These past two days, Long Ge had hired hourly cleaners to do a thorough sweep of his Chengdu apartment. Only after the place was spotless did he put up the spring couplets and window paper-cuts. Today, his elderly parents from Garze were taking the bus to Chengdu for a brief family reunion.

He had been busy all morning, and had just sat down when he caught his phone screen suddenly lighting up. Ba Yunye’s message said that the mastermind behind the disturbances at the old orphanage site a few years back was Song Fan, along with someone called “Li Haozhang.”

“Song Fan…” Long Ge stared out the window in a daze. After some time had passed — he wasn’t sure how long — he slammed his fist hard against the low coffee table in front of the sofa, producing a tremendous boom. The jade star-moon prayer beads lying flat on the table were sent rattling violently by the impact and slid off the edge, hitting the floor with a muffled thud.

He couldn’t help thinking back to a phone call he had received a few days earlier during his trip back to Chengdu — it had come from Old Ding, the owner of a car rental shop in Lhasa.

“A-Long, the license plate number you gave me last time… it wasn’t rented out from my shop. I’ve gone around and asked at other places for you. The car that was rented to drive to Yunnan — three men in total. I’ll send you the phone numbers in a bit. The registered locations point to Beijing, but the IDs the renters provided weren’t Beijing people.”

“Has the car been returned?”

“Not yet. They’ve driven it to Lijiang. The rental shop owner says that one of the three is clearly a veteran driver, haha.”

“Which one?”

“Hard to say by name — he’d only know by seeing them in person.”

Long Ge played along with a compliment. “Impressive, like Sherlock Holmes — spotting the experienced driver with a single glance.”

“Quit talking nonsense. We’re all people who spend our lives on the road. Anyone can tell who’s the seasoned driver at a glance.”

“There’s one more thing I need to trouble you with — help me ask that rental shop for a stretch of surveillance footage showing all three of them together.”

“Easy enough. I’ll send it to you the moment I have it.”

“By the way, do you know which hotel in Lhasa those three stayed at?”

“The one right across from the rental shop… the Yasang Guesthouse.”

“Thanks a lot, Old Ding. After the holiday I’ll come to Lhasa and we’ll go out drinking.”

Yesterday, several acquaintances who ran guesthouses in Lhasa had helped him obtain the three guests’ names — Shi Song, Liu Fengtian, and Li Haozhang.

With that thought, Long Ge picked up his prayer beads, slowly running them through his left hand, and sent Ba Yunye a message.

“Li Haozhang — surname Li. One of the people tailing you. Currently likely in Lijiang.”

The old orphanage site sat halfway up a small hill. Although the iron railings were heavily rusted, it wasn’t nearly as derelict and overgrown as one might have imagined — red brick and white walls, three storeys in total, with a small semicircular window in the attic that lent the building a faintly Western character, entirely unlike the Dai-style architecture they had passed on the way.

“…Built by a German man in the 1920s. He apparently went back to Germany after the victory in the War of Resistance. I don’t know how Grandma Ba got hold of the property. Don’t be misled by its age — it’s technically classified as a structurally at-risk building, but to my eyes it looks pretty solid.” As the small Western-style house came into view from a distance, Ba Yunye’s gaze grew very gentle, like that of a mother leopard returning to her den after a long campaign, a faint glimmer of moisture even showing in her eyes.

Diao Zhuo seemed to feel the tranquility of the surroundings and rolled his shoulders in relaxed ease. “A hidden paradise.”

She laughed. “Spend two days here, and by the time you leave you’ll find twenty years have passed.”

As they drew closer, they noticed there were people up ahead.

Ba Yunye’s smile froze; she shifted back into a combat-ready state and jogged over — only to find that the young thugs from the previous day were honestly and dutifully doing as she had instructed, cleaning the graffiti off the walls and gate and restoring them to their original condition. These boys knew exactly which way the wind was blowing and had no desire to suffer consequences down the road.

The man she had hauled in and interrogated all through the previous night, seeing that she had actually come to “inspect” the work, came scurrying over eagerly — then noticed the tall, powerfully built man standing beside her who looked even more difficult to tangle with, and shrank back two steps with a placating grin, saying everything would be taken care of before the day was out.

