Days in Hong Kong variety shows

The barricades had been repositioned and were blocking the road. The police chief, holding his equipment belt, watched the taillights of the departing car. The other officers huddled together, smoking and chatting to pass the time.

The young officer leaned closer to the sergeant, "Sir, Uncle De is just a cook, right? What was with your attitude just now...?"

He turned to look at the young boy with his innocent face, then slowly took out a pack of cigarettes from his chest pocket, shook one out and put it in his mouth. He casually patted his two pockets but couldn't find a lighter.

He called out to the group of people gathered across the street, smoking and chatting, "Old Ma, lighter."

"Here I am." A senior police officer in his thirties, who was chatting across the street, took off his police cap from under his arm and put it on. He took two deep drags on the cigarette he was holding, pinched the filter with his thumb and forefinger, glanced at it, and then let go of it and threw it on the ground. He then stepped on it with his thick-soled police boots and crushed it a couple of times before hurriedly crossing the road.

He took two steps in front of the sheriff, his right hand already pulling a lighter from his pocket.

"Brother Qi." He reached out to light the fire for the sheriff.

The sheriff glanced at him, then reached out and snatched the lighter from his hand. "I can do it myself."

"Snap!" The sparks from the flint ignited the wick, which was soaked with molten metal, and a bright yellow flame rose up. He brought it closer and used the flame to burn the end of the cigarette, then took a deep drag.

"Sizzle..." The sound of burning cigarettes rang out.

"Click!" The lighter cap closed, instantly extinguishing the flame. A large hand wrapped the lighter and casually put it into his pocket.

Old Ma still comically held up one hand, his bewildered gaze shifting several times between the cigarette in the sheriff's mouth and the pocket containing the lighter, his lips trembling but no sound coming out.

"Hiss...whoosh..." Sheriff Qi exhaled a large puff of smoke onto Old Ma's face.

"Anything else?" The sheriff glanced at Old Ma.

Old Ma's lips trembled twice, but finally he let out a low growl, stubbornly squeezing out a few words, "It's alright!"

He turned around and stomped hard on the ground, making a dull "tap tap tap" sound as he crossed the road and joined the group chat.

"He's not young anymore, and he's got quite a temper too!" the sheriff commented calmly, puffing out a cloud of smoke as he smoked his cigarette.

The young police officer stood to the side, his eyes somewhat glazed over.

"Uncle De!" The sheriff looked up slightly, his gaze deep as he looked at the crescent moon in the sky, and said softly, "He's a legend around here!"

The young police officer stood upright, his face becoming more serious.

The sergeant turned his head and saw the young officer's face. He couldn't help but want to tease him. He stretched out his right hand and pretended to grab the young officer's crotch. The young officer was startled and pulled in his stomach, sticking his buttocks out, trying to avoid the monkey stealing the peach trick.

Seeing the hand hovering in mid-air with its five fingers shaped like an eagle's claw, the young police officer, who was bent over with his stomach tucked in and buttocks sticking out, one hand covering his groin and the other making a blocking motion, blushed instantly.

"Hahaha...you're really easy to tease." The laughter drew the attention of the chat group across the street.

"Alright, I'll stop teasing you. Now I'll start telling you the real story of Uncle De." Seeing the young man's face turn red, the sheriff suppressed his smile and prepared to begin the story.

"Uncle Tak! My dad told me that he joined the East River Column when he was a teenager. At that time, Hong Kong was under Japanese occupation. He was a member of the Hong Kong and Kowloon Brigade's pistol squad. He had at least a dozen 'radish heads' and traitors on his hands. (Because Hong Kong was still a British colony at that time, the rulers employed many local Chinese in Hong Kong to work for them. Therefore, the government would avoid or ban the term 'traitor' with strong political connotations in special situations, but the term was often used by Chinese people, especially those from the left and right wings.)

The most audacious incident, I heard, involved him and a comrade surnamed Huang, who, while disguised for reconnaissance, took down three fully armed thugs who had come to the countryside to loot, all with their bare hands. Then, the two of them butchered the three thugs with bayonets, like butchering dogs.

"No way!" The young police officer pictured a tiny old man, less than 1.6 meters tall, in his mind, and unconsciously scratched his drooping hands a couple of times.

"Tch!" The sheriff glanced at the junior officer and continued disdainfully, "A small fry like you, even though Uncle De is old now, he can still take you down with one hand."

