come back clean and clever

Nie Huaisang has always had a knack for remembering faces. From his earliest cons with his two best friends, to his years of “wandering” different countries and cities by his lonesome, this knack is the one thing he had carefully cultivated and honed to be one of the sharpest tools in his professional arsenal.

These days, whenever he sees a familiar face, he can immediately put a name to it, and if that name is of any notable significance to him or his job, he can pull out at least a quick profile. Then there were strangers – and he wouldn’t know their names, or be able to pull up an accurate profile, but what he is able to do is something far more important and useful than even a name – he can read their emotions, their intent… all in an instant.

A combination of all these – a face, a name, a profile, their current emotional state – gets him a good read of almost anyone he encounters within seconds, and is his best tool for success in his many hunts.

He tries to dial it down, when he’s not on a job. For one, it’s highly distracting, to always have his “scanner” on, to always be analyzing everyone…

These days though, it almost takes more effort to hold back, to not read everyone around him, just because by now it’s an instinct to do so, a form of self-defense. It is how he had survived and managed all on his own, all these years.

He tries the hardest whenever he’s in his hometown. Nie Huaisang would admit to being a sentimental person. He would honestly say that he doesn’t want to know “too much” about the town, the people – because he still wants to think that he’s in a safe place.

In the city where he grew up in, where he had recently come back to, he ran into familiar faces all the time, and he wants to still be able to think that he’s home – where the people are good, and he is safe. Everything is fine, as long as he doesn’t look too hard.

Today, he’s not looking too hard. It’s a nice day. It’s been a series of nice days, lately. The weather outside is good, the mall is bursting with life, and the ice blended drink he sips as he walks out the cafe is delicious and made just to his liking.

He’s not looking too hard, but it is difficult to see and then ignore the familiar face of a friend – an old friend – whose state Nie Huaisang instantly identifies as distress.

It was almost involuntary, the way he stops in his tracks and takes several steps back to pivot and walk up to the woman seated on one of the tables right outside the cafe.

She is still as pretty as he remembers, though now she looked much more mature. It’s been decades, after all. Her long dark brown hair is pinned up into a practical bun at the back of her head, stray strands framing a perfectly made-up face. She is dressed pretty casually, but Nie Huaisang of course catches the classy rose gold chain on her neck and matching studs on her ears, and the soft pink blazer draped at the back of her chair that will let her switch up to a more formal mode in no time. Beneath this pristine, composed look however, Nie Huaisang hones in on the slouch of her shoulders, the furrow of her brows as she reads something on her laptop, the quiver of her lower lip and she lets out a deep exhale, and how her hand grips almost too tight on a bunch of paper documents, enough to crumple them slightly.

On any other person, Nie Huaisang would dismiss this as just another working professional having a rough time at work.

On someone like Luo Qingyang, one of the most unflappable people he had ever known, this means there is something seriously wrong.

Nie Huaisang is a sentimental person – he will always have a soft spot for a friend, even if he hasn’t seen them in over a decade.

“Mianmian?” he calls, putting on his best pleasantly surprised voice, calling her by a nickname he knows she only allows a selected few to use.

Luo Qingyang – Mianmian – looks up from worrying at her laptop screen, to turn towards him with wide eyes. She blinks in surprise, taking a moment to look him up and down, to catch up and eventually recognize… “Nie Huaisang?”

“I thought that was you!” Nie Huaisang grins, looking for all the world like he simply is pleased to see her. “Long time no see, Miss Luo!”

“Y-Yeah… Yes, long time…” Mianmian manages a smile – a genuine one, Nie Huaisang can tell. She puts down the documents in her hand as she visibly shakes off whatever was weighing her down just a moment prior and takes a breath to allow herself this distraction. “I didn’t know- Well-… Last I heard – and this was many years ago – you were abroad? It’s nice to see you back.”

“Well, there’s no place like home, right?” Nie Huaisang says. “How are you? Ah- Were you working? I don’t mean to disturb you-”

She waves him off, making a show of folding her laptop closed. “No, it’s fine! This is- Yeah, work, but- It’s fine, I’m happy to see you.”

“You too. You’re still in law, then?” Nie Huaisang asks, making sure he only sounds like he’s catching up, not fishing for information. “You looked very focused, I’m sure you’re busy helping folks as usual.”

“Y-Yeah. I am-… Helping…” she chuckles awkwardly, sparing a glance at her laptop. Nie Huaisang instantly catches it when she deflects. “What about you? I’m not really a theater person, so I wouldn’t know anything in that scene, but… you’re still acting?”

Nie Huaisang lets out a bashful laugh. “Oh, yes, I do get to be part of an ensemble now and then.” He nods at her laptop and the stacks of documents and folders around her. “I’m sure what you do is much more impressive.”

“You’re always a flatterrer, Nie-xiong.” she says, and he notes how she holds herself back from saying anything else.

Of course. Mianmian is a good follower of the rules, though she knew when to stand her ground and bend and break them a little. She’s always been astute and headstrong like that. Right now, she is keeping her business private because that’s what a good lawyer will do.

Nie Huaisang sees her grasp at something that will deflect his attention off her, and she instantly finds it-

“Oh, please don’t let me keep you, though!” she says with a pleasant smile, gesturing towards the drink carrier he is holding on his other hand, and the two cold drinks in it. “It looks like you’ve got company…?”

Nie Huaisang grins. She is just as sharp as he remembers her, subtly telling him to be on his way, and while she is truly pleased to see him, she has something she has to prioritize today.

Well, two can play this game. In her profession, Mianmian reads people to get to the truth. For him, Nie Huaisang reads people to get them to believe anything he wants them to, truth or otherwise, and he’s got decades long experience of this.

“Oh, yeah, yeah, shouldn’t keep them waiting for these…” he nods, turning on his heel. “I hope to run into you again sometime, Miss Luo. I bet we’d have lots to catch up on! Old friends to be nostalgic about and all that…”

“Of course! That would be great.”

Nie Huaisang hopes that’s enough, to nudge her thoughts towards the right direction, as he starts to walk off-

He makes it several steps away before he hears her call out.

“Nie-xiong, um-…”

Nie Huaisang turns, expression open, expectant. “Yes?”

“Didn’t you-…” she starts, falters, and has to gather herself before continuing. “I know you used to be… involved, in some… initiatives? That also helped folks? Back in the day. With-… a few of our friends.”

There we go. Nie Huaisang nods. “Yes. I used to help out with some… programs.”

“And now?”

Nie Huaisang sees her make up her mind. He also sees her do her best to not look around the cafe warily.

Ah. Well.

Nie Huaisang shouldn’t have been holding himself back so much.

If he had been more alert, he would have noticed much earlier that his old friend isn’t just looking into a very serious problem at work. She might also be the serious problem at work. She is aware of this enough that she has cause to believe that she might be under surveillance, and now she is reaching out to the first person she knows might be able to get her out of it…

My, today’s turning out to be an interesting day.

“Nowadays I mostly do busywork, but I still enjoy some occasional volunteering.” Nie Huaisang says with a calm, open smile. He hopes that she reads him right this time as well. “I know you must be busy, but… Wanna walk with me?”

She nods and starts to gather her documents and laptop, tucking them neatly into her bag before picking up her blazer.

Nie Huaisang sends a quick message to his phone before offering her his arm, the one holding the spare drinks. She takes it with a clipped smile and lets him lead the way.

Under her breath, she stammers, “A-Sang, I’m sorry, I know you probably don’t-”

“Laugh.” Nie Huaisang interrupts her with a giddy smile. “I just told my friend a funny story, so laugh. That’s all you need to do right now.”

Mianmian blinks at him. Nie Huaisang giggles and nudges her side lightly with his elbow – and, not missing her cue, Mianmian laughs.

.

.

Jiang Cheng knows Nie Huaisang has a tendency to get sidetracked, so he keeps himself patient as he stands next to their grocery cart, waiting.

He is getting bored, though.

Nie Huaisang had claimed that he was only off to get them some drinks in that one cafe he really likes, but Jiang Cheng won’t be surprised if he saw some clothes or jewelry in some shop window on his way.

Jiang Cheng is contemplating if he should shoot a text to ask for an update, when he gets exactly that:

Well. That’s… interesting.

Jiang Cheng frowns. It’s unlike Nie Huaisang to “pick up” a “situation”. He got into them, sometimes, but he wouldn’t willingly choose to pick one up. That’s something one of the boys would do.

So much for a simple grocery run today.

Resigned, Jiang Cheng simply straightens up, consciously staying casual while he subtly surveys his surroundings, more alert this time as he waits.

He doesn’t have to wait too long, as soon he sees Nie Huaisang waving a beverage cup at him, arm linked with an unfamiliar woman- no, not unfamiliar-… Jiang Cheng squints, and recognition dawns on him as the two figures get closer. Is that…-?

“A-Cheng, look who I got to join us for dinner!” Nie Huaisang says as soon as they’re close enough. “I ran into her at the cafe, can you believe it?”

“Mianmian?” Jiang Cheng raises an eyebrow at their old friend.

“Jiang Cheng.” Mianmian greets back, looking just as surprised to see him. She turns to Nie Huaisang in disbelief. “You were on a date?”

“Not really, we were grocery shopping. See?” Nie Huaisang gestures towards the grocery bags in the cart beside Jiang Cheng. He steps away from Mianmian and towards Jiang Cheng, who leans down to let him press a kiss to his cheek. “Sorry I took so long, A-Cheng. You know I thought I saw some cute bucket hats on that one shop? Then I looked closer and turns out I actually didn’t like it much up close… Doesn’t suit me.”

Jiang Cheng takes that in, and out of the corner of his eyes, he spots the figure so obviously (to him, at least) lurking by one of the nearby stalls, face mostly obscured by sunglasses, and wearing the bucket hat that Nie Huaisang very kindly tipped him off to.

“I see.” is all Jiang Cheng says as he rests a hand on Nie Huaisang’s back. “Yeah, you’d hate wearing one anyway. Messes up your hair.”

“Right!” Nie Huaisang grins. “Where’s A-Ling?”

“Told him to go ahead. Fairy was getting antsy so he’s walking her around the parking lot.” he answers. Then he nods at Mianmian. “Let’s go?”

Mianmian nods back, and musters up a small smile. “Thanks for having me.”

.

.

Jin Ling is indeed walking Fairy around the parking lot, and he immediately ushers her towards their little crowd when he sees them making their way to Jiang Cheng’s car.

“A-Ling, I got you your strawberry milkshake!” Nie Huaisang says happily as the young man approaches them. “Also, this is your Auntie Mianmian. She’s joining us for dinner.”

Jin Ling blinks, looking back and forth between the adults, as if waiting for clarification. “A-Auntie-…?”

“Oh… This is Jin Ling?” Mianmian looks at Jin Ling with wide eyes, her voice breaking a bit.

“Yep.” Jiang Cheng says. “We’ll do the godmother-godchild introductions later. Jin Ling, let’s load these up. And you’re riding shotgun.”

Jin Ling looks like that just gave him ten more questions he wants to ask. “Godmo-”

Jiang Cheng just taps his shoulder, and with a firm voice, says, “Now, A-Ling.”

Nie Huaisang steers Mianmian and Fairy to the backseat while Jin Ling and Jiang Cheng load their groceries and shopping bags to the trunk.

Soon they’re driving off, Jiang Cheng in the driver’s seat and Jin Ling beside him, quietly sipping his strawberry milkshake. It’s not difficult to read that there is something going on, and so he has decided to wait for his uncles and new (alleged) aunt to elaborate.

Nie Huaisang is the first to break the silence. “Mianmian, you haven’t seen A-Ling since… when, again-?”

“Since he was still inside his mom.” Mianmian chuckles, sniffing a bit, almost involuntarily. Jin Ling stops himself from fully turning towards her, choosing instead to look at the woman through the rearview mirror. “I was in law school back then, and I didn’t even get to go home when-… When the accident happened. Sorry. Jiang Cheng-”

“It’s fine.” Jiang Cheng says, shaking his head slightly. “And you did reach out, after. I remember that.”

Mianmian takes a deep breath. “You told me not to come home.”

“I told you to keep your distance from the Jins.” Jiang Cheng says, making Jin Ling look at him then. “You were Jin Zixuan’s best friend. You were close with Wei Ying, with Wen Qing-… It was for your own safety.”

“I know that, detective.” Mianmian rolls her eyes, scoffing just slightly.

“Not anymore.” Jiang Cheng corrects, voice even. “I do private work now.”

“And that’s code for what?”

“Nothing. That’s just what I do.”

“I see.”

Nie Huaisang risks a glance at her, then meets Jiang Cheng’s eyes through the rearview. He can feel that there is tension between Jiang Cheng and Mianmian, but it’s clear to him that it’s borne of time, distance and old scars from things that changed their lives too fast, that they both felt they had no control over. But there’s no grudges there, no hard feelings.

