Chapter 27: I Want to Borrow One Hundred Thousand!

If it were in the past, hearing such a tragic experience might have triggered a huge burst of Lu Ke’s soft-hearted nature, prompting her to offer a few words of patient comfort.

However, years of experience had long allowed her to see through the ways of the world with sharp clarity.

She had long understood that when people like this claimed, “I’ll never gamble again,” or “I’ll quit as soon as I win a big one,” they would mostly go right back to doing it.

Even if they actually won, they would never stop.

They wouldn’t quit until they lost everything, ruined their families, and suffered total physical destruction.

This was because the thrills and pleasures of chasing highs and cutting losses frantically stimulated the brain’s hormone secretion, completely altering a person’s mindset.

Once anyone got hooked on this and experienced the dramatic ups and downs of numbers on paper, they would never again look favorably upon the hard-earned pittance from a month of honest work.

They only wanted to gamble big and turn a bicycle into a motorcycle.

However, in playing against big market operators whose capital and information far exceeded their own, retail investors suffered an immense disadvantage.

According to the law of large numbers, in the long run, an individual was bound to lose until absolute bankruptcy.

Yet, those who were already deeply addicted would not listen to this simple truth.

They would only remain forever immersed in other people’s myths of instant wealth, fantasizing about hitting a big payout and running, before sinking deeper and deeper step by step.

To this, Lu Ke could only say:

Respect personal destiny.

As if seeing through her thoughts, the manager sister gave a self-deprecating smile.

“Actually, I didn’t lose that much—just working several more decades to pay off the debt.

“Anyway, my body is already sold to the Peony Branch, so a bit more doesn’t matter much~”

Whoa, turns out she was a high-level disciple who signed a “lifetime contract”!

Hearing this, Lu Ke immediately felt a surge of awe and respect.

After finishing this unlucky topic, the manager sister let out a heavy dose of pent-up resentment and adjusted her mindset.

She finally turned back and asked about official business:

“Little sister, how much do you want to borrow?

“Let’s get this straight first: the repayment term is one year, but the interest rate isn’t low.”

Lu Ke was well aware of this.

Doing business was not charity, and loans naturally came with interest.

As long as it could resolve her pressing emergency, as for the repayment later…

She chose to trust her future self.

Lu Ke took a deep breath and spoke slowly:

“One hundred thousand.”

“How much?!”

The manager sister was somewhat stunned, terrified that she hadn’t heard correctly.

Lu Ke slowly held up ten fingers. “One hundred thousand.”

“One hundred thousand?!”

The manager sister immediately gave her an unbelievable look.

One had to understand that the hall’s counters were meant for general disciples.

Everyone faced emergencies, which was understandable, but people coming to borrow usually took out three to five hundred, or at most three to five thousand spiritual stones.

An opening demand of one hundred thousand right off the bat was something she had truly never heard of or seen in her decades of working here!

Where did this eccentric god come from?

“Little sister,” to prevent her old eyes from blurring and ears from going deaf, the manager sister couldn’t help asking again, “do you know how large a sum one hundred thousand spiritual stones is…”

How large?

It was one thousand years of her salary!

It could buy her life ten times over!

Hearing this, Lu Ke nodded earnestly and emphasized once more, “That’s right, what I want to borrow is one hundred thousand spiritual stones.”

It’s over, it’s over! The world has gone mad!

What kind of eccentric god is this? Another one driven insane by spiritual stones!

The manager sister was nearly driven crazy and was just about to reject her.

However, in the next moment, an instinct built from decades of working suddenly floated up into her mind, making her swallow back the words about to spill out.

“Wait, that’s not right. Could it be that this child isn’t simple, but actually has a great background?”

Out of caution, she nudged the gold-rimmed glasses up the bridge of her nose and began to observe the handsome, neutrally dressed fairy in plain robes right before her eyes very carefully.

“Attire is ordinary, even a bit rustic, and she doesn’t look like she carries expensive magic treasures on her body…”

After a round of observation, the manager sister didn’t reach any conclusion.

However, out of extra caution and based on the Pavilion Master’s philosophy of “never judging a book by its cover,” she decided to test the waters again:

“Little sister… do you happen to have any Elder’s token or keepsake on you?”

