Almighty painter

Chapter 562 Godfather
On the long street.

There was silence.

Logically speaking, at midnight the entire street near the bar street should be busy with traffic and people.

It was probably those few gunshots that were now heard all over the long street.

There was no one in sight.

Even many shops have closed their doors without anyone noticing.

Wu Qinlai didn't know who she was greeting.

Koko had clearly asked someone to call the police in the bar, but until this moment, no police car with sirens blaring had appeared.

It was as if law and order had been completely dispelled by the man on the phone.

The power of Brother Hao is so great that we can see it from just a glimpse of the whole thing.

Saw this scene.

The gatekeeper didn't want to say anything more.

He took two steps back, leaned on the hood of the Elantra, and pulled out a Winston brand popping bead cigarette in classic green packaging from his pocket.

Out of professionalism, he didn't want to smoke around his employer.

So I held it in the palm of my hand and turned it over and over again.

The slender cigarette spun and jumped on Uncle Ale's rough fingertips, as skillfully as a gypsy performing a silver coin magic trick on the streets of Italy.

Does a good child have to face a more difficult life?
That's not how it works.

Look at him, after such a long life, what has he gained?

A broken finger or a lame leg.

These things are really hard to classify as "rewards given by life".

He has not lived his life well and is a powerless loser in the face of life.

Who is he to teach this young man how to behave?

The other party has done a good job, so why demand too much?

"It's okay. You've done well enough. Don't feel any psychological pressure. No matter what you choose, no one will blame you."

Koko glanced at Uncle Alai who was walking away, and whispered in Gu Weijing's ear.

While talking.

She raised her head and stared at her feet
The wind blows.

The small beads and bells on the red skirt made a rustling sound.

The person who hates Brother Hao the most in the venue is definitely not the gatekeeper.

Neither was Gu Weijing who was holding the phone.

It’s Koko.

She was a rich lady who had everything, a free butterfly flying in the wind.

Brother Hao moved his fingers.

She became a part-time girl who had to play the piano in the strip bar in the middle of the night and compete with fools in wits and courage.

But Koko kept her face tense and pursed her lips. She remained stubborn and didn't say anything against it. She even pulled Gu Weijing's hand.

"I told you, I won't cause you any trouble."

Koko thought to herself.

She stared at the small decorations that looked like peacock feathers and various butterfly wings inlaid on the hem of her skirt.

I don't know how much of the colorful feathers sewn on the skirt are real and how much are fake.

Koko used to think that this skirt was extremely stupid.

But now.

Unconsciously, she began to sympathize with these peacock feathers and butterfly wings.

She was nailed to this gaudy, colorful dress by the tremendous gravity of life.

Just like those peacock feathers that have been plucked and sewn on, the butterfly specimens are fixed on a stand by thin metal needles and displayed in a glass cover.

Can't fly.

Can't break free.

Who has the courage to go against the will of fate?

Brother Hao is as powerful as destiny.

Miao Angwen ran over with a wine glass and tens of thousands of US dollars, wanting to make friends with her.

Koko could kick him in the chin and knock him down.

But when the culprit who caused her family's downfall, the real villain, waved millions of dollars and wanted to make friends with the boy she liked.

No matter how thin Koko's waist is and how long her legs are.

She had no choice but to kick the person on the other end of the phone in the chin.

Her father is still a senior police officer.

She could pat Gu Weijing on the shoulder and tell him that she would protect him, just like she did before.

If she was worth a billion, she would tell Brother Hao with a smile on her face on the phone. Want to make friends with 300 million dollars? No, a gangster is just a gangster, poor and cheap.

But she didn't.

The heroine no longer had her sword, dragon-slaying sword, black horse and thousand-mile colt, and all that was left was a little girl in a red skirt inlaid with ridiculous peacock feathers.

She could only hold his hand, smile and tell him that it was okay, don't feel pressured, and no one would blame him.

Life.

It always makes brave people so powerless.

……

Gu Weijing sat in silence for a long time in front of the phone.

