“Boss, a bowl of tofu pudding, two fried dough sticks, and a tea egg, please.” Wang Tian sat at a breakfast stand beside the residential community and called out loudly.
“Coming right up. Just a moment!” the owner called back.
“Now this is the life.” Once the owner had brought everything over, Wang Tian ate and sighed to himself.
With no missions where he might lose his life at any moment and no danger of having to constantly worry about being assassinated, Wang Tian—who had been back in Huaxia for over a year—felt that only now was he truly alive.
After finishing, he ordered two more identical breakfasts, then went over to a black car parked nearby and lightly tapped on the window. Two helpless faces appeared.
“Here. Your breakfast’s still hot.” After handing the food to one of them, Wang Tian sauntered off.
“That guy’s a bit much. But this tofu pudding is pretty good today.” Zhang Yang spoke as he sipped at it.
Ever since Wang Tian had suddenly tapped on their car window half a year ago and handed them two servings of fried chicken, they had gradually gotten used to this sort of thing.
At first, their team had thought Wang Tian was taunting them.
But after a while, they realized Wang Tian really was just bored and looking for someone to chat with. So they simply switched from keeping an eye on him in secret to openly monitoring him.
“Still, that guy doesn’t look like a dangerous person,” Zhao Tong said from beside him.
“What the hell do you know? People like that are the dangerous ones. Otherwise, why would the higher-ups have us watching him for so long?” Zhang Yang took a bite of his fried dough stick and said indistinctly.
Though their clearance level wasn’t high enough to learn Wang Tian’s exact identity, judging by how long they’d been assigned to monitor him, he certainly wasn’t a nobody.
“By the way, where’s Yang Tian? Did the team leader send her to buy food again?” Zhang Yang asked.
Yang Tian had only joined their team two months ago. After all, this assignment was taking so long that they obviously needed plenty of people to rotate through.
“No idea. But the youngest couldn’t have offended the team leader, could she? I feel like he’s picking on her.”
“What do you know? I heard the team leader is the youngest’s relative. Her family doesn’t want her in this line of work, so they asked the team leader to find a way to get her transferred out.” Zhao Tong said mysteriously.
“No way. Normally, people with family ties aren’t allowed to be in the same team in our line of work.” Zhang Yang looked at his colleague skeptically.
Before Zhao Tong could reply, a man’s voice suddenly came through their earpieces.
“You two little brats, could you at least watch what you say over the earpieces next time you talk about personal matters?”
“Sorry, team leader. We’ll be careful next time.” The two hurriedly apologized with grins. They’d worked with their team leader for years and knew his temper inside out.
“Hurry up and eat, then get back. Team Two is already tailing him.” The voice in their earpieces sounded a little helpless, too.
“Yes, team leader,” Zhang Yang and the other man replied seriously.
Meanwhile, Wang Tian had strolled over to the market to buy some vegetables. The food at home was running low, after all.
“Auntie, two pounds of green beans, a few cucumbers, a bunch of scallions, and a few eggplants, please.” Wang Tian stood in front of a stall, glanced over the produce, and placed his order.
“Sure. Let me see… That comes to 21 yuan and 30 cents. Just give me 21.” Aunt packed everything into a bag, checked the digital scale, and said.
“How about 20? I come here all the time.”
“There’s hardly any profit in these. 20 is too little.”
“Come on, 20, Auntie. I’ll buy more next time.”
“All right, all right. You rascal. Remember to buy more next time.” Aunt nodded helplessly.
Wang Tian cheerfully scanned the code and paid. It wasn’t that he cared about the extra eighty cents; he just liked the process of haggling. It made him feel alive.
“Brother Zhang, give me a piece of pork belly from the lower section, one with a bit less fat.”
“Xiao Tian, pick one yourself. These pieces all fit the bill.”
“I’ll take this one. It’ll be perfect for braised pork.” Wang Tian picked a decent piece, paid quickly, and got ready to head home.
As he turned to leave, he brushed past a man and slipped the wallet the fellow had just stolen back into its owner’s bag, untouched.
He couldn’t be bothered to call the police; mainly, it was too much trouble. He just wanted to live a peaceful life.
As he walked through the residential community, he greeted the people he knew just like any ordinary person.
Not long after he’d moved here last year, many people in the community had already heard that Old Wang’s son was back.
He couldn’t help but marvel that the people of Huaxia were nearly as capable as any intelligence organization.
Though he didn’t remember many of them, most of the uncles and aunties remembered his parents and grandparents.
After all, they’d lived here for many years, and a lot of them had been childhood friends with his parents.
“Xiao Tian, want to come over for a drink tonight?” A man about his age was out for a walk, carrying his newborn baby. When he saw Wang Tian, he smiled and called out.
At first, Wang Tian didn’t really remember him. It was only after they’d spent some time together that he recalled the guy had lived in the neighboring courtyard when they were kids. Apparently, they used to play together a lot.
“Just take care of your kid, you househusband. Having a drink? Do you even have the guts?” Wang Tian said disdainfully.
After more than a year of getting to know the place, he had more or less settled into the city. He’d also learned that the women here were a bit like women abroad: strong-willed, and able to keep the men in their households firmly in line.
“Hey, that’s out of line. Why wouldn’t I have the guts?” Qian Yang said, sticking out his chest.
But when his wife, who was chatting with someone not far away, turned to look at him, the six-foot-tall, heavily tattooed man hunched his shoulders.
“Those tattoos are wasted on you,” Wang Tian scoffed. Then, ignoring Qian Yang’s indignant protests, he turned and went inside.
When he got home, Wang Tian put the vegetables in the fridge, lit a cigarette, and sat on the sofa, smoking contentedly.
Bzz-bzz. His phone vibrated. Wang Tian picked it up and saw that someone in the residential community group had tagged everyone.
“Everyone, be careful. The police station says a few pyramid-scheme operatives may be living in our community. If you spot anyone suspicious, report it to the community right away.”
“Pyramid schemes have the nerve to come into our community?”
“Think about whether anyone’s rented a place to outsiders recently, and keep an eye out.”
Wang Tian put down his phone and didn’t pay much attention to the matter. He’d already seen how powerful the people could be as a group. A few pyramid-scheme operators weren’t going to cause much trouble.
“I’ll just throw together some fried rice for lunch. Better watch TV first, though—the show’s at a crucial part.”
After stubbing out his cigarette, Wang Tian turned on the TV, tuned it to the right channel, and brewed himself a pot of tea. Then he stretched out comfortably on the sofa and started watching his drama.
“Now this is the good life.”