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Undercover Agent
墨書 Inktalez
I am Xiang Dong, a person who has been wandering in this vast Kyoto for two years without returning home.
As spring turns to autumn, the Mid-Autumn Festival arrives once again. My mom called me; she seemed to miss me a bit.
That night, she said, "Son, tell me about yourself. You were so disappointing back then. There were so many opportunities at the police academy, and you ended up going down the wrong path. Sigh, how are things over there?"
My mom brings up my past every time she calls. I used to be an outstanding student at the police academy, and everyone thought I was just a young fool who ended up in the underworld. Everyone except my mom, who still calls me regularly.
The truth is quite different. I was once an undercover police officer. My mission was going well until an unexpected incident drastically changed the course of my life. I couldn't share my story with anyone; now, I'm just a nobody in Kyoto.
"I'm hanging in there. My salary will come through soon, and I'll send some money back for you to buy a couple of new outfits," I said cheerfully. Life in Kyoto has been manageable; I found a job in real estate, earning a few thousand a month, and sometimes even ten or eighteen thousand if luck was on my side. Although Kyoto isn't much, youth is capital, and time is money—at my age, I still have plenty of capital!
"Oh no, you don't need to do that! Didn't you say you have a girlfriend now? Buy her some clothes instead!" Then she added, "By the way, Xiang Dong, I'm retired now and have nothing much to do. I want to come to Kyoto and see how your girlfriend is doing."
"What?"
I was stunned and jumped up when I heard that! My mom actually wants to meet my girlfriend? But I don’t have a girlfriend! For the past few calls, my mom has been urging me to find one, saying that the neighbor's son is already crawling around with kids at my age. We come from the countryside where people marry early.
I know my mom is just envious because others have grandchildren. To ease her worries, I lied and said I had a girlfriend, which made her very happy. Now she wants to come over and see her!
"What do you mean 'what'? Aren't you happy to see your mom?"
Hearing my startled tone made her unhappy immediately. What could I say? Of course, I quickly reassured her that it was fine and welcomed her visit. She then told me she had already bought her train ticket and would arrive in a week before happily hanging up.
As I listened to the beeping sound on the phone after she hung up, I felt dazed. This old lady even bought her ticket; calling me was just to inform me.
What should I do? If my mom finds out I've been lying to her... what would she think of me? I couldn't even imagine!
I must not let my mom down!
I quickly called my friend Zi, who is one of my closest friends in Kyoto and knows many girls. Given the situation, I had no choice but to find a fake girlfriend to deceive my mom!
"Hello, Xiang Dong."
When Zi picked up the phone, I explained everything to him. He laughed at me first and teased that it was pathetic that I couldn't find a real girlfriend and now needed a fake one to appease my mother.
"That's right; I'm admitting it! But don't say it like that!" After giving him an earful for his teasing, he finally started thinking seriously about how to help me.
"Well, I do know quite a few girls around here," he said thoughtfully. "But you know these girls are troublemakers; are you sure they can pass as your girlfriend for your mom?"
I replied firmly that those girls wouldn't work because Zi is a bar manager; he was talking about those wild girls. My mom has sharp eyes—she's only ever been fooled by the fact that I'm an undercover officer! How could those girls possibly fool her? If she disapproves of them as potential daughters-in-law, I'd be in big trouble too!
"What should we do then? Those girls won't play along with me anyway; besides, there aren't many who would agree to this kind of thing."
"Zhi said, 'It makes sense. Which girl would want to play with him?' I fell silent after hearing this, thought for a moment, and then said, 'How about this? I'll pay. I'll rent one.'
'Ah! That's exactly what I was waiting for! Alright then! Money talks, you see!'
Zhi hung up the phone after finishing his sentence. I chuckled lightly; it seemed that I was going to lose some money again this time. But what could I do? I had to make my mom happy.
My mom would arrive in a week, and soon Zhi and I began the frantic search for a girlfriend to rent. In the first three days, Zhi only found unsuitable candidates—each one had hair dyed in various colors, all from the bar he worked at.
Although I didn't mind, my mom would definitely care! If we were going to find someone, it had to be the right one. After all, I was paying for this. I scolded Zhi and rejected all of them.
Five days passed in the blink of an eye, and we still hadn't found anyone suitable. With my mom's arrival approaching, I started to feel anxious.
