Chapter 1 The Ankle Chain

Zhou Ze sat silently on the flowerbed steps in front of the hospital, his gaze fixed on his feet.

Actually,

at this moment, he couldn't see anything, couldn't even touch anything, but the image in the mirror had already explained everything.

The chain was indeed around his ankle, and the intermittent sounds he'd been hearing were actually the sounds of his own movements pulling on it.

But one thing puzzled Zhou Ze: last night, in the detention center, he had clearly heard the sounds in the hallway first. This at least proved that the chain wasn't on his foot at that time.

So, that meant that in the brief moment when the sound of the chain suddenly appeared around him, someone, or something, had bound the chain to his foot.

And he hadn't noticed at all. If the old Taoist hadn't casually placed the talisman from his crotch on the mirror while relieving himself, he probably wouldn't have realized that the chain he had been desperately searching for,

was on himself!

He took another taxi back to the bookstore and sat down behind the counter.

He wasn't in the mood to take a bath and call Bai Yingying upstairs to his room to sleep with him.

He wasn't in the mood to mess around with any *bǐ àn huā* (other shore flower) juice.

He was even less in the mood to read the newspaper, drink coffee, or bask in the sun.

He kept looking down at his feet,

and then kept looking up,

gazing at the sky.

In short, he was very melancholy.

The old Taoist told Bai Yingying about the chain, and Bai Yingying was astonished.

Moreover, the boss's silence led to everyone in the bookstore being silent as well.

The old Taoist had already locked the bookstore door. It wasn't convenient for any customers to come in at this time. As for ghosts, it didn't make much difference to them whether the door was open or closed.

He poured himself a glass of water, gave the monkey a handful of peanuts, and looked at the boss who was still looking down. The old Taoist suddenly felt like laughing.

This scene,

was a bit like "The Emperor's New Clothes."

The boss said there was a chain on his foot,

invisible,

intangible,

wasn't it a version of "The Emperor's New Clothes?"

Back at the bookstore, Zhou Ze took the talisman from the old Taoist, found a mirror, and placed it on the floor in front of him. The mirror reflected Zhou Ze's feet.

It also revealed a rusty chain.

It existed,

truly existed,

undeniably existed.

The old Taoist had initially come over to take a look, and Xu Qinglang and Bai Yingying had also come over to observe, as if they were examining a curious object.

At least for now, the chain didn't seem to pose any other harm, except for making you feel uncomfortable.

But Zhou Ze, the person involved, didn't think so. He didn't want his feet to be shackled, even if he couldn't touch it or see it normally. It was a thorn in his side.

And looking at the image reflected in the mirror with the talisman on it, the dirty rust, the horrifying potholes, were even more unacceptable to the clean-freak boss.

Seriously,

if the chain was made of pure gold or pure silver, or even with a trendy anti-design style, Zhou Ze might have felt a little better. At least it wouldn't feel like a thorn in his back.

"Boss, could it be because you were identified as a criminal, so the shackles appeared on your feet?

Remember that suicidal teacher who wore the hat of 'human-faced beast-heart'?

You couldn't take his hat off either."

Bai Yingying guessed.

Xu Qinglang nodded beside her, seemingly agreeing that this was indeed the case.

Slander can melt metal, and public opinion is a fearful thing.

"Impossible, it's not that."

Zhou Ze shook his head, denying the guess.

"That teacher's matter was fermenting fiercely on the internet at the time, with raging public sentiment. This time, it's just some police officers who suspect me. There's no way to compare the scale. This shouldn't be happening."

Yes, because Zhou Ze could confirm that the chain wasn't on him from the beginning. It had come from far away.

The old Taoist came over and pointed at the small mirror in front of Zhou Ze, saying, "Boss, honestly, I think your chain is pretty cool. Think about it, the way you look when you go berserk..."

As he spoke, the old Taoist let his arms hang down, his expression blank, and swayed back and forth like a zombie, and then pointed to his feet, saying:

"If there was a chain under your feet at this time, it would really look like Iori Yagami in "The King of Fighters" from the arcade room."

As he spoke, the old Taoist propped up his arms,

making a pose of exploding energy,

and then, as if his childlike innocence had not faded away, or as if he was really immersed in the atmosphere of playing arcade games in the arcade room, he waved his arms back and forth, muttering:

"Hui Se... Hui Se... Hui Se..." (*Hui Se*: obscure)

Zhou Ze turned his face and looked at the old Taoist who was immersed in his own world next to him, and at the same time opened his mouth and said:

"Old Taoist, bookstore floor..."

"Ah, the Deadpool has just cleaned it." The old Taoist immediately replied. Since there was a Deadpool, the old Taoist's work had become much easier.

"Oh."

Zhou Ze nodded and continued:

"Isn't Tongcheng applying to become a sanitary city? Go and clean up the street in front of our bookstore. This is also what we citizens should do."

"..." The old Taoist.

