Hong Kong variety show: From being bitten by a cockroach to becoming a legend

Chapter 62: Unjust Procedures

Chen Jiaqi suppressed the urge to handcuff him and took out another photo from his briefcase. This time it wasn't a crime scene, but a photo of two men shaking hands. One was dressed in a suit, not very tall, but with fierce eyes; the other was Liang Kun.

"I won't say much about Handsome Kun. The other man is Hara Aoi, from the Tojo Clan in Japan."

"The East City Society is a branch of the Yamaguchi-gumi, the largest yakuza organization in Asia. It is active in Osaka, Kobe and Southeast Asia, and controls the largest drug smuggling channel in Asia. We have reason to suspect that the East City Society has its eyes on the Hong Kong market and has joined forces with Hung Hing's 'Brother Kun'."

"Wu Zhixiong was my informant. He was silenced the night before he was supposed to hand over the evidence to me!"

Song Zhaowen slowly exhaled a smoke ring: "Inspector Chen, what do you mean by telling me such explosive news? I'm a member of Zhengxing, not an undercover agent of your O-Division, and certainly not an Interpol agent. Whether it's the East City Society or the Yamaguchi-gumi, their collaboration with Liang Kun to stir up trouble in Hong Kong is none of my business. Your police should be arresting people, not coming to me, a 'good citizen,' to complain."

Chen Jiaqi put the photos away and looked directly at Song Zhaowen: "Because Wu Zhixiong called me the night before the incident and mentioned you."

Song Zhaowen's fingers, which were holding a cigarette, paused almost imperceptibly.

"oh?"

"Ng Chi-hung only trusted you and Chan Ho-nam. When he got into trouble, Chan Ho-nam was beaten so badly by Hung Hing's family rules that he was hospitalized. I wonder if he made a copy of the evidence and gave it to you?"

Song Zhaowen scoffed, "Inspector Chen, these are all just your one-sided guesses."

"Mr. Song," Chen Jiaqi's voice turned serious, his fingers tapping lightly on the table, "I'm not playing mind games with you. The last phone call Wu Zhixiong made before he died, besides mine, was to your landline. The call records are on file with the telecommunications bureau; the call lasted four minutes and thirty-seven seconds. How do you explain that?"

The smile on Song Zhaowen's face vanished completely. He stubbed out his cigarette, leaned forward slightly, and stared sharply at Chen Jiaqi: "Inspector Chen, you're investigating me?"

"We're not investigating you, we're investigating all of Wu Zhixiong's communication records from before his death," Huang Zhicheng quickly explained from the side. "Awen, don't misunderstand, this is normal investigation procedure. After all, Brother B was once our important informant..."

"So you followed the trail and ended up with me?" Song Zhaowen's voice was calm, but it carried a chill. "That's right, Brother B did call me that night. He said he was in a bad mood and wanted to have a couple of drinks with me. I said it was too late, I was at the factory in Yuen Long, and I didn't have time. He just grumbled a few things, like 'the world has changed,' 'people's hearts are no longer what they used to be,' and then he hung up. From beginning to end, he didn't mention any evidence, let alone say he would hand over anything to me."

He paused, then looked at Chen Jiaqi: "Inspector Chen, if you suspect I'm hiding something, you can apply for a search warrant to search my tea restaurant, my factory, and my home. I, Song Zhaowen, have done nothing wrong and am not afraid of your investigation."

The conversation had gotten a bit heated.

Chen Jiaqi stared at Song Zhaowen for a good ten seconds, as if trying to see right through him. Song Zhaowen met his gaze calmly, his eyes unwavering.

Finally, Chen Jiaqi looked away first, his tone softening slightly: "Mr. Song, I'm not accusing you of hoarding evidence. I just want to confirm whether it's possible that Wu Zhixiong, in some covert way, left something with you without your knowledge. Or... did he give you anything that seemed ordinary but might have hidden secrets?"

No~

Huang Zhicheng and Chen Jiaqi exchanged a glance; Song Zhaowen was even more difficult to deal with than they had anticipated.

Chen Jiaqi took a deep breath, his chest trembling.

Song Zhaowen's gaze involuntarily slid over there again, then immediately looked away, picked up the iced milk tea on the table and took a big gulp. The icy liquid barely suppressed a little of his anger.

Huang Zhicheng, who was watching from the side, cursed inwardly that Song Zhaowen liked big boobs just like him. He quickly coughed twice and said, "Ah Wen, we don't care if we believe you, but Liang Kun may not. Sooner or later he will find out that Big B made his last phone call to you. As far as I know him, once he finds out about this, especially those Japanese, he will definitely do something bad to you."

Song Zhaowen put down his cup, his fingers tapping the table unconsciously: "Do you think I'm easily scared? I'll kill every Japanese one that comes, or even two if they come~ By the way, this counts as legitimate self-defense."

"Officers, I'll be going now if there's nothing else."

Watching Song Zhaowen get into the car and drive away.

"Sigh, what did I say before Inspector Chen came? This guy is hard to deal with; unless he comes to you on his own initiative, he won't listen to reason." Huang Zhicheng finished the last sip of frozen milk.

Chen Jiaqi snorted coldly: "Inspector Huang, release some information after a while, saying that Big B's stuff is in Song Zhaowen's hands. If he really has it, he'll come to us to protect himself when the Japanese come knocking; if not, let him fight with Liang Kun like dogs!"

Huang Zhicheng's hand, holding the pineapple bun, froze in mid-air, and he almost spat out his milk tea. He quickly swallowed and lowered his voice, "Inspector Chen, this...this is too ruthless! Ah Wen hasn't done anything wrong. Leaking this information is like pushing him into a fire pit. Liang Kun and the East City Society will definitely be watching him closely! He'll really be..."

"Killed?" Chen Jiaqi picked up his iced lemon tea, took a sip, and said calmly, "If he really has something, this is the fastest way to force him to hand it over. If he doesn't, given his personality and current strength, even if Liang Kun and Dong Cheng want to take action against him, they'll have to think twice. This will also tie down some of Liang Kun's energy and buy us time to act."

Huang Zhicheng opened his mouth as if to say something, but finally sighed: "Inspector Chen, you're using him as a pawn."

"Inspector Wong, when we police investigate cases, sometimes we have to utilize every available resource, including people." Chan Ka-chi put down his cup, his gaze calm to the point of being cold. "Wu Chi-hung's death may just be the beginning. The East City's large-scale entry into the Hong Kong drug market means there will be more violence and more deaths. We must take them down as soon as possible. For this, some extreme measures are inevitable."

She glanced at Huang Zhicheng: "Of course, once the news gets out, we also need to take protective measures. Notify the intelligence department to strengthen surveillance of Song Zhaowen and his main areas of activity. If he is in danger, we need to be able to react immediately."

Huang Zhicheng knew that once Inspector Chen made up his mind, it was hard to change it, so he could only nod and say, "Understood, I'll make the arrangements. But... that kid Wen is as cunning as a devil. Even if we leak information, he might not fall for it, and he might even turn around and bite us."

"That depends on his choice."