Chapter 608

Fude Restaurant was a Western restaurant located in the middle section of Avenue Joffre, mainly serving Chinese-style Western food. This was inevitable; only by adapting could one develop. There were only over ten thousand foreigners in the French Concession, and if you counted the foreigners passing through, there were only a few thousand more. Proud foreigners were not used to localized Western food, nor did they bother to eat it. Foreigners who could mix in Shanghai were basically not poor, and in this Far East metropolis that was prosperous on the surface, they were equally prosperous.

"Over the years, restaurants on the street have opened and closed, closed and opened. There are Western dishes, Nanyang dishes, and Japanese dishes, countless. I still remember the first time I ate Western food was at the Deda Western Restaurant, that was the second year of the Republic, at that time I was still a young man, just like you, eating meat was wolfing it down, making people laugh at me for nothing. Now it's the twenty-seventh year of the Republic, and in a blink of an eye, twenty-five years have passed."

Lin Hongyuan was in a green long gown, with a crew cut, looking like he was withered to death. He had a white cloth around his neck, a knife in his left hand and a fork in his right, a hooligan pretending to be a gentleman, a pig's nose stuck with green onions.

In contrast, Wang Yan used a fork to fork up a large piece of steak from the plate, one bite was a large crescent mark, wiping the oil stains at the corners of his mouth with a white cloth, and drinking the expensive red wine brought by the old thing as water to smooth the food, which was a bit like a fly in the pot.

"Uncle, I don't think so. When you ate Western food, people laughed, now if you eat Western food like you did back then, no one should laugh at anything. Just like me now." Wang Yan turned his head and shouted at a fat man with glasses who was whispering to someone two tables away: "That fat gentleman with glasses, that's right, it's you. Do you think my way of eating Western food is elegant?"

While speaking, he forked up meat and ate a large bite, his mouth bulging, the corners of his mouth full of oil stains, looking at the innocent fat gentleman with a smile.

There was no one sitting in the circle where they were eating.

The fat gentleman didn't look embarrassed at all, nodding repeatedly, even giving a thumbs up: "Of course, I dare say, your Captain Wang's eating style is the best and most elegant. I think it's good to eat, everyone here, what do you say?"

Amidst the abdominal complaints of the irrelevant people, the fat gentleman first learned the style and ate a bite, then his gaze swept over everyone who was paying attention to the movement here.

For a time, everyone said Captain Wang's eating style was elegant and good-looking, and Western food should be eaten like that. Even everyone, just like Wang Yan, forked up meat and took a large bite.

"Boss, everyone here is on my tab, eat and drink as much as you want. You can also pack some for your family, consider it my treat. But let's be clear, don't treat me like a fool, otherwise, such a good thing becoming a bad thing would not be good." After looking around, Wang Yan nodded with satisfaction: "This fat gentleman, you are very good. If you encounter difficulties in the French Concession in the future, you can come to the police station to find me."

Without paying attention to the flattery of others, Wang Yan looked at Lin Hongyuan with a smile: "Look, Uncle, everyone says my eating style is elegant and good-looking."

"Heaven is crazy and there is rain, people are crazy and there is disaster, you, you just don't know how to be low-key, if this continues, it will invite disaster."

Wang Yan shook his head and smiled, not wanting to play riddles with this old thing, eating his own food, and said: "Uncle, today Chen Jiangliu looked for several of our captains, saying he was old and useless, and wanted to step down and enjoy life. Does Uncle know about this?"

"I know, he wanted to find you yesterday, but you weren't feeling well and went home early. Only then did I call you."

Wang Yan nodded, looking as if he didn't care, and asked: "Does Uncle have any instructions?"

"Where are there any instructions, just threw away my old face and spoke good words for an old friend." Seeing Wang Yan not speaking, he continued: "I think you have understood the meaning of this old guy. He told me that Shanghai is getting more and more chaotic, and he doesn't want to stay in Shanghai. He plans to take his family to Hong Kong to hide. In my opinion, this old guy hasn't been easy all these years, and he has cared for you a lot, how many thunders he has carried for you, how many scoldings he has taken, you know best. So give his old face some face, he doesn't want much, just fifty big yellow fish."

One big yellow fish is ten taels, one tael is equal to two ounces, one ounce is about thirty U. S. dollars. So these fifty ten-tael gold bars are worth thirty thousand U. S. dollars. This era's U. S. dollars are very hard and have very strong purchasing power. Such a sum of money is enough for Chen Jiangliu, that old guy, to be comfortable for a long time. Counting the money he made in the past few years, he basically has no worries until he dies.

This money is indeed not much, and the old guy is still quite sensible, not knocking him hard. Relatively speaking, even if he didn't use this old thing's recommendation to move up, but walked the path of foreign leaders, he would have to spend more than this. And in fact, even if Wang Yan is bound to be promoted to detective, even if he has already sat in the position of detective, he still has to pay money to foreign leaders, although the dividends of the foreigners he does business with already have those foreign leaders' dividends, but a promotion red envelope is a very good way to enhance feelings, and you have to give it even if you don't want to.

