The man had a gun over his shoulder and wore a huge pair of sunglasses. He watched from far away as the RZ Unit completely cleared the scene in under three minutes.  

Half of the man’s face was hidden behind the sunglasses, so his age didn’t show. The contours of his face were distinct without seeming too harsh. He had a pair of long, slender hands like a pianist’s. He leaned against the wall and lit a cigarette, looking as leisurely and carefree as if he had woken up from a midday nap in bright afternoon sunshine and was leaning idly against the headboard of his bed—as leisurely and carefree as if he hadn’t been the one to kill that person just now. 

Just then, his phone rang. The vibration and sound hadn’t been turned off. First it vibrated, and then the ringtone sounded. He was dressed like one of the men in black in The Matrix, but his ringtone turned out to be the sacred tune “Love Sale.”¹ Somehow, out of nowhere, he took on a somewhat vulgar counterfeit air. 

This sniper of singular tastes unhurriedly blew out a smoke ring and enjoyed his distinctive ringtone for a while. He even seemed to be singing along with a few lines. After a long while, he finally picked up and gave a lazy “yeah.” 

The person on the other end was silent for a while, then said in a somewhat deep male voice: “11235, can you change your ringtone and not make me listen to “Mouse Loves Rice”² for such a long time?” 

“If you don’t like listening to it, you can just not call, and we’ll both save on our phone bills.” Sniper 11235 pinched out his cigarette, which had burned down to the end, and twisted it against the wall. He picked up a big bag, put the rifle away, then tossed the bag over his shoulder as though it were a wooden guitar. He took off the sunglasses and hung them from his chest, then opened his tightly-buttoned coat, revealing a lining made of one very non-mainstream patch after another, as well as a half-ancient colorful shirt. Next, he bent down and rolled up his pant legs. The pant legs hung over his feet, one longer than the other, revealing a pair of obviously unmatched socks underneath, and a pair of knockoff sneakers with “NIKE” written as “NICE.” He had changed completely from a “man in black” to a kid selling knockoff CDs at a subway entrance. 

He took another cigarette from the pack and put it in his mouth and with one hand fished out a lighter of the type that cost one yuan a piece at the supermarket, then lit up. As he sauntered along, he said, “Relax, I didn’t kill your ‘treasure.’” 

The man on the other end paused slightly. “What? You saw him?” 

11235 snickered. “As if you didn’t know. If you didn’t know, why would you call? So the two of us could have a nice chat about the weather? Don’t worry, the weather forecast said it would be sunny…” 

There was a boom of thunder on the horizon. 11235 said, “…skies.” 

“What do you think of him?” 

11235 indistinctly said, “What do you expect? Same as that bunch of stamped stupid cunts in your lab.” 

“No, you don’t understand,” the man on the phone said. “He isn’t like the blue seals. He’s perfect, with a complete metabolic system, a masterpiece that can separate external and internal emotions. His existence likely represents a whole new possibility for human evolution…” 

11235 listened expressionlessly for ages as he talked up the merits of the double core grey seal as though he was conducting a pyramid scheme. In a response that was far from warm, he said, “So what? I’m not buying.” 

The man on the phone: “…” 

An inscrutable smile appeared on 11235’s face. “I’ll report to you. You pass on to the old man that I’ve accomplished my mission. Everyone who should have died is dead, everyone who shouldn’t have died is still hopping. If there’s nothing else, let’s hang up. I’m going out moonlighting. Don’t get in the way of my livelihood.” 

Then he nimbly hung up the phone, turned it off, and swaggeringly turned into a subway entrance. He opened the big bag hiding the rifle from the other side and really did get a guitar out of it. He cleared his throat, squeezed onto a subway train heading towards the train station, and put on a somewhat stupid, somewhat insolent smile: “Today, I’m bringing you an old song. I hope you’ll all like it. Those with change can support me materially, those without change can give me a bit of applause, thank you, thank you for your praise.” 

His voice was actually very moving. He sang a rather elderly song. He did a round of the subway car and really did take in some earnings. His serial number was 11235. He was the fastest and most consummate gun in the world, and he didn’t have that ridiculous stamp on him. Of course, at this time, he didn’t know yet that the man he had teased into hopping up and down with his gun, whom he believed only had two more circles than others, would later become his arch-rival. 

There were fates in the world that needed the word “treacherous” added in front of them. 

Following the address that Su Qing and Qin Luo had brought back, the RZ Unit organized an armed team at the utmost rapid speed, but when they arrived, they still found that the premises had been vacated. On opening the door, there was only a floor littered with bodies and some pages of disjointed, incomprehensible materials. The move had clearly just taken place. 

The moment they charged in, the bracelets on all the bodies’ wrists cracked simultaneously, turning grey. Sadly, Su Qing couldn’t accompany the team this time, so no one heard any of the mysteries of the universe contained in these bracelets. 

And what about Su Qing? The wounds on his hand had been bandaged, and the bruise on his chin had been treated slightly. He was in his room in the RZ Unit headquarters, writing his self-reflection. Tu Tutu, who had come back from a class with Professor Cheng, walked in, peering around to examine his guardian’s other guise. He drew close and said a little fawningly, “Uncle Su, are you busy?”

