37: Borrow money

...[Today's Intelligence (C-Rank): A new private wellness club has opened on Innovation East Road in Maple City. Opening time: June 24th at 10:00 AM. On the first day, top up a membership card with 50,000 yuan and get 50,000 yuan free. If you process the card through Technician No. 66, Qing'er, you will receive an additional private customized service.]

Dizzy.

What kind of intelligence is this?

Brother Chen Yingjun is a very upright person, alright? Would he go to a place like that to get a membership card?

And it was even rated as C-Rank intelligence.

After a few days of understanding, Chen Su had more or less figured out the Intelligence System's grading levels.

In all likelihood, the Intelligence System felt that Chen Su could invest 50,000 and earn 50,000, plus get an extra customized service.

In the system's eyes, this was a guaranteed profitable deal.

Having obtained no valuable intelligence from the system today, Chen Su fell asleep immediately... He didn't groggily open his eyes until ten o'clock in the morning.

He instinctively reached under his pillow for his phone and clicked to check the time.

Aside from a bunch of pop-up ads from various apps, there were no messages.

Suddenly, he saw a pop-up notification from Maple City Headlines.

[15 People Arrested! Another Fraud Gang Caught!]

Chen Su clicked in to take a look.

"Recently, the First Criminal Investigation Detachment of the Fengcheng City Public Security Bureau successfully dismantled a cross-province telecommunications network fraud gang, capturing 15 criminal suspects with an amount involved of 200 million yuan..."

..."Currently, all criminal suspects involved have been placed under criminal compulsory measures by the public security organs in accordance with the law, and the case is under further investigation."

It should be that Xu Jing's lover, Boss Pan, Deng Cong, had been caught.

Just as he was preparing to get up and wash up,

He Youwen's call came through.

"Suer, we've rounded up Xu Jing's lover and his whole gang. It was worth me pulling several all-nighters."

"It's good that you caught them. I was afraid you'd miss and let him escape."

"How is that possible? Look who you're talking to. Anyone I've got my eye on—even if they turned to ash and were scattered in the river, I could find them again."

"Did your station give you a commendation for doing such a big thing?" Chen Su laughed.

He Youwen sounded disdainful on the phone. "Commendation? That's small thinking. The station is applying to the higher-ups to award me a Personal Second-Class Merit. Tonight, at Wen Jun's shop, we drink until we drop. I'm happy today, so it's my treat."

..."Let's leave it at that, hanging up now."

...After Chen Su got up, he gave the house a thorough cleaning. He hadn't properly tidied up since moving in.

Taking advantage of the bright sunshine today, he did a thorough job... By the time he finished everything, it was already three in the afternoon.

Chen Su checked the time. Since he had nothing else to do, he decided to head over to Feng Wenjun's shop.

Maybe he could even help out.

Business at Feng Wenjun's shop was still booming. They had now launched an online reservation mini-program.

The queue at the door was noticeably shorter.

To be safe, Chen Su still entered through the back door.

Li Chuxia had 6 million fans and had been loudly proclaiming on the internet that he was her boyfriend.

He still had to be careful.

He wasn't afraid of trouble, but he was afraid of being ambushed with a club while walking.

"Do you need any help?"

Feng Wenjun was huffing and puffing while stir-frying in the back kitchen.

"No need, we have enough hands. Find a cool place for yourself and browse some videos. Sheng Zi and Xiao Wenzi are almost here too."

Even though it was Sunday, He Youwen's profession was special. He had no weekends or holidays; it all went by a rotation schedule.

Let alone a small independent boss like Ye Sheng; working for himself, there was no such thing as a weekend.

If something came up, he'd just give himself a day or two off to handle it... It wasn't until 5:30 PM that the two of them arrived.

As soon as they arrived, Feng Wenjun began arranging for the pre-prepared dishes to be brought in one by one.

"Can the kitchen manage without you?" Ye Sheng asked.

"It's fine, it's fine. I hired another chef the day before yesterday."

Feng Wenjun filled his glass. "Come, come, come. Let's start with a toast to congratulate Xiao Wenzi on earning a Second-Class Merit."

The few of them raised their glasses and clinked them lightly.

After a glass of wine, He Youwen began to recount the process of tracking Deng Cong this time.

He told it with such flourish that he was no less skilled than a professional storyteller.

At the end, he turned the conversation toward Chen Su.

"This is all thanks to Suer's reliable intelligence. Otherwise, where would such a stroke of luck like a Second-Class Merit come from?"

"By the way, you guys probably don't know yet, but that Boss Pan is Xu Jing's new lover. She was lucky this time, otherwise, she would've been arrested too."

The group drank and chatted until late into the night... When Chen Su woke up, it was already noon the next day.

He opened his eyes and looked at his surroundings; he was in his newly rented apartment.

He had blacked out from drinking again yesterday.

He tapped his somewhat heavy head and struggled to climb out of bed.

With a thought, he summoned the Intelligence System.

[Today's intelligence has been refreshed. Does the Host wish to obtain it immediately?]

He clicked to obtain it.

[Today's Intelligence (B-Rank): Ms. Zhang's husband has set up an underground casino. According to informant news, the authorities are preparing to send people to arrest him. He plans to sell off assets and flee. Ms. Zhang is urgently selling off real estate. A 160-square-meter luxury flat located in Crystal Lake Mirror in Maple City, valued at 3.2 million yuan, the Host has the prospect of buying it for 1.5 million yuan. Ms. Zhang's phone number: 138...]

Chen Su's eyes lit up when he saw this message.

Isn't this a windfall from the heavens?

As for where Ms. Zhang's husband planned to flee from or where he was going, the intelligence didn't say.

Chen Su felt a bit of regret.

Otherwise, if he gave the information to He Youwen, it would be another great merit.

Chen Su took stock of his savings.

After the previous peach collection and deducting some expenses, he had about 80,000 yuan left in his bank card.

A few days ago, he sold the coins and earned 1,032,000 yuan.

The money on him added up to barely 1.1 million.

He was still 400,000 short.

Where was he going to find this 400,000?

He tried calling Ye Sheng first.

"Sheng'er, do you have any cash on hand? Lend me some."

Ye Sheng sounded a bit hesitant on the phone. "There are several batches of goods that haven't been paid for yet. I don't have cash right now. How much do you need? Is it urgent?"

"I need 400,000, and it's quite urgent."

Ye Sheng sounded conflicted. "I don't have that much money right now. If it's urgent, I'll take my car to be mortgaged first."

Hearing that Ye Sheng was going to mortgage his car, Chen Su immediately refused.

After hanging up, Chen Su called Feng Wenjun.

Feng Wenjun gave all the money he had prepared for renting a new storefront to Chen Su, a total of 300,000 yuan.

Recently, his shop's business had been getting better and better, and one shop was becoming a bit much to handle.

He planned to choose a good location and open a branch in a while.

After hanging up, he borrowed another 50,000 from He Youwen. He Youwen's monthly salary was only that much.

This 50,000 yuan was what he had saved through his usual frugal living.

After a round of calls, he was still 50,000 short.

Aside from his roommates like Ye Sheng, Chen Su couldn't think of anyone else to borrow money from.

Wait! That's right!

Chen Su suddenly remembered that he had earned a Golden Zongzi from the dragon boat race before.

Li Chuxia said this zongzi was worth 50,000.

He hurriedly opened the safe and rummaged through it...