CHAPTER 17: CHAPTER 17: MAKING TROUBLE

She walked through a corridor filled with bodyguards and stood nervously at the doorway of the private room. She vigorously rubbed her stunningly beautiful face, forced a smile, and pushed open the door.

Inside the luxurious private room sat a bald man in his forties. His burly stature was like a mountain, emanating a powerful sense of oppression. His triangular eyes, like those of a venomous snake, constantly flickered with a dangerous aura. This was Lord Liu of Jinling City.

Standing by his side was a young man in his late twenties. The man’s features were plain, but a terrifying murderous intent would flash in his eyes from time to time. Su Qingning knew this man was called Seven Inches, Lord Liu’s personal bodyguard.

"Lord Liu, you’ve arrived!" Su Qingning said respectfully.

He nodded indifferently. "Su Qingning, how have I, Liu San, treated you?"

"Very well. This bar owes its continued, safe operation to your protection, my Lord!"

Liu San snorted coldly. "I’ve treated you well, but you treat me like a fool."

Su Qingning was taken aback. "Lord Liu, what do you mean by that?"

Liu San let out a cold laugh. "What do I mean? Let’s start with you selling me damn counterfeit alcohol!"

Su Qingning’s heart sank. Selling counterfeit alcohol to someone of Lord Liu’s status was courting death. She would never do something so brainless. Besides, she had always personally purchased the liquor for the bar. Since its opening, she had never sold a single bottle of counterfeit alcohol. In other words, the counterfeit alcohol Lord Liu mentioned was just a pretext. His real purpose was to cause trouble.

Although Su Qingning had already suspected as much on her way over, hearing Liu San say it to her face still made her feel a heavy sense of foreboding.

"Lord Liu, even if you lent me the courage, I would never dare serve you counterfeit alcohol!"

"What, you think I’m falsely accusing you? Or do you think I’m joking?"

Su Qingning forced a smile that she herself found ugly. "Lord Liu, that’s not what I meant. I meant, could there have been a mistake?"

"A mistake? Su Qingning, do you think I’m easy to fool? Let me tell you, either you pay up today, or I’ll smash this shabby place of yours to pieces."

Su Qingning covertly glanced at the bottle in front of Liu San and gasped. On the table was a bottle of Dalmore 62 whisky, worth two hundred thousand U.S. dollars.

Only twelve such bottles existed in the entire world. It had taken Su Qingning considerable effort to acquire one. This bottle was, without a doubt, the crown jewel of the entire bar. Clearly, Lord Liu must have swapped the real bottle with a fake. But that wasn’t the main point. The point was that according to the bar’s policy of a tenfold fine for counterfeits, she would have to compensate Lord Liu with over ten million Jiuzhou currency. She had the money, but she was infuriated at the thought of being extorted in such a despicable manner.

However, the consequence of her anger would be Lord Liu smashing her bar, a fate even more devastating than losing over ten million. What worried her more was that if Liu San set this precedent, any person with a bit of power in Jinling City could come and extort her. Her bar would have to close down sooner or later.

"Lord Liu, is there any other way? You know I depend on this little bar to survive," Su Qingning said, a smile plastered on her face.

A malicious glint flashed in Liu San’s triangular eyes. "Another way? Sure. Strip naked and give me a pole dance. If I’m pleased, maybe I’ll let this whole thing slide."

Humiliation. Blatant humiliation. A suffocating feeling instantly gripped Su Qingning’s heart. But what could she do? There were some people she simply couldn’t afford to offend. Still, she would rather die than perform a pole dance. But did she really have to pay? She was so unwilling to give in.

Suddenly, she thought of Shao Mei’er. But on second thought, while the Shao Family, as the foremost family in Jinling City, could suppress Lord Liu, they would probably not step in for an irrelevant outsider like her. Besides, Lord Liu had the backing of the Jinling King and the King of the Southern Town. The Shao Family probably couldn’t afford to offend the King of the Southern Town in particular. At this thought, Su Qingning sighed heavily. Why was life so hard?

Just as she was about to ask Lord Liu how much she had to pay, a mocking voice suddenly drifted in.

"How about I give you a pole dance instead?"