One afternoon, Zhao Yan went out.
He bought a voice recorder and a few SIM cards.
Lincheng was like Hong Kong in the 1980s and 90s. SIM cards were anonymous now.
Real-name registration would not begin for decades.
After finding an empty corner to switch to a new SIM card, he turned on the voice recorder and dialed a number from memory: "It's me."
"Has Zhou Shen made a move?" Huang Guofeng's first words after picking up Zhao Yan's call were this.
It showed how impatient he was for quick success.
He didn't even ask how Zhao Yan was doing.
Zhao Yan disliked this man as much as Luo Jiajun now. His tone was flat: "Zhou Shen asked me to kidnap Huo Xiaoqi's son for a billion ransom."
"Great, great! I knew you wouldn't let me down. Find a way to give me the timing and plan of the operation. I'll take them all down..." Huang Guofeng said excitedly.
"Didn't you understand me, Inspector Huang Guofeng?" Zhao Yan interrupted the excited Huang Guofeng and said word for word: "I said Zhou Shen asked me to kidnap Huo Xiaoqi's son alone."
"..." The other end fell silent for a moment before speaking again: "He's testing you. I'll contact Mr. Huo and stage a show for Zhou Shen to see. These tycoons want Zhou Shen caught more than the police do."
"Heh, Huang sir, you're so smart. Zhou Shen sent people to keep full surveillance on me. How could I stage a show for him? Just tell me, do I have permission to kidnap Huo Xiaoqi's son or not," Zhao Yan said mockingly and impatiently, very rudely.
But this was Luo Jiajun's true attitude towards Huang Guofeng. It would be out of character if he changed it.
Huang Guofeng fell silent. Clearly, he was afraid of messing this up. If he allowed Zhao Yan to do this and something went wrong afterwards, he would be held mainly responsible.
Moreover, Zhou Shen wouldn't make a move himself. This would only help Luo Jiajun gain Zhou Shen's trust and wouldn't lead to capturing Zhou Shen, so it wasn't worth the risk for him.
"Oh right, Zhou Shen also said after I do this job well, he has an even bigger deal waiting for me. I don't know what it is," Zhao Yan suddenly added.
Huang Guofeng's eyes lit up: "It's gold. Hua Feng Bank just received a new batch worth over 5 billion. It's bigger than kidnapping Huo Xiaoqi's son, so it can only be this new batch of gold he's referring to."
Thinking of this, Huang Guofeng steeled his heart: "Jiajun, agree to him. As long as you gain his trust through kidnapping Young Master Huo, you'll be able to participate in the operation. Then we'll definitely be able to take down Zhou Shen once and for all!"
This was too rare an opportunity. If they missed it, who knew when Zhou Shen would make another move.
Moreover, since it was Luo Jiajun doing the kidnapping, Young Master Huo definitely wouldn't be in any real danger.
If anything unfortunate happened to Young Master Huo during the kidnapping, he could simply deny authorizing Luo Jiajun to do it.
After all, Luo Jiajun had no evidence, while he held Luo Jiajun's life in his hands.
"Alright, I understand. I'll contact you again if anything comes up." Zhao Yan hung up and put away the card.
He turned on the voice recorder and played back the recording. A cold smile appeared at the corner of Zhao Yan's mouth.
This was what he kept to keep Huang Guofeng in check.
Lincheng was a capitalist world. The police were funded by taxes from tycoons. If this recording was exposed, Huang Guofeng would probably be swallowing a gun the next day.
Afterwards, he returned to his hotel and officially notified Xiao Shuai's four men of the decision to make a move on Young Master Huo.
Then he began assigning tasks.
This was the first time in his nearly twenty years of life that Zhao Yan had done anything illegal besides watching adult videos and distributing porn.
"Xiao Shuai, contact Da Biao and have him introduce someone who can launder the money clean. Make contact ahead of time."
"Fei Zai and Er Pi, stake out the Huo residence and get a grasp of Young Master Huo's daily routine. Then formulate a getaway route based on terrain after successfully completing the operation."
"Da Lei, come with me to acquire the vehicles and weapons needed for the operation. Does everyone understand?" Zhao Yan said after laying it out.
