Futile Devices Scans

He Chu San entered the doors of Xiao Qi Hall’s “head office” carrying a briefcase, dressed in a suit and leather shoes, looking elegant and refined. Nodding and smiling in greeting to the security guard at the entrance, he proceeded toward the elevator with poise and ease, clearly familiar with the way. Inside the elevator stood two minor bosses who had come to make their routine reports to the lady boss. Both were strong and sturdy, with fierce features, classic examples of the young-and-dangerous type. The moment He Chu San stepped in, they cast doubtful, scrutinizing looks at this handsome, scholarly young man who was clearly not one of their kind.

He Chu San curved his lips and returned them a spring-breeze smile.

The two minor bosses were left baffled by that smile, unable to figure out this man’s angle. Then, seeing him press the button for the floor where the executive office was located, they guessed he might be some relative of the lady boss and cautiously withdrew their gazes, no longer provoking him.

The elevator doors opened on the floor of the executive office. The two minor bosses stepped out with their heads full of confusion. Along the way, they passed three layers of bodyguards and saw that the bodyguards all nodded to them without stopping He Chu San. In truth, none of Cui Dong Dong’s bodyguards recognized He Chu San, but seeing him following closely behind the two elder brothers with such an open and natural expression, they assumed he was an attendant the two men had brought along and did not question him either.

He Chu San made it all the way without obstruction to the door of Cui Dong Dong’s office—it was located next to Xia Liu Yi’s former office. She had not gone and occupied the magpie’s nest, but instead cleared out a room next door for herself. The two minor bosses nodded to the bodyguard at the door, and one of them reached out and knocked.

“Boss! It’s me, A’Qiang!”

“Come in.”

The two minor bosses pushed the door open and entered, and He Chu San followed in very naturally as well. Cui Dong Dong was sitting at her desk reading through a stack of documents. She lifted her head absentmindedly, then was startled. “Why are you here?!”

“Me? I came with Brother Qiang,” the other minor boss hurriedly said.

“I meant the one behind you two!” Cui Dong Dong pointed. “How did he get in without anyone announcing him? Don’t tell me you two know him?”

The two minor bosses stared at He Chu San in astonishment. He Chu San smiled faintly again. The two men were made so embarrassed and angry by that smile that they rolled up their sleeves and grabbed him from the left and right. “Who the hell are you, kid?!” “What are you sneaking in here for?!”

“Stop, stop, stop!” Cui Dong Dong quickly shouted to halt them. “Get your claws off him! Do you two have a death wish? Hurry up and get out!”

After driving out those two fools who had eyes but failed to recognize their sister-in-law, Cui Dong Dong gestured for He Chu San to sit on the sofa and tossed him a cigar.

“I don’t smoke, Sister Dong Dong.”

“Want red wine?”

“No, thank you, Sister Dong Dong.”

“You don’t smoke and you don’t drink. What are you doing here? Coming to annoy me?”

He Chu San smiled and placed the briefcase he had brought with him on her desk, taking out a stack of documents from inside. “Does Sister Dong Dong still remember the project you invested in with me at the beginning of the year? These are the reports for the past six months.”

Cui Dong Dong took them and flipped through them, her expression turning surprised.

“An eighty-percent return in two quarters? That’s impossible! How did you do it?”

“This year, a large amount of hot money entered this field, so growth was fast. It’s Sister Dong Dong’s good fortune. However, if Sister Dong Dong wants to continue working together, I’d like to discuss a condition with you.”

Cui Dong Dong gave a delighted chuckle. Folding her arms, she leaned back in her boss chair. “I knew you were hiding some little scheme when you first came to me. Go on, little fox.”

He Chu San lowered his eyes and smiled faintly. When he raised his head again, his gaze was sincere. “Sister Dong Dong, I want to become the general manager of your new company.”

“Huh?” Cui Dong Dong was baffled. “What new company?”

“I want to develop this shell company you established for the investment project into an investment management company completely independent from Xiao Qi Hall’s other businesses. I will handle its operations with full authority. We’ll split the shares twenty-eighty. You only need to provide the founding capital, then sit and wait for the money to come in. In addition, I also want to serve as an external investment consultant for your head office. You will sign a cooperation agreement with me, and for any legal business under Xiao Qi Hall, I will provide consulting and planning services. My data team and I have served multiple large listed companies, so you can be completely at ease.”

