Xie Jia Hua returned home late at night. The light in the living room was still on, and Lu Guang Ming sat cross-legged on the sofa playing with a little woven-grass shark. “Have you eaten? I saved you a few char siu buns.”
“I ate.”
Lu Guang Ming sprang up and put the plate of buns from the dining table into the refrigerator. “I washed your clothes too. Hurry up and thank me.”
Xie Jia Hua caught sight of several coats hanging on the balcony, along with two pairs of underwear swaying in the wind. His eyelid twitched several times. “…Thank you.”
“What’s this? I found it in your clothes.” Lu Guang Ming bounced back to the sofa and picked up the little shark.
Xie Jia Hua went into the bathroom to shower. “I bought it for you.”
“What?”
Shhhhh—shhhhh—
Xie Jia Hua pretended not to hear him over the sound of the water. To his surprise, Lu Guang Ming simply pulled open the bathroom door and stood there shamelessly, waving the little shark. “Who did you buy it for?”
Xie Jia Hua turned his naked back on him and ignored him. Lu Guang Ming immediately slipped beneath the spray and pinched his butt. “Inspector Xie, who was it for?”
Rebelling now, are you?! Inspector Xie spun around, pinned him against the wall, stripped off his soaking clothes, and took him right there. Lu Guang Ming laughed as he struggled, his crescent-shaped eyes gleaming.
After fooling around wildly in the bathroom for a while, Xie Jia Hua finally threw Lu Guang Ming onto the bed bare-assed. Lu Guang Ming lay on his stomach, still enthusiastically playing with the little shark and making it swim across the blanket.
“Sleep!” Xie Jia Hua snatched away the shark, placed it on the bedside table, and turned off the light.
Lu Guang Ming scooted toward him with a grin. “Where did you buy it? What made you think of getting this?”
“Do you like it?”
“I do.”
“Then that’s all that matters. It’s for coaxing children.”
Lu Guang Ming’s skin was thicker than a city wall. He swung one leg over Xie Jia Hua and straddled him. “Then I’m going to report you for knowingly breaking the law just now. As a public servant, you molested a child.”
“Aren’t you the one molesting me right now?” Xie Jia Hua indicated their positions.
“This is called assaulting a police officer.” Lu Guang Ming laughed, pulled the blanket over both of them, and proceeded to assault the officer without restraint.
…
The moon sank and the sun rose outside. When the first ray of morning light fell across the corner of the bed, Lu Guang Ming opened his eyes to Xie Jia Hua’s slow, deep breathing. Carefully, he moved the arm resting around his waist and slipped out of Xie Jia Hua’s embrace. Barefoot, he silently left the bedroom, washed up in the bathroom, then took a set of clothes from the drying rack on the balcony and got dressed.
After putting on his shoes, he suddenly remembered something and tiptoed back into the bedroom to retrieve the little shark. His fingers had just touched its tail when he heard Xie Jia Hua’s voice.
“If it’s something very dangerous, don’t go.”
Caught in the act of sneaking away, Lu Guang Ming froze for a moment, then casually stuffed the little shark into his pocket. “If Inspector Xie runs into danger while investigating a case, would you think the same way?”
“…” Xie Jia Hua fell silent.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Lu Guang Ming bolted toward the door, only for Xie Jia Hua to catch him in the entryway. Inspector Xie, face cold, planted an arm against the wall and trapped him there, frightening Lu Guang Ming into shrinking his neck like a squirrel. “W-what are you doing?”
Xie Jia Hua took Tang Jia Qi’s spirit-tablet pendant—the one he never parted with—and placed it around Lu Guang Ming’s neck, then straightened his tie for him.
“Be careful.”
Lu Guang Ming lowered his head and touched the spirit tablet, looking dazed. “If I told you…”
…I’m going to arrest your father.
Xie Jia Hua watched him intently, but although Lu Guang Ming’s lips trembled, they finally closed again. He pushed past Xie Jia Hua, rushed through the front door, and darted into the elevator lobby. Standing with his back to Xie Jia Hua while waiting for the elevator to slowly rise, he secretly wiped his eyes.
…
Several hours later, Lu Guang Ming placed a thick stack of new evidence on Chief Investigator Xu’s desk, together with a pair of cufflinks. He removed a miniature listening device from the cufflinks and played the recordings for Chief Xu.
“This place used to be called Tanka Village. These fishermen were known as Tanka people…”
“It’s no use. Dispose of it.”
Slap—! Bang! “Shopkeeper! …Urgh, huff, huff…”
“How much do you need?”
Chief Investigator Xu listened through the recordings without a word. Lu Guang Ming took out several more boxes of audio material. “There’s more. These are portions of He Chu San’s conversations with Xie Ying Jie’s proxy and with Qiao Chun An, the Dragon Head of He Yi Society.”
Chief Investigator Xu carefully reviewed all the evidence before asking, “When will He Chu San act?”
“Within two days. He’ll stay with Xie Ying Jie’s proxy. The moment Xie Ying Jie’s enormous funds enter the market, we can freeze the accounts and simultaneously arrest the traders, the proxy, Qiao Chun An, and Xie Ying Jie himself. The first three, together with He Chu San’s testimony, the enormous sums in the accounts, the recordings, and all this evidence, will form a complete chain of evidence. Xie Ying Jie won’t be able to escape this time even if he sprouts wings!”
