That night's chaos kept all of Mong Kok on edge. Wang Xuan's Portland Street was relatively fine, since most of its businesses revolved around the entertainment industry, which wasn't illegal in Hong Kong in the 1990s. He didn't care much about the losses from a few private gambling dens either. Those places had only been kept to provide for his men; at most, he just had to bail them out.
Baki, however, was in a much worse state. He handled all the drug business on Portland Street. Not many people had been arrested this time, but a huge amount of drugs had gone up in smoke, costing him nearly a million just in capital.
Baki's two trusted men, Ah Hoi and Wong Jai, had suffered equally heavy losses. Although the rest of Mong Kok was less prosperous than Portland Street, places like Ladies' Street and Shanghai Street were still densely populated areas of Hong Kong. While they weren't the police's main targets, the two men's gambling and drug businesses had still taken a major hit, and many of their men had been arrested.
The Mong Kok police station had been brightly lit all night. The people brought in had nearly burst the station at the seams.
Baki had spent the whole night rushing around with Wong Jai and Ah Sen. By morning, they still hadn't managed to bail everyone out.
After learning the reason for the massive raid, the two men had complained to Baki repeatedly about Wang Xuan causing trouble. Of course, they had only complained. Both of them had experienced Wang Xuan's brutality firsthand and genuinely didn't dare say too much, terrified that the kid might turn on even his own family.
Baki's losses weren't small either, but the drug business on Portland Street had originally been a gift from Wang Xuan to him, so there was little he could say.
He hadn't even been in charge of Portland Street for long, yet this loss was greater than what he had earned over the previous period.
After Wang Xuan got up that morning, he also learned how badly Baki and the others had suffered. He couldn't help cursing Wong Chi-shing inwardly for creating such a huge mess for him.
No matter how Wang Xuan looked at it, he had no choice but to shoulder the blame.
He called Baki and arranged to have lunch together, specifically telling him to bring Wong Jai and Ah Sen. He was treating everyone to a meal at noon to apologize.
At noon, at Fu Kee Restaurant.
The restaurant wasn't large, but the food was good and the place was fairly quiet, making it suitable for people like them who operated in the shadows.
The younger men had already surrounded the floor below, preventing any clueless outsiders from disturbing the big shots upstairs.
Wang Xuan had arrived early and was standing at the restaurant entrance to welcome the three of them. When he saw them get out of the car, he quickly strode over.
"Big Brother, this time, I was the one who caused trouble." He greeted Wong Jai and Ah Sen, who had followed behind, then continued, "Let's go upstairs and talk. I'm treating everyone to a meal today to make amends."
When they reached the second floor, the food and wine had already been served. Baki took the seat of honor, and the other two sat down as well. Wang Xuan immediately picked up a cup and said, "Big Brother knows what happened before. I was taken away by the police and set up. I got my revenge afterward, but I also made the entire Hong Kong Royal Police lose face, so this massive raid was aimed at me.
"I just didn't expect it to involve Big Brother and the two of you. I'll punish myself with three drinks and apologize to everyone."
He drained the cup in one gulp, then poured himself another and finished it as well. But when he reached for the third, Baki pressed his hand down. "That's enough. We're all brothers here. It's enough that you have this attitude. Anyone out here is bound to run into this kind of trouble sooner or later. It's only a matter of whether it happens earlier or later. Don't take it to heart."
"No. Right is right and wrong is wrong. It was my mistake, and I won't shirk it." Wang Xuan pushed Baki's hand aside and downed the third cup.
Once Wang Xuan had made his attitude clear, even if Baki and the two younger men had any resentment, they could no longer bring themselves to say it. After sitting down, Wang Xuan continued, "I've only just taken over Portland Street, so I don't have that much cash on hand yet. But whatever losses Big Brother and the two of you suffered this time, I'll make up for them in full by the end of the month. I absolutely can't let my troubles drag everyone else into suffering."
When Baki and the two younger men heard this, delight immediately appeared on their faces. Wasn't making money the reason they had joined a gang? As long as they didn't lose money, the rest really didn't matter.
As for Wang Xuan himself, losing some money was nothing. He knew he was in a mission world, and his only purpose here was to complete the mission and exchange it for three years of life in the real world. To complete the mission smoothly, his reputation in both the underworld and legitimate society mattered far more to him. It wasn't something a mere few million could compare to.
He wanted outsiders to know that Wang Xuan was loyal and willing to take responsibility, and that he didn't care about money. Anyone dealing with him wouldn't have to worry about being cheated.
With this reputation, he would be able to accomplish greater things in the future.
Since Wang Xuan had already made his promise, the three naturally put their gloom aside. For a while, the drinking at the table continued enthusiastically.
During the meal, Wang Xuan also briefly suggested setting up some legitimate businesses to give them a way out when necessary. Seeing that the three showed no reaction, however, he said no more.
Everyone had their own ideas. They were merely using one another and had no deep friendship. Besides, no amount of good advice could save someone determined to die, and even great compassion could not save someone who had cut himself off from life. After offering his warning, he stopped thinking about the matter.
After eating and drinking their fill, everyone went their separate ways. Wang Xuan returned to the nightclub after seeing the three off.
That day, Wang Xuan had just finished speaking with Shen Leman on the phone when a knock sounded outside the door.
"Come in."
Ah Ying pushed the door open and walked in. "Big Brother."
"Sit down. What is it?"
"It's like this. One of the loans from one of our finance companies is proving difficult to collect."
Seeing Ah Ying's worried expression, Wang Xuan found it somewhat amusing. "What kind of person could make our Brother Ah Ying so helpless?"
"The other party is a lawyer. How are we supposed to collect the money? A lot of our usual methods won't work."
"Oh?" Wang Xuan immediately became interested. Lawyers in Hong Kong were a high-income group, and they were also famously troublesome. In fact, aside from the mainland, lawyers everywhere else in the world were difficult to deal with.
What had a lawyer borrowed money for? Why couldn't he pay it back?
It really wasn't easy to use extreme measures against a lawyer. After all, their goal was to collect money, not kill anyone. If they couldn't collect the debt, dismembering the man would be useless apart from attracting the police.
And methods like splashing paint, beating people, or threatening someone's parents, wife, and children weren't effective against lawyers either. They really dared to sue you!
And they could win!
That was why Wang Xuan had never been very interested in loan-sharking. Even if he ran a lending business, he would rather use methods from the real world, targeting companies or people with collateral. At the very least, he couldn't afford to lose money!
"How much does he owe?"
"More than three hundred thousand." Ah Ying spoke somewhat awkwardly. He had mishandled this matter.
"Bring him here. I'll meet him."
Wang Xuan waved his hand indifferently. Even if he couldn't recover the money, it didn't matter. It was only a little over three hundred thousand—he could treat it as paying for a lesson. Besides, he had other plans as well.
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