Northern Asia, Ninth District, Songjiang City.
Standing inside the office building of the Black Street District Police Bureau, under the municipal Police Headquarters, Qin Yu smiled as he asked a middle-aged man, “Is it okay now?”
“Mm, come in.” The middle-aged man waved him over and turned, walking into the office on the left.
Qin Yu straightened his clothes and followed the man inside.
The office wasn’t small, a little over sixty square meters, but only one person sat behind the desk. He looked around forty, sporting a mustache and a fleshy, intimidating face.
The middle-aged man walked up to the desk, set two stacks of documents in front of the mustached man, and said softly, “Bureau Director, this is the last one.”
“Medical check done?” the mustached man asked, picking up the file.
“Yes.”
“Mm, you can leave.”
“Okay.”
After their brief exchange, the middle-aged man departed. Qin Yu took two steps forward and stood before the desk in silence, watching the mustached man review his papers.
Frowning at the file, the mustached man read aloud softly, “Qin Yu, 22 years old, seventy-five kilograms, one meter eighty-two… Born before the Era Year, ancestral hometown J City, H Province. Heh, that’s not far from present-day Songjiang. Lived in the Unplanned Zone before joining, parents missing (suspected dead), no relatives… Hmm? Why is your resume blank?”
“I don’t have a resume,” Qin Yu replied with a smile. “Just staying alive in the Unplanned Zone takes everything you’ve got. I did whatever put food on the table. Where would I get a resume?”
“Heh.” The mustached man chuckled. “You could’ve at least made something up before coming here. Having an empty resume doesn’t look good in the system.”
“Alright, I’ll fill something in later.” Qin Yu didn’t argue, immediately playing along.
The mustached man kept his eyes on the file. “No resume means you haven’t served in the military. Have you ever handled firearms?”
Qin Yu shook his head without hesitation. “No.”
“Any criminal record?”
“No.”
The mustached man pondered for a moment before slowly setting the file down. He looked up at Qin Yu with an amused grin. “For someone living in the Unplanned Zone—a place with no laws and no rules—to scrape together enough cash to buy a job and a residence permit in the Ninth District… You, kid… you’ve seen some things.”
“Not really,” Qin Yu said, flashing a toothy grin. “Just got lucky and met some helpful people.”
The mustached man picked up his water cup, eyeing Qin Yu before giving a token nod. “Mm, you look sharp enough.”
Qin Yu pursed his lips in a smile, keeping quiet.
The mustached man set down his cup, clasped his hands, and delivered a concise warning. “The situation in the Ninth District is unique. Although it is under joint administration, it enjoys extensive autonomy, making it fundamentally different from the Eight Major Districts. We have a mixed demographic here—besides us Asians, there are plenty of Black and White folks too. The social environment is highly complex. Truthfully, there’s chaos in some areas that we want to fix, but currently can’t. As a police officer, you need to adapt to this environment from every angle.”
“Understood,” Qin Yu nodded, his expression turning serious.
“Also, I don’t care what your past is. If you’re eating at my table, you play by my rules. Even if you’re a dragon, you coil up; if you’re a tiger, you lie down. Cause trouble, make a mess, and I’ll deal with you immediately,” the mustached man reminded him in an even tone.
“Bureau Director Li, I’m here to take trouble off your hands,” Qin Yu chuckled.
“Heh.” Bureau Director Li laughed, tapped the touchscreen phone on his desk a few times, and leaned into the microphone.
Seconds later, a male voice rang out, “Hello, Bureau Director. This is the First Criminal Investigation Team.”
“Where’s Yuan Ke?” Bureau Director Li asked.
“…Team Leader Yuan isn’t here. He just stepped out.”
“I’m giving you a new recruit. Come pick him up right now.”
“Yes, sir.”
“That’s it.” Bureau Director Li stroked his mustache and hit the end call button. “Go wait at the door. Someone will come grab you in a bit. You can learn the specific rules once you join the team.”
