Third Brother

Biodata

Background / History

Estrangement from His Father

Shen San grew up in Yulin County, where his father, known as Old Master, was an influential gang leader. He once admired his father, but lost that respect after his father accidentally stabbed his mother to death during an argument. Someone else took the blame, allowing his father to escape responsibility. His father's subsequent remarriage deepened their estrangement 34.

At twenty-two, Shen San left home for North Gate, where he remained for more than seven years. His father eventually discovered his whereabouts and arranged for local associates to look after him. Third Brother resisted that involvement, preferring hardship to living under his father's influence. Guo Zhen later became his companion and chosen family 33 34.

Early Assistance to Zhou Xingwen

Before meeting Zhou Xingwen, Third Brother helped him investigate Yulin County's struggling MSG factory through well-connected friends. Xingwen gave Guo Zhen 3,000 yuan, specifying that 2,000 should go to Third Brother as thanks and an opening for future cooperation 20.

Despite his local reputation, Third Brother had little money. His refusal to rely on his father's network became especially consequential when he developed heart disease and could not afford treatment 27 33.

Heart Surgery and Return

Guo Zhen borrowed money from Xingwen to fund Third Brother's surgery. After learning the reason for the loan, Xingwen proposed moving him to Beijing 301 General Hospital rather than proceeding at Provincial Medical University. Xingwen and Lu Wei cited a success rate above ninety percent in Beijing, compared with the fifty percent Guo Zhen had been told locally 27.

Third Brother initially refused because he lacked money. He accepted after Xingwen asked him to consider how his death would affect Guo Zhen. Lu Wei arranged the hospital connection, travel, and an escort, with Zhang Xiaotong also helping coordinate his care 27 29.

The operation succeeded, and his recovery allowed him to return earlier than expected. At the station, he calmly comforted the crying Guo Zhen. Xingwen understood his survival as a change from the original timeline, in which he believed Third Brother had died of heart disease 27 32.

Dozens of underworld acquaintances came to welcome him home. He initially rebuffed them because of their connection to Old Master, but softened after acknowledging that Old Cannon and Xiaobai had sold or pawned possessions to help him. At the welcome dinner, he publicly placed Xingwen, Zhang Xiaotong, Yang Yuanzhe, and Ge Jinqiu under his protection as friends and family 33.

Partnership with Sun Group

Third Brother deduced that Xingwen was the real decision-maker behind Lu Wei and Sun Electric Appliance City. After Xingwen confirmed his involvement in that business, Sun Red Tea, and Chicken Essence, the two discussed working together 33.

Xingwen offered to invest ten million yuan within a year, without requiring returns for five years. His immediate aim was to gain a dependable ally who could help balance influence around Sun Group. Third Brother recognized that concern and agreed to join him, partly for Guo Zhen's sake 34.

Their first plan involved investigating South Korean smuggling routes through Dalian or the local port. Third Brother understood Xingwen's broader objective: control the route, retain its profits, and use them to support other industries. He agreed to make preliminary arrangements without immediately taking funding 34.

After registering a transportation company, he joined Sun Group's round-table meetings. He recruited old underworld contacts to build a distribution network rather than relying solely on large dealers, while working to settle customs arrangements and unite scattered operators through shared financial interests 35 37.

Intelligence Work and Russian Trade

When Taiwanese beverage companies entered the domestic market, Xingwen asked Third Brother to establish a business-intelligence network. Third Brother recruited suitable people and delivered detailed reports covering factory locations, funding allocations, production capacity, personnel, and agreements with local governments. Xingwen passed the information to Yu Chunrong to guide the beverage business 39 43.

Third Brother then accepted a Russian trading mission supplied through Lu Wei. The plan called for roughly a dozen parties to cross separately and regroup, using existing contacts to trade Chinese goods and acquire better equipment. Xingwen also hoped to establish dependable trading relationships and eventually control contraband channels 43.

Over the following months, Third Brother operated through Heilongjiang and Jilin. He briefly tested a route through Weihai but abandoned it because military involvement and coast-guard gunfire made passage too dangerous. In Russia, he selected the largest available gang as his protector, bartered goods, resold imports in China, and paid cash for weapons 49.

He returned with an arsenal described as sufficient to arm a small corps, but warned that dominating border smuggling would require far greater strength than they possessed. Before returning, he also sent Xingwen a warning that someone was investigating him 49.

