Chapter 132: Silent Origin

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As soon as they came out, Chai Jin began assigning tasks.

The first priority was to establish a group company. It was a matter of identity and status. What they would be doing from then on was no longer the business of scattered small traders who could simply shut down and disappear. They had to move toward standardization.

In his previous life, many tycoons who had appeared on the Forbes rankings eventually fell because of the very businesses that had earned them their first fortunes. The reason was simple: they did not understand the law. During that era of reckless growth, these men had plunged into commerce with bare feet, buying and reselling goods despite having little education.

As a result, they overlooked the most crucial matter of all—taxes. While they remained obscure, it did not matter much. But once they began to shine, their rivals would stare at the shadows beneath the spotlight and find ways to bring them down. In the end, violations that had once seemed insignificant would be magnified beyond all proportion.

And they would land in prison.

This was the necessary road for Chai Jin and the others to transform themselves from a band of scattered fighters into a properly organized army.

Fang Yi understood these matters better than the rest, so Chai Jin left them to him.

Once everyone had been assigned their respective tasks, Chai Jin left the courtyard with Monkey.

On the way, he called Wang Xiaoli.

In a soft voice, Wang Xiaoli told him about everything she had done the day before.

Chai Jin listened the entire time, as though feeling a spring breeze ripple gently across his face.

After hanging up, he looked at Monkey, who was driving.

“Is that Gu Qiuyan reliable?”

“She refused to sleep with you on the train, didn’t she? How did you two end up sleeping together after being apart for only a little while?”

Monkey chuckled and explained the situation.

Shenzhen was now the country’s hottest gold-mining ground.

If you wanted to make a fortune, you went to Guangdong Province; and if you went to Guangdong, you went to Shenzhen.

Countless people shouldered their bags and headed there. But ability varied from person to person. Was the gold scattered across the streets truly within everyone’s reach?

No matter the era or the place, those who made money were always a minority. Most people would become stepping stones for them.

That was the so-called eighty-twenty rule of his previous life.

Gu Qiuyan was a country girl with little education and a simple nature.

A fellow villager had deceived her into working at a nightclub.

At first, she refused to wear short skirts or reveal her cleavage, and she was beaten mercilessly more than once.

Gradually, however, she changed.

Then she met Monkey.

Afraid that the man would repeat his old mistakes, Chai Jin said, “Don’t end up like that woman in Zhonghai.”

“You’ve already learned that lesson once. You ought to remember it.”

Liu Qingwen replied with a shameless grin, “Don’t worry, Brother Jin. I know exactly what I’m doing.”

By then, the car had arrived at Lord Long’s teahouse.

The two of them dropped the subject.

After parking, they entered the teahouse.

The same yellow-haired man, Ah Hu, was there to receive them at the door.

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After Chai Jin went inside, he disappeared from sight.

Liu Qingwen shamelessly sidled up to Ah Hu. Before long, the two had become familiar with each other once again.

Chai Jin spent the entire day speaking with Lord Long.

Their conversation concerned Boss Mo.

They had already compiled a substantial amount of evidence and, through Feng Haodong, submitted it to the capital.

The capital responded quickly.

Several men were sent down, and Boss Mo’s stronghold was swept away in one stroke.

Boss Mo himself, however, was never caught. He fled overnight to Hong Kong.

What happened when a desperate fugitive was not crushed beneath your foot at once?

Boss Mo had now issued a threat from Hong Kong, declaring that he would kill Chai Jin.

Once Lord Long received the news, he immediately informed Chai Jin.

Unfortunately, Chai Jin had been occupied with the stock subscription certificates during those days and had paid little attention to the matter.

The most dangerous enemy was always the one who attacked from behind while hiding in your shadow. Lord Long had already thought of a solution for him.

Not long afterward, a bald man with bulging cheeks and an exceptionally steady gait crossed the main hall and entered the inner room.

Outside, Liu Qingwen stared at the young man in bewilderment and scratched his head.

“A monk?”

Ah Hu was lazily scraping his fingernails with a fruit knife.

“A martial monk expelled from Putuo Temple.”

“I fought him a couple of times over the past two days. I couldn’t beat him.”

