Recaps

Lin Xiaoze confronted Lin Xiao qia in detention, uncovering how he had maneuvered the Lin family into conflict to secure his own position. Song Tianyao arrived and challenged Lin Xiaoze about leaving the family funeral to visit the detention room.

• Lin Xiao qia admitted that he had pushed A-Kang to act against A He so he could use the fallout to gain an advantage.
• Lin Xiaoze accused Lin Xiao qia of cultivating loyal supporters among the Lin Family’s business managers and arranging for him to be run over to divide him from A He and A-Sen.
• Lin Xiao qia defended his past sacrifices for the family and argued that he had been overlooked, while Lin Xiaoze accused him of using his elder brother to remove A-Sen.
• Lin Xiao qia told Lin Xiaoze that A-Sen would never trust him and that, as the eldest son, everything belonged to Lin Xiaoze by right.
• Song Tianyao entered the detention room and questioned why Lin Xiaoze had left the Lin family funeral, then said money now mattered more than the family’s old connections.

Song Tianyao confronted Lin Xiao qia over his role in selling Song’s third aunt’s mother and gave him a choice: die that night so Lin Xiaoze and their mother could live, or face the destruction of his family. After Song met with Liu Zhichen outside, an officer reported that Lin Xiao qia had hanged himself.

• Song Tianyao accused Lin Xiao qia of arranging the sale of his third aunt’s mother and rejected his claim that he had been forced into it.
• Song Tianyao told Lin Xiao qia to kill himself that night in exchange for sparing Lin Xiaoze and their mother, warning that otherwise the Lin Family would be destroyed.
• Lin Xiao qia asked to see Ah Jing before answering, but Song refused and left the room.
• Song Tianyao spoke with Liu Zhichen about donating three million Hong Kong dollars to the Police Force and establishing an officers’ club.
• An officer told Liu Zhichen that Lin Xiao qia had hanged himself during a shift change and was already dead when they found him.

Song Tianyao told Lin Yujing that her mother had died and that Lin Xiao qia had arranged the past plot against her, then asked her to sue the Lin Family for a share of its assets. Lin Yujing agreed, and Song Tianyao sent Nine-Tattooed Dragon to accompany her and Lawyer Ji.

• Song Tianyao gave Lin Yujing a registration form bearing her mother's photograph and explained that her mother had died in Java, Lin Xiao qia had killed himself, and the Lin Family might move to Taiwan.
• Lin Yujing rejected the idea of visiting the remaining Lin Family members and kept her mother's photograph.
• Song Tianyao asked Lin Yujing to sue the Lin Family for a share of its eighty million Hong Kong dollars, saying the money could become Feng Yunzhi's dowry.
• Lin Yujing agreed to file the suit despite worrying about the family scandal and Song Tianyao's debt.
• Song Tianyao called for Nine-Tattooed Dragon to accompany Lin Yujing and Lawyer Ji.

Song Chunzhong persuaded Chang Yue'e to transfer Shui Fong's bank deposits into his account as the police cracked down on the organization. Chang Yue'e agreed on the condition that he remained under watch and returned the money in Malaysia.

• Ah Zhen told Chang Yue'e that police had raided Shui Fong's halls and businesses and planned to freeze its bank deposits.
• Song Chunzhong offered to arrange passage out of Hong Kong for Su Wenting's family.
• Su Wenting's eldest daughter and Chang Yue'e refused to abandon the family's bank deposits.
• Song Chunzhong proposed transferring the deposits into his account and withdrawing them in Malaysia.
• Chang Yue'e agreed to the transfer, provided Song Chunzhong stayed under watch and returned the money, and offered him a ten percent reward.
• Lou Fengyun, Fu Xinniang, Shuyan and Shi Yin attended to Song Tianyao.

Song Tianyao explained how his Police Officers' Club would build influence within the Hong Kong Police Force while securing a valuable plot of land. The chapter then shifted to a debt collection at sea, where Song Chunzhong began throwing captives overboard as Chang Yue'e pleaded for their lives.

