Days in Hong Kong variety shows

Another night has passed, and the first rays of dawn are breaking.

The sun had not yet risen above the horizon, but the surrounding environment was already tinged with white.

In an office on the third floor of the Saigon Police Station building, Miao Zhishun, who hadn't slept all night, stood by the window, staring out. His bloodshot eyes were vacant and unfocused. The cigarette he was holding had long since gone out, with only the filter remaining between his two calloused fingers.

There was only half a cup of cold coffee left on the desk.

"Boss!" The office door was pushed open by a force, and Xu Yongji appeared in the doorway with a haggard face.

"The 32 illegal immigrants who were caught have been interrogated repeatedly, and it has been basically confirmed that the murderer is not among them."

The two men and one woman who abandoned their car and went into the mountains yesterday have also disappeared.

The investigation revealed that Snakehead Wei is from Lianhe Lao Si Jiu, and is connected to Lianhe Sha Shi. Yesterday, one of the guys went to find Sha Shi, but they didn't get any information!

However, some of the stowaways revealed that at least 50 people disembarked this time, and more than a dozen of them have not yet been found. The murderer should be among these people. It is said that seven or eight people left before disembarking.

"The rest of them, unable to pay the boat fare, were left behind for at least 30 minutes. The murderer was among those left behind. No one had ever seen the murderer's true face. Those who had met the murderer said he wore a menacing mask, but because of the dim lighting, the specific details of the mask could not be determined..." Xu Yongji said quickly as he walked in.

"Look!" Miao Zhishun's eyes, which had been unfocused, began to focus, and the bloodshot whites of his eyes could not hide the slight shrinking of his eyeballs.

Xu Yongji, who had already stood next to Miao Zhishun, looked in the direction he was pointing and saw a small van slowly driving into the police station compound.

He turned to look at Miao Zhishun with a puzzled expression.

"The truck wasn't checked when it came in," Miao Zhishun said excitedly, his lips trembling.

"Brandon, get someone to go check the police station canteen, especially the kitchen, check every part carefully." He turned around and quickly shoved the cigarette butt into the ashtray that had already piled up into a small mountain.

As he walked towards the door, he said, "'Quan Ji' supplies all the ingredients to the police station canteen. Their food delivery vehicles enter and leave the police station compound several times a day, but the guards at the gate never check them. Go check if there are any clues at the canteen. I suspect that the two men and one woman did not go up the mountain in Wong Chuk Wan at all, otherwise the more than 300 workers would have found no trace of them when they searched the mountain yesterday."

Let's leave the others who ran away for now and investigate these two men and one woman. Some residents in the city who saw the three of them yesterday said that the woman was very beautiful.

"Do you remember what the smugglers said in their confessions about smuggling a pretty girl away?" Miao Zhishun suddenly stopped and turned to look at Xu Yongji at the last sentence.

"Boss, you mean the murderer killed the six henchmen who were guarding the human traffickers on the beach, then went to the tin shack to kill the trafficker's head, Wei, and then rescued the pretty girl the traffickers mentioned? Although there was only one person who made the move on the beach, it's possible that there were actually two of them working together." Xu Yongji's face showed surprise.

"Perhaps! But these three must be prioritized as targets."

The two walked quickly past the large office outside, where more than twenty people were scattered, some sitting and some lying down. They were all officers from the Major Crimes Unit and officers on night duty who had been busy for a day and a night without rest.

"Everyone follow!" Xu Yongji clapped his hands forcefully a few times, attracting the attention of the police officers sitting blankly in front of their offices and startling a few people who were resting on their desks. He then shouted loudly.

Everyone hurriedly stood up, and after a series of sounds of chair legs scraping the ground or chairs falling over, the twenty-odd police officers who were resting in the office all followed behind the two men.

When a large crowd surged into the police station canteen, the commotion drew the attention of the officers who were sitting in twos and threes inside, looking for breakfast.

Miao Zhishun led the way to the private door leading to the kitchen. As soon as he pushed the door open, he saw several people busily working inside.

Uncle De, who was instructing the kitchen staff, saw a group of people rush in and turned to the cooks who had stopped what they were doing, saying, "Continue. Prepare all the breakfasts within half an hour."

Then Uncle De walked up to Miao Zhishun, who was in charge, and asked, "Officer, what's the matter?"

"Uncle De, let's do a routine check! This is Inspector Miao from the headquarters." A probationary inspector in military uniform with a flower on his shoulder stepped forward and said softly to Uncle De.

He glanced at the military uniform, then looked back and stared directly into Miao Zhishun's eyes for a few seconds. Dozens of people fell silent, with only the hissing sound of the gas jet burning.

"Be quiet and don't interfere with the workers in the kitchen." Uncle De moved two steps aside to let them pass.

With a gesture from Miao Zhishun, more than twenty people instantly filled the kitchen in groups of two or three. Groups also went into the preparation room and storage room to inspect, and several groups even opened the back door to inspect the backyard.

Ten minutes passed, and after a thorough inspection that left almost no room for even a fly, all the groups reported that they had found nothing.

