The North, SY City.
Wang Tian followed the escort off the airplane and went straight to the local State Security Bureau to register.
After completing a series of tedious procedures, he could finally begin his life back in his home country.
Still, looking at the latest-model black phone in his hand, he felt a little uncomfortable.
A tracking watch was one thing, but now they’d given him a tracking phone too. It wasn’t as if he’d come back to cause trouble.
But since this had been his own choice, all he could do was shake his head and accept it. After all, he had plenty of enemies.
If he didn’t return to Huaxia, he would have to face all his enemies alone. The organization wouldn’t keep protecting him anymore.
“Where should I go first? I don’t remember much.”
As Wang Tian walked out of the State Security Bureau, he looked at the unfamiliar scene before him and felt a little lost.
Although he had been born here, he had left the country with his family when he was seven.
After his parents were killed by their unscrupulous employer, he ended up homeless and eventually became a mercenary. He really didn’t remember much about this place.
“Forget it. I’ll go check out the address on my identity card.” Wang Tian hailed a taxi and gave the driver the address listed on his identity card.
He had plenty of money. Mr. Gong had handled things quite reliably, transferring the funds from some of his secret accounts into Huaxia yuan. But he could no longer touch his other, more public accounts.
“Young man, you’ve been away from home for a long time, haven’t you?”
The driver was a talkative fellow. Seeing Wang Tian gazing out the window with a bewildered look, he smiled and spoke.
“Yeah. I haven’t been back in years, so it feels a little unfamiliar.” Wang Tian snapped out of it and replied.
“Things have changed fast around here over the years. You don’t even have to be gone for that long—even if you came back after just two years, you might still be confused.”
“Big brother, can I ask you something? Has the address I gave you changed much?”
“Looking at you, I doubt you’ll recognize the place. It used to be farmland, but the municipal government has poured a lot of effort into developing the area over the past few years. Now it’s the new city center, and property prices are sky-high.” The driver sighed.
And so Wang Tian started chatting with the driver. The truth was, the place was so unfamiliar to him. What could a seven-year-old child have remembered?
He only remembered the city’s name. Mr. Gong had looked up the exact address using his birth records.
When Wang Tian got out of the car and said goodbye to the talkative driver, he stared at the rows of tall buildings and was completely dumbfounded.
He vaguely remembered that the area used to be full of one-story houses. Where was he supposed to look now?
“This should be it, right?” He kept checking his identity card and asking for directions along the way. At last, he reached the address listed on it, but he didn’t recognize the place at all.
“The people at National Security said I should check with the residents’ committee. They said they’d already let them know I was coming. But what’s a residents’ committee? Is it a community service center?”
With no experience living in the country, Wang Tian had no choice but to stop an elderly cleaner and ask for directions. Only then did he find the place.
“Hello. My family used to live here, but later we all went abroad. Now the area’s been redeveloped, and I’d like to ask what happened to our old house.” Wang Tian asked at the front desk.
“How many years have you been away? You didn’t come back for something as big as the redevelopment? Fill out this form first.” The young woman at the front desk looked a little bewildered.
Someone who hadn’t even come back for the redevelopment? This was the first time she’d encountered that. Didn’t everyone rush back to collect their compensation as soon as they heard their home was going to be redeveloped?
“Uh, over twenty years.” Wang Tian felt a little embarrassed. It did seem a bit bad to come back and ask for a house right away.
Still, the people at National Security had told him to come here. If it was too much trouble, he could just buy another place. He had money, after all.
“Wait here a moment. I’ll ask about it.” The young woman picked up the form Wang Tian had filled out, then got up and headed for an office.
A short while later, a potbellied middle-aged man came over with the young woman.
“Hello, you’re Wang Tian, right? Someone higher up has already told us about you. But it has been quite a long time, so there are some procedures you’ll need to take care of.” The man came over to Wang Tian, who was looking around, and spoke with a smile.
“Hello. Sorry to trouble you,” Wang Tian said politely.
