96: Chapter 96 The Secret in the Ledger

Getting back to Qin Yi, he walked through the alley and stood in front of his small courtyard gate. The sound of his parents chatting drifted faintly to his ears. He gently pushed the door open and stepped into the courtyard, the warm scene before him sending a wave of warmth through his heart.

His father, Qin Jianye, was squatting in the corner, carefully tending to his mother's few pots of gardenias, while his mother, Wu Xiuhua, was tidying up the pots and pans in the kitchen.

Hearing the sound of the courtyard gate, Qin Jianye looked up. Seeing it was his son, the smile in the corners of his eyes bloomed instantly.

He hurriedly stood up, patted the dirt off his hands, and looked at Qin Yi with a face full of smiles: "Xiao Yi, you're finally back. Why did getting gas take so long? Your mother and I were worried waiting for you. We even thought you'd run into trouble on the road and were talking about whether we should call you or not." As he spoke, a trace of worry and concern appeared in his eyes.

Wu Xiuhua also came out of the kitchen at the sound, water stains clinging to her apron. She looked at Qin Yi, her eyes full of maternal love: "That's right, son, why were you gone so long? You haven't eaten dinner yet, right? Mom will heat up some dishes for you, or is there something else you want to eat? Mom will make it for you." Her tone was full of love and doting for her son.

Qin Yi shook his head with a smile, a wave of warmth rising in his heart: "No need, Mom, I ate outside. I took a detour to the supermarket on the way and bought some food and drinks for the road tomorrow."

As he spoke, he walked over to the pots of gardenias, took the tools from Qin Jianye's hands, and said to his father with a hint of teasing and concern: "Let me handle this. Dad, you enjoyed the wine at lunch, didn't you? Don't drink like that in the future. You aren't a young man anymore; your health is important."

Qin Jianye smiled contentedly and rubbed his lower back on his own: "Yeah, I'm old. Once we get to Magic City, I'll quit this wine and cigarettes."

"Haha," Qin Yi laughed. While gently tinkering with the flower pots, he continued, "Quitting smoking is a good thing; it's no good for your health. But as for wine, having a little in moderation is fine. When we get back to Magic City, I'll buy you some good wine so you can enjoy a little."

"Oh, by the way, Xiao Yi, when are we leaving tomorrow?" Speaking of returning to Magic City, Qin Jianye's eyes were full of anticipation. He continued, "Your aunt called me tonight, and I told her we are all moving to Magic City. Your aunt said we should have a meal together once we arrive to welcome us."

"Is that so? That's great. I haven't seen my aunt in a long time." Qin Yi paused his movements, looked up at Qin Jianye, pondered for a moment, and continued, "Then let's have dinner together tomorrow night. We'll leave first thing in the morning. We can grab breakfast at a service station on the highway. If there's no traffic, we should arrive in Magic City around noon."

"Then, son, where will we stay when we get to Magic City?" Wu Xiuhua asked with concern from the side. "Your aunt said if we don't have a place to stay yet, we can stay at her place for now. She lives alone right now; your cousin went to his grandmother's house for summer vacation, so there's a spare room. Your uncle also went on a business trip with his boss and won't be home for the week."

"No need for that much trouble." Qin Yi said, a sly smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. He paused for a moment and then continued, "To tell you the truth, I've actually already bought a house in Magic City. I originally wanted to give you a surprise when you arrived in Magic City, which is why I didn't tell you before."

Hearing this, Qin Jianye and Wu Xiuhua looked at each other. A flash of surprise crossed both their eyes, but they quickly relaxed.

After all, their son had even been able to pay off a debt of 200 million; buying a house in Magic City wasn't exactly difficult.

However, if they knew that the house Qin Yi had bought was actually an entire building, they would probably be shocked enough to drop their jaws...

"Haha, son, you really have made something of yourself." Qin Jianye was already grinning from ear to ear. "I'll send a WeChat to your aunt later and tell her not to worry about where we'll stay. Oh right, son, where is the house located? Is it close to your aunt's place? We'll all be in Magic City from now on, so we should visit each other often."

"That's right, son. To be honest, your aunt has helped our family a lot over the past six months, unlike your second uncle, who is just an ungrateful wretch!" Wu Xiuhua chimed in from the side, not forgetting to take a dig at Qin Jianren, her tone full of dissatisfaction and disappointment toward him.

