After finishing the al, Duanmu Huai called Tezuka Renichi and got in touch with that underling through him.
However... the situation was sowhat unexpected for Duanmu Huai.
Because the flyer was not found on that underling’s turf, but rather in Kyoto—Gion’s Flower Street. As for why the underling had the flyer, the reason was quite simple. He had gone to Gion not long ago for a task, and while there, he drank flower wine, perhaps he took the flyer on a whim. Anyway, it wasn’t until he got back that he found it in his pocket.
Of course, the underling naturally ignored such things until Tezuka Renichi gave the order. That’s when he rembered seeing sothing similar, went ho to dig it out from his wardrobe, and handed it over.
Well, it seems Duanmu Huai has to investigate on his own.
Of course, Tezuka Renichi also reminded Duanmu Huai that the area is the base of the largest Kansai yakuza organization, the Jinjiang Alliance, and that he should act carefully. But Duanmu Huai didn’t care. It’s no longer about the investigator conducting a runner investigation; it’s the judge conducting a cult purge. If the Jinjiang Alliance were blind enough to crash in front of him, they would be annihilated, all regarded as cult accomplices and purified!
After obtaining the information about the club the underling went to for a drink from him, Duanmu Huai drove straight off to Kyoto.
As Japan’s largest and most historical Flower Street, Gion is undoubtedly famous. In fact, if Kamurochō is the epito of a modern city, Gion is more like a relic walking out of history. The buildings here are almost all in old Japanese style, with high-rises being rare. Moreover, among the bustling crowd on the streets, besides ordinary locals and foreign tourists, one can occasionally see won holding paper umbrellas, dressed in kimonos, looking as if they’ve traveled through ti from ancient Japan.
Needless to say, these are Japan’s renowned geisha.
Walking here, one can often see geisha in kimonos, wearing wooden clogs, hurrying along with small, quick steps, while a group of foreigners in awe take pictures with their phones or caras. For Westerners, this is the epito of Eastern flavor.
Duanmu Huai also took a closer look at these geisha, but frankly, he found nothing aesthetically pleasing about them.
The reason is simple. Putting aside their facial features and figures, all geisha sar themselves with heavy makeup, painting their faces and bodies ghostly white, and their lips blood-red. In China, this would be the standard depiction of a female ghost. If one of these won let down her hair and walked towards you in a kimono on a dark night, it would scare soone to death... After observing for a long ti, Duanmu Huai still couldn’t understand what was so attractive about these geisha.
It was novel, yes.
But pretty? He couldn’t see it.
So Duanmu Huai just watched the spectacle for a while, then turned towards the club, planning to indulge in so flower wine first.
When Chinese people think of drinking flower wine, they probably first imagine sitting in a dark karaoke room with the boss parading a line of hostesses for selection, then drinking and singing with their chosen hostess, perhaps even engaging in so recreational drug use or group activities. More upscale places might resemble Heavenly Life, but they just swap the karaoke rooms for opulent private suites.
However, Japanese nightclubs are more akin to ancient brothels. Flesh trade is not the primary business of nightclubs. Of course, if it were a brothel, the madam would invite scholars to spend the night with their favorite girl. But clubs do not offer this function.
This is part of Japan’s "upper policy and lower counterasures" because legalizing transactional activities is prohibited. So drinking, chatting, singing, and flirting are permissible, as long as it doesn’t escalate to intimacy, it doesn’t count as transactional.
But staying overnight here is a different story.
So Japanese clubs essentially introduce hosts and custors for drinking and chatting. If they hit it off, they can privately arrange to et at a hotel. The nightclub is not involved in this. Thus, how to entertain custors to make them spend freely and contribute to the club’s revenue (which also increases their own commission) becos the most important task for these club hostesses.
Naturally, the drink prices at such clubs are exorbitant, and they only serve premium alcohol. Don’t expect to find Er Guotou here.
After all, a hostess could chat with you for ages, and you’d just order a Jiang Xiaobai, she might just turn pale on the spot.
"Aren’t you here to drink? You’re here to ruin the place."
Many might not understand this behavior. Why spend tens of thousands just to drink and chat with a woman? But there are indeed many who get so entangled in it that they even borrow high-interest loans from gangsters, just to be with them, quite honestly like love-struck fools.
However, this doesn’t an it’s discriminative against n. Japan is quite equal, with both nightclubs and host clubs. The latter entertains won, and these won are willing to borrow high-interest loans for hosts, so even resorting to filming adult movies to pay off debts.
