Underworld Chronicles: Qiao Si's Strategist, Xiao Ke, and Wang Weifan

Fan Dong, the pickpocket leader who was brutally beaten by Xiao Ke and his gang, spent several days in the hospital, spending a lot of money and suffering a great deal of pain.

Fan Dong was not someone to be trifled with. In the beginning, there were many small pickpocket gangs around the train station and movie theater, each acting independently and coveting this big pie.

Fan Dong was also one of the leaders of these small gangs. One day, Fan Dong, who had never been to school, listened to a storyteller who told the great story of Qin conquering the six states.

Fan Dong was so excited when he heard this that he slapped his thigh and immediately decided, "I want to be the Qin Shi Huang of the pickpocket world. I want to swallow up all the pickpocket gangs at the train station and the movie theater."

After making this decision, Fan Dong sent his men to investigate the situation. They found that, in addition to Fan Dong's gang, there were six other gangs of similar strength, which was strikingly similar to the Qin state's conquest of the six states.

Alright, this is truly a stroke of luck! Let's learn from Qin Shi Huang and adopt the strategy of befriending those nearby and attacking those far away, so we can conquer them in one fell swoop.

Fan Dong, a perfectly normal thief, has started studying history and strategy. No other pickpocket gang would have imagined that he would have such a trick up his sleeve.

So, during the day, Fan Dong would invite the gang leader who lived closest to him to provide him with a one-stop service of eating, drinking, and finding prostitutes.

That night, Fan Dong picked up a large axe and led his henchmen to raid the pickpocket gang furthest from him. In just 10 days, Fan Dong used this strategy of befriending those nearby and attacking those far away to swallow up the other pickpocket gangs.

The remaining scattered thugs are even easier to deal with. If it's their first offense here, Fan Dong will have his men confiscate all the money from their pockets as a warning. If it's a second offense, they'll just chop off their fingers, leaving them without a means of livelihood.

And so, Fan Dong gradually became the top pickpocket in Harbin. Now, the area around the train station and cinema is Fan Dong's territory. He has more than 30 followers who take money out of people's pockets every day, regardless of gender, age, or disability. They only care about the money in your pocket.

Being beaten on his own turf is a huge loss of face. If he doesn't swallow his pride and get his face back, how can Fan Dong ever show his face in this area again?

However, Fan Dong, who was in his thirties, was a seasoned veteran. He wouldn't act impulsively. He first had his men investigate Ma Long and Xiao Ke's backgrounds, and then acted based on the situation.

After investigating Ma Long and Xiao Ke's background, Fan Dong was dumbfounded. Damn it, it turned out to be Qiao Si's gang and Xiao Ke's gang.

Qiao Si's gang was a newly formed criminal organization. They spent their days fighting with others over construction projects and targeting holdout residents. You could say they were either fighting or on their way to fight every day. They were a professionally-run criminal organization.

Needless to say, Xiao Ke's gang is also formidable. Their recent battle at Hulan River has been widely discussed. They defeated 100 people with only 20 men and were completely unharmed, making them incredibly skilled with knives, guns, and cannons.

Fan Dong and his gang are confident in fighting their competitors, but going up against professional gangsters is like throwing an egg against a rock; they're no match for them.

After analyzing the situation, Fan Dong slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "Damn it! We definitely can't beat them in a head-on fight. We can use our strengths to steal! You, Xiao Ke, have a casino, right? We can steal from you wherever we are, you son of a bitch!"

After making up his mind, Fan Dong began to implement the plan, dividing the thirty people into six groups of five.

Two groups went to Little K's casino every day: one group went inside to steal, and the other group went outside to provide backup, ensuring that nothing went wrong.

Fan Dong is shrewd. He sends different people every day to keep himself a secret from Xiao Ke and his gang. He'll play the professional game.

With the plan in place, let's get to work. That very night, Fan Dong dispatched two teams to Xiao Ke's casino.

Five thieves inside and five thieves outside began stealing.

Back then, casinos dealt in real money, in denominations of five, ten, twenty, fifty, and one hundred dollars. Those with money would contribute financially, while those without would simply show their support. It was a mixed bag of people.

Fan Dong had five thieves in the house. After arriving at the casino, they first pretended to play a few rounds to observe the situation.

The people guarding the casino at Little Ke mainly kept an eye out for any trouble. As for thieves, they couldn't possibly notice them. Nobody would have imagined that someone would dare to steal from a casino, especially the famous Little Ke's casino.

After observing for a while, the five thieves inside the casino exchanged glances and began to act.

You have to steal from people who have won money. What's the point of stealing from someone who's lost everything? Fan Dong's five men specifically targeted those who had won a lot of money. Once they saw that someone had won a large sum of money, they would approach them, stretch out their fingers, and snatch some money.

These five people only stole a portion of the money, not the whole amount. The fools who had won money were still in a state of excitement and had no idea how much they had won. So as long as they didn't steal the whole amount, they wouldn't notice.

After the five men stole a large sum of money, they transferred it all to one person. That person immediately went out to meet with another group of people. One of the people in the other group took the money and went straight back to their hideout.

And so it went. After stealing five strokes, the two groups stopped and returned home without anyone noticing.

Fan Dong and his team's operation on the first day was a great success. First, they were not discovered. Second, it was much easier to steal from this place than from a train station or movie theater, as the targets were much easier to find. Third, they stole quite a lot of money; this time, they didn't use their hands, but they still managed to steal nearly 20,000 yuan.

"Brother, this place is perfect for taking advantage of! It's way better than the train station. It's all money, we can make as much as we want!" one of Fan Dong's underlings exclaimed.

"You all have to follow my plan. Don't give anything away. That little Ke is no ordinary guy. We're going to treat his casino like a bank, making a steady, long-term profit, and steal his money until he's fucking broke. Got it?" Fan Dong instructed.

"Understood, understood, Big Brother," the underlings all replied cheerfully.

"I'm in a good mood today. Let's split the 20,000+ I won from the casino equally. Those who want to drink, go drink; those who want to get a massage, go get a massage. Dongzi, divide it up among everyone." Fan Dong waved his hand and tossed the money over.

This delighted Fan Dong's underlings. It was the first time their boss had been so generous. They took the money, turned around, and left—some went to eat, some went to brothels.

None of the people who were robbed at the Little Ke casino really noticed. It's possible that some people, once they got into a gamble, became oblivious to everything and acted like complete idiots, or that some people, in a moment of desperation, would even bet their wives and children – it's quite possible.

After Fan Dong's underlings had a great night, the two newly replaced groups took to the stage the following night.

Will Xiao Ke and his friends be able to discover that the casino has been robbed? Stay tuned for the next episode.