Ming Han looked at him. “Bro, why’d you close the door?”
Chen Zheng lifted Ming Han’s arm again. The nurse had already bandaged it, so there was nothing much to see now.
“This is the injury you got when you came to save me last time,” Chen Zheng said.
Ming Han tried to pull his arm back, but Chen Zheng’s grip was firm. He didn’t quite dare move, so he played the weak patient instead. “Bro, you’re squeezing too hard. It hurts.”
Half a minute later, Chen Zheng laughed and deliberately tightened his grip. “Ow!” Ming Han yelped. His eyes reddened at once. “You really squeezed me!”
“Now you know it hurts?” Chen Zheng said. “If I hadn’t come today, what were you planning to do after taking the bandages off?”
“It’s wrapped up like a zongzi. You would’ve noticed the moment you came back anyway…” Ming Han fumbled for excuses.
“Was I not supposed to see?”
Ming Han’s confidence faltered. “It would ruin my tall, mighty image in your eyes.”
Chen Zheng sighed and looked at his arm again. “You got this injury because of me.”
Ming Han fell silent.
“You’re usually so good with words. What happened to them?”
Ming Han shifted awkwardly. “Bro, when you put it like that, how am I supposed to answer? I did it willingly.”
“So when the wound opened again, you decided to ignore it, let it fester and scar, and wear it as a medal?”
Ming Han was quiet for a moment. “I’ve realized you can talk circles around me. The thing is, I knew you were coming back today, and I didn’t want you to find out the wound had reopened. I also wanted to cook you something. You haven’t had much good food in Junan City, and cooking with my arm wrapped up like this is inconvenient. Nothing else is wrong with me, really. Old Tang said I didn’t need to stay in the hospital. Look, Zhou Jue’s gone wandering off too, and he’s hurt worse than I am.”
Halfway through, realization struck. “It must’ve been Zhou Jue gossiping about me!”
Chen Zheng laughed. “What, are you going to fight him?”
Ming Han clicked his tongue. “Well, not quite that far.”
Chen Zheng moved closer and spread his arms. Ming Han blinked. “Hmm?”
“Didn’t you want to go home?” Chen Zheng said. “Come on. Let me give our dear patient a hand.”
One stood while the other sat. Ming Han stared for a moment, then decisively buried his face against Chen Zheng’s chest. “Bro, I’ve missed you so much.”
Chen Zheng’s hands hung uncertainly in the air. Ming Han’s sudden display of affection had caught him completely off guard. Ming Han, perfectly comfortable where he was, refused to move and began recounting the pursuit of Jin Xiaoquan.
Ming Han and Zhou Jue had been in the very same car, going through the very same events. Yet Zhou Jue’s version was full of brotherhood and magnificent heroism, enough to make Chen Zheng feel he ought to ride off across the grasslands and tame a wild horse. Ming Han’s version was one long tale of misery and near-death.
In the end, Chen Zheng couldn’t resist smacking him on the back of the head.
“Ow! Didn’t you ask me to tell you? I’m already hurting, and you’re hitting me!”
“I told you to give me an honest account, not curse yourself with talk of dying.” Chen Zheng released him. “All right. Weren’t you going home to cook for me? Get moving.”
Now Ming Han was satisfied. “Yes, sir!”
They didn’t go home immediately, though. Chen Zheng needed to report what had happened in Junan City to the Mobile Unit, while Ming Han received a call from Tang Xiaoli ordering him back to work.
“Look at that. Old Tang even exploits the sick and injured,” Ming Han said theatrically from the passenger seat. “I ought to complain to our Little Uncle.”
Chen Zheng laughed. “Wrong person to complain to. Our Little Uncle and Old Tang are on the same side. Neither will listen to you.”
