Chapter 59 Xi Rong Discovers a Major Clue

When Fang Che arrived at Kui Chung Wharf, the sea breeze carried a salty, fishy smell.

The dock was lit up late at night, containers were stacked high, and cranes stood silently in the darkness.

Several black cars were parked outside Warehouse No. 7. Ah Gui and his men stood guard at the entrance, their faces grave.

"Where's Brother Li?" Fang Che asked as he got out of the car.

Ah Gui gestured with his chin toward the side door of the warehouse: "Inside. Xi Rong is fine, but..."

Fang Che rushed in before he could finish listening.

The warehouse was dimly lit and filled with the smell of rust and machine oil.

Li Hanzhou stood beside the cargo box, while Xi Rong squatted at his feet, holding a notebook in her hand. Her face was a little pale, but her eyes were very bright.

"Brother Che!" Xi Rong saw him and immediately got up and ran over. "I'm fine! Look at this..."

She handed the notebook to Fang Che.

An exercise book, its pages yellowed and its edges curled up.

The top was covered with numbers and codes:

"March 15th, container T-7, 200 boxes of 'toys', handled by Scarface Li."

"4.02, Container A-12, 150 boxes of 'electrical appliances', receiving ship 'Seagull'."

"5.18..."

Fang Che's heart sank more and more as he looked at the document.

This is clearly a smuggling record.

The next batch will be available in three days—

"May 21, S-3 area, container number 9, 300 boxes of 'clothing', Thai ship 'Golden Peacock', docked at 2:00 AM."

"Where did it come from?" Fang Che asked in a low voice.

Xi Rong licked her dry lips: "Tonight, Ah Ming and the others were collecting garbage in Temple Street when a drunk man threw away a bag full of these notebooks. Ah Ming felt something was wrong and hid one for me. After reading it, I felt there was a big problem and wanted to find Boss Li, but I couldn't get through on the phone..."

Did she come to the dock all by herself?

Fang Che's face darkened: "You came alone?"

"I...I left a note for Brother Tie Niu..." Xi Rong's voice trailed off, "Brother Che, don't be angry, I just felt this couldn't wait..."

"Nonsense!" Fang Che rarely lost his temper with her. "What if something happens? What if Jiang Tianqi's men find you..."

"She has been discovered."

Li Hanzhou walked over, holding a black walkie-talkie with a new scratch on the casing.

“I found it at the back door of the warehouse.” His voice was cold. “The channel was tuned to the Dong Sheng Society’s channel. The sentry probably saw Xi Rong when she came in.”

Fang Che felt a tightness in his chest.

Xi Rong's face turned even paler: "I...I didn't see anyone..."

“If you could see a sentry, it wouldn’t be a sentry.” Li Hanzhou handed the walkie-talkie to A Gui. “Check the model number and try reverse tracking.”

Ah Gui took it and quickly left.

Li Hanzhou then looked at Fang Che, his gaze landing on his face: "Were you scared?"

"What do you think?" Fang Che said irritably. "If anything happens to Xi Rong, I..."

“I’ll be fine,” Xi Rong whispered. “I took a detour before coming in and even changed my clothes…”

She lifted her coat to reveal an old boy's T-shirt underneath, the hood pulled low.

You wouldn't recognize her as a girl unless you looked closely.

Fang Che was both angry and helpless, and finally sighed: "Don't do this again! If you need anything, find someone, and don't act alone!"

"I understand..." Xi Rong lowered her head.

Li Hanzhou looked at the two of them, his gaze softening for a moment before returning to its cold stern expression: "This notebook is very important. Jiang Tianqi has been negotiating that new shipment from Thailand recently; it should be this order. Three hundred boxes of 'clothing'..."

Fang Che's heart sank.

If 300 boxes of drugs were to leak out, how many people would they kill?

"Brother Li, should we call the police?"

Li Hanzhou shook his head: "The evidence isn't enough. The police won't touch a notebook of unknown origin. Besides..."

