Where's the Money?

Where's the Money?

"Ha ha ha! They were actually scared shitless by a phone ringtone!" Xiao Zha laughed.

"No shit, that was something you could get executed for. It's normal to be jumpy. Drug dealers in China are too guilty," Lao Wang said with a laugh. He had once been a cop in America.

He knew that in the free United States, people would pull guns and fight head-on... Why would they be willing to destroy the goods? As for the money, they feared that even less. At worst, they could pay taxes. The IRS was fiercer than the cops.

Watching them mock Cao Jing's response, Huang Ji smiled faintly from the side. In truth, a police siren alone could not have made Cao Jing go to such extremes.

The key was that text message. Huang Ji had used Ma Ye's coded language, a secret signal between the two men. Naturally, Cao Jing had gone all out without taking any chances.

"Boss is incredible. I wouldn't even dare think of doing something like this..."

"He actually tricked them into throwing the money to Lao Wang themselves! Hahaha!"

After hearing everyone recount the entire process, Zhang Junwei laughed so hard he nearly became an idiot.

He had never seen anyone steal someone else's money so effortlessly.

Huang Ji had played both Cao Jing's group and the men in suits like fiddles from beginning to end.

His rhetoric, strategy, observational skills, analytical ability, and psychological manipulation were all first-rate!

Everyone, including Lao Wang, could not help but admire Huang Ji beyond measure.

Everything had been under his control. The men in suits had lost five hundred thousand twice, while Cao Jing had suffered the worst. Not only had he lost eight million, he had even destroyed all that drug stock himself...

Now they leisurely withdrew, crossed the street to get in the car, and met up with Lao Wang, who had been hiding.

Looking at the car full of cash, Zhang Junwei and Xiao Zha were beyond excited.

"That was insane! Absolutely insane!"

"You know, Boss, Cao Jing is ruthless. He once nearly sent people to beat me to death. In the end, I had to kneel and beg Ma Ye before I was spared." Zhang Junwei looked at the money. He smiled at first, then began to cry.

Xiao Zha froze. Of course, he knew what that was about. One of their brothers had caused trouble, and all of them had suffered for it.

Later, Zhang Junwei had gone to Ma Ye and settled the matter. He just had not known that his big brother had knelt before Ma Ye and begged for mercy.

Overwhelmed with emotion, Zhang Junwei let it slip.

But so be it. Zhang Junwei did not care. He only felt that this had been immensely satisfying.

There had been no need for any brutal fighting. They had simply made fools of them in a few quick moves.

Not only had they gotten the money, they had also destroyed a huge batch of goods. Cao Jing was probably finished.

"He's done for! Cao Jing has landed himself in huge trouble this time!" Zhang Junwei said with satisfaction.

Looking at Huang Ji, Zhang Junwei began to feel that being beaten up by Huang Ji and forced to follow him had truly been a blessing.

Huang Ji smiled without speaking. Of course, he knew about the grudge between Zhang Junwei and Cao Jing.

If he wanted money, he had plenty of ways to get it. Not to mention Lottery Tickets, sports betting, and so on... It was practically like being handed money.

But doing it once was fine. Doing it too often would easily draw attention. How could that compare to the sheer satisfaction of robbing criminals?

They had gotten the money, destroyed the drugs, avenged one of their men, and untied a knot in his heart.

More importantly, when criminals robbed criminals, they did not have to fear the other side making a big fuss and coming after them.

Huang Ji's first pot of gold had come from confiscating the money of a husband and wife who trafficked cultural relics. The couple had hidden three million, intending to secretly dig it up after getting out of prison. Who would have thought Huang Ji would spend it all...

But what could they do? They did not know who had dug it up, and they did not dare call the police. They had no choice but to swallow the loss.

Back then, Zheng Xuan had also extorted a Wall Street manager who had committed financial crimes. But what could the man do? He was afraid of being investigated by the FBI, so in the end, he let it go.

This time, the group had made nine million in a single night, while Cao Jing's people were probably still completely in the dark.

Even if they realized afterward that someone had set them up, they would not know who had done it.

It was simple. First, there were no cameras on that floor. The entire KTV only had surveillance in the first-floor lobby and at the reception desks on each floor.

Why would people selling that stuff install surveillance cameras at their base?

People who did this kind of thing trusted manpower more than machines.

They would rather have people guard the goods around the clock than rely on password locks or surveillance.

