The man in bed wouldn’t run away, but money in one’s pocket—if you don’t keep an eye on it—can sprout wings and fly off!
Xia Yiyang changed clothes in a whirlwind rush and urgently pressed Sheng Lin to accompany him to the police station. Sheng Lin knew that the telecom fraud incident had been weighing on the young master’s mind, so he naturally cooperated.
To be honest, neither of them had ever expected that money to come back.
Those scammers always used several “stepping stones”—the moment the money was transferred, it was whisked overseas. When Xia Yiyang first filed the report, he’d done so with a “might as well try” attitude. Who knew that dead horse would actually come back to life!
Officer Xiang had told them over the phone that the fraud ring they’d busted had actually been on the provincial department’s radar for a while. After nearly half a year of investigation, they’d finally closed the net this month! The entire gang had over twenty members, with a massive amount of seized illicit funds and a large number of victims.
Sheng Lin’s motorcycle sped through the streets, delivering Xia Yiyang to the police station right on time. To their surprise, the lobby was packed with people—other victims had also come to the scene besides Xia Yiyang.
While waiting in line, Xia Yiyang couldn’t help but chat with the victims around him. He discovered that each person had been scammed in a completely different way—these tricks were truly impossible to guard against.
The little boy to his left had come with his parents. He was just in elementary school, and had been tricked by the suspect into revealing his parents’ WeChat payment password in order to buy game skins.
The auntie to his right had been in poor health and hadn’t worked for a while. Wanting to lighten her family’s burden, she’d tried to make money through online shopping reviews—only to be the one “reviewed” (scammed) instead.
The female office worker behind him was emotional, waving her arms: “I wasn’t feeling well that day and went to bed early. When I woke up, my credit card had been stolen! Do you know what they bought??? Three hundred and sixty golf balls!! Three hundred and sixty, golf balls!!!”
Xia Yiyang thought he’d misheard: “What would a scammer want with that many golf balls?”
“I’d like to know too!” The office worker fumed. “And the scammer didn’t even buy white golf balls—they bought mint-colored ones. Mint color! Ha! I didn’t even know golf balls came in mint!”
Everyone had shared their stories, but the young man sitting behind Xia Yiyang remained silent.
He looked only a few years older than Xia Yiyang—probably a male college student.
When others asked how he’d been scammed, the college student mumbled: “What else? Same as you guys.”
“…” Xia Yiyang pursed his lips, turned to Sheng Lin beside him, and mouthed silently: “Definitely a [sextortion] scam.”
Sheng Lin tapped him on the head. This little brat knew too much and talked too much.
A while later, Officer Xiang called Xia Yiyang into the office. Of course, the young master dragged Sheng Lin in with him.
“Sheng Lin, you came too?” Officer Xiang raised his hand in greeting.
Xia Yiyang: “Huh? You two know each other?”
Sheng Lin hummed in acknowledgment: “We played ball together back in school.”
Xia Yiyang immediately remembered that “fishing” post he’d seen online and realized: “It was the friendly match between our school and the Police Academy, right!”
Officer Xiang: “‘Our school’? …Wait, you’re from Rongda too?”
“Yep~!” Xia Yiyang puffed out his chest with great pride. “I’m a freshman in Rongda’s Mechanical Engineering department. Ling Ge is my direct senior! Officer Xiang, we should all play together sometime.”
Officer Xiang naturally said yes.
Ha! Back then, Sheng Lin had single-handedly blocked him and cut off two of his attacks. He’d been so mad he couldn’t sleep for three months. He couldn’t beat Sheng Lin—but surely he could beat this little kid Xia Yiyang, right?
(Side note: After the case closed, they really did play together. As expected, Xia Yiyang’s skinny frame was useless at grabbing rebounds. Unexpectedly, though, Xia Yiyang sank every three-pointer he took—which made Officer Xiang so mad he couldn’t sleep for another three months.)
The small talk came to an end. This time, the police station had summoned all victims to give supplementary statements and sign the Notice of Fund Return.
The whole process was very efficient. Officer Xiang asked Xia Yiyang a few questions, filled in two missing details about the original fraud, and then read him the case closure notice.
