A hundred flavors of life

Chapter 1557 Excuse me, sister-in-law, I'm a police officer! (Please subscribe!)

After slowing down, the speedboat gently bumped into the edge of the small dock. Two figures, holding pistols, jumped off the speedboat and bowed slightly to Shen Jiawen.

"Sister Shen."

"Sister Shen."

His tone was respectful, and his posture was very humble.

Hua Shier raised an eyebrow. He gleaned something from the way they addressed her: they were calling her "Sister Shen," not "Sister-in-law," which meant they weren't Old Fu's former subordinates, but rather Shen Jiawen's own people.

After greeting Shen Jiawen, the two men turned their gaze to Hua Shier, their eyes filled with undisguised vigilance and scrutiny.

Hua Shier glared back, his tone domineering:

"Where's your dad?"

The two men were stunned. "Seriously? Are you blind? Didn't you see we're holding guns?"

After realizing what had happened, the two men's faces darkened, and they were about to take action to teach Hua Shier a lesson.

Shen Jiawen reached out to stop her, her tone decisive:

"They're our own people, let's get on the boat first."

She turned to look at Hua Shier, her eyes filled with speechlessness. You've already started something as soon as we met. What exactly are you trying to do?
She reached out her hand, and the two men helped her jump onto the speedboat. Hua Shier, on the other hand, pushed off the edge of the dock and landed lightly on the gunwale.

As soon as the group boarded the speedboat, it quickly turned around, its engine emitting a deep roar, and sped off towards the horizon where the sea and sky met in the darkness.

Shen Jiawen looked back at the coastline as it receded further and further into the distance until it was completely swallowed by the night. Only then did she let out a long breath, and her tense shoulders slowly relaxed.

The two underlings who were being scolded had a long, old scar across their face and were wearing a tight-fitting gym vest with their arms covered in tattoos; they were clearly not good people.

Scarface couldn't help but ask Shen Jiawen, "Sister Shen, who is he?"

Before Shen Jiawen could speak, Hua Shier stepped forward, put his arm around her shoulder, and defiantly raised his chin at the two of them:

"Her man."

After saying that, he turned his head and deliberately asked her, "Isn't that right, sister-in-law?"

The expressions on the two people's faces almost cracked on the spot. Do you think what you're saying and the way you address him match?
Hua Shier: How exciting!
Shen Jiawen's face also felt a little hot. She coughed lightly and took the initiative to explain:
"Old Fu doesn't want to work anymore, so he's the one who's taking over. From now on, we're all on the same side. You can just call him Brother Tianlong."

The scarred man and the tattooed man exchanged a glance, and reluctantly squeezed out, "Brother Tianlong."

Hua Shier ignored their perfunctory responses and turned to Shen Jiawen, saying:
"Looks like you're hiding a lot from Lao Fu. Are these all your people?"

Shen Jiawen rolled her eyes at him, annoyed.
“I’ve told you before that I was forced by Lao Fu, so how could I be on his side? If you bring this up again, I’ll get angry.”

Hua Shier smiled and raised his hands in surrender: "Fine, I won't say."

He changed the subject, "By the way, I remember the shortest distance from Guangzhou to the high seas is two hundred nautical miles. Can we get there by this speedboat?"

Shen Jiawen gave a meaningful look: "You'll find out when the time comes."

The speedboat sped across the sea for about half an hour before suddenly turning off its engine and drifting quietly on the surface.

All around was the boundless black sea. The night was dark and the wind was high, with the sea and sky indistinguishable. The atmosphere was somewhat reminiscent of murder to silence witnesses or to cover up the crime.

Hua Shier remained expressionless, smiling as he looked at the group, his hands in his pockets, looking relaxed.

In a different world, with a different identity, these guys should be the ones who are afraid.

Shen Jiawen nodded to the two men: "Dafei, Xiaofei, follow the rules."

"Holy crap!" Hua Shier burst out laughing: "Who named you two? One is called Dafei and the other is called Xiaofei. Why don't you two form a duo called Shuangfei?"

Halfway through his laugh, he had already drawn his large black gun with his left hand, and the muzzle steadily swept across the two people opposite him:

"Don't fucking move, anyone who dares to raise their hand will be killed."

Both Dafei and Xiaofei froze at the same time.

Shen Jiawen quickly grabbed Hua Shier's arm and explained rapidly:

"Tianlong, don't misunderstand! If you want to board the ship, you have to be searched according to the rules. Just hand over your phone and let them scan it with their device."

