Three days later, at a certain dock in Ningbo.

Wen Tingli sat on a bench, from time to time casting a wary glance at the crowd across from her.

A few days earlier, the moment she’d arrived in Ningbo, she had gone to deliver items according to the address Head Nurse Liu had given her, only to find no one there. Later she learned from Head Nurse Liu that their contact in Ningbo had been targeted by watchers, and they’d had to change residences in the middle of the night.

With the situation changed, she had no choice but to keep waiting in place for an opportunity. Last night, Head Nurse Liu had contacted her again, saying the meeting point had been changed to near the dock, but it seemed several “tails” were following behind the other party. Head Nurse Liu repeatedly cautioned her to be extremely careful during the handoff — if anything went wrong, she could cancel the plan at any time, since Wen Tingli’s personal safety mattered most of all.

But Wen Tingli knew the contents of that suitcase must be extremely important to them. Since she’d already agreed to help, she was determined to deliver the item into the other party’s hands intact, no matter what.

So she’d spent the night discussing countermeasures with Head Nurse Liu.

At dusk today, she arrived punctually at the dock. She waited like this for over half an hour before a man in a grey short jacket appeared in the crowd. He was utterly unremarkable, yet he immediately caught Wen Tingli’s attention — in this scorching weather, he had a filthy towel hanging around his neck.

This was the recognition signal they had arranged in advance.

Sure enough, two suspicious figures followed behind the man. Watching him draw closer and closer, Wen Tingli moved according to the original plan.

Meanwhile, a line of people were queuing to buy tickets when a woman suddenly let out a shrill scream. The crowd turned in surprise toward the sound and saw a white-haired old woman gripping tightly onto the arm of a middle-aged woman.

“Don’t even think about running! I’d know you even if you turned to ash, you heartless creature! Where did you take my grandson?!”

“What do you mean your grandson? He’s my son!” the woman cursed, her voice trembling. “Let go of me! That damned son of yours abandoned me for another woman — am I supposed to leave my own son behind so he can call some other woman ‘Mother’ someday?”

“Nonsense! Xiaogui is a descendant of our Li family — even if he has to beg on the streets, he’ll beg as a member of the Li family! You shameless thing, you’re determined to make my grandson a burden on some other man’s household. My poor Xiaogui, what sins did he commit to be born from the belly of a woman like you!”

The two women grappled fiercely. Everyone said the old woman was being unreasonable, yet no one stepped forward to pull them apart — they all just stood by and watched the spectacle.

Though the old woman was advanced in years, she was “old but still vigorous” — one hand yanking at the woman’s bag, the other pulling her hair, kneading the woman like dough, shoving her back and forth. The middle-aged woman, though not lacking in spirit, apparently wasn’t willing to go quite as far, and for a moment was no match for the old crone. Caught off guard, her face was scratched twice, and she wailed even more heart-wrenchingly.

Such a commotion was impossible to ignore, and even the man with the white towel around his neck stopped to look that way.

The two “tails” behind him exchanged a glance and secretly smirked — another one of these old “diversion” tricks.

They were curious to see what fresh tricks this old woman would pull this time.

Sure enough, as the fight continued, the blue cloth bundle in the crook of the old woman’s arm suddenly burst open, spilling out a great many golden oranges.

The bystanders, having watched the spectacle for so long and already somewhat disapproving of the old woman’s conduct, swarmed forward the moment they saw this to grab the oranges off the ground.

The old woman no longer had any attention to spare for the fight — furiously, she crouched down trying to gather the oranges into her arms, only to watch them roll farther and farther away in every direction.

“You bunch of scoundrels, even robbing an old woman like me!” she stamped her feet in fury. “Aren’t you afraid of divine punishment!”

Just as she was cursing, she stepped on a banana peel underfoot and fell flat on her back in front of everyone.

At this, many people on the dock couldn’t help bursting into laughter, and even the two “tails” covered their mouths to stifle their laughter.

Just then, someone slipped through the crowd and walked quickly up to “White Towel,” casually bumping his shoulder as if by accident, then retreated back the way he’d come. After a few steps, he broke into a run toward the other side, clearly carrying a suitcase in his hand.

The two shadows, who had appeared to be watching the spectacle but were actually waiting for exactly this moment, shot forward like arrows: “Stop right there!”

They caught up to the man in no time, pouncing on him from either side and knocking him to the ground. Believing they’d caught a big fish, they triumphantly flipped him over — only to find a half-grown boy, at most sixteen or seventeen years old, and the suitcase in his hand was empty.

“I— I don’t know anything, someone gave me money and a case…” the boy cried, terrified.

The two men sensed something was wrong. Fortunately, they hadn’t chased far, and “White Towel” was still standing in the same spot. Wiping cold sweat from their heads, they dragged the boy toward “White Towel,” only to suddenly notice something off — although this person wore the same clothing, he seemed taller than before, with broader shoulders.

