Mr. Ye Hai's Scheme

Xu Yi clasped his hands and said earnestly:

"Thank you, Master!"

Seeing how obedient Xu Yi was, Mr. Ye Hai immediately felt much better.

He decided not to pursue the matter with Wax Zhang any further.

If he could get his hands on Lingtong Hall, what was one Wax Zhang worth?

Even ten opium dealers like Wax Zhang, working for him, couldn't compare to a Lingtong Hall that could produce a steady stream of clean money!

Mr. Ye Hai had mingled with all sorts of people since he was young. He had seen far more of the world than most, and his experience was beyond that of ordinary people.

He had been lucky to achieve what he had today, and there were many reasons for it.

Ruthlessness was one, treating people with benevolence and righteousness was another, and scheming for opportunities was a third. The opium trade was a fourth, and giving away his wealth to gather people around him was a fifth...

But whenever he looked back on the past, Mr. Ye Hai could see only one reason that had truly made the difference—

Luck.

Yes, luck. Mr. Ye Hai believed that every achievement he had gained in this life had come from luck.

Hard work, benevolence, the opium trade... They were all just minor contributing factors beneath luck's influence.

That made Mr. Ye Hai uneasy.

This unease kept him inwardly "humble."

That was why he believed in benevolence and righteousness: the benevolent and righteous were always humble.

That was why he had done everything he could to enter high society. Once he was in, and had close ties with the people who controlled the real resources, his business would become stable, and luck would have less influence over him.

That was why he wanted to go straight. As a foreigner's "black glove," the money he made selling opium was dirty. The longer he did it, the dirtier his hands would become.

He knew that the opium trade couldn't last forever.

He had wanted to cut ties with it for a long time!

But if he stopped dealing opium, what other business could he turn to?

Foreigners controlled most of Puxi City's business resources and means of production: electricity, water, fuel, natural gas, hardware and general merchandise, mineral resources... They had paved the way for industrialization with their money, and locals had no way to get into their businesses.

Even if they did get in, they were only hired hands. They couldn't sit at the table to eat; at best, they were dogs gnawing on bones under it.

High society was so close. He only had to leave Golden Orchid Nunnery, walk along Green Shore River to the bridge, and catch a rickshaw to reach the Bund, where the elite of high society gathered.

And yet high society was so far away. A chasm separated Puxi City's old industries from its new ones. Standing at the edge and looking across at the new industries, he felt he could spend his whole life and still never reach them.

To enter high society and cross into a higher class, he could either marry Ye Miao off to someone or find a way to do it himself.

If he could take control of Lingtong Hall, earn clean, legitimate money, and then find a way to get it listed when Puxi City's stock exchange opened a few years later, he could become a genuine entrepreneur.

—One of the elite, just like those foreign businessmen on the Bund!

By then, even if he completely severed his ties with the gang's businesses, he wouldn't fall down the social ladder and become a commoner.

Thinking of this, Mr. Ye Hai's gaze toward Xu Yi changed.

The more he looked at his disciple, the more pleased he felt.

Seeing his master in a good mood, Xu Yi seized the opportunity to ask:

"Master, I'd like to ask you about something."

Mr. Ye Hai was so pleased that he would answer almost anything. He looked at Xu Yi gently, inviting him to continue.

Xu Yi clasped his hands.

"Master, do you know of a foreign trading firm in the British Concession called the Griffin Firm?"

Outside the door, Lu Bolin's heart sank.

This is bad! The kid's after a piece of the meat on my plate!

Mr. Ye Hai leaned back in his wicker chair, the corners of his mouth curling almost imperceptibly.

If a person had something to ask for, they would have desires, and those desires would give rise to the need to get ahead.

For a young man to make progress, he had to be under the control of the old hands in his line of work.

The moment Xu Yi asked that question, he was already under Mr. Ye Hai's control.

Mr. Ye Hai was quite pleased with Xu Yi at that moment.

A person in the underworld had no choice but to go with the flow, Mr. Ye Hai believed—but only on the condition that people in the underworld were ambitious and would always be swayed by worldly interests.

"The Griffin Firm is one of our longtime business partners."

Xu Yi said nothing.

Outside the door, Lu Bolin heard this and immediately felt murderous toward Xu Yi.

He stood outside, listening closely.

"The term 'foreign trading firm' sounds impressive, but it's really just a company that does business. They have a wide range of operations and deal in all kinds of things."

"Since Puxi City opened up to foreign trade, foreigners have carved out concessions and established businesses. Today, more than a thousand foreign firms of all sizes are active in Puxi City!"

Xu Yi listened attentively.

Mr. Ye Hai had spent years in the underworld, and his horizons were broad. Over the past month, Xu Yi had heard him lecture several times.

Every time Xu Yi looked at things from Mr. Ye Hai's perspective, he gained a great deal of insight.

"Most foreign firms are in the concessions, though some are in the Chinese Settlement.

Among them, English firms are the most numerous. They came earliest and are the undisputed leaders and pioneers in most businesses.

Most English firms are concentrated along the Bund. They control all of Puxi City's finance, shipping, and import and export trade, and they're about to take control of electricity and gas as well.

They invested the most in water pipes, most of the electrical wires and equipment, gas lines, and nearly every hardware industry... So naturally, they take the lion's share of the profits."

"The Griffin Firm deals in all sorts of things.

When they first came to Puxi City, they mainly invested in the labor trade.

Our people are nimble and hardworking, so their factories like to hire them.

Some were even sent to England to work in the firm's factories.

One of our projects with them is transporting workers there."

Xu Yi knew only a little about that part of history, and couldn't tell whether this was the notorious human trafficking trade.

He guessed that it probably was.

Outside, Lu Bolin felt awful as he listened.

The fact that Mr. Ye Hai had told Xu Yi about this meant that Xu Yi would probably get involved in it sooner or later.

That was no good.

"Besides that, we've secured some of their tea orders, and we supply them with fresh tea every year.

We also buy some hardware components from them and sell them wholesale to small companies, workshops, and storefronts in Puxi City's Chinese Settlement."

"That's basically the extent of our cooperation."

Outside the door, Lu Bolin quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as Xu Yi didn't touch the opium trade, he wasn't crossing the line.