Rebirth 1977 Great Era

Chapter 1022 A Terrifying Street Chase: The Fifth Senior Brother I've Never Seen Before? (Combined Chapter)
Le Miao turned the steering wheel slightly, and the Mercedes slowly drove out of Miao Street.

The afternoon sun at three o'clock scorched the streets, and the sounds of vendors hawking their wares and horns blaring outside the car windows mingled together. Yau Ma Tei is one of the most popular places in Hong Kong.

Even after leaving Temple Street, the streets remained bustling.

The surrounding area is filled with shops selling all kinds of goods, including hardware stores, general stores, and herbal medicine shops, with signs one after another, casting dappled shadows over the street.

The street food stalls were steaming, and the sweet aroma of egg waffles and the rich fragrance of curry fish balls mingled together, seeping into the car window.

A disabled beggar wearing a t-shirt sat on a low stool by the roadside, watching passersby.

Upon seeing Fang Yan and his group's luxury car, his eyes lit up. He suddenly lunged into the middle of the road, his withered hand slamming heavily on the hood of the Mercedes. His cloudy eyes gleamed with greed as he shouted in Cantonese, his voice trembling with tears:
"Big sir! Have mercy! My leg is broken, and I haven't eaten for three days! You're all so rich, please give me some money to save my life! I beg you, please have mercy!"

He kept shouting and banging his head against the front of the car, his disheveled appearance a stark contrast to the gleaming luxury vehicle.

Seeing this, Wang Feng immediately opened the car door to get out and chase the people away, but Le Miao stopped him. As if she was already used to this kind of scene, she honked the horn, took out a few coins, waved them, and threw them on the ground.

As the disabled beggar saw the loose change falling, his knees scraped against the rough asphalt with astonishing speed as he lunged forward and grabbed the money in his palm.

He was hunched over, bowing and scraping towards the inside of the car, revealing a half-missing, yellowed tooth.

"Thank you so much, sir! Thank you, reincarnation of Guanyin Bodhisattva! May your business prosper and your whole family be wealthy!"

As he spoke, he kowtowed twice heavily inside the car, his forehead hitting the ground with a dull thud, kicking up a few wisps of dust.

Le Miao shook her head and continued driving.

After he left, the old woman selling fish balls by the roadside clicked her tongue, wiped her hands with her apron, and muttered:
"This is the third time that lame man has come today. He earns more than I do selling fish balls in half a day."

The fruit stand worker, holding a watermelon, watched the commotion and, laughing, shouted at the beggar:

"Crippled Qiang! We can go to Lanxiang Pavilion for beer again tonight!"

Several children playing nearby were drawn by the commotion. Holding malt candy, they gathered around and, imitating the beggars' kowtows, pushed and laughed at each other.

The well-dressed office workers simply frowned and quickly walked past the beggar, as if he were a filthy mess.

Le Miao kept her eyes on the road ahead, her hands firmly gripping the steering wheel, her tone carrying a hint of nonchalance:
"That's how this place is. It looks prosperous on the surface, but there are many hidden tricks behind the scenes. Don't be fooled by those pitiful disabled beggars; they may all be controlled by someone behind the scenes."

She tilted her head slightly, glanced at the rearview mirror to make sure the car was far from the chaos, and then said:

"If you rashly get off the bus and chase them away, you might accidentally step on someone's territory and get into trouble. It's better to give them some change to avoid any unnecessary complications."

Fang Yan gazed at the signs rushing past the car window, then turned to look at Le Miao, who was focused on driving, his tone tinged with approval:

“You now know the ins and outs of Hong Kong better than the locals.”

Le Miao lightly applied the brakes to avoid the pedestrians crossing the road. Hearing this, she shook her head with a wry smile, glanced at the rearview mirror, and then said:
"They're not that amazing. They've just been worn down by reality."

"When I first came here, I was more naive than a blank sheet of paper. I got ripped off by street thugs. Now, I've just learned to be smarter and know which traps to avoid."

