"Finally, I can get off work."
Le Yuxin had led a team of officers busy all day and, at last, finished capturing all targets by the afternoon. While it was their duty, as a reward for a job well done, Blue Flame had approved early dismissal for them today.
Today's operation also reshaped Le Yuxin's impression of the Statistical Department, "Detested by gods and men alike, their arrogance could blot out the sun."
Aside from almost causing chaos at the military academy, in most other places, people tended to avoid the Statistical Department like the plague. Most were fearful, and those, like Le Yuxin, who wore black vests, were secretly called "black dogs." No one dared to provoke them openly, so people would only grumble behind their backs.
"I mean, if you're an outsider, you must really hate the Statistical Department. But if you're an insider, most folks have a favorable view of the department, some even taking immense pride in it."
First, the pay and benefits were excellent, that's a given—anyone could tell, since the Qian family got to eat meat every day. Second, it's a matter of perception: ordinary folks saw the Statistical Department as a secret police force suppressing progressive elements and controlling public opinion. The operatives, on the other hand, "considered themselves righteous enforcers maintaining order and purging rebels."
"Most of the operatives genuinely believed in the Imperial Court's legitimacy and naturally saw Backlight Particle as the source of chaos. Their thinking went like, 'If you don't agree with the regime's policies, stand up and try to change it—instead of just cursing and committing crimes like those Backlight rebels.'"
Besides, the internal working environment in the department was actually decent. "Everyone was just an ordinary person with their own emotions, and Director Blue Flame really looked out for his people. Many operatives might feel put upon at times, but as long as their work got recognition from above and the Court, they were content."
Ellie Lee was a bit extreme about it—just one word of praise from Blue Flame, and "she'd be raring to go snatch a few more Backlight rebels just to celebrate."
After changing clothes, Le Yuxin bid farewell to his team and left Team 1's office. In the hallway, he ran into Kui Zhao and Team 3's captain, Silver Gutsuki.
Kui Zhao walked with his hands behind his back, eagle-nosed and wolf-eyed, but the most eye-catching feature was that long braid hanging down to his waist. Le Yuxin couldn't help but imagine Kui Zhao's braid dangling into the toilet when he took a shit…
Kui Zhao suddenly stopped, "Captain Qian."
"Assistant Director Kui."
"I heard you completed the mission flawlessly."
"Just doing my job."
"I've booked a White Dragon Fish at Zhuli Restaurant tonight. Care to join me, Captain Qian?" Kui Zhao clapped Le Yuxin on the shoulder, his stern face showing a rare hint of a smile, "White Dragon Fish—there are barely ten of them a year. Miss it and who knows when you'll get another chance."
Le Yuxin didn't hesitate to shake his head, "Sorry, I'm having dinner with my family. Maybe next time, Assistant Director Kui."
The smile grew wider on Kui Zhao's face. He took his hand back and said, "Next time it is, then."
Kui Zhao apparently had just made a polite offer. After Le Yuxin refused, he let it go. Silver Gutsuki glanced at Le Yuxin, his expression unreadable, and followed Kui Zhao down the hall.
Once Kui Zhao and Silver Gutsuki had turned the corner, Le Yuxin heard Chen Fu come up behind him and say, "Nice work, Qian. No need to hang out with Kui Zhao."
"What do you mean?"
Le Yuxin exited the Statistical Department building, with Chen Fu following behind, speaking quietly, "You know Kui Zhao and Silver Gutsuki are tight, right? Five Team's gone, wiped out because of the betrayal. Now Teams Three and Four are both Kui Zhao's turf. The only action squads directly under Director Blue Flame now are just us Team One and Team Two."
"But as for Kui Zhao himself, I think… emmm," Chen Fu shook his head, "he's too aggressive, always irritable, always wanting to be the hero. If he becomes director, life in the department's going to be hell. Better to stick with Director Blue. What do you think, Qian?"
"Where there are people, there's politics." Le Yuxin wasn't so naïve to think there were no factions in the department—he just hadn't realized the factional struggle would actually involve him.
But on second thought, with Qian Yuliu commanding Team One, which now accounted for a quarter of the department's combat power, "he was naturally qualified to join the power game—as a pawn."
"So, does that mean we're Blue Flame's faction now?" Le Yuxin asked.
"Strictly speaking, we're Statistical Department faction." Chen Fu corrected him, "Whoever's director, that's who we follow. Director Blue ever try to recruit you, Qian?"
"No."
"So, which side are you planning to back?"
Le Yuxin paused and recalled Qian Yuliu's reasoning, and said, "Back Blue Flame, and if Kui Zhao falls, I might get promoted to assistant director. Back Kui Zhao, and if Blue Flame falls, the job still won't go to me."
Chen Fu blinked, then thought about it—that made sense. If Kui Zhao really took over, he'd obviously promote his old Team Three and Team Four cronies first, not Qian Yuliu, the newcomer. All things considered, Qian Yuliu's choice was a no-brainer.
