68: Chapter 68 The phone call still came.

Chen Sheng recalled the intelligence report mentioning that Liu Jun's debt problems would all become overdue on the 23rd; calculating the time, it was indeed time to receive a call from Liu Jun.

He heard Mother Chen's voice coming through the receiver: "He didn't just call me; he called your younger maternal aunt and eldest maternal aunt as well."

"So, did you lend him any?" Chen Sheng asked quickly.

"I didn't lend him anything, but your younger maternal aunt couldn't bring herself to refuse and agreed to lend him twenty thousand."

"That's a relief!" Chen Sheng breathed a sigh of relief inwardly. After considering his wording, he said tactfully: "I feel that Younger Maternal Uncle's behavior is a bit strange, so you should be cautious about this money-lending matter."

Mother Chen said with a relaxed tone: "I don't have money either. Besides, isn't your great-grandmother always bragging about how their family is doing this and that? And yet, they are still asking us to borrow money..."

Chen Sheng could actually hear the flavor of "the tables have turned" in her words.

"Exactly!" Chen Sheng agreed: "I remember them saying before that they bought another house somewhere, and how much their monthly pension was. Even with all that, they still need Younger Maternal Uncle to come and borrow money."

"Anyway, I'm not lending anything. Besides, I don't have any money. Also, if Liu Jun comes to borrow money from you..."

Before Mother Chen could finish, Chen Sheng interrupted: "I'm unemployed, I don't have any money either. Besides, we aren't very close, he shouldn't be looking for me, and he probably doesn't even have my number."

However, Chen Sheng had ultimately thought too simply.

After tossing and turning all night, before it was even noon, while he was driving An Xiaonuan in the morning, an unknown number called him.

Having worked for many years, receiving a few unknown business calls was normal, so Chen Sheng didn't think much of it and pressed the answer button.

"Hello! Is this Chen Sheng? It's me, Liu Jun, your Younger Maternal Uncle."

Chen Sheng: "..."

He had the distinct feeling of being slapped in the face.

Knowing that the caller was up to no good, Chen Sheng could only pretend to be oblivious and greet him with a smile: "Younger Maternal Uncle, hello! May I ask why you are calling?"

Perhaps because there was a generational gap between them, Liu Jun didn't get straight to the point.

"Haha~ Is it convenient for you to talk right now?"

Chen Sheng took the opportunity to decline: "I'm driving right now; you know how the morning rush hour is."

"Then drive carefully. I'll call back later."

"It's fine, Younger Maternal Uncle, if you have something urgent..."

Before Chen Sheng could finish, Liu Jun interrupted: "There's no rush. You focus on driving; safety is important. I'll call back later. That's all, I'm hanging up now."

Beep, beep~

Hearing the busy signal from the receiver, the two in the car instinctively exchanged a look. An Xiaonuan spoke first: "This is going to be tricky."

Last night, Chen Sheng had told An Xiaonuan about Liu Jun borrowing money everywhere, and the two had discussed and speculated about it.

What happened to Liu Jun?

Borrowing money on such a large scale—could his business be in trouble?

Although Chen Sheng held the answer in his heart, after their entire discussion, not a single one of their speculations had been correct.

That was normal.

In Chen Sheng's impression, Liu Jun was tall and thin, wore glasses, and his first impression was that of a cultured person. Combined with the fact that he was talkative, these things stacked together made him definitely a "good kid" in everyone's eyes. Otherwise, when he asked, his younger maternal aunt wouldn't have been unable to refuse and agreed to lend twenty thousand.

But could such a person be involved in online gambling?

It's like Cao Zan, the owner of Caos Braised Duck at the entrance. He is usually easygoing and kind to people, never getting into arguments—could he really be an online scammer?

If evidence wasn't thrown in your face, you wouldn't believe it even if you died.

Impossible! Absolutely impossible!

"Sigh! Yeah, it really is tricky!" Chen Sheng lamented.

Lending or not aside, they were related, and that alone meant he could only express his meaning tactfully, rather than crudely using the word "scram."

Otherwise, the gossip alone would be enough for him and his family to suffer.

However...

Chen Sheng changed the subject, his tone firm: "Tricky or not, it has to be dealt with. Lending money is out of the question, and besides, we don't have any money on hand. Leave this matter to me to handle; you just focus on your work."

"As long as you know what you're doing," An Xiaonuan said hesitantly. "But... if he needs funds urgently for a short time, if it's within our means, we could still lend it."

"I know!" Chen Sheng nodded.

He felt an inexplicable sense that having an intelligence system wasn't always a good thing.

The intelligence system was like pushing someone into the position of a prophet who knows everything in advance. It would make a person develop an inflated mindset of "everyone is drunk, but I alone am sober." And this foresight could not be shared with others. If not restrained, over time, the mentality would lose balance, and perhaps one would become a madman in the eyes of others.

For example, the child prodigy reported on before who was specially admitted to the Capital University at twelve or thirteen. At that time, he predicted that capital housing prices would soar in the future and asked his parents to raise funds to buy property. However, his parents refused, citing that the child didn't understand. As a result, in just a few years, capital housing prices soared to a level they couldn't afford in their entire lives.

It wasn't just buying a house; there were many other things for which his parents used the excuse that the child was too young...

In the end, the child simply stopped talking and doing anything. People no longer called him a prodigy, and as time went on, he seemed to fade into the crowd.

Perhaps the child lost that gift of foresight under the forced intervention of his parents, or perhaps when he realized that foresight could not change ignorance, he began to give up.

They say there is only a thin line between a genius and a madman. Chen Sheng didn't want to be a genius, nor did he want to be a madman. So, after getting the system, he had been trying to slow himself down.

The system was a tool, a tool to assist him in managing his family and enjoying life, not something to turn him into a slave of the system—a slave frantically relying on system intelligence to make money.

He still dropped An Xiaonuan off at the entrance of her company and watched her walk into the lobby. Chen Sheng found a place to park, rolled down the window, and lit a cigarette. He had a premonition that Liu Jun's call would come again very soon.

After all, when people are pushed to a certain point, they are also at their most diligent.

Sure enough, before the cigarette was even half finished, the phone rang again.

"Hello! Younger Maternal Uncle?"

"It's me, Sheng Zi. Is it convenient for you to talk now?"

Since he had to face it sooner or later, Chen Sheng simply told the truth: "It's convenient. I just dropped my wife off at the company, and the car is parked on the side of the road right now! I'm preparing to smoke a cigarette and then start driving for the ride-hailing service."

Of course, telling the truth was one thing, but since he already knew the purpose of this call, while speaking, he had already started to lay the groundwork for refusing to lend money later.

Look, I'm unemployed and have started driving for a ride-hailing service; do you think I have money?

However, Liu Jun was just trying his luck this time. He pretended not to understand and said with a smile: "Sheng Zi, it's like this. You know the general environment hasn't been good these past two years. I started a company before, and there are still a few final payments I haven't received."

"I just secured a job in Jingyang District recently, but I lack the initial startup capital. I wanted to ask if you could help with a short-term turnover; I'll transfer it back to you as soon as I receive the payments."