Chapter 295: The Butterfly Effect

"Money? I, your father, am not lacking in it!"

Lan Jing's face was ferocious as he said unhappily, "But I just can't swallow this insult!"

"Same here!"

Deng Bo's face was as dark as water, and he sneered, "During the era of the Four Great Sergeants, would the Li family have dared to be this arrogant in front of me?"

"It's just that the times have changed; now, none of them take the triads seriously!"

"We absolutely cannot just concede easily on this matter, otherwise, how are we supposed to survive in the future?"

"Indeed, we cannot concede easily!"

Luotuo's face was gloomy, and his tone was icy as he said, "This is no longer a matter of giving face or not; it is a direct slap in the face. They don't take us first-class triads seriously at all!"

The sitting heads of the powerful factions of the Shui Fong and 14K had similar thoughts.

For them, the nature of this incident was a bit too egregious.

Yes, triads really don't amount to much when facing top-tier tycoons of the financier level.

But damn it, they should at least put on a show of courtesy, right?

They were really being treated like chamber pots!

But the top Chinese tycoons in Hong Kong simply couldn't be compared to a certain Transport Captain, could they!

The Li family's unyielding, disrespectful tossing about had the Dragon Heads and sitting heads present furious.

If they were doing illegal business and got caught, that would be one thing.

If you do wrong, you admit it; if you get hit, you stand still!

They still had that much sense of responsibility and character.

But damn it, how was a discount promotion activity illegal?

They actually made such a big fuss, mobilizing the police and relevant government agency personnel to target them.

This was blatant disregard for the rules; it was purely using power to suppress others.

The Dragon Heads and sitting heads, who had always been high and mighty, how could they endure such indignity?

If it were just one or two, that would be fine, but they represented all the first-class triads in Hong Kong; their confidence was more than sufficient.

Back then, a single 14K could turn the entire Hong Kong upside down.

Right now, with all the first-class Hong Kong triads gathered together, their power and energy were not to be underestimated either.

The key was that they felt they had been wronged, and in a massive way at that.

Of course, besides being unhappy, there was inevitably a conflict of interests.

The discount promotion activity had been going on for nearly a month, and according to actual data, it could be seen that this was a quite lucrative, legitimate business.

Not only was it profitable, but it also seemed particularly well-suited for triad operations.

There was no other reason: the triads could develop the grassroots citizens to become customers of the discount promotion activities.

In one month, with the help of operational talent sent by Hung Hing, the major triads earned millions of Hong Kong Dollars in profit through the discount promotion activities.

At the same time, they could arrange for hundreds, or even thousands, of triad members to participate in the work.

And this was just the beginning!

It was believed that once they became familiar with the operational flow, both the intensity and the breadth of the discount promotion activities could be significantly improved.

They could even use the activities to safely launder money!

It could be said that it was not difficult for the numerous first-class Hong Kong triads to completely corner the majority of the grassroots consumer market in Hong Kong through this method.

They could even capture part of the mid-range market!

To say nothing else, just looking at the annual turnover of the Li family's supermarket group, one would know the astonishing profits involved.

Before the triad Big Brothers had tasted the sweetness and understood the ins and outs of some things, they naturally wouldn't care too much, or even be willing to get involved.

But once they tasted the wonderful feeling of making money easily, it would be impossible to give it up easily.

If this were the internet age, what they were doing would be community online shopping, connecting with every user in the community.

But even now, they could achieve the same goal as the internet age through their massive number of personnel.

Triads don't have much else, but they have plenty of people!

If the Li family hadn't been so overbearing, they could probably have resolved the unaligned first-class triads through divide-and-conquer tactics; at the very least, stopping them from entering the retail industry on a large scale wouldn't have been a problem.

But right now, the Li family's overbearing behavior had forced these first-class triads to unite against them.

They were definitely going to get involved in the marketplaces and retail businesses extended from the discount promotion activities; there was no doubt about that.

United Dragon Head Lan Jing was right; the United faction really wasn't short of money at this time.

Last year, the first-class Hong Kong triads united to pressure Jiang Tiansheng and forcibly got a piece of the action in three gambling ships in Southeast Asia.

By now, about half a year had passed.

Since those three gambling ships began successful operations, they had been continuously generating generous profits for the triads involved.

The monthly income was also wealth measured in millions of Hong Kong Dollars.

The United faction went a step further, partnering with local snakes in Siam to set up a few flower boats near the gambling ships, specifically to serve the guests on the gambling ships; the income was also quite considerable.

Right now, the United faction was actively contacting Jing Kun and Han Bin, hoping to also get on their gambling ships and make the flower boat business bigger and stronger.

It was also because of this that the United faction's extra monthly income was quite substantial!

At the very least, Lan Jing and his trusted Hall Masters were not lacking in money at all.

With money comes confidence, not to mention the gambling ship and flower boat businesses; even if the Li family were more overbearing, they wouldn't be able to wipe them out without paying a huge price.

