Six set the board

A little after one in the afternoon, Kong Zhenghui's car stopped outside the Su Family compound.

Inside the car, Su Tianyu looked grave as he told Kong Zhenghui, "You've got plenty of contacts. Find out what you can about the Dock Gang's bosses. Once we have the details, we'll work out our next move."

Kong Zhenghui was a sharp man, and he had already more or less guessed what Su Tianyu had in mind. He asked, "Based on what we discussed earlier, Mr. Yu is torn right now, and there's a good chance he'll lean toward the Dock Gang. Right?"

Su Tianyu looked at him without answering.

"If we make a move behind his back, what happens if Mr. Yu won't clean up after us?" Kong Zhenghui asked.

"Just answer me this. The business is up and running, and you've already seen the profits. If you get kicked out now, would you take that lying down?" Su Tianyu asked in return.

"Of course not!" Kong Zhenghui replied bluntly. "But what I want doesn't matter. Mr. Yu holds all the cards. If he says you're out, what can you do about it?"

Su Tianyu looked at the cunning Kong Zhenghui and blinked. "Make some inquiries first. Then we'll decide what to do next. Don't overthink it for now."

After considering that non-answer for a good while, Kong Zhenghui replied, "All right. I'll contact someone now."

"Okay. I'm going inside for a bit. Wait here." Su Tianyu pushed open the car door.

After watching Dog Six walk away, Kong Zhenghui spent almost a full minute thinking before taking out his phone.

In the Su Family's main hall, Su Zhengcai stood with his hands behind his back, watching Dog Six enter. He frowned and asked, "Haozi's been held for two or three days now. Can Yu Mingyuan sort this out or not?"

"Sit down first, Uncle."

"Sit down, my ass! Haozi's mother cries every damn day. It's got me so worked up I'm getting boils on my ass," Su Zhengcai cursed crudely. "Call Yu Mingyuan. I'll talk to him."

"Uncle, can you hear me out first?"

"...!" Su Zhengcai glanced at Six, then lowered himself into a chair. "What's going on?"

"Here's where things stand..." In a low voice, Su Tianyu told his uncle everything: what had happened, his own analysis, and what had been said during his meeting with Yu Mingyuan yesterday. He held nothing back.

After listening, Su Zhengcai's thick brows knitted together. "Will Yu Mingyuan choose our three families in the end?"

"Whoever he chooses, we still need to get our people and cargo back first," Su Tianyu said quietly. "I'll handle it."

"The Dock Gang isn't the Changqing Company. Those people stick together, and they all live in the same area. How are you going to handle it?" After a moment's thought, Su Zhengcai waved him off. "Quit talking bullshit. Don't go getting yourself caught too, without bringing back either the people or the cargo."

"Uncle, there's definitely a risk. I won't argue with that. But what line of work could we get into these days that would always be smooth sailing?" Su Tianyu looked up at his uncle and asked bluntly, "You watched me grow up. Do you think I'd do something without any confidence of pulling it off?"

Su Zhengcai fell silent. "If the people and cargo are at the docks, pulling this off will be too hard."

"That's why I came to see you." Su Tianyu leaned close to his uncle's ear. "If Yu Mingyuan's talks with them go well tonight, then we do this..."

As Su Zhengcai listened to Dog Six, his expression grew complicated.

When Su Tianyu finished, he looked his uncle in the eye. "Do you think it'll work?"

Su Zhengcai blinked. "The question is, what can I use to convince him? He doesn't have a stake in our business at sea. Why would he help us?"

"Because of your friendship!" Su Tianyu replied.

"That's not enough." Su Zhengcai waved a hand. "When money's involved, friendship is friendship, and business is business."

Su Tianyu thought for a moment, then offered another suggestion. "Then tell him this..."

Half an hour later, Su Tianyu left the house and got back into Kong Zhenghui's car.

"Did you find someone to ask around?" Su Tianyu asked.

"Yes."

"Good. Tell Bai Hongbo to bring a few guys with guts. We'll meet in the warehouse yard," Su Tianyu replied.

"All right!" Kong Zhenghui asked no further questions. He dialed Bai Hongbo's number as he drove.

A little after four that afternoon.

Su Tianyu, Kong Zhenghui, Su Tianbei, Bai Hongbo, and eight core members of their respective families gathered in the warehouse yard, waiting to hear back from Kong Zhenghui's friend.

In the main hall, Bai Hongbo looked nervously at Su Tianyu. "Brother, is this really going to work? Let me tell you, those docks are right by the sea. If we screw this up, we could end up buried at sea. They wouldn't even find our bodies."

Su Tianyu gave him a sidelong look and answered tersely, "If you're scared, you can sit this one out."

"...Tianyu, if you put it that way, all I can do is wish you a safe return." At this point, Bai Hongbo abandoned both his pride and his pretense. "I'd better stay here and wait for news."

Kong Zhenghui narrowed his eyes at Bai Hongbo and said bluntly, "Here's how it works. If you won't help protect the business this time, then even if the sea operation keeps running, the Bai Family won't have anything to do with it."

Bai Hongbo blinked. "...Do you really have to turn on me that fast?"

No one could be bothered with him. They simply waited quietly for news.

Inside a teahouse beside the Dragon City Police Bureau.

Sitting by the window, Su Zhengcai asked softly, "Wang, for the sake of our friendship, you've got to help me with this, no matter what."

"Heh." Wang Daolin smiled, holding his teacup. "Second Cannon, that's not very fair of you!"

"How's that?"

"When you expanded into business at sea and started making money, you didn't come to me. Now that you've hit trouble, you suddenly remember we served together. That's a bit hard to justify, isn't it?" Wang Daolin took a sip of tea. "It's the Yu Family's business. If something goes wrong, they should deal with it. Why should I wipe their asses? That makes no sense."

Su Zhengcai considered his words for a long while. "Wang, I'm only asking you to be a safety net. I absolutely won't put you in a difficult position between the two sides. And once this is over, whenever you need the Su Family to do anything for you at the Police Bureau, I, Su Zhengcai, won't say a single word of refusal. If you need money, we'll provide it. If you need connections worked under the table, we'll work them. From now on, we'll be pulling the same cart, tied into the same harness. What do you say?"

Wang Daolin toyed with the teacup in his right hand without answering immediately.

Su Zhengcai lit a cigarette and continued quietly, "And if the business at sea doesn't fall apart..."

Wang Daolin listened in silence, turning things over in his mind.

A little after six that evening, Yu Mingyuan left the company and met Tang Baiqing first. After a brief conversation, the two headed to an upscale restaurant in Zhannan District.

Meanwhile.

Kong Zhenghui received a call from his friend. "Hello? Go ahead!"

"I couldn't find out exactly where they are," his friend replied quietly. "But if the Dock Gang really seized that cargo at sea, one of their crew bosses definitely led the job. There are four crew bosses in the Zhannan Dock Gang, though. You get what I mean?"

Kong Zhenghui's mind worked fast. Almost instantly, he remembered that Xu Hu was the one who had been seeking talks with Yu Mingyuan. He immediately asked, "Who are the crew bosses under Xu Hu?"

"Guo Lin and Feng Hai."

After talking for five minutes, they hung up. Kong Zhenghui turned to look at Su Tianyu. "I've got the information. Are you really going through with this?"