Chen An felt that Tong Zhe was very considerate. Worried that he would only be detained for a period of time, he immediately actively fought for ten years of residency rights in prison.
Chen An called the legal department. After listening to them explain the difference between attempted and completed extortion, he had the finance department schedule a cash withdrawal.
Finance indicated that their regularly partnered bank wasn’t large—one million might not be easy to schedule. So Chen An had the CEO and directors of Peace and Joy call the bank president, promising to move a sum of funds through them this month, in exchange for one million in cash ready for immediate pickup tomorrow.
Afterward, Chen An briefly explained the situation to Uncle He, telling him that after finding Tong Zhe’s location tonight, he must not alert the enemy—just quietly track him. He believed the cautious Tong Zhe would definitely go to the transaction location tonight for a final rehearsal. After they gathered information, tomorrow they would just wait quietly for the mantis to catch the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
Finally, he found the CTO and asked for a hacker with excellent technical skills and character, having him hack into all electronic products and cloud storage spaces under Tong Zhe’s name within one hour tomorrow at noon, to view and intercept any content involving scheduled releases.
Chen An felt this development was ideal. Because after the case escalated to extortion, the parties involved were him and Tong Zhe—Cheng Lele didn’t need to be dragged into this filthy, sordid affair at all.
She only needed to be happy.
Just like when he walked out of the general manager’s office, Cheng Lele, holding a bouquet of roses, amid the staff’s teasing, with a helpless yet somewhat sweet smile, came over to hug him.
The next day.
The weather had been overcast and oppressive these past few days. Last night after midnight, there were force-six winds. This morning when they woke up, the clouds cleared and fog dispersed. By noon, the sun hung high in the sky, brilliant white light, like diamonds. Chen An put on sunglasses, extended two fingers, compared the sun’s size, and decided the pigeon egg he’d give Cheng Lele would be set at this size.
Getting in the car, fastening his seatbelt, it was just twelve o’clock. Chen An received Tong Zhe’s call right on time. Tong Zhe directed him to drive here and there. After circling three times, he pointed to a road going to the countryside. After driving fifteen minutes, Tong Zhe told him to abandon the car and walk.
Chen An remembered that the place Uncle He sent where Tong Zhe scouted last night was still several kilometers from here. He thought to himself that Tong Zhe was being overly cautious. This walk would definitely be at least ten or twenty thousand WeChat steps.
However, the sun was so nice today, and the countryside scenery was so—desolate—but still weather suitable for a walk. On both sides of the farm road were narrow artificial irrigation channels. Beyond the channels was a large expanse of withered yellow rice paddies. Chen An walked for a long time and finally saw that unlicensed electric scooter beside a small outhouse. Tong Zhe also had him stop there. As required, he put the money in a box behind the electric scooter, similar to ones for selling popsicles, and locked it. Tong Zhe told him to hang up the phone, throw his phone into the irrigation channel, and continue walking forward. If he looked back, he would immediately release the videos on various platforms.
While commanding all this, to avoid Chen An having a tail following him, Tong Zhe was standing on a small hill behind the outhouse, using binoculars to survey the vast fields. Occupying the geographical advantage, he could see the surrounding area at a glance. He also noticed two farmers at the foot of the mountain who had been working there since before he arrived. He wore a hat and mask—even if police investigated in the future, they probably wouldn’t be able to say much.
When Chen An walked about one or two kilometers away, about to disappear from his line of sight, he rushed down the mountain at high speed. Yesterday he tested—running from this position to the outhouse took only two minutes. Even if Chen An were Usain Bolt, he couldn’t make it back in time.
His whole body tense, he ran toward the electric scooter, opened the trunk, confirmed the money was all there, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The instant his nerves relaxed, he heard buzzing overhead. Looking up, he was shocked to see a drone. He turned his head and was astonished to discover that those two farmers speaking local dialect now had a remote control in their hands.
He hurriedly started the electric scooter. Only then did he discover the scooter’s wires had been pulled out.
He wanted to run, but two more people rushed out from the hill, bumped into him, then pinned him down.
