Ming Han took the little clay figure back and turned its crooked face toward himself. After studying it for several seconds, he finally broke and laughed. “Yeah, it is pretty ugly.”
Chen Zheng asked, “Where’d it come from?”
Ming Han raised his brows. “I made it.”
Chen Zheng did not quite believe him. “You made it?”
“Yeah. You and Kong Bing haven’t been coming to get me, and the work at the center is easy.” Ming Han scraped his right foot across the ground. “Other people need all day to shovel shit. I’m efficient and quick to learn, so I finish in half a day.”
A customer sitting beside them heard the conversation, shot them a disgusted look, moved his plastic stool farther away, and muttered, “People are trying to eat. Why are you talking about shit?”
Ming Han laughed again. Chen Zheng said, “So you had nothing to do and started sculpting this thing?”
“I saw these handmade little guys were trendy online. Make one properly and you can give it to your brothers or friends.” Ming Han rotated the clay figure toward Chen Zheng. “So I thought I’d make you. When I stop working at the center, I’ll give it to you as a farewell souvenir.”
Chen Zheng raised his brows. “A farewell souvenir… You think this looks like me?”
Ming Han immediately realized the danger and corrected himself. “It’s this ugly, so obviously it looks more like me.”
Chen Zheng laughed, took the figure back, and lightly flicked its forehead. “Now that you mention it, this obnoxious little face does look a lot like you.”
They waited half an hour before the server finally called their number. The restaurant had two floors and both were full, showing just how good business was.
Chen Zheng asked, “Why did you suddenly invite me out to eat?”
“Why does eating a meal need a reason?” Ming Han passed him the order sheet he had already marked. “Add whatever you like.”
Chen Zheng glanced over it. Almost everything he wanted had already been selected, so he handed it back.
“Our tastes match this well?” Ming Han grinned. “Then how about this?”
Under the bright lights of the hotpot restaurant, a huge man like Ming Han sat with both hands folded neatly on the table, smiling at Chen Zheng with an unexpectedly obedient air.
*…But when Ming Han looked obedient, it usually meant nothing good.*
Chen Zheng immediately erased the word *obedient* from his mind. “How about what?”
“How about we become meal partners?” Ming Han said. “Solve the problem of three meals a day.”
Chen Zheng laughed. “You work at the police dog center, I work at the institute, and both have cafeterias. What kind of meal partnership are we supposed to have?”
“There are always times when we don’t eat at the cafeteria.” Ming Han spoke leisurely. “Look at this time. You’re at the institute and I’m at the center, yet we still ended up meeting at Beiye Sub-bureau. I mean after work in the evenings, or on weekends. We find somewhere and eat together. Ordering food for one person is inconvenient.”
Chen Zheng drank some of the complimentary tea. He had been in Zhuquan City for so long and had always come and gone alone. Now some man who had appeared out of nowhere had latched onto him, not only arranging tonight’s dinner but trying to reserve his future weekends as well. Chen Zheng wanted to refuse, but when he met Ming Han’s gaze, the words would not come out.
“We’ll see.”
Ming Han clapped his hands together. “Then it’s settled.”
Their congee hotpot meal lasted nearly two hours. By the time they paid and left, it was completely dark outside. The restaurant was close to Fengshu Residential Complex, close enough to stroll home after dinner. But Chen Zheng was thinking about driving Ming Han back to the police dog center. It was remote, and the round trip would take quite a while, so he urged Ming Han toward the car.
“No rush. I ate too much. I want to walk for a while,” Ming Han said.
Chen Zheng checked the time. It really was getting late.
“I can take the subway back myself.”
Zhuquan City had only two subway lines, one of which began near the police dog center. The final train seemed to leave around eleven.
Since Ming Han had already said so, Chen Zheng was hardly going to insist on driving him. He nodded. “Then let’s walk.”
The entire street was filled with restaurants catering to the night crowd, and business only became more lively as the hour grew later. Ming Han stopped outside a milk-tea shop. “Want something to drink?”
Chen Zheng did not want anything that sweet and cloying. “Whatever you want. I’m buying.”
Ming Han cheerfully said, “Then I won’t be polite. Peach oolong. Largest size.”