“Sorry,” Jin Ling pipes up, and finally he turns from the passenger seat to look towards the stranger in the backseat, sitting beside Nie Huaisang, holding on to one of the man’s hands. “You knew my parents? You’re… my godmother?”

Mianmian looks at him – as if trying to absorb all the details of his young face under the passing bright streetlights as Jiang Cheng drove them home.

“I was going to be, if things had been different.” Mianmian smiles. “I would have loved to be there, but I think your jiujiu did just fine.”

From behind the wheel, Jiang Cheng nods minutely, and lets out a quiet, “Thanks.”

This acknowledgement, this confirmation that they had both simply done what was best at the time, both sacrificing something on their own way… This is enough. They are both too sensible to really argue over things that they wouldn’t be able to change.

Jin Ling looks thoughtful for a second, before he nods and then asks, “So you’re my Auntie Mianmian?”

Mianmian shakes her head as she sighs tiredly. “Hell no, that’s just what these stupid boys call me! My name is Luo Qingyang.”

Jin Ling blinks. “Auntie Luo?”

Both Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang catch the hitch in the woman’s breath before she smiles again and says, “Okay, that made me feel old. You can use the other one.”

“Gotcha.”

Nie Huaisang laughs, and Mianmian glares at him, cheeks pink.

“Anyway,” Jiang Cheng interjects. “Not that I’m not glad to have an old friend over for dinner, but I think there’s also another thing, right? What are we getting involved in, exactly? You have a stalker?”

Jin Ling, who was starting to settle back in his seat, perks up at that. “A stalker? Need me to beat them up, ayi?”

“N-No?” Mianmian blinks. “You two, how did you raise this kid?”

“Oh, don’t look at me.” Nie Huaisang chuckles, delighted. “That’s all Jiang Cheng. I only moved back, like, three years ago.”

“Seriously? Aren’t you guys married?”

Jin Ling turns to her again, deciding to fully snitch – “Ayi, they won’t even date each other. It’s weird…”

Jiang Cheng blames Ouyang Zizhen for this bit. His dramatics and nosiness have been rubbing off on Jin Ling…

“Still?!” Mianmian gapes, scandalized.

“Hey, what do you mean, still?” Nie Huaisang asks, pouting before taking a sip of his drink.

Mianmian looks at him in disbelief. “You two have been making out since we were in high school. You were together even before Lan Zhan and Wei Ying even-”

“It was that long ago?” Jin Ling asks, looking genuinely curious.

Nie Huaisang shrugs. “Things are complicated when you’re a wanted criminal in like 20 countries. 20 something. I lost count.”

“Nie Huaisang. You are aware that I’m a lawyer.” Mianmian groans. What is she getting herself into? “With the police on my speed dial…”

“Yep.” Nie Huaisang winks. “But you’re so nice, Mianmian. And we’ve always gotten along, right?”

“Oh, my God-”

“Alright, let’s get back on track.” Jiang Cheng says. “Jin Ling can take the stalker out. Easy. It’ll be good practice.”

“Oh. Well, I don’t have a stalker, I don’t think.” Mianmian says. “Not like that, at least. What I do have… is a case.”

Jiang Cheng catches her eyes through the rearview mirror, and raises an eyebrow. “We’re listening.”

.

.

Mianmian lets Nie Huaisang sit her on the couch and serve her a drink while Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling got busy, putting away the groceries and getting started on dinner preparations.

“Thank you, again. Don’t let me keep you from whatever you have to do…” Mianmian tells Nie Huaisang as she settles her blazer and bags on the couch beside her.

“Oh, don’t worry. A-Cheng and A-Ling are doing just fine in there. They’re like a machine! I’d only get in the way if I tried to help.” Nie Huaisang says with an easy smile as he sits with her. Fairy trots up to him and he strokes the dog’s fur.

Mianmian watches uncle and nephew from her seat, smiling slightly as she sees them working in tandem, so obviously used to moving with each other in the kitchen. “They do look like they’ve got it covered.”

“Right?”

Mianmian had told them the overview of her current case during the car ride, and after listening, Jiang Cheng had only told her that they will “see what they can do”. Nie Huaisang beside her had only smiled and told her to “let A-Cheng take care of it”.

She had known, even back then, even as she was still studying law, that her friends were involved in this kind of… business. They had been so young – Wei Ying, Wen Ning and Nie Huaisang – and they were breaking rules left and right, grifting and stealing their way to give back and help people who would be forgotten by the system otherwise.

She knew how much friction that caused between them and Jiang Cheng – but also like Jiang Cheng, she couldn’t well tell them to stop. Both of them couldn’t condone the methods, but they also knew ultimately, their friends were doing the world some good.

The system was broken and they simply cannot wait until it’s fixed for them to do something.

They had since gone from her life, even years before she fully came into her profession. She likes to think that in some way, she honored her fallen and estranged friends’ memories by doing most of her work pro bono. She thinks this is her doing her part of doing the world some good too, in her own way, like they used to.

She never thought she’d have to go to them like this, rely on their ways, after everything. But desperate times call for old friends and turning a blind eye to something she would normally disapprove of.

She takes the documents from her bag and passes the folders to Nie Huaisang, who accepts them with a smile and lays them out on the low table between them.

“A-Sang…” she starts, watching as her friend across her starts to skim through her case documents. “Earlier you said you mostly do busywork… Is this why? You’ve settled down?”

“Ah…” Nie Huaisang chuckles, eyes on the papers. “I don’t think it’s like that. Not really.”

Mianmian leans back on the couch, brows furrowed. “So what’s going on here, really? It’s obvious you and Jiang Cheng are back together. And you got him working with you on your… jobs? That’s a surprise.”

“I think I’ve forgotten how straightforward you were, Mianmian.” Nie Huaisang says, eyes straying from the documents to look at her. “You were right. I was abroad, you know. It was too risky to stay. Had a bit of a tour, did stuff just for me… But, believe it or not, it was A-Cheng who reeled me back in and made me work with a team again. And it’s not bad. So here we are.”

“Jin Corp, four years ago?” Mianmian raised an eyebrow. “That was you guys?”

“Yup.” Nie Huaisang says with a sharp grin. “It was about time, we thought.”

“It was.” Mianmian nods. She had suspected as much, but didn’t want to look too deep into it, at the time. “Great job there, despite the fallouts.”

“Thank you!”

“So then after that, you just… stayed?”

Nie Huaisang shrugs. “In a way. I still do my own stuff. I help out when A-Cheng or the boys ask. For now this is home. I don’t think I’ve… settled. Just slowed down, I suppose.”

“Hm. I guess I can understand that much.” Mianmian nods, then chuckles. “Just glad I didn’t miss a wedding. You’re one of the few friends I have left from that time.”

Nie Huaisang laughs, and waves her off. They sit in silence for a bit, as Mianmian pets Fairy while Nie Huaisang continues his examining of the case details.

“Jin Ling. He’s, um… a fighter, then?” Mianmian asks, smiling lightly when Fairy noses her hand sweetly.

“He’s our muscle, I suppose.” Nie Huaisang hums. “In training. A-Cheng keeps him safe as he can.”

“Whoa.” she lets out a breath, as she looks past Nie Huaisang to see Jin Ling dutifully assisting his uncle as they prepared dinner. “That is something. Y’know, he looks so much like his dad? But can you imagine, Zixuan?”

“Oh, Gods.”

“He could never! I used to save him from bullies!”

When Nie Huaisang laughs, Mianmian laughs with him. This time, for real.

.

.

Dinner is lively, the food is delicious and Mianmian catches up with Jin Ling and Nie Huaisang, who were happy to hear about her in turn. Jiang Cheng doesn’t bring up Mianmian’s “problem” at all, until it was time for her to head home.

Mianmian couldn’t leave her documents with them, so she takes out her laptop and transfers the digital documents to a portable drive instead, then hands it to Jiang Cheng. In return, Jiang Cheng hands her a small item. On first look, Mianmian almost thinks it’s one of those plastic cases for contact lenses.

“Comms. Goes in your ear, activates when you put it on. You just need the one, the other’s a spare. It won’t register on most scanners. It also has a tracker.” Jiang Cheng explains, and Mianmian looks down at the item as she makes sure to remember what he says. “We have your contact and we’ll tell you when you need to put it on. But, if you feel like you’re in danger or have been compromised in any way, besides the usual surveillance, don’t wait for our text. Put it on and when this activates, it will patch you through to us immediately.”

Mianmian nods as she slips the case into her bag. “Got it.”

“Jin Ling will drive you home. For now, act normal. You came over for dinner with some old friends you bumped into at the mall today. That’s all.”

“Thank you. And the case- What are you going to do? Can you tell me, or…?”

“It’s better if we don’t.” Nie Huaisang says with a small smile. “Just do what you usually do. Meet up with your client, tell them something is bound to come up and you’re doing what you can.”

Mianmian resists the urge to feel helpless, that very same feeling she was having earlier that day, in the cafe, looking through her case files. It would be so obvious – hell, it was how Nie Huaisang just passing by accurately clocked that she needed help…

Things will be different now, she chooses to believe that. She just has to wait a bit, and rely on her old friends for now, trust that they will do something.

She says goodbye to them, and follows Jin Ling to Jiang Cheng’s car to head on home.

The kid isn’t much of a talker, Mianmian has learned. Or maybe he’s different with strangers, with new people. He is Jiang Cheng’s kid through and through, specially with the way he holds himself… but she can’t help but hold her breath whenever she sees him through her peripheral vision.

It’s almost too much, Mianmian thinks. She remembers rides like this, riding shotgun with Jin Zixuan at the wheel, her trying to get him to talk, to tell her about how things went that day, with school, with everything… with Jiang Yanli. She already knew most of those things, of course – they were together all the time – but she liked to tease details out of him, because he’d stammer and blush helplessly.

This time, she doesn’t tease or prod Jin Ling. Not so soon. She doesn’t know the kid that well, not yet. But the few times tonight that she saw Nie Huaisang tease the boy, she had been amazed to discover that he looks just as ridiculous and indignant when he’s embarrassed.

Like his dad.

Though his smile is all Yanli.

Mianmian misses them both.

They get to her place almost too soon, and Mianmian thanks Jin Ling for the ride, and tells him to thank his uncles for her, too.

“Just call if something comes up.” Jin Ling tells her, a mix of awkward and serious. It’s terribly endearing. “And I’m not kidding about the stalker guy, ayi. Just say it and I’ll take care of him.”

Mianmian almost coos, but she settles for an amused smile. “You mean you’ll beat him up for me?”

Jin Ling looks away, pursing his lips. How is he so much like his dad? “I guess…? My friends do the other stuff. The restraining papers or whatever.”

“It’s called a restraining order, A-Ling. And thank you for offering. I appreciate it.” Mianmian chuckles. She takes a step back, and hesitates for a moment before she continues. “You know, your dad would have never done this. Offer to beat someone up for me.”

“R-Really?” Jin Ling blinks at her, furrowing his brows. “Why? Was he-… Um-…”

“Oh, he’s not a coward or anything like that. No. He’s just… a very nice guy. Didn’t like conflict.” Mianmian lets out a wistful sigh, before laughing lightly. “If anything, he often stopped me from beating people up for him.”

“Oh.” Jin Ling lets out a soft, relieved huff. “That’s-… I didn’t know that. About him.”

Then Mianmian gestures absently at… him. At Jin Ling, in general. “This punk shit, though. This is all Jiang.” She grins. “Your mom’s always been the badass.”

A smile tugs at Jin Ling’s lips then. “I didn’t know that either.”

“Jiang Cheng’s not the best storyteller, huh?” Mianmian shakes her head. She reaches over then, and ruffles his hair. “Don’t worry, we’ll hang out after all this. Yeah?”

Jin Ling nods, a tinge of pink in his cheeks. “Y-Yeah… See you, ayi.”

“See you. Drive safe, A-Ling.”

.

.

---

.

.

Lan Jingyi wakes up when someone opens the back of the van and lets cursed morning sunshine in his face. He curls up into a ball in his futon and groans.

“Rise and shine, nerd.” the intruder says. He recognizes it vaguely as Jin Ling, because the voice doesn’t even try to inspire Jingyi to rise, let alone shine. If it was Lan Sizhui, he was sure he’d be feeling warm and nice and there will also be angels singing.

“Why?” Lan Jingyi grunts out, turning to his other side, away from the light.

“I don’t want to just drive your hacker van straight to our place with you in it, I’d feel like a kidnapper.” Jin Ling says.

“Wait, that would have been fun.” says a different voice, still not accompanied by a celestial choir. So Ouyang Zizhen is here too. Of course he is. Why would he not be where Jin Ling is?

Lan Jingyi curses the day he let his friends talk him into giving them spare keys to his van. Which is also his office. Which is also his house. He shouldn’t have given them keys to his house. Ugh.

“C’mon. We have a new job.” Jin Ling continues, and now Lan Jingyi feels a tugging on his fluffy blanket.

