KN | Chapter 12

The Zhao Shengge Act

The boy did not understand why, but he obediently did as told. He was wearing a white shirt today. Once he pulled the sleeve down, it covered the mole on his wrist.

Out of sight, out of mind for Zhao Shengge.

Shao Yaozong misread the situation. He thought the other party was not entirely lacking in sincerity after all, and said with a laugh, “Mr. Zhao really does know how to cherish beauty.” The air-conditioning in the room was indeed set rather low.

Zhao Shengge sat with one leg crossed over the other and did not respond.

Shao Yaozong did not mind either. He went straight to the point. “About the matter I mentioned before, how has Mr. Zhao considered it?”

Zhao Shengge fenced with him. “We can discuss the land later. Let me see the goods first.”

“Of course.” Shao Yaozong was very straightforward. He ordered his subordinate to carry out a case and open it for display.

Zhao Shengge lowered his eyes and took one look. Then he smiled very faintly. “White Crane Hall’s supply source? Surely not.”

Shao Yaozong paused.

In Haishi, aside from wealthy and well-established prominent families like the Zhaos, Jiangs, Shens, and Zhuos, there were still many old underworld gangs left over from the last millennium.

Their methods were brutal, they disregarded rules, wrecked markets and disrupted order, colluded with officials who acted as their protectors, repeatedly crossed red lines, and for years had operated in the gray zone.

Because the web of interests involved was tangled and deep-rooted, customs and the police had once found them exceptionally troublesome.

White Crane Hall was one of them. Mai Jiahui, the man rumored some time ago to have been driven to jump off a building after a single phone call from Zhao Shengge, had once also served as White Crane Hall’s deputy.

The people in the police department had some surface-level connections with Zhao Shengge, and had come to invite this titan of the business world to take part in the cleanup, practically paying him repeated visits like Liu Bei inviting Zhuge Liang from his cottage.

Since Minglong Group had always enjoyed highly favorable customs policies, Zhao Shengge agreed. It also let him use official force to remove these unsightly flies that were disrupting the market.

After seeing what had happened to Mai Jiahui, Shao Yaozong knew that those above had truly made up their minds to clean house. White Crane Hall’s lifespan was likely at an end.

When the rabbit dies, the fox grieves. When the lips are gone, the teeth grow cold. He reacted quickly, using the criminal evidence on White Crane Hall that he held in his hands as a bargaining chip.

He wanted Zhao Shengge to help him get out clean, wash his name, and set up a new operation under a different banner. In return, he promised Zhao Shengge a batch of high-profit goods and a piece of land in Baoli Bay.

The gang’s money flow had been handled by Mai Jiahui, while the supply source and the land lots had been under Shao Yaozong’s control. Even an old fox like Mai Jiahui, seasoned by decades, had fallen at Zhao Shengge’s hands.

Shao Yaozong had already accepted the situation. He knew he had no ability to contend with him, and White Crane Hall was already a spent force, impossible to rely on for protection any longer. He could hardly be blamed for betraying the side he served and seeking a way out for himself.

The high-profit goods were contraband. Zhao Shengge had no interest in them. But that plot of land was extremely valuable. It had been specially approved when the special zone was first established, and it was the sort of property that could not be obtained with money alone. Once the docks were completed, it would carry annual shipping volume measured in the hundreds of millions.

Zhao Shengge had coveted it for a long time.

Shao Yaozong thought the chips in his hand were very weighty. What he did not know was that Zhao Shengge had long since already negotiated things with the Financial Management Bureau. Once Operation Thunderclap, Hurricane No. 7, ended, that batch of contraband and the network behind its movement would go to Customs, and the land would go to Zhao Shengge.

Minglong Group would take it through the bidding process. Zhao Shengge never moved without profit in sight, and this informant had never been performing out of friendship either.

“Mr. Zhao has sharp eyes. But please do not blame Shao for being cautious. If I’m cutting into my own flesh and handing over this overseas route, I naturally need to make sure the other party really is someone who knows quality, only then can I rest easy.”

“And have you tested that out, Mr. Shao?” Zhao Shengge remained utterly unmoved.

“Of course, of course.” Shao Yaozong ordered people to carry out the real goods from a hidden door and let Zhao Shengge inspect them.

Zhao Shengge picked up two of them and turned them over in his hands, pointing out a few flaws in fine details.

With jianghu gangs, if you go along with them too readily, they distrust you instead. Only because Zhao Shengge was being picky did Shao Yaozong feel he was genuinely interested in taking on this route’s business.

“There’s no need to worry too much about that. Italians are used to revolvers. They don’t misfire that easily.”

Zhao Shengge glanced at him and made no comment.

Shao Yaozong added, “This batch only makes up three ship holds. If the buyer raises the matter then, there will still be time to reassemble the rest.”

“Mm.” Zhao Shengge followed the thread and asked, “How much is left?”

“Eight ship holds.” Shao Yaozong was not telling the truth either. In reality there were thirteen. And a few crates were both far away and right in front of them.

They were inside Yingchi itself. Because of its complex spatial structure, Yingchi was not only a pleasure house, its basement also operated as a vault bank. The Swiss were very good at handling confidential matters.

Shao Yaozong had stored part of the goods in advance. After all, the person he was coming to meet was Zhao Shengge. He could not help but keep a few extra tricks up his sleeve.

