Passing by the shopfront of a dilapidated “communal bath,” you saw a little alley. At the mouth of the alley, the words “for demolition” were written large in white paint with a slightly sinister-looking underline. 

Looking into the black alley, at first glance, it looked like a dead end. Only when you went in would you discover that inside was a little passage just wide enough for one person to pass through. Walking through, you had to watch where you put your feet, or you would accidentally step on an overturned paving stone or a patch of some unknown milky white substance sticking to the ground with a thick green growth. 

On the scrap building materials by the wall hung a filthy plastic bag. A public toilet stink reverberated in the not very large space, mixing with damp and hitting you right in the face. Su Qing turned up the collar of his trench coat. He was carrying two bottles of wine and a gift box. He turned his head to avoid an open broken window, then turned back to instruct Qin Luo to be careful. 

Qin Luo still didn’t dare to look at him. She nodded silently and looked down at the little piece of paper she was holding—it was the address of their mysterious dead man, Dong Jianguo. 

She hadn’t known that there was such an overcrowded place in this city—these grey streets, twisting and turning in all directions, with overcrowded little houses everywhere, garbage flying when the wind blew, and traces of barbecue carts at the intersections. Though she had the address, she was still a little dizzy and turned around. She could only keep her head down and follow Su Qing. 

Just then, a woman in pajamas appeared at the other end of the little street. She looked around forty, or perhaps a little older. Her yellowed hair was clipped up high with a plastic clip. She was carrying a garbage bag and met Su Qing head on. 

Su Qing’s appearance could be considered very remarkable. The woman couldn’t resist taking another look at him. Only one person could pass through the little street at a time, so the people at both ends were blocked. Su Qing looked back and pointed behind himself at Qin Luo, indicating that the two of them should retreat and let the woman come out. 

The woman looked at the two of them hesitantly, a bit of vigilance appearing in her eyes. “Who do you want?” 

Su Qing didn’t speak, giving Qin Luo a look—Utopia was likely fermenting some major act. Before operating, they had to report to their superiors. General Xiong had called on purpose to indicate his satisfaction with the current makeup of the RZ Unit’s core members and to request that they foster their strengths and circumvent weaknesses, developing on all fronts. They needed to overcome their bad habits. So Su Qing, who had been ready to go out on his own, had taken along this tail that breathed but didn’t speak. 

Qin Luo gave him a slightly panicked look. With an outsider present, Su Qing seemed a little more familiar, so she at last dared to look at him. Sadly, Su Qing suddenly pretended to develop an interest in an overturned paving stone at his feet. He thought, It’s only saying hi, and this is a middle-aged woman, not some devastatingly beautiful young man you wouldn’t dare to so much as look at. So he decided not to say a word. 

There was nothing for it. She had to shuffle forward a step and say in a quiet voice, “H-hello, ma’am… We’re looking for this person.” 

Qin Luo waved the piece of paper with Dong Jianguo’s address written on it in front of the woman’s eyes as though afraid someone would be blown away if she breathed too loudly. 

The woman took the paper and glanced at it. When she looked up, her expression was even more cautious and vigilant. “Who are you people? What do you want with him?” 

Qin Luo didn’t know how to continue. She gave Su Qing another harassed look. 

Smiling broadly, Su Qing said, “Sister, we’re his relatives from back home. We’ve brought some things for him.” 

The woman frowned. “Relatives from back home? His parents have both been dead for years, and there’s only his dim-witted brother left back home. I haven’t heard of him having any other relatives.” 

Su Qing didn’t answer. Instead, he looked her up and down. “You are…” 

The woman said, “I’m Dong Jianguo’s wife. I’ve seen all his relatives from back home, and I’ve never seen any people like you.” 

Su Qing gave an “ah” and looked back at Qin Luo in deliberate surprise, saying, “Oh, it’s our sister-in-law. I didn’t realize. She looks way too young for it.” 

