The drizzle fell endlessly, and the sky was overcast. The ground was wet. A man with a hood over his head passed quickly through the little alley, tightly clutching a parcel hidden under his arm. His other hand was hidden in his pocket, the fingers tightly clutching a gun, but his hand was trembling. 

Suddenly, a person’s footsteps came from the other end of the little alley. The man froze, his chest heaving rapidly, his whole body tensed. He stopped. 

It can’t be, the man thought. He was well-concealed and hadn’t slipped up in his actions. The people pursuing him couldn’t be walking so steadily and carelessly. It was normal for people to come and go here. There was no need to be nervous. It was only a passerby…

Then he saw the man coming from the other end of the little alley. This person was very tall. He had an umbrella in his hand, held very low. His face couldn’t be seen. His pant legs and the hem of his trench coat were a little wet. Only the hand holding the handle of the umbrella was visible. The fingers were long and slender, the nails very clean. 

The man watched him unhurriedly walk over step by step. His heart rate nearly reached its limit. The person was already in front of him. He quietly said, “Please make way.” 

The man turned, pressing his spine to the damp wall, freeing half the space for the other person to pass by. The moment they brushed shoulders, the person with the big umbrella at last raised the umbrella slightly, letting the man see his face clearly, as well as the smile on that face. 

There was a gunshot in the little alley. 

Five minutes later, both ends of the alley were blocked by cars. A team of armed RZ Unit personnel charged in. The rain had stopped entirely. Su Qing folded up the black umbrella and held it. He pressed on the communicator in his ear and rather helplessly said, “Hey, haven’t you two had enough…” 

In headquarters’ observation room, Chang Dou and Lu Qingbai were as thrilled as a cheerleading squad. Lu Qingbai said, “Did you see that? After he said that, without warning, he shot that person in the arm right here, precisely so he wouldn’t be able to move the hand holding his gun. He had to judge which hand was holding the gun and which was holding something else. He also had to aim and choose his time right.” 

“Cool!” Chang Dou’s eyes were glistening. 

“Cough up, cough up!” Lu Qingbai said. “Who said just now that that brat would turn and run when he heard footsteps? Hurry and cough up the money!” 

Chang Dou and the other technicians each helplessly pulled out a red Grandpa Mao and offered it up to Dr. Lu. 

Su Qing put in an appearance on the communicator: “Lao Lu, give me half when I see you.” 

Lu Qingbai stuck the money in his pocket. “On what grounds?” 

“Nonsense,” Su Qing said. “Just try that with Captain Hu coming from the other direction. Never mind this little rabbit, a big wolf would have been scared off. I made at least a three-quarters contribution to winning the money. It’s putting myself at a disadvantage to ask for half.” 

Hu Bugui’s voice also came from the communicator. He very strictly condemned this conduct of gambling in headquarters and indicated that as a disciplinary action, all illicit funds given to the participants would be confiscated. 

Everyone had been in a very good mood lately, especially Su Qing. Cooperating with Tu Tutu, the big and little scourge together had fixed up Hu Bugui’s old mother with every sort of slick talk, getting her to the point of acknowledging Su Qing as a godson. After consolidating the sentiment, he had immediately pressed his advantage, to the point that Hu Bugui’s lips had loosened, and he had confessed everything. They had actually gotten through it without mishap. 

Anyway, Lao Hu wasn’t the only son in his family. They weren’t afraid of breaking the family line.

Fang Xiu had had a moment’s carelessness in a recent action pursuing a Utopia extremist. He had been slightly wounded. One of his feet was lamed. He temporarily couldn’t walk on it and belonged within Dr. Lu’s jurisdiction. So he hadn’t participated in the field activity. He had only been given the right to observe. 

Su Qing and the others over there had obviously called it a day, so headquarters also became noisy and relaxed. A group of young people from logistics began to fool around. Someone knocked off Chang Dou’s glasses, revealing a pair of extremely confused eyes that couldn’t seem to focus. But his expression was still as burning and excited as before. 

“One of these days, I also want to go out into the field once!”  Fang Xiu watched Chang Dou with his head of bristling bird’s nest short hair passionately say, “Holding a gun, keeping an eye on everything, listening in all directions, ‘ha’ and you catch a bad guy, then everyone pals around and leaves. Like being a superhero!” 

Fang Xiu was suddenly a little dazed. He remembered another person also raising his fist like this, entirely unreconciled, saying a similar line: “One day, I’ll become a superhero!” 

Was it that every nerd’s shriveled chest hid a heart that wished to save the world? 

Fang Xiu stared at an empty corner, thinking that there seemed to be someone standing there. He looked very frail and was dressed more ostentatiously than anyone else in the room, more like a mad scientist. He always talked a lot of nonsense and was bad at organizing his words. No one could ever understand what he meant. But under his scatter-brained exterior, he was actually more preoccupied than anyone else, bearing a heavier burden than anyone else. 