Chief Investigator Xu considered this. “I briefly exchanged views with the boss over the phone. He thinks this matter is too serious to act on until he returns. He’s attending a seminar in London and won’t be back until next month.”
“We can’t wait that long! The moment Xie Ying Jie notices something is wrong, He Chu San’s life could be in danger, and Xie Ying Jie himself could flee Hong Kong at any time! We’ll only have one instant to catch him!” Lu Guang Ming said urgently. He tore the spirit-tablet pendant from his neck and slammed it onto the desk. “Do you still remember this man’s name?! He was also my teacher’s student. He was once a member of the ICAC too! He paid with his life trying to arrest this man! How many more people have to be sacrificed?!”
Chief Investigator Xu was silent for a long while. “All right. I’ll take responsibility for this. I’ll answer to the boss.”
Lu Guang Ming clenched the spirit tablet tightly in his hand. “Thank you.”
…
Two days later, early in the morning.
At the small village house halfway up a remote mountainside on Lamma Island, Xiao Ma yawned as he opened the door and went into the yard to pick vegetables for the beef-brisket noodles they were having for breakfast. A’Nan and A’Mao cleaned around the front and back of the house.
Upstairs, Cui Dong Dong was sleeping soundly with her face buried in Xiao Luo’s arms when a sudden scream from Xiao Ma came from below.
“What the hell are you screaming about this early in the morning?!” Cui Dong Dong shouted furiously.
“Where’s Boss?!” Xiao Ma grabbed A’Nan and A’Mao by the collars and shook them while shouting upstairs. “Boss snuck out by himself again!!”
…
At the same time, downstairs from a tenement building near Kowloon City Pier, Father He propped open the awning above his shop and looked up at the clear, cloudless sky. Only a few brilliant streaks of morning glow wandered between the distant high-rises.
“The weather’s good today!” he told Mother Wu.
Mother Wu was dusting the shelves with a feather duster. “Even if the weather’s good, remember to take your medicine.”
“I’ll take it now, I’ll take it now. Nag, nag, nag.”
“Xin Xin, are you going to class?” Mother Wu called outside.
Xin Xin, dressed in a little skirt with a drawing board strapped to her back, passed by with a smile, spinning away as lightly as a swallow. “Teacher’s taking us to Sai Kung to sketch today! I won’t be home for dinner tonight!”
“Come home early! Don’t go running around with those stupid boys from your class!” Father He shouted.
“I know! Nag, nag, nag!”
…
In a quiet alley near Temple Street, Xie Jia Hua and several subordinates had spent the entire night inside a battered van marked “XX Freight Company,” waiting for a fugitive wanted in connection with a serious crime who was hiding nearby. They cautiously watched the street while chewing dry bread for breakfast.
The young officer in the driver’s seat fell asleep while eating and received a sharp flick to the forehead from Xie Jia Hua in the passenger seat.
The young officer jolted awake and instinctively reached for the gun at his waist. Looking around in confusion, he saw no suspect—only Xie Jia Hua’s stern, expressionless face. Rubbing his forehead, he complained, “Boss, don’t be so violent. How are you ever going to find a girlfriend like this? No wonder you’ve been single all these years…”
“Don’t say that. Boss has had a girlfriend for ages!” one officer in the back seat laughed. “He’s been showing up with love bites on his neck all the time lately!”
The whole van erupted. “Woooow—!!” “Boss is so old-fashioned. What girl would dare gnaw on him?” “Definitely the wild type. I bet she’s a lot younger than him. Boss spoils her. An old bull eating tender grass…”
Face black, Xie Jia Hua rose and began rapping all of them on the head. His subordinates scattered, covering their skulls. “Whoa! The iceberg’s collapsing!” “Boss, mercy…” “The suspect’s coming out!”
…
Outside the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong in Central’s Exchange Square, half an hour remained before the morning auction session, yet a large crowd of citizens had already gathered before the enormous display boards.
Well-dressed traders entered the hall one after another. Cursors lit up across rows of computer screens, and the massive central display began flashing.
…
In a standalone office building facing the sea beside the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai, He Chu San splashed water over his face and stared in the mirror at the pair of deep, dark eyes reflected there. He took a towel, dried his hands and face, straightened his tie and fringe, then strode quickly out of the washroom.
All the company’s ordinary office employees had been given the day off. In the otherwise empty main office, only Kevin and several managers remained, all watching a television mounted against the wall. The financial channel played there every day; at the moment, the anchor was reporting the previous day’s Stock Exchange closing figures and predictions for today’s market.
When He Chu San approached, they all greeted him. “Mr. He.”
“Do your own work. No matter who arrives later, pretend you didn’t see anything.”
“Yes!”
A distant ding—! sounded from the corridor. The elevator doors opened, and the Old Shopkeeper’s proxy hurried toward them with his collar covering his face, accompanied by several bodyguards in black sunglasses, black masks, and black gloves.
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