“We just finished one yesterday…” he complains, pulling his blanket tighter. “Sent those crypto bros to jail…”

The tugging doesn’t relent, though. “That’s just you and Sizhui. It was my day off, and Zizhen wasn’t even invited.”

“Yeah, why wasn’t I invited?”

“‘Cause you were on a date with some giiiirl~” Lan Jingyi drawled, lifting his head this time to frown at his two friends. Where is Sizhui? Sizhui would be nicer about all this. He’ll stroke Jingyi’s hair and hum a cute song and offer him something nice to eat so Jingyi would be motivated to face the waking world…

“That wasn’t a date! We had a project, she’s my lab partner!” Ouyang Zizhen defends himself, but even half-awake, Jingyi could catch how his face is red. Ugh.

That is just what he says. “Ugh, girl. Ugh, school.”

“Yeah, ugh, education. We get it.” Jin Ling says, and because he’s some monster child trained by his terror uncle, he easily manages to pull Lan Jingyi’s blanket completely off him.

“Hey!”

“Get up, or I get the spray bottle.” Jin Ling says – truly raised by one Jiang Cheng. “Y’know jiujiu was planning to do this job with just him and Nie-shushu? I got him to let us in on it. So c’mon, I thought you said you were getting bored with small fry?”

Okay, that changes things.

Lan Jingyi sits up and promptly crashes his head against his laptop table. He hears Jin Ling snort, while Ouyang Zizhen laughs.

He rubs his head. It’s so painful but hey, now he’s awake. “This is from shushu?! Why didn’t you just lead with that?”

“It’s real exciting.” Ouyang Zizhen says, grinning. “We’re doing it for A-Ling’s long lost godmother!”

“She’s not long lost…” Jin Ling sighs, like he’s had to tell Zizhen this several times. “One of jiujiu’s and Nie-shushu’s friends need some help, that’s all.”

Lan Jingyi looks at Jin Ling, who is crouching right beside his futon, then at Ouyang Zizhen who is on the sidewalk, leaning against the van.

“Your uncle and his friends, man. That generation’s never boring, huh.” He huffs. “Alright, I’m awake. But one of you drive.”

.

.

“A friend of ours – Luo Qingyang – is currently working as the attorney for a pro bono case. She was making good progress on it, her case is strong, but then she ran into some… difficulties. Not just those, she also started noticing some strange things around the whole thing.”

Lan Jingyi leans his head on Sizhui’s shoulder, blinking sleep off his eyes as he looks at the laptop screen in front of them. Jiang Cheng nods in their direction, and Sizhui dutifully pulls up one of the documents in one of the bigger screens as the man continues to explain.

“Her client is Lin Xinyue, housewife, suing up-and-coming health and wellness company, LifeBoost Labs. According to Madam Lin, the company’s product, Vitality Boost, caused her husband’s death and since the product is still in the market, it can potentially endanger countless other lives.”

“That’s a health supplement, right? It’s not like actual medicine, it’s like vitamins?” Ouyang Zizhen asks from his comfy slump in the beanbag, Fairy draped over him. “They have like, side-effects like that?”

“Unfortunately these things are pretty common.” Jiang Cheng says. “Company spikes their ‘harmless’ vitamins with something to claim effectiveness but they don’t disclose the fact. This isn’t even the worst case I’ve seen of this. Most of these kinds of lawsuits lose because the company’s got deep pockets and some even stay on the shelves because they have a thorough PR department.”

“Assholes.” Jin Ling mumbles, leaning over the counter.

Jiang Cheng huffs. “They are.”

Lan Sizhui raises his hand and Jiang Cheng nods at him. “Your friend handling the case… she doesn’t have enough evidence to prove this ? Is that what we’re here for?”

The kid really is Wei Ying’s, Jiang Cheng thinks. His first solution is to obtain information he doesn’t necessarily have access to.

“Actually, that’s the catch.” Jiang Cheng says. “Mianmian-… well. Miss Luo. She has more than enough evidence and a good amount of witnesses, to really close this case on their favor. But it’s been several sessions and that’s not happening. First, several witnesses back out, delaying the whole thing. One of them even turned to the defendant’s side. Then she started noticing a shift in the vibe of the jury – I don’t know exactly what she meant by that but we’re gonna find out. Then as of three days ago and until she reached out to us yesterday, she’s noticed that she is under surveillance.”

Lan Jingyi blinks. “They’re tracking her?”

Jiang Cheng nods. “Tracking, tailing, the works.”

“Her house could have been bugged too. That’s another concern.” Nie Huaisang adds, perched on the counter beside Jin Ling, who turns to him with a worried, uneasy frown. He just smiles reassuringly as he rubs the younger’s back.

“So they’re trying to rig the trial…” Lan Sizhui’s voice is quiet but firm when he asks, “How can we help?”

“Well, we tapped Wen Ning last night and he was happy to lend a hand to give us a headstart. Jingyi, he said you should have the files by now. We’re going through those today.”

“Got it.” Lan Jingyi says, straightening up and cracking his knuckles as he takes over his laptop from Lan Sizhui.

“Jin Ling, you drove Mianmian home last night. You know her place.” Jiang Cheng says. “You’re on pest control.”

Jin Ling nods, understanding by now that there’s not much his specific skills can do if they’re all still trying to lay low and gather information. “Okay, jiujiu.”

“Zizhen, Sizhui, Nie Huaisang will dress you up.” Jiang Cheng continues, making the two young men look towards Nie Huaisang, then to him. “You two are going to court.”

.

.

Once more, Mianmian tries to steel herself and not regret her choices as she tucks the little earbud into her ear. She had received the text some moments ago, just after arriving in the courthouse, so she snuck into the ladies’ room and made sure that the stalls were empty before doing as instructed.

There’s a beep, and she speaks, tentatively. “So, um, is this thing on?”

She is met with sounds of shuffling and then several voices-

“Hello, uh, is it Madam Luo?” – the first young man’s voice is unfamiliar but easy, casual.

“Miss Luo, maybe?” – another young man, more upbeat.

“Oh, is Mianmian up?” – familiar, but faint like it’s from a distance, she recognizes Nie Huaisang’s voice.

“Everyone shut up.” – also familiar. Jin Ling. “Hi, ayi.”

“Jin Ling.” she smiles, despite knowing they can’t see her.

“Yeah. I’m on my way to your house.”

Wait. “Uh-… What?”

“Focus up.” – one voice cuts through them all. Authoritative and calm, and this time familiar. “Hey. It’s Jiang Cheng. Can you hear us alright?”

“Y-Yeah. It’s pretty weird, though.” she chuckles.

“You get used to it.” Nie Huaisang’s voice says, closer now, soothing and reassuring. “If you need to say something pretty long and there are lots of people around, just put your phone up, like you’re in a call.”

“Mianmian, you’re in the courthouse now, right?” Jiang Cheng asks.

“Yes. What is this about going to my house, again?”

“Jin Ling’s gonna scope the place out. You’re being tailed. It’s possible there’s a bug in your house too. So he’s gonna check those out.”

“Oh… I didn’t think of that.” she frowns. “If there was a bug… Won’t it be suspicious if they suddenly go out?”

“You’re right, and we’re not removing them. This is just so you’ll know to be careful. But Jin Ling’s gonna leave something that will knock them out, if we need to do that. Get ahead of whoever these folks after you are.”

“Alright. That sounds… good.” Mianmian nods, then makes a note to get used to this way of communication quick, because otherwise she’ll give herself away. “Wait, how’s he gonna get in?”

“You don’t want to know that, Mianmian.” Nie Huaisang says, sounding amused. “Don’t worry, he won’t break anything. On purpose.”

“I won’t!” Jin Ling’s voice comes in again. Then, calmer, he repeats, “I promise I won’t, ayi.”

Mianmian sighs, but knows that she doesn’t have much of a choice here, now. “I’m trusting you, kid.”

That’s when a group of ladies enter, so Mianmian picks up her bag right away and makes to leave.

“We’ve started looking into the case, by the way. You did really solid work. I can see why they’d have to rig this trial just to win.”

“Cheaters.” one of the unfamiliar voices scoffs. “Hi, ma’am. Lan Jingyi at your service. Don’t mind me, I’m just the tech guy.”

“Oh. Nice to meet you?”

“We’re sending in two of our own to attend the trial today.” Jiang Cheng continues, getting them back on focus. “If you’re in the courthouse, one of them should find you soon.”

“Okay. And… what are we doing?”

“Just do what you do. We can’t let your tail know that you have backup now. Oh, and make sure you don’t look too obvious, when you meet up with your assistant.”

“Assistant?” Mianmian blinks, stopping momentarily. She doesn’t have an assistant-

“Congrats. You have one now!” Nie Huaisang chirps, sounding delighted. “He’s my special boy, I’m sure you’ll get along.”

“Why is he the special boy?” Lan Jingyi’s voice asks.

“Do you want to be a special boy too, Jingyi?” – Nie Huaisang.

“Oh, no. No, I’m fine like this. Not special. Ordinary boy. Thank you, shushu.”

Then a new voice pops up. The upbeat one from earlier – “Ah, I see you now, Miss Luo! Coming up on your six.”

Barely seconds later, she hears the same voice from beyond the comms, and a young man is standing before her. He’s about the same age as Jin Ling, dressed similarly to other young undergrads or interns she had worked with before, a sleek backpack on his back and a tablet on his arms.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Miss Luo.” he says with a friendly and optimistic smile. “It’s Ouyang Zizhen, by the way.”

He looks… exactly as they’ve said – an assistant. Also, Mianmian has seen him before.

“Hey.” Mianmian smiles back, squinting slightly, trying to remember where-… Ah. “So Jin Ling sent his boyfriend?”

Zizhen freezes, and blinks wide, surprised eyes at her. “Um-… Yes? Oh- I mean-!”

Over the comms, she hears Lan Jingyi’s voice, intrigued. “Oh???”

That is followed by Jin Ling’s spluttering- “W-Wha- No- Why- Ayi-…?”

“Wait, am I wrong?” Mianmian chuckles. “This is the boy in your lockscreen, isn’t he, A-Ling?”

“Wha- When did you- Yeah, but-”

“Ohhhhh…” Lan Jingyi continues, high-pitched and shaking, obviously trying not to laugh.

“Wow, Mianmian.” Nie Huaisang says, sounding highly amused. “You really are his godmother.”

Jin Ling continues to splutter. “Shushu- No- Ayi, you are- it’s a misunderstanding! M-My lockscreen is Fairy! Zizhen just- He was in the frame!”

“That’s right.” Zizhen nods frantically, cheeks red. He keeps up his smile for Mianmian though, because he’s a professional. “Y-Yeah, that was just Fairy. I’m always hanging out with Fairy!”

Lan Jingyi scoffs. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s it.”

“Shut up, Jingyi!” Jin Ling growls.

Jiang Cheng clears his throat then, and the chaos over the comms immediately stop. “Alright, pipe down. We’ll all discuss Jin Ling’s lockscreen later-”

“Jiujiu-!”

“Yeah, I know. You love Fairy. Mianmian, just meet up with your client, attend the hearing as usual. Don’t mind Zizhen so much, he’ll stay out of your way while he does his thing. Sizhui, status?”

Mianmian nods, then blinks. They did mention earlier that they were sending two today, and she has met only one so-

“In position.” – a new voice says now, young but quiet – almost too quiet. “Sorry, was just talking to the others here. Cute lockscreen though, A-Ling-”

“Sizhui…” Jin Ling groans. “Not you too.”

This Sizhui laughs, soft and light, a contrast to Jiang Cheng’s serious, almost cold tone as he cuts through the trivialities. “Good. You know what you’re doing today. Keep your eyes open. Don’t make waves.”

“Yes, shushu.”

Ouyang Zizhen gestures towards the hallway in the direction of the courtroom, and he and Mianmian start to walk. Mianmian is impressed at the ease that the young man falls into step with her, matching her pace but making sure he is one step behind, as if he had been working for her for years now.

“That was our friend, Sizhui.” Ouyang Zizhen tells Mianmian, sounding very casual, perfect for his cover. “He’s gonna be in the jury.”

“What? But- We’ve already-… You guys got someone on the jury?”

“What can I say? There was a mix-up in the assignments. But that’s all good and settled now.” Lan Jingyi says, nonchalant, as if he wasn’t talking to a lawyer about how he just did about three different crimes.

“I can’t believe- When did you even have time to make that happen?”

“Well, Sizhui wakes up at 5 AM, so.” Zizhen grins. “He’s very productive.”

Lan Jingyi hums. “So productive.”

“The most.” comes from Jin Ling.

“Thank you, guys.” Sizhui’s quiet voice pipes up. “Please be quieter, though.”

Despite the distracting voices in her ear, Mianmian finds herself smiling and shaking her head. Boys bickering. It’s been some time since she was last subject to these kinds of shenanigans-

But then Zizhen opens the court room door for her and Mianmian’s instincts kick in – standing straighter, immediately scanning the faces in the room. People were taking their seats, including some of the jury. The judge hasn’t arrived yet. On the plaintiff’s side, she finds the woman seated alone, tired, anxious, hunched in on herself.