Cui Dong Dong studied him, holding the cigar between her lips as she blew smoke and thought. She had guessed what this little bastard from Xia Liu Yi’s household was scheming—he was going in circles, trying to help Xiao Qi Hall transform. Such wishful thinking and acting on his own initiative instinctively made her want to refuse, yet the profits He Chu San, this little fortune-bringer, could bring were real. The shining numbers on the report were all money. The brothers fought and killed every day, licking blood from the edge of the blade—wasn’t it all so that they could share hardships and blessings together? If there was money to be made and she refused to make it, had this general manager’s brain been caught in a door?

“Does Liu Yi know about this?”

“Why does he need to know so much?” This little bastard actually answered with righteous confidence. “When it comes to money, isn’t Sister Dong Dong the one who understands it best?”

General Manager Cui, Deputy Hall Master Cui, was hit dead center by that flattery. Yet with a silent laugh in her heart, she knew He Chu San wanted to bait her with profit and do something behind Xia Liu Yi’s back. But was she so easy for He Chu San to manipulate?

“Sammy boy, you have conditions, and I have conditions too.”

“Please tell me, Sister Dong Dong.”

“According to society rules, if you haven’t joined the society, you can’t hold an important position. If you want to be general manager, you must bow before the altar and join the society—come become one of us—a gangster.”

He Chu San lowered his eyes and thought for a while. When he looked up again, his gaze was still sincere. “All right.”

Back at home, Father He, who was squinting his eyes and humming a little tune as he cut paper window decorations, suddenly let out a great big sneeze. He lifted his head and looked toward the gloomy, cloud-covered window outside. The window swayed back and forth with clacking sounds.

The wind had risen, and rain was about to fall, while the clouds were torn by the wind toward the horizon, utterly unaware of where their fate would ultimately lead them.

…

The bar was located on Lockhart Road, a quiet little place at the street corner, frequented only by regulars. The owner had just immigrated to Australia and transferred the shop to his nephew. The new owner had kept the previous decor and bartender, and even the saxophone tune slowly played by the Black musician on the small stage was still the same as it had been back then.

The fine, continuous rain in the evening did not disturb the pleasant mood of those who came to drink. Men and women sat by the windows, watching the rain and chatting idly, a scene of complete leisure.

On the photo wall above the bar counter were many photographs pasted there by old and new customers, handwritten postcards, and vows signed by lovers. Lu Guang Ming leaned lazily against the bar, spinning his glass and staring into space, not noticing the person approaching behind him.

“Investigator Lu,” Xie Jia Hua said behind him.

Lu Guang Ming turned his head, narrowed his eyes, and broke into a smile. “Inspector Xie, I waited an hour for you. I thought you weren’t coming.”

Xie Jia Hua held his coat in his arms, the buttons of his shirt fastened meticulously, while his shoulders were damp from the fine rain. He had just finished overtime at the police station and had walked over. Staring indifferently at Lu Guang Ming, he showed no intention of sitting down. “What is it? Say it.”

Lu Guang Ming pulled out a chair for him and ordered two beers. “What’s the rush? I contributed to getting Xia Liu Yi thrown in prison, didn’t I? Inspector Xie can’t even buy me a drink to express a little gratitude?”

Xie Jia Hua took out his wallet, drew out a banknote, and pressed it onto the bar counter. “Thank you for ridding the public of harm, Investigator Lu. Take your time drinking.” Then he turned to leave.

“Hey!” Lu Guang Ming leaned against the bar and called loudly, “Don’t tell me you really think I coaxed you here just for one drink? Back then, I fell in love with you at first sight right here, yet you abandoned me after playing with my feelings. How are we settling that account?”

The few customers in the bar all turned to look. Xie Jia Hua strode back, pressed him down against the bar counter with one hand, and said in a low voice, “Stop talking nonsense.”

Lu Guang Ming laughed softly. “I saw your photo here just now. Such youthful days. You used to come to this bar often?”

Xie Jia Hua held him down by the back of the neck, his face cold. “I’m not in the mood to waste words with you. On the phone, you said it had to do with the case. If you have something to say, say it. If not, get lost.”

Lu Guang Ming narrowed his eyes and smiled. “Of course I have something to say. But Inspector Xie, have a drink with me first.”

Xie Jia Hua threw him aside and turned to leave again. Behind him, Lu Guang Ming said, “It has to do with Tang Jia Qi.”

