[02/29, 07:40, Qitian Hotel beside Nanyi City Bureau]
Yi Shi stood outside, pulling up his mask to cover most of his face, leaving only a pair of cold eyes visible as he pushed the door and entered the budget hotel.
There were two girls at the front desk, one with a ponytail, the same girl who had lent him coins for laundry when he first came here. She was half-leaning on the counter, just finishing her shift and listening to her colleague gossip about last night’s fun stories. When she looked up and saw a guest enter, she quickly revealed a standard smile that showed eight teeth. “Welcome to Qitian, how can I help you?”
“Waiting for someone.”
“Okay, there’s a sofa over there; you can sit down and rest for a while.”
Yi Shi raised a hand to indicate he didn’t need to sit down; it was fine to wait here. With a guest in front of them, the two girls felt they couldn’t slack off, so they picked up the guest records and reservation logs to find something to do. The ponytail girl occasionally glanced at the guest, wondering if he was a star since he was so well-covered indoors. Hmm, it was possible; from the side and back, he looked like a handsome guy.
The key was that those familiar eyes were becoming more and more recognizable, as if she had seen them somewhere before.
Yi Shi checked the time, noting they had a few minutes before the others came down. He took off his cap to rake a hand through his short hair and then put it back on, lowering the brim again. This series of movements took only five seconds but completely captivated the ponytail girl’s attention. She exclaimed in surprise, “Ah! You’re Officer Lin’s colleague!”
Yi Shi nodded, about to say “long time no see,” but suddenly realized that to them, he had probably only come here about a week ago, making that phrase seem redundant. The other front desk girl, who had never seen him before, was filled with curiosity, constantly sizing him up. The ponytail girl covered her mouth, saying, “I told you about him! I was on night duty that day and met a big beauty—fair-skinned, pretty, and well-built—seeing him made me and Weiwei tear up. Later, I even chatted with him in the laundry room. Oh my god, I was so excited during my night shift that I wasn’t tired at all! I didn’t expect to see him again so soon!”
“……” Yi Shi fell silent, feeling awkward. With her voice so loud, there was no need to cover it up.
Before 8 o’clock, shouts of a child echoed from the stairwell: “I don’t want to go back to Haijing! Let me down! Did you hear me? Let me go!”
“Despicable and shameless, abusing children, actually cuffing me! I’m going to tell Aunt Lin! So she won’t be with you…!”
Both front desk girls poked their heads out to watch the commotion. Abusing children? Their hotel was right next to the police station, and if such behavior really existed, they’d be taken in immediately without leniency.
To their surprise, coming down the stairs was Sheng Guoning, with a little boy slung over his shoulder. They recognized the child; he was Officer Lin’s little sidekick, Xiao Shitou. At that moment, Xiao Shitou was yelling and cursing, his hands cuffed. Sheng Guoning, however, ignored him and carried him outside.
Suddenly, Xiao Shitou fell silent, his big eyes fixed on the people at the front desk. Sheng Guoning also raised his head, making eye contact with Yi Shi, a flicker of surprise flashing in his eyes before it quickly subsided.
In that brief second, Yi Shi could confirm that Sheng Guoning recognized him. So, he took the initiative to walk over and block Sheng Guoning’s path, pretending to be a colleague from Haijing, saying he was there to take Xiao Shitou away.
Sheng Guoning was a good actor, pretending as if they were meeting for the first time, casting doubt on the “Haijing colleague” identity. The ponytail girl rested her chin in her hand, vouching for Yi Shi, maintaining a semblance of uncertainty until Yan Runping arrived. Only then did he pass Xiao Shitou to Yi Shi with a smile, saying, “I’m really sorry for making you run all the way from the train station. We’ll get a cab later, and I’ll reimburse you.”
Yi Shi didn’t reply. Xiao Shitou shook the big silver bracelets on his hands, expressing his strong dissatisfaction. As Sheng Guoning rummaged through his pockets for keys, Yi Shi took Xiao Shitou to the front desk and asked the ponytail girl for a thin hairpin, which he fiddled with for a moment before unlocking the handcuffs.
