Song Tianyao nodded. "Thank you, Sister Hong."
Following Sister Hong into the living room, Sister Hong picked up the phone, flipped through the phone book, found the Cai Family's number, dialed it, said a few words to the Cai Family's maid on the other end, and after Uncle Yan took the phone, Sister Hong handed the receiver to Song Tianyao.
After Song Tianyao answered the phone, Sister Hong stepped back and left the living room, not curious to hear what urgent matter Song Tianyao had.
But looking through the glass of the living room at Song Tianyao, who was standing in the living room holding a phone, with a sharp face and a slow, unhurried tone, Sister Hong couldn't help but think to herself, "The second young master is really lucky. He can't compare to the eldest young master, but he's managed to find a young secretary to do things for him."
After Song Tianyao hung up the phone, Sister Hong returned to the living room. Song Tianyao smiled politely at Sister Hong: "Thank you, Sister Hong. Uncle Yan said he would accompany Chairman Chu back. The Cai Family isn't far from here, so I'll wait here."
Sister Hong didn't speak, just nodded slightly, poured Song Tianyao a cup of tea, and then went back to her work in the courtyard.
Not long after, Chu Yaozong returned, dressed in a linen long gown, accompanied by Uncle Yan. Song Tianyao, who was in the living room, stood up to greet Chu Yaozong simply waved his hand and said, "Let's go into the study and talk slowly."
Once inside Chu Yaozong's study, Uncle Yan prepared tea for the two of them and then withdrew. Chu Yaozong picked up his teacup, looked at Song Tianyao sitting opposite him with his back straight, and said in a calm tone:
"You haven't asked Ah-xin about his business for a few days, and you've already created this mess with the 100,000 yuan Ah-xin lent you? Oxfam? And you even got involved with the foreigner's wife? And then you got tricked by the foreigner?"
Song Tianyao looked at Chu Yaozong and smiled self-deprecatingly. What does it mean to have a sharp eye? Chu Yaozong in front of him was exactly that. He said he hadn't paid attention to Likang's business these past few days, and Song Tianyao didn't think he was lying. The rest was simply his judgment and analysis based on his years of experience, which he had made directly from what he had said to Uncle Yan on the phone.
"Chairman Chu, I should have underestimated Foreign Devil Foreign Devil. The move they made has forced me into becoming a murder weapon and a scapegoat. I'm in a bind. I originally wanted to..." Since the old fox in front of him had already seen through most of it, Song Tianyao stopped hesitating and simply got straight to the point.
Chu Yaozong gently stirred the ginseng slices in the tea with the lid, and said with a playful look, "I originally wanted to show off a few fancy moves to demonstrate my stance, and then wait for the Zhang Family to put on a show like you, so we could all sit at the table and share the money we earned from performing. But now, out of nowhere, someone from the Zhang Family has stupidly jumped out to kill you."
"It wasn't the Zhang Family, it was Zhang Yuliang." Song Tianyao said with certainty, "In this game, the Zhang Family shouldn't have broken the rules and killed someone. Whether I live or die, the Zhang Family won't benefit. They could have forced me to sue for peace by remaining silent, but instead they took action? I previously used my Foreign Devil wife to expose the Zhang Family's malicious hoarding of raw materials needed for charity by Likang, and the Zhang Family didn't act. But when I had the police raid a factory in North Point that was making counterfeit Penicillin packaging, Zhang Yuliang was eager to kill me to silence me. That's where the problem lies."
Chu Yaozong gave a silent "hmm" without saying anything further, letting Song Tianyao continue.
"That means Zhang Yuliang was making counterfeit medicine without the Zhang Family's knowledge. Moreover, Zhang Yuliang certainly wasn't just making counterfeit medicine. Even if it were exposed, it would be a minor matter. There are too many people making counterfeit medicine in Hong Kong. This kind of thing can't be a reason for Zhang Yuliang to be so eager to kill me to silence me, unless he's worried that the Zhang Family or I will discover a bigger secret behind him from the factory raid. Originally, I was the only scapegoat, but now, in addition to me, there's also Zhang Yuliang. Everyone has one on each side, and there's a situation for negotiation again." Song Tianyao said to Chu Yaozong, "When I was being chased, I laughed as I ran away. I was laughing because Zhang Yuliang couldn't kill me, which is equivalent to him sacrificing himself to save my life."
Chu Yaozong nodded with undisguised admiration. An eighteen-year-old secretary, when being hunted down and threatened with her life, was still able to deduce that the mastermind behind the murder was not the Zhang Family, but Zhang Yuliang alone, and quickly calculated and outlined the cause and effect. Such resourcefulness and keenness were beyond what ordinary people of the same age could match.
"Since you've already thought it through, your move shouldn't be too difficult. Why did you still come to see me?" Chu Yaozong looked at Song Tianyao and asked him one last question. If Song Tianyao's answer still pleased him, he wouldn't mind standing behind this young man and watching closely as the exceptionally talented Song Tianyao and the Zhang brothers, Zhang Yujie and Zhang Yuqi, who started from scratch in Hong Kong and, in just a few years, built the Zhang Family into a force that controlled the entire Hong Kong Zhang Yuqi Zhang Yujie, almost on par with the major Cantonese merchant families, put them in a game of chess.
The outcome is not important; what matters is seeing just how brilliantly the younger generation can play this game.
Looking at the young, composed, and calm Song Tianyao before him, and recalling Zhang Yuqi, the gentle and refined second Zhang Yuqi of the Zhang Family, Chu Yaozong couldn't help but sigh. Most of his peers who started from scratch were still struggling students at eighteen, hoping to one day turn their lives around. By thirty, they had only achieved some minor success and seen a glimmer of hope.
However, at the age of eighteen, Song Tianyao already possessed experience and insight comparable to those veterans who had fought in the business world for many years. His moves Old Tao, and his move with Oxfam was particularly ingenious.
At the age of thirty, Zhang Yuqi had already been hailed as a brilliant strategist and a close friend by figures such as Ji Dongpu of Bank of East Asia and Du Zhaojian of Hang Seng Bank.
Before him, Ji Zizheng was young, riding a horse in a black sable coat, with ten thousand volumes of poetry and books on his career, seeking only to become a wealthy and powerful man.
Whether you want to admit it or not, you've grown old.
Chapter 132 Thoughts
"I have a question for Chairman Chu: when the Chu Family is in its final days, will they be willing to help the Zhang Family?" Song Tianyao looked directly at Chu Yaozong and spoke slowly.
Chu Yaozong's smile gradually widened until he finally burst into a hearty laugh, "Good question. Of course, the Chu Family will help. If you want to make a move while you're angry, go ahead. Even if everyone knows you're faking it, they can only remain silent. Let's use force first, then courtesy, so that the Foreign Devil, the Five Counties people, Zhang Family can see the methods and magnanimity of us Chiu Chow people."