Le Miao gripped the steering wheel, turned her head, and gave Fang Yan a sly smile:

"I'm not saying it's wrong for you to ask Grandpa Tang for help!"

Her gaze swept across the flowing street scene outside the windshield, and she sighed softly:
"In Hong Kong, the law of the jungle prevails. People like me, who are neither here nor there and don't want any trouble, have no choice but to follow the rules."

“You’re different. You have a wide network of connections and connections. You can sit down with the big shots who set the rules for tea and business. Naturally, you have a more assertive approach.”

Before she could finish speaking, her gaze suddenly fell on the rearview mirror, and her smile vanished instantly.

Fang Yan keenly noticed the change in her expression and asked, "Why are you staring so intently behind you?"

"After leaving Temple Street, I always felt like there was a car following us." Le Miao's tone became cautious, and she quietly slowed down the car.

Fang Yan looked in the rearview mirror and saw that the black sedan behind him had also slowed down, maintaining a distance of three cars.

Li Chong suddenly sat up straight, trying his best to block the dialect with his body:

“I noticed it too. They’ve been following us since we left Temple Street. The license plate was half covered in mud. Is Hui Ge’s gang up on us?”

Fang Yan squinted. In the rearview mirror, the black car seemed to realize it had been spotted and slowed down.

He sneered:
"It's not Hui Ge's gang of thugs. With the meager profits they make from protection money, they can't afford to maintain a German-imported Mercedes."

Le Miao breathed a sigh of relief, but then immediately heard Fang Yan say again:
"However, if it's not Brother Hui's gang, then those who are targeting us are probably even more difficult to deal with."

Fang Yan stared at the black sedan in the rearview mirror.

Deng Cai, standing to the side, clenched his fists tightly, his Adam's apple bobbing as he asked:

"Could it be an American or a Japanese?"

"They've left," Le Miao suddenly said, reminding everyone.

The group looked over and saw that the black Mercedes that had been following them around had slowly pulled over to the side of the road.

Le Miao was both amused and exasperated:

"It seems I've been overreacting."

Before she could finish speaking, Fang Yan suddenly grabbed the back of her hand, his sharp gaze sweeping across the rearview mirror:

"No, this is a shift change for surveillance."

Sure enough, less than half a minute later, three cars of different models, a taxi, a van, and a minivan with a business company logo drove up from behind, blending into the traffic like a pack of wolves poised to pounce.

They deliberately maintained varying distances, yet tacitly surrounded the Mercedes-Benz in the middle, making it impossible to distinguish which were ordinary vehicles and which were lurking assassins with hidden dangers.

Le Miao's back instantly straightened, and cold sweat beaded on her hands gripping the steering wheel.
"What should we do now?"

"Park on the side of the road, I'll drive." Fang Yan unbuttoned his suit jacket, his well-defined fingers already on the car door handle.

"No!" Le Miao's voice trembled with anxiety. "You're not familiar with the streets of Hong Kong, and you don't know the traffic rules either..."

“Just explain the basic traffic regulations once.” Fang Yan turned to look at her, his eyes brooking no argument: “You have a photographic memory, don’t you trust me?”

Happy Miao found a crowded spot on the street and stopped.

The cars that were following paused briefly, then continued on their way.

Le Miao opened the car door and went around to the outside of the car, while Fang Yan jumped into the driver's seat inside the car and quickly switched places with Le Miao.

Once Le Miao got in the car, Fang Yan slammed on the gas, and the Mercedes shot into the traffic on the side road like an arrow.

The tires screeched as they rubbed against the ground, startling passersby who turned to look.

As soon as Le Miao fastened her seatbelt, she was slammed heavily against the seat back. She watched Fang Yan skillfully downshift and accelerate, and couldn't help but gasp in amazement.

She quickly remembered her job and began explaining the basic Hong Kong traffic rules in her local dialect:
"Keep to the left! Yield to vehicles coming from the right at the intersection!"

