Golden Scale [EN]: Chapter 121

Blood Still Not Cold

Around 10:00 PM, Hou Longtao’s convoy left Yumi’s mansion. Zhi Ji was driving, while Hui Ji was in his arms. The remaining four cars were filled with bodyguards Honda had provided.

Hou Longtao’s phone rang. “Hello?”

“Mr. Hou Longtao,” the voice on the other end was androgynous, mechanical, and devoid of inflection, clearly generated by a machine.

“Who is this?” Hou Longtao released Hui Ji, switched the phone to his right hand, and his expression turned serious.

“That day outside the ‘Westin,’ if your female bodyguard hadn’t played the hero, one more shot and you certainly wouldn’t have escaped unscathed.”

“You… are you the person who helped me that day?” Though unsure if the caller was friend or foe, Hou Longtao’s tone became significantly more friendly. “Do we know each other?”

“No.”

“Then why…”

“Do you have many questions for me?”

“Yes.”

“Then come meet me. Alone, or at most with those two women of yours.”

“Can’t we talk on the phone?”

“Inconvenient.”

“This…” Hou Longtao hesitated; he didn’t want to risk himself again. “How do I know you’re who you say you are?”

“Killing you would be as easy as pie. For days, you’ve been in my sights. That night, you were sitting on the windowsill, smoking and making a call, practically a sniper’s dream. Your car windows are tinted, but I can still see you. You’re using a Nokia 6108.”

“Damn it!” Hou Longtao almost dropped the phone. Xue Nuo had secretly bought it for him because it had handwriting recognition, making it easier for them to exchange messages. “How could you see that? No sniper rifle is that good.”

“Honda’s security work for you isn’t great. I installed a camera in your car, right in the dome light.”

“Heh,” Hou Longtao smirked. “Where do you want to meet?”

“Yushima Church. Your driver should know it.”

“What about my bodyguards? They won’t dare disobey me.”

“Lose them. I’ll wait until eleven.”

“Hello? Hello?” The other party had already hung up. Hou Longtao patted Zhi Ji’s shoulder. “Go to Yushima Church, just the three of us. No tails.”

“Please fasten your seatbelt.”

Hou Longtao’s car was in the middle lane of the highway. As they approached an exit, Zhi Ji abruptly swerved across two lanes and sped off the exit, causing a series of screeching brakes and honking horns from other vehicles. The four escort cars couldn’t react in time and were unable to follow…

Around 10:40 PM, Hou Longtao arrived at his destination. At this hour, there were no tourists. The towering, gray-black Yushima Church looked eerie under the streetlights, not much different from a cemetery.

Zhi Ji and Hui Ji each pulled out handguns from inside their thigh holsters. They stayed close to the man, shielding him as they walked toward the church entrance.

Just as they reached the outdoor area,

Hou Longtao smelled a peculiar fragrance. With so many wives, he had developed some knowledge of women’s perfumes, but this was unlike anything he could buy on the market. It didn’t seem like men’s cologne either.

Inside the prayer room, a person dressed as a nun sat in the first row. “Mr. Hou, please, have a seat.”

The twin sisters stopped at the fifth row of benches. Zhi Ji constantly scanned their surroundings, while Hui Ji kept her gun trained on the nun, ready to shoot at the slightest sudden movement.

“How should I address you?” Hou Longtao sat next to the nun. The scent was strongest here. The person wore a nun’s habit that obscured their face and a white mask, making it impossible to tell if they were male or female, or what they looked like.

“Hua Lang.”

“Sir? Madam?”

“No need for honorifics.”

“Why did you save me?” Hou Longtao noticed the no-smoking sign but lit a cigarette anyway.

“You’re quite direct,” Hua Lang said, unmoving, as if the voice came from a corpse.

“Did you not want me to be?”

“Heh, I didn’t kill you because you’re Chinese.”

“Because of my nationality?”

“Because of your bloodline. I’m called Hua Lang because I have Chinese blood. Not killing Chinese people is my principle.”

“Then why were you hired to kill me?”

“You were my first Chinese target, so no one knew my principle.”

“Then why did you accept the job?” Hou Longtao liked to get to the bottom of things; he was very curious.

“The target was set after I arrived in Japan.”

“Who hired you?” This was Hou Longtao’s biggest concern.

“I don’t know. It’s industry practice. Even if I did, I couldn’t tell you.”

“I understand.” Hou Longtao hadn’t expected much. “How much is my life worth?”

“One million and five thousand US dollars.”

“Heh heh heh, not bad. You could have just not done it. Why save me?”

“It’s the first time I’ve seen a Chinese person’s life worth over a million US dollars. Japan is so afraid of you; I couldn’t let you die. That’s why I’ve been secretly protecting you these past few days.”

