Chapter Summaries

Song Tianyao dealt with the aftermath of the fight, sent the police away with money, and returned home to calm his frightened family. The chapter ended with Zhao Meizhen asking if he was really safe, and Song Tianyao reassuring her that Brother Hua's men had not harmed him.

• Song Tianyao paid the two cops, who agreed to describe Brother Hua's stabbing as an accident and deny seeing Rotten-Life Ju fight.
• Song Tianyao discovered Zhao Wenye had left to call his gang brothers, while Rotten-Life Ju picked up the food Zhao had abandoned.
• Song Tianyao told Rotten-Life Ju to help Chao Yong Yi clean up, then ushered Song Wenwen inside without inviting Rotten-Life Ju in.
• Song Tianyao reassured his frightened mother, Zhao Meizhen, that the cops had left and the Fuyixing men had been dealt with.
• Zhao Meizhen asked whether Song Tianyao was telling the truth, and he pointed out that Brother Hua's men would have killed him if he were not safe.

Song Tianyao reassured Zhao Meizhen that he had obtained a secretary job with the Chu Family and showed her three thousand dollars to repay their debt. Zhao Meizhen set out to boast about his new position and then invited the dockside laborers cleaning the street to dinner, leaving her family scrambling to feed them.

• Song Tianyao showed Zhao Meizhen three thousand dollars and explained that he had become Chu Xiaoxin's secretary, earning an advance on his salary.
• Zhao Meizhen accepted Song Tianyao's account and defended his decision to spend the borrowed money to win the job, while Song Wenwen questioned his qualifications.
• Zhao Meizhen put on her festival jacket and headed out to repay the neighbors who had lent them money and brag about Song Tianyao's position.
• Zhao Meizhen invited the twenty or thirty laborers cleaning the street to stay for dinner after Zhao Wenye confirmed they were his dockside brothers.
• Zhao Meizhen told Zhao Wenye to have her husband cook all their rice and asked Song Tianyao to buy meat for the unexpected guests.

Yan Hung visited Golden-Tooth Lei before leaving for Sha Tau Kok and offered him a chance to gain a foothold at the docks through the Chu Family. Golden-Tooth Lei became excited by the prospect of the society gaining business and influence.

• Yan Hung brought expensive tonics, floral water, and silk to Golden-Tooth Lei's home, where Golden-Tooth Lei's wives praised the gifts.
• Golden-Tooth Lei defended his decision to lend Yan Hung forty thousand dollars, predicting Yan Hung might later rise in the police force.
• Yan Hung invited Golden-Tooth Lei to dinner and said he would introduce him to Secretary Song, who had agreed to help Fuyixing gain access to the docks.
• Golden-Tooth Lei grew excited about the prospect of dock territory and access to the Chao Feng Chamber of Commerce's boat.
• Golden-Tooth Lei reflected that Fuyixing lacked the police connections enjoyed by rival gangs, making it costly to protect its members.

Song Tianyao’s rise brought Fuyixing a chance to gain a foothold at the docks, while Zhao Meizhen confronted the neighbors who had failed to help her. Song left money for his mother and promised to move her to a safer home soon.

• Golden-Tooth Lei welcomed the Chao Feng Chamber of Commerce’s offer to help Fuyixing enter the docks and ordered a celebratory dinner for Secretary Song.
• Golden-Tooth Lei’s aide reported that Rotten-Life Ju had attacked Black-Hearted Wah’s men and that Wah’s wife had come to see him.
• Li Laoshi regretted breaking off his daughter’s engagement after realizing Song Tianyao had become Secretary Song, while Zhao Meizhen rebuked Li Laoshi and A-Hung for failing to help her.
• Song Tianyao told Zhao Meizhen to repay the thousand dollars after dinner and gave her more than a hundred dollars for food for A-Yip’s brothers.
• Song Tianyao said he was seeing off a detective sergeant, told his mother not to worry when he stayed away, and promised to rent her a Western-style house near Tin Hau Temple.