By their next meeting, Third Brother had spoken with his father, who supported his plans and wanted to hand over his position. Third Brother and Xingwen agreed to expand quietly, favor maneuvering over violence, and keep casualties low. He began making arrangements the next day, with Old Master's approval limiting immediate opposition 50.

Appearance

• Fair skin and delicate features: Xingwen's first meeting overturns Guo Zhen's description of a brutish, cold-eyed thug 27.
• Lean build: After treatment, Third Brother jokingly calls himself a “scrawny wolf.” He appears thinner again after his Russian trading trip 33 49.
• Changing complexion: He is somewhat darker during the early expansion of his business and fairer again when he returns from the border trade 39 49.

Personality

Third Brother is fiercely independent, particularly where his father is concerned. He initially accepts poverty and even withholds news of his hospitalization rather than draw on his father's associates. His refusal is personal rather than an absolute rejection of criminal business: when Xingwen proposes smuggling, he says the issue is whether he wants to do it, not a fixed principle 33 34.

He is affectionate and protective toward Guo Zhen, frequently patting his head and treating him as family. He also extends that protection to Guo Zhen's friends, while insisting that loyalty brings obligations: before Guo Zhen joins his work, he warns him that the choice may be irreversible and demands responsibility toward friends, brothers, and family 27 33 50.

His relaxed humor does not prevent him from reading people sharply. He identifies Xingwen's authority from the deference others show him and recognizes the hidden concern behind the investment offer. Xingwen considers him more mentally resilient than Guo Zhen and trusts his ability to handle dangerous work 33 34.

Abilities & Skills

Intelligence Gathering

Third Brother turns a broad personal network into an effective source of commercial information 20 39 43.

• Investigates the Yulin County MSG factory through local contacts 20.
• Recruits clever, loyal people for Xingwen's intelligence organization 39.
• Obtains detailed operational and financial information on competing beverage companies 43.
• Learns of an investigation into Xingwen and sends advance warning 49.

Underworld Organization

He commands substantial personal respect, though building a unified organization still requires time and incentives 33 37.

• Brings scattered criminal contacts into a smuggled-goods distribution network 37.
• Uses shared profits to draw independent operators into cooperation 37 50.
• Gains greater room to expand once Old Master supports the transfer of authority 50.

Cross-Border Trade

Third Brother has port contacts and experience organizing trade with Russian gangs 34 49.

• Establishes protected trading arrangements and converts bartered goods into cash through resale 49.
• Acquires firearms through cash purchases rather than barter 49.
• Recognizes when a route is too dangerous and abandons the Weihai attempt 49.
• Cautions that their resources remain insufficient to dominate the wider border-smuggling trade 49.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Transportation company: His formal business, represented within Sun Group and used to support his expanding network 35 37.
• Suburban branch office and hidden depot: His father gives him a building's first floor for company use; an old air-raid shelter beneath it houses the arsenal 50.
• Early firearms stock: Limited quantities of secondhand AK-47s and AK-74s, with plentiful ammunition but uneven weapon quality 43.
• Expanded arsenal: Includes AK-74s, RPG-7 launchers, DT heavy machine guns, Italian-made fifteen-round Beretta pistols, and German revolvers 50.

Relationships

• Guo Zhen — Chosen family and a younger dependent whom he protects. Guo Zhen raises money for his treatment, serves as his intermediary with Xingwen, and eventually commits to joining his operations 27 37 50.
• Zhou Xingwen — Benefactor, investor, and strategic partner. Third Brother supplies the contacts, organization, intelligence, and trading experience needed to carry out Xingwen's plans 20 34 43.
• Old Master / Old Man — His father. Their estrangement follows his mother's death and his father's remarriage; later contact develops into practical support and a proposed transfer of authority 34 50.
• Lu Wei — Arranges his Beijing treatment and introduces him to Sun Group's other executives as the head of the transportation company 27 35.
• Zhang Xiaotong — Helps oversee his medical arrangements and becomes one of the people he publicly recognizes as family 29 33.
• Old Cannon and Xiaobai — Loyal associates who sacrifice personal possessions in attempts to help during his illness 33.
• Yang Yuanzhe and Ge Jinqiu — Guo Zhen's friends, whom Third Brother publicly includes among his protected friends and family 33.

Notable Quotes

“We're family. No need to be so polite.” 39

“Guozi, once you go down this road, you may never be able to turn back. Can you shoulder your responsibilities to your friends, your brothers, and your family? Never betray your friends, never abandon your brothers.” 50