• Song Tianyao told Lou Fengyun that he had donated two million to the Police Force and planned to make her the boss lady of a members-only Police Officers' Club.
• Song Tianyao explained that he had secured Four Directions Street land cheaply and arranged a contract with loopholes that could let him reclaim the property.
• Sister Xiong interrupted Song Tianyao as he was about to invite Lou Fengyun to spend the night, saying someone had come to the factory to collect a debt.
• Song Chunzhong had Ah Zhen bound in a sack with rocks and thrown into the sea after the ship left Hong Kong waters.
• Song Chunzhong's men threw Su Wenting's fourteen-year-old son into the sea, and Chang Yue'e pleaded with him to spare the remaining captives.

Song Chunzhong left Chang Yue'e and the other women in the hands of sailors bound for Malaysia, then returned to Hong Kong with Lei Yingdong, who questioned his motives and identities. Back at Song Tianyao’s factory, a group of men arrived claiming the factory owed Chen Tai a million and demanding money for bail.

• Song Chunzhong assaulted Chang Yue'e, then handed the women over to the sailors to be taken to a mine in Malaysia.
• Song Chunzhong boarded Lei Yingdong’s freighter for Hong Kong and defended his revenge against Su Wenting’s family.
• Lei Yingdong wondered how many identities Song Chunzhong had as he watched him head to rest.
• Sister Xiong told Song Tianyao that debt collectors had come to the factory, and he went outside with Lou Fengyun.
• A bald young man told Brother Xiong that the factory owed Chen Tai a million and demanded bail money for Chen Tai and his arrested men.

Song Tianyao refused to pay Chen Tai’s men directly and sent them to Yan Hung for an answer, while he continued pressuring Lin Xiaojie over the Soda Factory. Chen Tai was bailed out by Handkerchief Qing, who said his gang had struggled without him.

• Chen Tai’s men came to Song Tianyao’s factory demanding money for bail and compensation, and Kam Shou-hong pretended to be a lawyer to get past Brother Xiong.
• Song Tianyao told Chen Tai’s bald messenger to wait outside Yau Ma Tei Police Station for Yan Hung, then mocked him about buying a wig.
• Ning Zikun followed Kam Shou-hong outside and offered to teach him tricks of the swindling trade.
• Song Tianyao told Lou Fengyun to tell Lin Xiaojie he would not discuss the Soda Factory while it remained sealed and default penalties continued to mount.
• Chen Tai was released on bail, promised the Harmony Heroes members still in custody that he would try to free them, and met Handkerchief Qing outside the prison.
• Handkerchief Qing told Chen Tai that he had arranged the bail and that his gang had lacked confidence while Chen Tai was locked up.

Lu Rongfang explained her earlier misjudgment of the Lin Family to Lu Yuanchun and shared her notes on Song Tianyao’s real-estate plans. Lu Yuanchun believed Song would wait at least six months before developing land and asked to meet him again to learn his next plans.

• Lu Rongfang apologized to Lu Yuanchun for advising her not to back Song Tianyao against the Lin Family.
• Lu Rongfang described the Lin Family’s collapse and explained why she doubted HSBC had truly funded Song Tianyao’s acquisition of Xizhen Properties.
• Lu Yuanchun asked Lu Rongfang what Song Tianyao would do next, and Lu Rongfang predicted he would enter real estate and showed her notes about Causeway Bay and Ngau Tau Shan.
• Lu Yuanchun said Song Tianyao would likely stockpile land and wait at least six months before developing it.
• Lu Yuanchun asked Lu Rongfang to arrange another meeting with Song Tianyao so she could hear his plans.

Song Tianyao told Lu Wenjin he was going to Japan and would leave the Lin Family lawsuit and his other business to others. In Japan, Wei Meixian questioned whether he had come to explore business, while Song Tianyao asked about geisha performances at their inn.

