Card Room

Chapter 341 - Birthday Banquet

On the first day they entered the secret room, Yu Hanjiang was shot in the abdomen and experienced a cardiac arrest in the rescue room. Xiao Lou still felt lingering fear when thinking about the scene at that time. If the rescue wasn’t in time, Yu Hanjiang probably would’ve died on the operating table.

Xiao Lou took a deep breath to calm his mind. Then he asked Yu Hanjiang, “You mean, the person hiding in Cheng Shaofeng’s house at the time and who shot at you isn’t the murderer who killed his brother but... a killer sent by the organization?”

Yu Hanjiang had gone to find Cheng Shaofeng to investigate the ‘Cheng Shaoyu dismembered corpse case’.

According to Liu Qiao’s description, Cheng Shaofeng went to see his brother for something on the rainy night of January 25th but he found a tall man wearing a raincoat and carrying a black garbage bag near his brother’s residence. It was probably the murderer who killed his brother. If this speculation was true then Cheng Shaofeng was a witness in his brother’s case. The one most motivated to kill Cheng Shaofeng was naturally Cheng Shaoyu’s murderer.

However, this didn’t seem to be the case now. That person used a gun and it was difficult for ordinary people to get a gun.

Yu Hanjiang closed his eyes and carefully recalled the scene at the time. He remembered that he and his colleagues parked the police car at the gate of the community and walked inside. He came to the door of Cheng Shaofeng’s villa and it wasn’t locked, so Yu Hanjiang pushed the door open. The house was completely dark. Just as he was about to turn on the light, there was a gunshot. Then a shadow jumped out the window and fled...

This scene clearly remained in his memory but no matter how he looked back, he couldn’t see the appearance of the killer. Judging from the silhouette, the opponent should be a man around 1.7 meters tall who was agile and flexible.

Yu Hanjiang frowned and analyzed it. “The motive for killing Cheng Shaoyu was for revenge. It was probably done by someone related to the victim of Cheng Shaoyu’s heart transplant. He couldn’t be so divine as to know in advance that we will investigate Cheng Shaofeng. Remember, the investigation into Cheng Shaofeng at that time was a secret and it was impossible to leak the news.”

Ye Qi was puzzled and scratched his head. “Is this a coincidence?”

Yu Hanjiang touched his chin as he thought about it. “The killer was probably hiding in Cheng Shaofeng’s house for several days, just waiting for Cheng Shaofeng to come back and kill him. I opened the door to enter and he mistakenly thought I was Cheng Shaofeng, so he shot me.” Yu Hanjiang looked back at Xiao Lou. “What do you think?”

Xiao Lou thought about it and nodded in agreement. “It makes sense. This can also explain why Cheng Shaofeng was ready to escape abroad by private plane only for someone to kill him halfway. It seems that the organization must have been trying to get rid of him.”

Old Mo made a guess. “Perhaps he knows a secret that shouldn’t be known so he was killed by the organization?”

A powerful young master like Cheng Shaofeng must already be a senior management level in the organization. What secret couldn’t he know and why would knowing it result in him being murdered?

Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou glanced at each other and spoke simultaneously, “The identity of the head of the organization?”

“Yes, only the boss will execute his men.” Ye Qi sighed. “Killing, selling organs and smuggling weapons. If the boss’ identity is revealed, any one of these crimes is enough for him to be sentenced to death! Therefore, the boss is likely hiding behind the scenes. The senior members don’t know his true identity but call him by his code name!”

Old Mo looked complicated. “His code name is Brother Rong?”

Such speculation frightened everyone but after thinking about it carefully, they felt it was reasonable.

Yu Hanjiang was silent for a moment before concluding, “There are two possibilities. The first is that the ‘Brother Rong’ that Cheng Shaofeng called out at the time is one of the suspects we are investigating. He is someone Cheng Shaofeng is familiar with such as his senior Lin Rongrong or the pharmaceutical company’s boss, Rong Cheng.”

