Climbing into the battered black Santana, I looked up to see Li Yi in the driver’s seat; surprisingly dressed in formal wear, a coffee-colored suit paired with a chestnut tie.
“Not bad, Officer Li. Looking sharp.” I teased intentionally before pulling the seatbelt across to buckle in.
Li Yi, however, hesitated to start the car. He kept staring at me with his brow furrowed as he sized me up and down.
I felt a bit self-conscious. “What are you looking at?”
“Big brother, we’re police officers after all, and we’re about to head into a wealthy district. Are you really dressed like this?” Li Yi grabbed the lapel of my jacket and gave it a couple of shakes, looking like a disappointed parent. “This style is so outdated only an old man would wear it. Did you pick it up from some clearance sale?”
“The style is a bit old,” I muttered. That day, I’d been too slow; the most suitable tracksuit had already been snatched up by an old lady beside me, so I had no choice but to settle for the next best thing, which is this light coffee-colored jacket. It was a size too big, so I had to cinch it tight by hand whenever I went out; otherwise, the wind would billow it up and make me look like a swollen lantern. Li Yi had always looked down on my taste, thinking I was far too frugal. Unable to win the argument, I could only resort to my old rhetoric. “But at least it’s durable. We’re cops, if we wear nice clothes and they get stained or torn by accident, isn’t that just a waste of money?”
“Fine, fine. Then you, Officer Yu, can just wait to be kicked out by security while I walk in alone to my death,” Li Yi said, nearly rolling his eyes. He turned the key, and the engine coughed to life with a sputtering roar, the seats trembling along with it. The second-hand car was slow and heavy; it took ages just to get going. He threw out one last instruction, “Hold on tight!”
Li Yi had always been an impatient driver, acting as if he were in a police chase at every moment. The harbor was windy at night; I rolled down the window halfway, and the damp and slightly salty sea breeze instantly filled the car’s interior.
His hair had grown long, and he had slicked it back with mousse, revealing a full forehead. His eyes were lighter than most people’s; when the headlights of oncoming cars flashed by his pupils would catch orange-gold specks of light from the side. Coupled with the fact that he was dressed respectably today, balancing elegance with a sense of lethargy, he looked every bit as good as the young masters on television.
Li Yi shouted, “Hey, with the window open that wide, you’re going to fill up on a belly full of wind!”
I teased him with a smile, “Yes, whatever the young master says. I’m closing it now.”
Li Yi was never one for modesty; he raised his eyebrows triumphantly with the corners of his mouth curling upward. Both of our moods lifted.
We had prepared ourselves mentally to be given a hard time by powerful, wealthy people, but we never expected that we wouldn’t even be able to set foot in the banquet hall at all.
Li Yi was right; without formal wear, not even our police superintendent could get in.
The ushering waiter wore a black bowtie on his collar and white silk gloves over his hands. His eyes curved with an easy smile, and he seemed to recognize every guest by name. Bathed in the dazzling glow of the banquet hall, he gave off an especially warm and approachable presence. We stood in line surrounded by well-dressed, jewel-bedecked members of the upper class, so much so that our hands trembled slightly when we presented our IDs.
The waiter took a brief glance at our credentials and said with a smile, “Both of your names are indeed on the list, Sir.”
Li Yi and I both let out a sigh of relief at the same time. Our superior had finally been reliable for once and managed to notify the banquet host in advance.
Just as the weight was lifted from our hearts, the waiter picked it right back up with effortless grace. He shifted his tone, “However, whether you are officers or not is secondary; what matters is that one must be properly dressed.”
He looked at me with a faint trace of disdain in his smile.
And so, the two of us stood dejectedly to the side watching the crowd come and go, looking less impressive than the bodyguards dressed in black. After a full ten minutes, Li Yi suddenly tapped my arm. He had been staring at that waiter the whole time. He leaned into my ear and whispered, “Look at that guy. He’s been smiling incessantly without any other expression like a robot.”
I lowered my voice and said, “How can that be? He just rolled his eyes at us.”
Li Yi looked completely speechless.
Feeling guilty, I didn’t dare meet his eyes. “Forget it, forget it. Let’s go grab some braised pork rice. I thought there’d be a feast tonight, so I purposefully didn’t eat.”
“Even if we definitely wouldn’t have uncovered anything tonight, it would have been good just to get inside, meet people, and familiarize ourselves with their faces. This kind of opportunity is rare, after all.” Li Yi said, ignoring my comment.
I knew Li Yi was an ambitious man. Hong Kong had seemed peaceful and stable these past few years, but in reality, it was “gold and jade on the outside, rot and decay on the inside.” It was like a skyscraper built tall with its glass shimmering like diamonds as it pierced the clouds, while its foundation had already been eaten away by termites into a steel skeleton. Li Yi wasn’t foolish enough to want to save the world, but he did have the dream of a hero; he wanted to be like a sharp sword, driven straight into the heart of this glamorous corpse.
There was no reason for me not to give him a hand. I looked at him and realized he was already a bit taller than me, “Then you go in yourself. Just stay safe.”
