Chapter Four: The Honest Trap

He crossed the traffic and, before either could speak, recited one man’s name, secret account, and deleted call from the previous night. Each denial produced an equation; each equation supplied another fact. Phones rose around them. The men retreated. Zhou Mo had gone pale. “This is what you’ve been dealing with?” “You can still walk away.” “I helped because you didn’t have anyone else to ask.” Zhou Mo swallowed. “That’s a pathetic reason, but it’s true.” No equation. Truth had no standard method of solution. At last Lin Yan said, “Next time, tell me where you are first.” That evening, Coach Xu Zhilan waited outside the garage. She handed him his Central Academy admission papers. Beneath her cuff was an old burn shaped like an eye.