“So, that club… is it that kind of place?”
But she still knew about that kind of thing.
Gu Chen had never really noticed whether Willow Street had any entertainment clubs or anything like that.
Entertainment venues barely made any money—the real profit was in the hidden services.
Like the saying went, the most profitable businesses are all written in the Criminal Law…
Long Fei signaled Gu Chen to start driving: “No duh, why else would I be this anxious? I can’t afford to offend those people, so I’ve got no choice but to come to you.”
“Fine.”
Gu Chen frowned, flipped on the electric bike, and started it up.
Along the way, she took the chance to get the whole story straight.
Running over there without knowing anything wouldn’t do anyone any good.
She had a sister on Willow Street named Zhao Nan, who used to hang out with their crew.
Not long ago, her family hit a crisis, and she needed a lot of money.
But everyone was dead broke—no way to help, just able to offer sympathy.
Even if someone had money, they wouldn’t lend it out, since play was play, fun was fun, but never joke about borrowing money.
Zhao Nan didn’t want to burden the others either, so she figured it out herself.
She got some info from who knows where and went to that Shuguang Entertainment Club on Willow Street to ask for help.
She finally got the loan, but the price was staying there to work off the debt.
Long Fei was furious when she found out, since that place was nowhere near legitimate.
If she borrowed that much money, there was no way it was an honest job.
She went to the club multiple times to demand her release, but they ignored her.
Zhao Nan also said she didn’t want to drag her sisters down and told Long Fei to stop coming.
After some back and forth, her training period ended, and today was her first real day on the job—but she wouldn’t say what she’d actually be doing.
“So… you’re going to the club to demand she be released?”
“Yeah, I also want to find out exactly what’s going on.”
Gu Chen roughly understood the situation, but her expression turned a bit reluctant.
No matter how you looked at it, legal or not, that kind of thing was between two willing parties.
Her barging in to interfere wasn’t exactly right either.
Of course, that was just from his perspective.
If the two of them were deeply bonded sisters, wanting to rescue her was understandable too.
“Yeah, that’s right. Nan Nan’s had a rough life, and her family won’t do a thing for her. If no one helps her now, she’s done for completely.”
“Gu Chen, I’ll be honest with you—that club’s boss definitely has people behind him. He’s not easy to mess with. If you’re scared, you can drop me off right now, and I’ll go demand her release myself.”
Long Fei paused.
She knew deep down this had nothing to do with him, and she shouldn’t drag him in.
It was just that she couldn’t find anyone else—no one else had the guts to cause trouble there.
They weren’t family, so why throw themselves into the fire?
After thinking it over, Gu Chen knew martial arts, so going with him was the best option.
“What’s the point of saying that now? We’re almost there.”
Gu Chen rolled her eyes.
Honestly, she’d wanted to complain earlier.
This had nothing to do with her at all—why did she have to bring her along to save her sister?
But since she was already here, wouldn’t it be embarrassing to back out now?
Anyway, she’d check the situation when they got there.
If she really couldn’t help, then so be it—consider it repaying that favor from before.
Before long, the bike arrived at Willow Street.
This was the first time he’d seen the night scene here.
He had to admit, the lights were dazzling and colorful, giving it an even stronger commercial street vibe.
The back streets were well developed, with endless foot traffic—not much worse than downtown.
Following Long Fei’s directions, they finally stopped in front of a building.
The sign read Shuguang Entertainment Club, blindingly bright, standing a full four stories tall.
Gu Chen looked up.
The first floor was a bar, the second was a KTV, and the third was a wellness center—probably sauna and massage type stuff.
As for where her friend was, Long Fei still didn’t know.
Sure enough, to run a place like this in that location, if they didn’t have some connections and backing, they’d have been shut down for prostitution long ago…
“Let’s go. We’ll negotiate first.”
Long Fei saw that Gu Chen wasn’t leaving, nodded, and felt she’d picked the right person.
“Negotiate?”
Gu Chen raised an eyebrow, unsure what she was up to, and just followed behind.
There was an elevator on the right side of the first floor, with two security guards posted at the entrance.
Before they even got inside, they were blocked.
The guard seemed to recognize Long Fei and reached out to stop her.
Clearly, this wasn’t the first time.
“You again? Don’t you ever quit?”
Long Fei’s expression turned angry, and she shoved the hand blocking her aside: “That’s none of your business. Move it!”
But another guard blocked her right away.
He gritted his teeth and said, “None of my business? Last time, because I let you in and you made a scene, I got two hundred knocked off my pay!”
“I think you should have a little sympathy for the working man.”
Gu Chen initially thought this was the standard guard-dog-kicks-out-troublemaker scene, but putting herself in their shoes, it really was tough.
They didn’t make much in a month anyway, and to help her bond with her sister, they lost their own income.
If it were her, she’d block the door too.
“Hey, whose side are you on anyway?”
Long Fei turned around and complained.
Gu Chen quickly stopped her from forcing her way in: “Alright, alright. This isn’t something we can’t solve.”
Then she had her pay out four hundred in compensation first—no point starting a conflict over it.
“Bro, finally someone who understands us security guards.”
The two guards were almost moved to tears.
After taking the money, they let them through without another word.
Sure enough, anything that could be solved with money wasn’t a real problem.
Aside from Long Fei wincing as she watched her already-thin balance drop, there was nothing unpleasant about it.
Once in the elevator, she pressed the fourth floor directly.
That was the club’s office area.
Last time, that’s where she’d found the person in charge.
“Over there.”
Long Fei knew her way around, pointed, and strode over.
She came to a room, didn’t even knock, and walked straight in.
Inside was an office with a young man wearing glasses, playing on his phone.
Hearing someone enter, he immediately looked up.
“Long Fei? Why are you here again?”
The young man saw her and looked like he had a headache.
Maybe with Gu Chen by her side, she had more backbone.
She sat down across from him.
“Manager Lu, where is Nan Nan? Get her out here.”
Manager Lu adjusted his glasses, his tone turning unfriendly: “How many times do I have to tell you? This is none of your business. Don’t think just because Boss Ma backed you up last time, we won’t touch you. Last time was the same—you came in here making a scene, got the boss scolded something fierce, and he ordered the guards to stop you on sight. Don’t come in.”
“Whatever. Since I’m here, I’m not afraid of you! If you don’t let me take Nan Nan out today, this isn’t over!”
Long Fei slapped the table, her tone just as unyielding.
“Take her out? Fine. Pay the money, and she’s yours.”