The moment Ming Han arrived at the Mobile Unit, Tang Xiaoli gave him a thorough scolding. Word of his antics at the hospital had somehow reached Tang. Ming Han first suspected the nurse, then thought better of it. How could the nurse have passed on the news so quickly? He looked at Chen Zheng in disbelief. Chen Zheng raised an eyebrow.
“Bro! You’re on their side too!”
“That’s right. You’re on a side all by yourself.”
Zhou Jue came over to watch the show, but ran off after hearing half the conversation, spreading a rumor to Wen Wu. “I just heard Bird and Brother Chen fighting! Brother Chen was complaining Bird’s only got one head! Hahaha!”
Wen Wu looked utterly bewildered. “Wait, how many heads is a person supposed to have?”
After Tang Xiaoli finished scolding Ming Han, Lu Hejing and Chen Zheng got down to business. The clues now pointed plainly toward Liang Yueze. The Heaven-Measuring Ruler had a hand in Yunquan Group’s resurgence, Han Qu’s loss of contact was most likely a trick of Jin Xiaoquan’s, and Liang Yueze was a crucial link in the police effort to dismantle the organization.
But all of that was based on inference. Liang Yueze continued to stand firm, and Yunquan Group had revealed no cracks, at least not yet. The Mobile Unit faced a serious problem: whoever they focused their attention on was quickly silenced. The Heaven-Measuring Ruler operated from the shadows and moved far too fast.
Liu Xun had provided some important intelligence. There was another woman behind Jin Xiaoquan, and she was evidently outside the country.
The emergence of Liang Yueze had, in fact, drawn the police investigation off course. They needed to return to its original focus.
“Our target has always been the Heaven-Measuring Ruler,” Chen Zheng said, “not one particular faction attached to it.”
Lu Hejing nodded. “The Azure Sky Cult, Yunquan Group, Nanfeng Pharmaceuticals, even ‘lake.’ They’re all vines growing out of its crimes. Unless we destroy the Heaven-Measuring Ruler itself, hacking away any number of vines won’t do us much good.”
Chen Zheng frowned. “So what are you suggesting?”
“The people behind Jin Xiaoquan are in Country M. He could easily bring mercenaries from Southeast Asia into Hua Country, then send our own people out under the guise of overseas labor placements. Zheng Feilong has most likely already crossed the border, and Ruan Xingjie, who committed so many crimes, is living freely in Country M.” Lu Hejing looked at him. “It’s time we took the initiative.”
Chen Zheng’s heartbeat quickened. The possibility had occurred to him, but hearing Lu Hejing say it still stirred him. “International operations come with a lot of restrictions.”
“I know,” Lu Hejing said. “That’s why I’m working on it. I’m telling you today so you can prepare yourself. If authorization comes through, the Mobile Unit will leave for Country M immediately.”
He paused. “For the Mobile Unit, this wouldn’t be a particularly unusual assignment. They’ve carried out similar operations before. But your situation is different. You’re not a member, even though you’ve become deeply involved. You can refuse.”
Chen Zheng fell silent, then smiled. “Little Uncle, do you really think I could refuse?”
Lu Hejing looked startled before putting on a stern face. “We’re at work…”
“So I shouldn’t call you Little Uncle,” Chen Zheng supplied. “Then since we’re at work, why can’t you treat me like a colleague and teammate instead of making exceptions for me?”
Lu Hejing was caught off guard. Before he could argue, Chen Zheng waved a hand. “Save the lines you use on your junior officers. You used to coax me with candy when I was little. I’m immune by now.”
“Ahem!” Lu Hejing coughed.
“So the main reason you called me in was to tell me we might be going to Southeast Asia?”
“I called you in to think it over,” Lu Hejing said.
“Already done.” Chen Zheng grinned. “I’ve got a family member working himself to the bone in the Mobile Unit, getting called back even with an injured arm, and I’ve got an elder in the family who acts as its unofficial boss. With connections this powerful, it’d be a shame not to tag along, wouldn’t it?”
