On his way home, Xia Liu Yi had barely passed the second traffic light when he realized that someone was following him.
His pursuers were well trained. Two cars took turns tailing him: one would follow him through an intersection before turning away at a side road, and the other would immediately take its place. The only reason Xia Liu Yi noticed them so quickly was that their license plates were painfully unsubtle. One ended in 61, while the other ended in R3.
Boss Xia was already in a foul mood. Seeing the two vehicles with what looked like matching lovers’ license plates only irritated him further. Without another word, he spun the steering wheel and rammed toward the fake A’San currently following him.
Elio’s Notes: The plate number 61 represents Liu Yi (六一), whose name literally means “six-one.” R3 represents A’San (阿三): the letter R, when read aloud, approximates “Ah,” while 3 stands for San, meaning “three.” Together, the two plates resemble a deliberately matched pair bearing Xia Liu Yi’s and He Chu San’s nicknames, which is why Xia Liu Yi thinks they look like a couple’s license plates.
The A’San car slammed on the brakes and narrowly avoided him. It reversed several meters, swung around sharply behind Xia Liu Yi, and fled. During the maneuver, Xia Liu Yi got a clear look inside. Two young men sat in the front, and both were complete strangers.
Few people dared follow a Boss through Xiao Qi Hall’s territory. Xia Liu Yi appeared to have come alone, but a group of his men were secretly roaming nearby, ready to rush over and provide support the moment anything happened. He turned the steering wheel, stepped on the accelerator, and gave chase.
The puppies chasing the tiger suddenly became rabbits fleeing from one. The two young men in the A’San car were now truly suffering. Boss Xia drove ferociously and refused to let them escape. Starting from Kowloon Tong, they sped onto Waterloo Road and raced all the way to Mong Kok. Along the way, Xia Liu Yi found another opportunity to ram their rear bumper, knocking the R3 license plate crooked.
The farther they went, the heavier the traffic became. The two cars raced one behind the other through the busy district, ignoring traffic lights and weaving through the stream of vehicles. The chaotic screeching of brakes, blaring horns, and roaring engines could be heard from far away, while pedestrians on the crossings cried out and scrambled aside.
It was the middle of the holiday, and such reckless speeding not only frightened the public but also alarmed the traffic police. Two officers in peaked caps pursued them on motorcycles, their sirens wailing. Realizing that the situation had turned against them, the fake A’San car obediently pulled over. Xia Liu Yi also called off the chase and stopped behind it.
He leaned comfortably against his seat, tilted his head to light a cigarette, took a leisurely drag, and rolled down the window.
“Driver’s license,” said the young traffic officer in the peaked cap. “You are suspected of running red lights and speeding… Xia Liu Yi?!”
Xia Liu Yi raised his eyes slightly with the cigarette between his lips. The officer staring at him in shocked fury was the same young inspector who had once tried to rescue a damsel in distress, only to be framed as her adulterous lover.
For those who still remembered, this was the Probationary Inspector who had refused to join their corrupt dealings, so Xia Liu Yi and Cui Dong Dong had arranged for compromising photographs to be taken and used them to blackmail him into cooperating. He had gritted his teeth and refused even then, so the photographs were mailed directly to every gossip newspaper and to the desk of his uncle, the Deputy Commissioner of Police. Utterly humiliated, he had been beaten severely by his uncle, demoted several ranks, and kicked onto the streets to direct traffic.
He knew that Xia Liu Yi had set him up. Now that the enemies had met again, his eyes burned red with fury, and he looked ready to drag Xia Liu Yi from the car and devour him alive. Xia Liu Yi, however, remained perfectly calm. With the cigarette between his lips, he greeted him, “Inspector Xie.”
Traffic Officer Xie, who was no longer an inspector, flared with rage. He slammed a fist against the car window and roared, “Take out your identification! You are now suspected of possessing narcotics and carrying firearms. Get out for an inspection and open the boot!”
At that moment, the other sedan—the one with the license plate ending in 61—also arrived. A man stepped out of the passenger seat and ordered sternly, “Stop.”
Xie Jia Bao turned around. “Brother Hua?!”
The newcomer looked at him expressionlessly. Xie Jia Bao immediately straightened and saluted before correcting himself loudly. “Sir!”
The man appeared to be in his thirties. He wore a sharply tailored suit and had a lean build. The hard contours of his face seemed carved by a blade, and his slightly pale cheeks showed no emotion. His eyes were so black that their depths could not be seen. His entire body resembled a lifeless sheet of iron.
“The car ahead belongs to our people,” he instructed Xie Jia Bao quietly. Then he approached Xia Liu Yi and greeted him. “Mr. Xia.”
Xia Liu Yi removed the cigarette from his mouth and, for once, looked the man over properly.
