(1)
The sky was neither gloomy nor bright.
The sun occasionally peeked out from behind the pale gray clouds, but for the most part, it remained hidden.
A young man of medium height, slightly tall, dressed in a meticulously neat suit, stood like a sturdy pine tree at the entrance of the Small City First Hospital.
He adjusted his non-prescription gold-rimmed glasses and entered holding two simply wrapped bouquets.
—One bouquet contained a few carnations, the other a handful of sunflowers.
Although this was a small city, the hospital always seemed busy.
Several patients passed by on the roadside, coughing loudly; others clutched their stomachs and slumped on the cold metal chairs in the waiting hall.
From the bustling street outside came occasional impatient honks—sounds that the hospital’s glass doors failed to block out.
Small City First Hospital still looked as shabby as a county hospital, with only one building but several entrances and exits.
Its advantage was that once inside, one could always find the place they needed.
The young man in the suit followed the signposts and finally stopped in front of the public restroom door.
He glanced repeatedly at the “Inpatient Department Reception” sign hanging behind him to confirm he was in the right place.
Though customs vary by country, he figured no country would ever set its reception desk inside a restroom.
So, he turned around expressionlessly and walked against the direction indicated by the sign, following the “Public Restroom” signs until he finally found another restroom on the opposite side.
The hospital was small, but it had plenty of restrooms.
With the mindset of “since I’m here already,” the young man went inside, took care of business quickly, wedged the two bouquets in his armpit, and turned on the faucet at the entrance.
But for some reason, the faucet sprayed water not into the sink but up toward the ceiling, and since it was opened too wide, the water splashed all over his face.
He calmly wiped the water droplets off and turned off the faucet.
“Brother, want some paper?” a burly man asked, tossing a pack of warm napkins into his arms—only one sheet was left in the pack.
“Here, wipe up!”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome!”
“Excuse me, where is the inpatient department reception?”
“Inpatient department reception? That’s on the second floor!”
“Thanks.”
The young nurse, bored and staring blankly, suddenly brightened when she saw a well-proportioned, handsome man slowly approaching her.
His hair was damp, as if he had just been caught in the rain.
He held two bouquets in his hands, the water droplets on the flowers making them appear more vibrant than the others.
“Hello, may I help you?”
“Excuse me, which ward are Zhao Laoer and Bie Xiyun in?”
“Zhao… what?”
“Zhao Laoer.”
“Oh, he’s in ward 521, and Bie Xiyun is in ward 509.”
“Thanks.”
The young nurse stared wide-eyed as the man headed toward the newly installed outdoor elevator.
Only after the elevator doors closed did she snap out of her daze and hurriedly cover her cheeks.
“Ah, I forgot to ask for your name!”
***
(2)
Bie Ningning lay beside her mother’s bed, half asleep, half awake.
Suddenly, she sensed the door gently push open and instinctively looked up.
A gentle and refined young man holding flowers slowly walked in.
She thought he looked somewhat familiar but couldn’t remember where she had seen him before.
There was more than one bed in the room, so he wasn’t necessarily here to visit her mother.
She lowered her head again and gently pressed her mother’s hand.
Since being wheeled out of the operating room, her mother hadn’t woken up.
The doctors said her condition still required observation.
Suddenly, she felt a pair of rough hands slowly place a bouquet of sunflowers on the bedside table.
The plastic wrapping scraped lightly against the simple plastic nightstand.
“Hello, uncle,” Bie Ningning blinked—he was the first visitor apart from the barber uncle.
“Her condition isn’t good,” the young man’s eyes fell on the examination sheets carelessly placed on the bedside table.
“The doctor said she still needs… further observation,” the little girl sniffled.
“That barber uncle already paid for her medicine. When Mom wakes up, I’ll have her repay him…”
“Hmm.”
“What’s your name, uncle? When Mom wakes up, I’ll tell her you came.”
The young man, back turned to her, paused slightly and said calmly, “Zhao Laoer.”
“That’s your name?”
“Yes.”
“Goodbye, Uncle Zhao!”
He nodded lightly without turning around and closed the door behind him as he left.
Silence returned to the ward, broken only by the faint news broadcast from the television and the unconscious groans of an elderly patient in the next bed.
Of course, he wasn’t really Zhao Laoer but Lu Qiao Jingye in disguise.
***
(3)
In Zhao Laoer’s ward, the other two beds were empty; he lay alone by the window.