“That’s our client, Zizhen.” Mianmian tells her new assistant. “Madam Lin. Let me introduce you to her first.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Zizhen nods dutifully, and gestures to the room with a flourish. “After you.”

Ah. A very polite boy. Mianmian hums, before speaking into the comms. “Hey, A-Ling? I like this one.”

The reward is instant – a snicker from Lan Jingyi, red cheeks from Ouyang Zizhen, and a groan from Jin Ling. “Ayi, no…”

Mianmian takes a deep breath then, and walks into the room, Zizhen a step behind her. She feels the most hopeful she’s felt in days.

.

.

Mianmian introduces her new assistant to their client, who appears less concerned and more confused, never having met the young man before. Zizhen smooths it off in no time, explaining that he’s a part-timer and that Miss Luo was very generous to allow him to finish his university requirements first before assisting her with this case. He has an easy, friendly air to him as he assures Madam Lin that he had been keeping up with the updates.

His presence is a grounding comfort as she sees the opposing side’s attorney walk in, followed by a middle-aged man walking with his chin up and a smirk so smug it might as well have been a sneer – Chen Xun, the LifeBoost Labs CEO himself.

“Geez, he really does look like a piece of work.” Zizhen whispers to his companions, eliciting a small, appreciative smile from their client for his solidarity. Five minutes in, and she is already endeared.

The boy is well-trained, Mianmian thinks. She shouldn’t have doubted Nie Huaisang’s recommendation for a moment.

The judge arrives then, and as the austere-looking man calls for order, Mianmian is reminded to look over at the jury panel, who were all just settling in their own seats.

She would confess that she hasn’t memorized all the details about all the people in the jury, but she is still able to spot the new face in the little crowd.

“In the cardigan and glasses.” Zizhen whispers to her, confirming her assumption. “We don’t know him, of course.”

Mianmian nods, deciding to simply trust in what she has been told – that she only has to do her job as normal and let her young companions do theirs.

Zizhen so far has perfectly blended in as if he was always meant to be here. When she checks out the jury, she sees that Sizhui has also done the same.

He looks like he’s a year or two older than Zizhen and Jin Ling. He is wearing a cozy but formal cardigan, a button up shirt and glasses. A young professional. He had been assisting another member of the jury, an elderly woman, get into her seat. And now he is nodding as she explains something to him. From her gestures, Mianmian can assume that she must be catching him up on the details of the case, or maybe sharing her thoughts, because he’s new. Mianmian doesn’t know what elaborate ploy her friends had fabricated to get a completely new person in the jury of an ongoing case – which is not unheard of, but still quite a stunt to pull. So far she thinks the kid is doing a bang up job playing all this off as natural.

“Bugs found.” someone says in the comms then – Jin Ling. “Only three, but coverage is good. I don’t think I got caught in any of them, at least.”

“Alrighty. Let me know when you’ve set up the net, I’ll activate the intercepter.” Lan Jingyi replies.

Mianmian keeps on her best neutral face as she hears all this, and only thinks to herself – *’Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang have created some terrifying up and coming criminals.’

When they were young, she thought her two friends were insufferable – denying any sort of romantic commitment while also openly flirting with each other. Mianmian had always thought that maybe when they get their shit together, they’d have a kid for Nie Mingjue to dote on, or a cute dog, or like, a bunch of birds. A combination of those. Maybe even all of those.

Well, Mianmian thinks now, those would have been boring.

This is much more interesting.

.

.

The hearing is dismissed, to continue another day. More things had gone wrong than right. Mianmian places a hand on Madam Lin’s back, comforting, sympathetic.

“Just stay with your client, Mianmian.” Jiang Cheng’s voice says in her ear. “Dismiss Zizhen so we can regroup. We’ll fix this.”

“Alright.” she says – to Jiang Cheng, to Zizhen, and to herself. “I think Madam Lin and I ought to sit down for a cup of tea. Zizhen, can you go on ahead, back to the office, try to go through anything we might have missed? Maybe try some of those potential witnesses who haven’t responded yet.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Zizhen nods dutifully. He takes Madam Lin’s hand and smiles reassuringly. “Don’t give up, Madam. It’s not over yet. I’m sure we’ll find something that will help us.”

“Thank you, dear.” the woman smiles back, still appreciative, however resigned she looks to be.

Zizhen bows at both women, and then Mianmian watches him walk away. He gets on a bike – of course he does – and rides off.

“He’s not just saying that, you know.” Nie Huaisang says. “We already have something. This recon’s a success. Just hang in there, okay?”

Mianmian simply makes a sound of agreement, subtle enough that it could be dismissed as a hum.

Out of the corner of her eye she can already see the man sent to tail her. Jiang Cheng had given her a tip on how to spot the bastard.

She leads her client out the courthouse, giving nothing away.

She will just have to trust her friends. For now, she holds steady.

.

.

“So we got four hidden cameras planted in the courtroom. Two on the room, two on some randos on the pews, all different angles. Then the Labs’ lawyer? Got another camera on his briefcase, a perfect view of the jury box. Maybe even our table. They’re observing the jury, Miss Luo, Madam Lin and anyone on their team.”

Having done his report, Zizhen dumps his bag on the beanbag before plopping down on the couch, where Fairy immediately bounds up to ask for pets.

“And your other job?” Jiang Cheng asks, arms crossed across his chest.

“Oh, yeah, bug planted on Mr. CEO. I bumped into him because I’m suuuuch a klutz…” Zizhen says, eyes shiny and sighing dramatically. As quick as he put than on, he shakes it off, then cringes. “He’s so terrible, shushu. Like, just being on the same room as him, ugh. Yikes. The vibes? Bad.”

“You don’t get to talk about bad vibes.” Jin Ling groans as he also plops down on the couch, and of course Fairy immediately moves to ask her favorite human for cuddles instead. “There were bugs on ayi’s home office and dining room and the fucking front door. There’s a guy still following her. There’s another guy following Madam Lin. And like half the jury. And the slimy CEO man.”

“Wait.” Jiang Cheng looks up, looking towards his nephew who is now actively burrowing into Fairy’s fur. “Chen Xun is being tailed too?”

“Mm-hm.” is all Jin Ling replies with, sounding frustrated. Ouyang Zizhen sighs in sympathy and pats his head. “Double the bad vibes there.”

Jiang Cheng nods, then turns to the remaining member of their team. “Sizhui, what about the jury?”

Lan Sizhui and Jin Ling arrived together because it was Jin Ling who picked the latter up from a park near the courthouse, for safety. Now, Sizhui takes his cardigan off and settles on the couch with his friends.

“Um, the vibes are also quite bad in there.” he says with a sheepish, uncomfortable smile. “Apparently before me, there were two other replacements? I managed to talk to some of the ones remaining and tried to listen to the rest as much as I can. Most are still leaning towards Madam Lin, but a lot of them are starting to hesitate, just because of the inconsistencies with the witnesses… Then there’s something off about the foreman too…”

Lan Jingyi scoffs from his usual perch on the dining table, with his laptop. “Oh, he’s been bought off. He’s definitely trying to sway people to LifeBoost’s side.”

“We know that for sure?” Lan Sizhui blinks.

Jiang Cheng nods. “Wen Ning was thorough. He sent over bank statements. The witnesses who backed out had some sizable transfers in the past few weeks. Same with some members of the jury. The foreman even more, but in installment.”

“Drip-feeding their bribe…” Nie Huaisang hums from where he is drinking tea beside Jin Ling and his laptop. “Common tactic. They’re giving him incentive to turn more people to support LifeBoost instead. The more he turns, the more he gets…”

“Ugh, that’s the worst.” Ouyang Zizhen groans.

“We can’t even fully blame those witnesses and jury members…” Sizhui says, looking unbothered at the weight of two of his friends and Fairy all leaning on him like dominoes. “Most of them are strangers to this situation, no personal investment, and LifeBoost surely targeted those ones who would need the money the most…”

Lan Jingyi lets out an impatient huff of breath. “Yeah, tell me something new.”

Jiang Cheng nodded towards him. “And how’s your homework?”

“Okay, so I dug deep a bit. And still not done digging, but…” Lan Jingyi pulls up a bunch of documents and website screenshots to the main TV display for everyone to see. “Turns out, LifeBoost Labs wasn’t always called that. It used to be Quick Wellness Inc. That one closed down after a public trial about one of their products – a sleep gummy, apparently, that worked too well one of the consumers never woke up. Sound familiar?”

“So LifeBoost is a rebrand?” Lan Sizhui asks, as Ouyang Zizhen and Jin Ling draw away from him and sit up straight to pay attention. “After bad publicity of their previous product?”

“Not just publicity, there was legitimate backlash. The gummy was pulled out from shelves. It’s been available for two years then. But that’s not the first time that happened…”

“Ah.” Nie Huaisang pipes up. “Another common tactic. ‘Cause starting a new company is sometimes cheaper than salvaging an existing one that’s had bad PR…”

Jiang Cheng frowns. He knows where this is going.

Another document, a different website and logo pops up on the screen as Lan Jingyi continues, “…because before Quick Wellness Inc., there was Happy Health Co.! Guess what went wrong on that one-”

“Bad product?” Ouyang Zizhen drawls, unimpressed.

“Bad service. They were like a spa place thing offering I quote – ‘cutting-edge new practices’ for health and wellness, and they were using their “exclusive” original patented products for the so-called practices, and some of them went pretty terribly…” Lan Jingyi says, voice saccharine and full of sass. “But wait – there’s more!”

“More?!” Jin Ling exclaims, sounding just done.

“Okay.” Jiang Cheng groans, running a hand down his face. “No need to go through each one. Do we know exactly how many rebrands this evil company’s had?”

“I’ve got two more on the docket and still not sure if that’s everything. They’re getting harder to trace back. Old data.”

Jiang Cheng frowns thoughtfully. “All these previous trials – they won, lost, or…?”

“They settled. For each one. They just paid the money.”

“And that money, they actually had it?” Jiang Cheng asks.

Lan Jingyi shrugs. “As far as I can tell. I haven’t really looked into the specifics yet, but the products appeared to be selling well, all of them, until they get found out for illegal ingredients or health hazard formulas… so I think yeah, they probably actually had the money to pay up and move on.”

“They already know what works, so they’ll just start over with a new look and the latest trendy thing to make that money again.” Nie Huaisang says. “Tedious, but I guess it works for them.”

“Sure. So what I’m not getting is…” Jiang Cheng looks at them both. “They’ve done this so many times. But this one is different. This case has been going for months now. Months that they’re losing money on to keep on going. If they were sticking by their playbook, they would have settled by now, hell, months ago. This time, they’re going so far as buying people out. That means they’re actually trying to win this one.”

“Oh.” Nie Huaisang blinks. “They’re trying to save the brand and company this time. For some reason this one is important and they can’t lose it…”

Jiang Cheng nods. “So the next question is – why this one specifically?”

“Could it be they can’t afford a new rebrand this time?” Zizhen suggests.

“Possible, but this doesn’t feel like that.” Jiang Cheng mumbles, and he looks over towards Nie Huaisang, who shakes his head at him in response. “We’re missing something. While we find that out, we can’t let them win. We have to stall the next hearing.”

He turns to look at the snuggle pile on the couch. “Sizhui, get the foreman out of the picture. Zizhen, Jingyi, I want to know everyone our slimy CEO man has been talking to around this case.”

He gets nods and sounds of confirmation from all three addressed.

“And… hm. A-Ling – I have something fun for you.”

Jin Ling straightens up then, eyes lighting up. “Yeah?”

“Go stall Chen Xun.”

Jin Ling frowns, confused. “Eh?”

“Literally.” Jiang Cheng grins. “Make him late for tomorrow’s hearing. Not too much, but enough to annoy some people.”

Nie Huaisang chuckles, and asks, “And we’ll see who gets the most annoyed?”

Jiang Cheng nods. “Yep.”

Jin Ling hums, slightly less confused this time, just focusing on how he’d get it done. “Hey, Zizhen.”

Beside him, Zizhen stifles a yawn. “Mm?”

“Let me borrow your bike.”

.

.

---

.

.

Lan Sizhui has been put in many challenging situations over the many jobs he’d worked on with his friends. He is aware that in their little team, his skillsets are very specific to himself, and that his role in their job are not as interchangeable as, say, Zizhen’s or Jin Ling’s…

Not that his friends were interchangeable! But ever since they worked on jobs more cohesively, with elaborate plans and roles masterminded by Jiang-shushu and some mentoring by Nie-shushu, all four of them had learned a lot about adaptability, and had since taken initiative to know at least the basics of each other’s jobs in case they had to switch up some roles last minute.