He paused for a moment, then said, "Jiang Tianqi has people in the police force. Once the news leaks out, he will immediately move away, making it difficult to catch him again."

"Then what should we do?"

Li Hanzhou looked at Xi Rong: "Who else knows about this?"

“It was just Amin and me,” Xirong said. “Amin burned all the other notebooks and scattered the ashes into the sea. He said they couldn’t be kept.”

clever.

Fang Che thought to himself.

Where is that drunkard?

“I don’t know.” Xi Rong shook her head. “Ah Ming said that the man was dressed in shabby clothes, collapsed in the back alley of Temple Street, and vomited all over the ground. He threw down the bag and left, and never appeared again.”

It could be a mistake by the person handling the matter, or it could be a smokescreen.

But the clues are now in their hands.

"Brother Li," Fang Che thought quickly, "We can pick up the goods in three days!"

"Intercept the goods," Li Hanzhou continued, "but we can't do it by force. Jiang Tianqi is making such a large shipment; he must have come prepared. Forcibly seizing it would result in too much loss."

"That……"

"Let him spit out the goods himself." Li Hanzhou's eyes sharpened. "Ache, how's the renovation of 'Dragon Tiger Gathering' going?"

Fang Che was taken aback: "Soon, it'll open in another half month. Brother Li, why are you asking about this..."

“Three days later, as the owner of ‘Dragon Tiger Club,’ you will host a banquet at ‘Golden Joy Restaurant’ for merchants from Tsim Sha Tsui, including Jiang Tianqi,” Li Hanzhou said. “The time is set for 8 p.m.

Fang Che understood.

Luring the tiger away from the mountain.

Jiang Tianqi values ​​his reputation, so he will at least send his core subordinates to the event.

The docks were empty then...

“But Jiang Tianqi isn’t stupid,” Fang Che frowned. “He will definitely leave someone to guard him.”

“So we need to proceed on two fronts.” Li Hanzhou took out a business card and handed it over.

Fang Che took it—

Zhou Wenxuan, Senior Inspector of the Narcotics Bureau, Hong Kong Police Force

His pupils contracted slightly: "Brother Li, this is..."

“The police also want to arrest Jiang Tianqi.” Li Hanzhou said calmly, “We provide the clues, and they take action. After it’s done, the credit goes to the police, and the goods… we get 30%.”

"Thirty percent? Ninety boxes of drugs?" Fang Che panicked. "Brother Li, we can't touch this..."

“Who said we wanted drugs?” Li Hanzhou raised an eyebrow. “Of those three hundred boxes, maybe only twenty or thirty are genuine; the rest are just a cover. What we want are those ‘clothing,’ ‘toys,’ and ‘appliances.’”

Fang Che was stunned.

Li Hanzhou continued, "Jiang Tianqi smuggled not only drugs, but also clothing, electronics, and luxury goods. These things have a market, can be laundered, and can be sold for money. Taking 30% of the legal goods would both strike at Jiang Tianqi and generate additional income, while also currying favor with the police."

Killing three birds with one stone.

Fang Che was convinced.

"That Xi Rong was discovered tonight..."

"Let's play along." Li Hanzhou looked at Xi Rong, his gaze softening slightly. "Aren't you afraid of putting on an act?"

Xi Rong's eyes lit up: "What does Boss Li want me to act in?"

“Play a terrified little girl,” Li Hanzhou said. “Starting tomorrow, someone will follow you to ‘protect’ you. They will ‘accidentally’ let slip that you saw something you shouldn’t have seen at the dock and were so scared that you hid at home.”

Xi Rong blinked: "Are you trying to lull Jiang Tianqi into a false sense of security?"

“Yes.” Li Hanzhou nodded. “Let him think you just happened to see it and didn’t get any real evidence. That way he’ll focus on keeping quiet instead of moving the goods.”