Qin Luo opened her mouth and briefly met Su Qing’s eyes, and found that his eyes were too sincere, so sincere that it didn’t look at all like he was telling lies. She had no choice but to nod silently. 

The woman’s expression warmed a little, even displaying a trace of a smile. Su Qing continued: “Sister-in-law, you’ve forgotten, there are some cousins on Jianguo-ge’s third maternal uncle’s side. It’s been years since we’ve visited with each other.” 

“You’re talking about…” The woman stared, thought for a long time, then doubtfully asked, “Do you mean you’re from the second cousin’s family?” 

“Of course!” Su Qing, entirely unashamed. “It’s no wonder you don’t recognize me, I was only this tall when you married Jianguo-ge, still running around wearing open-split pants.” 

The woman gave an “ah”, suddenly seeing the light. “Right, right, I remember a little, your childhood name was Xiao Dong, right?” 

Boldly and confidently, Su Qing said, “That’s me, that’s me! Oh, wow, haha, it’s been years since anyone’s called me by my childhood name!” 

The RZ Unit belonged to a secret branch. Whether they were collecting evidence or investigating, they couldn’t alert ordinary citizens. In the end, when the investigation was complete, they would go through some procedures to pass Dong Jianguo’s body on to the public security agency, and only then could his family be notified. The usual principle was that all operations were to be carried out secretly. At great need, they could temporarily impersonate the police, but there was currently no precedent for Su Qing’s flashy shamelessness. 

The woman seemed to have relaxed, her expression warming entirely. She looked at Qin Luo with a happy smile. “Then this lady is…” 

“My wife,” Su Qing casually cooked up. 

Qin Luo felt the inside of her head buzz. Her very soul burst out. She stood where she was, staring foolishly. 

Then Fang Xiu gave a howl over the comms. With a trace of a smile in his voice, he joked, “Su Qing, what’s going on with you? If she’s your wife, then what happens to me? It ought to be first come, first served, right?” 

Qin Luo’s face was about ready to drip blood. 

Hu Bugui gloomily cut in: “Enough. Fang Xiu, have you finished investigating his assets? Su Qing, don’t go too far with your jokes.” 

Punishing the guilty and the innocent alike… Of course, given Captain Hu’s hidden inner world, perhaps it was primarily to punish a certain person. 

The woman rather enthusiastically took Su Qing and Qin Luo inside. Su Qing put down the gift box and the wine, made some small talk, then looked all around. “Hey, sister, isn’t Jianguo-ge here?” 

“No, he’s out working.” When the woman said this, Su Qing looked closely at her expression and found that her features looked expansive and her eyes lit up. 

So he followed along: “He’s very capable. Everyone knows that.” 

The woman curved her eyes in a smile, but she said, “Is he? He’s only making a living by the sweat of his brow. Look how small this place is—”

There was no need for her to say it. Qin Luo had noticed. The whole house was around ten meters square with a worn out couch, a little 21-inch TV, and a double bed in a corner. On the other side there was a curtain, separating off a “room.” Qin Luo glanced around and faintly saw some cartoon and comics posters sticking out from behind the curtain. She remembered that in the materials, Xue Xiaolu had said that Dong Jianguo had a daughter who was attending high school. This seemed to be the little girl’s space. 

The woman tucked a strand of hair falling from her temple behind her ear. Bragging a bit, she said, “Although we are going to move soon. We bought a house this year. Though it isn’t big, either, at least it looks like something. Ah, it’s really better back home. It’s too hard living in the big city.” 

Hu Bugui had been keeping his attention on them. He quietly said over the comms: “It seems that the family’s financial situation suddenly improved. Could he have taken part in Utopia’s human experimentation willingly?” 

Su Qing immediately said, “What’s so great about home? You have to get out and see the world. My wife and I came to seek shelter with da-ge—sister, we’re not strangers, tell me the truth, what does da-ge do? How much does he make?” 

Hu Bugui found the expression “my wife and I” rather grating and wanted to admonish him again, but he was worried about interrupting his train of thought and held back. 

