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

Early in the morning, looking at the huge headline on the newspaper, "Zhao Kuangyin poisons Lai Chi-fai, dons the yellow robe and seizes the throne!", Councilor Fang's hands trembled as he held the newspaper. "How can a person be so shameless!"

Turning to the next newspaper, the front page headline read: "Li Ye? Chai Ye? A thousand years of repetition, pitiful orphans and widows."

Let's look at the next one, "The Deepest Secrets Behind Lai Chi-fai's Death? The Chenqiao Mutiny of Emperor Kuangyin?"

As I read through the newspapers, almost every front-page headline was about the death of 'Lai Chi Fai', and almost every newspaper had 'photos' of the hostage exchange, proving that the kidnappers 'did not kill anyone'!
So, how exactly did Lai Chi-fai die?

Who is the mastermind behind all of this?

Why is it that the chairman of Giordano, a prestigious company, couldn't even come up with 5000 million yuan after being kidnapped?

Why is gold being counterfeited?
What role did the 'police' play in this?
What role did the Fang family play in all of this?
After the sudden death of Giordano's chairman, where will his estate go?

All the interviews were written under the guise of "well-informed sources" and "refusing to disclose inside information."

The analyses of the mastermind behind the scenes vary widely, but almost all of them are based on interests. Most of them target the Fang family, a few say the Jing family, and only a very few say Wang Yaotang.

The reason, as everyone knows, is that Wang Yaotang was detained at the police headquarters during Lai Chi-fai's kidnapping.

After reading through the newspapers, Councilor Fang slammed his hand heavily on the table, causing the milk glass to tip over.

"Slander! Utter slander! What relationship does my Fang family have with Zhao Kuangyin!"

"Li Zhihui is dead. Wang Yaotang was clearly the one who benefited the most. Why are you pointing guns at our Fang family?"

"It must be Wang Yaotang pulling the strings behind the scenes," Fang Mansheng said loudly.

“He doesn’t have that ability.” Fang Jinsheng shook his head. “A mere gangster has no way to access those media outlets. I’ve investigated him, and at most he can get in touch with some people through the connections of the three major record companies that are shareholders of ‘Yaoxing Audio-Visual Products Company,’ but he doesn’t have much influence.”

“It’s definitely the police; they’re trying to divert attention.” Fang Ansheng frowned and asked, “What do we do now? Most of the newspapers are targeting us?”

“Mansheng, stop contacting Lai Chi-fai. Give an interview later and express that as Lai Chi-fai’s friend, you will ensure that the shares are inherited by his son,” Councilor Fang quickly calmed down and instructed.

"Huh?" Fang Mansheng's expression froze. Why should she?

Are we just going to let such a good opportunity slip by?

That's hundreds of millions of assets!
"Second Uncle means you shouldn't do anything for now, just wait for things to calm down, what's the rush?" Fang Ansheng said to her brother in a low voice.

“Well, okay, but just because we don’t make a move doesn’t mean others won’t. I think…” Fang Mansheng argued.

"What do you think?" Councilor Fang asked coldly. "This public opinion must be quelled. The Fang family's foundation is in politics, and we must ensure that their reputation is not tarnished!"

"I understand." Fang Mansheng lowered her head, cursing loudly in her heart. It was always the same. For the sake of the big picture, but the big picture never included her!

Just because I'm the second oldest!

After glancing at his second brother, An Fangsheng thought for a moment and said, "Second brother, I will ask the customs and film and television departments to check the nightclubs and audio-visual product stores under his name."

The Film and Television Division is responsible for issuing and inspecting licenses for entertainment venues such as nightclubs, karaoke bars, and cinemas to ensure compliance with the Entertainment Venues Ordinance.

“Yes, I will speak with the Commissioner Against Corruption about preventing bribery in private companies,” Councilor Fang added.

Officially, they still have some control over Wang Yaotang.

Fang Mansheng slightly pursed his lips. It could have an influence, but the influence was really limited. Saying that he was appeasing him was just to show the Fang family's attitude. He hoped that the Wang family would not go too far.

……

On the other side, Wang Yaotang was eating breakfast while reading the newspaper with great interest.

Newspapers were full of references to Zhao Kuangyin to the Fang family, which was clearly a great endorsement of his use of historical figures to satirize the present. This made Wang Yaotang even more proud than if he had earned 1000 million.