Not bothering to conceal themselves any longer, the two men urgently grabbed the man’s shoulder and spun him around — sure enough, it wasn’t the same person as before.

“You!” they said furiously, yanking the white towel from the man’s neck. “Who gave you this thing?”

The man looked utterly bewildered. “What? Oh, an old woman gave it to me.”

“What old woman?!”

“Just now an old woman gave me ten silver dollars and told me to wear this white towel and stand here for a while.”

The two men whipped around, but there was no sign of the old woman anywhere in the crowd — even the oranges on the ground had vanished. Suddenly a strange popping sound rang out nearby, and someone shouted: “A gun! That’s gunfire! Everyone stay still, get down!”

The two “tails,” worried that the other side had accomplices in the crowd, assumed the gunfire was aimed at them and hastily threw themselves to the ground. Several more pops followed, and then a long silence. Then someone in the distance began cursing: “Damn it! It was just children setting off firecrackers on the street! Which one of you shouted ‘gunfire’? Come out here, I’m going to give you a good beating.”

The two men, still shaken, brushed the dust off themselves — and suddenly felt a chill run through them. Both people they’d captured had disappeared.

At this, they were nearly driven mad.

“They really are all in this together!”

“They can’t have gotten far — look, isn’t that the big guy from before? Quick, after him!”

Just then, a young woman dressed as a student walked toward them, glancing toward the boats as she went. The two men’s minds were so full of the big man and the old woman that they had no attention to spare for anyone else, and rushed right past her toward the other side.

Wen Tingli passed right by them like this, unable to suppress a smile inwardly — these two probably couldn’t even dream that she was the toothless old woman from a moment ago.

To ensure this operation’s success, she and Head Nurse Liu had secretly devised so many different plans, finally settling on this “chain drama.” It was also thanks to their sufficiently clever comrades that the plan had gone off so smoothly.

By now, the old woman’s disguise had already been sealed in a small suitcase and sunk into the sea.

By the time she reappeared on the dock, she wore the plain dress of an ordinary student. She let out a happy sigh of relief. She had finally not failed her mission, and could return to Shanghai with an easy mind.

She held her boat ticket and boarded — the ticket was real, and the boarding was real. This boat, she’d heard, came from Hong Kong and would only stop in Ningbo for an hour or two before continuing to Shanghai; she’d booked the ticket in advance the night before.

Suddenly she heard a commotion on shore — several police officers came charging toward the boat with a menacing air. Alarm bells rang in Wen Tingli’s mind as she heard them say: “We saw him flee to the dock and then he vanished — he couldn’t have jumped into the sea in front of everyone, he must have snuck onto the boat.”

It turned out to be a different group entirely.

Just as she’d let out a breath of relief, Wen Tingli’s heart leapt back into her throat as she heard them say: “Then we search the boat! Don’t forget this criminal is carrying a gun — anyone whose luggage has a gun in it, or who tries to throw something into the sea, arrest them first and ask questions later!”

Wen Tingli instinctively tightened her grip on her bag. Her gun never left her side, and given the situation, no matter who these men were, if they searched her and found the gun, it would surely bring no small amount of trouble.

Infuriatingly, the way off the boat was already completely blocked by them, and she had no chance to slip off in the chaos. Fortunately, only four or five officers had boarded, and with so many passengers on board, she could surely find somewhere to quietly hide the gun.

Who could have expected another vehicle would pull up at the dock, and seven or eight more men would leap down from it.

The officers already on the boat perked right up, calling down from the boarding stairs to the group on shore, who hurried aboard as well — a long black line filing onto the deck, looking from a distance like a moving black snake.

Cold sweat began beading on Wen Tingli’s back. Turning around, she found a staircase right behind her and hurried up it toward the second floor.

She heard the men below shouting harshly: “Listen up! The great bandit leader Liu Kai has snuck onto this ship — we’re here under orders to catch him! Everyone stay exactly where you are, or we’ll have reason to suspect you’re his accomplice!”

The passengers stirred at first, then fell silent — no one dared act rashly. For a while, only the sound of the men barking orders on deck could be heard.

By now Wen Tingli had retreated to the second floor. This level clearly had fewer cabins than the first — evidently all first-class rooms. A few passengers who’d come out at the noise stood scattered on the deck, craning their necks to look down.

In full view of everyone, Wen Tingli could neither hide the gun nor throw it into the sea.

Hearing the officers stomping their way up to the second floor, she looked around frantically and suddenly spotted wine barrels sitting in the corridor. Seizing the moment when no one was looking, she stuffed her gun into one.

But she knew that if she kept standing beside the barrel, once the gun was found, the people around would quickly guess she was the one who’d hidden it. She had no choice but to steel herself and continue retreating up the stairs to the third floor, glancing around warily as she went. Fortunately everyone’s attention was fixed on the commotion below, and no one turned to look at her.

On her way up, she discovered to her surprise a small carved wooden door where the second floor connected to the third, fitted with a lock, as if it were normally kept shut.

