Chen Zhe's previous self-disclosure of his "lawyer" identity made several people wary, and given how well-dressed he was, it was clear that he was not someone to be trifled with.

But now that a sucker has finally stepped forward and is willing to return the money, they are unwilling to let him go.

"The interest rate... that's how it was written when we signed the contract, it's all in black and white!"

He picked up the loan slip and was about to show it to Chen Zhe.

But Chen Zhe didn't even look at it.

"The law stipulates that the maximum interest rate for private lending cannot exceed 12%, and yours has far exceeded that. The portion exceeding this is not protected by law. Are you aware of this?"

The group of people looked at each other in bewilderment.

Chen Zhe immediately cited legal provisions, which was indeed very much in line with his identity as a lawyer.

"This...this was all consensual. It was agreed upon when the money was borrowed, Mu Xiaoyu. You know that, right?"

Feeling pressured by Chen Zhe, Huang Ge turned his head towards Mu Xiaoyu.

Mu Xiaoyu was about to nod, but Chen Zhe stood in front of her and stopped her.

"Does your company have the legal qualifications to lend money? Please provide the relevant proof."

Brother Huang looked hesitant.

"Of course I have proof, but why should I show it to you?"

"You can refuse to show it to me, then we'll see each other in court. If you don't provide the corresponding proof, then you won't be able to pay back the money today."

Faced with Chen Zhe's relentless pressure, Brother Huang glanced warily at the tall bodyguard.

"Wait a minute, I'm going to make a phone call!"

He fled as if he were escaping.

Less than 10 minutes later, he came in again, and this time his attitude was noticeably less forceful.

"I just spoke with my boss on the phone. We can lower the interest rate a bit. We only need 100,000, is that okay?"

The price dropped from 120,000 to 110,000, and now it's dropped to 100,000. For Brother Huang and his team, this is already a huge concession.

Chen Zhe shook his finger.

"No! It's still way too much; we won't accept it!"

Brother Huang hesitated; clearly, his boss's bottom line wasn't this price.

"I can only try to get a little less for you, 80,000. 80,000 is the biggest discount I can get for you, is that alright?"

In just a few words, it dropped by another 20,000.

Mu Xiaoyu's eyes shone with pride, and his mother, Meng Liping, looked at Chen Zhe with gratitude.

Tang Zihao thought 80,000 was acceptable.

"Brother, how about..."

Chen Zhe still stopped him.

"We can only give you 60,000 at most; that's our bottom line."

"60,000??? Are you trying to fetch a beggar?"

Brother Huang got impatient, and his henchmen behind him also looked dissatisfied.

"How much effort did we put in running around? With interest and a fee for our trouble, you're only giving us 10,000? Don't you have any sense of reason?"

“Sorry, we’re talking about the law, not reason. This 10,000 yuan is already a lot. If you continue to harass me, I will have no choice but to call the police.”

Chen Zhe took out his phone.

The henchmen behind Brother Huang were already itching to make a move.

Tang Zihao's bodyguards stood in front of them, looking at them with disdain.

His intimidating gaze was very effective; those lackeys didn't dare to move.

Brother Huang could tell that this bodyguard was no pushover.

He went out again.

Five minutes later, he came in again.

"Seventy thousand!! This is our bottom line! If you don't agree, then we'll have to see you in court, and we're not afraid!"

Chen Zhe could tell that he didn't have much confidence when he said that; he was just speaking loudly.

But Tang Zihao and the others couldn't tell.

"Brother, 70,000 yuan is fine, no problem, I'll pay it!"

Tang Zihao wanted to resolve the matter as soon as possible and get rid of these people quickly, but Chen Zhe did not think so.

"50,000! That's all I can give you right now. Your current behavior constitutes violent debt collection. Mu Xiaoyu's mother is seriously ill. If her health deteriorates rapidly because of your debt collection, we will hold you accountable!"

"What?! Are you crazy? Didn't you just say 60,000? How come it's 50,000 now?"

Brother Huang panicked. 70,000 yuan was his boss's bottom line, and that couldn't be lowered any further. But now, this person in front of him was only willing to offer 50,000 yuan? If they took back that 50,000 yuan, they would lose everything. That 50,000 yuan was just the principal. Although they had only given Mu Xiaoyu 40,000 yuan, they were still calculating based on 50,000 yuan.

Not all of these loans belonged to his boss; many investors were also involved.

"No way!!! We will never agree to 50,000 yuan. Even if you call the police, we are not afraid."

This time, Brother Huang is truly confident.

What kind of business is it to lend out money and then get the principal back? It's a losing proposition, and the boss wouldn't do a losing proposition. If they only take back the 50,000 yuan, they won't even get a commission.

When it came to their own interests, Brother Huang and his men became much more assertive.

"It seems you haven't understood what I'm saying. As I just said, Mu Xiaoyu's mother is seriously ill. You disclosed her privacy to her family without her consent. This behavior is illegal, especially since you came to her home to violently collect debts and forced Mu Xiaoyu's mother to kowtow to you..."

"I didn't fucking do it!! She went up and knelt down herself, what the hell is it to me?"

Huang and his gang didn't care about that. They just wanted money. Who would care about an old lady kowtowing?

“Even if you didn’t force her, this whole thing started because of you. I’m going to take her to the hospital for a checkup right now. If she has any problems, then you can expect to be sued.”

Huang and his gang looked like they'd eaten shit.

His face looked extremely pale.

Isn't this just a scam? If this old lady actually gets a medical checkup and something goes wrong, then even if it's just mud falling into her pants, it'll still be considered shit.

One of the underlings whispered in Brother Huang's ear, "Brother Huang, what should we do? If she really finds out something wrong, will we have to pay compensation?"

"Damn it! If only this lousy lawyer weren't here! Damn it, today is such a terrible day!"

Brother Huang took a deep breath.

"Brother, how about we compromise? Like you said, 60,000, we'll only take 60,000 and leave, is that okay?"

"If you keep pestering me, you'll only get 40,000 if you don't get 60,000. As far as I know, Mu Xiaoyu will only get 40,000, right?"

"I……"

Brother Huang really wanted to curse out loud, but seeing the bodyguard's eyes, he forcibly restrained himself.

"Brother, leave a way out for others, so you can meet again in the future. Aren't you going too far by forcing us like this?"

Not only did Brother Huang and the others think it was excessive, but even Mu Xiaoyu, Meng Liping, and Tang Zihao felt it was a bit too much.

Paying back debts is a matter of course, and Chen Zhe's continued attempts to lower the price are indeed somewhat unreasonable.

Chen Zhe did not follow the other party's line of thinking; he stuck to his own explanation.

"I'll give you two choices: either you take 50,000 yuan and leave now, or I'll call the police right now. I'll also take Auntie to the hospital. You know, hospital check-up fees aren't cheap. After all that testing, it might not even be enough to cover your tens of thousands of yuan."

Chen Zhe's assertiveness ultimately forced Huang Ge and his men to submit.

They gritted their teeth, took the 50,000 yuan, and left the loan slip behind.

Mu Xiaoyu and Meng Liping breathed a heavy sigh of relief upon seeing the result.

Meng Liping couldn't help but want to kneel down to Chen Zhe again, but fortunately Chen Zhe had anticipated this.

"Auntie, you don't need to do that. I already said I would help you, and I keep my word."

Meng Liping nodded with tears in her eyes.

Then she asked the question that had been troubling her: "Boss, what's your relationship with... Mukro? Are you really friends? Were you really sent by him to help us?"

...