Thinking about the food he had eaten, the water he had drunk, the bed he had slept in, and the clothes he had worn over the past few days, Zeng Chunsheng wondered more than once if he had lost his mind. That would have made him agree to cooperate with Hu Yu in front of him, to contact the Taiwan Navy under the guise of a Shanghai merchant, and sink one of Lei Yingdong's ocean-going cargo ships!
"So what if it's Hanging Neck Ridge? So what if there are more than two thousand Whampoa Academy graduates? Even if they were all Chiang Kai-shek's men, weren't they all defeated soldiers who fled to Hong Kong after being beaten in mainland China!" The cramped and unbearable environment made Zeng Chunsheng lose his temper with Hu Yu, and his tone was full of venomous anger.
The driver's face turned dark and gloomy, and the veins on his forehead even seemed to bulge as he uttered the words "the defeated remnants of Zeng Chunsheng's army." Hu Yu, on the other hand, seemed to only have a smiling expression, still looking at Zeng Chunsheng with a grin, letting the other party grumble.
"Boss Zeng, the environment is a bit tough. It's not that I can't afford to book a room for you in a luxury hotel. Even if I did own a luxury hotel, filled with all sorts of women, would you, Boss Zeng, dare to sleep there now? By the way, there's a letter from your wife and son." Hu Yu seemed to have just thought of something, and took a letter out of his pocket and pushed it on the table.
Zeng Chunsheng strode over, picked up the envelope, tore it open, and drew strength from the kinship emanating from the thin sheet of paper inside. Besides the letter, there was also a photograph.
It's a photo of his wife and son standing in front of their new Taipei house with their maid; the handwriting is also his wife's.
"When can I go to Taiwan?" Zeng Chunsheng asked Hu Yu, clutching the letter. "I don't want to stay in Hong Kong for another second."
"Didn't Boss Zeng vow to become the leader of Shanghai shipping merchants and take over the local shipping business? Why has he lost his fighting spirit now?" Hu Yu took out a box of Japan Wo Ping cigarettes from his pocket and handed one to Zeng Chunsheng.
Zeng Chunsheng gritted his teeth. "I'm afraid if I stay any longer, I won't live to see Xu Pingsheng and Yu Shiting fight. I don't know how badly they'll fight, but I'm afraid I'll die before they even start."
Hu Yu nodded understandingly. "I understand, I understand. I am already very grateful that Mr. Zeng could help start things up. It's really not easy to force Mr. Zeng to do anything further. Don't worry, tonight I will let Mr. Zeng reunite with his wife and son. I will absolutely not go back on my promise."
Hu Yu's attitude seemed too mild, allowing Zeng Chunsheng to vent his resentment without worry. He paced around the room a few times. "You don't understand business! A situation like fighting won't happen immediately. In the business world, when both sides tear each other apart and start fighting, that's the last resort. As long as there's even a sliver of a chance, everyone thinks about making money through harmony. You lowly soldiers can't even fight a war properly, how could you possibly understand..."
"Thump, thump, thump..." Footsteps sounded outside, the sound of leather shoes with iron soles stepping on the wooden planks, step by step, getting closer and closer, finally stopping at the door.
"Who is it?" Zeng Chunsheng immediately stopped talking and looked over nervously.
"Don't be nervous, Mr. Zeng." The door was pushed open from the outside, and a young man, no more than thirty years old, wearing a black Zhongshan with a woolen overcoat and spotless leather shoes, walked in. "It's just that Mr. Zeng's words just now made me somewhat disagree, so I couldn't help but rashly walk in."
The young man stepped into the room and pushed up his dark-tinted glasses on his refined face with his finger. "My name is Tan Jingwei, the successor to the position of leader of Hongfa Mountain in the Hung Mun."
Zeng Chunsheng paused for a moment, then looked at Hu Yu, who still had a smile on his face. Hu Yu stood up and introduced the young man who called himself Tan Jingwei: "This is Mr. Tam from the Hong Kong Hung Mun..."
"Isn't Ge Zhaohuang the leader of the Number Gang?" Zeng Chunsheng thought for a moment before recalling a name.
Although he didn't often deal with gang members, he still had some understanding of the various factions in Hong Kong's underworld. After all, the Number Gang was also an outsider, and in some ways, they were on the same side as the Shanghai people.
Tan Jingwei brushed away non-existent dust from his cuff and said calmly, "Old Mountain Master Ge just opened the altar today and passed the position of Master to me. To be honest, I am just a scholar. I am truly ashamed to have Mountain Lord Ge's favor."
"What are you doing here, someone from the Number Gang?" Zeng Chunsheng asked somewhat curtly. He couldn't stand the sight of this seemingly refined and gentle young man.
Tan Jingwei said, "Since Mr. Zeng doesn't want to get involved in this matter anymore, I can only take over the follow-up affairs of the two major Boat Gang in Hong Kong and Shanghai. I'm here today specifically to see Mr. Zeng off on his journey so he can reunite with his family as soon as possible. Fourth Brother, thank you for seeing Mr. Zeng off."
As soon as Tan Jingwei uttered the word "Fourth Brother," a middle-aged man with a coin-sized scar on his face and dressed in a Zhongshan walked in. Before Zeng Chunsheng could react, a metal wire was already around Zeng Chunsheng's neck.
Tan Jingwei lit a cigarette and quietly watched Zeng Chunsheng die. Only after the man he called Fourth Brother put away the metal wire and Zeng Chunsheng's body lay limp on the floor did Tan Jingwei speak:
"Mr. Hu, after you've taken Mr. Zeng's body to the bustling city center, you can leave. We don't need you here anymore. Let everyone see Mr. Zeng's fate, and let everyone think carefully: Did the Hong Kong kill Mr. Zeng, or did the Shanghai people kill him themselves and try to frame the Hong Kong? Or was it someone with ulterior motives who was preparing to reap the benefits?"
Chapter 483 Heavy Makeup
Tan Jingwei tossed his trench coat to his Fourth Brother behind him, then squatted down in front of the tombstone, brushing away the weeds beside it. The tombstone bore the inscription. "Tomb of Tan Bangguo."
Tan Jingwei took out a cigarette from his pocket, unwrapped it, lit one, and placed it in front of the tombstone, along with the cigarette case and matches.
"Jingbang and Weiguo, I've always said that your deadbeat father favors you, specially reserving the name 'Bangguo' for you, but you're such a disappointment. Why didn't you come to Taiwan with me earlier? Why stay in Guangzhou and join the Hung Mun, get involved in some Number Gang, 'Kowloon's Eighteen Tigers,' 'Scribe Tan'? What kind of nicknames are these? It's a disgrace to your real name. You might even get hung up and beaten by your deadbeat father after you go down there."