Seventy Three***
“It’s only natural that Xiao Li would know more about their internal affairs but you also need to act appropriately. Don’t let him lead you around by the nose.”
After Sun Ze Yu finished speaking, he hung up the call with Wu Qing Hua and quickly dialed another number. “Lu Wu,” he simply stated, “Xiao Li is making his move ahead of time…. all of a sudden means all of a sudden. Since he has started, we have to catch up with him. Then let me make it clear to you, Li Shi Qing did not kill Yan Ming. He had him placed in a mental inst.i.tute research center at the outskirt of the city. When I had asked you for manpower before, it was to let them go there to cause a disturbance and pretend to save Yan Ming just to draw Li Shi Qing out there…. don’t mention it, that’s for something else. I want him to leave the city for at least an hour. It’s all good now so let your men surround him. Xiao Li and I will take care of things in the city, and everything else will go as planned. Is there any problem? …okay, set out.”
He hung up, took a deep breath and looked up at the person leaning against the sofa on the other side. His gaze was cold as he spoke, “Juan Juan, this is the direct result of you letting Qi Xiu Yuan go.”
“I never ‘let’ him go.” Zhang Juan Juan picked up a gla.s.s of wine and observes the light through it, “He ‘escaped’ by himself.”
Sun Ze Yu snorted, “Xiao Li alone was difficult enough to deal with already, now adding on Qi Xiu Yuan…”
“Stop joking around,” Zhang Juan Juan waved her gla.s.s, causing the red liquid inside to sway along, “It’s not like I have never met Xiao Li before. He’s not that intelligent or ambitious. From the way I see it, he’s a lot easier to deal with than Liu Zi Cheng and Yan Ming.”
Sun Ze Yu sighed and pointed at her, “You’re wrong about that. When a person is selfish and greedy, they can be easily used or controlled. That’s why it was even more suitable to cooperate with Li Zi Cheng and Yan Ming. Liu Zi Cheng is anxious for power which made him want to get rid of Li Shi Qing as soon as possible; Yan Ming’s resentment and jealousy for Liu Zi Cheng provoked him to want to destroy him and Li Shi Qing together. In the end, they were both used by us.” He pondered for a moment, “But, what do you think Xiao Li is greedy for?”
Zhang Juan Juan stared at the gla.s.s in her hands and slowly said, “He doesn’t seem to be trying to gain power, or is he greedy for money. But if he’s not greedy for these things, why is he mixed up in the underworld?”
“That’s why he is the most difficult to deal with.” Sun Ze Yu lightly tapped the desktop with his fingers, “In recent years, Yan Ming had tried to rope him in, Lu Wu wanted to win him over, and we have always wanted to use him… but he has been cold and detached about it the entire time, strongly refusing to join any of us. Since he has always wavered between all parties, no one knew what exactly he was doing. Even Li Shi Qing began to be afraid and wanted some sort of power or influences to weaken him a bit as to trap him by his side.” He gave Zhang Juan Juan a glance and then continued to talk as if he was imparting his knowledge to a cla.s.s at the policy academy. “If we’re talking about intelligence, Juan Juan you must remember this sentence: The most stupid people are the ones that everyone knows are smart. Liu Zi Cheng and Yan Ming were both defeated by this sentence, but they were also defeated by Xiao Li’s hands.”
Zhang Juan Juan’s brows knitted together, “But if Xiao Li is truly not greedy for anything, what reasons does he have to eliminate Liu Zi Cheng and Yan Ming?”
Sun Ze Yu did not speak for a long time and when he finally he, he simply sighed, “That is what I have been repeatedly trying to figure out. It is also why I have repeatedly warned to not let Xiao Li and Qi Xiu Yuan get in contact with each other again.” He paused, “That is because he is Qi Feng and Ah Dan’s son, and I really do not want to have a conflict of interest with him.”
Zhang Juan Juan also gave him a glance and sighed, “When there are no conflicts of interest, the discussions would go well and smooth. But the moment anything remotely related to interests are mentioned, all h.e.l.l breaks loose and no one recognize their family, relatives, or friends anymore. People say when one gets old, their hearts are kind. Uncle, how can you still like this?”
In the end, she did not drink even a drop of the wine and placed it back on the table. “I lied to Susu by telling her Qi Xiu Yuan was transferred to an even more sophisticated hospital. Now, I have to go see her and tell her even more lies.” After that, she then stood up and walked out of the door.
“Don’t forget—” Sun Ze Yu reminded her.
“I know.”
—
Zheng Nan Fang was not cultured or successful and being able to stay by Liu Zi Cheng’s side while having such a relatively high position was entirely due to the many years of currying favors.
After Liu Zi Cheng’s death, Li Shi Qing chose him among a few other high-ranking individuals to replace Liu Zi Cheng as the new leader. Although he was overjoyed at this unexpected news, he was even more angry and annoyed.
First, all the subordinates were not satisfied or accepted the choice. Then even though all the men with the same ranking did not express it clearly, the look in their eyes—more than often—revealed the resentment they held. Since he also wanted to keep some face, he was not willing to speak to them on certain matters. But when he asked Li Shi Qing for guidance, he would always be reprimand. Now, he was facing an even more enormous challenge.
With Li Shi Qing not present, the police having suddenly barged in for an inspection and his plead of mercy and bribery not bearing any desired result either, he watched on at a loss of what to do as all the guests of the Arc d’ Triomphe stormed away in bewilderment. He had called some subordinates over, but he doesn’t even know what commands to give them. By the time two other leaders—Yang Ze and Guo Jin Long, who held the same ranking as him—arrived and brought more people, the scene had already become too difficult to control.
“You have f.u.c.king lost your mind!” Guo Jin Long shouted loudly at Zheng Nan Fang, “So what if you haven’t experienced something like this before?! If the police wanted to search, then let them search. At most, we would only suffer a bit of financial losses. What the f.u.c.k are you doing calling for so much manpower? Do you think this is a Hong Kong movie?!”
Being reprimanded in front of everyone like that, Zheng Nan Fang was no long able to stay still. Just as he was about to take his subordinate and step forward to attack Guo Jin Long, Yang Ze blocked him. “Okay, that’s enough. Do you want the police force to make a mockery of you all by arguing in front of them like this? Calm down a bit. Just send them away and it’ll be fine.”
Guo Jin Long looked around only to have his vision be shrouded with police officers at every corner. To simply put it, the gang members that were being surrounded slowly became agitated at this predicament. It was impossible to say who instigated them but the members became restless and threatened, emitting an aura of hostility and murderous intent that provoked the officers’ expression to be more and more severe. Many of the officers had already pulled out their baton, and in any given moment, anything could occur.
While the gang and officers were deadlocked in the cold and grave atmosphere, a loud ‘ding’ could be heard from the elevator I heard a bang elevator before the sound of laughter slowly followed.
Wu Qing Hua—those four or five officers, along with Xiao Li and a guy sitting in a wheelchair—emerged from the elevator talking cheerfully and wittily as they walked over. When he noticed the situation in the hall, his voice rose, “Alright, I’ll give you some face Dāobā Xiao. If it were not for that whatever Zheng who replaced Liu Zi Cheng being insensible, I wouldn’t have gone as far as to get angry.” His gaze swept across the crowd of gang members then said with a fearless expression, “Teach them well. We’ll head out first.”
As the police force withdrew, the angry and arrogant Zheng Nan Fang bitterly spat and cursed, “What insensible? I don’t need someone who’s insensible or sold his a.s.s to come and teach me s.h.i.t!”
Once those words came out, nearly everyone held their breath. It was obvious that those words were directed at Xiao Li. However, Xiao Li had been in the gang for many years, had advanced at the at time as Liu Zi Cheng and was also close to him. Having worked together on numerous occasions, Xiao Li of course had left a good reputation within Liu Zi Cheng’s territory. Even though it was widely rumored that Li Shi Qing housed and pampered him, in everyone’s mind he was not seen as weak or lowly even unto now.
In front of everyone’s watchful eyes, Xiao Li calmly stood up and stare coldly at Zheng Nan Fang. “Without any sense of priorities or an ounce of tolerant, you still think you can succeed Liu Zi Cheng?”
Liu Zi Cheng wanted to a.s.sa.s.sinate Li Shi Qing then inherit everything in a logical manner. He had never adopted a method of ma.s.s fire or forceful abdication. That is why, the majority of the gang members are unaware of how he was betrayed and killed. On top of that, everything had happened just a while ago so Liu Zi Cheng’s reputation and power still remained. Although everyone had their own view on his betrayal, but they know that he was truly more capable than this vile Zheng Nan Fang who only know how to grovel to others.
Seeming as though he could see the meaning of those words in everyone’s eyes, Zheng Nan Fang flew into a rage out of humiliation. He pointed his finger at Xiao Li and cursed, “From what I see, you’re the one that caused the police to come here. You f.u.c.k—”
Bam!
Yang Ze’s palm flung across his face. Zheng Nan Fang became angry and the groups of subordinate also became hostile toward each other again as Yang Ze rained curses on him. “You b.a.s.t.a.r.d! You still have the face to talk? Everyone are not young, stupid and gullible. They follow you not because they want to challenge the police force, instead they want you to protect them. Even if they are only able to eat because of the illegal things they have done, they don’t need to be choked by it or needlessly die! Even if they’ve done something illegal, they’re not looking to be shove in jail! You f.u.c.king b.a.s.t.a.r.d, you can’t even go against the police yourself yet you have the b.a.l.l.s to stand here and curse? Even if you’re a f.u.c.king leader, why should anyone here sacrifice their life for you?”
