"Cough, cough..."
Tao Qiyue's expression was unnatural, and she reminded Chen Jinzhao, "You are also a soldier, and a member of the special forces. Can you stop making such jokes?"
Little did she know that Chen Jinzhao said with a serious expression, "I'm not joking."
"I'm very short of money right now."
Xu Nianqing still owed fifty million, with a staggering annual interest rate of 36%. If she couldn't help her repay it quickly, it would likely affect her subsequent scientific research work.
Since overt methods wouldn't work, Chen Jinzhao had to turn his attention to the gray areas.
Tao Qiyue could tell Chen Jinzhao wasn't joking. Her delicate eyebrows gradually furrowed. "How much money do you need? How about I lend it to you? The ways to make quick money are all written in the criminal law. I don't want to see you doing those things."
As someone who had also come from the military, Tao Qiyue didn't want Chen Jinzhao to go astray.
Chen Jinzhao gave a wry smile. "I appreciate your kindness, but my deficit is huge. Your money would be like a drop in the bucket for me."
Tao Qiyue fell silent.
She did know of a few underground fighting venues. She had considered taking down these dens before, but it was difficult to act. Every time they set out, the place would have already dispersed. It was clear that someone had leaked the wind.
Under such circumstances, it was impossible to clear out the underground fighting rings.
"Are you really going?" she confirmed again.
"Underground fighting has cruel rules, and the process is extremely bloody. If the stakes are high, it can even be a fight to the death. If you're short on money, you'll definitely be playing in life-or-death matches."
"This way, there will be a risk to your life."
Chen Jinzhao's first reaction wasn't danger, but a question: "How big are their stakes?"
Tao Qiyue said solemnly, "The largest can even reach hundreds of millions, and that's not including the related betting projects. In short, these are arenas created by the rich for their amusement. If you insist on going, you need to be careful. The income from just fighting in black market matches won't be too high, at most one million a night."
The main event was the betting between the financiers behind each fighter.
"Then can you tell me which venue has the biggest stakes? I want to try my luck."
Tao Qiyue replied without hesitation, "It should be at the Ningcheng Steel Plant outside East Third Ring Road. The steel plant went bankrupt in the 1990s and hasn't resumed production since. That place gets very lively at night. Many people go there to fight in black market matches with the same idea as you, walking in and being carried out."
"I know, thank you," Chen Jinzhao nodded.
"How about..." Tao Qiyue hesitated for a moment.
"I go with you to take a look? I've only seen it in case files, I haven't actually seen what underground black market fighting is like."
Chen Jinzhao stared at Tao Qiyue's face for a long time. "Aren't you afraid of being recognized and killed?"
Tao Qiyue smiled brightly. "They wouldn't dare. This would be openly provoking the state's machinery of violence. At most, they'd just talk tough. Besides, not many people take me seriously."
Chen Jinzhao agreed.
After lunch, Chen Jinzhao took the bank card his mother Li Qiurong had given him the night before and went to a nearby bank to check the balance.
He was shocked when he checked—
There were five million yuan in the card!
When Chen Jinzhao retired, he had received a settlement and relocation fee, but it was definitely less than two million. Furthermore, his mother Li Qiurong lived in a small town with few job opportunities. She only did odd jobs to maintain the household expenses. No matter what, she couldn't have saved three million yuan in savings. So where did this money come from?
Chen Jinzhao counted several more times, fearing he had misread.
After counting seven or eight times, he was finally sure he hadn't made a mistake.
It was indeed five million!
This won't do.
He had to call home and ask.
Tao Qiyue stood a short distance away and saw Chen Jinzhao frowning, also thinking something had happened.
"What's wrong?"
Chen Jinzhao said in a deep voice, "Nothing, I'll call home and ask."
Tao Qiyue said "Oh" and walked a short distance away again.
The phone was connected.
Chen Jinzhao immediately asked, "Mom, what's going on with the money in the card? I remember when I gave it to you, there wasn't this much..."
More than doubled.
Could someone know his identity and be channeling benefits to Li Qiurong?
This was the last thing Chen Jinzhao wanted to face.
Li Qiurong's tone was calm, as if she had expected Chen Jinzhao to call. "Son, this money is for you to get married. Use this money to buy a house and a car in the city, and then have a wedding for them. If you don't have enough, I have some retirement savings, you can take that too."
"Mom, that's not what I meant. I mean, where did this money come from?" Chen Jinzhao was anxious.
"This money is clean, don't worry too much," Li Qiurong explained.
The more she said this, the less Chen Jinzhao believed it. This money couldn't have just appeared out of thin air, could it?
Finally.
Chen Jinzhao said, "Mom, if you don't tell me clearly where this money came from, I won't use a single cent."
Li Qiurong also suddenly fell silent.
This made Chen Jinzhao's mind in a mess. Could it be that his mother had done something illicit for him, her son?
"Sigh..."
"Since you're asking, I'll tell you the truth. Everything I say next is true, not a single lie. If you don't believe me, you can investigate." Li Qiurong said.
She told Chen Jinzhao—
Two years ago, Chen Jinzhao's maternal uncle suddenly contacted Li Qiurong, saying he could give Li Qiurong a large sum of money.
Chen Jinzhao's thoughts were in chaos. He interrupted Li Qiurong, "Mom, wait! How come I don't remember having an uncle? And when I was in high school, my maternal grandfather passed away, and I never saw this so-called uncle."
He was afraid his mother was weaving a lie to deceive him.
Li Qiurong also sighed and told Chen Jinzhao an old secret.
Chen Jinzhao's maternal grandfather, Li Qiurong's father, had been an orphan in the village since childhood, growing up on charity. Chen Jinzhao knew this, but he had only thought his maternal grandfather's relatives had died in the war years. Now, Li Qiurong told Chen Jinzhao that his maternal grandfather's father was on the opposing side and went across the strait after their defeat.
Decades later, his maternal grandfather's father returned, wanting to take him away.
However, Chen Jinzhao's maternal grandfather didn't want to leave, but he couldn't bear to see his son suffer, so he asked his father to take his son away.
That child was Li Qiurong's elder brother, Chen Jinzhao's uncle.
Li Qiurong didn't know these things before. She hadn't been born when her brother was sent away. She only learned about it two years ago when her brother reappeared.
At that time, Li Qiurong refused her brother's offer of direct financial assistance. Under her brother's insistence, Li Qiurong only accepted some help—for example, she invested in the stock market with her brother and made some money.
"This is how the five million came about," Li Qiurong said.
"If you don't believe me, you can ask someone to check your uncle's file. Your uncle's name is Li Qiutao. Oh, right, I'll send you my stock account later. You young people should be able to tell if it's real or fake at a glance."
Chen Jinzhao's head felt dizzy.
Unknowingly, he had an uncle? What made it even more surreal was that his mother, Li Qiurong, had invested in the stock market for two years and achieved a return rate of over 100%.
This was a bona fide stock god!