Zhou Sheng placed breakfast on the table and took out a small bottle of Maggi seasoning from the fridge for Yu Hao to dip his eggs in, "Do you know what I like most about you?"

Yu Hao now believed that Zhou Sheng wouldn't go back anymore. Although he was a little upset when Zhou Sheng called him a "little b.a.s.t.a.r.d", he was generally in a pretty good mood right now.

"What?" Yu Hao looked at the breakfast on the table.

"You know what I'm thinking." Zhou Sheng tore away the paper underneath a custard bun and said, "Whatever I say or don't say, you understand it all. No one understands me better than you do."

Yu Hao said, "That's not always the case."

"Wu?" Zhou Sheng observed Yu Hao.

"When I saw you preparing for your presentation the other day." Yu Hao smiled, "I thought that if we continued on like that, then I might really lose you."

Zhou Sheng said lightly, "I felt it too. You said that you almost didn't recognise me anymore."

Yu Hao and Zhou Sheng didn't continue with this topic. Zhou Sheng placed the custard bun in Yu Hao's hands. The two of them began eating their breakfast under the brilliant glow of dawn.

"I want to make a trip to the company later." Yu Hao said, "And sort out some things for the feature. Lady boss only helps me with editing the photos, I still need to write the ma.n.u.scripts myself."

"Go ba." Zhou Sheng said indifferently, "I'll look for Kaikai and take a look at his college on the way. I'll find you for lunch at noon."

Yu Hao said, "Put on more clothes, it's too cold outside."

Today, the snow in Beijing really was very cold. Situ Ye and Lin Ze were wrapped in thick down clothes as they baked themselves on their office's half-dead stove. It was so cold they shuddered.

"Why are you here again?" Lin Ze said, "Didn't I give you three days off?"

Yu Hao said, "I want to sort out the ma.n.u.scripts a little, I'll have to write them in a few days anyway……it's so cold. Don't you guys ever take days off too?"

Lin Ze goes to the office every day, even on weekends.

"It's so cold." Situ Ye said, "Why don't we sing to keep warm ba? One, two, three! I want, you by my side……"

Yu Hao, "I want……to watch you dress up……"

"Blame it on the night, the teasing madness. I want to sing, as I silently think of you……"

After singing a song, it became even colder. Even Yu Hao's phone shut down automatically.

"It's so cold." Situ Ye and Yu Hao wailed in unison.

"I can't live anymore." Situ ye said again.

Lin Ze said, "Work ba……The reimburs.e.m.e.nt hasn't come yet. When will Yu Hao leave?"

"I'm not leaving." Yu Hao said with a smile that he couldn't conceal.

Lin Ze, "Oh?"

Yu Hao, "Un."

Situ Ye, "Oh……"

Yu Hao suspected that the two of them knew something. Situ Ye said, "What about your graduation thesis?"

Yu Hao said, "I'll still have to write my thesis. I'll ask Chen Laoshi sometime if I can write it under him in Beijing, then I'll just need to go back for my thesis defence." This was the conclusion he came to after discussing it with Zhou Sheng in the morning.

"Where's the red Angry Bird?" Situ Ye asked as he edited photos, "He's going to drift to the North with you?"

Yu Hao connected the recording pen and imported the interview recordings. He thought, you actually gave Zhou Sheng such a nickname, but when he thought that Zhou Sheng's eyebrows did look a bit like the red Angry Bird in the game, he couldn't help bursting into laughter on the spot.

Situ Ye had always been amazing at coming up with nicknames. He really had the metaphorical style of literary masters; the nickname he gave vice editor-in-chief was 'Patrick Star', and he had even compared Yu Hao to the yellow Angry Bird. He bought a bunch of badges and gave one to everyone, to pin onto their camera bags.

"He's going to find a part-time job in Beijing first," Yu Hao said, "Earn some living expenses, then study hard and get a postgraduate degree in business at a university here in Beijing." This was also what he had discussed with Zhou Sheng in the morning.

"Enroll in the Wudaokou Inst.i.tute of Technology then." Lin Ze glanced at Yu Hao, "If you weren't describing him through fan goggles, then he should be able to get in."

