Just as things seemed to be going smoothly, with Zhou Cheng’s hand on the rope ladder, something felt off.
Would they recognize their identities?
This operation was indeed risky – Zhou Cheng’s team needed to board first and secure the ship. In the vast ocean, where could these water rats escape?
If some jumped ship to swim away, even better. In the vast ocean, they’d tire quickly. There might be pickup boats nearby – they could follow that lead to catch more.
Zhou Cheng’s hand paused on the rope ladder. His other hand, hidden behind his back, made subtle finger movements.
“Hurry up, all the good merchandise will be taken!”
Something was wrong, but how they knew didn’t matter – what mattered was what to do now. Zhou Cheng was at a point of no return; there was no going back, only forward to take his chances.
He wasn’t sure if Shi Kai had seen his hand signals in the darkness – that worried him.
Acting naturally, he climbed up, reaching the deck in a few agile moves. Several people surrounded him, but Zhou Cheng appeared not to notice.
Shi Kai was the second to flip onto the deck. After four people had made it up, the smugglers suddenly attacked. Ma Zai shot Zhou Cheng in the chest. Zhou Cheng grunted and fell to the deck, but when Ma Zai kicked at him, the man on the ground grabbed his ankle, pulling him down.
If not for the bulletproof vest, Zhou Cheng would have been in serious trouble. Ma Zai using a handgun was manageable – a submachine gun would have been worse. Even with body armor, at such close range, the bullet’s impact made Zhou Cheng’s chest bones ache.
Zhou Cheng risked taking the shot to subdue his attacker first.
“All units, move in!”
The other teams in small boats couldn’t wait any longer. Since they’d been discovered, they might as well drop the disguise.
Ma Zai, though a marijuana user and good swimmer, was thin – Zhou Cheng easily pulled him down.
Zhou Cheng twisted Ma Zai up as a shield, causing him to take friendly fire: “…damn it, it’s me.”
Someone was spraying gunfire below deck. Many hadn’t made it onto the large ship and had to abandon ship and jump into the sea. If there had been non-swimmers among these temporarily assigned trainees three months ago, there weren’t any now when it came to catching smugglers at sea. How did they develop such swimming abilities in winter within such a short time? Soldiers simply followed orders, demonstrating their training results – the hardships in between need not be mentioned.
Zhou Cheng held onto Ma Zai while Shi Kai grabbed someone else as a human shield. Together they made their way toward the bridge.
The deck was chaos. All the receiving fishing boats had fled in fear, with some pursuers after them. Zhou Cheng wanted to know if Liu Tian Quan was on board – the faster they controlled the ship, the fewer casualties among the trainees.
Throughout all his missions so far, Zhou Cheng’s team had only suffered injuries, no deaths. He hoped to maintain that record.
Choking Ma Zai’s neck, under the deck lights, he looked at the man – a completely unfamiliar face glaring back with hatred.
“You know me?”
Zhou Cheng didn’t recognize him. Ma Zai remained silent, and Zhou Cheng didn’t dwell on it.
Those who knew him must be escaped water rats. The ones who’d escaped him – probably from that time in Min Province. They’d found one body and assumed the other had died and been washed away – not.
“Just your bad luck.”
Getting caught by the same person twice – how could it not be bad luck?
This time Zhou Cheng wouldn’t let him escape. Involved in two major shipments, this skinny guy must be a key member of the smuggling ring.
A bullet grazed Shi Kai’s scalp. His heart nearly jumped out of his chest. His human shield was already dead stiff – Shi Kai hid behind the corpse. “Squad Leader Zhou, shall we head to the bridge?”
The ship was escaping toward open waters.
The fishing boats’ engines weren’t powerful enough – once they got far enough, other teams might struggle to catch up.
By now, maybe less than ten of their people had successfully boarded. Shi Kai felt the situation was highly unfavorable.
Zhou Cheng lifted Ma Zai. “Let’s go to the bridge.”
Zhou Cheng and Shi Kai coordinated well – by the time they reached the bridge, Shi Kai had only suffered minor injuries. The bridge was eerily quiet, with an unknown number of people likely waiting at the door to shoot any intruders.
With Zhou Cheng’s gun at his back, Ma Zai was bruised all over from the journey:
“Open up, it’s me…”
“That’s Ma Zai’s voice.”
The cabin door opened a crack. Zhou Cheng shoved Ma Zai forward, wedging him in the gap to prevent the door from closing. Gunfire erupted, and chaos broke out in the cabin.
…
Du Zhao Hui spent the 1985 Spring Festival in Peng City.
Hong Kong people both valued and didn’t quite value the Spring Festival, balancing Eastern and Western customs. New Year’s Day was important, and Christmas was important, but New Year’s Eve wasn’t as significant.
Recent “new immigrants” from the mainland still hung Spring Festival couplets and made religious offerings with chicken, but families like the Dus, long settled in Hong Kong, had fewer such traditions. However, companies emphasized “Spring Banquets” – Hong Kong’s version of reunion dinners, held after New Year’s at companies rather than with family on New Year’s Eve.
Hong Kong values auspicious meanings. Spring Banquet dishes had lucky names and were lavish, with shrimp, crab, abalone, and shark fin all present. Bosses gave out generous red packets at these banquets. During New Year’s, Hong Kong people greeted each other with “Kung Hei Fat Choi, Lai See Do Loi.” Boss’s red packets ranged from hundreds to thousands – regular employees might get several hundred, managers a few thousand, and trusted executives might find checks in their packets.
In previous years, Du Zhao Hui would certainly attend Cheng Rong Group’s Spring Banquet.
He’d stand beside his father Du Cheng Rong, displaying his unique status.
Du Cheng Rong was willing to give a face to his eldest son. As the oldest, Du Zhao Hui was the only choice for such occasions. The veterans who had built the empire with Du Cheng Rong would all make pleasantries about “like father, like son” and acknowledge Du Zhao Hui’s position – bullshit, it was all fake. No matter how sweet-talking he was, without real power, those old foxes didn’t truly respect him.
But if he didn’t attend the Spring Banquet, newspapers would write about him being cold-shouldered by Du Cheng Rong, losing his father’s favor – Du Zhao Hui had to attend.
This year was different – being on the mainland, he had a legitimate reason to skip it, and could even host his own Spring Banquet. Though smaller than Hong Kong’s, this one centered around Du Zhao Hui.
Du Zhao Hui held his banquet on the same day as Hong Kong’s, with equally high-end dishes. Besides group office employees, he invited some government officials. Shame Mayor Tang didn’t come… No matter, Mayor Tang would appreciate his grand gift.
Though losing a piece of Cheng Rong Group would pain Du Zhao Hui.
But with others trying to compete with him, those assets weren’t even his yet – what was there to be pained about?
Xia Zi Yu rode on Xia Da Jun’s coattails to secure a place at the Spring Banquet.
Even Old Lady Xia had been cleaned up, dressed in decent new clothes, sitting beside Xia Da Jun. Old Lady Xia picked at the ‘rice noodles’ in her bowl, thinking the Hong Kong boss was stingy, but these slippery noodles tasted good. After finishing one bowl without feeling full, thinking of Xia Hong Bing suffering somewhere unknown, Old Lady Xia’s voice turned tearful:
“Da Jun, is the Hong Kong boss just stringing us along? When will we look for your brother?”