Dafei took out a handheld wireless signal detector, commonly known as a 'detection dog,' from the front of the speedboat. He flashed it at Hua Shier, meaning: This is all I have. I'm not trying to mess with you.

Hua Shier put away his gun and complained to Shen Jiawen in an annoyed tone:
"Then you should explain yourself more clearly. If it were me in the past, someone would have died by now."

Dafei and Xiaofei didn't say anything, but their eyes clearly showed disbelief.

But Shen Jiawen believed it. This guy went out partying with Han Fuhu and Scarface for half the night and then got wanted. None of the guys who went out with him came back.

"Excuse me, Brother Tianlong. Hand over your phone first." Dafei stepped forward.

Hua Shier took out his phone and handed it to Shen Jiawen.

Shen Jiawen took it and casually threw it into the sea, splashing a small spray of water that was quickly swallowed up.

“We’ll use satellite phones once we’re on board, so we won’t need this.” She said casually, as if she were throwing away a worthless piece of trash.

Hua Shier nodded: "That phone costs 368,000 yuan. Just remember to compensate me."

The people on the speedboat almost all fell into the sea.

Shen Jiawen couldn't hold back any longer and turned to glare at him: "What phone costs 368,000? Is it made of gold or silver?"

Hua Shier chuckled and said, "Enough nonsense. If you can't afford to pay, then pay with your body. I won't mind."

Shen Jiawen was too lazy to argue with him, so she rolled her eyes at him and waved her hand to signal Da Fei to get started.

Dafei took the detector and stepped forward, scanning Hua Shier from head to toe carefully, but found nothing.

He then put away the equipment and nodded to Shen Jiawen.

The speedboat restarted and continued heading towards the deep sea. This time, it didn't take long; less than ten minutes later, lights began to appear faintly on the dark sea ahead.

As we got closer, we could finally see that it was a fishing boat. It was quite large and had a deep draft, with a few dim lights on the deck.

As usual, the two sides exchanged signals using flashlights. A minute later, Hua Shier and Shen Jiawen boarded the fishing boat.

There were seven or eight people standing on the deck. When they saw Shen Jiawen, they all bowed and greeted her, calling her "Sister Shen".

Shen Jiawen nodded to them, then pointed at Hua Twelve:

"This is one of our own, call him Brother Tianlong."

The people on the boat shouted "Brother Tianlong" in unison again, but their voices were swallowed up by the waves before they could travel far in the night wind.

Shen Jiawen asked, "Is the teacher resting?"

One of the younger men replied, "Professor He is still in the lab."

Shen Jiawen nodded slightly and instructed, "Set sail and return to international waters. I'm going to check on the teacher." Everyone agreed and went about their business.

Shen Jiawen turned to Hua Shier and said, "Come with me."

She led Hua Twelve deeper into the cabin. The fishing boat was much larger than it appeared from the outside, with spacious cabins and winding passageways. Two adjacent cabins had their walls knocked down and transformed into a rather large laboratory.

As Hua Shier followed Shen Jiawen into the laboratory, a pungent chemical smell hit them.

Various glasswares used for purification were placed on the lab bench, with distillation equipment, condensers, flasks, and measuring cups, all neatly arranged.

An elderly man with gray hair, wearing a white lab coat, goggles, and a gas mask, was carefully preparing a pale yellow reagent at the lab table.

Shen Jiawen did not immediately go up to greet them, but instead pulled Hua Shier to stand at the door and watched quietly for a moment.

She lowered her voice and whispered in Hua Shier's ear:

"Didn't you ask me where the factory is? This is my factory. After Lao Fu's business shifted, all his goods were supplied from here."

Hua Shier already had a guess in mind, but still asked to confirm:
"You're the rich guy?"

Shen Jiawen smiled, her tone revealing a hint of undisguised smugness:
"You didn't expect that, did you? You're the first person to know the rich guy's true identity."

She looked at Hua Shier, her expression becoming particularly serious: "Do you think it's reliable to distribute goods in Eastern Europe?"

Hua Shier immediately began spouting nonsense without batting an eye:

"Don't worry. My former boss was a general in Ukraine, and several underworld families there had to give me face. As long as we give him some of the profits, the Eastern European market will all be ours."