“Secondly, the ‘Brother Rong’ on the phone is the leader of the organization. He has never been seen but Cheng Shaofeng accidentally learned his identity. The other person deliberately pretended to arrange for Cheng Shaofeng to go abroad by private plane but in fact, wanted to kill him.”

Xiao Lou nodded. “In any case, Brother Rong must be related to the driver who killed Cheng Shaofeng.”

Ye Qi asked curiously, “Did the driver confess?”

“No,” Yu Hanjiang answered. “The driver was brought back by me for questioning but he insists it was fatigued driving. He changed lanes and forgot to look in the rearview mirror, causing him to crash into Cheng Shaofeng’s car. For two days, I didn’t arrange for him to be interrogated. I just locked him up. He will definitely think about it and become flustered. Let him be nervous for two days first. Once I go back tomorrow, I will use high-pressure interrogation on him to pry open his mouth.”

Xiao Lou thought that the driver shouldn’t last long under Yu Hanjiang’s interrogation, but he was concerned about another problem. “We opened the passage and the alarm was triggered. I’m afraid this action has aroused their suspicions and they will immediately transfer the batch of weapons. Then it will be difficult when the police come looking for evidence.”

“Don’t worry,” Yu Hanjiang reassured him. “I restored the mirror when I left just now, returned the hair caught in the gap in the mirror back in place, destroyed the surveillance camera and lit a fire in the trash can of the bathroom.”

“&#k2026;&#k2026;” Xiao Lou stared at him in disbelief. “You actually managed to do all of this in such a short amount of time?”

“I put on the acceleration shoes and became five times faster. A few seconds is enough,” Yu Hanjiang answered calmly. He was a police officer. When it came to ‘anti-investigation’ methods, no one was more professional.

“Group Leader Yu is really attentive.” Ye Qi gave a thumbs up. “This way, they will think the sirens on the third floor rang because of the fire in the bathroom?”

“Hopefully they will think so.” Yu Hanjiang acted belatedly. If the other side was more careful and left other clues in the mirror so that it could be detected as long as the mirror moved then it couldn’t be helped.

***

At the same time in the ‘Tianya Club’.

He Rong received the news and quickly walked to the mirror at the end of the third floor. The mirror was no different from usual and the hair in the gap was still in its original spot. The trash can in the bathroom was smoking and the alarm on the ceiling was flashing red...

It seemed like someone smoked a cigarette in the bathroom and accidentally lit up the garbage, triggering the smoke alarm. However, the frequency of the alarm on the ceiling wasn’t the same as the usual smoke alarm. The former was once per second while the latter was three times in two seconds. Most people couldn’t hear it but in order to ensure the safety of the things inside the secret door, he specifically modified the alarm. He couldn’t hear it incorrectly!

He Rong’s face changed and he immediately turned around to give an order to his subordinates. “Go and check the surveillance to see who passed by in the corridor of the third floor just now!”

His subordinates went down to the monitoring room to call up the surveillance video for the corridor of the third floor. The result was a black screen. He Rong was furious and slammed his hand hard against the table. “When did the surveillance break?”

The security guard in front of the monitoring answered in a trembling manner, “This... j-just now it was fine? I just went to the bathroom and it broke... Brother Rong, I r-really don’t know.”

He Rong grabbed at the other person’s collar. “Didn’t I tell you to keep watching? Why did you fucking go to the bathroom at the critical moment?!”

The face of the security guard paled from fright.

He Rong threw him onto the chair, picked up the phone with a calm expression and called someone. The call was quickly connected and He Rong spoke respectfully. “Boss, it seems that someone has entered the warehouse on my side. I suspect we have been targeted by the police. For tomorrow’s transaction... do you want to change places?”

The other person spoke indifferently. “You are too worried. The police aren’t that great. The transaction will continue.”

He Rong had to nod obediently. “Then we will meet at the usual place. I’ll see you then.”

After hanging up, He Rong still felt a bit uneasy.

