The richest man started taking advantage of loopholes after joining Alibaba.

The western part of Hangzhou, a peri-urban area.

The air in the office, converted from a residential building, was stuffy and polluted.

The air conditioner's outdoor unit, mounted on the wall, roared loudly, trying to drown out the sound of the server fan running at full capacity.

Wang Pangzi was covered in sweat as he stared at the computer screen.

The green light on the USB security token plugged into the USB port is flashing wildly.

That's the signal for data transmission, and also the frequency of money flow.

"arrive!"

Fatty Wang roared and slammed his fingers down on the Enter key.

A line of small text popped up on the screen: [Transaction successful].

This is the first blood flowing from Alibaba's account.

One million in cash.

"Don't stop."

On the other end of the phone, Lin Che's voice was as calm as if he were reading an instruction manual: "Transfer everything out within five minutes."

"If money stays in the account for more than ten minutes, it's a risk."

"Once the money is spent and becomes equipment, leases, or assets, the compliance department will have nothing left to investigate."

Fatty Wang gritted his teeth and grabbed the landline phone on the table.

The takeout boxes piled up next to it were crushed and deformed, and the leftover food emitted a nauseating smell of oil.

But he couldn't care less about any of that.

"Hello! Old Chen? This is Fatty Wang!"

"I'm making the payment for the lease on that abandoned machinery factory now! Yes, the full amount!"

"Where's the conveyor belt equipment supplier? Tell him to bring the truck over! The money will be in my account immediately!"

Contracts printed on A4 paper, the ink still wet, were roughly stuffed into kraft paper file folders.

One million in cash flowed like water into a parched riverbed.

In just three minutes, the account balance was reduced to zero.

Instead, there were three trucks on the road and a site rental agreement stamped with a red seal.

This is whitewashing.

In this era of unbridled growth, the only rule of survival is: speed is the only way to win.

............

The old machinery factory in the west of the city.

This was once the glory of the state-owned enterprise era, but now only a steel ruin remains.

A massive, rusty gantry crane loomed overhead, like the skeleton of a dead beast, casting dappled shadows.

Lin Che sat in an inconspicuous black Volkswagen, with the engine still running.

He peered through the tinted car window, surveying the territory that was about to become his.

Not far away, a dozen people were clearing weeds.

They were wearing brand-new security uniforms, but their movements were clumsy and awkward.

The one leading the pack was Razer.

The ill-fitting security uniform clung tightly to his body; with the slightest exertion, the buttons on the cuffs seemed about to pop off.

But he didn't dare take it off.

This is a rule set by Lin Che.

"Mr. Lin, these clothes are really too tight."

Razer walked to the car window, muttered a complaint, and casually threw a brick he had just picked up into the trash heap.

"That's right."

Lin Che's voice came through the half-lowered car window, "That's the rule, you'll get used to it and won't feel the need to tighten it anymore."

Razer shrank back.

His military-style leather boots left clear black footprints on the oil-stained cement floor.

From today onwards, these footprints no longer belong to thugs, but to the "Weiguang Logistics Security Department".

Lin Che looked at the area.

It's big enough, remote enough, and the rent is cheap enough.

Most importantly, the walls here are three meters high, so once the gate is closed, it becomes an independent kingdom.

Setting up a distribution center here means nobody knows what data is running inside, or whose goods are being shipped.

This is a black box at the physical level.

.......

"drop--!"

The piercing sound of a horn shattered the tranquility of the ruins.

At the factory gate, the construction crew's trucks were forced to stop.

A black Audi A6 was parked across the middle of the road, blocking the only entrance and exit.

On the hood, the Audi A6's emblem stood out starkly against the hazy sky.

The car door opened.

Three men wearing leather jackets came down.

The leader was slightly overweight, with a slicked-back hairstyle and a string of small-leaf sandalwood beads hanging from his wrist.

Zhao Sihai.

The general agent of the Tongda Express Group in the west of the city is also the real local tyrant in this area.

Fatty Wang jogged up to him and offered him a cigarette.

"Mr. Zhao, what's wrong...?"

Zhao Sihai did not accept the cigarette.

While casually twirling the beads in his hand, he glanced sideways and blew a puff of smoke into Fatty Wang's face.

"Brother, you look unfamiliar."

"In this area, if a wheel wants to turn, it has to ask if this string of beads agrees first."

Fatty Wang smiled ingratiatingly, "We're just a small business, we only rent a warehouse..."

"A small business?"

Zhao Sihai sneered and pointed inside, "Judging from this commotion, they're trying to steal my job."

"Call your boss out here."

Zhao Sihai's gaze passed over Fatty Wang and locked onto the Volkswagen parked in the shadows.

Fatty Wang glanced back, then turned back again: "Mr. Zhao, the boss is unavailable..."

"inconvenient?"

Zhao Sihai threw the cigarette butt on the ground and crushed it out with his toe.

"Tell him that if he doesn't come out to pay his respects within ten minutes, none of the renovation team's vehicles will be allowed in today."

........

Fatty Wang ran back to the car, his head covered in sweat.

"Brother Che, this old rogue is stubborn and insists on seeing you. Razer and the others are about to make their move."

Lin Che sat in the driver's seat, his expression unchanged.

The car window was still only half down, revealing a hand holding a cigarette.

The car window was half-lowered, like a trench, blocking out outside prying eyes.

"Don't use your hands."

Lin Che flicked his cigarette ash.

Zhao Sihai, a local tyrant, is best at muddying the waters.

If a fight breaks out, the police will arrive and the construction site will have to stop work for rectification.

For Lin Che, who is counting down to Singles' Day, time is more valuable than dignity.

Moreover, the more respect you give Zhao Sihai, the more arrogant he becomes.

We must keep him guessing and instill fear of the unknown.

"Tell him."

Lin Che looked at Zhao Sihai's arrogant back in the rearview mirror, his tone as calm as if he were talking about the weather.

"The road belongs to the country, not him."

"If you don't let us pass within ten minutes, we'll call the police and have our car towed."

Fatty Wang was stunned: "Call...call the police?"

The rules of the underworld are about finding a way to win and being ruthless; no one goes straight to the police.

This is extremely unsportsmanlike.

"Go."

Lin Che rolled up the car window.

If you want to whitewash your past, you have to use legitimate methods to destroy the underworld.

This is the professional instinct I developed in my previous life as a chief compliance officer: to achieve a decisive victory.

Fatty Wang reluctantly ran back and repeated what he had said.

Zhao Sihai's hand, which was fiddling with the beads, froze in mid-air.

He stared at the motionless Volkswagen, as if he had swallowed a fly.

He had imagined the other party coming down to offer him a cigarette, and he had also imagined the other party calling for a fight.

The only thing I never expected was that the other party would flip the table and use the big stick of the rule of law to smash his underworld rules.

This person... doesn't play by the rules.