When he turned around, he caught Sheng Guoning’s gaze, and the unspoken understanding in their eyes was clear.
All the way, Xiao Shitou quietly followed behind Yi Shi. Once they got into a taxi, Xiao Shitou didn’t care where they were going; he was only concerned about the whereabouts of Gardenia. Yi Shi reassured him, “Don’t worry, she’s in a very safe place.”
“What about her injuries? Did she hit her head? Will she hurt her brain?”
“Don’t overthink it. She’s fine, and she’ll be okay in the future.”
Yi Shi didn’t realize the sadness that had slipped into his tone. When he turned his head, he found Xiao Shitou was sizing him up, and he thought he might have accidentally revealed important information. To his surprise, the child was actually questioning whether he was a “ghost.” He instantly relaxed, the hint of melancholy dissipating in this little interlude.
When they reached Pingju Square, Yi Shi held Xiao Shitou’s hand and strolled along the pedestrian street. Xiao Shitou didn’t understand the peculiarity of the passage of time; he was instinctively fearful of that place. The moment they stepped in, the transition of time was completed in an instant, leaving him feeling both odd and creepy.
In the café, the quartz clock showed 2 PM, while Xiao Shitou turned to see the clock in the glass reflecting 10 AM, the second hand moving backward. Time was gradually reversing in that mirrored world.
They spent two hours in the café, and at 5:30 PM, Yi Shi asked a staff member to help watch the child while he stepped out for a bit, promising to return quickly.
Xiao Shitou tugged at his clothing, his dark eyes gazing deeply into Yi Shi’s: “Will you really come back?”
Yi Shi bent down and rubbed his little head. “Don’t worry, even if I’m not here, someone more suitable will take you away.”
———
The morning at Peacock Head Mountain was chilly and bleak. As the sun rose, the mountains and forests awakened, with the occasional bird call breaking the silence. Yi Shi stood at the foot of the mountain, recalling that the last time he had found the entrance to the air raid shelter was from the road by the river. This time, he was searching for another entrance on the opposite side of the mountain.
At this time, Lin Heyu and the others had just arrived at the mechanical factory and would take a while to find this place. Yi Shi quickly found the southern entrance to the mountain. Compared to the northern entrance, the southern one was much more hidden, lacking any prominent buildings; it was a complete tunnel. He carefully lifted the covering board, and the creaking sound of the aging iron plate was jarring. He immediately halted, waiting several seconds to ensure there was no sound from below before continuing his actions.
The entrance opened, and a familiar damp, musty smell wafted up. There were stone steps leading down, similar in structure to the northern entrance. Yi Shi turned on his flashlight, adjusting it to low mode, and pulled up his mask carefully as he cautiously walked inside.
The underground space also had an arched semicircular ceiling, and this tunnel was even narrower and longer. Ahead, there was no branching path, only a corner that turned to the left.
The sounds of rolling suitcase wheels, footsteps, and voices mixed together.
“The boss said to take the money before Tu Laogui’s men arrive; hurry up, hurry up…”
“Five million! I’ve never seen this much money in my life.”
“Hurry, hurry, they’ll be back soon.”
With a quick turn of his eyes, Yi Shi understood what was happening: Pang Daozi wanted to monopolize the five million. It seemed he and Tu Laogui had reached a point of parting ways.
As two lackeys hurried around the corner pushing a suitcase, they were startled to see someone standing there. Yi Shi smiled slightly, cracking his knuckles as a warm-up.
Two screams echoed in the air raid shelter as the two lackeys stumbled and rolled away, trying to report to their boss that the guy who saved the hostage was back again!
Yi Shi couldn’t be bothered with them and instead pushed the ransom money over to the hostages, placing the suitcase beside them. As he hurried back, he overheard a conversation: “When are those cops coming?”
“Soon, right? When they come to rescue the hostages, we’ll make our big move and then withdraw.”
The low voices of conversation were infinitely amplified in the arched tunnel. These two voices sounded quite familiar. Yi Shi coldly smiled, thinking how narrow the road for enemies was. He was lamenting his inability to deal with these two guys, and now they had just come to him.
