Laid-Back Life in Tokyo: I Really Didn't Want to Work Hard-Chapter 916 - 537: Christmas Eve Approaches (5)

"What’s up... Hahaha!"

Ookubo Eiji just chuckled, scratching his head awkwardly, and said, "It seems Detective Hanamaru doesn’t remember me, huh."

Hanamaru Yugetsu frowned deeply, staring at him for a few more moments.

Completely unfamiliar, absolutely unfamiliar.

Or rather, it left no impression at all.

He had caught so many people with his second brother back then, and apart from a few particularly memorable ones, he’d forget the rest just after a few days.

Ookubo Eiji somehow produced a shiny small knife from somewhere, leisurely trimming his nails at the bar, "Detective Hanamaru, you’ve no idea how many of my businesses you’ve messed up, how could you forget so easily?"

Business...

Despite drinking, Hanamaru Yugetsu could only recall fragments even if he tried hard to remember.

This guy... Seems familiar, but he couldn’t remember exactly who he was.

But under the dim, flickering neon lights in the bar, Hanamaru Yugetsu caught sight of the watch on his wrist.

This thing...

He is—

Hanamaru Yugetsu suddenly remembered, those were the people from the Dairy Company, a gang of blood-sucking high-interest loan sharks.

Dairy Company... This company sounds amicable, but the meaning behind this name is that they treat customers like their cash cows, extracting every last drop just like milking cows.

They lend at high-interest rates and then use various means to prevent repayment of the principal, endlessly extending the debtor’s repayment period.

It’s compound interest lending, their loan term is 10 days with 50% interest plus a handling fee.

For example, borrow 100,000 yen, they’d first deduct 20,000 yen for today’s interest, then 10,000 yen for handling fees, and the remaining money is given to the borrower.

In other words, for a loan of 100,000 yen, you’d only get 70,000, and will have to pay 20,000 yen in interest daily for the next 10 days.

Of course, such predatory lenders don’t offer large loan amounts, and their clients are carefully selected.

They specifically target those who are addicted to Pachinko and need cash urgently.

And this one before him, he should be the guy he and his brother personally arrested three years ago, Ookubo Eiji.

This guy is a tough character, originally just from a small company, but managed to stand back up despite being suppressed by more powerful loan sharks from above.

Hanamaru Yugetsu had read the case files and knew this guy’s case.

He had also seen records of a young, talented girl who fell into the red-light district under the pressure of high-interest loans.

"What do you want?"

"Just want to catch up with our Detective Hanamaru, you know, I had a sentence of four years and six months, now I’ve gotten out early... Of course, I should thank Detective Hanamaru for giving me a chance to reform myself and start anew."

The old barkeep sensed something was off and tried to secretly take out a phone to call the police.

Click.

The sound of a gun’s bolt being opened.

The old barkeep saw that a little brother behind Ookubo Eiji was holding a black handgun pointed at him, and hurriedly raised his hands.

"Hahaha," Ookubo Eiji chuckled, his mouth curling up, "Old man, stay out of this, it has nothing to do with you."

A gun?!

At that moment, Hanamaru Yugetsu sobered up completely, and even though he still felt a bit muddle-headed and sleepy, he had to take things seriously: "Ookubo, a gun, do you know what that means?"

"Oh, you remember me, huh, I thought Detective Hanamaru had forgotten me. Rest assured, Detective Hanamaru, I don’t want to blow things out of proportion either, but—"

Ookubo Eiji flicked ash off his cigarette with his fingers, turning his gaze to Hanamaru Yuuki, who was sitting beside Hanamaru Yugetsu and looking a bit at a loss.

He withdrew his gaze, then smirked disdainfully: "I never thought Detective Hanamaru would be into this, she’s still a high school girl, right?"

Hanamaru Yugetsu tightened his brow: "Just say what exactly you came here for!"

Ookubo Eiji stood up, resting his hand on Hanamaru Yugetsu’s shoulder from behind, glancing back at his two little brothers following him, he halted his steps:

"Initially, I came to cause some trouble for you, but you know, I’m quite magnanimous."

Listening to Ookubo Eiji’s nonsense, Hanamaru Yugetsu glanced at the little brother holding the gun, and then at the glaring neon lights in the dance floor, steeling his mind.

Ookubo Eiji paced slowly around Hanamaru Yugetsu’s back, holding a cigarette in one hand, touching his chin with the other, sizing up the pretty-looking Hanamaru Yuuki at the bar.

He suddenly had an idea, clapping his large hand onto his own face:

"How about this! Why not lend me your little girlfriend for a couple of days, and I’ll—"

Tie!

As the neon light flickered across Ookubo Eiji’s face, Hanamaru Yugetsu suddenly sprang into action, grabbing a beer bottle from the bar and throwing it at the subordinate, then swept past Ookubo Eiji, who was still delivering his speech, kicking the fallen handgun into an unseen dark corner of the bar.

"Yuuki, run!"

"Okay!"

Hanamaru Yuuki, also born into a police family, knew what to do even though she was still just a girl.

Faced with such thugs seeking revenge on the police, she knew what she should do was not become a burden.

She quickly got up and ran toward the bar’s entrance.

"You bastard!" Ookubo Eiji, realizing what had happened, was astonished; he didn’t expect Hanamaru Yugetsu to act so decisively, "Stop them!"

Throughout the bar, three or four people suddenly stood up at each table, a total of three or four dozen people surrounding all the exits.