"Brother Hao, is this an invitation or an order?" he suddenly said.

"Well...what's the difference?" Brother Hao asked back.

"It's about whether I have the power to refuse. If I'm invited, I can actively choose whether to accept or not."

Gu Weijing pretended to be relaxed and said, "If you give me a pistol and let me or my grandfather play roulette, I will definitely agree."

The corner of Wu Qinlai's eye twitched violently.

Uncle Alai grabbed the cigarette in his hand.

Miss Koko suddenly raised her head and looked at him with bright eyes.

If it is an order and I don't have the power to say no, then I agree with you.

in other words.

The implication was that if Brother Hao simply invited him, he wouldn't want to be friends with him.

This time.

The man on the other end of the phone fell silent for a long time.

"I don't understand. Sorry, Mr. Gu, I don't understand. Are you worried that the money will be too hot to handle?"

In Xihe Guild Hall.

Hao shook his head slightly and sounded confused.

"If that's the case, then you really think too much. You may not like the industry I'm in, but you shouldn't doubt my business ability. This is my biggest support to get to where I am today. I guarantee that this money is clean and clear."

"Placement, separation, merger...a sum of money will pass through thousands of different fund accounts and bypass the control departments of different banks." Brother Hao is good at using fictitious auction transactions.

He hypes up some obscure ancient artist, or simply takes a Renaissance oil painting that is forged to be extremely realistic and submits it to an auction house.

The goods are then purchased by the buyers under his control and cash is derived from the transactions.

Nowadays, the working methods of the mainstream money-making houses in the entire underground world have begun to become virtual, financialized, and internet-based.

Technical money laundering is carried out through various cross-border transfers, forged credit card consumption bills, large-scale virtual currency withdrawal channels, etc.

It only takes a few minutes for money to circulate around the earth.

But Brother Hao is a very old-fashioned tycoon.

He doesn't like emerging technologies.

Efficient,

But it's not reliable.

In the United States alone, there are 25 anti-money laundering laws, including DEA, SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission), CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission), Financial Crimes Enforcement Agency, IRS...

Financial experts and technical teams sit in the office, enjoying the air conditioning, drinking coffee, and typing on computers.

When you go to work at 8 a.m., before you finish your first donut at 8:05 and start discussing last night's Yankees game, you can freeze hundreds of suspected risky accounts using a big data computer risk monitoring system.

clap clap.

Just type a few times and press enter.

No matter how complicated your account chain is, as long as one part is frozen, your money will be stuck.

Brother Hao likes to use art transactions to launder his dirty money layer by layer.

Ancient wisdom.

This method of gray interest trading existed a thousand years ago during the Roman Dynasty.

There is a reason why it is still used today.

Today, the biggest advantage is the labor cost of handling cases.

The auction house's customer privacy protection clauses, cross-border transaction tracking, anonymous telephone bidding...each link requires an FBI agent to spend several days running around, applying for various investigation warrants, and running around in coordination and passing bucks among various departments.

When he finally manages to sort out this transaction, he will find that the flow of money will be directed to the next auction.

It has reached the point where Brother Hao has reached.

It's no longer just about laundering money through fake paintings.

He even liked to play for real, selecting some works with relatively stable valuations, such as Andy Warhol, Degas, and Fragonard, and using them as a springboard for money laundering by constantly buying and selling them.

Those big auction houses all pay great attention to customer privacy.

Key customers are their most valuable assets.

Usually, they don't like to cooperate with the FBI, the European Financial Supervisory Authority, etc.

If you want to retrieve the information, of course you can.

But then just grind it out bit by bit and follow the process.

It may take several weeks to two months to launder money in this way, but if you are unlucky, it may take twenty years to fully understand the chain.

Haoge usually charges between 16% and 22%.

After washing one hundred million dollars, he would take away one-sixth to one-fifth of it.

After all, this is money laundering, not depositing it in a bank. You can't ask for too much. It's a good conscience if I don't let you make all the money.