So you see, n might borrow high-interest loans to be servile to hostesses. If they’re penniless, they get sent to fishing boats to work.
Won might borrow high-interest loans for hosts, and if they’re broke, they film adult movies to pay off their debts.
See, what’s called damn equality?
It’s basically the sa for both n and won.
There’s a club in Kamurochō too, but Duanmu Huai has never visited one. For one, he’s the type who doesn’t see the point in spending tens of thousands to drink and chat with a woman. Additionally...
"Excuse , what can I do for you?"
Looking at Duanmu Huai standing at the entrance, the store owner turned pale, his voice trembling.
"Currently, the store really has no money, only these... a small token, no offense..."
As he spoke, the owner, hands trembling, handed over an envelope.
".........."
Duanmu Huai looked at the envelope in front of him, speechless. See, he knew this would happen.
"No need to be nervous."
Duanmu Huai waved his hand, pushing the owner’s envelope away.
"I’m not from the underworld, nor any group. I’m here to spend money! What, don’t you let guests enter the store?!"
"Ah, is that so? No, of course not, please co in!"
Hearing that Duanmu Huai wasn’t there to collect protection fees, the boss beca even more nervous. He respectfully invited Duanmu Huai into the VIP area, then said he would go find a hostess and excused himself. anwhile, Duanmu Huai, feeling bored, sat on the sofa and looked around.
The first impression this place gave Duanmu Huai was... desolate.
When Duanmu Huai arrived in Gion, it was evening. Normally, this is when most people are getting off work, but for these kinds of businesses, it’s the perfect ti to open. Typically, at this ti, business should be booming. At least in Kamurochō, clubs like this are usually bustling and vibrant during these hours.
Yet, this place was deserted, with only two custors, and the atmosphere didn’t seem lively at all.
Hmm... could it be that this place isn’t very good?
It’s like a restaurant: if it’s alti and the place is empty, you’d suspect the food might not be good.
"Tap, tap, tap..."
While Duanmu Huai pondered, he heard footsteps, and soon a stylishly dressed hostess walked over and bowed to him.
"My na is Reina, nice to et you, Mr. Duanmu."
"Oh? You know ?"
Hearing his na, Duanmu Huai raised an eyebrow, and Reina chuckled softly.
"Of course, I love watching detective shows, and being known as the Extre Path Detective, you’re so prominent that it’s hard not to recognize you."
Indeed, with Duanmu Huai’s appearance and build, it’s impossible not to recognize him anywhere.
"I see..."
"That’s right, I’ve always admired you."
As she spoke, Reina sat down next to Duanmu Huai and presented the nu.
"Would you like sothing to drink?"
"Bring a bottle of your most expensive liquor."
Duanmu Huai wasn’t short of money. Unfortunately, a club isn’t a tavern, otherwise he would have just called out, "Xiao Er, bring two or three pounds of cooked beef for drinks."
"Alright, Mr. Duanmu, you’re so generous."
Hearing Duanmu Huai’s response, Reina smiled brightly, as her commission would benefit from it.
Soon the drinks were served, and the two clinked glasses, drank, and chatted.
One must admit, the club’s hostesses have a skill: two out of three sentences aim to make the custor happy, yet they’re not overly flattering. As they drank and chatted, the atmosphere quickly ward up. Once they were sowhat familiar with each other, Duanmu Huai began his investigation.
"By the way, it seems like your club isn’t doing much business."
"Oh, Mr. Duanmu, you might not be aware."
On this topic, Reina seed a little disgruntled.
"Our star, Saya, was poached by soone. Many custors ca specifically for her, but since she’s gone, many regulars haven’t returned."
"Poached?"
"Yes, the other side offered a high pay and commission, and several of our sisters were tempted, so when Saya left, they followed her."
"Why didn’t you go?"
Duanmu Huai sized up Reina. In his view, Reina had decent qualities, being pretty, lively, and popular.
"Well... to be honest, I was a little tempted, but honestly, the whole thing seed very strange, so I didn’t dare to go."
"Strange?"
How could poaching soone be strange?
"The other side had many demands, and one was that if you wanted to join their club, you had to get a fla tattoo. I’m afraid of pain, and don’t even dare to get a regular tattoo. Besides, those people seed mysterious, not like a normal club..."
"Fla tattoo?"
Hearing this, Duanmu Huai’s eyes suddenly brightened.
"Could you elaborate?"
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