Chapter 131

After hearing Da Biao say what happened, Hua Mao threw his cigarette to the ground: “What did you say?!”

One of Hua Mao’s gambling machine dens had been completely destroyed.

In the past, when Luo Jiu was here, these gambling machines had dedicated venues. The brothers under Fang Yu’s leadership had also operated them. At that time, they were called point machines and slot machines. At this time, they had already evolved into more advanced models, and there were more ways to gamble. Hua Mao ran large venues, and he had the most amusement arcades and Internet cafes in Jiangbei. How could he not have gambling machines which were so profitable? The police had investigated them before, but Hua Mao had been in Jiangbei for so many years. He was a local boss with deep roots. He wasn’t a winner of both the gangdom and the legitimate sphere, but he had relationships with the legitimate. Sometimes, money could settle many things. Hua Mao wasn’t a boss for nothing. He always properly managed the relationships that should be managed, so his business premises did business as usual. As long as it wasn’t too out of line, they always turned a blind eye. Hua Mao was very careful, and his dens were all hidden very deeply. When outsiders came, they could only see an ordinary arcade. Those who were really playing on gambling machines were all below. If they weren’t familiar faces and regular customers, ordinary people could not enter.

The police had come to investigate in the past, but every time Hua Mao caught wind of it, he quickly relocated. The police couldn’t catch the gambling in action, and couldn’t do anything with them. They confiscated a few machines, lectured them, and released them.

But that night, a bunch of police suddenly rushed into one of the dens. The police attacked suddenly, so that the den was taken by surprise, and they were caught in action, red-handed. This Da Biao went to the restroom at that time. He was just about to turn back when he realized that the police had rushed inside and hurriedly ran away. If he hadn’t run fast, he would also have been caught now.

“Bai Pi didn’t get any news?” Once Hua Mao heard it, he knew that the losses were heavy. Bai Pi had connections with the police and was specifically responsible for informing him.

“This bunch of shitty cops made a fucking surprise attack. Bai Pi also didn’t get news! He just went to inquire, and they said that public security planned it long ago. They deliberately picked the holiday today, when we were unprepared. They specifically came after us! He even said that they were afraid you’d get wind of it and wouldn’t be able to catch them in action. Tonight, they even specifically sent a police officer to watch over you! Mao Ge, where did you go tonight? Did you meet any cops?! …”

Hua Mao put down his hand that was holding his phone. He didn’t hear anything else that Da Biao said later.

When Hua Mao rushed to the scene, the police had already sealed the amusement arcade and were waiting for him.

Hua Mao walked in. Among the dark crowd of police in front of him, he immediately saw Gu Fei.

Gu Fei was still in that police uniform, the police uniform that he had just admired, lusted after, and looked at for a long time with a smile under the moon.

Just an hour ago, he was still sitting in the small noodle shop, saying to him, “Why can’t we be friends?” in that uniform.

When Gu Fei looked at Hua Mao, Hua Mao didn’t see his expression. Or he saw it, but didn’t remember it clearly.

He only remembered the expression that he showed to Gu Fei.

Many police officers who were present that night could not think of the suitable words to describe that expression. If they had to say them, there would only be four words: chilling to the bone.

Hua Mao was interrogated in the interrogation room. He sat there, squinting his eyes, answering every question he heard. When he wasn’t being interrogated, he lifted his eyelids and kept staring at the monitor.

He knew that there were people sitting behind the monitor, including Gu Fei.

“What are you looking at? Look here!” the policeman who was interrogating him snapped.

Hua Mao’s gaze gradually swept downwards, glancing at the two people interrogating him. He sneered and continued to lift his eyelids, staring at the pitch black lens in the corner of the ceiling. His gaze became deformed through the camera lens, becoming magnified and eerie.

He was interrogated for most of the night, and the police were also tired and weary. It was a holiday. Who was willing to come out and work? These police working overtime were also full of complaints.

During the holidays, not as many people came as usual. Although they were caught in action, the gambling money that they caught was limited. With such a surprise attack by the police, they could give an account to their superiors, and they could give a report. As for Hua Mao, everyone knew that he did this. Being fined and closing the shop would at most be closing it for a period of time, changing the location, and then opening again. Things like gambling machines could not be banned. As long as there were people playing, they wouldn’t disappear. Either way, there were policies from above and countermeasures below. Although Hua Mao was caught in the police station, everyone knew how this matter would ultimately be settled. The interrogation was just a procedure. If they were really catching a gambling ring, then there wouldn’t be enough police for all the secret gambling places in the city. What did these gambling machines matter?

They finally stopped interrogating, took Hua Mao to a detention room, and locked him up. Two police officers were left on duty in the monitoring room.

“Li Ge, go take a rest. I’ll watch here,” Gu Fei said to his coworker on duty.

“Thanks, Xiao Gu! I’m too old to stay up.” The middle-aged policeman yawned continuously and went to sleep in the duty room downstairs.

On the quiet floor, it was dark. Hua Mao curled up alone on the floor of the detention room. The ice cold walls and ground, as well as the pale cyan lights, cast a pale light on this narrow detention room. Hua Mao’s expressionless face was also equally pale from this dim light, and it looked ferocious in the shadow.

The door of the detention room opened. Hua Mao heard footsteps come in and heard the door close again. He still maintained his posture against the wall, not even raising his head.

