“This is a loan for you.” Edward Harris of course understood his intentions—after all, he had decades of life experience.

“Thank you, young master.” The man was overjoyed; he hadn’t expected such luck. Was his fortune finally turning?

“Wait!”

Just as Edward Harris was about to hand over the money, someone stopped him. He looked up and saw it was his elder brother, William Harris.

“Big brother, is there something wrong?” Edward Harris asked.

“Of course there’s something wrong—a big problem.” William Harris’s luck was as bad as this pale young man’s; he had also lost everything. “You can’t just lend money to others in a casino. Even if you’re winning now, you’ll lose it all in no time.”

“Is there such a rule?” Edward Harris turned to ask the pale young man.

“Ahem…” Although a bit embarrassed, he clearly acknowledged William Harris’s statement.

“Besides, who ever lends money in a casino without a written IOU?” William Harris said. In casinos, it was generally taboo for gamblers to lend money to each other—it was considered bad luck. And those who could borrow money in a casino usually had to pay a hefty interest.

“Fine, I’ll write one. It’s not like I can’t afford the interest; I just don’t have cash on me right now. If this gentleman didn’t look so trustworthy, I wouldn’t even want to borrow from him.” The pale young man said. In a casino, borrowing money was easy—as long as you could pay the interest or bear the consequences of not repaying on time, you could borrow from the casino or from the loan sharks who were always around.

“All right, words alone aren’t enough—let’s put it in writing.” William Harris quickly borrowed an IOU form from the casino. Since such transactions were common, the casino had specially printed IOUs ready; you just had to fill in the name, amount, interest, and add a fingerprint. It was a thoughtful service for their customers.

“What’s your name? How much do you want to borrow?” William Harris asked the pale young man, holding the IOU.

“Alice Bennett, I’ll borrow five guan… no, ten guan!” Alice Bennett gritted his teeth. He had only planned to borrow five, but seeing the mocking look in William Harris’s eyes, he doubled it on the spot.

Edward Harris walked over to his brother and looked at the IOU. The print was neat and clear, and there was even a picture—truly a combination of text and image. He hadn’t expected the printing industry in Nanshi to be so advanced, with even casinos having their own printed forms. But when he saw the interest rate, Edward Harris was startled. Here, loans accrued daily interest—two percent per day. That meant by tomorrow, Alice Bennett would owe him twelve guan.

“Big brother, isn’t this interest a bit too high? No matter when Bennett pays it back, let’s just charge two guan interest.” Edward Harris couldn’t bear it; this was practically daylight robbery, and legal at that, with no risk as long as the borrower could repay.

“Little brother, that’s the industry standard. It’s kind of you not to want the interest, but it won’t work. You can’t break the rules here, or how will others borrow in the future?” Brian Clark walked over at this point, with John Bolton following behind. Their luck hadn’t been great either, but not bad enough to need a loan.

That’s right—if it were a private loan outside, it wouldn’t matter. But since this was in a casino, and with an official IOU from the casino, there was no way to lower the interest, at least not on the surface. There was nothing Edward Harris could do but follow local customs.

Alice Bennett was very grateful to see Edward Harris didn’t want so much interest. After looking at the IOU, he also learned Edward Harris’s name. “Mr. Harris, I’m definitely making you my friend.”

“Third brother, my luck was terrible just now. Do you think you could…?” William Harris squeezed Alice Bennett aside and grinned awkwardly. He had noticed that even after lending ten guan to Alice Bennett, Edward Harris still had nearly fifty left. How was his little brother’s luck so good today?

“Need money? Big brother, take it all.” Edward Harris saw William Harris eyeing the remaining money and immediately pushed the pile of coins toward him.

“There’s no family in the casino. You really are shameless—just now you were lecturing me about rules, but when it’s your turn, you don’t even dare say ‘borrow’!” Alice Bennett, standing nearby, stopped Edward Harris. He really couldn’t stand William Harris. Even though he would have paid interest to Edward Harris according to the rules, whether or not there was an IOU, being forced to write one and doing it willingly were two different things.

“Watch your mouth, kid! He’s my brother. As the saying goes, brothers share everything—what’s mine is his, and what’s his is mine.” William Harris said angrily.

“I’ve only ever heard, ‘clear accounts make good brothers!’” Alice Bennett retorted without backing down.

“Even if we settle accounts, it’s between us brothers—none of your business, outsider. Dealer, bring me an IOU!” William Harris glared fiercely at Alice Bennett, but Alice Bennett met his gaze calmly, unafraid.

“Big brother, there’s no need to stand on ceremony between us…”

“Third brother, say no more. I don’t want anyone thinking I’m shameless.” William Harris insisted on writing an IOU, and Edward Harris couldn’t stop him.