"Haha, Yao-ge, did you give them money?" A-Jie asked with a laugh as he looked at the newspaper.

"What do you mean I gave them money!" Wang Yaotang's expression froze. "Are you blind? This is clearly their admiration for my plan to satirize the Fang family by using 'Zhao Kuangyin' as a metaphor. Can't you see how perfectly I've planned this!"

"Uh... so did you pay or not?" A-Jie pulled his chair back, moving further away from Wang Yaotang.

"No!"

"Why are they so proactive? Isn't the Fang family supposed to be very influential in both political and business circles?"

The four-eyed guy explained with a smile, "It's probably Fang's enemies or something taking advantage of their misfortune. Fang's friends might have secretly joined in."

"Huh? Aren't these newspapers afraid of retaliation from the Fang family?"

"If a newspaper doesn't dare to publish news, who will be afraid of you? What face do you have left? The more you dare to speak out, the more you sell, and the more face you get from everyone."

"How despicable!"

"Has the gold been extracted yet?" Wang Yaotang asked somewhat vaguely, popping a crystal shrimp dumpling into his mouth.

“About a third,” Aji said. “It weighs about 40 jin (20 catties), and I’ve melted it down into a 1-kilogram gold ingot.”

"Wow, over 40 pounds!" Ah Jie exclaimed in a low voice. "I want to go see it, I want to get a gold chain that weighs a pound!"

"You'll give me cervical spondylosis from all that strain!" Wang Yaotang said with a laugh.

"Why are you suddenly thinking about gold?" A-Jie asked with a chuckle. "Aren't dollars good enough? Getting counterfeited like this would cost you over 3000 million!"

“Even US dollars don’t have time to check the authenticity of each bill.” Wang Yaotang shook his head. “Gold is also a hard currency, otherwise what would you do with gold chains?”

"Too……"

"Brother Yao, where are you going later?"

"Go to Lai Chi-fai's house."

"Huh?" The four brothers all looked over. "What are you going to his house for?"

Wang Yaotang waved his hand and grabbed hard, "Such an easy opportunity to bully orphans and widows, I'm going to see if I can swallow up Li Zhihui's Giordano. They are actually well-run, with a complete supply chain and distribution channels in Southeast Asia. They have a certain status in the industry. Although they must have relied on the Fang family's connections, we can still maintain that status once it's in our hands."

The four of them laughed, quite bluntly...

After dinner, we drove straight to Lai Chi Fai's house.

These past few days, the news has been all about Lai Chi Fai. There are a lot of paparazzi outside his house, and the police are worried about other problems, so they have a PTU (Police Tactical Unit) keeping watch in the vicinity.

As soon as Wang Yaotang got out of the car, he attracted everyone's attention and they swarmed around him.

The black-clad security guards separated everyone. Wang Yaotang said with a smile, "Why are you crowding? I can hear you if you want to ask anything. We're all out here to make a living, and I won't hide anything from you."

"Mr. Wang Yaotang, what do you think is the exact cause of Lai Chi-fai's death?"

Wang Yaotang's expression turned serious. "Why are you slandering the Zhao family again!"

There was a burst of laughter at the scene.

Who do you think was behind Lai Chi-fai's murder?

“Police!” Wang Yaotang looked at the PTU not far away. “That’s impossible.”

PTU: "..."

"The Zhao family!" Wang Yaotang looked around. "To speak ill of the Emperor is punishable by death!"

"If I calculate it this way, oh no, I'm the murderer!" Wang Yaotang's eyes widened.

This group of paparazzi interviewed many people, but everyone else answered very formally. Wang Yaotang, who likes to be sarcastic, is the first person to speak so interestingly. He's definitely generating a lot of buzz!
"What do you think..."

“I don’t think so!” Wang Yaotang interrupted the reporter’s question directly. “When I was running a small stall on the street, you called me ‘you,’ ‘hey,’ ‘bastard,’ now that I’m worth hundreds of millions, what should you call me?”

"Hahaha……"

"Call Wang Sheng! How come you're out here looking for water if you can't even speak properly?"

"Wang Sheng, the kidnappers say the gold is fake. What do you think?"

"What's wrong with the police?" Wang Yaotang asked, glancing at the PTU officer beside him.

The reporter shouted, "The police say it's true!"

"Oh, thank you to the police for helping us rule out a wrong answer." Wang Yaotang pursed his lips and shrugged.