Xie Jia Hua’s steps halted. After taking several deep breaths, he suddenly turned and slapped out with his palm. Lu Guang Ming ducked his neck and nimbly dodged it. When Xie Jia Hua swung another punch at him, he quickly crossed both arms to block.

Seeing the ruthless look in Xie Jia Hua’s eyes and the mercilessness of his attacks, realizing he was truly angry, Lu Guang Ming hurriedly defended himself. “Really, really. It’s about his case from nine years ago. I have a lead.”

Xie Jia Hua’s expression changed, but he still did not trust him. After forcing himself to endure for a while, he finally released him with a dark face. Having survived the ordeal, Lu Guang Ming was neither startled nor afraid. He straightened his clothes, picked up the fallen stool, sat down again, and sighed with a faint smile, “How violent, Inspector Xie. Is my impression in your eyes really that bad? Every word I say is a lie?”

He placed the two beers that had survived the disaster in front of Xie Jia Hua and smiled. “It’s not as if I lied completely, Inspector Xie. I really did know Tang Jia Qi. When I was little and staying at the welfare home, he came there as a volunteer. He and I were… we had met. Nine years ago, Tang Jia Qi died under bizarre circumstances. Within our ICAC, it has always been an unsolved case. After I joined the service, I became very interested in his case and sought out the senior colleague who had been in charge of the internal investigation back then. He believed that Tang Jia Qi had been secretly investigating a corruption case at the time and had touched upon an important lead, which was why he was silenced. He investigated all the internal ICAC materials Tang Jia Qi had accessed, but found nothing. Inspector Xie, after all these years, you haven’t given up on this case either, have you? Your deduction is the same as that senior colleague’s, but you also found nothing, right?”

Xie Jia Hua silently looked at the glass of beer. At last, he picked it up.

“Have you ever thought that what Tang Jia Qi was investigating back then might not have been an ICAC case, but a case from your Major Crimes Unit? That might be why he was in contact with you so frequently back then.”

The glass in Xie Jia Hua’s hand paused. Slowly swallowing the large mouthful of beer he had held in his mouth, he set the glass down and looked at Lu Guang Ming.

“Tang Jia Qi might have been investigating a murder case back then, and it might have been a murder case you handled. Did he ever sound you out indirectly about the inside details of a certain case?”

“…”

Xie Jia Hua looked coldly at the beer glass and did not answer. But the alcohol had already begun to burn violently in his stomach.

…

The rain had stopped. Deep night had arrived. The musicians had long since left the stage, and faint light music played through the bar’s speakers. The scattered guests were all intoxicated by the night, speaking softly to one another, embracing each other as if no one else were around.

Xie Jia Hua sat alone before the bar counter. In front of him were several empty bottles and several empty glasses. His head was lowered, one hand pressed to his forehead as he leaned against the bar, seeming as though he were deep in thought, and also as though he had fallen asleep.

The bartender personally brought over the cocktail he had ordered and touched his arm. “Hey? Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” Xie Jia Hua said, lifting his head. He still appeared sober and clear-headed.

“Where’s your friend?”

“He went out to take a phone call. He’s not my friend,” Xie Jia Hua said. He was already drunk.

“I thought you looked a little familiar just now. You… are you Ward? That young officer from Major Crimes?”

Xie Jia Hua frowned and studied him, and also recognized this bartender. “I am.”

The bartender let out a pleasantly surprised laugh. “Ha! It really is you! How many years has it been since you last came? Seven or eight years, right?”

“Nine years.”

As if remembering something, the bartender raised his hand and searched around above the bar counter. “We still have a photo of you and Jacky from back then here… Huh?! Where did it go? I saw it just a while ago.”

Xie Jia Hua’s heart beat like a drum. He waved his hand, indicating that the bartender did not need to look for it, then took out his wallet and ordered another glass of strong liquor.

From the moment he had stepped into this bar, his emotions had begun to rise and fall. Lu Guang Ming’s words had been even more like lighting a barrel of gasoline sealed away for many years, setting a raging fire ablaze in his heart.