Chen Zheng had no concept of how large “largest” meant. When the employee brought out the finished drink, he stared. *Was that a cup? That was a bucket.* It even came with a sticker. Chen Zheng had no interest in little collectibles and handed both bucket and sticker to Ming Han.
“Milk-tea shops do collaborations all the time now. Stickers, bookmarks, bags, those are all standard. Spend a little more and they’ll even give you a plushie,” Ming Han said. “Kids love them.”
Chen Zheng looked at him. “Some oversized kids seem to love them too.”
“I’m just trying it out. Wouldn’t say I like it.”
“Oh? Trying out what?”
“The feeling of buying milk tea and getting a free gift.” Ming Han abruptly changed subjects. “Zhao Yu’s milk-tea shop doesn’t seem to give out little things like these.”
“You’re paying attention to that case too?”
Of the three missing-person cases, Zhao Yu’s was now the only one investigators had no real direction on. Early in the investigation, they discovered that one customer had repeatedly come to her shop specifically to cause trouble. Zhao Yu eventually found someone to beat him up, and she disappeared soon afterward. Naturally, the man became one of the people the police watched most closely.
But he was only an ordinary corporate drone. A deeper investigation revealed that he had not made trouble because he genuinely thought Zhao Yu’s milk tea tasted bad. His own work life was miserable. He was either ostracized by coworkers or humiliated by his superiors. After resentment accumulated for a long time, he desperately needed to find someone of lower social status to vent on. Zhao Yu’s milk-tea shop became his target. After Zhao Yu had him beaten, he no longer dared appear in front of her. Based on the timeline, police had essentially ruled out his involvement in her disappearance.
“What if Kong Bing asks me to help again and I know absolutely nothing? I’d embarrass the Mobile Unit. Old Tang and Old Cao would chew me out, and then the day I get to go back will disappear even farther into the future.” While saying this, Ming Han somehow managed to drink nearly half his enormous bucket of peach oolong.
“You don’t look particularly eager to go back.”
“Of course I am. I already made my farewell gift.” Ming Han said, “Bro, when I go back, what are you giving me?”
Without the mention of gifts, Chen Zheng nearly would have forgotten. “Well, Brother Ming…”
Ming Han’s danger radar instantly activated. “Bro, *you’re* the bro!”
Chen Zheng smiled. “Why are you nervous?”
“You suddenly called me Brother Ming. I have a sense of impending danger.”
Chen Zheng found it a little difficult to admit that he had ruined Ming Han’s clothes. After a pause, he began, “Here’s the thing…”
Ming Han’s eyes grew wider and wider as he listened. Chen Zheng was just about to say, *I’ll replace it. Do you want the exact same one or a different style?* when Ming Han hurriedly cut in. “Then, Bro, you have to compensate me! It cost more than five hundred, and I barely wore it!”
Chen Zheng: “…”
Ming Han’s expression was ridiculously exaggerated, stingy and loud despite his enormous build. Chen Zheng immediately thought of the male college students Ming Han had complained about at the police academy. Ming Han was exactly like them, yet he had the nerve to criticize anyone else.
“I’ll compensate you, I’ll compensate you,” Chen Zheng said. “Winter’s almost here. How about I just buy you a down jacket?”
“Then I’ll have to think carefully.” Ming Han raised his chin. “I’ll tell you when I decide.”
“Fine. Tell me before you return to the Mobile Unit. It can count as half a farewell gift.”
Ming Han blinked unhappily. “I haven’t left yet.”
Chen Zheng thought this man was truly difficult to please. “Weren’t you the one who gave me a farewell gift first?” He held out the ugly little clay figure. “Want me to give it back?”
Ming Han immediately pushed the figure toward him again and strategically took another drink.
Chen Zheng had no choice but to warn him. “Drink more slowly. What if you can’t find a toilet on the subway later? If someone films you relieving yourself in public, that’ll embarrass the Mobile Unit even more.”
Ming Han looked astonished. “Who said I’m taking the subway?”
*Didn’t you say so yourself?* Chen Zheng thought. *Don’t tell me you’re going to start shamelessly demanding a ride now.*
Ming Han said, “Bro, you’re nervous.”
