Chapter 6: The Nightclub Invitation

Chapter 6: Chapter 6: The Nightclub Invitation

Chapter 6: The Nightclub Invitation

She pulled a slender cigarette from her bag, lit it, and looked at Liu Kai with a flirtatious glint in her phoenix eyes. She spoke lazily.

"Mr. Liu, don’t take me for a three-year-old. As far as I know, the Chinese government does not protect interest rates exceeding forty percent. Including the principal, my ex-husband owes you at most nine million. The rest is illegal. If you take this to court, you will not get that portion. You understand that, don’t you?"

Her words left the two men stunned. They were not ignorant of the law and knew that usury was illegal. That was why they could only resort to threatening and intimidating me—who understood nothing of the law—and my father, who was already desperate. They never expected their words to be so cleanly cut apart by my mother.

Liu Kai threw the cigarette from his lips to the ground, crushed it under his foot, and grinned with his chubby face.

"Beauty, so you know I can’t collect that five million in interest. But you still can’t shortchange me a single penny of my nine million principal plus legal interest!"

After speaking, he looked at my mother’s beautiful body with the smugness of a victor.

Seeing his disgraceful behavior, my mother smiled slightly. She took a folded document from her Chanel handbag, tossed it to Liu Kai, and said with a smile,

"Mr. Liu, take a look at this first. It’s quite remarkable."

Liu Kai had no idea what she was up to. He opened the documents, glanced at them for only a few seconds, and immediately turned pale. He stared in disbelief as he flipped through page after page, stammering,

"Where... where did you get all this...?"

The skinny man also came over to look. After reading for a while, his jaw nearly dropped to the floor.

"Is it good or not, Mr. Liu? You’ve been in this business for so long, how can you be so careless? People would be worried for you after seeing these. I had no choice but to make multiple copies and store them safely on my computer."

My mother spoke in a coquettish voice, her tone surprisingly charming and seductive.

Liu Kai was sweating profusely. He stuffed the documents into his pocket, his previous arrogance completely gone. He wiped the sweat from his brow and said in a slightly trembling voice,

"Miss Gu... Miss Gu, I also have a group of children to feed. You... you are a magnanimous person. Surely you wouldn’t take these things out and let others know about them?"

My mother giggled, her body trembling with unbridled charm. She took a drag of her cigarette and said slowly,

"The five million my ex-husband owed you should have already been transferred to your personal account. As for the four million in interest... I suppose you won’t want it, right?"

Liu Kai was slightly taken aback. He took out his phone and saw that he had indeed received a notification of a five-million-yuan deposit. His eyes darted around, and he forced a smile.

"Miss Gu is indeed straightforward. Alright, we won’t take advantage of your situation. How about this, Miss Gu—you grant us one request. This request will definitely not be unreasonable. If you agree, we don’t need the interest."

"Boss, no way, that four million—" the skinny man said anxiously from the side.

"What money? Miss Gu is a heroine, a true heroine. Stop talking nonsense." Liu Kai waved his hand grandly, as if the four million were nothing more than paper.

"Oh? Then tell me, what is your request?" My mother reclined lazily in the chair, her languid demeanor subtly exuding a seductive charm. She seemed somewhat unfamiliar to me in that moment.

Liu Kai smiled.

"My friend and I recently took over a nightclub, one of the top venues in Jingzhou. It will be opening soon, and I would like to invite Miss Gu to be our guest and support us. If you come, we are sure our popularity will skyrocket and business will boom!"

My heart sank, but to my surprise, my mother was not surprised at all. A charming smile appeared on her lips as she replied with a coquettish laugh,

"Hehehe... I thought it was some kind of difficult request, but it’s just a small matter. No problem."

I was stunned. How could Mom so easily agree to such an unreasonable request? Was she really willing to go to any lengths to settle Dad’s debts?

Liu Kai clearly had ill intentions. What good could come of going to a place like a nightclub?

Liu Kai was surprised that she agreed so readily. His face lit up with joy and he laughed loudly.

"Great! Then the interest is waived. I look forward to Miss Gu’s patronage. Let’s go!"

He told the skinny man to hurry up and leave. Before walking out, he turned back one last time and took a reluctant look at my mother’s voluptuous, mature body, then finally departed.

My father and I were both stunned. This arrogant bully who had been oppressing us had completely given in to my mother, who had only just appeared, in less than half an hour.

I couldn’t help looking up at my mother. Our eyes met. Countless times when I was a child, she had picked me up while I was crying, and it was under that same gentle gaze that my heart had always been soothed. In that instant, I realized that the mother who had cared for and protected me since childhood had finally returned. I almost burst into tears again, but I felt a little embarrassed and forced myself to hold them back.

Suddenly only the three of us remained in the room. Mom stubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray on the table. Looking at the ashtray full of cigarette butts and the messy little house around her, her eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"Zhou Wen, you’re going to live in a place like this with Xiao Bin?" Her expression had changed completely. She spoke coldly to my father.

Dad said nothing. He glanced at her, then went to the kitchen, brought out a few cups, and began pouring hot water.

"No need to pour water. We’re leaving," Mom said, standing up.

"I’ve paid off the five million you owed. I don’t want a single penny from you. Consider it all for our son’s sake. Tomorrow you and I will go to the Civil Affairs Bureau to transfer custody of Xiaobin to me."

After speaking, she opened her handbag, took out a check, and placed it on the table. Looking at my father’s expressionless face, she sighed softly.

"Our marriage has come to an end. Consider this a breakup fee. I hope you will never appear in our lives again."

My father put down the kettle, looked at the woman who now seemed like a stranger, and said calmly,

"Okay. But I’ve already set up that family trust. After I give up custody of Xiaobin, the property rights will belong to you and our son. You can take it and live there. I don’t owe you anything."

Mom looked at him with a surprised expression, then nodded gently. She walked to my side, looked at me standing there blankly, and gently took my arm. She smiled.

"Son, let’s go. What’s past is past. From now on, Mom will live well with you. We’ll never be apart again."

Looking at my mother’s incredibly gentle expression, a surge of warmth rose in my heart. My eyes reddened and tears welled up.

"Wait. My son and I have a few words to say. It’s a private matter between us," my father suddenly said from behind.

We both turned in surprise. Seeing the solemn expression on his face, Mom immediately understood it must be something important. She let go of my arm, walked out the door on her silk-stockinged legs, and waited quietly outside.

Now that things had come to this, I didn’t know what else my father still wanted to say to me. But he was the one who had contacted me and asked me to come today, so it had to be important.

I watched as my father took out a tattered oilcloth bag from his pocket. The bag was extremely worn and looked very old. He walked over and solemnly handed it to me. He pressed my fingers closed around it, held them tightly for a moment, then carefully stuffed the bag deep into my shirt pocket and buttoned it securely.

He sat down beside me and spoke in a low but firm voice.

"From now on, you are the head of the Zhou family. This is a family heirloom that has been passed down for nearly six hundred years. You must keep it safe."

A family heirloom? I was incredibly surprised. I had never heard of such a thing before.

Dad continued in the same low voice.

"There’s also a key inside. It opens the door to the second basement level of the Riverside Garden. It’s a secret door, located next to a stone in the southeast corner of the first basement level. Look carefully and you should be able to find it. After you open it with this key, there is a way down. Our Zhou family’s mission lies there. You’ll understand once you see it."

"I have only ever dared to keep this treasure close to my body. It has been passed down from our ancestors for so many years, and I have never been careless with it for even a moment. Now that our Zhou family has suffered this calamity, you are the only one of our flesh and blood left. Your mother is shrewd and capable. I believe she can protect you. You must keep this safe and fulfill our mission. Do not be negligent or careless. Remember! Remember!"

"Also... you must never let anyone know about this mission. Not even your mother. Do you understand?"

My father spoke with all his strength, as if these were his dying words, yet he dared not raise his voice, as though afraid that a third person in the world might hear. I listened to everything in a daze, my mind in chaos. The fingers touching the bag that held the treasure trembled as if they had lost all strength.

"Go! Do a good job!" Dad shouted. He shoved me toward the door and pushed me straight outside before slamming it shut.

"What happened? What did he say to you?!" My mother looked at me in surprise, her face pale, and quickly came to my side with concern.

It was too much information at once. I stared blankly at the closed door, then turned to look at my worried mother. My feelings were complicated. I was about to tell her what my father had asked of me, but then his words echoed in my ears again:

"Even if it’s your mother, you must not tell her! Do you understand?"

I swallowed the words back down.

"No... nothing. He just gave me some instructions and said that from now on I would be the head of the Zhou family... although it’s a bit ridiculous," I said, not daring to meet my mother’s eyes.

My mother didn’t press further. She simply took my arm and pulled me along as she spoke gently.

"Son, no matter what happens, don’t worry. You should know that with your mother here, no one can bully you."

Her soft voice whispered beside my ear. The sweet fragrance coming from her body and the warmth of her soft form pressed close to mine gradually calmed me down.

Stepping outside, I saw the city lights just beginning to come on, neon signs flashing endlessly. And I knew then that I had finally turned the page on my old life.

---

On the overpass, inside a speeding BMW...

"Boss, that woman is really hot. She’s almost forty, but she still looks like a young married woman. Those big breasts and that big butt... her clothes are about to burst. Damn, if I could have some fun with her..." The skinny man who had been with Liu Kai earlier spoke while driving, spitting as he talked.

"Alright, alright, isn’t it embarrassing enough already? Damn it, where did that slut get those documents from?" Liu Kai cursed angrily, pulling the papers from his pocket as if he wanted to tear them to shreds.

"Yeah, I heard she’s been in the US all this time, right? Does she have people working for her here? Maybe there’s a mole in our company. But damn... look at that slut. Big ass, big breasts, and she dresses so provocatively. She’s been divorced for so many years. I don’t believe she hasn’t been seducing men and messing around."

The skinny man said this while drooling.

"How do you know she doesn’t have a man? She’s at the prime of her life, like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. She might be having an even better time abroad than we think. Anyway, nobody knows, and she’s single. It’s not like she’s just randomly dating men, damn it!"

As he uttered these lewd words, Liu Kai felt his penis harden.

"But I didn’t expect her to agree to come to our place so readily," he said with a lewd grin after thinking for a moment.

"Since she said she dares to come, if she actually shows up, wouldn’t she be easy prey for you, Mr. Liu?" the skinny man replied with the same lewd grin.

Liu Kai lit a cigarette and smiled.

"She said she would come. Damn it... whether openly or in secret, I’ll get her completely drunk, then drug her with something strong. She’ll obediently turn into a slut, and I’ll fuck that cunt inside and out!"

"That’s right, that’s right! Haha!" the skinny man laughed smugly.

After a while, Liu Kai threw away his cigarette butt, took out his phone, and made a call.

"Hello." A steady male voice answered.

"Mr. Jiang, we’ve run into some trouble today..." Liu Kai said into the phone.

"They won’t sign? You can’t handle that?" The man’s tone was somewhat impatient.

"No. Someone showed up along the way. Guess who it is?"

"Speak up. Stop talking nonsense."

"It’s his ex-wife—the Number One Beauty of Jingzhou, Gu Wanxin."

"It’s her?!" The man on the other end sounded surprised. He quickly added, "She’s back from America? What’s she doing here?"

"It seems she checked my company’s accounts. She got hold of all the cash flow from those loan-sharking and financial businesses I used to run. I don’t even know where she got it from, damn it!" Liu Kai cursed.

"Hmph. That’s more like her style. You’ve all been threatened by her?"

"Mr. Jiang, I don’t know where she got the money from, and I’m afraid she has something else in her hands. I had no choice but to back down. But thankfully, she just paid back the five million yuan principal that Zhou Wen owed me."

"She helped Zhou Wen pay off his debts? Did she go back to Zhou Wen and get back together with him?" The man on the phone sounded somewhat annoyed.

"Probably not. Their son came today too. I waited outside for a while and saw that slut come down with her son and leave."

"You bunch of useless idiots. You can’t even handle things properly. Don’t get involved in their business for now." The man hung up the phone.

"Damn it! I’ve been working like a dog for him, and he treats me like a beast of burden! Fuck him!" Liu Kai cursed viciously the moment the call ended.

"That’s right, boss. I’ve put up with him for a long time too." The skinny man in the front seat saw that Liu Kai was angry and chimed in.

"Sun Lei, go to T&T Supermarket. I’m going to let off some steam tonight!" Liu Kai ordered.