Black Flag Army

At noon, Tian Mengxue, wearing a purple cheongsam and carrying an exquisite red handbag, walked into the Weili Hotel. She looked like a lady from a wealthy family. No one would have thought that she was just a flower girl selling things on the street two months ago.

A waiter named Zhang Heimian, who was wearing a new white uniform, came forward and greeted: "Miss, are you here to eat? Have you reserved a table?"

Tian Mengxue looked to be in her twenties, with a fair face and a slim figure. She smiled and said, "My last name is Tian, ​​and Mr. Di invited me here."

Zhang Heimian said, "It's Miss Tian. Our boss is waiting for you in Box No. 4 on the second floor. Please follow me."

Tian Mengxue entered box number four and saw that in addition to Di Xiong, there were three other people who had arrived earlier and were sitting there drinking tea. Tian Baiyu knew these three people: Li Laoshi, who pulled a rickshaw, Zhu Baotong, a young boy selling newspapers on the street, and Guan Qier, an acrobat. Like Tian Mengxue, they had another identity: informant of detective Di Xiong.

In order to solve the case, every detective in the police station would spend a little money to hire a few temporary informants, and Di Xiong was no exception. But now that Di Xiong was no longer a detective, would he continue to hire them? Tian Mengxue was very worried, and she believed that the other three informants had the same idea.

Di Xiong personally poured Tian Mengxue a cup of tea and dispelled her doubts as soon as he opened his mouth: "Although I am no longer working in the police station, running a restaurant still requires intelligence from both the black and white worlds. Otherwise, if there is a mistake, the restaurant will be taken down. So don't worry, you can continue to work with me. The funding will still be paid, and the bonus will be doubled for those who have important intelligence."

Tian Mengxue took out a beautiful silver-white cigarette case from her pocket, took out three cigarettes from it, handed one to Di Xiong and Li Laoshi respectively, put one on her bright red lips, and took out a delicate golden lighter to light the cigarette. Li Laoshi was a middle-aged man of about 45 years old, while Zhu Baotong and Guan Qier were only teenagers.

Di Xiong took the cigarette and put it on the table without smoking. Li Laoshi lit it with a match immediately, took a greedy puff, and said with a smile: "Good cigarette! Boss Tian has upgraded his weapon to a better one now."

Tian Mengxue laughed and said, "What kind of boss am I? I'm just running a small flower shop and making a living. The capital was all provided by Brother Xiong, so he is the real boss."

Di Xiong took out an ashtray and placed it in front of Tian Mengxue, saying, "You should smoke less. Don't learn the bad habits of those noble ladies. It's not good for your health."

Tian Mengxue said coldly: "Now is a chaotic world, life can be lost if you are not careful. If you hadn't taken action that day, I would have been beaten to death by those hooligans. In a chaotic world, human life is as cheap as a dog. Can you live longer if you don't smoke?"

Di Xiong immediately stopped persuading him. He had argued with Tian Mengxue many times and had never won, even though he was obviously right.

Di Xiong took out twelve silver dollars from his pocket and gave three to each person, saying, "This is the budget for this month. Your task is to keep an eye on the gangs in this area, mainly the Qinglong Society and the Ghost Shadow Gang. The Weak Profit Restaurant I opened is located in the overlapping area of ​​the two gangs' territories. I have rejected their requests for protection money, and they may attack the restaurant at any time. Although the police station's Inspector Ma is protecting us, it may not be of any use."

Zhu Baotong and Guan Qier took the silver dollars in surprise. Guan Qier said, "So much money? I remember there was only one and a half dollars before." Guan Qier was not only an acrobat, but also a peripheral member of the Qinglong Society.

Di Xiong said, "I was in debt before, and I was very tight on money. Now that I've opened a restaurant, I'm making more money, so of course I have to give you more. After all, it costs money for you to gather intelligence."

Zhu Baotong carefully put the silver dollar into his arms and said to Di Xiong with a smile: "It can be seen that Mr. Di has made a fortune. We can also get some of it."

Di Xiong took out a few more photos from his pocket and gave two to each person. He said, "I recently joined forces with a few brothers to wipe out a gang. Two people slipped through the net and may retaliate against us at any time. The tall middle-aged man in the photo is Fei Bao, nicknamed Fei Lao Si, and the short one is Gou Zhongwei, nicknamed Xiaogou. If you see the people in the photos, report to me in time. The reward is fifty dollars. The contact information is the same as before."

Li Laoshi picked up the photo and looked at it, then asked, "So the Flying Eagle Gang was destroyed by Mr. Di. The newspapers boasted that it was destroyed by the police station. Three leaders were killed, and the only one who escaped was Fei Laosi. Of course, he took revenge, but Xiaogou is just a small follower. Why does Mr. Di take him so seriously?"

Di Xiong said, "I was also dismissive at first, but a few days ago, my two brothers Hong Tianlie and Wu Chunfeng were hit by clubs in the casino and teahouse respectively. If they hadn't been rescued in time, they would have died. Judging from the method of committing the crime, it is very likely that Xiao Gou did it. He used to be responsible for hitting people with clubs in the Flying Eagle Gang."

