"This matter was indeed Ah Nam's fault."
"Exactly! Seniority considered, there is never a time when Ah Nam has any right to speak here."
"..."
Meeting Liang Kun's gaze, Wallhead Kee and Fatty Lai were the first to declare their stance.
Seeing the two of them act this way, the others quickly snapped to their senses and began condemning Chan Ho-nam's actions.
In the underworld, loyalty compared to real interests couldn't be said to be entirely worthless, but it wasn't far off.
Liang Kun had a mind to transfer his heroin business, so at a time like this, nobody was willing to offend him over this.
Yan Liang, sitting behind Liang Kun, wore a slight smirk at the sight.
Watching Liang Kun's arrogant demeanor and the reactions of the crowd, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly—sure enough, interests were always the most persuasive argument.
Accused in public, Chan Ho-nam had overstepped, but Big Brother B had no desire to swallow this insult in silence. Gritting his teeth, he immediately spoke up:
"Liang Kun, you beat up my lackey today, and I am not going to let this go."
"Heh..."
Liang Kun snorted with utter disdain. "What? Are you planning to bite me?"
At that moment, Big Brother B didn't just want to bite Liang Kun—he felt like killing him.
Yet he knew full well that this could only remain a wish.
After all, in everyone's eyes, Liang Kun was the flavor of the month, and if it came down to real strength, he was no match for Liang Kun anyway.
Just as Big Brother B was wishing he could tear Liang Kun to pieces, Chiang Tin-sang, sitting at the head of the table, spoke up:
"Enough! You're all brothers in Hung Hing, why kick up such a fuss and draw swords against each other?"
As the current head of Hung Hing, Chiang Tin-sang still carried a certain amount of dignity and authority.
With the boss speaking up, even if Liang Kun didn't want to give him face, he had to rein in his arrogance somewhat. He shrugged and said,
"Mr. Chiang, it's not like I'm looking for trouble. Everyone here knows that Babi was my brother, yet Big Brother B secretly sent his men to hack Babi to death, making things very difficult for me. If not for my brother Yan Liang, I probably wouldn't even have seen him for the last time..."
"?? "
Hearing Liang Kun bring up Babi, Chiang Tin-sang hadn't expected it. He froze for a moment before saying,
"This matter is also related to me; I failed to inform everyone beforehand. Actually, Babi was in the wrong first..."
You had to hand it to Chiang Tin-sang—his shielding of Big Brother B was just like Big Brother B's shielding of his own precious son Chan Ho-nam.
Leveraging his status as the leader of Hung Hing, he actually covered for Big Brother B in front of everyone.
"Liang Kun, now that everything's out in the open, I think we should just let the past be the past!"
"Let it go?"
Liang Kun looked at Chiang Tin-sang with deep displeasure. After a moment, he spread his hands and said,
"Since Mr. Chiang puts it that way, then I, Liang Kun, will drop it."
"Then why don't you tell us, Mr. Chiang, why you called everyone together this time? If there's nothing major, I still have to go back and talk business."
Hearing Liang Kun say this, Chiang Tin-sang had no desire to keep bickering over the matter. He changed the subject and said:
"Everyone here is a Hung Hing branch leader, a part of Hung Hing. I don't want to see infighting and backstabbing within the triad. Even if we fight, we must turn our blades outward against outsiders, not at our own people, understand?"
"Understood!"
The various people present nodded in response.
Only Liang Kun kept a cigarette hanging from his lips, nodding with an indifferent expression.
What a joke.
Blades turned outward?
What bloody era is this, to still be talking about righteous principles? Does he think this is the passionate age of the past?
Chiang Tin-sang didn't pay much attention to Liang Kun's reaction; after all, this fellow had always acted like this.
"The only reason I brought you all here today is for one thing. Some time ago, a few of our casinos over in Macau ran into trouble, suffering heavy losses. I've called you here today to ask who is willing to send men over."
As soon as these words left his mouth, most of the branch leaders present fell silent, none of them answering.