This money is of course a huge profit.

But it is also proof of Brother Hao's good "reputation".

Tens of millions of dollars just to buy a security guarantee.

"If you want fame, I can wait until the second half of the year, after you reach a cooperation agreement with the Ma Shi Gallery, and then I can purchase your works through the gallery. If you want to be low-key, I can open a private account for you at the Zurich Cantonal Bank, Pictet Bank, or United Overseas Bank in Singapore. I can even write you an anonymous check from American Express right now."

Brother Hao casually took out a dollar checkbook from the drawer.

Take out the Montblanc pen from the table.

After the $ sign, it was written 3 and the note "three million dollars" below.

"Believe me, Mr. Gu, it's much easier for me to come up with $300 million than it is for you to come up with $10. It's not decent to blackmail you with such a small amount of money."

"When you get home, this check, easily cashable, will be lying in the—"

"No sir, it's not a risky relationship."

Gu Weijing interrupted Hao Ge's tempting narration.

"If it's not about risk, then it's about people?" Brother Hao paused and said calmly.

"I don't want to offend you, can I tell you the truth?"

"Frank offense is better than false praise. I have heard too many lies in my life. It would be nice to change my ears. Speak."

"Yes, I don't want to take your money, not a cent."

"What an embarrassing answer. I haven't been rejected so bluntly many times. I want to ask you, Mr. Gu, if someone else, an ordinary customer came to you and said he wanted to buy a painting for $300 million. Or after you signed a contract with the gallery, you found that a painting was bought by a stranger for $300 million. Would you sell it? Would you be happy?"

Brother Hao asked patiently.

"I can't think of any reason not to sell it." Gu Weijing thought for a moment and replied, "I would probably be very happy."

"Okay, we can rule out the possibility that you are allergic to money, so the only variable is me. Well, the answer is, you hate me."

Brother Hao said with a smile.

"Gu Weijing, Gu Weijing, I don't understand. What did I do wrong to make you disrespect me so much? Why do you humiliate me over and over again?"

"Look, I think I haven't done anything excessive to you in all this time, right? Mr. Gu, I think I really respect you."

"I sent you money and a car, and I warned Miao Aung Win not to bother you. Right?"

"Yes." Gu Weijing nodded.

"You offended me, but I decided to be friends with you. I'd spend money to buy one of your paintings. I'd spend a whopping $300 million to buy one of your paintings, right?" Brother Hao continued calmly.

"Yes."

Gu Weijing nodded again.

"The only thing I did to discourage you was the matter of joining the Painting Association. But, Mr. Gu, you have to understand that I am the boss. Miao Angwen follows me, so I have to push him. You don't follow me, so I can't choose you. Those who follow me will prosper, and those who go against me will perish. This is the rule."

"You can't survive in the underworld by being a nice guy."

"But even so, do you really think that if I really want to deal with you seriously, the turmoil in your calligraphy and painting association will be able to pass so smoothly? If you can't be elected to the Artists Association, your grandfather will be elected."

"No." Gu Weijing said.

"That's right. From the beginning to the end, I only used common means in the art industry to deal with this matter. I bribed the judges and won over the reporters. No matter where in the world, whether it is the United States or Europe, Hollywood or Venice, you cannot escape the gray area of ​​interest exchange. If you want to reach the top of the industry on your own, this is a link you must face."

"You will definitely be scolded by reporters. No matter how good your painting is, there will be judges who don't like you for one reason or another. Why should you be awarded just because you are capable? I am just giving young people like you a lesson in social growth. If you are a moral freak and can't even accept this, then it means you are not suitable to be an artist. Painters can be sensitive, but they also need to be tough."

"Am I going too far?"

Brother Hao asked again.

"Not too much."

Gu Weijing nodded.

To be honest, with Brother Hao's ability, people really don't bother him too much.

So far.

What he showed in the events at the Painting Association was just the skills of a painting tycoon.

Rather than the tactics of a mafia tycoon.

(End of this chapter)