Su Qing was just typing at lightning speed, as though he didn’t even have to think about the words—they simply came from the bottom of his heart. Hearing the question, he answered without even looking up. 

“I need to write something.” 

Tu Tutu trotted over and leaned on Su Qing’s shoulder to look. He was just in time to see a line pop up on the screen of Su Qing’s laptop: “This is a conduct that harms the discipline of the organization. Though it did not result in grave consequences, the circumstances were still very grave. What is discipline?” 

Next came several hundred characters of circular definitions and reams of verbose and rambling exposition. Then he began to quote authorities: “Chairman A said… Leader B said… Elder C said… Master D said…” 

Tu Tutu’s eyes opened wide. He developed an even greater admiration for Su Qing. He thought, My uncle really is full of statecraft. He’s memorized so many famous people’s famous sayings that he doesn’t even need to write a draft. How awesome! He couldn’t resist asking in a reverent voice, “Uncle, where did you learn all this from? You can write a composition just like this?” 

Su Qing’s flying fingers paused. Then, not turning a hair, he said, “Oh, you won’t find it in books. It’s all their oral sayings.” 

Tu Tutu became awestruck to the point of prostrating himself before him. He thought, He can even find the oral sayings! That’s not just awesome, that’s divine! 

That night, around a dozen bodies were brought back. The technological and medical departments were turned upside down, busy confirming the bodies’ identities and studying the seized materials. The field personnel had been running around all day and each went their own ways. But Hu Bugui arrived at Su Qing’s door and stood there for an age without knocking, pacing in small circles. 

Sudden, the door opened from inside. Su Qing had heard him going in circles at the door like a donkey pulling a millstone, so he stuck his head out. “Captain Hu, I’m sorry, the self-reflection still needs another couple of thousand characters. It’ll be done in a jiffy.” 

Nearly finished with a thirty-thousand character self-reflection, and he had an injured hand. Hu Bugui found he had underestimated Su Qing’s bullshitting level. His gaze slowly traveled down and fell on the bruise on his chin. Su Qing’s skin was pale, making the bruise even more obvious. Hu Bugui’s gaze sank. He couldn’t resist reaching out a hand to rub his chin. “Does it still hurt?” 

It did hurt a little, but that wasn’t the important point. Just as Hu Bugui’s rough fingers touched Su Qing’s skin, with a moment’s carelessness from one of them, his fingertips brushed the corner of Su Qing’s mouth, where the skin was very thin. It was as though a faint cluster of sparks burst out. The two of them paused simultaneously, both feeling that this action was a little…over the line. 

Just then, Tu Tutu, having taken a bath and put on little duck pajamas, ran out barefoot and yelled, “Imperial Uncle Su, come and read Our Imperial Presence a…” 

Then he noticed the big shot named Hu’s action and froze. He tipped his head back and blinked. He looked at one, looked at the other, then very calmly turned around and went back the way he had come, carrying his storybook. “Oh, haha, you’re busy, forget it, I’ll go close the door to my room.” 

Hu Bugui pulled his hand back a little awkwardly, unconsciously curling his fingertips into his palm. 

Su Qing gave a dry cough. “He hasn’t been raised right. How embarrassing for me.” 

Hu Bugui lowered his head. After a good while, he said, “During the day today, I was a little anxious…” 

Su Qing immediately realized what his current superior had come to do. He quickly said, “No, no, no, I was in the wrong, Captain Hu, I know I’m asking for it sometimes, no need to be polite… No, I mean, you absolutely don’t need to apologize.” 

“No matter what, I shouldn’t have hit you.” 

“It’s all right, I’m tough.”

“…” Hu Bugui paused. “I’m sorry.” 

Su Qing looked at him with an especially exaggerated expression of being overwhelmed by unexpected flattery.

Hu Bugui forced a smile. “Don’t be so rash in the future. We’re a team. When something happens, we all discuss how to take care of it together. One person going in alone isn’t our working style.” 

Su Qing immediately made a pledge: “Yes, sir, I definitely won’t make trouble for the organization next time.” 

Hu Bugui looked at his sincere face and felt that there was nothing else to say. He nodded. “Rest early. Tomorrow is the weekend. If you want to go out, I’ll arrange a car for you.” 

Su Qing said, “No problem. I guarantee I’ll have the self-reflection finished before tomorrow.” 

Hu Bugui seemed to laugh softly. “Don’t worry about the self-reflection. Just remember your pledge.” 

Su Qing pointed to heaven and swore: “May the Party and the people trust in me.” 

Hu Bugui said, “OK, I trust you.” Then his gaze paused on his chin once more. Only then did he turn and go. 

Su Qing closed the door behind him, thinking, Seriously? You dare to trust what I say? 

Then he frowned and raised a hand to touch his chin. He thought he really had been run off his feet lately. He ought to find someone to “relax” with. 

Hu Bugui… Su Qing tossed his head and sighed, thinking, He does have a good figure, but would hooking up with him be violating discipline? 

Eh, how annoying. Forget about it, then.