Special Operation

Officer Lan and Lu Tong's car finally arrived outside the West City Hotel. Tong Haojing had been waiting for a long time on his Prince motorcycle.

"Captain Lan, they're inside!" Tong Haojing gestured for Officer Lan to enter through a small alley beside the hotel.

Officer Lan looked at the alley entrance. The gloomy passage twisted and turned toward the pitch-black gate of a food factory, where two men in black were loitering. Officer Lan turned and gave the team members in the car an order: "Proceed according to plan!"

The food factory had been a famous state-owned enterprise in the 1980s. After the economic transition, it declined, and its buildings, neglected and badly maintained over the years, had fallen into ruin. There was an unused workshop inside. The thug had long set his sights on the enormous space. More importantly, a secret passage connected the factory to the hotel, allowing them to cover for each other. It was concealed and convenient for coming and going.

Buddha Lord and Chuanzi from the neighboring city had brought a group of gamblers and checked into the West City Hotel the night before. At ten that morning, one side dressed in black suits and the other in fashionable clothes, ten people on each side took their seats at the agreed time. The gambling den instantly fell silent, and the atmosphere grew tense.

Buddha Lord asked cautiously, "Brother Hu, there won't be any problems with security, right?"

The thug laughed. "Buddha Lord, don't tell me you don't trust me. Today, people come in but don't go out. All phones are collected, and there are guards outside. Don't worry!"

"Not at all, not at all. I was just asking." Buddha Lord blinked, and the assistants seated on both sides placed stacks of cash on the table. Not to be outdone, the thug took out a bundle of RMB from his briefcase.

Both sides put on a show of bravado, eager to flaunt their strength before the other. Their eyes were filled with ferocity and killing intent.

"Buddha Lord, guests first!"

"Then I won't stand on ceremony!" Buddha Lord dealt first. His skillful shuffling was astonishing. In an instant, he had dealt four hands of five cards each and asked the thug's side to place their bets. The thug refused to yield, thinking that after several previous encounters, they had each had their strengths. This time, as long as he played steadily, victory would be assured.

But after only two rounds, one of the men outside came in and whispered a few words to the thug. His face changed dramatically. He rose, cupped his hands toward Buddha Lord in apology, and said, "Sorry, the police are here!"

Buddha Lord flew into a rage. "You..." In his panic, he got up, grabbed the money, and ran.

The thug had no idea where the leak had come from, but with a sense of underworld loyalty, he responded quickly. "We'll explain later. Get Buddha Lord out first!" Chaos erupted inside, but fortunately, all ten or so people escaped through the secret passage amid the confusion.

By the time the officers and auxiliary police entered the scene, everyone had vanished. The place was a mess, with gambling equipment and a small amount of cash and valuables scattered across the floor, left behind in the rush. A few onlookers pretending to be unconcerned stood in the distance, watching Officer Lan and Tong Haojing with smiles.

There was no one in the room. Tong Haojing stood blankly before a scattered pile of playing cards. Officer Lan and Lu Tong stood beside the disordered gambling table, venting their anger. "How could this happen? Could Director Tang..."

Tong Haojing had wanted to explain something to Officer Lan, but he inadvertently heard Officer Lan mention Old Jiang while sighing about Director Tang. He did not understand what it meant. Thinking back to when they had arrived at the West City Hotel, he remembered seeing Old Jiang's figure at the hotel entrance. Could this gambling operation be connected to Old Jiang? Tong Haojing did not dare think further. Old Jiang's character had always led him to make one bold judgment—Impossible.

Officer Lan knew full well that in this kind of gambling case, if they failed to catch the offenders in the act, it was practically a lost cause. He had no choice but to withdraw and return to the station to report the situation to Director Tang.

Tong Haojing did not leave. Instead, he parked his motorcycle beside a health supplement pharmacy near the West City Hotel and reentered the food factory. At the center of the gambling den, he wanted to investigate again and search for clues. How had the people inside scattered so quickly? He looked over the floor; it was completely intact, and there was nothing unusual on the walls. Then a tightly shut, rust-covered hidden door suddenly caught his attention. A huge, shiny lock hung on it, an obvious contradiction. Tong Haojing casually tugged it, and the lock opened. He pushed open the door, and a beam of light shone in from an upstairs window outside.

Tong Haojing's eyes were briefly blinded by the light. When he recovered, a spacious room appeared before him. He pressed the switch on the wall, and the lights came on. It was clearly a hall, a simple meeting room that could hold more than a hundred people. A blackboard stood against the front wall, with partially erased white chalk writing still visible on it. Tong Haojing looked closely and saw words such as "Get rich through marketing, recruit members, outstanding results..." The rest was illegible.

Tong Haojing found the handwriting style strangely familiar. In his memory, the strokes looked far too much like Mei Tingyu's handwriting. Could it have been her?

Just then, a small door near the stairs opened, and a middle-aged woman came down. Dressed plainly and holding a rag, she stared at Tong Haojing in alarm, backing away as she asked, "Who are you? What are you doing here alone?"

Clearly, the woman had mistaken Tong Haojing for a thief.

"Don't be afraid. I'm a police officer!" Tong Haojing took out his identification, preparing to show it to her.

The middle-aged woman calmed down slightly. She braced herself on one foot, bent her body into an arc, and cautiously stretched out her long right arm. After glancing at it, she said, "Let's say you are a police officer. What do you want?" Her tension eased somewhat, and her guard was no longer quite as strong.

