Golden Scale [EN]: Chapter 169

“He agreed.” Hou Longtao put down the phone, frowning.

“Isn’t that great?” Zuo Wei leaned back on the sofa, legs crossed.

“He agreed too readily.”

“So what’s the problem? Are you afraid he has some secret tricks up his sleeve?”

“Hmph, I doubt he can pull off anything.” Hou Longtao shrugged.

Tian Donghua closed his eyes, covering his face with his hands, carefully considering how to face Hou Longtao. He had originally planned to go to some European country to avoid the limelight after confirming the success of the acquisition, and then return to Beijing to mock his nemesis in person, but now the situation has changed.

“Aren’t you always all-knowing? Why are you changing your plans this time?” This time, Shi Chun wore a scornful expression.

“Hou Longtao is a local tyrant. It is indeed a bit unexpected that he wants to solve the problem in his own territory.”

“You’re in Beijing?”

“What do you think?”

“He could just get rid of you directly. Why bother talking to you?”

Tian Donghua raised his eyelids and glanced at Shi Chun. “You don’t understand. He can kill me, but he won’t unless he absolutely has to. He wants to create a peaceful environment to flaunt his victory in front of me. If he kidnaps me, that peaceful environment will no longer exist, and the pleasure he gets will be greatly reduced. Hmph, those people just now intentionally let me go. Hou Longtao just wants me to know that he can strike at any time, forcing me to help him create that peaceful environment.”

“So you’re going to your death?”

“First, I have to go. If I don’t, he will send someone to arrest me under the guise of being ‘forced,’ and then I won’t even have a chance to escape. Even worse, he’ll just send someone to kill me. Second, he thinks he’s won a great victory, so I want to see his expression when he knows I’m the real winner. Third, I still have a trump card in my hand.”

“Alright, good luck. See you later.” Shi Chun turned and walked towards the door.

“Where are you going?”

“Of course, I’m going somewhere safe.”

“You’re not coming with me to see Hou Longtao?”

“Am I crazy?”

“Don’t you want revenge?”

*Snap, snap,* Shi Chun flicked the huge U.S. dollar check in his hand. “Unlike you two, I don’t want to dwell on the past. I’d rather take this money and enjoy myself.”

“What are you afraid of? Didn’t I say I have a trump card?”

“Hehe, your trump card is too small. It can’t even protect you, how can it protect me?” Shi Chun was about to leave again.

“Wait, three million.”

“What?”

“Come with me, and I’ll give you another three million U.S. dollars. After it’s done, you can live like a god.”

“Why do you want me to go so badly?”

“I want to see his expression when he sees you.”

“You can just tell him that I’ve been helping you all along.”

“That’s not the same, is it?”

“His expression alone is worth three million U.S. dollars?”

“Whether it’s worth it or not is my problem. You just need to consider whether you want to accept my offer.”

“Three million, three million,” Shi Chun looked at the check in his hand again. “Three million,” he gritted his teeth. “I want a down payment of one million first.”

“That’s easy.” Tian Donghua took out his checkbook.

Shi Chun’s eyes turned green as he watched the other party write down the number for one million U.S. dollars…

*Knock, knock, knock.*

“Hmm…” Chen Xi rubbed her sleepy eyes. “Who is it?”

*Knock, knock, knock.*

“Come in, the door’s unlocked.”

The door opened a crack, and a petite figure slipped into the room. “Sister Xi.”

“Nuo Nuo?”

Xue Nuo burrowed into Chen Xi’s quilt. Both girls were wearing thin, silky nightgowns, their soft bodies pressed together, feeling the warmth of each other’s delicate skin.

“What’s wrong?” Chen Xi stroked her sister’s soft hair. “Can’t sleep again?”

Perhaps because they were both college students, Xue Nuo and Chen Xi had more and more in common, and their relationship was developing rapidly. They often hid together, sharing their secrets, making Situ Qingying and Chen Qian a little jealous.

Xue Nuo rubbed her face against her sister’s smooth shoulder. “When is Brother Tao coming back?”

