It was already midday when Ying Wan woke. As usual, he was the only person in the apartment. His ge didn’t come home the entire night.
Getting off the bed, he stepped gently on the multi-colored foam padding lining the floor and walked barefoot to the bathroom outside his bedroom.
Ever since moving into Yu Baiqing’s apartment, he’d stopped his habit of wearing slippers in the house. His ge had covered all the corridors leading to the bathroom, kitchen, and door with foam padding, just like how it’d been when they lived in their old alley house. As long as what was beneath his feet was soft, he could orientate himself even with his eyes closed.
Ying Wan habitually gripped the grab bar attached to the bathroom door. With his back to the mirror, he took off his pajamas. He turned his face to the side, gaze lowering slowly. In front of the mirror, he stroked a hand across the scars near his shoulder blades.
He hadn’t known what had been left behind on that small area in the past. All he knew was that it had hurt very much. To the extent that the pain kept him from sleeping for consecutive nights.
He could finally see it now. Two dull red streaks – scars from electric shocks – that resembled a fledgling’s wings spread out in flight.
Fortunately, he and Yu Baiqing no longer slept together like they used to. His ge didn’t know about the existence of this mark. They had reunited after a long period of separation, and it seemed that something between them was quietly changing.
He pressed a hand against the door handle for a while, but eventually still locked the door.
There hadn’t been a bathroom in their old alley house, so Yu Baiqing would always secretly bring him to the public baths at the university to shower. The public baths were a particularly crowded place. The boys at the police academy were at the age where they brimmed with youthful vigor, and so they would gather in a circle around the public baths and fill the air with frenzied conversation while they soaked in the warm water. Only his ge would squat all on his lonesome beside the small pool at the corner and silently wash Ying Wan’s hair with hot water.
“Class monitor, don’t just pay attention to your di, come over and talk with us!” A boy shouted loudly towards them.
Ying Wan didn’t hear Yu Baiqing’s voice, but he could guess that his ge had probably shaken his head.
Ying Wan’s legs swayed back and forth over the edge of the pool, creating ripples across the surface. His expressionless eyes gazed into the moist fog in the air. “Why doesn’t ge go over?”
“Didn’t I promise Little Wan?” The person who was in the midst of scrubbing his back paused. Yu Baiqing extended a hand, gently lifting the disheveled strands of wet hair hanging over Ying Wan’s forehead. “Ge will not leave you on your own.”
Torrents of water poured down from the shower head above. Dense steam filled the bathroom. Ying Wan opened his eyes amidst the rivulets of water, staring fixedly at the halo of light from the lamp hanging at the ceiling.
If a person’s death had enough worth, he could rush towards the unknown without any hesitation. But it had never once crossed his mind that a day would come when he feared saying goodbye.
Who asked his ge’s tears to be the first thing he saw upon opening his eyes.
Yu Baiqing, you liar. Ying Wan thought.
–
Giving his messy black hair a few wipes, Ying Wan put on a freshly-washed white t-shirt and lounging pants. He got ready to head to the kitchen to microwave a sandwich for breakfast.
He opened the bathroom door. And then stood at the door motionlessly.
An extended period of blindness had honed a sense of hearing that was more sensitive than the average person. He could hear a series of light footsteps along the corridor outside the apartment. Someone was approaching the apartment door, and it wasn’t Yu Baiqing returning home after work.
Shortly after–
[Ding dong–]
The doorbell sounded.
“Anyone home?” A young man’s voice sounded from the intercom at the entrance. “I am from Dexing Express Delivery. There’s a package for your household, please open the door and sign for it.”
There was no response for a long time, to the point that the delivery man standing outside the door even mumbled a ‘strange’ to himself. He was just about to leave with the package when the door suddenly opened.
Ying Wan stood at the entrance, supporting himself with his cane. He gave the delivery man a polite smile. “May I know who you are looking for?”
