"Yes, Mr. Song." The driver already knew Song Tianyao was Chu Xiaoxin's newly hired secretary, so he started the car without hesitation.
The two enforcers called Ah Ju and Ah Kun sat on either side of Song Tianyao, sandwiching him in the middle of the back seat, their eyes fixed watchfully on the street outside.
Ah Ju toyed with two small knives, deftly passing them between his hands. Ah Kun, meanwhile, rested his left hand against the small of his back, seemingly gripping a weapon at his waist.
"What positions do you hold in Chao Yong Yi?" Song Tianyao asked curiously. "Red Poles? White Paper Fans? Straw Sandals?"
Ah Kun said nothing, seemingly unwilling to speak to Song Tianyao. The burly Ah Ju stopped playing with his knives and turned to smile at him.
"Rotten-Life Ju, Double Red Pole of Chao Yong Yi. He's Fish Stall Kun, Double Red Pole of Chao Yong Yi."
Song Tianyao drew a deep breath. Even the smell of sweat on the two men no longer seemed sharp. He had never imagined that after transmigrating, he would get a chance to be escorted by two Double Red Poles.
Still, were Double Red Poles not worth much? How come two men picked at random were both Double Red Poles? From what he had learned in his later life, surely not one man in a hundred earned the title of Double Red Pole?
Chapter 14: Yau Ma Tei Police Station
What Song Tianyao knew about Hong Kong triads came from books and films he had seen in his later life. In reality, though, Double Red Poles appeared one after another in Hong Kong's triads during the forties and fifties. That did not mean Double Red Poles were worth less than they would be in the seventies and eighties. Quite the opposite: at this time, a Hong Kong triad member promoted to Double Red Pole was bound to have formidable abilities of his own.
Hong Kong had dozens, even hundreds, of docks, large and small, legal and illegal. Double Red Poles were responsible for guarding their gangs' docks. When members of another gang came looking for trouble, a Double Red Pole could be the first to charge out and settle the matter, ensuring that the brothers at the docks had food to eat and work to do, and that their business was not stolen by another gang.
Of the two Double Red Poles accompanying Song Tianyao to Yau Ma Tei Police Station, Rotten-Life Ju was the one responsible for protecting Chao Yong Yi's main dock in Central. He had formally apprenticed himself to Huang Yonghe, a master of the Chaozhou Kunlun Fist, and learned kung fu. The pair of daggers he held could be used in close combat or thrown to wound enemies at a distance. After using them to carve out a piece of territory for Chao Yong Yi at the main dock in Central, he had been promoted to Double Red Pole and put in charge of guarding the dock.
Fish Stall Kun came from a Tanka fishing family in Kowloon's typhoon shelter. Tanka children were the children of fishermen who lived on boats year-round. When he was seven, his parents went out fishing, encountered a storm, and drowned when their boat capsized. Left homeless, Fish Stall Kun grew up on meals from a hundred households. Having lost both parents, he was deeply insecure, and at its extreme, that insecurity became ferocity. When he fought with others, he often struck viciously, leaving his opponents with broken limbs or unconscious. He later joined Chao Yong Yi at the docks, and whenever the gang clashed with others, he charged at the front, brandishing a fish spear. After several years, he had neither been crippled nor killed, and Chao Yong Yi assigned him to guard the Sai Kung dock.
The three men Chan Ah-sap had brought to Lichi Nightclub that day were all Double Red Poles in charge of guarding docks. The four of them had originally come to listen to songs, drink, and discuss recent problems at their respective docks. But events had brought them together, and Chu Xiaoxin had also told Chan Ah-sap to keep Song Tianyao safe. So, to be on the safe side, Chan Ah-sap had sent two of the three Double Red Poles along to protect him. It was not as Song Tianyao thought: Double Red Poles were not cheap.
By the time they reached Yau Ma Tei Police Station, it was already past ten at night. Song Tianyao got out of the car and looked over the three-story building at the corner of Gascoigne Road in the darkness. It was the oldest police station in service in Kowloon. On the street outside, hawkers carrying shoulder poles laden with wonton noodles passed by from time to time. There were also sexy women in high-slit cheongsams, apparently lifting their hems as they cast flirtatious glances at passersby, waiting for lecherous customers.
There were even addicts unable to bear their cravings leaning against a side wall of the station, taking out opium paste and swallowing it whole to stave off withdrawal. The uniformed constable on duty outside seemed not to see any of it, instead laughing and flirting lecherously with the women standing in the street.
Song Tianyao headed toward the station entrance. The uniformed constable looked up and sized him up. Seeing how smartly Song Tianyao was dressed, he did not dare sound too insolent, but he still spoke with a listless, punchable look. "What is it? Do you know where you are? This is a police station. You think it's your home, where you can just walk in whenever you like?"
"Officer, is Yan Hung from the detective squad, Brother Hung, here right now?" Song Tianyao took out a pack of 555 cigarettes, offered him one, and lit it for him before asking with a smile.
The constable turned to look at the Ford, then at the two burly men following a short distance behind, who were plainly triad members. He waved Song Tianyao along. "Second floor, detective squad interrogation room. Brother Hung's in there having a good time."
"Thank you, officer." Song Tianyao headed inside. Rotten-Life Ju brazenly followed, still playing with his two daggers. The constable frowned and said to him, "Don't you know the rules? Bringing weapons into a police station? Want to make it your long-term home? Put them away. There are gweilos in this station. If one of them sees you like that, even the chief Chinese inspector won't be able to save you!"
Hearing the constable's complaint, Song Tianyao turned around and paused. He took the two thousand Hong Kong dollars he had not spent from his suit. He had initially intended to take out two hundred, but considering that both men were Double Red Poles, he counted out a thousand instead. He walked over and put five hundred in each man's hand. "Brothers, sorry to trouble you to wait for me here. Please take this money as thanks for your efforts."
Song Tianyao had originally said that if no one accepted the two thousand Hong Kong dollars, he would exchange it for flower baskets to tip Chen Judy. But before he could do so, the two sides had come into conflict, so he had simply put the money back in his pocket. In any case, he had said he was exchanging the money for flower baskets on Chu Xiaoxin's behalf. Even if the nightclub checked into it afterward, it would only be charged to Chu Xiaoxin's bill, and a young master like him clearly would not care about that sort of entertainment expense.
"Sir, this is a little against the rules," Rotten-Life Ju said to Song Tianyao with a somewhat embarrassed smile. Fish Stall Kun said nothing.