Chapter 480: Chapter 480

Under the influence of alcohol, the already down-and-out Guan Zhigang became more and more convinced that there was something to gain.

"Damn, each one thinks low of me? I’ll go all out and do something big! You all were unkind first, don’t blame me for being ruthless. Dark business? I’ve done it before."

Thinking about the bitter days of these five years, compared to how Chen Likai and his group of ’bosses’ are living increasingly luxurious lives, he felt more and more unwilling.

If it weren’t for that mistake made back then, would any of you be stepping over me now?

Damn it, each one of you won’t be better off, anyway, I’m barefooted, not afraid of those with shoes!

The fake submissiveness that came from being suppressed by long-term supervision after just getting out was quickly washed away by the impact of money interests and resentment.

Originally thinking of starting over by joining friends, but now, starting over for what? Honestly guarding a place doesn’t make money as fast as taking advantage.

"Buddy, want to make a big score?" Stomach full and decision made, a slightly tipsy Guan Zhigang signaled for them to follow him out of the little restaurant, and the three of them squatted at the street corner discussing how to utilize social media to make a network fortune.

Of course, his real plan wasn’t for these two young brats he just met to know. He just borrowed their internet skills and their ready bank cards to receive money with, using them as a stepping stone.

The Zhao Kai Xuan brothers, however, felt they were getting a bargain. The platform account was ready, the bank card was linked, so if they made money by promoting and selling, how it is divided is still up to them, right?

They didn’t think a nearly fifty-year-old ex-convict severely out of touch with society posed any threat.

They acted immediately, Zhao Kaifeng was responsible for compiling Guan Zhigang’s dictated story, embellishing it to make it more attractive; Zhao Kai Xuan was responsible for sourcing audio material, waiting to edit and upload after the dictation audio was recorded.

Through this opportunity, Guan Zhigang learned about Zhao Kai Xuan’s account, understood the mechanics of selling goods through the account’s shop, and felt more at ease.

Using "finding friends to send gifts and fake orders to create hype" as an excuse, he set up a virtual product link, agreeing that from today on any fake order or reward income would be split three-seven, with the Zhao Kai Xuan brothers taking three and him taking seven. Updates are released by 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹·𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒·𝗇𝗲𝘁

In five years, no matter how much the outside world changed, some things still operated in a fixed pattern.

Guan Zhigang quickly found a channel to buy hidden camera equipment with the money he had, and after everything was ready, it was already past midnight. Jiang Yuan had left after his performance at the Blue Diamond Bar, and the real nightlife was just beginning.

After the performance, the bar opened its doors wide to attract guests. Guan Zhigang, carrying hidden camera equipment, mixed in with the Zhao Kai Xuan brothers, starting from the Blue Diamond Bar, using his remaining influence to take the ’two youngsters’ to see the underworld.

From the indecent battlefield to the casino, to secretly filming pill distribution deals, Guan Zhigang smoothly navigated to five underground places he knew for transactions, relying on his connections.

After filming, he used Zhao Kai Xuan’s computer to hide and store the footage, then used Zhao Kaifeng’s ID to get a new SIM card and formally began extortion.

"Damn, it has to be that old bastard Guan behind this, those young punks playing extortion with me?" The KK Bar owner saw the secretly filmed footage and the extortion message and laughed in anger, asking how such outdated methods from years ago were still being used?

Yet he soon realized that the most basic and outdated methods paired with modern networks really posed an unsolvable problem—Guan Zhigang had specifically filmed several familiar faces among regulars, some of whom were local figures of repute.

If it got exposed online, while deleting the videos and claiming AI face-swapping tech could easily resolve the crisis, the main issue lay in the exposure of the untouchable guests’ privacy; this would definitely have a severe impact on KK Bar’s reputation.

"A hundred thousand isn’t much. Consider it as buying their three lives. Send someone to check, find those three punks, and do it cleanly." While ordering ten thousand in virtual goods from the link to stabilize the extortionists, he sent people to resolve it, aiming to make them disappear before the money could be cashed out.

"Bro, our little shop actually sold goods worth hundreds of thousands with lots of gifts being sent!" Zhao Kaifeng lying on the bed in their rental room, was so excited seeing large amounts of money coming in that he jumped up, lowered his voice, and said: "Didn’t expect Big Saber to have some clout still..."

However, he soon felt something wrong, "Hey, if he could get friends to do so many fake orders, why didn’t he just take the money himself?"

Zhao Kai Xuan, busy editing, didn’t even raise his head as he replied, "Big Saber said that those current bosses were his lackeys back then; to let him manage the place hurts his pride.

He doesn’t have other skills, and even if he borrowed money, after spending he still ends up with nothing. Now by sending us fake orders and gifts, it’s like investing in start-up capital, got it?

When Big Saber’s memoir gets up and running, we can use the funds to boost the account’s popularity and traffic, earn money, and that would all be paid back!"

"Oh, is that so? Then this money..." Zhao Kaifeng cautiously glanced outside; the place was provided by Big Saber, and they had been holed up in the rental tinkering with memoir audios without going out the past days. Now that Big Saber was out for food, only the brothers were in, he quietly asked: "We can clearly see how much money is coming in, we only get thirty percent, and if we have to pay back money later, do we have to pay as well?"

Zhao Kai Xuan gave him a look, "Pay back what? That thirty percent is our fee for using the account. If the audio earns money, the major portion still goes to him, so he must pay back himself.

Look at his influence, though he’s fallen, doing some activities still gets nearly a million! But the cash out takes a few days, we would’ve made a quick three hundred thousand by now..."

The brothers were idly chatting, imagining what to buy with the thirty thousand after cashing out.

After saving the edited audio, Zhao Kai Xuan brushed past and noticed that the hidden items setting in the computer files was actually on.

Weird, the files downloaded on his computer were all openly in the E drive, what else needed hiding?

He wondered, clicked to cancel the hidden items, and discovered large files hidden in the C drive—videos of underground transactions at various bars!

"Damn!" Zhao Kai Xuan felt a chill down his back, everything from these past days pieced together!

The rundown place provided by Big Saber, using editing as an excuse to keep them from going out, the hidden videos, the large amounts of money coming in...

"It’s over, let’s go report to the police!" His face went white, and he said with a trembling voice, "That old bastard is definitely extorting, using our account to collect money! Maybe... those people from the underworld are already looking for us these days!"

"Going to the police isn’t walking into a trap?" Zhao Kaifeng also panicked, "Don’t forget that bar owners have connections, what if..."

"Then report it from another location! We were forced onto this pirate ship, we need to take them all down to ensure we’re safe from revenge!"

"What about the money? If they investigate thoroughly, it’s considered dirty money, isn’t it?"

"First take a ride to another city, then buy a USB to copy the videos for anonymous reporting, we should stealthily and carefully think things over to see if we could turn the tables on them and take the money for ourselves!"