Chapter 554

Seeing Duo Ye beat Shengzi again, Li Ye felt helpless.

He could only enter Chen's Noodle Shop and ask Chen Chen Jinhua for directions before finally learning the location of the Hong Kong Shunhua Company's office.

After Li Ye left, the people in Chen's Noodle Shop began whispering among themselves.

"Old Hu, is that guy the Dongcheng Duo Ye? He's got serious swagger!"

"Can a millionaire not have swagger? Do you even know? Duo Ye is just a junior high dropout, yet he married a college graduate—think about how capable he must be!"

"Forget college girls—just that car cost tens of thousands! When will we ever drive a sedan ourselves?"

A group of small vendors watched the cars speed off, their eyes burning with envy.

But the leader, Old Hu, looked uneasy.

After parting with the crowd, Old Hu sprinted as fast as he could, finally found a phone, and panted out a number.

"Hello? Manager Lu, things are looking bad."

Old Hu quickly recounted everything, then asked anxiously: "Manager Lu, what about my money?"

"If you want to withdraw, come right now—the finance department hasn't closed yet!"

"Oh, okay, good, I was just asking."

Shunhua Company's location wasn't hard to find—it was in a sihe courtyard near Dacaochang Hutong.

Li Ye parked the Santana at the edge of the alley and watched the courtyard from afar, dozens of meters away.

Above the courtyard's gate hung a gilded sign bearing four large characters: "Shunhua Company."

According to Jiang Gao Xiaoyan's mother, Chen Chen Jinhua, this sihe courtyard wasn't rented—it was bought outright, and the property documents were displayed on the wall inside for verification.

This made Li Ye even more curious about Shunhua Company.

In the 80s and 90s, shell companies were everywhere, and con artists who pulled off scams with nothing but empty hands were countless—but few managed to run a fraud so meticulously detailed.

【Look, we're not shell companies! We have fixed assets.】

【Look, we're not fooling you! We have Hong Kong newspapers—don't you trust the newspapers?】

A sihe courtyard in Dacaochang Hutong was worth tens of thousands by now, and newspapers back then were more trustworthy than post-era official seals—Shunhua Company's facade was truly flawless.

Had foreign exchange controls not been so strict, private funds so scarce, and conditions so unfavorable, Li Ye might have almost believed them.

After all, in the future, many underground money changers had real connections—some had billions in capital for exchange and bill acceptance, and could handle overseas football betting, forex, and Liuhecai with perfect ease.

It was just them running the game themselves, acting as the house.

But in the 80s? Forget it! At this snowballing rate, only a bank could fill such a massive hole.

In southern Fujian, where "tai hui" was most popular, by the late 80s, pyramid schemes kept collapsing, killing one association head after another!

"Ding ling ling~"

Two bicycle bells rang, and two bikes pulled up in front of Li Ye's sedan.

Li Ye's senior brother, Zou Zou Mengcheng, got off his bike and led a young man into the back seat of the Santana.

"This is my colleague Xiao Wang," Zou Zou Mengcheng wiped sweat as he asked Li Ye: "Didn't you say you were at Xizhimen? Why are you here in Dongcheng?"

Li Ye pointed to the courtyard ahead: "That's their nest. I just found out. Wait—didn't your unit send a car to bring you?"

Zou Zou Mengcheng said: "Send a car? We don't even know what's going on yet! If you're bluffing, I'd look like a fool. Besides, in cases like this, there's always the question of jurisdiction."

Li Ye blinked in surprise: "Senior Brother Zou, so your First Bank might not even have authority over this?"

Decades later, the state had a strict investigative process for illegal fundraising and similar crimes.

The Banking Regulatory Commission handled identification, investigation, and shutdowns, with the People's Bank, Public Security, Industry and Commerce, Securities Regulatory Commission, and Insurance Regulatory Commission all cooperating closely.

But back then, there was no Banking Regulatory Commission, no economic crime unit—Zou Zou Mengcheng was from the First Bank, but Li Ye couldn't be sure he had authority.

Zou Zou Mengcheng waved his hand: "It depends on the amount. Ten or twenty thousand? No one cares. A hundred thousand? Then there's debate. If it's hundreds of thousands? Who says I don't have jurisdiction? Any case involving money falls under me."

