Several nights later, the Old Shopkeeper’s proxy appeared in the office of He Chu San’s data-analysis company in Wan Chai. He wore a hat and sunglasses, with the upturned collar of his trench coat tightly concealing his face. His men kept Kevin and He Chu San’s bodyguards outside the company. On the vast office floor, only the light in He Chu San’s general manager’s office was still on.
He Chu San closed the door and made him a cup of tea. The proxy did not sit down, but walked to the window instead, removing his sunglasses as he looked out through the floor-to-ceiling glass.
“The view here is quite good,” he said. The brilliant lights along both shores of Victoria Harbour seemed to merge with the stars in the night sky, illuminating his gray eyes and the deep, knife-cut lines at their corners.
“I haven’t looked at the stars in a very long time,” he said calmly. Then he raised a hand to cover a slight bulge beneath the collar of his coat and abruptly changed the subject. “How much are you charging him to do this?”
He Chu San stood behind him. “Thirty percent of the profits.”
“No one has ever taken more than twenty percent.”
“No one has ever done this kind of business for him before.”
The proxy turned around. “You wet-behind-the-ears brat. Do you think no one has ever suggested this to him before? You think you’re the one with courage?”
“No. He’s old, and he’s getting anxious,” He Chu San said. He looked at the proxy’s hand and knew that beneath it was a listening device—every word and action of this stand-in had always been monitored and controlled by Xie Ying Jie. “You’ve talked a lot today.”
The proxy gave a bitter smile, unconcerned. “I haven’t truly spoken in a very long time. When you live inside a disguise for too long, you forget who you are. Sometimes I think I really am him. Only this thing reminds me that I’m nothing at all… In all these years, you’re the first person who saw through the fact that I’m not him.”
He glanced at He Chu San. The bitterness and deeper meaning in his gaze sent a chill through He Chu San—as though the other man had also seen through something.
But the proxy said nothing more. He sat on the sofa, released the hand covering his collar, and spoke seriously. “‘He’ has agreed to let you start next week. The money you asked for will arrive on time. But we have our own accounts and traders. When the time comes, I’ll stay here with you and instruct the traders to act according to your directions.”
He Chu San had long expected Xie Ying Jie to be cautious and knew he would never allow the money to fall directly under He Chu San’s control. “All right.”
“But first, you have to put in your own capital to manipulate the market. If the situation looks good, we’ll follow.”
He Chu San looked troubled. “I’m afraid the funds I have on hand aren’t enough to get things moving.”
“Even a light breeze can raise waves. If the tide never comes in, how is a boat stranded on the beach supposed to launch?”
He Chu San hesitated for a moment. “All right. I understand.”
The proxy discussed a few more details of their cooperation with him, then rose to leave. He Chu San walked him out of the company. As they went, the proxy suddenly covered his collar again and said quietly, “When this is over, he won’t let you live.”
“I’ll survive, just as you did.”
The proxy shook his head faintly. “Sometimes surviving isn’t necessarily a good thing. Go back. There’s no need to see me off.”
He Chu San stopped at the company entrance and watched their group enter the elevator. Several tall bodyguards swarmed around the proxy—“protecting” him while also “escorting” him under guard. Remembering what the proxy had said and the bitterness in his eyes, He Chu San could not help frowning deeply. He had Kevin drive him back to the nearby hotel where he had been staying ever since escaping Master Qiao’s surveillance. Yet over the past several days, the surveillance had not disappeared. Instead, it had become omnipresent—not from Master Qiao, but from the Old Shopkeeper’s vigilance and warning.
He Chu San entered his room alone, kicking off his shoes and socks as he walked. Barefoot, he stepped into the bathroom and glanced toward the listening device in the corner. Still fully dressed, he sat down in the bathtub, turned on the tap, and slowly slid beneath the rushing water, submerging himself along with all the filth covering him.
…
On Monday afternoon, the sun blazed outside. The company’s two partners burst into He Chu San’s office.
“Sam, what the hell are you doing?! I just got back from a business trip, and Frank tells me that you ignored him and moved all our clients’ funds into the futures and stock markets?!”
Heavy curtains had been drawn across the floor-to-ceiling windows, shutting out the sunlight. The room was gloomy, stuffy, and oppressive. He Chu San held a saucer beneath his coffee cup, his eyes still fixed on the computer screen.
He said coldly, “I have my own plans.”
“That’s our clients’ money!!” the partner who had spoken first shouted excitedly. “Are you trying to pull something? You don’t even have enough capital! What the hell do you think you can do?!”
