Inside Courtyard 88.
Lao Mao leaned against the window of the left-wing house, his wide eyes scanning Lin Nianlei’s room. “She’s still not back this late?”
From the right-wing house, Qin Yu shouted at the top of his lungs, “Can you come lend a hand? Did I invite you here to sightsee?”
“Stop shouting, I’m coming,” Lao Mao replied with zero enthusiasm. He turned, crossed the courtyard, and entered Qin Yu’s room. “It’s just a rental. You only come back to sleep anyway, are you planning to turn it into a palace? Just tidy it up a bit and call it a day.”
“If you’re living here, shouldn’t you keep it clean?” Qin Yu fanned his nose with his hand. “Help me mop the floor, it’s covered in dust.”
“Fuck, you’re making a deputy team leader mop your floor? Brother, you’re getting a little full of yourself.”
“I’ll treat you to a meal later.”
“That’s more like it.” Lao Mao was lazy to the bone. Normally, back at the dorms, he’d practically ask someone else to jerk him off. Helping Qin Yu do chores today was nothing short of a miracle.
The two cooperated seamlessly—Lao Mao was mainly responsible for giving orders, while Qin Yu did the actual work. They stayed busy until eight or nine o’clock, but there was still no sign of Lin Nianlei.
“Why isn’t she back yet?” The main reason Lao Mao had even come over today was to catch a glimpse of Sister Lin.
“Stop fucking looking, she’s not for you.” Qin Yu rolled his eyes. “Let’s go eat.”
“Let’s go then. To Sister Er’s Restaurant.”
“To hell with Sister Er’s Restaurant. I’ll just go buy some late-night snacks and we can make do with that.”
“What snacks?”
“Instant noodles. It’s convenient.”
“Fuck, I help you move, and you feed me this?”
“Instant noodles are cheap. Are you eating or not? If not, go home. You’ve been working all night, you must be exhausted.” Qin Yu shot him a sidelong glance.
“Fuck your ancestors, you’re a real bastard.”
“Hehe, I’ll even throw in a sausage for you. It’s settled.” Qin Yu tossed the words back with a smile and strode out of the house.
…
There were five households in the small courtyard in total. The landlady lived behind the iron gate of the inner courtyard and rarely came out. Of the remaining four units, Lin Nianlei and Qin Yu lived in the rooms on the left and right sides of the main gate. The last two were side rooms next to the inner courtyard without running water or electricity, and their tenants were almost never seen.
After Qin Yu bought the food and returned, he boiled some water and had a simple dinner with Lao Mao. He planned to go to sleep early so he could continue interrogating Ma Lao’er and Da Min tomorrow.
“Alright, we’re done eating. You can head back now,” Qin Yu said casually as he took off his jacket.
Lao Mao let out a satisfied burp. “Forget it, I’m not going back. I’ll crash at your place tonight.”
“Bro, there’s only one bed, a meter and a half wide. How are we going to sleep?”
“I’ll spoon you.” Too lazy to even clean up his trash, Lao Mao flopped heavily onto the bed and kicked off his two stinking shoes.
“Are you sick in the head?” Qin Yu asked, feeling a bit unnerved. “Did you fucking come here for Lin Nianlei, or for me?”
“Hey, have you ever messed around with a guy?” Lao Mao asked curiously from the bed.
Qin Yu was dumbfounded, momentarily at a loss for words.
“I’m asking you. Have you?”
“Have you?” Qin Yu countered.
“I… I’ve seen other people do it. Apparently it hits the prostate…” Lao Mao rambled, ready to launch into a full story.
“Shut up!” Qin Yu felt a wave of nausea. “Are you going back or not?”
“Not going back. It’s too late, I’m staying here.” Lao Mao yawned, haphazardly stripping off his clothes.
Qin Yu couldn’t do anything about him, so he simply washed up and got into bed. However, there was only one blanket in the room. Lying there, Qin Yu felt a bit awkward, especially with Lao Mao’s earlier words still echoing in his head.