"No wonder you always pick the right option, Qian." Chen Fu said softly, "Wanna grab dinner? It's been forever since we had sizzling clay pot."
"What the hell is sizzling clay pot…" Le Yuxin shook his head, "No, I'm having dinner with my family."
Chen Fu blinked, "Isn't that the excuse you used for blowing off Kui Zhao?"
"Nope."
Le Yuxin and Chen Fu stared at each other for a moment. Chen Fu scratched his head, "Well… it's still early. How about a drink somewhere? Or maybe a game of Battle Cards?"
"What the hell is Battle Cards…" Le Yuxin looked up at the sky. Since they got off work early, it was still bright out, and he knew that Qian Yuya probably hadn't even gotten out of school, never mind made dinner yet, so he nodded, "Sure."
Chen Fu and Le Yuxin walked for a few minutes after leaving the department. They soon spotted a tavern by the road and went in to sit. The manager, totaling up accounts, greeted them warmly, "There are nice seats upstairs, right this way, gentlemen. Ah Jian, customers!"
They picked a spot upstairs by the window, and Chen Fu glanced at the wall menu and told the waiter, "A pot of pineapple wine, stir-fried snails, smashed cucumber, peanuts, and some small plates. By the way, Qian, you don't drink. Want a pot of tea?"
Qian Yuliu was a strict teetotaler, which matched Le Yuxin's own preferences; he didn't care for alcohol either, but of course, the place didn't serve Coke. Le Yuxin thought for a moment and asked, "What do the kids like to drink here?"
The waiter, Ah Jian, blinked and hesitated a second, "Uh… honey Five-Flower Tea?"
"Sounds good, I'll have that." Le Yuxin ordered on the spot; the name just sounded delicious.
Soon the food and drink arrived. Le Yuxin tried the cucumber and peanuts and thought the peanuts tasted kind of bitter, but the snails were pretty good—lots of chili, loads of flavor. The honey Five-Flower Tea was so sweet it reminded him of rock sugar Asian pear tea from his previous life—icy, sweet, and paired with the spicy snails, made it impossible to stop eating.
"Heh."
Hearing a chuckle, Le Yuxin looked up to find Chen Fu staring at him the whole time—hadn't even touched his chopsticks yet, with an odd smile on his face, lips barely brushing the wine cup, his eyes a little glazed. The look sent chills down Le Yuxin's spine.
"Is this guy… is he lusting after me? Or after Qian Yuliu's body, maybe?" But Qian Yuliu really did look androgynous—handsome yet sharp, with that kind of charm that made you want to try, and then really regret trying!
"No good meal comes without trouble, no good meeting without strings attached!" "As soon as I polish off this Five-Flower Tea and the snails, I'm bailing. Unless this guy offers to pay, never eating out with him again!"
"Qian, you've changed."
"Hm… huh?"
Le Yuxin blinked and sat up, smoothing his expression. He tried to eat the snails with a little more finesse, keeping up appearances as a so-called "cultured scoundrel," "Have I?"
"You used to only drink slightly bitter Tie Luohan tea, never touched strong-tasting stuff like stir-fried snails." Chen Fu downed his wine and set the cup down with a laugh, "I didn't think even you, Qian—who I thought would never change for decades—could change and not notice it yourself."
"So he's not suspecting Qian Yuliu got body-snatched…" Le Yuxin breathed easy. He shrugged it off, "Well, you grow up and end up liking things you never thought you would."
"Yeah." Chen Fu watched the people flowing by in the street. "You grow up, and you start wanting things you never used to—money, fame, status, ambition… and then, you change as a person."
"Qian, what were you thinking when you pulled the trigger at Mr. Lin?"
Chen Fu sounded like he was just making small talk, but his eyes were locked on Le Yuxin, his torso tensed slightly forward, right leg shifted out to the side.
Drawing from spiritual intuition and combat experience, in that moment, Le Yuxin's mind played out Chen Fu's next move: Chen Fu would twist his right leg and sweep, smashing the table on the spot—his kicking range was just farther than arm's reach. With Le Yuxin's back to the wall, there was nowhere to dodge, and no way to counter—he could only brace for Chen Fu's strongest attack!
"Being the mole is really a thankless job. Not only do ordinary people spit on you, but even your subordinates are ready to turn on you. The world is a cold, treacherous place. The only warmth comes from Qian Yuliu's collection of exceptionally practical art books."
Le Yuxin thought it over and gave his honest answer, "Everything dies in the end, and some people just need a little help along the way."
"No saving him?"
"All I could do was help him die with a shred of dignity."
Chen Fu went silent, drew his right leg back in, poured himself another glass, and after a long pause, said, "You did the right thing, Qian. The department's prison is not for people to rot in… No point letting a teacher suffer like that."