“Didn’t he say he’d be back in a few days last time? Can’t wait?”

“He’s been gone for so long.” Xue Nuo pouted, her eyes moist.

“Going to cry again?” Chen Xi kissed Xue Nuo’s forehead.

“I just miss him so much. I’m going to sign up for karate in a few days so I can follow Brother Tao wherever he goes, like Sister Yun and Xingyue.”

“Those things are very hard to train. Brother Tao definitely wouldn’t want you to go.”

Xue Nuo didn’t say anything. She wasn’t afraid of hardship, only of not seeing the man she loved.

“Silly girl, go to sleep. If you don’t sleep well, your skin will lose its luster, and Brother Tao won’t be happy.”

“Okay.” These words were more effective than anything else. Xue Nuo hugged Chen Xi’s fragrant body tightly, closing her eyes with a smile on her face…

Hou Longtao, along with Feng Yun, the Xingyue sisters, and five burly Russian men, boarded a luxury yacht anchored in New York Bay by speedboat.

In the exaggerated activity room on the second floor, Tian Donghua leaned on the railing of the indoor second floor, drinking champagne. “Alright, you can stop there. Any closer and I’ll get nervous. Please, have a seat.”

“Mr. Tian knows how to find a place. To be able to charter such a nice yacht, it seems my Dongxing [Hou Longtao’s company] is treating you pretty well.” Hou Longtao found a sofa and sat down.

“You have no idea.”

“Is that so?” Hou Longtao lit a cigarette. “Then tell me about it.”

“Where should I start?”

“How about this, you ask me a question, and after I answer, I’ll ask you a question. You answer me again, and we’ll take turns asking until all our confusions are resolved.”

“And then what?”

“You’ll know when the time comes.”

“Do you have a lot of confusions? I thought you were all-knowing and in control.”

“Hahaha, I’m just Sun Wukong [the Monkey King, a character from Journey to the West], not the Buddha.”

“OK, then I’ll ask first.” Tian Donghua took a sip of wine.

“Go ahead.”

“Why did you send Lin Long to approach me? I’ve always been dedicated to Dongxing. What made you so distrustful of me?”

“Hehe, that goes back to the first time you met me.”

“Wait, aren’t you curious that I know Lin Long is an undercover agent?”

“One question at a time, taking turns.” Hou Longtao explained the reasons for his suspicion of Tian Donghua. “Satisfied?”

Tian Donghua tried to hide his impatience, not only because of his initial eagerness for quick success and his poor choice of strategy, but also because he realized that Hou Longtao knew more than he thought he did.

“It’s my turn to ask.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“How did you discover that Long was acting all along?”

“On this matter, I really admire you. You actually let your brother pursue your woman. Aren’t you afraid it will become real?” Tian Donghua didn’t reveal that he knew Yu Qian was also involved, because he shouldn’t know. “Hmph, you exposed yourself.”

“How?”

“Remember when you stood up for Chen Qian, or more accurately, for yourself, and declared war on the entire Guangdong underworld and officialdom?”

“Of course, I remember.”

“I can imagine that you wanted Lin Long to tell me about this for two reasons: first, to give me an ‘opportunity’ to expose myself, even though you knew there was only a one percent chance I would take the bait, but it wouldn’t hurt to try; second, for some reason, you were a little impatient and were urging me to take action quickly.”

“I don’t see how this has anything to do with you discovering Long’s identity.”

“You see,” Tian Donghua said with a smug smile, “I told you you were impatient. Do you know what conclusion I drew from that incident? You don’t really need me anymore. Even if you kicked me away, you wouldn’t lose the Beijing government’s support. Even if you did, it wouldn’t have a big impact on you. I really didn’t expect your power to be so great. You tried to steal a chicken but lost the rice instead [idiom for incurring a loss in an attempt to gain an advantage].”

“What does this have to do with Long?”

