Downtown. The Li Family Estate!
When Li Yi and Li Yunbao arrived at the Li family estate, Li Fuzhao had just returned from the office.
He had been in the middle of a meeting with his staff when he suddenly received a call from Li Yi, asking to meet.
Upon receiving the call, Li Futiao immediately ended the meeting and hurried back.
Seeing Li Yi and his son walk through the door together, Li Futiao immediately smiled and said, “Brother Li Yi, I was actually planning to invite you to lunch, but I didn’t expect you to call me first!”
“It doesn’t matter who makes the first move!”
Li Yi then glanced at the housekeeper in the living room and the bodyguard at the door before saying, “Old Li, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you. Let’s find a quiet place.”
“Alright, let’s go upstairs and talk!” Li Futiao said.
“Alright!”
With that, the three of them stood up and headed toward the upstairs reception room.
Once upstairs, Li Futiao and Li Yi sat across from each other, while Li Yunbao immediately served them tea and water, acting just like a tea boy.
“Brother Li Yi, feel free to speak your mind—this place is absolutely safe!”
Li Yi nodded and said, “Old Li, how much do you know about the current situation in Hong Kong?”
Li Futao thought for a moment and replied, “As far as I know, quite a few people are targeting you, Star Investment, and our Chinese Chamber of Commerce. It was actually I who reminded Old Huang to have him notify you immediately so you could come and take charge of the situation!”
“Do you know who exactly is targeting us right now?”
“From what I’ve gathered, it includes the Governor’s Office, British-owned conglomerates, some local triads and gangs, and apparently some overseas financial groups as well, but I don’t have much detail on any of them,” Li Futao said.
Li Yi nodded and said, “In fact, our enemies are far more numerous and powerful than you realize!”
“Have you already identified exactly which factions our enemies are?” Li Futiao asked, somewhat surprised.
“Yes.”
Li Yi then recounted the details of Durson’s visit earlier that morning.
After hearing the details, Li Futiao frowned and said, “If it’s really as Dolsen described, this is going to be a real problem.”
“They’re launching a full-scale assault on us—from the underworld to the mainstream, from business to politics. One wrong move, and we could lose everything—unless…”
“Unless what?” Li Yi asked.
“Unless the central government steps in and thoroughly intimidates those politicians on Downing Street!” Li Futiao said.
Li Yi shook his head. “If it really comes to that, they won’t hesitate to act when the time is right. But I don’t think we’ve reached the point where we need to ‘call in the big shots’ yet.”
“Are you thinking of rallying the Chinese Chamber of Commerce to confront these forces together?”
Li Yi replied immediately, “That’s the idea, but not to rally the chamber members to fight alongside us—rather, to give everyone an opportunity to make money!”
“???”
Seeing the bewildered look on Li Futao’s face, Li Yi quickly explained, “I’ve already worked out a plan to deal with these hostile forces. We have an 80% chance of success, but as the conflict progresses, those forces will inevitably target the companies owned by Chamber members.”
“If our guild members cooperate fully with us, not only can we avoid being targeted by malicious short-selling or hostile takeovers, but we can also use this opportunity to make a huge profit.”
“Of course, all of this is based on mutual trust and cooperation…”
Before he had even finished speaking, Li Futiao immediately interjected, “With the fire at our doorstep, they’ll certainly be willing to cooperate!”
“That’s not necessarily the case. Dolsen has already mentioned that the Governor’s Office has been secretly courting some of our members. Faced with such a formidable enemy, there’s no guarantee that some won’t waver!” Li Yi said.
“Then what should we do?” asked Li Futiao.
“Convene a meeting of the Chamber of Commerce members as soon as possible. First, to finalize the list of new members recruited this year; second, to explain the basic situation to everyone and gauge their reactions!” Li Yi said.
“Won’t that compromise our secrets?”
“It won’t matter. We won’t need to go into too much detail at the time. We’ll just say that it appears local forces are colluding with foreign powers to target our Chinese Merchants’ Association, and that the opposition is very powerful. Let the members decide for themselves!”
Li Yi continued, “But make it clear to them: the Chinese Chamber of Commerce’s principle is ‘once unfaithful, never to be used again.’ If they choose to withdraw, they will permanently lose their eligibility to join the Chamber!”