“Building Three, Unit B. It’s the correct address,” The delivery man looked down and confirmed the address again. “It’s addressed to… Mr Y.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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The delivery man left in a flurry while Ying Wan carried the package to the living room. He sat on the couch. After giving it some thought, he retrieved a set of disposable gloves from the drawer beneath the side table. He donned the gloves on both hands and started removing the adhesive tape on the package slowly.
He wouldn’t leave his fingerprints on anything that didn’t belong to him – this was an occupational habit that he’d retained.
The recipient was ‘Mr Y’. The first letter of his surname was ‘Y’, as was Yu Baiqing’s. For the time being, it was unclear if this was intentional on the part of the sender.
As Ying Wan removed the layers of plastic bubble wrap encasing the item, he swiftly ran through in his mind the probability of him and Yu Baiqing receiving an unknown package.
It had been nearly a month since he started living with Yu Baiqing, and he had realized that his ge rarely shopped online. Yu Baiqing was currently in the two year protection period after completing a classified mission and his residential address should be a secret to the outside world.
As for himself, due to certain objectives, he hadn’t taken any actions to conceal his whereabouts since his return to Fan City. But apart from a few acquaintances in the police force, very few people should know about his and Yu Baiqing’s relationship, let alone the fact that they lived together.
This international city was so big, and seventy percent of the people here were foreigners. The city at night was his best protection.
Ying Wan finished removing the layers of plastic bubble wrap and saw the object placed inside. He started slightly, a pensive expression on his face.
If this was sent to Yu Baiqing, then it was purely for the sake of revenge.
If this was sent to himself, then that would be quite interesting.
He got up and hastily made his way to the window. The delivery man who’d originally gone downstairs had already vanished without a trace. There was also no blue ‘Dexing Express Delivery’ van to be seen in front of the building.
Gripping the cane in his hand tightly, a detail suddenly came to mind.
The delivery man had been wearing a peaked cap and his head was constantly lowered at the door, fiddling with his electronic device. He didn’t seem to have raised his head at any point.
There were no surveillance cameras along the corridor. If the other party was aware that Ying Wan couldn’t see, why did they still have to specially disguise themselves?
They were concerned somebody would see their face?
Eyes fixed on the tightly-closed apartment door, Ying Wan blinked slowly.
He’d been careless.
What he saw with his own eyes may not necessarily be real. More often than not, those who advanced in the darkness were the true hunters. Because he never relied on his vision, he’d always considered himself the hunted.
But ever since regaining his sight, he’d gradually started observing his surroundings through his eyes and had conversely lowered his sense of vigilance.
To deliver such a dangerous object into his hands in broad daylight, someone was covertly threatening him, warning him that they understood everything about him and not to be too arrogant.
Ying Wan checked through all of the doors and windows in the apartment that could be opened, coming to a halt in front of the window sill in the bedroom.
His and Yu Baiqing’s house was on the fifth floor. A long-discarded electric pole in the residential district just happened to be positioned outside the window. The scorching afternoon sun shone in the sky. A flock of birds perched on an old rusty circuit box, chirping relentlessly. Children ran wildly along the sidewalks, while several elderly people cooled off under the shade of a large tree behind the electric pole. All these were common sights in an old urban district.
An elder had once tugged on his hand, telling him that if there were people brazenly observing others with their eyes, then there would be others secretly spying on this world behind their backs. The eyes of these spies hid in dim corners untouched by light.
And now, the group of spies downstairs were observing his each and every move in an unknown location.
Standing beside the window, Ying Wan took out his phone from the pocket of his pants and very quickly made a call.
“Hello?”
“Dexing Express Delivery, employee number 18067,” He told the person on the other end of the line. “Check whether there’s anybody with this number.”
The person on the line was taken aback for a moment before quickly responding. A series of typing sounds ensued. The person swiftly gave Ying Wan the answer. “This delivery company doesn’t have a staff with the employee number 18067…you’re helping the police to investigate a case?”
