Chapter Four: The Honest Trap

When Lin Yan came home, his mother had pressed a transfer notice beneath the glass tabletop. A new route. Day shifts. Thirty percent more pay. Lin Qiuhe smiled. “The company is taking care of me because I’ve been there so long.” No equation appeared. She truly believed it. Lin Yan stared at the approving officer’s name. The next morning, he did not ask his mother to quit. He borrowed her phone and called the depot manager. “Was this transfer handled entirely according to regulations?” “Of course.” An equation rose. Its root pointed to a medical report entered the previous night. Lin Yan asked, “Did the bus assigned to the new route pass its brake inspection?” “It did.”