Chapter 103: The Facade

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Wang Jianming approached Luo Feng with a beaming smile. Only when he was quite close did Luo Feng stand up. The outward courtesy had to be maintained, so Luo Feng smiled at Wang Jianming and said, “Master Ming, why have you brought so many people this time? Is someone still daring to make a move against you here in Jing City?”

Anyone with eyes could detect the underlying barb in Luo Feng’s words.

Wang Jianming paid no mind. He waved his hand, and Sun Yuxiao stepped forward, offering a cigarette to Luo Feng, lighting it for him. As Sun Yuxiao was about to step back, Wang Jianming gave him a subtle look, prompting him to approach me as well and light a cigarette for me.

I noticed that Wang Jianming’s gaze lingered on me even longer than it did on Luo Feng.

Once everyone was seated, Wang Jianming finally addressed Luo Feng’s initial question. One had to admit, Wang Jianming truly was a veteran of decades in the underworld; his answer was clever: “No one dares to make a move against me anymore, but having so many people just sitting at home, not showing themselves, always makes me worry that someone might forget who Wang Jianming really is.”

A simple sentence, yet I discerned two layers of meaning. The first was Wang Jianming asserting his power—no criminal gang in Jing City could rival his influence. The second was clearly a warning to Luo Feng, reminding him not to forget that this was Wang Jianming’s territory.

I could tell, and naturally, Luo Feng could as well. Luo Feng smiled and took a deep drag from his cigarette, offering no reply. I took up Luo Feng’s mantle and said, “Master Ming, speak plainly. What is it you’ve come for today?”

At this moment, no one questioned my right to speak on Luo Feng’s behalf. After Wang Jianming cast a few glances my way, he indicated that I need not beat around the bush and that we surely knew the reason for his visit. Having said that, he fell silent, sitting on the sofa, waiting for our response.

In the few short days since, I had faced Wang Jianming several times. He still leaned on his dragon-headed cane as usual, showing no hurry, yet his demeanor suggested that if our answer did not satisfy him, he had no intention of leaving. My heart grew cold. Luo Feng gave me a look, signaling that if I wished to speak, I could take the lead.

I nodded, stood up, and paced a few steps before fixing my gaze on Wang Jianming and asking how he planned to proceed specifically. Both Luo Feng and Wang Jianming were momentarily taken aback. I watched their expressions closely. Wang Jianming immediately turned to Luo Feng and asked if my words could represent his decision.

This was already the second time Wang Jianming posed this question to Luo Feng.

Luo Feng stared at me, hesitated briefly, but finally nodded to Wang Jianming.

Wang Jianming suddenly grew somewhat excited. Rising with the aid of his cane, he said all we needed to do was establish a secret trafficking route within the port area, ensuring it evaded customs and police detection. I smiled and said, “Master Ming, you still want to go through customs? Your shipment must be huge; smuggling seems the only option.”

Wang Jianming shook his head and repeated his demand: just prepare a secret route for him and handle the escorting. He assured us that he would take care of customs himself. Moreover, he said that once the goods passed customs, they would be sent first to Yu City, and the route between Yu City and Jing City was one he had personally established.

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My tone grew firmer: “Master Ming, this isn’t a small matter. If you won’t tell us everything, do you really think we’d dare cooperate with you so easily?”

Wang Jianming hesitated. Sensing his uncertainty, I told him to go consider it and to come back when he was ready to speak.

“Master Ming, if you can guarantee absolute safety for us in this cooperation, it’s not impossible. Whether we cooperate depends entirely on your attitude.” With that, I returned to Luo Feng’s side. Luo Feng looked puzzled, but Wang Jianming didn’t leave, nor did he question me further.

What surprised Luo Feng was that Wang Jianming truly did leave, promising to contact us again as soon as possible.

After Wang Jianming’s departure, Luo Feng asked me in astonishment, “Aren’t you vehemently opposed to drugs? You don’t really intend to cooperate with him, do you?”

I gave a cold smile. “I’m bluffing.”

Luo Feng shook his head. “Jing City is his turf. If I want to keep moving here, bluffing might work for a while, but not forever.”

“Do you still think Wang Jianming genuinely wants to open a trafficking route?” I countered. Luo Feng looked confused and asked me to explain.

I began to explain.

Through Luo Feng’s descriptions, I gained a deeper understanding of Wang Jianming. He was nearing the twilight of his life and had only one daughter, Wang Yazhuo. If it were just about money, Wang Jianming’s decades of drug trafficking would have already secured enough to last lifetimes. His status in the underworld was enough to intimidate the locals in Jing City. Aside from the shadowy nature of his identity, Wang Jianming had essentially obtained everything an ordinary person might spend a lifetime striving for.

Wang Jianming’s wealth was enough not just for Wang Yazhuo’s lifetime extravagance but for several generations after. To my knowledge, Wang Jianming never involved Wang Yazhuo in any criminal activity—clearly, he had no intention of passing this dark legacy to her. Furthermore, Wang Jianming had no other heirs; his drug trafficking business had no one to inherit it.

The only person Wang Jianming trusted was Sun Yuxiao. Yet, outsiders remain outsiders, as Wang Jianming’s attitude toward Sun Yuxiao clearly showed. The chances of Wang Jianming entrusting his hard-built empire to Sun Yuxiao were slim.

Putting all this together, Wang Jianming had no reason to continue his drug trafficking. Yet, after a two-year hiatus, he was preparing to reenter the trade. But instead of using his old smuggling routes, he had made a daring decision: to open a new route between the port area, Yu City, and Jing City.

The difficulty of this undertaking surpassed anything Wang Jianming had done before; if it were solely for profit, it was far too risky.

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“There are two possibilities. One is that Wang Jianming is naturally drawn to crime—he feels uneasy without it. Simply put, he’s mentally disturbed,” I said to Luo Feng. Luo Feng quickly asked what the other possibility was, clearly doubting the first.

“The second possibility is that after two years, Wang Jianming is resuming his old business in an extremely risky way, personally scouting in Yu City, but his true purpose isn’t drug trafficking. This is just a facade,” I explained.

This was no baseless conjecture. Just moments ago, I had extracted a few words from Wang Jianming in a very subtle way. Normally, drug trafficking routes would avoid customs entirely, relying on smuggling. Yet Wang Jianming insisted on going through customs and told us not to worry.

If it were a small quantity, hiding drugs inside people’s bodies and retrieving them later, with late 1990s surveillance technology, evading customs was possible—though only for small numbers. Large quantities would definitely be detected.

Wang Jianming going to such lengths to open a seemingly impossible route could not be merely to transport small amounts of drugs undetectable by customs—absolutely not.

“Perhaps Wang Jianming isn’t afraid of customs checks at all because he never intended to have drugs hidden inside the people crossing customs. His real target isn’t the drugs, but those people themselves,” I boldly speculated.

Wang Jianming must have been unable to smuggle through the usual ports because they were monitored. So he reluctantly chose a seemingly legitimate method. If my guess is correct, the people he wants to escort are themselves the ones being watched.

Under these circumstances, crossing customs would actually be safer.

“Also, he’s asked us to find a route within the port area and to handle the escort. Unless the police get suspicious beforehand, these people could travel small roads disguised as normal cargo trucks, and no one would check them. The difficulty lies in customs and the final transaction. You have such great resources in the port area, yet you’re only using them for escorting. Don’t you think that’s a bit of a waste?” I asked Luo Feng.

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