The First Volume: The Empty Spirit Chapter 6: An Ordinary Day

  "Then I won't drink, boss add two more meat dishes to the table and give me a bowl of plain white rice." Wang Ya Zu glanced at the food on the table and opened his mouth to ask for two more meat dishes. The people in the investigation department are also human beings. Even if they are the Green Gang bosses who collect protection fees, there will be days when they are not wealthy enough. How can it be possible that they eat and take things without paying every day?

  The leader of the first group is called Tie Tou, a veteran who participated in the Northern Expedition. He used to be a practitioner's son and knew Tie Tou Gong. Later, he was transferred to the Shanghai Investigation Division, with a temperament that came out of the army.

  The leader of the second group is called Maozi, a Qingbang Wuzi generation, with some skills on his hands, and also from the Qingbang, a Shanghai native, a local snake on the Shanghai beach. The person is relatively slick.

  Because of their different backgrounds and personalities, they didn't get along with each other. The usual competition was unavoidable, but they rarely argued, the reason being simple: Maozi would always win in an argument, but he couldn't beat Tie Tou, and he was afraid that if Tie Tou got angry, he would be beaten badly. As long as no one pulled out a gun or suffered serious injury, Shi An Guo wouldn't intervene in internal conflicts.

  One team leader sat at a table, and the members of each team helped their own team leader, all wanting to bring down the other. Then, they concentrated the strength of two teams to bring down the two deputy directors. Wang Yaoyu naturally knew this, and others also knew it. However, looking at the current situation, it's not that easy to determine a winner or loser.

  Wang Yaozu is now sitting next to Maozi, because Maozi's table is close by, so Wang Yaozu sat at this table. Both Maozi and Tietou understand that Wang Yaozu will not support either of them, neither of them think Wang Yaozu is a simple person, it is beneficial for both of them not to support each other, so they both maintain a friendly relationship with Wang Yaozu.

  "Director Wang, this afternoon it's our second group's turn to go out and search. You also know that this matter is completely unpredictable, it would be easier to jump into the Huangpu River to retrieve a corpse. What should we do about this? Give me an idea."

  Wang Yaozu was only twenty-two years old, younger than Maozi and Tietou, but neither of them dared to call him "Little Wang", so they all addressed him by his title. Now Maozi seemed to have the intention of pulling Wang Yaozu down.

  "What to do? Cool down! Besides, it's not like we have to find any clues, the most important clue is with Old Stone. However, you guys also need to use your brains, don't come back without finding any clues, or else Old Stone will be furious. Also, taking this opportunity to go out and move around, you all should know what you can do to help, right?"

  Wang Yaizu's meaning was clear, and everyone in their hearts also had a plan. Such a good opportunity, of course, would go outside to find opportunities to make some money, take some errand money and tea money. Although the matter was troublesome, with benefits came motivation.

  The two tables of people finished eating quickly, and everyone wanted to go back and gather first, take the guns and then go out to do things. It's actually not safe to carry guns on your body all day, if you lose a gun it's troublesome, if you accidentally fire it, that's a matter of life and death.

  Wang Yaoyu had slept enough, so he didn't want to stay in the office anymore. He certainly didn't want to write some messy reports. So Wang Yaoyu decided to follow Maozi out for a stroll, but unexpectedly they ran into Yan Deputy Officer and several other people from the Garrison Command as soon as they left the door.

  "Yaozu, where are you all going?" Seeing so many people leaving at this time, Yan Deputy Officer was very curious, and more importantly, his superior Commander Xiong also wanted to know more about the Investigation Department.

  "The guys from the second group of Mao's wanted to go out and take a stroll, so I tagged along. Lately everyone's been a bit tight on cash, and you know Old Stone's temperament - he can't just sit still, always thinking about catching ***, wanting to catch all of Shanghai's ***. But where are there that many ***, right?"

  Yan Deputy Officer nodded and then looked at the hairy guy standing next to Wang Qianjun. The hairy guy had a very leisurely expression, whistling as if he was really going out to make some money. Yan Deputy Officer didn't have any suspicions anymore.

  Everyone goes out together, but not to act together. Two people form a group, each with their own source of information and their own extortion target. If a group of people gather together and take action together, there will inevitably be conflicts of interest, and some secrets will also be known to others, threatening their own interests. Therefore, in order not to overly stimulate colleagues around them and push themselves into an unfavorable position, the insiders of Shanghai Surveyor have been following several tacit rules among themselves.

  Wang Ya Zu rode his bicycle on the road, surrounded by the hawkers' cries and the occasional passing of streetcars, which made some noise. Wang Ya Zu was very careful about traffic safety while riding on the road. What he feared most was that a car would suddenly rush over and knock him flying. In these times, those who owned cars were not people Wang Ya Zu could afford to offend. If it were a foreigner's car, even if he got knocked to death, it would be in vain.

