Chapter 614: The Death of Lin Hongyuan

Four days later, under the witness of everyone at the Central Police Station, Wang Yan successfully ascended to the position of Detective, and his office was moved from the first floor to the second. He Shaohong, the guy who had been the deputy captain for seven years, also finally got his wish and became the captain of the first team.

In fact, at this time, Wang Yan could only command the first team. Although there was no problem with mobilizing the remaining two teams, the degree of execution was different.

If he wanted to completely control them, or completely win over the hearts of Fang Yuantu and Zhang Xian, or let them die and replace them with his own people, or slowly study Fang Yuantu and Zhang Xian's subordinates and hollow them out bit by bit—anyway, there were plenty of ways. He wasn't in a hurry; as long as people listened when he spoke, that was enough.

To celebrate his promotion to Detective and becoming one of the dozen most prestigious Chinese in the French Concession, Wang Yan invited all his subordinates to eat, drink, and have fun that day. He invited all the Frenchmen above him, as well as the other two detectives and their subordinate captains, to go to a dance hall to have a good time.

Detective Wang became a generous and reliable colleague praised by others...

While Wang Yan was being promoted and treating people to a good time, in front of an apartment building on Jin Shenfu Road, Lin Hongyuan was dressed in a long gown, his old, messy hair combed into a shiny, slicked-back style, and he looked extremely spirited.

In recent days, he felt his life was very comfortable. Although it had been comfortable before, he always had things weighing on his mind, and his thoughts were never clear. The Japanese were a big mountain, always making people feel panicked. Zhang Xiaolin worked for the Japanese, wantonly purging dissidents within the gang and opposing anti-Japanese people outside the gang. So he had always felt that good days were hard to last, and thus he couldn't be truly happy.

But now it was fine. Now he didn't have to struggle; he had directly defected to the Japanese. Thus, he didn't have to spend all day studying those things and worrying. He slept comfortably, ate more, his waist didn't ache, his legs didn't hurt, and he even had energy when dealing with his young concubine.

This was downstairs from his young concubine's home. She was a poor woman who had fallen into prostitution at eighteen. When she was twenty, he took her out of the sea of misery. Now she was twenty-two and had lived with him for two years; she was very dear to his heart.

Being cautious and fearful all day long, on the contrary, leads to peace and safety, yet it is precisely when people are complacent that some changes occur, some things happen, making people unable to have peace.

Just as Lin Hongyuan got out of the car and was stomping his feet to tidy up his hairstyle, four passing men drew their guns and fired densely from multiple angles. Lin Hongyuan's chest was blown open instantly. His two subordinates were also shot dead in the chaos just as they were about to draw their guns to fight back. The little brother who was driving put the car in gear, wanting to run, but the car window was shattered and he was shot dead in the chaos. Only his foot, which was still pressing on the accelerator, remained, executing his order to escape. The car, with no one in control, sped out for a distance. Because of the inertia of the two wheels, it drove in a large arc and finally crashed into a coffee shop.

All this happened in a very short time. When the four were shot dead on the street, people's screams rang out. When the car crashed into the coffee shop, people fled in all directions.

"This is the end of being a traitor!"

After one of the gunmen shouted at the surrounding crowd, he and the other three left quickly...

Inside a photo studio on Pétain Road, the fat man stood straight and reported the situation: "Section Chief, the operation was successful. There were no casualties. Lin Hongyuan and his three subordinates have all been shot dead."

Wang Tianfeng stood with his hands behind his back in front of a map of the Shanghai periphery, leaving only his back to the fat man: "What about Wang Yan? Is he still out having fun?"

"He's being promoted to Detective today, so he must want to have a good time. At this moment, he should be having a lively time in the dance hall with those Frenchmen. At this time, I'm afraid he might not want to accept our gift."

"People are already dead; he has no choice but to accept it. He's probably too busy right now. After Lin Hongyuan's funeral is handled, you go find him and test his attitude. I analyze that his cooperation with the Japanese is just a pretense, and that he was betrayed by Lin Hongyuan. Especially since the Japanese previously installed listening devices in his home, monitored him from next door, and even forced his nanny to monitor him, I think his feelings toward the Japanese must be very bad. At this time, we must strive to pull him into our camp. With the help of a powerful detective in the French Concession, our operations here will be much smoother."

"Yes, Section Chief."

"Alright, that's it for this matter. The next task is still to obtain the Japanese army's deployment map around Shanghai, destroy some of their logistics, and support the front-line battlefield."

At the same time, Wang Yan was in the dance hall, holding a woman and drinking flower wine. The other Frenchmen were mostly in the same state. They were not all Chinese women; there were also many Western women, belonging to a Chinese-Western combined party.

Qi Si sat in the distance, grinning as he watched the flirtatious women all over the room, while not forgetting to eat meat in large mouthfuls. It was still this job that was good; eating and drinking every day was comfortable. It wasn't like before, when he couldn't eat or sleep well.

Just then, a policeman in uniform hurried in and was about to run directly to Wang Yan's side. Qi Si jumped up and pulled the man back: "What's the matter?"

