"Aha, let me introduce you. This is Jack, from the United States, from the FBI."
Jiang Zhentai introduced Jack and then showed off his extremely unstandard English. "This is my wife, Park So-yeon. This is our little princess, Jiang Yanya, and this annoying person, my wife's sister, Park Min-young."
Jack greeted in Korean and then smiled and praised, "They say Korea is full of beautiful women, and it really is true."
Some words are hypocritical but very effective, especially for beautiful women. The three beauties in Jiang Zhentai's family were all grinning from ear to ear, forgetting their nervousness and worries in the future.
Seeing his wife and sister-in-law constantly praising Jack's standard Korean, leaving him aside, Jiang Zhentai could only watch helplessly, holding his daughter in his arms.
"Senior Jiang Zhentai is also very capable. It's thanks to him that we were able to find the suspect in time this time. It's a pity that he's too cruel and cunning. But I believe with his help, we'll be able to bring the bad guys to justice soon."
Since good words are free, Jack quickly brought the conversation back to Jiang Zhentai. He hasn't seen many Korean dramas, but he doesn't think Im Yoona and Ma Dongseok have ever worked together. It seems that this is another Korean drama
that has made an intrusive appearance. "Why are there so many people? Ah, hello, sister-in-law. Are you feeling better, brother Zhentai?" As soon as he mentioned the problem, Ma Xidao appeared at the other end of the corridor, carrying a large lunch box, followed by two strangers in plain clothes, who looked like detectives. He
pressed a lunch box into Jiang Zhentai's hands and asked with concern. Jiang Zhentai
opened the box, his eyes sparkling. "Huh? Eel rice? That's very polite."
"Of course, of course. When you're injured, you should eat something good. It will help you recover faster." Ma Xidao lifted the remaining lunch box in his hand and handed another to Jack.
"Try some Korean food! This is a top-notch eel set meal for 40,000 won."
Jack opened it and saw a bowl of rice covered in chunks of grilled eel, drizzled with a thick layer of sauce. It smelled delicious indeed.
40,000 won is about 29 US dollars, or over 200 RMB, a price that's a steal in the lunchbox world.
It was just dawn, just after 6:00 AM, and no one knew where this guy had gotten his eel rice so early in the morning; he'd put a lot of thought into it.
"You're welcome then." He was genuinely hungry, so he sat down and started digging into it.
Ma Xidao winked at Jiang Zhentai and handed him his entire lunchbox. "Brother Zhentai, please take it to my people."
"Why are you being so polite?" Jiang Zhentai understood, waving to the three beautiful women in his own room. "Come with me into the ward. Keep your voices down and don't disturb them."
Knowing he was looking for something, Jack finished his meal in just seven or eight minutes. He took the water Ma Xidao offered and rinsed his mouth. The eel rice was indeed good, a perfect combination of fat and gelatin, though the sauce was a bit sweet and could be greasy.
"These two are my former colleagues. I just went to look for them." Ma Xidao's attitude towards Jack was noticeably more respectful and grateful.
Although he was usually blunt and straightforward, prone to beating people up at the slightest disagreement, often hospitalized for three to six months, today was truly an eye-opener.
At that time, he was still several hundred meters away and couldn't see anything clearly, but he saw Jack pull out his pistol without hesitation and "covered the enemy with fire", which shocked Ma Xidao.
He had originally thought that the FBI was so brazen in their own country that they were even more unscrupulous in Korea.
Later, based on the circumstances at the scene, a simple speculation revealed that if Jack hadn't arrived in time and acted decisively, his money might not have been spent on eel rice, but instead placed in envelopes and handed to his men's families.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Hwang Dong-gyun from the Northern Police Station's Narcotics Division."
"I'm Gong Tae-il."
The two detectives were very respectful and nodded to Jack, likely having heard about last night's events.
"Just call me Jack. Just tell me what's going on." Jack offered his hand and shook theirs.
"Here's what's going on." The leader, Hwang Dong-gyun, who was older, in his early 30s, pulled out the small revolver from the evidence bag.
"This is our team leader's sidearm. He's been missing for several days."
Jack, somewhat surprised, gestured for everyone to sit down and discuss the situation. "Is your team leader also tracking down this batch of drugs?"
"Yes, he's been privately investigating HYPER." Hwang Dong-gyun glanced around, making sure no one else was paying attention, before continuing in a low voice.
"This case was originally handled by the Jiulong Police Department's Narcotics Division, but our team leader suspected something fishy was going on, so we privately investigated. We discovered that not only was the raw material for HYPER coming from Japan, but the local processing and sales were also linked to the Yakuza."
He pulled out his phone and pulled up an old news item for Jack to see. It read, "The White Shark Gang, which colluded with Japanese gangs to smuggle and sell drugs, has been busted. The leader is on the run, and a warrant has been issued."
Huang Dongjun continued, "Three years ago, it was the local White Shark Gang that colluded with the Yakuza to smuggle drugs. They were responsible for the processing and sale of HYPER. But two years ago, the gang's leader was suddenly eliminated.
The Jiulong Police Department's Narcotics Division then arrested all the key members of the White Shark Gang. Strangely, it's unknown who the Yakuza were colluding with, but HYPER didn't last long before it began circulating again."
"Haven't you tracked down the Yakuza's collaborators?" Ma Xidao interjected.
Drugs are also a commodity. While many products now adopt a "B2C" model, where end customers order goods or services directly from manufacturers online, drug sales don't utilize this approach. While users may communicate with dealers online, which is a relatively covert method, they typically only interact with small-time dealers. It's not uncommon for Yakuza like this "Itiaohui" to transport their own drugs while also dispatching their subordinates to distribute them locally, but this practice is extremely rare. After
all, as the saying goes, even a powerful dragon can't defeat a local snake. Local gangs, known for their hospitality and politeness, are deeply entrenched in the gray areas of bars, nightclubs, and clubs, and their power is complex and interconnected. They won't sit idly by and watch outside gangs rake in profits on their territory.
So Jack directly asked the key question, "Who is protecting this Yakuza?"
Huang Dongjun glanced around again, then leaned closer and said mysteriously, "We don't have any evidence, but our team leader mentioned a name before the disappearance: Zhou Xingzhe, the captain of the Narcotics Division of the Geumcheon Police Station."
Summer vacation babysitting mode officially began. I bought groceries and cooked for the little one early in the morning. Sorry, this photo is a little late.
(End of this chapter)