Los Angeles Legendary Sleuth

Golden Restaurant.

Not far from the restaurant, there's a 24-hour automated parking lot.

A Mercedes drives into the parking lot, its front facing the Golden Restaurant.

Zhang Jianmin sits in the driver's seat, glancing at the Golden Restaurant from time to time, "Bro, it's this restaurant, right?"

Zhang Jianguo glances at his phone, "This is it, the address and restaurant name match."

Zhang Jianmin frowns, "Why choose such a secluded restaurant? Can the business be good here?"

Zhang Jianguo looks out the window, "We're here to discuss business, not to eat, who cares how their business is doing?"

Zhang Jianmin lowers his voice, worried, "I'm just concerned it might be a shady place."

Zhang Jianguo takes a deep breath, as if boosting his own confidence, "Whether it's a shady place or not, we won't be afraid this time."

Zhang Jianmin glances at his watch, "We're almost on time, how come Mr. Li and his group haven't arrived yet, should we remind them?"

Zhang Jianguo thinks for a moment, "I just contacted Mr. Li, he told me to rest assured, it won't delay the negotiations."

After a while, Zhang Jianmin looks down at his watch again, "Bro, the scheduled time has passed, should we contact Mr. Li again?"

Zhang Jianguo picks up his phone, hesitates for a moment, and then puts it down, "Mr. Li isn't the unreliable type, he should be aware, let's go in first."

"Just the two of us going in, will it be dangerous?" Zhang Jianmin seems a bit hesitant.

"Then I'll go in alone, you wait here for them." Zhang Jianguo opens the car door and gets out directly.

Seeing his brother going in alone, Zhang Jianmin hits the steering wheel with his right fist, gets out of the car, and follows him.

The two brothers enter the restaurant, it's only a little past ten in the morning, no customers are to be seen, and behind the counter sits an Asian woman, speaking in a dismissive tone, "The kitchen isn't ready yet, orders start at eleven."

"Is Mr. Zhao from Jinlang Building Materials Company here? He arranged to meet us here."

The Asian woman stands up, pointing to the back, "Mr. Zhao is in a private room on the second floor, just take the stairs."

"Thank you." Zhang Jianguo politely says, leading the way up the stairs with his brother following.

After turning the corner on the stairs, a young man with tattooed arms blocks them, "Are you guests of Mr. Zhao?"

"Yes, here's a cigarette for you." Zhang Jianguo hands over a pack of cigarettes.

The tattooed young man takes the cigarettes, signals them to lean against the wall, "I need to search you."

Zhang Jianmin protests, "Why do you need to search us?"

"What the hell, why so many questions? Just do as you're told, don't make me get rough with you."

Zhang Jianguo gives his brother a look, and the two obediently follow the orders to lean against the wall. After the search, the tattooed man lets them upstairs, "Room 208, don't go to the wrong place."

Zhang Jianmin wipes the sweat from his forehead, feeling like they've walked into a den of thieves.

Zhang Jianguo walks to the door of Room 208 and knocks, "Knock, knock."

"Come in."

Zhang Jianguo takes a deep breath and pushes the door open into the private room.

The room is spacious, curtains drawn, lights on, with a large round table that seats ten. Next to the table stands a young man in his early twenties, wearing a tight-fitting white vest, with earrings, looking quite unruly, a likely small-time thug.

Sitting by the round table are two men in their thirties, one of them is Mr. Zhao, the head of Jinlang Building Materials Company, with a small mustache, looking particularly shrewd.

Beside him sits a burly man, chewing on a cigarette, with his head down, and a pile of components on the table in front of him.

At first, Zhang Jianguo doesn't pay much attention, but upon closer look, they're parts of a handgun.

The man with the cigarette is calmly assembling the handgun, the 'clack clack' of the assembly making Zhang Jianguo sit on pins and needles. He looks at the mustachioed Mr. Zhao, "Mr. Zhao, it's been a while."

The man referred to as Mr. Zhao responds with a cynical tone, "Oh, Mr. Zhang, rare to be recognized by you, thought you might have forgotten me."

"How could I." Zhang Jianguo puts on a flattering expression, glancing at the man assembling the handgun, "How should I address this gentleman?"

Mr. Zhao slaps his forehead, laughing, "Look at my memory, I forgot to introduce you.

This is Mr. Liu, a big shot from the 'Asian Boys' gang, a well-known figure in L.A. gangs, and also the major shareholder behind Jinlang Building Materials Company.

Did you not want to talk to someone who calls the shots?

I specifically invited him here today, whatever thoughts or requests you have, tell him directly.

However, let me remind you brothers, Mr. Liu's temper isn't great, if you upset him, it won't end well for anyone."

Zhang Jianguo cautiously says, "Mr. Liu, Mr. Zhao, you both know the recent market isn't doing well, and our company's profits are low, we're also financially strained.

To alleviate our company's funding pressure, we've secured some investment and added two new shareholders to the company.

The company isn't just run by us brothers anymore, we also need to consider the opinions of the shareholders."

Mr. Zhao raises his voice, "So, are you saying the new shareholders in your company have issues with Jinlang Building Materials and don't want to cooperate anymore?"

"No, no issues, just feel the building material prices are a bit high, and the quality should be scrutinized more."

Mr. Zhao sneers, "Old Zhang, we've been partners for three years, why didn't you mention high prices or quality issues before?