The instant Tong Zhe was pinned down, he thought it was the police and immediately cried hysterically. Later, seeing them take out their phones to report to the police, he clamored that the videos would be released on schedule. Uncle He said “feel free to release them,” and Tong Zhe started cursing Chen An profusely, saying he was unworthy.
The police arrived after about ten minutes. Seeing Uncle He’s two people, they asked: “Did you report to the police?”
Uncle He took out a cigarette and handed it over: “When we ran down, we accidentally bumped into this outsider. Hit him pretty hard. He didn’t even say sorry and started getting aggressive.”
The police seemed annoyed they had reported to the police for such a trivial matter. While registering, information came through the walkie-talkie saying extortion had occurred on the relevant road section and he should track the suspect.
“Tongfu Village, east to west farm road section, there’s an outhouse, beside it is an unlicensed generic brand electric scooter with a modified wooden box in the rear. I’ll send you the suspect’s photo.”
The police were pulling out their phone when Uncle He said: “Is it him?”
Two farmers watching the excitement timely walked over: “We’re bloggers filming Rural China. Just now he looked shifty, so we followed and filmed. There’s quite a lot of stuff in that trunk.”
As they spoke, they started pulling up the video.
Uncle He precisely pulled a key from his pocket and opened the trunk. A neat stack of renminbi inside was blinding.
The police presented Tong Zhe with a pair of handcuffs.
Uncle He clapped and sent blessings: “Human evidence, physical evidence, and video all complete. Young man, you’re suspected of extortion, involving an especially huge amount—ten years in prison.”
As the police car’s siren faded away, Chen An’s operation to catch the turtle in the jar perfectly closed the net.
Chen An and the lawyer finally met Tong Zhe face-to-face at the police station.
Tong Zhe had lost emotional control and kept shouting and screaming hysterically. Police had no choice but to temporarily cuff him in the cooling-off area. The so-called cooling-off area was a corridor, like a hospital waiting room, with several rows of waiting chairs welded to the floor.
Not long after, Chen An obtained the video Tong Zhe had used to threaten him.
Honestly, the video was shot quite artistically. Moonlight outlined two undulating bodies. All details were blurry, but hormones couldn’t be hidden. Two people’s necks intertwined and entangled, as if eulogizing life, revealing a primitive yet passionate beauty.
When Chen An was signing the statement materials, Tong Zhe was again crying and making a scene in the cooling-off area, saying he was forced into it. Yesterday he received a call from his mother saying his father’s condition had worsened again. He took this desperate risk for filial piety, then began tearfully recounting his impoverished, difficult life.
Some people stuck in the mire turn into maggots; some people stuck in the mire bloom flowers.
Chen An particularly missed Cheng Lele at this moment. After signing, he strode out the door.
Outside, the setting sun melted into gold, clouds overflowing with color. Just as Chen An sat in the car, Cheng Lele called.
“Little Ge, I got the final payment for ‘Brief Moments’! Tonight I’m treating you to dinner!” She shouted excitedly on the other end of the phone.
Chen An couldn’t help but smile: “Great, what do you want to eat?”
Cheng Lele hesitated for a moment on the other end of the phone and asked: “Should we go home and make dumplings?”
Taixi was a southern city, not like the north where dumplings were eaten for every holiday. The two of them weren’t the type to love eating dumplings either. Chen An asked: “Can you make them?”
Cheng Lele said: “Yes.”
“Then I’ll come pick you up and we’ll buy ingredients together.”
“Great.”
The city was too small. Driving from the suburbs back to the cinema took only twenty minutes.
When Chen An arrived at the traffic light near the cinema, just as he was about to call Cheng Lele, he looked up and saw Cheng Lele waiting for him at the cinema entrance, looking around.
Today she wore a black short down jacket, blue jeans tucked into high boots, looking neat and dashing. To perform, she had mastered the new skill of whistling. At this moment, she was looking up, pursing her lips, practicing at the sky that was about to be swallowed by night.
Chen An thought of the wailing Tong Zhe and felt that Cheng Lele whistling was incredibly cool.