“It’s no trouble. First, I’ll issue you a certificate. Then you’ll need to go to the police station to verify your identity, get a stamp from the social security department, and then go to the Housing Bureau for another stamp. Oh, and you’ll need to go to the bank to open an account too.” The middle-aged man rattled off a long list of things that left Wang Tian completely confused.
“Uh, all right. Thank you. I understand.” Wang Tian had no choice but to agree, then took the papers the man handed him.
As soon as he left, he called his dedicated liaison officer and explained the situation. The main problem was that he hadn’t understood what he’d been told.
Fortunately, the people at National Security seemed to have anticipated this. They told him to find somewhere to rest while they took care of all the paperwork.
Wang Tian found a hotel nearby and had a meal. The only thing he knew about China was probably its food, since he’d eaten it often while abroad.
After several days of running around, Wang Tian was tired too. He planned to rest after eating. It was his first night in Huaxia.
“Team leader, the target has gone to bed.” In the parking lot outside the hotel, two surveillance team members saw the lights go out in the room and reported to their superior.
“Understood. Just keep watching him. This assignment won’t be over anytime soon. Thanks for your hard work,” came the reply.
There was no way around it. The state had procedures for dangerous people granted amnesty to return home. This kind of surveillance had to continue for at least three years before it could be switched to online monitoring.
In fact, Wang Tian had noticed someone following him when he left the State Security Bureau that day. But he’d already prepared himself for that, so he didn’t say anything. As long as he didn’t break the law, they could follow him all they wanted.
The next day, just after Wang Tian got up, he received a phone call saying that all his paperwork had been completed. He only needed to go to the Subdistrict Office to collect the keys, and the remaining funds would be deposited into his account later.
Wang Tian quickly got up and tidied himself up. This was going to be his permanent home after returning to the country, so it was pretty important.
When he returned to the Subdistrict Office, the middle-aged man from before was already waiting for him.
“Come on. Your paperwork has already come through. I’ll take you to the apartment.” Li Wei was a little surprised. Since when had those people become so efficient?
But after so many years on the job, he knew which things to ask about and which things were better left alone.
“Thank you for your trouble.”
“Your Chinese is pretty good. I saw in your registration information that you’ve lived abroad for many years.” Li Wei led the way and complimented him.
“Yeah. Even though I lived abroad, I never let my Chinese slip.” Wang Tian was very grateful to his parents and Zhang Wen.
His parents had taught him when he was little, saying it was so he wouldn’t forget his roots. Later, after he joined the organization, he met Zhang Wen, so his Chinese never slipped.
Li Wei took him to the twenty-first floor of an apartment building and opened the door with a key. Once Wang Tian had followed him inside, Li Wei began to explain.
“I checked the files. When the area was redeveloped the first time, no one in your family signed the papers, so after it was reported, your family was assumed to have agreed.”
“At first, your family was given two apartments. Later, this area was redeveloped again, but no one from your family came back, so the government combined them into one large apartment and added a little from the compensation money. This is the apartment you have now.”
“The apartment is 140 square meters, with three bedrooms and two living rooms. It was built and fully furnished just a couple of years ago, so you can move right in. The Subdistrict Office will provide the paperwork; you just need to go to the Housing Bureau and get the property deed.”
“Oh, since no one from your family ever came back, the property fees, management fees, and so on have all been deducted from your remaining compensation money. Here’s the breakdown. Take a look, and if everything’s in order, sign it. Finance will transfer the remaining funds to you this afternoon.” As he spoke, Li Wei took out a contract and an itemized statement.
Wang Tian didn’t look it over carefully. He simply signed his name at the bottom. It had all come to him for free, so he couldn’t be bothered to fuss over it.
“All right, keep the keys safe. If you have any problems in the future, you can come straight to the Subdistrict Office and ask for me. My name is Li Wei, and I’m the director of this Subdistrict Office.”
Li Wei took the contract Wang Tian had signed and handed him a set of keys. Then, with a keen sense of propriety, he left.
“So this is where I’ll be living from now on.” Wang Tian walked around the apartment.
Then he stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing at the bustling city in the distance as he murmured to himself.