Chapter Summaries

Song Tianyao welcomed Angie Pellis, Juliana Aiber, and Jonathan Gore to Hong Kong, then brought Gore to Wealth-Through Securities to lead the trading operation for the takeover of Xizhen Properties. After reviewing the prepared documents, Gore asked whether that was all.

• Angie Pellis introduced Juliana Aiber and Jonathan Gore to Song Tianyao, explaining that Gore needed the commission because his investments had failed and he was near bankruptcy.
• Song Tianyao welcomed the visitors, arranged for their stay, and told Angie Pellis that he would take over the work while she showed Juliana Aiber around Hong Kong.
• At Wealth-Through Securities, Jonathan Gore surveyed his new office as the chapter described his decades of trading experience and recent financial troubles.
• Song Tianyao handed Gore the documents for the Xizhen Properties takeover operation and gave him the office, while Luo Zhuankun watched him review the files.
• After reading the documents for an hour and a half, Jonathan Gore asked if that was all, and Luo Zhuankun offered to obtain anything else he needed.

Jonathan Gore rejected Luo Zhuankun’s plan to acquire Xizhen Properties through stock-market manipulation and outlined a strategy centered on pressuring Jardine and the Lin Family. After Song Tianyao appointed him general manager, Gore ordered Luo to halt the existing operation and buy shares in Prosperity Rubber.

• Jonathan Gore called Luo Zhuankun’s acquisition plan childish and said they should first approach the Lin Family and Jardine for their shares.
• Luo Zhuankun explained that the Lin Family had the right of first refusal on Jardine’s shares, but Jonathan Gore argued that a high premium could overcome that obstacle.
• Jonathan Gore advised openly asking Jardine to sell at a large premium to pressure the Lin Family into reacting first.
• Song Tianyao appointed Jonathan Gore general manager of Zhaofeng Trading.
• Jonathan Gore told Luo Zhuankun to stop buying Xizhen Properties shares and instead buy Prosperity Rubber shares, despite Luo’s objection that the Lin Family used that company to raise money to buy Jardine’s shares.

Jonathan Gore directed Luo Zhuankun to buy Prosperity Rubber shares and keep both Prosperity Rubber and Xizhen Properties rising. The Lin brothers met John Keswick at Jardine's Hong Kong office as he faced the loss of Jardine's mainland assets and the consequences of his failed pressure campaign against China.

• Jonathan Gore told Luo Zhuankun to acquire eight to ten percent of Prosperity Rubber and keep its shares and Xizhen Properties rising.
• Lin Xiaoze, Lin Xiaohe, and Lin Xiaosen met John Keswick at the Jardine Building after he declined their invitation to lunch.
• John Keswick greeted the brothers warmly and discussed their families and social gatherings while concealing his worries.
• John Keswick recalled that he had returned from Beijing without securing Jardine's mainland interests and had been meeting Morse to discuss Jardine's and HSBC's assets.
• John Keswick had threatened to take Jardine's confiscated assets issue to the British government, but the outbreak of the Korean War left him facing China's confrontation with British and American forces.

John Keswick agreed to sell Jardine’s 24% stake in Xizhen Properties to the Lin Family only if they gave him Union Soda Company and 100 million Hong Kong dollars. The Lin brothers refused to give up the soda business and planned to raise more cash, then saw Song Tianyao arrive at Jardine House to meet Keswick.

• John Keswick rejected the Lin Family’s share-buyback offer unless they transferred Union Soda Company and paid 100 million Hong Kong dollars.
• Lin Xiaohe and Lin Xiaoze agreed they could negotiate the cash payment but would not surrender the soda company.
• Lin Xiaohe proposed offering Keswick 150 million Hong Kong dollars and asked Lin Xiaosen to see whether Studwell and Tang Boqi could raise 100 million through Prosperity Rubber.
• Lin Xiaohe spotted Song Tianyao arriving at Jardine House with an elderly Englishman.
• Lin Xiaoze urged Lin Xiaosen to make Studwell and Tang Boqi move faster on raising funds.

Song Tianyao visited Xianyu Shuan's grave on the first anniversary of his burial and remembered how A Shuan had saved his life. He left flowers and spoke to his friend, while the Lin Family's struggle to raise cash against Song Tianyao's offer for Jardine's Xizhen Properties stake continued elsewhere.

• The Lin Family learned that Zhaofeng Trading had offered Jardine 180 million Hong Kong dollars for its 24 percent stake in Xizhen Properties, and Lin Xiaoze ordered Lin Xiaosen to press Studwell for cash.
• Studwell told Tang Boqi that the Lin Family wanted 80 to 100 million Hong Kong dollars from Prosperity Rubber, but Tang said their 10 million could not push the share price high enough.
• Tang Boqi proposed using a genuine 15 million Hong Kong dollar European order to boost Prosperity Rubber's share price, then sinking the shipment at sea to conceal the scheme.
• Song Tianyao visited Xianyu Shuan's grave with Huang Liu on the first anniversary of A Shuan's burial.
• Sister Fen and Wu Xiu'er greeted Song Tianyao before leaving the cemetery, and he placed calla lilies beneath the gravestone and spoke to A Shuan.

