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

Chapter 344 Robbers, Robbers Again

News of Wang Yaotang's institutional reforms quickly spread throughout Hong Kong Island, causing a huge uproar.

Everyone's first reaction was that this guy must be crazy; wouldn't he become part of the 'Wang' family in the future?

Other 'Sheng Wo' companies have always elected their leaders every two years, and 'Tiao Lin' is a completely different 'group' but the position of the leader has never been fixed. Now, Wang Yaotang has suddenly started a 'family-run' system, which has completely shocked the entire Hong Kong Island, and the news has spread throughout Southeast Asia.

A small meeting was held regarding this matter, and everyone agreed that it was a good thing.

The reaction from Sheng He was very strong. From the blue lanterns to the red sticks, everyone was cursing. Because of this, Li Guohua had to call a meeting to emphasize that they would never follow Wang Yaotang's example and that the system of electing candidates every two years would never change.

On the contrary, things seemed quite calm on Shengyi's side.

After accepting toasts from the various gang leaders, Wang Yaotang left, leaving the four brothers, A-Jie and A-Ji, to enjoy themselves with everyone.

In a corner of the banquet, Gao Lishi, who had just returned from toasting, sat down when the "horse-faced man" next to him leaned over and whispered, "Brother Gao, if the boss does this, won't you lose your chance to rise to the top in the future? Is this acceptable?"

Gao Lishi put down his wine glass, raised his hand to rub his eyes, and said, "What do you mean? You don't want to? Fine, I'll call Master Yao, and you can back out."

"No, how could that be? I own shares, why would I leave? I am..." Horse-faced man hurriedly waved his hand.

"What the hell?" Gao Lishi grabbed the man with the horse-like face by the collar, leaned in and growled in a low voice, "You don't want to do it, but there are others who do. Old She and the others who paid to have their lives taken have called me several times. Master Yao made it very clear: if you don't want to do it, say so now and release them immediately!"

"You idiot, no wonder you failed. You think you're worthy of the position? You should take a good look in the mirror and see if you deserve it."

Gao Lishi shoved the man aside. He was obsequious to Master Yao, but outside he was arrogant and haughty.

He has decided to have someone keep a close eye on this bastard. If he dares to say anything bad about Sheng Yi or Master Yao in private, he will be taken care of immediately.

What's the use of being in a high position? Shenxian Jin has been a big shot for so long, but he hasn't even earned enough to cover the meager earnings that Yao Ye makes through his fingers.

As for what the lower-level employees think, well, if they don't like it, they don't have to do it. There are hundreds of thousands of housing estates in Hong Kong, and there are far too many people who want to join Sheng Yi. Right now, Sheng Yi doesn't want to recruit people indiscriminately.

In reality, the four major triads don't recruit people indiscriminately. The "49" may seem like the lowest level of the triads, but in fact, they make up more than 90% of the gangsters.

Many news reports say that the number of members of the "Yi An" triad exceeded 80 in the 20s and the number of members of the "Sing Wo" triad exceeded 90 in the 30s, but in reality, this includes both the Blue Lantern triad and the scumbags.

What does 20 people mean?
Even if each person is only given HK$1000 per month, the monthly expenditure would still be as high as HK$2 million, and the annual expenditure would be HK$24 billion. How could it be that the average person receives only HK$1000? Are you kidding me?

In the 90s, per capita income was higher. With 30 members, wouldn't the annual expenditure be tens of billions?

The booming economy of Hong Kong in the 70s-90s did not mean that everyone had a job; in fact, a large number of young people from the lower classes became unemployed.

In Wang Yaotang's words, is it that the children in public housing estates are unwilling to find a proper job?

No, it's because he's unemployed.

The thugs might be willing to risk their lives for the gang, but it's not their turn.

……

Haojiang.

Wang Yaotang didn't bother listening to the messy rumors circulating in the martial arts world. The next day, he went to Haojiang to attend to important matters.

Protective Umbrella Security (Haojiang) Co., Ltd. has officially signed security business contracts with several local banks, including Dafeng and Chengxing.

After all, it is a cash escort business, which involves the safety of multiple parties. It can only be officially operated with the approval of banks, insurance companies, public security bureaus and other parties.

Inside a rented meeting room at the Lisboa Hotel, lawyers for both parties were conducting a final review of the contract.
Wang Yaotang, Neves from the Public Security Bureau, Anthony Bratton, General Manager of Haojiang under the protection of the bank, Zhang Yuanjiu, Director and General Manager of Tai Fung Bank, and Wu Wenhai, Director and General Manager of Xingcheng Bank, were chatting on the other side.

