"Cao Yang, let me go!" Li Yan finally began begging.
"Stop messing around. I'll give you the money."
Li Yan's face was as red as a monkey's backside.
"Stop! Stop!"
"I'll lend it to you, okay? I'll lend you the money!"
"How much?"
"Three thousand. I'll lend you three thousand. Just let me go!"
Hearing her say three thousand, Cao Yang finally pulled his wandering hand back, and the hand holding her wrist also loosened.
As she breathed a sigh of relief, Li Yan felt a tiny bit disappointed. This guy really fell into the money pit…
Cao Yang put his own three hundred bucks back into his bag and stretched his hand toward her again, asking for the three thousand.
Straightening her dress impatiently, Li Yan said, "I don't have cash. I'll go withdraw it tomorrow morning."
"And also—you're not allowed to treat me like that again!"
"How did I treat you?"
"You touched me all over! If the villagers find out, who would marry me? You?"
Cao Yang went silent.
"Go sleep in your own bed!"
"I'm not going. What if I wake up and you've packed up and run away?"
"Run away my ass! Then what do you want?"
"I want to sleep with you. Hold you while I sleep. So you won't run."
"You're too old to sleep with your sister!"
"We slept together last time too."
Without giving her a chance to resist, Cao Yang wrapped an arm around her waist and threw a leg over her, holding her like a doll—just like before.
Holding her soft body and smelling her scent, Cao Yang quickly drifted off in comfort.
Being held in the arms of a strong man, Li Yan felt comfortable as well—even though she pretended to resist. Deep down, she was enjoying every second of it.
Tiexiong and Jim's standoff finally ended when the police arrived.
They were never going to actually fight. What would it mean if hundreds of armed men started brawling? Did they think the police were just there for decoration?!
After losing territory last time, Tiexiong purposely stirred up trouble tonight just to regain a bit of face—to show his men that he wasn't someone to bully.
He was already back at his own warehouse, laughing loudly with a pretty girl in his arms.
"Brother Xiong, what made you so happy?" The girl in his lap acted coyly, as if he had actually beaten Jim senseless.
"I found a talent today. Really good fighter. Tomorrow I'll take him to deal with those Guangxi punks and let out some steam!"
Tiexiong called over one of his men. "Call that kid. Tell him to come see me tomorrow."
"Okay, Brother Xiong."
The lackey pulled out the slip of paper where he'd written down the number Cao Yang left.
The number you dialed is unavailable.
The lackey frowned, checked the slip again, and dialed one more time.
The number you dialed is unavailable.
"Brother Xiong, the number that kid left is invalid. I can't get through."
"Are you stupid?! Did you write it down wrong?!"
"No! I remember it clearly. It's definitely this number!"
"Bullshit! You must've written it wrong!"
Tiexiong smacked him on the head and cursed him out.
The lackey, nearly crying, checked the number's origin and discovered it was neither from Guangdong nor from Hunan—but from Shanxi.
"Boss… could that kid be messing with you?"
"He wouldn't dare! Not even with ten guts!"
Although he said that, doubt gnawed at him. Thinking back to how readily that kid agreed tonight, he suddenly felt the lackey might be right—maybe that kid was messing with him.
He slammed a fist on the table.
"Damn it! Let me catch you, and you're dead!"
Early the next morning, Li Yan was woken by Cao Yang shaking her. She glared at him unhappily.
"Get up. We're going to withdraw the money."
"Withdraw money? What money?"
Li Yan looked genuinely confused, as if she had forgotten everything from last night.
"Yan-jie, don't act like this. Or I'll start again." Cao Yang threatened.
Li Yan reluctantly sat up. "I'm changing clothes. Close your eyes."
Cao Yang obediently closed them—but opened them again once she started undressing, his body heating up as he looked at her tall, slender figure.
Hold it in. Get the money first—then get the girl…
Li Yan turned around and caught him peeking, punching him in the chest angrily.
She dragged her feet dressing up. When they went out, she insisted on having breakfast first. After breakfast, she needed the bathroom. After the bathroom, she claimed she twisted her ankle and couldn't go today—maybe tomorrow.
Cao Yang lost his patience and directly carried her toward the bank.
"Put me down! Put me down!"
She beat at him, embarrassed as people stared.
He finally set her down and urged her to hurry.
"Cao Yang… I can't lend you this money."
Hearing that, Cao Yang got angry, but Li Yan raised her hand, stopping him.
"I thought about it all night. If I lend you the money and you lose it, how will you pay me back? Your family already owes a lot. If you don't pay, I can't force you."
"Don't worry. Slot machines can be controlled. It's guaranteed profit!"
"I know that. But I'm worried you'll offend people. Yesterday we already offended the Hunan gang. If you offend the Sichuan gang next, we'll have to move again—and your safety won't be guaranteed. I don't want you getting hurt."
"What's there to be scared of? Didn't you see last night? A few guys can't even lay a finger on me!"
"But they'll have thirty or fifty guys!"
"That's fine. If I can't beat them, I can still outrun them!"
To convince her, Cao Yang flashed forward a hundred meters and ran back in a blink.
"With my speed, who can catch me?"
Li Yan still shook her head.
"No. If I give you the money, you only repay me if you lose. But if you win, I get nothing. The risk is all on me. That's not fair."
"You mean… you want high interest?"
"Oh please. If you don't repay me, I can't even pressure you. Forget interest!"
"Then you…"
"I mean this: I'll give you the money. If you lose, it's a loan—you repay me. If you win, then it's an investment—I get fifty percent of the profit. How about that?"
Cao Yang squeezed her cheek. Soft and tender—yet she somehow had the thickest skin.
"If you don't agree, then forget it. I won't push you."
"I agree! I didn't say no!"
"Then we write a contract."
Li Yan pulled out paper and pen and squatted to write seriously.
Cao Yang almost fainted. A thousand grazing horses thundered through his mind.
She first wrote an IOU for him to sign with a fingerprint—using her lipstick as ink since she didn't have a stamp pad.
Then she wrote a partnership agreement. When writing the profit split, she looked up at him.
"Fifty-fifty—is that too much?"
"Not too much! Not too much at all! Perfectly reasonable!"
At this moment, all he wanted was the money. Forget fifty-fifty—he'd accept ninety-ten.
"Forget it. Let's make it sixty-forty. You take sixty, I take forty. I don't want people saying I'm taking advantage of you."