Chapter 62 Qiu Changtian

Just how massive does a person’s business need to be to be considered a success? That is a difficult question to answer. After all, everyone’s ambition differs, so the achievements they attain vary, and the scale of their business differs naturally as well.

However, for Qiu Changtian, he felt that he was already immensely successful. On the surface, he proudly possessed the Xiling Sugar Mill—a golden goose laying eggs year after year, capable of paying tens of millions in taxes annually while supporting over six hundred workers.

One must realize that six hundred workers meant over six hundred families. Calculated by a modest minimum of three people per household, that amounted to more than eighteen hundred people—the scale of an entire small village.

Coupled with the nearly three hundred laborers in the plantations, Qiu Changtian felt powerful and influential, truly resembling a little king.

Furthermore, in private, Qiu Changtian operated another lucrative enterprise. Even a printing press probably could not match the speed at which he made money. Such a blissful life where he could simply close his doors and crown himself king was truly overwhelmingly comfortable!

Waking up in the morning from a carved Hainan huanghuali wood bed, he sat before the dining table and gazed at the silverware. Qiu Changtian’s breakfast, though simple in appearance, was by no means modest; it could even be considered extravagant.

A bowl of white broth floated with ginseng, velvet antler, and cordyceps. What looked like an ordinary shrimp dumpling was actually stuffed with minced Australian rock lobster. Qiu Changtian was a man who understood how to live, so his baseline budget for breakfast was one thousand yuan. On special holidays, or when he was in a particularly good mood, that budget could double, or even have no upper limit at all.

As for lunch and dinner, they were naturally even more extravagant!

As he sipped the rich broth in small sips, a person resembling a butler stood nearby and reported in a low voice: "We have already made contact with the people over in Tianhai City. They are unwilling to return Qian Hao's body."

"Kong Dasheng's lips are still tightly sealed for now; he hasn't started talking nonsense yet. But as time drags on, it's hard to say what might happen. Because this involves the Xue family, and the person leading the charge is the Xue family's son-in-law, there is no room for negotiation on this matter. Therefore, I suggest abandoning Kong Dasheng."

Qiu Changtian put down his soup bowl, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and said in a gentle tone: "Since there is no room for negotiation, then abandon him! Find someone with capable hands and arrange for Kong Dasheng to hit the road as soon as possible. Be deft and make it quick, so he suffers less."

"Send some money to the Kong family afterward—make it two million! Having lost two sons all at once, give their parents a bit more money to make their lives a little easier."

"As for Qian Hao's side, that is indeed tricky. After all, he is considered a relative by marriage to my wife. If he cannot be laid to rest in peace, how am I supposed to explain this to my wife's family?"

This question sounded as though it were addressed to the butler, yet it also felt like a soft murmur to himself.

The butler’s head, which was already bowed, dipped even lower: "Yesterday, the gunmen went to Tianhai City and all of them perished at Xinxin Taxi Company. That can be considered giving Xue Bin a formal notice. According to the rules of the underworld, Xue Bin will come to you to demand accountability in the next couple of days, and by the way, clear the air. We should have plenty to discuss."

Qiu Changtian picked up the telephone on the table, glanced at it, and shook his head, saying: "What if Xue Bin doesn't contact me?"

"That would mean both sides go to war, fighting to the bitter end!" The butler finished speaking, then took a breath: "According to the analysis from the intelligence department, Xue Bin won't be so impulsive as to do something utterly unreasonable."

Qiu Changtian picked up an egg from the table and tapped it gently: "Sometimes I find myself wondering if these past few years have been too peaceful, causing me to lose my drive and letting stray dogs and cats bare their fangs at me."

"To think that a mere live-in son-in-law of the Xue family actually dares to ruin my Xiling Gang!" The more Qiu Changtian spoke, the angrier he grew. The perfectly boiled egg was smashed to smithereens under his grip.

"Call Butcher Zheng. Tell him the pig is fat, and I want to eat two bowls of pork trotters noodles. Make sure that man named Xiao never fires a gun again!"

"Understood!" The butler bowed deeply and then retreated from the dining room. It seemed the boss was truly furious to be deploying Butcher Zheng—that was, after all, the ultimate trump card in the boss's hand.

...

Over at Xinxin Taxi Company, Yu Hu looked like a child who had just received a new toy, introducing excitedly with great joy: "This small van is no ordinary small van. The chassis has been reinforced, and the cargo compartment has been counterweighted and welded. The engine has been swapped out for a high-horsepower one, and its ramming force has been dramatically increased. It's more than enough to flip that bulletproof sedan."

Xiao Ziguang desperately wanted to frown, but forcibly reined it in. Had thirty-eight thousand yuan really been spent on buying a piece of junk like this? If Yu Hu was going to play him for a fool like this, Xiao Ziguang wouldn't mind burning bridges.

Yu Hu unlocked another warehouse door and pointed inside, saying: "These are all usable gear. Encrypted walkie-talkies with a five-kilometer range, stun grenades, tear gas..."

"This is my favorite item: a gun disguised as a fountain pen. Don't let its tiny size fool you; its effective range reaches a hundred meters, and the projectiles are tranquilizer darts! Truly a marvelous weapon for kidnapping and extortion."

Indeed, specialization is everything, and some people simply command respect! The items Yu Hu had managed to procure were entirely beyond Xiao Ziguang's connections. Even if Zhou Huajian racked his brains until they bled, he never could have imagined that such insidious things existed in this world.

The final warehouse was secured with three heavy locks. As Yu Hu unfastened them one by one, Xiao Ziguang was met with a room full of intelligence files.

There were candid photographs of Qiu Changtian’s motorcade, close-ups of Qiu Changtian and his family members, and records of Qiu Changtian's travel routes. Combined with detailed timelines, nothing was left unrecorded...

Zhou Huajian cast a look of astonishment as he sized Yu Hu up and down, even beginning to fantasize: if the target this time weren't Qiu Changtian, but Xiao Ziguang instead, would he be able to help Xiao Ziguang escape unscathed?

That was a genuinely difficult question to answer. Zhou Huajian had witnessed Yu Hu's martial prowess; in a direct, bare-knuckled confrontation, Zhou Huajian’s odds of winning were low.

If firearms were involved, it would be hard to say! While that might raise his win rate, Zhou Huajian still didn't possess absolute certainty of victory.

Yu Hu wheeled two suitcases out from a corner: "Boss, these are the items you had delivered. I've checked them over—they are top-quality goods."

"Now our equipment is sufficient. The only thing we're lacking is manpower. With just the three of us and this single van, pulling off this major operation is probably going to be tough."

That was indeed the reality of the situation. Xiao Ziguang asked casually, "Then how many helpers do you need? Ten? Or twenty?"

Xiao Ziguang's greatest bottleneck right now was his lack of manpower. The people he could truly trust were Zhou Huajian and Dajun. If he needed to scrape together more numbers, he could at best add newly recruited Pheasant and Haonan—any more than that would be useless!

It wasn't that Xiao Ziguang didn't want an elite force; rather, having risen too rapidly, a generational gap in talent had formed.

"Ten isn't necessary, but we still need six or seven people. After all, Qiu Changtian always travels in a motorcade. We need at least three vehicles forming two firing points to pull off a seemingly impossible mission like this!"

Xiao Ziguang nodded slowly, silently formulating a plan in his heart. Since Yu Hu already had a blueprint, he would accompany him on this wild gamble—wasn't it just seven people?

If he wrung his brains to scrape them together, he could still manage to assemble them!