money player

early morning.

Christina opened her eyes, but the other half of the bed did not show his tall shoulders.

She turned over and glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table. It was 7:20. She should get up, or she would be late.

She got up, wrapped the thin blanket around herself, and walked out of the bedroom. She didn't find Xian Yaowen in the living room either. Remembering what Xian Yaowen had said last night, she went to the dining room and saw a cake sitting quietly on the plate on the table.

She covered her mouth, "I can't believe it, he really made a cake."

With a whoosh, the thin blanket fell to the ground, revealing her proud figure.

Sin Yiu-man opened a bottle of Polish Spring mineral water, poured a glass for Jakob Rogozinski, then poured one for himself, took a small sip, held it in his mouth, spat it out after a while, and then took another small sip.

In order to keep up with the Runners, he did not run at his usual pace today, which disrupted his rhythm and made him feel a little tired.

After calming down, he said to Jacob, "I've received news that the first meeting of the Korean Armistice Negotiations will be held soon. Do you have any thoughts on that?"

Without hesitation, Jacob said, "If you want to invest in short-selling stocks, I advise you to give up the idea. Washington's goals have not been achieved yet, and this war will not end so soon."

"Document No. 68 of the National Security Commission from April last year?"

"Yes, the last war ended too hastily, and the US economy did not have time to fully transform. It faced problems of industrial overcapacity and rising unemployment. Although the Marshall Plan partially absorbed the excess capacity, it was still insufficient to maintain economic growth. Military mobilization was needed to revitalize the economy."

The Korean War lasted a year and its effects were significant. This year's military spending will likely exceed 300 billion. I am optimistic about the stocks of military enterprises and will not consider selling them within the next five years.

Xian Yaowen smiled faintly: "Since we are ready to negotiate, I believe the war will not continue indefinitely. After all, the fighting power of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army is obvious to all. If the war escalates, the United States will not gain any advantage, and the soldiers will also develop war-weariness."

Jacob pondered for a moment, "Analyzing the current economic situation, I think the Korean War will continue for at least two more years, but the military industry..."

"Do you think the military-industrial conglomerates have tasted the benefits and are unwilling to let go?"

"Yes."

"Washington provided $1000 million in military aid to France last year to support French forces in their operations in Vietnam."

Jacob chuckled and said, "I actually forgot to analyze this information. Now we can optimistically predict that the Korean War will end in about two years, and the next war will take place in Vietnam."

"These are things for the future. How much do you think the stock prices of military enterprises will fall right now?"

"Adam, the market has long anticipated that the Korean War will not escalate. This time, military stocks will not fall too much. Brokerage rates and commissions will eat up all the profits. I do not recommend shorting."

“Alright.” Xian Yaowen took a sip of water. “I have hundreds of thousands of shares, those issued by American companies in Shanghai back then. Help me cash them out and buy them all while the stock prices of military companies are falling.”

Jacob immediately knew where Sin Yiu-man's shares came from. "You bought them back at face value?"

"There is a premium, but not much."

"Congratulations, you've made another few million dollars."

"You've earned another commission."

Jacob chuckled and said, "I'm going to get a new toy. Thanks for your sponsorship."

"which one?"

"The New Yorker".

"This year's new convertible model?"

“Yeah.” Jacob gestured as if he was gripping the steering wheel. “The Hemi-V8 engine can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 10 seconds. The driving experience must be amazing.”

"Do you know any salespeople? I'm planning to go check them out."

"Go to Chrysler Store No. 2 and find Robin. Tell her my name."

"uh-huh."

After a short rest, everyone went their separate ways.

When Sin Yiu-man got home, he found a note under his empty plate. It was a message from Christina: "I had a wonderful evening here. By the way, the cake wasn't sweet enough, but I finished it. Call me."

It ends with a magenta lip print.

He went to the study, grabbed a thumbtack, and pinned the note to the calendar.

eight thirty.

The now-renovated Sin Yiu Man passed through the famous narrow alleyway "Blood Alley" on Jalan Tseung Kwan, a former hotspot for gang fights where at least a hundred Chinese had died in the past few decades. He arrived at Nam Wah Tea House and chose a table with a view of the street.

Across from Nan Hua, there is a restaurant called Heji Congee & Noodles, which operates in a basement and stays open from midnight until 10 a.m. every day. Its main customers are the security guards and gamblers of the underground casino, as well as prostitutes and night shift workers.