Chen Zheng found that funny. Was there any reason for him to be nervous? Driving Ming Han back was no trouble. It was not even ten yet.
“Come on. I’ll take you back.”
Ming Han obediently followed Chen Zheng, but once inside the car, he did not fasten his seat belt. Chen Zheng reminded him with a look. Ming Han said, “It’s only a few minutes.”
“Even if I speed, I can’t get you back to the police dog center in a few minutes.”
Ming Han pointed toward the intersection ahead. “Turn right there. Isn’t Fengshu Residential Complex only a few minutes away?”
Chen Zheng glanced sideways at him. “You’re going to my place?”
“I’m going home.”
Chen Zheng frowned. That was certainly ambiguous. Had Chen Zheng invited him? No. He had not been drinking today either. And Chen Zheng’s home certainly was not Ming Han’s home.
“Bro, you misunderstood. I mean *my* home.” Ming Han apologized with his mouth while unmistakable slyness gleamed in his eyes. “The dormitory at the center isn’t comfortable. My request to rent outside was approved.”
“So you rented near my place? Isn’t this too far from the center?”
“Doesn’t matter. I don’t go there that oft…” Ming Han corrected himself. “There’s a subway. When traffic’s bad, it’s faster than driving.”
Chen Zheng fell silent. By then, the car had already reached the entrance of the complex. “Then… which building did you rent in?”
He remembered that an apartment on his floor had recently been advertised for rent. Ming Han had not moved directly across the hall from him, had he?
“Bro, are you worried I’m going to become your neighbor?” Ming Han leaned several inches closer, still holding his bucket. Chen Zheng immediately felt a blast of cold air.
*It’s nearly November. Why did I buy Ming Han a drink with that much ice?*
“You mean I’m worried you’ll come to my place every day to freeload?” Chen Zheng looked into Ming Han’s eyes. A car passed by, its headlights sliding across Ming Han’s face before the light was quickly swallowed by the darkness in his eyes.
Ming Han smiled and leaned back. “I can freeload even if I don’t live next door. Bro, remember Brother Chao?”
Of course Chen Zheng remembered Liu Pinchao, owner of Little Superman Ice Jelly and Ming Han’s informant. “You’re living with him?”
“Not with him. He went back to the countryside and rented his place to me.” Ming Han said, “But his building’s one of the old ones. Not as nice as where you live.”
Chen Zheng considered that sentence. *Why did it sound suspiciously like groundwork for coming over later to improve his living conditions?*
When they entered the residential complex, Ming Han solemnly took out an access card and waved it in front of Chen Zheng. Chen Zheng pointed at the gate. “Waving it at me won’t open the gate.”
Ming Han laughed again. “Bro, why do you love making deadpan jokes so much?”
The old residential building was just inside the complex entrance, separated from the bustling snack alley by a single wall. The newer apartment blocks built by the developer were farther inside. The two separated at a fork. Ming Han raised his half-finished bucket. “Thanks, Bro. Good night.”
“Good night.” Chen Zheng turned away, thinking, *After drinking that enormous bucket of ice water, there’s no way your night is going to be good.*
For some reason, the thought of Ming Han repeatedly getting up to use the bathroom, or being too stimulated by the tea to fall asleep, made Chen Zheng want to laugh. There was a faint pleasure in his mood, like the satisfaction of having pulled a prank.
But Ming Han had chosen the largest size himself. It could hardly count as Chen Zheng’s prank, so there was no reason to feel guilty. Only as he unlocked his door did Chen Zheng realize he had hummed a couple of notes under his breath. He muttered to himself, “Am I really that happy?”
Less than a hundred meters away, a light came on in another room. Ming Han set the peach oolong on the table, looked around at the room still waiting to be organized, and lightly bumped his fist against the plastic cup. “Brother, looks like you’ll have to stay up late with me tonight.”
Over the next few days, Chen Zheng would unconsciously glance toward the old building whenever he left home. Most residents there ran small businesses. Not long ago, someone had moved away in a hurry because of the murder case. Chen Zheng had never lived in the old building, but had gone inside several times while investigating and knew the conditions really were poor. It was also too close to the snack alley. Even after midnight, the area remained noisy. Vendors returning after closing their stalls would make noise for another while, and by four or five in the morning, the breakfast vendors started moving.
