Chapter 31: Circulation (Thanks to book friend Liu Nian Xi Yu for the reward)
Ling Xiao carefully navigated through a narrow alley, one of the many dark alleys common in Los Angeles. It was filled with trash and smelled extremely foul. In the middle of the night, he had dumped Yashida Ichiro in a place just like this.
Emerging from the alley, Ling Xiao appeared on a clean and tidy street. However, he only showed his face for a moment before disappearing again.
"Bang bang bang!" Standing in front of the basement door of an apartment building, Ling Xiao gently knocked.
After a long wait, a very cautious voice came from inside: "Who is it?"
"It's me!" Ling Xiao leaned against the door and whispered, "I called you half an hour ago…"
"Creak," before Ling Xiao could finish, the door opened. A Chinese youth with glasses and disheveled hair cautiously poked his head out, glanced at Ling Xiao, then looked behind him, and, after confirming no one was following, moved aside and whispered, "Come in."
Ling Xiao slipped into the house, and with a muffled "bang," the door was closed again.
Upon entering, the interior of the house was quite unexpected. The entire basement was very large, at least over a hundred square meters, as if several basements had been connected. The house was meticulously decorated with slate-gray walls and bright lighting, featuring an industrial aesthetic with steel decorations, rich rust, and exquisite factory-style accents, which easily made one feel calm.
"Sit!" The Chinese youth gestured for Ling Xiao to sit on a chair in the living room, then poured him a cup of clear tea and said, "Please!"
"Thank you!" Ling Xiao nodded at the Chinese youth, picked up the clear tea in a transparent glass cup, watched the tea leaves continuously rise and fall, took a small sip, and then asked, "How have you been recently, Chang Kuan?"
"Alright." Chang Kuan's expression remained cool as he looked at Ling Xiao and said, "What's the matter?"
"I got a card last night. Help me transfer all the money out of it. Everything according to the old rules." With that, Ling Xiao pulled out a bank card from his person and handed it to Chang Kuan, looking at him calmly.
This card was something Ling Xiao had taken from Yashida Ichiro last night, one of the three items he obtained. The other two were a dark red diamond and a decent Japanese sword.
The diamond was naturally swallowed by the god and demon list, the Japanese sword held no interest for the god and demon list and was given to Ling Xiao, and as for this bank card, which Yashida Ichiro kept close to him, Ling Xiao naturally wanted all the money transferred out, which is why he sought out the person before him.
Chang Kuan was his senior from UCLA, but because this senior was so bad at socializing, he was fired from several jobs, so he could only return to his old profession from school—money laundering.
Chang Kuan was a graduate student at the Anderson School of Management at UCLA. He was also a computer Genius. While in school, because he needed to earn tuition, Chang Kuan gradually began to use his professional knowledge to find ways to make some money.
As a high-achieving graduate from the Anderson School of Management, one of the top ten business schools in America, Chang Kuan would not have fallen to this point if he hadn't been so bad at socializing. However, with this lifestyle, the money he earned each month might not be much less than before, and he didn't have to pay taxes.
With Chang Kuan's superb methods, and Ling Xiao having already obtained Yashida Ichiro's bank card password and verification question answers, Chang Kuan quickly transferred the money out of America. It was split into more than a dozen streams, circulated around the European continent, then transferred to a tax haven in the Caribbean in South America, then circulated around Asia, and finally, divided into various legitimate tax relationships, it was transferred back to the America continent.
"Done." Chang Kuan nodded slightly at Ling Xiao, and at the same time, Ling Xiao received a text message notification from his mobile banking.
One million four hundred thousand usd. This was what remained after two million usd was laundered. Two and a half tenths of the money was consumed in the process of laundering, and the remaining half tenth was Chang Kuan's commission. This money would slowly be transferred into Ling Xiao's bank card over the next half month; the previous one was just the first transfer of one hundred thousand usd. Although a lot of this money was lost in the laundering process, what remained was enough to make Ling Xiao happy.
"Thank you!" Ling Xiao nodded slightly at Chang Kuan. He was very satisfied with this transaction.
Chang Kuan didn't say much. He picked up the bank card from the table, took out scissors from a drawer, cut the card into more than a dozen pieces, then took out a lighter and ignited it, slowly turning it until it was completely burned, leaving only a small metal piece, which Chang Kuan took to the bathroom and flushed away.
Chang Kuan had done these things more than once or twice, so he naturally wouldn't leave any evidence. After he finished all this, Ling Xiao also breathed a slight sigh of relief.
"Ling Xiao, I need your help with something." Chang Kuan suddenly walked up to Ling Xiao and said expressionlessly.
Chang Kuan was always like this; even when asking for help, he had this expression, so it was no wonder he couldn't make it in the competitive workplace.
"What is it? Tell me, if I can help, I definitely will." Ling Xiao didn't make a definitive promise, as his abilities were also limited. At the same time, he was a bit curious, what kind of matter could make the usually quiet Chang Kuan ask for help!
"It's nothing too troublesome." Chang Kuan could tell what Ling Xiao was thinking. He shook his head slightly and said, "It's about my sister. She's coming to America to study this August, so I hope you can help her adapt to the environment."
"Okay, that's not a big deal. I can certainly help out a bit in Los Angeles." Ling Xiao breathed a sigh of relief. Chang Kuan's request wasn't difficult; it was just helping her adapt to the environment, which would only take a little time.
"Thank you then!" Chang Kuan nodded slightly, and the expression on his face also relaxed a bit. To be honest, Chang Kuan might have an illness; he wasn't very willing to go out or socialize. Although he knew many people because of his work, whom among them could he trust?
As for Ling Xiao, Chang Kuan knew him inside and out. The two had traded more than once or twice, and as fellow Chinese and alumni, Chang Kuan had a deep understanding of Ling Xiao's character, which is why he asked him for help with this matter.
After speaking, Chang Kuan added, "I will compensate you for this matter later. At most, I'll charge you a few points less in the future."
"Good, it's a deal!" Ling Xiao nodded happily. You know, one point from Chang Kuan meant tens of thousands of usd, which was not a small sum, at least enough for Ling Xiao's tuition for a year. Taking a sip of the clear tea in his cup, Ling Xiao asked with some curiosity, "By the way, Brother Chang, could I ask which school your sister is going to? Berkeley, Irvine, or Northridge? Could it be UCLA?"
"Not those campuses of the University of California, it's the University of Southern California," Chang Kuan said very calmly.
"What, it's USC!" Ling Xiao frowned tightly. This was going to be a bit troublesome.
Actually, the University of Southern California is also a good university; many of its colleges rank among the top ten in America. Even within California, it is only behind Caltech, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, and UCLA. However, the students of this university are not particularly well-liked.
The University of Southern California is a private university. Compared to the 20,000 to 30,000 usd annual tuition fees of the various University of California campuses, USC's annual tuition is at least double, making it the oldest private university in California.
However, whenever Chinese international students at USC are mentioned, people have a common impression: they are a group of crazy rich second-generation kids. Those people often hold parties and social events, driving Mercedes-Benz and BMWs worth tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of usd.
Ling Xiao once went to USC and saw Chinese international students driving Rolls-Royces to parties, wearing Hermes belts and Chanel bags, accompanied by girls with exquisite makeup, and heard that they all lived in luxury apartments near the school. He could foresee that Chang Kuan's sister would likely be a very troublesome problem for him.