• Lu Wenjin said preparations for Lin Yujing's lawsuit were complete and asked Song Tianyao what he planned to do next.
• Song Tianyao said he had booked a flight to Japan and would leave the Lin Family's affairs to Lu Wenjin and his other unfinished business to Angie Pellis.
• Lu Wenjin's Devil Black Knifefish darted through the aquarium and swallowed the bloodworms.
• Song Tianyao arrived at a Japanese inn with Wei Meixian and had a kimono-clad maid help him remove his shoes.
• Wei Meixian questioned Song Tianyao about his claim that he had come to Japan to explore business, while he asked in Japanese whether the inn offered geisha performances.

Song Tianyao explained why he had come to Atami, seeing its tourists and high prices as evidence of Japanese consumers’ growing wealth and spending power. He left the group with a broader concern about Japan’s rapid industrial recovery under American support.

• Song Tianyao joked with Scribe Hui and Nine-Tattooed Dragon, then asked Wei Meixian whether he should visit Japanese factories or pursue American military orders.
• Wei Meixian advised Song Tianyao to visit major industrial cities such as Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka instead of Atami.
• Song Tianyao argued that Atami’s high prices and crowds showed that ordinary Japanese people had money to spend, and said he had another reason for coming there.
• Song Tianyao reflected on how American procurement orders, returned factories, and technology had rapidly strengthened Japan’s industry since the Korean War began.

Song Tianyao discussed Japan’s prosperity and planned to attend a business seminar, then offered Luo Zhuankun a chance to study financial markets in London and New York. The chapter ended when Song heard a drunken man harassing Wei Meixian and Scribe Hui and rushed out of the hot spring.

• Song Tianyao told Wei Meixian he wanted to attend a business management seminar in Hakone Town and learn about differences between Japanese, American, and Hong Kong business practices.
• Song Tianyao offered Luo Zhuankun two years and funding to study the financial markets in London and New York, while advising him to keep a low profile and wait for an opportunity in Hong Kong.
• Nine-Tattooed Dragon complained about the geisha performance and watched the maid attending to Song Tianyao.
• Two black men in camouflage uniforms blocked Wei Meixian and Scribe Hui and drunkenly harassed Wei Meixian.
• Song Tianyao recognized the drunken man’s voice, leaped out of the hot spring, and went to confront the situation.

Song Tianyao confronted American servicemen who tried to seize a maid, then admitted he had been too afraid to declare himself Chinese in Japan. In Hong Kong, Lu Wenjin warned Lu Wenhui that the Lu Family must avoid appearing to side with Song Tianyao while he prepares to represent Lin Yujing in court.

• Song Tianyao claimed British identity to deter an American serviceman from taking Wei Meixian, and another soldier pulled his companion away.
• The Black serviceman seized a maid and dragged her off despite Song Tianyao's warning, while Song refused Nine-Tattooed Dragon's offer to rescue her.
• Song Tianyao told Scribe Hui he felt ashamed for not openly identifying himself as Chinese on Japanese soil.
• Lu Wenhui asked Lu Wenjin why he was concerned about Song Tianyao leaving the Soda Factory to Peiying and Ah Sin.
• Lu Wenjin explained that the Soda Factory's profits were unimportant, but Ah Sin taking it over would make the Lu Family look aligned with Song Tianyao as Lu Wenjin prepared to represent Lin Yujing.

Song Tianyao attended a business seminar in Hakone with Scribe Hui and Wei Meixian, then paid to meet its keynote speaker, Xinmin Baohachi. The chapter also showed Lu Wenjin arranging a strategy around the Soda Factory and Yan Hung managing the Heavenly Palace Nightclub as he awaited Brother Lok.

• Lu Wenjin told Lu Wenhui to seek the release of the Soda Factory workers and keep the Lu Family out of buying the factory.
• Lu Wenjin said Song Tianyao would raise money to buy the Soda Factory and leave Angie Pellis vulnerable to a lawsuit over her treatment of Chinese workers.
• Lai Man-yau asked Yan Hung to arrange a private talk with Headless, and Yan Hung agreed.
• Yan Hung learned that Brother Lok from Sai Kung had come to support him at the Heavenly Palace Nightclub.
• Song Tianyao attended the Hakone business seminar with Scribe Hui and Wei Meixian, then paid eighteen thousand yen to dine with Xinmin Baohachi.

