NOVPUB"""
People who seek pleasure are not afraid of trouble!
Suming’s trip to Xiangjiang was indeed joyful, winning money at the horse races and having a blast at places like Disneyland Ocean Park, but as someone who grew up watching Xiangjiang films, his deepest wish was actually to experience a scene straight out of those movies!
For instance, gang street shootouts, major gold shop heists... This kidnapping may sound a bit less glamorous, but it’s still a common plot device in the stories, and it sounded thrilling.
Before the handover, Long Wu was a major triad boss, and Xinji was considered the largest society in the entire harbor, with close to a hundred thousand members. Its reach extended into every corner of Xiangjiang’s underworld. Whether they were foreign or local criminals, it was difficult to pull anything off in Xiangjiang without Xinji catching wind of it. Even though they had gone legitimate, their influence remained significant and in terms of gathering information, they were indeed more convenient than the police.
The only slight annoyance was that Long Wu’s first question was "Have you called the police?"
This made Suming secretly scorn him in his heart!
Xiangjiang is home to so many tycoons that kidnappings happen one after another. Among the top ten wealthiest, including Li Chaoren, more than half had been kidnapped. However, how different levels of wealth responded to kidnapping varied.
The truly top-tier wealthy would usually choose not to alert the police beforehand, trying to cooperate with the kidnappers as much as possible, with the safety of the hostages being their top priority. For these tycoons, paying a ransom of a few billion was feasible, and the value of a qualified family member was far greater than that amount. Moreover, they had massive clout of their own and could handle a kidnapping potentially as efficiently as the police.
Most ordinary tycoons, however, would choose to call the police immediately, like Luo Jiaju in this case. After calling the police, he immediately sought out Long Wu, hoping to get information from both ends.
Mrs. Xiang was about to speak when Long Wu had already stood up, patted Luo Jiaju’s shoulder, and walked him outside, "Mr. Luo, don’t worry just yet, let’s talk outside."
Suming would not miss such an opportunity and quickly followed them out. Discover exclusive content at freewebnovel
Long Wu looked back at him, somewhat puzzled. Suming couldn’t just admit that he was purely there for the spectacle, so he quickly, with a serious face, said, "Brother Ten, maybe I can help."
Luo Jiaju looked at Suming with skepticism, clearly not believing that a tourist from the mainland, despite being good at betting on horses and having some money, could have any way to help with a kidnapping in Xiangjiang. Long Wu, however, nodded and said seriously, "Alright, come along."
Suming looked back at Nangong, who shrugged, "Men should handle their business; we women won’t interfere. I’ll go shopping with Mrs. Xiang."
Suming originally wanted to invite Nangong along for the excitement, but since she stated her intention, he couldn’t just say ’No problem, join us; it’s not fun to watch alone.’ He could only nod to Mrs. Xiang, "Please take care of her."
Their sudden departure caught the attention of the other patrons in the restaurant, who whispered and speculated about whether something unexpected had occurred.
"Did you see? Every time his friends have a problem they go to him, and he takes on their big troubles..." Mrs. Xiang’s tone was the same as at the beginning, she complained about her husband’s excessive loyalty, but was clearly filled with pride.
Nangong had also learned this approach and added, "My man is the same, you know how men are..."
...
Men who offered help, men who watched for excitement, and that man in real trouble, the three rushed downstairs. Long Wu’s bodyguards had the car ready and waiting at the entrance. After they all got in, Long Wu briefly inquired about the situation.
This afternoon, several kidnappers broke into Luo Jiaju’s Sai Kung villa and kidnapped his daughter. Based on eyewitness accounts, there were six kidnappers with covered faces. Two of them spoke with mainland accents, they had handguns, and before they left, they demanded a ransom of 48 million Hong Kong dollars, mentioning that further instructions for the drop-off would come via telephone.
After hearing this, Long Wu immediately made a few calls.
Although Suming did not speak Cantonese, he could understand it. Long Wu asked his people to check if any mainlanders had recently bought guns or drugs on the black market, rented houses in remote areas, or let slip any hints about planning a big heist.
As expected of a former triad leader, if the kidnappers had any contact with the local black market, they were bound to find clues by following the trail.
"When there’s news, call me immediately." After hanging up, Long Wu gave Luo Jiaju, who was continuously wiping sweat from his face, a slight nod, then turned his gaze to Suming. He didn’t speak, but his eyes were asking a question.
Obviously, Long Wu was wondering how Suming could help.
If it were someone else, like Zhao Yun, Suming would probably blurt out something like "I’ve watched Detective Conan and Young Bao Qingtian; I have a sharp mind that can help analyze the case." However, he wasn’t that familiar with Long Wu yet. After a moment of thought, he revealed a mysterious smile and said, "Brother Ten, I have my own eyes in Xiangjiang."
The "eyes" he referred to was actually Haidong Qing, who spent his days flying all around the sky. If he wished, he could have an extensive view over half of Xiangjiang. How much this might help with the kidnapping, however, was hard to say.
But to Long Wu, Suming’s words were a revelation. Even Luo Jiaju turned sharply to stare at Suming, both thinking simultaneously of Suming’s background: he was from the mainland and more crucially, he was a party member!