“Then I have nothing to worry about?” Hou Longtao was now certain that the person had no intention of harming him and seemed to share some of his views.

“I can’t watch over you after tonight. The people who wanted to kill you that night were from the San Kou Association [likely a fictional Yakuza group]. That gang has a lot of power in Japan. I killed their men, and their leader has put a hit out on me to avenge his subordinates. Thousands of San Kou Association members have been looking for me these past few days. My intuition tells me they’re not far off. In my line of work, you sometimes have to believe in fate. I’ll be leaving Japan today.”

“Thank you,” Hou Longtao extended his hand.

“You need to be more vigilant,” Hua Lang didn’t take his hand but stood up. “Whoever wants to kill you won’t give up.”

Hou Longtao also stood up, still extending his hand. “Thank you. I will.”

Hua Lang still didn’t take it, took two steps, then turned back. “By the way,

the person who contacted me was either Chinese or Korean. I didn’t see their face, but their native language was definitely not Japanese.”

“Thank you. Where are you going?”

“It’s best you don’t know.”

“Will we have a chance to meet again?” The hardest thing for humans to satisfy is their emotional needs, especially busy modern people. Human nature is greedy; the more they get, the more they want. Hou Longtao’s love life could be considered incredibly rich, but he still didn’t want to let go of any potential friends.

“As long as we’re both alive, anything is possible.”

“Why couldn’t we have talked about this on the phone? Why did you have to have me come here?”

“I’ve only seen you through a scope. I wanted to see what kind of person could make Japan so nervous, to see if you were worth the risk.”

“Am I worth it?”

“Hmph, not bad.” Hua Lang said as they walked, finally disappearing into the dark corridor at the corner of the room. The peculiar fragrance in the air gradually faded but lingered for a long time.

Hou Longtao wasn’t a Christian, but he knelt before the statue of Jesus and prayed for Hua Lang…

It was almost 12:00 AM when Hou Longtao returned to his residence. Fukui Takeo and his assistant, along with Fang Jie, were there, pacing like ants on a hot pot [idiom for being anxious and restless].

Fukui Takeo was practically furious. As soon as he saw Hou Longtao enter, he went straight for Zhi Ji, raising his hand to strike. “Baga!” [Japanese for ‘idiot’ or ‘fool’]

Hou Longtao grabbed the old man’s wrist. “What are you doing? They’re my people. The days when you could hit them are over.”

“Yes, yes.” Fukui Takeo took two steps back. “Mr. Hou, your actions today were too much. What if something dangerous had happened…”

“Alright, alright.” Hou Longtao interrupted him. They weren’t really concerned about him, just about the IIC investment. “President Fukui, let’s find a room. I have something I want to discuss with you privately.”

The old and young men found a room, closed the door, and began their secret talk.

“Has the president found out who wants me dead?” Hou Longtao sat down on the leather sofa.

“I think it’s my competitors. If something happened to you under my protection, it would have a very bad impact on the investment.”

“Which competitor?”

“Most likely Toyota’s president, Zhang Fujio. According to unconfirmed reports, he has a deep personal relationship with the leader of the San Kou Association. The people who attacked you last time were from the San Kou Association.”

“Hmm… How did Fang Jie get into Honda’s high ranks?” Hou Longtao suddenly changed the subject. Although he had no reason or evidence to connect Fang Jie with Hua Lang’s words, Fang Jie was the person closest to him and the one he trusted the least, so it was necessary to understand him better.

“That’s our company’s internal personnel matter; it’s not convenient for me to tell you.”

“Old fox, still giving me the runaround.” Hou Longtao cursed in his heart. “Let’s be frank. I think the chances of IIC investing in Honda are probably not even 50% now, but maybe 44.9%.”

“Heh heh heh, alright, then I might as well tell you,” Fukui Takeo naturally understood that the % referred to Fang Jie’s background, and the other 50% was the contract issue between Honda and Dongxing Group. “Ten years ago, one of my nephews was studying for a master’s degree at Waseda University [a prestigious university in Japan]. Fang Jie was his roommate. The two were very compatible and shared similar political views, becoming very good friends. He even brought him to my house.”

“What political views?”

“Young people are sometimes more radical,” Fukui Takeo said casually.

“Hmph.” Hou Longtao didn’t dwell on the issue. Clearly, Fukui Takeo’s nephew was a Japanese “new youth,” and Fang Jie had sold out his ancestors to “get close to a big shot.” “After he graduated, you let him into Honda?”

“Yes.”

“I’ve heard that Japanese companies are even more nepotistic than Chinese ones. Seeing it today, I believe it’s true.”