The crowd burst into laughter again.

The PTU inspector leading the team said sternly, "What does the Serious Crimes Unit have to do with our PTU? This is their business!"

Wang Yaotang raised his hand and pressed down, "Let me tell you, the boss is often just an empty shell. Every day when I open my eyes, hundreds of people have to wait on me to eat, drink, and relieve themselves. How many bites actually end up in my mouth?"

Upon hearing this, the reporters laughed again, and some joined in the jeering, saying, "Brother Yao clearly has thousands of underlings following him to make money!"

Wang Yaotang pointed at the reporter and said, "Sir, he's slandering me! He's slandering me! I'm suing you for defamation!"

Another burst of laughter erupted from the audience.

"I'm talking about Lai Chi Fai. Don't be fooled by Giordano's large size; its cash flow is actually quite limited. Even for a well-known tycoon like Lai Chi Fai, it would be difficult to get 5000 million in cash out of cash immediately, let alone gold. The collapse of the Bretton Woods system wasn't because gold became worthless; quite the opposite, it was because of a shortage of gold. Kidnappers are easily caught when they're spending large sums of cash, but with gold, they can go anywhere without any problem."

"Of course, Lai Chi Fai was able to build his fortune from scratch, and the connections he has accumulated over the years are real. When it comes to saving lives, even if it means mortgaging Giordano shares, even if the banks don't care about personal relationships, just by taking advantage of someone's distress, it's not difficult to get a loan of 5000 million."

"So, asking whether it's true or false makes you seem like a complete novice; it's clearly a matter of whether you're willing or not."

"Mr. Wang, are you saying someone doesn't want Lai Chi-fai to live?" The reporter's face flushed with excitement. This was a direct quote, and since it was said by Wang Yaotang, the "Little God of Wealth," it almost certainly meant there was something wrong. "No, I didn't, don't talk nonsense." Wang Yaotang waved his hand with a smile. "To live or to die, that is the question, hahaha, actually, a little analysis will tell you."

"Boss, do you think the person was actually poisoned by their own people?" a PTU officer asked in a low voice.

"Don't talk nonsense. That's the Major Crimes Unit. What does that have to do with us? Stand still," the supervising inspector said in a low voice.

"Mr. Wang, could you please analyze this for me?"

"Yes, Mr. Wang."

"What did you call me?" Wang Yaotang asked, pretending to listen intently.

"Little God of Wealth!"

"Master Wang!"

"Professor Wang."

There were all sorts of shouts and cries all at once.

"First, let's look at how many forces are involved in this kidnapping case: the kidnappers, Lai Chi-fai, the police, the Jing family, and finally..." Wang Yaotang drawled out his words, raised his hand to gesture, and a group of reporters immediately followed up loudly, "The Zhao family."

The air around us was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

"Very good, you can answer quickly!" Wang Yaotang smiled. "Among these five forces, we can see that the most passive one is Li Zhihui, who can't do anything except talk, followed by the police."

As he spoke, Wang Yaotang looked at the PTU officers, "We have to appease the Jing family, satisfy the Zhao family, and negotiate with the kidnappers all at the same time. We're on the defensive at every turn."

"If we continue to rank the remaining three forces, we will find that the kidnappers have the greatest initiative and can do whatever they want. Now we find that there are only two forces left, the Jing family and the Zhao family. It goes without saying who is in control."

Wang Yaotang extended his palm. "Being proactive means having more room to maneuver in the whole incident. So, this reporter just asked if anyone didn't want Lai Chi-fai to live. Now we can deduce what would happen if Lai Chi-fai lived, and what would happen if he died?"

"The hostages were successfully exchanged, and Lai Chi-fai returned to control Giordano. Everything was back on track, except for a debt of 5000 million. Of course, this debt was actually Lai Chi-fai's personal asset expenditure and would not affect the operation of Giordano Apparel, but it would cause the 'Lai family's' assets to plummet. Remember, it's the 'Lai family' as a whole."

"Let's look at Lai Chi Fai's death. According to the law, since Lai Chi Fai did not leave a will, the distribution of his estate will be carried out in accordance with Chapter 73 of the Estates of Intestate Persons Ordinance. The estate will be divided in two, with one half going to his spouse and the other half to his two sons. At the same time, since his children are minors, the estate will be managed by his guardian, Madam Jing."

