Chapter 174 The Leader of the Green Gang

"What are you looking at? Have nothing better to do?"

As soon as Chen Mo entered the Third Team's office, he noticed that the two women were looking at him strangely.

Liu Ruyan and Fang Yingxia both had ambiguous smiles on their faces. One leaned against the filing cabinet, while the other's pen hovered in mid-air. They both looked over at each other.

"Captain Chen~~" Fang Yingxia drawled, "Captain Liu was calling you 'Honest Man' in the yard just now, and he was shouting it pretty loudly."

"Hmm, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing," she blinked, "I just think...this assessment is pretty accurate."

Liu Ruyan coughed lightly and put down her pen.

Chen Mo walked to his seat without changing his expression and sat down. Before he could say anything, a head poked in through the door.

It was Zhao Shouxin, who was newly assigned to the team.

The young man was in his early twenties, with dark skin and a simple, honest air about him.

He held a teacup in his hand and carefully placed it on Chen Mo's table.

"Captain Chen, I just made you a cup of tea, please have a taste."

"What kind of tea?" Chen Mo asked casually.

"It's...it's tea." Zhao Shouxin scratched the back of his head, a hint of embarrassment on his dark face. "I don't know anything about good or bad tea, I just saw you've been busy all morning, so I thought you could have some water to soothe your throat."

Chen Mo picked up the cup and took a sip.

The tea leaves weren't very good, but the water was hot enough.

"That's good, that's thoughtful."

He nodded, finding the young man pleasing to the eye no matter how he looked at him.

Good, promising.

"A bumpkin like him, all he knows is how to flatter."

A sneer came from the corner.

Chen Mo glanced at him sideways.

The speaker was Qian Mantang, whose hair was slicked back and shiny. He was sitting with his legs crossed, his disdain undisguised.

"Little Qian, nothing to do?" He gave him a half-smile. "Looks like you're really free."

Qian Mantang felt a little uneasy under that gaze, and unconsciously put his legs down, but still stubbornly asked, "What do you want?"

"Nothing."

Chen Mo gave a nonchalant reply, took out a map of the three teams' jurisdiction from the drawer and threw it on his desk. "Our territory hasn't been patrolled in a long time. Go take a look around later, and come back and report any discoveries immediately."

This kid clearly hasn't experienced the harsh realities of life; he has low emotional intelligence and a sharp tongue.

Well, the lessons his mother couldn't teach him, only his father can.

"Why should I go?"

Qian Mantang, his neck stiff, said with a hint of resentment, "Why should I be the only one to go on patrols of the jurisdiction?"

"Don't you have nothing to do?" Chen Mo leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers lightly on the table. "Are you going or not? If not, go ask Director Zhou to switch teams."

"Otherwise, I can go and talk to them."

The office fell silent for a moment.

Liu Ruyan lowered her head, pretending to look at the documents in her hand.

Fang Yingxia frowned, her gaze shifting between Chen Mo and Qian Mantang, and she became restless.

The "nice guy" personality started to kick in.

She always felt bad that Chen Mo was bullying her like this, and she felt guilty watching him do it.

"Captain Chen, should I take him with me?" Fang Yingxia asked hesitantly. "He's not very familiar with the area, so it would be safer if the two of them went together."

Chen Mo glanced at her, then at Qian Mantang, who was frozen in his seat, and sighed helplessly.

Fang Yingxia is just too soft-hearted.

"Alright," he nodded, and seeing that Zhao Shouxin also looked eager to try, he added, "You should bring Zhao Shouxin along too."

Fang Yingxia picked up her coat from the table, walked up to Qian Mantang, and whispered, "Let's go."

He gritted his teeth, glared at Chen Mo, and finally stood up and followed Fang Yingxia and Zhao Shouxin out the door.

Seeing the three of them leave, Chen Mo glanced around inside and his gaze fell on the open newspaper next to Liu Ruyan.

"Xiaoliu, let me see that newspaper on your desk."

Liu Ruyan rolled her eyes, still smiling as she handed over the newspaper, "Yes, Captain Chen, you really know how to order people around."

Chen Mo didn't reply. He took the newspaper, unfolded it, and his eyes fell on the front page.