“Understood, Bureau Director Li.” Qin Yu nodded, immediately took two steps forward, and pulled a tiny black pouch from his pocket, placing it on the desk. “Xiao Qi specifically reminded me. He said the Special Zone police system is the hardest place to land a job right now. Without your help, I wouldn’t even know how long I’d have to wait for an assignment, so I couldn’t possibly forget my manners.”
Bureau Director Li casually picked up the pouch. When he opened it and saw a diamond the size of a soybean sitting inside, he paused in surprise. “You people in the Unplanned Zone are really something. You actually managed to get your hands on this?! Wow, I haven’t seen one of these in years.”
Qin Yu just smiled, saying nothing.
Bureau Director Li casually tossed the pouch into his drawer, locked it, and pointed at Qin Yu. “You’re young, but you’ve actually got some substance to you.”
“That’s pretty much my entire life savings right there.” Qin Yu scratched his head, putting on an ingenuous air. Seeing that Bureau Director Li wasn’t rushing off to lunch, he chatted with him for a few more minutes.
Several minutes later, a slightly plump young man about Qin Yu’s age marched into the room. Keeping his back ramrod straight, he saluted and shouted, “Reporting to Bureau Director Li. Team One Third-Level Police Officer Qi Lin, under orders to escort our new colleague back to the team.”
Bureau Director Li patted Qin Yu’s arm. “Work hard. Let’s see if you can catch my eye during the year-end evaluations.”
“Yes, sir.” Qin Yu nodded.
“Alright, head to the team.” Bureau Director Li pointed at Qi Lin. “Tell Yuan Ke to look out for this kid.”
One diamond bought Qin Yu less than ten extra minutes of conversation with Bureau Director Li and a single instruction to “look out for him,” but that seemed to be the extent of it.
…
In the corridor.
The chubby Qi Lin walked on Qin Yu’s left, asking brightly, “Where are you from, brother?”
“The Unplanned Zone.”
“From that hellhole?” Qi Lin blinked in surprise. “That couldn’t have been easy.”
“Just had a bit of luck.” Qin Yu smiled.
Qi Lin nodded and didn’t press the issue. In an era like this, where food and water were scarce and simply surviving was a struggle, anyone might have secrets others knew nothing about.
As they walked briskly, Qi Lin gave him a rundown of the Police Bureau. This department was primarily responsible for criminal work in the district, including public security and case investigations. However, it didn’t handle administrative duties like household registration or deregistration, issuing residency permits, or processing immigration paperwork. Simply put, it was a lot like a district precinct from before the Era Year, just without the same level of specialized compartmentalization. For instance, Qin Yu’s unit not only tackled major criminal cases; it also handled basic street-level security.
Over the next hour or so, Qi Lin showed Qin Yu around the five-story Police Bureau, showing him the armory, interrogation rooms, public bullpen, training center, and the cafeteria. Through their interactions, Qin Yu quickly realized Qi Lin was incredibly slick, able to strike up a friendly chat with just about anyone they passed. His patience was remarkable, too. Whenever Qin Yu asked a question, Qi Lin gave a thorough answer. At the very least, he seemed helpful on the surface.
Shortly after two in the afternoon, Qi Lin took Qin Yu to the communications department to buy an internal work phone. But when Qin Yu glanced at the display counter, he noticed there was only one model available. It looked outdated, and the price tag was absurdly steep.
“What brand is this? I’ve never even heard of it.” Qin Yu examined the phone before turning to Qi Lin. “Forget it. I’ll buy one myself once I’m settled. It’s way too expensive here.”
Qi Lin smiled. He glanced at the young clerk sitting behind the counter before leaning in and whispering into Qin Yu’s ear. “You’d better just buy it here.”
“Why?” Qin Yu asked, confused.
“No real reason. The comms department belongs to the Police Bureau, but the actual phone counter is contracted out privately. The boss is a buddy of Team Leader Yuan, so every new recruit buys their phone here.” Qi Lin blinked knowingly. “You just got here. It’s best not to stick out. Sure, the phone isn’t the most durable thing in the world, but it saves you the hassle of having comms manually link it to the system. Once your profile is loaded into the main system, you just punch in your name and badge number, and you’re good to go.”
