Chapter 109: A Chance to Make Serious Money

TL: LittlePeach

The day after I burned down one of the Qingshe Gang's warehouses.

'Feels like it's been ages, but then again, I guess it hasn't.'

I dressed somewhat presentably and headed to the Kowloon Hotel.

It was the tallest building in downtown Dandong, and whenever I saw the penthouse floor towering in the distance, all the things that had happened in Dandong naturally came back to mind.

Come to think of it, it had only been about two months, so it did not actually feel like that long ago.

But then, huh?

"What is this?"

The atmosphere around the Kowloon Hotel had changed considerably since the last time I was here.

There were far more security guards busily patrolling the surrounding streets.

I had always known that this hotel was not a place ordinary tourists could stay, but even so, I did not remember there being this many guards.

"Excuse me. Are you perhaps a guest with a reservation?"

Just as one of them spotted me and strode over to question me.

"Oh. This gentleman is fine. He's an acquaintance of our Boss Yang Mi-ryeong."

"Ah, is that so?"

"Welcome, sir. It's been quite a while since your last visit."

"Ah, yes."

One of the guards patrolling with them recognized me.

"These men are with the Chongqing Society, so they don't recognize you, sir. They came from Taiwan to guard Miss Lu Yangyang, who's staying at the hotel."

"I see."

Apparently, the Kowloon Hotel had become a place where the Kowloon Society and the Chongqing Society were coming together.

Jin Hao staying at this hotel was one thing, but now even Lu Yangyang, the only daughter of Ruixing, who was considered a leading candidate to become the next boss, was staying here. It was only natural that the Chongqing Society would send guards out of an abundance of caution.

"You may go inside. Have a pleasant time."

"Thank you."

Once I entered the lobby, the hotel itself did not look particularly different.

Since I had shown up without contacting anyone, I first headed toward the reception desk in the lobby.

That was when it happened.

"Mr. Kodam?"

A bright voice called out from one corner of the lobby.

All things considered, there was only one person in this hotel who would call me that.

"Miss Lu Yangyang?"

"It is you, isn't it? I knew it was you, sir!"

Lu Yangyang, the only daughter of Ruixing, the Chongqing Society's chief advisor.

She hurried over with quick little steps and grabbed my hand.

"I'm so happy to see you! Father told me all about you. Thank you so much for looking after him all this time."

"Haha...."

I could only laugh awkwardly.

After all, while I had stayed by Boss Ruixing's side, far from taking care of him, I had merely watched from the sidelines and enjoyed the benefits.

"To think we'd happen to meet all the way out here. You've been well, haven't you?"

"Yes. I've been doing well. It's good to see you looking healthy too, Miss."

"Hehe. Is that so?"

In the meantime, Lu Yangyang had shed the bright, airy aura she used to have.

She was dressed in a neat, immaculate suit.

Somehow, the sight reminded me of Yang Mi-ryeong.

"You came to see Boss Yang Mi-ryeong, as expected, right?"

"Yes, that's right."

"You came just in time. Boss Yang is going to be promoted and transferred to the Kowloon Society headquarters soon."

"Oh."

I could not help but exclaim at the unexpected news.

Apparently, she had received considerable recognition for her role in bringing about what was practically an alliance with Boss Ruixing of the Chongqing Society.

As she explained, Lu Yangyang proudly lifted her chin and planted both hands on her hips.

"And from now on, I'll be serving as the acting manager of the Kowloon Hotel. Boss Yang properly acknowledged my abilities. Ahem."

"I see. Congratulations."

"Hehe. Thank you."

Their clothes already looked somewhat similar, and apparently Yang Mi-ryeong had somehow managed to turn Lu Yangyang into one of her own people.

Lu Yangyang looked surprisingly convincing as she proudly squared her shoulders.

I gave a light nod and naturally changed the subject.

"Jin Hao is doing well too, right? Since I'm here, I should probably see his face."

"Hmph. I don't know anything about that man."

Huh.

The triumphant expression Lu Yangyang had worn just moments ago instantly turned cold.

She even snorted outright.

As I merely blinked at her, Lu Yangyang pouted and began complaining.

"When I arrived in Dandong, do you know what that man was doing? He was at some club, fooling around with a bunch of women."

"Ah...."

"He had no idea what kind of terrifying things I'd just gone through in Taiwan.... So we're in the middle of a cold war right now."

As if she did not even want to think about it anymore, Lu Yangyang shook her head, then looked at me with glistening eyes.

"On the other hand, sir, you're so romantic. To think you'd come all the way to Dandong in person just to see Boss Yang."

