Chapter 31

Bang!

It was a dark corner and the gunshot wasn’t that loud, so it didn’t draw much attention on a busy black street at night . Some shops were playing music at deafening volumes—their employees were completely clueless .

Yue Qing was taking payment at his counter . He raised his head abruptly and looked in the direction of the gunshot . It might have eluded others but it stood out to him amid the clutter of other noises . He couldn’t hear it clearly, but he instinctively knew it was a gunshot .

His shop was quite crowded, so Yue Qing didn’t head outside . He sat at his counter, adjusted the surveillance camera installed at his entrance, and watched his monitor . The street corner was a short distance away and his camera had limited coverage .

A few secondary school students riding their skateboards passed by, joking among themselves .

Not them .

A few drunken men mumbling as they leaned on each other .

Not them either .

Huh?

Yue Qing spotted someone on his monitor .

Fang Zhao?

He was carrying something in his hands . Yue Qing zoomed in and realized it was only a takeout box from a neighboring barbecue restaurant .

Fang Zhao showed up in Yue Qing’s shop soon .

“Overtime?” Yue Qing asked with a smile and probing eyes .

“It’s a busy time at work, but it’ll start getting even busier from now on . I might be gone for a few days straight starting tomorrow . I’m just going to crash at the office . ” Fang Zhao opened his takeout box .

He handed Yue Qing a piece of barbecued meat . “Have some?”

“Thanks . The barbecued meat at that joint is decent . They get their meat from Muzhou . It isn’t hybrid meat . ” Offered food, Yue Qing flashed a wide grin . He pulled a bottle of liquor from a shelf and offered Fang Zhao a glass .

“Bonus?” Yue Qing asked . He knew the barbecued meat wasn’t cheap . People in the neighborhood typically dined on compressed synthetic food . Real barbecued meat was a luxury on a black street . A palm-sized piece cost 200 or 300 dollars . Yue Qing indulged himself only once or twice a month .

“Yep . That’s why I splurged . ” Fang Zhao handed Yue Qing another piece .

“That’s right—your new song sounds great . I downloaded it . The music video looks good too . I recommended it to my old comrades . They enjoyed it too . I heard in the news today that you’re about to release your second single?” Yue Qing asked .

“Hence the overtime . “

“I’m rooting for you . We’ll be waiting for your new release, haha!”

Fang Zhao bought 10 pieces of barbecued meat . He and Yue Qing each had three pieces and he saved another three for Ai Wan . Ai Wan had said he was too busy to drop by and asked Fang Zhao to leave the pieces with Yue Qing . He would pick them up when things died down at his shop .

Fang Zhao brought the remaining piece in the takeout box upstairs .

Inside his shop, Yue Qing slapped his forehead . He was so busy eating and drinking he’d forgotten to ask Fang Zhao if he’d seen anything unusual at the street corner, but it probably had nothing to with that kid . Then who was it?

Yue Qing pulled up his surveillance monitor and started watching the people who passed by .

Around dusk something went down on the street behind his shop . It was a violent dispute but no one was killed . Yue Qing also learned that a gun was lost . But a lost firearm wasn’t something people discussed publicly . After all, it wasn’t a legal gun . Most of the guns in circulation on black streets were made in underground workshops . They were never registered and no one advertised when they went missing .

But he didn’t nail down who had taken the gun . The gunshot from the street corner must have had something to do with the lost gun .

Who had taken the gun?

Yue Qing stared at his monitor for some time but didn’t spot anyone suspicious . He eventually gave up . Who cared—as long as trouble didn’t come his way .

As for Fang Zhao, he had already arrived on the second floor . As soon as he opened his door, Curly Hair approached, wagging his tail violently . The smell of barbecued meat excited it even more . It couldn’t stop whining .

Fang Zhao scanned the room and didn’t see any damage . He fondled the dog on its head . “Good job . “

He placed the piece of barbecued meat on the dog’s plate, closed his windows, and drew the curtains . He took off his coat, from which he plucked a gun .

The gun was a rather old model, but it was still quite advanced for Fang Zhao’s time . There were many improvements .

Fang Zhao also removed a mangled bullet from his pocket .

So when Yue Qing was glued to his monitor searching for suspicious characters who might have picked up the lost gun, Fang Zhao was upstairs studying the gun he’d confiscated . He was a long way from home . He didn’t know how to use the current generation of guns, so he had to study up .