They still have their specialties, but Sizhui can say that they’re all more confident now, that they can each be self-sufficient in case one of them had to tap out or is not able to provide backup…

Lan Sizhui is secretly proud to say that Jiang-shushu appears to be the most “hands-off” with him, though. He usually gave Sizhui a quick, generic instruction, and unless they need something done in a very specific way, he just trusted Lan Sizhui to get the task done on his own way. Sizhui is always happy with being given a lot of freedom to explore his problem-solving skills and experiment – within reason, of course.

That said, he thinks Jiang-shushu gave him a bit too much freedom for this one…

‘Get the jury foreman out of the picture’ was quite the vague instruction, and when Lan Sizhui asked his uncle…

“How should I do that, shushu?”

Jiang Cheng just pat his shoulder as he passed him by and said, “Just go with your gut.”

And from Lan Sizhui’s experience, that is basically just the Jiang Cheng way of saying “I trust you. Have fun.”

Which is nice. But now Lan Sizhui is realizing that maybe his uncle really did mean the ’Have fun’ part. Because he essentially put Sizhui in a playground.

Right now, Sizhui stands by the little pantry of the jury waiting room, absently stirring the free coffee as he observes the rest of the jury members.

His first thought, when Jiang Cheng told him to get rid of the jury foreman, is he could just steal some stuff from the other members and plant it on the man to at best get him kicked out of jury duty, or at worse, discredited and mistrusted by everyone in the group.

But that seemed so simple, so easy – so Sizhui tried to think harder.

He was on Overly Complicated Plan #3 by the time he realized that maybe… maybe it is that easy.

Simple always worked, with him, since the first time he started doing this with Jingyi. Jiang Cheng always said he’s the most practical of their bunch, that he always knew what to do and he doesn’t do anything unnecessary.

Lan Sizhui is a thief.

So he’ll steal. That’s it. It seemed boring, after the higher stakes and risky stunts he’d faced in their recent jobs, but this is matters too.

And. Well. He can always make it not boring.

“Hey, Jingyi?” he mumbles into his cup. The free coffee tastes terrible. He much prefers the nice and light matcha milk that Jin Ling is so good at making. “Can you start a timer?”

His best friend’s voice replies in his ear. “Uh. Sure. Right now? For what?”

Sizhui eyes the rest of the people in the room. The lovely old lady he kept company for most of the session yesterday waves happily at him, and he raises a hand in response, while his lips are still hidden behind the coffee cup. “Tell you later. Tell me when to go.”

“Alright… I got you.”

Lan Sizhui doesn’t finish his drink. He walks over to the bin on one side of the room and by the time he throws out the half-full cup of coffee, he hears a beep on his communicator and Lan Jingyi’s voice-

“Okay. Timer starts… now.”

Lan Sizhui turns around then, and the first person he sees is a woman, middle-aged, a housewife, from what he can recall from the previous day. She’s very vocal about sympathizing with Madam Lin, so Lan Sizhui has to push down a tinge of guilt as he moves aside and past her so she could throw some crumpled up tissues on the bin, and ends up with one of his bag’s keychains “accidentally” tangled up with the chunky charm on her own bag.

He apologizes, and joins her on fumbling over and untangling their belongings together. No charm or keychain is damaged, and there are no hard feelings because she is a very nice woman who understands these things can happen…

Sure, she’s now missing a very nice gold bracelet, but it’ll be fine. She’ll get it back soon enough.

Next Lan Sizhui is bumping shoulders with a stocky older guy (a construction worker, and looks gruff but is quite chill so he waves off Sizhui’s blunder as the room simply being crowded), brushing up against a pair of twenty-somethings (a man and a woman, both working in tech, have been chatting nonstop and hardly paying attention to anyone else), and pointing out to a middle-aged man (tired-looking, maybe an accountant) that some of his papers were spilling from his carrying case.

By the time he makes his way across the room to the old lady who was waving him over, he had up his sleeves an old but well-kept watch, a case of wireless earphones, another bracelet, and an expensive looking fountain pen.

Within three minutes of sitting with the old lady, he also has a very pretty and intricately designed locket in his pocket.

Hm. That’s more than half the whole group. He looks around, casually, naturally, to canvas which ones he’s got pending. There’s those three guys who seemed to all be office workers, the regal-looking landlady, and the shy, quiet aspiring actress. Finally, there’s the jury foreman, sitting at the head of the table, drinking coffee he’d bought outside and brought in for himself, and eyes barely leaving his phone.

He’d met them all yesterday. Most of them were pretty nice people, albeit many were also confused, and a number of them felt detached from the case.

Sizhui knows just one or two stolen items planted on the foreman them will be enough.

But where’s the fun in that?

So he tells his new old lady friend that he feels parched and he’ll get himself some water, and makes his way back across the room, passing by and greeting the people he hadn’t pick-pocketed yet. Smiling and nodding at them as he took a bangle, a card wallet, car keys, another necklace…

Yep. Lan Sizhui smiles to himself. Simple will work just fine.

.

.

“Mr. Chen has so many attorneys, huh.” Zizhen muses, stage whispering to Mianmian and Madam Lin on his side. “Wait, are they all his attorneys?”

Lifeboost Labs CEO Chen Xun is running late. The judge is frowning. On LifeBoost’s side of the court, several men in suits have started to discuss anxiously among themselves.

“Well… yes, mostly. Some are… assistants.” Mianmian explains to him.

In their ears, Jingyi’s voice says. “Yeah, we have their profiles, pretty much. All legit law people. Well. On paper. Most of them have a roster of slimy clients.”

Zizhen hums, and nonchalantly shifts in his seat, leaning back while he adjusts his tie… and the tiny camera clipped into it, effectively pointing it to another spot of significance for his cohorts to gain visual.

“So who is that other guy they’re talking to now, Miss Luo? I don’t think I’ve seen him in my notes…?”

Mianmian frowns only slightly, still keeping up a neutral face. It’s hard to miss the man angrily stomping from one of the pews to join the lawyers near the front of the room and argue with them.

“Not sure.” she says. “I think he’s been here since the hearings started… I thought he might be a witness, with the way he’s always sitting close to the LifeBoost folks, but apparently he isn’t. I’ve seen him talk to some witnesses, though.”

“Could he be part of the LifeBoost staff? Like the company’s?”

“He could be, yes.” Mianmian says with a shrug.

Madam Lin shakes her head. “If he is, I’ve never seen him before… and I’ve met a lot of their staff, when I was still filing my complaints, before I took them to court…”

“I see…” Zizhen nods. He casually twirls the pen in his hand before clicking on it twice – a negligible action, like he’s simply bored and feeling fiddly. He hears the little tell-tale camera click sound over his comms. “Must be someone important, though. He looks mad as hell and the attorneys look scared of him.”

“Okay, running this new mug through facial recognition…” Jingyi says, in that tone he uses when he’s getting fed info and he’s busy figuring out what to do with it. “The Madam’s right, this guys is not LifeBoost, not on the employee list… Not a lawyer person… Huh.”

Zizhen and Mianmian are very aware that they’re not able to verbally prod for details on that, not out loud, not at the moment, so all they could do is share a look.

“Hey, um, I’ll get you the details later-…” Jingyi’s voice trails off momentarily, and they can hear a softer voice on the background on his side, inaudible. Then he continues, “I think we got our missing piece. But Nie-shushu says not to engage that guy at all, in any way. He’s bad news.”

Hearing that, Mianmian takes a breath, then turns to Madam Lin to shift the conversation to something else. Zizhen looks away as well, tapping on his tablet and pulling up one of the case documents, as any good assistant like him would do.

“Good catch, guys…”

.

.

Jin Ling presses on the brakes of his borrowed bike and calls out to the man standing on the sidewalk beside an awkwardly parked car, tapping furiously on his phone.

“Need help, sir?” he asks, polite as he can, making it very obvious he’s concerned about the car’s open hood and the bit of smoke coming from the engine.

Chen Xun looks up and regards him for a moment, looks unimpressed at his university student getup, and then waves him off dismissively. “No. It’s a self-driving car. Electric, too.”

Jin Ling knew all that. After all, he’s the reason said car is not driving itself and is not very electric at the moment.

“Sure. But it still has an engine.” Jin Ling says, leaning his bike on a nearby street post before approaching the car. “I can take a look if you want, sir-”

“Don’t trouble yourself, boy. It’ll be taken care of, as soon as I can reach the damned customer hotline- When I get some blasted reception out here…” the man grumbles, but makes no move to stop the younger man from peeking under the hood, still looking frustrated at his phone. “Seriously, they should have been the ones to contact me! Aren’t they supposed to know when their cars malfunction?!”

Well. Jin Ling also knows that the thing he planted on the vehicle a few hours earlier is the same thing preventing both the car and the man’s phone from reaching anyone at the moment.

He doesn’t know the specifics of how the little magnetic thingy works exactly, but he stuck it and it glowed and beeped and according to his friends, that would do the trick.

Lan Jingyi and Ouyang Zizhen truly are menaces when they put their heads together to make these little gadgets. They specially love these smart cars and smart houses. They were so easy to mess with.

Meanwhile, slimy CEO Man is still grumbling about being a VIP or something that just makes it harder for Jin Ling not to side eye him.

Jin Ling hates front-facing shit like this – he’d much prefer staying hidden and stepping in when it’s time to punch someone and knock them out. That’s what he trained for, what he signed up for when he first started helping out Sizhui and Jingyi.

The primary reason for this is that it is just very hard for Jin Ling to not just punch someone like LifeBoost Labs CEO Chen Xun, who is now scoffing at him and saying that Jin Ling doesn’t know what he’s doing anyway.

Jin Ling wants to walk away now. Leave this truly horrible guy alone here in the sidewalk to fend for himself. He’ll manage. He’s loaded, anyway.

But jiujiu said Jin Ling has to stall him – make him late – not completely absent.

So Jin Ling takes a breath, schools his expression and channels Nie-shushu’s and Zizhen’s customer service patience. He adds a bit of his jiujiu’s confidence, enough to make this very terrible man believe that he may indeed have a solution to his problem. “I think I see what went wrong, sir. Do you have some tools?”

The man looks dubiously at him, but he glances at his still probably useless phone and grunts. “I-… There’s probably some at the trunk…?”

Oh. Wow. He doesn’t even know what’s in his own car. It takes everything Jin Ling has not to roll his eyes, head towards the trunk.

“Man, this guy sucks.” he mumbles as he finds some tools he can pretend to use to fix the stupid car’s engine. There is a set, obviously unused. He picks up a wrench.

“We know, buddy.” Jingyi says in his ear, chuckling. “Just hang on for a bit. We’re already getting some reactions from his people in the courtroom.”

“How long?” Jin Ling asks under his breath, taking a covert look towards the man now ranting on the phone to whatever or whoever he managed to reach with his barely-there reception.

“Uh… Three minutes should do.”

Oh. Thank God. Jin Ling doesn’t know how long he could stand being in the presence of the most punchable person he’s met yet.

The ungrateful man still looks unimpressed as Jin Ling waves the wrench at him and then proceeds to tinker with the engine.

So Jin Ling loosens and tightens a few screws, nudges around some wires, taps the wrench on some spots… and then finally extracts the little jammer with the blinking green light, presses a button to deactivate it and sneaks it in his hoodie pocket.

The car springs back to life then, and Jin Ling sends an innocent, laid-back smile at its owner as he pulls the hood back down and closes it. “It just needed a quick restart.”

“Oh.” Chen Xun says, looking at with an expression that it not so much unimpressed now, but more… irked, annoyed – almost offended to be humbled by a random passerby. “Well. Alright.” He nods at the wrench on the young man’s hand. “Put that back, then.”

“Daaaaang, not even a thank you? Rough.”

Yeah, Jin Ling hates it here. As he returns the wrench to the trunk, he hears the handful of message alerts and notification chimes from the CEO’s phone, and then a call ring.

The man picks up, and for the first time since their encounter, Jin Ling hears something else other than disdain and offense in his voice.

He sounds anxious as he answers the call, “Yes, hello, Mr. Yao? Really sorry, sir, I ran into some issues with my car-… There was no-… Yes, sir-… Yes, I understand, sir! I’m on my way now!”

As soon as Jin Ling closes the trunk, he is being shooed away, like he’s nothing more than an annoyance. He steps away while the man climbs back into the backseat. Because of course even for an emergency, a job such as driving is still beneath him.

“I promise, we’re winning this case, sir! LifeBoost Labs will be free and clean as a whistle-”

The door closes, and Jin Ling watches the man bark an order to his voice-activated fancy car. He stands aside on the sidewalk beside Zizhen’s bike as the car drives off.

“Are we sure I couldn’t have punched him, even a little?” he asks out loud.

Lan Jingyi laughs at his plight, but he does sound sympathetic as he says, “You did really good, A-Ling.”

.

.

The hearing gets rescheduled, because the defendant ran late, the entire jury panel had an issue with their foreman, and one of the witnesses received a phone call that had them walking out for the courtroom, citing an emergency.

