"Master, what is it?"
"The doorbell's ringing. Why haven't you answered it?" Yiu Muk said kindly to his maid.
The maid glanced at the front gate and spoke as if to herself, though she might have been speaking to Yiu Muk. "Coming so late to disturb my master, they deserve to stand outside and feel the wind for a while."
"They must have urgent business to come calling in the middle of the night. Go open the gate. If it comes to it, once they come in, I'll stand up for you and give them a scare. Who told them to be so bold as to keep A-Fen from sleeping well?" Yiu Muk said to the maid with a faint smile.
A-Fen nodded, tied her hair up without a strand out of place, and put on a coat. Only then did she go out, cross the villa's front courtyard, and walk up to the gate. She called out to Yan Hung, Song Tianyao, and the others outside the wrought-iron gate:
"Who are you looking for at this hour of the night?"
"Sister Fen, it's me, Yan Hung from Yau Ma Tei Police Station. I come by every New Year and festival. Have you forgotten me?" Yan Hung said to the maid with an ingratiating smile.
The maid shot him a sideways glance. "There are so many policemen in all of Hong Kong. How am I supposed to remember them all? You came running here in the middle of the night to disturb my master's sleep. If he hadn't told me to open the gate, I was going to leave you standing out here in the wind."
As she spoke, the maid took out a key and unlocked a small door beside the main gate from the inside. She motioned for them to enter, then led the way back to the living room.
Song Tianyao watched in astonishment and asked uncertainly:
"Brother Hung, who is this lady?"
"She's Brother Mu's self-combed maid. She combed up her hair and entered his household as a maid at thirteen, just when he joined the police force. Brother Mu's right leg gives him such terrible pain that he won't even let his wife touch it. If she does, he curses her out. Only Sister Fen can attend to him. Back when Brother Mu was promoted to Chief Chinese Detective Chief Inspector, he held a meeting with the police bosses from every district in Hong Kong. He'd forgotten to take his medicine before leaving home, and the meeting wasn't even halfway through when Sister Fen walked in and put his painkillers in front of him. Brother Mu hates being disturbed more than anything, but in front of Sister Fen, all he did was shake his head with a wry smile and obediently take the medicine. After that, every police boss in Hong Kong knew it was no big deal to cross Brother Mu, but if you made Sister Fen angry, you'd be in deep trouble." Yan Hung slowed his steps and lowered his voice. "So when we go in, don't treat Sister Fen like an ordinary servant in a Shanghainese household. She's a genuine live-in self-combed maid. These days, even if you have money, it's very hard to hire one."
As Yan Hung walked inside, he turned to glance at the two Double Red Poles preparing to follow them in. He said nothing, but Song Tianyao knew what he was thinking, so he turned to Rotten-Life Ju and Fish Stall Kun. "Brother Ju, Brother Kun, thanks for waiting outside."
After all, the two had already accepted favors from Song Tianyao. They didn't insist, and they also knew who Yiu Muk was; as gang members, they could easily offend him. So as soon as Song Tianyao spoke, Rotten-Life Ju said to him, "We'll have a smoke outside."
"Thanks to both of you." Song Tianyao smiled at them and followed Yan Hung into Yiu Muk's living room.
The moment he stepped into the living room, Song Tianyao couldn't help marveling inwardly. Wealth and luxury truly knew no boundaries of era or place. Having no television, no computer, and no internet might be dull for the poor, but the rich would certainly feel no such thing.
The entire room was decorated in an antique style: furniture made from all kinds of fine wood, precious porcelain, an expensive carpet on the floor, sandalwood burning in a censer in the corner, a record player, a hand-cranked telephone, a radio, and a mahjong table in one corner of the living room. If a poor person came in, the wealth and luxury radiating from this room might well knock them head over heels!
At that moment, an elderly man in pajamas, his face somewhat haggard, sat on the living room's leather sofa with his head turned toward Yan Hung and Song Tianyao as they entered.
Before Song Tianyao could react, Yan Hung had already trotted up to the sofa and snapped to attention. "Sir! Police constable SPC775 Yan Hung, reporting to you!"
Yiu Muk was smiling and had yet to speak when Sister Fen came over carrying tea. She looked at Yan Hung and said irritably, "Are you a fool? Shouting in here in the middle of the night? Don't the madam and the young masters and misses need their sleep? I really shouldn't have opened the gate for you. I should have let the wind clear your head before letting you in."
Yan Hung froze on the spot, his face red with embarrassment, and looked helplessly at Yiu Muk.
Yiu Muk left Yan Hung standing there and spoke first to Sister Fen. "There's nothing more for you to do here. Go back and rest. We'll try to keep our voices down."
"Don't talk too late. The doctor said you need more sleep so your body can recover faster. Don't drink the pu'er tea on the table. The cup beside it has chrysanthemum, honey, and ginseng slices in it. Remember to drink it if you're thirsty." Sister Fen set the tea on the coffee table in front of the sofa. Though she was speaking to Yiu Muk, her eyes were on Yan Hung, and her meaning was clear: say what you came to say quickly, and don't affect her master's quality of sleep.
"I know," Yiu Muk said at last, and nothing more. With that, Sister Fen turned and went back to her little room, gently closing the door from the inside and making no further sound.
All the while, Yan Hung had remained at attention. Yiu Muk waved a hand at him. "All right, I'm retired already. There's no need to trot out that routine and those words to make me happy. Sit down and have some tea."
"You're still an inspector-grade adviser to the Hong Kong Police Force's Criminal Investigation Department. Even the Chief Chinese Detective Chief Inspector has to salute you when he sees you. I'm just a detective sergeant, so of course I have to stand at attention and salute an inspector." Yan Hung sat down at one end of the sofa and spoke respectfully to Yiu Muk.
Yan Hung wasn't merely flattering him. Yiu Muk had retired early because of illness, and to recognize his achievements and make him an example for other Chinese officers, Britain had raised him to inspector grade and appointed him an adviser to the Hong Kong Police Force's Criminal Investigation Department.
At the time, a police inspector was already considered a member of the Hong Kong Police Force's middle management. As far as the British were concerned, promoting Yiu Muk to inspector was the greatest reward they could give a Chinese man. Before that, all middle-management posts, including inspector, had been held by Britons.
At this time, although Liu Fu was known publicly as the Chief Chinese Detective Chief Inspector and was first among the Chinese officers, his actual rank was still Police Station Senior Station Sergeant, only the highest rank among the Hong Kong Police Force's junior officers. Between him and Yiu Muk's inspector rank was still the rank of probationary inspector.