The First Volume: The Hollow Spirit Chapter 35: Tianfu Inn

  Wang Yaozu didn't bother to look at the letter on him while he was on his way, and it remained in his pocket until he officially started work and sat down at his desk. The entire small building was empty except for one team member who had been on duty the night before, and Shi Ankui. After Shi Ankui greeted Wang Yaozu, the latter immediately fell asleep with his head on the table. Seeing Wang Yaozu's carefree appearance, Shi Ankui seemed to think of something and cracked a rare smile, then returned to his own office.

  Wang Yaoyu continued to sleep on his desk, even snoring. As time passed minute by minute, more and more people came to work. Shi Ankou had a bad habit of requiring everyone without tasks to report on time, and then decide what to do next. Tie Tou and Mao Zi, as the leaders of the two groups, naturally had to report on time. Le Yunxin arrived earlier than the two of them, but after discussing with Shi Ankou in the office for a few sentences, he left again.

  Looking at Wang Yaowu sleeping so soundly, Tie Tou and Mao Zi were somewhat embarrassed. The two of them are now very anxious, thinking that Wang Yaowu's relaxed appearance is because he has received benefits from the foreigners, and therefore is no longer afraid of being punished by Shi Anguo for not catching **. Wang Yaowu's appearance made Tie Tou and Mao Zi even more anxious, these days they have not been searching in earnest, but all ** seemed to have vanished into thin air, all the original clues were also cut off.

  Finally, Tie Tou couldn't help it, and Mao Zi stood still on one side, watching as Tie Tou pushed Wang Yaozu awake. At this time, Mao Zi naturally had to cooperate with Tie Tou, but small movements were also absolutely indispensable. Mao Zi was now thinking of ways to provoke Wang Yaozu against Tie Tou. In the struggle between him and Tie Tou, Le Yunxin and Wang Yaozu both maintained a neutral attitude, but Tie Tou and Mao Zi both wanted to make them lean towards their own side, in order to use their power to defeat the other person.

  "Vice Captain Wang, wake up." Tie Tou's action of waking up Wang Yaowu was really gentle, of course this is for the old soldier Tie Tou. As a veteran, it's hard for Tie Tou to be gentle, and lowering his voice makes it even more unpleasant to hear. Tie Tou was a practitioner, even if he controlled his strength when pushing Wang Yaowu with his hands, just the layer of dead skin on Tie Tou's palms would scratch an ordinary person's skin.

  "Seriously, can't let people have a good rest in the early morning of Qing Dynasty? I went to bed very late last night and was woken up twice by two phone calls. Fortunately, no woman was called that night, otherwise, with all clothes off, suddenly having to answer the phone, what would you do?" Wang Yaowu was awakened by Tie Tou at once, stood up and stretched his body, and of course, he complained.

  "Huh, where's Le Dage? He should have arrived by now, it's his habit to come to work half an hour early. Do you two know?" Wang Yaoyu seemed a bit unhappy, the two phone calls he mentioned earlier, Maozi thought one was made by Tietou, while Tietou thought Maozi had made two calls to remind Wang Yaoyu. Anyway, Wang Yaoyu is not in a good mood now, and the two people who need something from him can't ask about important things for the time being. They're afraid of provoking Wang Yaoyu, and their last hope will be gone."

  "Luo, the deputy director, came in this morning and then took a leave of absence again. It seems that his family's precious son has something going on, Luo is married with children, it's different from our single people here." Maozi seized the opportunity to tell Wang Yaizu what he knew. Tie Tou and Maozi were both unmarried, and naturally they often went out to play with women. One was a soldier, one was a gangster, both were old hands at visiting brothels.

  "Oh, kids are really a handful, but what can you do? We work so hard just to give our future generations a better life. Alright, no more chit-chat, Tie Tou and Mao Zi, follow me to the conference room, don't call anyone else, I've already gotten what you wanted, though I haven't looked at it yet."

  Looking at Tie Tou and Mao Zi's hesitant expressions, Wang Ya Zu was actually delighted in his heart. However, he couldn't drag it out for too long, as manipulating people's emotions required a good grasp of the situation, or else things would get out of hand. At this moment, letting them feel at ease would make them grateful to Wang Ya Zu, but such gratitude wouldn't last long, especially when faced with major conflicts of interest, even brothers couldn't be trusted.

