PM, 7:57 p.m.
East District Corridor, Racecourse Avenue.
The black Volga turned onto the road through the villa district.
Xiao Qi drove while chattering away to the siblings in the back seat.
After avoiding a few main roads, she didn't have to fly into a road-rage frenzy.
At that moment, she was in a great mood.
"Let me tell you! Bu Liuxing really knows how to pick a place to live."
"This area's right next to the racetrack and the Matchmaking Rock, and the roads are connected in every direction. There are three big parks right outside, and walk two hundred meters and you can see Victoria Harbour across the water."
"If you want to eat, drink, and have fun, there are sixteen shopping malls nearby, a convention center, three golf courses, and even a Gucci store."
"If you want to hike and get some exercise, round up the grandpas and grandmas in the villa district and go to Fragrant Incense Peak or Big Horse Mountain."
"Take a drive, and the mountain viewing platform and pavilion aren't far either. On the way back down, you can even get some authentic Baiwei chicken. Honestly, it's just wonderful!"
"The only downside is that it's expensive. But that's not the place's problem, it's definitely mine. Don't you agree?"
Xiao Qi bobbed her head like a tour guide trying to drum up business.
The siblings wore blank expressions, as still as monks in meditation.
When they arrived at Bu Liuxing's place, Jiang Xueming first familiarized himself with the paths around the garden, memorizing the roads in front of and behind the detached villa so he could make a quick getaway if anything happened later.
By the time he returned to the front entrance, A Xing had run out to meet the car himself.
From a distance, Xue Ming saw Bu Liuxing racing out in a short-sleeved shirt, shorts, and sneakers, calling to the security guard to open the gate.
His T-shirt even had a pink seal's head printed on it. It was outrageously flashy.
"Ming Ge, Ming Ge, you finally made it! I was going to pick you up at the airport, but you said..." Bu Liuxing ran up to Jiang Xueming and started to spread his arms for a hug.
Xue Ming stopped the burly young man with a look.
"Heh." A Xing looked a little embarrassed, then finished what he'd been saying. "But you told me to invite a few teachers over. They had to know shooting and be able to fight. So I asked around, and just got them here. It took me a little longer."
"Thanks." Jiang Xueming followed A Xing inside. "I appreciate all your hard work."
Xiao Qi drove off with Bailu to find a parking spot at the house.
A Xing and Xue Ming reached the villa's main hall. Before they could enter, they had to pass through a metal detector, and cameras were mounted in the doorways on either side.
Xue Ming pointed at the equipment and asked, "Are your home security systems connected to the police department?"
"Yep." A Xing scanned his face at the entrance. "If anything happens, someone will come right over."
"Can you get your hands on an antiaircraft machine gun?" Jiang Xueming asked. "Or an aircraft-mounted cannon, salvaged from a plane. Set it up with the cameras, and I'd feel more at ease."
Bu Liuxing didn't quite understand. "Huh?"
Jiang Xueming tried another way of putting it. "Is there room for a truck in your parking area? One of those sixteen-wheelers."
"Ming Ge, what are you thinking?" A Xing muttered. "Should I get some more contractors tomorrow to tear out the flower beds? Pull up the ornamental trees, too? Then there should be room for a truck, right?"
"Good." Xue Ming nodded, finally reassured. "Sorry for the trouble. Bailu and I will be living here from now on."
"Woohoo!" A Xing cheered. "Ming Ge, after everything I've done for you, you have to say yes to that thing I asked!"
Jiang Xueming looked puzzled. "That thing?"
A Xing explained earnestly, "The coffee shop! Let's open one by the station!"
Jiang Xueming nodded. "All right, I promise."
"I'll call out to customers at the front, and you can make pastries in the kitchen! We'll hear all sorts of stories!" A Xing said excitedly. Then he noticed all the bags Xue Ming was carrying and took a few of them.
The two were heading inside—
—when the luggage triggered the metal detector.
"What's going on?" A Xing scratched his head and bent down to feel around the backpack. "Ming Ge, what did you bring?"
