Chapter 1048: Dealing with Tigers for Their Hides

Seeing the young man's sinister expression, He Yuzhu deliberately feigned a bit of fear and said, "Sir, it's not that I want to lecture you, but the way you're handling this is truly underhanded. We are honest businessmen; if you're short on cash, I could help out a little. But not giving us food and putting us in Handcuffs—that's a bit unreasonable."

The young man glanced at He Yuzhu and sneered, "If I didn't put you in Handcuffs and instead treated you to a feast, would you be willing to cough up the money so easily?"

Hu Bayi immediately followed suit, "Sir, to tell you the truth, we are considered quite successful businessmen back home, but real estate isn't making any money right now. If you were a bit more polite to us, we could absolutely find another way to cooperate."

The man in gold-rimmed glasses ignored Hu Bayi entirely, his gaze fixed straight on He Yuzhu: "Friend, you also understand that I'm just working for the Boss. If I don't complete the task assigned from above, I won't escape a brutal beating; the outcome would be miserable. It's useless for you to make things difficult for me."

He Yuzhu also feigned being very sincere, sighed, and said, "Those of us who run companies look glamorous on the surface, but we actually don't have much liquid cash on hand. The few of us are also addicted to gambling and often go to the Macau casinos to bet heavily; each of us is carrying hundreds of millions in gambling debts."

The gold-rimmed glasses looked full of disdain: "You bosses, stop trying to bluff people with that talk. Don't you want to see our big brother? Transfer a sum of money to the account first, then I can speak to the higher-ups for you."

Hu Bayi continued to chime in: "We work in real estate and can help you build high-rises. If there's a war later, we can also help build defensive fortifications."

The gold-rimmed glasses shook his head: "Telling me this is useless. Bring out the real gold and silver first; that will count as my performance."

He Yuzhu sighed, called Xu Damao, Hu Bayi, and the others together, and lowered his voice: "It looks like we can't avoid this hurdle. Everyone, chip in and give them one million US dollars. Let's see their big leader first and try to negotiate a cooperation."

Hu Bayi nodded: "That's the only way for now."

He Yuzhu spoke in a very low voice, but it was still heard clearly by the gold-rimmed glasses.

Hearing that they were really going to produce one million US dollars—a sum that, while far from his expectations, was still real money he could get his hands on—was what mattered most.

He had seen plenty of cases where, regardless of whether the target was the richest person or the boss of a listed company, once they were kidnapped, not a single cent was recovered in the end.

The gold-rimmed glasses' mind immediately became active; even a small fly is still meat, and he would take whatever he could get.

He hurriedly urged: "Sir, it's not that I don't trust you, it's just that I've seen too much. Many bosses talk a big game, but in the end, they don't transfer a single cent. The fate of those people is to be thrown to the dogs."

He Yuzhu put on a sincere look, patted his chest, and guaranteed: "Don't worry, we can't come up with a huge amount, but one million US dollars is something we can scrape together." With that, he took out his phone, dialed a number, and reported the account number given by the gold-rimmed glasses to his company Accountant. In less than ten minutes, one million US dollars was securely deposited into that domestic account.

The gold-rimmed glasses looked down at his phone, and a deposit notification suddenly popped up on the screen.

His expression changed slightly, and he no longer had the heart to continue dealing with the group; he turned around and prepared to walk out.

Seeing that the situation was wrong, Hu Bayi hurriedly shouted: "Brother, you want to leave after the money is transferred? Is there any hope for what we discussed earlier?"

He Yuzhu reached out and tugged at Hu Bayi's sleeve, whispering a reminder: "Hu, you don't understand the tricks here. They gave a domestic account; once the money arrives, it will immediately be split into dozens or hundreds of transactions and dispersed into various accounts to be withdrawn as quickly as possible. These people play for speed."

Hu Bayi's mind turned, and he instantly understood the crux of the matter, asking in a hushed voice: "Master He, what should we do next?"

He Yuzhu narrowed his eyes, watching the gold-rimmed glasses' retreating back, and spoke slowly: "Don't look at his designer suit and his polished appearance; his rank isn't high enough to reach the top brass of the warlords. There are at least several layers above him, each pressing down on the next."

Hu Bayi's eyes lit up, his tone carrying a hint of excitement: "Master He, so you transferred this money just to clear the way layer by layer, follow this clue upward, and ferret out the real big warlord in charge?"

He Yuzhu nodded first, then shook his head and sighed: "To be honest, I don't have full confidence in dealing with this group; I can only take it one step at a time."

Time flew by until noon, and food was actually delivered from outside—curry chicken with rice.

Xu Damao and Dajinya looked at each other, and Xu Damao asked: "Master He, this food... do we dare eat it? I hope there's nothing fishy mixed in."

He Yuzhu waved his hand: "Don't worry, we are hostages now; they aren't willing to kill the hostages just yet."

Xu Damao was still nervous and frowned: "I'm just afraid of the worst case—what if they gave us a slow-acting poison that only takes effect in ten days or half a month? If they don't give us the antidote then, who can we reason with?"

He Yuzhu found it amusing: "You still think this is a martial arts novel? Where would they get so many slow-acting poisons and antidotes? If they really had that ability, they wouldn't need to resort to kidnapping."

Hu Bayi pondered for a moment on the side, leaned in, and asked: "Master He, then what do you think they will do next?"

He Yuzhu leaned his back against the wall, crossed his legs, and said leisurely: "If nothing goes wrong, someone who can speak to the Commander will come over soon. When that time comes, the real show will officially begin."

At dusk, as the sky grew hazy and dark, a soldier wearing a Myanmar military uniform walked in.

This man was around forty, with dark skin and sharp eyes. He was followed by only four Bodyguards. These people were completely different from the thugs with full-body tattoos and loud mouths from earlier; they were clean, without flashy tattoos or exaggerated accessories, but just standing there quietly, the murderous aura on them could not be hidden.

He Yuzhu had seen all kinds of storms and waves; he could tell at a glance that all four of these men had blood on their hands, and more than just one life each.

He Yuzhu couldn't identify the specific rank on his shoulder boards, but judging by his demeanor and entourage, he was most likely an Adjutant to the Commander, or at the very least, a trusted confidant who could speak for him.

The Adjutant entered the room, his gaze swept over everyone, skipped over Hu Bayi and Xu Damao, and locked onto He Yuzhu.

He didn't beat around the bush and got straight to the point: "Sir, I presume you are clear about our background. To be honest with you, our conditions here are difficult. We are of the same clan and lineage; after our ancestors were defeated, they fled to this place and have suffered exclusion and persecution by foreign tribes for years. We want to raise an armed force, drive out the foreign powers, and establish a territory belonging to our own people. But with so many brothers to feed and protect, we are currently in urgent need of a large sum of money."

After listening, He Yuzhu showed a look of helplessness: "Officer, please don't listen to that kid Datou's nonsense. He doesn't understand our situation at all and is full of empty talk. Real estate in the country sounds glamorous, but the profit margins are actually thin, and we have to carry a huge amount of bank loans. I don't have as much capital as he bragged about."

The officer smiled faintly: "Sir, I don't want to hear these empty words. How much money can you actually come up with? I can't make the decision; I need to go back and report to the Commander."

He Yuzhu smiled: "If you are short on more than just cash, I do have connections in terms of weaponry and can help you get a batch."

The officer's expression changed; he stared at him strangely and asked: "Where can you get weaponry?"