Second, hardly any of Huang Ji's group had shown their faces throughout the whole operation!

Lao Wang had received the money downstairs. Most of the time, he had been looking down to pick it up. Even when he looked up, only half his face was visible. There were no lights by the back entrance at night, so they had not seen him clearly at all.

Lin Li and Xiao Zha had met the men in suits and that man named A Lei.

But after only one meeting, they would not remember much. Huang Ji knew that A Lei had not even properly looked at Lin Li or Xiao Zha, assuming they were men in suits...

And the men in suits had assumed they belonged to Cao Jing...

Then the power had gone out. With only the faint red glow of the emergency lights in the hallway, no one could see anyone's face clearly in the darkness.

Throughout the entire process, neither group would realize there had been a third party!

Before long, they would probably start fighting each other like dogs.

"Fuck? Where are the cops?"

Cao Jing had already realized that something seemed off...

When he had first come downstairs, he had been extremely nervous. Later, he saw quite a few underlings running down from upstairs and scattering without saying anything. After all, he was the one who had told everyone to run.

But he quickly discovered that there were no police cars at all. The guests were all gathered on the first and second floors, making a commotion.

The manager and supervisors were calming the guests while also sending people to inspect the electrical breaker.

"You're saying it was just a power trip?" Cao Jing asked, eyes wide.

He had felt something was off. If the cops were closing in, why would they cut the power? Wouldn't that make it harder for them to surround and capture everyone?

Still, he had never been surrounded by police before, so he did not really know their tactics.

Cao Jing had even imagined the narcotics squad shouting, "Cut the power! Release the dogs!" before charging in with night-vision goggles!

The manager said, "It probably wasn't a power trip either. The lock on the distribution box was smashed open. Maybe someone maliciously broke into the electrical room and cut the power, trying to sabotage our business."

"Fuck!"

Cao Jing looked around in every direction. Once he confirmed there really were no police, his face turned deathly pale...

False information?

Then Cao Jing thought of something else and hurried upstairs, shouting as he ran, "Stop! A Lei! Stop flushing the fucking toilet!"

He rushed up to the third floor in one breath, charged into the office, and pushed open the door. The moment he looked inside, his heart went ice-cold.

A Lei had already cleaned up every fragment of the Guan Yu Statue and was carefully scrubbing the restroom with detergent to remove any powder residue.

Seeing his boss come upstairs, A Lei stood up and grinned. "Boss, mission accomplished!"

"Fuck..." Cao Jing's vision went dark, and he nearly collapsed to the floor.

That batch of goods was all money. It had not been easy to get more stock...

And now it had all gone down the drain!

At the same time, the lights suddenly came back on.

Seeing Cao Jing collapse, A Lei hurriedly caught him and pressed his philtrum, asking in confusion, "Where are the cops? Did they leave?"

"There... were no cops..." Cao Jing stared at the ceiling lights, his mind nearly blank.

"What!" A Lei heard this and realized it might have been a false alarm.

Of course, he knew how serious that was.

"Was it Ma Ye's mistake?" A Lei asked.

Cao Jing nodded, looking completely lifeless.

A Lei sighed inwardly. This was bad. So much stock had been destroyed. Jing Ge, who had been responsible for this matter, would have to step down no matter what.

Even if it had been Ma Ye's mistake, Cao Jing would have to take the blame. Ma Ye could not possibly take it himself, could he? That was why Cao Jing was so miserable. His power would inevitably be greatly reduced.

"It's still better than the cops really closing in! You're Ma Ye's most capable lieutenant. This little setback is nothing, Boss. You have to pull yourself together," A Lei consoled him.

Cao Jing pulled himself together and took a deep breath. "Mm... It was a false alarm. Call the brothers and have them bring the money back."

A Lei immediately called the brothers who had scattered with the money.

Cao Jing sat in a chair with his phone in hand, closing his eyes as he considered how to phrase things...

Without a doubt, he had to call Ma Ye and tell him: Your intelligence was wrong.

But it would definitely not work if he simply shifted the blame and said everything had happened because of Ma Ye's text message.

Sooner or later, he would still pay dearly for it.

Cao Jing knew Ma Ye very well. He knew that at a time like this, he had to rush to take the blame.

Although Ma Ye had made a mistake, Cao Jing still had to say it was his own problem and take responsibility voluntarily.

