Chapter 86: Bundles of Cash

Eight hundred men against four hundred. This was not an army battle, where one had to think about tactics and strategy; this was nothing more than a street gang knife fight. Of course the side with the numbers had the surest chance of victory. Ghost Man Chao was beyond foolish. The power he had built up over many years of struggling in Deqing would vanish tonight like smoke. It was like a man knowing he was about to die, unable to bear parting with all he possessed, unable to let go of the beautiful world he had known. Chao was heartbroken, and the outcome left him helpless. In a single line: when Brother Nan wants you dead, you have no choice but to die.

"Brother Chao, we really can't hold on any longer. You'd better leave first. A green mountain remains; there will never be a shortage of firewood..." one of his men could not help but urge him.

Ghost Man Chao sat dazed in his chair, his temples already showing streaks of white. He had always looked like a neighborhood party secretary, but now he looked even more like a disgraced official. Staring blankly ahead, he muttered, "Can't leave... can't leave..."

Inside Caesar Palace, the fighting was at its fiercest. The police hotline had long been jammed by panicked citizens, yet Police Chief Chen Longming still had not issued the order to deploy officers. He had agreed with Long Kun that riot police would not arrive until thirty minutes later, and at this very moment he sat in his office, anxiously waiting for Long Kun's call...

Two white vans pulled up one after the other outside Caesar Palace. With a metallic rattle, the doors flew open, and twenty young men carrying submachine guns stepped out. Leading them was Long Kun himself.

He waved a hand, and his men followed close behind, storming into Caesar Palace. By then, the place was already in utter chaos. Long Kun took his people inside and, friend or foe, sprayed whoever they saw...

The submachine guns roared, spitting fire and reaping lives. The two sides that had been locked in battle all stopped at once, each scrambling for cover...

After a furious burst of gunfire, Long Kun stepped forward and shouted, "I am Long Kun. Tell Brother Chao to come out and talk!"

The instant he heard the gunfire, Ghost Man Chao had already known Long Kun had arrived. At that moment he emerged from an inner room, a wan smile betraying his mood. "Brother Kun, I never expected this..."

Long Kun looked at him and said, "Brother Chao, forgive me..."

Twenty guns were trained on him, and they fired at once. In a heartbeat, Ghost Man Chao was riddled like a sieve. This had been the instruction Zhuo Nan gave Long Kun in advance: never imitate the nonsense they do on television. If you mean to kill someone, why waste so many words? Just do it.

Everyone was stunned by the scene. Ghost Man Chao was still smoking.

Long Kun planted himself in front with a grand, commanding stance and roared, "Who here can still make decisions?"

Seeing the way Long Kun stood there, who would dare to pretend to be boss now? The one smoking would surely be himself. When no one answered, Long Kun asked again, "Who can still make decisions?"

Still no reply.

Long Kun frowned, then turned to his men. "Kill them all."

The words had barely fallen when one of his men pulled a grenade from behind his waist and made as if to yank the pin. Long Kun asked again, "Who is the boss?"

Those with weaker nerves could no longer bear such intimidation and hurriedly named their own leaders. Long Kun nodded with satisfaction, then gave a gesture. Two men carried out a suitcase and opened it. Inside were bundles upon bundles of cash. He spoke slowly: "My name is Long Kun. I believe all of you bosses know me. Tang Hao is dead, and Ghost Man Chao is dead too. From now on, Deqing is under my control. Any objections? If you have none, take two bundles each and take your people away. If you do object, then we can have a good long talk..."

Whether they lived or died was their own choice. The two fiercest men in Deqing were now gone. No one knew exactly how Tang Hao had died, but Ghost Man Chao was thoroughly dead, killed without even a polite word exchanged. Looking at Long Kun, who had once been nothing more than a lowly market hustler, now arriving with dozens of guns, real submachine guns that rattled like thunder, the little bosses began to sweat. Then one small boss from the eastern district smiled and stepped forward. "Brother Kun is right. Now that both Ghost Man Chao and Tang Hao are dead, Deqing really does need someone to hold things together. Brother Kun is young and capable, imposing and extraordinary. In my view, he is perfect. Gentlemen, my soup is still simmering at home; I should go check the fire... so I will take my leave."

The moment he finished speaking, Long Kun had his men produce two bundles of cash and hand them over. Smiling, Long Kun said, "Boss Wu is truly practical. Then go home and look after your soup first. We'll stay in touch by phone in a couple of days."

Boss Wu chuckled. "Then I'll be going, Brother Kun."

With that, he waved a hand, and his entire group of men hurried off with him.

Long Kun nodded. "No need to see you out."

Then he said, "Any other boss need to go home to check the fire, cook, or watch the kids?"

The others had originally followed Tang Hao against Ghost Man Chao only to gain some benefit. But now the situation had clearly turned against them. Long Kun had both men and weapons, and those weapons were top-notch. With the two major figures already dead, what was there left to fight over? So one by one, like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, men began volunteering to go home and check the fire, cook, or watch the kids...

"Shaved Head, I think you're a man. What do you say? Have you made up your mind?" After everyone else had left, only Ghost Man Chao's own men remained. With the Four Vajras fallen, Shaved Head naturally became the top man under Ghost Man Chao. Now that the boss was dead, the underlings of course had to listen to Shaved Head.