Lu Hejing regarded him. Chen Zheng was smiling, gentle and possessed of a quiet authority that didn’t need to advertise itself. Only now did Lu truly sense that the nephew he’d once carried on his shoulders had grown into the sort of man Lu himself had been when young. Perhaps someone even more capable.
Seeing that the two had nearly finished, Tang Xiaoli came in and patted Chen Zheng’s shoulder. “The plan to go to Country M is still only taking shape. Whether we can actually go will depend on a lot of people working together. Xiao Chen, use this time to get some proper rest. Ming Han’s worn himself out too, and he needs to recover. If he’s not fit when the time comes, I absolutely won’t allow him on the operation.”
Chen Zheng nodded. “Understood. Then I’ll await the call.”
Ming Han had been listening outside the door. From the moment Chen Zheng called him a family member, he’d been unable to keep the corners of his mouth down. Even when Tang Xiaoli and Lu Hejing came out, he stayed planted there like a pillar.
Tang Xiaoli laughed. “What are you doing, applying to be a model for front teeth?”
Ming Han didn’t even bother answering his superior. Only when Chen Zheng came out did he happily follow, back straight as a rod. “Bro, I heard you talking about me in there.”
As they walked, Chen Zheng said, “Is eavesdropping part of the advanced training for your Mobile Unit?”
“You can say it but won’t let me hear it?”
“Oh? Then what did you hear?”
Ming Han’s smile threatened to break free. “You said… family member.”
Chen Zheng stopped. “Did I?”
“Denying it already?”
The tall man was advancing toward him, so Chen Zheng held out a hand to keep him back. “Brother Bird, mind your professional appearance. Your Mobile Unit has cameras everywhere and people who can spin rumors out of thin air. If your teammates see you, who knows how many versions of the story they’ll invent?”
“Come on. Anyone with that much free time wouldn’t have made it into the Mobile Unit.”
At that very moment, Wen Wu was telling a teammate what he’d just heard from Zhou Jue. “Bird Bro used to have three heads, but somehow Brother Chen knocked two of them off! Now he’s only got one.”
Chen Zheng’s fearsome “reputation” promptly spread throughout the Mobile Unit.
Of course, Chen Zheng and Ming Han knew nothing about their teammates’ nonsense. Tang Xiaoli hadn’t been speaking politely when he told them to rest. Chen Zheng had worked under tremendous pressure before, but most of the strain had been mental. This time he’d been rushing from city to city and had barely escaped the burning Western-style old building alive. Ming Han was covered in wounds, fresh injuries piled on top of old ones.
Before going home, Ming Han wanted to buy groceries and cook a welcome-home meal for Chen Zheng. Chen Zheng thought of his arm, wrapped up like a thick yam. “I’ll do it.”
Ming Han looked astonished. “You’re going to cook?”
“I know how to make a few things. Certainly not as many as you, so we’ll buy something simple. Don’t make it too hard for me.”
Ming Han promptly began rattling off dishes. “I want sweet-and-sour pork tenderloin, crispy pork ribs, mao xue wang…”
Chen Zheng sighed. “I just said not to make it difficult.”
“Then what can you cook?”
“Stir-fried greens, shredded pork with green peppers, tomatoes and eggs, vegetable soup…”
“Pfft!” Ming Han burst out laughing.
“…”
Ming Han applauded. “That’s already great! Isn’t that what home cooking is all about?”
For the first time, Chen Zheng thought he ought to learn a few presentable dishes from Lu Hejun. Even Old Chen could make mao xue wang. Why couldn’t he?
“So which one do you want?” he asked.
Ming Han’s eyes widened. “I have to choose?”
Chen Zheng sensed trouble. “Then should I choose?”
“Can’t a grown man choose to have them all?”
Chen Zheng gritted his teeth. Well, it wasn’t impossible.
