Chapter 526: Sweatshop

On the other side, Cao Weicai, having received the full support of Chen Jiajun, led his men directly toward the home of Chen Hai, the president of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce.

Having experienced such an event, Cao Weicai deeply understood that playing by the rules and relying on unspoken understandings with this group of idiots clearly would not work.

This group was of too low a caliber, their methods were too base, and they simply could not understand high-end operations.

It was better to use simple and brutal methods, as they were more effective.

Therefore, this time, Cao Weicai went directly to the people of the Huaqing Gang.

The Huaqing Gang owed Chen Jiajun a huge favor, and they also needed the support of a Big Boss like Chen Jiajun to continue operating in San Francisco.

Thus, for such a small request—and one involving dealing with a few Chinese bosses—they had absolutely no psychological burden.

That same noon, Cao Weicai barged directly into Chen Hai's villa.

At that moment, the old guy was eating with his family.

"Who are you people?" Chen Hai shouted in panic as he saw a group of fierce-looking men break into his home. "I've already called the Police!"

"Called the Police?" Cao Weicai walked in, surrounded by several Majai bodyguards, and said coldly, "See if the San Francisco Police dare to come!"

"It's you?" Chen Hai was stunned when he saw Cao Weicai. "We have no past grievances or recent grudges; why have you come to find me?"

Cao Weicai said with a ferocious expression, "Do you dare say you didn't know about me being kidnapped?"

Cao Weicai grabbed Chen Hai by the collar and dragged him in front of himself.

The rage in his eyes seemed as if it were about to set the old guy on fire.

Seeing Cao Weicai's actions, Chen Hai's two sons immediately refused to stand for it.

"What are you doing?"

"Let go of my dad!"

Cao Weicai glanced at them, and then two Huaqing Gang Majai picked up table knives and stabbed them fiercely into the thighs of Chen Hai's two sons.

The two tall sons immediately clutched their legs and rolled on the ground in agony.

The sudden screams made the members of the Chen Family tremble with fear.

"You... don't do anything reckless!" Chen Hai said, trembling as he saw the other side actually resort to violence. "I really don't know what you're talking about!"

Cao Weicai said coldly, "It doesn't matter; the brothers of the Huaqing Gang will make you know!"

"Huaqing Gang?" Hearing Cao Weicai's words, Chen Hai couldn't help but shiver.

One had to know that the Huaqing Gang was notoriously fierce in the United States, to the point where almost everyone knew of them.

At their peak, even the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States was helpless against the Huaqing Gang.

In the eyes of ordinary people, they were even more terrifying.

A Huaqing Gang Majai also cooperated and said, "Boss, don't worry! When the time comes, we'll just find a few black guys and have them pretend to be home invaders who killed someone; it won't cost much money!"

Hearing the words of the Huaqing Gang Majai, Chen Hai's eyes widened even further: "No, don't! I really don't know what you're talking about!"

Seeing Chen Hai's reaction, Cao Weicai felt he truly might be unaware.

His brow furrowed immediately, and he thought to himself, "Could I have really guessed wrong?"

However, on the surface, Cao Weicai said coldly, "Do you dare say you haven't had designs on United Aerospace Capital?"

"This... there are indeed people in the Chamber of Commerce who have had designs, but I have always been against it!" Chen Hai suddenly felt very innocent.

Although he was very greedy for United Aerospace Capital,

compared to those brainless idiots, he had been here for decades and certainly knew that United Aerospace Capital would definitely be connected to those big capitals or consortiums.

After all, the internet was an emerging industry and had always been the weak point of those traditional giants.

So, even if he was greedy, he had never had any crooked thoughts! Cao Weicai seized the key point in Chen Hai's words and said, "So you mean, there are indeed some people who have had thoughts? Who are those people?"

Facing Cao Weicai's interrogation, Chen Hai fell silent.

If he said this, how could he manage the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in the future, and who would still trust him?

Cao Weicai sneered and said, "It seems you are still holding onto a fluke mentality!"

As he spoke, he gave a look to the Huaqing Gang Majai.

