Eight-thirty in the evening. A seafood restaurant in Xiangbutou.
"The real estate market in North Port has been climbing for the past two years, and the experts say it's going to keep going up for several more. Now is the best ti to get on the ladder." Ah Hao was holding forth between bites, looking every bit the professional.
"Which developnt is good?" Chen Wujun asked.
"You looking to buy? If it were six months ago, I'd have told you Taikoo Li, no question. But the hottest thing right now is Whampoa Garden — three thousand to thirty-eight hundred per square foot. It's in Hung Hom, pri location, full anities, young and trendy..."
"What about Taikoo Li?" Chen Wujun asked.
Whampoa Garden was in Guanfuchang — way too close to the Walled City.
"Taikoo Li's solid too. Classic upscale community, thirty-five hundred to forty-five hundred per square foot. All the anities are there and there's appreciation potential, but not as much upside as Whampoa Garden," Ah Hao said.
Ah Yue had been quietly doing the math. At thirty-five hundred per square foot, that was over thirty thousand per square ter.
Ten square ters would run over three hundred thousand.
"That's insane. Practically highway robbery."
"Of course it's expensive! There's no shortage of rich people — the more expensive it gets, the more they buy, and the more they buy, the more expensive it gets! When prices dropped, nobody wanted to touch the stuff. Now that they're climbing again, everyone's scrambling, terrified of missing the boat!" Ah Hao threw his head back and laughed.
"Taikoo Li is in Quarry Bay, right? Whose turf is that?" Chen Wujun asked.
"Fuyi Society's. But Taikoo Li is a high-end community — it's a clean zone. Fuyi Society practically has no reach in there," Ah Hao explained.
Chen Wujun had already made up his mind. Once the funeral was over, he'd go check out the apartnts.
......
Early the next morning, Chen Wujun had Fa Zai drive him to his master's neighborhood. Since he was back, he ought to at least drop by and pay his respects.
As he got out of the car, he gave an order: "Go to the newsstand and buy every paper they've got today."
After a brief visit with Zhou Qing, Chen Wujun returned to the car. He settled into the back seat, crossed his legs, lit a cigarette, and opened the newspapers.
"Hetu Funeral Rocks the Walled City — When Will Law and Order Arrive?"
"Shit!" Chen Wujun cursed after reading the very first headline.
"Which paper is this?"
He checked — the North Port Daily.
He scanned the article again. There were several photos of other gangs entering the mourning hall, but not a single one of him.
That only stoked his fury higher.
"I told them to watch what they wrote, and they still printed garbage. We'll pay them a visit."
He flipped open another paper.
"Hetu Dragon Head's Funeral Triggers Mass Gathering of Underworld Bosses" — Southern Morning Post.
Chen Wujun read through it. This one at least ntioned him.
One passage read: "Aside from Hetu's four Hall Masters, another figure drew attention — a man nad Chen Wujun. Rumor has it he once killed an opponent in the ring, and he now holds a prominent position on the funeral committee..."
"Tsk!" Chen Wujun clicked his tongue appreciatively. Sha there was no photo of him, though.
He thought his outfit yesterday had been quite photogenic.
Chen Wujun spent an hour combing through every paper. Finally, in one obscure publication, he found a photo of himself.
He folded that paper neatly and set it aside, then committed to mory every outlet that had failed to cover him. Afraid he might forget, he went over the list twice in his head.
......
On her way to the dental clinic carrying a packed lunch, Huang izhen was greeted with unusual warmth by everyone she passed.
"Mrs. Chen! What a lovely outfit today!"
"Bringing lunch again? How enviable."
"Mrs. Chen, do keep us in mind if any good fortune cos your way!"
'What's gotten into these people?' Huang izhen was gentle by nature, but she wasn't stupid. She quickly noticed that everyone's attitude was off today.
Spotting Auntie Liu — the neighbor she knew best — Huang izhen pulled her aside:
"Auntie Liu, what's going on with them today? Have they all lost their minds?"
"It's about your son. They've heard the news, so of course they're trying to get on your good side. Even if they don't want to curry favor, they're afraid of getting on your bad side," Auntie Liu said with a knowing smile.
"Auntie Liu, you need to be more specific. What news?" Huang izhen was even more confused.
Which son? What was going on?
"Who would've guessed — your Ah Jun is a big shot in Hetu... and he's so young too..."
"Auntie Liu, Ah Jun has nothing to do with Hetu... that's soone with the sa na." Huang izhen imdiately understood what was happening. This had occurred once before, half a year ago, and the family had even discussed it.
"Please don't spread that kind of thing."
Back then, a bunch of loan sharks had been enough to send the family into a panic. Hetu was on an entirely different level.
"They said they saw your Ah Jun. He's gotten taller now, with long arms, a thick, powerful build... his fra has changed, but his face is still the sa. And he's got a whole crew of n following him..." Auntie Liu whispered.
"Hetu set up the mourning hall outside the Walled City. So people went to watch the spectacle yesterday and spotted him. Word's already spread everywhere..."
"They're mistaken. Must have the wrong person." Huang izhen's heart was racing, but she forced a smile.
"I have to go deliver lunch. Let's chat later."
She quickened her pace toward the clinic, her anxiety growing with every step.
Because the truth was, her second son's build really had transford — long arms, powerful fra... exactly as Auntie Liu described.
'Could he really have joined Hetu?'
'They said that person holds a high-ranking position. Even if Ah Jun really did join Hetu... it's only been — how long? They must have the wrong person.'
