In Song Tianyao's view, raiding a packaging and processing plant would have little impact on the Zhang Family. At worst, it would only confirm that the Zhang Family had counterfeit drugs when Customs inspected various pharmaceutical companies. It posed no threat to the Zhang Family whatsoever.
He didn't want to follow Shek Chi-yik's plan. Shek Chi-yik was a master strategist. If he were foolish enough to be blinded by greed upon seeing the batch of medicines currently in the Customs warehouse, and demanded exorbitant prices, replacing all the high-quality drugs with counterfeit ones, such as Penicillin, PSA Lung Tablets, and Chloroquine Tablets, and reselling them at high prices, he could indeed make a fortune for Likang, Shek Chi-yik, and the Hong Kong governor. However, as a scapegoat, his death was inevitable. Even if the Zhang Family didn't take action, the other pharmaceutical companies wouldn't let it go. Even if none of his rivals wanted to kill him, would Chu Yaozong let him go? As the president of the Chamber of Commerce, if he wanted to explain himself to the Zhang Family and those pharmaceutical companies, he couldn't possibly let his Second Son step forward. Besides, even if he wanted to hand over Chu Xiaoxin, given Second Young Master Chu's intelligence, the other side wouldn't believe him. In the end, he would just be a scapegoat, dying either at the hands of his rivals or at the hands of his own people.
However, doing nothing besides public opinion won't work either. Likang's side has already made a move, with Mrs. Bess revealing that the European Coast Company maliciously hoarded raw materials, which will be reported in the newspapers tomorrow. Furthermore, Song Tianyao has given those wealthy young men enough time to inform the Zhang Family. Zhang Yuliang should be able to easily resolve this move. As the saying goes, counter each move as it comes. Song Tianyao had the factory raided, which is just a harmless second move.
He now hopes that Zhang Yuliang and the rest of the Zhang Family can see that he is in a difficult situation and has no choice but to take action, rather than insisting on killing someone. Otherwise, Song Tianyao's second move will definitely not be as simple as just having the police raid the factory and take photos as evidence.
Song Tianyao thought he had shown enough sincerity and given enough hints. He could have used the first move of gaining the upper hand in public opinion against the Zhang Family, and once that was done, the second move should have been to draw blood. Then, the third move should have been to strike at their hearts and minds. He should have caught the Zhang Family off guard before slowly starting negotiations, instead of having time to let those wealthy young men from the Five Counties send messages and give the Zhang Family room to maneuver.
"Secretary Song, where to next?" Xianyu Shuan sat behind Song Tianyao, leaned forward, held up the hat he was holding, and fanned Song Tianyao obsequiously, dressed like a complete sycophant.
This made Scribe Hui sitting next to him, look very unpleasant, and he would roll his eyes at Xianyu Shuan every now and then.
"It's alright. If the Zhang Family isn't an idiot, they should wait until tonight to go to the Dulles Hotel to see Young Master Shun, and we can all sit down and talk about the whole thing. Let's go to Tai Wo Street first, otherwise when the people who presented the flowers come back, my mother won't have any money to pay, and she's too proud to admit it. In the end, she'll just take her anger out on me." Song Tianyao said after thinking for a moment when he heard Xianyu Shuan's question.
There was nothing else for him to do for the time being; he was simply waiting for the Zhang Family's reaction. So, Song Tianyao suggested going back to Tai Wo Street and giving his mother the money earned from the flower presents.
"Secretary Song, Brother Shing and his men raided the Zhang Family's factory. Should I go to the docks and find a few of Lao Fu's brothers to stay with you? Be careful the Zhang Family doesn't cause you trouble." As they disembarked, Xianyu Shuan asked Song Tianyao again.
Song Tianyao smiled and said confidently, "No, the Zhang Family isn't stupid. Besides, that factory is a small matter to the Zhang Family. I only raided the factory to remind Zhang Family. If the Zhang Family has any conscience, they should thank me."
Scribe Hui waved for Song Tianyao to stop the rickshaw, and provocatively shouted at Xianyu Shuan, "Do we need to call for help? I, Scribe Hui, have been by Brother Hua's side for so long and have learned martial arts. Even if three or five of them come, they definitely won't get close to Secretary Song."
Song Tianyao looked at the Scribe Hui with amusement, took out a hundred Hong Kong dollars from his pocket and handed it to Scribe Hui: "Envious of A Shuan making money? Just say so. This is yours."
The reason why Scribe Hui disliked Xianyu Shuan was that, besides directing traffic outside Cathedral of St John like himself this morning, this guy had also been running errands for Song Tianyao. Every time he ran an errand, Song Tianyao would take out ten or twenty dollars to help him with his travel expenses. The most he ever did was when he didn't have any change, Song Tianyao gave Xianyu Shuan a full hundred dollars.
He and A Shuan were both wearing the same white shirts and black vests, so why did this bald monkey, Xianyu Shuan, earn more than a hundred yuan more than him just because he wore an extra felt hat? Even if Scribe Hui didn't care, he was still uncomfortable, so he subtly targeted Xianyu Shuan in his words.
Now that Song Tianyao had exposed his true intentions, Scribe Hui felt somewhat embarrassed and scratched his head. "Secretary Song, no, I meant I really did learn kung fu from Brother Hua, and I can take on..."
"Screw you! How long has Black-Hearted Wah been dead? He's a good-for-nothing, why would you learn kung fu from him?" Song Tianyao said to Scribe Hui, who was squeezing into a rickshaw with Xianyu Shuan, as he got on.
The three of them got off the bus at the end of Tai Wo Street, relieved themselves in the public restroom there, and then walked towards the end of the street. As they walked, Scribe Hui looked around at the quiet street and said, "Wow, it feels a bit chilly walking on this street even during the day, it's so quiet."
There were no pedestrians on Tai Wo Street. Although most shops were open, there were no shop assistants in sight. Most of the shopkeepers were elderly people sitting motionless in their shops, tending to their businesses and taking naps.
They hadn't walked more than ten meters when two taxis pulled up behind them and stopped abruptly at the end of the street, blocking their way. The doors opened, and four young men wielding machetes jumped out and pounced on Song Tianyao and his companions without a word!
Song Tianyao reacted the fastest, grabbing the entire pot of boiling herbal tea from the nearby tea stall and splashing it at the other person.
Taking advantage of the opponent's retreat and dodge, Song Tianyao turned and ran, reminding Xianyu Shuan and Scribe Hui, "Run!"
Scribe Hui had long forgotten the boast he had made in the car and turned to chase after Song Tianyao. Xianyu Shuan, on the other hand, was calmer than both Scribe Hui and Song Tianyao. He could tell that these people were not after him, so he simply covered his head and squatted down to the side, pretending to be dead.
As expected, the four ignored him and simply brushed past him, continuing to chase after Song Tianyao who was running forward. After the four had passed, Xianyu Shuan stood up and rushed into a kerosene shop on the street. He rushed out with two kerosene bottles in his hands, lit the fuse at the mouth of one of the bottles with an oil lamp, and threw it in the direction of the four people in front of him!