Chapter Summaries

Song Tianyao raised Hong Lai-sau’s salary and brought him to meet licensed stockbroker Luo Zhuankun, who would provide stock-market news for his newspaper. Luo’s past showed how he had fallen from managing a wealthy merchant’s gold to running a meager securities firm, while Song revealed that he controlled several similarly shabby firms.

• Song Tianyao offered Hong Lai-sau a monthly salary of twelve hundred and advised him to support newspaper-industry figures without taking a political side.
• Song Tianyao took Hong Lai-sau to Wealth-Through Securities and introduced him to Luo Zhuankun as the editor-in-chief of China Hong Kong Business Weekly.
• Luo Zhuankun mistook Hong Lai-sau for a stockbroker and joked that the newspaper might have printed something that got him beaten.
• Song Tianyao explained that Luo would supply stock-market news for the paper and revealed he had six other licensed securities companies like Luo’s.
• Luo Zhuankun’s history showed that after losing his gold-trading livelihood, he had tried to enter securities trading but lived frugally while seeking a licensed brokerage opportunity.

Luo Zhuankun used a rented broker’s license and his knowledge of Shanghainese and the stock market to build a small client base among Shanghai people in Hong Kong. After reuniting with Song Tianyao, he took charge of Wealth-Through Securities and joined Song’s plan to create a stock index while acquiring shares in Xizhen Properties.

• Luo Zhuankun rented a struggling British broker’s license for a month and translated daily stock information from English into Chinese.
• Luo Zhuankun used his fluent Shanghainese and knowledge of Shanghai to attract clients and earn commissions by recommending stocks.
• Song Tianyao later bought seven exchange membership licenses and placed Luo Zhuankun in charge of Wealth-Through Securities.
• Song Tianyao planned to publish a stock index to guide retail investors while secretly acquiring Xizhen Properties shares, and Luo Zhuankun wanted to become the index’s creator.
• Luo Zhuankun and Song Tianyao joined forces, each pursuing his own ambitions through the stock market.

Lam Kong discussed his new club and a reward for information that helped Sai Wan Police Station arrest two armed robbers. He brought Zhao Wenye to the Golden Source Club for a meeting with his associates.

• Zhao Wenye visited Lam Kong after payday and offered to take him out for drinks, but Lam Kong invited him to see his new club instead.
• Lee Jusheng told Lam Kong that a tip had helped Sai Wan Police Station arrest two robbers and recover five guns, and said Brother Sang would send him fifty thousand dollars.
• Lam Kong complained that Lee Jusheng was keeping much of the reward, then took Zhao Wenye to the Golden Source Club on Arbuthnot Street.
• At the club, Lam Kong greeted the women and his plainclothes officer before learning that the meeting attendees were waiting upstairs.
• Lam Kong invited Zhao Wenye upstairs, saying information from the Marine Police Anti-Smuggling Squad could be useful.

Lam Kong established a club in Central where jianghu men could trade information for territory and police protection, then forced them to accept his rules. Song Tianyao wondered why Lu Peiying had offered to introduce him to a girl, and the chapter left the girl's identity unknown.

• Lam Kong awarded Flathead Ping the gambling and opium den business on Li Yuen Street East for providing useful information.
• Lam Kong defended informing on armed robbers and offered club members Marine Police protection in exchange for information.
• Lam Kong warned members to provide information or money within three months or be expelled and have their territory divided among the others.
• Lam Kong demanded that the jianghu men acknowledge his terms and ended the meeting.
• Song Tianyao questioned why Lu Peiying had offered to introduce him to a girl and considered who might have prompted her.
• Lu Peiying gave Song Tianyao an address and telephone number without revealing the girl's identity.

Song Tianyao learned that Lu Peiying had arranged a six-person dinner so he could meet a woman interested in him, but he rejected the idea of marrying someone who expected him to leave his other women behind. He still went to Hard Rock to honor Lu Peiying and found an unusual Western music restaurant.

• Chu Xiaoxin explained the six-person dinner matchmaking method to Song Tianyao, and Song teased him about his supposed experience with women.
• Lu Peiying told Song Tianyao that a friend wanted to meet him and knew he already had three women, but expected them to make room for each other if they married.
• Song Tianyao decided he would not pursue the woman, believing her interest might come from a wealthy businessman seeking to marry his daughter to him.
• At six fifty, Huang Liu drove Song Tianyao to Hard Rock in Causeway Bay, where Song entered and found a rustic log-cabin restaurant with a woman singing folk music.

