The plane trees were still outside the window. Shanghai’s neon lights stretched the sports car’s silhouette into bizarre shapes. Lu Shimiao pressed her head against the car window. The summer wind, last year and this, was the same stifling humidity. The two sat silently in the car, like the opening of a cliché romance film.
Xue Tong drove beside her, one hand resting on the steering wheel. The only difference was her passenger seat position had moved from the left to the right, and Xue Tong’s driver’s license had switched from a Hong Kong 1A to a Mainland C1. In that sense alone, the difference between Shanghai and Hong Kong wasn’t that vast.
If one had to point out the differences, besides the plane trees versus palm trees, perhaps the only thing left was how her smooth-sailing life, at age 23, had been sent into a drifting hairpin turn by Xue Tong at the steering wheel.
Xue Tong had built her a dreamlike Victoria Harbour, then ruthlessly shattered it.
…
The Police College was located in Wan Chai District, Hong Kong. The famous Central Plaza was nearby, office towers crammed at super-high density on both sides of Victoria Harbour. The tree-lined streets held nothing but traditional Chinese characters and English.
It served as a filter for Lu Shimiao, tagging her as “a person away from home.”
She had grown up in Shanghai. Her family had been in business for generations, and by her father’s generation, they had squeezed into the ranks of high-asset families. They had a villa in downtown Shanghai, she had never worried about food or clothing, and her father’s company was based in Lujiazui.
So when the agent said the apartment she was renting was in the heart of Hong Kong Island, Lu Shimiao’s expression was as indifferent as drinking water. —Wan Chai or not, as long as she could sleep.
Lu Yuan had been to Hong Kong on business many times and believed Hong Kong people were honest and trustworthy, so he paid the money and left.
But a businessman is a businessman.
A common folk is a common folk.
When Lu Shimiao dragged her luggage alone into what her father thought was the perfect, high-end rented residence, she was stunned speechless by the sight before her. She looked just like a princess escaping Disney.
Escaping, as in fleeing.
Fleeing, as in a refugee.
This place could be slept in, it just made sleeping well impossible.
An agent’s words can only ever be half-believed.
This high-end residence was indeed a newly developed building in Hong Kong, facing the sea and the harbor, adjacent to a park. Looking up, the sea view was fully in sight. Security measures and community conditions were top-tier for Hong Kong Island. The agent said the apartments sold for tens of millions per unit when launched.
Therefore…
How could a tens-of-millions apartment be rented for a hundred thousand a year, letting Lu Shimiao snag a bargain?
So, the “high-end shared apartment” the agent spoke of was merely the unfinished, bare-cement area the developer had reserved on the penthouse. The agent had rented it and become a sub-landlord.
Apart from the shared dining room and living room, the apartment had been divided into over a dozen rooms.
Each tenant’s living space was only five square meters.
These rooms were specifically targeted at white-collar workers wanting a facade of luxury. After all, who could imagine that a high-end residence, just steps from work, would harbor a rat’s nest on the penthouse?
And the shared room Lu Yuan had rented at twice the price of other tenants was merely the biggest single room in that rat’s nest.
Lu Shimiao lived at the very end of the hallway—a full eight square meters.
Pushing open the door revealed a single bed, next to which was a single-person toilet enclosed by frosted glass. If you put even one more table in this room, it would become impossible to move…
She walked into the bathroom and tried flushing the toilet. Unexpectedly, the toilet glass was connected to the headboard outside, making it creak and groan under the vibrations of the flushing water.
Lu Shimiao took a deep breath.
She felt like life had just cracked her skull open on the spot.
The partitions in the shared apartment were made of wood and cement. The soundproofing was terrible. Getting a good night’s sleep in this environment was harder than making a Bodhisattva appear.
But if it were just sleeping badly, that would be one thing…
On the second night Lu Shimiao moved into the shared apartment, it happened to be the weekend.
The women in the rooms to her left and right brought their respective boyfriends back for a night of passion.
Lu Shimiao sat on the floor, her computer on the bed, the screen showing the entirely English HKPC course schedule.
The course selection deadline was approaching, but she’d only managed to look up half of the specialized terms in the schedule…
It started with the woman in the left room. Lu Shimiao’s attention flew away from the photo of the Criminal Psychology professor after hearing two moans.
Then the woman in the right room, not to be outdone, followed up with two even louder cries.
It was then that Lu Shimiao realized what she was experiencing… Although Lu Shimiao had never been in a relationship, she had taken biology class. Her face flushed bright red. She pulled out two tissues, crumpled them into earplugs, and stuffed them in her ears.
But how could she have known? What good were two paper balls against the heart-stopping drama that even cement couldn’t block?
So Lu Shimiao chose to flee. She grabbed her computer and hid in the downstairs convenience store.
Thanks to the paper-thin partitions, her first meeting with Xue Tong began with such dramatic absurdity.
HKPC’s courses were relatively international.
For example, what the mainland called “Police Practical Combat” was called “Use of Force” in Hong Kong.
Sometimes, one course wasn’t taught by a single instructor but by an entire instructor team. Each instructor’s teaching specialization differed, and class times could overlap.