Zaiya Street is very short, only 61 meters long, but the signs for laundromats stretch from one end of the street to the other. It's not that the laundromat business is particularly good, but rather that most of the laundromats are just fronts. Once inside, through a hidden door, you enter a bustling underground casino.

While eating a bowl of plain congee with fried dough sticks and char siu buns, Sin Yiu-man kept an eye on the entrance of Wo Kee Congee & Noodles.

A moment later, two stylishly dressed women slowly rose from below the horizon, looking listless but chatting and laughing, probably having received quite a few customers the night before.

Judging from their clothing and complexion, Sin Yiu-man guessed that the two women's current surname should be "Huang" and their place of origin is most likely Baisha Town, Taishan.

Huang is a common surname in Baisha Town, and many overseas Chinese have become wealthy through business. There is a saying in Taishan: "When the Huang family ancestral hall is open, gold and silver will roll in." Huang and Wang are homophones, so Huang became known as the "Wealthy Huang".

The majority of patrons on Zaiye Street are gamblers, and it's easy to encounter generous spenders. Before starting a business, they'll find a "lucky guy" to have sex with. As the saying goes, "When the cannon fires, gold pours in." Today, they'll kill anyone who gets in their way.

When luck isn't on your side, come out and try your luck again. Go for it! As the saying goes, "One thunderclap, two cannon shots," and the Supreme Treasure will unite with heaven and earth. Go back and fight again, rise up!

To pick up customers here, regardless of where you're originally from or what your surname is, you must all change your name to "Caiqi Huang" from Baisha Town. If you don't want to change it, "Nuomi Mei" (糯米妹) means to stick to good luck, so you can just make do with that.

While eating a fried dough stick, Sin Yiu-man saw 6 wealthy yellow-clad men, 11 gamblers, and 5 people who appeared to be security guards. Then there was a long period of silence. After he finished his breakfast, he didn't see anyone else.

I asked the waiter to clear away the cutlery, brought a pot of jasmine tea, and three newspapers. I settled the bill first, two dollars with no change, the extra was for tip.

The three newspapers are the Democratic Daily, the Golden Mountain Times, and the Americas Daily, which are respectively left-leaning, center-left, and right-leaning. He can read articles from all three sides by comparing them.

The hot topic in 1951 was naturally the Korean War. Three newspapers were laid out on the table, describing the same event from 2.5 different angles, and the texts presented were completely different.

He was watching with great interest when, before he knew it, Charlie Chen arrived, blocking some of the light.

"Xian Sheng".

Sin Yiu-man looked up at Charlie Chan and said warmly, "Charlie, sit down."

Penang, Malaya.

Chen Yongtai, whose ancestral home is in Fujian, moved to Penang in his early years to run a rubber trade. During the expansion of his business, he became a director of the Penang Hokkien Association. He used the association's network to expand his customer base and got acquainted with the Penang secret society, Yi Hing Company, thus having connections in both the legitimate and underworld circles.

However, he couldn't hold on during the rubber downturn and withdrew from the rubber trading circle. When the price of rubber rose three times a day, there was no place for him to do rubber business again.

While rubber was no longer an option, other businesses remained viable. He moved from Penang to Singapore and established the Yongxinghao underground money exchange, specializing in remittances from Fujianese laborers. Yongxinghao attracted a large number of laborers to deposit money by promising "remittances arrive within 24 hours and exchange rates 5% higher than banks."

Chen Yongtai presented his clients with fake "Tangshan receipts," but the funds were never actually transferred. This business continued until March of this year, when he was about to be exposed. He then absconded with his clients' money and returned to Penang.

Afterwards, some victims gathered at the former site of the Yongxing ship, demanding refunds, but received no response. Subsequently, some victims sought help from the Singapore Hokkien Association, which attempted to recover their money, but mediation failed because Chen Yongtai had already fled back to Penang.

Ultimately, Singapore police intervened and arrested Chen Yongtai in Penang through judicial cooperation. However, due to a lack of direct evidence of a written contract, he was only lightly sentenced for commercial fraud. Chen Yongtai was fined 500 Malaysian Ringgit and did not have to go to jail. The victims' losses were even less likely to be recovered.