Ba Yunye couldn’t be bothered with him. She gave a grunt to signal she had heard, then led Diao Zhuo inside. Every corner of the old site held memories from her childhood. Here, she was neither the top figure of Eagle Club nor the expedition leader known as Master Ba — she was simply a child born into misfortune but sheltered by the kindness of others. All the vulnerabilities beneath her hard outer shell lived inside this little Western-style house.

She was overcome with feeling. “I once guided a car full of very wealthy clients and stayed with them at the most luxurious hotel in Lhasa. Another time, on a Northern Tibet expedition, I stayed at a guesthouse with high mountains and rivers right outside the door. But no matter where I stayed, it never felt as comfortable as living here used to. I love this place so much… Everyone else goes home for the New Year. I come here. Even just one look, and I feel the old year was complete, and the new one is off to a good start.”

Diao Zhuo looked around. The tables and chairs were worn, dust lay thick over everything, large water stains spread across the ceiling, moss clung to the corners of the walls, and in some spots grass had actually pushed through. He listened quietly until she finished, then nodded. “I like it here too.”

“Flattery.”

Diao Zhuo drew her into his arms from behind. “I’m not lying.”

“You really like it?”

“Mm.”

Ba Yunye’s laughter was swallowed up in a kiss.

A commotion came from outside — it sounded like a fight. Ba Yunye and Diao Zhuo exchanged a glance, and both hurried out. They found one of the young thugs grappling with someone.

“Muye! Let go!” Ba Yunye recognized the newcomer and rushed in to break it up.

Muye looked extraordinarily furious. Normally quiet on account of a slight deformity of his lip, he had flushed red all over his face and was jabbing a finger at the thugs. “Yesterday you came here causing trouble… and today you’re back!!”

Ba Yunye glanced at what Muye had brought with him — some cans of exterior wall paint. So he had come to help restore the site as well. Every child who had grown up here harbored a special attachment to the place. No matter how far apart life had scattered them, they all still regarded it as a home that must never be violated.

Not far away, Yuanye had also arrived. She hadn’t waded into the fight; she was standing silently with tears streaming down her face.

Ba Yunye looked at her two younger siblings and was moved, a surge of emotions welling up inside her. She pressed her lips together to hold them back, but her eyes had reddened. “Don’t get worked up — they’re not here to cause destruction. See? The things they sprayed on yesterday, I’ve had them clean it all off.”

Yuanye and Muye were reassured. The three of them embraced, the way they used to when they wrestled and played as children — only now their hearts were filled with something entirely different.

Together they all went out into the courtyard. The rusty swings shed flakes of rust with the slightest touch. Wild thatch grass half a person’s height had swallowed the seesaw halfway up. A thick layer of fallen leaves blanketed every stone bench. Muye set to cutting the wild grass with a knife, head down, putting in earnest, hard effort. He knew this place could never be reopened, yet he was the only one among them who came back every year to clear the yard.

Yuanye smiled and nudged Ba Yunye with her elbow, tilting her chin toward Diao Zhuo, who had taken off his jacket and was helping cut the grass. “Is that our brother-in-law? He’s so handsome and manly — so much more than those guys at my school who try to look cool playing basketball!”

Ba Yunye smiled with unguarded sincerity. “I thought you were into pretty boys and fresh-faced types?”

“Oh, those…” Yuanye sighed. “Attractive packaging can’t contain a hollow soul.”

“Very profound.” Ba Yunye gave her an approving nod.

“How are Long Ge and Hippo doing? I haven’t had Long Ge’s cooking in so long.” Yuanye looked visibly hungry and tugged at Ba Yunye to ask.

“Hippo… don’t even mention him.” Ba Yunye lowered her voice and asked, “By the way, do you remember — our eldest sister — did she have a computer?”

Yuanye looked completely blank and shook her head.

Ba Yunye sighed. Yuanye had been too young at the time; how could she possibly remember that kind of detail? She glanced at Muye and held out even less hope — Muye was even younger than Yuanye, and whether he had any memories of their eldest sister at all was already a question.

Even so, she called Muye over and asked him anyway. Muye raised his eyes to look at her, then shook his head as well, bent back down, and kept working.

A message from Long Ge pulled Ba Yunye’s attention away. She silently mouthed the name “Li Haozhang” — it meant absolutely nothing to her; this person had no existence whatsoever in her memory. She let out a cold snort, curled the fingers of her left hand slightly, and cracked the knuckles of her right hand one by one with a series of sharp snaps, muttering to herself, “If I’d known it was this person following me, I wouldn’t have let him off with just a punctured tire!”