The next day, Fang Zhao took Curly Hair downstairs to Yue Qing’s shop . He would be crashing at his office for some time . He would need Yue Qing’s help keeping an eye on his second-floor apartment .

Ai Wan was there too . He was telling Yue Qing about the four young men he’d treated at his pharmacy last night .

The four kids were petty thieves in school and eventually graduated to robbery . Now they had dropped out and continued their life of crime . Their previous marks were outsiders, they robbed small amounts and no one was killed, so black street residents turned a blind eye . But their job last night seemed to have gone awry . The four of them were badly beaten .

Ai Wan had asked them what had happened . Initially, the four were tight-lipped, but eventually, Ai Wan got a few words out of them .

“I’m guessing the four kids are the ones who picked up the gun . As for who beat them up, they wouldn’t say . They only suffered from flesh wounds . They’ll be hurting for a while, but they’ll be OK in the long run . The person who attacked them just wanted to teach them a lesson . “

“So the gunshot at the street corner was those four kids?” Yue Qing asked .

“No way . Those four kids had never handled a gun before . Even if they had a gun, they wouldn’t have the guts to fire it . Even if they had the guts, they never had the chance to follow through . They were knocked down before they could see their opponent . The shot was fired by their attacker, probably to scare them . One of the four kids was so scared he peed . I could smell the piss on him when they arrived at my shop,” Yue Qing explained animatedly .

When he spotted Fang Zhao, Ai Wan greeted him with a smile . “The barbecued meat yesterday was great . I hear you’ll be stuck at the office for a while? Rest assured, Old Yue and I will keep an eye on your apartment . No one will dare touch your windows . Just treat us to barbecued meat again next time you get a bonus . “

“Sure thing . No problem,” Fang Zhao responded succinctly . He was in a hurry .

“Go, go . Don’t worry about your apartment . ” Yue Qing tossed Fang Zhao a bag of compressed biscuits . “For your commute . “

“Thanks!” Fang Zhao stuck the bag in his pocket and headed out in a hurry, Curly Hair in tow .

As Fang Zhao faded into the background, Ai Wan picked up where he’d left off with Yue Qing . “Say, which outsider is capable of delivering such a good lashing in this neighborhood?”

“You think it might be that kid?” Yue Qing pointed at Fang Zhao’s silhouette .

Ai Wan shook his head firmly . “Him? He’s a musician . How could he? The four kids told me their attacker clearly knew how to handle a gun . But aren’t you the only veteran on this street, Old Yue?”

Yue Qing didn’t think it was Fang Zhao either . “Let me look up the new tenants . “

After leaving his black street, Fang Zhao called a cab because pets were banned from public trains . The first order of business was applying for a permit for his dog . He listed “Curly Hair” as its name .

The dog was only officially adopted when it had a chip implanted . The chip served as its ID . Fang Zhao could locate it wherever it went . And a quick scan would reveal the pet’s identity and owner .

After registering his pet, Fang Zhao brought it to the company .

Staffers on the ground floor were puzzled to see Fang Zhao bringing a dog to work . Then they noticed that he wasn’t stopped . The security guards took a quick glance at him and moved on . They had no intention of interfering .

“I’m not mistaken, right? The person who just passed by was Fang Zhao, no?”

“Yep, and he brought a dog . “

“The things newcomers can get away with these days . . . “

“He’s even younger than you are and he produced an epic, haha . “

“Your information is out of date . My sources tell me that he’s been promoted . “

Fang Zhao ignored the discussion and ducked into the elevator . He was on the phone with Bu Lai . The body he inherited was weak . He needed to work out .

“Why, isn’t it Manager Fang? Congratulations on the promotion . ” Bu Lai’s jaded face beamed a warm smile .

“Thank you . “

“You need more equipment? I can ask the property staff to hold your equipment . “

“No, I was actually wondering if you had any exercise equipment . “

“I don’t think so, but I could order some, although the company already has a gym . You wanna set one up in your department?”

“That’s what I was thinking . “

“No problem . Your floor is quite spacious anyway . “

“Anything else? I’ll put them in the same order . “

“Gaming consoles?”

” . . . Manager Fang, you’re here to work . “

“I also want the gear for shooting games . I prefer realistic guns . “

“Fang Zhao, you’re here to work . “

“Let’s go with games that aren’t too old . The newer the better . “

“Fang Zhao, you’re here to work!”