Special District 9

After meeting Damin and Ma Lao-er in the prison, Qin Yu returned home alone. He was intending to grab some clothes back with him to the Police Bureau and camp at the dormitory together with Old Cat.

While he was packing his stuff in his house, through the window, he noticed that Lin Nianlei had returned back to the residence. He opened the door and shouted, “Aiyo, Simpleton Lin, you are back?”

“Scram.” Lin Nianlei turned around and cursed, “You darned gay.”

“Heh. You’re earlier than usual today?”

“I managed to finish what I had on hand, so I left work earlier,” Lin Nianlei replied as she walked over to Qin Yu’s house. “Where’s your lover? Did the two of you split up?”

“He returned back to his maternal home,” Qin Yu couldn’t be bothered to explain this misunderstanding, so he just played along with her.

“Maternal home? But based on my observation, aren’t you the bottom?”

“Are you going to keep prattling about that?” Qin Yu snorted in disdain. “Why does a young lady like you keep butting into other people’s business?”

“Well, the only person here who has anything in their butt is you.”

“You pervert!” Qin Yu retorted.

“Heh. Alright, I won’t tease you anymore,” Lin Nianlei replied. She stretched her back lazily before asking with a smile, “That reminds me. I did you a huge favor the last time around, right? Shouldn’t you treat me to a meal?”

The reason why the Ma Family was able to find their way to the place where the Yuan Family hid its good was actually mainly due to Lin Nianlei’s credit. She had a conflict with Tiger previously, and it was Qin Yu who helped her out then.

The photos she had taken turned out to be a crucial clue in figuring out where the goods were hidden, and that really helped him out then.

“What do you want to eat?” Qin Yu asked.

“I’m craving for Japanese,” Lin Nianlei replied heartily.

Qin Yu scoffed, “Screw you and your Japanese… Even a plate of salmon would cost me several months of my salary! Why don’t you eat shit instead?”

“Just try cursing me again! We might be sisters, but that doesn’t mean you can say what you want!”

“I’ll treat you to something else.”

“What?”

“Let’s go, you’ll know once we get there.” Qin Yu put down his cup before lifting up his luggage.

Lin Nianlei asked curiously, “Why are you carrying so many things with you? You’re moving away?”

“I’m seeking refuge elsewhere for a while.” Qin Yu couldn’t be bothered to explain the situation. He dragged Lin Nianlei out as he said, “Let’s go!”

…

A good-looking man and a beautiful lady walked along a worn down pavement for a good twenty minutes before finally arriving at an alley beside the Police Bureau.

Lin Nianlei exhaled her warm breath on her cold hands. With a face that had turned red from the frosty weather, she looked at the storefront before her and scoffed, “This place doesn’t even have a signboard. Don’t you feel embarrassed about bringing me here?”

“It’s the thought that counts, not the money.”

“Bullshit,” Lin Nianlei retorted. “You are just a miser.”

Qin Yu lugged his luggage over to the entrance before holding up the thick woolen curtains hanging at the entrance, saying, “Come in.”

This was a shop which Zhu Wei had brought Qin Yu to a while ago. Their specialty, Riverfish Noodles, could be considered as one of the local specialties of the Songjiang region. There was a frozen river north of Songjiang that stretched for hundreds of kilometers, extending far beyond Special District 9. Some of the more hardworking fishermen would chisel a hole on the surface of the river and fish there.

Most parts of the world had turned barren after the apocalypse, but fortunately, Songjiang was one of the areas that weren’t hit as bad, so the environment in the area wasn’t as inhospitable. Otherwise, Special District 9 wouldn’t have been founded here either.

This store served only one side dish and a main dish. Shortly after Qin Yu and Lin Nianlei settled down, the boss carried out a huge metal pot and placed it on the table. He placed a pot of charcoal beneath the metal pot and lit it up so as to heat up the contents inside. Due to natural gas being too expensive, small restaurants couldn’t afford to use gas stoves at all.

