Chapter 125 - 53: Helping Pay Off a Debt, Becoming the Underworld Boss (3)
Jiang Li took a step forward. "I’ll pay the money, but you’ll need to write me a statement."
The man looked at Jiang Li, somewhat surprised. "What kind of statement?"
’I can’t believe this chick is so loaded. She can pull out over six million just like that.’
’Suddenly, I feel like I asked for too little.’
Jiang Li’s voice was firm. "A paid-in-full statement."
’With loan sharks like these, if I don’t get a clear paid-in-full statement, they’ll probably just come back for more money later.’
’They’re like leeches; once they latch on, you can never get them off.’
She had the owner and his wife sit down, recalling a piece of gossip she’d heard from Zhong Mufeng. "Of course, you can refuse. But it seems you guys have some mercenaries on your payroll. I don’t have much, just a little bit of money. I wouldn’t mind using it to wipe out your entire organization."
’Illegal loan shark operations like this shouldn’t even exist.’
’They deliberately trap people for money, and then the interest compounds until their victims are stuck earning money for them for a lifetime.’
The man was taken aback. He hadn’t expected Jiang Li to not only be rich but also sharp enough to know about mercenaries.
Fearing that Jiang Li might actually hire mercenaries to come after him, the man laughed sheepishly. "Hey now, what’s the rush? It’s not like I’m going to disagree."
Jiang Li raised an eyebrow. "Money in one hand, statement in the other."
’I was just bluffing, but I can’t believe they actually have them.’
’Looks like I really will have to find some mercenaries.’
’There must be plenty of other poor souls like the shop owner. Since I’ve decided to get involved, I might as well see it through to the end.’
’Fight fire with fire.’
’I refuse to believe there isn’t a perfect solution to this.’
The man nodded. "Sure, no problem."
His gaze fell on the anxious couple sitting on the stools, and he roared with displeasure, "What are you spacing out for? Hurry up and get me some paper and a pen!"
The shop owner shot up, trembling. "Right away."
He took paper and a pen from a nearby cabinet, cautiously placed them on the table behind the man, and then scurried back to his wife’s side.
He looked up at Jiang Li’s back, his eyes turning red.
’If it weren’t for Jiang Li, they probably would have been stuck working here until the day they died.’
’Millions upon millions... it was like a bottomless pit with no end in sight.’
Jiang Li downloaded a paid-in-full statement template from the internet and handed her phone to him. "Follow this template."
The man’s mouth twitched, but he obediently copied the template Jiang Li had provided.
The remaining goons looked at each other, then all lowered their baseball bats.
’They could see clearly now—Jiang Li was the real boss here.’
After a flurry of scratching, he finished writing and handed the paper to Jiang Li with a fawning smile. "Here you go, miss. Please take a look."
Jiang Li checked it against her phone, nodded in satisfaction, and asked, "Are you authorized to make this deal?"
The man puffed out his chest. "You can rest assured, I absolutely am!"
Jiang Li gave him a skeptical look. "You don’t have a boss?"
The man looked smug. "I’m part of upper management. I have full authority to settle this."
Jiang Li raised an eyebrow, transferred the money to the account number he’d written, and showed him the payment confirmation screen. "Sign it and add your thumbprint."
Upon hearing this, the shop owner immediately stood up and took an ink pad from a drawer, not even waiting for the man to ask.
The man carefully counted the zeros on the screen, then logged into his payment app. After confirming the funds had been received, he signed his name and pressed his thumb into the ink. "All done."
He handed the document and the statement to Jiang Li and said respectfully, "Well, if there’s nothing else, we’ll be on our way."
Jiang Li tilted her chin in dismissal. As soon as the men were gone, she shot Shen Yanzhi a meaningful look. Shen Yanzhi nodded.
The shop owner, a sobbing mess of tears and snot, pulled his wife down to kneel again. "Miss, thank you, thank you so much. If it weren’t for you, we might never have been able to go home."
’Jiang Li felt a wave of exhaustion. Why did these two kneel at the drop of a hat?’
She quickly pulled them to their feet. "If you really want to thank me, go home soon. My company’s cafeteria is short-staffed at the moment."
The owner’s wife wiped away a tear. "We’ll leave today."
Jiang Li took out her phone. "Let’s exchange contact information. Send me pictures of your IDs, and I’ll have my assistant draw up your employment contracts."
After exchanging numbers and receiving photos of their IDs, she bought plane tickets home for them and sent a message to a group chat to arrange for their pickup.
She locked her phone. "I’ve bought your plane tickets. Someone will be at the airport to meet you. Just go with them when you arrive."