The other person was a master who left no traces. The mirror looked exactly the same as before and even the location of the hair hadn’t changed. It wasn’t a coincidence that the surveillance was broken, right? He didn’t know if anyone had come to the third floor and he wasn’t sure if the mirror had been opened.

He hoped he was thinking too much.

He Rong turned to leave with a calm face. He didn’t know that his every move was monitored by the drone and transmitted to the card screen that Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou were looking at.

Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang with admiration. “He wanted to check the surveillance to find us. Unexpectedly, Group Leader Yu monitored his movements in turn.”

The Drone was an S-grade card given to them by Tang Ci and could be placed in the sky. In just a few seconds, Yu Hanjiang completed a series of operations such as restoring the mirror, lighting a fire in the bathroom, destroying the surveillance and placing the drone. ‘Determined and fast’ was not enough to describe the man’s keen actions at critical moments.

Ye Qi leaned over and looked at the scene on the card in confusion. “A deal? Is the deal that He Rong mentioned about the weapons in the secret warehouse? Will he be handing them over to the boss tomorrow?”

“Yes.” Yu Hanjiang confirmed Ye Qi’s speculation. “The guns in the warehouse on the third floor are very new. They are a batch of goods just bought and there was no time for them to be traded. Tomorrow, He Rong will definitely participate in Uncle Zhong’s birthday celebration. The birthday banquet is booked at the largest five-star hotel in the local area. We will check if the transaction takes place at the hotel.”

***

Xiao Lou’s group of four exited from the Peach Blossom Spring and first went back to rest for the night.

At noon the next day, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang came to the five-star hotel together. Ye Qi and Old Mo also pretended to go shopping and went to the door of the hotel. Ye Qi pointed to the magnificent hotel curiously and spoke in a childish tone, “Grandpa, this hotel is very beautiful. Shall we stay here?”

Old Mo took him to the door. He wanted to go in but was stopped by security.

Old Mo smiled. “We are from abroad and want to stay in this hotel. Are there any vacant rooms?”

The security guard told them with a cold face, “The whole hotel has been booked for today. No individual guests will be accepted. Can you please find another place to stay?”

Old Mo regretfully turned away with Ye Qi.

Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang took advantage of the attention of the security guards being attracted by the old man and child to quickly walk around the back of the hotel. Yu Hanjiang glanced at the tall stone pillars and said, “Let’s fly up on this side and find a window to enter the hotel.”

Xiao Lou looked up at the ten storey building and asked anxiously, “Can the light footwork card fly so high?”

“Don’t worry, I have a way.”

Then Yu Hanjiang extended his long arms and gently hugged Xiao Lou’s waist. He activated the light footwork card, took advantage of when nobody was looking and exerted a light force on his legs to instantly jump onto an air conditioner on the third floor. He moved so flexibly it was like he was flying as he held Xiao Lou to scale the building.

Within a few seconds, Yu Hanjiang had already flown to the 10th floor. He found an open window through which he entered the hotel with Xiao Lou.

A guest had just left and the room was still messy. The cleaner aunt had opened the window to ventilate while cleaning. She suddenly saw two handsome guys enter through the window on the 10th floor and was so scared she was about to scream. Yu Hanjiang rushed over and covered her mouth. Then he struck her neck and she fell straight down.

Yu Hanjiang helped her to the sofa and blinked at Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou nodded and took the door card out of her pocket. To facilitate cleaning, the cleaner’s door card could access any floor. The two of them left the room and headed straight to the hotel restaurant on the eighth floor.

The birthday banquet hadn’t officially started but the venue had already been arranged. Big red ‘longevity’ characters were stuck on the wall and it looked very festive. There were many longevity peaches placed on the banquet table.

Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou came to the kitchen, knocked out two waiters, tied them up in the bathroom and quickly changed into their clothes.

At 12:30 p.m., the guests came to the scene one after another to congratulate the birthday star.