Fang Che added, "But you can't really stay at home. These past few days, he's been running around with me at 'Longhu Hui' renovation site. There are so many people there, it's actually harder for him to get started."

"Understood!" Xi Rong nodded.

The plan has been finalized.

As we left the dock, dawn was breaking on the horizon.

Fang Che shoved Xi Rong into the back seat of the car and sat in the front himself.

Li Hanzhou drove, while A Gui stood guard in the back seat.

The car drove away from the dock and onto the coastal highway.

The morning light fell on the sea, shimmering with tiny sparkles.

Xi Rong was tired and dozed off against the car window.

Fang Che glanced at her in the rearview mirror, his heart sinking.

She was only sixteen years old and should have been in school.

“Brother Li,” he said in a low voice, “this matter is over. Send Xi Rong to school. She’s smart and shouldn’t be hanging out on the streets.”

Li Hanzhou hummed in agreement: "I'm in contact with her. It depends on whether she's willing or not."

"I do!" Xi Rong suddenly opened her eyes. "I want to study! I want to be a lawyer, a policeman, and I'll catch people like Jiang Tianqi!"

Fang Che laughed: "That's ambitious. But being a policeman is too dangerous."

"Then become a lawyer!" Xi Rong's eyes lit up. "Help good people with their cases and put bad people in jail!"

"Okay." Li Hanzhou looked at her in the rearview mirror. "Study hard, the school will pay your tuition."

Xi Rong's nose stung with tears, and she nodded vigorously.

The car fell silent.

Fang Che gazed at the street rushing past the window, then suddenly remembered something: "Brother Li, about the tattoo we talked about before..."

“I remember.” Li Hanzhou’s lips curled up slightly. “I’ll get the tattoo for you on the opening day of ‘Dragon Tiger Club’.”

"What kind of tattoo should I get? Give me a hint?"

"You'll find out when the time comes."

"mean……"

Xi Rong listened and secretly smiled.

Brother Che and Boss Li are so great.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Portland Street appears calm on the surface, but undercurrents are turbulent beneath.

As planned, Xi Rong followed Fang Che around every day, still "shaken," with someone watching her every time she went out.

Sure enough, there was some activity on Jiang Tianqi's side. Several unfamiliar faces appeared on Temple Street, always loitering around "Northeast Tiger Barbecue".

Fang Che protected Xi Rong closely, taking her to the renovation site during the day and sending her back to the base at night. There were people on duty around the neighborhood 24 hours a day.

Jiang Tianqi's men tried to approach him several times, but were blocked by the men arranged by A Gui.

On the afternoon of the third day, Fang Che personally delivered the invitation to the Tung Sing Society's branch in Tsim Sha Tsui.

He was greeted by a man wearing gold-rimmed glasses who introduced himself as Jiang Tianqi's assistant.

"Mr. Fang, you're too kind." The assistant accepted the invitation with a perfect smile. "Young Master Jiang will definitely be there on time."

"I'll be waiting." Fang Che smiled as well.

The two looked at each other, but there was no warmth in their eyes.

After leaving the gang, Fang Che got into the car, and Ah Gui started the engine.

"How is it?" Ah Gui asked.

"I've received the invitation." Fang Che loosened his collar. "Let's see if Jiang Tianqi takes the bait."

“He’s the kind of person who cares a lot about his image, he’ll definitely go.” A-Gui turned the steering wheel. “But Fang Che, be careful tonight. There’s no such thing as a good banquet, Jiang Tianqi might cause trouble.”

"I know." Fang Che looked out the window. "Is Brother Li ready?"

"Brother Li is personally leading the team to the dock," Ah Gui said in a low voice. "Zhou Wenxuan's side has also made arrangements. The operation will take place at ten o'clock tonight. The police will launch a surprise attack as soon as Jiang Tianqi's men leave."

Fang Che nodded, but felt somewhat uneasy.

Everything went too smoothly.

Would Jiang Tianqi really fall for the trap so easily?