Lin Nianlei tucked her hair behind her ear as she stared at the red chili seeds, river fish, and handmade noodles in the pot. Breathing in the fragrance that drifted with the steam rising from the pot, a beautiful smile blossomed on her face as she remarked, “Oh ho, it looks not bad.”

“It’s not cheap at all, you know,” Qin Yu rolled his eyes as he said. “Just this pot costs me nearly 200 dollars!”

“Alright alright, I know that you are a miser. You don’t need to say anymore.” As Lin Nianlei spoke, she picked up a slice of fish with her chopsticks and chewed on it. “Mm, it’s fragrant.”

“It’s not just fragrant, it’s value for money too.” Qin Yu was also starving too. He quickly filled his plate with noodles from the pot and began wolfing it down.

“You eat as if someone has starved you for days! Aren’t you afraid of scalding your tongue?” Lin Nianlei grumbled with a frown. “Can you be more dignified when you eat?”

“I’m a gay anyway. I have no intention of flirting with you, so why should I put on an act for you?” Qin Yu leaned closer toward Lin Nianlei as he spoke.

Those words made Lin Nianlei chuckle a little. “Hey, do you actually like me? Why else would you beat up that Tiger or something guy for me the other day?”

“Yeah, simpletons like you are just my type.”

“Scram!”

“I am just too kind, that’s why I helped you,” Qin Yu added.

“Heh.” Lin Nianlei glanced at Qin Yu before chuckling, “If you don’t harbor any desires toward me, I can still hang out with you like a sister. I can teach you the ways to seduce your lover.”

Qin Yu couldn’t be bothered to argue with Lin Nianlei on this. He lifted his head to look at her, asking, “There’s one thing I’m quite curious about.”

“What is it?”

“Are those who kidnapped you related to the Yuan Family?” Qin Yu suddenly asked.

Lin Nianlei was taken aback. “How did you know?”

“It was just a guess. Yuan Ke suppressed the kidnapping case, and there were rumors in the bureau afterward that Ol’ Three was scolded by Yuan Ke for messing things up,” Qin Yu replied honestly.

“I only found out afterward that Matsushita was related to them.”

“Why would Yuan Hua kidnap you? He’s faring quite well in Songjiang at the moment, so it’s hard to believe that he would kidnap you to earn a ransom,” Qin Yu couldn’t resist asking.

Lin Nianlei clearly hesitated a little after hearing those words.

“Forget it. There’s no need to tell me if it’s not convenient for you.” Qin Yu could sense Lin Nianlei’s reluctance to talk about this, so he quickly switched to another topic.

Lin Nianlei took a sip of water, and after a moment of silence, she finally spoke up, “There isn’t really a need to hide it from you either. Yuan Hua kidnapped me because my uncle is a high-ranking personnel in a large company over at Fengbei. Yuan Hua requested something from my uncle, but my uncle didn’t agree to it. So, Yuan Hua came up with this plan instead. His intention was to have Matsushita feign as a kidnapper and extort money out of my uncle. Through a series of convincing theatrical performances, he would save me from Matsushita’s clutches… This way, my uncle would owe him a favor, and he would be able to obtain what he wants.”

“So that’s the case…” Qin Yu nodded. “But if he’s requesting something of your uncle, why did he kidnap you? Does your uncle have no children?”

“It was convenient for him as it just so happens that I was coming over to Songjiang to work. I grew up at my uncle’s house, so I’m somewhat a child of his too,” Lin Nianlei replied with a smile. “My uncle’s other children have notable positions in society, so I reckon Yuan Hua doesn’t dare to touch them easily. It goes without saying that he can only pick at the easiest one of them all, which is me.”

“Ah, I understand.”

“Sigh, let’s not talk about me anymore. I’m also quite interested in you, actually.” Lin Nianlei took off her coat as she looked at Qin Yu with reddened cheeks and asked, “Did you come to Special District 9 alone? Where is your family?”

