The moment the gun came out, Su Tianyu stepped forward, waving a hand as he shouted, "Tianbei, Zhenghui, don't move yet!"
Su Tianbei, Kong Zhenghui, and the others stayed still, their eyes fixed on the man holding the gun.
"You got a problem with that, huh?" The young man pointed his gun at Su Tianbei's head and shouted with a frown, "Stab him!"
At his command, two men stepped forward, knives clenched in their hands, ready to strike.
Su Tianyu stepped up and grabbed his second brother's arm, putting half his body in front of him. "Brother, we weren't trying to muscle in on your turf. We thought the people above us had already sorted out protection along the coast. That's why we came in. It's a misunderstanding, just a misunderstanding."
After dropping three men with a kick, a knee, and an elbow, the crew-cut man named Wei Xiangzuo turned to the gunman and said, "They're just a bunch of kids getting their feet wet. Don't give them a hard time."
Only then did the young man shout again, "Everybody squat down!"
The group hesitated, but Su Tianyu immediately called out, "Come on, everyone, squat down!"
Kong Zhenghui glanced at Su Tianyu, then took the lead, crouching beside the truck with his hands over his head. Seeing that even he wasn't resisting, the others followed suit, squatting in a row.
Su Tianyu's decision to de-escalate was actually the wisest choice. The division of labor in this business was very clear: the Su, Bai, and Kong families were responsible for receiving, transporting, and distributing the goods-not building connections or opening doors.
The shipment had been intercepted as soon as it reached the beach. Was that a coincidence? It meant these men had been watching them for some time and had come with a specific purpose. If the coastal connections hadn't been sorted out, that was Yu Mingyuan's responsibility. He should be the one to resolve it, not the Su, Bai, and Kong families doing the legwork.
The most important thing in life and work was to understand your own role. Take on only as much as you could handle. Push too hard to prove yourself, and you could end up hurting both yourself and others.
Once everyone had squatted down, Wei Xiangzuo didn't make things difficult for them. He didn't even bother talking to them. Only the young man holding the gun told them to contact their boss.
Su Tianyu immediately did as instructed and called Yu Mingyuan.
After contacting the people above them, all they could do was wait. Su Tianbei and Bai Hongbo asked Tianyu several times, "What did they say? Can they sort this out?"
"Mr. Yu is making calls. Just wait," Su Tianyu replied quietly. Then he lowered his head and asked the two of them, "I heard someone say that guy is a boss in the Dock Gang. What does that mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. They operate around Zhannan Dock. But I heard Wei Xiangzuo had disappeared for years. No idea when he came back," Su Tianbei replied.
Su Tianyu nodded and said nothing more.
After they had waited a little over half an hour, a car came down the road from the south and slowly stopped to the right of Wei Xiangzuo's vehicle.
The door opened, and Tang Baiqing from the coast guard stepped out with a smile. "Well, well! Xiangzuo, long time no see!"
Wei Xiangzuo opened his door and got out as well. "What's going on, Baiqing?"
"My friend's company needed to move some goods, so we got the Dirty Gang boys to receive them. The unit's been swamped with bullshit these past few days, and I completely forgot to give you a heads-up." Tang Baiqing spoke politely. "Sorry about that, Xiangzuo. Here, have a cigarette!"
"One of the boys watching the spot called me. Said someone was setting up a pickup for a boat over at Haiyan Pit." Wei Xiangzuo held the cigarette between his lips while Tang Baiqing lit it for him. Then he exhaled a thick cloud of smoke and said with a faint smile, "I figured some crew had come to steal our business. Didn't realize it was your friend."
"We're all on the same side. Sorry about this. I didn't follow the rules."
"Long-term operation or a one-off?" Wei Xiangzuo asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Here's the situation..." Tang Baiqing drew Wei Xiangzuo aside, and they walked over to the side of the car to talk privately.
Squatting on the other side of the car, Su Tianyu could neither see them nor hear their conversation.