As he spoke, Wang Yaotang spread his hands, "But we all know that after Chai Rong died, the Chenqiao Mutiny took place, and he was forced to wear the yellow robe. Of course, considering the issue of public opinion, the Zhao family did not exterminate them, and the Chai family still ended up rich and powerful."

A low chuckle rang out.

“Li Zhihui has been kidnapped, and Madam Jing has no money. Where will the ransom come from? As the saying goes, a life for a life, and a debt for a debt. In fact, there is no need to use any special means. Madam Jing only has one option: to sell her shares.”

"Hundreds of millions in assets, you can acquire them with just a few words. Can you resist that? Or can you resist that?"

"Madam Jing is young and wealthy, and her two children are still young. It won't be difficult for her to remarry. As Madam Jing's parents and brothers, they should support their family now that she is rich."

"What do you call this? This is called 'One whale fall brings life to all things'!"

"Alright, that's all I had to say. Let's go." Wang Yaotang waved to the security guards to separate the crowd.

"Wait, Mr. Wang, what is your purpose in visiting Li Zhihui's house this time?" a reporter shouted.

"Purpose?" Wang Yaotang turned his head to look at him. "Of course, they're here to bully the orphans and widows. Otherwise, why would I have a grudge against Li Zhihui!"

The air seemed to freeze instantly, then exploded with a deafening roar.

"Wang Sheng, don't you think it's going too far to bully orphans and widows like this?"

"That's the truth. When has telling the truth ever been criticized? What were the people who came to the Li family during this time? Were they just here to mourn? Do you believe that?" Wang Yaotang sneered. "I, Wang Yaotang, dislike hypocrisy the most. If you want to do something, just say it openly. I'm just preparing to acquire the shares from Madam Jing. Unlike some politicians who are full of morality and righteousness but are actually wicked and immoral. They clearly killed people to seize property, but they act like they were forced to take over the shares from the Li family."

"Oh, bah!"

"Good!" Someone in the crowd shouted first, followed by a chorus of cheers.

"Don't shout 'good,' I'm a bad guy. These days, being a good person gets you killed quickly." Wang Yaotang waved his hand and headed straight for the Li family under the escort of a group of security guards.

A buzz of discussion arose from the reporters behind him.

"The Double Flower Red Stick is indeed a bad guy."

"They're cracking down on drugs in their establishment, what more do you want?"

“I heard that his men have all scattered, and the casino has either closed down or been handed over to other people.”

"Boss, shouldn't we stop this guy?" someone in the PTU asked.

"Why are you stopping them? They're just coming to pay their respects normally. The Jing family hasn't said anything. It's none of our business." The inspector chuckled. "Don't worry, this guy is a good guy among bad guys. He knows how to behave."

The Jing family wanted to stop them, but none of them dared to approach when they saw the twenty or so black-clad security guards.

Wang Yaotang walked into the hall, looked around, and saw that Madam Jing was dressed in black, with tears streaming down her face, and looked quite... like a widow.

“What are you doing? I’m warning you, there are police outside. You’d better leave immediately, or we’ll call the police,” Mr. Jing said as he stepped forward.

"What are you doing? Can't you just watch the show? Call the police? Go ahead, see if the police will do anything about it." Wang Yaotang shoved Jing's father away. "Old man, I've already shown the greatest kindness by not having anyone lay a hand on you. Don't make trouble for yourself."

Wang Yaotang sat down on the sofa, crossed his legs, and said, "Guests come over, and they don't even serve a cup of tea. That's incredibly rude, ugh."

“Madam Jing, you don’t want to be a widow and orphan… cough cough.” Wang Yaotang raised his hand as if to wipe his eyes. “I think you have some idea how your husband died. Giordano, you and your widow and orphan couldn’t have saved him.”

"The ransom was paid by the Fang family, right? What will you do if they come after you for the debt? Your husband died at their hands, and now they're going to take your family fortune. Are you really willing to accept that?"

“Your deadbeat husband plagiarized my idea and cheated me out of the export quota again. But now that he’s dead, I don’t want to break the rules of the underworld. The reason your deadbeat husband dared to do this is because of the support of the Fang family. Damn it, he even locked me up for 48 hours. I will settle all the scores with the Fang family.”

“Perfect timing. Your husband died under mysterious circumstances. You can transfer your assets and debts to me, and whatever fight we have will be completely irrelevant to you. I can’t let your enemy get away with this.”

