The other party remained silent, relentlessly shining the flashlight on Jiang Langmin for a full ten minutes before finally switching it off. White spots danced before Jiang Langmin’s eyes; he kept them closed for a long moment before slowly blinking them open.
A streetlamp stood directly above him, while the other person remained hidden in the shadows of the trees. Their figure was blurred and indistinct, though he could vaguely discern it was a woman. Waiting for his vision to stabilize, Jiang Langmin asked, "Martina?"
After a beat of silence, a mechanical voice rang out: "El dinero."
He let out a soft chuckle. "So it’s Siri." He squinted at the figure beneath the trees. "I don’t understand Spanish. Switch to something else."
The other party quickly switched to English. Jiang Langmin tilted his head, listening to the Siri-like voice say "Money," and nodded with an amused expression.
"Money? Are you giving me money, or am I supposed to give you money? And who are you, exactly?"
"Roman Salazar."
"Roman Salazar? That name is a dime a dozen in Argentina. Am I supposed to just hand over cash to anyone who shows up and says it?" Jiang Langmin shoved his hands into his pockets. "Do I look like a boy who hands out fortunes?"
"Or, I’ll go for the cop."
Jiang Langmin laughed out loud. "Go to the police? And what do you plan to tell them?" He spoke toward Martina’s direction. "He and I are friends. Or perhaps you can tell me, and I’ll pass the message along for you?"
The other party fell silent for a long time. Even without seeing her face, Jiang Langmin could feel the waves of fury radiating from her.
Although the daytime temperatures in Jinghai had been rising lately, the nights remained bitterly cold. Jiang Langmin exhaled a puff of warm air onto his hands and slowly rubbed them together. "How about you tell me first—what exactly is your relationship with Roman Salazar?"
He took a small, seemingly casual step forward. The other person immediately recoiled, retreating deeper into the woods. The mechanical voice barked out emotionlessly, "Back!"
Jiang Langmin raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Alright, alright, don't get excited." He slowly backed away. "If you won't say who the Roman Salazar you know is, or explain why you're here, then I’m heading back."
"I thought an old friend had come to see me, but it seems it was just a disappointment."
The other person’s anger clearly intensified, but Jiang Langmin remained unmoved. Keeping his hands raised in surrender, he faced her and slowly backed away.
Standing in the shadows, Martina could clearly see Jiang Langmin under the streetlamp. She watched him back away for over twenty meters while still facing her, then turn and walk away without a hint of hesitation. Before he vanished into the darkness, he even gave a casual wave with his back turned to her.
In the dead of night in such a secluded place, the sound of a car engine starting was exceptionally loud. Before long, the roar of the accelerator faded into the distance, disappearing into the night. Martina waited in the shadows for a while longer before gritting her teeth and slowly stepping out. She had expected Jiang Langmin to show up, but she hadn't expected him to be so unpredictable. He hadn't even tried to bargain; he had simply left. He had left so decisively that she hadn't even had the chance to reveal her trump card.
They both knew exactly what the name Roman Salazar meant. The only reason Jiang Langmin had appeared here was because of that name. Yet, he had asked a few seemingly concerned questions only to treat the whole thing like a mere formality, retreating even faster than he had arrived.
Martina glanced at the recording software open on her translator. In those few short lines of dialogue, Jiang Langmin’s words had been watertight. No matter who listened to this recording, they wouldn't find any reason to suspect him. A sense of frustration welled up within her. Clutching the translator, she paced unconsciously. At the spot where Jiang Langmin had been standing, something reflected a small glint of light, hitting her right in the face.
Martina froze. She suddenly recalled that when Jiang Langmin had pulled his hands out of his pockets, something had indeed come out with them.
She approached cautiously. The object on the ground was tiny, no larger than two fingernails. Martina stared at the small bright spot, stopping three paces away. It lay in the dirt, covered in a bit of dust, making it hard to identify. She desperately wanted to pick it up and look, but she couldn't bring herself to do it, her feet feeling as though they were nailed to the ground. She seemed to be afraid of something; only her eyes were visible above her mask, and they were filled with struggle, caught between hesitation and a driving curiosity.
Ultimately, curiosity won out. She bit her lower lip, pulled a pair of gloves from her pocket, and put them on. After readjusting her mask, Martina slowly crouched down. Using a twig she picked up from the ground, she lightly poked the transparent object.
It seemed quite hard, like a large zircon. After poking it a few times and seeing no change, Martina relaxed slightly. She very carefully picked the object up.
It was a miniature pillow-shaped object. Because it had fallen into a pile of dust, only the protruding crystalline center had been visible, making it look like a diamond. Martina held it in her hand for a few seconds, but before she could figure out what it was, cracks appeared on its surface. She thought she heard a distinct sound of fracturing. Before she could react, a transparent liquid seeped out from the "pillow."
If Martina could speak, she would have screamed. Instead, she could only gape silently, violently flinging the object away. She then frantically ripped off her gloves, threw them aside, and ran in the opposite direction, bolting into her car and locking the doors.
The car was no warmer than the outside. Martina curled into a ball on the seat, her body shaking uncontrollably. Her mind went blank, completely losing the ability to think. Terror gripped her heart, making it nearly impossible to breathe. As her chest heaved violently, she suddenly lunged for a bottle of hand sanitizer in the car. She squeezed out a massive glob and scrubbed her hands frantically, inside and out. It wasn't until the entire bottle was empty and her hands were rubbed raw and red that her sanity slowly returned.
Martina forced herself to calm down. She retraced her memories carefully. The liquid had leaked out too suddenly for her to be certain if it had touched her skin, but regardless, she had been wearing gloves at the time. She struggled to squeeze the last few drops of sanitizer onto her hands and scrubbed them once more with meticulous care.
Jiang Langmin!
***
For a traffic cop, every day began with the morning rush hour. As Chen Rui finished his shift and looked for a place to buy some soy milk, he saw Lu Linjiang standing across the street, waving at him.
Chen Rui jogged over. "What’s this? Coming to treat me to breakfast?"
Lu Linjiang handed him a bottle of water. "I wanted to ask if there’s a record of that deaf-mute person you checked the other day."
Chen Rui knew exactly who he was asking about. "It’s on the body cam. After you asked me yesterday, I made a point to look it up." He flipped through his notebook. "I copied this down; take a look."
Lu Linjiang took it and glanced at the name: "Martina Ma." He made a call and reported the information Chen Rui had provided to Xu Sichen. "Check the system and see where this person lives."
***
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
---|---|---
散财童子 | Boy who hands out fortunes | Literally "Wealth-Distributing Boy," a figure from folk religion; used here sarcastically to mean a philanthropist or easy mark.
锆石 | Zircon | A mineral often used as a diamond stimulant.
陈睿 | Chen Rui | A traffic police officer and acquaintance of Lu Linjiang.
徐思晨 | Xu Sichen | A colleague of Lu Linjiang.
马蒂娜 | Martina Ma | The full name of the mysterious woman.
执法仪 | Body cam | Law enforcement recording device.