Shen Jiawen's eyes lit up, all hesitation vanished, replaced by undisguised ambition:

"Then your sister-in-law will have to rely on you from now on."

Hua Shier patted his chest and guaranteed, "I guarantee you'll have no worries about food or clothing for the rest of your life, and you'll be incredibly successful!"

Guo Dapao: That's not a good word at all!

Shen Jiawen chuckled softly, turned around, and seeing that the old man's experiment was nearing its end, she put on a concerned expression and walked over, saying in a slightly reproachful tone:
"Teacher, didn't I specifically tell you to take care of your health? It's so late and you're still not resting; you'll ruin your health."

The old man placed the test tubes steadily on the test tube rack before taking off his goggles and gas mask, revealing a wrinkled old face.

He looked at Shen Jiawen with the loving gaze of a teacher, and said with a smile:
"I know my own body best. I want to finish this research before I can't move anymore."

Shen Jiawen persisted, saying:
"Then you should take care of your health too—" she said, then suddenly pointed to the liquid in the test tube and asked, "Teacher, why is this pale yellow?"

The old man explained, "This is a side effect; it can't be completely avoided."

Shen Jiawen was clearly quite familiar with chemical processes, and immediately shook her head:

“I’m afraid that won’t work. If it’s pale yellow, it can’t be called ELSA.”

The old man sighed, his tone carrying a hint of academic stubbornness: "It's impossible to completely remove impurities..."

Shen Jiawen nodded and said, "I know that even impurities of less than one percent can affect the color of the finished product. But it's not enough for just us to know; buyers won't accept that. They only care about the color, not the purity."

The old man's face showed displeasure, like an old scholar whose authority had been challenged by a student:
What was the purity of your previous products?

Shen Jiawen gave the number without hesitation: "Ninety-eight point four percent."

The old man snorted coldly and straightened his face:
"What we've achieved so far is 99 percent. Give me time, and I'm confident I can make it even purer."

Shen Jiawen's face lit up with joy, and her voice became lighter: "Really?" The old man nodded, his tone firm: "Give me time, and I can definitely do it."

Shen Jiawen laughed and affectionately took the old man's arm:
"That's wonderful. Teacher, please rest for a while. I'll have someone make you some late-night snacks, and I'll have a drink with you."

The old man's gaze finally fell on Hua Shier, and he looked him up and down: "And who is this?"

Shen Jiawen let go of the teacher's arm, then took Hua Shier's arm instead, and said confidently:

"Teacher, this is my boyfriend, Yu Tianlong."

After saying that, he introduced Hua Shier, "Tianlong, this is my university tutor, Professor He."

Upon hearing this, the old man smiled and nodded, revealing the kind of benevolent expression of an elder looking at a younger generation.

"The young man is quite good-looking and handsome. He's a good match for our Jiawen."

Hua Twelve immediately revealed a smug smile, puffed out his chest, and said shamelessly:

"The old man has a good eye for people. Don't let my young age fool you, my photo is on wanted posters both domestically and internationally."

Professor He's smile froze on his face, his lips twitching. He coughed lightly, turned to Hua Twelve, and added earnestly:
“Um… Jiawen suffered a lot when she was young, so please remember to treat her well in the future.”

Hua Shier could tell that the old man was genuinely good to Shen Jiawen, and he smiled and readily agreed.

"Don't worry, sir. My sister-in-law and I are truly in love."

Professor He: "."

Shen Jiawen's face turned bright red, and she pinched Hua Shier's waist hard: "What nonsense are you talking about!"

Hua Shier shrugged confidently:

"I'm telling the truth. If Old Fu had the same foresight as the old man, he would have seen how well we were matched and stepped aside, so he wouldn't have ended up drowning."

Professor He opened his mouth in surprise. He thought of two figures from the Northern Song Dynasty, well, they were also a pair of adulterers!

With the ship at sea, there was no shortage of seafood. Shen Jiawen had someone prepare a late-night snack, and everything served was freshly caught from the sea.

Steamed grouper and boiled mantis shrimp are both extremely primitive cooking techniques, yet they are so delicious that they'll make your eyebrows fall off.

Even a gourmand like Hua Shier, accustomed to finely prepared delicacies, couldn't help but take a few more bites and uttered a rare, sensible remark: "So fresh."

The three of them opened a bottle of red wine and chatted while eating.

During the meeting, Shen Jiawen casually brought up the formula for the current product.