Being able to go and handle affairs in Macau was certainly a chance to stand out, but the usable men in their hands were few and far between.
On top of that, Macau was so far away; if anything went wrong, Hong Kong Island would be too far to offer help, and they might never return alive.
According to the original course of events, Big Brother B would have stepped forward at this point.
In fact, Big Brother B had planned to do just that before coming here.
Since the Babi incident hadn't given Chan Ho-nam a chance to rise up, this truly was an opportunity not to be missed.
However, Chicken was severely injured right now, Chan Ho-nam's broken leg hadn't healed yet, and the only one left was Tai Tin-yee, who was nothing more than a reckless brute with brawn and no brains...
If they were sent rashly, God knew if it would be a one-way trip!
So caution was needed no matter what.
...
Seeing that everyone remained silent for a long time, and even Big Brother B—whom he had previously favored—said nothing, Chiang Tin-sang's expression turned displeased.
He cast his gaze toward Liang Kun, who was slumped in his chair in a slouch, and said:
"Liang Kun, your territory is currently the largest in all of Hung Hing, and your subordinates are brimming with talent. How about you take charge of this matter?"
It sounded like a favor, but what abacus he was really running was crystal clear to everyone.
Nothing more than trying to use this to weaken Liang Kun's strength.
Would Liang Kun fall for that trick?
"I've got a part in this too?"
Without even moving, Liang Kun leaned lazily against his chair and said,
"Sure! No problem! But everyone here knows I'm currently transferring my heroin business, so my lackies are spread a bit thin. If Mr. Chiang can lend me a thousand or eight hundred men, I'd be more than happy to let my brother Yan Liang make the trip."
Both Liang Kun's reaction and his tone of voice greatly displeased Chiang Tin-sang.
Moreover, this fellow occasionally bringing up the transfer of his heroin business added even more annoyance to his heart.
Wasn't this blatantly using interests to lure everyone?
You, Liang Kun, have made a fortune, and now that you don't want to deal in heroin anymore, you could easily hand the business over to the triad.
Yet here you are trying to win people over in public—do you really not take him, the leader, seriously at all?
Just as Chiang Tin-sang sat there with a displeased look on his face, Chan Ho-nam, standing behind Big Brother B, suddenly spoke up:
"Mr. Chiang, I'm willing to go!"
As soon as those words fell, everyone present looked at Chan Ho-nam in astonishment.
Even Big Brother B, who held little hope for the Macau affair, wore a look of utter shock.
He hadn't expected that while he himself hadn't stepped forward, Chan Ho-nam had actually volunteered.
At that moment, Big Brother B's face turned green.
He had thrown away his old pride specifically to protect this kid, and now look at this—not only had he failed to protect him, but he had also gotten slapped in the face.
Just as Big Brother B was wondering how to salvage the situation, Chiang Tin-sang spoke up:
"Heh, when it counts, you still have to rely on Ah B's men!"
"Chan Ho-nam, I think very highly of you. Young man, you've got more guts than these branch leaders."
Hearing this, Big Brother B's face instantly turned ashen.
He knew there was probably no turning back from this.
And just as he suspected, upon hearing Chiang Tin-sang's praise, a smile immediately broke out on Chan Ho-nam's face, and he hurriedly said:
"Thank you for the praise, Mr. Chiang. As long as you give me this chance, I will definitely sort this out for Hung Hing."
Having a broken leg, coupled with being publicly beaten by Ko Chun earlier, Chan Ho-nam considered this the greatest humiliation of his life.
He would never forget it, and he had sworn to himself that no matter what, he had to climb to the top in this lifetime.
Only then would he have the power to wipe out Yan Liang and Liang Kun and wash away this shame.
So he had to seize this opportunity no matter what.
Hearing Chan Ho-nam's words, Chiang Tin-sang wore a gratified expression, though he paused to ponder for a moment before saying:
"Ah Nam's courage is commendable, but the situation in Macau isn't so easily resolved. How about this: Ah Nam will lead the operation in Macau this time, and each of your branches will send some elite lackies to assist. What do you all think?"