Song Tianyao warned Rotten-Life Ju that Chan Ah-sap had offended the Chu Family and arranged to meet Golden-Tooth Lei and Yan Hung. After learning that Black-Hearted Wah had nearly abducted Song Tianyao’s sister, Golden-Tooth Lei rushed to seek forgiveness, while Yan Hung attacked Lou Fengyun.

• Song Tianyao told Rotten-Life Ju that Young Master Shun planned to give Fuyixing Likang Trading Company’s dock business because Chan Ah-sap had displeased him.
• Song Tianyao invited Rotten-Life Ju to dinner with Sergeant Hung and Golden-Tooth Lei at the Taibai Seafood Restaurant.
• Lou Fengyun told Golden-Tooth Lei that Black-Hearted Wah’s men had gone to collect a gambling debt from the Song family and nearly abducted Song Tianyao’s younger sister.
• Golden-Tooth Lei realized the incident could cost Fuyixing its chance to enter the docks and ordered A-Lok to take him, the madams, and Lou Fengyun to Song Tianyao’s home.
• Yan Hung kicked Lou Fengyun under the chin, knocking her backward and splitting her lip.

Yan Hung realized Song Tianyao had spared Fuyixing as a chance to negotiate, while Chan Ah-sap learned that Young Master Shun was preparing to give Likang Trading Company's dockside business to Fuyixing. The chapter ended with Chan Ah-sap hearing that Rotten-Life Ju had saved Secretary Song.

• Yan Hung threatened Lou Fengyun, but Golden-Tooth Lei stopped him and said Song Tianyao had left Fuyixing a way to make amends.
• Yan Hung suspected Song Tianyao meant to draw Golden-Tooth Lei into a deal and resolved to leave for Sha Tau Kok once he had Song Tianyao's assurance.
• Chan Ah-sap believed he had handled his conflict with Chu Xiaoxin safely and went to Kowloon Walled City for dog-meat hotpot.
• Rotten-Life Ju's underling told Chan Ah-sap that Young Master Shun planned to hand Likang Trading Company's dockside business to Fuyixing.
• The underling reported that Golden-Tooth Lei and Sergeant Hung had met Secretary Song at the Taibai Seafood Restaurant and that Rotten-Life Ju had saved him.

Chu Xiaoxin returned to the Chu Family’s grand villa on Caughton Road, where the family’s wealth and standing among Hong Kong’s merchant elite were described. The chapter ended as he went to join the family dinner, held together by tradition whenever relatives were home.

• Chu Xiaoxin woke in the evening at the Dulles Hotel and drove home.
• Chu Xiaoxin arrived at the Chu Family’s villa on Caughton Road and changed into house slippers with the servants’ help.
• The narration established that Chu Yaozong had bought the villa in the 1930s and that the Chu Family represented powerful Chiu Chow merchant interests.
• Chu Xiaoxin headed to the dining room to join the family meal, as the Chu Family expected relatives living at home to eat together.

Song Tianyao traveled to the Chu Family home after Chu Yaozong invited him to dinner, following his role in resolving Chu Xiaoxin’s trouble at Lichi. The chapter ended with Song wondering why Chu Yaozong wanted to meet him.

• Chu Xiaozhong asked Chu Yaozong to approach Zhou Xiyu about investing in his planned cold-storage business, and Chu Yaozong advised him to negotiate a stake for Zhou’s ice factory instead.
• Chu Yaozong questioned Chu Xiaoxin about the fight at Lichi, and Chu Xiaoxin said he had settled it for two thousand dollars with help from his secretary and a police contact.
• Chu Xiaozhong doubted Chu Xiaoxin’s account and mocked him, prompting Chu Xiaoxin to accuse his brother of always sneering at him.
• Chu Yaozong asked Uncle Yan to bring Secretary Song to the house, calling him talented for the way he had resolved the trouble.
• Song Tianyao rode with the Chu Family’s driver to their home and wondered why Chu Yaozong had invited him to dinner.