Yu Hao said, "I'll discuss it with him again……" Then he put on his earphones and started revising the messy dialect transcriptions of the voice recordings.

"Yu Hao." Situ Ye suddenly said, "Do you……know this person?"

Yu Hao was trying his best to understand the strange dialect. Lin Ze frowned and tossed him an inquiring look. Situ Ye grabbed an eraser and stared at the screen, turning his head to scrutinise the photo.

After Yu Hao got hit by an eraser, he suddenly snapped out of his daze. Situ Ye said, "Come over to take a look?"

He scrolled with his mouse to enlarge the photo. Question marks appeared all over Yu Hao's head; it was a photo taken at an interview conducted at the end of October. It was a photo taken of a street, and Yu Hao had already forgotten what his interview was for. It seemed to be a crowd of drug addicts, and the photo was taken outside an upscale community.

There was a middle-aged man in the photo with a very ordinary appearance, and he was looking at the camera while he was in the midst of the crowd.

"I don't know him." Yu Hao said, "Why?"

Situ Ye studied that man and revealed a doubtful expression, "Look at this photo."

No matter if it was taken with a phone or a camera, Yu Hao often b.u.mped into such irrelevant people looking straight into the camera in the photo. Situ Ye often taught him how to cut out elements that seem strange out of the photo.

Yu Hao, "???"

Situ Ye opened up a photo that was taken more than a month later in November and enlarged it, "Look at this man."

Yu Hao was baffled. His camera had a very high pixel resolution, so after enlarging his photos, a lot of details could be seen very clearly. This photo was taken from afar of a pa.s.sing car with its windows rolled down, and a side profile could be seen.

"Do you think it's the same person?" Situ Ye asked Yu Hao.

Situ Ye couldn't determine it either. Yu Hao instantly felt scared, "It can't be ba! Lady boss! What does this mean! Don't scare me!"

Lin Ze got some gooseb.u.mps from hearing all this too, "Who is it? Let me see?"

Lin Ze came over to take a look, "It's just a generic face ba, have you gone a little delirious from editing too many photos?"

"Un……" Situ Ye studied the photo.

Lin Ze, "Look at the hairline, it's obviously different here!"

Yu Hao, "That's good then."

"What is it?" Zhou Sheng's voice rang out from the back.

The three of them immediately screamed. No one knew when Zhou Sheng came. He held four bentos in his hand and distributed them to Lin Ze and Situ Ye.

"Oh." Zhou Sheng didn't comment after seeing the photos.

Yu Hao said, "It's not the same person. Lady boss, sometimes your thoughts can be really weird."

"Un……" Situ Ye tilted his head, "Sometimes I can't help but play puzzle games with the people in the background and try to eliminate some of them."

Yu Hao, "……"

Zhou Sheng was wearing baggy jeans, a thick jacket, and a red-black hat today. No one seemed the slightest bit surprised at his appearance in this office.

"It really is cold." Zhou Sheng said, "Move a charcoal stove over ba."

Yu Hao said, "Don't, just endure it. I don't want to make headlines in my own newspaper tomorrow in that kind of way."

Lin Ze said, "I've applied for a small-scale renovation at the general office. Otherwise we wouldn't be able to survive the winter."

"I found a job." Zhou Sheng said, "There'll be an interview this afternoon."

"What will you do?" Yu Hao asked.

"Business consultation." Zhou Sheng said, "Huang Ting introduced me. This consulting firm works with them. On the plane that day, I had just started talking to him about coming to Beijing when that guy asked me to send him my resume. I couldn't change his mind no matter what, so I had to send it to him. It has only been two days, and they've already asked me to go for an interview."

Yu Hao said, "What is the job?"

Zhou Sheng said, "It has to do with ent.i.ty a.n.a.lytics. I'll ask them first if I can take my work home occasionally." As he spoke he scratched his head and squinted, as if he was thinking about something.

Lin Ze, "You're going for an interview? Do you want me to lend you some formal wear? But the size may be a little small."

Zhou Sheng said, "There's no need."

