Chapter 430 - 262: Arranged Marriages Ruin Lives

"Because in this world, no one is inherently obligated to be good to you. We should all have a grateful heart, shouldn’t we?"

Her words left Lin Jiang stunned for a moment, but upon reflection, he realized she was right.

From the very beginning, she had always seemed to be a person with a strong sense of boundaries, which made their interactions extremely comfortable.

"In that case, I’ll cut the pay in half. If you don’t agree, I won’t hire you," Lin Jiang said.

"You’re tutoring the two of them, and I’m paying you. That’s a fair transaction. As for the 300,000-yuan favor, you’ve already repaid that by helping me sort out my organizational structure for free. The consulting is a separate matter, and you definitely have to be paid for it. Just like you said, no one is obligated to be good to you for no reason. I don’t like being indebted to others, either. Don’t you agree?"

Shen Qingqiu thought for a moment, then smiled and raised her glass. "Deal."

After they finished their meal, Lin Jiang ordered some more food for Shen Qingqiu to take back to Li Yueting and Xu Yingjun.

"Don’t go straight ahead. Take a detour."

Huh?

Xu Lin had made the same request last night, but Shen Qingqiu’s reason was definitely different.

Just as Lin Jiang was about to ask what was going on, a blue exclamation mark suddenly appeared above Shen Qingqiu’s head.

’A daily mission!’

[Mission Name: Break Away from Your Family of Origin]

[Mission Description: Sever the father-daughter relationship with Shen Ziquan]

[Mission Reward: Fitness Technique Card x1, 20 EXP]

’A Fitness Technique Card?’

[Fitness Technique Card: Upon use, you will grasp Master Level fitness techniques.]

’A life Skill. Not bad at all.’

Lin Jiang’s attention quickly returned to the mission.

The sudden appearance of this mission had to be related to her abrupt change of route.

Lin Jiang looked ahead and, sure enough, saw a middle-aged man with dark skin in a black short-sleeved shirt, sitting on the edge of a planter and smoking.

Although he didn’t have a clear memory of him, he knew that man was Shen Qingqiu’s father.

He had come looking for her before, trying to get money for his gambling debts.

He hadn’t expected him to show up again after all this time.

"When a problem arises, you have to find a way to solve it. Running away like this isn’t a solution. He’ll just keep coming back to find you in the future."

As he spoke, Lin Jiang drove the car forward, ignoring Shen Qingqiu’s request.

’This mission, however, is a bit unusual.’

Under Huaxia law, it didn’t seem possible to legally sever family ties.

Even if they signed a private agreement and cut off all contact, if Shen Ziquan came demanding support payments, she would still be legally obligated to pay.

’So this "severing of the relationship" must be from her perspective.’

’If completing the mission is judged by legal statutes, then there’s no point in even trying, because it’s impossible.’

After parking the car, Lin Jiang unbuckled his seatbelt. "You take the food back. You don’t need to worry about the rest."

"But..."

"No buts. Now’s not the time for nonsense."

Scolded by Lin Jiang, Shen Qingqiu fell silent, grabbed the food, and got out of the car.

Seeing his daughter return, Shen Ziquan ignored Lin Jiang and walked straight toward her.

"Hey, hey, hey, don’t go to her. You and I can talk."

Shen Ziquan glanced at the car Lin Jiang was driving, then at Lin Jiang himself.

He had a faint impression of Lin Jiang.

The last time he came, this was the guy who drove his daughter home. They were most likely a couple.

"Talking to you is fine, too."

Lin Jiang gave Shen Qingqiu a look. She glanced at him gratefully before turning and leaving with the food.

"You must be my daughter’s boyfriend. I don’t care what you two do. Just give me 200,000 yuan, consider it her dowry, and I’ll never come looking for you again."

A hardcore gambling addict like Shen Ziquan was completely different in nature from Liang Youjun.

Lin Jiang would sooner believe that Emperor Qin was still alive than trust his words.

’As for a solution, I can replicate the method I used on Liang Youjun, but this time it’ll need to be modified and upgraded.’

"So you’re planning to package up your daughter and sell her."

"Isn’t that what having a daughter is for? You raise them to sell for a good price. What’s the damn use of all that schooling?"