"What is this place used for?" Tong Haojing swept his eyes across the hall.

"It's for training hotel waiters. They come every Saturday morning at ten."

"What? Training waiters in a hall this big?"

"If you don't believe me, come see for yourself this Saturday. You can also go upstairs through the small door and ask the hotel manager!" The middle-aged woman said nothing more and turned to wipe the tables. Only then did Tong Haojing notice that the tables in the hall were fairly clean. It seemed people often came here to hold activities.

"Did you see anyone leave through here just now?" Tong Haojing suddenly asked.

"No!" The middle-aged woman's face tightened at once. Her reaction was unusually quick, as if afraid of letting something slip. She hurriedly added, "This has nothing to do with me. I don't know anything."

Tong Haojing could already sense that the middle-aged woman seemed to know something and was afraid of getting herself into trouble. He felt it would be impossible to get anything out of her, so he pointed to the small door and asked, "Where does this lead?"

The middle-aged woman looked up. "The hotel's second-floor guest room department."

Tong Haojing looked inside. The staircase was narrow, covered with a red carpet, and only wide enough for one person at a time. He passed through the small door, nearly hitting his head on the doorframe, and quietly started upstairs. Behind him, the middle-aged woman could not help calling out, "Be careful!"

Just as the middle-aged woman had said, Tong Haojing went up to the second floor, passed through a gloomy corridor, and arrived at the hotel's second-floor guest room department. A woman in her forties was inside the front desk, explaining something to a hotel attendant with a slightly flustered expression.

This woman was Old Jiang's wife, Sister Xue. She had already noticed someone coming down the corridor and recognized Tong Haojing.

Tong Haojing had never met her, nor had Old Jiang ever mentioned her. Just as he was about to step forward and greet the attendant, the attendant hurried upstairs in a panic. Tong Haojing noticed it. His professional instincts told him that the attendant going upstairs must have something shady to hide.

Sister Xue came out from behind the counter to greet him.

"Little Tong, where did you come up from?" Sister Xue deliberately asked this. The panic in her expression made Tong Haojing feel that this woman must be hiding some unknown secret.

Tong Haojing turned and glanced toward the stairwell corner. "There, at the corner!"

"Little Tong, why did you come alone? Are you here to book a room? You really didn't need to come in person. A phone call would have done. Why make the trip yourself? Hmph! It's all that damned Old Jiang's fault. He never says a word and insists on driving me to my death!" Sister Xue spoke vividly, as though she were acting in a play.

Tong Haojing found it baffling. What the woman was saying clearly made no sense to him. Puzzled, he asked, "You are?"

"Oh, sorry, we're separated." Sister Xue showed a trace of shyness and muttered to herself. At first, Tong Haojing did not understand what she meant, but after a moment, he reacted. His face was filled with shocked disbelief. "Separated?!"

Sister Xue quickly instructed another attendant behind the counter to pour a cup of Longjing tea, then invited Tong Haojing to sit on the sofa in the sitting area before the counter. Sister Xue sat down opposite him, unusually warm and welcoming.

"Little Tong, you don't know me, but I know you. Not long after you came to the police station, I went there to discuss something with Old Jiang, and that was when I noticed you!" In truth, Tong Haojing had long forgotten such a thing. Perhaps he had not noticed her at all back then, so the impression had never been deep enough for him to remember.

"What? You two aren't together anymore?" Tong Haojing looked at Sister Xue in surprise, his face full of regret. He thought that although Sister Xue was older, she still had charm and beauty. What on earth had Old Jiang been thinking?

"That's right, we're already separated. But he still keeps coming to see me. Looks like I'm still charming!" Sister Xue looked somewhat pleased with herself, as if showing off her charm, yet she was concealing something unknown. It was clear there was already a deep conflict between them, with layer upon layer of estrangement. That was Tong Haojing's guess.

Tong Haojing had already become aware that something had happened to Old Jiang. He understood, at least partly, why Old Jiang had never mentioned his wife to him and why he liked drinking in the little tavern outside the police station. In truth, that was only a façade.

Tong Haojing sat on the sofa and took two sips of tea. Before him, the hotel lights shone in a riot of colors. The hall downstairs was spacious and bright, imposing and grand, leaving a deep impression on him. This was considered one of the most upscale hotels in the west of the city.

Tong Haojing suddenly asked, "Has Old Jiang been here?"

Sister Xue hesitated. "He... no, he hasn't been here. If he came, wouldn't he drive me to death?" Her voice rose and fell unpredictably, making her impossible to read. Tong Haojing watched her and seemed to understand something...

"You're the owner here, right?"

"What owner? I'm just making a living!"

"Do you have many employees?"

"One manager, one deputy manager, and five attendants."

"Just those people? No one else?"

"No."

"How many guest rooms are there?"

"Fifty, large and small."

"That many? Do you have many guests?"

"It's quiet. No, business is all right."

Tong Haojing considered what the cleaner had said earlier. With only so few attendants, they trained people in such a large hall every Saturday. There had to be something wrong with that. Tong Haojing showed no reaction, but his interest in the matter was quietly piqued.

The two chatted for a while, but eventually ran out of things to say. Tong Haojing got up to take his leave and went downstairs. Before the hall, two imposing security guards stood ramrod straight and nodded to him. Sister Xue followed behind, seeing Tong Haojing all the way out of the West City Hotel. Then he mounted his motorcycle and vanished into the vast haze of dust.