money player

Fan's Grocery Store.

After finishing her business for the day, Fann Wong counted the cash flow, left 200 yuan in loose bills in the cash register for change, put the rest into her money bag, and took it upstairs.

She poured herself a cup of tea, took out her ledger, wrote down today's accounts, glanced at the August turnover, and sighed inwardly that business was getting harder and harder, with this month's turnover being 35% less than last month's.

Fortunately, she has someone to support her and doesn't rely on the grocery store for a living.

She closed the ledger, took out an earphone from the corner, plugged it into the radio, put it on, and adjusted the radio knob with one hand, listening intently to the sounds.

She installed listening devices at several target locations, which could be coupled via telephone lines and could be used to eavesdrop from several kilometers away.

However, linking a bugging device to a telephone is too simplistic. Anyone who has watched spy movies or heard gossip about spies might suspect that a bugging device has been planted in a telephone. This kind of operation is like "blind spotting your own home," and you can only hope that the person you are trying to eavesdrop on hasn't thought of it as someone being eavesdropped on.

When she switched to the 108th branch's line, she heard movement on the other end and instantly focused her attention, listening intently.

"Xiong Tianping calling the control tower, Xiong Tianping calling the control tower."

"Tower received."

"Xiong Tianping is on a night film shooting mission and will be flying on route 107-N to Macau. Requesting takeoff."

"Please allow us not to enter the airspace over Hong Kong Island, but to detour around Pok Fu Lam."

“Copy.”

As the call ended, a P-51 Mustang fighter jet climbed off the runway and soared into the sky.

"In the Sky" purchased a number of fighter jets and bombers through legal channels. The fighter jet models included: P-40 Warhawk, Super Marin Spitfire, and P-51 Mustang.

The bomber variants include: B-25 Mitchell, A-26 Invader (B-26), Mosquito FB.VI, and B-17 Flying Fortress.

These second-hand aircraft are not expensive. The P-40 Fighting Eagle is as cheap as $800 per aircraft, but the engine is difficult to maintain and is basically scrapped if it breaks. The Flying Fortress is the most expensive, with the best condition aircraft costing $5 per aircraft.

The "In the Sky" fleet comprises 35 fighter jets of various types, but only 5 are Jin Ji's assets, 2 are managed by Friendship Film Company, and 28 belong to the Armadillo Squad. Of these, only 16 are deployed in Hong Kong, with the rest located elsewhere.

Among the 16 fighter jets, there were two German Fw-190 Shrikes, which belonged to Xian Yaowen personally. Because they were purchased from the black market without legal procedures, they could not fly and could only gather dust in the hangar.

Five of Jinji's planes belonged to the flying club and were kept as toys by senior members; the two from Friendship Film Company were converted into photography platforms specifically for shooting aerial footage.

The nine fighter jets of the Armadillo Squadron were painted with black bat patterns and formed into a flight squadron. The name was borrowed from the poem "Vrsg" by Norwegian poet Hans Hildback, which alludes to the spring as a metaphor for liberation. The squadron was named Spring Squadron, or Spring for short.

Well, the melody was also borrowed, and the lyrics were rewritten and adapted into the team song "Black Bat Squadron".

轰炸机有12架，2架B-26、1架B-25属于金季的资产，其余都隶属于犰狳小队，在香港部署2架。

The B-26 of Jinji has been converted for cargo transport and belongs to Flying Cargo, operating the Hong Kong-San Francisco route to provide fast delivery services to Chinese customers in both places.

Because there is no competition, the fees are quite considerable. They will only accept orders if the profit per flight reaches $3000. Also because there is no competition, the most reasonable number of round trips for a B-26 per month is 3. If the customer offers a higher price, they can fly an extra flight.

The two B-26s operated for two months, averaging seven round trips per month, generating a total profit of $63,700. The total expenditure on the purchase and modification of the aircraft was $48,300, and the actual profit was $15,400.

