Chapter 374: The Rise of a New Force

Early the next morning, while He Yuzhu was still sleeping, Pingping twisted his ear to wake him up: "Get up quickly, go and get the marriage certificate with the young lady!"

He Yuzhu glared at her and went to wash up, feeling out of sorts.

The three of them arrived at the Marriage Registry in the High Court Building of Hong Kong. They had assumed they could get the certificate that same day, but they hadn't expected the procedures to be so complicated; after registering today, it would have to be posted for fifteen days, and only if no one objected would the marriage certificate be considered effective.

He Yuzhu walked out of the registration hall, leaned close to Liu Rusi, and joked: "Although they haven't given us the certificate yet, we can enter the bridal chamber tonight..."

"Get lost!" Liu Rusi laughed and scolded, "The baby is almost born, what bridal chamber are you talking about?"

He Yuzhu turned to Pingping, looking helpless: "Her temper is getting more and more impatient lately, is it pregnancy anxiety?"

Pingping curled her lips: "Isn't it all caused by you?"

The three of them enjoyed a grand meal at the Queen's Hotel before returning to Aiyuan Villa.

He Yuzhu took out a deposit slip for one million Hong Kong Dollars and gave it to Liu Rusi: "Since we are husband and wife, my money is yours. I haven't saved much money over these years, take this, and hire more people... don't rush to the front for everything."

Liu Rusi glanced at him, put away the deposit slip, and said with a smile that wasn't quite a smile: "If I'm not mistaken, did all that money Lv Le embezzled end up in your pocket?"

With his secret exposed, He Yuzhu smiled sheepishly: "How could that be?"

"If you hand it over, it will count as your 'Atonement Silver' for finding another woman this time; otherwise, I won't forgive you!" Liu Rusi's face turned cold instantly.

"It's a bit unsafe to put all the money with you!"

"No." Liu Rusi refused flatly, "Men change for the worse when they have money. You're still so young, and you've already found a concubine..."

"I won't!" He Yuzhu held her hand and said earnestly, "If you hadn't rejected me back then, it would have been just the two of us for this lifetime. But, I... I now... cannot abandon her!"

He Yuzhu spoke a bit incoherently.

Yet Liu Rusi did not compromise at all: "It's not impossible for me to forgive you, just hand over all the money; I want to set up a family business for our son." Liu Rusi did not back down at all.

He Yuzhu felt that once a woman has a child, the man seems to become unimportant, and she no longer listens to reason. He was very helpless and could only take out a few more bankbooks: "The rest is cash... I'll bring it over another day... I... still need to buy some things for scientific research..."

Liu Rusi lowered her head to count the bankbooks, her mood clearly improved, and she waved her hand: "You can go!"

"What?" He Yuzhu widened his eyes, puzzled, "You just finished stripping me bare, and now you're kicking me out? That's not very kind, is it?"

"You've been out for several days, they must be anxious over there, go back and check on them!" Liu Rusi's tone softened, but it carried a warning, "But let me say this first: in Hong Kong, you are not allowed to find any other women!"

"Do you mean that I can still find others when I return to Si Jiu Cheng?" He Yuzhu asked, raising an eyebrow.

"If you can marry Tian Dan, I won't have any objections," Liu Rusi said with a smile that wasn't quite a smile.

"How could Dan ever marry me? You're only saying this because you hate her in your heart, right?"

"Get lost!" Liu Rusi grabbed a pillow and threw it at him.

He Yuzhu caught it with a smile.

Returning to Shuying's residence, the moment she saw He Yuzhu, her tears could not be held back, and she hugged him tightly, refusing to let go: "I thought... you weren't coming back."

"How could that be?" He Yuzhu gently patted her back.

"How about... I go back to Beijing with you?" Shuying looked up, her eyes filled with anticipation.

He Yuzhu shook his head, his tone gentle but firm: "If you go back, it's impossible for us to get married. If your background were to be discovered, even I might be implicated."

Shuying's eyes dimmed, and she leaned back into his arms silently, saying nothing more.

