Chapter Thirty-One: Annexation and Counter-Annexation

He plopped down carelessly beside Jiang Wan, letting out a raspy, mischievous laugh. “Who would have thought! Who would have imagined a police officer would walk into an empty house?”

Jiang Wan didn’t seem the least bit intimidated. She mimicked his laugh, equally mocking, “Well, what I never expected… what I truly never saw coming, was someone giving me one…”

She paused, then continued, “What I never saw coming was someone giving me one, and yet keeping one for themselves as well.”

Seeing the smile on her face, Chen Qing realized there was no use hiding any longer. He chuckled, trying to play it off. “Well, I was just being cautious. We couldn’t both get trapped in there, could we?”

Jiang Wan’s expression softened a little, but only just. She grabbed his hand, her face a mix of curiosity and suspicion. “No, really, tell me the truth. Last night, how exactly did you…?”

She hesitated, searching for the right words. “How did you get out? You were clearly asleep. I even tried lifting your eyelids, and you didn’t wake.”

Chen Qing’s mouth twitched. Was this woman getting more brazen the better they knew each other?

He was silent for a moment, then explained, “I wouldn’t recommend you copy what I did. My method… let’s just say the side effects are significant.”

He shook his head and pulled from his pocket the relic he’d just detached from the balcony, explaining, “The effect of ‘Yin-Yang Departure at Dawn’ is to separate out parts of memory and create a ‘false self,’ isn’t it?”

Jiang Wan nodded for him to continue.

“So, I used subconscious suggestion to plant a thought into every one of my memories. That thought took root deeper and deeper with each memory until it affected my actions now.” Chen Qing smiled. “Now, what if I used ‘Yin-Yang Departure at Dawn’ to separate just those memories into the ‘false me’s’ mind?”

Jiang Wan was taken aback, her expression changing in an instant. “Then… his entire life, his entire existence, would be bound by a single thought. No other ideas, no other desires.”

Yet she looked at Chen Qing, her face full of disbelief. “But I saw him go downstairs to take out the trash last night!”

Chen Qing grinned. “I told him to take the garbage out on his way. Is that so strange?”

Jiang Wan was dumbfounded.

“Who says a life destined to end in an alley a kilometer away can’t accept a simple request from a stranger?”

She rubbed her temples, already feeling exhausted. “But… but the condition for retrieving memories with ‘Yin-Yang Departure at Dawn’ is that the memory holder kills the other, isn’t it? So how did you…?”

Chen Qing smiled. “That’s why I lost those memories. It’s fine, really—they were fabricated anyway. But seriously, don’t try this. I’ve had a splitting headache for four hours.”

She nodded, sighing as she set down the bags she carried.

A true genius, she thought. He’s managed to make a spectacle of relics.

“What’s all this?”

He glanced at the bags Jiang Wan had put down—most were clothes, a minority food, though even that ‘minority’ was a sizable mountain of snacks.

“Some are for us to change into. The rest… well, let’s just say it’s for the mission. Work requirements.” She hesitated a moment before continuing, “The higher-ups were very pleased with how I handled the last case. From now on, similar tasks will be assigned to me. And I’ve listed you as my auxiliary staff—you’ll get official treatment.”

Chen Qing leaned back, thinking, Well, that just saved me sixty years of detours.

“But seriously, what does that have to do with all these clothes?” he pressed.

“It’s got everything to do with it,” she sighed, looking at him. “Do you have any self-awareness at all? You’re a high schooler. Barely an adult this year. Yet you keep running around in your school uniform with a police officer, and you—”

He made a sound of indifference. “So… what about all those snacks?”

Jiang Wan fell silent, then suddenly burst out laughing. She looked at Chen Qing and asked, “Do you really have no sense of self-preservation? I went out last night to keep an eye on you, and you still slipped away. You think I’ll let you out of my sight?”

Chen Qing replied cheerfully, “Come on, can’t I get a little personal space? Hardly living here!”

But Jiang Wan grew more serious. “Chen Qing, we’ve been through life and death together. I won’t hide it from you: the higher-ups did assign me to keep an eye on you, but it’s also to protect you. You’re our first agent to make contact with the extraordinary world. We don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“Ah,” Chen Qing sighed, feigning enlightenment. He wagged a finger at her. “You see, you’re all too caught up in appearances. So young! You’ve lived two or three decades, and you’re still so young.”

