They were usually always busy. This time, because of their injuries, they had a rare opportunity to pleasantly kill two hours in the garden. When the sun began to set, Ji Xun pushed Huo Ranyin back to the room. Later, while going to the cafeteria to get food, he heard a piece of hearsay.
In the back alley of the hospital, there was a shared kitchen.
This term caught Ji Xun’s attention.
The hospital food was truly subpar—heavy on oil and salt. He had been wanting to improve their meals for a while but hadn’t found a suitable option yet. Takeout was about the same as hospital food; as for hiring a cooking auntie, he didn’t know where to find one on such short notice for just a half-month or a month. As for ordering customized meals from high-end private kitchens, he hadn’t managed to find anything particularly healthy and suited to their tastes on short notice either.
At this moment, Ji Xun suddenly missed Yuan Yue. If he were given another chance, he absolutely wouldn’t secretly disdain it in his heart when Yuan Yue mentioned the chicken soup his mom stewed.
Right now, he urgently needed a bowl of rich, fresh, tender, and highly nutritious chicken soup to nourish Huo Ranyin—he didn’t care if it was stewed by Yuan Yue’s mom, his wife, or his kid!
The shared kitchen was located just two hundred meters behind the hospital.
Walking about five or six steps down a winding footpath separate from the main road, one could see a row of open-air kitchens built against the wall. Inside the kitchen, pots, pans, bowls, ladles, stoves, sinks, and even oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar—everything one could need was available.
With a sizzle of oil hitting a hot iron wok, white smoke instantly plumed upward, and the distinct aroma of scallions, ginger, and garlic immediately invaded the nasal cavity.
Ji Xun saw a plump auntie cooking in front of an iron wok.
Besides this auntie, there were two or three other people in the kitchen, men and women, washing dishes and chopping vegetables.
Ji Xun didn’t dare look too closely at the one chopping vegetables; he just cast a brief glance before hurriedly looking away.
But he paid extra attention to the one washing dishes for a moment. At the same time, his gaze deliberately lingered on various corners of the kitchen.
To his surprise, this open-air “shared kitchen” was kept quite clean. One could tell that the items weren’t worth much and were all old, but upon closer observation, it was evident that these old items were being used and cared for quite meticulously.
There were no grease stains on the stoves, the soy sauce and vinegar bottles weren’t sticky, and the person washing dishes at the sink made sure to scrape the leftovers into a designated slop bucket nearby before washing them with water.
He observed secretly in the alley like this for a while. During this time, the plump auntie finished cooking her dish. Turning around and spotting Ji Xun, she enthusiastically called out in a loud voice, “Young man, you’re hurt this badly, why did you come over instead of resting properly? If you need anything, don’t move, Auntie will help you!”
“Hello, Auntie,” Ji Xun quickly replied.
Running around with Huo Ranyin all day dealing with dead bodies and puzzles, Ji Xun had been so busy solving cases and hadn’t played drums at a bar for so long that he had almost forgotten he possessed a face that appealed to both men and women, young and old alike.
His parents’ genes were indeed excellent. They gave him a good face that might not seem like much on an ordinary day, but when he was down on his luck, injured, and needed help, it was as delightfully convenient as carrying a VIP pass in his pocket.
“I heard this is a shared kitchen?”
“First time here, young man?”
The plump auntie quickly gave Ji Xun a brief introduction to what the shared kitchen was.
Speaking of which, it was originally started by the owner of the grocery store at the entrance of the alley.
The grocery store owner was a kind-hearted person. Watching people go in and out of the hospital every day, she noticed a farmer from the countryside who was exceedingly poor. He couldn’t even afford steamed buns; every day, he just ate a dry flatbread with pickled vegetables, washed down with a few gulps of water. And the water wasn’t even bottled mineral water; it was in a battered, army-green canteen—the kind of canteen that looked like an antique from the year the New China was founded.
One night, the farmer was crying bitterly in the alley.
She went up and asked, only to find out that the farmer’s wife had late-stage cancer. The hospital had said there was no point in treating her anymore; she only had a few months left, and he should take her home to rest.
That night, they talked for a long time, mostly the farmer talking.
She learned that to pay for his wife’s treatment, the farmer had already emptied all the savings their family had accumulated over several years. Now, their account had not a single cent left, and all the property their family had left were some livestock.
Full of sympathy, she asked the farmer if he was planning to go back now.
Unexpectedly, the farmer squatting on the ground wiped his tears and said he wasn’t going back.
