Ma Da and Yu Xin quickly sprang into action separately.
Yu Xin made the first move, using the restaurant's assets as collateral to secure a loan of 1.1 million from the bank without much trouble.
At this time, the financial crisis hadn’t yet erupted, and banks were relatively lenient with lending. Even so, the bank still discounted the collateral before approving the loan.
After all, the value of the restaurant’s property alone was easily worth more than 1.1 million.
But this was understandable—banks had to be cautious with their loans.
Meanwhile, Ma Da’s operation was also in full swing.
He had already arranged for a group of unfamiliar faces—his trusted associates—to fan out and target every loan company connected to Niu Ben, including those lending money in gambling dens. They squeezed loans from all of them.
Since this wasn’t the digital age where information flowed freely, these loan companies had no way of communicating with each other. Add to that the fact that they were operating in the gray area of usury, and unless they conducted regular internal audits, they’d never realize they were being scammed for duplicate loans.
In short, Ma Da’s crew used just one restaurant as collateral but managed to secure loans from five different loan sharks—on top of the bank loan.
About a week later,
Ma Da and his team tallied their gains. Including personal loans they’d squeezed out, they had amassed a total of 9.63 million. Combined with the bank loan, they had surpassed the 10-million mark.
Adding their own savings to the mix, they now had roughly 12 million at their disposal.
"Keep an eye on Feng Gou and Niu Ben’s movements. If there’s even the slightest stir, report to me immediately," Liu Yutong instructed before proceeding to funnel the money into the stock market in batches.
......
A certain nightclub.
Niu Ben, sitting in his office, began to notice something was off.
His five loan companies—or more accurately, his usury operations—had been performing unusually well lately. Each group had lent out around 3 million, an amount that usually took months, if not half a year, to reach.
Wushui County wasn’t exactly brimming with wealthy individuals. Most of their borrowers were desperate gamblers with nowhere else to turn.
But recently, a sudden influx of people had come seeking loans, and the most suspicious part? They had all used the same restaurant as collateral. This was far from normal.
After reviewing the reports, Niu Ben slammed the documents onto his desk and barked, "Get Feng Gou in here!"
Before long, Feng Gou barged into the office with his usual brash energy.
"Boss, you called?"
"Feng Gou, did you have a run-in with some people recently? Tell me what happened," Niu Ben asked, narrowing his eyes.
Lately, he had been preoccupied with demolition projects.
The southern district was slated for development, and he had secured contracts for several villages. If handled well, this could make him a fortune.
But he also knew demolition work could get messy, which was why he had ordered Feng Gou and his men to lay low—no slip-ups during this critical period.
He hadn’t bothered with Feng Gou’s affairs until now, when the bizarre lending records caught his attention.
"Boss, I’ve already looked into it. Those guys are from the Righteous Brotherhood in Bright Pearl City," Feng Gou quickly replied.
"The Righteous Brotherhood?!" Niu Ben shot up from his seat, his face darkening. "Why the hell didn’t you tell me sooner?"
At his level, he was well aware of the Brotherhood’s reputation.
That syndicate, entrenched in Bright Pearl City, was far more powerful than his own operation.
Even after being cracked down on by the authorities, they were still not to be trifled with.
"Boss, you never asked," Feng Gou said defensively. "But don’t worry—I dug into their background. They’re basically strays now, already cut off from the Brotherhood. They came to Wushui County to rebuild, and they’ve been expanding fast. Estimates say they’ve got over a hundred members already."
......
After listening to Feng Gou’s detailed report, Niu Ben sneered. "Setting up shop in Wushui County without paying respects to me first? Trying to play the big-shot outsider? They’ve got a death wish!"
"Boss, want me to take some guys and wipe them out?" Feng Gou’s eyes gleamed with excitement.
"No, not yet." Niu Ben shook his head, drumming his fingers on the desk. "We’ve got a few troublemakers in the southern district to deal with first. Once we handle them, we’ll settle accounts with this bunch properly."
He pointed at the documents on the desk. "Take a look at this first."
Feng Gou picked up the file, puzzled, and flipped through it. The records detailed the recent transactions of their loan operations.
When he saw that nearly 10 million had been lent out in such a short time, his eyes lit up.
"Boss, business is booming! Nearly 10 million loaned out already, with interest rates no lower than 40%. We’re looking at 4 or 5 million in profit—that’s half a year’s earnings in no time! You’re on a roll, boss!"
"Open your damn eyes and look closer!" Niu Ben snapped.
Feng Gou hurriedly read further. When he saw that all five companies had accepted the same restaurant as collateral, his face turned ashen.
"This… this… those sons of bitches! They’re screwing with us!"
"Boss, give me some men. I’ll get the money back and cripple those bastards! How dare they scam us like this!"
Niu Ben shot him a cold glance. "Let them dance a little longer. What do you know about that restaurant?"
"Boss, that place does decent business. Monthly revenue’s around a million—under normal circumstances, they could pull in a few million a year."
"But..." Feng Gou grinned and started bragging about how he had sent his men to occupy tables and sabotage the restaurant’s operations.
To his shock, Niu Ben flew into a rage and hurled a stack of papers at his head. "You idiot! Who told you to mess with them?!"
Feng Gou was stunned. "Boss, I didn’t do anything wrong!"
"You wrecked their business. If they can’t repay the loans, who takes the biggest loss?" Niu Ben glared at him in frustration.
Only then did Feng Gou realize his mistake.
If the Righteous Brotherhood remnants had scammed loans from all five of their operations, they probably never intended to pay them back.
Even if they captured the culprits, recovering the money would be next to impossible.
But the restaurant was different—it couldn’t just disappear. Eventually, it would fall into their hands.
If the restaurant went under now, it’d be worthless by the time they took it over.
On the other hand, if it kept running—or even thrived—they could at least recoup some of their losses.
"Boss, I know what to do now."
Feng Gou rushed out to make calls, instructing his men to back off.