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Seeing the two of them looking at himself with such solemn respect, Suming felt really embarrassed and coughed, "Brother Ten, where are we headed next? Is it to Xinji’s headquarters, oh, I should say Tuodi."
The prototype of Hong Xing in Young and Dangerous movies is none other than Xinji. Just like in Hong Kong films, Hong Xing’s headquarters has an old and smoky meeting room where the bosses of over a dozen divisions meet. In the meeting room, there’s a statue of Guan Gong, and both sides of the conference table are filled with top figures from the underworld, decked in gold chains, and with dragon and phoenix tattoos. Someone short-tempered might even slam the table and curse, "Damn it, they even dare to mess with Brother Ten’s friends. Drag them out and chop that bunch of bastards!" Then the other bosses would chime in with their agreement, and the full force of Xinji’s hundred thousand members would be mobilized to scour the world for the kidnappers.
Suming might even be able to borrow a squad from Long Wu, pretend to be an underworld big shot, and strut around flaunting his power... Come to think of it, don’t those big shots in movies get to enjoy free services at saunas and spa retreats on their turf...?
Long Wu had always appeared unsmiling, but upon hearing Suming’s question, the corners of his mouth involuntarily twitched twice as he slightly tilted his head towards the car window, "Where to, you’ll see for yourself."
Turns out, while they were talking, they had already arrived at their destination. Looking out through the car window, Suming saw an imposing building with several big characters: ’New Territories Police Station’.
A flag, dyed red with the blood of martyrs, fluttered in the wind...
Suming was completely dismayed.
After getting out of the car and entering the police station, they went straight to the legendary serious crime unit. They were received by a female officer who seemed to hold a high position,
"I’m He Baowen, Senior Inspector from the New Territories Serious Crime Unit, currently in charge of this case."
The female officer, who bore a striking resemblance to Zhu Yin, wore the Xiangjiang police summer uniform, a skirt just above knee-length and a lady’s shirt that was slightly tight-fitting, topped with a jaunty police cap... Images of an old Hong Kong film called something like Uniform Temptation... sprang to mind for Suming... What am I thinking about again!?
Though He Baowen looked very feminine, her approach to work was swift and decisive. She didn’t bother with any comforting words and got straight to the case details.
The police were efficient. After the report was made, they had gathered surveillance from around the villa area. The footage showed that after kidnapping the hostage, the perpetrators drove westward and ultimately abandoned the car at the foot of a deserted hill. The police found the car and discovered it had been reported stolen more than ten days ago.
"The trail ends here. The police have deployed officers and dogs to search the area around the abandoned car, but it’s unlikely that any information will turn up anytime soon." He Baowen turned to Long Wu and asked, "Mr. Xiang, do you have any clues?"
It seemed she was well aware of Long Wu’s identity.
"I will handle the stolen car issue." Long Wu promptly made a phone call, and after a short while, information came through from someone named ’Da Fei’ on the other end.
It was six mainlander customers who bought the car from him three days ago. Da Fei, suspecting they came from the mainland, decided to keep an eye on them and had someone tail them. They were seen driving into Flying Goose Mountain.
"Flying Goose Mountain?" The expressions of everyone present suddenly tensed. The location where the car was dumped was not far from Flying Goose Mountain.
He Baowen immediately made a call to headquarters—there was a lead indicating kidnappers were at Flying Goose Mountain, requesting backup support, to begin a sweep of the area immediately!
"So what, we just sit here and wait?" Suming, who had been acting like a bystander, finally couldn’t help opening his mouth.
What’s the excitement in that? I won’t get to see a gang meeting, but following the Flying Tigers or something on a manhunt in the mountains would be thrilling. Can’t just sit here sipping coffee in the office, can we?
He Baowen seemed to have been oblivious to Suming’s presence, probably lumping him together with Long Wu’s bodyguards. Only when he spoke did she glance his way, her eyebrows raising in question as she asked, "And you are...?"
"A friend from the mainland." Long Wu coughed.
"Oh." He Baowen responded coolly.
Generally speaking, when a beautiful woman ends her sentence with something like ’Oh huh, dinner, bath’ and stuff, the conversation is pretty much over. True enough, He Baowen didn’t entertain Suming’s ’suggestion,’ and with a stern face, said, "The police have trained professionals to handle this. You just wait here. I understand your feelings, but going to the scene would only cause confusion." 𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙥𝒖𝒃.𝙘𝙤𝒎
The ’understand your feelings’ part was probably meant for Luo Jiaju, while the ’cause confusion’ was clearly directed at Suming.
Time ticked by, with constant updates flowing in. The police had split into several teams to enter Flying Goose Mountain. One team found items on the mountain that might have belonged to the kidnapped victim, another stumbled upon a few cabins that showed signs of habitation but were now empty.
All signs were pointing sharply to Flying Goose Mountain. It looked like they might be closing in on the kidnappers, when suddenly, Luo Jiaju’s phone rang.
He Baowen gestured, and a professional officer began tracing the call. Luo Jiaju’s phone was set to speakerphone, and a voice with a mainland accent came through, ominously stating, "Mr. Luo, you actually dared to call the cops. It seems you don’t care about your daughter’s life!"
