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

I took such a huge risk, I almost lost my life, and what the hell do you mean by just 'heh'?!
Bisina was the first to lose her temper, suddenly standing up and staring intently at Wang Yaotang, "What exactly do you mean? Why can't this money be spent?"

"You don't really think that banks had no expectations of being robbed, do you?" Wang Yaotang shrugged. "People who can work in the banking industry are all smart, and those who can become international banks are the smartest of the smart. How could they leave such a big loophole?"

"What do you mean?" A-Jie asked anxiously.

"The British pound has been a global currency for over 300 years, but in recent decades the US dollar has become the mainstream currency. During this period, they have encountered too many robberies and have long since developed a relatively complete set of recovery methods."

Wang Yaotang organized his thoughts and said, "Large banks have regulations that require denominations of $20, $50, and $100 to be recorded with serial numbers during fund transfers. Of course, as the scale of fund transfers increases, it becomes impossible to record every single one, but the system itself still exists."

"Take this example of Standard Chartered Bank transporting cash to London. First, they will communicate with the London headquarters to determine the amount of cash to be allocated. Then, the Hong Kong side will collect the old banknotes. At this point, they only need to classify them according to the year of issue. In this way, the serial number of the banknotes, which is the range of numbers on the banknotes, will be determined."

"What do you mean by 'confirmed'?" Bissina asked, frowning.

Wang Yaotang asked the four-eyed man to bring out a few US dollar bills and spread them on the table. Pointing to the serial numbers, he said, "Currencies issued in the same year have the same first few digits of the serial number. If you remember the numbering rules, you can quickly tell which year and which batch of a bill was issued."

"For remote transfers, the bank has dedicated sorting personnel. The stacks of money you receive are all from the same batch, not consecutively numbered, but all within the same range."

"Although according to bank regulations, all large-denomination paper and pen items should be recorded with serial numbers when they are transferred, in practice only a fixed range needs to be recorded. There are 2300 stacks, and the beginning and end are all recorded."

"Simply communicate these serial numbers, and bank tellers will be alert when they receive cash from that year. If the paper and pen are found within the recorded range, the bank can contact the police to trace the source."

The cash that Cheung Tze-keung robbed was tracked down based on this information, and he was immediately arrested.

When Wang Yaotang said that, everyone's expression turned grim.

“That’s Standard Chartered Bank. They have branches all over Southeast Asia. The manpower and resources they can mobilize are beyond your imagination. They can spend this money without being tracked down…” Wang Yaotang grinned.

"If we get tracked down, we can't hold out!"

"Then all that effort was wasted!" Ah Jie's face turned ugly.

Bisina was so angry that she kept panting heavily.

"Otherwise, why would I have asked for gold when I extorted Fatty Li last time?" Wang Yaotang chuckled.

"If we can confirm that the other party doesn't know our identities, can't we just exchange them for physical goods on the black market?" the four-eyed guy said, frowning.

“Tracking the physical goods, large quantities of goods entering the market can still be tracked,” Wang Yaotang retorted. “Why is it that those who make money through illegal means can often exchange a third of it?”

"What should we do then?" Aji glanced at Bisna.

“Don’t rush, time can change everything. Standard Chartered Bank and the police are investigating frantically right now, but this frantic pursuit can only last a day, a week, a month, but not a year.” Wang Yaotang said with a smile, “The bank’s top management can persevere, but the people working below can’t. I don’t know how many people have left in a year.”

"Besides, we've set a great example for the 'big circle boys,' 'Vietnamese boys,' and 'mass dealers' on Hong Kong Island. Once the news gets out, there will be many copycat crimes, letting them walk on landmines."

"Nobody knows more about robbery than me!" Wang Yaotang spread his hands, looking smug. "Those thugs don't understand. We'll keep an eye on them, eliminate the problematic channels, and eventually find a good way to exchange it for gold."

“Other currencies would be tracked, but gold wouldn’t.”

When Wang Yaotang said that, the expressions on their faces finally improved.

"I never expected this, I really never imagined it," A-Jie said with a sigh. "Sure enough, there's no future in profiting through illegal channels."

Wang Yaotang burst into laughter.

“Aguo is still alive,” Bisina suddenly said.

"Ah Guo? The one in charge of surveillance?" Wang Yaotang asked.

Bisina nodded, and the others all looked at Wang Yaotang at the same time.

“It’s my fault,” Wang Yaotang sighed. “Human nature really can’t withstand the test.”

"Forget it, let's get rid of them. Their families will pay them monthly, just say they're working outside, and we'll support them for 20 years," Wang Yaotang said in a deep voice.