Jiang Xueming said nothing, just lowered his head and opened the zipper.
Inside was a set of chainmail and four polymer greaves.
A Xing clicked his tongue in amazement. "Damn, didn't you fly back? How did you get through security with this?"
Xue Ming explained, "I bought them as handicrafts. They came with certificates of authenticity, and I checked them as luggage."
A Xing gave him a dubious look. "Why buy this stuff? You said you were going back to your hometown to see your parents. Did your dad have some dream of charging at windmills?"
"Not exactly." Xue Ming continued, "They threatened to break my legs, just in case, so I wore this when I went home. I don't need it anymore. It's not worth much, so we can leave it by the door."
Just then, the CCTV monitor beside the entrance lit up.
"Mr. Bu Liuxing, we've received an alert. What's going on? The report just came through that a large quantity of metal objects passed through the detector at your front door."
The alarm must have alerted the local police department.
Bu Liuxing grinned at the camera. "It's fine, it's fine. Sorry about that!"
"All right. If anything unusual happens, call the fire department immediately; their line will get through to us faster. We'll be there as soon as possible." As soon as he finished speaking, the CCTV screen went dark.
The two of them carried all the luggage into the foyer, leaving the chainmail by the door.
Then Xue Ming picked up the brocade box Boss Ye had given him and headed for the main hall, only to be stopped by the alarm again.
A Xing immediately asked, "What's that?"
"A gift from an old friend," Xue Ming explained. "They said it's a stick, and something of an antique. It should be made of metal."
Before the CCTV screen had even fully lit up, A Xing went over to explain the situation and clear things up.
Afterward, A Xing said to Xue Ming, "Come on, let's go. Bring the brocade box inside. You can't just toss out something an old friend gave you. I love unboxing things, too. Open it up for me once we're inside!"
Once he reached the hall, Xue Ming didn't get a moment's rest. He carefully examined the decorations and ornaments, then spotted the ashtray and fruit knife, as well as a commemorative fountain pen on the bookshelf.
In his eyes, all of these could be turned into weapons. He might need them someday.
Bu Liuxing felt uneasy under Xue Ming's gaze.
After a while, he finished checking the items in the hall, dining room, kitchen, and study, and prepared to look upstairs.
A Xing decided this couldn't go on and quickly called him over.
"Ming Ge! Ming Ge! Why don't you look around tonight, or tomorrow morning? How about we go meet the teachers at the gym now? You wanted a fitness assessment, right? They've been waiting ages, and we've still got dinner to eat!"
Jiang Xueming nodded cautiously. "All right."
They walked through the back courtyard and out through a gate on the other side. At the far end of the courtyard pond stood a small greenhouse filled with out-of-season potted plants.
It was clear that Bu Liuxing's mother loved gardening.
A few dozen meters beyond the greenhouse stood a three-story, multipurpose gym and recreation center.
Along the way, several housekeepers and caretakers greeted Bu Liuxing.
Jiang Xueming kept memorizing the layout as they walked, afraid he'd get lost in the enormous house.
In private, A Xing wondered if Ming Ge planned to set traps around the house or something. Why else would he care so much about every corner and every bit of terrain?
The basement floor of the gym and recreation center housed a small shooting range. There were signs of recent construction everywhere, as if the work had been rushed to completion in just a few hours. The place still smelled of lumber, rosin, paint, and welding, mixed with all kinds of strange odors.
"Ta-da! What do you think?" A Xing spread his arms, looking pleased with himself. "As soon as I got your message, I called people in to renovate it! This used to be a wine cellar. My mom had tons of wine stored here!"
"Your mother might not take it well when she finds out her precious son did this." Jiang Xueming felt rather awkward. "But I still want to thank you."
"Next, talk things over with the teachers!" Bu Liuxing called to Xue Ming, then shouted toward the entrance to the training range. "Teacher Liu! Teacher Li! Coach Zhou! My friend's here!"
A Xing turned to Xue Ming and gave him a serious reminder. "Make sure you talk things through with the teachers. They're all real professionals."
Xue Ming said, "Okay."