“I’m not being nepotistic. Fang Jie isn’t really related to me. At the time, he applied for a team leader position at Honda. His education and experience were the best among the competitors. The decision to hire him wasn’t made by me.”

“So he’s made a lot of achievements in recent years?”

“He first caught my attention six years ago when he had already been promoted to a director in the marketing department. Our company was competing with Toyota for a not-so-large project. The other party had already taken the lead, but Fang Jie, despite being at a disadvantage, successfully secured the account. After that, he snatched several deals from competitors. His position naturally rose higher and higher, until he became the deputy minister of the marketing department, considered to be in the management core. Toyota once offered very attractive terms to poach him, but he didn’t agree.”

“Marketing department? He contacted me as the deputy minister of the investment department.”

“Oh,” Fukui Takeo smiled. “You should be able to guess what’s going on, right?”

“Ambitious,” Hou Longtao said unpleasantly, certain that the other party had used Fang Jie’s past with Ru Yun to get him involved in the project.

“Fang Jie volunteered. We originally wanted our American branch to submit an application to IIC’s American headquarters, but he suggested that the headquarters submit an application to IIC’s Asia-Pacific regional agent. His reasons were also sufficient: compared to the Americans, who have always been rude to us, the Chinese are much easier to talk to.” Fukui Takeo didn’t back down, his words clearly carrying insulting connotations.

“Listen to me,” Hou Longtao threw the cigarette butt on the carpet and crushed it with his foot. “I can give up the thirty billion dollar contract. Although I won’t return Zhi Ji and Hui Ji to you, you have no way to retaliate, but I won’t take advantage of you. I can give you ten million US dollars as compensation for their training. To be honest, I hate Japanese people, especially arrogant Japanese people. I’m not a natural businessman; I easily act on impulse and don’t care about economic gains or losses. When you talk to me, it’s best not to be sarcastic.”

“It was a slip of the tongue. Please forgive me, Mr. Hou,” Fukui Takeo immediately apologized. He had thought that he now had the leverage to sit on equal footing with the other party, but he didn’t expect this kid to not care about billions of dollars. Judging from his expression and tone, he wasn’t joking. He didn’t need to risk the company’s future to argue with him.

“Forget it.” Hou Longtao took a deep breath. “Are all of Fang Jie’s achievements related to Toyota?”

“Now that you mention it…” Fukui Takeo pondered for a moment. “It’s true. All the achievements that allowed him to be promoted were snatched from Toyota. Do you think there’s something wrong with that?”

“No, I just instinctively feel that he’s unreliable. Whether it’s social experience or business experience, I think you should be much more experienced than me. Do you see anything wrong?”

“Everyone who enters the management core has undergone very strict scrutiny.”

“Since you’re so confident, I have nothing more to say. Let’s end it here.” Hou Longtao got up and walked towards the door.

Fukui Takeo naturally couldn’t show any suspicion of his own people in front of outsiders, but he also had some doubts in his heart…

The night was already very deep. Zhi Ji turned over and subconsciously stretched out her arm. The other side of the bed was empty. She opened her eyes. Hui Ji was sleeping soundly on the other side of the bed. She rubbed her eyes. Hou Longtao was standing motionless by the window, clearly with something heavy on his mind.

Zhi Ji got out of bed, picked up a long nightgown, walked over, and draped it over the man’s shoulders. “Brother Tao, don’t catch a cold.”

“Why aren’t you asleep?”

“I’m waiting for you,” Zhi Ji hugged the man’s waist from behind, resting her head on his back. “What are you thinking about? Can you tell me?”

Hou Longtao pulled the girl from behind to the front, hugging her tightly. “I argued with Fukui Takeo today, and in the end, he apologized to me in a low voice.”

“Isn’t that a good thing? Why are you unhappy about it?”

“Do you know why he apologized to me? He’s a big shot in the business world. Compared to him, I’m just an unknown kid. Why would he apologize to me?”

“You and President Fukui are both people who do big things. I can’t guess.”

“Heh,” Hou Longtao stroked the girl’s long hair. “You’re so smart; you can’t guess. You and Hui Ji are both top-quality women. Why would Fukui Takeo give you to me? What did I do to deserve you?”

“Hui Ji and I have never been treated as people. No one told us why. We were just told that we would be sent out.” Zhi Ji hugged the man’s neck and kissed him on the lips. “I don’t know, and I don’t care. I only know that I’m your person. I’m very happy with you, happier than ever before. I think Hui Ji feels the same way.”