"Speed ​​limit 60! One-way signs are blue with a white arrow, and yellow with a red circle means no stopping!"

Her fingers flew across the car window:
"Look at the road signs! You can't go straight on Wan Chai Road, you have to go around Percival Street!"

Fang Yan steered with one hand, while tossing his suit jacket into Le Miao's hands with the other, revealing the taut muscles beneath his white shirt.

Start maneuvering the vehicle with full force.

"Turn right at the third traffic light ahead!"

Le Miao looked at the taxi that had caught up with her again in the rearview mirror, and suddenly raised her voice:

"Watch out for tram tracks on your left! Don't step on them!"

The next second, the Mercedes-Benz grazed past the tram, the jingling of the copper bells on the roof mingling with the passengers' gasps and pouring through the windows.

Fang Yan played "snake-like maneuvering" in the traffic, precisely wedging the front of the car behind him and passing by in a flash.

He stepped on the gas, and with a roar of the engine, the Mercedes shot off like an arrow, disappearing around the street corner in the blink of an eye.

He then meandered through the streets and alleys of Hong Kong Island, until he finally recognized the same tea restaurant in his rearview mirror on the third pass:

"No one is following us anymore."

Only then did he notice that Le Miao's face was ashen, and her forehead was covered in cold sweat.

"This is the first time I've seen you so flustered."

Fang Yan pulled a handkerchief from the inside pocket of his suit and handed it to her.

When Le Miao took it, she realized that her fingertips were still trembling uncontrollably.

"I'm not panicking..." She forced a smile, but her voice trembled uncontrollably.

"I just didn't expect you to drive like a quack selling fake medicine." As she spoke, she turned to look out the window. In the distance, the statue of Mazu stood silently in the twilight, and the sound of the waves suddenly became clear.

The surroundings suddenly became quiet, and before we knew it, we had arrived at Repulse Bay.

The Mercedes drove along the winding Repulse Bay Road, the palm trees on both sides rustling in the sea breeze.

Only then did Le Miao ask Fang Yan:

Who were those people just now?

He said in dialect:

"Without substantial evidence, we can only guess."

"I feel the most likely candidate is someone employed by an American pharmaceutical company, but it could also be Japanese."

"But none of that matters. Your car is probably being targeted. Get a new one tomorrow with the money I gave you."

After hearing this, Le Miao nodded:

"it is good!"

He laughed in dialect:

"Aren't you going to be polite with me at all?"

Le Miao rolled her eyes and poked Fang Yan's shoulder hard with her finger. The outline of Fang Yan's shoulder blades under his shirt pressed painfully against her finger through the fabric.
"When you were drifting just now, why didn't you have to be a little more polite to me? You almost threw my soul out of my body."

She pressed the handkerchief given to her earlier to her forehead with the dialect word, and the sea breeze, carrying a salty and damp scent, blew into the car window, making the stray hairs on her forehead stick to her sweaty skin.

He looked visibly shaken.

Fang Yan smiled, and Le Miao began to speak:
"You were too reckless just now; you almost got hit."

"It's alright." Fang Yan was very confident in his driving skills.

Le Miao wanted to speak, but then she suddenly fell silent, her gaze fixed on the gradually clearing address of No. 88 Repulse Bay.

"We're here, it's just ahead!" Fang Yan visibly breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to Le Miao and held out his hand: "Give me the handkerchief."

"Huh?" Le Miao was taken aback and subconsciously handed over the handkerchief she was holding in her palm.

Fang Yan took it and wiped his face directly with it, the stubble scraping against the fabric with a rustling sound.

"Now that my face is exposed, I'll have to redo my makeup later." As he spoke, he had already wiped off most of the foundation on his face.

Le Miao suddenly realized that she had just used the handkerchief to wipe her sweat. Just as she was about to speak, she saw Fang Yan scrunch up his eyebrows in front of the car's rearview mirror, rubbing his carefully groomed eyebrows into a mess: "I can't exactly use my suit to wipe them, can I?"