“Alright, I’ll arrange the meeting as soon as possible. I’ll let you know once it’s set up!” Li Futao replied.
“I have more important matters to attend to, so I won’t be attending this meeting. Old Li, just let me know the results later!” Li Yi said.
“Alright!”
Li Yi changed the subject and asked, “Old Li, how much do you know about the Xini Consortium?”
“Are you talking about the Sini Group in Southeast Asia?”
“Yes, Dolsen told me to pay special attention to this conglomerate. I’m not sure what he meant by that,” Li Yi said.
Li Futao thought for a moment and said, “The Sini Group is headquartered in Bandung. It’s a major conglomerate primarily funded by British capital, supplemented by local interests. The group operates in multiple sectors, including real estate, finance, steel, chemicals, aviation, and hospitality. It has branches in numerous countries and regions across Southeast Asia, with reported assets conservatively estimated at 10 billion US dollars.”
“Most importantly, this conglomerate operates on both sides of the law locally. It controls numerous local gangs and syndicates in Bandung and runs illegal operations involving prostitution, gambling, and drugs. As for its actual wealth, outsiders really have no way of estimating it.”
After hearing Li Futao’s words, Li Yi frowned and said, “No wonder Dowson told me to pay special attention to this conglomerate—it turns out they’re that powerful!”
However, Li Futiao shook his head and said, “I don’t think that’s the only reason Dolsen warned me!”
“Then what else could it mean?” Li Yi asked, puzzled.
“Perhaps it’s not just that they’re powerful, but that they also harbor deep hostility toward you. They might resort to extreme measures beyond the norm—such as poisoning, assassination, or kidnapping!” Li Futiao said, his words startling.
Deep-seated hostility… extreme measures?
“Old Li, do you know something else?” Li Yi asked in a low voice.
Li Futiao nodded and said, “Rumor has it that Cheng Qingsong is backed by the Xini Consortium!”
“Cheng Qingsong… the Xini Consortium?”
In an instant, Li Yi felt as if a light bulb had gone off in his head. So the Xini Consortium was connected to the stock market crash at Jianing Group.
“So the Xini Consortium is the financial backer behind Cheng Qingsong? Is this why they’re targeting us—because of the Jianing Group incident?”
As he spoke, Li Yi couldn’t help but recall that thought-provoking line from the movie *Goldfinger*: “You think I’m really Goldfinger? At best, I’m just a disposable front man.”
This effectively laid bare the fact that he had backers protecting him from the shadows—and not just one, but a network of influential figures spread across the globe.
Clearly, the Xini Consortium was Cheng Qingsong’s “Goldenfinger”—or at least one of them.
“That’s what the rumors say. After all, cutting off someone’s source of income is like killing their parents. Because of your and Starry Sky’s involvement, those people have lost at least ten billion Hong Kong dollars!” Li Fu remarked.
“Jianing Group’s total market capitalization is only 7 billion. Where did this 10 billion loss come from?” Li Yi frowned.
Li Futiao immediately explained, “It’s true that Jianing’s market capitalization is 7 billion, but that figure doesn’t include the assets those people have already transferred out. If they’d been given just a few more months, they would have been able to fully launder those transferred assets—to the point where even the ICAC would have had a hard time tracing them!”
“But no one anticipated your sudden intervention. By shorting Jianing, you caused its stock to crash in a very short time, exposing Jianing’s problems to the public and forcing the ICAC to step in immediately.”
“As a result, assets worth billions of Hong Kong dollars that had been transferred came to light during the ICAC’s investigation and were frozen. So, a loss of ten billion is by no means an exaggeration.”
After hearing Li Futao’s explanation, Li Yi showed not the slightest trace of fear; instead, he offered a faint smile.
Then, in a cold tone, he said, “I thought these vermin were all just lackeys of those politicians, but I didn’t expect there to be such an annoying toad among them. Since that’s the case, let’s have a good fight with them.”
Sensing the powerful fighting spirit and overwhelming confidence radiating from Li Yi, the Li family—father and son—were secretly stunned, yet also filled with anticipation.
They knew full well that once Li Yi had defeated these enemies’ encirclement, there would be no other voices left in Hong Kong Island.
This battle would be the decisive showdown in Li Yi’s quest for the throne…
…………