You Call This a Security Company!?

Mu Yu's absence resulted in Xi Chen dispatching a barrage of disappointed text messages to the elderly Mu Yun, who in turn responded with a frenzied flurry of question marks and confused emoticons. The elderly man's surprisingly aptitude in micromanaging the complex and infuriatingly incomprehensible modern system of communication caused the youth to pause his breath in awe.

This skill and talent at mastering the innumerable web of twenty-six square pixel hieroglyphs, he could rival a teenage girl experiencing her first budding for women's' love for gossip! He even got a few ASCII emoticons of tables being flipped, and a couple index fingers waggling at his direction…

"Forget it. Why did he send such an unreliable person on an errand – is the company in that dire of a circumstance?"

He didn't remember Tianming Corporation ever experiencing this severe of financial crisis and strain that Mu Yun couldn't even dispatch a proper secretary to deliver confidential information��

Xi Chen sighed, and departed from the coffee shop with a disgusted expression. He coughed and wiped his face clean of any distaste, and boarded the next public transport that arrived. As he listened to the monotonic voice calling out one stop after another, the youth gazed at the notes he had jotted down on his smartphone.

Clear Rivers Security Company.

It was a relic of the past, one formed by a group of Chinese-American retired military affiliates after experiencing the gruesome and hellish tactics in the Vietnam War. Once they had immigrated back into Hua, they – with the country's limited arrangement of employment available at that time for people their age with inconsistent employment history and status as now-foreign, former military veterans, they had banded together to form the Clear Rivers Security Company, a private military corporation that could provide protection services for any prospective clients. For the then-booming Jiangbei opening its gates to the tantalizing breath of modernism, the great influx of incoming rich magnates and their nigh uncontrollable Young Masters and Young Misses and their chaotic, lethal behavior ensured that Clear Rivers Security Company had job offer after job offer for years at a time.

But… now the initial veterans boasting great skill and tact had retired and were long since entering solidly into their elderly years, and the task members affiliated with the corporation could achieve a mere shell of its former past. Many investors hurriedly sold all of their accumulated shares, and the company plummeted in income year after year. Yet today, Xi Chen was here to do the complete opposite.

If – if and only if history would follow the general trend that was reflected in his memories, the Clear Rivers Security Company was bound to receive a great boon, a midsummer rain after decades of famine. This wasn't to imply that he had the intention of grasping the bull by its horns, but there was always the temptation…

"Don't try to tamper with fate if it's possible… is that what the ancients of business stated?" Xi Chen mused, and tapped on the screen.

"I'll try to invest one million RMB and if possible, acquire representative rights. The connections are more important in this case, not the dividends."

If he wanted dividends, the annual return from Tianming Corporation that he was to receive would be sufficient to bring any villager's boy great happiness. Xi Chen had enjoyed his fill of earning great amounts of money, and now sought after the second-most powerful nature of the modern world.

Connections.

"In Jiangbei, there are Sun, Ming, Cao, Zhang, and Zhu. To topple the Zhang Family, I will need the support of Sun and Ming… this is going to be difficult."

Particularly difficult… as all he saw – all he stood before… was a broken-down warehouse building. The door was half-ajar and accompanied by the dense reek of rusted iron, and the nameplate of 'Clear Rivers Security' dangled precariously from a nearly rotten bolt someone had carelessly tapped into its threaded hole and left without attaching a locking nut. There was nobody standing guard before the entrance – if the half-baked, nearly destroyed vinyl door qualified as an 'entrance' of a security company.

Xi Chen rubbed at his eyes and blinked rapidly, but the scenery before him refused to change. In the end, the youth was forced to holster his shoulder bag, and stride into the darkened warehouse.

His first impression was that the lightning was insufferably dark, and the smell of cigarette was far too intense.

Emptied and dried barrels of petrol and remnant containers of Agent Orange – the infamous 'Western Uncle' of the Vietnam War were proudly stacked to form a royal procession throughout the warehouse. Xi Chen slowly walked through the simple, crude maze created by the barrels and solitary light bulb hanging from the sloped ceiling, until he stopped before a table occupied by seven men busily playing cards.

Their voices were rowdy and unrestrained, yet the soft tapping of a leather sole caused their ears to twitch. A man seated at the far left of the square table perched his head against his palms, and glared at Xi Chen's silhouette.

"Oi, you whelp. Don't hide in the shadows, come and properly stand before Brother Long if you have a commission."

There was a soft pause, and the voice that emerged from the shadows caused their hearts to twitch, and the veins in their wrists to painfully bulge.

"Is this the Clear Rivers Security Company, or is this an underground gang?"