“Our first meeting, Mr. Xia, and you have already demonstrated your impressive abilities,” the man said. “I am Senior Inspector Xie Jia Hua of O Division.”
Author’s Notes: O Division refers to the Organized Crime and Triad Bureau, formed through the merger of the Anti-Triad Unit and the Organized Crime Bureau.
Xia Liu Yi flicked away some ash and laughed. “Another Xie. Does your family own the police force? This is certainly a thoughtful New Year’s greeting, Inspector Xie. You and your men are spending the holiday escorting me instead of celebrating at home. I feel terribly guilty. Why don’t I give everyone a few red envelopes and treat you to a late-night meal and drinks? Then you can all go home early, wash up, and sleep.”
“There’s no need for the red envelopes,” Xie Jia Hua said. “If Mr. Xia commits fewer murders and acts of arson in the coming year, my men will sleep much more peacefully.”
Xia Liu Yi smiled. “I have always been a law-abiding citizen. There is no need for Inspector Xie to concern himself.”
Xie Jia Hua also smiled. It was as though a spring breeze briefly thawed his cold, rigid face. The breeze vanished as quickly as it appeared. He straightened without expression and waved to Xie Jia Bao. “Let’s go.”
Xie Jia Bao hurried after him. “But Cousin, he—”
Xie Jia Hua patted his shoulder and quietly pressed down with considerable force. “We can’t touch him yet. Take it slowly.”
Aggrieved and furious, Xie Jia Bao climbed back onto his motorcycle. The group departed with their sirens wailing. Xia Liu Yi remained where he was and had taken only a few drags of his cigarette when Xiao Qi Hall’s men, having received the news, rushed over to protect him.
Four vans screeched to a halt around Xia Liu Yi’s car. Red Pole Big Scarhead jumped from one of them carrying a machete and shouted anxiously, “Boss! Are you all right?”
“What blind bastard dared race our Boss?” he cursed while looking around. With his muscular body and ferocious expression, he appeared thoroughly menacing.
Xiao Ma lacked a little courage, while this brat lacked a little intelligence. Xia Liu Yi was already troubled and developed a headache merely from seeing him. He slapped Big Scarhead aside. “Get the fuck home and sleep!”
He restarted the car and happened to glance at the passenger seat. During the chase, He Chu San’s flask of soup had overturned, spilling its contents across the entire seat.
…
The first half of Boss Xia’s Chinese New Year was tense and cautious, while the second half was exciting and infuriating. Every inch of him practically radiated displeasure. Big Scarhead had not followed him for long and did not know how to read his Boss’s mood. He only knew how to trail behind Xia Liu Yi like a stubborn ox. Xia Liu Yi could find no fault with him, but neither could he use him for entertainment, leaving all his pent-up anger trapped inside. He finally endured until the third day of the New Year, when Xiao Ma returned from Guangzhou and gave the Boss a target for his frustration.
Xia Liu Yi closed the office door and subjected Xiao Ma to a furious verbal beating. He had ordered Xiao Ma and Cui Dong Dong to find the people causing trouble in his territory. Not only had they failed to find anyone, but they had brought O Division down upon him instead, ruining his luck during the New Year. Xiao Ma was to investigate that Xie man immediately. What was his background? Who was he trying to impress with that righteous face? How much tribute did he expect to collect every year?
Xiao Ma had gained an entire layer of weight over the holiday. Covering his head, he stammered through the scolding before emerging from the office drenched in abuse. He kicked the underling approaching him. “Fuck! That damned He brat must have angered the Boss again!”
Xiao Ma rubbed his hands together and planned to skin and dismember that He brat someday to avenge himself. The He brat knew nothing about this. He enjoyed a peaceful and pleasant Chinese New Year, and his life continued improving. In March, he received his first promotion—from trainee to full-fledged officer. He then used a small amount of internal influence to introduce his “girlfriend,” Xiao He, to the company, where she became a receptionist.
His relationship with Xiao He developed smoothly. Xia Liu Yi could no longer be bothered to send people after them, mainly because listening to the reports irritated him. It was always about what dish the brat had cooked for Xiao He or what sweater Xiao He had knitted for him. Did they never grow tired of exchanging such sickeningly sweet gifts?
For the time being, Xia Liu Yi had no attention to spare for He Chu San’s private affairs, because he had finally uncovered Xie Jia Hua’s identity. Xie Jia Hua was Xie Jia Bao’s older paternal cousin, a thirty-one-year-old Senior Inspector, the son of a Deputy Commissioner of Police, and a man born into a police family. He had joined O Division at eighteen.
According to rumor, when Xie Jia Hua first joined, he had merely been an idle, reckless rich boy. Then a close friend of his entered the ICAC and was locked inside a cold-storage facility and frozen to death while gathering evidence. After that, Xie Jia Hua became fiercely driven. He vowed never to stop until corrupt officials and violent criminals had been swept away. He exhausted himself in the pursuit of justice, participated in solving numerous major cases over several years, and received an exceptional promotion to Senior Inspector.