“Am I that helpful? Is it your first day knowing me?” The corners of Ying Wan’s mouth curved. “I’m hanging up.”
“Shit. Bird, you–”
Ying Wan cut the call and returned to his bedside. He dialed a three digit number using the landline on the bedside cabinet.
The ringing tone sounded twice. A gentle female voice came from the telephone receiver. “Hello, may I know how we can help you?”
Ying Wan fiddled with the ice-cold metal object in his hands. He squinted slightly and then raised the pitch-black gun, aiming it accurately at the squabbling young couple standing not too far from the electric pole.
“Hello, I would like to lodge a report.”
“I received a package from a stranger,” His thumb hooked onto the trigger’s safety, loading the first bullet successfully. He lowered his eyes, his voice carrying a faint confusion and helplessness. “It seems to contain…a gun.”
–
When Yu Baiqing received the phone call from the Lower Ninth District’s police station, he happened to be in the technical reconnaissance team’s office, looking idly at the technician responsible for handwriting evaluation.
Every desk in the technical reconnaissance team’s office had a small mountain of documents piled on it. It was said that this habit could be attributed to their boss Guan Xingwen.
The technician rifled through the stack of documents for half the day before digging out a piece of photocopy paper. “Here it is!”
“This document has two signatures. The one on the left was written by a true left-handed person whereas the one on the right was written by somebody pretending to be left-handed. Captain Yu, can you tell how they’re different?”
Before Yu Baiqing could answer, the technician pushed up his glasses, a solemn look on his face. “Of course, the minor differences can’t be seen without careful observation. At this time, we use our handwriting evaluation–”
“Old Yu, someone from Lower Ninth District’s police station called to look for you, it’s urgent!” Old Liu rushed into the technical reconnaissance team’s office. The phone in his hands showed that he was still in the middle of a call.
Yu Baiqing stared at the piece of paper in the technician’s hands. “I’m busy.”
Old Liu added, “Something seems to have happened to your di.”
He’d just finished his statement and before he knew it, the phone had already landed in Yu Baiqing’s hands.
The police officer from the station informed Yu Baiqing over the phone that someone had mailed a handgun to his house. A blind youth claiming to be his didi had called to lodge a police report. But while waiting for police officers to come, he’d accidentally fired the gun, shooting randomly at the foot of his apartment building.
The police officer also said that his di was now shocked witless and wouldn’t respond no matter what was asked, merely continuously repeating that he would wait for Yu Baiqing to return.
Yu Baiqing: …
“Was anyone injured?” He asked.
“Fortunately, he doesn’t know how to use a gun and didn’t hit anyone,” The police officer answered. “We’ve retrieved the surveillance recordings. The bullet that was fired almost injured a young couple, who very quickly left the scene after being startled. We have yet to locate them at this moment.”
First, there were two consecutive murder cases without any clues. Next, it was a gun being mailed to his house and his di had even misfired. It had been twenty-four hours since Yu Baiqing last slept. He could feel an incessantly throbbing pain coming on on both sides of his temples.
He rushed back to his apartment with Ruan Tianjie and was greeted with the sight of his didi sitting dazedly in front of the couch, his blank eyes wide open.
Ying Wan was wearing a white t-shirt. His short black hair was half-dry. A few strands of hair curled up slightly on his forehead while the still-wet ends of his hair stuck to his neck and shoulders. He distinctly resembled a puppy that had been fished out of the water.
Distinguishing the sound of Yu Baiqing’s footsteps, the startled little animal looked up with a flustered expression. His mouth opened, but nothing came out.
Seeing that Yu Baiqing had arrived, a police officer from the Lower Ninth District’s police station passed him the handgun sealed in an evidence bag. “Captain Yu, this is the gun in the delivery box. The corresponding serial code has not been identified, we suspect it’s not a model manufactured locally.”
