Dongguan Chai had earned the favor of Wo Sing Wo's Tai Po District Leader, so he naturally had no shortage of ability or ways to get things done.
That afternoon, before Zhou Quan had even started his evening patrol, one of his men brought him some good news.
For the past few days, Lam Tong had been hiding in Summer Palace Villa in Kowloon City.
Today's Kowloon City had originally been called Kowloon Walled City, and had once been the most chaotic area on Hong Kong Island.
Because of certain historical circumstances, even the foreigners' laws could not reach inside Kowloon Walled City.
As a result, many people who had broken the law on Hong Kong Island fled into Kowloon Walled City and put down roots there.
This naturally led to a constant stream of crimes inside Kowloon Walled City, including drug trafficking, smuggling, murder, and robbery.
After Hong Kong Island officially confirmed its return to the Motherland, the mainland and the foreigners spent several years in negotiations, ultimately signing the Joint Declaration to address the issue of Hong Kong Island.
Kowloon Walled City, a lawless place rife with crime, naturally bore the brunt.
So, starting in 1987, the mainland and the foreigners jointly decided to clear the Walled City and begin relocating its residents.
Although Kowloon Walled City had still not been fully demolished and rebuilt to this day, its public order had obviously improved greatly.
Even so, the area around the former Kowloon Walled City—today's Kowloon City District—was still the most mixed and disorderly area on Hong Kong Island.
To maintain stability and peace in Kowloon City District, West Kowloon Police Headquarters was even situated on Argyle Street, its main thoroughfare.
Given that Lam Tong was now hiding in Kowloon City because of his debts, it was only to be expected.
After all, although most of the Walled City's main buildings, with their fortress-like perimeter walls, had already been demolished,
many old buildings still remained around the outskirts of Kowloon Walled City.
These places were the most disorderly, full of filth and vice.
Since Zhou Quan had learned Lam Tong's exact whereabouts, he went straight to Kong Chi Lap and arranged to adjust that night's patrol route.
Kong Chi Lap, as the Big Sir, was responsible for deploying the entire West Kowloon Mobile Unit on patrol.
Changing his patrol area to a route along Argyle Street was a simple matter of Kong Chi Lap giving the word.
The reason for changing the patrol route was no problem for Zhou Quan either.
Kowloon City was very disorderly. Theft and home-invasion robbery happened frequently, making it one of the toughest routes for the West Kowloon PTU to patrol.
He had volunteered to go to the front line to maintain order in West Kowloon. His colleagues would not only have no objections; they would be glad of it.
On previous patrols, Zhou Quan had also been assigned to this area.
But back then, he had rotated patrols there with other teams.
After all, not everyone was willing to take responsibility for such a hard and tiring patrol route.
And so, Zhou Quan smoothly arranged for his team to patrol along Argyle Street that night.
Since West Kowloon Police Headquarters was located between Kowloon City and Mong Kok,
Zhou Quan's team did not need to use a Riot Van for its patrol that night.
This was undoubtedly a perfect fit for what Zhou Quan had in mind.
After all, his real target was not Lam Tong, who was hiding in Summer Palace Villa.
It was the gang of violent criminals who had pulled a black-eating-black job at Warehouse No. 3 two days earlier.
The Riot Van was too conspicuous; it might alert them.
Taking his fully armed team out, Zhou Quan had just left West Kowloon Headquarters
when he saw a Gou Hok Jai who looked somewhat familiar to him walking over nervously.
"Good evening, Sergeant Zhou. Good evening, officers!"
At the same time, the Gou Hok Jai bowed and greeted them.
"Sergeant Zhou, Brother Dongguan sent me to show you the way. He's waiting for you at Summer Palace Villa in Kowloon City."
Before Zhou Quan could ask, the Gou Hok Jai hurriedly explained why he was there.
"Got it!"
Zhou Quan gave a slight nod, then looked at the two sergeants under his command.
"Ah Mei, take some of the men and patrol along Argyle Street."
"Ah Zhan, take the rest and head into Kowloon City to have a look."
Following that day's patrol plan, Zhou Quan made a series of arrangements.
"Yes, sir!"
Although Shao Meiqi, He Wenzhan, and the others did not know exactly what Zhou Quan had in mind,
their Assistant Superintendent had laid out the patrol route, so they naturally had no objections.
After all, when PTU officers went on patrol, the commanders above only planned the general area in advance.
As for how to carry out the patrol, that was for the frontline Group Commander to decide.
Whether to patrol separately and which route to take were all up to Zhou Quan, their Assistant Superintendent.
The officers in the team only needed to follow orders without cutting corners.
And so, Zhou Quan's PTU team split into two groups.
Shao Meiqi led the officers under her along Argyle Street,
while He Wenzhan led his officers after Zhou Quan.
As for the two plainclothes officers Zhou Quan had originally been leading, they were still looking for the owner of the Mazda suspected of dangerous driving and obstructing official duties.
The journey was uneventful. Guided by the Gou Hok Jai, Zhou Quan and his men arrived at the entrance to South Wall Road in Kowloon City.
By then, Dongguan Chai and his men had already been waiting for quite some time.
"Good evening, Sergeant Zhou!"
The moment he saw Zhou Quan and the others, Dongguan Chai broke into an ingratiating smile and hurried over.
Since he did not know exactly what Zhou Quan was after, Dongguan Chai did not dare to station his men right outside Summer Palace Villa. He was afraid of alerting Lam Tong.
Dongguan Chai had dealt with Lam Tong for more than a day or two.
He knew that although the fat man looked clumsy, his ears and eyes were exceptionally sharp from spending so long on the frontline of the anti-triad unit.
On top of that, the fat man was already like a startled bird, having gone into hiding to escape his debts.
If he heard even the slightest noise, he would certainly flee without hesitation.
At that point, failing to recover his debt would be a minor matter.
But if he messed things up for the fearsome man before him, the consequences could be terrible.
Remembering what had happened the previous night, Dongguan Chai could not help feeling afraid.
"Sergeant Zhou, Summer Palace Villa is just up ahead."
Without waiting for Zhou Quan to ask, Dongguan Chai eagerly began explaining the situation.
"It sounds nice to call it a villa, but it's really just a filthy, run-down apartment building."
"The owner goes by Big Mouth Shing. He used to live in Kowloon Walled City and was something of an underworld figure."
Looking at how eagerly Dongguan Chai was cooperating, anyone who didn't know better would have thought he was a concerned, law-abiding Good Citizen.
Before you continue