Miao Zhishun, who had been standing motionless with his arms crossed for nearly ten minutes, finally moved. He walked over to Uncle De, who was instructing a cook on how to make noodles, and asked, "Uncle De, can we talk for a bit?"

......

Half an hour later, the main force had retreated back to the office building. Miao Zhishun found an office chair in the corner of the office and sat down. He leaned back, closed his eyes, and frowned.

Xu Yongji stood silently to the side. The investigation had yielded no results, and questioning the kitchen workers had also yielded no clues.

"Nothing to show for it! Those people in the kitchen answered so perfectly, without a single flaw!" Miao Zhishun muttered to himself as he lay down and closed his eyes to rest.

"I'll go find someone to investigate them," Xu Yongji said impatiently after standing there for a while, then turned and left.

Miao Zhishun seemed not to hear, remaining seated motionless, his lips moving slightly but no sound escaping.

An hour later, Miao Sir, who had been lying still, closed his eyes and made soft breathing sounds, seemingly already fast asleep.

But when he heard hurried footsteps in the hallway outside the office, he suddenly opened his tightly closed eyes and turned his head towards the office door, just in time to see Xu Yongji rushing in with several sheets of paper in his hand.

"Boss!" He rushed to Miao Zhishun, stopped abruptly, and after catching his breath, said, "Take a look." He handed Miao Zhishun a few sheets of paper and continued:

"Uncle De's full name is Yu Defang. He is a native of Saigon. He served in the army and worked as a radish maker when he was young."

After Radish Head surrendered and the government returned to normal, he was among the first to be hired as a policeman. He was once our colleague, but for some reason, he was forced to retire in 61. Afterward, he returned to his hometown in Saigon to farm. Only two years ago was he hired by the newly appointed Saigon Police Commissioner Edward as the head chef of the police station canteen.

"Later, I asked a friend in the archives department to check his situation when he was a policeman..." Xu Yongji reached out and flipped to the third page of the documents in Miao Zhishun's hand, pointing to a name.

Miao Zhishun's pupils dilated and contracted rapidly, and the three characters "Li Shutang" looked exceptionally glaring.

"The deputy commander of the headquarters operations department, the highest-ranking Chinese police officer currently, a chief superintendent, who served under Uncle Tak for nearly ten years in the past. The news may have already reached Inspector Lee." Xu Yongji said with a trembling voice that he could not control.

The few sheets of paper that Miao Zhishun was clutching tightly in his hand were all crumpled, as if he were holding a thousand-pound weight, and his whole hand was trembling.

When the investigation uncovered the first Chinese person within the police force, Miao Zhishun couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine! He should have stopped and informed Chief Edward when he found out that Uncle De had been personally hired by the Saigon Police Chief.

Xu Yongji even took it upon himself to use his connections to continue the investigation. While some old files may not have been kept strictly confidential, the person who helped him dared to leak information involving the Chief Superintendent of Police. It's fair to say that these two people had absolutely no political sensitivity.

Li Shutang was a second-generation police officer from Shandong. In the 1960s and 70s, when almost all Chinese police officers were vying for the positions of Chinese detective chief and chief Chinese detective, he had already reached the level of inspector in the Ministry of the Interior, a department that received little attention.

After the establishment of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), in order to appease the grassroots Chinese police force, the status of Chinese police officers was further improved. In 76, Li Shutang was promoted to superintendent, and by 83 he had become the deputy commander of the headquarters' operations department.

Rumors circulate that the Operations Division Commander will be replaced in two years after he retires. This would be the first time a Chinese person has served as the Commander of a major department at the district level of the Police Force. The Operations Division is arguably the largest department in the Police Force, and the person who serves as the Commander of this department, unless he is too old, will definitely become the Deputy Commissioner (Operations).

Now, Uncle Chat has implicated a chief superintendent, who may even be the future deputy commissioner of operations! If Miao Zhishun cannot provide a reasonable explanation, and his superiors do not accept it, then guarding the reservoir will be his best outcome, and he may even have to take off his police uniform in the end.

"Knock knock knock..." The wooden door to the office was knocked on, and everyone looked up to see Chief Edward of Saigon Police Station in full military uniform.

His sharp eyes swept across the entire office to Miao Zhishun in the corner, his thin face expressionless.

He extended his finger and beckoned to Miao Zhishun twice.

Miao Zhishun quickly got up and walked over to Edward.

"I just started working, and both the head of the headquarters supervision department and the head of the regional office called me. About an hour later, someone from the internal investigation department will come down to question me."

On your first day here, I told you that you could investigate the case, but don't involve my police station.

If you're going to cause trouble on my turf today, did you ask me beforehand?

"You're in charge of handling the internal investigation department. If you can't handle it, I'll take care of you!" Director Edward said coldly, poking Miao Zhishun's chest with his finger.

Miao Zhishun felt a sudden darkness before his eyes and a dizzying sensation. After not sleeping for a day and a night, his body finally gave out. Just as he collapsed, Xu Yongji, who was standing next to him, caught him in his arms.