Hong Kong Island: From a small stall to a global supplier

The entire Serious Crimes Unit team was gathered at Lai Chi-fai's home, led by Chief Inspector Wan Koon-cheung. A recording device was placed on the table, and all case-related information had to be recorded as audio data.

The phone on the table suddenly rang, and everyone looked over. At Wen Guanxiang's signal, Jing Zhiman took a few deep breaths and answered the phone, "Hello."

Holding an electronic voice changer, Aji imitated Wang Yaotang's tone and said with a smile, "I feel really good now, but I don't know how you guys feel, hahaha, want to chat with Fatty Li?"

"Yes, yes."

"Fatty." Aji handed over the microphone.

"Zhiman, it's me," Fatty Li said weakly.

"Husband, sob sob sob..." Jing Zhiman broke down and cried.

“Crying? Crying counts as time!” Aji grabbed the microphone and said with a smile, “Which officer is leading the team? Come on, let’s chat.”

Jing Zhiman's crying stopped abruptly, and everyone turned to look at Wen Guanxiang.

Wen Guanxiang opened his mouth, but still took the phone. "Mr. kidnapper, you can make your demands, but you must ensure Mr. Li's safety."

"Heh, we're not professionals at negotiation. We learned all this from movies. If we don't know, we won't pretend to. We'll do what they show in the movies: I'll cut off one of Fatty Li's fingers and send it over first, and then we'll talk."

"No..." Wen Guanxiang shouted.

"Ah—" A piercing scream came from the phone, "My hand, my hand..."

Wen Guanxiang closed his eyes, and everyone around him, including Fang Mansheng, had a sudden change in expression. The kidnappers were so ruthless!
"It's so noisy."

"Fuck-"

The screams stopped abruptly.

"Alright, bandage him up, make sure he doesn't die. Put his finger in a plastic bag, and the letter in a plastic bag too, otherwise the blood will get on it and the writing won't be legible. Okay, send it over."

"Then I'm going, and I won't be coming back."

"Okay, take a break. There's still a lot to do."

Listening to the voice coming from the phone, Wen Guanxiang and the others remained silent.

"Okay." Aji picked up the receiver again. "I'll contact you again in an hour. Don't rush."

"Hello, hello, hello!" After hanging up the phone, Wen Guanxiang immediately looked at the person next to him, "Where are the kidnappers?"

"Checking..." The team member shook his head and waited for another two minutes. "The phone number is registered on Lamma Island, in Chung Mei Village."

"Can we catch them?" Fang Mansheng asked immediately, and everyone looked at Wen Guanxiang.

Wen Guanxiang remained silent for a while.

"Just say it, it's nothing," Fang Mansheng said, frowning.

"It's difficult. The kidnappers are at sea. At most, we can send people from the Lamma Island police station to check, but there aren't many people there. By the time they arrive, the kidnappers will definitely have already escaped. At best, we can try to get clues from the people around us."

"Mobilizing the marine police won't help. There are five public piers over there, and even more small piers for fishermen. Many places can be temporarily set up."

Fang Mansheng let out a long sigh, "Understood, let's wait for further news from the kidnappers."

Jing Zhiman started sobbing again.

An hour later, as expected, the kidnappers called again, but this time the location was Aberdeen. As soon as they spoke, the entire room fell silent: "Let Fang Mansheng answer the phone!"

"Hello, this is Fang Mansheng."

"Fang Mansheng, brother Fang Jinsheng, sister Fang Ansheng, father Fang Xinhao, uncle Fang Xinrang, Fatty Li is also afraid that you will deliberately not pay the ransom so that he will be killed and his family property will be swallowed up by your Fang family or his father-in-law's family. So don't tell me you don't have money. Write down the address and go to pick up the things. Our requirements are on it. Goodbye."

After the call ended, Fang Mansheng's face was so dark it looked like it was about to drip water. His father-in-law remained silent with a gloomy face, while his brother-in-law muttered curses, saying that Fatty Li was ungrateful.

I rushed over, opened the locker, and took out a brown paper bag. Inside were two plastic bags; one contained a bloody little finger, and the other contained a folded piece of paper.

"The ransom is 60 kilograms of gold. We only accept standard 10 Sima gold bars from banks. Don't try to cheat us with fake gold. We will use methods such as water immersion test, strong magnet, nitric acid test, spray gun test, and scratch test. We will give you 24 hours to prepare. We will notify you of the place to pay tomorrow."

After reading what was on the paper, Wen Guanxiang handed the slips of paper to Fang Mansheng, who then passed them on one by one.

