Hong Kong variety show: The mastermind behind the scenes is emerging.

In Mong Kok, Kowloon, a gold shop workshop in the back alley of an underground money exchange. The air is filled with the pungent smell of molten metal and the musty smell of tobacco.

In the dim light, Ye Guohuan sat with his legs crossed in a greasy armchair, toying with the Black Star pistol that had rendered him great service. A smug smile graced his face.

These past two weeks have been a dream come true for him.

From Wu Hua Street in Kwun Tong to Sham Shui Po, and then to Nathan Road in Mong Kok, he and his brothers swept through the area, harvesting over a dozen gold shops like harvesting crops. Seeing the usually arrogant gold shop owners trembling under his gun, and watching the Royal Hong Kong Police officers fleeing in disarray, gave him an unprecedented sense of dominance.

"Seventh Uncle, they're all here."

Ah Zhong and Ah Jin slammed three heavy red, white, and blue canvas bags onto the table with a clatter, revealing gleaming gold bars, gold chains, and dozens of Rolex gold watches with a cold, sharp gleam.

Across the table sat an old man with a wrinkled face and wearing reading glasses. He was "Uncle Seven," a well-known middleman in Mong Kok who dealt in stolen goods.

Uncle Qi slowly put down the magnifying glass and touchstone in his hand, his fingers moving quickly across the abacus, making a crisp "clattering" sound.

It took a full half hour to calculate.

"Yes, they're all in good condition; they're all from major manufacturers."

Uncle Qi stopped what he was doing, adjusted his glasses, and wrote down a series of numbers on the yellowed bill: "Based on today's international gold price and exchange rate, the total value of this batch of goods is approximately HK$12.3 million."

Twelve million three hundred thousand!

Upon hearing this number, the five brothers behind Ye Guohuan instantly became heavy-hearted, and their eyes turned red.

"How about it? Brother Huan, I didn't lie to you, did I? We not only achieved that small goal of 'ten million,' but we also exceeded it!" A-Gui rubbed his hands excitedly.

Ye Guohuan nodded in satisfaction and looked at Uncle Qi: "Uncle Qi, although I am a novice, I know the rules. The price for these common goods is 40% or 45%. Give me 4.9 million in cash, and this batch of goods is yours."

In the underworld, gold, a hard currency that holds its value and is difficult to trace, can usually be sold for almost half of its market price; this is an industry norm.

however.

After hearing this, Uncle Qi did not go to get the money. Instead, he picked up his teacup, took a sip slowly, and a shrewd calculation flashed in his cloudy old eyes.

"Ah Huan, you yourself said it was 'normal'," Uncle Qi put down his teacup and sighed, "The market is different now. This batch of your goods is too hot to handle."

"Look at the newspapers outside, the streets are full of news about your arrest warrants. That foreign director surnamed Han is like a mad dog, biting people everywhere. Now the entire black market in Hong Kong is on edge. Who would dare to accept your blood-stained gold? One wrong move and you could lose your head."

Uncle Qi stretched out two withered fingers and tapped them on the table.

"The risk is too great; I need to bribe all sorts of powerful figures. Therefore, I can only give you 20% of this shipment."

Twenty percent?!

"Bang!" Ah Gui, with the worst temper, slammed his hand on the table, making the teacups jump around. "You old coffin wretch! You're taking advantage of my misfortune! Over twelve million worth of goods, and you think you can just swallow two million? You're too greedy!"

"Exactly! Do you think we're beggars?!"

Faced with the rage of these thugs, Uncle Seven remained calm, seemingly unfazed: "You think it's too little? You can take it. Go ask other stalls. In this climate, see who dares to buy your goods besides me, Uncle Seven?"

This statement is half right and half wrong.

Although there's certainly a lot of commotion right now, gold is still a hard currency. If it's hard to sell now, you can just store it and sell it when things calm down; it won't lose much value. To put it bluntly, Uncle Seven just sees these people as novices and wants to drive down the price.

Upon hearing this, the other brothers all reached for their lower backs.

Facing this group of menacing thugs, Uncle Nine's bodyguards, though they also brandished their guns, clearly lacked confidence. After all, standing opposite them was a madman who dared to shoot the cops in the street with an AK!

Ye Guohuan didn't move. He maintained that languid posture, but the smile on his lips slowly disappeared, and his eyes turned sinister like a wolf's.

He reached out and stopped the irritable Ah Gui, leaning forward slightly and staring into Uncle Jiu's eyes.

"Uncle Jiu, doing business is all about integrity. I only gave you this batch of goods because of your established reputation."

