Chapter 331: Looks Like You’re Aiming for Two Targets at Once?

“What did you say?!”

When I spoke with Vice Chairman Tang Guochang on the phone two days ago, I hadn’t mentioned that I was going to China. So when I suddenly told him that I was calling from China itself, he was openly stunned.

“Haha. I had my reasons.”

“What brought you to our country in such a hurry?”

“What reason could I possibly have other than meeting you, Vice Chairman Tang?”

“I know perfectly well that’s a lie, but I’ll pretend I believe you.”

“I’d be sincerely grateful. We’re staying at a luxurious mansion in Langfang.”

“If you’re staying there instead of central Beijing, I assume there’s a reason for that too?”

“I’ll explain everything later. I need to meet with you as soon as possible, Vice Chairman Tang.”

“Damn... I’d be glad to, but my schedule is completely packed today.”

Deputy Secretary Zhang Jinan was planning to present the gold to Chairman Xi Jinping tomorrow morning. If I didn’t meet Tang Guochang until tomorrow, the entire plan I had put together would fall apart. I had to see him today no matter what.

“Vice Chairman Tang, you’ll have to postpone or cancel your appointments.”

“What the hell happened over there?!”

“It directly concerns the dream you’ve been cherishing.”

“Hmm...”

Tang Guochang hesitated, clearly lost in thought. I knew perfectly well what was running through his mind, so I patiently waited. After a while, having finally made up his mind, he said,

“Director Cha, where should I go?”

“I’ll text you the address as soon as we finish this call.”

“Understood. I’ll get there as fast as I can.”

Click.

In a hurry, Tang Guochang was the first to end the call. As soon as I lowered the phone from my ear, Director Griffin looked at me with interest.

“You had a reason for not telling Tang Guochang the real purpose of your visit to China, didn’t you?”

“I figured the phone call might drag on too long if I went into all the details, so I didn’t.”

After answering him, I immediately sent the mansion’s address to Vice Chairman Tang.

***

“Vice Chairman, what happened all of a sudden?”

Tang Guochang was supposed to preside over a meeting of the senior command staff from all branches of the armed forces that afternoon. But when he suddenly decided to postpone it, Commander Wang Dazhong stared at him in confusion. Naturally, Tang Guochang couldn’t reveal the real reason, so he made up an excuse on the spot.

“I think I ate something bad for lunch. My stomach hurts so much I can barely stand it.”

“Could it be... food poisoning?”

“That’s what I’m thinking too. I’d better go to the hospital.”

“Understood. In that case, when should we reschedule the command meeting?”

“I’ll see a doctor first and decide afterward. I’ll let you know.”

Groaning and clutching his lower abdomen, Tang Guochang grimaced as he rose from his chair.

***

Tang Guochang couldn’t shake the vague feeling that something was strange.

The reason was that Chairman Zhen Weiliang was among the people waiting to greet him.

‘Why did Director Cha invite Chairman Zhen here?’

As that question ran through his mind, the driver gently pressed the brake and brought the car to a stop. Tang Guochang quickly opened the door and got out. Zhen Weiliang immediately stepped forward to greet him.

“Vice Chairman Tang, it’s been a long time.”

“It’s good to see you too, but...”

Zhen Weiliang understood perfectly well why he had trailed off.

“Director Cha will explain why I’m here.”

Tang Guochang’s gaze shifted toward me. Reading the unspoken question in his eyes, I didn’t drag things out.

“It’s terribly hot outside. Why don’t we go inside and continue our conversation somewhere cool?”

“Let’s do that.”

After giving a curt reply, Tang Guochang strode toward the house.

However, the moment he stepped inside, he frowned in confusion again.

Waiting for him inside with cheerful smiles were people he had never met before: one Korean and two Americans.

While he stood there trying to figure out what was going on, I spoke first.

“Vice Chairman Tang, allow me to introduce them. This is NIS Director Om Giyeon, CIA Director Griffin, and FBI Director Nevers.”

“Oh, I see! Director Om, Director Griffin, Director Nevers, please forgive me for not recognizing you immediately.”

“It’s quite all right. For security reasons, we couldn’t greet you outside.”

