the day after. Don’t I need to eat too!”

At that moment, an extremely arrogant voice rang out, and five middle-aged men walked into the milk tea shop.

Leading them was a bald man, the one who had just spoken.

Seeing this group of people, both Zhang Liang and Zhou Li turned pale.

“Brother Chen, didn’t I just pay you ten thousand last month? I’ve only got enough left for restocking this month. I’ll definitely pay you next month.”

Zhang Liang gave a helpless smile as he looked at the bald leader, speaking in a humble tone.

“To hell with your excuses! I don’t care how much you have left. If you don’t pay back everything today, I’ll wreck your shop!”

Chen Tian kicked a chair to the ground, glaring at Zhang Liang menacingly.

“Brother Chen, calm down, please have some milk tea and let’s discuss this quietly.” Zhou Li quickly handed a cup of milk tea to Chen Tian, with a flattering smile on her face.

Chen Tian chuckled as he accepted the milk tea. His eyes flashed with a lecherous gleam as he looked at Zhou Li, then turned to Zhang Liang, “Zhang Liang, if you can’t pay, maybe just lend your wife to me for a couple of days, and I’ll wipe your debt clean. How about that?”

“Hahaha, Zhang Liang, did you hear that? Why don’t you thank Brother Chen?”

“Exactly, just let your wife accompany Brother Chen for a couple of days. She’ll stay your wife, and the debt will be cleared!”

“It’s a great deal, make sure you grab hold of it, hahaha…”

The lackeys behind Chen Tian burst into laughter, their eyes full of mockery and contempt.

Zhang Liang’s face turned a deep shade of red, trembling with rage. He was about to explode in anger, but Zhou Li held him back just in time.

“What’s going on? How much do you owe them?” Xu Shaochen glanced at Chen Tian and his goons before frowning at Zhang Liang.

These guys were clearly no good. How did Zhang Liang end up owing them money?

Zhang Liang gave Xu Shaochen a bitter smile, “The rent at the airport is steep, and I was short seven thousand yuan when I opened the milk tea shop. I borrowed seven thousand, but who knew there was a problem with the contract? The interest kept adding up, and now it’s twelve thousand. I’ve paid off seven thousand, but there’s still five thousand in interest.”

“Zhang Liang, watch your words. What do you mean there’s a problem with the contract? Everything’s clearly written in black and white. You signed it yourself!” One of Chen Tian’s lackeys sneered at Zhang Liang.

Xu Shaochen finally understood. Zhang Liang had fallen into a loan shark trap—essentially high-interest loans. He frowned and looked at Chen Tian, “Brother Chen, right? Your interest alone is almost as much as the principal. This is worse than a typical loan shark. You can’t just drive people to the brink for profit, can you?”

“Who the hell are you? Do you think you have a say here? What nonsense! Let me tell you, if that five-thousand-yuan interest is even a penny short, this milk tea shop can kiss its business goodbye!”

Chen Tian slammed the table with his palm, directing a disdainful glare at Xu Shaochen, exuding pure arrogance.

“I tried talking nicely, and you didn’t listen, did you?” Xu Shaochen said in a calm tone, looking at Chen Tian.

Zhang Liang was startled. He quickly pulled Xu Shaochen aside, urging him, “Shaochen, you should leave. Come back another day, and we can talk. It’s better if you don’t get involved in today’s mess. It’s just my bad luck.”

After being desk mates for two years, Zhang Liang could tell from Xu Shaochen’s expression that he was getting pissed off. Although he knew that Xu Shaochen had some fighting skills, Chen Tian had five strong men with him. Even if Xu Shaochen could fight, he’d still be at a disadvantage.

Moreover, Xu Shaochen had come a long way in life. Zhang Liang didn’t want to drag him down with this petty issue; it would be too unfair.