“Because there are so many individuals involved in this case, the final outcome will have to wait for the court verdict. After the verdict, the funds will be returned to your bank account. The process should take about a month.” Officer Xiang extended his hand to him. “Congratulations, Xia Yiyang. Your money has been recovered. Next time, don’t trust others so easily, and keep a close watch on your belongings.”
Xia Yiyang gripped Officer Xiang’s hand tightly, shaking it up and down vigorously, torn between laughter and tears. If it weren’t for the public setting, he’d have run out into the street howling like a baboon.
When he was signing the Notice of Fund Return, Sheng Lin caught a glimpse of the amount written on it—truly worthy of a little emperor from Beijing. The eighteen years of accumulated private treasury was nothing to scoff at.
If it had been any other kid his age, losing that much money for the first time in their life would have sent them into a panic. Xia Yiyang had managed to get through these two-plus months with his own two hands—that was no small feat.
After a moment’s thought, Sheng Lin spoke up: “Officer Xiang, may I ask what your full name is—the specific characters?”
Officer Xiang joked: “What, are you going to file a complaint?”
Sheng Lin: “Of course not. We’d like to send you a pennant banner.”
“Oh, right!” Xia Yiyang hadn’t even thought of sending a banner before, but Sheng Lin’s suggestion lit up his eyes. “Officer Xiang, you’ve helped me twice, and I’ve never properly thanked you!”
“You’re both too kind. Serving the people is our work principle—we’re just doing our jobs. How could I accept the thanks of the masses?!” Officer Xiang spoke with righteous conviction. In his fervor, an ID card fell out of his pocket. He exclaimed dramatically, “Oh my, how did my police ID fall on the floor!”
Xia Yiyang’s intuition kicked in—he immediately picked up the ID card and memorized Officer Xiang’s name.
Officer Xiang said: “You absolutely must not send me a banner. I haven’t even been confirmed in my position yet—I’m just a probationary beat cop. Although a banner might help me get confirmed a little faster… but you absolutely must not send a banner. And definitely don’t send a letter of thanks.”
Officer Xiang added: “If you absolutely insist on sending one—whatever you do, don’t come at 2 PM. My partner and I go out on patrol every day at 2 PM. If you show up then, you’ll only get to see our station chief, the deputy chief, and the party secretary.”
Sheng Lin: …Right. Got it.
Xia Yiyang’s matter was settled, and there were still several other victims waiting to give their statements.
Officer Xiang saw them to the entrance of the police station. Sheng Lin went to get the motorcycle first, while Xia Yiyang stood obediently on the steps waiting for him. The young man couldn’t help but hold up the case receipt in his hands, reading it over and over. Only after he’d had his fill did he carefully fold it up and tuck it into his bag.
“Oh, right,” Officer Xiang suddenly remembered something and told Xia Yiyang, “Wen Sen’s verdict came down. Not long ago, he was transferred from the detention center to Rongcheng Men’s Prison. Do you want to know how many years he got?”
Xia Yiyang paused for a moment.
Wen Sen—that was truly a distant name now. But upon reflection, it had only been a few dozen days since he’d last seen him.
So many things had happened in those short dozens of days. New memories had flooded in like an unending tide, washing away every trace of Wen Sen’s shadow.
“I don’t want to know,” the young man shook his head. When it came to that experience of being scammed, he was already at peace with it. In the quiet moments unknown to others, he’d been reflecting, growing—never once standing still.
“Wen Sen was the first ‘friend’ I made in Rongcheng. After I was scammed, I had no choice but to stay at the hostel. Then some thugs came causing trouble there, and he stepped in to help me. I was naive enough to see him as my savior—but later I realized he wasn’t ‘helping me’ at all. The hostel was his base of operations; he was clearly just ‘helping himself.’
“Then, I met someone really, really wonderful. When I was exhausted and alone with no one to turn to, he reached out his hand to me. His care and concern for me came with zero self-interest—he just wanted me to be happy, and even happier. That was when I understood that there are people in this world who genuinely care about how I feel.”
Officer Xiang thought for a moment, then it clicked: “That new friend you’re talking about—is it Sheng Lin?”
“Ling Ge?” Xia Yiyang denied it. “No, it’s not him.”
