Infernal Affairs?

Even a Young and Dangerous punk was being so courteous. As a Chief Inspector of the Hong Kong Royal Police, he naturally couldn't act murderous, or anyone who didn't know better might think the man opposite was the cop and he was Brother Dafei.

These thoughts flashed through Inspector Huang's mind. Although he showed little emotion, he still reached out and shook Wang Xuan's hand. "I'm Wong Chi-shing, Chief Inspector of the Hong Kong Royal Police."

Sure enough, Wang Xuan had just thought that Anthony Wong's appearance might be Wong Chi-shing from Infernal Affairs, and now it was confirmed. But if Chief Inspector Wong had shown up, where was Chan Wing-yan? And where was Lau Kin-ming?

"Have a seat, Inspector Huang. We can talk slowly. What would you like to drink? Red wine? Coffee?"

"Red wine."

Wang Xuan took a bottle of fine red wine from the cabinet and opened it. He brought out a decanter and two wineglasses, placed them on the coffee table, and only then sat down opposite Wong Chi-shing.

"Inspector Huang, did you find anything this time?" Wang Xuan asked casually as he poured wine for them both.

"You've hidden things pretty well. If we'd found anything, we'd be sitting in the station talking right now!" Wong Chi-shing didn't think he had anything to discuss with Wang Xuan. In his eyes, Wang Xuan's status was still a little low. If it had been Camel of East Star, that would have been different.

"Inspector Huang, you're being a little impatient. I actually don't mind the police searching this place. You could even station people here long-term." Wang Xuan raised his glass toward Wong Chi-shing and took a light sip. "My business here is absolutely clean. Even if customers want drugs, they can only buy them outside. I've given strict orders: none of my men are allowed to touch drugs!"

Wong Chi-shing didn't believe a word of it. Drugs had always been East Star's biggest source of income. He didn't believe even a punctuation mark of what Wang Xuan said.

Wang Xuan glanced at Wong Chi-shing's expressionless face and sighed softly. "Looks like you don't believe me, Inspector Huang. That's fine. You can come and inspect the place anytime, but..." Wang Xuan suddenly emphasized his words. "You can't disrupt our normal business operations. We're taxpayers in Hong Kong too. Every penny the police spend includes a contribution from us."

Wong Chi-shing pondered for a moment, then nodded lightly. They could do it once or twice, but if this continued without yielding any results, Wang Xuan could entirely sue the O Group for obstructing business operations.

"I know why you came today, but you can't blame me for this." Wang Xuan gently swirled his glass, watching the red wine rotate inside. He looked somewhat helpless.

"Hmph. You went too far with this!" Wong Chi-shing finally couldn't hold back. He had taken no shortage of abuse over the matter.

As long as you speak, we're making progress. A faint smile touched the corner of Wang Xuan's mouth. "Where you sit determines how you think. You and I are sitting in different places, so naturally we have different ideas. But it doesn't matter. We can seek common ground while reserving our differences!"

That was the first time Wong Chi-shing had heard the saying about one's backside determining one's head. After thinking about it carefully, he found it remarkably apt, and his opinion of Wang Xuan rose another notch. It's not being afraid of a thug who knows martial arts—it's being afraid of a thug with an education.

"I don't think there's any possibility of seeking common ground while reserving our differences with members of a gang!" Wong Chi-shing took a sip of wine. He had become interested and wanted to see what Wang Xuan was really up to. All this beating around the bush couldn't possibly be just a simple meeting.

"Why can't we seek common ground while reserving our differences? People always have something they want in life. What is it you want, Inspector Huang?" Wang Xuan looked up and stared into Wong Chi-shing's eyes with a smile. "A promotion, or solving cases?"

Wong Chi-shing froze. Are we really close enough for you to ask that? You've got a lot of questions. But... "Getting promoted and solving cases are fundamentally the same thing. What's the difference?"

"They're not the same. Their focuses are different."

"Heh, are you, a Young and Dangerous punk, trying to teach me, a cop, how to do my job?" Wong Chi-shing said with a mocking smile.

"The person who understands you best isn't your friend, but your enemy!"

Looking at Wang Xuan's confident smile, Wong Chi-shing pressed his lips together. That was indeed true. "Then tell me what the difference is."

"The emphasis. A person has limited energy. If you focus on getting promoted, you pull your strength back and tackle whichever case is easiest to solve first.

"If you focus on solving cases, then you inevitably have to spend a great deal of energy and time on certain priority cases. That leaves you without the ability or energy to pay attention to many others. Those priority cases are often the hardest to crack, and years of effort could very well end in nothing.

"In the end, you'll watch the people who joined at the same time as you rise above you, while you're still wasting away in the same post.

"So, Inspector Huang, where does your emphasis lie?"

Wong Chi-shing fell silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed. "Maybe I'm just ambitious. I want both. What do you suggest?"

"Only children make choices. Adults want everything!" Wang Xuan praised him aloud, while cursing his greed inwardly.

"Wanting everything is fine. I think there's still room for us to cooperate!" Wang Xuan said jokingly.

"You want to bribe me?!"

"How could that be!" Wang Xuan waved his hand with a smile. "That would be too low-level. What I have in mind is an exchange of cooperation. I'll use some information your police urgently want to know in exchange for something you have. Of course, we'll discuss the specifics on a case-by-case basis. If we can reach an agreement, we will. If not, forget it. What do you think, Inspector Huang?"

Wong Chi-shing set down his glass and rubbed his chin lightly as he pondered for a long while. In theory, this would do the police no harm.

"Fine. I agree."

"Then here's to a pleasant cooperation."

Wang Xuan raised his glass and clinked it against Wong Chi-shing's. The two drained their glasses.

As he saw Wong Chi-shing out, Wang Xuan suddenly smiled and said, "To show my sincerity, I guarantee that I won't get involved in any drug business on my territory in the future. Inspector Huang can arrest whoever you like; I'll pretend not to know anything. Also, as long as no outsiders deliberately cause trouble, I guarantee Portland Street will be the safest place in Hong Kong. For any case that happens on Portland Street, you can come to me. I guarantee a one-hundred-percent clearance rate."

Wong Chi-shing gave Wang Xuan a deep look. For a moment, he couldn't see what kind of game Wang Xuan was playing. All he could do was wait and see.

"Heh heh. I hope so!"

Just as he turned to leave, he suddenly remembered something. He spun around and glared angrily at Wang Xuan. "I don't care what kind of uniform temptation you're pulling, but take those policewoman outfits off immediately. If I catch you doing it again, I'll come inspect you every day!"

"Chief Inspector, don't you find them rather tempting? All right, all right, don't get angry. I agree. No problem."

After coming downstairs, they found that the dozens of officers conducting the search had indeed found nothing. They had only arrested two people who had taken drugs. As for the drugs themselves, they hadn't seen a trace. Whether there really weren't any or they had all been hidden, no one knew.

"Fall in!"

At the order, the large contingent of police quickly left with the people they had arrested.

Thanks again for Xiaotianlu's tip. Come to think of it, should I set up a rule for bonus chapters?

I'm a beginner and don't know how this works. Waiting online—it's pretty urgent!

Also, please give me a wave of recommendation tickets. The rankings reset on Monday, and the contract ranking is very important for someone without recommendations. Oh, and don't send red packets.

So, the important thing gets said three times:

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