Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle...
He Li lifted the lid of the pot and used a spoon to skim the foam from the soup. Then, he placed the carrots, shiitake mushrooms, and corn from the cutting board into the pot, covered it, and turned the heat to low, letting it simmer for 3 hours.
In the living room,
"Leon, what exactly do you do?"
"A cleaner."
"You mean you're an assassin?"
"Yes."
"Cool!"
...
"Do you kill anyone?"
"I don't kill women, and I don't touch children. Those are the rules."
...
He Li walked over and sat down next to Jin Fang.
Jin Fang stared intently at the television and said, "This movie has a high artistic merit."
He Li glanced at the movie, "Léon: The Professional," a classic. He asked, "Does this movie resonate with your profession?"
Jin Fang shook his head. "Not really. Assassins aren't 'cleaners.' They're a team, with a planning group for 'operations,' a logistics group for 'escapes,' and an action group for 'killing.' Only when everyone is together are they considered assassins. And they're certainly not people who abide by rules like 'don't kill women, don't touch children.' Money is always the primary driving force."
"If you abide by rules, why be an assassin?"
He Li pondered, finding it quite reasonable. A executioner who abandons everything and walks in darkness, yet still adheres to rules?
"Then why do you say this movie has high artistic merit?"
"It does," Jin Fang said matter-of-factly. "The artistic merit... is very high."
Alright, He Li felt he had asked a foolish question.
It was like playing a gangster movie in front of a real mob boss and then asking the mob boss, "Is your gang like this?"
The mob boss would smile without saying a word.
How foolish is such a thing?
If you can show it to ordinary people, it means it's not real, right?
If it were the real truth, would they let you see it?
After dinner, He Li had just finished tidying the dishes and came out of the kitchen. He found Jin Fang gone. He didn't pay much attention. Jin Fang was out today, and who knew who would be out tomorrow, or waking up in the middle of the night to find six or seven people standing by his bed, staring at him.
He Li was already used to it. He watched TV for a while, showered, and went to bed.
The next day,
After getting ready, He Li packed his small bag and went to work. He worked at a bookstore on the Third Ring Road. His fixed salary was 3,500 yuan per person, and his main job was organizing books and providing customer service.
He was content with this job. Even after graduating from university, without pursuing postgraduate studies, the jobs he could find would be the grueling 996 kind, working without seeing daylight. Although the salary would be slightly higher, he would have become a walking dead man.
"Sister Jiang, sweetened soy milk and a pure meat bun," He Li said as he entered the bookstore, placing the breakfast he was carrying on the counter, addressing the woman behind the counter.
"Okay, thank you." The woman behind the counter looked up. She had shoulder-length hair, wore a white shirt and black-rimmed glasses. She wasn't particularly attractive and had a somewhat stern demeanor.
They were the only two people in the entire bookstore. He Li was the guide and organizer, while Sister Jiang was the cashier and responsible for opening and closing.
He Li brought Sister Jiang breakfast every day, and Sister Jiang treated He Li to lunch boxes. It was a fair arrangement.
"Sister Jiang, you eat first. I'll go see which books need restocking. After I organize them, I'll give them to you, and you can report them to the boss," He Li said, putting down his bag and putting on his work vest.
"Okay."
After taking her breakfast, Sister Jiang sat down and began to eat. She glanced at He Li, who was walking through the bookshelves with a small notebook, recording things, then opened a chat window on her computer.
"Day 362, target is normal and stable. Residual spiritual energy on person, faint demonic energy on right hand. Suspected contact with demons."
After Sister Jiang sent the message, the recipient replied almost instantly.
"Continue surveillance."
Then, another message came through.
"Be careful. If there's danger, you're allowed to escape immediately."
Sister Jiang didn't reply. She closed the chat window and quietly ate her bun and drank her soy milk.
"These two types of books have been selling a lot lately."
He Li wrote in his small notebook: "Reckless Adolescence," "Intoxicating 18."
Both the titles and the covers were very appealing, but the content was classical literature.
Surprised? Unexpected?
He Li could already imagine the dismay of the young people who bought these two books, hiding under their blankets at home, preparing to study.
The drop from heaven to hell, the stark contrast between the title and the content.
Clickbait, truly hateful.
Don't ask He Li how he understood this feeling. Just ask... he's an experiencer.
"Why didn't you kill her?"
A sudden voice rang out.
He Li looked up. Jin Fang, dressed in an exquisite black suit, stood elegantly on top of the bookshelf, his hands behind his back.
"Kill who?" He Li asked in a low voice.
"The woman sitting by the door, at the counter." Jin Fang glanced at Sister Jiang, who was drinking soy milk and occasionally adjusting her black-rimmed glasses, and then said, "I told you long ago that she must belong to some organization, responsible for monitoring you. And this bookstore was opened to facilitate the monitoring of you."
He Li didn't look at Sister Jiang. Instead, he walked further into the bookshelf, reaching a corner where he could see Sister Jiang, but she couldn't see him.
He Li said, "This is a society governed by law. How can you just kill people?"
"So, you're just going to let them monitor you like this? Every move you make, showering, sleeping, even getting up in the middle of the night to wash your underwear, all of it is being watched?"
He Li's old face flushed. "We still can't kill people. Besides, killing Sister Jiang is useless. She's just someone responsible for monitoring me. Killing her would only alert the enemy, putting me in a more passive position. I haven't even met the owner of this bookstore."
"Also, stop saying 'kill, kill, kill' all the time. Use your brain, okay? Without even figuring out the other party's objective, you're going to carry a life on your conscience. Isn't that too stupid?"
Jin Fang walked slowly along the bookshelf and said, "Objective? What objective could they have? It's nothing more than recruiting you into their organization, making you work for them, of course, with generous compensation. It's just that I don't know if you'll live to collect the money afterward.
Or, they're simply monitoring you, and if they discover you're in danger, they'll kill you immediately."
He Li paused. "You're right. Xiao Yue also told me that. But his attitude is to wait and see. If the enemy doesn't move, I won't move. Strike only after they make the first move."
"Xiao Yue?" Jin Fang sneered. "He's a rational guy, but his flaw is being too rational. He always weighs the pros and cons, right and wrong, before acting. What do books call this kind of personality? Oh, right, timid and hesitant."
He Li ignored Jin Fang's sarcasm towards Xiao Yue. They had never gotten along, and it wasn't a new thing.
Jin Fang walked to the edge of the bookshelf and looked down at He Li. "If you've made up your mind and want to kill this woman, I'd be happy to help."
After speaking, Jin Fang disappeared from the bookshelf.
...