Song Tianyao attended a six-person matchmaking dinner and discovered that Kong Wing-yan and Alice were among the guests. The group waited for the final attendee as the restaurant owner explained they could grill their own food.

• Song Tianyao arrived at the Western-style restaurant and recognized Kong Wing-yan, who introduced herself to Robert as Lou Fengyun.
• Robert and Chris Chuang introduced themselves, and Kong Wing-yan and Alice greeted each other and Song Tianyao.
• Alice said Zhang Yuqi had moved to Australia, leaving her in Hong Kong with a large payout.
• Alice asked why the meal had not started and noted that one woman was still missing.
• A voice from the back door invited the group to try the roast meat and explained that they could barbecue food in the backyard.

Song Tianyao attended a dinner for six and met Tiffany, a University of Hong Kong teacher who had recently returned from studying in the United States. After Kong Wing-yan called him a womanizer, he left the table and took the singer’s guitar.

• Tiffany arrived with roast meat, introduced herself, and joined the dinner.
• Kong Wing-yan quietly stopped Alice from revealing Song Tianyao’s real name.
• Tiffany said she had graduated from Columbia University and taught Japanese history at the University of Hong Kong’s Chinese College.
• Song Tianyao admitted he had dropped out of Man Chi College, was not a lawyer, and owned the British-German Western Pharmacy.
• Kong Wing-yan called Song Tianyao a womanizer, easing Robert’s and Chris Chuang’s initial hostility toward him.
• Song Tianyao left the others to chat, traded a beer for the singer’s guitar, and put on a cowboy hat.

Song Tianyao entertained Robert and the others with a guitar performance before discussing Kong Wing-yan’s resignation and offering her a chance to manage his wig-industry companies. Kong Wing-yan considered his offer while Song Tianyao explained how much he relied on Angie Pellis’s advice.

• Song Tianyao sang “Take Me Home, Country Roads” and joked with Robert, Alice, and Tiffany about learning it to court a girl.
• Kong Wing-yan told Song Tianyao she had resigned and was looking for someone to marry, and he offered to help her find a new job.
• Song Tianyao offered Kong Wing-yan a role managing his wig-industry companies after Angie Pellis finished handling their current business.
• Kong Wing-yan questioned Song Tianyao’s attachment to Angie Pellis, and he said he relied on her advice because he had few people he could use at his side.

Song Tianyao attended a dinner with Robert, Chris Chuang, Kong Wing-yan, Alice, and Tiffany, while Robert tried to assess him and Chris pursued Alice. After the women left in separate cars, Robert told Chris that Song seemed unlike the ruthless businessman he had heard about and wondered which woman was interested in him.

• Kong Wing-yan asked whether a less sharp woman could ruin Song Tianyao’s business, and he said the company could develop steadily once Foreign Girl finished her work.
• At the dinner, Alice repeatedly asked Song Tianyao to sing, while Robert chatted with him about work and current affairs and Chris focused on Alice.
• After the bonfire ended, Kong Wing-yan rode with Song Tianyao, while Alice accepted a lift from Tiffany in her pale blue Isabella.
• Once Song Tianyao and the women had driven away, Robert dropped his drunken act and teased Chris for spending the evening courting Alice.
• Robert told Chris that Song Tianyao seemed friendly and unassuming rather than like the ambitious businessman described in rumors, then speculated that Song might become involved with one of the women.

Song Tianyao and Angie Pellis marked one year since he hired her with a lavish dinner, remembering how they had met as two struggling people in Hong Kong. The chapter left them together over the meal, reflecting on how much their lives had changed.

• Chris Chuang hurried off to seek the big-breasted girl's contact details, while Robert warned him she might not be as innocent as he thought.
• Robert refused to spread the inside information, suspecting its source meant to use him to cause trouble for Song Tianyao.
• Song Tianyao and Angie Pellis prepared for dinner together after Huang Liu inspected the food delivery.
• Song Tianyao reminded Angie Pellis that he had hired her one year earlier, and they recalled their difficult beginnings and their success since.

Song Tianyao promised Angie Pellis that he would meet her family at Christmas and intended to marry her after settling his affairs. A call from Qi Weiwen brought him to the hospital to collect his angered grandfather, Song Chengqi, and they returned to Kuixing Pavilion to discuss what had happened.