In brief, he was a genuine untouchable flower on a lofty peak. He possessed an influential background, an excellent education, and extensive experience, and he was impossible to sway. Neither sugar-coated inducements nor actual bullets meant anything to him. Rumor claimed that Xie Jia Hua always carried his friend’s memorial tablet and was truly protected by the dead. Over the years, he had faced no fewer than twenty warnings, threats, ambushes, assassinations, and open attempts on his life, yet remained completely unharmed. The most serious incident had been a bomb attack on his apartment three years earlier, and even then, only his Filipina domestic helper had been injured. The incident alarmed his father, the Deputy Commissioner, who forcibly sent him abroad for further study. He completed a master’s degree in criminal psychology in the United States and returned to Hong Kong the previous August.
Inspector Xie returned from America filled with righteous conviction and scholarly knowledge, even possessing two additional abdominal muscles. He was fully armed in body and mind. Whether from the underworld or respectable society, anyone who dared secretly scratch him would find him clamping down relentlessly and tearing away an entire backside full of fur.
Xia Liu Yi could scarcely believe that such a “pure” police officer still existed in Hong Kong. Faced with this impenetrable fortress of a man, he and Cui Dong Dong considered one plan after another but could not find a completely reliable solution. Money could not placate him, killing him was nearly impossible, and ordinary schemes and tricks were useless against him.
Fortunately, no matter how extraordinary he was, he remained only a Senior Inspector. With so many “inspectors” who cared deeply for the underworld still around, Xie Jia Hua’s righteous path was difficult, and for the moment, he could not do much to Xia Liu Yi.
Xie Jia Hua’s attention did not remain on Xia Liu Yi for long. The first to fall was Boss Sha, whose defenses were weaker and whose organization was loosely managed. The Sha Family Gang under this Dragon Head had also originated in Kau Lung Walled City, just like Xiao Qi Hall, and controlled several drug-manufacturing and trafficking networks. After months of careful planning, Xie Jia Hua caught Boss Sha in the middle of a transaction with Burmese drug dealers and surrounded both sides. The Burmese men resisted and were shot dead in the chaos. Boss Sha failed to escape even five hundred meters before Xie Jia Hua caught up and shot him through the leg from behind, personally taking him into custody.
After Boss Sha’s arrest, the Sha Family Gang collapsed. Seeing that his former ally could no longer be saved, Fat Seven naturally swallowed all his territory and also took possession of the beautiful young mistresses in his household. When Boss Sha heard about it in prison, he ground his teeth with hatred and voluntarily became a prosecution witness, exposing a considerable amount of Fat Seven’s business. Although it was not enough to shake Fat Seven’s foundations, it forced him to restrain himself for a while.
Xia Liu Yi watched the fire from across the river. Although the matter had nothing to do with him, he could still smell the scorched stench of danger in the wind. He ordered his men to remain fully alert, watch their words and actions, and avoid provoking Inspector Xie unnecessarily.
Amid all this chaos, June arrived in the blink of an eye. It was the season when eagles flew and grass flourished, and the sea breeze carried a warm fragrance. The carnival celebrated by Xiao Qi Hall’s senior officers—Boss Xia’s birthday—had arrived again.
Everyone gathered at the same nightclub as the year before. Surrounded by endless food, alcohol, and revelry, they celebrated throughout the night until one after another became too drunk even to locate the door.
Xia Liu Yi followed Cui Dong Dong in making an early escape under the excuse of using the restroom, taking one trusted Straw Sandal with them. The three sobered up in the upstairs office while secretly discussing important business. Afterward, Xia Liu Yi dismissed the Straw Sandal and spoke privately with Cui Dong Dong.
“I can’t find anything wrong with Big Scarhead, but Elder Ge was the one who recommended him. I don’t particularly approve of you placing so much trust in him,” Cui Dong Dong said, shaking her head.
“Don’t employ someone you doubt, and don’t doubt someone you employ,” Xia Liu Yi replied. “He has worked diligently over the past six months.”
Cui Dong Dong shrugged. “You’re the Boss. It’s your decision. In any case, things have been tense lately. Uncle Yuan is deeply uneasy. He privately reminded me again to advise you to act cautiously, avoid excessive displays, and stop provoking the police.”
Xia Liu Yi cursed. “What the fuck have I done that’s so conspicuous? I’ve practically tucked my tail between my legs. Isn’t that enough?”
“Older people are naturally more conservative,” Cui Dong Dong said. “He has never been satisfied with how far you’ve taken the conflict with Fat Seven. It makes things difficult to explain to the inspectors. Now that O Division is watching us, you still insist on conducting business openly and aggressively. He’s afraid Xiao Qi Hall’s entire legacy will be destroyed in your hands.”
