"Huh?!"
The car door was blocked by Mu Jinyu, and as he spoke in a teasing tone, Lin Qiaoxia was astonished and looked up at him.
"You... you're not leaving?"
Lin Qiaoxia stammered.
"Leave? Why would I leave?" Mu Jinyu raised an eyebrow and said, "I've already told you, I'm fond of money."
After a pause, he added, "You see, if we manage to recover this unpaid final payment, our bonus would surely be substantial, right?!"
"But we might get beaten up!" Lin Qiaoxia said with a sobbing tone.
"Fortune favors the bold," Mu Jinyu chuckled.
"Are you getting in the car or not?!"
At this moment, the taxi driver yelled impatiently.
"Of course we're getting in!" Mu Jinyu responded. He pulled open the half-closed car door, nudged Lin Qiaoxia to move inside, sat down himself, and then closed the door.
"Bang!"
As the door closed, Mu Jinyu shouted to the taxi driver, "To Hongmao Pharmaceutical Headquarters."
The car started moving.
Lin Qiaoxia sat beside Mu Jinyu, her expression one of helpless entanglement as she looked at him.
Though Mu Jinyu acted like a money-grubber, she understood that any sane person would never take a huge risk, risking hospitalization for months, just for an elusive little bonus.
Mu Jinyu had followed her to protect her.
Thinking this, Lin Qiaoxia felt a warmth in her heart, experiencing a long-missed sense of warmth.
She looked at Mu Jinyu and timidly said, "Thank you..."
Her voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz, almost too faint to catch unless Mu Jinyu had excellent hearing.
Mu Jinyu smiled and said, "Thank me for what?"
"Thank you for being willing to take this risk with me," Lin Qiaoxia said, her face flushing slightly.
Mu Jinyu chuckled softly and replied, "I told you, I'm doing this for the money. If you really want to thank me, you could just give me all the bonus when the time comes."
"This..." Lin Qiaoxia did not expect Mu Jinyu to say that. She hesitated for a moment before nodding, "If we can recover this final payment, I can give you all the bonus I'm entitled to."
Lin Qiaoxia answered almost without hesitation, but Mu Jinyu still spotted a moment of hesitation and struggle in her beautiful, glass-like black eyes.
Mu Jinyu then understood; she was indeed in need of money, which was why, when she herself mentioned this unattainable bonus, her subconscious didn't want to let it go.
Laughing softly and shaking his head, Mu Jinyu said, "Relax, I wouldn't be so mean as to let you join me and then hoard everything for myself. If we genuinely manage to secure this bonus, we'll definitely share it equally."
Upon hearing this, Lin Qiaoxia instinctively sighed with relief.
If it had been before, she would definitely have refused, but now, she really needed the money, so she could only agree by default.
Even though the chance of her actually receiving this bonus was very slim.
The rest of the journey passed without conversation.
When the taxi arrived at the headquarters of Hongmao Pharmaceuticals, Mu Jinyu paid the fare, then got out of the car with Lin Qiaoxia.
Ahead, there was a building with an antique look, similar to an old medical hall, and a signboard hanging above it bore the gilded characters "Hongmao Pharmaceuticals!"
"This is Hongmao Pharmaceuticals? It looks rather small," Mu Jinyu murmured as he surveyed the headquarters of Hongmao Pharmaceuticals.
Lin Qiaoxia explained, "That's normal. Though they are named a pharmaceutical company, they just wholesale medical materials, so the company is naturally not large."
As they spoke, she surveyed the shop that resembled a medical hall, a flicker of fear crossing her eyes.
Mu Jinyu withdrew his gaze, glanced at her, and smiled, "Let's go, it's time to collect the debt."
Having said that, he took the lead and walked directly towards Hongmao Pharmaceutical Headquarters.
"Mm." Lin Qiaoxia replied timidly and hurriedly followed him.
Upon entering Hongmao Pharmaceuticals, Mu Jinyu looked around at the furnishings inside, which resembled a typical traditional Chinese medicine dispensary. Rows of wooden cabinets with small drawers lined the room, each drawer labeled with the name of a medicinal herb.
At that moment, there weren't many customers in the large hall of Hongmao Pharmaceuticals, picking up medicines. In the center of the hall, surprisingly, there was a wooden table where a group of people were smoking and loudly shouting as they tossed cards.
The place resembled a gambling den filled with smoke and haze.
Seeing this scene, Mu Jinyu thought to himself that it was no wonder Xu Xiaojiao had directly canceled their partnership, asking them to settle the remaining five hundred thousand.
This Young Master of Hongmao was really out of line.
This was no way to conduct business.
Shaking his head slightly, Mu Jinyu walked over to them under Lin Qiaoxia's frightened gaze.
Seeing Mu Jinyu act so impulsively, Lin Qiaoxia's heart nearly leapt out of her chest, anxious yet daring not to speak loudly to remind Mu Jinyu, for fear of disturbing the card players and provoking them into attacking. However, she didn't want to turn and run, leaving Mu Jinyu alone.
Clenching her teeth, Lin Qiaoxia finally jogged up to him, grasped a piece of his clothing to show her resolve to stand or fall together with Mu Jinyu.
Mu Jinyu felt Lin Qiaoxia's action, turned his head to look at her, saw her panicked face, and gave her a reassuring look, telling her to not worry.
Then, he turned back around and continued striding toward the card-playing group.
He mused to himself why women nowadays all seemed to like clutching at his clothes?!
Eventually, Mu Jinyu strode close to the gambling table, stopped, looked around, and then nonchalantly asked, "Playing cards, huh?"
Liu Zhiqiang glanced at Mu Jinyu and said impatiently, "Here to buy medicine? Wait over there!"
Mu Jinyu stared back at him, realizing he must be the Young Master of Hongmao Pharmaceuticals, and smiled, "Making much money?"
"None of your damn business how much I'm making!" Liu Zhiqiang frowned and yelled.
"None of my business?!" Mu Jinyu retorted with a cold laugh, then suddenly reached out, grabbed the table edge, and flipped it over, yelling furiously, "You owe me five hundred thousand and haven't paid it back yet, and here you are gambling? It's one thing to gamble, but you won't even tell me how much you're making?!"
The table flipped, and Liu Zhiqiang, along with the other gamblers, became furiously enraged, cursing:
"What the fuck!"
"You're looking for death?!"
"Who the fuck owes you money, go find them! Why the fuck are you messing with my table, I was about to win big this round!"
"..."
Mu Jinyu grabbed Lin Qiaoxia's document, flipped it open fiercely, and turned to a page—it was the supplementary agreement signed between his company and their pharmaceuticals!
"See this? You owe my company five hundred thousand, are you going to pay back or not?!"
Liu Zhiqiang saw the agreement, knew it was another person from Jinyu Company causing trouble, sneered, and spat, "Pay back? I'll pay your mom back!"
"Fight!"
As soon as the words dropped.
Liu Zhiqiang was about to rally his cronies to beat up Mu Jinyu.
However...
"Crackling!"
With a punch extended and a leg raised, Mu Jinyu sent the whole group to the floor, all sprawled out, groaning weakly and in agony.
Mu Jinyu stepped on Liu Zhiqiang's chest, looked down at him, and arrogantly said, "Now, do you still want to 'pay your mom back?'"