Tu Ziyun stared at Pei Cangyu’s lowered head and stirred his cup. "You don't seem particularly surprised."
Pei Cangyu looked up at him. "You said you had something important to tell me. What is it?"
Tu Ziyun withdrew the photograph. "He wasn't the only one. Everyone at the docks that day is dead. Do you know who they were?"
Pei Cangyu shook his head. That was the truth; he didn't know.
"They were a small gang from the East Bank. They dealt drugs in District Y and ran afoul of the local kingpins. Last month, they caused a scene at a karaoke bar, and several people were hauled in—members of their gang, the local kingpins' men, and the bouncers, who happened to be Gao Qian’s people. Although it was just a public disturbance and they were released after a lecture, they left a record." Tu Ziyun paused and pulled out another cigarette. "So, identifying them didn't take much effort."
"This man," Fei Zuohua interjected, pointing at the photo, "was found with the others in an abandoned warehouse at the East Bank docks. Twenty-three bodies in total. There was a massive amount of cash, drugs, boarding passes, and fake passports at the scene. It looks like they were planning to leave on a ship that night, but someone struck first. Twenty-three people, twenty-three passports."
Pei Cangyu swallowed hard. "So?"
Tu Ziyun narrowed his eyes. "The problem is, we never saw a trace of them on the surveillance cameras of Yao Si Street. That means they hadn't left that warehouse for ten days. Yet, the passports we found were stamped three days ago. We’ve verified them; the stamps aren't forgeries. Setting aside the possibility of someone inside Customs helping them, who acted as the middleman for these outsiders? And who delivered the items to them?"
Pei Cangyu’s voice grew faint. "Why are you asking me..."
"Do you know what kind of business Gao Qian runs?" Tu Ziyun asked, his eyes thinning into slits.
Pei Cangyu shook his head.
Tu Ziyun pointed at the photo. "He also provides identification documents for people like this who are trying to flee."
Pei Cangyu stared at the photo, motionless.
"Where were you between five and seven o'clock last Sunday afternoon?" Fei Zuohua asked, cutting straight to the point.
Under the table, Pei Cangyu’s hands clenched into fists. Tu Ziyun watched him with a keen, predatory gaze.
"At the convenience store. Working."
"Are there witnesses?"
"The guy I swap shifts with. We call him Skinny."
"His full name?"
"Surname Zhao. I’m not sure of the details. He’s Feifei’s neighbor; he’s been helping out for a long time."
"Do you have his contact information?"
"You’d have to ask Feifei for that."
Fei Zuohua and Tu Ziyun exchanged a look.
Under the immense pressure, Pei Cangyu kept swallowing, drinking cup after cup of water to suppress the rising tide of terror.
*Damn it, damn it, damn it.*
No matter how much he drank, he was still thirsty. His lips were so dry he had bitten them until they bled. The two men across from him simply watched him calmly, as if waiting for the exact moment he would break.
What should he do? Who killed whom? Who was the murderer? Gao Qian or Bai Shi? Was Bai Shi a murderer? Could he be? *Damn it, thinking back to when Bai Yinhua died, what exactly was Bai Shi doing there?*
His thoughts were a chaotic mess. The two police officers clearly hadn't finished speaking; they were holding back, trying to bait him into a confession.
What now? He was dragged into this again. Would the police suspect him of associating with these people? *Damn it, what if I get locked up? There’s no one to bail me out. Fuck... I’ve tried so hard to avoid people like Gao Qian. If I really go to prison and come out with no skills, won't I just end up mixed up with them anyway?*
When he reached for the teapot again, he found it was empty.
Tu Ziyun watched him. "You’ve drunk a lot of water. Don't you need to use the restroom?"
Pei Cangyu’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He jolted, his entire body jerking upward. He hurriedly reached in to silence it and looked at the two men. "I’m going to... the restroom."
The two nodded. Pei Cangyu fled toward the bathroom. Touching his forehead, he realized he was drenched in sweat. He caught a glimpse of his pale face in the mirror before ducking into a stall and locking the door.
The call was from Bai Shi.
