Although they were Double Red Poles, that did not mean they were as rich and powerful as the triad members of later generations. The societies of the present still held to the tradition of putting brotherhood first. If the other brothers at the docks could barely fill their bellies while their Big Brother feasted on fish and meat, it would only take a few days for all his men to drift away. Only a Big Brother who shared the bitter and the sweet with his men, stood at the front when trouble came, and stood up for his brothers would have people willing to follow him. And men like that were usually short of money.
As it happened, Rotten-Life Ju and Fish Stall Kun were both fools who put brotherhood first. Despite bearing the title of Double Red Pole, they lived only a little better than ordinary coolies.
Given their positions, it might take them a month to earn five hundred dollars.
"Rules are made by people. I'll go in first." Song Tianyao smiled at the two men, then turned and entered the police station.
Rotten-Life Ju looked at Fish Stall Kun. Fish Stall Kun simply put the money away and said to him, "If he's willing to give it, I'll take it. But he wants me to thank him? Dream on."
"If you ever get into trouble, it'll be because of that rotten temper of yours." Rotten-Life Ju patted Fish Stall Kun on the shoulder and smiled.
Fish Stall Kun took a pack of Ho Choi cigarettes from his pocket and offered Rotten-Life Ju one. "Am I supposed to be scared of him? He's just the lackey of the Young Master of the Chu Family."
"He's a lackey, but he can get Young Master Chu to send a car for him. You're a Double Red Pole, but don't you have to get around on your own two feet all day? I rather like this A-Yao. He knows how to handle himself, he's sharp, and his eyes look clear and gentle, but you can't actually see what the hell he's thinking. Brother Ten told me before that someone with eyes like that has hidden depths. Not like you and me, sitting there like fools, wishing we could plaster everything we're thinking right across our faces."
Chapter 15: Yan Hung
Song Tianyao did not know how the two enforcers outside were talking about him. Following the duty officer's directions, he took the stairs to the second floor of the police station. The second floor housed the offices of the Detective Chief Inspectors of the various detective squads and the detectives' hall. As soon as he reached the second floor, a plainclothes policeman dozing at a desk in the hall heard the stairs creak and raised his head to look at him. "Who are you looking for?"
"Yan Hung. Brother Hung."
"Brother Hung? Turn left, interrogation room. Remember to knock before you go in." After speaking, the policeman laid his head back down on the desk and went back to sleep.
Song Tianyao thanked him and walked to the interrogation room at the very end. Even through the door, he could hear the sounds of punches and kicks, and the muffled whimpering of someone whose mouth had been gagged.
Song Tianyao knocked, and the sounds inside immediately fell silent. The door opened, and a young plainclothes policeman stood in the doorway, blocking it. "What is it?"
"I'm looking for Brother Hung. Young Master Chu Xiaoxin sent me to see him," Song Tianyao told him.
The plainclothes officer turned his head and called inside, "Brother Hung, some kid says Chu Xiaoxin sent him to see you."
"Chu Xiaoxin? Who is it? Where?" a voice inside immediately asked, urgently. As he spoke, the man hurried to the door. The plainclothes officer stepped aside, revealing a somewhat short, round-faced middle-aged man in a white striped undershirt, the top two buttons at his collar undone.
This is Yan Hung? At the first sight of him, Song Tianyao wondered if he had mistaken him for someone else with the same name.
The Yan Hung before him had to be at least thirty-four or thirty-five. It was 1951, and if Yan Hung was already thirty-four or thirty-five in 1951 and was still only a detective sergeant, a rank just above detective, at most a minor squad leader with an official position no bigger than a sesame seed, how could he possibly climb to the position of senior Detective Chief Inspector a little over ten years later? The Hong Kong Police Force had no such thing as a fixed retirement age at present. The Foreign Devils wanted their cut, and there were only so many positions to go around, so the turnover in these lucrative posts had to be sped up. It was not unusual for Detective Chief Inspectors to retire on a pension at forty-five.
"Are you Brother Hung?" Song Tianyao asked the middle-aged man, who was half a head shorter than he was.
Yan Hung nodded and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "That's me. What does Young Master Shun need? Never mind, come inside first."
As he spoke, Yan Hung led Song Tianyao in. A man hung from a roof beam in the middle of the interrogation room, his body battered and covered in wounds. Song Tianyao glanced at the hanging man, and Yan Hung immediately said, "A Wai, get this bastard down. Find a few of Lao Fu's brothers to take him swimming under cover of night." (Swimming: putting someone in a sack with stones and sinking him to the bottom of the sea.)
The plainclothes officer called A Wai summoned two companions to take the beaten man away. Only after Yan Hung and Song Tianyao were alone did Yan Hung ask, "What should I call you, brother? What brings you to the Police Station so late? Has something happened to Young Master Shun?"
"My name is Song Tianyao. I'm a secretary helping Young Master Shun manage the Liheng Trading Company. Young Master Shun got into a conflict with Cheung Wing-kam's godson at the Ritz Garden Nightclub over a singer. I'm afraid Cheung Wing-kam's men are on their way to Lichi Garden to take Young Master Shun away. I asked Young Master Shun if he had any friends in the police force who could step in and smooth things over. He gave me your name, Brother Hung, so I came to ask you to help think of a way to handle it." Song Tianyao took out a pack of cigarettes from his suit pocket and offered Yan Hung one as he spoke.
Yan Hung was taken aback when he heard this. His first reaction was to wonder why Chu Xiaoxin had come to him over a conflict with Cheung Wing-kam's godson. His father was the president of the Chao Feng Chamber of Commerce and held great prestige among the Chiu Chow people. If Chu Yaozong spoke up, never mind Cheung Wing-kam's godson—even Cheung Wing-kam himself would probably be helpless.
But his mind worked quickly, and he immediately realized that Chu Yaozong and Cheung Wing-kam could not talk tonight. If a Chiu Chow Gang chamber of commerce president and a Sze Yap Gang Chinese inspector sat down together to settle the matter, it would mean the Chiu Chow people had lost face in front of the Five Counties people.
Chu Xiaoxin wants me to step in and smooth this over? Yan Hung's heart began to pound. He was already thirty-three, yet he was still only a lowly detective sergeant. His ambition to climb higher was greater than anyone's, but he had never found the right opportunity. Yan Hung had joined the police force after the Battle of Hong Kong in 1941, when the Japanese still called the shots. After Hong Kong was restored in 1945 and the defeated Japanese left, a policeman like him, who had worked for them, should have been purged. Fortunately, he had been quick to read the situation. When he learned that Detective Chief Inspector Yiu Muk, who was highly valued by the British, was returning to Hong Kong, he had given Yiu Muk all the money he had scraped together during the Japanese occupation. By clinging to that powerful leg, he had kept his place in the police force. Sure enough, Yiu Muk had soon been appointed Chinese inspector of Kowloon District, with the New Territories District also under his charge, becoming the foremost Chinese officer in the force at the time.