Under these circumstances, Lan Jing really didn't mind causing some trouble for the Li family.

In fact, the situation was similar to Lan Jing's.

Tung Sing, Wo Shing Wo, Shui Fong, and the powerful factions of the 14K all had decent income from the gambling ships.

At the same time, they also had good relationships with local snakes in Southeast Asia and could obtain all kinds of resources; that was no joke either.

Take the East Star for example; they can directly contact warlords in unspeakable lands, and through these warlord forces, they are fully capable of obtaining high-quality rice and tropical specialties at cheap and good prices.

The Water Room started with a soda factory and also has quite good channels in this regard.

It is not about soda drinks or anything, but rather the ability to procure sufficient quantities of various raw materials for making soda drinks from Southeast Asia at quite low prices.

The power of the Wo Shing and the 14K cannot be underestimated; they can likewise use various connections to get stable and significant quantities of specialties from all over Southeast Asia.

Before, such channels were of little use to them!

But now, with the confidence provided by discount promotional activities, these things can exert huge effects.

It can even be said that these Southeast Asian specialties can serve as their trump card for conducting large-scale promotional activities!

Some things are just that absurd!

Through the Gambling Ship, Hung Hing took the first step out of Hong Kong.

The remaining first-class societies in Hong Kong were not to be outdone, and driven by profit, they followed suit at the first opportunity.

This, in fact, is already quite good.

Being able to go out and fight for resources in a broader space is a great thing for these societies themselves, and even for Hong Kong.

At the very least, some of those fierce underworld figures who can and like to stir up trouble will be diverted to work and make money outside, which means much less trouble for ordinary people in Hong Kong.

At the same time, a large number of elite society fighters going out to sea also reduces the interference and pressure the societies exert on ordinary people in Hong Kong.

In fact, the appearance and actions of Wu Feng are definitely a great good deed for ordinary people in Hong Kong; it can be said to be of immeasurable merit.

As for the societies going out to sea, relying on the three Gambling Ships, they can do many things!

The United's blue industry is very powerful, and the other first-class societies are no pushovers either.

Later, the rise of Jimmy from Wo Shing started from being a pimp.

The United played it to the hilt, even coming up with flower boats!

As long as the other societies follow suit, they can also create a flower boat industry by relying on the Gambling Ships.

Who knows, once they develop well in the future, they might even be able to create maritime entertainment cities based on cruise ships; that would be the real money pit.

It is also because of stable overseas income that the conflicts and friction between Hong Kong's first-class societies have become less sharp and tense.

How could the relationship be good when everyone is scrambling for food from the same plate?

It is also for this reason that a group of Dragon Heads and sitting bosses can sit together from time to time to complain and discuss matters.

This time, the one sent by Hung Hing to attend the Dragon Head gathering is the new Sai Kung Hall Master, Li Xin.

Originally, it should have been Taizi coming over; after all, his underworld reputation is well-established.

Unfortunately, Taizi refused directly, stating that he really had no interest in getting involved in such matters.

He likes a straightforward style of doing things, while that bunch of Dragon Heads and sitting bosses are all old schemers; one wrong move and he could be plotted against, and he might not even realize it in time.

Being cooped up with them is too mentally exhausting.

It would also not be very appropriate to just be a background prop.

After all, he is here representing Hung Hing, and a poor performance would be a laughingstock.

This is also Li Xin's first time attending a gathering of underworld Big Brothers of this caliber; at the beginning, he was quite excited and nervous, fearing that he would say the wrong thing and embarrass himself.

Adhering to the principle of listening more and speaking less, he heard an earful of grumbling and complaining.

If it weren't for Wu Feng repeatedly reminding him not to easily express his stance when he came, he would have wanted to express some opinions: he could still come up with some bad ideas.

In fact, he felt that the Dragon Heads and sitting bosses present had not grasped the key point at all.

The Li family is relying on what to target them; have they not thought of ways to solve the trouble?

Stationed in Garden Street, because he often organizes various sports and entertainment events, he is quite familiar with many officials of the Yau Tsim Mong District government as well as District Councilors, and understands their mentality and way of thinking.

Because he has experience, he feels that dealing with these government officials and big-shot councilors is not difficult.

As long as they are handled, half of the methods the Li family has come up with will be scrapped.

The other half is also easy to solve; there are many newspapers in Hong Kong.

When holding events, can't one invite some media reporters to interview and report?

Damn it, how did Hung Hing operate when they held events last year? Can't they even imitate that?

Of course, he only muttered these thoughts in his heart and did not reveal the slightest bit on his face.

But his serious and earnest expression was exceptionally abrupt and drew attention.

It was as if everyone was complaining, but you alone are acting all serious—does that make you look capable?

Luotuo said with dissatisfaction: "Xin Zai, what ideas do you have? Let's hear them!"

(End of this chapter)