This bar was the place where he and Tang Jia Qi had reunited after a long separation back then. The two of them had been primary school classmates. They had once grown up in the same neighborhood and had been close, but later, as his father’s official career prospered and he was promoted again and again, Xie Jia Hua moved away in secondary school, and the two of them gradually lost contact. Back then, he had been a rebellious and eccentric spoiled son from a wealthy family. He had many estrangements with his father, and even less did he want to inherit his father’s career and become a police officer. He wanted to go abroad to study art, but under his father’s coercion, he enrolled in the police academy, and after graduation he was assigned to the Major Crimes Unit. Reuniting with his childhood friend Tang Jia Qi in this bar was the only light in those frustrated and irritable days of his life. As their contact deepened, Tang Jia Qi’s cheerfulness, confidence, and belief in punishing evil and promoting good gradually influenced him. He gradually faced his own profession properly, developed a sense of identity and responsibility, began to learn earnestly from his colleagues and senior colleagues, treated cases seriously and responsibly, and his long-stiff relationship with his father also improved. He and Tang Jia Qi met often, drank together, talked about what was on their minds together, played ball together, went out to sea to fish together, and exchanged analyses of cases together…

This intimate contact lasted for more than a year. Tang Jia Qi was his confidant and close friend, and also the guiding light on his path. More than that, the feelings between them might long since have surpassed those of ordinary friends or brothers. Three days before Tang Jia Qi disappeared, right here in this bar, Tang Jia Qi, drunk, had suddenly kissed him, then pushed him away again, said sorry, and fled in panic. He had not chased after him, because his own heart had also been in chaos, and he had been at a complete loss. He immersed himself in work, wanting to think this relationship through properly, yet before he could arrive at a conclusion, what awaited him was the news of Tang Jia Qi’s death.

He would never again be able to respond to the other man. For these nine years, on every restless, sleepless late night, he had regretted it more than anything—regretted that he had not chased after him at the time, regretted that he had not called him afterward, regretted that he had not had time to tell him, “Actually, I didn’t hate that kiss,” and “Actually, we could try being together”…

And now, this yellow-haired brat full of lies, deep schemes, and utterly devoid of bottom line or principles was hinting that Tang Jia Qi had approached him from the very beginning only to use him to investigate a case! How could such sincere affection possibly have been fake?! How could their understanding of each other, their trust, and the tacit rapport as if their hearts were connected possibly have been fake?! At that time, he and Tang Jia Qi had talked about everything. The number of cases they had discussed was countless. As long as it did not involve confidential information and there was no need to avoid suspicion between each other’s departments, they would provide whatever help they could to each other and would also ask and consult each other without any reservations. Tang Jia Qi had never “sounded him out indirectly about a case,” as Lu Guang Ming had said!

In his heart, Tang Jia Qi was noble and pure, and not to be profaned. Lu Guang Ming’s words tonight not only had not changed Xie Jia Hua’s vile impression of him, but instead had made him feel even greater disgust. This smiling little fox was only in his early twenties. What kind of dark past must he have had to nurture so many deep thoughts and low methods, to polish such a shameless and hypocritical mask? A despicable and selfish person like this surely had no one with whom he shared any intimate connection, surely did not understand feelings. What right did he have to wildly speculate and sow discord in the relationship between Xie Jia Hua and Tang Jia Qi?

Anger with nowhere to vent, remorse that could never be made up for, and longing divided by life and death wove together into a vast, sky-swallowing wave inside his heart. Glass after glass of strong liquor led him toward the center of the churning whirlpool. He was mo longer in control of himself, sinking and floating in dizziness, gradually being dragged into the sunless depths of the sea.

…

Lu Guang Ming ended a long phone call with a colleague about the case and hurried back to the bar counter. Seeing that several more glasses had appeared on the counter, while Xie Jia Hua was holding his forehead with his eyes slightly closed and was already completely unresponsive to the waiter’s light pats and calls, he was surprised.

“How did you drink this much?” Lu Guang Ming asked in astonishment, stepping forward to pat his face. “Inspector Xie? Xie—whoa!”

He tilted his head back to avoid the iron fist Inspector Xie swung at him, then quickly jumped back several steps. Instead of getting angry, he laughed. “You hate me that much? Even drunk, you still want to hit me?”

“Get lost,” Xie Jia Hua said. With a dark face, he stood up and drew several bills from his wallet, placing them on the bar counter.

“He already paid the bill just now,” the waiter said, pushing the money back and helplessly saying to Lu Guang Ming, “Your friend is very drunk. Take him home.”

“That would require me being able to get near him,” Lu Guang Ming said. He tried several times to dodge and weave closer, but Xie Jia Hua sent iron fists at him with incomparable precision.

Forced into helplessness, Lu Guang Ming suddenly had an idea and broke into a bright, hearty grin. “A’Hua? You don’t recognize me? I’m Jia Qi.”

