How a Salaryman Became an Underworld Boss

“What kind of reward should we give the United States?”

Hearing President Gonzalez’s question, Director Griffin felt a heaviness settle over his heart.

The South Korean government had provided the Philippine Air Force with KGGB guided bombs free of charge. The Philippine Air Force had equipped its FA-50PH light attack aircraft with them and launched a massive strike on Abu Sayyaf’s main stronghold, inflicting damage bordering on total annihilation. On top of that, Carlos’s gang, which had taken refuge in a cave, had only been captured alive thanks to Saho’s outstanding performance. And the North Korean submarines had been successfully seized thanks to the crucial role played by Deputy Director Jo Ilcheol.

Compared to all of that, the role played by the United States amounted to little more than a drop in the ocean. Still, despite his country’s meager contribution, Griffin had no intention of turning down a reward.

“I’ll name two things we’d like in return.”

“Go ahead.”

“I’ve heard that public dissatisfaction with the presence of our troops in the Philippines has been growing.”

“I’m aware of that. I’ll take responsibility and smooth over the public discontent.”

“I would be extremely grateful.”

“There’s no need to thank me. Now tell me the second one.”

“Our country plans to unite the nations bordering the West Philippine Sea to push back against China’s misconduct and form an alliance. Mr. President, I ask for your cooperation so that this alliance can be formed without obstruction.”

President Gonzalez was genuinely grateful to Director Griffin for giving him the perfect opening. Gonzalez himself had been looking for the right opportunity to bring up this very subject with Griffin.

“I’ll provide whatever support is necessary.”

“Thank you. I’ll try to arrange a meeting between the heads of the five countries in the near future.”

“If possible, I’d like the leaders of all five countries to meet here in the Philippines.”

Director Griffin saw straight through President Gonzalez’s intentions. The Philippines was clearly aiming to take the leading role in the alliance. If he understood what Gonzalez was thinking and pretended not to notice, he would be neglecting his duty.

“I’ll be sure to take your request into consideration, Mr. President.”

“Haha. Excellent. Still, aren’t the rewards you’re asking for a little too modest for your country?”

“This is more than enough for us. Now you should speak with Vice Chairman Wei Chen.”

President Gonzalez tilted his head in confusion. That was understandable. His country had absolutely nothing with which to reward Vice Chairman Wei Chen. Yet Director Griffin was clearly hinting that there was some form of compensation available to him. Thinking he might be missing something important, Gonzalez turned to him.

“Vice Chairman Wei, what kind of reward would you like from us?”

“It’s not really a reward. It’s more like returning something that was left in the Philippine government’s custody.”

“Something left in our custody?”

“That’s right. Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui signed a contract to import five hundred million dollars’ worth of North Korean missiles and launchers. Claiming they were short on foreign currency, the North Korean authorities demanded that two hundred fifty million dollars be paid in cash. Vice Chairman Chen prepared one hundred fifty million dollars, and Carlos prepared one hundred million.”

“Vice Chairman Wei is telling the absolute truth.”

Director Santiago joined the conversation to lend weight to Wei Chen’s words.

“I see. Vice Chairman Wei, please continue.”

“Although Chen Zhihui rebelled against me, there’s no denying that he belonged to the Triad. I believe it would be fair for the one hundred fifty million dollars seized from him to be returned to me.”

“I understand. The one hundred fifty million dollars will be returned to you, Vice Chairman Wei.”

At that moment, President Gonzalez noticed Cha Jiham shaking his head doubtfully. Deciding that he shouldn’t ignore the gesture, he turned to him.

“Chief Cha, judging by your reaction, you seem to have a different opinion. Am I right?”

In truth, I had deliberately shaken my head in an obvious way, secretly hoping someone would ask me about it. Fortunately, President Gonzalez had been watching me closely and immediately called on me.

“You’re absolutely right, Mr. President.”

“Can I take that to mean that we don’t necessarily have to pay Vice Chairman Wei Chen the one hundred fifty million dollars?”