By the ti she reached the clinic, Huang izhen was a bundle of nerves. She nearly dropped the lunch container pulling it out.
"What's the matter with you today? What happened?" Chen Hanliang asked from across the room, unable to hold back.
"It's nothing. Just so nonsense I heard on the way..." Huang izhen started with a strained smile, but after a mont she blurted out, "What if Ah Jun has joined Hetu?"
Chen Hanliang froze, then his expression hardened. "What did you say?"
"Every day I tell you boys to walk through life with your spines straight! One of you goes and gambles, and now the other one's joined a gang? Where did you hear this?"
Under Chen Hanliang's pressing, Huang izhen anxiously relayed everything she'd been told.
"They must have the wrong person. It can't be Ah Jun."
Listening to his wife, Chen Hanliang found himself skeptical too.
After all, the people had said the man held a high-ranking position.
Even if Ah Jun had joined Hetu, he wouldn't hold a high-ranking position.
Most likely a case of mistaken identity.
"The mourning hall is right over there. Let's go take a look. We'll just watch from a distance." Chen Hanliang had lost his appetite.
But he forced himself to finish his al before hurrying off with Huang izhen to the mourning hall on the open ground.
A crowd still surrounded the hall. Besides Hetu's mbers, a number of reporters with caras were camped nearby, and a cluster of police officers lingered in the distance.
The couple didn't dare get close and watched from afar.
Before long, they saw so Hetu mbers enter the hall.
Then several cars pulled up and a group of n in suits erged.
And the one with the imposing build, surrounded by the others, walking with a confident swagger, looking every bit the high-spirited young hotshot — that figure was painfully familiar.
"It's Ah Jun... it's Ah Jun..." Huang izhen's face drained of color. She gripped Chen Hanliang's arm so hard her knuckles went white.
Chen Hanliang's eyes went wide. It really was his son.
His second boy.
......
Chen Wujun had spotted Chen Hanliang and Huang izhen in the crowd as well. His expression didn't change in the slightest. Stone-faced, he led his entourage into the mourning hall.
He'd known this would happen. He'd been ready.
Yesterday had been about the other gangs paying their respects. Today's visitors were the wealthy businessn connected to Master Xin and Hetu.
"Ah Jun, this is Mr. Liu — a director at Dingsheng Bank..."
"Mr. Liu, a pleasure!" Chen Wujun's smile was brimming with sincerity.
He loved nothing more than making the acquaintance of rich businessn.
"What a promising young man!" Director Liu, who naturally knew of Chen Wujun, responded with a complintary smile.
"Ah Jun, this is Mr. Ma from Jinqiao Construction..." Shark Jiu kept calling Chen Wujun over to introduce him to various business magnates.
"Mr. Ma, wonderful to et you!" Chen Wujun's smile grew even more radiant.
"We should have tea together soti."
......
That evening, Chen Wujun left the mourning hall. This ti he didn't bother changing — he went ho in his black suit.
On the ground floor, he ran into a few familiar neighbors.
"Ah Jun's back..."
"It's Mr. Chen!"
News traveled faster than anything in the Walled City. In just one day, word had spread across the entire district.
So people had initially thought it was a mistake and refused to believe it.
But now, seeing Chen Wujun in an obviously high-end black suit, looking nothing like his usual self, the expressions on their faces shifted to a mix of eagerness and nervous deference.
Chen Wujun gave a slight nod and headed upstairs. He opened the front door.
The atmosphere inside the apartnt felt frozen solid.
Chen Hanliang sat rigid on the sofa, his face set in stone. Huang izhen was too distressed to cook. Only Chen Wuqi remained carefree and oblivious.
Chen Wuhong had heard the whole story from Huang izhen. He'd been in a state of shock for the past hour.
His own little brother had actually beco a Hetu big shot.
'Does this an I can strut through the Walled City however I please?'
When Chen Wuhong saw his younger brother walk in wearing an expensive black suit, he imdiately tried to catch his eye, blinking rapidly to signal that their old man was furious.
"Why's everyone so quiet? Lose so money?" Chen Wujun said with an easy grin.
"Oh, you're sothing else. Hiding this from us all this ti! Every day I tell you boys to walk through life with your backs straight — and what do you do? One goes gambling, the other joins a gang..." Chen Hanliang took one look at Chen Wujun's casual smirk and erupted.
"You need money and power to walk tall. Without either, how exactly do you straighten your spine?" Chen Wujun replied lightly.
"Have I not lived my entire life with a straight back?" Chen Hanliang snapped.
"I don't want to spend my whole life cooped up in the Walled City as a nobody, worrying about making ends et every month," Chen Wujun said with a faint smile.
"So instead the whole family gets to worry! Terrified that one day we'll hear you've been hacked to pieces! Terrified that one day your enemies will show up at our door!" Chen Hanliang roared.
"That's exactly why I've set aside fifteen million dollars for you. I'm going to buy you a few apartnts. You'll leave the Walled City, and you'll cut ties with everyone here."
Chen Wujun's expression was perfectly composed, his tone light as air.
"If you won't think about yourself, at least think about Ah Qi. Don't you want him to stop growing up in the Walled City, getting called a parasite wherever he goes?"
"Once you're out of the Walled City, everything will be fine."
Chen Hanliang's eyes went wide, his face a mask of sheer disbelief.
Chen Wuhong's jaw hung open, undisguised ecstasy shining in his eyes.
CRASH!
The bowl slipped from Huang izhen's hands and shattered on the floor.
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