In East Kowloon, inside a room in an old tenement building, smoke swirled.

Jin Hai, Xu Tian, and Tie Lin sat around a long table with several core gang leaders.

Xu Tian stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray and spoke: "Big Brother, many merchants in Tsuen Wan, East Kowloon, and Tiu Keng Leng are taking the initiative to defect to us. Should we accept them?"

Jin Hai's gaze swept over everyone, and he said firmly: "From now on, you don't need to ask me about such things. As long as they are willing to defect, accept them all."

Tie Lin frowned, moved his wheelchair forward a little, and placed his hands on the table: "Big Brother, a centipede dies but never falls over. If the 14K recovers and comes to fight us to the death..."

Jin Hai sneered and interrupted him: "Ge Laoda is already dead, and the remaining two brothers surnamed Ma can't stir up any trouble. Besides, the 14K is now classified as an illegal organization and won't be able to recover for three to five years... by then, we will have already stood firm."

Tie Lin was still worried: "Our territory is expanding too fast, will we be targeted by the police?"

Jin Hai stood up, walked to Tie Lin's side, patted his shoulder, and said: "Caution is not wrong, but you have to look at the timing. If you don't accept those who take the initiative to defect, merchants will look down on you. In a few days, small gangs will be as numerous as cow hairs, and if you want to take territory then, you'll have to fight for it one by one..."

Xu Tian interjected: "Big Brother, how about... we ask He Yuzhu? This kid has always had plenty of ideas."

Jin Hai thought for a moment and nodded: "Fine. Xu Tian, call Aidou Apartment in a while and arrange for Zhuzi to meet at the Queen's Hotel tomorrow night."

The next evening, in a private room at the Queen's Hotel.

As soon as Jin Hai saw He Yuzhu, he stepped forward and hugged him tightly, asking in a low voice: "I heard that someone used a Rocket against the police... was that your handiwork?"

He Yuzhu smiled and sat down: "Master Jin, is it only me who knows how to use things made in the United States?"

"Don't play dumb with me." Jin Hai stared at him.

He Yuzhu put away his smile and nodded: "Is Master Jin looking for me at this time because of the expansion of territory?"

"You kid, you're smart!" Jin Hai also sat down and began to pour him wine.

The four of them exchanged pleasantries and began to drink. Once they had drunk enough, Jin Hai got to the point: "Right now, the 14K has lost quite a few men, and their halls have been sealed. These vacant places need someone to manage them..."

After listening to Jin Hai, He Yuzhu thought for a while and said: "Occupy the territory you can as quickly as possible, and afterwards, try to negotiate a cooperation with the Chinese Chief Inspector of the Police Department!"

"Is that possible?" Jin Hai raised an eyebrow.

"The 14K is in big trouble this time; they bombed and sank a Warship, and there is no possibility of reconciliation between the two sides within a few years. You are a new force with no criminal record; if you have the secret help of the Chinese Chief Inspector..."

"But we aren't familiar with the new Chief Inspector," Xu Tian said.

He Yuzhu fished a crushed Bullet Shell out of his pocket and pushed it in front of Jin Hai: "Use this to find him..."

Jin Hai picked up the shell and examined it repeatedly, seemingly realizing something. He picked up a glass of wine and said: "Zhuzi, from now on, in Hong Kong, your business is my business!"

He Yuzhu nodded, his tone turning cold: "Running a gang, it's true that you can't do it without some means, but I hate two things the most: forcing good women into prostitution, and usury with outrageously high interest. It's not impossible to engage in private lending, but the interest must be reasonable..."

Jin Hai put away the deformed shell and said: "Zhuzi, I understand this principle."

"Also, keep the brothers in check, don't oppress the common people," He Yuzhu added.

Jin Hai listened intently and leaned forward: "When a gang grows big, even if you do good things, it's inevitable that you will be smeared by others..."

"Start newspapers, release records, make movies. As for the content, take a patriotic stance to expose how the colonialists oppress the common people..." He Yuzhu explained slowly.