Chapter 169 Chapter 170 Intimidation
Jima could not stop Jenna and had to follow her to find the source of the voice and locate the creditors.
Those who could enter Jenna’s house were all “big shots” whom Caslan dared not refuse. Several merchants, dressed in fine clothes and varying in stature, were visibly flustered as they spat words at Caslan while trying to push him aside.
As soon as Jenna appeared in her silver robe, they waved the promissory notes in their hands, making a rustling sound, all emblazoned with the holy emblem of the God of Dawn.
“Miss Jenna, today is the deadline for repayment. Are you saying that your family intends to default?”
“I borrowed the money; what does it have to do with my daughter?” Caslan, tall and thin, pushed them back forcefully. “Come at me if you must.”
“Debts incurred by the father must be repaid by the daughter!”
“She has signed a notarized agreement.”
The creditors forcefully shoved Caslan aside, and upon seeing Jenna’s apologetic expression, they no longer feared her extraordinary aura. They thrust the promissory notes toward her face, shouting, “Repay us! Quickly repay us!”
“There’s no way a creditor would pay; how can one who owes money be leisurely?”
“Please wait a moment; let me see how much is owed,” Jenna said as she took the promissory notes, but before she could calculate the total.
The creditors shouted, “Pay up immediately; no extensions!”
“Not even a day!”
“Are you trying to buy time?”
Jenna’s tone became urgent: “I… I’m not.”
“Can you repay the money?”
Lying was very difficult for Jenna, and she said, “I should… not be able to, but give me a few days; let’s see this house. I—”
“Repay us!”
Jenna flinched at the shout, and the creditors advanced toward her.
It was as if she were a student new to society, having lost the formidable presence she once had when she killed thousands of orcs and tore greenskins apart.
Jima shook her head quietly; the more she shrank back, the more others would encroach upon her. People who are righteous often do this; clearly powerful yet dare not retort: “Shout again? Do you believe I would directly blow up your house?”
Jima stepped forward and stood in front of Jenna, pushing against the aggressive creditor’s chest: “Speak politely; this amount of money can be repaid. Jenna can offer two thousand two hundred gold coins, just enough to settle it.”
“Really? You’re so small, do you have that much gold?”
Jima told them to wait, turned back, and returned to her room. She took out her small vault from the dimensional space bag. Together with Jenna, they gathered three thousand two hundred gold coins, piled them into a chest, and had the servants carry the chest in front of the creditors.
The old and new coins mixed together, adding depth to the enchanting orange glow of the pile.
Jima did her best to avoid looking at the pile of gold to prevent feeling sad. The creditors stared at the pile of gold, their faces showing smiles, and one of them squatted down, biting on a coin, saying, “It’s good to have gold, as long as there is gold.”
Jenna breathed a sigh of relief: “Do you want to count it? This is exactly three thousand two hundred gold coins.”
One of the creditors said, “I see some coins are too old; they should be discounted.”
“Right, how can old coins compare to new ones?”
“Hey, hey, you, spit out my coin and wipe off the saliva on top,” Jima pushed the creditor who was chewing on her coin, “That’s not yours.”
“What? Are you saying you don’t want to repay the money?”
“It’s not my debt,” Jima assessed them up and down, “Clearly not overdue, yet you come demanding debt so rudely. Where’s your politeness? There’s only this much cash; why not repay those who are polite first?”
The creditor raised the promissory note and waved it in front of Jenna, bearing the divine emblem. Jenna looked at Jima awkwardly and said, “Little Qiao…”
“My money.”
Jenna fell silent.
Jima said to the creditors, “There’s a saying, those who are impolite are prone to strange ailments, like hair loss…”
Suddenly, the tall creditor’s hair seemed to go into a panic, jumping down from his head. He swept his hand over his hair, grabbing a handful of black strands, exclaiming, “My hard-earned hair!”
Jima smiled, her gaze shifted to the squat, chubby creditor seated in a chair who had previously pushed Jenna back, nearly burying his head in her bosom. “…And they’re also prone to hemorrhoids.”
The chubby creditor’s expression changed, and he stood up in pain, his face contorting.
“You, are you the one causing this?” The last creditor pointed a trembling finger at Jima, “You are violating the law.”
“Pointing fingers at others is even more impolite,” Jima turned to Caslan and asked, “By the way, what other ailments are there?”
Caslan blurted out, “Syphilis?”
The last creditor hurriedly lowered his finger and turned to Jenna, saying, “Miss Jenna, she is using her malicious extraordinary abilities on ordinary people! This goes against the laws of Marin City.”
“Little Qiao?”
“I did not.”
“Well…” Jenna hesitated, “I still hope you can follow the law; otherwise, an extraordinary being who does not abide by the law will make everyone anxious.”
“Oh, thank you.” Jima turned to the last creditor, smiling brightly, “What are your thoughts on syphilis and hemorrhoids? Discussing this with you isn’t illegal, right?”
“Not illegal, not illegal.”
The last creditor immediately caved, saying, “We’ll take the money and leave, haha, I knew the people from the Holy Hall are especially honest.”