In the Chen family kitchen, Chen Zheng tied on an apron and began cooking. Ming Han stood beside him offering endless instructions. Chen Zheng found him annoying and tried to chase him away, but Ming Han retorted with complete confidence, “Bro, this is exactly what you used to do. I’m just learning from you.”
Chen Zheng, being the bigger person, refused to argue. He cooked every dish Ming Han wanted, which really meant every dish he knew how to make, in small portions. Ming Han polished off three bowls of rice in one sitting.
Lately Ming Han had either been staying at the Mobile Unit or sleeping at Chen Zheng’s home, so there was nothing much to put away. Chen Zheng wasn’t inclined to talk about the case. Instead, he told Ming Han to take off his clothes so he could check for any other injuries the man had been hiding.
This time Ming Han obediently complied.
Old scars covered his lean, powerful body, blending into the lines of his well-proportioned muscles like patterns carved with care. Chen Zheng touched them and found himself momentarily lost in thought.
When he came back to himself, Ming Han had already wrapped him in an embrace and was coaxing him just as he’d done in the hospital. “Bro…”
Chen Zheng stirred as though from a dream and instinctively tried to push him away, but couldn’t.
Warm breath brushed his ear. “You already told our Little Uncle I’m your family member.”
Chen Zheng went rigid.
“Can I be a real family member today, Bro?”
When Chen Zheng woke, no one was beside him. The door stood ajar, and clattering came from the kitchen. He pushed himself upright and hissed softly. His lower back ached terribly. He’d barely sat up before wanting to go straight back to sleep, so he rolled over and lay facedown on the pillow.
A certain restless Bird had insisted on making that offhand “family member” label a reality last night. Halfway through, his injured arm had started bleeding again. When they went to the hospital later, he was bound to get another lecture.
But thinking of how Ming Han had looked during the night, Chen Zheng quietly buried his face in the pillow. His ears felt hot. Footsteps approached. He knew Ming Han was coming, and was about to roll over when Ming Han suddenly threw himself onto him, pinning him securely from behind. His lips brushed Chen Zheng’s already heated ear. “Bro, you’re awake. Why aren’t you getting up?”
“My back’s broken.” Chen Zheng struggled weakly.
Ming Han pretended to be surprised. “Impossible. You’re so flexible.”
Chen Zheng turned his head, moisture still lingering in his eyes. “…”
If Ming Han could resist kissing him now, he wouldn’t be a man determined to become a proper family member.
Half an hour later, Chen Zheng emerged from his third shower in ten hours. Ming Han had already set breakfast on the table. After finishing his porridge, Chen Zheng began to “interrogate” him. “When did you hide those things in my medicine box?”
Yesterday, when Ming Han had asked to become a real family member, Chen Zheng had also felt that their relationship was ready to take that step. But they hadn’t prepared what they needed. He’d been thinking of ordering delivery or going out to buy something when Ming Han, like a magician, produced everything from Chen Zheng’s medicine box. In the heat of the moment he hadn’t asked questions. Now it was time to settle accounts.
Ming Han adopted the strategic position of peeling a boiled egg. Chen Zheng snatched it from him. “You don’t get to eat until you tell me.”
Ming Han scratched the back of his head. “Actually, I got some ready back in Zhuquan.”
Chen Zheng was grateful he’d already finished his porridge. Keeping his face impassive, he said, “That was early.”
“But there wasn’t an opportunity. Eventually they were nearly expired, so I threw them away.” Ming Han found Chen Zheng’s feigned nonchalance rather amusing. His eyes narrowed slightly. “I secretly bought more when we went to Nanshan City. And when we went to Junan City too…”
Chen Zheng was amazed. In Nanshan and Junan they’d been so busy they had to squeeze sleep into any free moment, yet this man had still been thinking about that.
“After we got back to Luocheng, I put them in your medicine box,” Ming Han said matter-of-factly. “We’d definitely use them sooner or later.”
“What if we didn’t?”
“Then I’d throw them away when they expired and buy fresh ones.”