He was overjoyed and gave me a heavy hug. Without saying anything further, he crossed the distance to the waiter in just a few strides, one hand shoved into his pocket while the other flipped open his identification. The waiter’s smile remained perfectly intact; he bowed slightly and let Li Yi into the venue.
As he reached the last step, Li Yi glanced back once more. I raised a hand toward him, and after giving a faint nod in return, he strode calmly into the light.
It wasn’t until his silhouette vanished that I looked down at my own outfit. The trousers were part of a suit, and I had a dress shirt on as well, but the jacket thrown over them was worn-out and utterly out of place. No wonder Li Yi mocked my sense of style. I idly flipped my keys in my hand, figuring that tonight that only Santana would be staying with me.
Just as I was about to leave, I suddenly heard someone call my name loudly.
“Officer… Yu… Fu… Chao.”
I turned around to see several young men in suits surrounding the waiter while looking at the guest list. They were clearly playboys; a few of them even looked familiar, likely the “second-generation” heirs who appeared constantly in the evening tabloids’ gossip columns. They were laughing and joking, competing to ask the waiter, “Hey, Ah Wei, why are there even cops on the list? And there are two of them as well. Is the station out of food? Are they looking for charity from the Zhang family?”
The waiter named Ah Wei lowered his head slightly, “It was a last-minute arrangement. I’m not quite sure myself.”
“Did they go in?”
“One went in.”
“Why only one? Where’s the other?”
I felt uneasy hearing those words and tried to bolt, but there was no way my legs could outrun a gaze. It must have been Ah Wei’s signal; that group of rich heirs suddenly burst into raucous laughter; they must have spotted me. Having endured countless sneers since childhood, I understood the coldness of the world better than anyone and shouldn’t have taken it to heart, yet the sudden sound of footsteps behind me made my heart skip a beat. The sound of laughter drifted nearer along with the approaching crowd. These overgrown infants, whose lives revolved around indulgence and amusement, had been born with silver spoons already in their mouths. Their family backgrounds were untouchable, and their lifestyles were beyond the imagination of ordinary people. If they caught me, there was no telling what the consequences would be.
I had just started to make a run for it when a hand pressed against my back, attempting to turn me around by force. By then, I had already reached a corner well away from the crowd. I calculated in my mind: if I were to strike now, which parts of their bodies should I hit so that their doting parents wouldn’t go to the police station to lodge a complaint against me?
After drawing in a deep breath, I turned around and, as expected, found myself facing those young men. I immediately spoke up first, trying to take control of the situation. “Everyone…”
Before I could finish, a lazy shout drifted over from a distance, “What’s going on here?”
The rich heirs turned their heads in unison at the sound. As soon as they saw who it was, they immediately let go of my collar and turned to greet him. One of them asked in pleasant surprise, “Eh? Brother Mingsheng, we didn’t think you’d show up.”
I looked in the direction they were heading and saw a tall man. Having studied at the police academy, I had seen countless striking faces, but I had never seen anyone as exceptionally handsome as him. He wore a sharply tailored, elegant, yet understated black suit with a dark red tie. Aside from the watch on his left wrist and a diamond-encrusted “Z” brooch on his chest, he had no other adornments. He seemed well-loved by this group of heirs; they surrounded him in the center, and even the guests entering the banquet glanced over from time to time.
He smiled, though his voice sounded somewhat helpless, “My aunt entrusted me to deliver a gift, so I had no choice but to come.”
“It’s good that you came; Mr. Zhang will surely be happy to see you.” A boy in a cobalt blue suit complimented.
Unexpectedly, the man did not pick up the thread. He simply smiled and didn’t pursue the topic further, “What are you all doing? Bullying someone?”
One of the playboys answered with a cheeky grin, “How would we dare cause trouble on such a fine day? We just noticed that this officer was invited but didn’t have formal wear, so we wanted to see if he needed our help.”
I had been lost in thought watching that man and missed another chance to slip away. I could only brace myself and stand my ground by letting them look me over. Let them look, it’s not like I’d lose a piece of flesh anyway.
To my surprise, after taking a look around, he actually seemed ready to leave. He even began walking toward me, his gaze fixed on me as he spoke to the others. “You guys head in first.”
I don’t know why, but once he spoke, that group of brats actually listened obediently and turned to leave, leaving him to stride toward me alone. I didn’t dare move and just stood there, never expecting him to walk straight past me.
The moment our shoulders brushed, I caught a pleasant scent that reminded me of temples and forests. Before I could react, I realized my hand had been firmly seized by this man. He gripped my wrist with his large hand before dragging me forward without a word. I stumbled and nearly fell. He moved quickly with long strides, his posture composed and steady, almost like he was on the runway. I called out to him, “What do you think you’re doing? I’m a police officer.”
“Right, I knew that just now. You’re Officer Yu, aren’t you?”
“This is assaulting an officer.”
” Officer, am I hitting you? If you strike now, I’m the one who should complain about a citizen being beaten.”
Those few sentences left me speechless, leaving me with no choice but to follow him. Ahead stretched a dim, unlit corner, and one more turn would lead into a garden. Inside the glass walls of the magnificent building in the distance, the elite were already clinking glasses and exchanging toasts. I followed this handsome man into the lush, overgrown garden while wearing a jacket I had picked up for just a few dozen bucks. As night fell, the pale blue moonlight poured down, illuminating his profile.