Ye Guohuan's voice was soft and gentle, but every word sounded like a razor blade squeezed out from between his teeth.

"My brothers have all crawled out of piles of corpses. They don't know anything about market rates; they only know that this money is earned with their lives. Twenty percent? That's not enough to buy our lives, and I'm afraid... it's not even enough to buy your coffin lid, Uncle Nine?"

After saying that, Ye Guohuan took out the Black Star pistol, clicked the safety off with a crisp sound, and then slammed it heavily on the table.

The gun barrel was pointed directly at Uncle Nine's forehead.

"Gulp."

Uncle Nine swallowed hard, his once calm face finally turning pale. Cold sweat streamed down his forehead.

Only then did he belatedly realize that the group of young people in front of him were not those gangsters who could arbitrarily lower prices, but real tigers who dared to devour people!

"Huan... Brother Huan, let's talk this out, let's talk this out..." Uncle Qi swallowed hard, his voice trembling. "We're all just trying to make money, let's not resort to violence and hurt our harmony."

"Then tell me, how should this number be calculated?" Ye Guohuan pressed the muzzle of his gun forward.

"Thirty percent...that's my bottom line!"

Uncle Qi gritted his teeth, his face contorted with pain, and said, "Brother Huan, I really didn't lie to you. Things are too tense right now. I've been stuck with this batch of goods for at least six months, and the financial pressure is immense. Thirty percent, three million six hundred thousand… no, no, three million seven hundred thousand! I really can't go any more than that; I'm not making any money left!"

Ye Guohuan narrowed his eyes and made a mental calculation.

Three million seven hundred thousand, although one million less than expected, is still a huge sum of money in this era that can change one's destiny.

Moreover, as Uncle Qi said, things are indeed tense right now. If this drags on any longer, and the police get involved, this batch of gold will be useless – it won't be able to be converted into cash or spent.

"it is good."

Ye Guohuan put away his gun, patted Uncle Qi's old face, and the gloom on his face instantly disappeared, replaced by a hearty smile. "Three million seven hundred thousand it is! Uncle Qi is so generous! Deal!"

……

After half an hour.

Two heavy black briefcases were placed in front of Ye Guohuan. Inside was a neatly bundled old Hong Kong dollar bills, exuding a captivating scent of ink.

"Brothers! Time to split the money!"

Inside a moving bread truck, Ye Guohuan didn't waste any words and immediately opened the box.

"As previously agreed."

Ye Guohuan took out stacks of banknotes and generously distributed them to his five brothers. "There are six of us in total. I'm the leader, so I'll take 1.7 million. The remaining 2 million will be split equally among you five, 400,000 each!"

"Four hundred thousand?!"

Holding the thick stack of banknotes in their hands, A-Gui, A-Zhong, and the others' hands were trembling.

That's 400,000! Back in their hometown on the mainland, that's enough for them to build the most luxurious house in the whole village, marry the most beautiful wife, and even be rich for life! Even in Hong Kong, it's enough for them to live a life of luxury and debauchery.

"Huan-ge! You're too particular!"

"Working with Brother Huan, my life has been worthwhile!"

The carriage was filled with cheers and bright hopes for the future.

As for Ye Guohuan taking the lion's share, no one objected. After all, Ye Guohuan provided the initial investment in firearms and other supplies, and he was the one who organized the team; everyone respected him.

"Alright, don't get too excited." Ye Guohuan lit a cigarette, his eyes turning serious. "You've got the money, but you still need to keep your lives. Things are too tense right now, so everyone take the money and go into hiding for a while. Don't go to fancy places, don't cause trouble, and keep a low profile."

"Let's get together again after this storm passes! Then, Huan will take you guys to pull off an even bigger heist!"

"Understood, Brother Huan!"

The car pulled up at an intersection in Kowloon. Ah Hao and his three henchmen took the money, thanked him profusely, and got out of the car, disappearing into the vast crowd.

Inside the car, only Ye Guohuan and his two most trusted right-hand men remained—A Jin, the best driver, and A Zhong, the best marksman.

"Brother Huan, where are we going?" Ah Jin asked, gripping the steering wheel.

Ye Guohuan glanced at the gloomy sky outside the window and exhaled a smoke ring.

"Back to our old hideout, the Yu Man Fong Building in Kwun Tong."

"The terrain there is complicated, and there are many people around, making it the perfect hiding place. Let's buy some food and drinks, have a good celebration, and get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow morning, we'll find a smuggler to arrange a boat, take the money, and go back to our hometown to enjoy life!"

"Alright! Let's go home and have a drink!"

……

5:30 p.m.

This dilapidated Yuminfang Building is like a giant beehive, crammed with all sorts of tenants.

