Turning hostile

Over the next few days, GS kept recruiting, opening companies and taking on new men almost every day.

In just seven days, GS recruited four or five hundred men.

He didn't care whether they were loyal or whether there were undercover cops among them. He would get the numbers up first. A thousand underlings would at least be enough to intimidate people.

Besides, how could men he had only just recruited be loyal already?

And undercover cops were unavoidable anyway.

But GS considered himself a legitimate businessman. He wasn't breaking any laws, so he didn't care.

As for gangs, gang organizations themselves were legal on Hong Kong Island.

"Fuck, I wasn't even done sleeping and you squeezed me awake! Why the hell do you have to hug me in your sleep? You're all so damn heavy. I dreamed a ghost was pinning me down!" Grumbling, GS tossed aside the arms draped over him and sat up in bed.

"Brother S!" Liu Piaopiao rubbed her sleepy eyes. "Why are you so worked up this early in the morning?"

"Go back to sleep." GS gave her a pat.

Lately, GS sometimes didn't go home at night, instead calling Liu Piaopiao and Fanny over to play cards until morning.

Everything else was fine. His kidneys, not so much.

After showering, GS casually tossed two thousand dollars onto the table, then went downstairs and drove off for morning dim sum.

Once Silly Fook and Ah Tung arrived, he went home first to fetch the million he had set aside last time.

Then he brought Kong Sang along and drove to Causeway Bay.

"Look, now this is more like it. Nothing like that place in Yuen Long, right?" GS said, pointing at the bustling streets and rows of tall buildings outside the window.

This was where fortunes were made, where the real heavyweights gathered.

"One of our shops is just up ahead. Want to take a look?" Kong Sang asked, holding GS's arm. She cared far more about Golden Harvest Properties' business than he did.

She knew exactly where every shop was.

"Sure, let's take a look." GS nodded.

A little later, GS spotted a storefront under renovation. The frontage alone was fifteen or sixteen meters wide. In a place like Causeway Bay, where every inch of land cost a fortune, it looked impressive at first glance.

"How big is this place?" GS asked after getting out and looking it over from outside.

"I told you last time. You never pay attention," Kong Sang said, a little annoyed.

"I'm the boss. If I have to handle everything myself, what do I need employees for?" GS scoffed.

Helpless in the face of his attitude, Kong Sang could only explain, "We joined four shop units together. It's over eighteen hundred square feet."

That was roughly 170 square meters.

Causeway Bay was now Asia's largest shopping hub, and this flagship store was their biggest. Most of their other shops were only forty or fifty square meters.

"How long until it opens?"

"It opens in ten days. I told you before, and you promised you wouldn't forget." Kong Sang pinched GS's waist, but couldn't get a grip.

After all, GS's suit protected him against attacks, much like the bulletproof suit worn by that hitman whose killing spree had started over a dog.

"Did I?" GS looked doubtful.

That made Kong Sang even angrier.

"What time are we meeting Uncle Hing?" GS turned and asked.

"Brother S, we've still got an hour," Ah Tung said from behind him.

"Then let's look around some more."

An hour later, GS arrived at an old, small building. Several underlings stood guard at the entrance downstairs.

"You two wait in the car. Silly Fook, come with me. Ah Tung, keep an eye out." With those instructions, GS got out and tossed a small travel bag straight to Silly Fook.

"I've got an appointment with Uncle Hing."

"What's that?" one of the men downstairs asked, pointing at the travel bag in Silly Fook's hand.

"Money! You want some? Aren't you afraid of getting beaten to death?" GS raised his hand as if to strike, and the man hurriedly backed away.

Upstairs, he saw an elderly man of about sixty sitting beside a square table, listening to opera on a radio set next to him.

Several underlings stood around him.

"Uncle Hing! I've come to see you." GS spread his arms, looking thoroughly enthusiastic.

This was only their second meeting, though. The first had been when he accompanied Big B to a Hongxing meeting, and they hadn't exchanged a single word.

"You're Big B's rising star. What brings you to see an old man like me?"

GS had taken Tin Shui Wai single-handedly. Even Uncle Hing, who was nearing retirement, had heard about it.

So when GS asked to see him, he had thought it over and agreed.

But anyone with eyes could see that Big B could no longer rein in this rising star under his command.

GS's forces were already almost as strong as Big B's.

"I couldn't exactly come empty-handed. People might say I have no manners." GS took the travel bag, tossed it onto the table, and unzipped it.

Stacks of banknotes were revealed inside.

"What's this supposed to mean?" Uncle Hing lit a cigarette, took a drag, and asked.

As the Causeway Bay Boss, he had seen much larger sums. Though tempted, he could still keep his expression composed.

GS glanced around at the others.

"Just say it," Uncle Hing told him.

"I hear you're thinking about retiring, Uncle Hing?" GS sat down and got straight to the point.

Uncle Hing gave GS a long, searching look. He had only discussed this with Chiang Tin-sang. How did GS know?

Was he Chiang Tin-sang's man?

"What if I am? What if I'm not?" Uncle Hing took another deep drag and asked.

GS lit a cigarette too, smoke curling around him.

"Causeway Bay is a place for real heavyweights. What gang doesn't want to get in here? Someone without real ability can't hold this territory."

"Who in all of Hongxing is more capable than me? Nobody but me can hold this seat!"

"But you're retiring anyway. Whoever takes this seat won't have much to do with you. Money in your hand is what counts. This is a million. I want your support, Uncle Hing."

A faint, mocking smile appeared at the corner of Uncle Hing's mouth.

A little success, and the arrogance went straight to their heads. He had seen plenty of young men like this. How many of them had ended well?

He realized GS wasn't Chiang Tin-sang's man. If he were, he wouldn't need to come see him at all.

"The line of people who want this seat stretches from Causeway Bay to Tsim Sha Tsui, and you bring a million here expecting me to back you..." Uncle Hing chuckled, finding GS utterly delusional.

He pointed toward the doorway.

"The door's over there."

"Uncle Hing, you're retiring, not dying. Once you step down, who's going to look after you? Can seniority in the underworld put food on your table? If anything happens, won't you still need the brothers to stand up for you? As long as I hold this seat, I'll make sure you live in peace. Anyone who messes with you messes with me, LS."

"Besides, even if you die, your sons will still be alive. Your youngest is only in primary school. You've really still got it at your age, Uncle Hing!"

GS's smile never reached his eyes.

A vicious glare flared in Uncle Hing's eyes. He had, after all, held the boss's seat for decades.

"Are you threatening me?"

"I'm just trying to reason with you!" GS spread his hands.

"Throw this bastard out! I'll ask Big B just how he disciplines his men. What you've said today is enough to get you kicked out of Hongxing!" Uncle Hing forced the words through clenched teeth.

Several of Uncle Hing's men reached for GS, but in the next instant, GS shot to his feet, turned, seized one man's arm, and punched him in the throat.

Meanwhile, Silly Fook intercepted the other two.

GS planted both hands on the table, vaulted over it, and kicked Uncle Hing in the chest.

He didn't dare put much force into it, afraid he would kick the old man to death.

Clatter.

A gun fell to the floor.

With a savage look on his face, GS slapped Uncle Hing hard, sending stars bursting across his vision.

"Ask Big B?"

Then came another slap.

"Get me kicked out of Hongxing?"

Then another slap.

"I only call you Uncle Hing out of respect! I came here to reason with you, and you fucking threaten me? You're always talking about following the rules. Is this how you follow them?"

Only then did GS pick up the gun and turn to aim it at the others. "All of you, fucking stop!"