The car slowly stopped in front of the club. Zhao Wenye opened the car door and stepped out. He was wearing a black suit, his hair was neatly combed, and his leather shoes made a clattering sound on the road.
Several Uniformed Branch police officers standing by the street approached and greeted him with smiles, each using a different form of address.
"Brother Yip!"
"Yip Sir!"
Surrounded by the aura of being Song Tianyao's cousin, Zhao Wenye is no longer the laborer who used to live in a wooden shantytown and run to the dock to unload cargo every day. After leaving the Special Branch, he was transferred to the Marine Police. In just a few months, Zhao Wenye has risen to the position of Senior Detective in the Marine Police, even faster than when he was a land police officer. Even his foreign superiors greet him with a smile. It is estimated that he will soon become the next Hong Kong Marine Police Detective Inspector.
All Hong Kong police officers know that Marine Police work hard and their pay is pitifully low, but if they could work like Zhao Wenye, spending all their time at the Marine Police Headquarters and only occasionally going out to sea for patrols when they have nothing else to do, many land police officers would be willing to switch places with him.
There is another fundamental difference between the Marine Police and the land police: the Marine Police can be said to exist independently of the current Hong Kong police structure. The land police are divided into factions such as Chiu Chow, Dongguan and Five Counties, while the Marine Police only have the Lu Police faction, all of whom were Shandong police officers stationed in Weihai in the past.
Since 1922, a general strike by seamen took place throughout Hong Kong. In order to stabilize the situation, the British Hong Kong Government dispatched one foreign and three Chinese instructors, along with a translator fluent in Shandong dialect and English, to Weihaiwei in September of the same year to recruit the first batch of about fifty Weihaiwei police officers. The first batch of Shandong Lu Police arrived in Hong Kong the following year. Subsequently, the Hong Kong Police Force recruited several more batches of Lu Police in Weihaiwei. Now, the Hong Kong Marine Police has several hundred personnel, of whom more than 90% are from Lu Police.
Without the factional infighting that plagues Lu Police, Zhao Wenye is now the undisputed number one Chinese officer in the Hong Kong Marine Police. Although he is currently only a Senior Detective Sergeant, his influence is in no way inferior to any of the Chinese Detective Chief Inspector in the eighteen districts.
"Has Brother Kong arrived yet?" Zhao Wenye got out of the car, reached out and pulled out two packs of Marlboro cigarettes, slapping them into the hand of the nearest Uniformed Branch police officer. He looked towards the club entrance as he asked.
The man in Uniformed Branch, smiling, took the two packs of cigarettes. "Brother Kong is upstairs waiting for Brother Yip. Besides Brother Kong, Brother Hung from Yau Ma Tei, Brother Lok from Sham Shui Po, and Brother Sam from Wan Chai District have all arrived."
"Hmm." Upon hearing Lui Lok's name, Zhao Wenye frowned imperceptibly, then patted the man in Uniformed Branch on the shoulder and grinned at those around him. "I'll go upstairs first, and treat you brothers to tea when I have time."
Accompanied by several Uniformed Branch police officers, Zhao Wenye stepped into the club's gate and walked up the stairs step by step.
The club today was very different from when Zhao Wenye had visited before. The lobby was no longer brightly lit and bustling; it was so quiet that there wasn't even a bartender. Zhao Wenye stepped up the stairs and familiarly pushed open a wooden door in front of him.
Looking around, the spacious conference room was only occupied by four people: Lam Kong, Yan Hung, Lui Lok, and Hon Sam. As Zhao Wenye pushed open the door and entered, all four of them looked up at him.
Besides Zhao Wenye, these four most outstanding young Chinese police officers were gathered together. Among them, Lam Kong had the best relationship with Zhao Wenye, and he had personally invited Zhao Wenye to the club for the meeting. So when he saw Zhao Wenye, Lam Kong was the first to greet him.
"A-Yip, come in and sit down." Lam Kong stood up with a smile, beckoned to Zhao Wenye, and invited him to sit down next to him in a friendly manner.
Given Song Tianyao's cousin status and Zhao Wenye's current nominal position Sheung Shui police officer, Yan Hung, Lui Lok, and Hon Sam, who had already been instructed by Lam Kong, all stood up and took two steps forward to greet Zhao Wenye.
Among them, Hon Sam was the most attentive. Of the other three sitting in the meeting room, Yan Hung and Lui Lok had already been promoted to Detective Chief Inspector in different districts. Although Lam Kong was still nominally Senior Detective Sergeant, everyone knew that with just a word from Lam Kong, there were plenty of Britain Foreign Devil in the Police Club willing to promote him to Detective Chief Inspector. The reason Lam Kong hadn't done so was simply because he didn't want the Britain Foreign Devil to feel that they had repaid their favors so quickly.
Even without the Britain, Lam Kong would have risen to the position of Detective Chief Inspector sooner or later. But if he asked the Britain for the position, it wouldn't be so easy to ask again next time. Lam Kong's family started out running a department store, and having helped his family with the business since childhood, he had a keen sense of judgment. He knew very well that personal relationships, like business, were separate matters, and that favors were precious and should only be used where they were most needed.
Therefore, among the four future Chief Chinese Detective Sergeant who will hold immense power in Hong Kong, Hon Sam currently has the weakest influence. If it weren't for the fact that he barely managed to get the title of Senior Detective Sergeant in Wan Chai District thanks to the patronage of Liu Fu, Big Brother in the Dongguan Police Force, and that Lam Kong was eyeing Liu Fu's powerful connections and wanted to curry favor with Hon Sam wouldn't have been qualified to attend this meeting at all.
"Brother Sam, let me introduce you. This is Zhao Wenye from the Marine Police Headquarters, A-Yip."
Hon Sam is from Cheung Chau. After joining the Police Force, he spent two years on Cheung Chau Island. When Song Tianyao was at the height of his power and causing trouble in Hong Kong, Hon Sam had just been transferred from Cheung Chau Island to work as Detective Sergeant at the Causeway Bay Police Station. He had never had any dealings with Zhao Wenye before, so Lam Kong immediately started to explain the situation to him.
"Brother Sam, it's an honor to meet you." Zhao Wenye extended his hand to greet Hon Sam, then turned to the other two in the conference room and said, "Brother Kong, Brother Hung, it's been a long time."
Of the four, Zhao Wenye seemed to deliberately ignore Lui Lok, not giving him a second glance from beginning to end.
Lam Kong and the other two seemed to have anticipated this outcome, their gazes sweeping over Lui Lok and Zhao Wenye.
Zhao Wenye remained calm and composed. After greeting the others, he pulled out a chair and sat down near Lam Kong. Then, seemingly lazy, he propped his feet up on the long table in the conference room, leaned back, and closed his eyes as if to doze off.
Lui Lok's lips twitched a few times. He was Zhe Gu Cai's son-in-law, and the head of Yee On Company was his uncle. Even Lam Kong, who was currently at the height of his power, wouldn't dare to be so arrogant in front of him; at most, they were equals. Zhao Wenye was more than ten years younger than him, yet he was putting on such an arrogant act, which made Lui Lok, who was quite concerned about his reputation, instantly feel a surge of anger.