Even though Yu Baiqing had been subjected to disciplinary action and was demoted, this group of people had worked with him for a long time and momentarily couldn’t change their way of addressing him.
Just lifting up the evidence bag and taking a single look at it was enough for Yu Baiqing to recognize the gun model – Mackayne D38.
It was a high-precision, small-caliber handgun for military use. During the course of his mission, the combat team he was a part of had once engaged in a direct confrontation with an arms dealer who used this type of gun. However, this type of gun didn’t have much practical use. In unregulated zones where supplies were scarce, it was used as a weapon during raids. But apart from this, it had long been superseded by models with higher efficiency.
Rather than a handy weapon, it would be more accurate to say that this was a symbol, a symbol of how dangerous those who possessed it were.
And he just so happened to be one of those who was capable of using the Mackayne D38.
“What about the bullet that was fired?” Yu Baiqing asked the police officer.
“The bullet hit the fire hydrant at the roadside and the circuit box on the electric pole. Luckily, this circuit is older and runs on a different line from the residential district’s main electrical network, so the fire at the circuit box didn’t spread. If it really hit someone or the main circuit box, the outcome would be unthinkable.”
The police officer recalled with lingering fear how sparks had been flying everywhere when he first arrived at the scene.
Yu Baiqing passed the handgun to the Criminal Evidence Inspection personnel behind him. His gaze returned to Ying Wan, who was seated in front of the couch at his wits’ end.
The air-conditioning was switched on in the house, but the water on him had yet to fully dry. He sat all alone at a corner of the couch, looking rather pitiful.
Yu Baiqing didn’t say anything. He strode into the bathroom, grabbed a dry towel, and tossed it onto Ying Wan’s knees. Ying Wan stared blankly for a while. As if finally coming to his senses, he then spread out the towel on his knees and obediently wrapped himself in it.
“…Ge,” After sending off the Lower Ninth District’s police officers, Yu Baiqing heard Ying Wan call out from behind him in a low voice. Guilt filled his voice. “I won’t recklessly touch things in the future.”
Danger lurked everywhere; he was the most innocent in all this.
Yu Baiqing went downstairs. He led Ruan Tianjie to his jeep and handed him a cigarette.
“He hit the main switch on the circuit box with one shot,” Ruan Tianjie couldn’t help saying with emotion as he looked up at the tragic sight of the electric pole. “If I didn’t know that your di doesn’t have good eyesight, wouldn’t this be the level of a reserve sniper in our team?”
Yu Baiqing silently rubbed his temples.
Some time later, Ruan Tianjie heard Old Yu asking slowly, “Old Ruan, what kind of person do you think my di is?”
“You mean Little Wan?”
“En.”
Ruan Tianjie chose to answer truthfully. “Not quite like the rumors make him out to be.”
Yu Baiqing repeatedly flicked the latch on his lighter. He held the cigarette in his mouth, but didn’t light it.
Ruan Tianjie hesitated for a long time, but still dared not say anything unpleasant about Old Yu’s di to his face.
The rich second generations in Fan City formed a circle of their own. If not for the fact that he, Young Master Ruan, had joined the police force, he would still be among the highest tier of rich, hedonistic sons.
It was a pity that due to work reasons, that group rarely interacted candidly with him. He only knew that there was a monetary transaction between Ying Wan and that group of people, and not the exact details of the deal.
Old Yu had risked life and limb the past few years. He couldn’t even guarantee his life, much less his di’s. That child often did disappearing acts. In the end, he really did vanish without a trace.
Yu Baiqing didn’t continue this line of questioning. He merely leaned against the front of the jeep, lost in thought as he stared at the small windows of the apartment upstairs.
Ruan Tianjie didn’t know if it was his misperception, but he seemed to have heard Yu Baiqing utter faintly, “Scheming little thing.”
Lol Yu ge is onto his didi now. Ying wan you better drop that innocent defenseless act XD