He also didn’t plan to hide; he walked over confidently, his footsteps echoing. With a “crack,” he stepped on a branch, and the two men suddenly popped out, shouting, “Who?!”
A few meters away, the man in the leather jacket shone his flashlight up and down at Yi Shi, discovering he was not a police officer. He initially thought he was just a nearby resident who had wandered in, and waved his hand dismissively like shooing away flies: “Get out of here, this is my territory, hurry up!”
Yi Shi smiled faintly and pulled down his mask: “Have you forgotten me so soon?”
The man in the leather jacket looked confused: “Who are you? Have we met?”
“Not only have we met, but we’re also acquaintances.”
The flashlight’s beam landed squarely on Yi Shi’s pale face, but the leather jacket man couldn’t for the life of him remember his name. However, the bald man beside him looked increasingly troubled, feeling that Yi Shi’s exquisite features were becoming more and more familiar, especially those sharp eyes. The scab on his right hand suddenly throbbed painfully.
It was him! That kindergarten teacher who had stabbed through his palm, leaving a scar that reminded him of this humiliating history. The leather jacket man still couldn’t grasp the situation when the bald man pulled out a gun: “Are you blind?! He’s the female teacher who escaped!”
“Ah?!” The leather jacket man exclaimed, his eyes nearly popping out. Yi Shi smiled and walked closer, cracking his knuckles: “Since you’ve recognized me, let’s catch up.”
Before he finished speaking, he took the initiative and kicked out his foot, sending a gust of wind. This way of “catching up” quickly left them unable to defend themselves. The bald man didn’t want to shoot but Yi Shi wouldn’t give him a chance. Every time he was about to pull the trigger, the leather jacket man would be forced to “block” in front of him, shouting in exasperation: “Baldie! Don’t act rashly! Look carefully before shooting!”
The bald man became even more irritated: “Damn it, why are you in my way? Can’t you go in front?!”
The three clanged and clattered while chasing each other, encountering Lin Heyu at the moment. Yi Shi hadn’t expected that just a hug would bring him into his world, with the bald man and the leather jacket man collapsing to the ground as corpses. He didn’t care about that; what mattered to him was Lin Heyu’s whereabouts.
In the information they exchanged, Lin Heyu mentioned their meeting but didn’t describe the specifics, only saying, “I saw you that day.” The mechanical factory would explode tomorrow; should he let Lin Heyu go? According to normal developments, Xiao Shitou would be taken to the mechanical factory, and if there was no rescue from Lin Heyu…
Yi Shi wanted to smile, but his lips couldn’t lift. Both he and Lin Heyu would suffer immensely without each other; this kind of “sacrifice” was not suitable. They didn’t need this between them.
He originally thought the worst outcome would be to maintain the status quo, but he didn’t expect the worst outcome to be breaking it.
Yi Shi stood up, leaned close to Lin Heyu’s ear, and whispered: “Before the explosion happens tomorrow, you must go to the mechanical factory. I will go too; let’s gamble one last time. Trust me, and also trust yourself.”
Lin Heyu was slightly surprised and nodded cautiously under his determined gaze.
__
[02/29, 14:21, Nanyi City Detention Center]
Sheng Guoning stretched lazily, while Yan Runping was sorting through the records, shaking his head helplessly: “Zhao Chenghu’s mouth is tough; we haven’t gotten anything out of him after several hours.”
“Of course, those delinquents treat the station like home, it’s just a routine for them; they’re used to it,” Sheng Guoning said, flipping through the record for several pages. “But it’s fine; whether we get something out or not, it’s all the same.”
Yan Runping thought their captain was referring to convicting someone with zero testimony; the old pretrial officer felt a bit embarrassed. Sheng Guoning took out his phone; he had received a reply from Lin Zhizhi about having lunch together, and he exclaimed with excitement: “Lao Yan! Look, Zhizhi agreed to go on a date with me again!”
“Calling her so affectionately; did you get it sorted out with your uncle?”
