2025, San Francisco, Bay Area, Mountain View

☆☆☆

Jessica Poser is looking at the dossier in her hand - in fact, the night Kentaro Yamamoto disappeared, there was actually another murder outside a Japanese nightclub, and someone also broke his neck with both hands. The body of the pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info was taken away from the scene, and the companions tried their best to save him, so the deceased was sent to the treatment table of the underworld doctor in Chinatown, and no one called the police. Ryuta had an informant in Chinatown, and the informant secretly leaked the matter: the deceased had a special identity, a notorious Chinese gangster in San Francisco's Chinatown, known as the "Cannon Boy", who did all the bad things, but because he was a tainted witness of the FBI in exchange for freedom in the United States, he has been whitewashing and doing serious business all these years. However, in response to an old Chinese saying, "the nature of the country is easy to change and difficult to change", the cannon boy has been silent for many years, and the police actually know that he has been planning to make a comeback.

Jessica recalls the grievances and grievances between Chinese gangsters and Japanese gangsters over the years, how deeply is the death of the cannon boy implicated in the disappearance of Kentaro Yamamoto?

At this time, the special line phone on the table rang, and she picked up the microphone and said, "I'm Bosser." ”

"Jesse!"

"Ryuta, what's going on in Chinatown?"

Because of this case, Jessica Poser and Ryuta Hirakawa have regained some of the feeling of being a partner in the FBI training camp.

"There has been no progress. Ryuta sighed, "I can't even ask a fart!"

Both the Japanese and the Chinese are silent.

Jessica remembered their meeting with Shusuke Yamamoto. The old man didn't show up at all, and sent an official lawyer to talk to Jessica and them. The lawyer is very young, in his twenties, no more than thirty, with gold-rimmed eyes, a slim Japanese suit, fluent English, and graduated from the Oxford University Law School in the United Kingdom.

In the new era, gangsters have changed their tactics, they have devoted themselves to legitimate business and charity, and their crimes have either turned to the financial field or used more ingenious methods to co-opt government members for corruption, which are all high-IQ crimes. Maybe the only thing that hasn't changed is that they don't trust the police! They won't cooperate with the police.

Jessica understands that calling the police is Boss Yamamoto's tactic, a smoke bomb that will give a potential enemy an illusion. Although they ostensibly ask the police to cooperate, in the end, they will definitely solve all the problems on their own.

"There is an undercurrent in Chinatown, and the Chinese gangs are looking into it themselves, and I really don't like the situation right now. Ryuta rubbed his hair and said, "I believe my boss doesn't like it anymore." ”

Jessica knew what Ryuta was referring to. Whether it is a Japanese gang or a Chinese gangster, they all have their own set, and if they have to solve it by themselves, the final result is likely to be a triad fire, and then the police will have something to do.

Jessica knew that Ryuta wouldn't call because she wanted to complain: "Please, I'm not your girlfriend, let's skip the prelude, let's talk about what you found." ”

“...... Well, I just got a letter, and the people I left outside Yamamoto's house said they saw Mark Smith, Lancer's security chief, visiting. ”

"Him?"

"What is he looking for Yamamoto Torano?" Ryuta paused, "I have a very ominous premonition that a man of his power suddenly intervened in this matter...... Although he has no criminal record, his underworld background is as disturbing as the shadow of the "killing stone", is San Francisco really going to have a big chaos at the end of the last century?"

"It's weird!" Jessica didn't answer directly, she said thoughtfully, "...... I always felt that things were very unusual, but I couldn't tell what was wrong!"

Ryuta also noticed that there was something lingering that bothered Jessica, Ryota trusted Jessica's instincts, and he said in a deep voice: "You tell me about your case again, maybe we can discuss the relevance!"

Jessica nodded subconsciously.

☆☆☆

Half an hour ago.

A jaguar drove into the driveway of Yamamoto's house.

It is a red-brick mansion built in the mid-twentieth century and surrounded by a 6-foot-high brick fence made of the same materials as the houses, all from the East Coast Boston Red Brick Factory. After the end of World War II, there was a wave of retro architecture in California, and the owner of this mansion was particularly fond of Western retro architecture. On one occasion, he visited the old town of Sacramento, California's capital, and stayed at the Ebner's Hotel, where John-Sutter used to hang out with friends. After getting a taste of the western cowboy feeling, he became fascinated by red brick architecture. In order to find the oldest red bricks, he sent people to run all over Boston, and found a batch of red bricks left over from 400 years ago in an old warehouse. The bricks were shipped back to California to build the Western-style building.

The owner of this mansion would never have imagined that his carefully built house would be bought by the rising Japanese, and at that time, everyone was asking in fear whether half of the United States was going to be bought by Japan.

It's a pity that a piece of paper "Plaza Agreement" changed the fortunes of the Japanese, like a beautiful bubble, and a crisp snap was punctured by the owner who blows his own fat.