Once the young thugs had cleaned away every last trace of the insulting graffiti, Ba Yunye stopped making things difficult for them, fired off a few fierce threats, and let them go. The group went into the main district for a simple meal together, and when the time came to say goodbye, Muye suddenly tugged at the hem of Ba Yunye’s jacket. She understood at once; she made an excuse about using the restroom and followed Muye to a quiet, secluded corner.

What she heard next she hadn’t expected at all: Muye told her that he knew where Ba Xiye’s old computer was. When Grandma Ba had been gravely ill, she had given him specific instructions — unless there was a possibility of proving that Ba Xiye had not been the third party, it was absolutely not to be brought out.

“Where is it? Do you have it?” Ba Yunye gripped Muye’s arm in agitation. “That’s far too dangerous for you!”

“Don’t worry — it’s not with me.” Muye said, and then leaned in close and whispered something in her ear.

She was completely stunned. She bit her lower lip, her expression a tangle of a thousand conflicting feelings.

Tomorrow was New Year’s Eve. Hippo drove to the airport to pick up He Zhengren’s son, delivered him home, and He Zhengren was visibly pleased. Father and son talked at length. After young He went to take a bath, Hippo came in and told He Zhengren that Li Haozhang had been exposed — not only had Ba Yunye traced the thugs he had hired to cause trouble at the orphanage back to him, but Long Ge had also obtained the surveillance footage of him picking up the rental car at the shop.

He Zhengren remained perfectly calm, as though he had prepared himself for this long ago. He nodded with unhurried composure. “Little Li is a blunt instrument — his mind and his temperament both go straight without turning. He’s not as sharp or careful in getting things done as Old Zhang, Old Song, and you.”

“Aren’t you worried Long Ge will trace back from Li Haozhang to you? Surely Diao Zhuo recognizes your driver?”

“All these years, Little Li has only driven for me — I’ve rarely asked him to do anything else. Not many people know him or have seen him, Diao Zhuo included. That said, his exposure happens to confirm that Ba Yunye has already developed the instinct to fight back. Why would she suddenly feel entitled to stand up straighter? — Because when you’re in the right, your spine straightens on its own. She must have some evidence in her hands that can prove Diao Jun never had an affair with Xiye.”

“That accident…” Hippo said, puzzled.

“The accident was just that — an accident. There’s no point talking about it now.” He Zhengren gave a slight shake of his head. “Did Little Li find out who Ba Yunye met with during her time back in Pu’er?”

“Besides the thugs who had ransacked the orphanage, she saw Diao Zhuo, Ba Yuanye, and Ba Muye. The latter two grew up in the same orphanage as her — I’ve heard her mention them a few times before. They’re not important figures; they don’t stay in close contact with her. When her eldest sister passed, those two children were only a few years old. You needn’t concern yourself with them.”

He Zhengren said with a sardonic laugh, “Diao Zhuo went as well? He really can’t be separated from her for even a moment now.”

Hippo smiled, as though recalling something. “If you count the days, Diao Zhuo is the man who’s spent the most time by her side of anyone I know. I think the two of them may genuinely suit each other.”

“That’s only temporary. They come from completely different backgrounds and different levels of education. The attraction between them is purely hormonal. Over time, the way they see things, react to them, and handle them will inevitably become a source of conflict between the two of them — and an irreconcilable one at that. Don’t believe me? Wait and see.” He Zhengren had little interest in the pair’s relationship. “…Did she see anyone else?”

“She was basically with Diao Zhuo the whole time.” Hippo shrugged. “When you think about it, it makes sense — they don’t get to see each other often. Diao Zhuo didn’t even go back to Xi’an. Word is he’s spending his entire leave with her. They really do seem to be in a solid relationship — maybe Master Ba, who goes around declaring she’ll never marry, will make an exception for Diao Zhuo.”

He Zhengren responded with a cold laugh. “In my view, you and Master Ba have quite a solid relationship as well.”

Hippo looked a little awkward and smiled apologetically. “She’s got a sharp temper, but she really is a great beauty… I miss her sometimes, if I’m honest.”

“If you miss her, go back to her side.”

The smile that Hippo usually wore on his face took on a note of bitterness.