Special District 9

Old Cat crouched before the window of the house on the left, which belonged to Lin Nianlei, with large eyes, and mumbled in disappointment, “Why isn’t she back yet?

Over at the entrance of the house on the right, Qin Yu shouted impatiently, “Can you come here and help me? Did I call you here to watch the scenery?”

“Alright alright, I’m coming! You don’t have to shout,” Old Cat replied sullenly. He walked across the corridor and entered Qin Yu’s house. “It’s just a rented house. All you do in here is sleep anyway. Why bother wasting so much effort to clean it so thoroughly? It should be enough to just pack up a bit!”

“It’s still a place to live. Shouldn’t it at least be clean?” Qin Yu said as he fanned away the dust in front of his nose with his hand. “Help me mop the area. It’s too dusty.”

“Are you out of your mind? You want me, a vice platoon commander, to mop your floor? Bro, you are really getting conceited.”

“I’ll treat you to food later.”

“That’s more like it.” Old Cat was a person who had laziness lodged right in his bones. Even in the dormitory, he would always order others to do his share of the chores, so it was a miracle that he was helping Qin Yu clean up today.

The two of them cooperated impeccably with one another. Old Cat was in charge of supervising whereas Qin Yu was the one really doing the work. They busied themselves all the way till nine at night, but despite so, Lin Nianlei was still nowhere to be seen.

“Why isn’t she back yet?” It should go without saying that a huge part of the reason why Old Cat was here was because he wanted to see Lin Nianlei.

“Stop peeping at the opposite flat, your willpower isn’t strong enough to make her appear,” Qin Yu rolled his eyes. “Let’s go out and eat.”

“Let’s go then. To Second Sis’ place!”

“Like hell we’re going to Second Sis’ place. We’re going to grab something else for supper.”

“What is it?”

“Instant noodle. Convenient, isn’t it?”

“Hell! You used my body for the entire day, and that’s all you are going to feed me?”

“It’s cheap.” Qin Yu shrugged nonchalantly. “You can go back now if you don’t want it. I’ll be able to save some money, though I’ll pity you for having to return with an empty stomach after working the whole day.”

“You asshole, you aren’t a human!”

“Heh, I’ll drop a bonus sausage for you. It’s settled then!”

Leaving those words behind, Qin Yu left the house.

…

There were a total of five households living in this residence. The female landlord lived in the innermost flat surrounded by a metal fence, though she was rarely spotted around. As for the other four, Lin Nianlei and Qin Yu lived on the leftmost and rightmost apartments whereas the other two lived right next to the landlord. The two inner flats didn’t come with electricity and water, and the tenants hardly appeared either.

After getting their dinner, Qin Yu warmed a pot of water and had a quick bite with Old Cat. Qin Yu wanted to retire early for the night because it would be yet another long day tomorrow interrogating Ma Lao-er and Third Uncle, who was also known as Damin.

“Now that you had your fill, you can go back now,” Qin Yu took off his overcoat as he told Old Cat.

Old Cat lay lazily on a chair and burped a little before replying, “Forget it, I won’t be heading back. I’ll sleep here tonight.”

“Bro, there’s only one 1.5 meters bed here. Where do you intend to sleep?”

“I’ll hug you,” Old Cat replied. Without bothering to clear up the bowls and utensils, he collapsed frontward down on the bed as he fiddled around with his feet to get his socks off.

“The heck!” Qin Yu exclaimed in exasperation. “Tell me the truth. Are you actually here for me and not Lin Nianlei?”

“Hey, have you played with guys before?” Lying on the bed, Old Cat suddenly asked out of curiosity.

Qin Yu was speechless. For a long while, he was unable to speak at all.

“Hey, I’m asking you a question. Have you?”

“Have you?” Qin Yu asked back.

“I… I saw someone play before. I heard that he’s able to…” Old Cat began talking excitedly as he embarked on the prelude to a long story.

“Shut up!” But Qin Yu wasn’t interested in listening at all. “Are you going back or not?”