Bisina opened her mouth, and finally let out a soft sigh.

"Alright." Wang Yaotang clapped his hands. "That's it. Let's pretend it never happened. We still have a lot to do."

"Ah Wei, how's it going with those guys in Shek O?"

“Shek O,” Ah Wai thought for a moment, “A few days ago, the union organized more than 300 elderly people, women and children to cause a disturbance at the mine. It was a self-directed and self-acted incident. Xiong Demin reported it, and the next step is to cause a disturbance at Hong Kong Electric.”

"Didn't you say you were going to protest at the Hong Kong government?" Ah-Jack asked.

“Xiong Demin said no, that would let everyone know it was these people who instigated it.” Awei shrugged. “They follow procedures in everything they do, even when it comes to causing trouble.”

"Do we have to talk about this? If we do, won't the Hong Kong government know that they were the ones who instigated it?" Ah Jie asked, looking puzzled.

"They'll also know that they're all old foxes; the British were already using this tactic over 200 years ago," Wang Yaotang said with a laugh.

"What's the point of doing then? It's like taking off your pants to fart!"

“Making a scene is fine, but the problem lies in Shek O. It’s a legacy of history. It’s a testament to the competence of the officials to step in and resolve this issue. If you overstep your bounds and cause trouble, then the responsibility will fall on the officials.” The four-eyed man said with a smile, “Can the officials be wrong?”

"If you don't make the master look bad, the master will make sure your whole family looks bad too."

"Should I fucking thank them?" A-Jie cursed.

“It’s okay to grumble.” Wang Yaotang tapped the table to attract everyone’s attention. “But Xiong Demin did the right thing. That’s how it’s portrayed on TV. Even in modern military units, it’s forbidden to report to higher levels without authorization. Only certain situations stipulated in the ‘Military Internal Affairs Regulations’ can be reported to higher levels without authorization. The logic is correct.”

"Ah Jie, your underlings run into trouble and don't come to you, but instead go over to me, do you think that's acceptable?"

“Uh…” Ah Jie scratched his head.

"Awei, tell Xiong Demin to speed things up. You can cause some accidents on the construction site, have him arrange for someone to get injured, and keep making a scene," Wang Yaotang instructed.

"I understand," Awei nodded.

"How's the recording company doing lately? Is the newly purchased duplication machine running smoothly? How many videotapes can it produce per day now?"

"Production has increased from 7000 to 2 boxes, but we are only operating at 70% capacity now."

"That's 1.4 boxes a day?" Wang Yaotang did the math for a moment, then his eyes widened. "If I pick and choose, wouldn't that mean consuming over a million boxes a day?"

"We're keeping our inventory around HKD 4000 million. When we buy from the Japanese, we ship on a monthly basis. If we weren't short of funds, I'd like to buy on a quarterly basis to get a better price," Awei said, grinning and looking pained.

"No, how much is a box? I remember it being around 40?" Wang Yaotang frowned. "That was a year ago. Last month, the purchase price from Hitachi Chemical was 13 US dollars per box, which is equivalent to 105 Hong Kong dollars."

"Damn, this is robbery!" Ah Jie exclaimed in shock. "If this kind of thing happens, we won't even be able to afford to watch porn anymore!"

"The Hong Kong dollar has depreciated, and with increased market expectations for videotapes, coupled with insufficient production from the Japanese, prices have gone up."

"Damn it..." Wang Yaotang quickly drank a glass of milk to calm his nerves. "If I had stockpiled a batch of videotapes, wouldn't I have made more than double my money by now?"

As he spoke, he burst into laughter, recalling the story of how he had hoarded a batch of pagers before going to prison, which left the others bewildered.

Ah Jie pretended to reach out and touch Wang Yaotang's forehead, but before Wang Yaotang could hit him, he suddenly pulled his hand back, "Wow, it's so hot, I'm horny!"

"Ah!" Wang Yaotang pretended to pounce, startling him, and then said, "Can't we produce this ourselves? It would be a good business for at least 20 years."

"No!" The four-eyed man quickly reached out to stop Wang Yaotang. "Brother Yao, we can't afford to go through all this trouble. A single Hitachi slot coating machine costs more than 280 million, a magnetron sputtering machine costs more than 140 million, there's also equipment with substrate treatment, injection molding equipment with boxes, a Class 7 cleanroom, and so on. We can't just have one piece of equipment. Plus, with the land acquisition, we'll need at least 2000 million to build the factory."

"You're actually planning to do this?" Wang Yaotang asked, somewhat amused.