Ye Guohuan, along with A Jin and A Zhong, carrying two freshly roasted geese, several kilograms of braised beef, and two cases of chilled beer, returned to their rented two-bedroom safe house, chatting and laughing.

This is their headquarters. Under the bed are still the few AK-47s that made great contributions in battle and the remaining grenades.

"Come on, cheers!"

"Cheers! To our great wealth and prosperity!"

The three of them sat around the old folding table, opened beer, and ate and drank heartily.

At that moment, they seemed to already see the envious glances they would receive upon returning home, the mansions, the beautiful women, and the endless riches and glory. All the tension, all the killing, gradually faded away under the numbing effect of alcohol.

"Brother Huan, this roast goose tastes pretty good too. Although it's not as good as the roast duck from my hometown, it's still very delicious." Ah Zhong gnawed on a goose leg, his mouth dripping with oil.

"That's right, this roast goose we risked our lives for!" Ye Guohuan laughed, picking up a piece of beef. "When we get home, I'll treat the whole village to a feast that lasts three days and three nights!"

"Hahahaha!"

The room was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

Everyone drank excitedly all night, and it was already five or six in the morning.

Just as the three of them were slightly tipsy and preparing to turn off the lights and rest.

"Um?"

Ye Guohuan, who was sitting by the window, suddenly frowned.

He sensed something was wrong outside the window. Suddenly, a series of extremely dense and suppressed footsteps came from outside the street, along with the faint sound of police sirens in the distance.

"What happened?"

Ye Guohuan put down his wine glass and walked very carefully to the window. Instead of pulling open the curtains directly, he lifted a corner of the curtains slightly through the oil-stained window crack and looked down.

Upon seeing this, Ye Guohuan's scalp tingled instantly!

The street below had been completely cleared out at some point!

Instead, there were countless police officers, as numerous as ants!

Hundreds of People's Mobile Unit (PTU) soldiers, dressed in military green bulletproof vests, formed a yellow cordon, completely surrounding the Yu Min Square building.

More than a dozen police vans with flashing red and blue lights blocked all the exits.

Even more terrifying, he also saw several black SWAT armored vehicles, as well as a group of SDU (Special Duty Officers) dressed in all-black combat uniforms and armed with MP5 submachine guns, who were professionally assembling at the entrance of the building!

He even spotted the sniper's reflective scope from the rooftop across the street!

Outside, there were more than a dozen huge television broadcast vans, and countless reporters carrying cameras were frantically filming the building.

"Hold!!!"

Ye Guohuan abruptly pulled his head back, his face turning deathly pale, and cold sweat poured down his face.

"Brother Huan, what's wrong?" Ah Jin and Ah Zhong sobered up instantly when they saw their boss's reaction, and quickly grabbed the guns they had on hand.

"Cops! They're all cops!" Ye Guohuan's voice was hoarse with extreme tension and shock. "The entire building is surrounded by Flying Tigers! There are snipers too! Even TV reporters are here! There are at least several hundred of them! They've completely surrounded this building!"

"What?!"

Ah Jin and Ah Zhong were terrified. They quickly went to the window for a peek and gasped in shock.

"Brother Huan... how... how did these cops find us?! We were so careful! Could it be that old bastard Uncle Qi betrayed us?!" Ah Zhong's hand holding the gun was trembling.

Ye Guohuan leaned against the wall, his mind racing, his eyes flashing with a desperate and crazed glint.

He couldn't understand how he had been surrounded by hundreds of police officers right after returning from dividing the loot. And judging from the scale of the operation, even the TV station was there. It was obvious that this was a trap set up in advance, just waiting for them to walk in!

He had no idea that another group of unlucky guys—Da Dong—lived in the building.

In his mind, all the police in Hong Kong, even the Special Duties Unit and the cameras, were all after him, the "AK robber"! They were all there to arrest him, Yip Kwok-fai!

"Quick! Get all the AKs out from under the bed! Hang up all the grenades!"

Ye Guohuan dragged the heavy canvas bag out from under the bed, pulled the bolt of the gun with a click, and his eyes were bloodshot.

"These cops want to use us to claim credit? To use us for a TV show? Today I'll show them what a real Big Circle Gang is! What real ruthless thugs are!"

Just when Fong Kit-ha of the Police Public Relations Branch thought everything was under control and was ready to start her "big event" live broadcast show.

She never dreamed that, apart from those three wounded members of the Da Dong gang...

There are also three fully revived, well-equipped AK fanatics who have just drunk alcohol and are in a state of extreme excitement, ready to turn this "show" into a "massacre"!