*Is Ming Han sleeping well?*
But interactions between adults ought to stop at an appropriate distance. By the time Chen Zheng reached the parking garage, that tiny concern had scattered without a trace, like dust blown away by the wind.
His days of running back and forth between Beiye Sub-bureau and the research institute began again. Regarding Zhao Yu’s disappearance, Chen Zheng and Kong Bing agreed they would not treat it as an ordinary missing-person case. That meant investing considerably more time and effort.
That afternoon, Chen Zheng returned to the institute. It was the day of their regular meeting, and even if he merely went through the motions, he ought to attend.
Xu Chuan had already returned from Yafu City and was enthusiastically discussing a new batch of cases sent to the institute with his coworkers. There was little time before the meeting, and Chen Zheng had arrived late. Xu Chuan hurriedly greeted him but had no chance to sit down for a proper conversation.
Chen Zheng guessed that Xu Chuan would definitely come looking for him after the meeting.
Xu Chuan deserved a share of the credit for solving the recent case. His performance in Yafu City had been outstanding. He was clearly promising material for frontline investigation and, according to what Chen Zheng heard, had earned Gong Jin’s appreciation as well. Ming Han had said that after this experience, the words *I want to investigate cases* were practically written across Xu Chuan’s eyes, and he had even asked Ming Han to help him arrange a transfer.
“I’m not his superior. Of course I couldn’t promise him anything,” Ming Han had told Chen Zheng. “I told him to find his own boss. After all, his Director Chen is omnipotent.”
Young people were overflowing with drive but could also be extremely polarized. Faced with work they wanted, they could go three days and nights without sleeping. Faced with something that did not interest them, even looking at it once felt excessive.
So Xu Chuan surprised Chen Zheng now. He had assumed Xu Chuan would no longer be able to focus on the institute’s work, yet the young man remained every bit as enthusiastic about reviewing already-solved cases as he had been before.
*This kid…*
After the meeting ended more than an hour later, Chen Zheng returned to his office and deliberately left the door open. He had not been there for some time, and a thin layer of dust covered the desk. He did some light cleaning while waiting for Xu Chuan to come find him.
Sure enough, ten minutes later, quick, cheerful footsteps sounded in the corridor. Xu Chuan nearly charged straight through the doorway before braking hard at the last moment and knocking on the open door with exaggerated propriety. “Director Chen, are you free right now?”
“Come in. Close the door.”
Xu Chuan shut it, then belatedly realized something. “Director Chen, you didn’t immediately go back to the sub-bureau, and you left your door open. Were you waiting for me?”
Chen Zheng smiled. “Then hurry up and tell me what you came to say.”
Xu Chuan scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. “Here’s the thing, Director Chen. My idea might still be immature, and it’s a little bold. Just hear me out and tell me whether you think it could work.”
Chen Zheng thought that after participating in a single investigation, the kid had already become more cautious. He now had an entire arsenal of polite preliminaries.
“Where do you want to transfer?”
Xu Chuan froze. “Transfer?”
His reaction immediately struck Chen Zheng as wrong. Why did he look frightened?
“Director Chen, are you trying to transfer me away?”
Chen Zheng was confused. “Didn’t you want to transfer to frontline investigation? Moving out of the institute isn’t easy, but you’re young, you studied psychology, and now you have firsthand investigative experience. It isn’t impossible.”
“Oh, that!” Xu Chuan abruptly understood. “Brother Ming told you, didn’t he?”
Chen Zheng realized Xu Chuan had come to talk about something else. “Hm? You don’t want that anymore?”
Xu Chuan straightened in his chair. “When I was in Yafu City and had just earned some credit, my head got huge. I wanted to run around crime scenes like Brother Ming. But afterward, I stayed in Yafu City to help wrap everything up, right? I met a lot of frontline investigators and talked to Captain Gong quite a bit. I realized… maybe if I *don’t* go to the front line and stay at the institute instead, I can do even more.”