  Wang Yaozu rode his bike back to his own home. Anyway, he had always been acting alone by himself, and if needed, he would call others later. Now he wanted to go wherever he pleased, and no one could stop him. Besides, searching for clues and getting benefits were not urgent matters, Wang Yaozu wanted to go home first and see what's going on before doing anything else.

  "Master, you're back. Do you want to eat something?" Wu Ma heard the sound of the door opening and knew that Wang Ya Zu was back. At this time, only Wang Ya Zu would come back at this hour. Wu Ma's husband and son were all in their hometown in Fujian, so only Wu Ma took care of Wang Ya Zu. It was also because of such dedication that Wu Ma's husband became the manager of the Wang family.

  "No, I've eaten enough outside, I just came back home to take a look. Wu Ma, stew some meat soup tonight, it's best if there are pork ribs. When did that woman come back?" Wang Ya Zu walked over to the table and poured himself a cup of tea to quench his thirst.

  "She's gone back. Before she left, she asked me to tell you, Master, that she hopes you can go find her again. Master, the sheets have been changed." Wang Ya Zu had a habit of changing and washing the sheets after bringing a prostitute back for the night, otherwise he would rather not use sheets at all.

  "Oh, well, they want something that makes me happy too. If there's nothing else, I'll go upstairs." Wang Ya Zu lived on the second floor, and above the second floor was a small attic where Wang Ya Zu kept important things, only Wang Ya Zu could enter, and usually it was also Wang Ya Zu who cleaned it himself.

  "Master, Miss Shangguan came by this morning and left a package of cookies she made herself when she saw you weren't here. She hopes you can try some." Wu Ma placed the handkerchief-wrapped cookies in front of Wang Yaowu.

  Wu Ma, apart from taking good care of Wang Ya Zu's life, had another very important task, which was to find a suitable daughter-in-law for Wang Ya Zu's parents. The Wang family was an ordinary landlord family, and this kind of thing was normal, as they also had a history of taking concubines. However, the selection of the legitimate wife must be from a matching door and household, but Wang Ya Zu's wings had hardened now, and his identity was different too, so his parents could not help him make decisions either. In short, it was absolutely impossible to marry a woman from the wind and dust or an unvirtuous woman who did not match the door and household, this was the bottom line of Wang Ya Zu's parents, and also Wu Ma's insistence.

  "That silly girl, she has to go to class in the morning and still takes the trouble to bring it over. It's been a long time since I've had this kind of Western-style cookie." Wang Yaizu took the cookies and went upstairs, while Wu Ma smiled contentedly and then went back to work.

  For Wu Ma, Shangguan Miss is a very good candidate. Born in a decent family in Shanghai, her father runs a factory and her mother comes from a well-known wealthy family. Shangguan Miss is still in middle school now and will go to university later, she's also pretty, absolutely a perfect match. However, what makes Wu Ma worried is that Wang Yaowu seems not interested at all, even intentionally avoiding Shangguan Miss.

  Wang Yaoyu went up to the second floor, opened the two locks on the attic with two keys, and then turned on the light. The windows of the attic had been sealed by Wang Yaoyu with wooden boards. In the small attic, there was a small cabinet, but it only contained weapons. What really held important items was a hidden compartment in the floor of the attic.

  Inside the secret compartment of the floor, there was an iron box that was also locked. After Wang Ya-zu opened it, he found three notebooks and a deposit slip inside. Wang Ya-zu took out the notebook he needed to use, flipping through the information he had recorded on it. This was actually an account book, which listed numerous business names, fees collected, number of times money was received, as well as special notes. This was the least important of the three notebooks.

  Everything must have rules, and the Green Gang's rules are even more numerous than military law. Wang Ya-zu wants to stand firm in Shanghai, and he himself also has to follow rules in many things, such as this matter of collecting money.

  Wang Yaowu played a role that was absolutely not extortion, but rather a mediator who could help others, someone the other party needed. In Shanghai, anyone with some business going on needs to rely on their connections; without them, even a small hoodlum can come knocking for extortion. Apart from relying on connections, because there are too many big and small forces at play in Shanghai, conflicts inevitably arise, and ordinary businessmen are usually the biggest victims. Therefore, when something happens, they need someone to mediate.

  Wang Yaizu determined where he would go to get money in the afternoon, then made a record on his notebook. He put everything away and locked the attic door before going downstairs while eating crackers. A small bag of crackers was quickly finished.

  "Wu Ma, I'm leaving now, and I'll be back on time tonight. If I'm late, it means something came up, so you don't have to wait for me."

  "Alright, young master, take care on your way." Wu Ma immediately put down her work and saw Wang Ya Zu off at the door. Gunsmoke Silently Unheard Book 1: Empty Spirit Chapter 6: An Ordinary Day