Bu Liuxing started upstairs, preparing to leave for a while. "I'm going to get dinner ready and arrange rooms for your sister and attendant. Call me when you're done, and don't take too long. It'd be great if you could come help in the kitchen."
Xue Ming turned back and gave Liuxing a thumbs-up.
"Okay."
Outside the entrance, Xiao Qi didn't go inside right away.
She told Bailu to go in and rest, then leaned against the entrance to the doorway, apparently waiting for someone.
"9527!"
The greeting reached her before the person did.
Following the sound, a woman jumped down from the second floor of the villa.
Like Xiao Qi, she wore a swallowtail suit, a white shirt, and a burgundy tie.
She was Bu Liuxing's attendant. She'd met them at the station, and had crossed paths with Xue Ming once before, when she'd dragged Bu Liuxing off by the ear for his disinfection procedure.
The moment she saw someone she knew, Xiao Qi perked right up.
"3301!"
3301 was the attendant's identification number.
"9527, are you living here now?" 3301 first stepped onto the entrance's crossbeam, moving nimbly as if she often clambered onto roofs. She spoke without getting winded, then landed lightly in front of the doorway. "How have you been? I heard about you two from Sister Yangchun."
Miss 3301 had a neat, short haircut. She seemed to have poor eyesight and wore black-rimmed glasses. Her bangs and the hair around her ears were cut in clean, even diagonal lines.
"Hey, hey, tell me!" 3301 moved closer and nudged Xiao Qi with her elbow, her gaze full of innuendo. "What kind of family does that passenger come from? What's his personality like? How'd he get you so smitten?"
Xiao Qi pouted. "3301, can you stop being so nosy?"
"Want to hear the story of me and this rich young master?" 3301 asked with a raised eyebrow and a smile.
Xiao Qi immediately perked up. "Do tell."
"We're both the same kind of people, turning into crazed gossip captains online every day. Don't pretend otherwise!" 3301 shook Xiao Qi's arm, then asked, "Tell me about him! Come on, Xiao Qi! Tell me! Jiang Xueming! Tell me about him!"
"He..."
Xiao Qi hesitated, her expression growing distant.
"He's special. I think he's a very gentle person. He's quick to deal with things, but very considerate."
Inside the shooting range—
—the shooting instructor Bu Liuxing had invited greeted Xue Ming.
"Hello, Mr. Jiang Xueming. I'm with the International Practical Shooting Confederation, a member of the North American Rifle Association, and a shooting instructor for the East District police department. My surname is Liu. You can call me Teacher Liu."
Jiang Xueming looked up at the fully equipped shooting instructor—
—he could sense the man's contempt and impatience in his eyes, his chin held high and the subtle coldness in his gaze.
In a strange way, his attitude was like that of a graduate student forced to teach preschoolers how to solve problems: restless and irritable.
Xue Ming sensed inexplicable hostility. The other two instructors had the same look.
Coach Zhou, A Xing's fitness trainer, was especially obvious. When the muscular man saw Xue Ming's height and build, the word contempt was practically written all over his face.
Xue Ming thought it over carefully.
These instructors were probably all old friends of A Xing's. Their inexplicable hostility likely came from the distrust that grew between people from different social circles.
It made sense. If a rich young master you'd known for ages suddenly went to great lengths for someone he'd only met a few days ago, even tearing out his mother's wine cellar, you'd probably keep an extra eye on that person too. Maybe A Xing had gotten mixed up in a pyramid scheme, or someone had played with his feelings.
"Hello, Teacher Liu." Jiang Xueming didn't say anything unnecessary, waiting for the shooting instructor to give him directions.
Two guns sat on the table.
Teacher Liu picked one up and explained them to Jiang Xueming.
"This is an SVI Infinity competition pistol, and this is a Sig Sauer P220. Their performance and accuracy differ.
"I'll use this Sig Sauer, manufactured in 1975. You'll use this brand-new SVI, made in 2024. We'll take turns during the shooting practice. Young Master Xing says you're a good shot."