His bandit logic made Chen Zheng laugh. Chen Zheng deliberately adopted a sarcastic tone. “Hmm. It’s good for young people to have ambitions.”
But Ming Han suddenly grew serious. “Bro, I’ve told you before. You didn’t know I existed in the past because I was holding myself back. I didn’t want to disturb your life, but once you came to Zhuquan, I didn’t want to keep holding back. I want all of it. The time we missed, and everything ahead of us.”
Chen Zheng held his gaze. After a few seconds he smiled softly. “All right, Mr. Family Member, hurry up and finish breakfast. I’ll take you to the hospital afterward.”
As Chen Zheng expected, the nurse gave Ming Han a proper scolding. The previous night’s activities had inflamed the wound, and Ming Han had developed a mild fever. He’d seemed fine in the morning, but by noon he was listless and weak. Going home was out of the question. He had to stay in the ward for an infusion.
The nurse adjusted the IV bottle and left them alone for a while. Chen Zheng stood at the bedside looking at him. A few hours earlier this big man had been full of vigorous energy. Now even his hair seemed to droop. He looked almost pitiable.
Catching Chen Zheng watching him, Ming Han called in a stuffy, miserable voice, “Bro, come here. Let me lean on you.” His eyes were reddened with illness, and he looked pitifully hopeful.
Chen Zheng sat beside him. Ming Han immediately shifted over and leaned against his shoulder. Chen Zheng put an arm around him to make him more comfortable, then ruffled his hair. He remembered seeing Ming Han sell iced rice porridge outside Fengshu Residential Complex the previous summer. Back then his hair had been cropped almost to the scalp. Chen Zheng had touched it later, and it had pricked his hand. It was longer now, and not quite so prickly, although it still wasn’t especially soft.
“How long has it been since you had a haircut?” Chen Zheng asked. “I’ll go with you when we’ve got time.”
Ming Han rubbed against him affectionately. “We agreed I wouldn’t cut it.”
“When did we agree? Who did you agree with?”
Ming Han fiddled with the zipper on Chen Zheng’s clothes. “Last time you said you liked that little-sister fringe.”
Chen Zheng thought back. They had talked about that hairstyle, but he certainly hadn’t said he liked it!
“Just admit you’re vain.” Chen Zheng swatted away his wandering hand. “Don’t blame me for it.”
Even Ming Han felt miserable when he was sick. Once he leaned against Chen Zheng, he refused to move. He couldn’t sleep, either, so he kept muttering away. Chen Zheng felt sorry for him, but then remembered what the rascal had done during the night and thought he rather deserved it.
Ming Han brought up his foresight again. Besides the medicine box, he’d stashed more supplies in a drawer in Chen Zheng’s study.
Chen Zheng laughed and scolded him. “Were you a hoarding hamster in your past life?”
Ming Han burrowed deeper into his embrace and pretended to be asleep.
Just as the IV bottle was almost empty, noises came from outside. Someone burst into the ward. Zhou Jue looked at Chen Zheng, then at Brother Bird cuddled up against him, and yelled, “Holy shit!”
“No shouting in a hospital. Show some manners.” Ming Han was feeling better now. He eyed Zhou Jue. “What are you doing here?”
“His wound reopened!” the nurse said irritably. “Honestly, you police officers. Can’t you take care of yourselves? You aren’t even healed, yet you keep doing ridiculous things. Today your wound splits open, tomorrow his does, and pretty soon I’m going to split open too!”
Zhou Jue saw they were fellow sufferers and cheered up. “Bird, were you fixing your car too?”
Zhou Jue treasured his car. Thinking he’d recovered enough, he’d insisted on going to repair it. He’d overexerted himself, reopening his wound and picking up a fresh injury as well.
By then the nurse had removed Ming Han’s IV needle. He energetically walked a circle around Zhou Jue and couldn’t resist flicking him on the back of the head. “Fixing a car? No, I was driving one.”
