Striking Left and Killing Right (continued)
Yan Hung also smiled. Although Yan Hung was in Kowloon and Yin Guotao was in Hong Kong Island, they usually kept to themselves and didn't have much interaction. However, Yan Hung was very successful in Mong Kok and had a lot of influence. In the past, when he met plainclothes Detective Chief Inspector from other areas in nightclubs or bars, he would often help them with their accounts.
This is why many Detective Sergeant and Detective Chief Inspector in the ring appear to have a good relationship with Yan Hung on the surface, at least as drinking buddies. Yin Guotao is one of these people. Moreover, Yin Guotao and Yan Hung both worked for Yiu Muk and had known each other for many years. However, back then, Yin Guotao held a much higher position than Yan Hung when he was with Yiu Muk.
He just turned forty this year and was a close associate of Yiu Muk, the first Chief Chinese Detective Chief Inspector of Hong Kong after the war. When Yiu Muk retired due to illness and arranged for his old friends and confidants, he arranged for almost all of his five subordinates, collectively known as the Five Tiger Generals, to serve as Detective Sergeant, Senior Detective Sergeant, and so on in various police stations. Liang Pei of the Wan Chai Police Station and Yin Guotao of the Causeway Bay Police Station were the two who first stood out and were Detective Chief Inspector detectives.
"Brother Tao, if it weren't for the fact that it was found on your turf, and to avoid embarrassing you while solving the case, I wouldn't have notified you. Look..." Yan Hung said, holding up a watch in his hand. "Breitling diamond watch, with the Britain Royal Air Force logo. If it weren't on your turf, I would have kept this watch for myself."
Yin Guotao walked over with several of his men. He first sized up the three Fuyixing members next to Yan Hung before taking the luxury watch from Yan Hung's hand. He lit a lighter and examined it carefully in the firelight. "It really is a luxury watch. You could easily pawn it as stolen goods and get several hundred yuan."
"And these too." Yan Hung handed over the soaking wet wallet. "There are over four hundred Hong Kong dollars inside. These two items are what make me certain that the person who sank to the bottom of the water must be a rich man. I think it's most likely a kidnapping and murder."
Yin Guotao pointed to Fuyixing, Brother Shui, and Brother Wing, whose hair was still a little wet. "Were those two the ones who found it?"
"Yes, those two are Lao Fu's fourth brother. They've been in the gang for over ten years, making a living by fishing and selling fish. They're law-abiding citizens." Yan Hung didn't even blink when he talked about how law-abiding the two were.
"If it was a kidnapping, wouldn't they have searched the guy's body for his diamond watch and wallet before killing him?" Yin Guotao said to Yan Hung. "I think it's more likely a revenge killing, and the person is still underwater?"
Yan Hung nodded. "This is your brother Tao's territory. How can I make decisions without your permission? How about it? Judging from the things he's carrying, the dead man underwater is probably easy prey. Should we pull him out? Let's make it clear before we do that we'll split the credit. If we later find a scapegoat to take the blame and announce the case is solved, any extra gifts or bonuses from the victim's family should also be split in half."
"Hey, you're rolling in money in Mong Kok now, and you're trying to haggle over this little bit of cash?" Yin Guotao glanced at Yan Hung and said unhappily, "My territory is where my people do things. Notifying the deceased's family, investigating the case, finding a scapegoat, etc., are all handled by my brothers in Causeway Bay. You just had an eyewitness, and you're already asking for half the kickback? How about 20%?"
Yan Hung scratched his cheek, clearly disagreeing with Yin Guotao's offer of 20%: "I can also help find a scapegoat. Who knows which rich idiot was killed? What if there's only an orphan and widow in the family with no background? They could easily get tens of thousands of yuan in bonuses with just a few words. With some cunning and trickery, even more is no problem, right? A 50/50 split is the fairest way."
The two men, under the Bird's Beak, discussed the profits from retrieving the corpse as if they were conducting a business transaction.
The final result of their argument was that Causeway Bay would be considered Yin Guotao's territory, and Yin Guotao would be responsible for everything related to the case. Yan Hung would contribute 20% of the expenses for finding a scapegoat and impersonating Big Dragon Phoenix. If the family gave extra bonuses to encourage solving the case, the bonuses would be split 30/70 between the two. If the Foreign Devil gave any rewards, Yin Guotao and Yan Hung would share the credit equally.
"Brother Wing, Brother Shui, Brother Tao and I have already explained things clearly, so I'll trouble you two to go back into the water one more time and bring the body up. Don't worry, you won't be shortchanged on your share of the money."
After arguing with Yin Guotao and receiving enough benefits, Yan Hung finally spoke and gave instructions to the two old water ghosts of Fuyixing.
Under the watchful eyes of Yin Guotao, Yan Hung, and others, the two took off their wet clothes and jumped into the water again.
With a start, Lin Xiaohe woke up from his dream, sitting up in a cold sweat, his eyes wide open and breathing heavily.
His wife, Lu Yanqun, was also surprised by his actions. Still half-asleep, she reached out and turned on the bedside lamp. She sat up, wrapped herself in the blanket, and gently patted Lin Xiaohe's back. With her other hand, she took the iced tea she had prepared before bed in case he got thirsty at night from the bedside table and said softly, "Another nightmare? This is the second time tonight."
Lin Xiaohe glanced at the alarm clock under the light; it was 2:20 AM, and he had only been asleep for three hours.
He took a few breaths to calm himself down, then took the herbal tea and took a sip. "Yeah, I've probably had too many things to deal with lately, so my sleep quality has been a bit poor. Don't worry about me, just rest first. I'm going to the bathroom, then I'll go to the living room for a cigarette."
After saying that, he got out of bed in his pajamas and walked out of the bedroom.
Sitting on the sofa in the living room, Lin Xiaohe lit Dunhill cigarette. His face was somewhat gloomy. He had slept for three hours, but was awakened twice by nightmares. Once, he dreamed that his father, Lin Xizhen, was scolding him for being unfilial. The second time, he dreamed that Lin Xiaokang, who was being submerged underwater, suddenly opened his eyes.
Lin Xiaohe or ghosts. He simply believed that the events he had done caused a stir within him that manifested through his dreams. Even if Lin Xiaokang actually opened his eyes and appeared before him, Lin Xiaohe would have him tied up again and thrown into the sea.
However, because of this dream, Lin Xiaohe felt that he still had some oversights. He had no problem dealing with Lin Xiaokang, but what made him feel that there was a problem was that Lin Xiaokang was betrayed too readily by Song Tianyao this time.
It would have been far better for Lin Xiaokang to have been exposed so early on, rather than for him to have remained patient and maintained a partnership with Song Tianyao, making a ruthless move when the Lin Family was truly in dire need.