Special District 9

At the top floor of the Majestic Palace Entertainment City, Yuan Hua sat on top of a sofa with a hand supporting his chin. He was facing over a dozen powerhouses in the underground world seated to his left and right with an impassive look.

A heavy silence weighed down the room for quite a while before a bald man shook his leg impatiently and spoke up with a frown, “This is meaningless. Our honor has already sullied, and sitting together to discuss why we failed is no different from slapping ourselves once more in the cheek. Those small fries in the underground world might be struggling for money and food, but we are fighting for pride and honor over here! With how things are, regardless of whether Qi Lin hands over the supply route or not, we should still destroy him so as to give a tight slap to Old Li and Old Ma.”

“I agree with that,” a small-framed man nodded in agreement. “It’s one thing if we had decided to let Qi Lin go, but it’s another thing for Old Li to bail him out. If we don’t one up them for this matter, we’ll lose credibility among our subordinates. The higher-ups will reassess our influence in Songjiang too and decide whether they want to continue working with us.”

“I’ll do it,” a bald man stood up and volunteered himself. “I’ll throw in as much money as it takes to stop Qi Lin from getting out of Songjiang. If I can’t get it done through official routes, I’ll resort to other means then.”

“Settle down,” Yuan Hua said with a frown.

Hearing those words, the group gathered in the room fell silent once more.

Yuan Hua lifted his teacup before addressing the group with a cold face, “Our goods and men are in Ma Family’s hands, and they would only dare to do something like that with Old Li’s implicit consent. They are already on our tail, so what’s the point of blowing up now?”

The bald man rubbed his head in frustration, but he didn’t dare to refute Yuan Hua.

“I still haven’t figured out why Old Li has chosen to stand against us on this matter, but it’s certain that the Ma Family is going against us for the supply route in Qi Lin’s hand,” Yuan Hua stood up and started pacing around as he spoke.

“Until the thin layer of civility is ripped through, everything is still negotiable. But once everything has been hashed out… You want your pride and honor, but Old Li, the superintendent of the Police Bureau, and the Ma Family, who has risen through the ranks over the last two years, do you think that they would let us trample over them easily?! The situation is very clear now. The lot of them are determined to bail Qi Lin out at all costs, and if you dare make a move on this matter, the goods and men that are in the Ma Family’s hands would be handed over to the Police Bureau by tomorrow morning. By then, we won’t have our money and men anymore, and all that is left is just a mountain of trouble.”

Hearing those words, the crowd nodded in agreement.

“Besides, if you are able to think of finding and dealing with Qi Lin, do you think that they would be so foolish as to leave him unguarded? Even beggars will be able to make some friends after living in a region long enough, and Old Li has been the superintendent of the Police Bureau in Songjiang for many years,” Yuan Hua sighed deeply. “It’s impossible for us to find Qi Lin anymore. We’ll handle my little uncle’s funeral first. Make sure to make the funeral procession grand.”

Hearing the word ‘grand’, the bald man immediately reminded anxiously, “Yuan Hua, the affair with your little uncle doesn’t reflect well on us. If we make the funeral grand, we’ll just be making ourselves a laughingstock.”

“Only those who have nothing but an empty shell are afraid of gossips,” Yuan Hua spoke authoritatively. “Make it grand. Send him and Tiger off gloriously.”

“Alright,” the small-framed man nodded in agreement.

“That’s all for today. You may leave now,” Yuan Hua said before walking toward the door.

The people in the room looked at one another and saw that no one’s complexion was looking too good. With deep sighs, they began chatting discreetly with one another.

Yuan Ke was also present in the meeting as well, but he didn’t speak a single word all this while. It was only after his older brother had left did he follow the latter out.

Along the corridor, Yuan Ke followed his older brother as he complained grudgingly, “I have said before that if we wish to bring the company to greater heights, we have to make sure to put rules in place first. Those below have been too reckless in their behavior for the past two years. We have taken in too many inept and incapable individuals who don’t value-add to the company and, instead, cause trouble for us…

“Take Tiger for example. What happened to him was unfortunate, but there were already signs beforehand that he was getting out of control. Do you know that while I was working in the Police Bureau to clean away the Ma Family, he secretly released some medicine in Dirt Street?! It might be fast cash for him, but did he consider what would have happened if word were to get to the Police Bureau? Even fools would know why I am dealing with the Ma Family by then! Brother, even idle gossip can kill a person sometimes!

“Do you think that it was on a whim that Old Li chose to stand against us? I’ll tell you this, he has never looked upon us well before. He thinks that we have a tendency to go overboard, and he worries that I’ll threaten his position in the Police Bureau! But have I, Yuan Ke, ever acted recklessly and arrogantly in the Police Bureau before? Not once have I have I behaved in such a manner! I have acted prudently all this while, making absolutely sure that I stay within the line! The threat that he felt from me came from how the others in the company behave!”

Hearing Yuan Ke’s rant, Yuan Hua turned around and asked impassively, “What are you trying to drive at?”

“What I want to say is that we can’t let this failure go to vain. We even lost little uncle this time around. We need to learn from our mistakes!” Yuan Ke said in agitation. “We have to start putting rules in place and clean away those who refuse to remain in line.”

Yuan Hua stared at his younger brother for a long while before raising his finger at the latter and said, “You have to understand that your older brother isn’t leading a group of highly-educated elites. Those who are with me are those who have once struggled to get a bite of food, the scums of the world… And even to this day, they are still my base of power. If you start enforcing rules and clear them out, who will deal with the Ma Family when they come knocking? You? Or me?”

“What I mean is that…”

“Your ideas work only in theory. It doesn’t suit us,” Yuan Hua said before walking away.

Those words made blood gush into Yuan Ke’s head, and he roared in agitation, “Brother, Special District 9 will not remain chaotic forever. Five years, ten years, or maybe twenty years later, everything will fall into place, and society will reach a state of stability. If you don’t adapt, you will be dragged to your death by those bunch of people!”

Yuan Hua didn’t respond to his words. He simply walked on till he disappeared by the corridor.

…

Two days later.

Three military trucks slowly drove out of Special District 9 before stopping by the borders of a barren plot of land.

Ten minutes later.

From the opposite end of the road came a dirty-looking lorry, which flickered its headlights toward them.

A while later, Qi Lin, Qi Yu, and their aged and sickly mother got off the car and bade the soldiers who drove them here goodbye before getting onto the lorry.

Snow drifted down from the sky. On the earth, which had already been frozen for three to four years now, there was only an endless scenery of white snow.

Qi Lin’s abdomen was wrapped in bandages, and he was lying at the back seat of the lorry. He stared at Special District 9 with a dazed expression on his face as many different emotions filled his heart.

He had struggled desperately there, trying his best to face this darned era with a smile on his face.

He had tossed away his dignity there, living a life like a dog, and he thought that he would receive something in return for that…

But now that he was finally leaving, he realized that he didn’t even manage to take away a proper blanket with him. All he had was a heavy debt to repay and two close kin that he needed to protect…

It was all over. His hard work for so many years disappeared overnight.

Qi Lin racked his head, but he couldn’t think of a reason why he had spent so many years kneeling in futility. So, he decided to stand up and advance with his own two feet.