Qin Yu frowned a little upon hearing this question.

“W-what’s wrong?” Lin Nianlei sensed that there was something wrong with Qin Yu’s state, so she asked with a careful tone.

“I don’t have any family members. Before Special District 9 was founded, I… I was already abandoned. There were some who told me that my parents were already dead, and there were others who told me that they have run away with my little brother…” Qin Yu’s eyes felt a little solemn as he spoke. “There were all sorts of things that were being said back then. Well, many years have passed since then, and I have pretty much forgotten about them now.”

Lin Nianlei was astonished. She quickly said, “My apologies. I thought that…”

“It’s fine, I’m already used to it,” Qin Yu replied with a wave of his hand.

After saying those words, the atmosphere between the two of them grew a little heavy. The two of them lowered their heads and simply ate their food.

Around twenty minutes later, Qin Yu paid the tab, and the two of them left the store together.

It was very cold outside. Snow had begun falling once more.

Lin Nianlei shivered from the coldness, and she kept exhaling warm air into her hands.

“Is there something wrong with your head? Who in the right mind will wear so little when the weather is so cold? Are you hoping to die an early death?” Qin Yu rolled his eyes as he took out a pair of thick goatskin gloves from his luggage bag. “Wear it.”

Lin Nianlei accepted the gloves as she looked at the tall Qin Yu and commented, “You are quite meticulous.”

“Learning to read the atmosphere and flirting with girls; these are the basic life skills that a man should know,” Qin Yu replied leisurely.

“Pui! You want to flirt with me with just a pair of lousy gloves? Dream on!” Lin Nianlei retorted. Nevertheless, she still excitedly put on the gloves, and she exclaimed in wonderment, “Woah, it’s really warm.”

Qin Yu didn’t respond to her words. He continued walking along the streets at a controlled pace.

On the other hand, Lin Nianlei began touching the icicles hanging on top of the window panes of the shops along the street. All of a sudden, she called out, “Big oaf.”

“What?” Qin Yu turned around and asked.

“… You should be a little happier. It’s all in the past, and we can’t change our past. Living in such a world, we must have faith that tomorrow will be better.” Standing in the midst of a snowy alley, Lin Nianlei advised optimistically. “At the very least, you have a gorgeous lady accompanying you right now. What else is there to be unsatisfied about?”

Qin Yu smiled at those words before replying, “Thank you, gorgeous lady.”

Beneath the dim lamppost, the two of them looked at one another for a moment before Lin Nianlei began feeling a little embarrassed. She quickly hastened her footsteps and said, “What the hell are you staring at? Let’s go. Escort me home.”

“I don’t mind escorting you home, but I can’t do it for free. Are you going to repay me with a night of wonders?” Qin Yu asked as he walked behind.

“Stop fooling around, or else I’ll be reporting your infidelity to your lover…”

…

In the depths of Dirt Street.

A few young lads working under Old Ma were currently chatting with hushed voices at a storefront.

In the distance, a bald Russian man walked over with tottering footsteps with four other men.

“Are there any women here?” the Russian man asked with a burp.

One of the young lads looked at him before asking, “How many people do you have?”

“Are you blind? You can’t count?” the Russian man berated angrily.

“Who do you think you are shouting at?”

Peng!

The Russian man threw a punch over, causing one of the young lads to stagger three steps back before falling to the floor.

“You bastard! Are you picking a fight?” the companion of the young lad quickly helped him up as he glared at the Russian man. “How dare you cause trouble on our turf!”

The Russian man placed his fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly. Then, he turned around and shouted, “The people of the Ma Family want to pick a fight with me!”

In the next instant, forty people appeared from the darkness of the alley, charging over with steel pipes and choppers in their hands.

A premeditated conflict was about to unfold tonight.

Based on Chinese traditions, ‘maternal home’ refers to the wife’s family.

Just some clarifications about the story: