Chapter 15: The Ultimate Chatterbox

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Hearing this, Wu Bei hesitated. Earlier that day, outside the Caesar Crown, he had indeed witnessed the young man's boldness. After a long pause, he finally spoke up, "Wait for me!"

More than forty minutes later, inside the lottery shop.

Wu Bei found the young man curled up in a corner, hands clutching his head. His white T-shirt was covered with a patchwork of footprints, and his face was bruised and battered.

He looked nothing like the wealthy playboy who had thrown money around so freely earlier that day.

Qi Jinlong, holding a belt, stood with four or five guys, angrily cursing.

When he saw Wu Bei, Qi Jinlong showed some respect and signaled his friends to step outside.

Wu Bei offered a cigarette and asked, "What’s going on, brother?"

"This guy’s freeloading! Took over three hundred thousand in chips from me and now can't pay up!" Qi Jinlong growled, spitting in disgust.

The young man weakly protested, "Your machines were tampered with! Otherwise, I wouldn’t have lost so much."

"Yeah, right! You think you’re making sense?" Qi Jinlong snatched up the belt and stepped forward again. The young man scrambled to hold his head in panic.

"Brother, brother, that’s enough!" Wu Bei grabbed Qi Jinlong’s shoulder to stop him. "If you really hurt him, you’ll be responsible too, right?"

Qi Jinlong glared at the young man, then spoke seriously: "Wu, we’re not strangers. Let me be honest with you—I’m just a worker. This place belongs to my boss. That hole of over three hundred thousand? Even if you sell me out, it won’t cover it."

Wu Bei smiled, "You don’t have to cover it. He’s got the money."

"Yeah, yeah, I have money! Really! Don’t believe me? Let’s go to the bank right now, and I’ll withdraw it for you immediately."

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The young man seized the opportunity to shout.

Qi Jinlong frowned at him, then looked at Wu Bei, reluctantly explaining, "Wu, we have our rules. No money, no leaving."

Wu Bei patted his chest confidently, "With me vouching for him, you still don’t trust?"

After biting his lip and hesitating for a while, Qi Jinlong muttered, "Alright! I’ll hand him over to you, Wu. But you must get the money back before noon tomorrow, or my boss will skin me alive."

"No need to wait till morning, half an hour tops!" the young man assured with certainty as he stealthily stood up.

Wu Bei understood Qi Jinlong’s caution—this line of work was shady. Going to the bank together would risk being caught on camera, leading to trouble.

Within the time it took to smoke half a cigarette, Wu Bei led the bruised young man out of the lottery shop.

The young man glanced back, eyes bulging as he muttered, "Damn it! Only in this godforsaken place like Chongzhou. If this happened in the capital, I’d make those guys carry me out in the center of the funeral procession. Look at this handsome face all beaten up. If my grandpa knew, he’d be crying with pain."

Wu Bei said nothing, striding toward the nearest self-service bank.

The young man shamelessly sidled up, "Hey, you’re really righteous. I’m Luo Hou. What’s your name?"

Wu Bei shrugged off the hand the young man placed on his shoulder, frowning, "Three hundred thousand in fees, not a cent less, or I’m sending you back!"

"No big deal, fifty thousand is fine too," Luo Hou said casually, shaking his head.

This guy was a nonstop chatterbox, his mouth firing off like a machine gun.

Suppressing the urge to punch him, they finally arrived at a self-service bank. Luo Hou bounced inside immediately.

Wu Bei kept his eyes fixed on him. This kid was his cash cow; if anything went wrong, not only would everything be lost, but he’d have no way to explain it to Qi Jinlong.

One minute, two minutes, ten minutes passed. Luo Hou remained inside, busy at the ATM with his back to Wu Bei.

Suddenly suspicious, Wu Bei entered.

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"Damn it! Damn it!"

Luo Hou’s feet were surrounded by six or seven scattered bank cards as he sweated profusely, pressing buttons on the ATM.

Wu Bei quietly asked, "What’s going on?"

"Locked! My old man locked all my cards. Not a penny can be withdrawn!" Luo Hou turned his head, face twisted in misery, howling.

Wu Bei was stunned, incredulous, and moved closer.

"See for yourself—none of the passwords work." Luo Hou swallowed hard and pointed to the screen. "Big brother, what should I do?"

In that instant, anger surged through Wu Bei. Feeling played, he grabbed Luo Hou’s head roughly and cursed, "Come on, you’re coming with me!"

"Brother, no... please... if I go back, they’ll kill me..."

"Or you come with me to the capital. I’ll give you five hundred thousand—no, a million!"

Luo Hou struggled fiercely, begging for mercy, but his small frame was no match for Wu Bei’s stubborn grip. Without a doubt, he was dragged out of the bank.

Ignoring his cries and protests, Wu Bei pulled out his phone and dialed Qi Jinlong: "Brother, this guy screwed me over too. We’re on Renmin Road; could you come over?"

"If you hand me over, I’ll report you for beating people earlier today!"

Luo Hou’s next words made Wu Bei hang up immediately.