Having lived in the Unplanned Zone for years, how could Qin Yu fail to understand basic social dealings? The moment Qi Lin dropped the hint, Qin Yu stopped pushing back. Wincing inwardly, he told the clerk, “Give me one then. Thanks.”
Why the wince?
Because Qin Yu was so money-conscious and stingy that he’d want a warranty booklet even for a pair of socks. Yet, it was precisely this miserly nature that allowed him to scrape together enough cash to keep himself alive when it mattered most—and to buy his way into a job in the Ninth District.
Phone in hand, Qi Lin led him out of the Police Bureau and over to a general store across the street.
It was August. Though the sky was clear, the air was as biting as winter, and patches of white snow still clung to the pavement.
“Does it snow year-round in the Special Zone too?” Qin Yu asked.
“It’s been snowing for three years straight,” Qi Lin replied.
“Fuck, this world really doesn’t want people to live, does it?” Qin Yu shook his head with a sigh.
Chatting idly, the two of them stepped into a massive general store.
Qin Yu scanned the interior as he walked in, brushing some specks of mud off his pants. “Big store,” he remarked with a smile, “but empty.”
“Take a look around. Buy whatever you need.” Qi Lin took a drag from his vape.
Qin Yu started wandering the aisles, but the longer he browsed, the deeper his frown became. After more than ten minutes of pacing back and forth, his hands were still completely empty.
“Why aren’t you grabbing anything?” Qi Lin asked, walking over from the counter.
Qin Yu shot him a dark look and asked flatly, “Bro, are you a shill?”
“What do you mean?”
“Everything in here is marked up by at least thirty percent compared to the street price, and a lot of it is counterfeit. I just squeezed one of the blankets over there, and it felt like it was stuffed with steel wool. It actually pricked my hand, man!”
“…The merchandise isn’t great, sure, but all the new recruits at the Bureau buy their stuff here.”
“Why would they do that?” Qin Yu asked, bewildered.
“Because Team Leader Yuan’s older female cousin runs this place,” Qi Lin whispered. “It’s unofficially the Bureau’s designated supply vendor.”
Qin Yu looked utterly defeated. He held his tongue for a long moment before finally asking, “Let me ask you something. Does Bureau Director Li buy his supplies here?”
“Now you’re just being difficult. Even if Bureau Director Li wanted to buy something, Team Leader Yuan wouldn’t dare sell it to him.” Qi Lin rolled his eyes. “It’s just a rite of passage for the rookies. You grit your teeth and buy your supplies here for a couple of months, and then you’re off the hook.”
“I’m not doing it for a single day. This is just treating people like absolute morons!” Qin Yu snapped without hesitation. “Come on, let’s go somewhere else.”
Qi Lin was stunned. “You already spent all that cash on the job, are you really going to pinch pennies now? Just listen to me. Everyone buys their stuff here. Don’t make yourself the exception.”
“Buying the phone was enough to show the Team Leader respect.” Qin Yu turned on his heel and marched toward the door.
“Hey, Xiao Yu, just listen to me…”
“Are you getting a commission out of this?”
“Trust me, I’m right about this. Just buy a little…”
“Buy my ass! The toilet paper in there is like razor blades. I’d need a fucking band-aid every time I wiped.” Qin Yu refused to negotiate, striding straight out onto the street.
…
4:30 PM.
At the Police Bureau dormitory block, standing outside Room 2 of the First Criminal Investigation Team, Qi Lin smiled and called out to the men inside, “Third Brother, I’ve brought the new guy.”
Inside, six or seven young men were clustered around a round table playing cards. The man leading the game looked up at Qi Lin’s voice, casting a brief glance over Qin Yu. “Come in.”
The two stepped inside. Qin Yu scanned the room. It was less than thirty square meters, crammed with six bunk beds—twelve beds in total—two shared metal lockers, and plenty of personal belongings. It looked very crowded, but was fairly tidy overall and had no particularly noticeable smell.