"I heard that Wang Sheng reformed Shengyi and now it's a family-run empire?" Zhang Yuanjiu asked with a smile.

Wang Yaotang built his fortune on the back of 'Shengyi,' as everyone present knows. Even the protective umbrella was established on the foundation of Shengyi, so of course he has to be concerned about it.

“What do you mean by ‘family-run’? You’re joking. I’d rather call it a corporatization, a formalization.” Wang Yaotang waved his hand with a smile. “The structure of a triad is simple, direct, and highly persuasive, but it also has great limitations. In the past, the world was closed off, and most people never left their birthplace in their entire lives. Travel was slow, letters took a long time to arrive, and literacy rates were very low. This system could indeed lead to development, but things are different now.”

"If you don't develop, others won't wait for you. If you keep clinging to the old ways, you'll be eliminated sooner or later."

"Now that Sheng Yi is gone, it doesn't affect me much, but I was born in Sheng Yi after all, and I can't be ungrateful. I still want to help my brothers out."

"If you do this, won't your subordinates lose their opportunities for advancement? Aren't you afraid they'll cause trouble?" Neves asked with some curiosity.

"What's all the fuss about? If you don't want to work, just leave. Ask Zhang Sheng and Wu Sheng, they're both running companies, do their employees have career advancement opportunities, or do they cause trouble?" Wang Yaotang said with amusement.

These words surprised the group. Yes, they were all from the same company, and their previous impressions of clubs were just stereotypes.

There weren't many avenues for advancement in the club originally.

Do you really think you can rise to power by killing people?

"In fact, corporatization is for the purpose of business operations. I have already conducted a trial of the real planning for the association in Macau, and the results were quite good," Wang Yaotang said with a smile.

"Haojiang?" The group looked at each other, somewhat puzzled.

That's normal. They are all important figures who don't have the time or energy to focus on the lower classes.

“Yes, Haojiang.” Wang Yaotang nodded and said, “The security work for the nine nightclubs here is handled by Umbrella Corporation. They are paid by Umbrella Corporation and, apart from dealing with the messes caused by drunk customers, they do not participate in any struggles with other underworld forces.”

“The shady dealings that traditional triads like the 49ers and Blue Lanterns did, such as selling cigarettes, medicine, and escorting prostitutes, are absolutely prohibited. They are just security personnel.”

“Those things were done by a small group of people following Lin Man; those are the real members of the gang.” As he spoke, Wang Yaotang smiled at Neves. “These are the people you arrested.”

The group chuckled softly.

Wang Yaotang shrugged before continuing, "Those waiters, bartenders, cleaners, and the like are just ordinary employees and have no connection with the gang. I haven't set up any branches in Haojiang in the past year, and in fact, they've been operating very well. Of course, I don't deny that the Haojiang underworld has no rivals."

As he spoke, Wang Yaotang remembered something, "By the way, Nevis, the soda factory is gone, how is Shuifang Lai doing now?"

“Him?” Neves thought for a moment. “It seems he has gathered a group of people from Hong Kong and is now the boss himself.”

Wang Yaotang laughed, "Well, that's exactly what I wanted for him."

After chatting for a while, Dafeng and Xingcheng felt relieved. Their main business was in Haojiang, and as long as things were stable there, that was fine.

The lawyers on the other side had also completed their review, and the two parties began to formally sign the contract. The pen tip scratched on the paper, and the thick documents were quickly signed page by page.

"Happy cooperation!"

"Happy cooperation!"

He shook hands with several bank employees, and the room erupted in enthusiastic applause.

After the signing came a luncheon; doing business is all about banquets and drinks...

After the banquet, Wang Yaotang returned to his villa in Haojiang, accompanied by high-ranking members of Umbrella Corporation.

After a quick wash and changing into his loungewear, Wang Yaotang went downstairs. Tea had already been brewed on the table in the small meeting room. After sitting down, he said with a smile, "We should build a skyscraper. The company's business is getting bigger, and we can't have our next meeting in my villa."

“We really should rent an office building,” Anthony said with a smile.

"Ask around, and if you can buy, then buy. The real estate market is declining, so we need not only a protective umbrella but also entertainment companies."

"Ok."

"Okay, tell me. We've signed contracts with three banks. How many people and vehicles does the company need, and what kind of business does it involve?" Wang Yaotang asked.

“These three banks have a total of seven branches, including their headquarters. The branches only keep a small amount of cash in their cash deposit boxes for customers to withdraw. The vast majority of the cash is stored in the cash deposit boxes at the head office,” Anthony explained. “Based on the current business volume, we need to make 20-23 trips a day, mainly between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m., and at the peak, we need four cash deposit trucks.”

