Hong Kong: Black Gold Tycoons

Chen Fei's intention to buy black condoms to comfort He Min wasn't just empty talk.

He said that to Lok Wai-ching so that Ho Man would know what Inspector Wong had told her, and then they would have a chance to meet.

After seeing Zhao Yazhi off, Chen Fei first met with Wang Jianjun.

He received a lot of counterfeit money last night, but there was no notification of the money being deposited into his account, indicating that his attempt to deceive the system with counterfeit money was not going to work.

Upon meeting, Wang Jianjun took out a briefcase.

"Brother Fei, this is what you specifically asked for."

After Chen Fei opened it, there were two sets of master templates inside.

One set is made of metal, about the size of a palm, with a cold, hard silver-gray color throughout, and the surface is polished smooth as a mirror.

The surface is hand-carved with intricate patterns and human figures, the lines as fine as hair, varying in depth, and you can feel the subtle raised texture when you run your fingertips over it.

This is the engraved steel plate used to directly print counterfeit money. With it, along with special paper and ink, you can print US dollars that are indistinguishable from the real thing.

During printing, ink is filled into the grooves, and excess ink on the surface is scraped away. The ink in the grooves is pressed onto the paper, creating the embossed feel and three-dimensional effect of banknotes.

The other set is a film template as thin as a cicada's wing, with more than twenty sheets in total, divided into front and back sides and color layers, like a set of precise "banknote printing negatives".

It feels like a semi-transparent frosted film, with straight edges and covered with extremely fine black lines, dots, and patterns. Under light, you can see densely packed microtext, portrait outlines, and watermark patterns, so fine that you need a magnifying glass to see them clearly.

The entire set of master templates is packaged in a small black metal box, which is moisture-proof, light-proof, and scratch-proof, and feels heavy in the hand.

For those in the know, this box doesn't contain film; it's a source of endless money. As long as the master plate is there, printing plates can be produced at any time, and once the machine is turned on, boxes of counterfeit money can be printed.

This set of film masters can be considered the ancestral negatives, while the metal steel plates are the printing molds used for actual printing.

With film master plates, new metal plates can be infinitely replicated. With metal plates, special inks, and special paper, you can directly start printing money.

However, no matter how realistic the counterfeit banknotes are or how similar the serial numbers are, it is useless because genuine banknotes are officially issued and registered, and each serial number is unique.

Counterfeit banknotes, with hundreds of notes sharing the same serial number and lacking official backing, can only be used secretly underground and can never be presented in a respectable manner, nor can they replace genuine banknotes.

"Well done." Chen Fei nodded in satisfaction. "Did you run into any trouble last night?"

Wang Jianjun shook his head: "Not long after I arrived, I saw a large number of shipyard workers suddenly drive away, leaving only a few people to guard these things. It only took some physical effort."

"Take a rest for now, and I'll transfer some money to your account later. Take some time to send the money back to the families of your comrades," Chen Fei said.

Wang Jianjun said gratefully, "Thank you, Brother Fei."

He thought he would have a hard time after arriving in Hong Kong, but he never expected to meet Chen Fei, who gave him a lot of money to send back to his comrades.

"We're all family, how could I treat you unfairly?" Chen Fei patted his shoulder. "Go ahead and get busy."

Chen Fei hasn't figured out how to use the counterfeit banknote master plate yet, so he's leaving it for now, believing it will come in handy someday.

Then I went to the company.

Go to Lok Wai-ching's office first.

Upon meeting, Lok Wai-ching said, "This morning, many distributors called again asking us to reprint. I estimate that this case will double our sales again."

"That's obvious," Chen Fei said dismissively. "Besides requesting a reprint, is there anything else?"

"Reporters have called wanting to interview you, but I've turned them all down," said Lok Wai-ching. "I suspect it's not just reporters who want to interview you; the police station is probably coming to you too."

That's true.

With such accurate information, the police will definitely question him about something.

Chen Fei said, "Anyway, I feel like I'm at home when I go to the police station. Everyone there is talented and speaks very nicely. If they want to come, let them come."

There are many organizations in the world that make a living by selling intelligence, such as the American Kroll Corporation, the German Wollhurst Corporation, the French Duluc Corporation, and the British Melhouse Corporation.

