"If you can let me see your cousin," I said, "I might consider letting you live a few more days. If your cousin is willing to help, I might even spare your life."
He shook his head. "Though we are closer than brothers, he is utterly loyal to the General. It's impossible for him to betray the General, so I can't help you with this."
He closed his eyes in pain, knowing he had no hope of survival.
"How will you know if you don't try?" I countered. "Besides, I'm not asking you to persuade him. Just tell me how to contact him. Whether I can persuade him is my problem."
"You don't understand," he said. "The General saved my cousin's life and gave him everything. Asking him to do something against the General is a pipe dream."
"What? Wu Guodong saved your cousin's life?"
"Yes. Once, my cousin contracted a deadly infectious disease. The situation was critical; any delay could have cost him his life. The General used his private jet to fly my cousin to a private hospital. This hospital was for the elite; they wouldn't treat commoners like us. But the General personally wrote a note, instructing them to save him no matter the cost. That's how he survived."
This was truly a touching story. I hadn't expected Wu Guodong to have such a humane side. However, the blood debt he owed me, I would collect by any means necessary.
This was proving difficult. It seemed I would have to abandon this potential breakthrough.
Just then, the anxious man beside him spoke up, "Why are you so sure? Perhaps the boss has a way to make him help. Besides, the boss is only going to reason with the General, not fight him to the death."
He refused to give up this chance to survive. Although I hadn't promised them they would live, they saw a glimmer of hope.
"What good idea do you have?" I asked.
"Ideas are born from thought," he replied. "Heaven never closes all doors. We'll think of something. Give us some time to discuss it."
I stood up and looked at the other man, who was still dejectedly hanging his head, looking as if he had no will to live. Perhaps he had completely given up hope.
I stood and addressed them both, "Living isn't impossible, but you'd best come up with a plan before dawn. If you really can't think of one, I can always spend more money to hire experts to fight Wu Guodong. As for you two, you'll end up feeding the crocodiles in the Lijiang River."
With that, I left without looking back, heading up the stairs to my office.
Wen Siqiang didn't leave; he stayed with the security guards to watch the two men.
I truly didn't have a good plan for Wu Guodong. Hiring experts was just wishful thinking. I knew nothing about him; even if I hired experts, they might not be able to find him.
Therefore, the best approach was to start with those closest to him.
Brother Qing had explicitly stated that he would not organize any forces in Burma to deal with Wu Guodong. They were all descendants of the Chinese in old Burma, theoretically belonging to a large faction, and they couldn't openly oppose him. This would significantly damage his reputation in Burma.
Although Wu Guodong had later gone his own way, engaging in illicit activities at the tri-border area, he hadn't openly declared himself an enemy of the Chinese factions in Burma. It was merely a matter of differing paths.
I walked to Brother Leopard's office. He was alone inside, reviewing the day's reports.
Seeing me enter, he gestured to the sofa with his finger and said, "They've tried to cause trouble several times and failed. We need to quickly come up with a strategy to deal with them, or they won't stop."
"Our main enemies now are the one surnamed Sun and Wu Guodong," I said. "The one surnamed Sun is like a turtle, not showing his face, pushing Zhou Yingying forward. As for Wu Guodong, we're in the dark, not knowing where to start. It's a bit difficult."
Brother Leopard chuckled. "You have moments of difficulty? It seems this matter is indeed quite challenging."
"Yes," I replied. "I was interrogating those two prisoners earlier, and they revealed that Wu Guodong never appears in public. He has a personal guard and bodyguards, and his movements are never known in advance. So, getting close to him is difficult."
"Wu Guodong has a great reputation in Burma," Brother Leopard said. "Brother Qing mentioned that although he left the Chinese organization, he never waged war against the Chinese. His influence is immense; even the government forces are wary of him and have never dared to eliminate him. I heard the world anti-drug organization has issued a kill order for him, but it's just a piece of paper. Many Chinese armed forces in Burma dare not oppose him, which only makes him more arrogant and a ruler in his territory."
"It wasn't entirely fruitless," I said. "I learned that Wu Guodong has some kind of illness, and he needs to invite a famous doctor from the mainland every month for a few days of treatment. We can try to find an opportunity through this doctor. However, besides his personal guards, no one has ever seen this doctor, nor do they know his background. So, finding an opportunity through the doctor is as good as saying nothing. Also, one of the men mentioned his cousin is Wu Guodong's personal bodyguard, but this man is extremely loyal to Wu Guodong. I'm afraid he won't reveal any information related to Wu Guodong."
"This is enough," Brother Leopard said. "Focus your efforts on this cousin. Everyone has a weakness. If a million isn't enough, then two million. If he doesn't like money, use something else. If he doesn't like money or beauty, we can resort to some underhanded tactics. Of course, we should only use them sparingly, and not genuinely harm anyone."
I nodded. I knew what Brother Leopard meant by underhanded tactics. Yes, everyone has a weakness, a fatal flaw. I just hadn't thought of it earlier.
I bid farewell to Brother Leopard and returned to my office. Lan Ya and Jing Lei were there. They were busy reconciling the day's cash receipts with the finance department, using both abacus and calculator. I found the sight dazzling, so after greeting them, I withdrew and headed downstairs.
Outside, there were no more guests. The logistics staff were cleaning up the venue. Tomorrow would also be a significant day; some high-quality rough stones I had hidden would be displayed, and the bid winner of this session would be decided.
I went to look at the rough stone hall. Master Zhang and his men were organizing the remaining rough stones from today's selection. Seeing me approach, he told me that about two-thirds of the rough stones had been picked. The remaining ones could be sold as kilogram stones for people to find bargains, which would attract more participants.
"That's a good idea," I said. "You lead the team in organizing. After this event, I'll give you and your brothers a bonus."
Master Zhang quickly said it wasn't necessary and then urged everyone to get back to work.
As I walked out of the warehouse, I saw Da Kui standing at the entrance. I told him, "Nothing will happen now. You can go back to your room and rest. I'll stay here for a while."
"It's good you're here," Da Kui said. "I'm afraid I won't have a chance to rest. Brother Leopard will be going home soon, and I'll take him back first."
"After you take him home, hurry up and rest," I said. "I'll be on duty tonight."