I've Taken Care of Everything

Lin Li was eating at a restaurant when his phone suddenly rang.

He hurriedly slurped down a couple of mouthfuls of noodles and answered. "Hey, Kun Ge. What's up?"

Then he sounded surprised. "Huh? We've got a job tonight? Isn't that a bit sudden?"

"What? Ma Ye's going himself?"

Lin Li wasn't speaking especially loudly, but he wasn't whispering either. Who didn't say a few words while eating at a restaurant?

Some people talked loudly on the phone because the sound pressed against their ears filled their eardrums. Unable to hear their own voices clearly, they unconsciously raised them.

It was like listening to music through headphones and instinctively speaking louder, though the effect was more noticeable with headphones than with a phone.

Most people there paid Lin Li no attention. They kept eating and chatting.

But two men drinking beer nearby froze at the words "Ma Ye." They glanced at Lin Li and listened closely.

"Where? Zhongshan? No, be specific. There are so many parks in Zhongshan. Which one? Oh, okay. Got it."

"I'm not far away. Just over twenty minutes. I'll be there soon!"

Lin Li hung up, hurriedly paid, and left the restaurant.

The two men set down their beers, exchanged a look, and followed him.

But Lin Li got into a car and drove off. Neither man had driven there, so all they could do was watch.

"That Ma Ye he mentioned—it's the one we know, right?"

"Sounds like he's got a job tonight in Zhongshan."

"Something's going on. Tell Boss Jin."

Boss Jin was Golden Tooth, Ma Ye's longtime enemy.

Their businesses clashed. Ma Ye was good at finding and developing talent, and he had promoted many capable subordinates. He owed much of his success to loyal men like Tie Long.

Golden Tooth didn't have many formidable men under him. Instead, he was adept at scheming, so he often tried to sow discord among Ma Ye's people and lure capable men to his side.

That was why Ma Ye suspected Golden Tooth was behind the move against his White Powder business. Golden Tooth had finally won over one of his trusted men.

"Oh? The Old Beggar's going in person? Has he run out of people?"

Golden Tooth soon received word that Ma Ye had taken men to Zhongshan for a job that night.

"The Old Beggar" meant Ma Ye. It was an insult only a boss of Golden Tooth's standing could get away with.

In his younger days, Ma Ye had been a good-for-nothing who lived off others without a shred of shame. When he ran out of money, he would sit outside someone's shop and refuse to leave until they gave him some. He had spent a spell as a beggar in all but name.

Eventually, he tried it on a local boss and nearly got beaten to death. He kowtowed and begged for mercy. The boss had a generous streak: instead of driving him away, he fed him.

After that, Ma Ye showed up for free meals almost every day, kowtowing whenever they met. Seeing how thick-skinned he was, the boss took him in and put him to work.

Over the next few years, Ma Ye proved capable. He was nothing extraordinary, but he handled every task well. The boss promoted him again and again until he became one of his trusted men.

Then came a sweeping crackdown, and the boss was executed.

Many of his likely successors were arrested too. For a time, the city's local bosses kept their heads down, and no one dared make trouble.

Ma Ye seized the chance to step forward. He arranged the boss's funeral, kowtowed, and crawled a hundred meters on his knees, winning over the men.

He then kept everyone in line until the crackdown passed. After promoting a string of capable subordinates, he rose to become one of the most powerful local bosses.

Only someone of Golden Tooth's generation could call him "Beggar." Even Golden Tooth's own men had to address him as Ma Ye, enemies or not. That was the rule.

"One of Ma Ye's men took a call in a restaurant," Golden Tooth's subordinate said. "We happened to be sitting nearby and heard him."

"Mm." Golden Tooth made several calls to check. Sure enough, a man assigned to watch Ma Ye confirmed that he had gone out. The man didn't know where Ma Ye had gone; he had tried to follow but lost him.

"Of course you lost him. You think the Old Beggar doesn't know you're watching his house? He knows you work for me. It'd be stranger if he let you stay on his tail," Golden Tooth said calmly.

Golden Tooth considered it. Ma Ye had deliberately shaken the men watching his house and headed to Zhongshan. If one of his men hadn't happened to let his destination slip, Golden Tooth would never have known.

"If he's going himself, it must be a big deal! Do you know which park?" Golden Tooth asked.

His subordinate shook his head. "No. There are plenty of parks in Zhongshan, and the guy on the phone didn't say which one."

Golden Tooth sighed. "What else did the guy say? Repeat every word!"

Without the specific park, finding him would take time. By the time Golden Tooth arrived, it would probably be over.

But when his men repeated the conversation, Golden Tooth stared at them.

