Chapter 16: The Rightful Path to Wealth

The next day, morning.

Lin Tiansheng, dressed in a denim jacket and sneakers, walked into the West Kowloon Major Crime Unit. Chen Sheng yawned, buried his head in case files, and showed no interest in greeting anyone.

Although chasing stolen goods was a decent job, handling cases never escaped hardship.

Zhang Jinrong, still in his leather jacket and old-school motorcycle gloves, approached Lin Tiansheng and said, “Brother Sheng, Yunzi contacted me last night.”

“What’s the situation? Is he willing to come back?”

Lin Tiansheng admired Deng Gengyun, the boxing champion among the Four Great Sand Exhibitors, the most. Among the vices of “eating, drinking, gambling, and womanizing,” only the “eating” was pure, and for the Major Crime Unit's work, they truly needed someone skilled.

Zhang Jinrong said, “He invited us to meet tonight at Moshing Ridge, at Zhihui’s place. Also, Anquan promised to return, as long as the Major Crime Unit issues a recall.”

“Anquan also said that Zhihui called him yesterday to arrange a meeting.”

Lin Tiansheng hummed thoughtfully, his eyes revealing deep consideration. He had to prepare for the worst scenario: that the highest-ranking officer currently, Zhong Zhihui, was planning to go rogue.

“Then let’s go to Moshing Ridge. Oh, and bring Anquan along.”

If something like that really happened, he couldn’t stop Zhihui; he could only try to win over Gengyun.

At that moment, Pi Zhibang, wearing a floral shirt, hands on hips, carrying a file, walked past the desks and tossed the case file down. “Ah Sheng, got nothing better to do, huh? Handle this case.”

“Got it, Sir Pi…”

Lin Tiansheng opened the file and glanced over it. It was an unsolved case from January last year.

West Kowloon had no dedicated homicide department; all murder cases fell under the Major Crime Unit’s jurisdiction. Without urgent cases, the officers mostly investigated cold cases.

Of course, only those after 1974, so most were relatively recent, because during the era of Chief Inspector Zong Hua, the homicide division’s clearance rate was 100%.

Everyone in the underworld knew “murder cases must be solved.” Before working, they drew lots to assign who would take the lead.

Therefore, even the headquarters’ Criminal Division had no “cold case unit” — there were simply no long-unsolved cases.

Ma Delong brought over a teacup, glanced at the file, and said, “Brother Sheng, your usual chrysanthemum pu’er. Oh, the Lobsider Bay doctor’s kidney stone case?”

Those who had followed Lin Tiansheng back at the reservoir were familiar with his tastes. The former Wan Chai inspector’s character might not have been impeccable, but his taste was surely trustworthy.

At first, it was to mislead others; later, Lin Tiansheng got used to it, so he “inherited the legacy.” Hopefully, the “Five Poisons Inspector” would be better in matters of women’s taste.

---

“Old Ma, you know about this case?” Lin Tiansheng’s eyes showed surprise.

Ma Delong smiled, “Brother Sheng, the deceased was Li Hongquan, ran a private clinic on Kimberly Road in Tsim Sha Tsui East. In his early forties, earning over a hundred thousand a year, young and promising. He was tricked and killed in Lobsider Bay. It made headlines and stirred public discussion.”

“At that time, you were busy fishing, maybe you didn’t notice, but most police officers in Hong Kong and Kowloon knew about it.”

“Let’s review the file and share some thoughts.”

Lin Tiansheng put down the file. He didn’t intend to make a name by solving cases but didn’t mind mentoring his comrades.

Within the Hong Kong Police, making breakthroughs in cases was more of a technical matter. Those with skills could do well, but promotions came through two routes: frontline operations or management.

The former relied on direct action — arresting criminals, controlling weapons; the latter focused on administration, assessments, and personnel.

Departments like case solving, forensics, and intelligence were more auxiliary. The powers given to the two deputy directors revealed this clearly.

Ma Delong, having just been paid, followed Brother Sheng, eager to show his face, happily sat down and said, “Sure thing, Brother Sheng.”

Lin Tiansheng’s military background might make him excel in operations, but he had no experience in case investigation. After some discussion, he called over He Li, Zhang Jinrong, and Liu Yida for consultation.

Pi Zhibang handing him this case didn’t mean he expected to find the real culprit — perhaps just to keep him from getting too comfortable.

“Three cobblers with their wits combined can match Zhuge Liang.”

Several hours later.

Chen Sheng suddenly raised his voice: “Officer Shi is treating the whole unit to lunch. Zhao’s Restaurant downstairs, everyone come order.”

“Someone else is treating lunch again?”

Lin Tiansheng was slightly stunned.

Chen Sheng brought over a yellowed paper menu and said to Lin Tiansheng, “No need to be polite, Officer Lin. Officer Shi just scored an air hostess.”

“She’s treating everyone to a meal. That’s a bargain for him.”

Shi Zhanpeng, from across the row of desks, laughed, “Everyone in the unit gets a share.”

“In that case, no need to be polite.”

Lin Tiansheng handed the menu to Ma Delong and the others. Each picked a set meal and gave the order to Officer Shi’s assistant. The assistant collected the menus, called in the takeaway, and within half an hour, the tea restaurant, which often did deliveries, placed foam boxes filled with set meals on the table.

The officers, following the handwritten notes on each box, came forward to claim their meals. Minutes later, over forty members of the Major Crime Unit stood in the office area, smiling and chatting as they ate enthusiastically.

After finishing a chicken leg meal, Ma Delong tossed the box back into the foam container, tore off a napkin, wiped his mouth, and said, “Brother Sheng, I’m off to forensics to check the evidence.”

Lin Tiansheng said, “A few clothes and a keychain—what use could they be?”

“Don’t know. Can’t just sit around doing nothing. After checking the evidence, I’ll visit the deceased’s home,” Ma Delong replied. “Might as well keep busy.”

---

“All right, thanks.”

“Yida, you go with Old Ma,” Lin Tiansheng nodded to his juniors, then openly opened a newspaper and began to laze about.

The Sing Tao Daily had a real estate tracking section, monitoring representative residential transactions and publishing daily prices.

Prices were rising almost every day.

“Real estate…”

Lin Tiansheng’s gaze fell on the housing section, a strange sense of déjà vu stirring in his heart. A new idea gradually took shape.

“Money-making channels… if you want quick cash, you have to ride the trend. Even a pig can fly when it stands at the wind’s mouth. In the 1980s, the hottest trend was the property market.”

“Maybe I could find someone to run a real estate brokerage company?”

It must be understood that the real estate industry drove more than just land prices — engineering, construction, decoration, the second-hand market, and countless other industries.

Among them, developers made the most money, but that didn’t mean other sectors earned little.

Becoming a major developer required connections in politics and business, and vast capital.

If that was too complicated, he could try a downstream industry.

In an era without the internet, companies similar to Beike or Anjuke existed but operated with physical storefronts instead of online platforms.

Currently, many real estate agencies operated on Hong Kong Island, but they were just starting up, with no large enterprises yet.

With over three hundred thousand dollars on hand, there was enough to start.

In the golden age of real estate, a good agent could earn millions a year. Even a single storefront could generate transactions worth tens of millions.

Even without growing too large, that was enough to make the first pot of gold—turning it into a golden bowl!

That was more than enough to start.

A good era truly meant opportunities everywhere. Last night, after bitter pondering with no clue, flipping through the paper now, with a vision beyond the times, he immediately found a promising project.

His heart involuntarily stirred, sipping chrysanthemum pu’er, forcing himself to calm down and think: “But to find a good operator, it has to be one of our own, like… Brother Le’s ‘Lard Boy’.”