Fang Xiu felt that the person standing in the corner seemed to be smiling at him. He couldn’t resist laboriously shifting over a step. He even forgot his inconvenient foot, didn’t keep his balance, and got tripped by something. There was a fairly loud sound, and he went sprawling. He startled a nurse who had followed him over. Chang Dou, who was fairly close to him, also cried out and threw himself over. “Hey, why did you fall? Does your foot hurt?” 

But Fang Xiu didn’t hear anything. He ignored the sounds around him and raised his head to look into the corner, but it was empty. There was nothing there. 

In that moment, Fang Xiu felt that his heart was also empty. 

He suddenly became agitated and pushed Chang Dou’s hand away. He said a little roughly, “Get out of my way, don’t mind me.” Then he picked up his crutch, stood up with difficulty, and walked away, having absolutely no qualms about the startled and slightly hurt expression of the person behind him. 

In the maze at the ST Base, he had been trapped for years. Each day, he counted each second of sunlight and shadow passing. Each day, he fumbled. Each day, he was confused. Fang Xiu faintly knew what he was waiting for. He was waiting for a pair of hands that could pull him back. 

Xu Ruchong was gone, he told himself, but he didn’t believe it. Was he really gone? Had he really died so abruptly? Could fate really not give a bit of a hint before a major tragedy or major joy? Even…just a little bit? 

A feeling of unease, or…a slight ominous premonition. 

But it had all seemed to happen in an instant, so fast that he still thought it was a joke—Xu Ruchong sometimes liked to play all kinds of irresponsible jokes. When others had been really scared, he would jump out to hurriedly apologize and explain. 

He was waiting for that person to come explain, but he didn’t come. He never came. 

Fang Xiu even childishly thought that this wasn’t his fault. It was all Xu Ruchong’s fault. Those words he hadn’t had time to say—he had lost the chance forever. But they wouldn’t disappear. They only stuck in his chest, not coming up and not going down, as if caught in that maze like a fragment of time. 

Fang Xiu returned to his room, lit a cigarette, and quietly sat on the couch. 

After a while, there was a knock on the door. Fang Xiu knew who was knocking as soon as he heard—Hu Bugui knocked very heavily, time after time. Su Qing was indolent, and his knocking sounded dragged out. Lu Qingbai liked to bang on people’s doors like playing ping-pong. Qin Luo knocked three times with a very long pause between knocks. Only Chang Dou would first lightly touch a door like this, then only slowly gather the nerve to increase his strength on the second knock, as though he was lacking in self-confidence. 

He was always trembling—at least in front of him, Fang Xiu thought. Chang Dou was probably the only person in the unit who thought that Fang Xiu was an even scarier person than Captain Hu. 

There were three timid knocks. Fang Xiu closed his eyes. He didn’t want to pay attention. After a moment, the knocking came again. Fang Xiu sighed and thought that he had probably gone a little too far in his treatment of Chang Dou. 

At first, he had thought that Chang Dou was an inferior replacement, until his reason had returned and he had remembered that this “replacement” wasn’t doing it of his own accord, and furthermore…it seemed that he wasn’t very inferior. 

Chang Dou sometimes liked watching people’s expressions. He wasn’t as self-confident as Xu Ruchong. He needed the certainty of many people. But sometimes he was also very stubborn, with a childlike stubbornness that came from who knew where, like a…little mouse that had run all the way into the darkness but wouldn’t turn back. 

Chang Dou was only Chang Dou. He wasn’t anyone’s replacement. 

The person outside the door at last couldn’t hold back. He softly asked, “Well…are you there?” 

Fang Xiu sighed, put out his cigarette, stood up limping, and opened the door. Chang Dou still had his hand raised to knock and was very startled. 

Fang Xiu looked at him and quietly said, “Come in, then.” 

Then, supporting himself on the wall, he slowly walked back to the couch. He walked very laboriously. Chang Dou couldn’t resist wanting to reach out to support him, but he raised a hand and hesitated for a long moment, then quietly drew it back. 

“Sit,” Fang Xiu said. Before Chang Dou could speak, he began, “I let my mind wander a little just now. My manner wasn’t good. I wasn’t aiming at you. Don’t take it to heart.” 

Chang Dou was surprised. He opened his eyes wide and looked at him, his face slowly reddening. 

Fang Xiu paused, then squeezed out another sentence: “I’m sorry.” 

Chang Dou quickly waved a hand. “No…no, it’s all right.” 

The two of them were silent. Fang Xiu lit another cigarette. He closed the lighter with a click. The atmosphere became a little awkward. Chang Dou asked, “Well…does your foot still hurt? I saw you fall pretty badly just now.” 