Interested, Chen Zheng asked, “For example?”
“Our positions are different, and our institutional roles are different. The institute may nominally handle only the psychology side of things, but we report directly to the Provincial Department. In terms of authority, that puts us above local sister units. Captain Gong said that when the pressure from the Zhao Shuihe case became unbearable, he remembered you were at the institute and immediately sent the case here.”
Xu Chuan straightened his chest. “Director Chen, I know I’m nowhere near your level, but I want to become a fallback and a support for our local sister units too. When some kind of pressure gets in their way, or objective conditions prevent them from finding the truth, that’s when we step in. And there’s more…”
The more Xu Chuan spoke, the more excited he became. “Some cases look solved but still contain doubts, especially doubts involving criminal psychology. We might be able to make a difference there too!”
Chen Zheng quietly watched Xu Chuan. This young man, whom he had once believed was wasting his time at the institute, seemed to have grown even better than Chen Zheng had hoped. He radiated the vitality and drive unique to the young, and somehow that energy was beginning to seep into Chen Zheng too.
“Captain Gong told me a lot about his years in Yafu City, and it honestly made me feel a little ashamed.” Xu Chuan actually blushed, his earlier momentum weakening. “He’s earned so many achievements and still stayed rooted in Yafu City year after year for ten years. I participated in one case and immediately wanted to become Brother Ming, become you. I shouldn’t have been so restless.”
Chen Zheng shook his head. “That isn’t restlessness. It’s normal for a young person to have ambition and ideas. So you don’t intend to leave the institute now? What did you actually want to tell me?”
Xu Chuan cleared his throat. The instant he tried speaking, his voice cracked.
Chen Zheng laughed. “Don’t be nervous. You weren’t nervous when you threw a temper at me. What happened now?”
The comment made Xu Chuan’s face turn even redder. “That… last time… Director Chen, could you please stop bringing up last time?”
Chen Zheng smiled and nodded. “All right. Tell me your plan.”
Xu Chuan collected himself. “The Zhao Shuihe case showed me that our institute could contribute much more to frontline investigations. We wouldn’t be looking for faults with local units. We’d be giving them a safety net and doing everything possible to prevent miscarriages of justice. If that’s the case, the institute ought to receive more support. I know plenty of units call this place a sinecure, but the Provincial Department established it for a reason. It should have a function. It only looks like a sinecure because year after year, that function hasn’t really been carried out.”
Chen Zheng listened intently, his gaze growing deeper.
“Director Chen, I want you and Director Bin to fight for more opportunities for us to participate in cases. Changing established ideas and established procedures definitely won’t be easy. What happened in Yafu City was exceptional. Captain Gong needed us, or more accurately, he needed *you*, so he approached us himself. Other places will consider it good enough if we don’t delay them. They definitely won’t voluntarily invite us.” Xu Chuan said, “So we should be the ones who push for it.”
Chen Zheng wanted to hear more. “How?”
Xu Chuan said firmly, “Your presence is our bargaining chip!”
“Me?”
“Yes! If Captain Gong thinks that way, other captains who hit a difficult case might think the same! Director Chen, I don’t know how long you’ll stay at the institute, but at least you’re still here now. We should take this opportunity to expand what we do until it becomes a new standard!”
Chen Zheng fell silent. He almost wanted to mock himself: *I don’t have that much influence.*
But Xu Chuan’s eyes burned like the sun, scorching away the gloom Chen Zheng unconsciously carried around himself.
That sensation of being affected by someone else’s energy returned.
“It’s a good idea, but carrying it out won’t be easy.” Chen Zheng continued testing Xu Chuan. “You said it yourself. Yafu City was a special case.”
“Then what if we start locally?” Xu Chuan had clearly thought through the matter in depth and answered immediately. “Zhuquan City is our home ground. We understand it best. Beiye Sub-bureau just solved such a major case, and you contributed enormously while officially representing our institute. Isn’t that a textbook example of cooperation between the institute and the sub-bureau? Then shouldn’t we establish closer cooperation from now on?”
Chen Zheng said with approval, “Using Zhuquan City as a pilot. You really do dare to think big.”