"...Romantic?"

"You knew Boss Yang's birthday was coming up soon, so you came ahead of time, didn't you?"

"...."

At that moment, a certain fact belatedly came back to me.

The PIN for the bank card Yang Mi-ryeong had given me was 0722.

'It's my birthday. You'd better not forget it.'

And when she had given me that card, she had specifically gone out of her way to explain that the PIN was her birthday.

And today was July 20th.

Her birthday was the day after tomorrow.

"Am I right?"

"Y-yes. That's right. Of course."

"Oh my. How romantic."

Cold sweat began pouring down my back without me even realizing it.

I had no idea why, but my body started trembling all on its own.

Tremble, tremble.

"Would you like to go upstairs? I won't contact Boss Yang separately. She'll probably be pleasantly surprised."

Oblivious to my predicament, Lu Yangyang called the elevator and waved me off with a flutter of her hand.

Just as I began to feel like I was willingly crawling into a tiger's den.

Ding.

The elevator quickly reached the top floor.

"Yangyang, is that you?"

Apparently mistaking my silent arrival for Lu Yangyang, Yang Mi-ryeong spoke up the moment I reached the penthouse floor.

It seemed the two women had grown close enough by now to speak casually with each other.

"Hmm?"

When no answer came, she seemed puzzled and glanced over her shoulder.

"Oh my."

Then she let out a dumbfounded sound when she saw me standing there.

After blinking in confusion for a moment, she rose to her feet with a curious smile.

"What brings you here without even calling first?"

"Oh, well. I was just passing by, so I thought I'd stop in...."

"Come in."

I deliberately made no mention whatsoever of her birthday.

Bringing it up unnecessarily felt like asking for trouble.

"I ran into Miss Lu Yangyang downstairs. I heard you're being promoted and transferred to Hong Kong. Congratulations."

Instead, I smoothly brought up another topic first.

Yang Mi-ryeong gave me a faint smile and gestured toward the sofa.

"It'd be a little embarrassing to accept those congratulations so readily. From kidnapping Jin Hao and bringing him back, to protecting Boss Ruixing.... None of those accomplishments would have been possible without you."

"I don't know about that. I'd say it was thanks to your remarkable ability, Boss Yang."

"I'll gladly accept the compliment. So, what brought you here?"

As though the pleasantries were over, Yang Mi-ryeong waved them aside.

It was about time to get to the point, so I reached into my clothes and pulled out a neatly folded sheet of paper.

"I happened to come across this list while passing through. I figured you might need it, so I stopped by."

"A list?"

It was the list of smuggling couriers I had taken from the Qingshe Gang warehouse last night.

As Yang Mi-ryeong quickly scanned its contents, her expression instantly turned cold.

"Where on earth did you get this?"

She too had immediately realized what this list meant.

"I picked it up at a warehouse belonging to an organization called the Qingshe Gang."

"And how did you know to go there?"

"That's a secret."

"Hmm."

After pondering for a moment, a strange smile spread across Yang Mi-ryeong's lips.

Before I even had time to start feeling uneasy, it seemed she had already reached her conclusion.

"Ah. Was there a Crane agent on this list or something?"

As expected of a former NIS black agent.

Without any lengthy explanation, she had pieced together the truth in an instant from nothing more than the courier list in front of her, his identity, and the surrounding circumstances.

'She catches on fast.'

Now that she had already figured everything out herself, pretending ignorance would only make me look ridiculous.

"One of the people on the list was nearly kidnapped by the Qingshe Gang. Fortunately, I managed to rescue him along the way."

"That's a relief. That could have turned into a serious disaster."

"I'd already heard that this Qingshe Gang is a particularly vicious organization. Apparently, human trafficking is their main business."

"That's right. Did you happen to find out how this list ended up in the Qingshe Gang's hands? This is classified information that only three people in the entire Kowloon Society know."

"The branch chief who had the list, a man named Wang Chang, confessed that he thought the Chongqing Society had slipped it to them."

"That's exactly what I thought."

Yang Mi-ryeong lightly waved the list and scoffed.

"You remember when Boss Ruixing personally came here while we were negotiating with the Chongqing Society with Jin Hao as our hostage, right?"

Of course I remembered.

The memory of meeting Boss Ruixing in the Kowloon Hotel casino and receiving his gold-embossed business card was still vivid.

"This was exactly the ledger Boss Ruixing handed over to us back then. The smuggling routes they had spent decades building throughout Liaoning Province. It was one of Jin Weiliang's core operations, created to cement his position in the succession."