Seeing that Shaved Head did not answer, Long Kun went on, "Shaved Head, Ghost Man Chao is already dead. If you want to live, come help me. I think you're a man, and I certainly won't treat you badly. Think it over. After all, we're not strangers."

"If I don't listen to you?" Under the glare of the lights, Shaved Head's head shone even brighter, nearly blinding Ghost Man Chao. He thought bitterly: Damn it, I should have brought sunglasses. At least I could have looked like a proper action hero for once.

"Shaved Head, do you really think I'll let you walk out of here? Brother, don't throw your life away for nothing. A bright future is waiting for you, piles of cash are waiting for you, and beautiful women with big chests are waiting for you. What the hell are you still thinking about?" If Zhuo Nan had heard that speech, he would have said, You'd be wasting talent if you didn't go into direct sales.

Shaved Head was swayed by Long Kun, this walking sales pitch, and tossed away the knife in his hand. "Brother Kun, I'll follow you."

The others immediately put down their weapons as well.

Long Kun burst out laughing, looking as arrogant as could be, as smug as could be. "Brother, congratulations. From now on, we'll make money together..."

Chen Longming arrived late at last, his big belly leading the way as he brought the riot squad with him. The moment he came in, he started cursing. "Long Kun, what the hell are you fighting a war for? Damn it, you even used grenades. Is it settled?"

Shaved Head, who had been a little nervous when he saw Chen Longming arrive, now heard him speaking to Brother Kun as though they were brothers and immediately understood. So all these days the police had been acting like fools because Brother Kun had already been in collusion with them. He thought to himself, No wonder Long Kun could carry a gun around Deqing and kill people wherever he pleased...

Long Kun put on a smiling face. "Oh, Chief Chen, I'm truly sorry. It's mainly because some people were just too damn unreasonable, so my men had no choice but to make a bit of a scene..."

Chen Longming kept a straight face and thought: If not for a word from Secretary Lan, I would have arrested your ass long ago. How could I let you strut around pretending to be the boss in front of me?

Seeing that Chen Longming's expression was not good, Long Kun gave one of his men a look. The man hurriedly brought over the remaining four bundles of cash from the suitcase and placed them in Long Kun's hands. Long Kun lifted the money and said to Chen Longming, "Chief Chen, this is the dirty money we just found. I'm turning it in now..."

Chen Longming caught a glimpse of it from the corner of his eye and thought, Damn, stacks and stacks of it. This kid Long Kun really does throw money around. No wonder Secretary Lan took a liking to him. He nodded and said, "If it's dirty money, then confiscate it."

As he spoke, he accepted the cash without the slightest hesitation and tossed two bundles to one of his subordinates. "Take it and share it with the brothers. It's so late, their wives and children are waiting at home. They've all worked hard..."

The subordinate immediately took the money with a grin and called the others over to distribute it by headcount. Chen Longming was not worried at all. The men who had come with him to carry out this operation tonight were all his trusted subordinates, and they all understood that once they took the money, if anyone talked nonsense later, not only would the chief not forgive them, even their colleagues would not let it pass. So everyone accepted the cash with great enthusiasm and practiced ease...

Joy filled Long Kun's eyes. As long as Chen Longming took the money, there was nothing left to worry about. Smiling, he said, "Chief Chen, then we'll be leaving first?"

After taking the money, Chen Longming immediately changed his expression. "You should at least hand over a few people. I still have to settle things outside..."

Long Kun understood at once. He turned and looked at Shaved Head. Shaved Head immediately got it. "You, you, and you. The three of you go back with Chief Chen."

The few men called out by name even cheered. Going to jail was no vacation, after all. The men who had not been chosen sighed inwardly, feeling somewhat dejected. Being sent in to take the fall was actually a great chance to rise. If you put yourself out there for the boss, how could the boss not remember your contribution? To be chosen by the boss to take the blame was every underling's shared dream.

Chen Longming glanced at the few men left behind and nodded. "All right, you can withdraw. Leave this to us."

"Very well, Chief Chen. Thank you." Long Kun bowed slightly to Chen Longming with his men and then turned and left.

After they were gone, one officer ran up to Chen Longming and said, "Chief Chen, with such a huge display, this won't be easy..."

Chen Longming twisted his mouth and said dismissively, "Ghost Man Chao is dead, isn't he? Do whatever needs doing."

The young cop immediately wore a look of sudden enlightenment, slapping on the flattery with a loud smack. "Chief Chen is brilliant..."

The next day, the police spokesperson made the following statement on television: "Regarding the multiple serious public security incidents that have recently occurred within Deqing City, the police successfully solved the cases last night. They have been defined as a gang fight involving a mafia-style organization. Last night, the police arrested dozens of members of this criminal group. With this, the case is officially solved. We ask citizens to rest assured that the police will certainly create a harmonious and healthy society for everyone. Thank you."

The police said all sorts of harmless nonsense on television, but at that moment Zhuo Nan was dining with Long Kun, Lan Zhenghao, and Chen Longming in a remote hotel...

[End of volume: The second book by the Lottery. The first volume ends here, at around three hundred thousand words. Some of the later underworld material may seem too simple to some friends, not satisfying enough to read. Let me explain: this is not a gangster novel, so there will not be too much underworld material. The main line is still the protagonist's campus life: showing off, chasing girls, playing the fool to catch the tiger by the tail... The next volume will write about his high school years, and the girls will continue to appear. Please read on patiently. Also, I ask readers to bookmark more, send more flowers, and vote more...]