"You didn't read the signboard, eh – you little brat! An underground gang!? How rude!"

The seven men slapped their cards onto the table and rose to their feet, anger smoldering in their hearts. The man referred by the others as 'Brother Long' spread his arms to the sides to quell the movements of his compatriots, and instead directed a cautionary glance towards Xi Chen veiled in the darkness.

"This Fellow here – it is rude to converse while hiding in the dark. Why not step forwards so we can hear and assess your commission?"

"No commission. I came here to invest, but I'm hellbent on changing my decision."

The miraculous keyword triggered a tumultuous gale to flutter in their hearts, and the gazes of the seven men changed drastically. Some were of bewilderment, others of hope, and one of hatred – but all seven trained their senses onto the thin silhouette, their blood pumping with melted adrenaline.

"How much… were you originally intending to invest?"

"One million RMB."

The man surnamed Long balked at the number tossed from Xi Chen's lips, and felt his heartbeat quicken. He glanced around to realize that his compatriots were experiencing the same adrenaline rush, and directed a hopeful glance to the source of the youthful voice.

"I am the CEO of Clear Rivers Security Company, Long Aotian. Your contributions will be greatly appreciated by us brothers," Long Aotian quipped with a short bow.

"One million RMB is quite a significant amount to invest. In exchange, how about… 7% of the company's shares?"

7%!?

Xi Chen's lips curled in derision, and he immediately began to question the timeline of events reflected in his memory. The youth shifted his position to better conceal his position in the darkness provided by the inadequate lighting, and his voice was now laced with a layer of coldness.

"7% market share for one million RMB in liquid investment. Are you insane, or has Clear Rivers Security Company the heart and bloodline of a heavenly dragon or phoenix?"

The members immediately bristled with anger at the directed insult, but Long Aotian managed to retain control over his compatriots after a few hushed gestures. The man lightly coughed and adjusted the hem of his sweater, and replied with beads of sweat trickling down his brow.

"Young man, 7% of a legitimate company's market share is still a sizeable amount. It is more money that you can ever earn with a white-collar job – and the dividends equate to quite a significant sum! Especially since contracts will start rolling in again this sea –"

"The corporation's headquarters are stationed in an abandoned fishery drying warehouse, you've got empty cans of questionable and illegal material stacked up to form a bizarre maze of some sorts, and your signboard is hanging from a rusty, 30-year old bolt," Xi Chen sneered.

"From the public financial listings and information submitted to the market agencies, your company is 500,000 RMB in hard debt, and is losing 7,000 RMB each week. You're barely managing to maintain afloat from contracts with local sharkheads in maintaining their sweatshops' employees, and even then, the return isn't great. This – this is a corporation worth 15 million RMB?"

Each successive number caused Long Aotian's expression to worsen until the veins on the bridge of his nose threatened to burst if provoked further. The man harrumphed and plopped himself onto the edge of the table, and directed a baleful glare towards the youth whose appearance was concealed. He truly couldn't find an avenue to retort, for everything Xi Chen noted was public information, and he knew the details to heart.

"Then what do you want with your one million RMB? Don't tell me – you want to replace me as CEO when you haven't weaned yourself?"

"51% of the company's shares. I don't care about your position as CEO."

The provocative intent within Long Aotian's words were parried with a cold and indifferent statement. The atrocious number quoted by Xi Chen immediately prompted one of the men to burst into fury, and he slapped his meaty palm onto the table, producing a sizeable dent onto the plastic surface.

"51% of the company's shares – you want to reduce Brother Long into a figurehead!? In your dreams, brat –"

"You have yet to obtain any commissions since three months ago, and the loan managing to keep your debtor away is just about to expire with their grace period. Soon, they too, will knock on your… rusty door, and they will slap a high interest rate on your Brother Long's wide forehead. You want that miserly fate of scraping to pay away loans, or do you want to wipe the slate clean?"

Xi Chen emphatically slammed the nail on the coffin's head, silencing the angered men until their throats sealed themselves to prevent unnecessary outbursts. Long Aotian's forehead glistened with emotional rivulets of sweat, and he ultimately released a hoarse, exhausted sigh.

"You… you're really going to invest one million into this company? If I surrender 51% of the shares to you?"

"Brother Long! You mustn't – this is our fathers' legacy!"

"Brother Long! Please think again!"

The men began to complain, but the affirmative from Xi Chen caused Long Aotian to stand firm with newfound resolve. The man steeled his nerves and bounced onto his heels, revealing a cold snarl.

"Good. Once you bring one million RMB in cash and a formed contract, we can start the transfer."