“When we first met, I really didn’t have any long-term plans, so there was that one percent chance that I added temporarily. Less than a month after entering Dongxing, I regretted my initial actions, but it was too late. I consider myself to know you relatively well, and I know that you’ve always harbored resentment towards me. If you had the chance, you would definitely get rid of me. If I were you, I would do the same. Maybe I forced you to hate me, and you forced me to rebel. Is that right?”

Hou Longtao shook his head.

“Money, power, and face. Your relationship with Lin Long had these three things that can make men turn against each other. He was a very good target for me to win over. Plus, his personality had weaknesses. The opportunity was almost perfect, even a little too perfect, which made me uneasy, so I hesitated to formally recruit him. Women,” Tian Donghua gave a thumbs up, “You’re amazing, a woman who can make all the men in the world infatuated. I believed him.”

“The Guangdong incident made you realize that I could get rid of you but didn’t, in order to play with you, and give you a head-on blow when you thought you were successful.”

“Hmph, hmph, hmph,” Tian Donghua laughed, “Smart people fighting smart people want not only victory but also the way of victory. How did you outsmart me? You exposed Lin Long yourself.”

“Are you so sure?”

“Is that another question? You just asked me how I discovered it. That’s how I discovered it. As for how I confirmed it… hehe.”

“Okay, it seems I really need to pay attention to my wording.”

“How did you confirm that I had confirmed that Lin Long was someone you arranged by my side?”

“Hahaha, confirm, confirm,” Hou Longtao laughed at the other party’s words, “I never confirmed it.”

Tian Donghua frowned.

Hou Longtao told the story of *Infernal Affairs* [a Hong Kong crime thriller film] and how he interpreted Tian Donghua’s expression at the airport. “You could say you tried to steal a chicken but lost the rice instead, right?”

Tian Donghua almost couldn’t catch his breath. “Damn it, you can even chat like this… this… hmph.”

“Hehehe, be cool, man. We are all people of status, don’t use foul language, hahaha.”

“Hmph, knowing that doesn’t have any impact on me, but you still sent Lin Long to the United States, and now he’s half-dead. If you think about it carefully, he’s the unlucky one.”

Hou Longtao’s face darkened. “Alright, I admit that was a bad move on my part. How did you confirm that Long was an undercover agent?”

“Let your old friend come out and meet you.”

A wooden door behind Tian Donghua opened, and a man walked out with a shallow scar on his forehead. “Hou Longtao, it’s been ten years, and you’re still a jinx.”

“Shi… Shi Chun…” The expression on Hou Longtao’s face froze in an instant. It was a look of astonishment, disbelief, and self-reproach for “how could I have overlooked this link.”

“You see,” Tian Donghua pointed at Hou Longtao, “This expression is worth three million U.S. dollars.”

“I don’t care if it’s worth it or not,” Shi Chun shrugged. “Someone gave me money, so that’s all that matters.”

“Actually, I really believed the trap you set for me at first. Letting your brothers act unintentionally was so natural and unpretentious, and Ren Jingyao’s corroboration made the story consistent with my understanding of you and your group. It’s no wonder you had enough confidence not to find the real Shi Chun, and I was indeed deceived. If I hadn’t suspected Lin Long, I wouldn’t have gone to find his good seventh brother from the vast sea of people to ask what was going on.”

*Slap,* Hou Longtao heavily slapped his forehead, leaving a red mark. “Shi Chun, you bastard, you always come out to oppose me.”

“You’re the bastard,” Shi Chun retorted without backing down, pointing at Hou Longtao and cursing, “You stole my woman and forced me to leave Beijing. How do you account for that? You didn’t even know what the relationship was between you two. Someone came to me, gave me money, and asked if I knew Lin Long. Of course, I didn’t know him. You can’t outsmart others, so instead of admitting you’re stupid, you blame me. What’s wrong with you?”

“Are you done cursing?” Hou Longtao stared at Shi Chun fiercely.

“Damn it,” Shi Chun didn’t dare to look the other party in the eyes anymore. There was too much murderous intent in them. He lowered his head and lit a cigarette. “I can’t be bothered with you.”