• Angie Pellis told Song Tianyao that her parents wanted to meet him after she said he had transferred nearly seven hundred thousand pounds into her name.
• Song Tianyao agreed to visit Angie Pellis's family at Christmas and said he planned to marry her within a year.
• Qi Weiwen called Song Tianyao and explained that a wealthy-looking customer had visited Song Advisor, who became furious after speaking with him and was taken to Tung Wah Hospital.
• Song Tianyao and Huang Liu went to Tung Wah Hospital, where Song Chengqi insisted that he was only briefly angered and did not need to stay for observation.
• Song Tianyao drove Song Chengqi and Qi Weiwen back to Kowloon City and escorted Song Chengqi to Kuixing Pavilion, then sent Qi Weiwen and Huang Liu downstairs.

Song Tianyao learned that his estranged eldest uncle, Song Chunzhong, had returned from overseas to invite Song Chengqi to Malaysia, but Song Chengqi drove him away. The chapter ended with Song Chengqi refusing to reconcile with his two surviving sons, leaving Song Tianyao unable to change his grandfather’s mind.

• Song Tianyao asked Song Chengqi who had upset him, and Song Chengqi revealed that his visitor had been his eldest son, Song Chunzhong.
• Song Chengqi explained that Song Chunzhong had fled Hong Kong, survived the war overseas, and returned as a casino manager hoping to take his father to Malaysia.
• Song Chengqi said he had struck Song Chunzhong and sent him away because he believed his eldest son had not truly changed.
• Song Tianyao defended Song Chunzhong, arguing that his father’s absence and the company he kept had shaped him, and that his return showed he wanted to care for Song Chengqi.
• Song Chengqi insisted he would never rely on Song Chunzhong or Song Chunliang, and Song Tianyao left for bed, unable to sway him.

Song Tianyao offered Qi Weiwen a place at his side or help establishing herself in the jianghu, but she rejected his advances and chose to live independently. They left the conversation on friendly terms at Kowloon Restaurant.

• Song Chengqi warned Song Tianyao not to let people misunderstand his relationship with Qi Weiwen if he would not give her a proper place.
• Song Tianyao and Huang Liu went to Kowloon Restaurant, where they found Qi Weiwen after she had spoken with Yan Hung and Golden-Tooth Lei.
• Song Tianyao gave money to the restaurant's young servers and then asked Huang Liu to leave him alone with Qi Weiwen.
• Song Tianyao offered to help Qi Weiwen drive Ge Zhaohuang out of the Walled City or to take her beyond the jianghu as one of his women.
• Qi Weiwen declined Song Tianyao's offer, saying she preferred to live independently, and Song joked to ease the awkwardness.

Lou Fengyun and the factory workers restrained a man claiming to be Song Tianyao’s eldest paternal uncle while Ning Zikun accused him of being the con artist Feng Yifa who had betrayed their old associates. Song Tianyao arrived at the factory as the two men’s identities and history remained unresolved.

• Lou Fengyun waited at the factory while Sister Xiong and two night-shift workers kept the battered middle-aged man from leaving.
• Ning Zikun accused the man of being Feng Yifa, who had stolen nearly seven hundred thousand silver dollars and left their fellow con artists to die.
• The man denied betraying Ning Zikun and insisted that he was Song Tianyao’s eldest paternal uncle.
• Sister Xiong stopped the men from fighting and drove away the dogs as Ning Zikun continued shouting.
• Song Tianyao arrived with Huang Liu and told Brother Xiong to put the dogs back in their cages.

Song Tianyao reunited with his long-absent eldest uncle, Song Chunzhong, after Ning Zikun mistook him for an impostor. Song Chunzhong explained that news of Song Tianyao’s business success in Malaya had brought him back to Hong Kong, and Song Tianyao asked whether he planned to leave again.

• Lou Fengyun told Song Tianyao that a man claiming to be his eldest uncle had arrived and that Ning Zikun had attacked him.
• Song Tianyao confirmed that the man was Song Chunzhong, then greeted his uncle and brought him into the office.
• Song Chunzhong said he had heard Song Tianyao’s name in Malaya and returned to Hong Kong to see him.
• Song Chunzhong explained that he had learned about Song Tianyao through reports of Zhang Yujie’s extradition and had visited Zhang in prison to confirm his identity.
• Song Tianyao asked Song Chunzhong whether he intended to leave Hong Kong again.

Song Chunzhong explained how he had fled Hong Kong, grown rich through fraud, and joined Ning Zikun’s group to plan a major scam in Shanghai. He began recounting the Heavenly Immortal Scheme that led to Ning’s losses, but had not yet explained the betrayal that made Ning seek revenge.