"Hm? He said it would take just over twenty minutes to get there from that restaurant?"

Golden Tooth thought for a moment, then snapped, "Are you idiots? If it's only twenty minutes away, it has to be Di Feng Park!"

It was the only park within a twenty-minute drive of that restaurant!

"Oh, right..." The two men paused, then hurriedly smiled. "You're sharp, boss..."

"..." Golden Tooth drew a deep breath and shook his head, saying nothing more.

He was used to it. His men were a pack of yes-men, and precious few had any brains.

Ma Ye, by contrast, had quite a few sharp men. Tie Long in particular was smart and could fight. He could have gone out on his own and carved out a place for himself.

But years ago, someone had hacked Tie Long half to death, and Ma Ye had saved him.

Ma Ye had taken him in, trained him, and sent him to learn Muay Thai, raising him up from nothing. When Tie Long proved capable and lived up to his hopes, Ma Ye even married his daughter to him.

In recent years, Ma Ye had also let it be known that he was getting old and would retire someday, leaving Tie Long to take his place.

After all that, Tie Long was the last person likely to betray Ma Ye. Ma Ye had no son, only a daughter. As his son-in-law, Tie Long would do everything he could to preserve and expand Ma Ye's power, because one day it would all be his.

"Let's go! Get A Meng. We'll take a look." Golden Tooth led his men toward Di Feng Park.

Twenty-five minutes earlier, as soon as they got onto the intercity expressway, Tie Long noticed they were being followed.

He deliberately slowed down below the legal limit. A car behind him slowed too, as if he had boxed it in and left it no choice.

But that wasn't true. Most drivers would have overtaken him.

For one thing, experienced drivers would get impatient and pass. For another, following someone who suddenly slowed down felt unsafe. Was something wrong with his car? Instinctively, they would overtake him.

The car behind them was an old wreck. A novice wouldn't dare take it onto the expressway, so its driver had to be experienced. Only someone with something to hide would keep following instead of passing when Tie Long slowed down like that.

After that brief test, Tie Long returned to normal speed. The car still didn't overtake him.

"Ma Ye, someone's following us again," Tie Long said with certainty.

Sitting in the back, Ma Ye glanced at the battered car behind them, his face darkening. "We shook a car when we set out. That was one of Golden Tooth's men who watches my movements. I didn't expect another one to appear halfway here and follow us."

"Someone's feeding them our location!"

Tie Long nodded. "Could be one of the men in the three cars ahead..."

Ma Ye had brought four cars on this trip. Six trusted men rode in the first three, clearing the way.

Only he and Tie Long were in the last car, so they could discuss confidential matters.

"You still call him one of our men? That backstabbing bastard. Never mind. Don't shake the car behind us when we leave the expressway. Let it follow. I want to see who's trying to come after me." Ma Ye's face was grim.

It had been no surprise that Golden Tooth's men saw him leave, so Ma Ye had shaken them off.

But another car picking up their trail halfway was different. The other side had plainly been tipped off that their four cars would enter the expressway here and had lain in wait.

That proved there was a mole, and the mole was in one of the four cars!

He would never suspect himself or Tie Long, which left only the men in the three cars ahead.

Those trusted men didn't know the final destination, but because they were in the convoy, one of them could have warned the enemy to wait at the expressway entrance and follow them. It all fit.

"Was it Li Kun or Xiao Dao? Fuck!" Now that he knew the mole was among those six men, Ma Ye was furious.

Tie Long frowned as he considered who it might be.

Still driving, he said, "Ma Ye, if someone tries to interfere with the deal, I suggest we don't get into a shootout."

"Agreed. They'll be prepared. I chose a park because it's easy to retreat from. Tie Long, if Golden Tooth is behind this, what do you think he'll do?" Ma Ye asked.

"Most likely go after our supplier and ruin our reputation," Tie Long said.

"Exactly! Then we'd struggle to sell, or our suppliers would raise their prices. He'd be choking off my business at the source. That's Golden Tooth's style... Tie Long, you didn't contact our real supplier, did you?" Ma Ye asked.

"I did," Tie Long said calmly.

"What?" Ma Ye stared at him.

"I told them in advance that someone would try to sabotage this deal. I asked them not to bring the real goods, just to go through the motions and watch what happened," Tie Long said.

"Don't worry, Ma Ye. I've taken care of everything. When the time comes, we'll turn the tables and expose Golden Tooth's identity and plan. His reputation will be the one ruined. He's in this business too. Once word gets around among the suppliers, how will he get stock?"

Ma Ye nodded with satisfaction. "Well done. That's Tie Long for you. I can rest easy knowing you'll take my place."

P.S. Sorry.