Since the 2000s, China has intensified its efforts to crack down on gang-related crimes and eliminate local tyrants. Umbrella protectors of gangster forces have been successively brought down, with arrests and imprisonments happening from time to time. To survive, these forces began to change their operational methods. They completed primitive capital accumulation through illegal and criminal activities, then expanded into traditional industries. Hotels, catering, building materials, and used car sectors all saw their presence, among which the real estate industry had the fastest growth and the most participants during those years. New City Group, where I work, is exactly such a successfully transformed real estate company.
I started working as a driver-cum-bodyguard for Huang Xincheng in 2005, doing a lot of things for him. Later, when he became an "outstanding entrepreneur," I also received generous rewards. Late at night, when I look back on these years, every single incident remains vivid in my mind. I know I was wrong, but I feel powerless to change it, trapped in a cycle of repeated mistakes.
Huang Xincheng was the gang leader involved in gang-related activities in the city. At his peak, he controlled one-fifth of the city's "grey interests." Had he started earlier, this proportion would have been even larger. In 2007, as policies gradually tightened and many people were sent to prison through thunderous crackdowns, Mr. Huang made up his mind to "whitewash" himself. He sold off assets from his grey businesses and, amid the most stringent regulations, ventured into the booming real estate industry by establishing a company – which later became New City Group. Relying on special means and connections, he turned New City Group into a leader in the city's real estate sector in just six years. Through constant land acquisitions and repeated leveraging, the company seized most of the market share in a very short time.
However, its overly rapid expansion and aggressive tactics infringed on others' interests, arousing dissatisfaction among other real estate peers. To bring down New City Group, these competitors joined forces and went to great lengths to do what happened later.
On the evening of April 2, 2013, a leader surnamed Meng from the Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau asked Mr. Huang to dinner. I stood guard at the door and didn't go in, so I don't know the details of their conversation. All I know is that after dinner, when I drove Mr. Huang home, I noticed through the rearview mirror that he looked upset. When I asked why, I learned that this Leader Meng had been secretly embezzling public funds for years without being discovered. But recently, somehow, he was reported by someone outside the system, and now the higher authorities were sending people to investigate his embezzlement.
The leader was trying to fix the situation. He had already taken out the money he had embezzled, but it wasn't enough. Relying on the fact that he had been helping Mr. Huang all these years, he asked Mr. Huang for 20 million yuan – 10 million to make up for the missing public funds, and the other 10 million to bribe relevant people. Although New City Group didn't have much money left in its accounts at that time, considering the huge value Leader Meng had brought to the group, Mr. Huang still decided to give him the money.
I thought Mr. Huang was upset about the 20 million yuan, but he said, "It's not about the 20 million. I've known Lao Meng for decades; he's always been meticulous in his work, and no one could catch him out. The fact that he was reported by someone outside the system must be the doing of those competitors. They're jealous of New City Group and want to take aim at my cash cow."
At that time, I thought Mr. Huang was right – this must have been related to those bosses. But given the circumstances, the group couldn't afford to stir up any more trouble. We thought that as long as we gave the money to Leader Meng to help him get through this crisis, everything would be over. But who could have imagined that what they had set up was actually a chain plot.