“He doesn’t know a damn thing!” Xia Liu Yi cursed. “He’s nothing but a pile of old bones. I can’t be bothered arguing with him. Give him a red envelope containing three hundred thousand dollars and tell him to enjoy a peaceful retirement!”
“No matter how generous you are, he may not understand your intentions.”
“Hmm?”
Cui Dong Dong paused. “The elders only want the organization to grow and survive. They don’t care who serves as Dragon Head. In my opinion, Uncle Yuan supported you instead of Xu Ying because he believed you were young and easy to control. If one day you stop obeying him…”
Xia Liu Yi’s brows tightened. He finished her sentence with a cold laugh. “If one day I stop obeying him, does he plan to replace me with a newer model? He’ll first have to see whether he has the ability.”
Cui Dong Dong tapped her cigar without speaking. Her brows were faintly furrowed, and she appeared hesitant.
“What? Do you also think I’m handling things improperly?”
Cui Dong Dong shook her head. “Other than Azure Dragon, you are the only Boss I acknowledge. Your judgment is exceptional, and you have your reasons for everything you do. More importantly, you’re my brother. Whether logically or emotionally, I’ll support whatever you decide. But Uncle Yuan is correct about one thing: the police are watching you. I’m worried about your safety.”
Xia Liu Yi scratched his hair irritably. “Enough. I understand. I’ll be careful.”
He pressed the telephone on the desk. “Send up two bowls of wonton noodles.”
The wonton noodles arrived accompanied by the bodyguard A’Ying, who cautiously poked his head through the doorway. “Boss.”
“What?”
“Someone delivered a present for you an hour ago. You instructed us not to disturb you, so I put it aside.”
“Bring it in.”
A’Ying carried in a large, loosely wrapped gift box. It had clearly already been opened and inspected.
He placed it on the desk and withdrew. Xia Liu Yi regarded the clumsily wrapped box with deep suspicion. Even the carefully tied ribbon flower on its lid had been pulled apart by the person who inspected it. When he opened the box, he found an exquisitely decorated fruit cake.
Unfortunately, several long knife marks had been stabbed through it, and someone had cut off and tasted a small piece, apparently to ensure that neither a bomb nor poison was hidden inside. The fruit had been crushed crookedly, severely damaging the cake’s appearance.
Xia Liu Yi picked up a greeting card from the box and opened it. Written neatly across it were large characters meaning “Happy Liu Yi,” accompanied, as always, by an extremely crude drawing of a birthday cake.
Elio’s Notes: Happy Liu Yi as in Happy 6-1 or Happy Children’s Day.
I wanted to give you a birthday cake this big, but I didn’t have enough money. I’ll give you one made of paper for now. When I start working next year, I’ll make it up to you.
“Who sent it?” Cui Dong Dong leaned over to look at the card, but Xia Liu Yi withdrew his hand and crumpled it tightly in his palm.
He did not have time to answer. He had not even registered what Cui Dong Dong said before abruptly straightening and rising to his feet. Without realizing it himself, he strode rapidly out of the office.
…
Xia Liu Yi hurriedly shoved aside the drunks blocking the corridor. His face remained calm, but his steps grew faster and faster. Several minutes later, he stood at the nightclub entrance. Behind him stretched a sprawling world of brilliant lights, alcohol, and human demons. Ahead lay an almost deserted street beneath dim lamps.
He did not see He Chu San. Grabbing the doorman by the collar, he demanded, “Where’s the person who delivered the gift?”
“Huh? B-Boss!”
“The person who brought that large box for the Boss. Weren’t you the one who accepted it?!” A’Ying, who had followed him outside, cursed.
“Oh, him!” the doorman hurriedly replied. “He left after delivering it!”
Xia Liu Yi released him and raked his fingers irritably through his hair. Remaining where he stood, he lit a cigarette and said to A’Ying, “Telephone.”
A’Ying presented him with a brick phone. With the cigarette between his lips and his brows furrowed, Xia Liu Yi dialed a string of numbers.
After a long wait, someone finally answered.
“Brother Liu Yi,” the little bastard greeted respectfully from the other end.
“Where are you?”
“Happy birthday.”
“Where are you?”
“Does the cake taste good?”
“I’m fucking asking where you are!”
“…I’m almost home.”
“Why didn’t you come inside to see me?”
“No. You’re busy. I didn’t want to disturb you.”
The brat had barely finished his nonsense when the nightclub behind Xia Liu Yi changed its entrance music. The lingering love song became a piece driven by fierce drums. Xia Liu Yi’s brows tightened—because the exact same music could clearly be heard through the phone.
“A’San! Get your ass out here!” he shouted at a suspicious figure lurking near the corner across the street.
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