“Did you catch the drug traffickers?” Lao Mao asked, turning to face Qin Yu with his eyes already closed, drifting toward sleep.
“Yeah,” Qin Yu nodded. “Caught the two ringleaders.”
“Hehe, Yuan Ke must be thrilled then, huh?” Lao Mao sneered. “That bastard preaches about morality and righteousness, but actually does all kinds of shady, asshole shit behind the scenes.”
It wasn’t the first time Qin Yu had heard Lao Mao speak like this. “You seem to have a lot of prejudice against Team One.”
“It’s hard to explain in just a few words, but let me warn you: keeping your head down and working is one thing, but personally, you’d better not…”
“Move your leg further away, it’s touching me,” Qin Yu interrupted.
“I didn’t move my leg.”
“What do you mean you didn’t? It’s touching my leg.”
“That’s not my leg…” Lao Mao murmured with his eyes closed.
“Then what is it?” Stunned, Qin Yu instinctively reached down to feel it, then abruptly sat up in bed.
“What are you doing?” Lao Mao was startled.
“Are you fucking sick in the head?!” Qin Yu’s face was flushed red. “It’s a one-and-a-half-meter bed with one blanket! Why the hell are you sleeping naked?”
“You sleep with your clothes on?” Lao Mao looked genuinely confused.
“No, I mean… something covering your crotch!”
“Ah, it’s uncomfortable.”
“You’re fucking… you’re sticking right out…” Qin Yu scolded. “Tuck that away! Put them on, put them on now!”
“Fuck, sleeping at your place comes with so many rules. Relax, you only bought me instant noodles. I’m not going to do anything with you.”
“Cut the bullshit and put them on! Hurry up!” Qin Yu roared angrily.
“Knock knock!”
Just then, someone knocked on the door.
“Who is it?” Qin Yu called out.
“It’s me, Lin Nianlei… Are you back?”
“Ah, yes, I’m back.”
“Do you have any hot water? I just got back from overtime and the water is cut off, so I can’t wash up.” Lin Nianlei hadn’t known Qin Yu was in his room earlier, so she had been leaning against the window, peering inside while knocking. She had vaguely seen him climbing out of bed.
“I do, wait a moment.”
Qin Yu didn’t have the luxury of owning pajamas, so he threw his jacket over his shoulders and opened the door.
“Sorry for the trouble. Were you already asleep?” Lin Nianlei was wearing a woolen coat, her small face flushed red from the cold.
“It’s fine. I have some hot water left over,” Qin Yu smiled. “I’ll go get it for you.”
“Mm-hm, thank you.” Lin Nianlei was quite polite and stayed outside.
Qin Yu turned to fetch the water. “Your job seems exhausting, getting off work this late?”
“I just started, still getting used to things.” Lin Nianlei stretched her fair neck. “Ouch. Sitting all day has practically turned my neck to stone…”
“Nianlei, we don’t have much hot water left.”
At that moment, Lao Mao suddenly sat up in bed, grabbed his boxers, and shouted, “Wait right there! I’ll go draw some cold water from the storage well for you so you can boil more! Just wait!”
At the doorway, Lin Nianlei stared in utter shock as Lao Mao slipped his boxers on under the blanket. Her neck stiffened as she slowly turned to look at Qin Yu. With a bewildered expression, she stammered, “Oh… your… your partner is here too?”
“??!” Qin Yu stood there clutching the water kettle, completely paralyzed with disbelief.
…
Outside the entrance of Courtyard 88, an electric motorcycle idled in place. The passenger on the back seat glanced toward the main gate and muttered, “…Xiaohu said one of his colleagues lives here too.”
“Two people?” the driver asked.
“Yeah.”
“Mm, let’s stake it out. We wait for Qin Yu to come out alone before making a move.”
With that, the motorcycle hummed quietly down the street, disappearing into the night.