He looked at himself in the mirror, checking himself from side to side, and only nodded in satisfaction when he confirmed that he had regained his usual bare-faced appearance.
"Let's go, get off the car."

Everyone got out of the car and opened the trunk. Wang Feng suddenly exclaimed:

"Director Fang, the gift is scattered!" Fang Yan went to the back of the car and saw the Hunan pastry box for Old Tang overturned in the corner, half of the peach shortbread and sesame candy broken. Fang Yan squatted down to clean up the mess and picked out another box of pastries that was intact:

"It's alright. Sending two portions is the rule. Sending a single portion this time is also a token of our appreciation."

As they were talking, the large iron gate of No. 88 Repulse Bay slowly opened with a creak.

Le Miao gazed at the shadowy palm trees inside the doorway, then suddenly lowered her voice:
"Is Old Tang going out?"

Fang Yan looked up and saw Tang Shengming, dressed in an air of nobility, leaning on a dragon-headed cane, accompanying a middle-aged man in a Zhongshan suit as they came out to greet them, waving from afar.
"Drive the car in right away!"

"How did you know we were coming?" Fang Yan asked, puzzled.

Old Tang smiled and pointed to the old banyan tree in the corner of the courtyard, a faint red light flashing among its lush branches:
Do you understand technology?

Upon closer inspection, Fang Yan discovered a green-painted metal box hidden among the tree branches, facing the direction of the driveway—it turned out to be a miniature camera.

“This is called closed-circuit television!” Old Tang emphasized in Cantonese, his cane tapping the ground with a crisp sound.

“Every household here has this installed. Mine is the same model as the one installed at Government House!”

“I knew you were coming to see me today, so I had someone waiting here.”

Fang Yan scratched his head. He hadn't originally planned to visit Old Tang today, but since the old man had been so hospitable, he could only put on a smiling face.

"Hahaha...you guessed right!"

Old Tang waved to him:

"Stop standing there, drive in now!"

Fang Yan responded and returned to the car, slowly driving the Mercedes into the villa. Guided by the middle-aged man beside him, he parked it steadily in the garage.

As soon as he got off the bus, he spoke frankly in dialect:

"Mr. Tang, we were being watched on the way here, and it was only with great difficulty that we managed to shake them off. This car can't be driven out for the time being; it belongs to a friend, and we'd like to leave it with you for a while."

Upon hearing this, Old Tang raised an eyebrow:
"You only arrived in Hong Kong this morning, and you were being followed around two or three in the afternoon?"

“There’s nothing I can do,” Fang Yan said with a wry smile. “I have a secret Chinese medicine formula for treating idiopathic pulmonary interstitial fibrosis. In the eyes of Americans, I am the ‘Sputnik crisis’ that broke the monopoly of Western medicine; in the eyes of the Japanese, I have become a hot commodity, and anyone who catches me can make a fortune.”

Old Tang laughed heartily after hearing this:
"Haha! No problem! I'll have someone disguise you later. Park the car here, and take my car when you leave."

"I can disguise myself, but driving..." Fang Yan glanced at the stylish sports cars in the garage—the Aston Martin and Ferrari gleaming coldly under the lights—and joked:

"Grandpa, with this entourage, anyone who didn't know better would think they were filming a 007 movie!"

“What’s there to be afraid of? It’s my own car, and it’s spotless! I also have businesses in Hong Kong!” Old Tang patted him on the shoulder.

Fang Yan's gaze swept over a silver Aston Martin DB5. The classic body lines reminded him of James Bond's dashing appearance in the movies, and he looked troubled.
"This car is much more valuable than a Mercedes; what if it gets scratched or bumped..."

"If it breaks, fix it! Isn't a car meant to be driven and broken? Otherwise, how would repair shops survive?" Old Tang said confidently, leaving Fang Yan speechless for a moment. Upon reflection, he couldn't find any fault with it.

