Special District 9 Chapter 84: Lurking Shadows

Half a month passed in a flash.

During this period of time, Qin Yu focused his attention on clearing the year-end Tier-2 Police Officer test. Superintendent Li had already made it clear to him that he would be promoted twice by the start of next year to take on the role of a platoon commander. As such, he had to learn how to write incident and quarterly reports so that he could clear the test from the Police Headquarters.

As Qin Yu had his hands full at the moment, he left the medicine route to Old Cat, Zhu Wei, and the others to look after. It was fortunate that Coco’s team was reliable in their deliveries, so there weren’t too many things that they needed to be concerned about.

Ma Lao-er also had his hands full during this period of time as well. He was still in talks with Ol’ Three because it appeared that Yuan Hua was truly interested in sitting down and resolving the conflict once and for all.

On this very day, nine o’clock at night.

Ma Lao-er was seated inside a warehouse, holding a phone up to his ears. He was on a call with Old Ma. “… Ol’ Three has been contacting me over the last few days. He wants us to sit down and talk things over.”

Old Ma contemplated for a moment before replying, “We have been releasing our goods at a discounted price all this while, causing the Yuan Family’s sales to fall rapidly. It’s only natural for Yuan Hua to panic due to that… but I didn’t think that he would propose a reconciliation.

“What’s there to be surprised about?” Ma Lao-er replied. “Yuan Hua is in a different position from us. There are simply too many people who have aligned their interests with him, so he has produce results by hook or by crook, or else he would face the risk of fallout.

“On the other hand, the only intermediary we are dealing with is Qin Yu’s group, so we have a greater degree of freedom as compared to them. As long as we can produce sales, we can operate as we like without consulting Qin Yu. That’s why Yuan Hua is panicking now. As long as he can’t pluck us off by the roots, his sales would only continue to fall. With no results to show, how is he going to face all of the higher-ups and stakeholders backing him? I think that Yuan Hua is sincere about having reconciliation with us, but we should just keep him hanging as long as possible… As long as we can buy enough time, we’ll be able to bring the entire market over to our side!”

Old Ma had been afflicted with a cold recently. He coughed twice before replying, “Don’t just look at things from one perspective. I know what kind of person Yuan Hua is. He’s used to being in a dominant position, he won’t tolerate the existence of another group competing with him for business. Even if he’s putting on a weaker front at the moment, we can’t let our guard down.”

“Uncle, I think you are too cautious about this. That previous incident at Dirt Street has really deflated your guts,” Ma Lao-er rebutted with a frown. “You should know that we have greater leverage in this situation. The cost of our medicine is lower than theirs, and the ones backing Yuan Hua are large companies. His connections need to take a share of the profit too, so he can’t afford to lower his prices by too much…

“So, I don’t think that there’s a need for us to worry too much about them. Besides, we have already taken safety precautions too. Earlier in today’s meeting, I ordered our runners that they are to take no more than 200 grams of medicine with them every day, and they aren’t to release their goods in large bulks. This way, even if they use their connections in the Police Headquarters to crack down on us, they can’t do anything much too. At the very most, our people will just serve a year of jail time or so.”

“It’s good that you took safety precautions, we’ll be in a much more stable position that way. But still, I must still warn you not to let your guard down. It’s going to be the end of the year soon, so you best not stir any trouble for Old Li,” Old Ma instructed grimly.

“Okay okay okay, I got it!” Ma Lao-er replied with a nod. “You should rest well at home for the time being. Don’t worry, I’ll be keeping a lookout on the streets. Nothing will happen during this period of time.”

“Un. Don’t get complacent just because we’re doing better now. Keep a close eye on our warehouse, don’t give them any chance to mess with us.”

“Got it!”

“Good. My head is still hurting a little, so I’ll go sleep a while more.”

“Rest well.”

The uncle and nephew duo chatted for a little longer before hanging up the phone.

…

Ten at night, inside the warehouse.

Ma Lao-er was sitting on a chair, wearing a military shirt. He was fiddling with his phone in boredom, watching an internet broadcast.

The door to the warehouse suddenly opened at this moment, and Liu Zishu walked in. He reminded, “I’ve released another two more crates of goods. We only have less than ten crates left in here now. We’ll probably finish it up by this week. Should we inform Qin Yu to stock up on our goods?”

“Qin Yu is busy studying these days, he doesn’t have time to handle this,” Ma Lao-er replied with a yawn. “I already informed Old Cat about it. A new batch of goods should be coming in the next few days. Make preparations to receive it.”

“Alright.” Liu Zishu nodded.

While watching the variety show on his phone, Ma Lao-er took a puff of smoke and grumbled, “There’s nothing interesting on at all. Sigh! Uncle Zishu, why don’t we get two more guys over and play cards?”

“I can’t. I need to head out later,” Liu Zishu replied as he took a sip of water. “I’m currently talking to a few other distributors operating in the suburbs. They want some goods too, so I’ll be discussing the details with them later on.”

“Goddamnit, what should I do then?” Ma Lao-er was a restless person who couldn’t sit still. He would feel uncomfortable all over if he couldn’t go out for a day.

“Just sit here and watch things.”

“… I’ve been here for a day now. There’s nothing to do at all!” Ma Lao-er complained as he closed the internet broadcast and looked through his contact list.

Di ling ling!

It was at this moment that his phone rang.

Ma Lao-er’s eyes lit up. He immediately received the call. “Hello? Hey Old Cat, you’re missing me?”

“Where are you?” Old Cat asked.

“I’m in the warehouse. What’s wrong?

“Are you free? Old Lu of the Public Security Platoon is with me at the moment,” Old Cat said. “If you have nothing on hand, you should come over and hang out with us. I’ll introduce you to him!”

“Old Lu, the commander of the Public Security Platoon?”

“Yeap, that’s him,” Old Cat replied with a nod. “If you’re busy right now, you can come over tomorrow too. I have some work with him recently, so we often meet one another.”

“I’m free now,” Ma Lao-er immediately shot up to his feet as he replied. “I was going to die of boredom when you called me. Where are you? I’ll head over in a moment’s time.”

“We’re at Second Sis’ place.”

“Roger that. Wait for me,” Ma Lao-er replied as he hung up the phone. Then, he grabbed his coat from the rack by the side.

Liu Zishu was seated on the sofa when he saw Ma Lao-er’s actions. He immediately asked with a frown, “Where are you heading off to now?”

“Old Cat is going to introduce me to the commander of the Public Security Platoon. I need to head over.”

“My ass. You’re just craving alcohol, aren’t you?” Liu Zishu pointed out sharply.

“Like hell! Establishing new connections is work too!” Ma Lao-er shouted as he rushed out of the warehouse. “Little Qu, I’m heading out for a while. Keep a lookout on the warehouse for me. Distribute the medicine according to the limits I have set.”

“Isn’t the keys with you?” a young man on the bottom floor shouted back.

“It’s on the desk. You can use it when you need to. Make sure not to give it to anyone else.”

“Alright, I got it.”

After passing down a few instructions, Ma Lao-er left the warehouse. Liu Zishu also had something up too, so he didn’t stay for too long before leaving for the suburbs too.

…

Eleven at night.

A car was stopped along the street behind the warehouse. A young man got onto the car and asked with a frown, “Did you bring the stuff here?”

“It’s in the car,” the driver said. “He’s not around?”

“Yeah, he left for some gathering,” the young man replied. “Get that stuff in through the backdoor. Hurry up and leave once you are done.”

“Okay.” The driver nodded.

Five minutes later, the driver turned the steering wheel and drove the car away from the area. While cruising along the street, he lowered his head and sent a text message, “Boss, it’s done.”