"Okay, Uncle has spoken, I, the disciple, naturally have no reason to refuse." Wang Yan nodded in recognition, and then picked up the white bib on the table to wipe his mouth, and continued to ask: "This matter is settled, but Uncle, the question Chen Jiangliu asked us today is very strange, he said the Japanese are powerful, let me talk about my views, I think maybe the Japanese have already looked for him? Otherwise, with his greedy nature, he would definitely not let go of the detective position, please Uncle, enlighten the disciple."

"You thought right, it was the Japanese who looked for him, so this greedy and fearful old guy stepped down." Lin Hongyuan sighed: "Actually, the Japanese didn't just look for him, they also looked for me, and Zhang Xiaolin also sent me a message. It was fine before, earning money safely and steadily, but now the Japanese wolfish ambitions are obvious, and Zhang Xiaolin is in full swing borrowing the Japanese power. Not only that, they also detained my son. Our family only has that one seedling, you say what should I do?"

Wang Yan stared at the old thing's eyes for a while, shook his head and sighed: "Uncle, what conditions did they give you, and what did they ask you to do?"

"Conditions? Meat on the chopping board, do I have the qualifications to talk about conditions? They will release my son, let me do business in the Japanese-occupied area, reduce the taxes for entering and leaving the Japanese-occupied area, and gave me fifty gold bars separately. What they asked me to do is also very simple, mobilize the brothers under my command, just like Zhang Xiaolin, search for the traces of the Red Party and Military Statistics Bureau throughout Shanghai, and hand them over to them after finding them. Also, let me persuade you, your position is relatively critical, they should give you generous conditions."

"Uncle, I have no children, I eat enough and the whole family is not hungry, the room for choice should be much larger than yours." Wang Yan shook his head and smiled: "Uncle didn't just come for this, right?"

"Just say your eyes are thief-like, they also heard that you have a good reputation in the Shanghai underworld, most respect teachers and follow the way, talk about loyalty, loyal liver and righteous gall, so let me lead the way and introduce you to contact. Don't worry, A-Yan, whether it can be achieved or not, it has no effect on me, it all depends on your own heart. I, this old man, won't listen to your business, I'll go back first to see Xiao Fei, you don't know, Xiao Fei was tortured miserably."

While speaking, the old thing wiped his tears and left. When he went outside, he knocked on the car window by a car, bowed and scraped to report the situation to the people inside.

Then he got into a car next to him and left. Wang Yan narrowed his eyes and watched the old thing leave, then his gaze turned to the fat gentleman who had been stealing glances, stretched out his hand and pointed at him meaningfully, scaring the fat gentleman into a shiver, and he hurriedly used an elegant and good-looking eating style to eat the steak fragrantly.

Even husband and wife fly separately when disaster strikes, Lin Hongyuan, this old thing, not only sold him out, but finally used words to point him out, saying that he had a famous reputation for loyalty in Shanghai. This meaning was very clear. If he didn't cooperate with the Japanese, his name, Wang Mouren, would rot in Shanghai in the future. This wasn't the most urgent, but it would give him the name of an anti-Japanese element. The Japanese were powerful, and such a person who didn't cooperate, so what if he was a detective in the French Concession? They had now detained all the goods of big shots in the International Settlement and French Concession. He was just a small Chinese police detective, indeed had some ability, but what couldn't be killed?

The old thing jumping up and down really deserved to die...

Wang Yan looked at the man wearing a fedora, glasses, square face, and sturdy figure walking in with a smile. If he didn't know beforehand, this person would be no different from a Chinese person. When he sat in front of him, he found even less difference.

The Japanese agent sat there, stretched out his hand and shook hands with Wang Yan, with authentic Shanghai dialect: "Hello, Captain Wang, my name is Muramoto Ichiro, in China, my name is Meng Chunping. Currently, I am the section chief of the Special Second Intelligence Division of the Shanghai Special Higher Police, please take care of me, Captain Wang."

Whether it was Captain Wang or Lin Hongyuan, a veteran of the 'Tong' generation of the Green Gang, their power was fully displayed in such a restaurant. They sat in the corner against the wall to eat, and except for the other three directions of the wall, they were at least two tables away from them. Although they were all scared into pretending to be big girls by Wang Yan, really excellent hearing was too rare. So the people dining in this restaurant couldn't hear their conversation, and this Japanese agent dared to report his family name like this.

"Your Chinese is really good, I, a genuine Chinese, couldn't tell. If you didn't say it, I would have taken you for a Chinese." Wang Yan looked at him with a smile: "How long have you been in China?"

"Fifteen years already." Looking at Wang Yan who was shaking his head and laughing bitterly, Muramoto Ichiro didn't hide his pride, arrogance, and fanaticism. For this feast, the Great Japanese Empire had prepared for decades, and now it was just the appetizer that had just begun.

"Tell me, what requirements, what conditions?"