That remark was very clever. Even though it sounded ordinary and mediocre, in actuality, it carried a powerful punch that wore down their fighting spirit quite considerably. The expression on several of the diehard loyal subordinates—behind Zheng Nan Fang—changed, even their ruthless and murderous demeanor seemed to dissipate.
Zheng Nan Fang wanted to speak again but Yang Ze punched him in the mouth, causing him to fall backward. His subordinates looked at each other in dismay and hesitation. Yang Ze step forward and kicked him, inciting the mood of everyone on the scene.
“Everyone knows what kind of person I, Yang Ze, am! Brothers follow me! You will eat well! I will work hard for you as you do for me. I will not serve someone like Zheng Nan Fang, who push everyone to the frontline of death while relieving himself of all trouble. I want to clarify something to everyone. From today onward, I will not yield to this b.a.s.t.a.r.d Zheng! If everyone think that I am good enough, give me some face and call out Yang Ge. Yang Ge will lead you all and expand the southern territory. If everything think that I am no good, I won’t say anything else. Quickly, take this useless b.a.s.t.a.r.d away.”
Yang Ze’s own subordinate began to speak out loud and declared their position while others began to question: “Yang Ge, it is not your problem. If everyone gives you face today, then Qing Ye’s face will be no more.”
Yang Ze snorted, “Do you really think Qing Ye think highly of the southern territory? When Cheng Ge[1] was here and this territory was profitable, Qing Ye would split it up here and there just to give it to Lu Wu; obviously Cheng Ge was in charge but Qing Ye insisted on staying at the Arc d’ Triomphe. He did not have confident in us and even deducted our revenue without reason. The subordinates of which territory are freer than us? Cheng Ge is dead and a b.a.s.t.a.r.d was thrown at our heads. Can you all really f.u.c.king tolerate this bulls.h.i.t?!”
There were no loud voices to question him. Instead, there were whispers and mutual expressions of anxiousness.
Seeing that situation was not good, Zheng Nan Fang struggled vigorously to get up while cursing at his own men. “Are you all dead?!”
Guo Jin Long, who had not said anything the entire time, suddenly step forward and kicked him in the face causing Zheng Nan Fang to howl in grief.
When that action succeeded in attracting everyone’s attention, Guo Jin Long sternly said, “You all might not know, since Cheng Ge was killed, Peng Ge is on the same page as us, we both refuse to give in. From the way I see it, it is probable that his intention is to become the boss himself.”
It was a cold and intense voice.
“Since Yang Ge had said that and is willing to bring us to expand the southern territory, I believe him!” Guo Jin Long then changed the way he addressed Yang Ze and said, “When that time comes and we join up with Peng Ge, what can Qing Ye do to us?”
“There’s Li Ge!”
Yang Ze continued, “The eastern territory has changed so many leaders, but everyone is well aware of the situation. Aside for Li Ge, who else does the men over there work for? If our three territories worked together, don’t tell me we would still be afraid of Li Shi Qing?”
The crowd became restless and some people constantly shouted, “Yang Ge, I will follow you!” The men standing beside Yang Ze and soon after Zheng Nan Fang’s devoted men also joined in, leaving him only two men on his side.
“I admire you for your loyalty to this kind of person,” Yang Ze said to those two men the removed his foot from Zheng Nan Fang’s stomach. “Take him away.”
As the two men helped Zheng Nan Fang—who was in a sorry state—out, the crowd gather beside Yang Ze and Gui Jin Ling.
Yang Ze gave Xiao Li a glance; the two exchanged a meaningful glance before Yang Ze turned around and said a few words to Guo Jin Long. Afterward, Guo Jin Long took three men and pa.s.sed through the crowd of people toward Xiao Li.
“Li Ge,” he said, also wearing a meaningful smile, “I’ll take you back to the eastern territory.”
From a distant, Xiao Li glanced toward Yang Ze’s direction again.
Guo Jin Long whispered, “Li Ge, rest a.s.sure. To make threats and promises, to incite the will of people, Yang Ze is an expert in it all.” Then he looked at Qi Xiu Yuan, “Li Ge, your friend……”
“He’s coming with me. But we are not going to the east,” Xiao Li firmly answered.
One of Guo Jin Long’s men walked over, intending to help push Qi Xiu Yuan’s wheelchair, but Xiao Li quickly waved him away. He personally pushed Qi Xiu Yuan all the way out the building while telling Guo Jin Long, “Go to the north.”
—
Translator’s Note:
[1] Cheng Ge - Brother Cheng = Liu Zi Cheng