As soon as they reached the door, Li Yi saw more than a dozen young men dressed in a rowdy, thuggish manner, carrying over a dozen large flower baskets and standing in the company’s office area.
Upon seeing Li Yi and his group, the leader—a bald man with a cigarette hanging from his lips—spoke up: “Which one of you is the boss?”
“Me,” Li Yi replied coolly.
“The boss’s company has opened, and we from the Flying Tigers Gang have come to offer our congratulations. We wish the boss a steady flow of wealth and great prosperity!”
The bald man then pointed to the flower baskets behind him and said, “Twelve baskets—you should know the rules!”
Li Yi gave a cold smile. These guys had actually come to collect protection money from him and Huang Lixing—how interesting.
On Hong Kong Island, whether it’s a company or a small shop opening, whenever a gang sends a flower basket, it carries a deeper meaning.
It meant that from now on, they were under the gang’s protection—and if anything went wrong, the gang would take care of it!
Of course, nothing in life comes for free. If they help you out when trouble arises, you’ll have to pay tribute to the gang in return.
As for how much protection money you pay, that depends on how many flower baskets they send.
The going rate is basically 10,000 Hong Kong dollars per flower basket; the more they send, the more you pay.
Clearly, these thugs had already sent people to check out their company. Knowing it had a large staff and was likely a substantial operation, they sent them 12 flower baskets all at once.
In other words, from now on, their company would have to pay 120,000 Hong Kong dollars in protection money to this so-called Flying Tigers Gang every month just to stay out of trouble.
That comes to 1.2 million Hong Kong dollars a year—a truly exorbitant demand.
But these guys clearly hadn’t done their homework—Huang Lixing also held a stake in the company.
Although the Blue Dragon Society couldn’t hold a candle to the four major triad groups—14K, Sun Yee On, Wo Sing Wo, and Yee Kwan—it was by no means a weak force among the second-tier gangs.
As long as it’s not one of those four major gangs, they should be able to handle it.
So, barring any surprises, these bastards are in for a world of trouble!
Sure enough, the moment the thought crossed Li Yi’s mind, Huang Lixing strode right up to the bald guy!
Then, he suddenly slapped him across the face…
“Smack!”
After the loud crack, a bright red handprint appeared on the bald man’s face, and his right cheek swelled up instantly.
“Damn it, that bastard Fat Cat’s gotten some nerve—he’s actually come after me for protection money!”
The bald thug was about to fly into a rage, but when he heard Huang Lixing call their boss “Fat Cat” by name, he instantly realized this man was no ordinary guy.
Soon, the bald-headed man recognized Tie Ying and Ah Bin standing behind Huang Lixing, and instantly figured out Huang Lixing’s identity.
Realizing he’d actually provoked the boss of Wan Chai Pier, the Bald-headed Man was so terrified he nearly wet himself!
Just as the bald-headed man was about to back down, something even more terrifying happened.
A sharp electronic “ding” sounded, and immediately afterward, the elevator on the side suddenly opened. Seven or eight bodyguards then emerged, flanking a man and a woman.
The Bald-headed Man recognized them immediately: the man in the center, heavily guarded, was none other than the Chinese business tycoon Li Futiao, and the young woman beside him was his daughter, Li Yunling.
More importantly, one of the bodyguards by Li Fuzhao’s side was actually holding a large decorative piece—a white jade toad holding a copper coin in its mouth!
On Hong Kong Island, only very close friends would present feng shui ornaments at a grand opening.
After all, if an ordinary person gave such a thing, no one would dare to display it!
After Li Futiao arrived and was about to congratulate Li Yi, he quickly sensed something was wrong and immediately asked, “Brother Li Yi, what on earth is going on here?”
“Some troublemakers came by looking for a fight!”
Li Futiao glanced at the dozen or so flower baskets by the door and immediately understood what was going on.
He furrowed his brow and asked the few henchmen in a deep voice, “Who do you work for?”
“Mr… Mr. Li, we’re from the European Flying Tigers Gang!” the bald man stammered.
He was kicking himself now—what kind of monster had he provoked? The Blue Dragon Society at Wan Chai Pier was one thing, but for them to have ties to the Li family? This was a recipe for disaster!
“Where did this Flying Tiger Gang come from? How dare they come here and cause trouble? I don’t think they have a right to exist!” Li Futao said coldly.
Hearing this, the bald man immediately dropped to his knees and pleaded, “Mr. Li, please spare us! Otherwise, our boss will really have me thrown into the sea… I beg you…”
Li Yi didn’t want to see blood on the day his company opened—it would be bad luck—so he said immediately, “Old Li, let’s deal with this later!”
Li Futao understood exactly what Li Yi meant. He immediately turned to the bald man and said, “Get your men out of here right now, and have your boss come here personally to apologize to my brother!”
“Yes, yes, yes… Thank you, Mr. Li. Thank you, boss…”
After saying that, the bald-headed man immediately took his gang of henchmen and left, and all the flower baskets were cleared away without a trace.
After this little incident, Li Yi invited Li Futiao into the company!
As soon as he walked in, Li Futiao smiled and said, “You’re a big boss worth billions, after all. I won’t even mention getting a whole building for your office—finding such a small place is really a bit shabby!”
“Haha, it’s just a temporary stopgap—no rush!” Li Yi replied with a smile.
“I have an unused property over on Paoma Road. It’s plenty big…”
Before Li Futiao could finish, Li Yi cut him off: “No need for now. I’ll ask you when the time comes!”
The hardest debt to repay in this world is a favor. Unless absolutely necessary, Li Yi didn’t want to owe anyone anything.
“Alright!”
Just then, Li Yunling, who was standing nearby, suddenly asked, “Mr. Li, where’s my brother? Did he go out?”
“Your brother isn’t here today!”
“How could that be? My brother told me last night that he had to come in early today. He said that with the grand opening, he’d definitely be extra busy with legal matters!”
Hearing this, Li Yi’s heart suddenly skipped a beat!
He immediately turned to Li Futiao and said, “Old Li, contact Young Master Li right away. I have a feeling that his fortune-telling prediction is about to come true!”
Li Futiao was taken aback at first, then immediately recalled that Li Yi had previously cast a divination for his son.
Although he didn’t entirely believe Li Yi’s words, since his son’s safety was at stake, he still called over a bodyguard and ordered him to go check on his son’s residence immediately.
However, he wasn’t actually worried. After all, his men had personally escorted his son back to his residence yesterday, so logically, nothing could have gone wrong.
The reason he hadn’t shown up was most likely because he’d stayed out late last night and overslept!
No sooner had he finished speaking than he saw bigwigs like Li Mingji, He Guangdong, and Guo Desheng arriving one after another…
It wasn’t even nine o’clock yet, but the bigwigs who had come to celebrate the opening of Star Investment had already packed the company to the brim—there wasn’t even room to stand.
Outside the company entrance, aside from the bigwigs’ bodyguards, there were flower arrangements and various congratulatory gifts brought by the crowd.
Such a grand display truly made the small companies nearby green with envy!
At the same time, everyone was quietly speculating about the background of this newly opened company—after all, nearly all the major Chinese business tycoons on Hong Kong Island had turned out.
Even British-owned institutions like Hang Seng Bank, HSBC, and Standard Chartered had sent representatives.
Looking across the entire island, only the Four Great Families likely possess such influence!
Finally, at 9:30, the company’s opening ceremony began!
However, what Li Yi didn’t know was that while he was busy with the company’s opening here, his father-in-law was in big trouble!