They are all driven by money; they'll sell anything for a fee, from business intelligence and political dirt to asset tracking and bribery investigations, without any principles.

Users and clients of intelligence services range from national presidents, intelligence agencies, police agencies, multinational corporations, and financial oligarchs to small and medium-sized enterprise owners, managers, shop owners, white-collar workers, ordinary citizens, and housewives.

Thinking about this, Chen Fei suddenly realized that he could also become a business intelligence broker, although currently limited to Hong Kong.

It's unclear whether the situation map will be able to cover the entire globe once there's enough money.

Lok Wai-ching was not surprised by his answer and said, "I heard from my former colleagues that the ICAC has recently arrested a lot of people based on clues in our magazine. Maybe these things will be published in the newspaper in a few days, and then our magazine will definitely become popular again."

"This is a good thing," Chen Fei said with a smile. "I've done my part for society, and the Hong Kong government should award me one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons."

Lok Wai-ching rolled her eyes at him: "I don't think so. If you always get clues from the police, the Commissioner of Police will probably be very unhappy, making his officers seem useless."

"I don't care if he's happy or not. Does he think I have to give way to him just because he's the top dog?" Chen Fei said.

Lok Wai-ching said, "Yes, yes, you're all out in the sun now, so can I focus on my work first? I have a lot of things to do."

Chen Fei had just returned to his office and hadn't even had a chance to sit down properly.

Lok Wai-ching then made an internal call, saying that a lawyer was looking for him.

Chen Fei said, "Let him in."

A short while later, Lok Wai-ching brought in a middle-aged man in a suit and tie, who was carrying a briefcase.

Lok Wai-ching introduced, "Boss, this is Barrister Leung Siu-ming. He said he came on someone's behalf."

"Ms. Yue, I'd like to speak with Mr. Chen alone," Liang Zhaoming said with a smile. "Please."

Le Huizhen glanced at Chen Fei, who nodded, and she left first.

As soon as the door closed, Chen Fei asked, "Attorney Liang, what brings you here? Please have a seat."

Leung Siu-ming did not sit down, but opened the box and took out three stacks of Hong Kong dollars, placing them on Chen Fei's desk.

Chen Fei glanced at it and estimated it to be at least 300,000.

He chuckled. "What's Attorney Liang doing?"

With a smile, Liang Zhaoming said, "This is a tea fee from my boss for Mr. Chen, a total of 300,000. He wants to make friends with you, Mr. Chen, so he sent me to greet you first."

"And who is your boss?"

There must be a reason why someone suddenly sent someone to deliver money to me.

Leung Siu-ming said, "My boss's surname is Li, his name is Li Kwok-kwong, and he is a Legislative Council member."

"Li Guomin?" Chen Fei thought for a moment. "Never heard of him. If I had slept with his wife, I might have some recollection of him."

Liang Zhaoming smiled slightly and said, "I don't know about such private matters, but my boss doesn't like being published in your magazine, so he sent me here to make friends with you, Mr. Chen."

"Really?" Chen Fei smiled and countered, "What if I don't?"

Liang Zhaoming's smile froze. He said, "Does Mr. Chen look down on my boss?"

"You think you can bribe me with a mere 300,000? Your boss is seriously underestimating my 'Black Gold' magazine." Chen Fei shook his head. "I started this magazine to expose those shameful things."

Liang Zhaoming said with a forced smile, "Mr. Chen, our boss said that as long as there is sunshine in this world, there will also be shadows. But not everyone likes to stand in the sunlight. Our boss also said that if you don't give me face, Mr. Chen, then next time it won't be me."

He pushed HK$300,000 towards Chen Fei and said, "Mr. Chen, please think it over carefully. I'll take my leave now."

As soon as he left, Chen Fei called Wang Jianjun.

Wang Jianjun quickly replied: "Brother Fei?"

"We can't take the day off for now," Chen Fei said succinctly. "I'll have some things to do later."

Legislative Council member?

Chen Fei didn't take it seriously at all. Since they dared to send someone to threaten him, he would hang them on a street lamp tonight.

"it is good."

Just as I hung up the phone, Lok Wai-ching called again.

He said the police were looking for him.

……