"Impossible, there's no way we have that much money at home!" Li Pangzi's brother-in-law was the first to shout.

"Even if you don't have any, you should still prepare." The father-in-law glared at his son, thinking, "He's not dead yet."

Fang Mansheng didn't even bother to look at the two guys. Even if he really managed to kill Fatty Li, the family fortune would only fall into the hands of the Fang family, and it would never be the turn of these clowns.

They'll covet any kind of money, and they won't even know how they died!

However, it would be better if the two of them said they had no money; as a member of the Fang family, he couldn't say anything.

"Can we save people during the hostage exchange?" Fang Mansheng asked.

"They'll check the gold beforehand," Wen Guanxiang thought to himself, "What the hell are you trying to do? You don't have the money to save your mother?"

"Aren't you police officers? We pay so much tax every year to support you. What are you good for if you can't save people? Are you just eating shit?!" The brother-in-law shouted, his face red.

Wen Guanxiang remained silent with a stern face, which made the other police officers look very unpleasant; they wished they could just walk away.

"We can save people, but we can't guarantee the safety of the hostages," Wen Guanxiang said in a deep voice.

"We must save them!"

"Big brother!" Jing Zhiman screamed, "Are you trying to force Aying to her death?!"

A deathly silence fell over the room; no one spoke.

Fang Mansheng took a deep breath. "I'll call a friend who works in the jewelry business."

"Hello, it's me, Fang Mansheng. I have something to ask you. Can fake gold be made to look really real?"

"Why are you asking this? Are you trying to ruin our reputation?!"

"How could that be? There are police officers standing right next to me. One of the people involved has been kidnapped, and the kidnappers are demanding gold."

After a moment of silence, the person on the other end said, "Ah Sheng is doing this for your sake, but you'll have to bring the police with you."

"Thank you, I owe you a favor."

After hanging up the phone, Wen Guanxiang said in a low voice, "I'll go with you."

Half an hour later, on the 16th floor of a commercial building.

A middle-aged man greeted the two at the door with a smile. After exchanging a few pleasantries with Fang Mansheng, he looked at Wen Guanxiang and said, "Please show your identification."

"You don't mind if I call to verify, do you?" the middle-aged man asked with a smile.

"Please go ahead." Wen Guanxiang nodded.

Fang Mansheng didn't say anything, not to mention that it concerned Fatty Li's life, but the matter of fake gold was inherently dangerous.

After everything was checked and found to be correct, the middle-aged man led the two people to open a security door. After undergoing a body search, they went inside. This was the company's jewelry-making workshop.

Once inside, the middle-aged man smiled and said, "It's not that I'm making things difficult for you, but fake gold would have a huge impact if it appeared on the market, costing hundreds of yuan per gram."

"This is all fake gold: gold-plated, gold-filled, alloys, and imitation gold materials." The middle-aged man pointed to the different kinds of 'gold' on the table and said, "Simply put, there are four main categories. Gold plating is what you all understand, and gold-filled means the outer layer is thicker."

"An alloy is gold mixed with other metals, like 18K gold on the market. This stuff, hehe, hehe..."

"The last type is a gold-imitating material, a copper-zinc alloy, which is almost the same color, but has a low density and is prone to discoloration. This is a tungsten alloy, which has the same density, the same corrosion resistance, and is harder than gold. It is currently the best gold imitation."

Fang Mansheng picked them up one by one and tossed them around, but couldn't tell the difference at all.

"Can it be detected?" Wen Guanxiang asked.

"Of course."

"Drip irrigation?"

The middle-aged man was somewhat surprised, looking at him as if to say, "You actually know about IV drips?" "If you do it carefully, it won't be detectable."

A hint of surprise flashed across Wen Guanxiang's face. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "What about the strong magnet, nitric acid, spray gun, and scraper?"

The middle-aged man frowned. "Just kidnappers? Is it really necessary to make such a big deal out of it? Are you a goldsmith?"

Wen Guanxiang shook his head. "I don't know. That's what it said on the kidnapper's note."

"That's definitely not right. If it were that easy, different types of fake gold would have their flaws. Take tungsten alloy, for example. It's three times harder than real gold. You can tell it's fake just by biting it, or you can tell by burning it with a blowtorch. Its melting point is too high, over 3000."

"What if I use the gold-plating method to treat tungsten alloys?" Fang Mansheng asked with a smile.

"Hey, he said that himself. You're a policeman, you saw it. The fake gold case on the market has nothing to do with me." The middle-aged man quickly distanced himself.