But this is only a general statement, and there are always exceptions.

Shusuke Yamamoto is a special case. The lost territory of the Americans has not been regained by him.

After buying the 9,000-square-meter mansion, Shusuke Yamamoto had it converted into a Japanese courtyard, leaving only the red brick façade and the main building, and the lonely red house more like a warehouse, filled with Yamamoto's trophies, which was only open for banquets to show off his achievements.

Shusuke Yamamoto's mansion is located in Hillsborough, a beautiful peninsula south of San Francisco, in San-Mateo-County, near Silicon Valley, with the nation's most famous private high school, championship golf courses, scenic beaches and marinas. It is full of mansions, celebrities, princes or princesses of a certain country, and underworld tycoons. Of course, Chris's house is among them.

Mark parked his Jaguar next to a Rolls-Royce. About a dozen cars were parked nearby, and they were on wax, shining, like a new car that had just been bought. Mark mentally wondered if Shusuke Yamamoto was actually using the cars.

A dozen or so young men stood in two rows in front of him and bowed deeply to him.

Looking at the Japanese saluting, Mark felt funny, I really don't know if this is the United States or Japan.

Japanese etiquette is also hierarchical, and the person who came to greet him in person was Shusuke Yamamoto's nephew, Shigeru Kotsukuda.

"Hello, Mr. Smith!" said Kotsuku, with a thick Japanese accent.

Mark nodded slightly.

"Uncle is waiting for you in the tea room. ”

Hey, the tea room is the highest standard of the Yamamoto family.

Further inside, Mark has the illusion of going to Japan.

The lawn in the courtyard is perfectly manicured, the well-manicured shrubs cling to the brick walls, and the pines and cypresses are uniquely shaped. The swimming pool in front of the original mansion has been transformed into a pond landscape, and the pool is filled with stones, each stone is carefully arranged, and there is a stone plate in the center of the pool, which is planted with rare varieties of narcissus. Along the way, the path made of stones, moss, and white sand will make you feel like you have entered a solemn and elegant Japanese garden.

After a long turn, I walked to a smaller courtyard, where vines climbed in from outside the wooden wall, and in front of the stone lamppost, a Fuji-shaped "water" dripped down the bamboo tube. In a small tearoom under the shade of a tree, Gu Dian walked up with slippers first, and then knelt down to sign. Mark also took off his shoes, walked up the wooden steps, and stepped on tatami mats.

Mark bowed his head and went into the tea room, and Shusuke Yamamoto had been waiting for him for a long time.

Mark didn't speak, but sat down on a tatami mat across the tatami mat from Yamamoto (3), with his knees on the edge of his tatami.

Shusuke Yamamoto, who was sitting in the middle of the seat, was wearing a dark blue Japanese kimono yukata, his hair was meticulously combed, and his gray beard was very neat, just like the delicate and majestic care of the garden outside the tea room. Although he was 79 years old, his chest was still broad and full, his waist was straight, and only a pair of large hands had some age spots and protruding veins imprinted with the traces of time.

No one spoke or moved in the tea room, and Yamamoto stared at the person opposite him firmly for half a minute, and then gave his nephew a look.

Gu Dian walked out of the tea room and stayed in the courtyard outside.

Shusuke Yamamoto has never had an heir, and for a long time, his nephew Shigeru Tsukuda was raised as an heir. Who knew that just the night before entering the millennium, Yamamoto had a son, and a boy was born, named Kentaro Yamamoto. At the beginning of the investigation into the disappearance, the police focused on Ko Tsukashi for a time because he had a motive. If Kentaro goes missing, or dies, then he will most likely become the fourth generation in the future. However, from his actions just now, Mark could see that Gu Dian had not lost his uncle's trust.

A modest tea room with no frills, a pair of characters hanging on the wall, and an equally modest Japanese flower arrangement underneath. For the rest, only the sound of the water boiling, as if it had pinched the time.

Yamamoto scooped boiling water to make tea, and then began to make tea with a tea whisk.

Mark waited.

The tea is feasible, the fragrance has arrived, and the tea bowl is delivered to the front, Mark respectfully lifts the tea bowl and looks at it according to the rules.

Yamamoto still didn't speak, but the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, and this imperceptible movement was still noticed by Mark.

After drinking, Mark lowered his eyes and bowed his head, "Thank you for your hospitality." ”

"I didn't expect the Smith family's tea tasting demeanor to be so pleasing to the eye. ”

Yamamoto's pronunciation is accurate, although for the most part he rarely speaks English.

Mark said: "If it is pleasing to the eye, Chris is more elegant than me. ”

Mark thought with a subtle smile in his heart: Chris's motive for pulling him to learn the tea ceremony was not pure, but now it has come in handy.