"Ahem," Qin Jianye coughed twice and looked at Wu Xiuhua awkwardly. Then, he let out a long sigh and said helplessly: "Alright, let's not mention that person in our family anymore. I'll just pretend I don't have that brother." Although he said that, a complex expression still appeared in Qin Jianye's eyes.

Seeing his father like this, Qin Yi silently shook his head in his heart. He understood that his father was soft-hearted despite his harsh words. Although he felt cold toward his brother, he still cared about family ties.

However, regarding this 'ungrateful wretch' of a second uncle, Qin Yi, as a Junior, couldn't say much. If he spoke too harshly, his father would definitely feel heartbroken, and Qin Yi couldn't bring himself to plead for him either.

Thus, Qin Yi brought the topic back: "The house is in Shenjiangwan Community, right next to the Shenjiang Bund. Do you remember the residential area you visited when I first started college? The environment in the community is pretty good. Where does Aunt live now?"

Qin Jianye pondered and said: "It seems to be in the Shenjiang New Area, but I'll have to ask your aunt for the specific location. I heard from your aunt before that your uncle was just transferred to work at the Shenjiang New Area district government a while ago, so they probably bought a house nearby. I'll ask her later to see where exactly they live."

Honestly, Qin Jianye wasn't sure where his sister lived now. The year Qin Yi started college, Qin Jianye had visited his sister's home. At that time, the family of three was still living in his brother-in-law's old house. Later, he heard that their old house was slated for demolition and they received a lot of compensation, so the family of three moved into an apartment building, but Qin Jianye hadn't asked exactly where.

As the three of them were talking, Qin Yi had already finished tending to the gardenias.

He put the tools aside, stood up, and patted the dirt off his hands: "Alright, that's it for now. Tomorrow morning, I'll move these flower pots to the car, and that'll be everything." As he spoke, he walked to the faucet to wash his hands, then looked at Qin Jianye and Wu Xiuhua: "Dad, Mom, it's getting late, and I'm a bit tired, so I'm going to head back to my room. You two don't need to clean up anymore, get some rest early."

"Okay, your dad and I will tidy up the courtyard a bit and then go to sleep. Xiao Yi, you get some rest early too." Wu Xiuhua replied in a doting voice.

Seeing their son return to the main house, Qin Jianye and Wu Xiuhua unconsciously lowered their voices, afraid of disturbing Qin Yi's rest.

They simply tidied up the courtyard, and after everything was restored to order, they turned off the courtyard lights and walked on tiptoe back to the east room.

The area around the small courtyard soon sank into the quiet of the night, but Qin Yi did not fall asleep.

He lay on the bed with his eyes wide open, his ears constantly listening for movement in the courtyard. When he heard the sound of the courtyard lights being turned off, he immediately sat up from the bed, turned on the desk lamp, and couldn't wait to take the ledger of Chen Hu's Underground Bank out of the System Space and began to read it carefully.

Previously, in the courtyard where the ledger was hidden, he had only scanned it roughly and hadn't looked closely. Now that he was looking at it in detail, he couldn't help but gasp, the shock in his heart indescribable.

The content recorded in this ledger was exhaustive: the borrower's identity, background, home address, family relationships, loan time, amount, interest rate, repayment deadline, as well as their real estate, vehicles, assets, etc., were all there.

Even on the back of each borrower's page, there were photos of the borrower, copies of their ID cards, and details of repayments for loans that had already been settled.

Looking at the backgrounds of these borrowers, Qin Yi was even more filled with emotion. Among them were people like his father, Qin Jianye, who ran physical enterprises, as well as some rich second-generation and official second-generation kids from Jingnan City, and even some relatives of serving public officials and police officers...

Moreover, the debt amounts recorded in this ledger were quite staggering; the smallest were tens or hundreds of thousands, while the largest were even in the millions or tens of millions...

This wasn't to say that Chen Hu's Underground Bank was that wealthy. From the information recorded in the ledger, Qin Yi could roughly guess the truth.

These people who owed high-interest loans to the Underground Bank were basically gamblers from Chen Hu's underground casino. Most of the money they borrowed flowed back into the Underground Bank through the underground casino. His business could be said to be a sure-fire, high-profit venture...