The Huaqing Gang Majai gave a ferocious laugh and dragged out Chen Hai's youngest daughter.

Then, he said to Chen Hai with a grin, "Boss Chen, your daughter is quite pretty! But I wonder if you are really that heartless?"

Hearing his youngest daughter's sharp screams, Chen Hai immediately came to his senses.

To hell with the Chinese Chamber of Commerce! What could be more important than the safety of his own family?

Seeing his youngest daughter struggling wildly in the hands of the Huaqing Gang scum, he immediately shouted, "I'll talk, I'll talk, don't touch my family!"

Cao Weicai sneered and said, "Isn't it better to cooperate obediently? I am not like you scum; I still understand the principle that troubles should not involve one's wife and children! As long as you give me what I want, I guarantee I won't touch your family!"

Chen Hai saw that the Huaqing Gang people really didn't continue to act, so he helplessly spat out a few names.

He really didn't want to deal with the mess those bastards like Wu Mincai had created anymore.

While Cao Weicai was interrogating the mastermind on this side, on the other side, Chen Jiajun joined forces with the California Consortium and the Goldman Sachs Group to launch an attack—or rather, a crushing blow—against the Chinese Chamber of Commerce.

The power of two large consortiums was terrifying; dealing with a small local Chinese Chamber of Commerce was like using a butcher's knife to kill a chicken.

First, Chen Jiajun asked Bank of America to initiate a Withdrawal of Loan against the members of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce.

Subsequently, under the influence of Goldman Sachs and the California Consortium, the companies of these Chinese Chamber of Commerce members were met with an unprecedented wave of investigations.

Taxes, fire safety, supply qualifications, and so on.

This wave of combo attacks left the members of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce completely dazed.

They didn't even know who had made the move.

Meanwhile, the other Chinese merchants were beaming with joy.

These merchants who refused to join the Chinese Chamber of Commerce had often been squeezed and suppressed by this bunch of bastards.

Now that someone was finally willing to step in and clean them up, it was as if they were celebrating the New Year.

Not only that, some capable ones even seized the opportunity to ruthlessly kick them while they were down.

In any case, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in California had a notorious reputation, so no matter how they treated them, it wouldn't be considered excessive.

Although the impact hadn't spread that quickly yet, news of many people meeting with misfortune had already begun to circulate within their circle.

Wu Mincai, in particular, was completely stunned.

He heard from a friend that the reason the California Consortium and Goldman Sachs had taken action together this time was because of United Aerospace Capital.

Someone had broken an unwritten rule, so someone had to be punished.

Upon hearing this news, Wu Mincai felt as if the sky were collapsing.

He hadn't expected United Aerospace Capital to have such a massive background, actually mobilizing the California Consortium and Goldman Sachs Group to back them.

Before he could even react, the manager of his factory called, saying in a panic: "Boss, it's bad! The Internal Revenue Service, the Fire Department, and the Police Department have all shown up at once, saying they want to investigate our factory!"

"What?" Wu Mincai widened his eyes and said: "What on earth is going on?"

"I... I don't know either!" the manager stammered.

Upon hearing this news, Wu Mincai immediately hung up the phone.

It was absolutely impossible for him to go there; if he went, he would definitely be detained under some pretext.

He certainly couldn't stay in Los Angeles any longer; although he didn't know why United Aerospace Capital had such great power, he didn't care to consider it anymore—now he only thought about fleeing immediately.

As for his local properties and factories, he couldn't worry about those anymore.

On the other side, after obtaining a few names, Cao Weicai immediately headed straight for one of the members: Zhu Mansi's garment factory.

According to Chen Hai, Zhu Mansi would definitely be at the factory at this time. Arriving at a remote factory, as soon as they got out of the car, two security guards came over to drive them away: "What are you doing? Get lost!"

One look at these two security guards was enough to tell they weren't good people, but unfortunately, they had encountered the even more vicious Huaqing Gang.

"Hey, this bastard is actually a mongrel from the Vietnamese gang!"

The members of the Huaqing Gang laughed as soon as they saw the tattoos on the other party's body.