"Captain Wang, please don't say such distant words. You should already know that your superior Chen Jiangliu left the police station because he was afraid of us. He is already old, has no ambition, and is even less able to see the situation clearly. Building the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere needs people like you, Captain Wang. Don't worry, we already know that the old guy wanted to take fifty gold bars from you, so those fifty gold bars are considered a gift from us to Captain Wang, and someone will send the gold bars to Chen Jiangliu's mansion in a while, and when he arrives in Hong Kong, those gold bars will return to your hands intact."

Seeing Wang Yan's impatience, Muramoto Ichiro also knew that this was a bit of looking down on him, after all, although Wang Yan was only a small captain, his energy was very large. It could be said that he could walk flat in the French Concession, and his connections were very hard. This was also why he, a high-level official in the Special Higher Police, came out to contact him personally.

"Captain Wang's patience seems not very good." He continued hurriedly: "What was said to Chen Jiangliu this morning about the Great Japanese Empire, we already know. Knowing that Captain Wang is a person who values faith, out of respect for friends who are not hostile to the Great Japanese Empire, we decided to cooperate with you. What you need to do is very simple, as long as you catch people from the Military Statistics Bureau and the Red Party in the French Concession, hand them over to us to handle. In addition, when we take action, if there is too much movement, I hope Captain Wang, oh, no, I hope Detective Wang will help cover it up.

We know about your Yonghua Industrial Company, which has a relationship with those arrogant French people in the Municipal Council. Many of your goods are sold to the front line, subsidizing the enemies of the Great Japanese Empire. This behavior is unforgivable, but we also know Captain Wang's thoughts, so after our discussion, we can return part of the medicine except for sulfonamides to you, and at the same time reduce the import and export tariffs of Yonghua Industrial. This is a large sum of money, I think Detective Wang should know best, right?"

Wang Yan raised his eyebrows: "Very generous conditions, you should know that you detained the goods of the French, they are very anxious. In the morning, I just finished talking with Edgar, you know Edgar, right?"

"Edgar Olsen, in charge of logistics at the police station."

"That's right, it's him. Before, he even asked me to find a way to contact you, hoping to reach some cooperation."

"That's great, Detective Wang, it seems Mr. Olsen is also a friend of our Great Japanese Empire. Since so, I have some small requests."

"Tell me."

"I hope you can find out more about the attitude of the Municipal Council from Edgar, or what actions they have, if you know these and tell us, believe me, Detective Wang, you will receive our greatest goodwill, and be our friend forever. I heard you like strong liquor and beauties, these are not problems, I guarantee you will be satisfied."

"Okay, that's settled." Wang Yan pondered for a long time before opening his mouth to make a final decision, but as soon as the words fell, without waiting for the Japanese agent to exhale, he said firmly: "But I have one more condition."

Muramoto Ichiro frowned slightly, a bit unhappy, because he felt Wang Yan was a bit insatiable. But they were looking for Wang Yan for this, because for so many years, Wang Yan had woven a huge interest network in the French Concession, which was the key person they were fighting for. They had made many preparations, but didn't expect Wang Yan to agree so easily, he was indeed a guy who only cared about money. It was just that Wang Yan had no wife or children, which made it very difficult for them, otherwise they wouldn't have to talk so easily now.

However, despite being very dissatisfied in his heart, he still nodded politely: "Please speak."

"From the time you occupied Shanghai until now, in three months, you have detained four batches of my goods, and robbed two batches of medicine, this loss, you need to compensate me. Only then can I find a reason to contact you on the surface with the French. After all, I work for the French, and there must be an explanation."

Muramoto Ichiro was stunned, because those things were of high value, they didn't mind not earning, but wanting to take them out after earning was difficult. Although the Special Higher Police was directly under the Ministry of Home Affairs and had a high level, they didn't have much money.

"Detective Wang, please rest assured, we will definitely give you a satisfactory answer, but my authority is not enough, I need to go back and discuss it."

"Okay. When will my goods be released?"

"Someone will notify your subordinates in the afternoon. Shall we wish our cooperation a happy one first?" Muramoto Ichiro didn't dislike using Lin Hongyuan's cup, raised his glass and invited Wang Yan.

"Don't be happy too early, you'd better think about how to satisfy the French first."

Wang Yan raised his eyebrows, didn't touch glasses with Muramoto Ichiro, but tilted his head and drank the wine in the glass, then stretched out a hand to him, signaling him to get out quickly.

But this little Japanese laughed, suddenly raised his volume: "Detective Wang, everything is left to you, I'll take my leave."

Look, this little Japanese agent is so bad. He, Wang Mouren, is a famous person, now the captain has become a detective, indicating that the Central Police Station has changed again. But this is not important, after all, no matter what, this detective is bound to be him, no one else can. The problem is that in less than two hours, everyone will know that he ate with a stranger and reached some unspeakable cooperation.

He has to lie, and once he lies, it doesn't match the facts, and as long as the Japanese send someone to expose themselves in the police station later, then he is finished, and can only be reduced to a marginal person.

Once the seeds of suspicion are sown, there is no possibility of being believed by others again...