Song Tianyao visited A Shuan’s grave, then reunited with Sister Fen and Wu Xiu'er before encountering Madam Chu and Chu Xiaozhi at the cemetery. The chapter ended with Chu Xiaozhi greeting Song Tianyao and their easy rapport becoming clear.

• Song Tianyao chatted with A Shuan at his grave, leaving cigarettes, food, and beer before promising to return the following year.
• Song Tianyao found Sister Fen and Wu Xiu'er waiting at the foot of the hill and offered to drive them, while Wu Xiu'er invited him to dinner.
• Sister Fen reflected on Song Tianyao’s care for her and Xiu'er and his efforts to arrange A Shuan’s burial in the Happy Valley cemetery.
• Madam Chu arrived with Sister Hong and Chu Xiaozhi to pay respects to her late brother and asked Song Tianyao about Wu Xiu'er.
• Chu Xiaozhi greeted Song Tianyao, who politely protested that he was not worthy of being called Brother Yiu.

Zheng Zhizhong led Su Wenting and Wo On Lok’s bosses and Red Poles through his rubber plantation in New Fuzhou to show them his yellow arsenic factory and discuss future business. The group reached the factory, where its pungent smell prompted them to look toward Pointy-Headed Lang.

• Zheng Zhizhong welcomed Su Wenting and the Wo On Lok party to his rubber plantation after hosting them in Kuching.
• Su Wenting’s subordinate questioned why Zheng had arranged rickshaws, and Zheng explained that he wanted them to experience Malay drivers pulling them.
• Su Wenting asked why Zheng employed mostly Malays, and Zheng said Chinese workers often left to start competing businesses.
• Zheng led the party through the rubber grove toward the factory so they could inspect its yellow arsenic production.
• The pungent smell near the factory made Su Wenting and several older bosses cover their noses and look at Pointy-Headed Lang.

Su Wenting and Wo On Lok’s Big Brothers inspected Zheng Zhizhong’s heroin factory in a Malaysian rubber plantation and learned how much it could produce. When British military police arrived after a complaint from the Opium Prohibition Association, Zheng Zhizhong said production had to stop temporarily and proposed continuing their deal in Kuching or Sandakan.

• Pointy-Headed Lang recognized the factory’s smell, and Zheng Zhizhong explained why he kept armed guards on the rubber plantation.
• Zheng Zhizhong showed the visitors opium base bricks and described the heroin-making process, then claimed the factory could produce sixty jin of heroin a day.
• A subordinate told Zheng Zhizhong that a British man had arrived with military police, and four of Su Wenting’s Red Poles followed Zheng outside.
• Zheng Zhizhong returned and said the British had warned him to halt production until investigators checked a complaint that he was growing opium and refining drugs.
• Su Wenting and the others agreed to leave for Kuching or Sandakan to continue discussing the deal.

Zheng Zhizhong sent Su Wenting and the Wo On Lok men back to Kuching with rubber seeds disguised among local specialties, then arranged for British military police to arrest them. The men faced summary execution for smuggling a prohibited strategic material as Zheng left them behind.

• Zheng Zhizhong gave the Wo On Lok men local specialties as an apology and hurried them back toward Kuching while his men prepared to hide the factory equipment.
• At New Fuzhou station, British military police inspected passengers and their belongings, but failed to find the guns the Wo On Lok men carried.
• Zheng Zhizhong locked himself in the train carriage toilet and counted down as dozens of armed military police surrounded Su Wenting and the others.
• Two Wo On Lok Red Poles reached for their guns and were shot dead, while the military police arrested and searched the remaining men.
• Zheng Zhizhong revealed that the specialties contained more than a kilogram of prohibited high-quality original rubber seed and accused the men of trying to smuggle it to Mainland China.
• Zheng Zhizhong said he had reported the Wo On Lok men to Captain Willie and left the carriage as the military police prepared to execute them.

Jonathan Gore ordered Luo Zhuankun to buy up Prosperity Rubber shares and drive their price higher before selling, while Studwell and Tang Boqi prepared to cash out and use the proceeds to create a genuine rubber export order. Studwell suspected someone was manipulating the stock but reassured Tang that he would recommend him for his position after the scheme was complete.