"Kid, who are you? I have urgent business that needs to be notified to Detective Wang. If you delay it, you can't afford the consequences. Let go quickly, don't delay proper business." The policeman didn't take Qi Si seriously and struggled hard.

"I'm Detective Wang's newly hired driver. You tell me first, and I'll help you notify him. If you go over directly and offend those foreigners, what will you do?"

The Chinese detective looked at Qi Si suspiciously, but thinking that what he said made sense, and besides, being able to appear here was already unusual, so he thought about it and said: "I am a subordinate of Captain Liu Yitong of the Xujiahui Police Station. Half an hour ago, Lin Hongyuan, an old member of the Qing Gang, was shot by four gunmen downstairs at his young concubine's apartment on Jin Shenfu Road. Lin Hongyuan and the three subordinates present were all shot and died. It is preliminarily suspected that it was done by the Military Statistics Bureau's action team. You know Lin Hongyuan, right? That's the old man Detective Wang paid respects to, so our captain asked me to come and notify him immediately."

"I know. I'll go tell Detective Wang right away." Qi Si nodded, hurriedly took another big bite of meat, and ran over. He circled behind the sofa, leaned into the ear of Wang Yan, who was currently in the gentle embrace of two foreign women, drinking and eating fruit, and said: "Brother A-Yan, someone from the Xujiahui Police Station came to find you, saying the old man you paid respects to was shot and killed, suspected to be done by Military Statistics Bureau agents, and is waiting for you to go collect the body."

Wang Yan, with blurry, drunken eyes, was stunned for a moment, then pushed away the two foreign women, stood up, turned around, and looked at Qi Si: "Say that again, who died?"

"The old man from the Qing Gang you paid respects to, Lin Hongyuan, was shot and killed while going to see his young concubine."

Wang Yan closed his eyes in pain, swayed his body, then explained the situation to the foreigners present, and then hurriedly left the dance hall with Qi Si, taking the Chinese detective from Xujiahui who had come to report the news, and went directly to the crime scene on Jin Shenfu Road.

This place had already been cordoned off. The Chinese detectives were smoking, blocking curious passersby from coming closer to look.

Wang Yan got out of the car with a sorrowful face, pushed away the people blocking the road, and when he approached the corpse lying in the pool of blood, he even staggered twice. When he reached the front, he said with grief: "Uncle!"

Lin Hongyuan in the pool of blood had been shot five times, and his face even retained the surprise of the moment, showing that he hadn't suffered much pain when he died. It was just that the timing of his death was not quite right. Today, he, Wang Mou, was promoted, and as a result, the old man he paid respects to was shot and killed by someone. It was truly too inauspicious.

Liu Yitong walked over to Wang Yan, who was squeezing out tears, and patted him on the shoulder: "The dead cannot be brought back to life. Please restrain your grief."

"I was originally thinking of inviting Uncle to dinner tomorrow. Who knew he would be harmed by someone today? Uncle, you left too early..."

Wang Yan cried fake tears twice, then wiped away his tears, had people collect the body, lit a cigarette, and said: "Thank you, Old Liu. I owe you a favor this time. If you need anything in the future, just speak up. As long as I, your brother, can help, I will never say a second word."

"Hey, Detective Wang, this is all what I should do. Now the Military Statistics Bureau is relatively crazy. I heard that the Japanese gave them a ruthless blow before, arresting a large group of people, which led to a great reduction in their strength in Shanghai. Now that Mr. Lin has met with a poisonous hand, it is their retaliation against the Japanese. You also have quite a lot of cooperation with the Japanese, so you must be doubly careful. I'm afraid the Military Statistics Bureau will take action against you next."

While speaking, Liu Yitong looked at Wang Yan, observing the movements on his face. He suspected that it was Wang Yan who had killed Lin Hongyuan. After all, Wang Yan had the motive and the ability. After doing something, shouting a slogan, either pushing it to the Military Statistics Bureau or pushing it to the Red Party, anyway, it was no big deal. The Military Statistics Bureau and the Red Party didn't always have actions, but there were many cases where people's deaths were pinned on the two parties; most were like this.

Wang Yan shook his head, exhaled a puff of smoke, and said: "Old Liu, you are not honest. But last time, and this time, you indeed helped me. I'll give you the bottom line: although I am indeed acting as a filial disciple here, I really didn't kill him. If I really wanted to do it, I would have to wait a year or a year and a half. How could I find trouble for myself at such a time? Don't you think so?"

"Look at you, you're even getting serious. I didn't suspect you; it's all what you said yourself. Besides, the one who died was your old man; no matter what, it has nothing to do with me." Liu Yitong laughed: "But now it seems that it is indeed the Military Statistics Bureau that can explain it clearly."

Wang Yan was very helpless. This kid still thought he did it. It's hard to be a good person. He exhaled a puff of smoke, turned his head to look at the flirtatious woman standing pitifully on the side, wearing a cheongsam and a white fur coat, walked over, and said: "This house was bought for you by the old man, so it will be yours in the future. Don't have any delusions about anything else; just live a good life."

