Nie Lei's Jianghu Tales

He grew wild and untamed in the cracks between eras.

With exceptional courage and a calculating mind, Nie Lei started from nothing with Liu Fengyu, Shi Dianlin, and their other brothers, founding Leiji Trading. From shoe stores and arcades to video halls, and then a billiards hall built in partnership with others, his business empire expanded rapidly through careful accounting and sharp negotiation. But the larger his operation grew, the sharper the fangs lurking in the shadows became. Facing a shortage of manpower, advice from the old underworld hand Master Sun, and the covert scrutiny of Liu Laosì, the local strongman of Shibei, Nie Lei moved cautiously through one crisis after another, trying to establish a firm foothold in Taitung and plant hidden assets in Shibei.

At the same time, a far more dangerous covert battle was quietly beginning. His old enemy Zhang Feng was behind bars, but his remaining followers, Li Ming, Xiao Hu, and others, still lay low in the shadows. To protect himself and break the deadlock, Nie Lei followed the discreet guidance of Police Chief Chen and veteran underworld figures, taking on the role of hunter. Following a trail of clues, he set his sights on an inconspicuous little shop called Hongmei Tobacco and Liquor. A carefully woven net was slowly closing in, all to secure the deadly evidence that could finally finish off his enemy.

From a small-time street vendor to the notorious “Suit-Wearing Thug,” Nie Lei’s rise was paved with money, schemes, blood and guts, and brotherhood. He was both a shrewd businessman and a ruthless underworld boss. At the boundary between the legitimate world and the underworld, he held a ledger in one hand and guns and knives in the other, carving out his own underworld legend amid the raging tides of the age. This is a tale of ambition and survival, and a lament for the little people swept along by the currents of history.