Although Zhao Yan had never been a gangster before, he had watched so many movies after all. As a movie otaku, having viewed thousands of titles, he had picked up quite a few useful techniques from them.
And now it was finally being put to use, wasn't it?
So one should not just focus on deriving pleasure when watching movies, but also study the skills and details. As one wise man said, learning is the ladder of human progress. To improve oneself and keep up with the times, one must constantly learn new techniques.
"Yes, Boss Zhao." "Got it, Brother Luo."
The four men all indicated no problem.
"Sleep, we start work tomorrow."
As soon as Zhao Yan finished speaking, he returned to his room.
...
Early next morning, the five men went their separate ways.
Zhao Yan took Da Lei to a game hall.
As soon as they entered, the cacophony of mixed smells assaulted their senses. Zhao Yan wrinkled his nose slightly.
He took out a handkerchief and covered his nose lightly.
"Hey, where's your boss?" Da Lei grabbed a youth by the collar and yanked him over.
The youth was about to flare up, but shrank back when he saw Zhao Yan. "Brother Luo, you're here. Crazy Dragon is in his office. I'll take you there right away."
Luo Jiajun was one of Cai Fengzi's men. Anyone active in the underworld knew him. Him escaping unscathed when Cai Fengzi got busted was still the talk of the town.
"Mm." Zhao Yan gave a noncommittal grunt.
Then he followed the youth through a winding path to a room. Just as the youth was about to knock, Da Lei kicked the door open and strode right in.
"Jesus f**king Christ! Who the hell... You looking to die?!" Crazy Dragon, who had been getting intimate with a girl, hurriedly pulled up his pants.
Zhao Yan strolled in with one hand in his pocket, the other holding a handkerchief over his nose. His smile was sinister. "Crazy Dragon, long time no see. You're really impressive now, huh?"
"Aiya, so it's Brother Luo. No matter how impressive, I can't compare to you, Brother Luo!" Crazy Dragon quickly changed his attitude, then barked at the girl, "Get the f**k out!"
The girl hastily pulled down her skirt and scurried out with head lowered.
Crazy Dragon went behind his desk, propped his legs up and lit a cigarette. "Have a seat, Brother Luo."
Zhao Yan's eyes narrowed slightly. According to his memory, Crazy Dragon didn't dare speak to him in this manner before.
It seemed that with Cai Fengzi locked up and his crew scattered, Crazy Dragon thought Luo Jiajun was now a spent force.
The clouds had cleared and the rain stopped, so he thought he could act up again.
"If I remember right, you still owed Big Brother Cai a shipment before he got busted. You already took the money, so where are the goods now?" Zhao Yan sat down on the sofa.
On the surface Crazy Dragon ran a game hall, but he was actually an arms dealer. Cai Fengzi's men often got supplies from him and they cooperated smoothly.
Right before Cai Fengzi's arrest, they had just paid for a batch of heavy weapons that had yet to see any action. Now it was a perfect chance for Zhao Yan to take advantage.
Crazy Dragon's expression stiffened briefly before breaking into loud laughter. "Brother Luo, there's a saying that with a person's death, their debts die too. It's been so long since Cai Fengzi got locked up. Coming to collect now is a bit unreasonable, don't you think?"
As he spoke, he signaled with his eyes to a minion by the door who nodded and left.
"So you mean to welsh on what you owe us," Zhao Yan set down the handkerchief and leaned forward slightly with a smile.
Crazy Dragon spat out his cigarette and slammed his hands heavily on the desk. Face contorted in fury, he roared, "Luo Jiajun, Cai Fengzi is finished! What the f**k are you now, acting tough in front of me? Today I, Crazy Dragon, am welshing on what I owe you! What are you gonna do about it, huh?!"
Reselling that batch of weapons would net him a few million more. No way was he going to pay up. Freeloading brought happiness.
"F**k you!" Da Lei whipped out his gun directly.
A bunch of minions swarmed in from outside, some wielding guns, others knives. They took aim at Luo Jiajun's two men.
Kuang Long got up, his face full of arrogance, laughing out loud and saying: "You guys have at most two guns, I have dozens of people here, what can you use to compete with me, Kuang Long?"