My wife has been with me for twenty years. She’s suffered her whole life up until now, always thinking the good days were ahead. In the end, she endured and endured, until she ran out of days. No matter what, I can’t lose my conscience. However much money I have, I will spend it all on my wife. Going home means she’ll just suffer and die in agony. Here, when the pain gets unbearable, at least I can still beg the doctors and nurses to think of a way to help.
He started counting on his fingers to do the math.
They still had two pigs at home—big pigs, good pigs. Selling them should fetch at least ten thousand yuan or so. The dozens of chickens weren’t worth much, but there was no other way right now; they had to be sold too. He’d beg his neighbors to take them, and seeing how difficult his family’s situation was, they wouldn’t lowball the price. That would be another few thousand yuan.
In a dark, deep alley without a single streetlamp at night, a farmer squatting on the ground muttered about every last penny of his family’s assets—his entire livelihood—and not a single cent was to be spent on himself.
After that day, the grocery store owner gradually brought old pots and bowls from her home and set up this small shared kitchen in the alley. Anyone who wanted to stir-fry a dish or cook a meal here was free to do so.
She didn’t charge money. She only set up a sign next to the stove. The sign read: Gas: 50 cents per use.
Beneath the sign sat a bowl.
Everyone who came here to cook always paid consciously.
The hospital bore the weight of birth, aging, illness, and death. There was never a shortage of joys and sorrows, partings and reunions; you could bend down and pick up countless stories of bitter, arduous lives anywhere you looked.
“That grocery store isn’t open anymore,” the plump auntie said regretfully. “I heard the owner got old, so her children took her back to enjoy her twilight years. The grocery store was transferred to someone else, and now it’s a fruit shop. By the way, young man, did you come here to cook too?”
A look of confusion appeared on the plump auntie’s face.
Indeed, the people who came here were mostly middle-aged and elderly folks with no spare money at home. For a young face to suddenly pop up was very conspicuous, especially since this young man had a striking appearance and didn’t look like he lacked money at all.
The shared kitchen truly hadn’t been within Ji Xun’s original scope of choices.
The “shared kitchen” he had in mind was the type found in residential complexes or hotels—banquet-style kitchens that provided lunches and dinners for many people. But that kind of kitchen wouldn’t appear near a hospital. The only kind of kitchen that could truly take root and survive near a hospital was perhaps the one right before his eyes.
“Young man, are you facing some difficulties?” The plump auntie observed his expression. “Don’t be afraid, speak up, Auntie will help you!”
“Auntie will help you” seemed to be this warm-hearted plump auntie’s catchphrase.
“Auntie’s daughter is currently hospitalized to prevent a miscarriage. She has to stay in the hospital for a whole month until she gives birth. Auntie has to run over here every single day, so I have plenty of time. If you have any difficulties, don’t hold it in. Whoever comes to a hospital doesn’t have some difficulties? Let me tell you, Auntie also knows an old man staying in the oncology department. That old man has a granddaughter, beautiful and graceful. She comes to visit him every few days, always bringing bags big and small. For an old fellow living in the hospital, this is already incredibly filial! But that old man just can’t let it go. He says his heart aches for his granddaughter’s money; every time she gives him money, he can’t bear to spend it. The granddaughter has to work and can’t come every day, right? When the granddaughter isn’t here, this old man…”
The plump auntie sighed.
“…is cheap to the bone. He just makes do with the leftover fruits and biscuits from before. You tell me, why bother? To put it bluntly, once you’re in that place, you can see how many days you have left. If you can eat, eat; if you can drink, drink. Eat more, drink more. Absolutely don’t think about saving money… That’s not saving money, that’s spending your life. And it’s obvious that his granddaughter is doing quite well for herself. The translucency of that green jade bracelet on her wrist—absolutely stunning! Auntie reckons you couldn’t get it for less than tens of thousands of yuan!”
A highly specific noun triggered Ji Xun’s memory.
Ji Xun asked probing, “Does that old man have a red scar on the back of his neck?”
“Yes, yes, that’s him!” The plump auntie clapped her hands. “Hu Kun! That old man’s name is Hu Kun! You know him too?”
“Saw him on the road,” Ji Xun smiled. “His granddaughter even helped support me once.”
As Ji Xun and the plump auntie chatted back and forth, he learned more.
The plump auntie was a local who worked as a nanny, but hadn’t gone to work recently because her daughter was ill. It was also out of sympathy for that old man in the oncology department that she came out in the middle of the day to cook him a meal. It was just boiling a plate of tofu, stewing a soup, and grabbing a portion of rice. It didn’t take much effort and could be done in twenty or thirty minutes.
