Chapter 3: Holding a Grand Meeting

The next day, approaching noon, only when the cellphone rang did Chen Mo get up from bed.

He had just left Chi Zhu, so he naturally wanted to indulge himself a bit.

The battle last night went too late; now he can't even open his eyes.

Chen Mo woke the woman on the bed, tossed a few hundred-dollar bills to send her away, then picked up the phone.

"Boss, today the No. 9 horse is in top shape; are you planning to buy three thousand or five thousand?"

"I don't want the No. 9 horse; I want the No. 6 horse!"

"The No. 3 horse isn't bad either; do you want to buy the No. 3 horse?"

"I don't want the No. 3 horse either; I just want the No. 6 horse."

"Wow, you deadbeat, why did it take you so long to answer the phone?"

"I just woke up, Boss!"

"Damn, what time is it and you're still sleeping! You came out of Chi Zhu yesterday; didn't you think to give me a report?"

Huang Bingyao's somewhat angry voice came through the phone.

"Hit your head, there's always someone around you! We fought all night last night!"

"What fight, where? Why didn't you tell me beforehand?"

"Fighting with a woman! Want me to find you a woman to fight? I guarantee you won't get out of bed all day!"

"Damn, how are you talking? Don't you know I'm your superior? Watch out, I'll scissor-lock your head and blow it up!"

"Isn't this how triads talk? Otherwise I'll speak English to you?"

"I say, Huang Sir, do you have any business or not? Phone calls are expensive!"

"What, you're my junior coming to me, I can't show concern? You don't appreciate good intentions. Never mind, hang up!"

Huang Bingyao hung up, muttering: "Fought all night? Nonsense!"

Actually, Chen Mo didn't want to be an undercover agent; there's nothing good about that outcome!

It could easily be three years, then another three; after returning to the police force he'd still be suspected, ending up on the sidelines.

But when he transmigrated, the original body had already completed withdrawal procedures.

At that time Chen Mo had no system; joining the triad, he feared being hacked to death.

Chen Mo then joined Thirteen Sister's faction on Bolun Street, relying on a handsome face worthy of the nickname Yan Zu, becoming a stablehand under her.

With his undercover salary and free women to play with, Chen Mo was extremely happy that month.

Later, after obtaining the system, Chen Mo embarked on the path of fighting and killing.

Now that he has the system, being a lazy salted fish would be too embarrassing for a transmigrator.

One must say, that dead fatty Huang Bingyao is still not bad to his undercover agent.

Although these past years Chen Mo hasn't given him much intel, his undercover salary hasn't been reduced a cent.

Occasionally providing some information, the informant fees are also quite generous.

When Chen Mo went to Chi Zhu to serve time, Huang Bingyao still helped him behind the scenes.

Otherwise, Chen Mo would have had to serve at least two more years in prison.

Chen Mo freshened up, went straight to the office, and summoned Gao Jin.

"Mo Ge!"

"Ah Jin, how many people do we have now?"

"We currently have only over thirty followers, but they're all fighters."

"Take one million from the account, recruit more people, first aim for three hundred. Same old rule: no gambling addicts or Taoist friends—keep an eye on that!"

"Mo Ge, recruiting this many people—isn't that a bit wasteful?"

"What, worried we can't afford to keep them? We can't stay holed up in this nightclub forever."

"In a few days I'll go to the headquarters to take office; then we'll need our own turf."

"Once we seize our own territory, supporting a few hundred will be a breeze! Go!"

"Okay!"

With Chen Mo's guarantee, Gao Jin had no more worries, turned around and went recruiting.

After Gao Jin left, Chen Mo fell into thought.

Currently they have only over three million in the account; after Gao Jin takes one million to recruit, there'll be less than two million left.

This amount seems not small, but seizing turf is still somewhat strained.

Chen Mo's underlings are paid monthly, each getting no more than two thousand; with three hundred people, that's six hundred thousand per month.

For each fight, they also have to hand out a few hundred dollars as a bonus.

The real money drains are medical and settlement fees.

Seizing turf inevitably involves injuries and deaths.

For the disabled, a few ten thousand; for the dead, a settlement fee of one hundred thousand; plus medical costs for light and serious injuries—without over a million it's simply not enough.

With that money Chen Mo can only afford one or two fights; if the opponent refuses to back down and it drags on for days, he won't be able to continue.

"Damn, we're short on cash."

After five years in the triad, accumulating several million in net worth—this is something many triad members dare not even dream of.

But for Chen Mo, this amount is nowhere near enough to do anything.

Chen Mo thought for a long time but couldn't come up with a good way to make quick money.

If it weren't for worrying about his reputation, Chen Mo would want to go to underground boxing rings to fix matches.

With his former nickname "Fist Demon," teaming up with outside bookies to fix matches, a single boxing bout could easily net several million.

But doing that would not only destroy his own reputation, it might also damage the reputation of Great Prosperity.

When that time comes, the path of mixing in the Triad Society will have reached its end, and he'll only be able to be a boxer for the rest of his life.

Take it one step at a time!

Although the money isn't much, it's barely enough to fight once more. At worst, I'll find a small society to bully and grab some turf.

Soon enough, the day of the society's general meeting arrived.

Great Prosperity's main hall was in Central. Before ten o'clock, Thirteen Sister brought Chen Mo into the main hall, while Gao Jin stayed outside watching the car.

At the main hall meeting, generally only the bosses of each branch and the society's senior members could enter. Because Chen Mo was going to be promoted today, he followed along inside.

If Gao Jin had followed in, it would have been a bit against the rules.

In all of Great Prosperity, only Da B would bring Chen Hao Nan and the others inside.

But because Jiang Tiansheng turned a blind eye to it, the others couldn't say much.

They just closed one eye and pretended not to see.

Although it was Chen Mo's first time entering Great Prosperity's main hall, many of the branch bosses were quite familiar with him, and one by one they came over to greet him.

The only person in Great Prosperity who could fight Tai Zi to a draw was this one.

And most people had some guess as to what it meant that Chen Mo could follow Thirteen Sister into the main hall.

Naturally, some were willing to curry favor in advance.

"Ah Mo, long time no see. Whenever you go fight, you have to tell me in advance so I can make another bundle!"

Horse King Jian's turf was in Chai Wan, relying on horse betting and various side bets. When Chen Mo fought in the underground boxing ring, Horse King Jian had made a good chunk of money too.

"Horse King Jian, you just don't get it, do you! Ah Mo just got out of the joint, so of course he wants to enjoy himself first. When does he have time to go fight?

Besides, with Ah Mo's reputation as the 'Fist Demon,' who would dare fight him!"

Brother Ji was Brother Ji, his words were always smooth.

"What fighting! Why not come make a movie with me instead!

Ah Mo, you're so handsome, you'd definitely be a hit as the lead actor."

Jingkun followed behind with Foolish Qiang, wearing a flashy green suit, shaking his head as he walked in.

"Brother Kun, it's not that I won't go make a movie, but I'm afraid your 90-minute tape isn't long enough to capture my manly prowess!"

Chen Mo didn't mind joking around with these people.

He was still just a Forty-Niner; the fact that the branch bosses were willing to talk to him was already doing him a favor.

Chen Hao Nan and the others sitting behind Da B were already burning with jealousy watching all these branch bosses being so warm to Chen Mo.

The most hot-tempered one, Mountain Chicken, couldn't help muttering on the side: "Looks like some pretty boy, probably can't even last three minutes. Fist Demon, pfft!"