Song Tianyao joined Chu Yaozong’s family dinner, where Chu Xiaozhong questioned his background and departure from the Malado Trading Company. Song claimed the company would go bankrupt within a year, drawing Chu Yaozong’s attention and leaving his bold prediction to be judged.

• Song Tianyao arrived at Chu Yaozong’s home and was invited to sit at dinner with Chu Yaozong, Chu Xiaoxin, Chu Xiaozhong, and Chu Xiaozhi.
• Song presented himself humbly as one of the Chao Chow people and explained that helping Chu Xiaoxin was part of his work.
• Chu Xiaozhong asked where Song had studied and worked, and why he had left the Malado Trading Company.
• Song said he had resigned voluntarily and predicted that the Malado Trading Company would go bankrupt within a year, surprising Chu Yaozong.

Song Tianyao explained why Malado Trading Company’s acquisitions and financial statements indicated impending bankruptcy, leaving Chu Yaozong and Chu Xiaozhong to consider his warning. Meanwhile, Chan Ah-sap and Golden-Tooth Lei faced off at Taibai Seafood Restaurant over Fuyixing’s attack on Song Tianyao and his sister.

• Song Tianyao told Chu Yaozong and Chu Xiaozhong that Malado Trading Company used acquisitions and accounting reserves to make its finances look healthy while moving toward bankruptcy.
• Chu Xiaozhong questioned Song Tianyao, but Chu Yaozong cut him off and later warned him that Song had baited him into revealing his curiosity.
• Song Tianyao left the Chu family mansion, and Chu Yaozong told Chu Xiaozhong he still had much to learn about keeping his composure in business.
• Chan Ah-sap and Golden-Tooth Lei arrived at Taibai Seafood Restaurant with armed men waiting on boats outside.
• Chan Ah-sap confronted Golden-Tooth Lei over Fuyixing’s attack on Song Tianyao and the danger posed to Song’s younger sister.

Song Tianyao arrived at a tense banquet and used Chu Xiaoxin’s name to force Chan Ah-sap and his men to back down. Chan Ah-sap left the restaurant with a hint of hope that he could still repair his standing.

• Golden-Tooth Lei insulted Chan Ah-sap, and Fish Stall Kun drew an axe before Gao Lao Cheng threatened him with his own axes.
• A Wai spotted Song Tianyao arriving at Taibai Seafood Restaurant, and the arguing factions fell silent as he climbed the stairs.
• Song Tianyao demanded to know who had disrupted the banquet, then told Chan Ah-sap that Chu Xiaoxin had asked him to host it for Yan Hung and Golden-Tooth Lei.
• Song Tianyao ordered the waiter to replace the food and summon the musician from the previous night, tipping him twenty dollars.
• Song Tianyao offered to overlook the disruption if Chan Ah-sap went downstairs and sent his men back to the pier.
• Chan Ah-sap agreed to leave and told Rotten-Life Ju to send the men at sea back to the pier.

Song Tianyao hosted Golden-Tooth Lei and Yan Hung after the violence at Taibai Seafood Restaurant, using three cups of wine to accept their apology on Chu Xiaoxin’s behalf. He revealed that Likang Trading Company had planned to give Fuyixing its dock business, but blamed Lei for making the gold-bar gift necessary and left the decision hanging until they finished drinking.

• Song Tianyao dismissed Chao Yong Yi’s men, kept Rotten-Life Ju upstairs, and resumed the banquet with music and food.
• Song Tianyao offered Golden-Tooth Lei and Yan Hung three cups of hornet wine in thanks for their efforts on Young Master Shun’s behalf, and both men drank alongside him.
• Golden-Tooth Lei presented Song Tianyao with four gold bars as compensation for the fright his family suffered.
• Song Tianyao asked Lei whether he blamed him for stabbing Black-Hearted Wah and having Rotten-Life Ju’s men attack the men Lou Fengyun brought; Lei cited the Hung Mun oath against bullying and violence to justify disciplining them.
• Song Tianyao said he had planned to tell Lei that Likang Trading Company would give Fuyixing its dock business, but said Lei’s bad luck had made the gold bars necessary and offered them as a tip for the musician.

