Hong Kong News: Police Talker

Chapter 1236 Hong Kong Island Police Force

The newsroom of Guangming Daily was brightly lit. The sound of hurried footsteps broke the silence of the night as a young reporter, camera in hand, rushed into the deputy editor's office, his face beaming with excitement at having discovered a major news story.

"Editor-in-chief, I just took a picture..."

Before he could finish speaking, the deputy editor, who was on the phone, raised his hand to stop him, saying with a smile, "Okay, okay, Mr. Liang, don't worry, I understand police-community cooperation. You can rest assured, our newspaper didn't take the photos you mentioned. Hmm, okay."

After hanging up the phone, the deputy editor's smile vanished. Looking at the reporter who entered, he frowned and asked, "What were you about to say? Did you take photos of police officers from the Central District Police Station beating people?"

The reporter's heart skipped a beat. The police had acted so quickly. He had rushed back after taking the photos, yet he was still a step too late. He said somewhat unwillingly, "Editor-in-chief, now all the newspapers in Hong Kong are praising the police. Following the trend won't help. It won't increase sales; in fact, it will decrease them."

"Only by producing different reports, or even sparking discussions, can we increase our sales."

The deputy editor nodded: "You're right, but when did I say I wouldn't publish it?"

The reporter, who was racking his brains to persuade the deputy editor-in-chief, was dumbfounded and asked timidly, "Editor-in-chief, what do you mean?"

The deputy editor grinned: "Of course, we'll start formatting immediately and use this as the headline tomorrow."

The reporter hesitated, as if he had just overheard the police making a phone call.

The deputy editor could tell what he was thinking just by looking at his expression, and immediately said, "Liang Ziwei from the Public Relations Department of the police called me to ask if our newspaper had taken any photos of police officers from the Central Police Station beating people. I said we hadn't taken any, so what's the problem?"

"As for whether we will offend the police force later, hehe, I can't care about that. If we're afraid of this and that, how can our newspaper continue to operate?"

The reporter excitedly shouted, "Understood, editor-in-chief, I'll go edit the article exhibition right now."

The deputy editor nodded in satisfaction: "Okay, go ahead and write it. Bring it to me when you're done, and I'll polish it for you myself."

"Okay, thank you very much, editor-in-chief." The reporter left excitedly.

On the other hand, Leung Tsz-wai made a round of phone calls, and each newspaper said they would absolutely not report it, making it sound very nice. However, Leung Tsz-wai was no novice. The Public Relations Branch was essentially the police force's official newspaper, so she knew a thing or two about the integrity of those newspapers on Hong Kong Island.

So after making the calls, she felt something was wrong. All the newspapers said they wouldn't publish it, and on the surface, there seemed to be no problem, but that was the biggest issue.

But now these newspapers are all saying they won't report it, which makes things very difficult.

Just as she was frowning and trying to find a solution, there was a knock on her office door. When she looked up, she was surprised to see that it was Ho Man-chan, the commander-in-chief of the Organized Crime and Triad Bureau.

"Hello, Inspector Ho, how can I help you?"

He Wenzhan smiled lightly: "It's nothing. It's just that Inspector Hua asked me to come and help you resolve the matter at the Central Police Station. Everyone knows what kind of people those newspapers on Hong Kong Island are. They're all a bunch of people who have no integrity whatsoever when it comes to getting clicks."

“We all know how those newspapers operate. We can’t stop them by just calling them. We have to go to each one of them and make them understand what they can and cannot publish. That’s the only way to prevent the reputation of the police force from being affected.”

The words Hua Sheng had said immediately came to Liang Ziwei's mind. Looking at He Wenzhan standing in front of her, she could only nod in agreement.

The Public Relations Department and the Organized Crime and Triad Bureau (OCTB) formed a joint team and went to various newspaper offices under the pretext of searching for wanted criminals. They actually found a lot of photos and articles that were being edited.

Once the team discovers a newspaper secretly preparing to report on something, they report the information, and soon various departments, such as the Commercial Crime Investigation Bureau and the Fire Department, will come to inspect the premises.

All departments are working together to find trouble; they can create trouble even when there isn't any.

Inside the Guangming Daily office, the Commercial Crime Investigation Department took away all the newspaper's computers and paper documents, leaving the entire office in a state of shock.

The next morning, when the editor-in-chief returned to the newspaper office drunk, he was met with a messy office and a deathly pale deputy editor-in-chief. He was so angry that he almost had a stroke.

"Look what you've done!" The editor-in-chief grabbed the deputy editor-in-chief by the collar. "The police had given us a heads-up, but you insisted on stirring up this hornet's nest! Now all the computer equipment in the office has been seized, what are we going to do?!"

In the corner, the young reporter who had sparked the controversy huddled at his desk, wishing he could disappear into a drawer. Only now did he truly understand that on Hong Kong Island, some things were absolutely untouchable.

......

At the Central District Police Station, Lu Mingzhe, spurred on by Cao Nan, sought out his informant, Tang Qiang.

"So, have you heard anything?"

Sitting in Lü Mingzhe's car, Tang Qiang said, "There really is. Didn't one of Cao Nan's gang die? They've been recruiting recently, planning to find another person to join them. I heard they're planning to pull off another big heist."

Upon hearing this, Lü Mingzhe immediately asked, "Then do you know where their hideout is?"

Tang Qiang scratched his head: "I don't farm now, but I can ask around."

"Yes, ask them as soon as possible. If they want to do something, they'll definitely have weapons, and they might even have the stolen money from the last robbery." Lu Mingzhe was filled with humiliation, and he couldn't wait any longer to play the long game.

His patience was almost gone.

Tang Qiang nodded: "Okay, I'll ask and send you a message after I confirm."

"Okay, be careful!" Seeing Tang Qiang about to leave, Lü Mingzhe stopped him and took out a cute pink backpack: "Your daughter's birthday is coming up soon, right? This is her birthday present. I also bought some colored pencils and things inside. Didn't you say she likes to draw?"

Tang Qiang paused for a moment, then said gratefully, "Thank you."

He took the pink backpack, got off the bus, and left.

Lu Mingzhe watched the other person's figure until it disappeared from sight before driving away.

The next day, a message appeared on his phone.

Upon seeing the address, he was immediately invigorated and summoned the squad from the Major Crimes Unit.

When he entered the conference room, he found that Chen Jiaju and his team were also there.

“Inspector Lui, I’m applying to join the operation. Don’t worry, I don’t want any credit this time. I just want that arrogant robber to receive the punishment he deserves,” Chen Jiaju said solemnly.

......