“Eh, just temporary work, manual labor all over the place. He does whatever people make him do. How much can you earn like that? Just enough to keep body and soul together.” 

As soon as he heard this, Su Qing knew that the woman was having an attack of petty-mindedness. She was afraid of having poor relations spongeing off them, so she didn’t tell the truth. He pretended not to notice and moved the subject away. But the woman was good at keeping her mouth shut. Su Qing made several attempts and couldn’t get anything of much value out of her. Ordinarily, he would have time to visit with her a while longer, but Hu Bugui was urging them on. If Utopia really was performing human experimentation, then this business was major. 

Just then, the door opened, and a fourteen- or fifteen-year-old girl came in. She had earbuds in and was wearing a school uniform too big for her, but there were rows of bracelets and hoops around her wrists. Looking closely, you could see that she was wearing nail polish, too. She walked in, glanced at Su Qing and Qin Luo, then, without saying a word, turned to go behind her own little curtain. 

The woman looked on the verge of losing her temper. In a heavy voice, she shouted, “Xiao Jing, where are your manners? Don’t you see we have guests?” 

The little girl kept a stiff face, seeming not to have heard. The woman stood up to scold her, and Su Qing quickly stood up to hold her back. “Sister, sister, don’t be angry with the kid.” This was a typical encounter between middle age and youth. The woman’s face turned red, and she began to mutter obscenities. The girl shoved the curtain door closed in nonviolent noncooperation. 

Su Qing had a thought and shot Qin Luo a look. “See, we’ve come at a bad time today. Da-ge isn’t here. When will he return? Should I come another day?“ 

The woman took a deep breath and forced down her anger. “He comes home once in two weeks. He was just back last week and left a bit of money. I figure you’ll have to wait until the middle of the month.” 

Su Qing gave an “ah”. “So long?” 

The woman said, “It’s not easy for him to come back. He’s outside the 5th Ring Road.” 

Su Qing put on an expression of embarrassment and mumbled, “Sister, tell me if this works. You tell me how to contact da-ge, and we’ll go and see him. It’s really…a little urgent. Let me tell you the truth, Xiao Luo and I are planning to go it alone. We’ve contracted for a place, planning to go into business, and we want to find some people to join up with us—no need to put in money, just to put in some work for us, and later we’ll share the profits. When it comes to business, we need our own friends and family to feel secure, don’t you think so?” 

The woman was dazed. “Well, why didn’t you say so? What are your plans?” 

Su Qing said, “We’re planning to sell building materials. We’ve already settled the suppliers and the shopfront, and we’re just missing manpower. And da-ge has experience on this front. I figure that benefits ought to be kept within the family. If he has the time, he can come help out, be another boss. If he doesn’t have time, he can also recommend some friends. They’d still be our own people.” 

The woman repeated “building materials make a profit” a few times. Her eyes spun. She grabbed a piece of paper and wrote an address and a landline phone number. “Why don’t you try this? What he’s doing now, while he’s making money, it’s not long-term, and it’s tiring. Last time he came back, he was all white.” 

Su Qing played the game up to the hilt, not leaving out a single polite formula or word of thanks, and heard their Captain Hu’s praise came over the comms: “Well done.” Then, taking the piece of paper, he left Dong Jianguo’s house with Qin Luo, one after another.

When they had only made two turns, Qin Luo suddenly grabbed Su Qing’s clothes and quickly made a gesture. 

This woman who blushed no matter what she did suddenly got a keen look in her eyes and nimbly pulled a silenced gun from her pant leg, then shot three times in a row—you could see how she had made it into the RZ Unit. The only time Qin Luo didn’t blush was when she was shooting. Not only did she not blush, she really had skill. 

At the same time, Su Qing suddenly jumped onto a wall. Hu Bugui roared, “Don’t be rash, come back!” 

Su Qing was selectively deaf. He called “you go ahead” to Qin Luo, and without even taking a partner was gone in a flash.