6:00 PM, Tianshan Airport.

A flight arriving from Shanghai slowly landed.

Zhao Weilin, dressed in an impeccable suit, strode out of the terminal, with his secretary Dong Anyun already waiting for quite some time.

"Chairman, it must have been a tiring journey, the hotel has been arranged."

Zhao Weilin nodded slightly: "Help me schedule a meeting with Qi Yun, I want to see him first."

"Sure." Dong Anyun replied, taking out her phone from her bag. She dialed Qi Yun's number, but the sound in the receiver indicated the phone was off. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly, and she immediately found Zhong Rui's number to call.

After a brief conversation, she hung up and looked at Zhao Weilin helplessly: "Qi Yun went out of town this morning and can't be reached now."

Zhao Weilin frowned: "Did they say when he'll be back?"

"I'm not sure, but the earliest might be tomorrow night." Dong Anyun relayed Zhong Rui's response.

"Forget it, let's go to the hotel first." Zhao Weilin sighed.

...

Meanwhile, Zhou Hongchang sat dumbfounded on the sofa at home, with two bags on the coffee table in front of him, each containing two boxes of tea.

His wife, sitting beside him knitting a sweater, had a somewhat resentful tone: "To put together this 300,000, I even withdrew our fixed deposit early, and now the person is avoiding you and unwilling to meet. What are we going to do about this?"

Zhou Hongchang didn't respond, just stared blankly at the clock hanging on the wall.

"Ding ding ding~"

Suddenly, a crisp sound came from his phone.

Zhou Hongchang snapped back to reality and quickly pulled out his phone to check, but the next second, he laid the phone down in disappointment.

Seeing this, his wife rolled her eyes again: "That friend of yours still hasn't contacted you?"

Zhou Hongchang still didn't say a word.

"In today's society, no one is reliable!" his wife said angrily, "When they need you, it's all brother this and brother that, but when you need help, they hide faster than anyone."

Frustrated by her nagging, Zhou Hongchang got up and went to the balcony, taking out a pack of cigarettes and lighting one.

As the cigarette burned down to the butt, he could no longer hold his anxiety, picked up his phone, and prepared to call Qi Yun himself.

But as he heard the cold automated message from the phone, his mood plummeted into despair...

He had no connections in Bird City; his only hope was Zhang Dayong, but now he wouldn't see him.

Originally, he thought Qi Yun had a close relationship with the other party and wanted Qi Yun to help broker a deal, but the outcome left him hopeless and despondent.

...

9:00 PM, on the streets of Manila.

The air's oppressive heat made it difficult to get used to; even just sitting without moving caused sweat to continue pouring down.

Qi Yun, along with Chen Wei and Duan Pingyu, got out of a taxi. A few meters away was a parked black old Crown car, with a hulking tattooed man standing beside it.

The tattooed man held a phone and gestured towards the three of them, and upon seeing this, Qi Yun immediately walked over.

"Everything you need is in the car," the hulking man said in English, handing over a car key afterward.

Qi Yun took the car key and thanked him.

The hulking man nodded and, without saying more, turned and disappeared around the street corner.

The three of them opened the car doors and got in. There was a black duffel bag on the dashboard, which Chen Wei picked up and opened to find two M1911 pistols and two boxes of ammunition inside.

He took one of the pistols and tossed it to Duan Pingyu. Both of them skillfully cocked their weapons.

Sitting in the backseat, Qi Yun took out his phone and searched for the location of the "Good Luck" gambling den on the map.

"Let's go here. I want to meet someone," he said, handing the phone to Chen Wei, who was driving.

Chen Wei tucked the gun into the back of his waistband, glanced at the screen, and quickly started the car.

The old Crown sped down the humid and hot streets, with the sea breeze wafting in through the windows carrying a fishy smell.

Over twenty minutes later, the car turned into an unusual street, where the signs on either side were predominantly in Chinese, suggesting it was a concentrated area of Chinese residents.

"We're here." Chen Wei pulled the car over to the side of the road and glanced at a neon sign flashing on the right.

"Pingyu, come with me inside, Brother Wei will wait in the car." Qi Yun said, pushing the door open to step out.

Duan Pingyu also opened the door and quickly followed.

The two crossed the street and arrived at the entrance of the Good Luck gambling den.

As soon as they stepped inside the revolving door, a young man came up to greet them with a smile. He first scanned Qi Yun and Duan Pingyu's faces and then enthusiastically said, "Welcome, bosses, to Good Luck."

"You both seem a bit unfamiliar, so it must be your first time at our Good Luck?" The young man spoke fluent Chinese, suggesting he wasn't a local.

Qi Yun nodded slightly, remaining silent, as he examined the lobby's environment.

The lobby was indeed grandly decorated, with golden hues everywhere, and even the crystal chandelier above was shaped like a Copper Coin.

"What would the bosses like to play? We have various entertainment VIP rooms here." The young man pulled out a business card from the inner pocket of his suit and handed it over, "This is my card. If the bosses need anything, I'm at your service."

Qi Yun accepted the business card, which read, "Ah Hao - Business Manager at Good Luck."

To put it nicely, he was a business manager, but bluntly speaking, he was a hustler, specializing in attracting customers and extending credit at the gambling den.

Qi Yun shook his head: "Thanks, but not for now, we're just looking around."

The hustler, hearing this, didn't insist further and smiled, nodding: "Alright, if the bosses need anything, feel free to find me."

Without further ado, Qi Yun headed to the exchange area, taking out the ten thousand USD he had exchanged at the airport and placing it at the window. The staff inside took the money, quickly ran it through a bill verifier, and then handed over twenty chips, each worth five hundred dollars.

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