“Uh…” The four-eyed guy’s expression froze. He couldn’t rely on Wang Yaotang for everything, or he would become a parasite. He had indeed thought about starting some businesses.

Seeing the bespectacled boy's expression, Wang Yaotang roughly guessed the reason and asked with some amusement, "Do you know how much investment is needed to build a pager manufacturing plant?"

"The SMT surface mount production line, injection molding system, Class 7 cleanroom, patent licensing, etc., will require an investment of 4000 million US dollars," the bespectacled man said with a tilted head and a smile.

Wang Yaotang gave a thumbs up, "What am I? I can't spend money as much as you. I'll take the pick. But we're brothers for life, no need to rush, it's just a matter of time. I've decided to build this tape factory and pager factory, not even Jesus could stop me!"

"It's just over 6000 million, I'll take it back for you even if I have to rob you!"

Bissina listened to their conversation and felt much better, since they were talking about deals worth tens of millions of dollars...

After talking for a while, they ate breakfast and got busy. Ah Jie and Ah Ji had to deal with the acquisition of the remaining assets of the soda factory, so they couldn't trust Gao Laofa's post.

Awei will be responsible for integrating the nightclubs that have been acquired.

Four-Eyes was busy with his clothing company and Yaoxing Audio-Visual Company.

He figured the other guests had probably all rested by now, and he wanted to talk to them about making money together.

Everyone has a bright future.

Besides Bissina...

"What are your plans for me?" Bisina asked Wang Yaotang, crossing her legs.

"How's the security company?" Wang Yaotang asked with a smile.

Bisina scoffed, "Forget it, I know my own limitations. I'm fine with commanding small-scale battles and fighting, but management? If I could manage so many people, I wouldn't be in such a sorry state."

Wang Yaotang smiled and said, "Not bad, I didn't get cocky."

The security company is his livelihood, so he definitely needs to manage it himself.

"How about this, besides Hai Dazhao and the others, select another 50 people to form a bodyguard department. You'll be the manager, and I'll be your practice subject, initially responsible for my personal security. What do you say?"

"Yes, boss." Bisina smiled; the closer one is to the center of power, the greater one's power actually becomes.

This is something she's good at; she's a woman, and she doesn't have that much ambition.

"Then you should get to know Aze first. Being a bodyguard is different from being a combatant."

“I know, one goal is to protect, and the other is to kill the enemy.” Bisina nodded.

Wang Yaotang pondered for a moment, "I'll have to try to find some connections later and see if I can bring over two retired mid-level officers from the Secret Service under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. They're the real professionals... right?"

Then, thinking of those assassinated American presidents, I suddenly felt a little uncertain again.

"Are you kidding me? How could that be?" Bisina's eyes widened.

Wang Yaotang scoffed, "What's impossible about it? How many dollars does a Secret Service soldier earn a month? They have to retire when their physical strength declines. They're in their forties. Do you expect the US government to take care of their retirement? Does the Netherlands even provide retirement benefits for its soldiers?"

"How do you make a living after retirement? By patriotism? How much do you get paid a month for patriotism? Is it enough to support your wife, children, parents, house, and car?"

"It's all thanks to righteous spirit!"

"When you go to the hospital and have to pay for your treatment, tell them you're from the Secret Service, that you've been a bodyguard for the president, and that you're patriotic. Do you think they'll charge you a penny less?" Wang Yaotang sneered. "The Secret Service has already been very merciful by not making you buy your own uniforms and weapons!"

Bisina was speechless.

That's what capitalism is like.

Think about the retired soldiers she knows... Aren't those the people training in Italy just like that?

“But the key issue is how to find the person,” Wang Yaotang muttered. “Never mind, let’s get down to business first and call Aze in.”

Bisna blinked and pointed to herself.

"Otherwise what?" Wang Yaotang shrugged. "If you, the bodyguard, don't go, am I supposed to go by myself?!"

Bisina suddenly stood up, her face fierce, and raised her arm defiantly at Wang Yaotang, "You're talking to a hero who just got 2300 million back for you like that!"

"Big sister, are you going to do it or not?" Wang Yaotang asked, both amused and exasperated.

"I'm warning you." Bisna glared at him fiercely, then turned around and laughed first. She opened the door, called Sha Ze in, and said, "I'm going to change into my uniform."

Then it disappeared.

Sha Ze looked at Bi Sina, then at Wang Yaotang, somewhat bewildered.

"Stop looking, has Wei Tao arrived yet?"

"coming."

"Arrange a time for my meeting with the outside forces."

"Okay, Brother Yao." (End of Chapter)