Sin Yiu Man's first move in the banking business was to target remittances from overseas Chinese, with all underground money changers operating in Singapore as his competitors. To streamline his operations, he decided to eliminate some of these competitors physically or chemically before the bank officially opened for business.

People like Chen Yongtai, who can both rid the people of a scourge and make a small fortune, naturally become the first choice for a target.

Ram, the leader of the Purple Antelope Squad, pulled down his mask and spoke into the walkie-talkie: "Chen Yongtai, three wives, two sons, four daughters, don't forget any of them, don't hurt the servants, over."

“Copy.”

“Go.”

At a command, the Purple Antelope Squad members attacked the Chen residence simultaneously from both the front and back entrances.

With the professional attacking the amateur, and the determined attacking the unintentional, in just fifteen minutes, all of the Chen family's servants were drugged and locked in the storage room, while the ten members of the Chen family were taken to the reception room.

Without a word, Gongyang stabbed Chen Yongtai's eldest son in the lung with a dagger, then looked calmly at Chen Yongtai kneeling on the ground and said in a low voice, "Mr. Chen, there are nine other members of the Chen family besides you. Each of you will be given five minutes to think. You have a total of forty-five minutes, no, forty minutes to answer where the money is hidden. If you don't answer or answer incorrectly, you will be killed every five minutes. Start the timer now."

The process of torture is cruel, but I believe the ending will be beautiful.

Coincidentally, Chen Yongtai was not the only one involved in overseas remittance fraud, and it was not only the people of Fujian who suffered losses.

Hefengyin Credit Bureau, founded by Lin Ashi from Chaozhou, also lured new Chaozhou customers with high-interest remittances. Now it is on the verge of absconding with the money and delaying payments. When customers reported that the remittances had not arrived, Lin Ashi lied and said that there was a delay in Tangshan and asked for additional handling fees to speed it up, deceiving customers again.

Compared to Chen Yongtai, Lin Ashi's sins were even deeper. He defrauded new customers, laborers and small vendors from Chaozhou. If the money was run off with, some people would commit suicide, some would die before they could get the money to save them, and some would go bankrupt by taking out high-interest loans.

Wancheng Exchange was founded by Zhang Huosheng, a Hakka. Its clients were mainly Hakka tin miners and plantation laborers. He attracted clients with a low commission strategy, claiming to charge only 1% commission, which was far lower than the 3-5% charged by the Chaozhou and Fujian groups.

Zhang Huosheng ran a pawnshop in his early years and participated in opium smuggling. Due to his gambling addiction and embezzlement of public funds, he was disliked by his partners. After losing the pawnshop, he thought of turning his fortunes around by operating an underground bank. He gambled away part of the proceeds from his fraud and used the rest for usury. He had close ties with the Hakka secret society Hong Shuntang and used the gang's power to collect debts and suppress competitors.

Zhang Huosheng has been having a run of bad luck lately, with his losses piling up. He's unable to fulfill his clients' withdrawal requests and can't explain himself to Hong Shuntang. If nothing unexpected happens, he'll be unable to hold on any longer and will have to abscond.

That bastard is despicable; there's no chance of getting the customer's money back.

Singapore.

Lin Ashi has been captured. One end of an iron chain is tied around his neck, and the other end is tied around the neck of a German Shepherd. Outside is an iron cage, hanging high on a tree, with a pool of dirty water below that attracts mosquitoes.

Lin Ashi is a scoundrel. He has a wife and children, but they don't benefit from his wealth at all. His wife and children make a living by selling rice noodles on the street, while he only dresses his mistress in gold and silver. In return, his mistress cuckolds him.

Because of this, he enjoyed the benefit of the unwritten rules of the underworld that his wife and children would not be implicated, and he had to bear the consequences alone.

As for Zhang Huosheng, without money he's just a pile of stinking dog shit, nobody wants to touch him.

It was late at night, but Shui Xian was still awake. She sat at her desk, and Qi Guigui sat next to her, listening to the radio with headphones on.

She was waiting—waiting for news from both places, waiting for the ledgers, waiting for the money.

Only with ledgers and money can the money be returned to the victims smoothly. Only with a surplus of money can this operation generate direct profit, rather than just being able to comfort ourselves by gaining a good reputation.

Narcissus held a pen in her hand, writing something in her notebook.