Seeing that Zhou Ze was staring at him, not joking, the old Taoist could only take the broom and mop with a bitter face and go out of the bookstore to clean.

Bai Yingying squatted next to Zhou Ze, massaging Zhou Ze's calf back and forth with both hands, pouting and asking, "Boss, what do you think it could be? Is someone framing you?"

"I don't know. I'm a little confused myself right now, so I've decided to go back to the detention center and take another look first."

As he spoke, Zhou Ze took out the business card that Zhang Yanfeng had given him last night and dialed the number on it.

The phone was quickly connected,

and a very deep voice came from the other side:

"Hello, who is this?"

"The one who went into the detention center yesterday," Zhou Ze replied.

"What do you want to talk about?"

"I want to go in again today, is that possible?"

"Are you willing to confess your crimes?"

"I have no crimes," Zhou Ze repeated.

"Heh."

Zhou Ze patiently said, "To be honest, I'm a writer. Staying in the detention center last night made me feel very inspired. I hope..."

"Beep beep beep..."

The other party hung up the phone.

Boss Zhou looked at his phone, suddenly feeling a sense of bewilderment.

Looking at the old Taoist outside who was "huffing and puffing" while cleaning the street, he actually felt that karma was coming so quickly.

Zhou Ze had no choice but to call back again. The other party answered the phone again, but this time the person on the other end didn't speak first.

"I want to go back to the detention center, I have my reasons, although I know this request is a bit un..."

"Whirr whirr whirr... whirr whirr whirr... whirr whirr whirr..."

A burst of sound came from the other end of the phone,

a familiar sound,

but because it was transmitted through the phone, the sound was a little distorted, but Zhou Ze could be sure that the sound was coming from that side.

"Keep talking." Zhang Yanfeng seemed to have lit a cigarette and urged him when he saw that Zhou Ze had stopped talking.

"Have you been suffering from insomnia, having many dreams, feeling weak and sweaty, or having sore waist and legs recently?"

"Heh."

The other party seemed to be about to hang up the phone again.

"Have you dreamed of having shackles on your feet?" Zhou Ze asked.

The other party was stunned,

and didn't hang up the phone.

It seemed that this sentence had hit a nerve with the other party.

After a short while,

a response came from the other end of the phone:

"Come to the bureau to find me, I'm in the office."

………………

It was already evening when Zhou Ze appeared in Zhang Yanfeng's office. Zhang Yanfeng was sitting behind his desk eating food from the cafeteria, gobbling it down while looking at the files in front of him.

When Zhou Ze came in, he pushed the food and files aside and looked at Zhou Ze.

"I want to hear about the ankle chains."

"I don't think it's appropriate to talk to you about this kind of feudal superstition in this environment, in this place, and when you're wearing a police uniform."

"Okay, I'm off work."

A quarter of an hour later, Zhang Yanfeng, who had changed into casual clothes, walked out of the police station with Zhou Ze. The two walked to a small park diagonally opposite the police station, found a long bench, and sat down.

"You can not treat me as a policeman now, just as an ordinary person, let's chat." Zhang Yanfeng also took the initiative to hand Zhou Ze a cigarette.

The relationship between the two changed quickly.

Before,

Zhou Ze was inside the iron bars, and he was outside.

But now,

everyone seemed to have become friends,

"Cellmates," after all.

Zhou Ze held a small mirror in his hand, with the old Taoist's talisman still attached to it, and then placed the mirror on Zhang Yanfeng's feet.

The streetlights in the park were not very good, a little dim,

but he could still barely see the image in the mirror.

On Zhang Yanfeng's feet,

there was also a pair of shackles, but this pair of shackles was not as thick as his, nor as long as his.

His were still thicker and longer.

Why did this emotional inclination feel so strange?

"See it?" Zhou Ze looked at Zhang Yanfeng.

Zhang Yanfeng's hand holding the cigarette trembled slightly.

"This is the first time I've actually seen it. Before, I just often dreamed that I had a chain on my feet, for more than twenty years."

"So, have you done anything wrong before?" Zhou Ze asked.

"I have a clear conscience. I am worthy of the police uniform I wear every day, and worthy of the national emblem on my police cap." Zhang Yanfeng said firmly, "I have even slowly gotten used to this occasional dream. In my dream, I walk through the police station wearing shackles. I think this is more like a warning to me.

It constantly reminds me that my power comes from the people and from the country, so I must never step over the line. If I take one wrong step, these shackles will really appear on my body in the future."

"Clap clap clap..."

Zhou Ze clapped his hands lightly next to him,

"So, this should be a disguised affirmation, like a warrior's medal. Only good people have this chain?"

"What do you mean by that?" Zhang Yanfeng asked.

"Let's solve a legacy issue first."

As he said,

Zhou Ze pointed the mirror at his own feet.

A thick and long iron chain appeared in the mirror.

"You can believe me now that I didn't make drugs or do anything illegal, right?"

We,

are all the same.