Suddenly, I saw his features even more clearly.
He was not as mature as I had imagined, still not yet thirty. He had black hair and black eyes, a high-bridged nose, and deep-set eyes. When a faint smile lifted the corners of his mouth, it even carried a hint of bright, youthful charm.
I watched as he took off his suit jacket and threw it straight at me. In an instant, that familiar scent flooded my senses again. Still slightly dazed, I saw him loosen his tie; once it came undone, he tossed it over to me as well.
Next, he began unbuttoning his shirt one button at a time. His collarbones, the lines of his muscles, and his waist were revealed bit by bit as he undressed. I caught a brief glimpse of his toned, athletic build, and my ears immediately burned red.
Although I like men, I don’t exactly wear my sexual orientation on my sleeve, and he was indeed handsome; perfectly matching my aesthetic. But still, you can’t just suddenly start stripping.
I stammered a bit while pointing at him, “You… you…”
He looked at me, but not in the eyes; he glanced downward, “Since you’re wearing that, I won’t take off the shirt.”
He buttoned it back up.
I still didn’t understand what he was getting at.
Finally, he deigned to speak up and remind me, ” Officer, move a bit faster. Put it on.”
The moonlight was cold and clear, reflecting two faint points of light in his eyes. His gaze, carrying that same silvery glow, settled on me with a soft, shimmering intensity.
I couldn’t describe how I felt at that moment. I had never met someone like him. It wasn’t quite a flutter of the heart, nor was it exactly an attraction; I just felt a slight tremor in my soul as if a corner of a windowless wall had been pried open, allowing me a glimpse into a life of radiant splendor.
Was he helping me? Why?
He helped me out of my jacket, and I turned halfway around in a daze. He was half a head taller than me with a sturdy build and a larger frame, so his suit felt somewhat loose on me. The fabric was of excellent quality; when my fingers brushed over it, it felt dense and substantial, yet only moments earlier, it had looked light and almost sheer on him.
He assisted me in putting it on and then patiently tied my necktie. As his fingers moved, he lowered his eyelashes and asked, ” Officer, you risk your life every day, how much do they actually pay you?”
My brain stalled once again, and I could only manage a single word, “Huh?”
“Is it very little that there’s not enough to eat?” Having finished the tie, he smoothed it down with his fingers. “Otherwise, why are you so thin?”
Before I could answer, he took a step back to inspect me, then gave a slight smile. “The girls are already bored to death of us socialites. With a handsome officer like you there, they’ll surely be delighted.”
“Stop teasing me,” I said, my ears still burning as I looked at him with a smile. “What about you then?”
“I never liked coming to these events anyway; everyone is so hypocritical and boring,” he said with complete candor, adding a hint of playfulness to his tone. “To be honest, the people I admire most are the police. I hope that one day, you’ll lock up everyone in there.”
I knew he was joking, and my grin widened a little more.
“Since the officer is making off with my suit, then this one belongs to me,” he said, taking my jacket and slipping it on. It was a bit large on me, but it fitted him perfectly. It was clearly an outdated style from a fifty percent-off clearance sale, yet it looked high-end on him. People really are different.
A cool breeze passed through, the air was fresh, and it felt like a moment suited for sincere conversation; but my stomach spoke first by letting out a loud growl that made my face flush instantly.
He didn’t mock me, only saying softly, “There are plenty of desserts inside. I’m not sure if you like sweets, Officer Yu.”
“I don’t really eat them.” I don’t even buy cake for my birthday; I prefer longevity noodles.
He thought for a moment and said, “If I remember correctly, today’s pastry chef was brought in from France. I’m not sure if it’ll suit your palate, but most of the people there only drink. Take whatever you want to eat; don’t be polite.”
I was in no position to be picky, so I simply nodded gently.
The air suddenly went quiet. He looked at me, lost in thought again.
“Ah, this—” I caught the brooch out of the corner of my eye and went to take it off.
He extended both hands once more, pressing lightly before taking the brooch into his palm. “Most people in this world can’t see what’s right in front of them. Don’t take it to heart, Officer.”
“Of course not.”
“Fuchao, ‘touching the tide.’ It’s a truly beautiful name. Whoever named you must have loved the sea. I used to like watching the tide come in too.” He said softly and gently, almost as if he weren’t just saying my name.
He shifted topics quickly, asking, “Officer Yu, are you wearing a watch?”
“Huh? No.”
Hearing my “no,” he raised his left arm and unbuckled his watch strap with a click. It was a timepiece that looked expensive at a glance, flashing in the dark with glints of light, its ticking clear and precise. I figured those flashes were tiny diamonds set in the dial.
He grasped my wrist once more, lifting it slightly, and fastened his watch around it. The inner side of the strap seemed to still hold his warmth; it wasn’t cold at all.
Once it was on, he looked into my eyes and said calmly, “There are fireworks at the peak tonight at eleven o’clock. Now that you have a watch, Officer, remember not to miss them.”