You know, a couple of years ago, a calf weighing almost 300 pounds went mad. Uncle De went up, grabbed the calf by the neck, and pinned it to the ground. He quickly tied its hooves.

"And then what?" The group chat members also gathered around to listen to the story and pass the time.

"Later? Later, the foreigners came back, and the singing and dancing continued! Uncle Tak became a policeman just like us. Many of the people who ran to Taiwan in 49 were left behind in the north. Many regular troops were scattered in Southeast Asia. When they were swept away in the north, many old gangs went to Hong Kong Island to settle down."

At that time, although Uncle Tak was just a uniformed patrol officer in Kowloon, he was very influential among the lower-ranking police officers, and he subdued the gangs in the area where he served with his baton.

He took a deep drag of his cigarette, slowly exhaled the smoke, and continued, "It's a pity that Uncle De couldn't become the Chinese detective due to his background. He had a lot of brothers who supported him back then."

According to the elders, in 61, because of Mr. Zeng's case, the Political Department conducted an investigation that implicated some people with questionable backgrounds. At that time, the Police Department internally arrested or dismissed many people.

Uncle De was also laid off that year and returned to Saigon to grow vegetables and fish.

The sheriff still felt a little wistful after finishing his story.

"How come Uncle De is now working as a head chef in our police station's canteen?" someone asked, since they all knew that if Uncle De's dismissal involved the Political Department, it would cause a lot of trouble.

"Uncle De was only dismissed, not arrested. Besides, the letter of appointment for Uncle De to be hired as the head chef by our department was personally signed by the current Commissioner Edward. At that time, the procedures were handled by the Commissioner's secretary."

"I heard that the director has a powerful background in Niubuluo, his hometown, and even the political department doesn't dare to offend him easily!" A well-informed person revealed the information he had heard from who-knows-how-many places.

"The Commissioner's background is indeed very powerful. Last year, when the Regional Chief Inspector (Assistant Commissioner of Police) came to our Sai Kung Police Station to inspect the work, our Commissioner only greeted him briefly in the lobby on the first floor of the building. His attitude was not very good, and after meeting him once, he went straight back to his office. Later, it was the Commissioner's secretary who led the Chief Inspector to complete the inspection." Another well-informed source revealed another piece of information.

Don't doubt the human tendency to gossip. No matter where people are from, as long as they aren't under immense life pressure, when a few people get together to chat, they'll inevitably end up talking about all sorts of gossip...

Cao Tai held Gang Sheng in his arms and swayed in the car for nearly 10 minutes. With her fragrant and beautiful body in his arms, and since he wasn't a special person who had uninstalled QQ, the romantic atmosphere made him feel suffocated.

Gang Sheng, nestled in Cao Tai's arms, seemed restless the whole way, covered in a thin layer of sweat, his thighs soaked with sweat, making him feel particularly uncomfortable.

The twinkling starlight couldn't penetrate the enclosed carriage, and the charm inside couldn't escape into the gentle summer evening breeze!

Xiao Fu was probably also captivated by the atmosphere in the carriage. He was already half-squatting with his back against the carriage and his legs slightly apart, but there was a hint of resentment on his face.

The two of them were originally sitting opposite each other with their legs bent and touching, barely able to touch the bottom of the carriage with their buttocks. Sitting down would have saved a lot of effort.

However, Tai-ge was uncivilized and kept kicking and stomping his legs the whole way. Xiao-fu, unable to withstand it, had to stand up and give up his seat. Unfortunately, the carriage was too low, so he could only squat against the wall, barely managing to avoid having to make a wide-open posture.

Outside the car, only the whistling wind remained, and the occasional sounds of car horns and people from the city faded into the night wind.

The vehicle continued driving for a few more minutes before finally coming to a slow stop.

A dozen seconds later, the sound of the rear door lock being opened rang out. As the door slowly opened to both sides, the truck driver's strong figure was revealed. When the driver saw that the tarpaulin dividing the concealed space had been removed and that he could vaguely see three figures bending over and standing up through the bamboo basket, a look of astonishment appeared in his eyes.

Of the three people in the carriage, only Cao Tai's gaze accurately caught the hint of astonishment in the driver's eyes.

Without being told, the three of them moved out of the carriage one by one and jumped down.

As they landed, although the vehicle had turned off its engine and lights, Cao Tai could still see Uncle De, who was walking over, carrying a stack of things in his hand, by the faint moonlight and starlight. He could clearly see that it was a folded piece of paper.