The other man held him back and sighed. “Sam, you’ve always been calm and had good judgment when it came to risk. Ricky is bold and aggressive, while I’m cautious. The three of us started this company together precisely so we could complement one another and each make use of our strengths. We agreed that we’d work together and discuss problems together. But what you’ve been doing lately is far too reckless.”
“If you admit that I have good judgment, then you should trust my judgment,” He Chu San said.
“Bullshit! You’ve been hiding things from us and doing whatever the hell you want!” Ricky shouted. “Do you understand that what you’re doing could cause the company enormous losses?! I’ll go tell the clients what you’re doing myself!”
He Chu San’s cold gaze finally left the computer and settled on them. “Get this straight. They’re my clients, not yours. I own more shares in this company than the two of you combined. In this company, I’m the one who calls the shots.”
“What the fuck are you saying?!” Ricky rolled up his sleeves, ready to fight, but Frank grabbed him tightly. Frank continued trying to mediate between them. “Ricky, calm down. We’re friends. There’s no reason to let it come to this. Sam, what you just said really hurts. Do you know you’ve been like a completely different person lately? First you disappeared overseas, then you were hospitalized. While you were away from the company, Ricky and I kept our heads down and worked. We never went behind your back and made decisions on our own. But now you’re back, and you don’t discuss anything with us…”
“There’s nothing to discuss,” He Chu San interrupted. “People who follow different paths can’t work together. If you’re afraid of taking the risk, fine. Leave the company.”
“What?!” both men exclaimed.
“I’ll buy your shares. Have your lawyers come to the company tomorrow.”
Now both partners completely lost their tempers. They had all worked themselves to the bone building this company from nothing, and now he wanted to dissolve their partnership just like that?! Both immediately erupted into furious curses. The general manager’s office descended into chaos. Several junior managers outside hurried in with Kevin to separate the bosses. Between coaxing and physically dragging them away, Kevin finally “persuaded” the two furious partners—both puffed up like toads—to leave the company, instructing several employees to calm them down and escort them home so nothing happened along the way.
“It’s all because of you, you little bastard! Ever since you joined the company this year, Sam’s brain has been acting like he had a stroke!” Ricky still had to vent at Kevin before leaving. “I knew the moment I saw you that you were a gangster! You’re the one who corrupted him!”
“Yes, yes. Have a safe trip.” Kevin had already taken the blame for sleeping with his boss, so what was one more filthy accusation? Without changing expression, he shut the car door for him.
The two cars started one after another, kicking up dust. Kevin coughed several times in the rusty-smelling haze, awkwardly took out a tissue to wipe the sweat from his face, then turned and went back inside.
He Chu San sat alone in the darkened office, with only the faint glow of the computer screen illuminating the room. Kevin closed the door behind himself and advised him quietly, “Brother Chu San, I know you forced them out because you were afraid the risk was too great and would drag them down with you. But if something happens to the clients’ money, how are you going to answer for it?”
He Chu San rubbed his temples wearily. “I only need two days. As soon as I draw out their money, I can stop immediately.”
“But what if they don’t make a move, or something goes wrong halfway through?” Kevin hesitated. After following He Chu San for so long, he had picked up at least some knowledge of the financial world. “Brother Chu San, are you really going to create a false market? The impact on ordinary investors could be enormous. My mom only told me a few days ago that someone in the building across from ours lost everything in stocks and their whole family jumped to their deaths…”
He Chu San’s cold, cutting gaze swept toward him. “Even you don’t believe me?”
“No, Brother Chu San. I’m just worried about you…”
“That’s enough! I don’t want to hear it!” He Chu San interrupted. “Get out.”
Kevin wisely shut his mouth and withdrew.
He Chu San was left alone in the darkness. He reached over and switched off the computer, listening to his own violent heartbeat as the hum of the machine slowly died away. Outside the window, the sunlight was brilliant and blazing, yet a thick curtain separated him from it, leaving him unable to feel even the slightest warmth.
Xie Ying Jie’s icy, bloodthirsty gaze; the terror of suffocating on the brink of death; the creaking sound deep in his throat and the rush of blood roaring beside his ears—all of it continued circling endlessly through his mind. Madness and killing intent seemed to have taken root in his bones like evil spirits. The proxy’s words wriggled back and forth through his heart like an earthworm coated in gritty sand, drilling out an icy pain: “When you live inside a disguise for too long, you forget who you are.”
He suddenly shot to his feet and violently swept everything off the desk.
Crash! Bang—!
“Mr. He?!” an employee called while knocking outside.
“Don’t come in! Get out!”
Leave a Reply