Liu Qingwen stared at Ah Hu skeptically.

“He’s that good?”

Ah Hu raised his head and glanced at Liu Qingwen. Then he took a photograph from the drawer. It showed a boxer holding up a championship belt.

He tapped the photograph with the tip of the fruit knife, then continued carefully scraping his fingernails. In an utterly unconcerned tone, he said, “The man in the picture is me. I was the Southeast Asian Muay Thai champion in 1990.”

“Damn, you’re that impressive?”

Liu Qingwen quickly snatched the photograph and took a closer look. It really was Ah Hu.

Ah Hu said lightly, “Last year, I fell on hard times and fled to Shenzhen. I fought my way through every underground ring in the city. Later, someone came after me, and Lord Long saved my life.”

“If even I couldn’t beat him, do you think that little monk is someone you can take lightly?”

“That little monk has trained in hard qigong and conditioned his body through rigorous practice. Lord Long probably wants to introduce him to Boss Chai as a bodyguard.”

Liu Qingwen could no longer remain calm.

He glanced at the young monk’s extraordinarily steady yet nearly soundless gait and muttered, “Is he really that formidable?”

Then, with an especially lecherous look, he turned to Ah Hu.

“Brother Ah Hu, I heard Thai men have bigger chests than women. Is that true?”

Ah Hu nodded.

“Those are ladyboys.”

“Oh. I also heard that if you run into one on the street, you can just grab one whenever you like. Is that true?”

“Yes, but you have to pay.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. I’m definitely going there someday. Brother Ah Hu, how does Thailand compare with Shenzhen?”

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Ah Hu replied, “Everything’s fine there. Shenzhen is just a little too cold. When I first arrived, I couldn’t adapt, and I nearly froze to death.”

“This…”

…

After the young monk entered, Lord Long lifted his blue-and-white porcelain cup. He scraped the lid around the rim, took a sip of tea, and said calmly, “Show us what you can do.”

The monk nodded and walked over to a nearby marble table.

He held his breath and focused his strength, then brought the edge of his palm down upon the marble tabletop.

Have you ever seen scenes on television where martial-arts masters casually strike a table and send it flying into fragments?

This table was genuinely split into two by the young monk’s blow. It simply did not shatter into dust as dramatically as things did on television.

Chai Jin was also extremely curious about how a monk had come to stand beside Lord Long.

But after thinking it over, he realized that in this chaotic world, someone like that was indeed needed at his side.

And so he accepted the young monk.

In the end, Chai Jin asked him a few questions and learned the broad outline of his background.

He truly was a martial monk from Putuo Temple. His Buddhist name was Jiyuan. An orphan, he had been carried into the temple by an elderly monk when he was only one year old.

He had originally believed that he would never leave Putuo Temple in this lifetime.

But the scramble for Shenzhen’s stock subscription certificates had changed everything.

One of his senior uncles, who managed the temple’s businesses outside the monastery, had also joined the rush to buy the certificates.

The affair had even been reported by the Hong Kong media.

The headline read: “Monk from Putuo Temple Represents Worshippers in Speculating with Two Hundred Thousand in Stock Subscription Certificates.”

The wording was filled with mockery.

Because of that report, the people of Putuo Temple immediately began investigating.

Their inquiries eventually led to his senior uncle.

The senior uncle pushed all the blame onto Jiyuan.

And that was how Jiyuan was expelled from the monastery.

Lord Long had once been one of Putuo Temple’s most generous patrons. The elderly monk who had brought Jiyuan up the mountain knew Lord Long.

After all, Jiyuan was a child the old monk had raised for nearly twenty years, and he could not bear to abandon him.

That was how Jiyuan came to be introduced to Lord Long.

Lord Long understood perfectly well what kind of life he led and knew that someone like Jiyuan should not remain at his side. That was when he thought of Chai Jin.

Jiyuan did not speak much, and monks who came from the temple tended to be simple-hearted.

In the end, Chai Jin said, “You won’t regret following me.”

Jiyuan nodded.

“Thank you.”

Chai Jin was in an excellent mood. He then rose to his feet.

“Then, Lord Long, I won’t disturb you any longer.”