"Stop dawdling!" Old Tang grabbed him and pulled him into the house. "Come inside and tell me everything that happened on the way here!"

Seeing this, the others had no choice but to follow.

Upon entering the foyer, one is greeted by a floor paved with off-white marble, its veins inlaid with tiny mother-of-pearl shells, gleaming with a warm, pearly sheen under the light of the crystal chandelier.

Facing the main gate is a pure copper gilded screen, with sections of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" carved on both sides, the bustling scene of the Bian River canal transport echoing the sound of the waves outside the villa.

Passing through the screen, you enter a six-meter-high reception room with floor-to-ceiling windows facing Repulse Bay, bathing the interior in amber sunlight. Three traditional Chinese paintings hang on the left wall.

In the center of the reception room stands a round huanghuali table from the Ming Dynasty. A bronze incense burner on the table emits the fragrance of agarwood. Next to it is a set of Yixing purple clay teapots, with the words "Let's try the new tea with the new fire" engraved on the body of the teapots.

Fang Yan frowned, touched his nose, and wondered why everyone seemed to like this agarwood.

Old Tang gestured for everyone to sit down, and several middle-aged servants in dark blue uniforms stepped forward slowly, their covered teacups on celadon trays steaming with wisps of hot water.

Fang Yan watched the servants' efficient movements and realized something was wrong. He unconsciously became nervous. Old Tang patted the back of his hand and he realized that he was tense.

"Don't be nervous, relax, they're all comrades." Old Tang took the teacup handed to him by the servant and tapped the table with his knuckles. "They take care of my meals and my 'safety of the head.'" He turned to the middle-aged man standing ramrod straight beside him and said:
"Oh right, I haven't introduced this person to you yet. He's Xue Zhen from the Central Security Bureau."

"Hello, comrades!" The middle-aged man greeted the crowd and saluted.

Wang Feng, Deng Cai, and Li Chong immediately stood up and returned the greeting.

Le Miao looked at him, somewhat bewildered.

Fang Yan then stretched out her hand and waved to him:
"Hello, Comrade Xue!"

As a result, Xue Zhen smiled and shook hands with him:

"Hello, junior brother!"

"Huh?!" Fang Yan was taken aback, his head full of question marks.

He asked, somewhat taken aback:

"No... what did you call me?"

Xue Zhen said:

“I am a disciple of Lu Donghua, so I am your fifth senior brother.”

"..." In an instant, Fang Yan felt as if an electric shock had struck him, and he suddenly remembered the time when Shan Haoran came to visit. Most of his fellow disciples were there, except for his fifth senior brother, who was out of town.

I didn't see my fifth senior brother during the New Year, but I didn't expect to see him here. (See Chapter 89)
"Fifth Senior Brother?" Fang Yan looked at the middle-aged man in front of him in astonishment.

Xue Zhen said:

"I've heard about what you've been up to in the capital. You've done a great job, much better than me."

Upon seeing this, Old Tang burst into laughter, tapping his cane on the ground in a rhythmic "thump-thump" pattern.

"That's great! It's quite a nice story that you brothers have met up in Hong Kong, thousands of miles away."

Fang Yan asked him:
"Fifth Brother, weren't you in Shanghai? What brings you to Hong Kong?"

Xue Zhen said:

"I've always been in Hong Kong. Shanghai is just what I've publicly stated. My master and fellow disciples don't know about it."

Fang Yan suddenly realized, "This is a matter of secrecy."

"By the way, you just said you were being followed, what exactly happened?" Xue Zhen asked Fang Yan.

Fang Yan came to his senses and said:

"Oh! This is how it is..."

He then recounted what had happened.

Then he also gave his own analysis.

After listening, Xue Zhen and Old Tang exchanged a glance, and then both fell into thought.

Old Tang said:
"Hong Kong is a melting pot of all sorts of people, but anyone capable of this kind of surveillance is definitely not an ordinary organization."