Like the day before, their group reconvenes in the Jiangs’ apartment, and the first thing in the agenda is the stern-looking middle-aged man who Ouyang Zizhen was able to capture on camera while he was talking down on LifeBoost’s staff and grilling their late CEO over the phone.

“He’s known in the business as Mr. Yao. Just that one name.” Nie Huaisang says. “He’s not a grifter himself, but he works with plenty of them. He’s what we call a ‘liaison’. He finds and buys off already established businesses and uses them as a cover for his current clients’ operations.

“When I say clients, I mean traffickers, drug lords, and black market crowds. Think your average trading company that already has distribution channels and permits across countries – they buy most of it off, then let them conduct business as usual, but with some extras on the side. Kidnapped kids and girls in shipping containers. Illegal drugs riding right under the legal ones. That sort.”

“What the fuck.” Jin Ling breathes out, looking at his uncles in disbelief. He didn’t think this would go this deep.

Zizhen lets out an uncomfortable grunt, scooting closer to his best friend and leaning his weight on him slightly. “Yeah, he honestly felt like, super creepy. Just to be in the same room as.”

Jiang Cheng looks at them with a small frown, then picks up from where Nie Huaisang left off. “We have good reason to believe that he is involved in this case because he’s liaising for a client, trying to buy off LifeBoost for whatever shady business they need.”

“I checked, the Yao guy’s and CEO Slime’s first meeting was a couple days just before Madam Lin officially filed a legal complaint.” Lan Jingyi adds.

“They’ve probably already started negotiations when Madam Lin took LifeBoost to court. Chen Xun, like the scum he is, probably ignored all complaints, including Madam Lin’s, busy playing ball with Yao.” Jiang Cheng continues.

Nie Huaisang nods, “Knowing how he is, I bet Chen Xun insisted that they can win this case so he doesn’t lose Yao’s offer. After all, things wouldn’t work otherwise if LifeBoost loses business or starts over again like they usually do.”

“That’s why they’re playing dirty with the witnesses and the jury.” Lan Sizhui says, voice grave. “They want to be bought off.”

Jin Ling sits up straight, brows furrowed. “So the tails on ayi, on Madam Lin, the jury, everyone else? The surveillance on everyone… Who’s moves are those, then? Chen Xun’s or Yao’s?”

Nie Huaisang chuckles bitterly. “Now that I know he’s involved? I’m positive these are Yao’s. He’s providing Chen Xun resources and backup so they can get this over with. He’s a very dangerous, well-connected man. He’s been doing this for years, has a reputation for it. This is a small thing for him to keep everything under control, keep his clients happy and Chen Xun in check.”

He sees the conflicted looks on the young men’s faces, all processing the machinery behind this one case – the sheer injustice of corporations and powerful backers so easily swaying what would have been a perfectly fair legal battle just for the sake of their underhanded deals.

This is not the worst they’ve seen, Nie Huaisang knows. And this wouldn’t stop the boys from wanting to do this.

But it is so close to home, and it’s such an unfair situation that Nie Huaisang understands how they can feel so helpless under the realization that these things are happening all the time, for so long, to so many other people.

“Jiujiu.” Jin Ling calls. “What do we do next?”

Nie Huaisang sees the same helplessness in Jiang Cheng’s eyes – but only a flicker of it – as he pushes it down and maintains a cold and calculated expression. Because this is the job they chose… this is the role Jiang Cheng chose to take – a problem solver, a mastermind – and he knows they are far from helpless. They promised their friend that they will help her, and that’s what they’ll do.

“We do what you guys are good that.” Jiang Cheng says. He turns to Sizhui first. “Did you have fun today? I heard you broke a personal record.”

Lan Sizhui looks down sheepishly. “I… I guess I did?”

“Bro.” Lan Jingyi huffs in disbelief. “You robbed every person in the room in under ten minutes, got away with it, and made it look like another dude did it. You guess?”

Lan Sizhui chuckles, as Ouyang Zizhen nudges him teasingly and Jin Ling gives him a playful punch on the side of his arm.

“Well,” Jiang Cheng says, with a light amused grin of his own. “That was a warm up. You four have some work to do tonight. We’re winning this case tomorrow.”

.

.

Mianmian almost spits out the beer she’s been drinking, and just coughs for a few moments before she regains composure. She sets her beer can down on one knee and looks across the low table filled with drinks and snacks to raise her eyebrow at her two friends sitting snuggled together on the couch in front of her.

“Sorry, what?” she asks, bewildered. “The boys are where, right now?”

Nie Huaisang chuckles, leaning very comfortably on Jiang Cheng, his legs folded to his side. He is nursing his own can of beer. Beside him, Jiang Cheng has one arm draped across the back of the couch, while his other settles on the armrest after he drinks from his matching can of the same drink.

Mianmian came over for dinner because they invited her again. And after that, the three of them ended up on the living room, having drinks and snacks together. It made her nostalgic – although they used to have a bigger group way back when.

She asked them where the “kids” were – Jin Ling and Ouyang Zizhen and those two others she had not met formally yet and only heard through the comms. The answer they gave made her double take.

“LifeBoost Labs HQ.” Jiang Cheng says, generously repeating what he had just said with a shrug. “Retrieving something that’ll give you some leverage on your case tomorrow.”

“O-Oh.” Mianmian blinks. “You’re serious.”

Jiang Cheng nods. “Jingyi’s van is parked a few blocks away. Sizhui should be in one of the vents right now, Zizhen distracting the the front desk, Jin Ling on standby – or maybe he’s knocked a few people out already. They’ll be fine. They’ve done this a lot of times before. And they’re grown.”

“Aw, listen to you!” Nie Huaisang coos, poking his chest. “Just a few years ago you won’t even let them go near a secured building unless I’m already inside, things smoothed out. Ah, the boys will be so happy to hear how much you believe in them…”

Jiang Cheng shrugs it off again. “Whatever. We’ve done our best to prepare them. And I looked over the schematics and they have poor security anyway-”

Mianmian has to physically nod to convince herself of this whole exchange. “Okay. Okay. Um. So you really are just telling me, a lawyer, that your kids are out there robbing a company of probably confidential assets.”

“They’re doing it for you, Auntie Mianmian.” Nie Huaisang blinks. “They like you a lot, y’know. Don’t ruin the fun. If your godson hands you a nice lil thing he made with his crayons and his tiny hands, you don’t go “You could go to jail for this!” – no, you don’t!”

Mianmian is sure that crayon drawings and stolen company data are not the same, but she really shouldn’t have expected logic from a tipsy Nie Huaisang, no matter how old they’ve gotten.

“Hey, only one of those kids is mine.” Jiang Cheng chimes in. “The other is Wei Ying’s. The other two… are just here now. Zizhen used to live next door, I guess, so-”

Mianmian blinks. “Wait, wait. Who’s kid is- Wei Ying had a-” she stammers as she tries to catch up with her thoughts, then she finally remembers- “A-Yuan. Lan Zhan actually-…? Which one?”

“Oh. It’s Sizhui.” Jiang Cheng answers easily. “Isn’t he a sweetie?”

Mianmian stares at him for a moment, and then finally she leans back on her seat, resigned. “Of fucking course Wei Ying’s kid would be the one in the vents.”

“Right?” Nie Huaisang laughs.

“Right.” Mianmian sighs, but does find it in herself to chuckle. “Oh, my God, yeah, he has Lan Zhan’s nose. We always found that bit so cute. How is he?”

“Lan Zhan? He’s abroad.” Jiang Cheng says. “He’s aware though, what Sizhui’s up to, and he’s not totally happy about it but that’s between him and the kid. They’ve talked it out.”

“But, he was so angry when he first found out! He and A-Cheng almost killed each other!” Nie Huaisang giggles. “It was really hot.”

Jiang Cheng groans. “A-Sang. No.”

“What? You are hot when you’re angry.” Nie Huaisang pouts at him, and then to Mianmian he says, “It was also scary though. Lan Zhan is scary. I had to pull all my childhood friend cards to get him to go easy on me. Barely worked because I haven’t seen him for like decades either, haha!”

“He probably wouldn’t have been as nice if Wen Ning wasn’t in the picture.” Jiang Cheng says. “I think he trusts Wen Ning to keep Sizhui safe, more than he trusts either of us.”

“That makes sense.” Mianmian muses. “Hm. Wei Ying would’ve been all for it though, I think. He’d love that his kid and yours are out there rule-breaking.”

“He would.” Nie Huaisang agrees with a soft smile. He looks light and relaxed like this, cozy against Jiang Cheng’s side.

“So the boys really are just… out tonight pulling a heist.”

Nie Huaisang nods. “Yep. Wanna listen?”

“What-…?”

Before she could ask any further, Nie Huaisang grabs the tablet resting on the side table and taps on it several times. There’s a little beep as a nearby bluetooth speaker activates, and then they hear the now-familiar distant but clear voices from the comms.

.

They first hear Jingyi’s voice in the middle of relaying instructions. ”-kay, around the corner, two guards-”

“Yeah, I see ‘em.” Jin Ling’s voice replies in a low mumble. Then there are distant voices barking questions towards him – must be the guards in question – followed by grunts, breaths and some thuds. “Ow. Shit.”

“You good, A-Ling?” Lan Sizhui’s voice asks – so faint it’s almost a whisper – a tell-tale sign that he’s somewhere he shouldn’t be, and is trying to be as quiet as possible.

“Yep, just-… Nothing I can’t walk off. Holding on here-… Cracked that code yet?”

“Almost there… I owe you one… I don’t always get to work with a safe this old… It’s such a classic- This knob… How it clicks, you don’t get to hear this sound on newer models-”

Lan Jingyi cuts him off – “No flirting with safes on the open line, Sizhui.”

Lan Sizhui chuckles softly. “Sorry, my bad. Remind me to drop a bill on the Flirting Jar.”

The fourth voice comes in then – also whispering but not as soft as SIzhui’s, Ouyang Zizhen says, “Guys? In speaking of flirting, I’m running out of lines for Cynthia.”

A second of silence, and then three confused voices – ”Who???”

”Front desk girl? She walked off for a bit to get something but when she comes back I’d probably have to pivot and tell her I’m from IT just to have more things to say…”

There’s a huff, and then Jin Ling’s voice – ”You know her name?”

“Yeah? I mean, c’mon, she was wearing a name tag.”

“You didn’t have to flirt with her to distract her, though. You could do other things.”

An indignant grunt from Zizhen – “It’s what works best!”

“You’re terrible at it.” – Jin Ling, still unimpressed.

“I am not.”

“You are.”

“Not! I’m charming. I can charm anyone, even you!”

“Yeah? When did that ever happen?”

Lan Jingyi clears his throat. ”AGAIN – no flirting with each other on the open line- Oh. Jin Ling, more incoming-”

In the middle of the sounds of hand-to-hand combat struggle, Jin Ling grits out, “We’re not flirting!”

Lan Jingyi sounds like he doesn’t particularly care that his friend is in the middle of knocking people out as he mockingly replies, “I’ll believe that when you change your lockscreen-”

“I don’t have to do what you say!”

“You guys all owe the Flirting Jar. I’m putting the tally on a post-it.”

.

Mianmian listens to more bickering with wide eyes, while Nie Huaisang just looks fond and amused.

Jiang Cheng nods. “They’re doing okay, I guess.”

“For real?” Mianmian asks him, pure curiosity.

“Believe it or not, that’s actually less chaotic than their usual.”

“Yep. So let’s not distract them…” Nie Huaisang says, as he taps on the tablet again and the speaker deactivates, the apartment falling back into silence. “What are they going to use the money from the Flirting Jar for, again?”

“Treats for Fairy.” Jiang Cheng answers absently.

“Aw, that’s sweet…”

“So…” Mianmian starts, thoughtful. “You said whatever they’re stealing there is going to help me win my case tomorrow…”

“Yup, pretty much.” Nie Huaisang beams.

“Not to complain, but why wasn’t this the first thing we did, again?”

“Cases like these, they’re usually solved best when we can sway the people back in the right direction. It’s cleaner that way. Less of a trail to clean up after.” Jiang Cheng explains. “But now we know it is actively, professionally, being turned.. we got no choice but to make the facts undeniable, so. We’re bringing the house down from the inside.”

“The people angle is still good, of course.” Nie Huaisang supplements. “Sizhui has mostly swayed the jury members, and the replacement foreman is quite principled, apparently, so we have that part covered too…”

“Right. I get it, I think.” Mianmian says, nodding tentatively. “You also mentioned there’s this… Yao personality? Another player involved in all this? Are you guys… planning on doing anything about that part?”

“That’s another story.” Jiang Cheng takes a steadying breath and goes quiet for a second, gathering his thoughts before he continues, “We’re making Chen Xun and LifeBoost lose the case. I doubt Yao would try to push through with that deal any further. If he’s a smart man, he’ll know it’s not worth the effort, so at the very least we’re breaking that tie off. When you get the good news tomorrow, we’re expecting him to step back, call off his operations and just go on to his next prospect. His type usually does this, and they rarely ever look back.”