Song Tianyao discussed business ethics with Japanese economist Xinmin Baohachi and proposed a low-cost department store supported by local factories and community investment. Afterward, Scribe Hui challenged Song over helping Japanese workers, and Song defended his plans despite admitting he hated Japan too.

• Song Tianyao praised Xinmin Baohachi’s business ethics and asked why Japanese merchants ignored his ideas.
• Xinmin Baohachi explained that widespread credit sales trapped small merchants and customers in a cycle of rising prices and unpaid debts.
• Song Tianyao proposed opening an affordable department store in less developed regions, producing goods locally, hiring residents, and supporting schools and hospitals.
• Xinmin Baohachi encouraged Song Tianyao’s plan and agreed to recommend information about less prosperous regions in Japan.
• Scribe Hui confronted Song Tianyao about building factories and employing Japanese workers, citing his brother’s death in forced labor.
• Song Tianyao said he hated the Japanese too but argued that killing people would not avenge the Chinese who had died.

Song Tianyao explained his plan to exploit Japanese factories while concealing his involvement, then outlined how discount supermarkets could attract ordinary shoppers and undercut small grocery stores in Japan. He left Scribe Hui and Wei Meixian with instructions to keep the business low-key and hire Japanese workers.

• Song Tianyao told Scribe Hui that he planned to profit from factories in Japan while secretly poisoning the land and sea with industrial waste.
• Song Tianyao explained that Japanese partners and local governments would bear responsibility if the factories caused trouble, while his department stores would keep their reputations.
• Song Tianyao told Scribe Hui to act politely toward Japanese people and warned that Wei Meixian must cooperate or be replaced.
• Song Tianyao described discount supermarkets to Wei Meixian as stores offering ordinary people lower prices than small grocery shops.
• Song Tianyao explained that bulk cash purchases and promotions could draw customers in and drive grocery stores out of business.
• Song Tianyao advised keeping the supermarkets low-key, giving them Japanese-style names, and hiring Japanese workers.

Lam Kong told Yan Hung that A-Tai had gone to work for Lui Lok at Four Corners Pier, then refused Yan Hung’s attempts to learn more about the Police Officers’ Club. Yan Hung was left unable to finish explaining what he wanted from the club.

• Yan Hung explained that Lui Lok had secured Chen Tai’s release and hoped to earn a favor from Mr. Song or Yan Hung.
• Lam Kong asked whether Mr. Song knew A-Tai had gone with Lui Lok, and Yan Hung said he had not informed him because Mr. Song was in Japan.
• Yan Hung asked Lam Kong about the Police Officers’ Club, but Lam Kong declined to share information because they served different bosses.
• Lam Kong told Yan Hung that Mr. Song had established the club independently and would not let the Chu Family interfere, though he would help Yan Hung or Mr. Chu when needed.
• Yan Hung started to explain that Mr. Song should know something about his plans for the club, but stopped before finishing.

Song Tianyao’s plans for the Police Officers' Club put Lam Kong in position to challenge Yan Hung, who learned that his Mong Kok associates had been punished for human trafficking and ordered them to stop. In Macau, Song met Ho Hung-sang at Lin Fong Stadium, where Ho recalled the hardship China people faced during the war and Song asked about trouble with the oil refinery.

• Lam Kong warned Yan Hung that Mong Kok gang leaders were claiming Yan had a share in their human-smuggling business, then left the nightclub.
• Lam Kong told his men that they had sunk the gangsters who refused to pay and insisted that trafficking people would not be permitted on his turf.
• Yan Hung asked a Mong Kok Big Brother to turn his share into cash and deposit it in his wife's account, then told the man to stop the trafficking.
• Yan Hung learned that A Yue had taken his stepfather's surname and become Peng Yue, and sent a man to warn the smugglers to stop or leave Mong Kok.
• At Lin Fong Stadium, Ho Hung-sang described the wartime refuge reserved for Portuguese people and the suffering of China people outside.
• Song Tianyao asked Ho Hung-sang whether his recent trouble concerned the oil refinery.