Since Sen no Rikyu started the genre, the Japanese tea ceremony has been regarded by the war-weary warring warlords as a way to seek peace of mind, and the Japanese have admired the spirit of it, so Grandpa Yamamoto still doesn't need to know that the Smith family's tea ceremony is to seduce someone to bed.

"Chris, she's a capable person!"

Mark didn't expect Shusuke Yamamoto to say this about Chris.

The old man pulled out a Biop from his sleeve pocket.

This surprised Mark a little and asked, "You also use Biop?"

The old man gave him a warning glance, then sighed, "It's really hard for me to be interested in new modern creatures, and this is my son's. ”

Son, the only son, the missing son.

"He's gone for a few days, and I'm just starting to reflect on myself, did I set him the wrong path and let our relationship drift apart?" the old man looked at the music player in his hand, "Although he tried to satisfy me, I knew he wasn't happy. ”

"Are you implying that your son is not missing, but that he has run away because he can no longer bear the burden of the family?"

Shusuke Yamamoto's eyelids twitched, and his long gray eyebrows moved with him. This action of his is very famous, it is the signature action of Yamamoto Torano in anger, and it is said that the person who made this eyebrow move is sadly missing. Mark remembered the red house and imagined a lot of people being executed in it and then leaving no bones.

Mark was not afraid, he shrugged his shoulders and said: "It's not that I'm boasting, if I run away, I should at least bring Biop, and I can listen to my favorite music when I'm bored." ”

Shuji Yamamoto's face suddenly became much softer, he nodded slowly, and said in a tone full of fatherly love, "I listened to the music here, and it was all Kentaro's favorite." Listen, I feel as if he's in this room, and I get to know him a lot, and it's amazing, isn't it?"

Mark looked directly at Yamamoto and said solemnly, "I can understand. ”

Mark can empathize with this, and after Chris disappears, he is also holding Chris's Biop and listening, listening to the songs she likes, as if she is right next to her.

Shusuke Yamamoto glanced at Mark. Mark was crossing his arms and looking into the distance, his green eyes like calm pools.

Despite living in the United States for most of his life, Shusuke Yamamoto hated Americans.

After the start of the Pacific War, Japan and the United States were pitted against each other. Japanese expatriates in the United States were detained, and her mother, Tomoko Yamamoto, was sent to a forced internment facility set up by the U.S. military in California. Although it was no better than the concentration camps of the Germans, the war never made life difficult for civilians, regardless of nationality. Tomoko is only 15 years old, and she is raped by several GIs in a warehouse where she stores food, and later gives birth to a baby boy. So, strictly speaking, Shusuke Yamamoto is not the eldest son of the Yamamoto family, everyone thinks that he has only one sister above him, but in fact, there is an older brother named Shuji Yamamoto, a mixed-race mongrel. It's just that for many years, Shuji's whereabouts have been unknown, and people are talking about it behind their backs, because the Japanese are more cruel to their own people than outsiders, and in order to cover up their shame or to stabilize their position, Yamamoto even got rid of his brother.

"Damn the policeman, it's stupid to think that Xiao Mao did it! The Yamamoto family will never kill each other. Shusuke Yamamoto suddenly said indignantly.

The truth is often contrary to what you hear, and the old man's words constantly emphasize that the blood of the Yamamoto family is thicker than water.

At this time, the water in the "Adding Water" overflowed, and it struck the stone with a crisp sound.

It seems like it's time to explain what happened.

"I have a proposal!" said Mark, "I want to help you get your son back." ”

Mark looked at the old man, both of them with serious expressions and no smiles.

"Why do you want to help me, why do I want you to help?"

"It's my goal, so to speak, to find him as well, and that's a common good. Mark smiled faintly and said, "As for whether I want to help or not, if I don't have full confidence in my own way, I won't come to the door." ”

Despite hating the Yankees, Yamamoto did not hate the British (4).

He believed that the American ancestors were all exiles from the British, so the British blood was more noble.

Like his son, who is the next generation of the underworld, Mark has a family factor flowing in his blood all the time. He speaks concisely and powerfully, to the heart, and has a breathtaking spirit, which has almost all the characteristics of a good underworld leader. It would be nice for his son and nephew to have him for a point or two, and Yamamoto suddenly became jealous of old Smith.

As if sensing Yamamoto's special gaze, Mark squeezed out a smile at him.

Shusuke Yamamoto didn't smile, he put his hand on the tatami mat, leaned closer to Mark, and said, "I hope to get help from the Smith family, but you have to keep the whole process strictly confidential." ”

"Okay. ”

"If there is a clue, you must notify me as soon as possible, can you agree?"

"I promise. ”

Shusuke Yamamoto finally smiled, and he asked, "Is there anything I need to do?"

"I want to see where your son lives, and the nightclub he went to before he disappeared. ”

"This is easy to do, I'll let Xiaomao arrange it!"