While chatting with Ji Xun, the plump auntie had already deftly opened the steamer and brought out the piping hot soup she had steamed.
Ji Xun fell deep into thought.
Nanny, local, warm-hearted, coming to the hospital every day this month to take care of her daughter…
Didn’t this perfectly match his requirements?
Ji Xun, who had originally planned to find a private kitchen to order a month’s worth of meals, changed his mind again.
He first made small talk with the auntie: “Is being a nanny tiring nowadays? Do you need some kind of certificate?”
“As for being tiring or not, I think it’s alright. Taking care of people also gives you a great sense of accomplishment.” The plump auntie remained completely unaware of Ji Xun’s probing intentions, pouring out everything like beans from a bamboo tube. “Being a nanny isn’t like being a maternity matron, so there aren’t any strict certificate requirements, just a health certificate. But a health certificate is needed for many jobs. Oh right, Auntie also has a nutritionist certificate! Don’t look down on this certificate—whip it out at an employer’s house, and it makes you very highly sought after!”
Even while chattering away, it didn’t delay the plump auntie’s work in the slightest.
She lifted the lid of the small soup pot in front of her, gave it a sniff, picked up the salt jar, and scooped a tiny pinch of salt into it.
It was exactly mealtime, and the little bit of fruit they had eaten earlier had been completely consumed by their stomachs. The bodies that urgently needed nutrition for recovery seemed to be in a constant state of hunger. Traces of the aroma wafted through his nasal cavity and into his brain, making the gluttonous worms all over his body tumble with desire.
This is the one! Ji Xun made his decision instantly.
But before talking business with the auntie, he apologized, pulled out his phone, and sent a message to Huo Ranyin.
Baby, what do you want to eat for lunch?
Talk properly. Since he had nothing to do right now, Huo Ranyin replied quickly.
Boyfriend, what do you want to eat for lunch? Ji Xun always liked spoiling people.
…
Yin-yin, what do you want to eat for lunch? Ji Xun switched up the variation, thoroughly enjoying himself.
Xun-xun, if you keep acting like this, I’m going to ignore you.
This sentence popped up on the chat interface.
Huo Ranyin had already learned to fight magic with magic.
Ji Xun almost couldn’t hold back his laughter. He forcefully suppressed it, looked up, and asked the auntie:
“May I ask your surname, Auntie?”
“My surname is Jiang.”
“Auntie Jiang, would you be willing to take on a half-month gig, help me out, and earn some extra money on the side?”
The reason Ah Kun was so addicted to peeping on the internet came down to the fact that the people seen from this perspective were fragments, building blocks, spare parts. They were never a complete segment; they required you to assemble them. And the process of assembly was exactly what Ah Kun was infatuated with and addicted to. It was like personally picking up seashells on a boundless beach, and then using one’s brain and heart to personally assemble them into a beautiful handicraft. Because of this, it was entirely unique—even the real person themselves couldn’t compare to the assembled seashells in his heart.
He tirelessly learned various ways to use the internet. The technological development of this era was truly astonishing, and the iterations on the internet were even faster than in reality.
For example, the Dark Web.
Although the Dark Web was an obscure piece of knowledge for most people, it was already quite popular among criminals abroad nowadays.
Ah Kun was no stranger to the Dark Web. For certain reasons, he was even extremely familiar with it.
The emergence of Silk Road—the American website that functioned like a Taobao for illicit online transactions—was a milestone for both criminals and Ah Kun. For the former, it made a series of criminal activities like murder, drug trafficking, and kidnapping much more convenient. For the latter, it allowed Ah Kun to make a small fortune in Bitcoin.
Silk Road wasn’t the only platform on the internet. Once this idea appeared, it was endlessly imitated, varying only in scale. Some popular ones operated like supermarkets, some obscure ones were like roadside stalls, and others that appeared periodically were a bit like country fairs.
Overall, Ah Kun didn’t like this method of setting up a sales page and peddling human lives like merchandise. But he had heard a theory: this was the inevitable evolution of crime.
Sin can be defined as an alternative product. That is, something provided “to a market not tolerated by traditional social order” that attracts attention, acquisition, use, or consumption to satisfy desires or needs.
Where there is a product, there is an industry, and an industrial chain will form. Naturally, it will also seek structural adjustment and change, thereby further forming industrial clusters. Similar crimes attract each other, link up, form upstream and downstream connections, and engage in competition or cooperation.