“I’m not going back anymore. It’s too late. I’ll sleep right here,” Old Cat said as he yawned. He messily took off his clothes.

Unable to do anything about Old Cat, Qin Yu went to wash up before getting on the bed as well. However, there was only one blanket in the room, so Qin Yu couldn’t help but feel a little awkward after lying down. After all, what Old Cat said earlier was still making its rounds in his mind.

“Did you manage to catch the medicine peddlers?” Old Cat asked drowsily. Qin Yu could see that his eyes were already closed.

“Un,” Qin Yu replied. “We caught two of their leaders.”

“Heh, Yuan Ke must be really pleased,” Old Cat sneered coldly. “That bastard’s mouth is full of loyalty and camaraderie, but he pulls all kinds of crap behind the scenes.”

This was not the first time Qin Yu was hearing such words with Old Cat. He asked, “You seem to be quite prejudiced against Platoon Commander Yuan?”

“It’s hard to explain it to you in a moment’s time. However, I have to remind you that it’s fine to work under him, but you should know where to draw the line…”

“Take your leg off me. It’s pressing against me,” Qin Yu suddenly interjected.

“I didn’t move my leg.”

“What are you talking about? It’s already pressing against my leg.”

“That isn’t my leg,” Old Cat replied with closed eyes.

“Then what is it?” Taken aback, Qin Yu reached down to touch it, and in the next moment, his body shot up.

“What are you doing?” Old Cat was shocked as well.

“Are you insane?!” Qin Yu’s face was reddened. “A 1.5 meters bed and a blanket, why aren’t you wearing any clothes?!”

“Do you wear clothes when you sleep?” Old Cat replied in skepticism.

“No, I’m saying… clothes for that triangle area.”

“Ah, it’s too stifling.”

“You freaking… It’s already pressing against me…” Qin Yu complained vehemently. “Put it on right now! Right now!”

“Hell, why are you so much trouble? It’s just a sleep! Don’t worry, I won’t give you any special service over mere instant noodles.”

“Stop babbling about useless stuff and put it on! Now!” Qin Yu roared furiously.

Dong dong.

At this moment, a series of knocks sounded.

“Who is it?” Qin Yu shouted.

“It’s me, Lin Nianlei… You’re back?”

“Yeah, I’m back.”

“Do you have hot water here? I just came back from work, but I can’t get any water to wash up,” Lin Nianlei didn’t know whether Qin Yu was inside, so she was peeping through the window while knocking on it. She could vaguely see Qin Yu climbing up from the bed.

“There’s hot water here. Give me a moment.”

Qin Yu quickly put on an overcoat and opened the door.

“Sorry for waking you up from your sleep.” Lin Nianlei was dressed in a fur coat, and her face was flushed red from the freezing weather.

“It’s fine. I still have some spare hot water here,” Qin Yu said with a smile. “I’ll get it for you.”

“Un, thanks.” Out of courtesy, Lin Nianlei chose to stand outside the house.

As Qin Yu went to fetch the water, he asked, “Your work seems to be quite tiring. Do you usually stay in the office till this hour?”

“I just came over, so I’m still adapting to things,” Lin Nianlei replied as she stretched her fair neck a little. “Aiyo, I feel like my neck is turning to stone from sitting the whole day…”

“Nianlei, we don’t have much hot water left anymore.”

At this moment, Old Cat suddenly sat up from the bed, and grabbing his pants, he shouted, “I’ll get some water from the well and heat it up for you! Just give me a moment!”

Outside, Lin Nianlei was shocked to see Old Cat grabbing his pants and wearing it under the blanket. She stiffly turned her head over to Qin Yu, and with a confused look on her face, she stuttered, “Ah… Oh… Y-your lover is here too?”

“??!” With a water flask in his hand, Qin Yu froze on the spot.

…

An electronic motorbike stopped in front of the entrance of Residence 88, and the person seated behind said, “… Xiao Hu told us that he has a colleague staying here.”

“So two people?” the rider in front asked.

“Should be.”

“Let’s camp here for a while then. We’ll wait for Qin Yu to come out before making a move.”