“Before I give you my opinion, I’d like to clarify one thing. What do you plan to do with the gold bars seized from Carlos?”

“We’ve decided to sell them.”

What a relief! If they had decided not to sell the gold, the plan I had come up with would have gone straight into the trash.

“I see. In that case, how about entrusting the sale of the gold bars to Vice Chairman Wei Chen?”

“Can Vice Chairman Wei °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° sell the gold?”

“There’s a major jewelry magnate in Hong Kong, Chairman Zhen Weiliang. He and Vice Chairman Wei are close friends.”

“You’re suggesting we sell the gold bars to Chairman Zhen?”

“No. I can’t reveal the buyer’s identity, but it’ll be someone else. Vice Chairman Wei will sell the bars to that buyer with Chairman Zhen’s help.”

President Gonzalez became completely confused. If Vice Chairman Wei Chen sold the gold on behalf of the government, they would have to pay him a commission. On top of that, they would still have to separately return the one hundred fifty million dollars seized from Chen Zhihui. Yet Cha Jiham was saying they wouldn’t have to pay that one hundred fifty million dollars at all.

After explaining his reasoning to Cha Jiham, Gonzalez asked him to clarify things in a way he could understand.

“The current value of five tons of gold bars is about 4.4 billion dollars. Vice Chairman Wei will sell the gold to the buyer for more than 4.4 billion.”

“Chief Cha, one moment.”

Just as expected, Vice Chairman Wei Chen hurriedly cut into the conversation.

“Did you want to say something?”

“To sell the gold to the buyer, we’ll have to offer a discount.”

“Then give them a discount.”

“But then we won’t be able to get 4.4 billion dollars!”

“I’m in constant contact with Chairman Bongard.”

Only then did Vice Chairman Wei Chen seem to realize what Cha Jiham had in mind. He intended to ask Chairman Bongard to drive up the global price of gold.

“Ah! Now I understand what you’re getting at!”

“I assume I don’t need to explain my plan any further?”

“Of course, of course! Give me a couple of minutes to consult with Director Pan Kai.”

Vice Chairman Wei Chen switched to Chinese and turned to Director Pan Kai.

“Let’s say the world price of gold rises by ten percent. How much would five tons of gold bars be worth then?”

Director Pan Kai used the calculator on his phone and, after doing the math, answered Vice Chairman Wei Chen.

“About 4.85 billion dollars.”

“And if we give the buyer a discount of around five percent?”

“It would come out to a little over 4.6 billion.”

“So if we give the Philippine government 4.4 billion dollars, our net profit would be two hundred million.”

“That’s right, Brother-in-law.”

Vice Chairman Wei Chen felt a slight pang of dissatisfaction. After all, that two hundred million dollars included the one hundred fifty million that had been seized from Chen Zhihui.

“Brother-in-law, isn’t our profit a little too small?”

“Not at all, Brother-in-law! You can just ask Chief Cha to raise the price by more than ten percent.”

“That’s true... By the way, who is Chief Cha planning to sell the gold to?”

“Politburo member Liu Peiqi plans to present Chairman Xi Jinping with twenty tons of gold bars. But you and Chairman Zhen were only able to sell him fourteen tons.”

“I understand what you’re saying, but doesn’t he have no money left?”

“He desperately needs to buy another six tons of gold.”

“Now I understand completely.”

After answering briefly, Vice Chairman Wei Chen turned back to me.

“I accept Chief Cha’s proposal.”

I nodded in agreement and turned to President Gonzalez.

“Vice Chairman Wei will sell the gold bars to the buyer, then pay 4.4 billion dollars to the Philippine government.”

“What should we do with the one hundred fifty million dollars seized from Vice Chairman Chen?”

“It’s already in the Philippine treasury. Is there really any point in taking it back out?”

“But then Vice Chairman Wei Chen would have to sell the gold to the buyer for at least 4.55 billion dollars.”

“Vice Chairman Wei will sell the bars for far more than that.”

“Is that really possible?”

“I’ll make it possible.”