Song Tianyao negotiated with Pedro Lobo over He Shiwen’s claim to the Soda Factory, while Lei Yingdong’s new ships let him capitalize on sharply rising freight rates to North Korea and Liaodong.

• Song Tianyao told Ho Hung-sang that Macau’s hostility and Feng Laorong’s pressure had forced Mr. He to withdraw his refinery shares, and that he might return to Hong Kong if his business failed.
• Pedro Lobo told Song Tianyao that the He Family wanted compensation for its role in helping the Hong Kong newspapers publish the news, and Song offered He Shiwen cash, land, or the Soda Factory for eight million Hong Kong dollars.
• Song Tianyao brushed aside Pedro Lobo’s warning about He Shiwen’s status and said he might go to Britain to get engaged and buy titles for his girlfriend.
• Lengzai admired the cargo aboard Lei Yingdong’s new freighter, and Lei Yingdong explained that he had spent most of his earnings buying and certifying two oceangoing ships.
• Lei Yingdong noted that freight rates to Liaodong and North Korea had soared to two hundred US dollars per ton, making even low-value cargo profitable to transport.

Lei Yingdong bought two freighters to profit from shipping embargoed goods to North Korea, while Zeng Chunsheng tried to rally Yu Shiting against him. Song Tianyao later learned that one of Lei Yingdong’s ships had sunk while golfing with MacIntosh.

• Lei Yingdong bought two loaded freighters and planned to run them for two months before selling them to Shanghai businessmen and taking his crew ashore.
• Zeng Chunsheng complained that Lei Yingdong had taken ships reserved by Wei Qing and urged Yu Shiting to help confront him.
• Yu Shiting refused to act against Lei Yingdong and told Zeng Chunsheng to let him make money.
• Zeng Chunsheng left Yu Shiting’s residence and muttered that he had already made other arrangements.
• Song Tianyao learned that one of Lei Yingdong’s ships had sunk while he was playing golf with MacIntosh.

After learning that Lei Danzi’s cargo ship had been sunk in the Taiwan Strait, Song Tianyao asked Huang Liu to investigate the attack and find his missing eldest uncle while preparing to travel to Britain with Angie Pellis. Lei Danzi later met He Xian, who offered to buy his remaining goods at a premium and lend him money.

• MacIntosh learned that a Hong Kong-registered cargo ship had been sunk, and Song Tianyao asked Nine-Tattooed Dragon to identify it and summon Brother Six.
• Song Tianyao arranged a banquet for Xiu'er’s school community before her baptism and planned a romantic evening with Angie Pellis ahead of their trip to Britain.
• Huang Liu reported that Lei Danzi’s medicine shipment had been sunk by a sea mine, while Lei Danzi had survived and was returning to Macau with his other ship.
• Song Tianyao told Huang Liu to investigate who had attacked Lei Danzi and to search for his missing eldest uncle.
• He Xian offered Lei Danzi a twenty percent markup for his remaining cargo and said he could lend him money.

Lei Yingdong returned to Hong Kong after He Xian’s men unloaded his remaining ship, while He Xian and Song Tianyao’s associates discussed the sinking and its possible consequences. Huang Liu warned Chu Xiaoxin to keep his distance from the Shanghai men, then returned to Song Tianyao’s villa and found Qi Weiwen and Gao Lao Cheng waiting outside.

• He Xian paid Lei Yingdong for the cargo and warned him that losses at sea were part of doing business, while Huang Ziya reported that A-Liu had returned to Hong Kong and Song Tianyao was in Britain.
• Lei Yingdong boarded the Xingye Hao, gave Lengzai the suitcase, and said he would find a way to avenge A-Mao and the others after they returned to Hong Kong.
• Huang Liu told Chu Xiaoxin that Song Tianyao believed he should keep his distance from the Shanghai men while the ship’s destruction was investigated.
• Chu Xiaoxin questioned why he should avoid suspicion, and Huang Liu said Song Tianyao would help Lei Yingdong.
• Huang Liu returned to Song Tianyao’s villa, where he found Qi Weiwen and Gao Lao Cheng waiting outside.