• Jonathan Gore ordered Luo Zhuankun to increase his stake in Prosperity Rubber to twelve percent, push the share price to 2.2 dollars, and sell all the shares.
• Luo Zhuankun helped push Prosperity Rubber's share price to 2.21 by the market's close the next day.
• Studwell and Tang Boqi planned to sell 6.8 million shares at 2.3 dollars and use the fifteen million Hong Kong dollars to buy Prosperity Rubber's inventory through a British company.
• Studwell told Tang Boqi that the stock seemed to be rising too quickly, but Tang blamed wealthy investors from Shanghai.
• Studwell promised to recommend Tang for his position after the scheme, saying he intended to retire in Britain.

Tang Boqi and Studwell struggled to keep Prosperity Rubber’s share price from collapsing after a wave of heavy selling, which Tang blamed on Song Tianyao. Tang realized Song was exploiting the Lin Family’s greed to draw them into an escalating financial trap, but Studwell still believed they could recover.

• Tang Boqi declined Studwell’s suggestion that he work for the Lin Family, saying he planned to start his own business after the affair was over.
• Heavy sell orders drove Prosperity Rubber’s share price down, forcing Tang Boqi and Studwell to spend their available funds supporting it.
• Tang told Studwell that Song Tianyao had profited from their need to raise cash, while Studwell reassured him and considered seeking more funds from the bank.
• Tang recognized that Song had sold at a precise price, leaving them to choose between injecting more money and abandoning Prosperity Rubber.
• As Tang left the company, he concluded that Song was using temptation and greed to draw the Lin Family into an escalating trap, then hailed a taxi.

Song Tianyao visited the injured Lam Kong, promised him a future police promotion, and gave him money while explaining the roles he had arranged for Lai Man-yau and Yan Hung. He then returned to the Long Light Wig Factory and brought Sister Xiong into the kitchen to discuss serious business, leaving the matter unexplained.

• Song Tianyao told Lam Kong about the attacks on Lai Man-yau’s properties, the inspections of Dongguan businesses, and the negotiations over the dispute.
• Song Tianyao promised Lam Kong Yan Hung’s Detective Chief Inspector post in Mong Kok, a future promotion, and three hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars.
• Song Tianyao explained that Lai Man-yau would become Chief Detective Chief Inspector of Hong Kong Island District because he had dealt with Lee Jusheng for Song Tianyao.
• Song Tianyao returned to the Long Light Wig Factory, where Sister Xiong mistook his visit for a personal matter involving Lou Fengyun.
• Song Tianyao took Sister Xiong into the kitchen and said he had serious business to discuss with her.

Yao Chunxiao and the Taishan Squad followed Lin Xiaokang on Song Tianyao’s orders, then learned he had been intercepted and taken toward Causeway Bay. Yao Chunxiao told Ah Gen and Ah Si to recover Lin Xiaokang’s body after he was killed and contact Yan Hung.

• Yao Chunxiao disguised himself as a beggar and watched Lin Xiaokang and Lin Xiaoda leave St. George's Building.
• Ah Si followed their car in a rickshaw while Ah Gen rode along, and Yao Chunxiao returned to Tai Wo Street.
• Ah Da told Yao Chunxiao that Lin Xiaokang and his companion had been stopped and taken toward Causeway Bay in another car.
• Yao Chunxiao ordered Ah Gen and Ah Si to follow Ah Si’s signals, retrieve Lin Xiaokang’s corpse after he was killed, and call Yan Hung.

Lin Xiaohe confronted Lin Xiaokang over his plot to profit from and destabilize the Lin Family, explaining that Song Tianyao had manipulated him and that the family could not afford internal chaos. Lin Xiaohe resolved to kill Lin Xiaokang and the man surnamed Tang, while Lin Xiaoda remained bound nearby.

• Liao Jingxuan's men brought Lin Xiaokang and Lin Xiaoda, gagged and bound, before Lin Xiaohe in Causeway Bay.
• Lin Xiaohe freed Lin Xiaokang, confronted him about making three million Hong Kong dollars, and explained that telephone-company operators had helped him uncover the scheme.
• Lin Xiaohe revealed that Song Tianyao had sold Lin Xiaokang out and used him as a pawn while supporting Prosperity Rubber's share price.
• Lin Xiaokang described his lasting resentment over his mother's expulsion from the Lin Family and accused the family of treating him as an obedient dog.
• Lin Xiaohe insisted that Lin Xiaokang had wronged the family and declared that anyone exploiting its turmoil would be dealt with.
• Lin Xiaohe ordered Lin Xiaokang to finish his cigarette and said that the man surnamed Tang would also die.

Lin Xiaohe had Lin Xiaokang drowned and sent Lin Xiaoda to Little Olive Psychiatric Hospital, then Song Tianyao sought out union leaders while refusing to meet Tang Boqi. The chapter ended with Sister Xiong coming face to face with Tang Boqi at the wig factory gate.

