Chapter Summaries

Yan Hung arranged the cover story and evidence for Lin Xiaokang’s murder, while Song Tianyao’s uncle Song Chunzhong returned to Hong Kong and appeared at the restaurant after midnight. Song Tianyao greeted him warily as Song Chunzhong asked whether his unexpected arrival made him uneasy.

• Yan Hung instructed Brother Wing and Brother Shui to act as witnesses, take valuables from Lin Xiaokang’s corpse, and stick to a prepared story.
• Yan Hung sent A Wai to tell Yin Detective Chief Inspector that the two men had found the body and stolen its valuables after the killers left.
• Yan Hung reflected on Song Tianyao’s trap for the Lin Family and watched the bubbles rise from the dark water.
• After seeing Mei Jiasheng off, Song Tianyao spotted his uncle Song Chunzhong arriving with a suitcase and a swollen cheek.
• Song Chunzhong asked Song Tianyao to find a private room and keep him company while he ate.
• Song Chunzhong lit a cigarette and asked Song Tianyao if his sudden late-night appearance made him uneasy.

Song Chunzhong told Song Tianyao how he had engineered the execution of Wo On Lok leaders in Malaysia for espionage, creating pressure on the Lin Family. After studying the newspaper reports, Song Tianyao hurried off to plan his next move against them.

• Song Chunzhong explained that he had lured Wo On Lok elder Su Wenting and more than a dozen branch bosses to Sarawak, where they were convicted of smuggling rubber tree seeds and executed.
• Song Tianyao realized the scandal could damage the Lin Family because its soda factory workers were Wo On Lok members and the family had ties to the society.
• Song Chunzhong showed Song Tianyao Malaysian newspapers that reported a Chinese spy ring but withheld the Wo On Lok men’s identities to give him time to act.
• Song Tianyao praised Song Chunzhong, took the newspapers, and left to put his plans into motion.
• Song Tianyao told Huang Liu to drive him to see Hong Lai-sau, despite Huang Liu’s attempt to persuade him to wait until morning.

Song Tianyao urged Hong Lai-sau to investigate reports that patriotic Chinese people had been killed by the British in Malaysia and publicize the truth if confirmed. After remembering that the Lin Family might be monitoring calls, he contacted Qi Weiwen under the pretense of arranging a late-night meal.

• Song Tianyao arrived at the newspaper office with Huang Liu in the middle of the night and asked Hong Lai-sau to verify the reports from Malaysia through other newspapers.
• Hong Lai-sau read the newspaper while Song Tianyao called the Kowloon Restaurant and asked to speak to Qi Weiwen.
• Song Tianyao disguised his call as a request for wontons and a late-night meal after realizing the Lin Family might be tapping telephone lines.

Song Tianyao realized that he needed to secure mainland China’s support before accusing Wo On Lok of spying, and Song Chunzhong revealed a plan to send rubber seeds and seedlings to Shenzhen. The chapter then shifted to Causeway Bay, where Yin Guotao approached Sergeant Hung about a lucrative target.

• Song Tianyao asked Hong Lai-sau to verify the Malaysia newspaper reports discreetly and to call him with only a true-or-false answer.
• Song Tianyao returned to the Kowloon Restaurant and explained to Song Chunzhong that accusing Wo On Lok could expose China to hostile allegations and put them at risk.
• Song Chunzhong said he had arranged to send two hundred kilograms of rubber seeds and one hundred seedlings to Shenzhen before a shipment of opium reached Hong Kong in four days.
• Song Chunzhong explained that he had concealed his involvement behind the death of an overseas Chinese rubber grower in Thailand.
• Yin Guotao greeted Sergeant Hung outside the Causeway Bay police station and told him a lucrative target was waiting.

Yan Hung and Yin Guotao negotiated how to divide the benefits from recovering a corpse found by Fuyixing divers, then sent the divers back into the water. Lin Xiaohe woke from a nightmare about the corpse and wondered why Song Tianyao had exposed Lin Xiaokang so early, leaving him uneasy about what he might have overlooked.

• Yan Hung showed Yin Guotao the diamond watch and wallet found near the body and suggested the death was likely a kidnapping or revenge killing.
• Yan Hung and Yin Guotao haggled over how to divide the case expenses, family rewards, and credit, then agreed on their shares.
• Yan Hung told Brother Wing and Brother Shui to retrieve the body from the water.
• Lin Xiaohe woke from a nightmare in which Lin Xiaokang opened his eyes, and Lu Yanqun helped him calm down.
• Lin Xiaohe smoked alone and questioned why Song Tianyao had exposed Lin Xiaokang so early instead of keeping him alive to strike later.

Lin Xiaohe realized Song Tianyao was pressuring the Lin Family in the stock market while preparing a second attack, and he decided to protect Lin Yujing by summoning Lawyer Chen. The chapter then shifted to Lin Xiaoze strolling with the Ji Family, where Ji Yueqiang recalled how Ji Dongpu had hidden the family’s wealth while founding the Bank of East Asia.

• Lin Xiaohe considered whether Song Tianyao had used Lin Xiaokang to distract him from possible threats within the Lin Family, but decided not to investigate his other brothers.
• Lin Xiaohe recognized Song Tianyao’s stock-market maneuvering as one part of a two-pronged plan and suspected Lin Yujing and her mother were the other target.
• Lin Xiaohe told Runsheng to summon Lawyer Chen so he could arrange protection for Lin Yujing, but the telephone rang before Runsheng could answer.
• Lin Xiaoze walked through the Ji Family garden with Ji Dongpu, Ji Yueqiang, Ji Xuexian, and Fang Bingfen.
• Ji Yueqiang recalled that Ji Dongpu had supported a large household while making the family believe his banking house was failing, then surprised them by helping establish the Bank of East Asia.

Lin Xiaoze considered Ji Dongpu’s proposal to have Fang Bingfen buy Jardine’s shares rather than risk a large bank loan for the Lin Family. After leaving the Ji home, Lin Xiaoze was run off a mountain road, and the other car turned back toward him and his injured driver.

• Ji Dongpu warned Lin Xiaoze that borrowing from the Bank of East Asia could endanger the Lin Family and proposed that Fang Bingfen buy Jardine’s shares instead.
• Lin Xiaoze agreed to discuss the proposal with his brothers, while Fang Bingfen said he would hold the shares temporarily.
• On his drive home, Lin Xiaoze weighed the danger of the shares eventually passing into Lin Xiaojie’s hands.
• An oncoming car rammed Lin Xiaoze’s sedan at a mountain-road bend, sending it tumbling down the slope.
• The driver pulled unconscious Lin Xiaoze from the wreck, but the other car turned around and headed back toward them.

After Lin Xiaoze was injured in a car crash, his brothers gathered at the hospital and argued over who might be responsible. Lin Xiaoze put Lin Xiaohe in charge of the Lin family temporarily and asked him to keep the accident secret from their mother.

• Lin Xiaohe arrived at Tung Wah Hospital and found Lin Xiao qia accusing him of provoking the attack that injured Lin Xiaoze.
• Lin Xiao qia struck Lin Xiao jie after Lin Xiao jie urged him to control his temper, and Lin Xiao sen tried to calm them.
• Lin Xiaoze woke and reprimanded Lin Xiao qia for hitting Lin Xiao jie and hurting their relationship.
• Lin Xiaoze asked Lin Xiaohe to take charge of the family and its business while he recovered.
• Lin Xiaoze told Lin Xiaohe to conceal the accident from their mother and say he had gone to Taiwan to discuss a soda deal.

Lin Xiaoze warned Lin Xiaohe not to let the Ji Family or A-Jie destabilize the Lin Family and urged him to reclaim the shares quickly. Meanwhile, Juliana Aiber questioned Angie Pellis about Song Tianyao’s motives and revealed that British officials were preparing a policy to cultivate pro-British Chinese elites in Hong Kong, suggesting Song might fit their plans.

• Lin Xiaoze warned Lin Xiaohe that the Ji Family might be influencing A-Jie and advised him not to seek the Ji Family’s help unless necessary.
• Lin Xiaohe assured Lin Xiaoze that he had not crossed a line and promised to watch A-Jie and the Bank of East Asia.
• Lin Xiaoze urged Lin Xiaohe to recover the shares swiftly before others could threaten him.
• Juliana Aiber told Angie Pellis she doubted Song Tianyao’s love, but Angie defended his character and explained why his ambition and unconventional business strategy attracted her.
• Angie Pellis described Song Tianyao’s plans for marriage and his other lovers, while Juliana suggested his marriage to a British woman could serve his business interests.
• Juliana Aiber told Angie Pellis that Britain and the Hong Kong Government were preparing to cultivate pro-British Chinese elites, and speculated that Song might be positioning himself to benefit.

Song Tianyao learned that Xizhen Properties had launched a strong defense against an acquisition, forcing Jonathan Gore to pause his plans while the share price rose. After arranging to hide Lin Xiaokang, Song received a call from Lu Yuanchun of Guangyi Bank in Malaya, while lawyers and plainclothes officers confronted Nine-Tattooed Dragon outside Lin Xiaohe's hospital room.

• Luo Zhuankun showed Song Tianyao Xizhen Properties' newspaper advertisement, which urged shareholders to hold their shares and promised a new plan.
• Luo Zhuankun explained that the Lin Family's move had lifted Xizhen Properties' share price and stalled British securities firms' plans.
• Song Tianyao refused to meet Jonathan Gore and told Luo Zhuankun to let Jonathan proceed with the available money and contact him if he needed more.
• Song Tianyao instructed Huang Liu to tell Yan Hung to conceal Lin Xiaokang in a cold storage cabinet as an unidentified corpse.
• Lou Fengyun called Song Tianyao about Lu Rongfang, who wanted to introduce him to a banker, and Lu Yuanchun identified herself as being from Guangyi Bank in Malaya.
• Two lawyers, two plainclothes officers, and Hu Runsheng confronted Nine-Tattooed Dragon outside Lin Xiaohe's hospital room.

Lin Xiaohe’s lawyers tried to deliver a document to Lin Yujing, but her guard and personal lawyer Ji Wenming intervened. After Ji reviewed the document, he said Lin Yujing would not return to the family residence and would buy another home after leaving the hospital.

• The lawyers sought to see Lin Yujing, but Nine-Tattooed Dragon blocked them until Ji Wenming invited them into the ward.
• Hu Runsheng reported to Lin Xiaohe that Lin Yujing had a personal lawyer and that Lawyer Chen had stayed to explain the document.
• Lin Xiaohe said the document’s wording was unimportant and went to meet Mr. Morse at the HSBC building before heading to the Bank of East Asia.
• Ji Wenming examined the document clause by clause and told Lawyer Chen that Lin Yujing and her daughter would buy a different house after discharge.

Ji Wenming refused to let Lin Yujing sign a contract transferring the use of the Ngau Tau Shan building and later reconstructed it from memory. Angie Pellis continued investigating Lin Yujing’s father’s will, which Lin Yujing had never seen, leaving its legal status uncertain.

• Ji Wenming rejected the proposed contract and told the lawyers he would convey Lin Yujing’s wishes to Lin Xiaohe.
• After the lawyers left, Ji Wenming told Lin Yujing, Angie Pellis, and Feng Yunzhi that the contract concerned transferring use of the Ngau Tau Shan building, then began writing it out from memory.
• Angie Pellis explained to Feng Yunzhi that Song Tianyao and Miss Jiang had exceptional memories and that Tianyao’s success as a secretary was not merely luck.
• Angie Pellis asked Lin Yujing whether she had seen her father’s will, and Lin Yujing said she knew one existed but had never seen it.

Yan Hung tried to recruit Golden-Tooth Lei and Fuyixing to provoke a violent clash near the United Soda Factory, but Golden-Tooth Lei refused without Chu Xiaoxin’s order. Yan Hung then decided to approach Bo Cong of Harmony Heroes, and Chen Tai reported that something had been done.

• Yan Hung asked Golden-Tooth Lei to arrange a territory fight and attack the United Soda Factory workers, but Golden-Tooth Lei refused to risk a gang war without Chu Xiaoxin’s word.
• Yan Hung left the dance hall and told Huang Liu that his talks with Lao Fu had failed.
• Yan Hung decided to seek help from Bo Cong of Harmony Heroes at the Mei Yin Guild Hall.
• Chen Tai entered Bo Cong’s room and told him the job was done, startling a Thai man leaving the room.

Chen Tai reported that the Qun'an Opium Den dispute had been settled, while Bo Cong learned from Gao Lao Cheng that Yan Hung had a high-risk, high-reward way to make money. Song Tianyao then received Lu Rongfang, Pan Guoyang, and Lu Yuanchun at his hotel suite.

• Chen Tai gave Bo Cong the hundred thousand dollars Lao Gui En had sent as an apology, and Bo Cong told him to use the money to reward the brothers and open another gambling den.
• Bo Cong said Kunchai had warned that the harvest was poor and supplies might run short, then arranged for a Thai woman to be sent to Chen Tai.
• After a call from Gao Lao Cheng, Bo Cong asked Chen Tai to join him in meeting Yan Hung about a lucrative opportunity.
• Lu Rongfang, Pan Guoyang, and Lu Yuanchun arrived at Song Tianyao's suite after Lu Rongfang confirmed that he would receive them.
• Lu Rongfang and Song Tianyao exchanged a high five, and Lu Yuanchun introduced herself to him.

Song Tianyao met Lu Yuanchun, a director of Guangyi Bank, with Lu Rongfang and Pan Guoyang, while Tang Boqi sat nearby. Song admitted he had no investment proposal and joked with Lu Yuanchun, who revealed she feared his business tactics might make her money hard to recover.

• Song Tianyao introduced Tang Boqi to Lu Rongfang, Pan Guoyang, and Lu Yuanchun, while Lu Rongfang and Pan Guoyang privately worried about exposing Chunmei to Tang.
• Tang Boqi ignored the meeting and returned to his newspaper, so Song Tianyao told Lu Yuanchun he had invited her because she had cash to invest.
• Song Tianyao bluntly said he had no way to earn interest on Lu Yuanchun's money, then claimed he had only wanted to see if she was pretty and introduce her to Tang.
• Lu Yuanchun laughed at Song Tianyao's joke and asked whether dating Tang would give Song an even bigger headache.
• Song Tianyao admitted he could not bear to lose the chance to use Lu Yuanchun's cash, and she said she feared his business tactics would make her money difficult to recover.

Song Tianyao and Lu Yuanchun tested each other’s motives over her offer of money. Yan Hung then sought Bo Cong’s help in provoking a conflict with Wo On Lok and the United Soda Factory, but had not yet made his proposal.

• Lu Yuanchun recognized that Song Tianyao had used a deliberately flawed honey trap to shift the decision onto her, and Song explained his reasoning.
• Song Tianyao and Lu Yuanchun both made clear they distrusted each other, while Lu Rongfang and Pan Guoyang wondered if they had been treated as fools.
• Yan Hung reflected on his efforts to identify Lin Xiaokang’s body and Huang Liu’s demand that he involve a gang in a conflict with Wo On Lok.
• After Fuyixing’s Golden-Tooth Lei refused, Yan Hung decided to ask Harmony Heroes’ Bo Cong for help.
• Bo Cong arrived with Chen Tai, and Yan Hung greeted him warmly.

Chen Tai led Harmony Heroes men to the United Soda Factory to confront workers who had beaten a new recruit over a debt. They waited at the gates for the recruit to identify the attackers, leaving the confrontation poised to begin.

• Chen Tai questioned the middle-aged recruit about being beaten by A-Mao and several soda workers over seven dollars.
• Chen Tai promised to stand up for the recruit and told him to identify the men responsible.
• Chen Tai sent Tie Tou Su and several men to bring the recruit to the factory gates as workers finished their shift.
• The workers made room for Tie Tou Su and his men, assuming they had come to collect gambling debts.

Chen Tai led Harmony Heroes in attacking Wo On Lok workers at the United Soda Factory over their abuse of Queya Chang, then defeated Daqian when Wo On Lok reinforcements arrived. Afterward, Yan Hung told Huang Liu and the others that Bo Cong had met him at the Mei Yin Guild Hall and that the clash between the gangs was likely to escalate.

• Tie Tou Su ordered A-Mao seized and beaten after Queya Chang identified him as one of the men who owed him money and had assaulted him.
• Chen Tai knocked out a Wo On Lok worker who threatened Harmony Heroes, then told the factory workers he was avenging Queya Chang.
• Tie Tou Su and his men attacked the gathered workers with watermelon knives, leaving more than a dozen injured.
• Daqian arrived with Wo On Lok reinforcements, but Chen Tai threw him to the ground and stomped on his mouth.
• Yan Hung told Huang Liu, Yao Chunxiao, Ah Si, and the others that Bo Cong had met him on the second floor and had ignored Wo On Lok's call for help.

Huang Liu entered Bo Cong’s Mei Yin Guild Hall under a false pretense while Yao Chunxiao and his men prepared a surprise attack. The assault began when Yao Chunxiao gave the signal, leaving the guild hall’s occupants under a brutal, indiscriminate attack.

• Huang Liu dismissed Yan Hung and told him to return to the police station, then went to the Mei Yin Guild Hall.
• Huang Liu posed as a wealthy customer, ordered food, wine, and opium, and insulted Bo Cong to provoke a reaction.
• Ah Shun told Yao Chunxiao that Lee Kuen’s thirty men had arrived, and Yao Chunxiao ordered them to use cleavers, claim they were from Wo On Lok, and wait for his signal.
• Yao Chunxiao returned his empty bowl to the food stall owner, signaling Ah Si, Ah Gen, and the armed men to attack the guild hall.
• Ah Si and Ah Gen led the men inside, where they attacked the staff and guests and smashed the Guan Gong statue.

Yao Chunxiao led Shui Fong’s attack on the Mei Yin Guild Hall and killed Bo Cong after confronting him over the assault on Shui Fong’s people. As Yao Chunxiao stayed behind to finish the banquet, a Harmony Heroes underling rushed to tell Chen Tai that the guild hall had been smashed and Bo Cong was dead.

• Ah Si and Shui Fong’s men fought their way toward the second floor of the Mei Yin Guild Hall.
• Yao Chunxiao arrived and challenged Bo Cong over attacking Shui Fong’s people.
• Yao Chunxiao killed Bo Cong and ordered Bo Cong’s gunmen to surrender their weapons.
• Yao Chunxiao told Ah Si to let Bo Cong’s men go, then returned to the restaurant with Huang Liu.
• Huang Liu left the guild hall, and Yao Chunxiao stayed to eat the banquet.
• A Harmony Heroes underling reached Chen Tai and reported the attack on the guild hall and Bo Cong’s death.