Professor He neither said he would give it to them nor refused; he simply gave a vague answer, saying that he would discuss it after he successfully purified the material.

The old man was getting on in years, and after staying up most of the night, he ate a few bites of food and drank two glasses of red wine before he was feeling quite unwell.

He greeted the two men and then went back to his cabin to rest.

After the old man left, Hua Twelve picked up his wine glass and lightly clinked it against Shen Jiawen's, then smiled and said:
"Your teacher seems to have some ulterior motives. Aren't you afraid he won't hand over the formula in the end?"

Shen Jiawen smiled faintly, picked up her wine glass, took a sip, and spoke with such composure as if she were talking about something trivial:

"Don't worry about that. I had the whole process of recording this old guy's experiments filmed long ago. I also have a formal background in chemistry, so it's not difficult to reverse engineer his experiments and finished samples once I get them. It just takes some time."

She downed the drink in one gulp, swirled the empty glass, and her gaze, under the lamplight, appeared deep and calm.
"Hopefully he'll grow up eventually. Otherwise..."

Otherwise, she didn't say it aloud, but it probably wouldn't end well.

The next morning, someone gently knocked on the cabin door and whispered through the door that they had reached international waters.

Hua Shier got up and went out of the cabin, stretching on the deck. The sea breeze, carrying a salty, damp smell, rushed towards him with a primal and rough force, making every pore on his body open up and leaving him feeling refreshed.

He turned to Shen Jiawen, who had followed him out, and said:

"Call Pei Yu and Lao Guo. Tell them to come to the high seas for a meeting. Once we have the money, we'll set sail for Southeast Asia."

Shen Jiawen didn't dawdle. After a quick wash, she took out her satellite phone and dialed each number one by one.

After making several phone calls, all the bosses refused.

The news of Han Fuhu's death had obviously spread throughout the underworld, making them extremely wary of Hua Shier, the newly appointed boss, and Shen Jiawen, the former boss's sister-in-law.

Hua Shier asked Shen Jiawen to dial the number again so he could talk to these people.

He took the satellite phone and, facing the group of bosses, gave the same, concise, vague, yet chillingly resounding response:
"I personally sank Old Fu. Everything he had is now in my hands. You don't want me to hand these things over to the cops, do you?"

He didn't say what the 'thing' was, giving the other person plenty of room to imagine it.

The less they said, the more these people speculated about the worst—did Lao Fu leave some kind of leverage when he made the deal with them? Ledgers? Recordings? Or even more fatal evidence?

Sure enough, the bosses on the other end of the phone panicked and kept asking what it was.

Hua Shier sneered and said into the microphone:
"Stop talking nonsense to me. I'll have my sister-in-law send you your locations. Everyone come to international waters. Anyone who doesn't come can expect the cops to come knocking. Okay, that's it." He hung up abruptly, leaving the suspense in the busy tone of the dial tone.

He tossed the satellite phone back to Shen Jiawen and said:

"I need to go back and get some tools."

Shen Jiawen waved her hand, her tone resolute:
"No need to trouble yourself. Pei Yu and the others are using pistols, and there are submachine guns under the cabin; that should be enough."

When Hua Shier heard what she said, he didn't insist anymore. Anyway, he had plenty of ways to get the message out.

Shen Jiawen sent the sea coordinates to the leaders.

It was originally expected that these people would arrive no earlier than the next day, but unexpectedly, Pei Yu and the others arrived that very evening in their respective yachts.

Each person brought a few capable henchmen, clearly fearing that Hua Shier and Shen Jiawen would set up a trap.

Hua Shier and Shen Jiawen stood on the deck to greet him. He opened his arms wide, a warm smile on his face, as if welcoming an old friend he hadn't seen for many years.
"Gentlemen, welcome, welcome!"

Pei Yu and Han Fuhu were the closest of friends, and as soon as he stepped onto the deck, he asked:

"Boss Tianlong, how exactly did Lao Han die? The cops' wanted poster says you killed him, but did you actually do it?"

The other leaders remained silent, all turning to look at Hua Shier. They, too, wanted to know the answer.

Hua Shier did not hide anything and frankly admitted:

“I killed him, so what? Old Han and Scarface conspired to kill me. He was jealous that I took Old Fu's position and wanted to get rid of me to take over, and he also wanted to take my sister-in-law's place. Isn't it normal for me to kill him?”