“Alright, let’s discuss your old grudges later.” Tian Donghua patted Shi Chun on the shoulder. “Why hasn’t a single media outlet reported on Dongxing’s signing with GM [General Motors]?” He didn’t ask Michael Sha to verify with the New York Times for three reasons: first, although he knew in his heart that there was a 90 percent chance that something had changed, he had reached a point of desperation and could only maintain a strategy of focusing on himself and not letting others’ actions interfere with him; second, he had a *jiaoxing xinli* [僥倖心理, a fluke mentality], maybe it was just a coincidence, but if he verified it, that *jiaoxing xinli* would no longer exist; third, he thought highly of himself and felt that his plan was flawless, and he couldn’t find any problems, so he preferred to believe that whether the media reported it or not wouldn’t have a big impact on him.

“What does this have to do with you?”

“Are you going to break the rules of the game? You just need to answer me.” In Tian Donghua’s heart, the victory or defeat was already decided, so he asked that question just now.

“It’s very simple. The reporters who went were all hired by me. There wasn’t a single real media outlet, so of course no one reported it. I’ll tell you a little more, that was done to appease you as much as possible. By the way, I see you’re drinking champagne. What are you celebrating?”

“Yes.”

“Are you celebrating your glorious ascension to the chairmanship of Dongxing Group? Should I call you Chairman Tian?”

“Well… as of yesterday’s closing, I have acquired 26 percent of Dongxing’s shares, plus the 25 percent I’ll get from GM in a few days, um…” Tian Donghua rubbed his chin. “You can indeed call me that.”

“You’re a strange person. You already know there’s a problem with the reporters, you’ve already seen that I’m not nervous at all about your acquisition of Dongxing, and you’ve already heard the mocking tone I used when I called you Chairman, but you still look like you have everything under control.”

“I have more than half of the shares, so Dongxing is mine. As long as that’s clear, nothing else matters. Although I’m curious about what you’re up to, I’ll just ask slowly. Our victory or defeat has already been decided.”

“Hehehehe,” Hou Longtao chuckled, “Are you so sure you own 51 percent of Dongxing’s shares?”

Tian Donghua didn’t answer immediately. The other party’s composure made him doubt his victory a little. He desperately searched his brain for possible oversights, but he couldn’t find any. “Are you bluffing me?”

“Tian Donghua, if fate wants you to lose, you have to lose.”

“What do you mean?”

“You painstakingly planned and schemed, sending a sixth- or fourth-year youth back to Beijing to negotiate with me, seizing the opportunity to invalidate the documents he signed. I have to admit, you were indeed one step ahead this time. Alas…” Hou Longtao sighed sincerely, “Actually, this isn’t the first time you’ve taken the lead. To be honest, if I didn’t have divine help, you would have already won a great victory.”

“Stop being so hypocritical. Only someone who thinks they’re the winner would praise their opponent for being better than them. But have you won? How did you get divine help?”

“Hahaha,” Hou Longtao laughed happily. He turned to Feng Yun, “Do you think he’ll go crazy if I don’t tell him?”

*Bang,* Tian Donghua punched the wooden railing hard. “Hou Longtao, don’t be so self-righteous. You pretend to know everything, or you think you know everything. I think you don’t know anything.”

“You must know that Su Zhan’s real name is Situ Zhiyuan, right?”

“Of course.”

Hou Longtao smiled and raised his eyebrows, not continuing to speak.

“Hmm? What’s wrong? Ah…” Tian Donghua tilted his head, looking like he was thinking hard.

Hou Longtao still didn’t speak.

“Situ Zhiyuan, Situ… Situ,” Tian Donghua lowered his head and muttered, then suddenly raised his head, “Situ Qingying? It can’t be… it can’t be that coincidental, right?”

There are many people in this world with the surname Situ. In any other environment, no one would associate Situ Zhiyuan and Situ Qingying together, but at this moment, Tian Donghua had to make that connection.