Gu Tiancheng’s friend Li Angju summoned him to Xiangshun Mahjong School because the police were staging a raid, while Gu remained focused on his work and a planned negotiation across the harbor. Gu entered the crowded casino to find Uncle Xiang and learn what was happening.

• Li Angju rushed to Kuixing Pavilion and told Gu Tiancheng that the police were staging a raid and Uncle Xiang wanted to see him.
• Gu Tiancheng dismissed Li Angju’s alarm, teased him about the newspapers on his chair, and left for Xiangshun Mahjong School with him.
• Gu Tiancheng and Li Angju passed through the school’s back entrance, where the lookouts told Gu to ask Uncle Xiang about the raid.
• Li Angju told the lookouts that Gu would treat the brothers to dinner after their shift and urged them to bring weapons.
• Gu Tiancheng walked through the crowded mahjong floor and hurried upstairs to the second floor.

Gu Tiancheng went to meet Smiling-Faced Xiang at Xiangshun Mahjong School while Li Angju courted the casino’s enforcers and arranged a dinner in Gu Tiancheng’s name. The chapter explained the casino’s thirteen tiers and ended with Gu Tiancheng entering the liaison’s room.

• Gu Tiancheng greeted Che Qi Shan, the leader of the casino’s patrolmen, and went upstairs to see Uncle Xiang.
• Li Angju gave cigarettes to Che Qi Shan and the other patrolmen, invited them to dinner, and thanked them for backing Gu Tiancheng.
• Che Qi Shan agreed to attend the dinner and promised the patrolmen would support Gu Tiancheng if talks with the Shek Tong Tsui group went badly.
• Gu Tiancheng entered the partitioned room where Smiling-Faced Xiang was listening to the radio.
• The chapter described the five upper tiers and the eight lower tiers of a major gambling den.

Gu Tiancheng learned that the police planned a raid on Smiling-Faced Xiang’s gambling den and was assigned to arrange a staged arrest and entertain the officers. After leaving Xiang, he told Lai Angju that Detective Chief Inspector Yan Hung would bring an assistant superintendent to put on a show.

• Smiling-Faced Xiang recalled Gu Tiancheng from his brief illness and explained that the police planned to raid the gambling den that afternoon.
• Gu Tiancheng suspected the raid was retaliation for the small shoulder-money payment given to a detective sergeant.
• Gu Tiancheng proposed reporting forty-nine thousand dollars in gambling money and volunteered to take the blame for the operation.
• Smiling-Faced Xiang assigned Gu Tiancheng to host the police and spend a thousand dollars from the cash room on entertaining them.
• Gu Tiancheng told Lai Angju that Yan Hung and a foreign assistant superintendent were coming to stage a raid.

Gu Tiancheng prepared Xiangshun Mahjong School for a staged police raid, arranging to clear its guests and move most of its gambling capital before the officers arrived. Yan Hung led the precisely timed raid, and the chapter ended as Gu Tiancheng went to greet him.

• Gu Tiancheng told Che Qi Shan how to compensate and clear the guests, then ordered the He Yong Yi men to leave forty thousand dollars and the accounts at the Yuehao Silver Vault while moving the rest to the Wanghao Silver Vault.
• Gu Tiancheng arranged the casino to look busy and unprepared, transferred the cash and accounts, and wrote a false account showing only forty thousand dollars in gambling capital.
• At five o'clock, Yan Hung led plainclothes and uniformed officers into Xiangshun Mahjong School and shouted that they were conducting a surprise raid on an illegal casino.
• The disguised He Yong Yi underlings obeyed the officers' commands, and Gu Tiancheng approached Yan Hung after the British policeman entered.