• Lin Xiaohe ordered his men to bind Lin Xiaokang to rocks and throw him into the sea.
• Lin Xiaohe sent Lin Xiaoda to Little Olive Psychiatric Hospital and told Liao Jingxuan to have Dr. Ronnie make him more obedient with anesthetic injections.
• Song Tianyao refused to meet Tang Boqi, who had come to the wig factory, and asked Sister Xiong about the Manufacturing Industry General Union chairman.
• Song Tianyao asked Sister Xiong to invite the chairman to supper and find the United Soda Factory worker representatives' addresses.
• Sister Xiong opened the kitchen door and saw Tang Boqi standing at the factory gate.

Tang Boqi confronted Song Tianyao after realizing Studwell and the Lin Family had planned to leave him as the scapegoat for their stock-market scheme. Song revealed that he had also intended to kill Tang, then offered him a choice between safe passage back to the United States and a front-row seat to the coming conflict in Hong Kong.

• Tang Boqi accused Song Tianyao of knowing the share price was being propped up while shares were secretly sold, and Song confirmed his suspicion without accepting responsibility for the Lin Family's scheme.
• Song warned Tang that the Lin Family would have framed his death as a suicide if he had not discovered their plan in time.
• Lou Fengyun told Song that Uncle Xiao from Tai Wo Street had completed the task he had requested.
• Song privately admitted that he had once planned to kill Tang himself and said Lin Xiaokang had not been as fortunate as Tang.
• Song offered Tang safe passage to the United States or a place beside him to watch the conflict unfold in Hong Kong.

Song Tianyao met Tang Boqi for supper at the Kowloon Restaurant and dismissed Huang Liu’s concerns about keeping him around. At the restaurant, Huang Liu learned that the infant Song Shiyi was among the abandoned babies being cared for there.

• Huang Liu warned Song Tianyao that Tang Boqi would cause trouble, but Song Tianyao said Tang had chosen his own path.
• Song Tianyao arrived at the Kowloon Restaurant and greeted his grandfather, Song Chengqi.
• Huang Liu entertained the children with candy and brought milk powder for the abandoned babies.
• Qi Weiwen told Huang Liu that the infant was named Song Shiyi, while Song Tianyao had already gone to meet his guest.

Song Tianyao negotiated support from union chairman Mei Jiasheng and learned that the Lin Family’s soda factory workers belonged to Wo On Lok, also known as Shui Fong. He set the soda factory issue aside and asked Mei about contacts in the Construction Industry General Union.

• Huang Liu joked about becoming Song Shiyi’s godfather, then declared he would make the child his kung fu disciple instead.
• Sister Xiong introduced Song Tianyao to Mei Jiasheng, chairman of the Pharmaceutical Industry Union, and they exchanged guarded pleasantries.
• Song Tianyao promised Mei five factory jobs for relatives and friends at double pay, with half of each salary paid directly to Mei.
• Song Tianyao asked about withheld wages at the United Soda Factory, and Mei explained that its workers were Wo On Lok members tied to the Lin Family.
• Song Tianyao asked Mei whether he had close friends in the Construction Industry General Union.

Lu Rongfang surprised his family by bringing home HK$750,000 he had made trading stocks and repaying Lu Yuanchun. Lu Rongkang accepted his younger brother’s gift while warning him not to rely on the stock market, and the family ended the meal laughing.

• Lu Rongfang handed red packets to the household staff, puzzling them because there was no holiday.
• Lu Rongfang brought a briefcase of HK$750,000 to the dining table and divided the money among Lu Yuanchun, his sister-in-law, and himself.
• Pan Guoyang explained that Lu Rongfang had made the money trading Prosperity Rubber shares over four days.
• Lu Rongkang scolded Lu Rongfang for chasing shortcuts, then accepted his gift when his wife mentioned buying a diamond bracelet.
• Lu Yuanchun watched the brothers joke together and envied their close bond.

Lu Yuanchun suspected that Song Tianyao or Xizhen Properties had supplied Lu Rongfang with stock market information. At Bird's Beak, Yan Hung’s men prepared to handle Lin Xiaokang’s body after Ah Si confirmed he had drowned, and Yan Hung briefed Brother Wing and Brother Shui on their next task.

• Lu Rongfang claimed he had figured out the stock information himself, while Pan Guoyang interrupted to say he had supplied it.
• Lu Yuanchun asked whether Song Tianyao or Xizhen Properties had given Lu Rongfang the information, startling him.
• Ah Si told Yan Hung that Lin Xiaokang had been underwater for nearly an hour and showed him where the body lay beneath the rocks.
• Ah Si left after Yan Hung said his own men could take over, and Ah Da revealed he had been keeping watch nearby before departing too.
• Yan Hung searched the area with his men, then asked Brother Wing and Brother Shui if they remembered the details of the plan and the events of the night.