By 2007, I'd taken over the gray-area businesses in two downtown districts. It was around then that I sensed the tide turning—there was talk of a tough new national crackdown. If I kept going like this, it wouldn't be long before I landed behind bars too.
But more importantly, Huang Yun was seven now, old enough to understand things. I dreaded the day he'd find out his father was a gangster. I didn't want him to turn out like me.
So I decided to go legitimate.
Back then, real estate was booming wild and free, with relatively low barriers to entry. I started selling off my businesses, stockpiling cash to start fresh.
By the end of 2007, I'd amassed a fortune, but my lack of education made stepping into this new field a nerve-wracking affair.
Just the other day, I picked up a contract at a bidding event. When I had a lawyer look at it, they pointed out over a dozen loopholes and traps. Those people were clearly taking advantage of my ignorance.
I thought of Meng Wei back in the day—how I'd once wished I could be like him: sharp, knowing all the rules. That ship had sailed for me; I'd never been a scholar. So I set out to find someone who could handle things for me.
They couldn't be too clean—otherwise, we'd never see eye to eye, and sooner or later they'd stab me in the back. But finding someone who knew the law and shared my mindset? Near impossible.
Then, a manager told me about a young bartender at one of my bars who was giving patrons legal advice. I figured he was a college student working part-time. The manager corrected me: a pimp had gotten him the job, and word was he'd done time and was lying low.
This was exactly who I needed.
I rushed to the bar to meet him. His name was Xu Bing, and he looked young, gentle, and refined.
"I see you've been helping customers with legal stuff," I said. "You know the law?"
He said he'd studied it once.
"Went to college?" I asked.
"Never got the chance," he replied.
After years in the underworld, I could tell he was hiding something. Secrets were good—people with secrets were useful.
I had the manager fetch a copy of that problematic contract and asked Xu Bing to look it over. I waited half an hour.
It was worth the wait. The issues he pointed out matched exactly what the lawyer had said.
That was enough—I knew he was the one. I hired him as my secretary to handle contracts and the like.
With that in place, I formally entered the real estate industry.