A B-26 can generate over $1.5 in profit per month, which is quite impressive. However, the high intensity of flight operations means that maintenance costs will rise rapidly over time, causing profitability to decline in a parabolic fashion. Furthermore, it should be retired after about two years of operation, otherwise the probability of a flight accident is extremely high.

Furthermore, high profits are not replicable or sustainable. Without increasing the number of aircraft, profits could not increase exponentially. Once the Korean War ends and air traffic control becomes less stringent, business volume will plummet.

Therefore, Flying Cargo only purchased two B-26s, and has several seaplanes to operate short-haul cargo services between Hong Kong and Macau, Hong Kong and Sai Kung, and Hong Kong and Singapore, as a supplement to its air freight forwarding business.

The B-25 has been converted into the luxury business jet "Golden Palace," with a maximum range of 5300 kilometers. Theoretically, it can fly directly to Asia and Darwin, Australia. However, Sky Travelers does not intend to put it into long-haul flight operations, but rather to provide special flight services for the wealthy.

Examples include top-secret business negotiations in the air, card games in the air, courting a woman who is not materialistic but loves romance, and Gandhi-style asceticism, etc.

Sky Travelers is currently aggressively marketing its "honeymoon of the century" package, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars and including flights and bragging rights—announcing to the world that there is a low-key, happy couple here.

There are quite a few interested people, but so far no diamond-level sucker has been found. After all, this kind of plan can only be done once, and men who are not devout enough in love are not qualified to enjoy it.

Xiong Tianping flew out of Hong Kong Island and onto the sea, where he switched communication channels.

"The bat calls the black man, the bat calls the black man."

"Bat, bat, black guy online."

"Bat begins filming, bat begins filming, please keep the channel clear."

“Copy.”

Xiong Tianping lowered the flight altitude, and the pilot's eyes searched for ships on the sea surface.

"Blackie, the lucky one has been chosen. Fishing vessel S-371, please proceed for inspection."

“Copy.”

Two bright spots suddenly appeared on the sea surface. Two speedboats codenamed "Pig's Trotter Rice" roared with engines and sped toward S-371.

In the air, the heavy engines hummed as the seaplane codenamed Ostrich, part of the Rainy Night Piano Commando, headed towards its target. Inside the cabin, the crew of the Jinji Cleanup Team, a garbage collection unit from Hengdian, were preparing for their first combat mission, parachuting into space.

The Rainy Night Piano Assault Team has been active for too long, and many members have revealed their true colors, becoming familiar faces to some. They are no longer suitable to protect Jin Ji. Moreover, the Rainy Night Piano Assault Team relies on the Armadillo Squad for support, and with Jin Ji's own security team, the Cleaners, now in place, it's time for them to retire gracefully.

The director of the Hengdian film crew, Shuang Ying, raised one finger and said, "One minute to prepare."

As soon as he finished speaking, the deputy director of the column, Shanji Panzi, checked his parachute at the back of the line, and then checked the parachute of the crew member in front of him, Ga Zi Zui Xia. Ga Zi Zui Xia was not idle either, and checked the parachute of Chen Pai Tiaoji in front of him. Chen Pai Tiaoji checked the parachute of Ying Hong Nigu. Ying Hong Nigu checked the parachute of Zhi Lin Yu Lei. Zhi Lin Yu Lei checked the parachute of Shi Shi Gatling at the head of the line.

After all the crew members had finished their inspection, Shuangying shouted loudly, "Unload the parachute and prepare to board the ship."

The crew members quickly removed their parachutes and followed behind the Twin Eagles, one by one fastening their safety buckles to the rappelling ropes and descending in single file to the assault boat suspended under the aircraft's belly.

When the two boats were one nautical mile from the target, they reduced their speed, implemented blackout measures, and proceeded quietly.

Late at night, the movement of the speedboat could be kept secret, but the sound of the airplane engine was quite loud. Yang Yaolin, who was always on alert on the fishing boat, looked up at the sky and, by the starlight, spotted a large white dot in the southeast.