Hearing the praise in his words, Xu Chuan pressed on. “I’m only a foot soldier. Director Chen and Director Bin will have to worry about how to open the doors.”
Chen Zheng stood and walked over to him. “You really don’t plan to transfer anymore? Once this opportunity passes, you might not get another.”
“I’ve made up my mind!”
Chen Zheng patted him on the shoulder. “Then I’ll work with Director Bin to turn your idea into reality.”
Before leaving the institute, Chen Zheng went to see Director Bin and explained Xu Chuan’s proposal. Director Bin had graying hair and was pleasant to everyone. He appeared to do almost no work, spending every day drinking tea and reading newspapers, perfectly matching outsiders’ stereotype of someone occupying an idle post.
After listening to Chen Zheng, Director Bin continued smiling. “Xiao Chen, if you think it’s workable, go ahead and push it. You have my full support.”
As Chen Zheng left and closed the office door, he saw Director Bin wander toward the window with his teacup, humming as he watered several plants that had not bloomed. He looked exactly like an old man with nothing to do after retirement.
Chen Zheng had little contact with him beyond seeing him when he first joined and during meetings. But the last time Chen Zheng went to assist Beiye Sub-bureau, he had asked Director Bin for leave, and the man had not made things difficult for him in the slightest. Chen Zheng did not know which department Director Bin had previously worked in. Later he asked Kong Bing, who said the man seemed to have transferred from Suiguang City, but Kong Bing could not say exactly where he had worked before.
Chen Zheng’s maternal family was in Suiguang, so the detail caught his attention. After thinking it over, he suddenly remembered that when the Liang family tragedy occurred, the Suiguang Municipal Public Security Bureau had carried out a limited investigation, and one of the police officers involved seemed to have had the surname Bin.
But knowing that was one thing. Chen Zheng had never discussed the overseas case with Director Bin.
November 10. Zhuquan No. 2 Middle School. Uncle Yin’s Noodle Shop.
As the weather turned colder, more students came for rice noodles. Responding to demand, Yin Gaoqiang had started serving clay-pot rice noodles. Students crowded into the shop, forcing him to call repeatedly, “Sit down! I’ll bring it to you! What if you burn yourselves squeezing around like this?”
“If we get burned, Uncle Yin has to compensate us!”
“What kind of rotten idea is that? How can you make Uncle Yin pay?”
“I’m joking!”
After seven that evening, the students returned to school for evening self-study, and the noodle shop finally quieted down. Exhausted, Yin Gaoqiang stood outside pounding his legs. The weather was miserable for him. His aching joints were almost unbearable.
Xiao Huang said, “Uncle Yin, you should get that old problem checked. You’re getting older. You can’t keep enduring it.”
Yin Gaoqiang waved him off. “You said it yourself, it’s an old problem. What’s there to check? Go home early. I’ll clean up the rest slowly.”
Despite what Yin Gaoqiang said, Xiao Huang finished all his own work before leaving.
Yin Gaoqiang carried a stool outside and sat in the forecourt, squinting at the gate of No. 2 Middle School not far away. He often sat there, especially after his wife died. There was no one waiting for him at home, so he could remain there until evening self-study ended. Watching one group after another of youthful faces, he always wondered whether one day he might see Xiao Liu.
Back then, after evening self-study, Xiao Liu would emerge from the crowd exactly like that and shout, “Dad, got any noodles left? Make me a late-night bowl!”
As Yin Gaoqiang watched, he wiped at the corner of his eye. When he stood up, pain made him hiss.
He did not know how much longer he could keep waiting. Not long ago, the police had come to investigate old events and told him there were clues connected to Xiao Liu. But they still had not found him.
Xiao Liu might already have…
Deep down, Yin Gaoqiang knew. He simply never wanted to admit it, as if refusing to acknowledge it meant his child might one day come home.
He limped back into the shop and, as usual, began checking the electrical equipment and food supplies.
At 9:50 p.m., evening self-study ended. Students streamed toward the school gate in groups, only to freeze at the sight before them.
Across the road, Uncle Yin’s Noodle Shop was engulfed in flames. A tremendous explosion rolled outward with a wave of heat, swallowing the autumn cold.