The invitation

On September 14, the owner of the house was sitting in his courtyard when he received a strange "gift."

It was delivered by Hu Dingjun, the older police officer who had visited last time, accompanying a "messenger" who stopped by only briefly—

"Hello, Mr. Li. Sorry to drop in unannounced today."

The man who stepped out of the car looked to be in his twenties or thirties. He carried himself upright, with a small, inconspicuous black mole high on his left cheek near his brow.

He offered his hand. "My name is Qian Yisheng. I'm with the Special Affairs Investigation Bureau. Heh, the name sounds impressive, but I'm really just an errand runner."

"I came specifically to visit you today, Mr. Li, to introduce myself and deliver an invitation while I'm here. From now on, my colleagues and I will most likely be your points of contact for certain matters."

"Hello, Mr. Qian. A pleasure to meet you."

The two shook hands amicably, one smiling and nodding in greeting, the other returning an equally polite nod.

After some brief pleasantries, an explanation of the visit, and a short conversation, the "gift" they had brought lay in the courtyard pavilion.

The yellow envelope was rather unusual. Inside was a sheet of thick white stationery, simply printed with a time and place: "Invited guest: Mr. Li Yun. Please arrive at the main hall of the Shu Capital International Convention Center by 7:30 a.m. on September 15 to watch a live broadcast of that day's press conference in Upper Capital."

There was no explicit signature on the paper, but the people who had delivered it in person already spoke volumes.

"We've arranged seating at the International Convention Center for tomorrow and invited quite a few civilian 'users' to watch the press conference together.