"Huh, how come there are so many?" Wang Yaotang asked, puzzled.

“This involves the scope of the bank’s business. Besides local savings, ports and shopping malls are actually where the most cash is received. When settling accounts at the end of the day, the bank sends cars to pick up the cash. Now this business has fallen to us,” Anthony said. “Oh right, it also includes the fact that most of the nightclubs under your name, boss, receive cash. The settlement of 9 nightclubs takes up more than 200 million every day.”

Deputy General Manager Qiu Guoliang said with a smile, "We delivered these to the bank ourselves the next morning. The nightclubs close at midnight, and the banks aren't open then."

Wang Yaotang chuckled and patted his forehead. He never carried money with him, forgetting that most transactions in the 80s were done in cash. Being busy was the right thing to do.

If that's the case, security companies won't be doing so well in 30 years...

Mobile payments must be resisted!

"If that's the case, do all 200 people in the company have jobs? We'll be signing a contract with Standard Chartered later, so will we need to hire more people?" Wang Yaotang asked again.

Anthony and Qiu Guoliang exchanged a glance. "I don't think it's necessary for now."

They all received dividend shares. In the past, when there was little business, Wang Yaotang paid to support them, so it didn't matter if they didn't receive any. But now that they have secured the banking business and are about to make a profit, they have naturally changed their minds.

Qiu Guoliang said, "Arranging 10 security guards for each nightclub is a bit excessive. The other two forces in Macau don't dare to clash with us, and the street thugs won't cause trouble in our nightclubs. Just dealing with customer disputes doesn't require so many people, so we can halve the number."

“Yes,” Anthony continued, “In this way, even if we take over Standard Chartered’s business, including cash transport to Hong Kong Island, our current manpower is more than enough. Unless we develop new business, we don’t need to hire anyone for the time being.”

“Even if there is an unexpected increase in business volume, I suggest that we transfer staff from the Umbrella Corporation in Hong Kong to make up for it, and then recruit more staff. This will improve efficiency.”

"Heh, okay." Wang Yaotang nodded with a smile. What kind of capitalist would he be if he didn't exploit his employees? "Anthony, after the three banks are operating smoothly, don't forget to promote them to the outside world, and then use this to win the security business of several shopping malls."

"Ok."

"By the way, isn't security at the passenger terminal handled by the Public Security Bureau?"

"Yes, boss, you want to secure this business?"

"Of course, as those junket operators' businesses grow bigger and bigger, the flow of customers to Macau is bound to increase. The Macau Governor's Office has to spend this money, so why can't they come and earn it?"

"Good boss."

"There are many places in Macau that need security, don't just focus on the banks."

After finishing their discussion, Anthony and his companions said their goodbyes and left.

While Wang Yaotang was resting, explosions rang out again on the streets of Hong Kong. ...

Causeway Bay.

At the Atlantic Bank branch, a black armored car was parked at the entrance. The security guard in the passenger seat jumped out, quickly closed the door, looked around warily, and then walked around the car and knocked on the back door, saying, "I'm here to withdraw money."

He reminded his two companions in the car before stepping into the branch's lobby.

Two uniformed security guards immediately pulled the large iron gate shut and locked it from the inside. A few minutes later, the last customer who made a deposit finished his business. The security guards opened the iron gate to let him out and then locked it again.

The two consecutive robberies forced all banks on Hong Kong Island to be on high alert and strictly follow the requirements of the security manual in everything they did.

Behind the bank counter, under the watchful eyes of the branch manager and headquarters staff, three tellers placed the bundled cash into a silver briefcase, locked it, and signed the documents before the escorting personnel left with the briefcase.

After confirming that the surroundings were safe, the two security guards at the entrance carefully opened the iron gate. The escorting officer, carrying a briefcase, looked around warily before quickly walking to the back door of the armored truck and knocking. "It's me, open the door."

The rear door of the armored truck opened, and the security personnel inside reached out and took the briefcase.

Just then, a man six or seven meters away suddenly pulled something out of his pocket and threw it.

The security guard in the car was probably a basketball player. He instinctively reached out to grab it, but was hit and cried out in pain. With a 'bang,' the thing that was thrown hit the side and fell to the ground. The three of them subconsciously looked over and saw white smoke hissing from the end of the wooden handle.

Grenade!
The three men were completely stunned. The two men in the car were filled with terror and tried to jump out of the car, while the men on the ground tried to close the door to block the shrapnel.

"boom!"