“I completely understand your position, so don’t worry about it.”

“I’m glad you understand. We’ve prepared a meeting room in the basement. Shall we head down?”

After descending to the basement, we took our seats around the table.

Tang Guochang greedily raised a bottle of mineral water to his lips, took several large gulps, then slapped the empty plastic bottle down on the table and stared at me.

“Director Cha, tell me what’s going on.”

“You know that Deputy Secretary Zhang Jinan and Politburo member Liu Peiqi are locked in a desperate struggle for a seat on the Politburo Standing Committee, correct?”

“Of course.”

“Both of them intend to present gold to Chairman Xi as a gift. At the moment, Liu Peiqi has collected roughly fourteen tons, while Zhang Jinan has around thirty-one tons.”

For a moment, Tang Guochang doubted his own ears.

Zhang Jinan had managed to obtain far more gold than he had expected.

Stunned, he asked me how Zhang had managed to acquire such an enormous amount of precious metal.

“This morning, Chairman Zhen sold Deputy Secretary Zhang twelve tons of gold.”

“Now I understand. But how did you find out that Zhang has exactly thirty-one tons?”

“This morning, NIS operatives infiltrated his safe house and counted it themselves.”

“Wait... His safe house is in Langfang?”

“That’s right, Vice Chairman Tang. His hideout is practically right next door.”

“Ah, so that’s why you decided to stay in Langfang!”

“Exactly. Moving on, Politburo member Liu Peiqi has set his sights on Zhang Jinan’s gold.”

It wasn’t difficult for Tang Guochang to figure out Liu Peiqi’s plan.

He intended to eliminate Zhang Jinan and seize his gold, then personally present it to Chairman Xi Jinping.

“So that bastard is aiming for two targets at once? He wants to kill two birds with one stone?”

“You’re absolutely right, Vice Chairman Tang.”

“Then how do we ruin his dirty plan?”

“For the time being, we simply need to watch what he does.”

“I don’t understand your logic at all, Director Cha.”

“Listen carefully to what I’m about to say, and everything will become clear.”

“Go on, then.”

“Tonight, Zhang Jinan will summon Secretary Deng Zhiping to his safe house.”

I explained in detail the chain of events that was supposed to unfold that night. Whenever my explanation wasn’t enough, NIS Director Om Giyeon and the others stepped in and supplied the necessary details.

“...So all you need to do, Vice Chairman Tang, is watch how everything unfolds and then sweep up the trash afterward.”

“I understand what you’re getting at, but shouldn’t we first put a bell around the cat’s neck?”

By the “cat,” Tang Guochang meant none other than Liu Peiqi.

“Right now, that ‘cat’ is on the verge of panic and beside himself with urgency.”

“You’re saying he’ll contact us himself?”

“I believe there’s a very high probability of that.”

“All right, let’s assume that happens. Then what about the gold being kept at Zhang’s safe house?”

It was obvious that Tang Guochang had set {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} his sights on taking the gold bars Zhang Jinan had collected.

But I had entirely different plans for them.

“You must personally hand Zhang Jinan’s gold over to Chairman Xi.”

“Explain why I should do that.”

“Secretary Deng Zhiping will personally come to the safe house and see the precious metal with his own eyes.”

“But we can solve that problem simply by eliminating Secretary Deng!”

“Vice Chairman Tang, you know the meaning of the saying, ‘Lose the greater by chasing after the lesser,’ don’t you?”

At that moment, Tang Guochang looked as though he had been struck over the head.

The thirty-one tons of gold Zhang Jinan had collected were worth roughly thirty-one billion dollars.

But Secretary Deng Zhiping personally controlled Xi Jinping’s seventy-five-billion-dollar secret slush fund.

If Deng Zhiping was eliminated, any chance of getting their hands on that enormous pool of black money would disappear forever.

There was no reason to risk such a massive prize just to seize Zhang’s gold.

“Director Cha, I admit I was being shortsighted.”

“Anyone in your position would be tempted to take Zhang’s ownerless gold.”

“Thank you for understanding. But what about the fourteen tons of gold Liu Peiqi has?”