Di Xiong invited them to have another meal at the restaurant. After a few people had eaten and drunk their fill, they left. Only Tian Mengxue stayed. She looked at Di Xiong with some resentment and said, "You haven't been to the flower shop for a long time. That's your business. When your restaurant opened, I sent someone to deliver a flower basket, but you didn't even react at all."

Di Xiong smiled and said, “I believe you will take good care of the flower shop.”

Tian Mengxue asked anxiously, "Aren't you afraid that I will embezzle the money?"

Di Xiong smiled and said, "You are not that kind of person. Besides, how much money can such a small flower shop make? I already said last time that the flower shop has been given to you. How could you embezzle your own money?"

Tian Mengxue smiled and said, "I remember I refused at that time. Don't think that you can be lazy and not go there just because you gave the flower shop to me."

Di Xiong said seriously: "The restaurant has just opened, and there are too many things to do. I will go when I have time."

She pinched Di Xiong's arm hard, and when she saw Di Xiong gasp in pain, she smiled happily and said goodbye.

The afternoon is the quietest time in the restaurant. Everyone is busy taking a nap to prepare for the peak customer flow in the evening, except for the shopkeeper Wu who is on duty at the counter. Di Xiong walked to the brand new yellow wood counter and saw that the shopkeeper Wu was arranging the chess records again.

Di Xiong took a look and said with a smile: "Isn't this Huang Longshi's Blood and Tears Score? It seems that Mr. Wu has studied Go very deeply! Ordinary Go players can't understand this score at all, and they don't have the patience to play it."

Shopkeeper Wu looked at Di Xiong in surprise and said, "Boss, you can say the words Huang Longshi and Blood and Tears, which shows that you are quite good at chess. How about we play a game?"

Di Xiong said, "My chess skills are definitely not as good as Mr. Wu's, but since I see that you have been unable to find an opponent, I will just fill in the gap and play a game with you."

Shopkeeper Wu was very happy to hear this, and quickly brought a chair for Di Xiong to sit on, and also made him a pot of chrysanthemum tea. The two sat down and played Go. Shopkeeper Wu used the three-star layout. It was quite standard, while Di Xiong started with a small mistake.

Di Xiong chatted while he was down there: "Mr. Wu, do you know anything about Chef Roubaozi?"

Shopkeeper Wu said, "Meat buns are just his nickname. His real name is Bao Sanping. He is a greedy guy. He cooks well, but his hands and feet are not very clean."

Di Xiong said coldly, "If he was just dishonest, it would be fine. West City Hotel is our biggest competitor. He actually accepted a 20-dollar bribe from the West City Hotel this time and sold my new recipes to the hotel. He was also going to give away a packet of MSG. Fortunately, Leng Hanbing found out and caught him red-handed. You will never see Bao Sanping again."

MSG was invented by Di Xiong using knowledge from later generations. In fact, the dishes cooked at Weili Restaurant are not much better than those cooked at other big restaurants. It mainly relies on MSG as a killer weapon.

Shopkeeper Wu understood the meaning of Di Xiong's last sentence, and his hands trembled as he played chess. He asked, "Leng Hanbing has not been in the hotel for long, how did he find out that Bao Sanping was a traitor?"

Di Xiong smiled and said, "The day after Leng Hanbing arrived at the hotel, he discovered something suspicious about Bao Sanping and followed him secretly. It seems that Leng Hanbing is suitable to be a supervisor."

Shopkeeper Wu said, "In this case, the restaurant will have no chef. Boss, you can't always be a part-time chef, right?"

Di Xiong smiled and said, "It's actually not difficult to learn how to cook. I have already taught Du Yongzhong how to cook. He can work part-time as a chef!"

Du Yongzhong is Du Magan's full name, and Du Magan is just a nickname. His life is better now. He can eat three meals a day and have meat to eat. He is a little fatter than before and no longer looks like a stick.

Shopkeeper Wu said, "I have read the New Mohist Classic that you revised. Haven't you changed Mozi's doctrine too much?"

Di Xiong discovered that Shopkeeper Wu was always reading the tattered old Mojing, so he gave him a revised copy of the New Mojing.

Di Xiong said: "The Mohist Classic was written by Mozi more than 2,000 years ago. He could not have predicted the changes that would happen more than 2,000 years later, so many of its contents are no longer suitable for today's society. Only by deleting the outdated contents can its essence be passed on. I am very happy that you have finished reading it. You are the first person to finish reading the New Mohist Classic. You can see the difference between it and the old Mohist Classic, which shows that you are a very knowledgeable person."

Shopkeeper Wu smiled bitterly and said, "You are the boss. You ordered me to look. How dare I not look?"

Di Xiong said, "I have to go out for something, you keep an eye on the store."

Shopkeeper Wu asked, "You haven't finished playing chess yet?"

Di Xiong, who had already reached the gate, said, "You've already lost."

Shopkeeper Wu was startled and took a closer look, realizing that one of his dragons had lost its ward position. He had indeed lost.