Plan A
Old Shadows of the Republic of China 1
Wei Zhi
【The memory has already been blurred; see you next month.】
Fourteen said in Su Xin’s mind.
Okay, see you next month.
After Su Xin woke up, she habitually slept again. When she woke up, it was already 3 AM.
Having no more sleepiness, Su Xin felt a bit tired, her whole body weak, perhaps from sleeping too much.
Su Xin, still in her pajamas, opened the door to the small balcony where a wicker chair was placed. The moon outside was beautiful.
Blowing in the wind, Su Xin felt her chaotic thoughts slowly calming down.
She clearly knew she had experienced a lot and remembered the general process, but if she tried to think about it in detail, she couldn’t recall anything, it was all a blur.
Su Xin stretched lazily, went downstairs to get a can of beer from the fridge, and came back upstairs, drinking beer in the cold wind.
Su Xin always felt that beer couldn’t get a person drunk, unless you drank a lot.
After downing a can of beer, she felt her mind becoming even clearer. The coldness seemed to invigorate her, making everything in the world appear sharp and clear.
Su Xin walked back into her room, closed the balcony door, sat cross-legged on her bed, and started playing games. She planned to continue playing until she got sleepy, then she’d go back to sleep.
The next day, she woke up particularly early and, after washing up, went to the kitchen.
Actually, she had always been a lazy person. Cooking and cleaning were things she never concerned herself with, so the kitchen hadn’t seen much use.
Su Xin thought that people who could cook were truly amazing. They could transform cold, lifeless ingredients into delicious dishes.
Today, she woke up earlier than Qiu Qingqing, so she wanted to try making breakfast to surprise her.
In Su Xin’s mind, frying an egg should be the simplest task.
Because this was something that didn’t even require a Baidu search.
Su Xin poured oil into the pan, turned on the stove, and cracked an egg into the pan.
Su Xin wanted to make an egg like the ones Qiu Qingqing made for her every day—perfectly cooked, not burnt at all, with a beautiful appearance. The egg white was thin and delicate, and underneath it, the yolk would ooze out with just a slight poke.
However, ideals and reality often diverge. Su Xin found that both the spatula and the egg were beyond her control.
She had intended to flip the entire egg very smoothly with the spatula, but accidentally broke it, managing to flip only a small part while having to slowly turn over the rest with the spatula.
It wasn’t complete.
Fearing it would burn, Su Xin hastily took it out of the pan.
Hmm… it looked terrible.
Su Xin ate the egg herself. It didn’t taste like much because she hadn’t added any seasoning, but she thought it was okay. When she took a bite, the slightly congealed egg yolk flowed in her mouth, which felt nice.
Although she felt it wasn’t too bad, its appearance was really subpar, incomparable to the ones made by Qiu Qingqing.
Su Xin gave up and started washing the dishes. Even though she didn’t spend much time in the kitchen, she still knew basic skills like this.
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By the time Qiu Qingqing got up, Su Xin had already returned to her room.
Qiu Qingqing noticed that the kitchen utensils showed signs of use, with water still on them.
Qiu Qingqing smiled and started making breakfast, or perhaps lunch.
When there was nothing to do, the two of them usually slept in until after ten o’clock. Qiu Qingqing would get up slightly earlier than Su Xin to cook.
Boiled pork slices, lotus root and rib soup, scrambled eggs with tomatoes.
Simple yet rich dishes. Su Xin was called downstairs and happily started eating.
She was actually hungry when she woke up but was too lazy to go out and buy breakfast. She also didn’t want to spoil her appetite for lunch later. So when Qiu Qingqing called out for the meal, Su Xin happily went downstairs.
“I’ll be going on a mission later.”
Su Xin said vaguely, her mouth full of food, to Qiu Qingqing.
“Accepted a new mission? What’s it about?”
Qiu Qingqing slowed down her eating and looked up at Su Xin.
“Nothing special. Someone betrayed their boss and stole some information. The boss contacted the organization to have someone deal with the disloyal subordinate and retrieve the information. The reward seems pretty good, and the information should be quite important.”
Su Xin picked up a piece of meat and chewed it thoughtfully before speaking.
“Be careful and stay safe. I’ll wait for you to come back. How many days will it take?”
“Depends on the situation. If that person isn’t too quick to escape, at most ten days.”
“Okay.”
After finishing her meal, Su Xin prepared to go on the mission, taking her equipment with her. There were people in the organization who specialized in tracking; she just needed to follow and eliminate the target.
That person was already on a path of no return. Su Xin didn’t have to exert much effort to take him down.
Set up the gun, a headshot, and she was done.
Others would handle the rest, as this wasn’t a solo operation. She was only responsible for the kill, nothing else.
Su Xin returned in eight days. When she got back, Qiu Qingqing was standing by the floor-to-ceiling window, looking out at the small garden.
Su Xin hadn’t paid much attention to it before, only remembering that the garden was full of flowers—various kinds, all blooming splendidly.