He drove to her side. As soon as she got in the car, the cool sister image immediately vanished completely. Her mouth opened: sweet and clingy “Little Ge~~ I got rich~~”
Chen An leaned over to fasten her seatbelt, stealing a kiss in the process: “Got rich and eating dumplings?”
Cheng Lele leaned against the car window and smiled, not saying anything.
After shopping for ingredients and returning home, Ah Chou wagged its head and tail, following behind them causing mischief.
Chen An thought that when Cheng Lele said she could make dumplings, she was just talking. Now seeing her skilled movements and orderly process arrangement, it seemed she’d made quite a few before. He was only qualified to be an assistant chopping filling—everything else Cheng Lele could handle alone.
“When did you learn all this?” Chen An asked.
Cheng Lele lowered her eyes: “Before in Beijing, my stepfather and his people liked eating dumplings—three or four meals a week. My mom learned to make them for them, and later I learned too.”
Cheng Lele now only spoke half sentences, but Chen An could guess the remaining part. She and Aunt didn’t like eating dumplings, but they adapted to local customs and accommodated the Qin family’s eating habits. Lele was also afraid of Aunt working hard making dumplings alone, so she learned this skill too. When Aunt did all this, it might have been for love. Cheng Lele, knowing everything, still had to serve them food and drink as if nothing was wrong—surely it was torturous every time.
Sometimes, bit by bit of trivial daily life torments the heart more than earth-shattering disasters.
Chen An wanted to learn from Cheng Lele how to roll dumpling wrappers, but Cheng Lele stopped him: “We both don’t really like eating them. Let’s not make them anymore after this. This is the last time.”
After saying this, even she felt it was strange: “Life needs ritual. For the last meal of dumplings, I’ll make them properly and eat them properly with you.”
Chen An suddenly understood. He hadn’t yet investigated how much money the contract Cheng Lele signed with the Qin family actually involved, but from today’s somewhat unusual behavior, the money received today was enough to pay off the debt to the Qin family. From now on, she and the Qin family were truly even.
That’s why she wanted to make a last meal of dumplings to celebrate.
But who celebrates by making themselves uncomfortable?
Chen An suddenly threw a lump of flour at Cheng Lele: “Are you stupid? Don’t like eating but want to make them properly and eat them properly?”
Cheng Lele, face full of flour dust, was stunned for a moment, then grabbed a handful of flour and threw it back. Chen An dodged quickly and wasn’t hit, but instead sprinkled half of Ah Chou’s body. Ah Chou rolled on the ground, rubbing white footprints all over the floor.
Chen An walked in front of Cheng Lele to wipe her face, wiping more onto her face in the process.
Cheng Lele saw that Chen An was doing it on purpose and angrily wiped it on him. Her hands were full of sticky flour lumps—this attack was much stronger than flour. Chen An couldn’t dodge in time, so he had to grab her wrist with one hand, hold her waist with the other, press her against the wall and kiss her.
The two didn’t get to eat dumplings but ended up with mouths full of raw flour.
Unfortunately, raw flour wasn’t filling. Cheng Lele’s stomach had been singing the empty city stratagem for a long time.
The two left this mess temporarily unmanaged—out of sight, out of mind—and went upstairs.
Chen An had Cheng Lele shower first while he ran to the kitchen to make a few quick dishes.
The last dish out was loofah egg drop soup. Chen An was beating eggs when his waist was suddenly hugged tightly: “Little Ge, what would I do without you?”
This sentence—Lele had said it from age five to twenty-five. Chen An had heard it until his ears grew calluses, but lately he found it fresh every time.
He patted the hands at his waist and threatened: “You’d better always maintain this awareness. Don’t say one thing and do another behind my back.” Looking back, he saw a dripping wet head.
“Go dry your hair quickly.”
“Not drying it. I’m so hungry. Let’s eat first.”
Chen An had no choice but to turn up the air conditioning, got a thick towel from the bathroom, and wiped it for her again.
He suddenly remembered many years ago, at his great-uncle’s house in the countryside, he had washed Cheng Lele’s hair. It seemed that from that time on, he’d confirmed he wanted to always accompany Cheng Lele through life.
In the blink of an eye, it had been so many years.