“How could it not be?” Officer Xiang slapped his thigh, defending Sheng Lin’s honor. “As your boss, he gave you a job. As your senior, he took you in and let you stay at his place. Both times you came to the station, he was running around handling things for you. If he doesn’t count as your friend, then the bar for being your friend is way too high.”
The young man scratched his head, thinking for a long moment: “If I really had to be friends with Ling Ge…”
“Of course!”
“But I’m afraid he wouldn’t agree.”
“How could he not!”
Xia Yiyang sighed and spread his hands: “—Well, the thing is, I’m ‘messing around’ (dating) with Ling Ge. If I went back to being just ordinary friends with him, he’d definitely be unhappy.”
“You’re ‘messing around’ with him, not—huh?????” Officer Xiang finally registered what he’d just heard, his eyes widening in shock.
Just then, Sheng Lin returned from fetching the motorcycle.
The young man, having successfully pulled off his prank, snorted with laughter and hopped onto the back of Sheng Lin’s bike before Officer Xiang could recover.
Officer Xiang stomped his foot on the spot: “Xia Yiyang, you little—and Sheng Lin! You actually—you two actually—!!!”
“Officer Xiang, don’t worry—tomorrow at 2 PM, after you’ve gone out on patrol, we’ll deliver the pennant banner and the letter of thanks right into your station chief’s hands!” Xia Yiyang gave Officer Xiang a playful wink.
The young man flipped down the visor on his helmet, wrapped his arms tightly around Sheng Lin’s waist, pressed his upper body close to Sheng Lin’s back, and urged the man: “Ling Ge, hit the gas!”
“Officer Xiang, farewell.” Sheng Lin brought two fingers to his temple in a casual salute, then twisted the throttle hard. The engine roared as the motorcycle shot forward, carrying the two figures—so intimately close—into the distance.
Leaving Officer Xiang alone at the police station entrance, choking on exhaust fumes.
—Oh dear! The roads of Shu were treacherous, so why didn’t they manage to break this pair of lovebirds up?!
…
The wind howled as they sped along.
Xia Yiyang sat on the back of Sheng Lin’s motorcycle, and this time his mindset was completely different from before.
The wind rushed toward them, making the young man’s shirt flutter noisily. The little fortune-cookie pendant hanging around his neck swayed restlessly in the breeze.
He looked up at the azure sky—the late August sun was dazzlingly bright, so intense it made him squint. Xia Yiyang childishly raised his arm high, trying to grab hold of that scorching sun. Mottled shadows of leaves slipped through his fingers like melted ice cream dripping from the top of a bowl of ice powder.
He caught nothing—but he caught summer.
“Ling Ge!” Xia Yiyang pushed up his visor, leaned close to Sheng Lin, and shouted in his ear: “I’ve got money now! This time, I’m taking you on a trip!”
Sheng Lin shouted back: “Okay!”
“Aren’t you going to ask me where I’m taking you?”
“Anywhere is fine, as long as I’m with you,” Sheng Lin replied. “But summers in Sichuan are long and hot. How about somewhere cooler?”
Xia Yiyang laughed heartily: “Don’t worry—it’s definitely cool.”
“—Tashi Delek!” He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, “Ling Ge, let’s ride to Western Sichuan!”
…
Once upon a time, there was a brave little prince. Though born into nobility, he had a heart that yearned for exploration and adventure.
He bid farewell to his king father and queen mother and set out on his journey alone.
The adventure was fraught with dangers: a shameless black dragon that stole all his treasures; a despicable thief who deceived his trust; a young knight who helped him seek justice; and a mysterious wizard who gave him a magical cookie that could reveal the future.
The little prince had tried several times to open the cookie, but by a twist of fate, it ended up lost at the bottom of the sea. That magical cookie with its unknown flavor had been a source of great regret for him.
Later, he met a remarkable alchemist.
The alchemist could use ice magic to create the most delicious desserts to soothe his anxiety, and metal magic to forge the most legendary mechanical components to make up for his regrets.
The little prince no longer had to regret anything.
Xia Yiyang no longer had to regret anything.
Look.
The scorching sun blazes bright, the road ahead stretches far.
Summer is long and lingering.
[Main Text End]
Leave a Reply