Uncle Zhong was the protagonist today and he wore a red Chinese suit with a smile on his face. The 60 year old looked energetic. He was obviously very satisfied with the birthday banquet arranged by his nephew and he happily received the gifts. All the people who came were big bosses.

Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou carried plates and delivered food between the tables while observing the guests... Apart from Uncle Zhong and his nephew He Rong, there were no other suspicious characters for the time being. Lin Rongrong, Rong Cheng and Nie Rong on their list of suspects didn’t come.

The two people were feeling curious when they heard someone say to Uncle Zhong, “Boss Song is here!”

Uncle Zhong immediately stood up. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang glanced at the door to see a tall man in a black suit and sunglasses enter. Next to him was a short haired woman in a royal blue cheongsam.

Yu Hanjiang whispered in Xiao Lou’s ear, “The female Song Xiaoqing is the boss who bought He Rong’s houses at a high price. The male Song Dongping is Song Xiaoqing’s brother and the developer of Qingshui Town’s Jinxiu Villa real estate project.”

Xiao Lou nodded. He remembered that these two people were also on the list of suspects.

The names of the two people didn’t have ‘Rong’ in them but they had frequent economic exchanges with He Rong. Song Xiaoqing bought He Rong’s houses in the countryside at a high price while He Rong bought three properties in Jinxiu Villa developed by her brother. He Rong transformed it into one large apartment for his uncle. In addition, Song Xiaoqing was once the lover of Rong Cheng, the boss of the pharmaceutical company...

The interests of this group were very complex and deserved Yu Hanjiang’s special attention.

They saw the Song brother and sister walking straight to Uncle Zhong. Song Dongping smiled and said, “Old Zhong, it is your 60th birthday. We wish you happiness and longevity!” Song Xiaoqing opened a box and gave a piece of jade to Uncle Zhong. “This is a small token of our appreciation. Please accept it.”

Uncle Zhong looked at the crystal clear jade and narrowed his eyes with a smile. “Mr Song is so polite!”

They exchanged greetings for a while. After sitting down, He Rong spoke a few words on behalf of Uncle Zhong, thanking everyone for coming. Then the birthday banquet officially began at 1 o’clock.

The scene of the birthday banquet was crowded and lively.

Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou moved through the crowd, serving dishes and delivering food. However, they didn’t notice any suspicious movements. Everyone was just eating, drinking and chatting. He Rong had been accompanying Uncle Zhong to help him serve tea and water. He had no intention of getting up and leaving.

Were they wrong? The transaction wasn’t being carried out in the hotel and Uncle Zhong was just simply celebrating his birthday?

Time gradually passed. Half the delicacies on the table were eaten. Once everyone was full, they started to toast Uncle Zhong in turn. Uncle Zhong was in a good mood today. He drank a lot of wine and his cheeks were red. A bald man with a beer belly stepped forward. “Thank you for your care over the past few years. I wish you a long life!”

Uncle Zhong smiled and took it. “Okay, thank you Mr Zhang! I will drink this cup!”

Red wine flowed from his lips down his throat. The next moment, Uncle Zhong’s eyes rolled and he fell straight to the ground.

“Ah—” There were shrill screams from the crowd.

He Rong’s expression changed and he trembled. “Uncle? What’s wrong with you, Uncle?”

Yu Hanjiang turned his head quickly and walked over. In the midst of the crowd, Uncle Zhong was stiff and blood spilled from the corner of his lips. He was lying on the ground with wide eyes and his face was full of disbelief.

He Rong reached out to test his breathing and immediately burst out crying. “Uncle! Wake up, Uncle! What are you doing in a daze? Call 120! Call an ambulance!”

The surroundings suddenly became a mess.

Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou glanced at each other, their hearts getting cold at the same time. They wanted to find some clues at the birthday banquet. Unexpectedly, Uncle Zhong’s 60th birthday banquet... turned into a funeral.

Proofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten

Thank you aemecin for the fanart of Shao Qingge and Ye Qi.