The bold, black title is immediately noticeable.

The Hou Family Massacre in the Japanese Concession: The Entire Family Was Bombed, and Even the Green Gang Leader Was Affected

His brow furrowed slightly as he looked closer.

"A violent explosion occurred at the Hou residence in the Japanese concession early yesterday morning. It is understood that the Hou family's business had been thriving in recent years, and they are suspected of offending an enemy, which led to the massacre of the entire family. All twenty members of the Hou family, along with Li Jinglin, a member of the Green Gang who came to pay their respects that day, and his three entourage, totaled twenty-three dead. Another hundred were injured and sent to the hospital..."

Chen Mo's gaze lingered on the words "Li Jinglin, the head of the Green Gang" for a moment before continuing to read.

"...Green Gang boss Gu Ruzhang was furious upon hearing the news and publicly declared that blood debts must be repaid in blood, vowing to seek justice for Minister Li. The Municipal Council of the Concession has intervened in the investigation, and no organization has yet claimed responsibility for the explosion..."

The newspaper also included a blurry photo of the ruins after the explosion, with several rickshaws parked nearby and indistinct figures surrounding them.

Chen Mo put down the newspaper and tapped his fingers lightly twice on the table.

The Hou family.

Japanese Concession.

The Green Gang.

He picked up the cup of tea that Zhao Shouxin had brewed and took another sip.

The tea wasn't very good, but the young man had good intentions.

The tea wasn't very good, but the young man had good intentions.

------

Inside the ruins of the Hou family mansion, the morning sunlight streamed in through gaps in the broken roof, causing dust particles to float slowly in the air.

The Hou family mansion was originally a grand three-courtyard layout, but now only a few crooked walls and broken bricks and tiles remain.

The air was still filled with a strong smell of burning.

Gu Ruzhang, the leader of the Green Gang, stood in the middle of the ruins, his boots crushing a patch of charred wooden beams.

He was forty-five years old this year, but looked like he was thirty-five or thirty-six. His hair was combed back meticulously, and his exposed forehead and sideburns were very neatly trimmed.

He wore a well-tailored three-piece smoky gray suit, with a plain white handkerchief folded in his pocket.

He stood with his hands behind his back, looking around expressionlessly.

Twenty-three lives lost.

One of them was his minister in the Green Gang.

"Why is Old Li at the Hou family's house?" Gu Ruzhang finally asked.

A lean, middle-aged man took half a step forward and lowered his voice, "Reporting to the head of the department, Minister Li has some connections with the Hou family patriarch. He even came to give a gift when the patriarch celebrated his birthday a while ago. Yesterday, the second son of the Hou family passed away unexpectedly, and Minister Li came to pay his respects, saying he wanted to discuss something as well."

"What is it?"

The lean man gritted his teeth and stepped forward: "Boss, I've heard some rumors... I don't know if I should say them."

"speak."

"Minister Li hasn't been in a good mood these past two days. His subordinates say it's related to his brother-in-law. His brother-in-law somehow offended someone a while ago and got punished."

"It seems the people who dealt with him were from the Inspection Bureau. Didn't you recently tell the gang members not to cause trouble? I guess Minister Li wants the Hou family to make a move."

Gu Ruzhang's expression shifted slightly. "Old Li's brother-in-law?"

"Yes."

The lean man secretly observed his expression. "It's that guy... the one who caused trouble before. You remember the leader, right? If you hadn't spoken up last time, he would have been thrown into the Huangpu River."

Gu Ruzhang certainly remembered.

That arrogant fool, relying on his brother-in-law's status, ran rampant in the foreign concession.

Last time I got drunk, I got into a fight with someone in front of the Paramount Ballroom and cursed them for half the street.

It was only later that I learned that the man was the son of an important official in Nanjing.

If Gu Ruzhang hadn't personally intervened to resolve the situation, Li Jinglin's brother-in-law would have already sunk to the bottom of Wusongkou to feed the fish.

"Who did it?" Gu Ruzhang asked calmly.

The lean man hesitated for a moment, then took two steps closer. "The people from the Inspection Bureau, the ones who actually carried out the operation... it's someone named Chen Mo."