But Zhao Shengge had come alone, and there was not the slightest aura of violence or bloodshed about him. He leisurely tasted the wine the boy handed over.

“If changes are needed, will Mr. Shao guarantee the timeline?”

Shao Yaozong smiled. “Mr. Zhao can rest assured on that point.” He was reluctant to let go of this route entirely himself, and still wanted to take a share of the transport profits. If he could form a long-term partnership with the other party, that would be ideal.

Zhao Shengge gave a quiet sound of acknowledgment and said they could try a few ship holds first. Naturally, Shao Yaozong said yes.

Seeing that he really did look a little pleased with himself, Zhao Shengge asked whether he had forgotten something.

Shao Yaozong said White Crane Hall’s crimes were too numerous to even be recorded on bamboo slips, and that the evidence needed to accuse it would require a little more time.

Zhao Shengge looked at him for a while, then nodded in agreement and said that was fine. Payment on one side, goods on the other. Whenever the goods left port, that would be when the evidence was handed over.

Shao Yaozong immediately found himself in a difficult position. His original intention had been to hand over the full truth only after Zhao Shengge had genuinely become tied to him in a shared interest bloc. But Zhao Shengge’s meaning was clear, no evidence, no shipment leaving the port.

Without Zhao Shengge’s protection, his cargo vessels could not even pass through the strait now. And Italians were the sort who valued punctuality above all.

Shao Yaozong had no choice but to say, “Then I’ll have my people organize part of it before the goods leave port and transmit it to your company through secure channels.”

Zhao Shengge was not especially satisfied. “How much is part?”

“About fifty to sixty percent.” Evidence like this was a form of guarantee, and Shao Yaozong was a businessman too, he could not possibly avoid holding something back. “When accounts from so many years are laid out one by one, omissions are hard to avoid.”

“That’s acceptable.” Zhao Shengge did not make things hard for him. In any case, Customs only needed a legitimate pretext to act. As for the people in the police and the supervisory bureau, their methods were formidable. Once a single opening was torn open, it would be enough to pull one hair and move the whole body.

At the end, they discussed the transfer of shares.

Zhao Shengge wanted to understand the state of their board in a short period of time, and was willing to acquire the shares in Shao Yaozong’s hands.

Shao Yaozong, meanwhile, wanted to get out as quickly as possible, best of all leave light and clean and flee far away. Secondly, he also had the intention of dragging Zhao Shengge into the water. Agreements and promises were all empty. A shared interest bloc was the strongest backing there was.

Zhao Shengge flipped through the agreement Shao Yaozong had brought, then casually tossed it onto the table. There was a crack as it landed, not loud, not soft. His black eyes fixed steadily on the other man as he said, “If Mr. Shao is transferring defective shares, I will invoke the Golden Act.”

Shao Yaozong went rigid all over.

He was certain Zhao Shengge had not seriously read the clauses just now at all, yet with one glance he had decisively identified defects in the shares.

The Golden Act was the “Golden Twelve Articles” Zhao Shengge had proposed back when he single-handedly accused a Wall Street tycoon in an antitrust court overseas.

After winning that lawsuit, one that looked like an egg striking a stone, Zhao Shengge’s name rose to prominence. A financial reporter from the Billy Times gave it the name The Golden Act, also called The Zhao Shengge Act. At the time, it dealt a heavy blow to white circles in finance. A young Chinese man, with his own trading skill and almost unimaginable perseverance, forced the scales weighted by prejudice and discrimination back into balance.

When Zhao Shengge did business, he never stopped at merely closing a single profitable deal. He made a system out of it. He valued long-term mechanisms, something that could settle a matter once and for all.

Within the Golden Act were exceptionally severe punitive measures against the malicious sale of defective shares. Later, the Haishi Commerce and Trade Economic Association brought it into the market by unanimous vote. It held no legal force, but as “market rules,” “industry custom,” and “public order and good morals,” it was cited and referenced in economic litigation.

Shao Yaozong did not dare play tricks in front of the original author of the Act. He agreed that after the asset separation and valuation were completed, he would draft a new agreement.

Zhao Shengge looked fairly satisfied.

The meeting ended.

Shao Yaozong invited Zhao Shengge to watch a performance he had booked in advance. In a place like this, there was no need to think too hard to know what sort of lurid, erotic spectacle it would be. To avoid unnecessary complications, Zhao Shengge agreed to go take a look.

Shao Yaozong was very pleased.

He could not quite figure out Zhao Shengge’s tastes, but he had not gone too far over the line either.

Zhao Shengge had been steeped in circles of wealth, power, and desire for years. He had seen every kind of outrageous and decadent scene. On top of that, he was proud to the point of arrogance, so his interest was minimal.

Still, Shao Yaozong truly did know what he was doing in matters of sensual excess. Every one he had chosen was a top-grade beauty. Zhao Shengge looked and looked, and felt none of it had any meaning at all.

Seeing that Zhao Shengge remained unmoved and held himself very steadily, Shao Yaozong teased, “Is it that none of these catch Mr. Zhao’s eye, or is your heart already set on someone? If it’s the latter, then Shao has offended you, and asks your pardon.”

Zhao Shengge found the man somewhat laughable, and presumptuous as well. Proud and self-contained, he replied, “Mr. Shao is thinking far too much.”