Song Tianyao used Fuyixing’s offer of fourteen gold bars and the death of Black-Hearted Wah to raise the price for access to the docks, while Rotten-Life Ju went to report the offer to Chan Ah-sap. The chapter ended with Song Tianyao asking Golden-Tooth Lei to send the unconscious Lou Fengyun to a clinic and offering to pay for Black-Hearted Wah’s funeral.

• Golden-Tooth Lei offered Song Tianyao ten more gold bars, bringing Fuyixing’s offer to fourteen, in exchange for a chance to enter the docks and take over Likang Trading Company’s business.
• A-Lok hauled Lou Fengyun and Black-Hearted Wah aboard; Black-Hearted Wah was dead, while Lou Fengyun survived but was left weak and shivering.
• Golden-Tooth Lei claimed Black-Hearted Wah had nothing to do with Song Tianyao and left Lou Fengyun for Song to deal with.
• Song Tianyao sent Rotten-Life Ju downstairs to report Fuyixing’s offer to Chan Ah-sap, then invited Golden-Tooth Lei and Yan Hung to sit and eat.
• Song Tianyao reassured Yan Hung that he would not hold Fuyixing’s offense against him, then asked Golden-Tooth Lei to take Lou Fengyun to a clinic and offered to pay for Black-Hearted Wah’s funeral.

Song Tianyao accepted Golden-Tooth Lei’s offer to let Fuyixing into the docks and suggested Gao Lao Cheng manage its operations there. After Chan Ah-sap left angrily, Zhao Wenye warned Song Tianyao that Chan planned to come after him.

• Golden-Tooth Lei thanked Song Tianyao for offering money toward Black-Hearted Wah’s funeral, and Song invited him and Gao Lao Cheng to eat.
• Song Tianyao learned that Gao Lao Cheng managed Fuyixing’s heroin stalls in Yau Ma Tei and suggested he oversee Fuyixing’s work at the docks.
• Chan Ah-sap heard about Fuyixing’s fourteen gold bars and left, vowing to have Song Tianyao sunk in the sea after the next day.
• Zhao Wenye joined Song Tianyao and warned him that Chan Ah-sap had threatened to come after him.

Song Tianyao secured Golden-Tooth Lei’s promise to pay fourteen gold bars for access to the pier, then offered the pipa player a gold bar as a tip and asked her to give him half its value in cash. The woman had not yet answered his unusual proposal.

• Song Tianyao told Zhao Wenye he had deliberately driven Chan Ah-sap away so Chan would come looking for trouble.
• Song Tianyao promised Golden-Tooth Lei access to the pier within three days in exchange for fourteen gold bars the next morning.
• Song Tianyao kept one of the four gold bars on the table and let Golden-Tooth Lei take the other three, while asking him to make up one additional bar.
• Song Tianyao asked the pipa player how much a four-tael gold bar was worth, and she estimated it at four thousand Hong Kong dollars.
• Song Tianyao offered the woman the gold bar as a tip and asked her to return two thousand Hong Kong dollars in change.

Song Tianyao sold a gold bar to a songstress for two thousand Hong Kong dollars and urged her to use it to protect herself from a man pressuring her. After giving Zhao Wenye money for their mothers, Song Tianyao headed to the Dulles Hotel while Zhao Wenye returned to the Jialin Road Squatter Area.

• Song Tianyao offered the songstress half the gold bar in exchange for two thousand Hong Kong dollars, and she borrowed the money from the other songstresses.
• Song Tianyao gave Zhao Wenye half the payment and handed the gold bar to the songstress, telling her to use it to scare off the man who wanted to sleep with her.
• The songstress realized Song Tianyao had never asked her name as he left with Zhao Wenye.
• Song Tianyao told Zhao Wenye to give five hundred dollars to his mother for medicine and take five hundred to Song Tianyao’s mother for expenses.
• Song Tianyao explained that he had helped the songstress because she seemed to be unwillingly forced into prostitution, then took a rickshaw to the Dulles Hotel while Zhao Wenye headed home.

