"The Little Things"

Don't think, not yet

A!...Two years. That explains it...

Daqing moved nervously under the palm, which suddenly stopped stroking him. A rush of memories overwhelmed Zhao Yunlan, and he bent over, clutching his head. Up until now, his thoughts have been fuzzy and scrambled. Yet at this moment, the fog cleared, and all the recollections came back with smashing force.

Two years since...

Shen Wei...

He felt his eyes moisten and forced himself up. There will be time to get emotional. Later. He couldn't afford a breakdown now.

"All right," he said, unfolding his arms and waving them across the room. "So, I guess I need a quick update? What's up?" He pointed his finger at Guo, but seeing him in no state to speak, he moved it to Old Chu. "You don't seem to be surprised. I suddenly pop back after two years. Shouldn't you be suspicious? I'd expect some interrogation, tricky questions, bright lamp light pointed at my handsome face? How do you know I'm me?"

"The cat says it's you. He wouldn't get that wrong. To me, that's enough."

"Oh..." Yunlan started stroking Da Qing again. "Is that so? Ok, so...Everybody working diligently under Chief... Zhang? Why is it only you three here?"

"Zhu Hong is the official Leader of Yashou tribes, so naturally, she quit with all the hustle and bustle going on within the tribes. Lin Jing works in the Science department.

"What? He didn't come back?"

"It was you who fired him", reminded Old Chu. "Making a huge scene too."

"Well, Yeah! I sent a spy undercover, of course, I gave him a grand farewell!"

"OurChief Zhang hired some new people after a year, but we call them only if there's an emergency."

"OUR CHIEF Zhang? I don't remember you calling me OUR Chief," said Zhao.

"One needs to earn the title," smirked Chu.

"You...Let me deduce your bonuses for the next couple of months until your attitude changes." A threatening finger was moving in rapid successions in front of Chu's face.

Chu only snorted. To him, that behaviour alone was proof enough that the real Zhao Yunlan was back.

"All right," Zhao got serious again. "Any idea what happened? Was I, I mean he, acting funny?"

"Not really. He was always quite distant, which was actually a good thing. We weren't overfriendly, either."

"There was an earthquake," Daqing decided to speak up finally. "Quite a big one. After that, we found you there..." he trailed off. Yunlan's hand resumed stroking the cat's back. After a while, he pated the cat a bit harder on the butt.

"All right, You Fat Cat, get useful, call LinJing, tell him to check what the source of the earthquake was. Xiao Gou, stop crying, go buy me some food, I'm starving. And order a box of lollipops, tell them to deliver asap. I don't care how much extra you have to pay them, just GET THEM! I'm gonna go crazy without one. Old Chu, tell me more, after what happened in Dixing. Did you have any trouble?"

There was a commotion when both Da Qing and Guo Changcheng jumped into action. The cat changed into his human form and rushed to the phone, whereas Guo clutched his bag tightly and ran out. Chu considered Zhou Yunlanfor a while, sat down on a chair, and folded his arms. "At first, it was very chaotic. Even the Bureau had to help. Without Lord Black Envoy, there wasn't anyone really in charge of Dixingians."

Shen Wei!

"But we managed to get the situation under control eventually. Yashou tribes helped a lot. Nowadays, there are infrequent cases, one or two of marginal impact."

Daqing came back. "Lin Jing is on the case. He'll come later with the findings. He's asking what the New Year's bonus is if he were interested in coming back..."

"Tell him that if he doesn't come back right away, next time he tries, he'll be working for free!"

"Um," Da Qing sat on the couch near his master, looking at him sheepishly. "You should call your dad..." Yunlan froze. Of course, his dad needed to know. But did he need to know right away?

"Now?"

"He... didn't take it well. I mean, he's fine now," Daqing added, seeing alertness on his master's face. "But..."

"Fine, I get it," Zhao Yunlan cursed, took a deep breath and dialled the number. After two signals, it went to voicemail. Zhao looked at the phone, stunned. Then he laughed nervously. "He hung up on me!" he said bewildered. "He actually..." Yunlan threatened the mobile with his long finger. "Fine. You don't want to talk on the damned phone? I'll come to visit." He stood up and looked around, spreading his arms in a wild gesture. "What happened to my bikes?"

"They are in the garage," Said Chu Shuzhi

"How did they fit there with all the stuff we kept there?" Yunlan remembered storing all irrelevant things in the garage.

"Our new boss made us clean that shit up. We had to go through all that stuff, then figure out what some of that rubbish was, then sort it, then catalogue it, and then secure it properly. It took us ages." Chu said with an icy voice, his eyes throwing daggers.

Zhao laughed nervously. "My Old Man surely rubbed off on him. Whatever. I'll take my car. Keys?"

"Here," Da Qing tossed them.

WhenZhao went out, Daqing looked apprehensively at Chu.

"Should I bring..."

„Not yet. We'll talk more when he returns.