In the empty room, the footsteps echoed. Hua Mao looked at the feet and police uniform pants that stopped in front of him. Hua Mao chuckled, his laughter sharp, echoing between the empty walls.

“Your acting skills are pretty good, almost as good as Zhou Runfa.” Hua Mao smiled chillingly.

Gu Fei squatted down and raised Hua Mao’s chin, making his eyes look at him.

“…I didn’t know until I came.”

Gu Fei’s words seemed to come through clenched teeth and were extremely clear, squeezing out from between his teeth.

“On the phone, they only said that there was a task and to gather at the station. I didn’t know where we were going.”

During the interrogation, behind the camera lens of the monitor, Hua Mao’s gaze was like a knife, piercing holes through Gu Fei’s whole body. Gu Fei also looked into the eyes in the monitor from beginning to end. Even if those eyes couldn’t see him, they seemed to be looking at him the whole time.

“Is that so, Officer Gu? When your boss told you to go on a date, did he forget to tell you where the next stop was?” Hua Mao was still smiling.

“What do you mean?” Gu Fei’s face was also a little distorted under the light.

“I’m really honored to be assigned Police Officer Gu’s company during the holidays. I’m really fucking flattered.” Hua Mao lowered his head. The scarf was still around his neck. Hua Mao raised his hands, handcuffs jangling. He smiled as he pulled the scarf off little by little. “Is this also a work expense? Is there a place to apply for reimbursement?”

“I repeat, I really didn’t know!”

A vein stuck out on Gu Fei’s forehead. He grabbed Hua Mao and pulled him up.

“What do I have to say for you to believe it?”

“Why bother, Officer? I’m just an inmate of labor reform. You control the heavens and the earth. Do you even want to control whether I believe you or not?” Hua Mao chuckled, his expression like a police station prisoner.

“I asked you out tonight, that was my own business. No one told me to do that. I myself wanted to do it. Do you understand?”

Gu Fei grasped Hua Mao’s hand as tightly as an iron hoop, but under the pale light, Gu Fei’s face was abnormally red. His slightly hurried inhalations and heavy breaths were all different from usual. He was suppressing his emotions, but his youth betrayed his emotions.

“Even if I got to the place and knew who was being investigated, I couldn’t possibly tip you off. I’m a policeman!”

“That’s right!” Hua Mao suddenly pushed him away. The handcuffs on his wrist almost brushed past Gu Fei’s face. “You are a policeman and I am a criminal! It’s perfectly justifiable that you fucking arrest me!”

Hua Mao looked at Gu Fei’s face, like he was seeing him for the first time. He stared at him with wide eyes, and his voice also dropped, as if filled with curiosity: “Then why are you still playing with me? Cops catch robbers. You’re supposed to catch, not play. You say I’m a cat? I’m not a cat. I’m just a mouse. You’re the cat. Officer, have you had enough of this cat and mouse game? Have you had your fun?!”

Hua Mao roared out those four words. His sharp voice shook the air around him. He thought that tonight was really spectacular, really fucking spectacular. All of the Mid-Autumn Festivals that he had experienced added up were not as spectacular as this one.

“You just don’t trust me that much?” Gu Fei’s face was in the shadows.

Hua Mao raised his head and cracked up, laughing abruptly. His laughter suddenly stopped, and he lowered his head: “Trust you? Why should I trust you? Because you’re handsome?”

As though he had finished smiling, Hua Mao’s facial features quickly went cold. He looked at Gu Fei without saying a word, his eyes cold, piercing through the cyan light.

“I had a slip up today, and I admit defeat. But Gu, if you have guts, don’t let me out. If I go out, I’ll kill you.”

Gu Fei moved suddenly. He suddenly pressed Hua Mao back against the cold wall, causing Hua Mao’s back to bump against it with a sharp pain.

“You really think that I would hurt you?” Gu Fei’s voice was not loud, echoing and muffled.

“…If I wanted to hurt you, I would have already caught you dozens of times!”

Gu Fei’s face approached Hua Mao. Hua Mao looked at his enlarged face. That young face lacked the previous calmness and rationality. Even against the collar of the police uniform, it was not that serious policeman, but rather the face of a man who had lost control and restraint and was full of vitality.

“Chen Zhiqiang!”

Gu Fei pronounced this name syllable by syllable.

“I’m not playing with you. You’re playing with me.”

His eyes were bloodshot and his breath was burning hot, spraying on Hua Mao’s neck.

“Didn’t you already know what I want? You clearly know, but you still doubt me. Do you need me to tell you personally?”

“What do I know? Know that you want to fuck me and have sex with me? Haha! Hahahaha!”

Hua Mao couldn’t stop laughing. He practically felt a sense of achievement. He was waiting for this moment! Hua Mao tore off his scarf and threw it in Gu Fei’s face.

“Gu, from the beginning, I could tell what you wanted to do. I know how many intestines you have in your stomach! If it were someone else, I would have long gone up and let him fuck me a few dozen times. For a cop like you, I have to play with you, go in circles with you, and see when you will give yourself away. You want to both make your dick feel good and earn some distinction. Hahahaha! Bah! …”

Hua Mao’s voice suddenly disappeared in a muffled sound. Gu Fei pressed down on him, grabbed his chin, and kissed his lips.