Traditional criminal industrial clusters were extremely difficult to form. Only a few, like the Golden Triangle, could rely on special environments to form resource-based industrial clusters.
But anonymous e-commerce broke down these geographical barriers for resources, allowing criminals to communicate and interact with each other on the internet at a low cost. Thus, an alternative cluster was formed.
Furthermore, the consumer base for sin was relatively scattered, and the intolerance of social order gave them an overall “shy” consumer profile. Anonymous e-commerce consolidated the demands of this massive group of potential clients, allowing the distribution of sin to sink deeper into the customer base, absorbing even more liquid capital.
Circulation is the essence of commerce.
Silk Road, fundamentally, was the circulation route for the business of crime.
The “he” who spoke these words was an investment expert. Ah Kun really couldn’t bring himself to like “him.” Even though “he” was young and had a good appearance, beneath that beautiful and pure exterior, the soul wrapped inside might not be equally beautiful.
It was more likely that he was just like Ah Kun himself—even though he was still alive and moving freely, he was nothing more than a skin sack wrapped around a bloody, decaying corpse.
Of course, if I am a bloody, decaying corpse, the other party is probably just vulgar, clinking copper coins, Ah Kun thought mockingly. A mouth full of business, money, transactions, value… as if people are just walking label display racks, clearly priced with ‘Brain: XX dollars,’ ‘Appearance: XX dollars,’ ‘Limbs and Organs: XX dollars’…
However, regardless of how much he mocked and disdained it internally, Ah Kun was still browsing through the sins.
He felt disgusted, yet at the same time, like an obsessive-compulsive, he browsed those sinful display windows that were even more evil than himself, comforting himself through comparison: Don’t worry, the police will catch these people first…
This was probably the evil of human nature.
It was during this kind of browsing that Ah Kun saw a transaction listing, one just like thousands of other display windows.
[This Month’s Futures – Whole Cargo Transaction]
Details:
[Photo]
Female, Qin City, born 1988, Blood Type A, in good health, no bad habits.
Attachment: Medical Examination Report
>>
Requirement Description:
Only child, parents abroad with extremely rare contact. Guaranteed untraceable for one year. Settlement by the end of the month, can coordinate with the transaction. Interested parties please leave a paid attachment describing your plan, then contact via private message.
>>
The so-called “Whole Cargo Transaction” was just another name for human trafficking. It meant that all of this person’s organs could be harvested, including vitals like the heart.
However, not everyone was after organs. A living, breathing human being—especially a woman—could be used for many things. The most common was keeping them captive as sex slaves.
Especially a young and beautiful girl like this. There were already anonymous replies under the display window.
Ah Kun stared at the photo. It was the most standard one-inch ID photo used on resumes. Compared to Luo Sui’s selfies on Renren Network, the woman in the photo had shed much of her immaturity and looked much more intellectual.
Even now, the photo served the same function as it did on a resume: intuitively displaying to buyers the value of this young woman as merchandise. It was just that this time, what was being sold wasn’t her work ability and knowledge, but her primal organs and life.
As a man, a male, Ah Kun couldn’t exempt himself from the terrifying desire to imprison the woman he loved in the palm of his hand and monopolize her. But—
He thought for a moment, briefly wrote up a plan for trafficking via water transport, and submitted a reply.
The anonymous user quickly sent him a message.
“Sorry, I’ve already reached an agreement with the previous person. I will delete the transaction information shortly.”
“If you want to kidnap someone secretly in Qin City, you have to go by water. I’m not boasting, but my connections at the docks are top-tier. Are you sure the previous person is reliable?” Ah Kun typed.
“This—”
“Consider it again. A whole person is different from a standalone organ transaction. This is your first time doing this, right? Even though you used jargon, we can tell at a glance that you’re a rookie.”
For a long while, there was no reply from the other side.
Ah Kun sent another message.
“You said you can coordinate with the transaction. You’re not planning to confirm on-site that this woman gets taken away, are you? Haven’t you considered that the other party might just take you away too? Buy one get one free—they ensure secrecy and get a bonus, isn’t that great?”
“…?!”
“I don’t have to buy her, but I can help you confirm if the transaction is successful. Besides selling people, there are other services here, as long as you pay.”
After a long time, a reply appeared in the chat tool.
“How much do you want?”
__
Author’s Note:
Sin can be defined as an alternative product. That is, something provided “to a market not tolerated by traditional social order” that attracts attention, acquisition, use, or consumption to satisfy desires or needs.
(Sourced from Baidu’s definition of a product.)