Song Tianyao told Chu Xiaoxin how a dispute over Likang Trading Company's dock business had disrupted a dinner with Yan Hung and Golden-Tooth Lei. He showed Chu Xiaoxin fourteen gold bars from Fuyixing and began explaining how he had handled Golden-Tooth Lei's request for help.

• Song Tianyao woke refreshed at the Dulles Hotel and waited for Chu Xiaoxin over breakfast.
• Song Tianyao went outside and collected a bundle from Gao Lao Cheng, who said the requested items were ready.
• Song Tianyao returned and revealed fourteen four-tael gold bars, calling them Fuyixing's specialty.
• Song Tianyao explained that Chan Ah-sap had brought dozens of men to the Taibai Seafood Restaurant and overturned the feast over the proposed transfer of Likang Trading Company's dock business to Fuyixing.
• Song Tianyao said Golden-Tooth Lei had offered him gold to put in a good word with Chu Xiaoxin, and he began describing how he had responded.

Song Tianyao explained how he had maneuvered Chu Xiaoxin into giving Fuyixing Likang Trading Company's dock business, presenting the move as a way to reward Yan Hung and confront Chan Ah-sap without making Chu Xiaoxin look weak. He then warned Chu Xiaoxin that the Chu Family’s men respected Chu Xiaozhong more than him, leaving Chu Xiaoxin to consider the threat to his control of Likang.

• Song Tianyao revealed that Chan Ah-sap had really caused trouble at Taibai Seafood Restaurant, but had not stormed off because of Fuyixing’s gold bars.
• Song Tianyao explained that he had staged the story to make Chu Xiaoxin look loyal and to avoid having him complain to Chu Yaozong.
• Chu Xiaoxin agreed that Fuyixing could take over Likang Trading Company’s dock business without consulting Chu Yaozong.
• Song Tianyao warned Chu Xiaoxin that the Chu Family’s workers feared Chu Xiaozhong more and might take Likang from him after Chu Yaozong died.
• Chu Xiaoxin stayed silent as Song Tianyao continued making his case.

Song Tianyao persuaded Chu Xiaoxin to take fourteen gold bars to Chairman Chu, tying Chan Ah-sap’s complaint about Song to Chu Xiaoxin. Chu Xiaoxin went to see his father while Song planned to visit the trading company, as Chan Ah-sap set out to confront the situation at Liheng Trading Company.

• Song Tianyao told Chu Xiaoxin to show Chairman Chu the fourteen gold bars and say he planned to sell them to fund another ship for Likang Trading Company.
• Song Tianyao borrowed matches from a British woman, and Chu Xiaoxin joked about his fluent English and his lavish spending.
• Chu Xiaoxin noticed one gold bar was missing, and Song Tianyao admitted he had tipped a singing girl with it.
• Chu Xiaoxin gave Song Tianyao the wrapped gold bars and brought him along to see Chairman Chu.
• Chan Ah-sap dressed and headed to Liheng Trading Company on Murray Road after beating his concubine in anger over Song Tianyao.

Chu Xiaoxin asked Chu Yaozong to help sell gold so he could buy another ship for Likang Trading Company, then explained Song Tianyao’s plans to expand the business. The chapter left Chu Xiaoxin choosing smuggling as the fast route to make money before pursuing a slower expansion.

• Chan Ah-sap waited outside Liheng Trading Company for Chu Xiaozhong, who arrived in his Rolls-Royce and asked what he needed.
• Chu Xiaoxin returned home with fourteen gold bars and asked Chu Yaozong to help him sell them to fund another ship for Likang.
• Chu Yaozong had Uncle Yan buy the gold at the newspaper’s listed price and give Chu Xiaoxin seventy-eight thousand dollars.
• Chu Xiaoxin told Chu Yaozong that Song Tianyao had proposed fast and slow ways to expand Likang’s business.
• Chu Xiaoxin said he planned to start with smuggling to make money, then follow Song Tianyao’s slower plan.