The criminal law and trace analysis courses Lu Shimiao wanted to take most weren’t even reflected in the schedule.
She used her phone to translate technical terms one by one, trying to find the courses she wanted, completely unaware that Xue Tong had been standing behind her for a while.
Xue Tong had just gotten off work. Holding a coffee, she saw that the only available seat in the shop was occupied by a backpack. She spoke coolly in Cantonese:
“Anyone here?”
The person didn’t answer.
Xue Tong calmly glanced at Lu Shimiao’s computer screen—Simplified Chinese paired with an HKPC course schedule. Then she looked at the person’s phone screen; she was using a translator.
Xue Tong understood—this person was likely a mainland student coming to the Hong Kong Police College for an exchange this year.
A future colleague.
Xue Tong had just been promoted to Superintendent in the Forensic Science Division. This semester, she was due to study and train at the police college and moonlight as an instructor for the Court Testimony course. She glanced down at her wristwatch. HKPC course selection was about to close. What was this person spacing out for?
“That’s the course on criminal offense procedures and court testimony skills.” Xue Tong inexplicably spoke up in Mandarin.
Lu Shimiao jumped in surprise, cautiously closing her laptop and turning to look at the person behind her.
She saw a stunningly shapely woman wearing sunglasses, with slightly wavy, long black hair, looking at her. Both froze for a few seconds.
A great beauty.
Although Xue Tong wore sunglasses, Lu Shimiao had studied “Criminal Facial Identification Technique.” Determining someone’s appearance from basic exposed facial features wasn’t difficult for her.
Lu Shimiao was a science student; she truly struggled to describe Xue Tong’s beauty.
Thus, “peerless,” “exquisite,” and “great beauty” were indelibly etched onto Xue Tong’s forehead.
…
But why was this person looking at her?
Who was she? What did she want?
After appreciating the beauty, Lu Shimiao grew vigilant. Facing a woman striking up conversation, she protectively guarded her laptop, even picking up her laptop bag.
“Thanks.” Seeing the seat vacated, Xue Tong plopped down onto the stool, tilted her head back for a sip of coffee, and started looking at her phone.
Oh. She had been blocking someone’s seat.
“Sorry.” Lu Shimiao apologized.
“Time’s almost up.” Xue Tong pointed at her phone.
Lu Shimiao uttered an “oh,” hurriedly opened her computer, and clicked into the course page for criminal offense procedures.
The screen spun, then lit up with the instructor’s photo. Lu Shimiao stared at the photo for a long moment, then raised her eyes to Xue Tong, whose profile was all she could see now.
…
Mm. She had just used “Criminal Facial Identification Technique” to analyze the beauty’s face, so she wouldn’t be mistaken. The icy, elegant woman next to her was the instructor for this course.
“You…” Lu Shimiao grew nervous.
“Mhm. It’s my course.” Xue Tong’s finger swiped the screen, her tone completely calm.
Lu Shimiao lowered her head and quickly registered for the course. Who wouldn’t love a beautiful instructor? She had wanted to speak further, but was cut off by Xue Tong. “Time’s almost up.”
This was the second time Xue Tong had repeated this. Lu Shimiao didn’t dare delay. She opened her computer, swiftly finished selecting the remaining three courses, organized the schedule, and synced it to her phone.
“I’ll be going then… Instructor… Xue?” Lu Shimiao didn’t yet know how Hong Kong addressed their course instructors, so she tried out the term tentatively.
“Mhm.” Xue Tong stood up coolly and tossed her empty coffee cup into the trash.
The two walked out of the convenience store one after the other, heading toward the same building.
Hearing the kid’s footsteps behind her, seemingly following closely, Xue Tong said evenly, “Don’t follow me.”
Extremely embarrassed, Lu Shimiao quickly stepped forward and pointed at her unit door. “Instructor Xue, I wasn’t following you. I live in Unit 11.”
So they lived in the same unit.
Xue Tong’s eyes blinked behind her sunglasses. She had been narrow-minded. She just hadn’t expected these mainland kids would all be so wealthy, living in a place like this. Monthly rent must be fifty thousand HKD.
“What floor do you live on?” Xue Tong surprisingly threw out another question.
“The penthouse,” Lu Shimiao answered honestly.
The penthouse…
Expression composed, Xue Tong stood at the elevator entrance. By the lobby light, she observed the kid more carefully.
A young girl.
Height, 170cm. Dressed head-to-toe in luxury brands, top-tier electronic devices, an air of superiority. Definitely a kid from a wealthy family.
Appearance… double eyelids, high nose bridge, a cool and aristocratic look. A good-looking person.
Xue Tong couldn’t figure it out. Why would a kid like this live on the penthouse?
What kind of hellhole was that place? It was synonymous with misery and chaos. In the criminal cases solved over the years, she had seen far too many examples.
The penthouse of this building housed white-collar workers from nearby Central. The saying “society is dangerous” wasn’t a lesson humans had summed up for nothing. This kid’s untouched-by-hardship look—if seen through by someone, she was bound to suffer.
