Zhao Weixiang was a meticulous guy. No matter what kind of opponent he faced, he always paved a way out for himself first.
He then picked up his phone and dialed a number he had not contacted in a long time.
The phone rang seven or eight times before it was answered. A hoarse male voice came from the other end.
"Who is it?"
"Master, it's me," Zhao Weixiang said.
There was a few seconds of silence on the other end, followed by a sigh.
"Ah Xiang... I thought you were dead long ago. It's truly a pity that you are still alive."
"Thanks to you, I am still alive, and living quite well. Master, I want to see Mr. Jiang."
The hoarse voice on the other end laughed, laced with a touch of sarcasm.
"Ah Xiang, have you been out there so long that you forgot who you are? Do you think Mr. Jiang is someone you can just see whenever you want?"
"After what you did, fraudulently using Mr. Jiang's channels, you should be glad he hasn't come after you. Don't push your luck."
"I am not here to talk about the channels. I have something in my hands that I want to give to Mr. Jiang personally."
"What is it?"
"Eleven years ago, a police officer surnamed Gao..."
Zhao Weixiang only said half of the sentence, confident that the other party would understand.
The other end of the line noticeably quieted down.
A few seconds later, the voice sounded again, colder than before.
"Ah Xiang, some things cannot be spoken of recklessly. That case was closed a long time ago, and the murderer died in an accidental car crash."
Hearing this, Zhao Weixiang smiled. "Is that so? But how come I heard that there was someone else behind the stabbing of Inspector Gao back then? For instance, I heard with my own ears that Mr. Jiang was the one who ordered it?"
As soon as these words came out, the other end immediately flew into a rage.
"Bullshit!"
"Zhao Weixiang, I am warning you, don't court death!"
"Master, I have already fled to the States. Do you think I am still afraid of death?"
"Oh right, I almost forgot to tell you. I was one of the witnesses that night. Please do not think for a second that what I have in my hands is fake."
"My demands are not high. As long as Mr. Jiang gives me a sum of money and arranges for my safe departure from the States to a country with no extradition treaty, in exchange, I can hand over everything I have."
Heavy breathing came from the other end of the phone, as if suppressing anger.
After a long time, the hoarse voice sounded again.
"Ah Xiang, I trained you. I know you. You definitely have backups, right?"
"Master, you have misjudged me. I am a very trustworthy person. I am not like you, who could personally send a brother who took the fall for you to the bottom of the river."
"I have photos, a list of the people involved in that incident back then, and records of financial transactions... It is enough to put Mr. Jiang behind bars for the rest of his life, or maybe even get him a bullet to the head."
"Where did you get all this stuff?"
"I collected it little by little over the years, of course."
"From the night I saw what happened to Inspector Gao, coupled with the fact that my boss Brother Pi and the others all died in accidents one by one, I knew this matter was not simple. Fortunately, I was lucky. I was just a rookie who had just started out, so I was not on Mr. Jiang's list. Otherwise, I would have died in an accident long ago, wouldn't I?"
"But this incident also served as a wake-up call for me, so I investigated it privately. And let me tell you, I really dug up quite a lot. Originally, I did consider handing over what I found to you in exchange for working for Mr. Jiang, but alas... That is why I say I was lucky I didn't hand it over."
"Master, I know you are just a messenger. Please pass a message to Mr. Jiang for me. Liu Yutong has already arrived in Los Angeles. She is Liu Lei's daughter and the biological younger sister of Inspector Gao's adopted daughter, Gao Min. She came to the States just to catch me and dig out the mastermind behind the murder of Inspector Gao."
"They won't be able to find anything."
"Master, you are still too absolute with your words."
"If Liu Yutong continues to follow the clues, she will eventually trace it to Mr. Jiang, or... more simply, what if I just give the evidence directly to her?"
The other end was silent for a full minute before speaking.
"How do you want to make the trade?"
"Three days from now, at the Los Angeles Port, Pier Seven, at ten o'clock at night."
"I want to see Mr. Jiang in person. As long as I see him in person, I will hand over the things face to face, and then get on a boat and leave."
"What if Mr. Jiang does not agree?"
"Then I will have no choice but to give the stuff to Liu Yutong. I am going to die anyway, so dragging someone down with me would not be bad."
"Oh right, Master, just a quick reminder. This woman Liu Yutong, I have crossed paths with her. She is far more formidable than me, and of course... more formidable than you were back then."