This was within Jima’s expectations. The core demand of the creditors was to get the money; they deemed Caslan certain to go bankrupt, so they directly tore off the facade and personally came for the debt. Of course, it would be even better if they could collect a bit more money.
As the creditors were calling servants to take the money away.
Jima pointed at Jenna and said, “Wait, there’s still her.”
“I’m sorry for my rudeness earlier.”
Among them, the creditor whose hair seemed to want to commit suicide was particularly polite, bowing directly.
Jima felt a bit better now.
After the creditors apologized, Jima lifted the curse, watching them flee like the wind and the chest that was moving further away from her.
Jima felt a twinge of pain in her chest, severe enough to make her doubt if her soul wound was acting up.
That was two thousand two hundred gold coins, and she had only 240 gold coins left. But there was no choice; if spending money could prevent Jenna from exploding emotionally, then she had to spend it.
Although Jima felt heartache, she still maintained a calm demeanor, as if she had merely lost an insignificant copper coin.
“Miss Little Qiao, you truly are a good person, a good sister for my daughter,” Caslan, with his red beard, trembled with excitement, “You helped me repay so much money; I really feel indebted. I have no way to repay you except to hold you in gratitude.”
Jima raised her chin, appearing indifferent, waved her hand as if to brush away the flattery in the air, saying, “It’s nothing, wealth can disperse and return. As long as we unite to defeat the enemy, they will eventually spit out more gold coins.”
Jenna, feeling somewhat guilty, said, “Little Qiao, I will pay you back.”
Jima blurted out, “Sure!”
Immediately regretting it, she felt that she had to maintain the act. She awkwardly said, “I… I was just joking; as long as Jenna remembers my kindness, that’s enough.”
Jenna said nothing but her attitude was resolute.
After getting rid of the most troublesome creditors, producing such a sum of money for repayment calmed the minds of everyone in the estate slightly.
Once the servants had been dismissed, the three gathered together to discuss how to get through this crisis.
Caslan looked remorseful, like a sprouted bean sprout wilting in the sun, incessantly saying he had harmed his daughter.
However, Jenna and Jima ignored him and felt that his theatrics were on display again.
Caslan spoke first:
“Now everyone has lost faith in me; no one is selling goods to me, and the family workshop cannot start operations. All the creditors have come to demand repayment; even if it’s not the due date, they’re urging me to the point of wanting to sell my assets on the spot. When I sent people to collect debts, they all defaulted. Some would rather tear up contracts and lose money than sell goods to me. To make matters worse, they are delaying their compensation.”
He paused, sighed, and continued:
“A good friend of mine secretly told me that it was Young Master Is who launched a trade coalition against me. I complained to the chamber of commerce, and they suggested I sell off all my licenses to repay the debts. Those bastards! Without trade licenses, I have no more opportunities.”
For Caslan, various trade licenses were his lifeblood, the return of decades of hard work.
“To be concise, what do we need now to get through this difficult time?”
“Gold.”
Jima asked, “How are the money luck potions selling?”
“They’re selling well, but it’s barely enough. Yesterday, I made a profit of three hundred gold coins,” Caslan said with a worried expression, “My reputation is not getting out; in the short term, I cannot make huge profits. Plus, the money luck potion you developed can work in the short term but requires overly expensive materials. I can no longer procure them.”
The cost of the money luck potion is actually not that high; it’s just that Jima estimated and overcharged, causing Caslan to purchase some expensive alchemical materials for her own practice. Simply put, it’s embezzlement.
Jima remained unfazed and said, “It’s alright; I recently developed a cheaper money luck potion, with materials that are much easier to obtain.”
Jenna sighed in relief, saying, “Jima, thank you.”
“It’s nothing,” Jima replied, “How about we take a warm water bath together in the tub tonight to say thanks?”
Jenna was puzzled, “Huh?”
Caslan said, “It’s useless; even if you can pull out a cart of money luck potions now, it won’t help. Without fame, and with the Is family’s resistance, we won’t be able to sell much.”
“That’s simple,” Jima said, “It’s about advertising. We can distribute the potions for free to some people, on the condition they promote the money luck potion once they get rich. Of course, they must sign a contract notarized by Jenna, to prevent those guys from turning against us.”
Jenna’s eyes lit up: “That’s a good idea.”
When Caslan opened his mouth to refute, Jima subtly gave him a look.
After the meeting concluded, Caslan approached Jima alone and said:
“If your potion can really make people rich, we won’t even need to sell the potions; we can just find some destitute people, give them the potions, and agree to split the profits for a few days.”
“Who said getting rich depends on potions?”
“What do you mean?”
“How do ordinary people in Marin City get rich?”
“By gambling, buying stocks in shipping vessels, or through adventures at sea and finding gold.”
“What if gamblers find that every horse that exceeds theirs encounters an accident? Or stock buyers discover that only their bought ships safely return to port… could they get rich?”
“They could!”
“Would these stories of getting rich attract people?”
“They would!” As an old merchant, Caslan had seen a lot. He suddenly understood Jima’s words, as well as why she wanted to keep his daughter away. A smile appeared on his face: “You truly are a genuine demon.”
Jima smiled: “Having wealthy benefactors is also part of luck, isn’t it?”