Was it even a surprise? Pei Cangyu felt nothing; he had known it would be him.
He dialed back. Bai Shi’s soft voice came through: "What’s wrong?"
It nearly made Pei Cangyu jump out of his skin. *Who the hell called whom first?* He actually shouted, "What the fuck do you want with me!"
"...So fierce." Bai Shi sounded genuinely aggrieved. "I just wanted to ask what you want for dinner."
"Eat my foot!"
"What’s wrong? Your voice is so loud. Are you outside?"
"...None of your business."
Bai Shi chuckled on the other end. "Alright. But I only want to help you. After all, you’ve never dealt with anyone outside of school before. People out there have black hearts. I’m worried about you. You know that yourself, don't you?"
Pei Cangyu froze, then immediately reacted. "Let me ask you, when you were at Yao Si Street that day, did you see anyone running out of the warehouse?"
"What Yao Si Street? I don't know any place by that name."
Pei Cangyu thudded his head against the stall wall, unable to stand Bai Shi’s endless playing dumb. He snapped irritably, "Forget it, forget it. Just get lost."
"However," Bai Shi’s tone suddenly turned serious, "if you’re looking for someone, aren't there surveillance cameras on the street?"
"There are, but they said the people inside never came out..."
"My point is, can't they see who went *in*?"
Pei Cangyu blinked.
Bai Shi smiled and continued, "Oh, right. There was fog that day. A very heavy fog."
Suddenly, the light went on in Pei Cangyu’s head. The police had come to find him and were trying to bait him because the surveillance cameras couldn't see anything.
In other words, the police had no evidence at all.
Bai Shi asked again, "Did something happen on your end?"
Pei Cangyu hesitated, cracked the door to check for people, and seeing no one, continued, "The place Gao Qian and the others sent me to... the people there are in trouble. The police came to find me. I think they suspect me."
"What could you possibly do to them by yourself?"
"I’m afraid of getting tangled up in Gao Qian’s business..." Pei Cangyu left the rest unsaid. The consequence of getting tangled up was either offending Gao Qian or offending the police. The former would cause him endless trouble, and Pei Cangyu wasn't sure he could keep swallowing his pride forever; the latter was even more troublesome.
There was a brief silence on Bai Shi’s end. "I understand. Are you at the station?"
"No, at a tea house."
"You need a lawyer," Bai Shi told him. "They cannot interrogate you outside of a police station without a formal statement. You don't need to answer anything. I’ll give you a lawyer’s number."
Pei Cangyu couldn't describe how he felt at that moment. An angel’s voice couldn't have sounded better. He didn't even feel like cursing Bai Shi anymore.
"Is that okay?"
"Of course." Bai Shi sounded like he was smiling. "Do you want congee tonight? It’s been a long time since we had congee."
When Pei Cangyu walked back out, he seemed to have found some backbone. Fei Zuohua looked at him and shook his head with a hint of disappointment, while Tu Ziyun seemed quite amused.
"Now, back to the previous question," Tu Ziyun said, interlacing his fingers on the table. "We’ve already contacted Skinny. He said he hasn't been in touch with you since the shift change, so he can't verify your whereabouts between five and seven. I’ll ask you one more time: Sunday afternoon..."
Pei Cangyu looked up at him. "I want to see a lawyer."
Fei Zuohua was stunned. Tu Ziyun’s smile deepened. "A lawyer? Yours?"
"If you continue to question me, I want to see a lawyer." Pei Cangyu didn't answer him, simply stating the demand flatly.
Tu Ziyun lowered his head and laughed, then turned to Fei Zuohua. "What did I tell you?"
Fei Zuohua looked at Pei Cangyu and asked, "What else did Bai Shi teach you?"
Pei Cangyu’s tense face grew even more solemn. He suddenly realized something: everyone was playing him. It was as if they were all in communication, using him as a pawn in some game while he was the only one kept in the dark.
"You’ve realized it, haven't you?" Tu Ziyun stared at him. "Otherwise, why wouldn't you use your own phone to call me?"
Pei Cangyu gripped his phone tightly.