“Qin Yu, let me introduce you. This is Third Brother, our Action Group 1 Leader.” Qi Lin tactfully established the hierarchy. “Third Brother has been on the job for three years. He’s good at his job and Team Leader Yuan’s right-hand man. Third Brother, this is Qin Yu, our new brother.”
“Nice to meet you, Third Brother.” Qin Yu smiled, extending his hand.
Lao San, sporting a tight buzz cut, turned his head to size Qin Yu up. Still clutching his cards, he gave a token nod and asked, “Where are you from?”
“The Unplanned Zone,” Qin Yu answered truthfully.
Lao San blinked, surprised. “The Unplanned Zone? What did you do out there?”
“Ran deliveries for a boss. Mostly daily essentials.”
“Running the roads out there? That ain’t easy.”
“No, no. I just did the driving.”
“Ah, a driver.” The surprise vanished from Lao San’s eyes, replaced by lazy indifference. “Whose strings did you pull to get into the Police Bureau?”
“A friend put in a word for me, and I paid my own way in.”
“Heh. Bought your way in, huh?” Lao San didn’t even look up from his cards. “Alright. Wait for Team Leader Yuan to get back, he’ll sort you out. Qi Lin, stick him on the bed by the window.”
“Got it.”
Qi Lin turned to Qin Yu. “You’ll take the bed in the back.”
“Sure.” Qin Yu grabbed the duffel bag he’d stashed at the guardhouse earlier, along with his newly purchased supplies, and headed toward the back.
“Hey, hold up.” Lao San caught sight of what Qin Yu was carrying and called out sharply.
“What’s wrong, Third Brother?” Qin Yu looked back.
Lao San eyed the plastic shopping bags in Qin Yu’s hands. “Where did you buy those supplies?”
“I forgot the name. Just a store near the precinct,” Qin Yu replied casually.
Lao San tossed a card onto the table. Keeping his back to Qi Lin, he asked in a deadpan voice, “Qi Lin, didn’t you tell the new guy where we’re supposed to buy our gear?”
Qi Lin immediately stiffened in embarrassment. If he threw Qin Yu under the bus right to his face, he’d seem disloyal. But if he kept his mouth shut, he’d be taking the heat for no reason.
Breaking the two-second silence, Qin Yu smoothly intervened. “Qi Lin told me to buy from the place across the street. But their stuff was a bit steep, and I’m practically broke, so I hit up the shop next door instead.”
“Pair of twos.” Lao San played his hand, deliberately leaving Qin Yu waiting for a long moment before finally saying, “Ah. Don’t worry about it. Go make your bed.”
“Right.” Qin Yu nodded, walking over to the inner bunk. He unzipped his bag and started sorting his bedding.
Qi Lin hovered nearby, actively helping him unpack while whispering instructions. “New guys always get the top bunk by the window. It gets drafty here and pretty cold at night… Throw your coat over your blanket later. Just tough it out for a bit. Once the next rookie transfers in, you can upgrade.”
“This is nothing. I’ve lived outdoors for several months.” Qin Yu brushed it off completely. Dipping his hands into his duffel bag, he smoothly pulled out two packs of Zhonghua cigarettes and pressed them into Qi Lin’s hands.
“What’s this?” Qi Lin stared at the packs in shock.
“I saw you puffing on that vape earlier,” Qin Yu smiled. “I don’t have much of value on me, but take these. You’ve been hauling me around all day. I appreciate it.”
In an era where putting food on the table was a daily crisis, proper flue-cured tobacco was an absurd luxury. These were a premium brand from before the Era Year, to boot. Most smokers hadn’t just never tasted one—they hadn’t even seen one.
Gripping the cigarettes, Qi Lin looked absolutely floored. “You managed to score these in the Unplanned Zone? Zhonghua… man, I haven’t seen these in years!”
“Poor places have their perks.” Qin Yu flashed a grin. “I’ll handle the rest of this myself. You go do your thing, I’ll buy you a meal later.”