Xue Zhen picked up the conversation and said:

"I'll have someone go out and investigate."

Old Tang nodded and said:

"So much the better."

Fang Yan continued:

"Oh, right, there's also our film set. They've been extorting protection money from us. We came here from that film set, and we were spotted as soon as we left Temple Street."

"Looking back now, I suspect that the film set may have been under surveillance. Whenever a stranger went there, someone would keep an eye on them."

He paused after speaking:

"However... on the other hand, when I went to meet the professional manager here this morning, I wasn't followed... so there's a logical flaw in this."

Fifth Senior Brother Xue Zhen said:
"It's alright, we'll check it out."

At this moment, Le Miao couldn't help but ask:
"What about Brother Hui and his gang?"

Old Tang glanced at Le Miao and said with a smile:

"Behind them is Wo Shing Wo, and there are two important figures in Wo Shing Wo: one is called 'Na Zha' or 'Big Brother Cheng', and the other is called 'Axe' or 'Big Boss Yuan'. They are the core leaders of Wo Shing Wo. In addition, there are some veteran figures in Wo Shing Wo who also have considerable influence, such as Li Guohua."

"This Li Guohua is now known as the 'Shenghe Emperor.' He has been a powerful figure in the underworld for decades, and he has a high level of prestige and power within Shenghe, giving him significant influence over gang affairs."

"I'll give him a call, and the matter will be resolved in a moment."

After listening, Le Miao asked with some concern:
"These people are ruthless and heartless. They won't hold you responsible for this, will they?"

"Hahaha...you've latched onto me..." Old Tang was amused.

He asked Le Miao:

“I remember you’re from the Le family, right? We even met at Tongrentang in Beijing.”

Le Miao nodded:

"Hmm... You have a good memory."

Old Tang nodded:

"Fang Yan is your friend. He wouldn't have escaped today without you. You've done a great service by helping us protect our national treasure!"

"..." Fang Yan didn't think these words sounded nice.

Old Tang continued speaking to Le Miao:

"I'll teach you how to deal with these shady characters. Just remember one thing."

Le Miao asked curiously:
"what's up?"

Old Tang slowly sipped his tea and tapped the table with his knuckles:
"When dealing with them, you have to give them a piece of candy, but you also have to show them a knife."

He suddenly turned to Xue Zhen and said, "Bring me the 'Heshenghe Roster' from the third drawer of my study."

Xue Zhen accepted the order and left, soon returning with a yellowed thread-bound book. The cover prominently displayed the four gold-embossed characters "Hung Hing Lectures." Upon opening it, one found dense penmanship. Fang Yan looked closely and discovered that it actually recorded the birth dates, home addresses, and even the information of mistresses and illegitimate children of the past leaders and hall masters of the Wo Shing Wo organization.

Old Tang clicked on the entry for "Li Guohua":

“Look, his youngest son is in his final year of high school at St. Paul’s College, his daughter runs a beauty salon in Tsim Sha Tsui, and his wife goes to Po Fook Hill to pay respects to her deceased father every month on the 15th. They have more information than they do on their own household registration.”

Le Miao stared at the photos on the roster. A photo of Li Guohua with a buzz cut when he was young and a photo of him in a suit in recent years were pasted side by side. The scar at the corner of his eye extended from his temple to his chin, but he smiled particularly gently in the family photo.

Old Tang chuckled upon seeing this:
“Don’t be fooled by their fierce appearance; they are all people with families and businesses. If you cut off their source of income, they might dare to take your life; but if you have their weakness…” He ran his finger over the information about “Li Guohua’s daughter,” “he knows the rules better than anyone else.”

Old Tang picked up his teacup, looking confident of victory, and said:

"When you make the call later, first bring up my past relationship with him, then bring up Brother Hui's messy affairs. Exchange affection for dignity, and messy affairs for obedience. That's the rule in Hong Kong."

PS: The basic chapter of 6000 words has been updated.

There will be an extra chapter later.

(End of this chapter)