Jiang Wan flushed. She didn’t know exactly what he was mocking, but her instincts told her he was mocking her.

“Speak plainly.”

“If I wanted to run, or if someone really wanted to kill me, what do you think you could do? If someone took you hostage, I’d even have to rescue you. Well, I’d try my best.”

She was quiet for a moment, then suddenly smiled and nodded. “No jokes—I’m actually very strong.”

“Sure, I believe you,” Chen Qing replied, shaking his head as he opened a bag of dried fruit.

“I mean it! I’m really strong.”

“Yes, yes, of course. Now, hurry up and change out of your uniform. I need to introduce you to someone.”

Jiang Wan paused, then decisively grabbed a jacket and hurried to Chen Qing’s bedroom.

“Tsk, is she really that unconcerned?” Chen Qing muttered with a wry smile. After all, he was the younger one, and it was hard not to feel his heart stir.

Not long after, Jiang Wan emerged in her everyday clothes. Dressed properly, she looked striking. Standing side by side, few would mistake Chen Qing for a student.

He nodded at her, ready to head out. But Jiang Wan realized she hadn’t put on shoes. With no other choice, she slipped on Chen Qing’s slippers by the door and followed him. They’d only taken a few steps when he led her to the apartment across the hall.

He knocked gently. The sound echoed in the corridor. “Carance? Are you in?” he called.

Jiang Wan was baffled. “Carance? Isn’t your neighbor Mrs. Li?”

Chen Qing nodded, smiling. “She was. Not anymore. Someone new moved in.”

She was stunned, about to check her phone, when the door opened to reveal a man in a perfectly tailored suit, every detail immaculate—the kind who leaves not a speck of dust on his shoes, the last button of his jacket undone, every thread in place.

Looking at Chen Qing, the man held the door open. “Sir, you’re here.”

As Carance spoke, Jiang Wan’s eyes widened in astonishment. She stared at Chen Qing and suddenly burst out, “No way! You’re that new rich kid everyone’s been talking about online?!”

“What?” Chen Qing was baffled. “What rich kid? You know my situation.”

Jiang Wan covered her forehead, clearly exasperated. “My god… I was so tired yesterday, how did I not recognize you…”

Chen Qing looked at her in confusion, but by then they’d entered the apartment. After a brief explanation, he learned that last night, Carance had brought him into a club in the middle of the night—an event that someone had inadvertently filmed and uploaded online.

“Rich kid, down-to-earth, and a handsome elite butler.”

Any one of those tags would have made someone an instant sensation online. All three together? The effect was explosive.

Jiang Wan cradled her head, groaning. Chen Qing did the same, but fortunately, the video didn’t show his face—just his back. That would make it easier to cover up.

Carance, seeing their predicament, felt somewhat guilty and offered, “Sir, if this is troublesome, I can make the person who filmed it disappear. Or—”

Before he could finish, Jiang Wan interjected, “Hey, hey, we live in a law-abiding society. Keep it legal.”

He nodded and finished, “In that case, someone at the club should be able to help. We could have an ordinary person dress up as you—the attention would shift away from you.”

Chen Qing sighed, resigned. “If possible, please have your department ban the original video through official channels. At least stop it from spreading further.” He hesitated, then added, “The impact… the ‘impact’ isn’t good.”

He spoke softly, but Jiang Wan nodded in agreement.

With that settled, they told Jiang Wan about last night’s events and promised to go together that evening.

But elsewhere—in a place where neither sun nor moonlight ever reached—a young girl stared at her phone, a smile slowly curling her lips.

“So happy?” Another girl, her peer, came over.

“Yes. Over the moon.”

“Did you see your little sweetheart?”

The girl smiled. She was the one who’d seen Chen Qing flee in panic and had been the force behind his new nickname—the girl with the surname Bai.

She sat cross-legged, turning to her friend. “He has to live. Only when he’s strong enough to stand against the five great organizations can he be called the sweetheart of my dreams. Otherwise… what would you call it?”

“Wouldn’t that make you his widow?” Her companion grinned, pouncing on her.

“Stop, my wound isn’t healed.”

“Kidding! If it heals, when would I get my chance?!”

They whispered and laughed, unaware that the gears of the world were turning faster and faster, grinding over you, over me, over everyone.