Yu Hao thought that he may be able to learn something, but Lin Ze glanced at Zhou Sheng from behind his computer. Zhou Sheng went over after lunch. Yu Hao's head was still spinning from revising ma.n.u.scripts in the afternoon. Lin Ze said, "Yu Hao, look for some training materials when you're free and get the News Editing qualification certificate. When you have the time, you should get the certificate first."

Yu Hao said, "Okay."

Jin Weicheng came in as well. He didn't go out for interviews today and stared as Yu Hao revised ma.n.u.scripts. Situ Ye said, "Jin Laoshi, you just finished an interview, why don't you go back to take a rest for two days?"

Jin Weicheng, "It's okay. My house is colder than the company, at least it's warmer here with so many people around."

Yu Hao, "……"

Zhou Sheng came over again during tea break. He greeted Jin Weicheng, then moved a chair outside the door to bask in the sun. He looked down and browsed several postgraduate entrance examination materials on his phone.

"I've pa.s.sed the interview." Zhou Sheng said, "They asked me to go to work tomorrow."

"So fast?!" Yu Hao was stunned.

Zhou Sheng uttered an "un" and said, "I'll just be running errands for them at the start, there's not much to do."

Yu Hao, "How much will you get a month?"

Zhou Sheng, "6,000 during the probation period ba. After they move me to a full-time post, I could get 15,000 including commission."

Lin Ze, "……"

Situ Ye, "……"

Yu Hao, "So much?!"

Lin Ze held his forehead with one hand. Zhou Sheng said, "Your leader's here, could you stop slapping his face? The pa pa sounds are too cruel."

Situ Ye burst out laughing. Lin Ze said, "Your friend introduced you?"

Zhou Sheng, "Yeah, you wanna join? I think you're a good fit, boss. They asked if I'm married and whether my wife is with me. I said my wife works as a reporter, and they said 'un that can add points,' then got me to do a set of test questions about contextual inquiry, then asked me some questions, then immediately settled on their final verdict and said they wanted me. I'm telling you, it really was 'immediate' without the slightest hesitation." As he spoke, he moved a chair and performed the scene of his interview. Situ Ye laughed so hard he almost fell off his chair.

"Wait wait wait." Yu Hao said, "Why would they add points for you because I'm an investigative reporter? What does it have to do with me?"

Zhou Sheng smiled and patted Yu Hao's face with two fingers, "Nothing much, write your ma.n.u.scripts ba. Finish it quick and get off work, then we can go home for dinner."

Situ Ye looked at the time, "I need to go buy groceries too."

Jin Weicheng, "What's their main business?"

Zhou Sheng rummaged through the materials, "To catch mistresses, take photos of debt dodgers, investigate real estate, divorce property division……collect evidence of business infringement, fight for false legal rights, find people, a bunch of nonsense. The company isn't certified, it's run by a retired criminal investigator."

"Why is there such a strange company?" Yu Hao said, "Isn't that……"

"Private detective?" Jin Weicheng said, "I haven't been paying attention to that industry for a few years, yet it's so profitable now?"

"You want to be private detective?" Yu Hao said.

"Isn't it pretty good?" Zhou Sheng said solemnly, "I like it, to become a brave private detective is my dream!"

Lin Ze, "Black market industry. It must be cooperating with people at the top, otherwise it wouldn't be able to stay open in Beijing. Anything that's not convenient for the top to investigate openly will be handed to them."

Zhou Sheng said, "Un, it could close down at any time, the storefront's really small. The sign that says 'Business Consultation and a.n.a.lysis Service Center' hangs behind Xidan, and when there's nothing to do, I don't need to report to the office either……I thought it was strange that they would want me just to give Huang Ting face……forget it, I'll just do it first and see how it is, if it doesn't work out I'll switch."

Lin Ze, "If you have any news, come share it with us, son-in-law."

Zhou Sheng, "Okay na, wait for me to familiarise myself, and I can act as an informant for you guys too, then I can earn some tip-off fees."

Jin Weicheng shook his head and declined to comment. He opened up his notebook to start writing.

Zhou Sheng thought for a moment, then got up and left again, coming and going without even casting a shadow.

—

Juurensha: Awwww, I'm glad they're living together in Beijing now.