A wooden-handled grenade may not be powerful enough, but an explosion in the cramped carriage is enough to incapacitate several people standing nearby.

Two figures rushed forward amidst the explosion, drawing two sharp knives from their backs as they ran. With a few large strides, they covered a distance of six or seven meters and plunged the blades into the neck of a security guard lying on the car.

"Pfft!"

Blood was splattered all over the carriage. Without even pulling out his knife, he immediately grabbed the shotgun that had fallen on the train, then turned and pointed the gun at the bank entrance.

The two security guards inside the bank, who had just been stunned by the explosion, immediately hid behind the walls on either side when they saw guns pointed at them.

Damn it, why risk their lives for a few thousand yuan a month? They don't even have a gun.

The other man killed the other security guard with two stabs and jumped into the car. The driver in front was stunned and passed out, lying motionless on the steering wheel.

After glancing at it, the robber ignored it, first grabbing another shotgun and hanging it on his body, then taking out a rope he had prepared beforehand and tying the handles of the two suitcases together, before throwing the other suitcase to his accomplice at the door.

On the next street, after hearing the explosion, two motorcycles suddenly twisted their throttles and sped off, running a red light and turning the corner to reach the battlefield. Just then, their accomplices finished everything, and the two men jumped on their motorcycles and flew away from the scene.

The entire robbery took no more than two minutes, demonstrating its clean and efficient nature. By the time someone realized what was happening and called the police, the robbers had already completely disappeared.

……

That evening, Wang Yaotang was going to entertain a group of people from the Public Works Bureau. The land reclamation project had already begun, but the orders for sand and gravel from Zhuhai were still not finalized. Wang Yaotang had previously boasted that he would get it done, but various other things had delayed him and he hadn't been able to find the time to deal with it.

However, it's a government matter, so it's okay to delay it a bit, as long as things are taken care of.

Sha Ze knocked on the door of the private room a few times and then pushed it open. A beautiful white woman dressed in a three-pointed starlet was holding a wine glass between her breasts and offering it to Wang Yaotang's lips, while several Portuguese people next to her were loudly cheering.

"Brother Yao, another armored truck has been robbed in Causeway Bay," Sha Ze whispered.

"Huh?" Wang Yaotang lifted his head from the woman's chest. "Another robbery?"

The sound was quite loud, and everyone heard it and turned to look.

Wang Yaotang waved his hand, and the princess immediately turned down the volume. "The robbery was successful? Which bank?"

Sha Ze said, "From the Pacific, three dead and one injured, two Remington 870s and three ATM boxes were stolen."

A gasp rang out from inside the private room. Elmer Marbal, the Director General of Public Works, shouted, "Which bank was robbed?"

“Hong Kong, Causeway Bay, Pacific Bank,” Wang Yaotang said.

Phew, the Portuguese men breathed a sigh of relief and were somewhat gloating. They always boasted about how safe the city was, but recently their armored trucks have been robbed one after another.

Do you know the details of the crime?

Sha Ze relayed the information from the police, and Wang Yaotang couldn't help but feel a bit of a toothache. Damn it, after Bisina and her gang exposed the glamorous facade of the banking system, it was like opening Pandora's box, and wave after wave of ruthless thugs were eyeing the cash-in-transit vehicles.

The most crucial point is that these ruthless criminals are highly capable of taking action, and their success rate is currently 100%.

Wang Yaotang felt that he himself couldn't have done better in such a decisive manner, and from another perspective, he couldn't figure out how to prevent this situation from happening.

"I've found that the bank security business is not easy to do," Wang Yaotang said with a wry smile, shaking his head.

Elmer Marballe shook his head. "I used to think that armored trucks were very powerful, with armed security, and that robbers wouldn't dare to rob them. But now... Of course, Wang, on the bright side, several other banks will soon be asking you to sign contracts."

"Come on, don't think too much, cheers to the security company."

Wang Yaotang buried his head in the beauty's arms and took a big bite. "Come on, cheers."

……

The next morning, newspapers were filled with reports of yesterday's robbery. Reporters may have installed listening devices in the police station, always arriving before the police and taking a lot of bloody photos, which became the headline of the next day.

During the morning meeting, the police chief practically shoved a newspaper into Kabel's mouth, even though everyone knew that the police couldn't be blamed for this.

But you're a police officer!

Back in his office, Cabel once again transformed into a desktop cleaning master. Damn it, there's been no good news lately, just robbery, robbery, and more damn robbery.

Are bank employees all slobs? Can't they be a little more careful?!
The roaring from inside the office forced those outside to act with extreme caution.