"I only know a little." Xue Ming picked up the gun on the table. He'd never seen this type before, not even at the shooting club. It was high-end gear. "Why are our guns different?"
Teacher Li, the combat instructor, snickered. "The one in your hand costs five grand. The secondhand one Old Liu has costs fifteen hundred bucks, so of course they're different."
Teacher Liu gave a dry laugh and glanced sideways at Xue Ming. "You're Young Master Xing's friend, so I don't think our scores will be too far apart. He'll be thrilled to hear that."
"Of course." Teacher Li raised his eyebrows and gave Xue Ming an affectedly envious look. "Young Master Xing tore out his family's wine cellar and turned it into a shooting range for Mr. Jiang Xueming. I wonder what kind of magic Mr. Xue Ming has, to make Young Master Xing willing to spend so much time and money on him."
Xue Ming understood what the two instructors were implying.
They weren't here to give Jiang Xueming a proper assessment. They were only here to make Bu Liuxing happy.
"Teacher Liu, when we get to the shooting portion, could you give it your all?" Jiang Xueming asked earnestly. "I don't know how good I am, but you're a shooting instructor for the police department, and you've made time in your busy schedule to come assess me. I'm truly honored. I hope this test will help me understand my actual skill level."
Teacher Liu looked completely baffled, privately wondering—was this guy really not joking?
He didn't even recognize the gun in his hands. What gave him the nerve to talk about "giving it his all" and his "actual skill level"?
Before Teacher Liu could figure it out,
Jiang Xueming asked the three of them, "Do you have a small Phillips screwdriver?"
Unexpectedly, the fitness trainer who looked down on Xue Ming the most said nothing, but dragged a toolbox over from the renovation site.
Jiang Xueming lowered his head to thank him, took out a tool, and started tinkering with the gun in his hands.
Teacher Li grew curious. "Are you taking the gun apart?"
"Hey! What are you doing?" Teacher Liu hurried over to stop him. "The Infinity is expensive! Don't break it!"
"Give me two minutes. I'll be done in a moment." As he spoke, Jiang Xueming removed the gun's scope mount and red-dot sight.
The reason was simple.
First, he'd never used a red-dot sight at the shooting club before. In his mind, if he'd never used something, that meant he didn't know how to use it.
Second—
"—I've never used a secondary firearm this heavy. The scope mount and sight are too heavy. The grip on this thing is machined from aircraft-grade aluminum alloy. That's pretty unusual." Jiang Xueming explained. "Teacher Liu, do you have a rear sight compatible with the 2011 Gun Family?"
"Oh, I have one here." Teacher Liu saw that Jiang Xueming was working the slide and magazine release, and that he wasn't dismantling the gun carelessly. He handed over the rear sight components from his luggage bag.
"Thanks." Xue Ming took the parts and installed the rear sight with its star-shaped screws. He aligned the notch with the front sight on the slide.
He reassembled the gun, took some Vaseline from the toolbox, and applied it to the slide rails. He racked the slide several times to make sure it moved smoothly.
Then he found a roll of electrical tape and wrapped it around the cold, rough aluminum grip, so that its weight and hardness wouldn't affect his accuracy.
Finally, he placed the gun back on the table next to the magazine. He raised both hands, palms outward, to show that they were empty as he waited for instructions.
"I'm ready."
At that moment, Teacher Liu's expression changed several times. He looked at the SVI Infinity on the table.
Without its extravagant scope mount and sight, the gun's black-and-gold slide and grip, with their clean, geometric lines, had a rugged industrial beauty.
Teacher Liu wondered whether Young Master Xing's friend was actually a gunsmith.
Teacher Li stood off to the side with his arms crossed, giving a mocking smile. "This kid sure knows how to put on a show."
Teacher Liu asked, "You said you only know a little?"
Hearing the instructor's question, Xue Ming answered earnestly.
"At the shooting club I used to go to, I rarely got the chance to handle a real gun. Ordinary members could only use toys powered by GAS, or compressed gas. They all had pretty similar mechanisms, so after taking them apart and putting them back together a few times, I got the hang of it."
"I only know a little."
Before you continue