Wang Yaotang, seeing that the woman was completely lost, didn't expect to persuade her directly. He looked at Jing's father and said, "Old man, advise your daughter that taking the money and leaving is the best outcome. Don't even think about asking for an exorbitant amount. You can't outmaneuver the Fang family, and you can't fight me. Don't make things ugly for everyone."

Mr. Jing looked at his daughter, then at his son, his brow furrowed so deeply it could trap a mosquito. "How much money can you offer?"

“I’ll take all the debts and give you another 1500 million.” Wang Yaotang raised his chin.

"So little! You're really cheating us!" Before Father Jing could even speak, his brother-in-law blurted out.

Wang Yaotang pointed at the guy and laughed, "This guy is obviously no good. Aze, arrange for someone to investigate him. Maybe we won't even have to pay the 1500 million."

The brother-in-law's expression changed drastically, and upon seeing this, Jing's father panicked, calling out, "Wang Sheng, Wang Sheng!"

He had only taken two steps forward when he was stopped by security. Wang Yaotang stood up and patted Jing's father on the shoulder, "Old man, it's a blessing for your family to have such a good daughter. Think it over carefully."

As he walked past his brother-in-law, Wang Yaotang reached out and patted the guy's face. "Now that you have money, have you thought about how to spend it? I'll arrange for someone to take you to the casino later, so you can experience what it's like to be surrounded by wine and women, and what it's like to be indulging in a life of luxury and debauchery."

As he spoke, Wang Yaotang sniffed, "This is good stuff!"

After glancing at the people inside, Father Jing's face turned ashen, Madam Jing trembled, and the eldest brother-in-law's face turned pale.

"I'm leaving." Wang Yaotang turned and walked out, but stopped abruptly at the door. He kicked over the decorative item by the door and strode away amidst a burst of villainous laughter.

"Daddy, what should we do?" Madam Jing asked, her eyes red.

"Get rid of the shares quickly, then go back to the Philippines. We can't stay in Hong Kong anymore," Mr. Jing said with a gloomy face.

"Daddy..." The brother-in-law was about to say something when he was rudely interrupted by Jing's father, "Shut up! I'll buy you a plane ticket right now, and you'd better get back here right now!"

The brother-in-law opened his mouth, but in the end he didn't say anything. He was also afraid that Wang Yaotang would come after him.

After leaving the Jing family's residence, Wang Yaotang waved to the people outside, got into his car, and drove away.

Less than half an hour after they left, two Toyota Hiace cars drove up, and more than a dozen men in black got out and stood on the street.

The group exchanged glances. No matter how humorous Wang Yaotang was, it couldn't change his gangster nature. He was really eyeing the Li family's assets!
"This is going to be interesting," a reporter said with a smile.

"Do you think Cai Shenyao can defeat Fang Jia?"

"I think there's no problem. The Fang family is in big trouble this time."

"No way, the Fang family has a non-official member of parliament, An Sheng is the Secretary for the Civil Service, Shun Sheng works at the United Nations, Gui Sheng is a manager at HSBC, Qing Sheng is the vice chairman of the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine, and there are their families through marriage. If such a powerful family were to be suppressed by a triad member and unable to hold their head up, they would lose all face."

"So what? What can Cai Shenyao do? If the police really had evidence of his illegal activities, they wouldn't have released him."

"Yes, the Fang family is powerful, but is Caishen Yao's power any less? Yaoxing monopolizes the Hong Kong and Macau audio-visual product market, as well as Hongdou Clothing, Fenglinwan Express Hotel, and dozens of nightclubs. The Fang family can't touch him at all."

Some people supported Wang Yaotang, while others were optimistic about the Fang family. Since no one was interviewing them anyway, a group of reporters, having nothing better to do, started arguing.

……

Fang Mansheng hung up the phone with a grim expression. It was Jing's father who had just called to inform him that Wang Yaotang wanted to buy shares.

No matter how much he threatened him, no matter how much he suspected the Fang family of being behind it, Mr. Jing would still ask about the price first, especially if the offer from this side was much higher...

It is not impossible.

Fang Mansheng also wanted to take it over, but it wasn't something he could just do with a word to allocate funds starting at 2000 million.

"Wait, wait, wait! They've already started making their moves!"

……

P.S.: Got up really early, but couldn't finish; I didn't completely empty my bowels...

Damn it! (End of Chapter)