Just as some underground banks engage in fraud, others naturally do legitimate business. A 5% commission is already quite substantial. Honest operations facilitate remittances from overseas Chinese to Hong Kong, where people then deliver the money to recipients in mainland China. With a good reputation, they can earn hundreds of thousands a year.

Legitimate business people will not promise "remittances will arrive within 24 hours". They will default to pocketing the exchange rate difference. The money can be temporarily used as the principal for Xin Gang Trading. In this way, they can make three profits.

You can use ruthless methods to deal with fraudsters, and you don't have to worry about being exposed for doing things that are good for the people. But you can't deal with legitimate business people. You have to live under the banner of making money through harmony, and there are some things that absolutely cannot be exposed and must be done in secret.

Narcissus is compiling information on her competitors and trying to identify their weaknesses in order to defeat them one by one.

Charlie Chan sat down opposite Sin Yiu-man, his eyes constantly observing him.

His boss was only eighteen years old, but he was quite experienced and ruthless in his work. He was a true prodigy. What kind of hero was the man who could subdue his boss?

Contrary to his expectations, the gentleman's demeanor was not as imposing as his boss's. The boss was like a sword drawn from its sheath, sharp and gleaming, while the gentleman in front of him was handsome, like a refined nobleman, yet he had no air of authority whatsoever. His face was warm and approachable at first glance.

But someone capable of subduing a tiger is unlikely to be a kind and gentle person; the gentleman before us must have reached a state of returning to simplicity and authenticity.

"Charlie, have you eaten breakfast?"

"I ate it. I had rice noodles at home."

“There’s a stall in Sham Shui Po. The owner’s surname is Li. He’s from Taishan. His rice noodles are made by hand using a rice noodle sieve, and his pork bone broth is also very good. Sometimes when I’m not eating breakfast at home, I’ll go there to eat.”

"Does the gentleman like rice noodles?"

Sin Yiu-man nodded and said, "I like rice noodles. In my memory, when I was a child, I had sweet potato porridge with dried radish every day. When the harvest was good, the porridge was thicker, and when the harvest was bad, the porridge was thinner. Only during the busy farming season would my mother replace the sweet potatoes with rice flour dumplings, which were very fragrant and sweet."

Charlie Chan had always lived in the city and had never been to the countryside. He couldn't distinguish between seedlings and grass, so he couldn't empathize with what Sin Yiu-man said and could only pretend to listen attentively.

Having read about Charlie Chan's background and understood his career trajectory, Sin Yiu-man naturally wouldn't delve too deeply into the topic of rice noodles. He quickly changed the subject, pointing to the Wo Kee Congee & Noodles restaurant across the street.

"Is gambling very prevalent in Chinatown?"

Charlie Chen glanced back, then turned back and said, "Many people will gamble a few rounds."

"playing what?"

"We have Fan Tan, Pai Gow, White Pigeon Tickets, and Black people's number games."

"Will the casino's profits remain in the United States, or will they be remitted back to Tangshan?"

"A small portion of the money was laundered in laundries and left in the United States, while the majority was transferred to Hong Kong through the Bank Trust, where it was used to buy property or to be brought back to Taishan."

"You handled the tea matter well last time. In business, harmony is paramount. Now there's another matter I need you to handle. Please pass on a message to the owners of the underground banks: Yaowen, a young man from Bao'an, is new to this land. He's neither good at academics nor martial arts, and he's ambitious but lacks talent. He disdains working in the food service or laundry industry, and he doesn't dare to dabble in gambling or opium. He can only make a living by running a remittance business. I hope you seniors will be magnanimous and give this young man a way to survive."

Upon hearing this, Charlie Chan's face turned pale instantly. "Sir, the remittance agency is a branch of the organization; you must never touch remittances."

Sin Yiu-man said calmly, "What if it's absolutely necessary to touch it?"

Charlie Chan hesitated for a moment, "There's only one way to go."

Sin Yiu-man smiled faintly, "That's not necessarily true. The Bank Trust Bureau is only in its current state under the control of the gang, but it might be different under my control. I can make sure that everyone eats better than before by adding an extra set of chopsticks and bowls."

However, there's no need to send a verbal message; it's disrespectful. Please inform your father that, if convenient in the next few days, I would like to send someone with a formal visiting card.

"Sir, you wish to see my father?"

"I'm coming to Chinatown to make a living; wouldn't it be impolite not to pay my respects?" (End of Chapter)