However, Su Xin now discovered that the garden, which was originally supposed to be filled with various kinds of flowers, had become barren and all the flowers were gone.
“Where are those flowers?”
“Thrown away.”
“Why? Aren’t you going to plant them anymore? It looks so ugly like this.”
Su Xin pouted.
“They were planted. I planted rose seeds inside. When they bloom, you will see a very beautiful garden full of roses.”
Qiu Qingqing turned around and smiled at Su Xin. This was actually not an easy job. During the days when Su Xin was away, she had been busy with these things.
“Why suddenly plant roses? It was fine before. Why spend so much effort on these?”
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Su Xin didn’t really care. No matter what Qiu Qingqing’s place looked like, she could stay here. She didn’t care what flowers were planted in the garden, as long as it didn’t look ugly.
“Because I like them. You should like them too.”
Su Xin shrugged her shoulders and placed her arms around Qiu Qingqing from behind, hanging her whole body on Qiu Qingqing.
“For lunch, I want to eat something delicious. After eating out for seven or eight days, your cooking is still the best.”
“You just keep flattering me. My cooking skills are at most just average.”
Qiu Qingqing reached over her head to pat Su Xin’s head.
“Anyway, I think your cooking is the best. Have you bought groceries?”
“No, let’s go buy them together.”
The two of them went to the supermarket and picked out the groceries they wanted.
On their way out, not far from the entrance, someone was selling small accessories at a street stall. Qiu Qingqing walked over and took a liking to a pair of phone charms.
Su Xin watched her buy them and after paying, carried the groceries and went home with her.
“I didn’t expect you to like these things, buying such a girlish phone charm.”
“You have one, I have one.”
Qiu Qingqing attached her charm and took out Su Xin’s phone to attach the other charm.
It was a small silver-white cross, shining in the sunlight.
A whole month passed, and Su Xin met with Fourteen again.
【Host, a request from a parallel dimension has been detected. Would you like to accept it?】
Accept.
In the blink of an eye, she was back in the familiar white space. Su Xin raised an eyebrow. In front of her was a girl wearing a little dress, with a small hat on her head, giving off a vintage fashion vibe.
She was very pretty, wearing brightly colored lipstick, with short hair, and had an aura of youthful inexperience.
“Are you the person entrusted with my wish? I’m Wei Zhi, nice to meet you.”
“Su Xin, nice to meet you.”
Both parties shook hands very politely, and Wei Zhi began to talk about her wish.
“Just after my father married the third concubine into the house, he was seriously injured and is now on his last breath. The third concubine is very beautiful, with a mesmerizing charm that makes people fall head over heels for her. She is exactly the type that my brother likes the most.”
There was a look of sorrow between Wei Zhi’s eyebrows, and she appeared very helpless.
“The first wife has always been strong-willed and has a son of her own. She would never give up her position for anything. On the second day after the third concubine was carried into the house in a sedan chair, while she was serving tea to the first wife and my mother, my brother and fifth brother couldn’t take their eyes off her.”
Wei Zhi sighed.
“Qingqing likes my brother, and I also want her to be my sister-in-law. Although there is already someone in my brother’s room and another confidante outside, neither of them has any official status. Moreover, I’ve heard that a director also likes the third concubine, and what’s more, he has long wanted to bring our family under his control.”
“I just came back not long ago and don’t know much, but I do know that if father passes away, our family will face hard times. Both my brother and fifth brother are interested in the third concubine, and so is that director. Who doesn’t like a beautiful woman? Although my brother is smart, he has a fatal flaw that even he is unaware of—women.”
Wei Zhi said a lot in one breath and continued after catching her breath.
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“The third concubine is a woman whose background I know nothing about. I always feel she is not simple, but I can’t pinpoint exactly why. I still don’t know where the third concubine’s loyalties lie, but I can see that she doesn’t like the way my brother and fifth brother look at her. If she were to turn against us, our family would be in danger, especially if my brother loses his head over her.”
“In this family, my words carry little weight, and no one listens to what I say. My brother definitely won’t heed my advice. Although this family appears strong, it is actually very fragile. If one thing goes wrong, our family will be ruined.”
“So, what is your wish?”
Su Xin looked at Wei Zhi, feeling that this was a very complicated story involving the first wife and the third concubine. The girl was wearing a little dress, which likely indicated that turbulent era.
A very special era.
“My wish is to prevent my brother from falling in love with the third concubine and to protect the Wei family.”
Wei Zhi believed that as long as her brother didn’t get entangled with women, the Wei family wouldn’t have additional vulnerabilities. She thought the third concubine was just a whore.
The Wei family was now surrounded by wolves in the front and tigers in the back, with internal conflicts as well. Though the family seemed large and prosperous, in these uncertain times, a big tree catches the wind, and when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. They could only rely on themselves.
“Okay.”
“Please.”
When Su Xin opened her eyes, she found herself on a busy street with cars and rickshaws coming and going, looking very lively.