Yang Mi-ryeong jerked her chin toward the list.

"So to be honest, I was expecting something like this. With the Chongqing Society split in half, Jin Weiliang no longer has any reason to care that Jin Hao is being held hostage. That's why we've also been preparing by organizing a separate smuggling route of our own."

Hearing that made me wonder if I had stuck my nose into something unnecessarily.

Someone like Yang Mi-ryeong probably would have handled it perfectly well even if I had left things alone.

When I awkwardly shrugged, Yang Mi-ryeong caught the meaning behind my expression and gave a short laugh.

"You've made things easier for me. I'd been wondering when those bastards would finally make the first move. I didn't expect you to show up with the news at exactly the right time. Thanks to you, we now have a justification to hit the Qingshe Gang immediately."

"You're going after the Qingshe Gang instead of the Chongqing Society?"

"The Chongqing Society, or more precisely Jin Weiliang, doesn't have any resources left to pour into Dandong in the first place. He's probably devoting everything he has to dealing with Boss Ruixing."

Yang Mi-ryeong tossed the list onto the table.

"So he handed the Chongqing Society's smuggling network list to the Qingshe Gang because he wanted them to fight the Kowloon Society on his behalf. Which means we don't need to bother touching the Chongqing Society either. We can just hit the Qingshe Gang directly."

Somehow, every time I came to Dandong, there never seemed to be a single peaceful day.

It felt like the war between the Chongqing Society and the Kowloon Society in Dandong had only happened yesterday, and now it was the Kowloon Society versus the Qingshe Gang.

A sweet smile began curling across Yang Mi-ryeong's lips as she looked at me.

"I owe you another big one, don't I? Thank you."

"Well.... Let's just call it an early birthday present."

Since she seemed to be in quite a good mood, I cautiously slipped in a mention of her birthday.

Yang Mi-ryeong glanced at me with narrowed eyes.

"Well, look at you. You weren't saying anything, so I thought you'd forgotten, but somehow you actually remembered."

"Well. Happy birthday."

"That hardly counts when I had to prompt you myself."

Yang Mi-ryeong shot me a prim look, then waved her hand dismissively.

"And dream on. That isn't nearly enough for my birthday present."

"Then is there something else you want?"

"There is one thing.... I'll tell you later, if I get the chance."

Yang Mi-ryeong quietly moved into the seat beside me and pressed herself close.

"Instead, I'll make sure you get something good in return for this. The timing happens to be perfect."

When I instinctively scooted backward, she gave me an inscrutable smile and gently caught my sleeve.

"I told you I'm going to be promoted and transferred to Hong Kong soon, right? I plan to continue in the hotel business there too. I'm about to acquire a hotel in Macau, and even including the casino operating license, the price is surprisingly low."

"By low, you mean...."

"One hundred fifty million dollars."

Eek.

I sucked in a startled breath inwardly.

While I barely managed to keep my expression under control, Yang Mi-ryeong rose and pulled several documents from a drawer in her desk.

They contained a map of Macau along with statistics, information on the surrounding commercial district, tourism trends, growth indicators, and other data.

"The location is excellent too. It's right in front of the Macau Ferry Terminal, so it's one of the first places people see the moment they arrive by boat. There are already several highly successful hotels nearby, so it's the area with the highest concentration of ordinary tourists."

"How did you get the chance to acquire a place like that?"

"The hotel's owner borrowed a considerable amount of money from the Kowloon Society using the hotel as collateral. Then he developed cancer and ended up on death's door, so his children decided to move to the United States and started selling off everything valuable for next to nothing."

"Ah...."

"Thanks to that, the Kowloon Society secured the priority right to acquire the hotel. And that right was given to me as part of this promotion."

"The Kowloon Society must think very highly of you."

"Why else do you think I became a Crow agent?"

A thin smile curled across Yang Mi-ryeong's lips.

She confidently jerked her chin upward.

"Originally, I was supposed to pay one hundred million dollars, then have the Kowloon Society put up the rest of the funds and split the ownership with me. But I'm willing to give you a chance to invest. I plan to pay out dividends every quarter without fail, and that hotel brought in three billion Hong Kong dollars last year alone. That's four hundred million U.S. dollars."

Eeeek.

Once again, I sucked in a sharp breath inwardly.

The acquisition price was only one hundred fifty million dollars, yet the place could bring in nearly three times that amount in a single year.

"I'm really giving you a chance to make serious money here. You can look forward to it."

Still, why did she look even more excited about this supposedly generous offer than I did?

*****

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