Teahouse Rendezvous

The teahouses in West City's old district did booming business. This was where unemployed people and retired company workers mostly gathered. Cuntoucao had once been a regular here, but after he started running with Long Wen's group, their usual place for chatting had shifted to Mengjing Teahouse beside Hongdu Square.

The teahouse owner had grown used to Cuntoucao's preferred spot for tea. It was a small wooden room on the second floor facing the street, with a broad view.

Early in the morning, Cuntoucao arrived at the loft on the second floor of Yuelai Teahouse and brewed his favorite local Longjing tea—Yunfeng Maojian. After taking two sips, he leisurely watched the crowds below. Elderly women on the street were beating gongs and drums, performing the waist-drum dance they usually practiced, and pushing mobile advertising boards as they energetically promoted the upcoming opening of Night Fragrance Hotpot. Cuntoucao took out his phone and sent Tong Haojing a message: "Something's up. Meet at Yuelai Teahouse. Urgent."

Tong Haojing had finished breakfast and was hurrying toward the police station. The phone in his hand flashed and beeped, telling him he had received a text. When he opened it, he saw it was from Cuntoucao, asking to meet him. Tong Haojing knew that Cuntoucao would not be in such a hurry unless it was important. Dressed in a fashionable short-sleeved shirt, Tong Haojing quickened his pace when he saw the message. His heart tightened involuntarily. He hurried to the station, said a few words to Old Jiang, then headed straight for Yuelai Teahouse.

With Old Jiang no longer by his side, Tong Haojing had clearly noticed that Old Jiang had been spending less time entering the community with him. He somewhat regretted standing out too much, especially after the Anti-drug Brigade had arrested Agen and caused Old Jiang to lose face. That had made Tong Haojing's own prominence all the more obvious, leaving Old Jiang uncomfortable.

On the ground floor of Yuelai Teahouse, a young waiter was demonstrating all kinds of expert tea-pouring techniques. The cup was filled to the brim without spilling a drop, drawing frequent murmurs of admiration from the customers. Tong Haojing's arrival did not attract the attention of the tea drinkers, but the owner spotted him at once. To a teahouse owner, community police officers had always been people worth watching. They knew the officers, though the officers might not know them.

Pi Zhong, an idle loafer, often drank tea and played cards here. Tong Haojing had warned him more than once, and the two had long known each other, since Pi Zhong was a regular at the detention center and had been detained many times for public security violations. Wang Neng, a shameless hanger-on who trailed after him, often received Pi Zhong's handouts. Pi Zhong gave him money every few days, and the two were fairly close.

Tong Haojing deliberately avoided Pi Zhong and Wang Neng's greetings.

Cuntoucao spotted Tong Haojing upstairs and called to the second-floor waiter, "Go bring up that tall young man who just came in."

The waiter turned and went downstairs, his footsteps thudding as he descended. At the corner of the ground floor, he saw Tong Haojing looking around by the counter.

"Hey, handsome, someone upstairs is looking for you!"

"You are..." Tong Haojing understood. He followed the waiter upstairs, winding through the corridors before entering a small wooden room. There, he saw Cuntoucao alone at a glass table in the loft, sitting with one leg crossed over the other and leisurely sipping tea.

"Quite the elegant pastime," Tong Haojing said.

"You flatter me." Cuntoucao rose and bent at the waist to invite Tong Haojing to sit, like a servant greeting his master. It made Tong Haojing uncomfortable.

"Cuntoucao, don't be so polite. We're friends!"

"Rules are still rules. You're my great benefactor. I respect you, and that's only natural." In truth, Cuntoucao spoke from gratitude and respect for Tong Haojing, without any intention of flattering him.

"What rules? People make the rules. Between us, there shouldn't be any distinction!" Tong Haojing's tone grew heavier. Cuntoucao could tell that Tong Haojing was angry and quickly smiled apologetically. "All right, we're friends. I'll keep that in mind from now on."

Cuntoucao no longer held back and got straight to the point. "Officer Tong, the thug was selling drugs last night."

Hearing Cuntoucao voluntarily begin to provide intelligence, Tong Haojing knew that the emotion and effort he had invested in this troubled youth had not been wasted. A warm current seeped into every pore of his body. He felt utterly refreshed and immensely relieved.

"What kind of drugs? Narcotics?" Tong Haojing asked.

"A new type of drug that just came through. They were holding a birthday party for someone called Xiao Hu."

"Did you see it yourself?"

"No. The thug wouldn't let us handle it. He only had us stand lookout. Obviously, the thug doesn't trust us!"

"Where did the drugs come from?"

The thug lowered his head and fell silent for a while, his face full of difficulty. He lit a cigarette, took several deep drags, then said, "I'm truly sorry, but I can't tell you that right now! Long Wen's group is ruthless. They're capable of anything. I don't care much about myself, but I have a ten-year-old daughter. I have to ensure her absolute safety!"

"Fair enough. Better to be cautious. Call me when you're ready to talk!"

The thug nodded helplessly.