He felt envy, jealousy, and hatred towards Hung Ying-tung. They were both businessmen involved in smuggling, but only Hung Ying-tung had such a large operation, with his own armed ships and airplanes.

After establishing several safe shipping lanes along the Macau route, the Rainy Night Piano Assault Team rarely appeared in this area, only carrying out patrol missions. The team would only come to escort or rescue when Hong Yingdong's fleet called for help.

Piracy at sea is a lucrative business, and the Tai Tin Er can never be completely eradicated, nor can it ever be eradicated. Hung Ying-tung's fleet occasionally encounters the "real Tai Tin Er".

The Rainy Night Piano Commando mainly operates in the waters entering Hong Kong, working with the Navy, Marine Police, Customs Anti-Smuggling Team, and Taiwan gunboats to escort Jin Ji's ships, while also cracking down on gold and pharmaceutical smugglers.

Because the Rainy Night Piano Strike Team was always associated with Hung Ying-tung whenever it operated on the Macau route, and because Hung Ying-tung's business volume ranked among the top three smugglers in Hong Kong and Macau, the outside world speculated that this "Big Two" team belonged to Hung Ying-tung.

Jinji Trading Company, widely recognized as the number one smuggler by its competitors, is largely unknown to them. The Macau route is neither particularly wide nor narrow, with only a few fast and fuel-efficient routes. While other companies frequently encounter each other on the sea and generally know which ships belong to which company, no one has ever seen Jinji Trading Company's ships on the Macau route, as if Jinji Trading Company is not among the competitors.

That's impossible. Jinji Trading Company is practically making it clear to the outside world that gold and penicillin are their business, and no one else is allowed to touch them.

Yang Yaolin thought about it and realized that those unconvinced business partners had all vanished into thin air, probably dead.

Some people, driven by superstition, started selling other medicines, such as opioids and streptomycin, and the profits were no less than those of penicillin. Yang Yaolin turned around and glanced at the few cardboard boxes that were separate from the other goods, and couldn't help but sigh at the strangeness of Jinji Trading Company.

Several months ago, Jinji Pharmacy began supplying medicines such as cytotoxic drugs to its suppliers, at prices more affordable than sourcing them directly from the West. They could earn more than 20% profit by delivering the goods to Macau.

Jinji Trading Company could transport medicines to Hong Kong, so it was just a matter of delivering them to Macau. Yet, it chose to let others make the money, clearly indicating that it was a case of "losing money in the east and making up for it in the west."

Pay attention!

Yang Yaolin was unaware that by eliminating its competitors in penicillin, Jinji Trading Company had effectively cleared away the noise in the market and removed the suppliers' confidence to raise prices. The market shifted from demand exceeding supply to supply exceeding demand, making Jinji Trading Company the world's largest penicillin buyer. With this new bargaining power, its profit margin continued to rise.

As for other medicines, apart from opioids which have analgesic effects, the demand in mainland China is far less than that for penicillin. Other smugglers can get their fill, but Jinji Trading Company can only get three or four tenths full, so it's better not to do it at all.

In the sky, the seaplane slowly descended, and as the speedboat surfed, the crew unloaded the ropes, lit the four 10-horsepower Johnson TD-20 two-stroke engines, and charged toward Yang Yaolin's fishing boat at a speed of 2 kilometers per hour.

In just half a minute, the speedboat caught up with the fishing boat. The crew member operating the M1919A6 Browning machine gun lightly pulled the trigger, making a "BR-RRRRRR-RAP" firing sound. Two other crew members shouldered RL-52 rocket launchers, making "whoosh" sounds. The other crew members picked up RPD-44 machine guns, firing "rat-a-tat-tat" in succession.

"The cadre in charge of the area is calling for black devils, the cadre in charge of the area is calling for black devils."

"Blackie is online, please speak."

"Street cleaning completed, street cleaning completed, ready to proceed with the sanitation campaign."

“Copy.”