After settling this little woman, Wang Yan went to the unlucky coffee shop to negotiate compensation with the owner; these were all his affairs. He thanked the Chinese detectives from Xujiahui who had gathered to police the scene late at night. Of course, he also thanked Liu Yitong, the leader who brought the team, and gave another sum of money to let this group of people go eat, drink, and have fun. He, on the other hand, took the car transporting the corpse to Lin Hongyuan's home.

"Brother A-Yan, the dead cannot be brought back to life. Don't be too sad." Qi Si said while driving, showing concern for his good big brother.

"What did I say before? You just knew the truth in advance, which is why you felt my acting was fake. Look, you didn't see it now, did you? With that little bit of ink in your belly, you've been holding it in for a long time, right?"

Qi Si looked back at Wang Yan in a daze, but his head was twisted by the latter: "Look at the road. I just compensated someone for a coffee shop; do you want me to compensate for a few more?"

"No, Brother A-Yan, that was the old man you paid respects to. Why aren't you sad?"

"Silly kid, you don't really think that paying respects to an old man is paying respects to your own biological father, do you? Do you know that my cooperation with the Japanese now was sold by this old thing? He has also done all kinds of evil things, opening opium dens, opening casinos, causing how many families to be broken and children to be sold. He also opened brothels, raising a group of people to force women into prostitution. For such a person, it's better to die early."

"... Then it wouldn't be you who had someone do it, would it?"

"Use your brain, use your brain. Don't you know my reputation in the Shanghai Bund for being loyal and righteous? Don't you know I was promoted to Detective today? Would I find trouble for myself at such a time?"

Qi Si grinned and rubbed the back of his head that had been patted: "Isn't it that the more dangerous, the safer, and the more impossible, the more possible..."

"Hey, this sounds like something. But it really wasn't me. I think it was still the Military Statistics Bureau; others didn't have to. Alright, drive well. Asking questions all day long, you just don't know how to use your brain."

Lin Hongyuan's home was a garden villa on Great Western Road. Although Lin Hongyuan was not short of money, he was not that rich. Although he was an old member of the Qing Gang who opened an incense hall, he hadn't reached the level of having a mansion. That had to be a tycoon, not something he called himself. Without strength, having a mansion would instead add a joke to those in the Shanghai Bund who had the heart to watch the fun. So Lin Hongyuan lived in a garden villa that was just a bit bigger than the one Wang Yan lived in.

When Wang Yan arrived, Lin Hongyuan's old wife had already rested. Suddenly seeing Lin Hongyuan's corpse brought back, the old woman was scared silly, and for a moment, she didn't know what to do.

Wang Yan asked: "Where is Lin Yufei?"

The disciple guarding the door replied: "He should be gambling at the Great Fortune."

"This guy hasn't learned any lesson at all. Go call him back for me, and also find the accountant and a few of Uncle's top subordinates."

Lin Hongyuan was gone. With such a prodigal son, the situation couldn't be held. So as Lin Hongyuan's number one disciple, he directly divided the family property, gave Lin Hongyuan's old wife and the prodigal son a sum of money, and sent them to Hong Kong to live a peaceful life. If Lin Hongyuan's son could have some responsibility, then he could live comfortably in Hong Kong. If not, and he continued to gamble and play with women like this, then going to Hong Kong was an even better choice. Let him die far away, so as not to be an eyesore in Shanghai.

As for the ownership of the industries, naturally, Wang Yan took them over, along with those hooligans and thugs, all taken under his command. It could be considered swallowing all of Lin Hongyuan's industries, only giving Lin Hongyuan's old wife and the prodigal son a small portion.

Of course, he couldn't have such an ugly way of eating; otherwise, it would affect his reputation for loyalty and kindness. So he was still dealing with those industries of Lin Hongyuan. For example, regarding yellow, gambling, and drugs, he was looking for someone to take over, because he didn't do these things. Not to mention anything else, just regarding the organization, he couldn't explain it. He had set up a persona of being greedy for money and lustful, so it was fine to go out and have fun, but if he really operated it himself, it would be unjustifiable.

As for Lin Hongyuan's death, Liu Yitong suspected him, let alone the Japanese. Cunben Ichiro even came to his door to question him face to face. Wang Yan didn't want to explain anymore; the more he described, the darker it got. Let it be; whatever. On the contrary, he was like this, making it difficult for the Japanese to judge. Coupled with the fact that Wang Yan really had no need to destroy his own reputation to kill the old man he paid respects to, it passed with suspicion.

Cunben Ichiro didn't come to Wang Yan just because of Lin Hongyuan's matter, because there was also Chen Jiangliu. Cunben Ichiro came to send fifty gold bars. These gold bars were naturally not the ones in Chen Jiangliu's hands, but ones the Japanese took out again. These fifty gold bars were not much money, but they mainly represented the end of the life of a Chinese detective in the Shanghai French Concession.

Busy and busy, he finally finished handling Lin Hongyuan's funeral and sent away Lin Hongyuan's old wife and the prodigal son. Wang Yan finally got some leisure and began his leisurely life as a Detective.

It was also at this time that the fat man, dressed in a long gown, wearing glasses, and smiling at everyone he met, came to his door...