If she was the direct disciple of a certain Elder, or even simply borrowing on behalf of an Elder, then it would make sense.

Usually, out of reputation or other reasons, certain powerful Elders did not want others to know that their financial situation had issues, so they would privately instruct their “disciples” to step forward and borrow money.

Of course, as the lending party, they also turned a blind eye.

As long as a valid token was produced, they would grant the loan.

As for the reason, everyone who knew understood…

However, asking for one hundred thousand spiritual stones all at once was definitely not something an ordinary Nascent Soul Elder would have the nerve to request.

One had to know that the interest rate on this loan was not low.

If the principal was high, the interest would be terrifying!

If something slightly went wrong and financial issues arose, making it impossible to repay for a time, leading to borrowing new loans to pay off old ones and compounding interest… then they could just wait to sell themselves into debt bondage.

The manager sister’s mind moved rapidly, filtering through every named high-level powerhouse in the sect, instantly arriving at an incredible guess:

“Could it be that person from the Plum Branch…

“Who would have thought that the faction consistently holding the top spot would have such tight finances that they have to rely on loans to barely scrape by! How tragic!~”

The joys and sorrows of human beings were not shared.

At the thought of those icy faces with upturned noses that usually acted as arrogant as if everyone owed them spiritual stones, she couldn’t help gloating.

Laugh! Oh, how I want to burst out laughing!

However, Lu Ke had no idea that her unintentional action had caused such a massive misunderstanding, even sparking rumors about the “Plum Branch declining.”

Facing the inquiry, she simply spread her hands and said with total candor:

“I don’t.”

Indeed she didn’t.

If she asked Bai Xiaoyu for one, Bai Xiaoyu would willingly give it to her.

However, she had already agreed to rely on her own strength to repay these one hundred thousand spiritual stones, so it was impossible for her to ask for anyone else’s token.

Therefore, today she was going to rely on her own capability to borrow this one hundred thousand!

Are you giving it or not?!

Hearing this, the manager sister also spread her hands, deflating completely.

“You don’t have this, you don’t have that. Little sister, aren’t you here just to make fun of me?

“Take a sister’s advice and go home quickly. This isn’t a place for children. Once you touch loans, you can forget about ever turning your life around!”

Seeing this, Lu Ke grew somewhat anxious, but being anxious was useless.

The other party was acting according to rules, completely reasonable and fair.

She couldn’t expose her identity to borrow in the name of the Head Senior Brother of the Bamboo Branch—even though she knew that if she did, the other party would likely accept it.

She didn’t want to have the slightest connection with the Bamboo Branch anymore, not even in name.

Lu Ke couldn’t think of a good way for a moment, and the manager sister couldn’t drive her away either.

In an instant, the two fell into a total deadlock, staring at each other with big eyes.

After a moment of stalemate, as if finally defeated by Lu Ke’s persistence, or perhaps accepting her fate, the manager sister sighed and pulled a pitch-black token from under the counter:

“Little sister, I’m truly afraid of you.

“Sister sees that you have some beauty to you. Perhaps many sisters in the sect like your style. If you really can’t repay the debt, going out to sea is a way out…

“This is the entry token to our inner pavilion. If you truly have the courage, go talk to our Pavilion Master face to face. Whatever requirement you have, as long as you can move her, it can be satisfied.

“However, don’t blame me for not warning you…”

The manager sister’s beautiful eyes suddenly narrowed, carrying a trace of deeply secretive awe.

“Our Pavilion Master is no easy person to deal with. Even an old slicker in the business world like me was caught and pitted by her for decades, pitted so hard I couldn’t even make a sound…

“Sigh, why am I telling you so much? You had better hurry home. The adult world has too many helplessness!”

She was just about to pull back the token, but Lu Ke was quick with her hands and eyes.

She snatched the token a step ahead, clutched it tightly in her hand, and ran off like a gust of wind while smiling:

“Thank you, senior sister! Goodbye, senior sister!~”

Leaving behind only the manager disciple staring at her own sinful hands, letting out long, continuous sighs again and again:

“Sigh, pulled another ignorant young girl into the water.

“A sin, what a sin!”

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