Chapter 23

Chapter 23 Let Money Do the Talking

In the past, life was already very stressful, and many people would constantly grumble: “Love these days has gotten so cheap that you can literally buy it with money.”

Back then, that was just a sarcastic jab at the state of society, but in today’s world, it has become completely true. Who knows whether that’s progress or regression.

The girls the old woman had with her were all brought in from the unplanned zones, but not through trafficking or kidnapping — these girls had come with her of their own free will. They had no other agenda, just wanted a steady meal. These girls had no residency rights in Special Zone 9, and the only legal ways to stay were through marriage or purchasing residency themselves. Otherwise, after a certain period, they’d be legally expelled and cleared out.

After wandering around inside for over ten minutes, Qi Lin came back out and asked the old woman, “Those two girls from the same hometown — do they have family?”

“No.” The old woman shook her head without hesitation.

“Do you know what I do for a living?” Qi Lin asked with a frown.

The old woman froze.

“Don’t try to fool me like you fool everyone else. Do they or do they not have family?” Qi Lin pressed.

The old woman weighed her words for a moment: “Oh my, look at me forgetting — those two girls do have family, but they’re all back in the unplanned zones.”

“Then I don’t want them,” Qi Lin shook his head, “Too much trouble down the line.”

“……Then take a look at the others.”

“What’s that Belarusian girl’s name?” Qi Lin asked after a moment’s thought.

“Bella.” The old woman gave a thumbs up and said, “You’ve got good taste, little brother. That girl’s about 1.7 meters tall, fair skin, good-looking — she’d keep things exciting at home.”

“Her Chinese is fine?”

“She’s from the unplanned zone right near Zone 9. She speaks the local dialect better than I do. No problem at all.”

“Then her.” Qi Lin nodded and asked, “How much?”

“8000.” The old woman answered cleanly and directly.

“Let’s go.” Qi Lin turned and walked away the moment he heard the price.

Qin Yu and Old Cat were both caught off guard and quickly followed.

“Hey now, little brother, why the attitude? What did I say wrong?” the old woman called out immediately, “Come back and talk it over — I’ll give you a 10% discount.”

“8000? Why don’t you just rob me?” Qi Lin called back, “I can’t afford to get married.”

“I’ll knock off a thousand.” The old woman caught up and grabbed Qi Lin’s arm, saying, “Brother, they don’t have residency rights — it cost me something to bring them in. Don’t haggle so hard.”

“3000.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, for three thousand I’ll sell you a leg to take home and play with.” The old woman rolled her eyes.

“Fine, forget it then.”

“Why does this guy always want to leave!” The old woman got anxious, “Lowest I can go is 6800, not a cent less. I’ve been feeding them for over two months.”

“I’ve only got 4500 on me. If that works for you, we’ll write it up and I’ll take her.” Old Cat said, eyes wide, “But one thing — if this woman goes back for a couple of days and sneaks off on you… don’t say I didn’t warn you about what that’ll do to your business.”

“No way, 4500 is absolutely not happening. For 4500 you can only buy someone like me.” The old woman waved her hand, “Go ahead and leave then, bottom line is 6800.”

Qi Lin didn’t drag it out — he turned and left the small courtyard with Qin Yu and Old Cat.

About two minutes later, the old woman came chasing after them, huffing and puffing as she called out, “Alright, I can see you two are meant for each other — 4500, she’s yours… let’s be friends, little brother, come on back……”

Qi Lin haggled three rounds in total before finally reaching a deal with the old woman, and throughout the entire process, the Belarusian girl Bella had heard every word clearly from inside the room.

……

Around eight or nine in the evening, Old Cat called an unlicensed car, and the four of them finally made it back to Songjiang proper.

On the road, Qin Yu looked Bella up and down — dirty as she was — and smiled as he asked Qi Lin, “Aren’t you going to throw a little celebration?”

“Where’s the money for that,” Qi Lin shook his head, “I’ll just get some friends together for a meal.”

“When?”

“Tomorrow, I guess.” Qi Lin thought for a moment and said, “I’ll let the guys from the unit know too.”

“Alright, sounds good.” Old Cat, worn out after a long day, turned to look at the Belarusian girl and said simply, “Even though… you met through money, my brother here is a good person. He won’t do you wrong. You take good care of him too.”

Bella hadn’t lifted her head once the whole time. She just kept her head down, running her fingers through the ends of her hair, and said, “I… I understand……”

“Alright, we’re heading off then.” Old Cat said his goodbyes to Qi Lin.

“Hey!”

After a brief exchange, Old Cat and Qin Yu watched the man and woman — brought together by money — walk away.

On the frost-worn street, Qi Lin walked ahead, a little stiff, his heart pounding away.

After some time had passed, Bella called out, “Can you… can you slow down… my shoes are falling apart… they’re cutting into my feet.”

Qi Lin stopped and turned to look at her, then after a long pause said, “I’ll carry you then. It’s close, almost there.”

The girl froze, then reached out and grabbed the hem of Qi Lin’s jacket where she stood: “……I… I want to eat.”

“Heh.” Qi Lin smiled, bent down and said, “Hop on. We’ll eat as soon as we get home.”

……

Old Cat had no idea where he was off to that night to fool around, and unlike usual he didn’t suggest crashing at Qin Yu’s place — he just made up some excuse and took off.

By the time Qin Yu got home it was already past eight at night. He’d originally planned to boil some water and grab something to eat, but then remembered he’d lent out 1300 yuan today and only had 200 left to cover daily expenses, so he just washed up quickly and got ready for bed.

A little past nine at night.

Qin Yu had just lain down when he heard Lin Nianlei’s furious shout: “What do you think you’re doing — you want me to call the police?!”

Qin Yu startled at the sound, grabbed his jacket and threw it over his shoulders, then walked to the window and looked outside.

Lin Nianlei was standing at the bottom of the steps, pointing toward the entrance and shouting, while three burly men in leather coats swaggered their way in.

“Little lady, you really don’t know your place, do you. Warned you once already and you still don’t get it?” The lead man rubbed his shaved head and held out his hand, “Give me the camera.”

“The camera isn’t with me. If you keep harassing me, I’m calling the police right now.”

“Look at you, all fired up.” The lead man laughed and pointed at Lin Nianlei, “The police? Yuan Ke at the station is a friend of mine. Go ahead and call — I’ll wait right here for him to show up, heh.”

Lin Nianlei went silent.

Inside, Qin Yu had been about to open the door and go check when he heard the man mention Yuan Ke’s name — he froze on the spot, brow tightly furrowed.

“Bang!”

Just then, a boy of about 15 or 16 came bursting out from the inner courtyard, wrapped in a tattered padded jacket, hollering, “What’s going on, making all this noise in the middle of the night?”