"In your worldview, I guess that makes sense. But there’s definitely no money. What I do have is an IOU."

With that, Lin Jiang went back to his car and took out the IOU that had been sitting there for a long time.

’It’s a good thing I didn’t tear it up back then, or I wouldn’t even have an Item to use now.’

"To pay for your wife’s medical treatment, your daughter borrowed 300,000 yuan from me. Her signature and thumbprint are on here. If you don’t believe me, you can have it verified by the technical department at the district bureau," Lin Jiang said.

"As her guardian, you should pay back the money."

Shen Ziquan was stunned.

He had heard something about the loan from Shen Qingqiu’s maternal aunt.

Now that the man had produced the IOU, he could no longer doubt the truth of the matter.

He just never expected the responsibility to fall on his own head.

"Are you kidding me?! She’s the one who borrowed the money, why should I have to pay it back?"

"You’re her father and her guardian. If you don’t pay it back, who will?"

"Don’t you try to extort me! This has nothing to do with me. Go ask her for it. I don’t have a single cent!"

"That’s not up to you. If you don’t pay, we’ll go to the police station. I was having trouble finding you, and now you’ve delivered yourself to my doorstep. I’m definitely not letting you leave."

"It’s useless to come after me. I don’t have a penny."

Shen Ziquan was brazen, utterly unfazed. He didn’t take the IOU seriously at all.

"Let me be straight with you. I don’t have a penny right now. Forget 300,000, even if it were a 3 million yuan debt, she’s the one who owes you. And don’t give me any of that guardian nonsense. I don’t understand any of it. The bottom line is, I don’t have any money."

Shen Ziquan continued, "I’ll say it again: give me 200,000, and I’ll sell her to you. You can work her like a horse, beat her, curse her—do whatever you want."

Even though he didn’t have a particularly deep relationship with Shen Qingqiu, an inexplicable anger flared up inside him when he heard those words.

The scene of Shen Qingqiu’s mother before she passed away surfaced in Lin Jiang’s mind.

Lin Jiang remembered every word she had said.

Birds of a feather flock together, huh.

He couldn’t imagine how two people like that could have ever ended up together.

’Damn it!’

’Fucking arranged marriages ruin lives!’

"Alright. But 200,000 is no small sum. Give me a location, and I’ll bring it to you later."

"Don’t try to trick me. If I let you go, are you really going to bring me the money?"

"You know where she lives. You can come find her anytime, so what are you afraid of?"

Shen Ziquan’s eyes darted around; he was clearly full of malicious intentions.

"I’m at the Shuanghong Inn, on that... uh... Shuian Street. There’s a CCB across the street."

"Alright, go back and wait for me."

Shen Ziquan said nothing more and turned to leave.

Lin Jiang got back in the car and took out his phone. There were two new messages from Shen Qingqiu.

Shen Qingqiu: "I’m sorry for causing you trouble."

Shen Qingqiu: "Don’t pay any attention to him. Don’t lower yourself to his level. Just chase him away."

Shen Qingqiu was already numb to this man; as long as he left, it would be fine. She also wanted to avoid causing Lin Jiang any more trouble.

Lin Jiang: "It’s handled. You don’t have to worry about him coming to find you anymore."

Shen Qingqiu: "You didn’t give him money, did you?"

Lin Jiang: "My money doesn’t grow on trees. Why would I give it to him?"

Lin Jiang: "I gave him a vivid lesson in moral conduct. He became deeply aware of his mistakes and left."

Shen Qingqiu: [Facepalm-laughing.jpg]

Shen Qingqiu: "Thank you. I mean it, thank you so much."

Lin Jiang didn’t reply. He opened the map on his phone and found the address for the Shuanghong Inn on Shuian Street.

He sent the location to Yang Tao, followed by a photo of the IOU, and then gave him a call.

"Someone owes me 300,000. Go collect the debt..."

The call lasted over ten minutes. After arranging everything, Lin Jiang finally hung up.

’Reasoning is definitely useless against a hardcore gambling addict like Shen Ziquan. This is a job for Yang Tao and his guys.’

He glanced at his watch and saw it was already past four. ’Time to go have dinner with Fang Jie.’