"I understand. I will pass it on."
"Thank you, Master."
After saying that, Zhao Weixiang hung up the phone directly, casually tossed it onto the table in front of him, and fell deep into thought once again.
This phone call was his last way out.
If he could not get rid of that woman Liu Yutong in Los Angeles, he could only use this trade to get a new identity, fly far away, and start over in a place where no one knew him.
Of course, if his master failed to get Mr. Jiang to agree.
Then, the Snakehead Gang's cannery would be the site of his final showdown with Liu Yutong.
Either she dies.
Or he perishes.
There was no third possibility.
............
On the other end of the phone, the man Zhao Weixiang called Master was actually named Wu Kun.
At this moment, he was sitting in a luxurious office in Harbor City overlooking Victoria Harbour, his face livid.
Zhao Weixiang was someone he had personally trained back in Pearl City. This kid was clever, ruthless, and patient enough; he was the most outstanding among his many proteges.
Later, the situation in Pearl City changed rapidly, and the Yilian Society rose to power. Mr. Jiang, who was backing him, also needed to adjust his development strategy. Zhao Weixiang, an ambitious and no longer obedient hidden chess piece, became useless.
Useless chess pieces should be disposed of.
However, what he didn't expect was that this kid was highly alert and actually ran away ahead of time, leaving the people he arranged to hit dead air.
Later, as Mr. Jiang's business grew bigger and bigger, he mainly developed in Harbor City. The reason he chose Harbor City was that the controls here were not as strict as on the mainland. If something happened, he could run away at any time through some special channels, which was at least much more convenient than the mainland.
As for the old people and past events in Pearl City, they were gradually forgotten.
But who would have thought that Zhao Weixiang would return to Pearl City to establish his own faction, doing better and better...
If he hadn't encountered the extraordinarily monstrous Liu Yutong, he might really have become a top legendary figure in Pearl City, dominating a region.
After falling to a disadvantage in the struggle, he was still as cautious as ever and ran away ahead of time again.
What made Wu Kun even more furious was that Zhao Weixiang was so bold that after fleeing abroad, he dared to falsely use Mr. Jiang's name to strike a deal with the Snakehead Gang, quietly running illegal businesses.
He only found out about this later.
This guy's guts were simply too big!
The most critical thing was that this rebellious disciple actually kept a hidden card, using that old case from eleven years ago to blackmail him and Mr. Jiang.
It should be known that he and Mr. Jiang had long been deeply tied together. As a broker, he was not just an ordinary middleman; he was the spokesperson for a major boss.
They were truly bound together—sharing both in glory and in ruin.
Wu Kun took a deep breath, quelled the anger burning in his chest, and began to recall the case from back then.
The incident with Inspector Gao was indeed one of the very few, and undeniably the most severe, blemishes in Mr. Jiang's early rise to power.
Everyone directly involved had been dealt with afterward, and the relevant files had long since been sealed.
Zhao Weixiang was nothing more than a rookie nobody at the time; how could he possibly have gotten his hands on any evidence?
But Wu Kun did not dare to gamble.
Especially when it came to this disciple he had trained with his own hands—his most cunning pupil at that—he could not risk betting that the man was bluffing.
It was better to assume the threat was real.
After pondering for a long time, Wu Kun finally made a decision: he would hold off on reporting the situation with Zhao Weixiang to Mr. Jiang for now.
The reason was simple, yet pressing.
Mr. Jiang was currently in the mainland, conducting inspections under his new guise as a patriotic Hong Kong businessman, preparing to invest in a massive private hospital chain project.
Many people had played this exact game before. They would accumulate capital through illicit means in their early years, funnel it to Hong Kong or overseas through back channels, adopt a new identity, and then return to the mainland to invest with the grand posture of a triumphant homecoming. Not only did this perfectly launder the dirty money, but it also guaranteed them the highest tier of hospitality and the chance to network with powerful government officials. It was a masterful stroke that killed many birds with one stone.
Right now was the absolute most critical phase of the project negotiations, and Mr. Jiang needed his image to remain completely spotless.
Bringing up an old case that could potentially implicate Mr. Jiang at a time like this would be nothing short of asking for a death wish.
He knew Mr. Jiang's temper better than anyone.
I will wait until the hospital project is officially finalized, then find a suitable moment to tell him.
Wu Kun muttered to himself, As for that traitorous disciple Zhao Weixiang, I should be the one to finish him off with my own two hands!