  Tie Tou and Mao Zi let out a sigh of relief as soon as they heard that Wang Yao Zu had gotten the clue, and at the same time, they both became excited. As they followed Wang Yao Zu into the conference room, their footsteps were light and airy. After the three entered the conference room, the door was closed, but the sweltering temperature inside could not affect Tie Tou's and Mao Zi's excitement. Wang Yao Zu took out an envelope from his body and opened it in front of them, and the three looked at it together.

  "Tian Fu Travel Inn!" The four words were written on the white paper, nothing else. But these four words were enough. Inns are places where people stay, and most guests are merchants traveling across the country. In the past, people lived in guesthouses with food and lodging. Now, times have changed, and inns and restaurants are separate, one mainly for accommodation and the other mainly for dining. Those who travel across the country or come to Shanghai to find work and make a living naturally hope that their place of residence has good fortune and can bless themselves. The homophone of Tian Fu is "Tian Fu", which means "adding fortune". An inn without a good name and auspicious meaning would not attract guests.

  "Tianfu Hotel? I know that place, it's in the northern part of the city. It's not very remote, but there aren't many people around either." Maozi was a Shanghai native, having grown up on the streets of Shanghai since he was young, and was very familiar with the entire city.

  "Vice Captain Wang, how are you going to do this? It will take at least until noon. We must send someone to scout ahead and bring all our weapons. This time we can't just call in the troops from the Garrison Command." Tie Tou was thinking about how to capture all the Communist Party members at Tianfu Inn in one fell swoop, since it was an inn, the owner and staff might also be Communists.

  "We need to act fast, the Garrison Command has already set up their net and is just waiting for a big catch. But this doesn't concern us, we don't want the big fish, just a basket of shrimp will do. This way, we can report back to Old Stone satisfactorily. However, relying solely on our own people won't be enough, since it's one of the Communist Party's strongholds, there must be a large cache of military supplies hidden here. If things really get heated up, I don't want to end up like last time. Ah, we can go to the police station and ask for ten more men to come over, now that the Shanghai Municipal Government officials are all trying to curry favor with me, it would be a waste not to use this good cannon fodder. I'll make the call right away, you two go tell Old Stone."

  Wang Yaozu has indeed received many gifts in recent days, all of which were delivered directly to his home. The ones who came out were naturally the police bureau's people, but it is absolutely impossible for the police bureau chief to personally deliver gifts. Wang Yaozu was just a small deputy director after all. It is absolutely impossible for officials within the Shanghai municipal government to lower their status and send a team leader from the police bureau to deliver gifts to Wang Yaozu's home. For those high-ranking officials, that would be enough. Moreover, Wang Yaozu was not the most important figure; the key to the whole thing still lay with Anthony. The mayor of Shanghai even personally went to the French consulate to deliver the bribes into Anthony's hands. As the mayor, it was impossible to give money in such a crude manner; what was given were carefully selected national treasures.

  Wang Yaozu went to make a phone call, and Tie Tou and Mao Zi rushed to see Shi Ankou. They pushed each other at the office door, eager to be the first to enter. In the end, Tie Tou used his tall stature to rush in first, but before he could speak, Mao Zi shouted loudly behind him: "Director Shi, we have a lead!"

  The hairy one took a step ahead, and Tie Tou turned around angrily and glared at Mao Zi, but Mao Zi pretended not to see. Shi An Guo didn't care about the two men's dispute over credit, what he cared about was whether there were any clues. Shi An Guo put down the file in his hand, closed the drawer, looked at the two of them, and said: "Close the door, speak softly if you have something to say. This is basic common sense, don't you know?" When Mao Zi was scolded, Tie Tou immediately smiled, then took the initiative to step aside and close the door.

  "Hello, is this the Shanghai Police Bureau Chief? This is Wang Yaowu. I've got a lead on the French Consulate soldier murder case and we're short-handed here, only dealing with internal traitors and Communist Party members. We need you to send over ten capable men from your bureau. No guns necessary. I hope they can arrive at our Shanghai Investigation Division within an hour."

  Wang Ya Zu finished speaking and hung up the phone. The police chief on the other end of the line was so angry that he gritted his teeth, but in the end, he could only endure it. Now, both the Shanghai Police Department and the Municipal Government have to rely on Wang Ya Zu. Many people can see that Wang Ya Zu has a very close relationship with Anthony. If the case of the French soldiers being killed is not handled properly, the entire Shanghai Municipal Government will be in trouble.

  Smokeless Powder Volume 1: Empty Spirit Chapter 35 Tianfu Hotel