Sheng Guoning smiled: “It doesn’t matter, whether I get it sorted or not, it’s all the same.”
Yan Runping let out a strange cry, “Oh wow, Captain Sheng looks so confident; it seems he has truly won over Miss Lin. Efficiency is really high, too high!”
There were several missed calls on the phone. Sheng Guoning called back, and Yuan Maoqiu on the other end was extremely anxious, recounting how they had found the hostage and the ransom, emphasizing that Lin Heyu was missing. They had searched the entire Peacock Head Mountain but hadn’t found anyone yet.
Upon hearing this, Sheng Guoning immediately dispatched two teams to search, and Yuan Maoqiu asked, “What about Xiao Shitou?”
“Wasn’t Xiao Shitou picked up?”
“We from Haijing didn’t pick him up at all!” Yuan Maoqiu was furious. “How could you handle this? You didn’t verify identities before handing someone over; hurry up and send more people to find him!”
Sheng Guoning protested in confusion: “That was your Haijing’s colleague! The tall, thin one with Lin!”
“…” Yuan Maoqiu realized, “That’s really not our colleague; that’s his partner!”
Since it was Lin Heyu’s partner, he wouldn’t do anything to Xiao Shitou. Yan Runping was more worried about Lin Heyu: “Lin is missing? Peacock Head Mountain isn’t that big; did he forget to say hello while busy chasing the criminal?”
“Who knows? But Captain Lin is so capable; he definitely won’t get into trouble.” Sheng Guoning breathed a sigh of relief. “At least we found the hostage, which is a big breakthrough, so it’ll be easier to report back to the leaders.”
After returning to the bureau, Sheng Guoning went to report the situation to the leaders and didn’t leave until it was dark. There was possibly a meeting that night, and Sheng Guoning rubbed his forehead, helplessly sending a text to Zhizhi to apologize, saying he hadn’t considered everything and would reschedule.
Just as he walked out of the city bureau’s gate, pondering what to eat, someone suddenly called out, “Hey.”
Sheng Guoning turned around to see a tall man stepping out from the shade of a tree. He froze for a moment: “Captain Lin? You’re back? Yuan Maoqiu and the others have been looking for you on Peacock head Mountain and are nearly frantic. I’ll call him right away…”
“How long are you planning to keep up the act?” Lin Heyu looked at him solemnly.
Sheng Guoning, holding his phone, pretended to be clueless: “Huh? What are you talking about?”
Lin Heyu stopped speaking, his eyes sharp like an eagle, and they stared at each other for five minutes. Sheng Guoning raised his hand and conceded first: “Alright, alright, you win. I can’t outlast you; is that good enough?”
He walked to the corner and waved his hand: “There are people over there; at least come here.” It would be hard to explain if any colleagues from the criminal investigation team showed up.
Lin Heyu walked over, and Sheng Guoning asked, “Did you come to find me to know what? Go ahead and ask; there’s a meeting at the bureau later.”
“I saw that photo and discussed countermeasures with Yi Shi. Not obstructing Jiang Pan’s actions doesn’t mean I agree with your methods.”
“Disagree?” Sheng Guoning felt puzzled and lowered his voice. “Brother-in-law, since you know, you should understand that everything I did was for Zhizhi.”
“Yes, we all want Zhizhi to be safe,” Lin Heyu’s face suddenly darkened. “But you injured Yi Shi. If everything goes according to your plan, I’ll be entangled with him forever. What I want is for the three of us to escape our predicament.”
Sheng Guoning sighed heavily, leaning against the wall with a bitter smile: “…If I could think of a better idea, I wouldn’t have done that. I really didn’t mean to hurt you or Yi Shi; I just want Zhizhi to live safely.”
Before Lin Heyu could speak, a voice came from behind: “Brother.”
Both men were startled, and Sheng Guoning turned around to find Lin Zhizhi standing right behind them, seemingly having intended to scare them.
She wore a long dress, her carefully done makeup making her look even more charming, but she couldn’t muster a smile at this moment: “What… are you two talking about?”