Zhou Jue didn’t understand. He turned to Chen Zheng. “Brother Chen, what car was he driving to end up like this?”
“…Ignore him and focus on healing. Otherwise I’ll report you to Old Tang.”
Zhou Jue was utterly baffled. What had he done? All he’d done was reopen his wound while fixing his car. Why was everybody picking on him?
Ming Han didn’t get to enjoy his triumph for long before the next blow landed. Chen Zheng declared that, given his complete lack of self-control when it came to making their “family member” status official, he was forbidden from carrying out that particular project again until his injury healed.
While the Mobile Unit regrouped and prepared, investigations into the Heaven-Measuring Ruler and Yunquan Group continued. Suspicions about Liang Yueze multiplied, but Yunquan Group itself was remarkably clean. The police still had no direct evidence that he’d committed a crime.
He continued running Yunquan Group’s daily affairs. Meanwhile, Liang Huiting, who had withdrawn from the company years earlier after marrying, had recently been visiting her birth family frequently and spending a great deal of time with Liang Yueze. Killer A, who had murdered Jin Xiaoquan, hadn’t appeared again.
Half the data from Jin Xiaoquan’s electronic devices had been recovered. The other half would probably remain inaccessible. The identity he’d used as Jin Xiaoquan had been forged in Country K, though how it had been done remained unknown. His real background appeared to be that of an undocumented Country K national who’d lived in Country A for years, possibly called A Quan.
Long before the Jinsi Island case, one faction of the Heaven-Measuring Ruler had operated in Country A. A Quan had probably come into contact with the organization then, been recruited, and taken the name Jin Xiaoquan. All the important figures in the Heaven-Measuring Ruler used the surname Jin, which was also the origin of the title “Mr. Jin.” Liu Xun had mentioned a major figure behind Jin Xiaoquan: his “older sister.” Investigators had identified her as Jin Xiuhe, though she was probably not related to him by blood. Her true identity remained unknown.
At the time of the Jinsi Island case, the faction based in Country A had been one of the Heaven-Measuring Ruler’s weakest branches. Soon afterward it moved into Country K and Southeast Asia, expanding through drug trafficking, training mercenaries for local clients, and arms dealing. Jin Xiaoquan seemed to transform overnight, obtaining a legally recognized identity in Country K before entering Hua Country as a labor-placement intermediary. Before his partnership with Nanfeng Pharmaceuticals, he had probably brought some drugs into the country from abroad. Those drugs were a precursor to Black Mark, and the psychotropic medication Xue Chenwen had received.
According to the Mobile Unit’s current intelligence, the Azure Sky Cult was effectively a force of expendable loyalists under Jin Xiaoquan’s control. Keeping them obedient required the Black Mark produced by “lake,” and that cost money. Jin Xiaoquan had no intention of footing the whole bill himself. Instead, he sold Black Mark through countless lower-level distributors. It had already made its way into medical facilities in smaller communities, supplying substantial funding for Jin Xiaoquan’s activities in Hua Country.
Black Mark was particularly deceptive and differed from conventional narcotics. Jin Xiaoquan’s distribution channels were also exceptionally well hidden. Almost none of the drug was circulated in Han Province. It was shipped elsewhere, which was why it had only recently come to light.
Elio’s Notes: Zongzi are tightly leaf-wrapped parcels of sticky rice, hence the joke about Ming Han’s bandaged arm. Mao xue wang is a rich, spicy Sichuan dish often made with blood curd, tripe and other ingredients, rather more ambitious than Chen Zheng’s everyday stir-fries. The repeated ‘family member’ (家属) also plays with the idea of being someone’s partner or next of kin; Ming Han is determined to make the label real. Later, 一头 can mean being on one ‘side’ but also literally ‘one head’; that’s the pun Zhou Jue mangles into a rumor that Bird has lost two heads.