Li Ye thought of the poor merchants of the future, harassed by seventeen or eighteen "bosses" all trying to meddle—ask you, would you be tired of it?

Zou Zou Mengcheng finished wiping his sweat and asked: "What are we waiting for? Let's just go in—I'll ask a few questions, see if there are any real players behind this, then report back to the unit."

Li Ye said: "Wait a bit—when the neighborhood patrol arrives, we'll go in together. Otherwise, they won't cooperate."

"Neighborhood patrol?" Zou Zou Mengcheng frowned: "Then who gets the credit if something happens?"

Li Ye smiled: "Didn't you say everything's under your jurisdiction?"

Zou Zou Mengcheng chuckled: "Wait till you get to the unit—you'll see things aren't that clear-cut."

Li Ye understood Zou Zou Mengcheng's meaning—back then, chaos was everywhere; sorting out jurisdiction was a nightmare.

"They should be here soon—let's get ready to go in together. Hmm?"

As Li Ye spoke, he suddenly saw someone walk out of the courtyard ahead.

The man was tall, wearing a mask and glasses; his gait gave Li Ye a sense of déjà vu.

Zou Zou Mengcheng noticed Li Ye's surprise and asked: "What's wrong? Something happen?"

Li Ye frowned: "I feel like I've seen that man before."

Zou Zou Mengcheng immediately moved to get out: "Then just ask him!"

Li Ye grabbed his arm: "Don't move—if we scare them off, we can't stop them if they panic and go violent."

Raiding a nest required the involvement of enforcement forces—otherwise, if the cash on-site didn't match the records, no one would believe you.

So Li Ye simply watched as the masked man walked past.

Minutes later, Duo Ye's neighborhood patrol finally arrived, rushing into the courtyard with the gilded sign.

The courtyard had clearly just been renovated—neat and orderly, several rooms converted into offices.

On the office walls hung photos of Hong Kong figures; Li Ye even spotted an IBM computer.

A 1985 computer? That was pure prestige—no wonder Chen Chen Jinhua and others were so dazzled.

"Someone reported illegal activities here. Everyone, stay put, stand against the wall!"

"Open the safe immediately. Do not touch the ledgers. You—don't move another inch, or you're coming with us."

The patrol's entry threw the courtyard into panic; several people clutched their bags tightly—clearly filled with cash.

These people were likely "fat lambs" like Chen Chen Jinhua.

But the men in suits were brazen, shouting in heavily accented Mandarin: "What's going on? We're a Hong Kong company! Don't you dare act rashly!"

The patrol hesitated, not immediately responding forcefully.

Duo Ye pushed forward from behind, his face cold: "Stop pretending to be foreign guests. We have an officer from the First Bank here. Better hope you're not fakes."

The suit-wearing men froze, but still refused to open the safe.

But Duo Ye shouted toward the west wing: "Heng San, stop hiding—I see you! You've been using my name to swindle people. Now I'm here—why won't you even show your face?"

The door to the west wing finally opened.

Heng San stepped out, teeth clenched, glaring at Duo Ye: "Duo Ye, we've never had a grudge. Why are you falsely accusing me, showing up here to slander me?"

Duo Ye replied coldly: "If you hadn't swindled me, why would I come here? I'm not a good man, but I'd never steal money from others. If you're legit, I'll throw you ten banquets to apologize. But if you're a fraud—"

"How are we frauds? Ridiculous."

Heng San smiled, then turned to the suited men: "Where's Xiao Lu? Get Manager Lu out here to explain—our business is honest, we have nothing to fear."

But the suited men replied: "Manager Lu just took a call and left—he said he had an urgent matter."

"Manager Lu—is that Lu Gang?"

Standing quietly at the back of the crowd, Li Ye suddenly had a flash of recognition.

He remembered who the man was.

Lu Gang—the Peking University dropout, Lu Gang.

It had been so long; the man wore tinted glasses and a mask, which is why Li Ye hadn't recognized him at first.

As soon as Li Ye spoke, everyone turned to look.

"How is it you again?"

Heng San, seeing Li Ye, turned pale as if he'd seen a ghost.

Three years ago, in the alley of Xiushui Street, he and dozens of men had been taken down by three people.

One of those youths—like a demon of seventeen horrors—had left a lifelong nightmare in his mind.

Worse still, that man had broken over a dozen ribs—and still never had to go to the police station.