“Alright… I-… That will be great.” Mianmian breathes a sigh of relief. “It was so hard to pretend I don’t know I’m being watched, on my own house…”

“It does leave some things hanging though…” Nie Huaisang says, frowning just slightly as he goes back to snuggling into Jiang Cheng’s side. “Chen Xun would suffer the blowback in all this – as he deserves – but Yao is basically getting away with everything scot-free. And he’ll just continue to find and match shit people to even worse people to work with…”

Mianmian also frowns. “You said he works with a lot of grifters… Have you worked with him, before?”

“Oh, no! Never.” Nie Huaisang says, actually looking disgusted. “Like I said, he’s got a reputation but that’s all I know him from. I knew folks in the business who worked with him though… I keep my distance. To them and to him. If I ever so much as think about working with that man, Wei Ying will probably haunt me. Like. I’m serious.”

“Hey.” Jiang Cheng says then, after being mostly quiet, head thrown back lazily with his gaze on the ceiling. “You said you kept your distance… so he doesn’t know you, right?”

“I’m… pretty sure he doesn’t.” Nie Huaisang blinks up at him. “What are you thinking?”

“Just. Sure, the man’s dangerous and has a wide fucked up network. His operations are too widespread, and most of them aren’t even his, and we won’t be able to undo what he’s already set up, that’s a different monster altogether but…” Jiang Cheng looks back down at Nie Huaisang then. “If you want, we can hurt him a bit.”

Nie Huaisang stares up at him with wide eyes. “Um…?”

“Wanna come in tomorrow?” Jiang Cheng continues, eyes soft as his free hand lazily plays with stray strands of the other’s hair. “I thought of something.”

Nie Huaisang raises an eyebrow. “Jiang Cheng, are you telling me to directly antagonize like, one of the most evil people I know of?”

“You can pull it off.” Jiang Cheng shrugs. “Probably.”

Nie Huaisang gapes at him, and then turns towards Mianmian with a look that screams *’Can you believe this right now?’

Mianmian takes a swig of her drink as she sits back and relaxes. “He sounds like a shit person about to suffer zero consequences. If you guys can be a pain in his ass even a little, I’ll commend you. For real.”

Nie Huaisang stares at her, and then back at Jiang Cheng, who just asks, “What do you say?”

“You are scaring me.” Nie Huaisang says, letting out a still disbelieving laugh. “But okay, just because I think this is low-key sweet of you.”

“That’s the spirit.” Jiang Cheng smirks, booping his nose before leaning back again. “Alright. We’ll check with Wen Ning later.”

Across them, Mianmian snorts. “Wow. This is how you two spend your date nights? Planning crimes?”

“Not always!” Nie Huaisang giggles. “A-Cheng isn’t as willing usually. Sometimes he even says no when I ask him to plan crimes!”

Jiang Cheng just gruffs. “Because it’s not nice to steal a billion dollar museum painting, A-Sang. Just because you want it on your wall? You can just get a poster.”

“I’m with him on that one.” Mianmian says.

Nie Huaisang pouts at her. “It was a super pretty painting.”

“Whatever. I really can’t believe after all this time-” Mianmian shakes her head and laughs.

She feels tipsy now, too, but she doesn’t mind so much, not when the apartment is cozy and warm, and her friends’ presence feel like safety after the days-… weeks she’s had.

“Y’know, I always thought you guys were so annoying. Like you were so bad, almost right up there behind Wei Ying and Lan Zhan.”

Jiang Cheng raises an eyebrow. “What? Us? Why?”

“Because you kept saying you weren’t together!” Mianmian rolls her eyes, waving her can at them as she rants. “Everyone and their siblings and their grandmas knew you two were, like, together together. Like going out and kissing and sleeping with each other together. You were both open about all that. And you flirted with each other too like it’s no big deal. And it was all obviously exclusive. And you still kept saying you’re just friends and not boyfriends – what the fuck was up with that?”

Nie Huaisang laughs at her annoyance, while Jiang Cheng just runs a tired hand down his face.

“At least with Wei Ying and Lan Zhan, they were just stupid about each other, y’know? But you two! Jin Zixuan was so confused. He thought it was an open relationship – maybe it was? I don’t know. Yanli too! She was really worried you two were like, trying to avoid discrimination or something because Jiang Cheng was in the police force at the time? Wei Ying told me maybe you guys were just pranking him and overly committing to the bit. My point is-… Everyone was trying to make sense of your situationship thing.”

“Oh, no…” Nie Huaisang says, breathless from laughter. “Was it really that bad? We really weren’t making a big deal out of the whole thing…”

“It was. It still is!” Mianmian claims, exasperated. “You’re still not married!”

“It’s actually pretty simple…” Jiang Cheng says, his expression a mix of amusement and apology. “This one was off doing shady, illegal shit. I was a detective. And we both know know it, and that really couldn’t work, so.”

“Yeah, and we both liked our jobs. And each other. So we just didn’t talk about it?”

Mianmian shakes her head. “Unbelievable.” she sighs. “How about now, though? Surely it’s not that complicated anymore.”

Both shrug.

“Wait, we’re married, though.” Nie Huaisang says, after a beat. “We’re actually married, like, with papers? In Denmark. Was it Denmark?”

“Huaisang, it was Sweden.” Jiang Cheng corrects. “That one job with the monkeys.”

“Oh, yeah! That one.” Nie Huaisang laughs again. “Separate from the airport thing. That was just a proposal.”

Mianmian looks done. “Seriously? Please tell me this is an actual lawful marriage-”

“Oh, sure, Jingyi had certificates made and everything. And we have a kid too! Which one was it?”

“Zizhen.” Jiang Cheng provides. “Because he spoke better English.”

“Oh, my God.” Mianmian groans, burying her face in her hands. “You got married and adopted a kid in Sweden for a job….?”

Nie Huaisang nods happily. “It was so fun, Mianmian. Wen Ning even got to come! And we helped monkeys.”

“Actual monkeys? Like, the animal, monkeys?”

“Little ones. Endangered.” Jiang Cheng nods. “We had to. Jingyi was particularly passionate about them. Booked tickets and made brand new passports without even asking us.”

“I love that. I’m sure the monkeys appreciate that. But you two. Are terrible role models for a normal relationship.” Mianmian tells them. “Is this why Jin Ling and that nice boy Zizhen also keep saying they’re not boyfriends? Did you teach them that this is normal?”

Nie Huaisang hums. “Oh, I don’t know about that…”

“Is it actually like that, for real?” Jiang Cheng blinks. Mianmian can tell that he is also starting to get buzzed, or maybe he’s just tired, sleepy. “Caught them kissing once, I think. Or almost kissing. Then they insisted I saw nothing. So I saw nothing.”

Nie Huaisang waves it off. “Eh, kids that age kiss all the people all the time.”

“I bet you did, huh.”

“Didn’t, actually. You kissed me at fifteen and then I decided we’re soulmates. Obviously, it stuck.” – a shrug, then – “Other kids, though…!”

Mianmian groans. “I swear if those two end up weird like you guys, I will perform my godmother duties and give them that talk myself. My best friend’s son will be in a relationship, not a committed guessing game.”

“Hey, do what you want.” Jiang Cheng says with a chuckle. “I’m pretty hands-off on that department.”

“Thanks for the blessing.” Mianmian huffs, then reaches over and lightly shakes her drink can at them.

After a beat, Nie Huaisang and Jiang Cheng both lean over as well, and knock their beer cans with hers for a toast.

.

.

---

.

.

Nie Huaisang turns up on the courthouse the next day.

Mianmian had known that he’d be joining the fray, that whatever he will do, he would make things just a bit more difficult for that Mr. Yao person that he and Jiang Cheng had told her about. But he hadn’t been in the comms that morning, even when all the boys checked in to confirm their places, not even when Zizhen caught up to her to take up his post as her assistant, holding a stack of the documents that they’ll be using as evidence.

Mianmian almost doesn’t recognize her friend. Nie Huaisang is not dressed in his usual soft, flowy fabrics, jewel-toned colors and lovely patterns. Instead he is donning a corporate ensemble suit, professional but still fashionable. He has his hair neatly combed back, tied on a half-ponytail behind his head. His eyes are a different color – a cold gray behind his thick glasses, and he has one of those wireless earpieces Mianmian only ever saw in corporate assistants. He has no performative tablet or clipboard, only a phone in his hand.

He looks important. He looks like someone who knows things, someone who even people higher up than him would listen to because he’s the one to get things done.

It’s no wonder that when Nie Huaisang approaches Chen Xun on the courthouse lobby, the man only bristles for a moment, before clearing his throat and straightening up, paying attention to him.

He is holding himself so differently that Mianmian found it difficult to take her eyes off him when she and Zizhen passed him by on their way to the courtroom.

“Oh, my God, I’ve never been more scared of Nie-shushu.” Zizhen whispers to her, and to the rest of their group in the comms.

“Yeah, it should be illegal for him to not have bangs. I do not know that person.” Lan Jingyi adds.

“He’s not in here with us?” Mianmian asks.

“He’s working his own job.” Jiang Cheng says. “In anything, if we tried to help, we’ll just slow him down.”

Oh. Wow. Alright, then.

When Chen Xun walks in to take his place in the defendant’s table, he didn’t have NIe Huaisang with him. When Mianmian looks, she sees that Nie Huaisang is sitting right beside Mr. Yao, having a very cordial-looking conversation. He even manages to make the man chuckle – something Mianmian has never seen over the course of several hearings.

“Wait, whose staff is he supposed to be in, again?” Zizhen asks under his breath, because of course he has noticed as well…

“Both.” sounds like an involuntary answer from Lan Sizhui, who then coughs lightly to disguise what he just said. Luckily, the person beside him is the nice elderly woman, who already has some age-related hearing problems.

“Both? But how-”

That is cut off as the judge comes in and calls the court into order. Madam Lin lets out a sigh into her nervously clasped hands. Beside her, Zizhen reaches out and places a comforting hand on her back.

Mianmian looks to the defendants’ table, only to meet their attorney’s smug look in her direction. When Chen Xun looks over, he grins, confident, triumphant. This is the day they win, after all.

Mianmian doesn’t dignify that with a reaction, and instead stands up, takes the documents that Zizhen had been carrying, and approaches the judge’s podium. Those bastards are not winning, not on her watch.

.

.

This is how they win – the jury votes in favor of Madam Lin, now that the former corrupt jury foreman has been exposed. How Sizhui managed to hide the turning tides of the members’ decisions from the one remaining spy that Yao had planted in the jury, Mianmian would never know, but she is impressed.

This is how they win – one of the absent witnesses, a former employee of LifeBoost Labs, who couldn’t speak up before in fear of incriminating documents and threats, finally steps forward and exposes the cut corners, the junked complaints, and the ignored health concerns steeped deep in the company. This was why Wen Ning had been quiet for the past days – he had tracked down the poor woman, promised her safety using his connections, and got rid of the blackmail they had against her, both digital (his work) and physical (the boys, from last night).

This is how they win – they present to the judge evidence in the form of several email conversations, all about sending a different version of the Vitality Boost drug for the Medical Products Administration for testing and approval. These pills are different from the ones they had mass produced and put to market.

As the judge reads the sentence, Mianmian turns to look at the defendants’ side. Chen Xun is throwing a tantrum, not helping his case. The attorneys are getting yelled at. She doesn’t care about them.

“Hell yeah, wow, that’s a lot of money they gotta pay for damages. Hah!” Lan Jingyi says, smug.

She hears Jin Ling next. “Congratulations, ayi.”

She turns towards the pews – the other victims, family, friends and witnesses, all pleased and relieved. She turns to see Zizhen assisting a happily crying Madam Lin who stumbles towards her. Mianmian hugs her back and accepts her tearful thanks.

She catches sight of Lan Sizhui, who subtly nods at her, and then she looks towards Ouyang Zizhen who is gently rubbing Madam Lin’s back as the woman sobs on Mianmian’s shoulder.

Mianmian mouths “Thank you”, and Ouyang Zizhen beams.

Lightness and warm relief spreads across her chest – and it’s because of this that she almost misses Mr. Yao leaving the room, Nie Huaisang – or whoever Nie Huaisang is supposed to be – one step behind him.

.

.

---

.

.

It’s been several days since the Lin v. LifeBoost Labs case was closed, in favor of one Madam Lin Xinyue.

Mianmian sits on a table on her usual cafe, her laptop open in front of her, playing a live news broadcast.

“…all products of LifeBoost Labs Inc., have been pulled from shelves in all major pharmacies and supermarkets. Ever since popular health supplement Vitality Boost, widely used by construction and factory workers, was proven to contain harmful ingredients-”

“Y’know, I never got into the black coffee thing…” Nie Huaisang says, as he arrives with a tray carrying three beverages. He sets the drinks down one by one. “It’s always lots of milk for me. And you too, huh, Wen Ning? You never drink hot stuff.”