That way, even if he was punished for the moment and lost power within the organization, it would only be temporary.

Ma Ye would remember his loyalty. Once he made some small contribution later, Ma Ye would find an excuse to promote him again.

Cao Jing knew exactly what he should do and was now arranging his words.

Ten minutes later, he opened his eyes. He had already prepared the complete explanation. He had subtly found a few other reasons for himself, taken the blame, and even left Ma Ye a way out. It was simply perfect!

He dialed the number and heard Ma Ye say a single word from the other end. "Speak."

Cao Jing smiled. "Ma Ye, the matter has been resolved."

"Oh?" Ma Ye replied with another single word.

"Your text message arrived in time..." Cao Jing said.

This was the explanation he had prepared for himself, a subtle way to deflect responsibility. He still had to take the blame, but first he would not mention that it had been a false alarm.

He would first pretend that Ma Ye's information had arrived at just the right time and that he had resolved everything perfectly.

Then he would raise his doubts and ask whether there had been further information about the cops and why they had withdrawn.

After analyzing the suspicious points with Ma Ye, he would deliberately let Ma Ye point out that it had been a false alarm.

At that point, Cao Jing would voluntarily take responsibility and rush to shoulder the blame. Finally, he would say that he would definitely catch whoever had maliciously cut the power. Then everything would be perfect.

It was a good plan, but Ma Ye was utterly confused on the other end of the line.

"???" Ma Ye said. "What text message?"

Cao Jing froze, then curled his lip. Ma Ye is really something...

Well then, he already knew it had been a false alarm, right?

As expected, the old are still the shrewdest. With his very first sentence, he had already cleanly thrown off all responsibility!

What text message? Cao Jing thought, He can really say those four words, Ma Ye...

With that, the explanation Cao Jing had prepared was completely ruined.

Just as Cao Jing did not know how to respond, several of the brothers returned.

But Cao Jing's mouth fell open because he saw... they had returned empty-handed.

Seeing that Cao Jing was on the phone, Yellow Hair obediently stood to the side without saying a word.

Cao Jing stared at him but did not dare ask aloud, since he was still on the phone.

He only stretched out his palm, curled his fingers, and gave him a look, silently signaling, Where's the money?

Yellow Hair was baffled. Then he suddenly understood and took out a cigarette from his pocket, offering it to him.

Cao Jing glared, swatted the cigarette away, made a money-counting gesture, and asked again where the money was.

Yellow Hair tilted his head in confusion, shrugged, spread his hands to either side, pursed his lips, and raised his eyebrows, expressing his confusion: What are you talking about?

Cao Jing was about to go insane. Holding back his anger, he silently smacked Yellow Hair on the head, beating him until he scurried away with his head covered.

Fuck, where was the money? Could something have happened to the money too? Cao Jing was frantic.

At that moment, Ma Ye grew impatient on the other end. "What text message? Keep talking."

Cao Jing felt that something was terribly wrong. Before he figured out the money situation, he did not dare say anything.

So he brushed it off first. "It's nothing, Ma Ye. I'll call you again in a moment."

"What the hell? You called me this late just to wake me up?" Ma Ye snapped.

Cold sweat broke out on Cao Jing's forehead. This attitude was wrong. It did not sound like Ma Ye was shifting the blame.

"Uh... mm... Sorry, Ma Ye... I'll figure it out first and then tell you."

"Beep, beep, beep..." The other side hung up.

Cao Jing lowered his phone, glared at Yellow Hair and the others, and roared, "Where's the money?"

Everyone answered in unison, "We gave it to Ma Ye a long time ago."

"Oh... That's good." Cao Jing sighed in relief and dropped back into his chair.

"Don't worry, Jing Ge. We threw the money to the person Ma Ye sent to meet us a long time ago," Yellow Hair said confidently with a grin.

"So fast? How long has it been? You already delivered it to Ma Ye?" Cao Jing patted his chest and asked strangely.

To his surprise, everyone said, "Didn't Ma Ye's people come to meet us?"

"Huh?" Cao Jing froze.

The others were even more confused. "You said that the person Ma Ye sent to meet us had arrived and was downstairs. You told us to throw the money down and let him transport it away quickly."

"Bullshit!" Cao Jing exploded and jumped to his feet.

He grabbed one of them by the collar and roared, "You threw the money downstairs? And someone took it away?"

"Yeah!" Everyone nodded together.

P.S. Sorry.