"Hehe, I understand, it has nothing to do with you," Fang Mansheng said with a smile.

The middle-aged man thought for a moment and said, "Don't think that this will fool them 100%. If they insist on melting it for testing, there's nothing we can do. Even if we cut it open, the difference in hardness will be immediately apparent."

"I understand." Fang Mansheng nodded; it was a backup plan after all.

After saying goodbye and going downstairs, Wen Guanxiang got into the car and said, "The kidnappers don't give us much time."

"I understand. I'll let you know as soon as I have the results," Fang Mansheng said with a smile. "At that time, I'll need to trouble the police to do their best to catch the kidnappers."

Wen Guanxiang nodded. With the attention of non-official councilors and the Garment Association, the police will definitely do their best. However, the final outcome of the kidnapping case actually depends on the kidnappers, and there is not much the police can do.

……

Sitting in the car, Morton burst out laughing as he looked at the billboard erected at the entrance of the Dynasty Nightclub that read, "Celebrating the kidnapping of Lai Chi-fai, all items are 20% off. Pray the kidnappers will kill him."

This God of Wealth is so interesting.

Yes, the police were under pressure from both the "members of parliament" and the "association," but the police are the police, and individuals are individuals, and he had no connection with the Fang family.

Besides, despite the Fang family's apparent concern, it's unclear whether they truly want the police to rescue him or are better off letting him die at the hands of the kidnappers. Morton got out of the car, tossed the keys to the valet, glanced at the reporters taking pictures nearby, and walked in with a smile.

Whether he came for the '20% off' or was just there for the spectacle because of the advertisement, Dynasty Nightclub was packed tonight. Luckily, his staff had made arrangements in advance and reserved a booth for him.

In fact, it wasn't just the Dynasty Nightclub; as the billboards were erected and the news spread, all of Wang Yaotang's entertainment venues were packed to capacity.

Many familiar triad bosses came over. In Tsim Sha Tsui, Four-Eyes and Ah Wai came out to greet them, while in Jordan and Yau Ma Tei, Ah Kit and Ah Jack also greeted many people.

Regardless of whether the police were deliberately testing him, Wang Yaotang was well-prepared.

The next morning, newspapers were filled with news about "Wang Yaotang's arrest," "Wang Yaotang suspected of kidnapping Giordano owner Lai Chi-fai," "Warmly celebrating Lai Chi-fai's kidnapping," and "20% off to help curse Lai Chi-fai to his death."

In no time, the names of Lai Chi-fai and Wong Yiu-tong became household names in Hong Kong, and everyone's attention was focused on the Lai Chi-fai kidnapping case.

It is foreseeable that the newspapers will be filled with in-depth reports about the two in the coming week.

……

Wen Guanxiang glanced at the gold bars in front of him, not bothering to ask if they were real or fake, but at least he had collected the full 60 kilograms.

The phone rang. "Good afternoon, Mr. Wen."

"The gold is ready." Wen Guanxiang didn't want to waste any more words.

"Just want to chat? Why the rush? Haha, fine, I'll grant your request. Who's going to hand over the hostages?" Aji said with a smile.

“The gold is too heavy for Madam Jing to carry. May I accompany you?” Wen Guanxiang said in a deep voice.

“Sure, why not? It’s just a transaction. Whether Madam Jing comes or not is irrelevant. Just the two of you, bring the gold. You and Fang Mansheng can come too.”

Wen Guanxiang didn't look at the Jing family members. The one who really made the decisions here was Fang Mansheng. The Fang family had power and influence!

Fang Mansheng shook his head and pointed towards the police. The gold was fake; he would never take the risk.

“I’ll bring another colleague with me,” Wen Guanxiang said.

"You two officers, right? Then it's settled. No one else is allowed, and definitely no helicopters or anything like that, to avoid any misunderstandings." Ah Ji said with a smile, "Oh, by the way, I brought an acetylene cylinder. Don't fake it, or it'll look bad for everyone. What does the business between the Li and Fang families have to do with you? You only make a few thousand dollars a month, why risk your life!"

After giving him an address, Aji hung up the phone.

"Fang Sheng, is it true?" Wen Guanxiang stared intently at Fang Mansheng.

Fang Mansheng's face was extremely ugly. He cursed the kidnappers in his heart for being cunning and threatening his life. He knew that it was useless to say anything to them, so he didn't bother to explain. He took two steps forward, picked up the phone, and dialed the Criminal Division Headquarters of the Police Department directly.

