Fog City Detective

Chapter 15: Job Interview

Facing the conditions set by Liang Xi, Eagle felt a sense of panic. He knew there were detectives near the coffee shop. Liang Xi casually called him, and Eagle couldn't tell if Liang Xi was foolish or not. How could they proceed with the deal? Just sitting next to Liang Xi would immediately expose his identity.

Liang Xi: "If you're busy, you can give the cash to the courier and have them deliver it to the coffee shop. However, I must make it clear in advance that once the items are handed over to the courier, I won't take responsibility, and there will be no refunds."

Eagle asked, "Why not tomorrow?"

Liang Xi replied, "I am a superstitious person. Twenty years ago, I had my fortune told, and the fortune-teller told me that tomorrow is absolutely not suitable for a face-to-face transaction. Otherwise, there will be a disaster tonight."

Eagle understood the implication; Liang Xi was worried that he would take the items without spending a penny. Although that was indeed his plan, he would never admit it. Eagle tried to be patient, "You have to trust me; nothing will happen tonight."

Liang Xi asked, "You want me to trust you?"

Eagle said, "Exactly, I am someone you can trust."

Liang Xi said, "You claimed to be in Oxford."

Eagle confirmed, "Yes."

Liang Xi said, "But I know you are in London. How do you expect me to believe you?"

Eagle remained silent for a while before saying, "Two hundred thousand, two hundred thousand pounds, all in small denominations."

Liang Xi said, "Send me a photo of two hundred thousand pounds in small bills. If you have it, then I'll believe you."

Eagle said, "I don't have it now, but I will definitely have it tomorrow."

Liang Xi sighed deeply, "Forget it. Seeing your sincerity, I'll tell you for free. The item is in room 701, inside the bathroom trash can, within a half-empty bottle of Thai herbal balm. It's a flash drive." Fifty thousand pounds were gone, and not even a place to claim fuel expenses. There was no choice; the other party showed no sincerity in the transaction. Liang Xi knew there were police outside, but if you're not willing to take any risks and want me to take all the risks, what do you expect me to do?

A truly sincere approach would have been to give Liang Xi the fifty thousand pounds upfront. Liang Xi would naturally then inform the location of the item through the website on the business card. Eagle showed eagerness for the item but no eagerness to pay, indicating his concern about whether he could get the item while showing indifference to whether Liang Xi could get the money.

Just as Liang Xi finished speaking, Mark immediately shouted, "GO, GO, GO!"

The flash drive wasn't initially in the Thai herbal balm in room 701 but inside the hollow legs of the sofa in room 1503, glued to the inner wall of the sofa leg. If it were daytime, even if the sofa legs were found, the flash drive wouldn't be visible unless a flashlight was used. The hiding place wasn't ideal, but that wasn't Liang Xi's purpose in moving the flash drive. The relocation was due to the herbal balm slowly corroding the flash drive, acting as a timed destruction mechanism.

When it was confirmed that the agents were at the entrance of the apartment, Liang Xi decided that it was impossible for him to use the flash drive to coerce or blackmail anyone. This was also one reason Liang Xi didn't agree to the transaction tomorrow, as he wasn't sure if the flash drive would still be usable by then.

Would the herbal balm corrode the flash drive? Liang Xi didn't know; he wasn't certain. But the herbal balm was the only thing he found on-site that could potentially corrode the flash drive.

Eagle initially harbored a sense of luck. Unfortunately, Hummingbird quickly informed him: that there were police cars all around the apartment building. This setback left Eagle extremely unhappy, but only after thoroughly understanding John's information did he realize that the current Liang Xi was not the same person Black Uncle knew. Underestimating Liang Xi was a mistake, and the biggest mistake was not investigating the information of the Rose Detective John, thinking he was just an ordinary detective.

Eagle declared, "Operation failed. Destroy all data and evacuate from the UK."

...

Without earning the fifty thousand pounds, Liang Xi could only continue sitting in the detective agency daily, while waiting for job interview calls. These days, classmates who had taken a break for post-graduation travels were gradually returning to their home countries. Liang Xi had good relationships with his classmates, so he answered any calls and took the opportunity to communicate with them through social media. The main topic of discussion among classmates was employment.

Before hitching a ride on a classmate's employment success, Liang Xi received an interview call – a part-time interview call with an hourly wage as high as 80 pounds. However, it was not a regular job, and reporting was required when leaving London. Given the situation of being in London, upon receiving a work call, one had to arrive at the workplace within half an hour.

This high-paying position was for a Chinese translator at the London Police Department.

80 pounds – working half an hour a day could sustain one's livelihood. What job could be more lucrative than this? Note that this was an hourly wage. In case there was a need to translate a contract on one's own, working for three days and nights could cover a year's living expenses.

The next day, Liang Xi donned a suit, brimming with confidence as he drove to the London Police Department. Upon entering, he followed the directions to the conference room on the second floor. There were already more than twenty people seated, some of whom were hastily learning Chinese on the spot – after all, it was an 80-pound-per-hour job. However, bad news followed as Liang Xi noticed that among the interviewees were Chinese immigrants who had recently moved to the UK.

It was outrageous – an English teacher who had lived in a Chinese-speaking environment for 40 years was now competing for a Chinese translation job in the UK. Where was the fairness? Where was justice?

A police officer, clad in uniform, explained to the applicants that, due to the lengthy nature of the interview, a preliminary interview would be conducted before the actual one. The implication was clear: to eliminate those who were not up to par through a simple first-round interview. One by one, applicants stepped forward for questioning, each allotted only about half a minute. Gradually, half of the candidates were eliminated at this stage.

Liang Xi took his seat, and the police officer glanced at his application, "Chinese?"

Liang Xi nodded, "Yes."

Police officer: "Did you major in Chinese in college?" How shameless!

Liang Xi nodded again, "Yes." Did he want to maintain his dignity or show his diploma? Liang Xi chose the latter.

The police officer tossed a numbered badge at him, not bothering with unnecessary niceties.

...

A total of thirteen people participated in the second round of interviews, with half of them being of Chinese descent. The interview involved translating a passage of English news into Chinese and another passage of Chinese news into English.

To be honest, for Liang Xi, it wasn't a big deal. However, there was a slight issue with his English; it was quite good, but not exceptionally so. The first to submit the test was a 40-year-old immigrant English teacher. The examiner praised him highly, expressing great admiration. The tone implied a message to the other interviewees: you can leave, don't waste my time.

Liang Xi was the second to submit, and the interviewer was a middle-aged Caucasian woman with average proficiency. She meticulously compared his two translations. After a while, she regretfully said to Liang Xi, "Your performance is excellent, but there is a spelling mistake in one word in your English."

Liang Xi shrugged it off, saying, "Apart from Mandarin, I am also fluent in Cantonese, Minnan, Hakka, and Teochew."

The interviewer became interested, "Say a sentence in Minnan."

Liang Xi said, "Ni niang ka ho?"

Interviewer: "What does that mean?"

Liang Xi replied, "How is your mother's health?"

Interviewer: "Cantonese."

Liang Xi said, "Hak hei lo, la shuang yim dung yin."

Interviewer: "What does that mean?"

Liang Xi answered, "I really like your beautiful eyes."

Without hesitation, the interviewer stamped on his resume: "Keep your phone on." Just based on this statement, it was enough to show that Liang Xi was an honest person.

Liang Xi shook hands with the interviewer, saying, "Thank you."

The interviewer watched Liang Xi leave and said to the other candidates, "The interview is over. Thank you all, goodbye."