“Hmm,” Hou Longtao smiled slightly, tightening his arms around the girl, then released her, took two steps away, and the smile on his face disappeared, becoming very serious. “I’ll tell you why. Because I have Americans backing me. I’m using the power of the Americans to control Honda’s fate. I’m just a paper tiger [idiom for something that seems powerful but is actually weak].”

Zhi Ji didn’t quite understand the man’s meaning because she didn’t understand why having American support wasn’t a good thing. “You didn’t use the last idiom well. It’s derogatory. The winner is king, the loser is a bandit [Chinese proverb emphasizing success justifies any means]. No matter what method or means you use, as long as you can make your opponent submit and fear you, then you are the tiger.”

“You’re wrong. In the current situation, Fukui Takeo is my opponent, but I’m not Fukui Takeo’s opponent. I’m just a pawn of his opponent. What he fears isn’t me.” Hou Longtao stared at the distant lights of Tokyo, extended his right arm, and slowly and forcefully clenched his fist. “One day, one day, I will become a true opponent.”

“You will,” Zhi Ji took two steps forward, hugged the man’s waist, and kissed his neck. “You will definitely achieve anything you set your mind to.”

“Hahaha.” Hou Longtao laughed loudly, picked up the beauty in his arms, pressed her down on the bed, and kissed her passionately, his left hand kneading her full breasts, his right hand stroking her smooth thighs.

Hui Ji had of course been awakened. She crawled to the man’s side and licked his back…

The darkest moment of the night is just before dawn. A black car stopped in a forest, not far from a huge manor.

Four people dressed in black ninja outfits got out of the car. They were all masked, revealing only their gleaming eyes. Their bodies were wrapped in tight-fitting clothes, all with protruding chests and buttocks, actually women.

The person who had been driving gathered the other three around them. “One last check. There’s a three-meter-wide blind spot at the corner of the wall. The monitors outside the wall, on the wall, on the roof, and in the yard can’t see it. There are three teams patrolling the yard. We must enter the villa within one minute, or we’ll be discovered by the patrol’s dogs. Understood?”

“Understood.”

“Then let’s move.” The leader waved their hand, and the four figures moved silently towards the manor’s wall at an extremely fast speed.

Two people quickly crossed the road outside the wall, braced themselves against the wall, and took a bow stance. The other two rushed forward, stepping on their companions’ hands placed on their knees, soaring into the air, grabbing the top of the two-meter-high wall, and peering into the yard. A patrol team had just turned the corner.

The two people at the base of the wall took two steps back, ran, and jumped, grabbing their companions’ dangling ankles. With another effort of their arms, the four people landed lightly and quietly on one knee on the wall. They didn’t stay for a second, jumping directly down the wall.

The four people dashed across the yard and stopped in front of two wooden doors facing the sky. One of them took out two pieces of wire and poked them into the lock. With a soft “click,” it opened.

The leader, the last ninja to enter, threw out several things that looked like detonators, confirmed that faint white smoke was rising, and then closed the door. The entire process took exactly fifty-five seconds.

The people entered a wine cellar. Although the villa was in a classic European style, it used modern technology inside. The air conditioning and heating were all central.

The four ninjas turned east and west in the basement, avoiding the monitors, and came to the room where the air conditioning unit was located, doing some tricks (I can’t write about this in detail because I don’t know much about air conditioning), and then started watching the clock.

Fifteen minutes later, the four women swaggered out of the basement. They no longer dodged the constantly rotating cameras, came to the hall, where six bodyguards were lying horizontally and vertically, all unconscious.

When they got to the second floor, the ninja who had picked the lock fiddled with a bedroom door for a while, opened it, and went in.

A man and two women were lying on the big bed, two identical girls snuggling in the man’s arms with sweet smiles.

“Is that him?”

“That’s him.” The “head ninja” walked over and lifted the quilt, seeing the man’s strong body. She was obviously surprised. “What… what are you waiting for? Come help.”

“Yes.” The remaining three women hurried over to lift the man up. One of them, whether intentionally or unintentionally, grabbed that huge, even when not erect, weapon.

The three female ninjas carried the man out of the door, and the remaining one went to the control room to retrieve the surveillance tapes. They were not hindered in any way along the way. Everyone in the villa and yard was asleep, and even the dogs were lying on the ground.

The black car drove onto the highway in the opposite direction from the city. The women took off their hoods, all in their early twenties. In terms of appearance, they couldn’t be considered celestial beauties, but each face had an extremely strong charm, and any man would be attracted to them.

A woman in the back seat reached out and grabbed the man’s “weapon” between his legs, stroking it hard. Even in a state of unconsciousness, that thing still got thicker and longer… (A Golden Fish is not Designed for the Pond) [referring to Hou Longtao’s situation, implying he’s destined for greater things than his current confinement]