Chapter 18: The First Income

The chips looked brand new, round and smooth, with the lowest denomination being twenty, and some fifty and one hundred as well.

Blue didn’t quite know whether these counted as money.

He told Ethan to watch Mr. White in the room, then took two chips downstairs to a phone booth and dialed the number left by Fordis.

Soon, the sweet voice of the receptionist came through the receiver: “This is Lèzhù Financial Company. How may I assist you?”

Her voice was pleasant, but Blue could picture her casually doing something else, saying these words in a way that defied all logic—aiming purely for contrast.

“It’s me, Blue. I need to speak with Mr. Cotty, or Fordis is fine too.”

The girl recognized Blue’s voice, and her sweet tone instantly changed: “Fordis! It’s for you!”

Heavy footsteps approached quickly, and then his voice filled the receiver.

“What trouble are you in?” he asked.

It was the only reason he could think of for Blue calling—perhaps Mr. White wasn’t home, or flat-out refused to pay.

He’d seen this kind of rookie before, and had personally trained two of them.

One was a guy who never intended to repay—he borrowed eight hundred from the company and shouted, “I’ll only pay you if a judge tells me to.”

Those two young men had no solution at all, and even asked him whether they should hand the matter over to the Legal Department—if the company even had one.

So he assumed Blue had run into the same problem.

But soon, he realized he was wrong.

“Mr. White is willing to repay, but he only wants to pay in chips. I’m not sure if these chips are worth the amount.”

He described the chips’ appearance and the small line of text on the back: “It says this chip comes from the Koda family.”

Mentioning this, Blue almost laughed, because he thought of the slogan—“Capture beautiful moments.”

After listening, Fordis gave him advice: “No problem at all. Koda family chips can be exchanged for cash at their counter, with no documentation required.”

He couldn’t help asking, “How did you get him to hand over the money?”

The company had already sent someone to collect this debt, and clearly, they failed.

If they had succeeded, Blue wouldn’t have been sent.

Of course, the first collection attempt was never harsh—Blue was the second.

“I talked sense to him. Mr. White is a reasonable man, so he agreed to settle the debt.”

“Do I need to give him a receipt or something?”

“Or hand him the contract?”

“Absolutely unnecessary, Blue. Bring back the chips and the contract. Someone else at the company will handle the rest. Your job is done—don’t steal others’ work.”

“I’ll tell the boss this good news. Your efficiency is impressive—you might just surprise all of us!”

After hanging up, Blue returned upstairs and, in front of Mr. White, counted out three thousand five hundred in chips from the brown paper bag.

“This is what you owe the company. I’m taking it.”

“The rest is yours. I only take what’s mine, and I despise rumor-mongers—you know exactly what I mean.”

He looked at Mr. White sitting on the sofa. After a brief outburst, Mr. White had completely broken. He avoided eye contact and nodded, “Yes, I understand. I won’t say anything.”

“Good!” Blue handed the brown paper bag filled with three thousand five hundred in chips to Ethan. “Sorry for taking up your time. Have a pleasant day, Mr. White.”

Mr. White didn’t look happy at all—his day ahead was bound to be miserable.

The three left the apartment and drove straight toward the company.

On the way, Elvin asked about everything that happened upstairs. The two buddies were ecstatic, and Ethan couldn’t stop talking—

“...I just glared at them, and they immediately pulled their heads back like turtles retreating into their shells!”

“I thought someone would call the police or step in to stop us, but nothing happened at all!”

Blue, driving, picked up on Ethan’s remark: “This shows the Federals aren’t as strong as we imagined.”

“When you’re weak and give in to their harassment and tests, they push you back step by step.”

“But when you show you can hurt them and aren’t afraid of their threats, they’re no stronger than the weaklings we know.”

“So you have no reason to fear the Federals—they’re just like us, just like the cowards we know. You’re strong, they’re weak!”

“If your opponent doesn’t back down, it’s not because they’re not afraid—it’s because you’re not vicious enough. That’s all.”

These words sank into the ears of the four young men. To them, this was gospel truth—verified, undeniable gospel.

The car arrived quickly at the company. Blue brought the four inside and told them to sit in the break room.

But seeing the intimidating figures in the break room, they ultimately decided to stand in the hallway.

In the office, Blue placed the brown paper bag on Alberto’s desk and took out the chips to count them simply.

He took his work seriously—and with clear boundaries.

He could give Blue a hundred, but Blue couldn’t hand him only three thousand four hundred—that violated protocol!

“Three thousand four hundred and fifty, three thousand five hundred—perfect!” The last fifty-chip fell onto the pile.

He looked at Blue and nodded slightly. “The Mr. White I know isn’t a reasonable man. Tell me—how did you convince him?”

Blue sat across from him, relaxed. “I started by talking about the Jinguang City sailing team. He’s also interested in baseball. Then we talked about cooking.”

“We found common interests, so conversation flowed easily. I asked him, ‘Where’s the money?’ He said, ‘In the flowerpot.’ That’s it.”

Alberto burst into laughter. “I can picture it—he’ll never want to see you again!”

He paused, then picked three fifty-chips from the pile and pushed them over. “This is yours.”

Alberto knew Mr. White had money—he had his own agent at the Koda family’s casino.

People who came to the company to borrow money would endlessly renegotiate interest rates, repayment terms, and how the company could recover losses if they defaulted.

They’d fight for every advantage and never make an impossible concession.

But in the casino, gamblers blinded by red eyes didn’t care what price they’d pay later for the five hundred they took from you!

They only cared whether they had enough chips to sit back down at the table before the next hand began!

Mr. White’s win—over four thousand, roughly equivalent to a common worker’s hundred-month salary—had reached the agent’s ears. Many at the casino were talking about it.

When the company first sent someone to collect, they found Mr. White had no means to repay, so the matter dragged on until now.

Alberto firmly believed that with enough methods, he could always reclaim what didn’t belong to him.

But he never expected it to go this smoothly—half a day, and the money was recovered.

“I’m looking forward to your next assignment, Blue,” he said, pausing. “We give others a five percent bonus—that’s the rule. You deserve it too.”

“But this next job won’t be as easy as Mr. White’s.”

Alberto brought up the second “order.”

“Mr. Anderson runs a restaurant in the Bay Area. Last year, he ran into financial trouble and came to me.”

“Now he denies signing any contract, refuses to pay interest or return the principal, and has sued us.”

“If we show up near him and harm him, he’ll sue us. Our lawyer says we’re very likely to lose.”

“So this job is different from Mr. White’s—you can’t use violence. Do you understand?”

“Don’t harm him. Don’t even threaten him. Think of another way.”

“If you handle this job, I’ll give you double the reward.”

“Whatever amount you recover from him, I’ll give you ten percent!” To emphasize his intensity, Alberto held up both hands, gesturing widely.