On the News

Tu Ran stood as still as a statue, a faint smile playing at the corners of her lips as she looked down at him.

Unable to pull his hand free, Diao Hongzhi's gaze hardened, and he reached behind him for the pistol at his waist.

The moment the gun was aimed at her, Tu Ran kicked his wrist, and with a crisp crack, his wrist snapped and the gun slammed into the corner of the wall five meters away.

"Not behaving," Tu Ran said, pressing down harder with her foot as punishment.

"Ah—" Diao Hongzhi collapsed to his knees on the ground, his whole body convulsing with pain.

"Still remember what I told you at the Songwu base?" Tu Ran's voice was especially cold.

Diao Hongzhi gritted his teeth and said nothing.

"I said the Security Department of Pandalim District was going to get a new minister. I told you that, and you still act all cocky in front of me. Is my word really that unconvincing?"

Diao Hongzhi looked up at her, squeezing out a few words from between clenched teeth: "If I die, you won't get off easy either!"

"You mean the surveillance camera?" Tu Ran raised an eyebrow and glanced toward the window. "I recall there's one right across from the window, isn't there?"

Tu Ran raised her hand and waved silently at the lens.

Diao Hongzhi: "? How do you know where my camera is?" That camera was hidden so discreetly.

"If I came to see you, of course I'd scout out your place first," Tu Ran said with a cold laugh.

Finally, a crack appeared in Diao Hongzhi's composure.

Fear gripped him as he stared at Tu Ran. "You... you... who exactly are you?"

Tu Ran smiled, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.

.

.

.

"Federal Daily News: Last night at 6:42 p.m., Diao of the Pandalim District Security Department was found dead in his bedroom at home. Cause of death: skull fracture. According to the Inspection Department, Diao was tortured before he died, with a fractured left wrist and five shattered fingers on his right hand. The murderer is still at large, and the Inspection Department is currently searching for them. Citizens are advised..."

Tu Ran switched to the science and exploration channel and went back to peeling an apple for Xi Chunzhi, who was lying in the hospital bed.

"Pandalim District... that's the district you patrol?"

"Mm," Tu Ran said, cutting the peeled apple into small pieces, arranging them on a plate, sticking a fork in it, and handing it to Xi Chunzhi.

Xi Chunzhi took it, still thinking about the news story. "Security Department Minister? I've only been in a coma for a few days, and there's already a new position?"

"It's been around for a while. It was a position created by Pandalim District itself; no other place has it," Tu Ran urged. "Why worry about all that? Just eat."

"Oh," Xi Chunzhi said, biting into an apple. "Barging into someone's home to kill them, and killing a minister no less. That murderer is nothing if not bold."

Tu Ran didn't want to dwell on this topic.

Seeing her own killing reported on the news—she couldn't quite explain the discomfort it stirred.

"Chunzhi, once our contract with the Federation expires, what do you want to do?" Tu Ran asked, feigning casualness.

"Me?" Xi Chunzhi set down the apple and thought for a moment. "If I'm still alive by then, I want to be a bounty hunter."

A bounty hunter?

Tu Ran raised an eyebrow. Unexpected, yet not entirely out of left field—it suited Xi Chunzhi's personality perfectly.

"Why the sudden question?"

"Do you want to be a bounty hunter now?"

"?" Xi Chunzhi frowned, sensing something off, and looked at Tu Ran. "What do you mean?"

"I know a way to get you out of the Federal Government right now," Tu Ran said seriously, looking at Xi Chunzhi. "You don't have to stay in the Pioneer Team, and you don't have to tough it out for those fifteen years."

Xi Chunzhi's heart jolted, and she glanced at the surveillance camera in the corner.

"Don't worry about it—I've jammed the signal," Tu Ran said, gripping Xi Chunzhi's arm firmly to draw her attention back. "I have one question for you: are you willing to leave?"

Xi Chunzhi looked at Tu Ran and nodded. "What about you? Are you coming with me?"

"I'm not."

"Why?" Xi Chunzhi was puzzled. "If you can get me out, you must have a way to get yourself out too, right?"

Tu Ran shook her head. "I'm working for someone now. That person promised me that as long as I stay, he'll get you out safely."

Xi Chunzhi fell silent, gazing at Tu Ran. After a long while, she let out a deep breath. "Xie Xu?"

"Huh?" Tu Ran's eyes widened—Xi Chunzhi actually knew?! The original body had been keeping it from her all along.

Seeing Tu Ran's expression, Xi Chunzhi knew she'd guessed right, and she punched Tu Ran on the head with a look of utter exasperation.

"You're still running with him?! You're still fighting for him?! Tu Ran, snap out of it, will you? Guys like him are all ambition and career—there's no room for a woman in their heads! And you're hoping he'll feel something more than work for you?!"

Tu Ran rubbed the spot on her head that had swollen and then gone down. "I don't have feelings for him anymore, I swear. I just think that sticking with him is good for my career."

Xi Chunzhi rolled her eyes, clearly not buying it.

"I mean it. See, I've already started negotiating with him. He'll get you out of the Pioneer Team; I stay on as his subordinate. And I've been spending his money, making back all the salary he never paid me before." Tu Ran added weakly.

Xi Chunzhi's aura turned even frostier. "So you were working for him for free all this time?! He pays you and you don't take it?"

Tu Ran shivered. What was she supposed to say? The more she explained, the worse it got.

"Um... just tell me, are you willing or not?"

"No! If I leave, you'll be stuck here alone to be his pawn? I'm afraid the next time I see you, it'll be to collect your corpse!" Xi Chunzhi said coldly, pushing the apple plate away. She'd lost her appetite.

Tu Ran pushed it back toward her.

Xi Chunzhi shot her a dagger of a glare.

Tu Ran shrank back a little. "Trust me, I'm not a lovesick fool anymore! I made this decision with both our interests in mind. I'll get you out first, and later, when there's a chance, I'll leave too. We'll run off together, and they'll never find us."

"Do you really... not like Xie Xu anymore?" Xi Chunzhi wavered, studying Tu Ran with lingering doubt.

Tu Ran nodded vigorously. "Really. I only see Xie Xu as a cashed-up partner now. We're mutually beneficial—each gets what they want."

Hearing the words "mutually beneficial" and "each gets what they want" come out of Tu Ran's mouth, Xi Chunzhi started to believe her.

After all, Tu Ran used to be so devoted to love that she wouldn't soil it with a single word.

"Let me out of the hospital first. We can talk more when we get home. I've been lying here so long I'm about to throw up. I want a real meal; I'm sick of plain congee," Xi Chunzhi said, throwing off the covers and getting out of bed.

Tu Ran knew that Xi Chunzhi's attitude meant she'd agreed.

She laughed and teased her: "You managed to get sick of congee made from proper rice grown in soil? A scrap-eater like you can't appreciate fine fare."

Xi Chunzhi kicked her in the butt, hard enough that it didn't seem possible for someone just out of a hospital bed. "Say that again?!"