At the moment, the captain was likely too occupied dealing with the officers, so the lock was open.

She pushed the door open smoothly and went up to the third floor. This level was even quieter than the second. Strangely, the entire floor seemed to hold only a single cabin. The corridor was laid with a crimson carpet, and everywhere exuded a quiet air of luxury.

At this moment, there wasn’t a single person on the third-floor deck. Despite all the commotion below, the passengers on this level apparently had no interest in coming out to look.

This suited Wen Tingli perfectly — at least no one had seen her come up.

Down below, the officers quickly discovered the pistol in the wine barrel, shouting: “Who put this gun here?! Whoever it was moved fast — did anyone see who it was?”

No one answered.

“Everybody stay put!”

Wen Tingli was no longer panicking now — no one could prove the gun was hers, since there were no witnesses on either the second or third floor. Even if the officers found her presence on the third floor suspicious, she could pretend she’d been there a long while. But right at that moment, someone on the second floor said: “Just now — I think I just saw someone slip up to the third floor.”

“Just now?”

“Y-yes.”

“That must be whoever hid the gun. Come on, let’s search up there!”

Wen Tingli’s brow furrowed inwardly. She’d watched her surroundings closely while going up the stairs, and she was certain no one had seen her. This person suddenly speaking up to “divert the blame” elsewhere was clearly an accomplice of the bandit leader.

No matter how carefully she’d calculated, she hadn’t accounted for this. What now?!

She had a moment of panic, then quickly steadied herself.

The mission was already accomplished either way. Even if they discovered she had a gun, so what? Besides, no one could prove that gun was hers. Even if they took her back to the police station for questioning, she wasn’t afraid — worst case, she’d have Sister Yaqiao come to Ningbo to bail her out.

Wen Tingli thus grew completely composed, easily settling into a pose of admiring the scenery, leaning against the railing to gaze into the distance. But this time, the noise from below finally disturbed the passenger on the third floor.

The tightly shut door of that distinguished guest cabin was suddenly opened from within.

This was unexpected, yet it suited Wen Tingli’s purposes perfectly. She turned and offered the person a composed smile, while rapidly formulating a response in her mind.

But when she saw clearly who had emerged, her entire body froze.

She had seen this face countless times in her dreams.

It was him! The person on the third floor was Lu Shicheng!

Lu Shicheng’s shock was clearly no less than her own. But right at that moment, the group of officers had already made their way up to the third floor: “Who’s up there? Stay right where you are, or we’ll shoot!”

In a flash, Lu Shicheng grabbed Wen Tingli’s hand without a word and pulled her quickly back into the room behind him.

Wen Tingli’s heart pounded wildly as she stared straight at him. Once inside, Lu Shicheng asked nothing — he swept his eyes over her and, noticing she was drenched in sweat, seemed to guess what had happened. He opened the wardrobe and stuffed her inside.

Wen Tingli had no choice but to play along, pretending she needed protecting, and cooperated by hiding obediently.

At that moment, the officers outside began pounding heavily on the door.

Lu Shicheng turned to open it, and upon seeing the officers outside, showed a flicker of surprise.

“What’s this about?”

“You there! Why were you so slow to open the door? Are you hiding someone inside? Search it!” one of them was about to barge in when an older officer suddenly grabbed him.

“Terribly sorry, we didn’t realize this was Mr. Lu’s cabin. Mr. Lu, please don’t take offense!” The old officer’s tone was as respectful as could be.

“Who cares what Mr. Lu this is — that criminal’s probably hiding in his room.”

“Shut your mouth!” the old officer hissed in warning. “Even our chief has to show this man respect. Keep shouting and offend him badly, and you can explain yourself to the chief.”

Lu Shicheng raised an eyebrow slightly. “I understand — you gentlemen wish to search my room?”

He simply stepped aside. “Go ahead.”

“No, no, that won’t be necessary.” The men waved their hands hastily. “We suspected the bandit leader Liu Kai might be hiding on the ship, and were forced to disturb Mr. Lu by coming up here — it’s all fine now, we’ll be on our way.”

“Leaving?” Lu Shicheng blocked them with perfect seriousness. “Since you suspect the great bandit leader is hiding in my room, how could you leave without searching it? Go ahead, search away.”

Inside the wardrobe, Wen Tingli covered her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

“No need, no need.” The officers’ faces were plastered with obsequious smiles. “What reason would Mr. Lu have to hide a vicious bandit in his own room? We must have had water in our heads just now to cause such a ridiculous scene — please, young master Lu, don’t hold it against us.”

Lu Shicheng watched coldly as the group left. Once they’d run off out of sight, he waited a moment longer, and after confirming no suspicious figures remained nearby, closed the door once more.

He walked straight to the wardrobe and opened it.

“Have they gone?” Wen Tingli asked quietly from inside.

“They’re gone.”

Wen Tingli slowly climbed out of the wardrobe and stood facing him.