Angie Perlis stood beside him, arms crossed, sizing up Song Tianyao with a half-smile.
Song Tianyao noticed Angie Perlis's expression out of the corner of his eye, put down his teacup, and adjusted his chair to face Angie directly. "What's wrong?"
Angie Perlis gently stroked her chin with her pale fingers. "I think the closer you are to someone, the more unrestrainedly you show your hostility towards Britain. Deep down, you're not just a chauvinist, but also a narrow-minded nationalist."
"Let me correct you." Song Tianyao hesitated for a moment, then held up two fingers of his left hand. "First, I have no hostility towards Britain; I just tend to view everything from a self-interested perspective. Second, I am not a nationalist; I am an interest-driven person. And the second point explains the first."
"Perhaps to others you're someone without a sense of national identity, someone who only cares about self-interest, but are you sure you want to use this story to explain yourself to me?" Angie Perlis blinked.
Song Tianyao shrugged. "What do you want me to say in Britain? That I hate Britain? And I'm different from those traditional China male chauvinists, right?"
"My mother quietly asked me, 'Do all China person marry five or six wives and then keep them at home, not letting them go out?'"
"You should tell your mother to watch fewer of those United States movies about Fu Manchu. Now, that continent in the East is no longer called the Great Qing, but China," Song Tianyao said to Angie Perlis. "Also, I'd like to ask you, if one day I might have some minor issues with this country because of interests, what would you choose?"
Angie Perlis ran her hand through her long hair. "Why didn't you ask me this before we slept together? If my parents knew I'd slept with a man before I was married, they'd be devastated. You know they have a strong faith and reject any premarital sex. If that ever happens, my reaction will be, if you ever find out you slept with that woman who helped you contact the Civil and Martial Association at your grandfather's restaurant, I'll report you to the Queen about everything."
Song Tianyao coughed twice, awkwardly rubbing his nose lightly. It was indeed Qi Weiwen who had helped him contact the Britain Civil and Martial Association. Although Qi Weiwen no longer interfered in the affairs of the 14K triad, it didn't mean she had lost her previous connections. Many Chinese laborers joined the Kuomintang after returning to China to save their motherland, so people like Chen Zhongying and Qi Weiwen could always maintain some connections with the Britain Civil and Martial Association. This time in Britain, Song Tianyao was playing the role of a wealthy patron who needed protection, and he didn't intend to lead the Civil and Martial Association in staging a gang war in Britain.
Unexpectedly, Foreign Girl noticed Qi Weiwen's help. Song Tianyao didn't suspect that Huang Liu or Nine-Tattooed Dragon, who were by his side, had informed Foreign Girl. With Foreign Girl's clever mind, she could easily guess that it was Qi Weiwen.
Thinking of this, Song Tianyao looked at Angie Perlis: "She just did us a huge favor. Look, without her, we wouldn't know that buying a restaurant would cause such a mess. Besides, helping doesn't mean I have to sleep with her. Your man isn't a stud."
"Number 37, Basil Street." Angie Perlis walked up behind Song Tianyao, gently massaging his shoulders with both hands, and said softly.
Song Tianyao was stunned for a moment. "What?"
Angie Perlis said with a smile, "The animal disease control center, they're supposedly promoting the use of drugs for non-invasive castration of animals now."
"Have any Thailand guys caused trouble in your area lately?" Lam Kong asked Yan Hung on the other end of the phone, a cigarette dangling from his lips and the phone receiver slumped in his seat.
Yan Hung's voice sounded somewhat tired, "A Wai and the others said that some Thailand have indeed been frequenting various Opium dens lately, but they haven't caused any trouble. What's wrong?"
Lam Kong clicked his tongue and said, "Brother Hung, judging from the sound, did you have a fierce battle last night? It's nothing, some gang Big Brother in my territory said a bunch of Thailand came, they spend all their time in opium dens but only drink tea, they don't make any money off them."
"Hundreds of rounds? I'm so busy I've almost forgotten what women are like. You're Senior Detective Sergeant, you don't need to worry about this kind of thing. Right now, all the police chiefs and Detective Chief Inspector in Hong Kong Island Kowloon are gathering information. Didn't your boss give you any instructions?" Yan Hung said on the other end of the phone.
Lam Kong, intrigued, sat up slightly. "What's going on? The Foreign Devil bureau chief's wife is cheating on him, and they want you to catch the adulterer?"
"I also hope it's about catching adulterers and counterfeit money, and then damn it all. HSBC and Standard Chartered have reported to the Hong Kong Government that there's a batch of counterfeit money circulating in the market that's hard to distinguish. Using counterfeit money in Hong Kong is like robbing Foreign Devil, and of course, the Foreign Devil won't allow it. So, the top priority now is for all tourist areas to cooperate with the Political Department, the Security Department, and the banks to find the source of the counterfeit money." Yan Hung sighed, "These past few days, all the banks, gold shops, and other businesses in my area have been running themselves ragged. They don't have time to pick up women. Right now, the Police Force can't even take care of stopping the ships at the docks."
Lam Kong laughed gleefully, "Isn't that exactly what you wanted? Getting access to those high-ranking Foreign Devil in the Security Department and the Political Department? It's much easier for me. Investigating smuggling mainly involves checking if anyone uses counterfeit money to pay during the smuggling process. I didn't find anything, but it was a lucrative job. I made some money. I'll treat you to drinks sometime. I called mainly because I suspected the Thailand might be planning to smuggle a shipment of opium into Hong Kong. After all, the counterfeit money issue just came up, and now the Thailand have appeared. Isn't that a bit unusual?"
"Did you find the problem?"
"That's why I called you specifically, since I couldn't find anything, to see if there are any problems with the Thailand in your Brother Hung's territory." Lam Kong said casually, but his eyes were fixed on the person opposite him.
After confirming that Yan Hung hadn't contacted him either, Lam Kong hung up the phone and sat up straight. He looked at his men standing opposite him with a serious expression. "The Thailand are definitely up to something. I made four calls, and there are Thailand in Opium dens in all four police districts. If they're not preparing to smuggle drugs, are they sent by the Welfare Department to preach the gospel to addicts? You guys, keep a close eye on those Thailand in their territory. Notify me immediately if there's any trouble. There are counterfeit banknotes in Hong Kong now. Whoever can find them will have done a great job. Don't let me find an opportunity, otherwise we'll combine the two cases into one and force the Thailand to admit to the counterfeit banknotes!"