“Thanks, brother!” Qi Lin didn’t waste time with false modesty, quickly slipping the packs into his pockets.
Just as they finished talking, Lao San suddenly glanced back, tilting his head with a smirk. “Oh, holding onto the good stuff, are we?”
Qin Yu hadn’t expected the man to have been watching him. He paused before replying, “A friend gave them to me.”
“Good stuff. Never even seen it before,” Lao San remarked with a cold sneer.
Qi Lin froze for a split second before hastily pulling the two packs back out. Hunched over in an apologetic posture, he walked to the table. “We’re all brothers here, let’s share. Come on, everyone grab a smoke.”
Qin Yu had tipped Qi Lin because the guy had spent the entire day playing tour guide. He felt a bit indebted and gave him the packs as a ‘thank you.’ He didn’t feel he owed the other men in the room anything. But Lao San had seen it and called him out. Factoring in the reality that he had to actually live in this dorm, and wanting to avoid burning bridges on day one, Qin Yu weighed his options. After a brief hesitation, he reached into his bag and pulled out another pack.
Over at the card table, Lao San shoved Qi Lin’s arm away. “This tobacco is too rich. I’ve never fucking smoked it before. Won’t sit right with me.”
Qi Lin stood frozen in place.
The open hostility wasn’t lost on Qin Yu. Frowning, he shoved the third pack back into his bag and returned to unpacking.
Lao San threw down his cards. Smirking, he turned back to Qin Yu. “We’ve got a rule around here. Fresh meat pulls a three-day rotation. Tomorrow, the day after, and the day after that, you’re on street patrol. No problem, right?”
Qin Yu looked up, his eyes darting to Qi Lin. The chubby cop immediately averted his gaze. Qin Yu instantly grasped what was happening. “Third Brother, how does this three-day rotation work?”
“It’s back-to-back. Days with the team, nights on the street.” Lao San picked up his water cup and took a sip.
“There’s overtime pay, I assume?” Qin Yu asked with a dry chuckle.
“It’s a team tradition. What overtime?” Lao San replied without bothering to look up.
“Xiao Yu, just pull the three days. I’ll swap some shifts around and keep you company for two days.” Qi Lin had hesitated for a long while. Glancing down at the premium cigarettes in his hands, he finally gathered his nerve and intervened.
“Look at you playing the loyal friend, Xiao Qi,” the young man sitting to Lao San’s left mocked with a laugh.
“We’re all brothers. Just helping out,” Qi Lin smiled.
Lao San set his cup down and pointed at Qi Lin. “Once he gets his uniform, brief him on the schedule.”
“Alright,” Qi Lin nodded.
“Third Brother, I can’t take this rotation,” Qin Yu stated suddenly.
The moment the words left his mouth, a dead silence blanketed the room.
Lao San licked his lips. Tilting his head, he locked eyes with Qin Yu. “Every other rookie can take it. Why can’t you?”
“I’ve got a bad heart. I can’t handle the all-nighters.”
“No sweat. I’ll get you some fast-acting heart pills. You’re doing the three days.”
“I told you, I can’t take it,” Qin Yu replied, still smiling.
“Motherfucker!” Rebuffed twice in a row by the new kid, Lao San’s face darkened instantly. “Who the fuck do you think you are? If everyone else can run it, why the hell can’t you?”
“Third Brother, Third Brother! We’re all brothers here, what are we doing? Let’s just talk it out… haha.” Qi Lin stepped forward, desperately trying to defuse the tension.
Thump!
Lao San drove his fist into Qi Lin’s shoulder. “You ain’t shit! Who gave you the right to speak? Who the fuck is your brother?!”
Clutching the cigarettes, Qi Lin absorbed the blow with his head bowed. He stood frozen in place, unsure whether to keep pleading or just turn and walk away.
Lao San pushed forward, flanked by four of his men. He cocked his head at Qin Yu. “Next week, every single shift is yours. The rotation ends when you actually have a goddamn heart attack. Do we understand each other?”