"Glad you understand. And stop following behind me, will you? I'm afraid you'll kick my ass…" Le Yuxin scarfed down the rest of his snails, ready to bolt. He'd rather wait at home for his little sister than have dinner with these uptight types—God knows when they'd have a breakdown and start trouble again.
"Qian, are your choices always right?"
"Of course," Le Yuxin replied automatically.
Chen Fu had another drink and spoke softly, "Me, Qian—I overthink everything but rarely make up my mind. My parents are tradespeople, barely literate. They always brag I'm the pride of the family. Any time I bring them something home, they're happy. Everyone's scared of me outside, and that makes my folks feel like I'm somebody…"
"But then again, old friends keep drifting away, old classmates hate me. Oh, by the way, you missed out by not getting off the car earlier—I went to see Su Song, and his sister is every bit as beautiful as he always bragged. Seriously, Qian, you missed out."
Chen Fu clicked his tongue, "No wonder, back then, no matter how much we teased Su Song, he'd never let us meet his sister, or else he'd have had a whole squad of suitors on his case. But, thinking about it, since Su Song was a good-looking guy, there's no way his sister could be ugly, right?"
"Man, if I could go back, I'd have locked down that brother-in-law spot!"
"And Fengchuan Liu, that little shit—you remember those times we fought with their dorm? Then not long after, there was a big dorm inspection, and some 'romantic' magazines were found in ours. We all got punished and had to clean the school toilets for a month, remember? Damn, only after graduation did I realize it was Fengchuan Liu's doing. During the inspection, he ditched his favorite magazines in our room to set us up!"
"If I could go back, I'd hide his gifts, then toss some boys' love comics in his dorm for revenge… Hahaha, imagine the administration announcing what they found in his dorm. That would've been a riot!"
"If I could just go back…"
Chen Fu wobbled the wine jug, finding it bone dry.
He stopped daydreaming and let out a long breath of boozy air, "Qian, all this crap we're doing—are we right or are we wrong?"
"You're drunk." Le Yuxin asked the waiter for a toothpick so he could skewer out the snail he couldn't get with just slurping.
"Yeah, I'm drunk." Chen Fu laughed, "I'm just an ordinary guy who gets drunk, who hesitates, can't tell right from wrong. My parents' pride and my rise in status, those make me happy; but friends' disgust and people's scorn, that eats me up inside. I'm exactly that kind of person who can't let go, but can't hold on, either."
"But you're different, Qian. You always know what the right choice is, don't you?"
Meeting Chen Fu's pleading look, Le Yuxin licked the spicy sauce from the toothpick and nodded.
"That's good. That's good." Chen Fu let out a relieved sigh, "All I gotta do is follow your lead, right? No need to worry my head off."
"I can't do it anymore, I'm wasted… I'll go pay the bill and head home, you eat at your own pace."
Before Le Yuxin could answer, Chen Fu staggered to his feet and headed downstairs to settle the bill.
Le Yuxin thought for a second, then called out, "Waiter, another honey Five-Flower Tea and another plate of stir-fried snails! My friend's paying—put it all on one tab!"
"Well, since you're cool with the changes in Qian Yuliu, I'm not holding back!"
Behold: Le 'Mooch of a century' Yuxin has arrived!
Smack!
Le Yuxin almost thought he heard Chen Fu fall down the stairs. The moral of the story is: drunkards shouldn't take the stairs—they should just jump out the window. "Two stories down is nothing for an Awakener."
Watching Chen Fu's figure vanish into the crowd outside, Le Yuxin felt the weight on his shoulders grow a little heavier.
"What does 'entrusting the wrong man' mean? This is exactly it—they had no idea, absolutely none, that the person they relied on wasn't the real Qian Yuliu, but just a passing Transmigrator."
'Just have to take it one step at a time,' Le Yuxin thought, feeling pretty chill. 'Worst-case, I'll just die and let them all see that…'
Suddenly, he heard a whistling sound in the wind—and, reacting instantly, raised his right hand!
Smack!
Le Yuxin caught a rock that had been flying straight for his head!
"Is someone trying to assassinate me again?"
He looked around but saw neither a would-be thrower nor even any rowdy kids. Plus, this rock was smooth and obviously a pebble, pretty small—if this was an assassination attempt, it was a tender one. The last guy who tried came at him with a hand-cannon, bang bang bang.
Opening his palm, Le Yuxin found a piece of silk wrapped around the pebble.
It was a letter.
"To Meteor:"
"Meet at Half Past Thirty on the Upper Left Point, at Long Three Hundred and Angle Sixty."
"—Starcatcher"
Le Yuxin's eyes went wide, his mind instantly recalling what Lin Jinyao had once said to Qian Yuliu, "No one knows your identity except me and 'Starcatcher.' If I die unexpectedly and you're still deep cover, 'Starcatcher' will take over as your new contact!"