They went straight up and threw a punch, knocking the two to the ground, then followed up with a flurry of kicks and punches.

It was as if they were mortal enemies.

Cao Weicai didn't care; what he wanted most right now was to catch the masterminds behind the scenes.

After knocking the two security guards down, he led his men directly into the interior of the garment factory.

Production was underway inside the factory, with a large number of female workers operating rapidly at sewing machines.

They didn't even notice that Cao Weicai and his group had broken in.

Seeing the nearly numb expressions and sallow complexions of these female workers, Cao Weicai knew exactly what kind of place this factory was.

Having stayed in the United States for so long, he had long heard of the reputation of sweatshops.

These people used methods like having fellow countrymen help find jobs, or directly having human smugglers trick female illegal immigrants into the factory to be controlled.

Then they would begin to exploit their labor value day and night.

Not only did they pay extremely low wages, but the workers even had to work sixteen-hour shifts a day.

When they couldn't hold on anymore, they would take cheap vitamins to maintain their physical nutrition.

Almost every year, people died directly inside the factory.

Seeing Cao Weicai lead people into the factory, Zhu Mansi, who had been monitoring the female workers from upstairs, turned pale with shock.

She turned around and wanted to sneak away.

Unfortunately, her movements were spotted directly by a lackey of the Huaqing Gang.

Pointing at Zhu Mansi's back, he said: "Boss, that woman is the person in the photo!"

Seeing the figure hurrying away, Cao Weicai sneered and said: "Drag her back, and then smash this factory for me! But be careful, don't hurt these female workers!"

Hearing Cao Weicai's order, a group of Huaqing Gang Majai immediately took action, turning the factory upside down, yet the terrified female workers were simply herded into a corner, and no one touched them.

After the factory was smashed, the Majai who had gone to catch Zhu Mansi dragged the woman back.

Seeing Cao Weicai's gaze, Zhu Mansi hurriedly forced a smile: "This... sir, I don't know how I have offended you, but we can talk this over!"

Cao Weicai sneered and said: "Now that you see me appearing in this place, is there any point in pretending? I just came from Chen Hai's house; do you think I know what?"

Zhu Mansi's face changed drastically, and she hurriedly waved her hands, saying: "It has nothing to do with me, Mr. Cao! It... it was all that bastard Wu Mincai's idea; I don't know anything!"

Cao Weicai looked at Zhu Mansi with disgust and said: "One after another, they all say that! You really take me for a fool, don't you? Do you think I would have come to find you personally if I didn't have proof?"

Hearing Cao Weicai's words, Zhu Mansi couldn't help but retreat continuously.

It was as if she were looking at a demon.

Unfortunately, she had nowhere to retreat; just as she wanted to run, she was grabbed by the hair by a Huaqing Gang Majai and slapped so hard she saw stars before sitting on the ground.

Cao Weicai said to Zhu Mansi in a soft tone: "Don't worry, we have time to play slowly. You all have to experience the suffering I endured at the hands of those Mexican drug lords!"

During the interrogation, Cao Weicai soon found out the whereabouts of the other few people.

These guys were the type of extremely selfish and egoistic people who wouldn't care about others at all if it meant they could save their own lives.

Not to mention that this whole affair had started because of Wu Mincai in the first place.

Therefore, Zhu Mansi had no psychological burden in betraying the others.

Cao Weicai said with a cold face to the members of the Huaqing Gang: "Catch people according to the list!"

The leader of the Huaqing Gang nodded and signaled for his subordinates to leave.

Afterward, Cao Weicai wandered around this sweatshop.

After finding the ledgers, his face became even more grim and ugly.

These bastards like Zhu Mansi not only used human smugglers to trick and control Chinese people who had entered the country illegally.

They even enlisted the help of quite a few gangs to kidnap people everywhere.

And among them, there was even the shadow of the Huaqing Gang.

"Do you people still engage in human trafficking?" Cao Weicai said to the leader of the Huaqing Gang.

The leader was clearly stunned for a moment, then hurriedly said: "Impossible. Although we sell Laundry Powder, we have never engaged in human trafficking! Let alone specifically scamming our own people!"