About three to five minutes later, Wei Xiangzuo finally waved a hand at Tang Baiqing. "All right, we'll leave it at that. We're heading out."
"Sure thing, Xiangzuo. I'll treat you sometime in the next couple of days!"
"Heh, don't worry about it." Wei Xiangzuo waved, got into the car with his men, and left.
Tang Baiqing turned around and immediately called out, "Come on, get the goods out of here. Hurry!"
Su Tianyu was in charge of receiving and delivering the shipment, so once Wei Xiangzuo and his men had left, he immediately approached Tang Baiqing. "Everything okay now?"
Tang Baiqing slipped back into his usual languid manner and answered with a yawn, "Fuck, they just wanted to throw up a roadblock and give us a warning. It's fine. I've known them for ages. Keep doing things as usual."
"Good, then." Su Tianyu nodded.
With the brief scare over and no harm done, everyone immediately drove away.
When they returned to the dump after five in the morning, Yu Mingyuan's car arrived as well. Tang Baiqing and Su Tianyu got into his car together.
"No problems with the Dock Gang?" Yu Mingyuan asked directly.
"None, heh!" Tang Baiqing loosened his collar. "It's all settled."
Yu Mingyuan paused, took fifty thousand out of his bag, and tossed it down beside Tang Baiqing. "Take this. Spread it around to keep the small fry happy."
"Come on, there's no need!" Tang Baiqing didn't even look at the fifty thousand. He simply declared, "I'm coast guard. My job is to deal with the Dock Gang. If I start volunteering tribute to them, how the hell am I supposed to hold my head up after that?"
"You really don't need it?" Yu Mingyuan asked, looking at him.
"No. I'll just get together with those Dock Gang guys sometime." Tang Baiqing glanced down at his watch. "All right, it's getting late. I'm heading home."
Yu Mingyuan looked at him and teased, "Try living a little healthier, too. Stop sticking that stuff into yourself all the time."
"Life's boring. Just having a little fun." Tang Baiqing brushed it off, opened the door, and left the dump.
"All the goods accounted for?" Yu Mingyuan asked Su Tianyu.
"Yeah, everything's accounted for."
"..." Yu Mingyuan thought for a moment, picked up his bag again, and pulled out a little over three bundles of cash. He tossed them to Su Tianyu. "The profit on this shipment is around two hundred and seventy thousand. As agreed, each of your three families gets ten percent as your cut. Here's eighty-five thousand. Take it and split it among everyone. The extra is yours."
"We haven't even distributed the goods yet, and you're already splitting the money?" Su Tianyu asked with a smile.
"Now that it's ashore, this little shipment will be gone in minutes. Linda will give you the addresses shortly. Just deliver it," Yu Mingyuan replied.
Looking at the full eighty-five thousand in cash, Su Tianyu felt a little dazed. At the same time, he began to take this line of business seriously.
Over eighty thousand in profit in less than six or seven hours. How the fuck was this any different from printing money?
"Later, we'll have a dedicated accountant settle the books with you. For this time, we'll do it this way," Yu Mingyuan added.
"Okay." Su Tianyu nodded and got out. "Take care!"
"Heh." Yu Mingyuan smiled and drove away.
Holding the cash, Su Tianyu looked up and called, "Tianbei, split the money among everyone."
Su Tianbei took the money and began paying everyone.
Kong Zhenghui walked over and stood beside Su Tianyu. "The profits in this business are fucking insane!"
Su Tianyu glanced at him. "Don't you think... what happened tonight was a little strange?"
"Strange how?" Kong Zhenghui asked, taken aback.
"The goods hadn't been on the beach five minutes before those guys showed up. The Dock Gang's intel seems even more accurate than customs'." Su Tianyu turned to scan their surroundings, then added quietly, "...Our spot was so well hidden, with open ground all around it. I just can't figure out how they got eyes on us."
Kong Zhenghui blinked, and his expression grew uneasy too.
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