• Song Chunzhong said he planned to return to Malaysia after seeing his family and learning that his grandfather was well.
• Song Tianyao invited Ning Zikun inside, and Ning accused Song Chunzhong of betraying their former partners and causing several deaths.
• Song Chunzhong told Song Tianyao how he had fled to Malaysia, returned to China during the war, and made money by reselling medical supplies on Hainan Island.
• Song Chunzhong described losing most of his fortune in Chongqing and rebuilding it through scams alongside Ning Zikun’s group.
• Song Chunzhong said he and other swindlers joined forces in Shanghai to carry out a Heavenly Immortal Scheme, with Chen Zhifeng and Luo Zongchang among its leaders.

Chen Zhifeng, Song Chunzhong, Luo Zongchang and Ning Zikun carried out a six-month mining-company share scam, collecting more than 1.2 million silver dollars. On the eve of the subscription period’s end, the leaders gathered on the Shanghai Bund and awaited the transfer of the money to a foreign bank before splitting up.

• Chen Zhifeng built a reputation among Shanghai’s prominent figures while Luo Zongchang and Ning Zikun planted accomplices in their households and Song Chunzhong staged mining operations in Western Hunan.
• Chen Zhifeng hosted a banquet, presented detailed company documents and invited guests to invest in a patriotic mining venture with one million silver dollars in initial capital.
• Guests subscribed for shares after hearing reports that the company was buying mines and surveying them, while planted servants and mistresses spread word of prominent investors joining in.
• Over six months, the swindlers secretly and openly collected more than 1.2 million silver dollars, spending less than one hundred thousand on the scheme.
• Chen Zhifeng, Song Chunzhong and Luo Zongchang gathered on the Shanghai Bund and waited for their bank accomplices to transfer the funds to a foreign bank before they divided the money and left.

Song Chunzhong recounted how the Shanghai Bund swindle ended with his partners arrested and Ning Zikun suspecting him of betrayal. After persuading Ning to abandon revenge, Song Chunzhong privately admitted to Song Tianyao that he had orchestrated the entire scheme and pocketed the missing money.

• Song Chunzhong said police arrested Chen Zhifeng, Luo Zongchang, and most of their crews while he escaped, leaving nearly 700,000 silver dollars missing.
• Ning Zikun accused Song Chunzhong of betraying the other crews, and Song showed a real gunshot scar while claiming his disciples had framed him.
• Song Tianyao urged Ning Zikun to let the matter go, and Ning left without attacking Song Chunzhong.
• Song Tianyao sent Lou Fengyun to check on Ning Zikun after he left.
• Song Chunzhong admitted to Song Tianyao that he had tipped off the police, kept the 700,000 silver dollars, killed two disciples, and staged the gunshot wound to lure out survivors.

Song Tianyao distrusted Song Chunzhong despite his claims of wealth in Malaysia and declined to become involved with him. Meanwhile, Lu Rongfang dismissed reports about Song Tianyao’s stock buying as exaggerated and prepared to ignore them.

• Song Chunzhong gave Song Tianyao his business card and said he owned a rubber estate and cement factory in Malaysia, but Song Tianyao treated his story cautiously.
• Song Chunzhong offered to leave his Malaysian holdings to Song Tianyao in his will and asked him to care for Grandpa on his behalf.
• Song Chunzhong left for a hotel before returning to Malaysia, and Song Tianyao refused to ask him to stay because he suspected his uncle had an ulterior motive.
• Lu Rongfang reviewed stock information about Song Tianyao and concluded that his share purchases were too small to threaten the Lin Family.
• The chapter described Lu Rongfang’s wealthy background, her move from Nanyang to Hong Kong with her brother Lu Rongkang, and her habit of making profitable investments.

Lu Rongfang visited Bird's Beak with Pan Guoyang to explore a way to make money, while wondering why she had received an envelope revealing Song Tianyao's stock-market plans. As she considered the government's possible land reclamation project, she suddenly realized something and began pacing, leaving Pan Guoyang bewildered.

• Pan Guoyang arrived at the Lu Family home, where Lu Rongfang recruited him to drive her to Bird's Beak in Causeway Bay in exchange for a share of their prospective profits.
• A young woman arrived at the Lu Family mansion, and Lu Rongfang greeted her as Spring Girl; Pan Guoyang was captivated, but Lu Rongfang kicked him for presuming to court her.
• On the drive, Lu Rongfang wondered why someone had sent her an envelope detailing Song Tianyao's market moves and reasoned that shorting Xizhen Properties might be profitable.
• At Bird's Beak, Lu Rongfang proposed buying or renting dump trucks for a possible government reclamation project, then abruptly exclaimed that she had realized something.
• Lu Rongfang paced in circles repeating “land reclamation,” while Pan Guoyang pointed out that they lacked the capital for a major project.