"Being soft-hearted isn't a good thing; it hinders your thinking." Tu Ziyun toyed with the lighter in his hand. "People change. Not just their personalities becoming strange—I’m talking about darker changes."
Pei Cangyu noticed the black lighter in Tu Ziyun’s hand. It was engraved with a cyan eagle.
"Choose, Pei Cangyu."
Tu Ziyun watched him.
Pei Cangyu lowered his head in silence. He slowly pulled out his phone, his hands trembling as he unlocked it.
...
*"Luckily you saved the number, saved me the trouble."*
*"You won't make it in ten minutes; the fog is too thick."*
*"I just wanted to ask what you want for dinner."*
...
The chaotic voices in Pei Cangyu’s head wouldn't stop. The calls that wouldn't go through, the fact that he hadn't received even a service provider's text message since a certain day, and the nagging feeling that something was wrong with the screen.
He scrolled through his call logs. Among the rows of unsaved numbers, he saw Bai Shi’s name. Then he looked up at Tu Ziyun and scrolled to what he thought was Tu Ziyun’s number; there were two numbers listed there. Finally, he returned to the home screen and stared intently for a long time until, inside an inconspicuous folder, he discovered an unfamiliar icon.
Tu Ziyun exhaled a leisurely cloud of smoke and slowly pushed his cup, filled with dark red tea, toward Pei Cangyu’s hand. Pei Cangyu turned off the screen, gripped the phone, and dropped it into the tea.
Fei Zuohua raised a hand to signal a waiter, who carried the cup away.
"You can speak now, right?" Pei Cangyu said, his head down, his voice muffled.
Fei Zuohua’s eyes dimmed slightly. He spoke: "Gao Qian has disappeared."
"To be precise, Gao Qian and all his men have disappeared. That 'Skinny' you mentioned is also gone."
"Disappeared..." Pei Cangyu looked up. "You mean..."
"We can't find anyone. The bars, karaoke clubs, and restaurants under his name are empty. We called Skinny’s number; it’s disconnected. And several others who were always seen around Gao Qian have vanished." Fei Zuohua pulled out another photo. "Did you know Gao Qian has a younger brother named Gao Tang?"
Pei Cangyu nodded.
"He was supposed to give a lecture at K University tonight, but he never showed up."
Pei Cangyu’s head snapped up. "He’s a professor?"
Fei Zuohua nodded. "Associate Professor in the Department of Business Administration, School of Management, K University."
Pei Cangyu didn't know how to react for a moment.
"In total..." Pei Cangyu swallowed hard. "How many people are missing?"
Tu Ziyun took over. "Twelve people, including Gao Qian, Gao Tang, and that 'Skinny.' The convenience store has been trashed. The owner isn't in town, so she hasn't been notified yet."
Pei Cangyu said nothing.
Tu Ziyun stared at his face. "I didn't mention this earlier, but the warehouse at the docks was burned down. That photo is one of the few where a face could still be identified. Between that and the twelve missing people, some person—or some organization—brazenly moved through the city and thinks they can get away with it. To be honest, I haven't seen such an arrogant crime in a long time."
Pei Cangyu lowered his head.
Tu Ziyun took a deep breath. The exhaled smoke drifted between the three of them, blurring their outlines until they could hardly see each other clearly. "The past cannot be retrieved. Compared to the convoluted intentions found in 'flirtation,' I would much rather believe that only a criminal heart possesses the desire to manipulate. Don't you agree?"
The smoke dissipated. Tu Ziyun asked softly, "So, what happened when you swapped shifts?"
Pei Cangyu kept his head down. He licked his lips and slowly began to speak.
"I think... it might be better to start from the night Bai Yinhua died."
Tu Ziyun smiled.
***
**Glossary**
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
---|---|---
幺四街 | Yao Si Street | A specific location/street name.
瘦子 | Skinny | A nickname for a character (Shouzi).
高塘 | Gao Tang | Gao Qian's younger brother, a professor.
K大 | K University | A fictional university.
管院工商管理系 | Department of Business Administration, School of Management | Gao Tang's academic department.
青色的雕 | Cyan eagle | An engraving on Tu Ziyun's lighter.