A middle-aged woman with many wrinkles gently stroked his hand, sighing softly, “You fool, always wanting to mix in with society. Well, now look— you’ve met your match. But that’s good, so you’ll have a lesson…”
Lu Qiao Jingye silently stood before Zhao Laoer’s bed, a faint but sincere smile on his calm face—
A dedicated killer was often also a dedicated actor.
A killer who always wore a stern face and couldn’t blend in easily would be quickly discovered.
“Oh, hello, hello, who are you?”
Lu Qiao Jingye glanced at the bouquet of flowers on the bedside table and bent down to hand them to the middle-aged woman.
“I’m a friend of Laoer’s.”
“Hello! He never mentioned having such a handsome friend like you!”
“He’s not really a bad person.”
“Just a little clever! A fool, that’s all. See, now he’s in trouble.”
“He was injured trying to save someone.”
Lu Qiao Jingye smiled and shook his head.
“Looks like he got lucky.”
“Yeah, the doctor said if the knife had gone in any deeper, there’d be no saving him.”
“I should be going.”
“Want me to wake him? That fool just fell asleep.”
“No need.”
“Then when he wakes, how should I refer to you?”
Lu Qiao Jingye solemnly reined in his smile.
“A valuable suitcase.”
“A valuable suitcase? Strange name.”
The middle-aged woman shook her head gently.
When she looked up again, Lu Qiao Jingye had already vanished, leaving only the playful wind swirling in the ward
***
(3)
“Advance payment of fifty thousand yuan to Bie Xiyun’s account in ward 509. Any extra, please refund directly to them.”
“Fifty thousand yuan exactly?”
“Yes.”
“Received fifty thousand yuan from you. Here is the receipt, please keep it.”
The long corridor echoed with footsteps continuously.
Ward 509’s door opened again, followed by another set of footsteps, but this time, they grew quieter until they disappeared.
Bie Ningning vaguely raised her head and saw a receipt on the bedside table but no one passing by.
“Meow.”
Suddenly, the door opened again.
This time, it was a young man with small eyes, a scruffy beard, and a hint of melancholy.
“Barber uncle!”
Bie Ningning’s eyes lit up.
“Did you come back with food?”
“My name is Li Fayuǎn.”
“Mm-hmm, barber!”
“I just bought some random things; not sure if you’ll like them.”
“No worries, I’m not picky!”
“Oh, do you know the uncle who just walked out of the room?”
“Uncle?”
“He looks a bit familiar.”
“The handsome uncle? He said his name is Zhao Laoer.”
“Zhao Laoer?” Li Fayuǎn scratched his head hard. “Can that guy already walk on his own…?”
***
(4)
On the outskirts of the small city, inside an abandoned wooden cabin,
Lu Qiao Jingye was adjusting a device that looked very complicated.
Soon, he picked up something resembling a landline microphone and held it to his ear.
An impatient voice came through, speaking Japanese: “Lu Qiao-san, what’s going on? You’re half an hour late from the scheduled contact time!”
“I went to visit those innocent victims.”
“You always do these unnecessary things.”
“Dying without purpose is tragic—they can’t even earn a single cent for anyone else.”
“Enough with this every time, whatever. How’s the job going? Our informant there suddenly lost contact.”
“Someone else received the assignment: to kill that girl named Anjing.”
“Damn it, who is it? I have to tell you, capture her alive. Our client paid a lot for this! Damn it, I’ve already accepted and taken a hefty intermediary fee. If you let her die, I’m finished!”
“Rest assured, the girl is temporarily protected by the local military research institute. The would-be assassin was eliminated by me.”
“That’s a big mess, those bastards! Did you hide the crime scene?”
“I didn’t want to act yesterday, but the girl was strange—her eyes turned golden. I lost control of my body, so I didn’t kill covertly. The death has already made the news. I suggest you search recent news online—our organization’s informants here are terribly inefficient.”
“How about you? Were you exposed?”
“Not yet. I disguised myself during the operation yesterday.”
“Be careful. This is getting complicated. No, I have to ask the client to pay more, or we won’t take the job!”
“Until your next update, I will continue the mission.”
“Alright, be careful! Damn it, you’re my cash cow, don’t just die on me!”
“Rest assured.”
Lu Qiao Jingye hung up and carefully packed the device, hiding it under a wooden board beneath the bed.
“A long-term mission… I need a new disguise.”
He muttered to himself as he stepped out of the cabin, naturally erasing all traces of his presence, making the abandoned cabin seem as if no one had ever been there…
Lu Qiao Jingye—because of dedication, he is worthy of trust.