“Can’t handle it. I always prefer cold.” Wen Ning follows right after him, his tray loaded with three small plates – a sandwich, a cake, and some sort of savory pastry, all of which he also sets down on the table before he and Nie Huaisang take their seats.

“Thanks, you two.” Mianmian says, as she pulls her hot drink and her pastry to her.

“-…all are encouraged to report any sale or resale of such products to the National Products Drug Administration, through the following hotlines-…”

“Good news?” Nie Huaisang asks, leaning over slightly to look at the laptop screen as he sips his ice-cold coffee.

Mianmian chuckles. “As if you two were not involved.”

Wen Ning sips his own cold drink, then says, “The boys did the heavy lifting.”

“Oh, don’t you pull that.” Mianmian narrows her eyes at her friend, reaching out to poke his arm. “I didn’t even know you were in on it! Jiang Cheng said you were out of town. Then that whole time, you were securing our most important witness!”

“I was out of town… But Nie-xiong said Qingyang-jie needed a hand, so I came home right away.” Wen Ning says, sheepish. “Jiang-xiong has been suspicious about the absent witness lady since the start, so he had me handle it…”

“Ugh. You’ve always been the sweetest of this bunch.” Mianmian sighs. “I mean it, A-Ning. It’s nice to see you again.”

Wen Ning just smiles back, and chuckles when she reaches over and tousles his perpetually messy hair.

“By the way,” Mianmian says, shutting off the broadcast and folding her laptop closed. She waits for Nie Huaisang to look up from his cake before continuing, “What happened to that Mr. Yao guy, anyway? I saw you leave with him, but then there was so much to do and I had to assist Madam Lin with everything after the case, I wasn’t able to keep track of anything else…”

“Oh. Well…” Nie Huaisang hums, perhaps thinking about where to start. “So… I told Chen Xun that Mr. Yao knows about his “funds” – by that I mean, he was doing some embezzling and shit on top of the scam products he’s pulling on people, but I also told him Mr. Yao is impressed by all that, and is interested in making him a bigger part of his business, introduce him to more like-minded CEOs…”

“Oh. So he thought you were Mr. Yao’s staff.” Mianmian blinks. “And he really was embezzling? Did we know that?”

“That was a guess. Well, an educated one, I suppose. Sizhui found a lot of incriminating items in that safe…” Nie Huaisang shrugs. “Then, I told Mr. Yao the same, that Chen Xun doesn’t want to cut ties after this, like he knows more CEOs with the same kinda channels that he has, the whole ‘there’s-more-where-that-came-from’ bullshit. Hinted about the embezzling to make him look more slimy and therefore more attractive…”

“Yao thought you were working for Chen Xun, then?”

“Yep!”

“Wait. You were talking to both of them at same time, at some point, I remember seeing that.” Mianmian looks at him, brows furrowed. “And they both thought you were working for the other one? Seriously?”

“It’s actually easier than you think.” Wen Ning says, absently poking his sandwich. “They both don’t know Nie-xiong, but he looks important, and the other person is listening to him. He just has to say the right things, and not be too cozy.”

Nie Huaisang nods. “They also think people are disposable, so. Fresh new assistant? No big deal, as long as I don’t look dumb, it pretty much works.”

Mianmian shakes her head. “I can’t believe I’m saying this but I want to take notes.”

“Go for it! Zizhen did. And he was able to pull it off once, already! My special boy…” Nie Huaisang sighs fondly.

“Okay, so you were matchmaking those bastards. Then?”

“Then the fun part.” Nie Huaisang grins. “We took their money.”

“What?”

“Convinced Mr. Yao that Chen Xun wanted a preliminary payment, so he can start pulling strings to gather his CEO friends. Chen Xun thought Mr. Yao was giving him like, an investment, on their future partnership. But of course, Chen Xun, Big CEO Man and Better Than All Of Us, wouldn’t be the one to handle that transaction… so Mr. Yao transfers the money to the account I showed him, in my phone~”

“Oh, my God. You didn’t.” Mianmian whispers.

“He did.” Wen Ning chuckles.

Nie Huaisang winks. “It was a lot, too. Of course I told Chen Xun to go check his account to see…”

Mianmian nods, finally knowing where this is going. “Of course you did. What did that do?”

Wen Ning chuckles. “Well… we’ve had his phone cloned for days by then, so he really just gave us his account and password.”

“You guys.” Mianmian could only look back and forth between the two in disbelief. She had known that they actually did things like these, even back then. But it’s another thing to hear it, be part of it. Her gaze lands on Nie Huaisang. “You went with Yao when he left, though. Are you okay?”

“Oh, that’s nothing. If I didn’t stick with one of them while they were having a crashout, I would have been found out. I just picked Mr. Yao because Chen Xun was throwing things and flipping folders and I didn’t want to be in the line of fire…” Nie Huaisang laughs. “Also, I got to plant a tracker on good ol’ Yao, which led us to-”

“There’s more?”

“Just a bonus. A little treat! We were able to to get the location of that warehouse he was using to do his surveillance. Nasty place. Had lots of screens, was showing everything about everyone on the case. Including you.”

“Jiang-xiong already sent an anonymous tip to someone in the police force.” Wen Ning says. “He knows someone who can be trusted to build an honest case around it.”

“It’s only one out of the many shady headquarters that Yao outsources his labor to. But it’ll still be annoying to lose such an effective base.” Nie Huaisang says, sipping his drink again. “That was really fun. Glad we got to work with you on this, Mianmian.”

“Work with me?” Mianmian huffs. “You guys practically took over and saved my ass.” Then she sees the almost guilty look from her two friends. “I’m not angry, by the way. I was at my wit’s end before you came in. I’m really, truly grateful.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, jiejie.” Wen Ning says, smile reassuring. “I read through the case files. You really would have won this if they weren’t backed by an actual crime lord.”

Mianmian sends him an appreciative smile back, then nods. “Okay, that’s enough talk about this case.” she says before sipping her coffee. Then she pauses. “Job? You guys always say ‘job’.”

“Job for us.” Nie Huaisang nods, smiling wistfully. “Case for you. ‘Cause you’re a good guy, Attorney Luo.”

Mianmian catches it, the distinction, the line her friend draws between her and them. They have an entirely different practice and she got barely a glimpse of their world – a world of shades of gray, of improvising and planning and lying and stealing and cunning – and has learned that she knows too little.

What she’s sure of, though… is as gray as that world is, the whole time she had felt safe, and she had never doubted that her friends got her back, and they were truly trying to help.

“Well.” She says then, chuckling, taking up a lighter expression as she steers their conversation further from the peril, chaos and stress of the previous days. “I can finally text back that really nice guy who asked me out a month ago.”

Nie Huaisang and Wen Ning both turn from their respective treats to look at her.

Nie Huaisang looks at her – his grifting skills activating almost subconsciously as he observes his friend, assesses her like he would a job’s mark.

He sees her relaxed shoulders, the twinkle in her eyes, the light blush on her cheeks and the small grin on her lips.

Mianmian is doing okay now. She looks lighter, more cheerful, so close to how he remembered her to be – sunny and charming but sensible and confident.

Nie Huaisang is glad.

Nie Huaisang is also still her friend, and thus he must push her buttons. “A month ago?!” he exclaims, then gives her a look. “Girl.”

“Don’t you ”Girl” me, Nie Huaisang. Not everyone finds their soulmate at fifteen and sticks with it.” Mianmian says, frowning at her friend, although he looks more miffed than truly angry. “Also, I did tell him I’m working on a very important case, and he was very understanding about it.”

“Okay, understanding… sounds promising.” Nie Huaisang nods, as if assessing some candidate. Maybe he was. Mianmian deserves nothing but the best. “But y’know, I hear so many dating horror stories these days? So if he ends up shady, you know who to call. You’ve got a godson who’s super happy to punch people for you, for starters.”

It is true – Jin Ling had been very happy when he finally got to punch the guy who’s been stalking and surveiling his Auntie Mianmian on his way out.

“I appreciate the offer.” Mianmian chuckles. “But I think I’m fine-”

Wen Ning leans towards her slightly, whispering, “Do you have his profile? I can run a background check…”

“Okay, you two are not going anywhere near this one.” Mianmian huffs, and both of her friends groan pitifully, dejected.

That’s when Nie Huaisang’s phone rings. It’s Jiang Cheng, and considering his current company, he answers the call in speaker mode.

“Hello, my love! You’re on speaker, okay? I’m out with Mianmian and A-Ning.”

“Oh.” – a pause. “Hey. Perfect timing. I’m heading home from the office, do you need a pickup, wherever you’re at? Jingyi won’t shut up about game night, in case you forgot. Mianmian can come, too.”

“Oh, sure. We’re at the mall, in that cafe we like.” Nie Huaisang answers. “Mianmian, wanna join game night? The boys get all hyped for it.”

Mianmian considers, before shaking her head lightly. “It’s my first day off after that last case. I’d like to rest up like, for real. In my house without the cameras.” She smiles at Nie Huaisang. “I appreciate the invite, though. Maybe next time?”

“I get you.” Jiang Cheng says. “Next time, then. You have our numbers, right? Don’t be a stranger. Keep in touch.”

“Of course. I promised A-Ling and A-Yuan we’ll hang out sometime, after all.” Mianmian chuckles.

“Also, before I forget – you still have a set of our comms, don’t you?”

“Ah, yes! Good thing you reminded me, yeah, I have them here in my bag, I can give it to A-Sang to take home-”

“No need.” Jiang Cheng cuts her off. “You keep it. For if you ever need it again.”

“Oh.” Mianmian breathes out, knowing exactly what he is actually telling her. “Alright. I will.”

She smiles, and she doesn’t miss the way Nie Huaisang and Wen Ning do the same.

They say their goodbyes. Mianmian watches Nie Huaisang and Wen Ning walk away, already chatting happily about something else she probably won’t be able to relate as much to.

She picks up her phone, and taps to open her messages – she scrolls through her conversation with that nice gentleman, and thinks of how to pick up where they had left off…

Then after a moment, she pulls up her emails instead, and looks through her folder labelled “Rep Requests” – her eyes skimming the neverending list of cases asking for representation – most of them relying on pro bono lawyers and attorneys as they cannot afford paid ones.

She picks one of the subject lines that pique her interest, opens the message and reads it through carefully.

She’s grateful for a break, but she has a feeling she’ll be back to work very soon.

There is never a shortage of people who need help, after all.

.

.

“A-Ning…” Nie Huaisang starts, as they wait by the mall entrance for Jiang Cheng to pick them up. “That was really fun, wasn’t it?”

“It was.” Wen Ning agrees, looking at Nie Huaisang when he feels his friend cling to his arm and rest his cheek against his shoulder. He smiles. “What is it, Nie-xiong?”

“Don’t tell him that I know, and I only know because I bribed the kid with chicken wings, but I know that A-Cheng’s having Jingyi look up Mr. Yao’s past… businesses. The other operations, the ongoing ones…”

“Oh.” Wen Ning blinks. “You think Jiang-xiong is going after Mr. Yao’s trail, then?”

“Mm-hm.” Nie Huaisang says. “It’ll be challenging, that’s a bunch of different operations. But I think we can pull it off, as long as we’re careful. And A-Cheng enjoys the challenges, anyway.”

“He does. He’s very good at contingencies.” Wen Ning agrees. “You don’t wanna do it, though?”

“No, I’ll do it if he asks and because I think it’ll be cool.” Nie Huaisang lets out a sigh. “I wanted to be lazy for a while longer though… Maybe just a lil vacation first?”

Wen Ning chuckles. As always, Nie Huaisang can whine about even the most trivial things. “Well, you did always want him to play for our team.”

“I did.” he says, rolling his eyes. “This is what I get for loving a man who loves projects…”

Jiang Cheng arrives a few minutes later, and rolls his window down to tell them both to get in the backseat. Strange, because Nie Huaisang usually rode on the passenger side.

As soon as they settle in the back of the car, they both instantly notice that Jiang Cheng is not alone. Peering at them from the passenger seat is a pair of light gray eyes that belong to a young woman who looks about the same age as Jin Ling and his friends.

“This is Xiao Qing. Remember Song Lan from the agency? She’s his husband’s sister.” Jiang Cheng says to introduce the girl. Then he turns towards the two men at the backseat. “How did you say it… Uh. I picked up a situation?”

Both blink, and Nie Huaisang, bewildered, asks, “A-Cheng?”

Jiang Cheng shrugs. “Yeah. It’s my turn, I guess.”

Then, he drives off.

Nie Huaisang and Wen Ning exchange looks, then both chuckle at the same, before simply shrugging as well.

“Hello, A-Qing.” Nie Huaisang starts. “My name is Nie Huaisang. This is my friend Wen Ning. It’s very nice to meet you.”

“N-Nice to meet you too…” the girl timidly replies.

“So…” Nie Huaisang leans forward with a friendly smile. “What can we do to help?”

.

.

fin.