"We couldn't raise that much money in a short time, and there was nothing we could do. The kidnappers didn't give us any room for negotiation. It's 5000 million! If it were cash, it would be fine, but gold is hard to move."

After explaining, Fang Mansheng handed the phone to Wen Guanxiang.

Wen Guanxiang's eyelids twitched with anger, but there was nothing he could do. He took the phone and said, "Yes, yes, I understand."

Unless he sheds this skin now, he has to go whether he wants to or not if the higher-ups give the order!

He stopped looking at Fang Mansheng, picked up a friend, and the two of them left with their suitcases.

At the same time, at police headquarters, seven or eight cars drove off towards a gas station in Sham Shui Po.

How could we possibly let the two of them trade directly!
There were many people at North Point Pier. Wen Guanxiang and his companion had just arrived with the gold when a call came through the walkie-talkie. The other side had already made arrangements. He replied, "Find the agreed location, get out of the car," and took out a red flag and waved it back and forth.

"Hey, your surname is Wen, right?" A blond-haired guy walked over in a cocky manner.

"That's me." Wen Guanxiang looked the other person up and down.

"Your letter." The blond-haired man handed over an envelope. "Give me the money. We agreed on 200 yuan."

"Who gave it to you?" Wen Guanxiang reached out to take it, but the blond-haired man dodged him.

"Ask so many questions, are you paying me?"

The boss's voice came through the earphone, and Wen Guanxiang had no choice but to take out money, which had a phone number on it.

He borrowed a phone at the gas station and dialed the number. Ah Ji's voice came through, "Wen sir, you're not being honest. There are six cars parked around here for a long time, and there are so many people in them. They're obviously police officers. Do you think we're stupid?"

"Hey, let's change the location. If you police want to play around, I don't mind. Hong Kong Island isn't big, but we can still go around it. I'll play with you until tomorrow." With that, he hung up the phone.

Wen Guanxiang came out and waved to the cars. He spoke a few words into the walkie-talkie, and more than a dozen people jumped out of the cars. The blond-haired man was immediately subdued.

Upon hearing the situation, the superintendent in charge also felt a headache coming on. The new address was even more desolate, and if they went there in advance, they would definitely be discovered, so they could only follow behind.

As for Huang Mao, he knew nothing. He was only waiting for the 200 yuan from the envelope given to him by a masked person.

At the entrance of a village in Tsuen Wan, Wen Guanxiang stopped his car again, looked around, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "I am a policeman, I am a policeman, I am a policeman!"

"What a load of crap, thinking the police are so great!" People nearby looked over and saw an old man cursing.

"Your surname is Wen, right? Over here," a man from a nearby convenience store called out. "Hey, someone told me to wait here for a phone call."

"who is it?"

"Wearing a mask and carrying a gun, would I dare ask any questions? You jinx!"

After waiting for two minutes, the phone rang. "So many cars are following behind, do you think I can't see them? Look, there's a Nissan parked next to us now, the car keys are on the left front wheel. Throw your walkie-talkies on the ground, I'm watching you from nearby. Bringing gold to Tuen Mun Fishing Bay, my patience is running out!"

He immediately notified them of the address for the next meeting. Wen Guanxiang went back and called his men. Fortunately, he had brought an extra walkie-talkie, which he secretly hid on his person before driving the Nissan next to him and setting off again.

Superintendent Yan Mingjiang secretly breathed a sigh of relief. This task was very troublesome, but he couldn't refuse it. He pretended to slam his hand on the chair and called his superiors. After consideration, his superiors decided to send a helicopter to monitor the area, with the marine police providing assistance near the sea. As for them, they could just follow from a distance to finish up.

At Diaoyu Bay, Wen Guanxiang had just gotten out of his car when he saw the door of a Toyota Hiace parked nearby open. A masked man waved to him, "Good evening, Wen sir, come on in."

Wen Guanxiang took a deep breath, and the two of them carried the white metal case over. "Where is Mr. Li?"

"What's the rush? Check the goods. If there are no problems, we'll hand them over to you. What, is the gold fake?" Aji stared into their eyes.

"Of course it's true," Wen Guanxiang insisted.

“Royal Police, huh? They treat people like dogs, throwing them out whenever they want. They make a few thousand dollars a month, getting sold out and still helping the seller count the money. Open it and take a look. If it’s fake, you two can leave. Just pretend we never saw it.” Ah-Jie stepped aside, and Lai Chi-fai, who was tied up very tightly, appeared in front of the two.