The leader was not lying, even though the Huaqing Gang did not have a very good reputation.

But they rarely engaged in human trafficking.

After all, the main population of the Huaqing Gang was recruited from over in Taiwan.

If they specifically targeted their own people, it was estimated that their subordinates would not be very obedient.

Cao Weicai took the ledger and handed it over without speaking.

In his life, the people he hated most were those who targeted their own people abroad.

The Huaqing Gang still had to beg for food under him, so Cao Weicai definitely needed an explanation from them.

After looking at the ledger, the leader of the Huaqing Gang sighed and said: "Actually, the people you showed me are no longer part of the Huaqing Gang."

"Hmm? How so?" Cao Weicai said with some surprise.

The leader lit a cigarette and said indifferently: "In the sixties, our gang had an internal conflict. A group of people took their brothers and left to establish organizations like the Yueqing Gang, the Heilong Gang, and the Bailong Gang, which caused the Huaqing Gang to lose a lot of blood and never recover!"

"After breaking away from the Huaqing Gang, these people dared to do anything and had long forgotten the beliefs from when the Huaqing Gang was first established. You must have thought we were too heavy-handed with those guys at the factory entrance just now, right? They are a branch that split off from the Huaqing Gang."

"These guys from the Yueqing Gang are very close to our mortal enemy, the Fuqing Gang, and what they love doing most is human trafficking, so..."

Hearing the leader's explanation, Cao Weicai finally understood and nodded, saying: "So that's how it is!"

The leader smiled and said: "So Boss, please don't say that these things were done by our Huaqing Gang; the high-level members within the gang will not be happy."

"Fine, I know!" Cao Weicai nodded, then glanced at Zhu Mansi, who was like a pile of mud, and said: "How do you plan to deal with this woman?"

The leader of the Huaqing Gang grinned and said: "Although we don't have as many rules as the Hongmen or the Qing Gang, this kind of trash who specifically harms their own people is usually stabbed to death with random knives!"

"However, if you are not satisfied, Boss, I have other ways to deal with her. Although the Huaqing Gang doesn't do human trafficking, we know people who do! This kind of trash who specifically targets their own people can also be made to taste the feeling of being sold like a pig!"

Zhu Mansi was originally someone who did this kind of business, so she definitely knew what the outcome would be if she were sold off by someone.

She knelt down on the spot and hurriedly kowtowed to Cao Weicai and the leader of the Huaqing Gang: "I'm not human, I deserve to die! Please give me a way to live, I... I'll pay to buy my life! Including these factories, I still have twenty million in savings that I can give you! Spare my life!"

Cao Weicai naturally did not care for this twenty million, and since this Zhu Mansi was not the mastermind, he said to the leader of the Huaqing Gang: "Handle this matter yourselves! But I have one requirement: properly settle these female factory workers."

The leader smiled and said: "Absolutely no problem!"

After speaking, the leader grabbed Zhu Mansi's hair, pulled her up, and said: "Now, we should have a good talk about your life-buying money!"

With the methods of the Huaqing Gang, they would definitely squeeze out all of Zhu Mansi's money, so Cao Weicai did not need to worry about this side.

Half an hour later, the men the Huaqing Gang had sent out returned one after another.

Several guys who participated in this matter were all caught and brought over.

But only one person was missing, and that was the mastermind of this incident, Wu Mincai.

When the people from the Huaqing Gang went to look for him, they discovered that this guy had actually already escaped.

Cao Weicai's expression immediately turned gloomy: "Did someone tip him off?"

"That should be impossible!" The leader of the Huaqing Gang looked at his subordinates and shook his head, saying: "My brothers were just brought over from San Francisco; it's impossible for them to have had contact with people here in Los Angeles! I think that guy sensed something was wrong and escaped in advance!"

Although Cao Weicai knew it was impossible for everything to go smoothly, he was still very unhappy that the mastermind had escaped, so he dialed a phone number and said in a low voice: "Help me find someone, there is a reward of five hundred thousand US dollars!" (End of chapter)