Xie Jia Hua looked at him with furrowed brows and a gloomy face. Lu Guang Ming felt guilty under his stare and guessed that Xie Jia Hua was not drunk enough after all, that his clumsy performance was about to be exposed and he was about to suffer another iron-fist attack—when Xie Jia Hua suddenly stepped forward and hugged him tightly.

“All right, all right, be good, A’Hua, it’s been so long.” Lu Guang Ming grinned as he patted his head, then smiled smugly at the waiter. “A’Hua, you should go home.”

“I don’t want to go home,” Xie Jia Hua said, his head resting against Lu Guang Ming’s shoulder as he closed his eyes. “I miss you very much.”

Lu Guang Ming patted him again. “I miss you very much too. Be good, go home and sleep early.”

“I don’t want to go home.”

Lu Guang Ming was so amused by his solemn drunkenness that he kept laughing. “If you don’t go home, I still have to go home, Inspector Xie. I have a case to investigate first thing tomorrow morning.”

He reached out and groped around Xie Jia Hua’s waist, finally tugging off his pager. “Let me see who can take you home.” Taking the opportunity, he lifted it and skimmed through Xie Jia Hua’s message records, memorizing several numbers that might belong to informants. Then he scanned the message contents again and truly did not find a single message with an intimate tone.

“Inspector Xie, you don’t even have anyone to come pick you up, yet you still dare get drunk so casually?”

“Jia Qi, I miss you very much.”

Lu Guang Ming narrowed his eyes and smiled, but in the depths of his gaze, there flashed for an instant the same sorrow and loneliness as Xie Jia Hua’s.

He helped Xie Jia Hua out of the bar, hailed a taxi, and stuffed him inside. Xie Jia Hua’s head leaned against his shoulder. He had no exaggerated drunken behavior, nor did he vomit; he only leaned against him quietly, his eyes closed as if asleep.

Lu Guang Ming looked out the window for a while and heard Xie Jia Hua’s low murmuring in his sleep. He pressed his ear closer, and Xie Jia Hua rubbed against his shoulder and said, “Where did you go? I miss you very much.”

Lu Guang Ming gathered him into his arms and gently stroked the back of his head as though coaxing a child. With his other hand, he took a photograph from the inner pocket of his clothes.

His fingertips rubbed over the bright, hearty smile of the person in the photograph, and he murmured softly to himself, “I miss him very much too.”

…

Xie Jia Hua woke from a bone-piercing headache. When he opened his eyes, the room was filled with brilliant sunlight. He stared blankly at the ceiling for a full minute before realizing that he was currently in a hotel, and then recalled a few scattered fragments from last night.

His face turned ashen, and he closed his eyes in unbearable shame. In the end, he still could not help turning his head to look beside him.

Half of Lu Guang Ming’s face was buried in the pillow. Wrapped in the quilt, he was curled into a ball. There were some bruises at the corners of his brows and mouth, and across his exposed shoulders and collarbones were dense, suggestive red marks that had clearly been bitten into him. He was sleeping very deeply, his cheeks faintly flushed, and without the smiling fox mask on his face, there was a childish innocence to him.

Rubbing his temples, Xie Jia Hua got out of bed and looked over the wreckage of the room with a splitting headache—the quilt and sheets were stained with suggestive wet marks, and among the clothes torn and scattered messily across the floor lay several used condoms.

—He was shocked that he actually still remembered to use condoms! Even when getting drunk and losing control, he had lost control with perfect seriousness, lost control with quite a principled bottom line!

He slapped his own serious-minded, foolish self hard. Unable to endure staying in this room for even another minute or second, he quickly put on his clothes. Just as he opened the door, however, his steps paused. He felt around his body. His pager was gone.

He turned back and searched through the clothes on the floor, then found his own pager in Lu Guang Ming’s pocket. Clipping the pager back to his waist, he continued searching carefully—in case Lu Guang Ming had stolen anything else from him.

From a hidden inner pocket in Lu Guang Ming’s coat, he found a photograph.

It was a photograph of him and Tang Jia Qi from ten years ago, arms over each other’s shoulders, taken at a tourist pier. On the back were written the date the photo was taken and the words “Long Live Friendship.” They had left it on the photo wall of the bar they often went to. Last night, Lu Guang Ming had said he had seen a photo of him when he was young. And the bartender had said the photo was gone.

Frowning, he glanced at Lu Guang Ming, who was still deep asleep, clenched the photograph in his hand, and opened the door without looking back.

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