Wen Guanxiang had just breathed a sigh of relief when he remembered the fake gold and his heart jumped again. Urged by the masked man, he opened the metal box, revealing bright orange pieces that looked particularly dazzling.

"That's fine," Aji said, closing the metal box.

"Aren't you going to verify it?" Wen Guanxiang said, somewhat surprised.

“Even if they’re trying to fool us, I bet at least the outer layer will be made of real gold, right?” Ah-Ji pulled out a Type 56 pistol, hung it on his body, and reached for a box.

The two men watched as the kidnappers locked the car and each grabbed a Type 56 rifle. They didn't dare say anything until the three men got off the highway. Then Wen Guanxiang knocked on the car window and asked, "Mr. Li Zhihui, are you alright?"

Lai Chi-fai let out a series of whimpering sounds, "Can't you tell if I'm fucking good or not?"

Seeing that the car door couldn't be opened, the two men could only wrap their elbows with their clothes and start smashing the car window.

On the other side, the three of them carried their boxes and ran quickly toward the makeshift walkway made of pontoons a dozen meters away, where a large flying vehicle was parked.

The car window was smashed, the door was opened, and Lai Chi Fai, with duct tape wrapped around his mouth, could only make muffled sounds.

Wen Guanxiang breathed a sigh of relief. With the person safe, the rest was no longer his concern. He tilted his head and looked down at the road below. The three kidnappers had already boarded the plane.

"The people have been exchanged," Wen Guanxiang called out over the walkie-talkie.

Three kilometers away, a helicopter flying at low altitude received the signal, notified headquarters, and immediately gave chase. At the same time, four marine police speedboats on the sea also surrounded the vicinity.

The tape over Lai Chi Fai's mouth was finally removed. His face was flushed, and he was still catching his breath when he shouted, "They forced me to drink a glass of water. I feel like it's poisoned. My heart is racing. Get me to the hospital quickly!"

"What!" Wen Guanxiang's expression changed drastically. He peeked out and saw that the car didn't have a key. The two hurriedly helped Li Zhihui run towards the Nissan. "Li Zhihui has been suspected of being poisoned. We need the ambulance for backup."

The police were shocked when they suddenly received a notification from Wen Guanxiang. This was completely unexpected. It was just a kidnapping, and they had already given him gold. Why would he do this?
They seemed to have forgotten about the adulteration of the gold.

The large aircraft was fast, but the helicopter in the sky was even faster, catching up with the large aircraft speeding across the sea in less than ten minutes.

Ah-Ji glanced sideways, ripped off the tarpaulin, sat on the deck, and turned the control stick to aim at the helicopter.

"What's that?!" the co-pilot on the helicopter shouted. "Lower down and take a look."

"OK!"

"Wait, damn it! Run! Run! Anti-aircraft machine gun!"

The pilot frantically pulled on the control stick, never before had he felt so strongly that these police helicopters were utterly useless!
The climb rate is extremely slow!

"Tu tu tu tu——"

The bullet belt swept through the air. The 10-piece clip of tracer rounds was not precise enough. After several adjustments, the helicopter pilot turned pale. A bullet had just torn a large hole in the side, and the wind was rushing in.

Fortunately, the helicopter's open door did not affect its flight, and it quickly pulled more than 500 meters in the opposite direction, which greatly relieved him.

After flying another kilometer, and seeing that they were almost at the shore, the co-pilot picked up the walkie-talkie and said, "Calling headquarters, calling headquarters, the enemy has anti-aircraft machine guns, our side has suffered heavy damage, requesting to return to base."

Why isn't a crack a serious injury?

On the other side, the marine police boats sped past from both sides, and four marine police officers with submachine guns were ready to fire when they suddenly saw a man on the target board pick up something from the side and carry it on his shoulder.

A thought arose from the bottom of his heart, but... no way, they're just kidnappers, why would they go this far?
"Whoosh!"

"boom!"

A column of water shot up more than 20 meters high from a dozen meters to the side. Water is incompressible, and the speedboat was shaken violently. In order to control the speedboat and prevent it from losing speed, the driver had to slow down quickly.

For some reason, the other three speedboats chasing them, several hundred meters away, also seemed to be shaken so badly they were about to capsize, and almost simultaneously began to slow down...

They watched helplessly as Dafei disappeared from sight, with four naval police speedboats following behind all the way to international waters before finally calling him back via radio.

The marine police boat had just docked when my colleague told me that the hostage had died en route. (End of Chapter)