How a Salaryman Became an Underworld Boss

“Department Head Cha wants to know why you wished to meet with him, CEO Du.”

Having provided an opportunity for the two sides to talk, Vice Chairman Wei Chen stepped into the background.

Du Zhiguo, CEO of BYG Auto, gave him a slight nod of thanks before turning to me.

“I have a question for you, Department Head Cha. Are you really on close terms with President Douglas?”

I had never even met President Douglas in person. Yet for some reason, CEO Du Zhiguo believed the two of us were close friends.

Of course, I could have mentioned Advisor Graff and vaguely confirmed that connection. However, I had absolutely no desire to sell my conscience just to make a deal with him.

“I’m sorry, but I’ve never personally met President Douglas.”

CEO Du Zhiguo turned toward Vice Chairman Wei Chen. As though he had read Du’s mind, Wei Chen answered without the slightest hesitation.

“Department Head Cha regularly speaks with Advisor Graff, Douglas’s closest confidant, over the phone. And after every conversation, Advisor Graff reports its contents to the President. Although they have never met in person, you can’t exactly say there is no connection between them.”

“And what do you think of Vice Chairman Wei’s assessment, Department Head Cha?”

‘Well, he’s basically right.’

“It’s true that I’m on friendly terms with Advisor Graff. However, I don’t know whether he reports the contents of our conversations to President Douglas.”

“He’s his right-hand man and personal advisor, so of course he reports to him.”

Since CEO Du Zhiguo had reached that conclusion himself, there was no point in arguing with him.

“If that’s what you believe, then I have nothing more to add.”

“In that case, let’s consider it settled that you have connections with President Douglas.”

“I’d appreciate it if you left it at that.”

“Now I’ll tell you why I wanted to meet with you.”

“I’m listening.”

“At present, our country’s economy is suffering from a severe slump. Our company, BYG Auto, which manufactures electric vehicles, is also on the brink. We were already barely hanging on through EV exports, and now President Douglas has raised import tariffs from 25% to 100%. Could you perhaps make an effort, Department Head Cha, to persuade him to lower the tariffs back to their previous level?”

At present, Chinese automakers were exporting electric vehicles at prices bordering on dumping. As a result, automakers all over the world, including those in South Korea, were suffering.

Why in the world would I agree to Du Zhiguo’s request if I were in my right mind?

Still, I didn’t voice my true thoughts directly.

“President Douglas won the election by promoting a policy of ‘nationalist conservatism.’ Moreover, public support for his policies has reached its highest level since he took office. In other words, the public fully supports the policies he’s pursuing.”

I paused to catch my breath before continuing.

“To successfully win reelection for a second term, President Douglas will most likely strengthen his ‘nationalist conservative’ policies even further.”

“Are you implying that import tariffs on electric vehicles could rise even higher? Is that true?”

“According to Advisor Graff, he intends to completely destroy China’s electric vehicle industry. Within the next year or two, he plans to raise EV import tariffs to 200%.”

“Oh, damn it...”

Faced with such a bleak prospect, Du Zhiguo looked up at the ceiling and let out a heavy sigh.

Even so, I didn’t feel the slightest urge to show him mercy.

“Recently, the European Union also raised import tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles to 46.3%. But you should keep in mind that the rate could rise as high as 100%.”

“One hundred percent?!”

“Not long ago, Advisor Graff met with EU leaders on a secret assignment from President Douglas.”

“Haa...”

The heavy sigh that seemed capable of making the ground cave in fully reflected Du Zhiguo’s despair.

“For BYG Auto to survive, the best solution would be to focus on the domestic market.”

“We’d gladly do that, but the domestic market is already oversaturated!”

“If you look around carefully, you may find a ‘blue ocean’ market.”

“A ‘blue ocean’ market? What do you mean?”

“You’d be better off asking Director Pan Kai for the details.”

“Me?” Pan Kai asked in surprise, pointing at himself.

“You told me about it yourself a couple of days ago.”

“Ah, you mean that?”

“Director Pan, hurry up and tell me what you’re talking about!” Du Zhiguo cut in impatiently before I could speak.

“Recently, I heard from a high-ranking official in the Ministry of National Defense that our country’s military is planning to purchase electric vehicles for use as military vehicles.”

“Electric vehicles for the military?”

“The biggest drawback of electric vehicles was the difficulty of recharging them. But with the development of mobile charging stations, that problem has largely been resolved. In addition, this project is intended to support the stagnant economy.”

“Ah, now I understand what you mean.”

“Decision-making authority over the military EV procurement project rests with Vice Chairman Tang Guochang.”

“Of course. That makes sense.”

“I heard Vice Chairman Tang is here right now.”

CEO Du Zhiguo instantly caught the implication behind Pan Kai’s words. Pan Kai was effectively giving him a hint: meet with Vice Chairman Tang Guochang right now and lobby him.

Du Zhiguo himself desperately wanted to meet with him, but how could he go empty-handed?

He openly explained his predicament to Pan Kai.

“Vice Chairman Tang is a devout Buddhist.”

“I’m not quite sure what you’re getting at, Director Pan.”

Pan Kai didn’t answer. He merely shifted his gaze toward the golden Buddha statue standing in the corner of the living room.

Only then did Du Zhiguo grasp the situation. Pan Kai was hinting that he should present the golden Buddha statue to Vice Chairman Tang Guochang as a gift.

“Director Pan, weren’t you selling that golden Buddha statue to Department Head Cha?”

“Then all you have to do is offer a higher price than Department Head Cha.”

Only now did I figure out Vice Chairman Wei Chen and Pan Kai’s true scheme. From the very beginning, they had intended to sell the golden Buddha statue to CEO Du Zhiguo. That was why they had arranged everything to make it appear as though the statue belonged to Wei Chen.