On the day of reckoning, at Xiao Gang Pao Bar on Xixing Street in Kyoto, it was three in the afternoon. The bar wasn't too crowded yet; it was relatively quiet. Zhi set up a table for me and prepared to continue recruiting a girlfriend.
'Xiang Dong,' he said, 'just because we have candidates doesn’t mean they can start right away. You still have to act with them! If it doesn't go well, you're done for.'
I responded with a couple of uninterested 'uh-huhs,' feeling a bit annoyed. Did he think I didn't know that? This kind of thing couldn't just be thrown together; if my mom wasn't satisfied, it could backfire terribly.
Seeing my impatience, Zhi sighed but said nothing more. He took out his phone and began arranging meetings with the girls who wanted to apply.
Time passed slowly as woman after woman came in, but none met my criteria. Zhi informed me that we were down to the last candidate and urged me to seize the opportunity.
One thousand yuan a day—nothing included: no sharing a bed, no cleaning up, no cooking.
A woman in her twenties sat across from me, boasting arrogantly that she was the last candidate available. She looked decent enough but her attitude was unbearable—could she really be worth it?
Just as I felt cornered into agreeing, a stunning beauty suddenly caught my eye!
She was lovely with fair skin and an impressive figure as she navigated through the crowd on the dance floor. Although she looked a bit flustered, she exuded grace!
My mom would love someone like her!
'You! You're the one!'
Zhi was about to finalize the arrangement when the woman smiled lightly and said, 'First pay me; I also need a deposit of ten thousand yuan. If you do anything disrespectful to me, that deposit will be forfeited!'
'No thanks,' I replied firmly and stood up to chase after the girl I had just seen. She seemed perfect for my mom and particularly caught my eye—I had to get her!
'Hey! Where are you going? She's the last one! What if you can't find anyone else?' Zhi called after me.
I ignored him as I lost sight of that beauty in the crowd! I immediately began searching.
She ran that way!
Suddenly, I heard a man's voice beside me as three burly men brushed past me towards the back door—were they chasing that girl?
Recalling how nervous she looked earlier, I felt certain they were after her. Was this beauty encountering some thugs?
This was bad!"
As I followed the three burly men out the back door, I quickly spotted the beautiful woman standing in the middle of the dead-end alley.
The night was dark, and the dim lights barely illuminated the scene. The three men surrounded her, while she stood there with a solemn expression, her small fists clenched tightly, her eyes fixed intently on them without a hint of fear.
This caught me off guard; I sensed that this woman was not someone ordinary.
Damn it! Why don’t you run away?
The three men cursed at her upon seeing her, and without a moment's hesitation, I stepped in.
What’s going on here? Why are so many people bullying one woman?
I asked, unable to tolerate such behavior, especially having been a police officer in the past.
Who the hell are you? Mind your own business!
One of the men, sporting a tattoo of a green dragon on his arm, turned to me and asked. It was clear he was the leader of the trio.
I smiled and nodded casually. Of course, why would you even ask? Are you an idiot?
What the hell? You’re looking for trouble!
My teasing provoked them further, and they charged at me in anger. I chuckled; saving a damsel in distress required some heroics!
Having attended police academy and once being a big shot in the underworld, if I couldn’t handle a few little rascals, I’d be laughed at for sure.
In no time, I took down all three thugs. Turning back to the woman, I noticed she still wore that serious expression. Her delicate fists had relaxed, and her narrow phoenix eyes regarded me coolly without saying a word. This only reinforced my impression that she was quite extraordinary!
It’s all good now; you can go.
I told her, having dismissed any thoughts of discussing renting her as a girlfriend. Regardless of whether she agreed or not, even if my mother liked her looks, I couldn’t bring someone with issues home to meet her.
She nodded slightly at my words, and then a faint smile broke through her solemn face—like a hibiscus blooming in the cold snow—beautiful yet unexpected.
Thank you; you’re quite something.
With that, she lifted her leg to leave when suddenly, one of the fallen men spoke up!
Wait! Don’t go! I don’t want my wallet anymore; can you just give me back my ID?
What?
I was taken aback! They didn’t want their wallet back? Did Leng Mei steal it from them? I immediately grabbed her hand!
Did you steal something?
I asked incredulously. Although she seemed a bit odd, I never expected her to be a thief!
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