"The black man calls the bat, the black man calls the bat."

"Bat Online".

"Fish head facing east, fish head facing east, 53 degrees."

"Moutai enters the market, one minute."

“Copy.”

After putting away the walkie-talkie, Shuangying raised his left hand to the sky, drew a circle, and then pointed southwest.

The assault boat changed direction and headed southwest.

Near the Strait of Singapore, a C-47 SkyTrain tows a glider at an altitude of 4600 meters in the Strait of Malacca.

In the glider cockpit, the pilot gripped the release handle on the lower left, his eyes fixed on the aerial train ahead.

Suddenly, the aerial train's wings began to shake.

The pilot pulls the handle, the hook opens, the cable drops instantly, the hook springs back, and the pilot immediately steers 7 degrees to the right to prevent the cable from colliding with the tail fin.

The aerial train retracted its steel cable and lowered its altitude. A moment later, the glider turned left and glided towards the Singapore coast. After traveling 10 kilometers, the pilot controlled the glider to lower its gliding altitude. Before entering the detection range of British military radar, the glider descended to 190 meters and glided steadily forward.

In less than fifteen minutes, the glider glided a distance on the sea surface and came to a steady stop.

The hatch opened, and a flashlight beam shone in. "Capitalist."

"Hanging streetlights".

"Liberate Indonesia."

"Freedom belongs to Adam."

Splash, splash, the sound of oars cutting through the water rang out as three small boats approached the glider.

A moment later, a person stood up on a small boat and called softly towards the cabin door: "Third Brother, Black Spotted Cat Egg, Tamarind."

"Rainy Night Piano, Sea Dog Squad, Seahorse".

"Rainy Night Piano, Sea Pig Squad, Frogman".

Kallang Airport.

Luo Ziya, codenamed Gonggu, jumped off the plane, tugged at her plump cheongsam, stood on tiptoe to check the heels of her high heels, and seeing that the heels were fine, reached into her Goodluck handbag, released the safety of her pistol with one hand, but the bullet was not chambered. She took out a cigarette, lit it, took a puff, and then swayed her hips toward the exit.

Cathay Theatre.

Halfway through the movie, the plot shifts to a lengthy dialogue scene. Li Huiwang turns to Xian Yaowen and asks, "Mr. Xian, do you speak Malay?"

"They only know a few simple everyday conversational phrases."

Do you need help translating?

Sin Yiu-man chuckled and replied, "No need. It's easier to understand the emotions conveyed by actors through facial expressions and body language if you don't understand the dialogue."

"Huh?" Li Huiwang asked in surprise, "Isn't Mr. Xian watching a movie?"

"Of course, but I'd also like to take a closer look at the way the Malays perform."

Li Huiwang, understanding the implied meaning, asked, "Friendship Film Studios is planning to make a film in Malay?"

"There are no plans for that at the moment, but I have this idea. I came to watch the film today with an attitude of observation."

"so."

Li Huiwang turned her face back and focused her gaze back on the screen.

Xian Yaowen gently touched Yan Rushuang's soft hand, "Can you understand it?"

Yan Rushuang nodded, "I can understand most of Malay."

"Studied it specifically?"

“In the past, the guests at the mansion were mainly wealthy Baba businessmen who couldn’t speak Baba Malay and therefore couldn’t get the tips.”

"Oh."

The seats quieted down again, and the group watched the movie attentively.

As the movie ended, Sin Yiu-man and Lee Wai-mong said goodbye at the exit. As they walked out of the Cathay Building with the crowd, they suddenly spotted a woman who looked a lot like Wong Yau-ka by the wall where posters were displayed.

Take a closer look, and you'll see Wang Youjia's house.

He walked over and came to the left rear side of Wang Youjia's house, gently tapping her small shoulder, "Sister."

Wang Youjia turned around and saw Xian Yaowen. A smile spread across his face. "Yaowen, you're in Singapore?"

"If I'm here, why would my sister come to Singapore?" (End of Chapter)