As soon as he admitted it, the gang leaders tensed up at the same time, and their underlings behind them all reached into their coats and gripped the gun handles.

But as they heard the rest, the tense expressions on everyone's faces relaxed a little.

Han Fuhu was arrogant and domineering in his daily life, and his ambition was obvious to everyone. So it was not surprising that he could do such a thing.

Seeing that no one was saying anything, Hua Twelve got straight to the point, clapping his hands to attract everyone's attention:
"My sister-in-law probably explained it to you on the phone. My sister-in-law and I are going to develop our careers abroad. There are two main reasons why we called you here for this meeting."

He held up one finger: "First, Lao Fu told everyone to keep a low profile for a while and kept the shipment volume down, so the warehouse is almost full. I will sell this batch of goods to you at the original price."

He then raised his second finger:
"Secondly, once my sister-in-law and I leave, the channels in mainland China will be available. Anyone who wants to take over can bid, and the highest bidder wins."

The gang leaders exchanged glances, their wariness slowly turning into interest.

Old Fu's mainland channels, what a huge piece of the pie!
Whoever takes over will essentially be replacing Lao Fu.

Hua Shier gestured for them to go inside: "Let's not stand here enjoying the sea breeze, let's go inside and talk."

Shen Jiawen led the way, not taking them to the laboratory, but into the restaurant on the fishing boat, which was also quite large.

The group filed in and took their seats. The underlings stood in a row behind their bosses with their hands behind their backs, creating an atmosphere that was both lively and subtle.

After they were seated, Shen Jiawen spoke first:

"There are still fifteen tons of goods in the warehouse. You can transfer the money on the spot and then send one of your men to pick them up."

Guo, being a cautious man, smiled and drawled, "Sister-in-law, it's not that we don't trust you. But it's a bit unreasonable to ask us to transfer money without letting us see the goods in person."

The leaders nodded in agreement.

Just as Shen Jiawen was about to speak, Hua Shier suddenly waved his hand, interrupting her: "No need to trouble yourself."

He stood up, pulled two pistols from his back at the same time, and swept the dark muzzles across everyone present.

The voice wasn't loud, but it was as steady as a knife landing on a table: "Don't move. Anyone who dares to move will be killed."

Among the henchmen behind the bosses, some were skeptical and reached into their robes to draw their guns.

Hua Shier didn't even look, raised his hand and fired two shots, each hitting the man between the eyebrows. The two men collapsed to the ground without even uttering a sound, their guns sliding far away on the ground.

The gunshot triggered a reactive response from the opposing side, who all drew their guns, ready to fight to the death. Hua Shier fired his two guns incessantly, killing his underlings at will, leaving only the leaders like Pei Yu and Lao Guo alive.

Within moments, the gunfight ceased. The gangsters brought by these leaders were either dead or crippled, all lying on the ground, leaving only the leaders trembling in fear, too afraid to resist.

Hearing the gunshots, Shen Jiawen's men rushed in and were shocked by the scene inside the restaurant.

Although Shen Jiawen felt that Hua Shier had acted too hastily—he should have waited until the payment arrived—since the gun had already been fired, she didn't say anything. She simply gave orders to the henchmen who rushed in:
"Tie all these people up."

Hua Shier added, "Then call all the brothers outside in and clean this place up!"

After he finished speaking, he began changing the magazine!
After Pei Yu, Guo Laoda, and the others were tightly bound, they were all still in shock, staring at Hua Shier with disbelief on their faces:

"Boss Tianlong, what exactly are you trying to do?"

Shen Jiawen stood next to Hua Shier, a smirk playing on her lips, a smile that was both smug and sarcastic:

"What are you doing? If you don't want to die, hand over all your money. If you're willing to give up your money for your lives, then I, as your sister-in-law, can only apologize to you brothers."

As soon as she finished speaking, Hua Shier suddenly turned to look at her and said in a strange tone:

"Sister-in-law, what are you doing? Don't you know robbery is illegal?"

Before Shen Jiawen could react, Hua Shier had already turned the gun in his right hand and pressed it firmly against her head.

Everyone in the restaurant was stunned.

Hua Shier chuckled as he looked at her bewildered expression.
"Excuse me, ma'am. I'm a police officer."

Thank you to the following three brothers for their generous donations: 08a, Demon Tiger, and Book Friend 20230422234628818. Thank you to the brothers who voted for monthly tickets and recommendations. Thank you so much!