……

At the morning meeting, Johnny from Standard Chartered Macau, which was still slowly going through the motions, was practically shoving a newspaper into the mouth of security manager Ben Hutton.

The security department knew their armored trucks were rusty, that their staff were poorly trained, and that the London headquarters had formed an investigation team. But if they handed over the security business, would the security department still be the security department?
Sometimes things are like this: you know it's wrong, but you still have to keep making the same mistake.

If we can guarantee that nothing goes wrong, then we can guarantee it!
They stubbornly refused to budge from Johnny's rant unless he was removed from that damned position.

At noon, four armored trucks drove out simultaneously from Standard Chartered's (Haojiang) headquarters. The trucks were filled with fully armed bank security guards. There had been too many robberies recently, and everyone knew that their armored trucks were as fragile as potato chips. This time, they were transporting more than HK$4000 million to Hong Kong Island, so they simply deployed nearly half of their personnel to give potential robbers a sufficient deterrent.

Upon arriving at the dock, a dozen armed security guards jumped out of the two vehicles and cleared a large area of ​​the dock before the four vehicles could drive in.

Ten silver-white suitcases were loaded onto a speedboat. Only after the speedboat cut through the water and quickly left the port did Ben Hutton, the security chief who was personally leading the team, breathe a sigh of relief and put on a smile again. "Let's go back."

With a whoosh, about twenty people boarded the potato chip truck and left the dock, but they didn't see a person putting down a walkie-talkie on the roof of a nearby building.

At sea, just as the speedboat left the waters of the Pearl River Delta, two large flying boats approached at high speed from both sides. The security personnel on the speedboat, who were on high alert, observed the situation from a distance of 1 kilometer and immediately notified the captain.

The six security guards on the ship gripped their assault rifles nervously, all craning their necks to look to either side.

The eight engines on the Dafei were not for nothing. The bank's speedboat was already quite fast at around 60 kilometers per hour, but the Dafei's speed was visibly approaching that.

800 m.

500 m.

The other party was clearly after the speedboat. The team leader was cursing that someone had leaked information and that there was a mole in the company, while calling the Hong Kong police on the radio!

Haojiang is closer, so theoretically the police could arrive faster, but in reality, there are very few Haojiang coast guard officers...

Their firepower might not even be as fierce as that on the ship.

200 meters...

When they got within 100 meters, the security guards could already see the robbers wearing skull masks. It was unclear who fired the first shot, but as soon as the first shot rang out, everyone pulled the trigger, and the gunfire rang out.

There is a lot of traffic between Hong Kong and Macau. The chase between the two sides was seen by many passing ships, and as a result, they all gave way. Just kidding, these are pirates, they have guns.

The pirates on the two large flying boats remained calm, simply crouching down and not retaliating.

At such high speed, the large aircraft is truly about to take off; firing a gun would only be effective against birds.

After closing to about 50 meters, one of the two speedboats approached from the side, while the other cut in front. The security personnel on the speedboat immediately panicked. Some shouted to dodge, some shouted to crash into it, and some yelled to turn back to Haojiang.

The magazine was quickly emptied, and in the frantic rush to change it, the speedboat jolted, and the magazine flew out of my hand...

Hai Dazhao and his men weren't in a hurry at all. It would take the Hong Kong Marine Police at least an hour to get over, and the Macau Marine Police simply didn't have the guts. If they had enough patience, they could make the security guards on the ship run out of bullets.

They would fire shots, sometimes close, sometimes far, occasionally to provoke the security guards, who would then yell and fire wildly.

At first, the adrenaline stimulation didn't make them feel anything, but after ten minutes or so, their eyes turned red and their bodies went limp.

Seeing that it was about time, the two large flying ships approached again, and Hai Wanyang took out 40 guns and carried them on his shoulder.

"Put down your weapons!" Hai Dazhao shouted through a megaphone. "Throw all your guns into the sea, or I'll blow your asses to smithereens. We want money. Don't force me to send you to meet your maker. I bet that will hurt a lot."

"Think about your families, think about your beautiful wives and lovely children. Why work so hard for just a few thousand yuan a month?"

"When you die, the insurance money will only make your wives rich, and then young men will stand behind your wives, spend your money, sleep with your wives, and beat your children!"

Murderer, you heartless bastard!

After the first person threw his rifle into the sea, the others who were hesitant followed suit. They were all out of bullets; were they still going to fight hand-to-hand?

The security captain slowly slowed down, and Hai Dazhao immediately moved closer. "Buddy, a wise choice. Congratulations on surviving."

Since someone else is going to take it anyway, why not me?

(End of this chapter)