Tong Haojing asked again, "Did the Hongdu owner know about what happened last night?"

"Probably. Xiao Hu called the owner for his birthday."

"What is their relationship?"

Cuntoucao thought for a moment. "Actually, two groups have been staking out territory at Hongdu Entertainment City. You know how it is—one mountain can't hold two tigers. The two groups of bad men were bound to clash. Some time ago, Long Wen's people fought with the other group, and they stopped coming around. The owner originally didn't dare offend either side. He may be asking us for help!"

"Who is the other group?"

"Brother Zhang Tou. He doesn't have many men and has only been in the game for a few years!"

"What are they doing at Hongdu?"

The thug looked at Tong Haojing and smiled. "What do you think?"

"Selling drugs?"

"What good could scum like them possibly do in there? Nothing but eating, drinking, whoring, gambling, using drugs, selling drugs, trafficking, and the like!" Under Tong Haojing's influence and guidance, Cuntoucao had indeed begun to loathe such ugly things. His sense of right and wrong had clearly changed. That was the truth of being stained by vermilion when near vermilion, blackened by ink when near ink. Hearing Cuntoucao say such things, Tong Haojing felt gratified, because changing the ugly soul of a drug addict was no easy task.

"Where do they get their supply?"

"All in one place. No, at Zuoshen's place, or maybe somewhere else..."

"Who is Zuoshen?"

"You'll find out eventually. Pretend I didn't say anything, okay?"

"Why are you hemming and hawing?" Tong Haojing's face darkened. "What benefits did he give you?"

"I don't know. Long Wen may be the one dealing with them."

Tong Haojing knew that making Cuntoucao trust him completely and tell him everything would take time. Haste made waste. There would be opportunities later.

Tong Haojing suddenly remembered something. "Officer Lan and Lu Tong asked why you didn't say anything about that fight."

Cuntoucao froze. He glanced at Tong Haojing, his face seeming a little angry. "I just can't stand them!"

"It can't be that simple. Did someone provoke you?" Tong Haojing noticed the unnatural look on Cuntoucao's face and pressed on. "Do you have concerns? Are you afraid to speak? Someone said he found an ID card at the scene?"

Cuntoucao was startled. "Who said that?"

"Don't worry about that." Tong Haojing did not explain and secretly observed the changes in Cuntoucao's expression.

"What is there to be afraid of? That day, I was just too sleepy. I was about to talk when someone outside called Officer Lan out. They spoke for a few moments. When Officer Lan came back, he angrily kicked me twice and said I was lucky, then never questioned me again."

"Who was that person?" Tong Haojing asked.

"I don't know. From the voice, it was definitely someone from your station."

Tong Haojing vaguely remembered that night. When he left the station, Tang Changan and Deputy Chief Liu Yang were still in the office. Could it have been him, or...

"Forget it if you don't want to say. It won't be too late to tell me when you're ready," Tong Haojing said unhurriedly.

"It wasn't me..."

"Don't say it."

Tong Haojing's mood suddenly grew heavy. He did not dare think any further and sank into deep thought.

Cuntoucao felt he should not have said those things. It had clearly put Officer Tong in a difficult position. He hurriedly apologized to Tong Haojing. "Officer Tong, I shouldn't have said so much!"

Tong Haojing did not blame Cuntoucao. Instead, he asked, "Anything else?"

"Last night was too dangerous. The thug and those little punks are vicious and cruel. They always carry knives. If they discover you were following them, they'll lash out like cornered dogs. They'll do anything."

Cuntoucao's well-meaning warning made Tong Haojing draw a sharp breath, though his heart still felt warm.

Cuntoucao added, "Oh, right. Long Wen had the thug reward me with ten thousand yuan. I don't know what to do with it. I promised you that I would turn over a new leaf. I don't want to keep fooling around with them now, but the thug wants me to help them. Whether I join in or refuse, neither feels right. It's left me confused."

It was the first time Tong Haojing had encountered such a situation. He did not know how to answer Cuntoucao and could only brush it aside. "Don't get in too deep. Tell me promptly if anything important happens." Clearly, Tong Haojing did not object to Cuntoucao associating with the thug.

"Definitely!"

Tong Haojing and Cuntoucao agreed on a way to contact each other. He warned him not to send text messages next time, since they could easily be monitored. Just as he was about to leave the loft, Cuntoucao stepped close to Tong Haojing and quietly said, "Around ten this morning, the thug and the others may be doing something big. Interested?"

"Don't rush. Tell me slowly." Tong Haojing got up again and tugged at the door, only relaxing after confirming that it was tightly shut.

"At ten this morning, at the food factory beside West City Hotel, the thug is going to do something there. He called us to stand lookout. I guess they're definitely gambling. I heard the thug say that Ma Shaokang was going to a money house to handle something for Long Wen. That's a new hideout."

Tong Haojing had obtained crucial information. He wanted to pass it on to Teacher Jiang at once, so they could deal a heavy blow to the thug and Long Wen's gang's arrogant swagger.