68: I'm not a beast!

Sister Mengya let out a soft "humph" on the other end of the line, her voice carrying a hint of imperceptible coquettishness.

"You miss me?" Her voice suddenly dropped a few notches, tinged with a bit of resentment. "If you missed me, why are you only calling me now?"

"I've been waiting for your call ever since I got back from the club last time."

"I thought..."

She paused, then changed her tone, her voice becoming playful again.

"Was it because I rejected you last time and hurt your pride, so you got angry and didn't plan on talking to me anymore?"

Her words were saturated with a thick sense of grievance.

Lin Chao quickly chuckled, his tone filled with sincerity.

"How could I!"

"How could I possibly be angry with you, Sister Mengya?"

He began to talk nonsense with a straight face: "I was just afraid of interrupting your work, Sister Mengya!"

"I know you must be incredibly busy lately, dealing with Zheng Guangzhi. There must be so many things to handle."

"I didn't want my matters to distract you even further."

These words were spoken flawlessly, both flattering her and perfectly explaining why he hadn't called.

Sure enough, after hearing this, Xie Mengya fell silent for a moment on the other end.

When she spoke again, the hint of resentment in her voice had vanished without a trace.

It was replaced by a clear sense of pleasure.

She gave a soft humph. "At least you know how to talk, kid."

She paused and finally got to the point.

"Tell me, why are you looking for me? What's going on?"

Lin Chao felt a sense of relief, knowing he had passed this hurdle.

He stopped beating around the bush and went straight to the point: "Sister Mengya, I want to ask you about someone."

"No, to be more precise, I want to find some... friends from the underworld through you."

His voice was very low and serious. "I have something I want them to help me look into."

He thought for a moment and added another sentence.

"You just need to give me a contact method; I'll talk to them myself."

"I definitely won't use your name, and I promise not to cause you any trouble."

He kept his posture humble and made his words very clear.

He just needed a "channel," not for Xie Mengya to get involved personally.

On the other end, Xie Mengya gave a thoughtful "mm."

She didn't agree immediately, nor did she refuse.

"What do you want with people from the underworld?" Her voice carried a bit more concern. "Did you... run into some trouble?"

Lin Chao's tone became even more serious: "Sister Mengya, don't joke with me."

"I'm not the type of person to cause trouble."

"I just want to check up on someone."

"Check up on someone?" Xie Mengya raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

Without waiting for Lin Chao's answer, she gave another soft humph. "For someone to catch Manager Lin's attention like this, they must not be an ordinary person, right?"

"Could it be... you've taken a liking to some young girl, only to find out she already has a boyfriend?"

"So, you want to find people from the underworld to dig into that guy's background?"

"To see if he's worthy of your beloved little girl?"

"Or perhaps..."

Xie Mengya's voice took on a hint of mischievous excitement. "You want to find some dirt on him so you can... swoop in and steal her away?"

Lin Chao felt a massive headache coming on, caught between laughter and tears. "Sister Mengya, Sister Mengya, stop!"

"Where is your mind even going?"

"If you keep going, I'm going to end up as the villain who steals someone's love."

Xie Mengya chuckled again on the other end. "What? Did I hit the mark?"

"No!"

Lin Chao quickly denied it, his tone full of helplessness.

"Fine, I'll just tell you the truth."

He sighed, deciding not to beat around the bush with her anymore.

"It's like this."

He organized his words and gave a brief, concise account of Zhong Xiaoru's situation.

Of course, he cleverly omitted Lan Qingyu's existence.

He only said she was the daughter of a friend—young, lacking social experience, and accidentally caught in a loan shark's trap.

He explained everything clearly.

As he spoke, Xie Mengya gradually grew quiet on the other end.

Her previous playful and teasing tone also quietly vanished.

After Lin Chao finished, there was a brief silence on the other end.

Xie Mengya pondered for a moment. "There are two possibilities."

"First, the debt actually exists."

"But for a principal of twenty thousand to snowball to a hundred and twenty thousand in such a short time..."

"This isn't just a normal high-interest loan anymore."

"This is a 'Trap loan,' specifically designed to scam naive young girls."

Lin Chao's heart tightened. "A Trap loan?"

"Yeah," Xie Mengya replied. "They first use low or zero interest as bait to lure people in, then use various pretexts like 'handling fees' or 'late fees' to rapidly inflate the debt."

"When you can't pay it back, they use all sorts of methods to force you to comply."

"In mild cases, it's intimidation and threats; in severe cases... the consequences are unimaginable."

She clicked her tongue again. "The second possibility is that the girl is colluding with those thugs to scam money from your friend's woman."

"Like you, I also think the second possibility is more likely."

She smiled again, bringing the topic back. "I do know a couple of people in the underworld who are trustworthy and tight-lipped."

"I'll send you their contact information in a bit."

"However..." She changed her tone. "That friend of yours is truly stupid enough."

Her choice of words was as direct as ever, even somewhat harsh.

"To fall for such a low-level scam."

"If she hadn't met you, with that brain of hers, she'd probably be scammed until not even her bones were left."

Lin Chao gave a bitter laugh. "I think so too."

"That's why I thought I'd help out if I can."

Xie Mengya chuckled softly again on the other end.

"You certainly are enthusiastic."

"Just a friend's daughter; is she really worth all this effort?"

She paused, her voice dropping a bit, carrying a hint of ambiguous inquiry: "Tell me the truth, do you... have some designs on that little girl?"

Lin Chao immediately cried out in protest: "Sister Mengya! You can eat whatever you want, but you can't just say whatever you want!"

His voice rose an octave.

"She's only eighteen!"

"Eighteen!"

"No matter what, I wouldn't go after a girl who's just barely an adult, would I?"

"I'm not a beast!"

On the other end, hearing his near-roaring defense, Xie Mengya was momentarily stunned before she burst out laughing.

This time, she laughed until she was doubled over, her whole body shaking.

Through the receiver, Lin Chao could even imagine her laughing so hard that tears were almost coming out.

"Haha... You... why are you so worked up..." She finally managed to stop laughing, her voice still carrying a distinct tremor. "I was just joking."