“It’s fine, I just missed my footing.” 

“…Oh.” 

Chang Dou had his head down, looking at his own fingers. He thought dejectedly, it would be better if Su Qing were here. No matter who you saw him with, they were all very relaxed. He could even make Qin Luo laugh… Why couldn’t he be like that? He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know how to lead a conversation. 

He spent too much time looking at machines. He had long ago forgotten what he was supposed to say in front of people. 

“What else did you need?” 

Fang Xiu tapped out cigarette ash. The practiced motion of his slender fingers made Chang Dou stare. He heard his question, then came around. “Oh…Captain Hu said that the time for yearly general comments is coming. This is actually my first year taking part in this, I heard…I heard that apart from the captain’s general comments, everyone gives each other comments. I don’t quite know where I stand. I wanted to come ask everyone how my work has been. Well…” 

“Pretty good,” Fang Xiu said. 

“I know I don’t do well, and that I’m immature. Sometime I hold everyone back. You must often feel impatient looking at me, right? I know that… In the future, I’ll work hard to improve…” Chang Dou still hadn’t caught up. He was continuing on his own. 

“I said, pretty good.” Fang Xiu couldn’t resist smiling. The very tense lines of his face softened. “Everyone approves of your working ability.” 

“Huh?” Chang Dou looked at him stupidly. 

When he smiled, his pale lips took on a bit of color. Chang Dou blankly thought, He’s really good-looking when he smiles. 

Fang Xiu continued: “You hold up pretty well at the critical moment. When it came to a crisis last time, you didn’t drop the ball. Everyone is even discussing given you a special merit.” 

“R…really?!” 

“Yeah.” 

“Oh! Thank you! Thanks to all of you! You’re really too nice!” Chang Dou babbled thanks. 

“So you can stop worrying.” 

“Oh…” Chang Dou suddenly thought of something, and the happiness on his face slowly fell away. He began to waver again. 

Normally, Fang Xiu wouldn’t have had so much patience, but he had just lost his temper with Chang Dou for no reason. He felt that he had been a little unfair to him. So he restrained himself and asked, “What else is there?” 

“Right…I…” Chang Dou suddenly seemed to become a stutterer. He dodged Fang Xiu’s gaze, so nervous that he even started rubbing his sleeve with his fingers. “I…” 

“What’s the matter with you?” Fang Xiu frowned. 

“I…I…I…” Chang Dou’s face began to turn red, but he couldn’t get anything out after the “I.” 

“You what?” 

“I…” Pink turned into bright red, then turned to reddish-purple. 

“…” 

“I…” At last, after saying a truckload of “I”s, Chang Dou got up his courage, suddenly stood up off the couch, overbearingly put both hands on the coffee table, then quickly drew close and kissed Fang Xiu on the lips. His action was too abrupt. The knock hurt both of them a little. 

Fang Xiu: “…” 

Chang Dou’s head was about to turn into a tea kettle. Stream was coming out of his ears. He stood there as though he had broken a pot. “I…really like you.” 

He spoke like a mosquito. But Change Dou waited for a long moment, and Fang Xiu still didn’t react. He snuck a look at Fang Xiu. He saw that he had forgotten to put the cigarette he was holding in his mouth. He was looking at Chang Dou with a complicated expression. So he determined that his confession had been inadequate. He took a deep breath. Something in his mind twitched, and he yelled at Fang Xiu: “Requesting to be kept! I can warm your bed!” 

Fang Xiu’s expression became even more marvelous. Chang Dou took another deep breath. “I know you have someone else in your heart, but I’m going to work very hard! I’ll work hard to make everyone think that my work achievements are good, and I’ll work hard to make you like me!” 

He shouted like a hot-blooded teenager, as though he wasn’t confessing his feelings but stating his position before making a difficult sacrifice for the sake of survival. When he had said these words, he at last became weakened and demoralized. He snuck another glance at Fang Xiu’s expression. He found that Fang Xiu’s expression was even more complicated. 

Fang Xiu sighed. “Chang…” 

“Ah!” Chang Dou covered his ears and shouted, “Don’t say it! I won’t listen! I…I’m going, this is it for today, I’ll work hard in the future, I’ll really work hard! Don’t refuse me, I won’t listen if you refuse me!” 

Then he really did charge out, forgetting to even close the door. 

Fang Xiu stared blankly for a moment. He stuck the remaining half of his cigarette into his mouth. He suddenly felt that…the flavor was a little wrong. He couldn’t resist rubbing his lips. Then he considered and rubbed them again. 

He really was…a silly child. 

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Translator's Postscript Note: This novel is followed by Youyi/Itinerant Doctor, which describes the adventures of Kou Tong and Huang Jinchen.