Not only that, these gamblers all had extraordinary family backgrounds; they were either rich or powerful. Chen Hu wasn't afraid they would welch on their debts because these rich and powerful people were most afraid of their dirty secrets being exposed. In order to protect their careers and reputations, they naturally had to help Chen Hu do some illegal things.

In this way, Chen Hu firmly controlled these people, making them his Puppets and tools.

No wonder when his father was kidnapped and detained by Chen Hu, he had reported it to the police, but they hadn't responded immediately. So, Chen Hu held the dirty secrets of so many people.

Thinking this through, Qin Yi couldn't help but smile bitterly and shake his head as he looked at the ledger again. No wonder Chen Hu had hidden this ledger so secretly. If he hadn't had the Miniature Bionic Tracker, he probably would have found it very difficult to know the inside story.

This wasn't just a ledger; it was clearly a 'Shangfang Baojian' (Imperial Sword) that could allow one to walk sideways in Jingnan City!

Qin Yi continued to flip through the ledger, and suddenly, the information of one borrower caught his eye. He whispered: "Jia Haoyu! The only son of Jia Renyi, the Vice Chairman and General Manager of Jingnan Steel Group..."

Seeing the words 'Jingnan Steel Group', Qin Yi's brows couldn't help but furrow.

He immediately looked at the time of the debt — 'Last July'. This timing made him feel very sensitive.

Because it was about two months before Huajian Steel accepted that hundred-million-yuan order from Jingnan Steel Group; the timing was quite close.

Qin Yi continued reading down, and saw that the loan column read, 'Debt of 500,000, 3% interest, term of two months, overdue penalties charged at 3% daily interest, cumulative calculation!'

A debt of 500,000 wasn't exactly a huge amount for the second-in-command of Jingnan Steel Group.

However, as Qin Yi continued to read on, his brows furrowed once more.

He saw that the end of that page was circled in red ink, with a line of small text written next to it: 'Set a trap for Huajian Steel to offset Jia Haoyu's debt!'

With this, Qin Yi finally found another clue, and at the same time, basically understood why Jingnan Steel Group, which had always had a good relationship with Huajian Steel, would suddenly set a trap for Huajian Steel.

However, in this ledger, Qin Yi did not find any clues directly related to the 'Boss' that Chen Hu had mentioned. It seems that if he wants to figure out who Chen Hu's boss really is, he will have to wait until he returns to Magic City to figure it out.

Qin Yi silently noted the names of the father and son, Jia Renyi and Jia Haoyu, thinking that he would have to find a way to get some clues from them later.

...

And at the same time Qin Yi was looking through the ledger, in the capital of the Huaxia Dragon Kingdom, Imperial Capital Beijing, another scene was playing out in a quaint courtyard.

An old man with a full head of white hair and a white goat-like beard was sitting leisurely on a recliner in the courtyard. Although his figure already showed signs of old age, his eyes were still bright and spirited. He tilted his head, gazing at the deep night sky above, wondering what he was thinking about.

Beside the old man, a man who looked to be about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old was respectfully accompanying him. On the surface, he looked harmless and respectful to his elder, but a trace of cold, sinister intent was always hidden between his brows.

However, the man hid it very well; if one didn't intentionally observe his subtle expressions, one really wouldn't be able to tell.

Time passed quietly. The man glanced at the time on his wristwatch; it was already ten o'clock at night. He couldn't help but feel a bit anxious. Seeing that the old man had no intention of going back inside to rest, he reminded him with a concerned tone: "Grandfather, it's getting late, and it's cold at night. Shouldn't you go back inside and rest?"

Hearing this, the old man's gaze gradually withdrew from the night sky. He turned his head to look at the man, a flash of complex emotion in his eyes. He slowly picked up the cane placed beside him, making a move to stand up.

"Grandfather, I'll help you." Seeing this, the man immediately reached out to support him, his movements agile, clearly accustomed to doing such things.

The old man's hand also rested on the arm the man extended. He stood up, looked deeply at the man, and then said faintly: "A-Tai, in two days, it will be your 29th birthday, right? The old saying goes, 'At thirty, one stands firm.' It's time for you to settle down and establish a career!"

"Oh, Grandfather, look at what you're saying, as if I'm a vagrant. I have a career, okay?" The man responded with a sheepish smile.