Liu Peiqi wouldn’t be able to present the precious metal to Chairman Xi anyway.

Tang Guochang understood that just as well as I did, which was why he had his eye on Liu’s stash.

Naturally, I was thinking along the same lines. But considering the risk of deviating from the plan, I needed to be careful with my wording.

“Let’s decide what to do about that after we deal with the more urgent matters.”

Bzzz! Bzzz!

At that moment, the smartphone in Vice Chairman Wei Chen’s hand vibrated with an incoming call.

After looking at the screen, he announced that General Manager Liu Haoran was calling and calmly pressed the answer button.

“Director Liu, I’m listening.”

“Vice Chairman Wei, are you able to talk right now?”

Liu Haoran’s voice came cautiously through the phone.

Wei Chen could have taken advantage of his nervousness and pressured him, but knowing that would only drag out the conversation, he chose a different approach.

“Of course. I’m entirely at your disposal.”

“Excellent. How did the gold deal between Chairman Zhen and Deputy Secretary Zhang go?”

“We successfully closed the deal at around eleven this morning.”

“What?!”

Liu Haoran’s loud, stunned shout practically blasted through the speaker.

Wei Chen understood perfectly well why he was so shocked.

Cha Jiham had mobilized an operational team and artificially driven gold prices up by more than ten percent.

Liu Haoran had been absolutely convinced that the sudden price surge would cause the negotiations between Zhen Weiliang and Zhang Jinan to collapse.

The news that the deal had gone through despite his calculations left him stunned.

“Director Liu, you’re going to rupture my eardrums!”

“Sorry. I just couldn’t help myself.”

“Haha, I’m only joking.”

“Still, how did you manage to close the deal when gold prices had risen so sharply?”

“Deputy Secretary Zhang was convinced that Politburo member Liu was about to seize the initiative and get ahead of him.”

“But we made it perfectly clear that we didn’t have the money to purchase the precious metal!”

“He decided that Mr. Liu was simply bluffing and putting on a show.”

“Well... that does sound like him. So how much did he end up paying for the gold?”

Wei Chen had absolutely no intention of telling him the truth.

“Chairman Zhen did exactly as Mr. Liu requested. He skinned him alive and charged him an outrageous price.”

“Ah, I see what you mean! Please convey my sincere gratitude to Chairman Zhen for a job well done.”

“I certainly will. I haven’t slept all night and I’m about to collapse from exhaustion, so let’s end the call here.”

“Wait a moment!”

Just as expected, Liu Haoran stopped Wei Chen before he could hang up.

Wei Chen had already seen through his intentions, but pretended not to understand.

“Director Liu, is there something else you need from me?”

“I’d like to treat Chairman Zhen, who so skillfully fleeced Zhang Jinan, to lunch.”

“We’d gladly accept Mr. Liu’s invitation, but we really are exhausted. How about lunch tomorrow?”

“Agreed. By the way... what is Deputy Secretary Zhang Jinan doing right now?”

Wei Chen immediately realized that they had reached the crucial moment.

Liu Peiqi’s next move would depend on what he said now.

“He’s probably moving the gold he bought from Chairman Zhen somewhere safe.”

“Do you know exactly where that place is?”

“How would I know something like that?”

“That’s true... Now that I think about it, there’s no reason you would.”

Hearing the disappointment in the other man’s voice, Wei Chen decided to toss Liu Peiqi a small piece of bait.

“Ah, right! I almost forgot. I heard a rumor that Zhang is planning to meet Secretary Deng Zhiping tonight.”

“Secretary Deng Zhiping? Do you know why they’re meeting?”

“I only heard in passing that they intend to discuss the best way to present the gold to Chairman Xi.”

“Ah, that makes perfect sense.”

“If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up.”

Click.

The moment Wei Chen ended the call, Director Griffin immediately asked the question that had been bothering him.

“Vice Chairman Wei, what were you discussing with Director Liu?”

Wei Chen and Liu Haoran had spoken in Chinese, so Griffin hadn’t understood a single word of their conversation.

“Director Liu was asking about the gold deal between Chairman Zhen and Deputy Secretary Zhang...”