“Alas, you, after all your picking and choosing, you picked my father-in-law. Isn’t that fate?”

“Isn’t Situ… isn’t Situ Qingying an orphan?”

“Does being an orphan mean they popped out of a crack in a rock? As for how they were separated and how they were reunited, it’s not important to the problem facing you and me.”

Tian Donghua’s hands gripped the railing tightly. He felt incredibly weak in an instant, as if he would fall if he didn’t hold on.

Although Tian Donghua had been using Situ Zhiyuan, he didn’t underestimate that senior manager of the GM investment group, knowing that he would have some doubts about his mission. The reason he wasn’t worried was that he couldn’t tell the people at Dongxing about his doubts.

There was no doubt that once Hou Longtao knew about the problems within GM, in theory, he could completely deduce the matter step by step, but Tian Donghua couldn’t completely believe that the other party had such intelligence. He really didn’t think his boss’s intelligence could be that high. “You… what did you guess?”

“Everything.”

“I don’t believe it, look.”

“No need, I’ll just tell you what I’ve done. A few friends of Zhang Yuqiang in the National Security Bureau invited Situ Zhiyuan over, didn’t he tell you? What he didn’t tell you was that Situ Zhiyuan wasn’t taken to the place you thought he was going, but just found a hotel to stay in. The day before Dongxing and GM signed the contract, I had already faxed a revocation of my third brother’s position as plenipotentiary representative. Of course, he secretly withheld the fax. If GM doesn’t recognize the legality of the agreement signed by Situ Zhiyuan, then the transfer of shares is also illegal. In the exact same situation, even if it goes to an American court, one can’t be valid and the other invalid.”

“Ah…” Tian Donghua pressed his forehead, as if his head was about to explode.

“What’s wrong?” Hou Longtao looked at the person above with a mocking gaze. “Going to die? Too little resilience, right?”

“Hmph, why should I die?” Tian Donghua straightened up and took a big gulp of wine. “I still have 26 percent of Dongxing’s shares. Even if I can’t be the chairman, I’m still a billionaire. I’m the second-largest shareholder of Dongxing. With me watching from the sidelines, I’m afraid you won’t be able to sleep well, right?”

“That’s right,” Hou Longtao frowned, rubbing his chin, pretending to be thinking hard. “As the saying goes, it’s not the thief who steals, but the thief who’s thinking about it [it’s harder to guard against someone who is always plotting than against an actual thief].”

“Shut up!” Tian Donghua couldn’t stand Hou Longtao’s teasing attitude, clearly not taking him seriously. “Do you think I’m joking? From now on, you better wipe your glasses clean every day. As long as you’re not careful, I will definitely get Dongxing into my hands. Only I am worthy of being the master of Dongxing. What virtue and ability do you, a former convict, have?”

“So agitated? This isn’t like you. Have you already realized that you’ve actually failed completely? I believe you yourself don’t think you can really control that 26 percent of the shares.”

“Hmph, do you think you can be an expert just because you’ve studied a little psychology? Do you think you can figure out what others are thinking?” On the surface, Tian Donghua held a disdainful attitude towards Hou Longtao. “The money was transferred from my account, so the shares are mine.”

“GM has agreed to terminate the equity transaction with Dongxing, and Dongxing will not seek liquidated damages from them. Anyway, the outside world doesn’t know about the contact between the two parties, so it won’t have a big impact on anyone.”

“Why? Why would GM do that?”

“Because GM itself doesn’t have additional funds for the acquisition.”

“Why would they need additional funds? The 3.75 billion U.S. dollars has already been transferred from GM’s account to Dongxing’s account. What additional funds are needed?”

“That money is the Olympic reserve fund. After going around in a circle, it returned to the Olympic reserve fund account. Do you think GM would compete with the Chinese government on this issue?”

“Ah!” The wine glass in Tian Donghua’s hand fell to the ground and shattered into pieces…(金鳞岂是池中物) [How could a golden dragon be a thing in a pond? — meaning someone with great potential is stuck in a limited environment]