President Gonzalez decided to stop asking unnecessary questions. At this point, if Cha Jiham told him the Earth was square, he probably would have believed that too.

“So all I have to do is rely on you, Chief Cha?”

“That’s right.”

“Still... Is Chairman Bongard really capable of influencing the global price of gold that easily?”

I felt the need to dispel President Gonzalez’s doubts.

“Just a few days ago, the global price of gold was hovering around eight hundred fifty thousand dollars per kilogram. For certain reasons, I asked Chairman Bongard to give the market a push, and in just one day the price rose to nine hundred thousand dollars. Considering that, raising it another five percent would be a piece of cake for him.”

“Ah, I see.”

President Gonzalez nodded in understanding.

“Mr. President, may I take that as your agreement to my proposal?”

“You’re helping our country. Why would I refuse?”

“Haha. Understood.”

“It’s almost lunchtime. Shouldn’t we get something to eat?”

“I barely managed to eat anything this morning, so I’m a little hungry. That’s great news.”

“Hahaha!”

President Gonzalez rose from the sofa with a genuinely satisfied laugh.

***

Banquet hall.

My seat had been reserved at the main table.

President Gonzalez, deciding the timing was right, kept asking me one question after another.

“Chief Cha, there’s something I’m curious about. Could you tell me?”

It was better to prepare for any possibility.

“I’ll decide whether I can answer after hearing your question. Is that all right?”

“Of course. Who is Vice Chairman Wei planning to sell the gold bars to?”

I decided to satisfy President Gonzalez’s curiosity.

“To make it easier for you to understand, I’ll first briefly explain the political situation in China.”

“As you wish, Chief Cha.”

“Not long ago, Politburo Standing Committee member Li Hunin suddenly died of a heart attack.”

“Director Santiago has already reported his death to me.”

“In that case, this will be easier to explain. At present, many political heavyweights are aiming for the vacant seat on the Standing Committee. Politburo member Liu Peiqi is one of them.”

“Are you saying the gold bars will be sold to Politburo member Liu?”

“You’re absolutely right, Mr. President.”

At that moment, Director Santiago, who had a question of his own, joined the conversation.

“Chief Cha, what does Politburo member Liu intend to do with the gold bars?”

“To be elected to the Standing Committee, he needs Chairman Xi Jinping’s approval.”

In other words, the gold bars were intended as a bribe for Chairman Xi Jinping.

“Can five tons of gold really buy someone a seat on the Standing Committee?”

“Politburo member Liu devised a plan to present Chairman Xi with twenty tons of gold. So far, he has only managed to obtain fourteen tons.”

“Hmm...”

Director Santiago hesitated, apparently sinking into thought. But the pause didn’t last long.

“Chief Cha, what if our country provides the remaining one ton of gold?”

“I support your proposal, Director Santiago, but we need to hear Politburo member Liu’s opinion first.”

“Then ask him right now.”

“I don’t have Politburo member Liu’s phone number.”

Vice Chairman Wei Chen spoke up at just the right moment, almost as though he had been waiting for this.

“Director Santiago, I know Politburo member Liu’s younger brother very well.”

“Call him immediately.”

Vice Chairman Wei Chen nodded and dialed Director Liu Haoran’s number. After several rings, his puzzled voice came through.

[Vice Chairman Wei, what brings you to the Philippines?]

“Why do businessmen go on business trips? The reason is obvious.”

[It seems I asked a foolish question. May I ask why you’re calling?]

“Right now, I’m beside someone who has an enormous amount of gold.”

[Could it be...]

Vice Chairman Wei Chen understood perfectly why Director Liu Haoran had trailed off.

“Exactly. If Politburo member Liu is interested, he’ll be able to buy gold from this person.”

[How much gold does he have?]

“As far as I know, Politburo member Liu needs six tons of gold bars.”

[I’ll discuss it with my brother and call you back.]

Click.

Liu Haoran, in a hurry, unilaterally hung up the phone.

The very next second, President Gonzalez turned to me impatiently.

“Vice Chairman Wei, well? What did he say?”