Now that I had seen through their little scheme, pretending I hadn’t noticed anything would have been criminal negligence.

“Director Pan, I believe doing this goes against business ethics.”

“Department Head Cha, you understand the situation BYG Auto is in, don’t you?”

“Of course I do, but I desperately need this golden Buddha statue too.”

“I’ll take responsibility for finding you another golden Buddha statue, so please yield this time.”

“Department Head Cha, please consider our company’s situation and give way just this once!” Du Zhiguo joined Pan Kai in pleading with me.

Deciding that this was more than enough, I chose the right moment to bow out.

“Phew... Well, if that’s how it is, I suppose there’s nothing I can do. If the deal goes through, you owe me some expensive drinks!”

“Hahaha! Deal!”

Pan Kai deliberately burst into loud laughter and got down to business with Du Zhiguo.

“CEO Du, shall we discuss the terms of the deal?”

“My meeting with Vice Chairman Tang Guochang could still fall through, so wait a little.”

Du Zhiguo took out his phone and stepped away to call Tang Guochang.

Seizing the opportunity, I turned to Vice Chairman Wei Chen.

“That golden Buddha statue belonged to Politburo member Liu Peiqi.”

“I’m well aware of that, but...”

I knew perfectly well why Wei Chen had trailed off.

“That golden Buddha statue is one of a kind. As it passes from Du Zhiguo’s hands to Vice Chairman Tang Guochang, rumors will inevitably spread.”

“Naturally. So what would be the best way to deal with that problem?”

“The best method would be to melt the statue down and recast it.”

“I would do the same myself, but CEO Du may object.”

“Human greed knows no bounds. If we make use of that...”

I explained in detail how he should handle Du Zhiguo.

“...He may object, so you need to guide the conversation naturally.”

“I understand what you mean.”

As Vice Chairman Wei Chen nodded, Du Zhiguo returned. Judging by the smile playing on his lips, the meeting with Vice Chairman Tang Guochang had been arranged.

As soon as he sat down on the sofa, Wei Chen asked,

“Did you get through to Vice Chairman Tang?”

“We agreed to have lunch together today.”

“That quickly?”

“It just worked out that way. Have the chef prepare lunch.”

“Don’t tell me...”

“Exactly. We agreed to meet right here.”

Wei Chen had expected Du Zhiguo and Vice Chairman Tang Guochang to meet somewhere outside the villa. But they had decided to hold the meeting right here. That created a problem: he and Cha Jiham would have to leave the house.

“CEO Du, wouldn’t it be better to meet Vice Chairman Tang somewhere outside?”

“But I need to show him the golden Buddha statue!”

“I understand, but you might run into us.”

“I already told him that Vice Chairman Wei and Department Head Cha are here.”

“...And what did he say?”

“He said he’d like to have lunch with the two of you as well.”

“With Department Head Cha too?”

“I explained to him who Department Head Cha is.”

Director Griffin had assessed Vice Chairman Tang Guochang as an extremely ambitious man. I had long wanted to see just how accurate his assessment was. And now, completely by chance, I had been given an opportunity to meet Tang Guochang in such an unexpected place.

While I was thinking about how conveniently everything was falling into place, the conversation between Wei Chen and Du Zhiguo continued.

“I’m curious. How did Vice Chairman Tang react?”

“He was astonished when I told him Department Head Cha has close ties with President Douglas.”

“Haha, I see.”

“We don’t have much time, so let’s discuss the terms of the deal for the golden Buddha statue.”

Remembering his conversation with Cha Jiham, Wei Chen resumed negotiations with Du Zhiguo.

“Before we begin negotiations, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Go ahead.”

“Department Head Cha pointed out that the Buddha statue is a little too small.”

“Hmm. Now that I look at it closely, I suppose it is.”

“I’m glad you agree. We took Department Head Cha’s opinion into consideration and decided to recast the Buddha statue, increasing its height to 1.7 meters. If we sell only the statue, the gold we prepared will become useless.”

“How much gold have you prepared?”

“Five hundred kilograms.”

“I suppose there’s no helping it. I’ll buy that gold as well.”

Du Zhiguo replied in a displeased tone, as though he felt he was being taken advantage of. Of course, Vice Chairman Wei Chen already had a move prepared to restore his good mood.

“We’d be extremely grateful. As thanks for your generosity, we’ll give you a 1% discount on the price.”

“You’ll really give me that discount?”

It took only a couple of seconds for Du Zhiguo’s aggrieved tone to return to normal.

“Of course. However, you’ll only be able to receive the five hundred kilograms of gold tomorrow.”

“That’s an easy concession for me to make. Vice Chairman Wei, do you have a lot of gold in reserve?”

Cha Jiham had taken 5,150 kilograms of gold from Politburo member Liu Peiqi’s villa in Macau. Vice Chairman Wei Chen had bought the bars from him at a 7% discount to the LBMA price. As a precaution, the bars had been melted down and recast, after which half were sold to Chairman Zhen Weiliang. That left him with another roughly 2,500 kilograms of gold. Unfortunately, he couldn’t tell Du Zhiguo the whole truth.

“I bought it specifically to resell to Department Head Cha.”

“I see.”

“I’m willing to sell you the golden Buddha statue and five hundred kilograms of gold at a 3% discount to the LBMA price.”

“Isn’t that discount a little stingy?”

“I bought it myself at a 5% discount to the LBMA price.”

“Hmm...”

Du Zhiguo hesitated and thoughtfully stroked his chin. Vice Chairman Wei Chen waited calmly, already knowing what decision he would make.

After a while, Du Zhiguo finally spoke.

“If you agree to one condition of mine, I’ll buy everything at a 3% discount to the LBMA price.”