Go
“Tell that Wen Yiqian to get to Happiness Amusement Park within an hour. I want to play a game with him.
If he’s late, you already know what happens.”
The line went dead before Li Weiguo could get a single word in.
The room fell completely silent.
Li Weiguo glanced at Wen Yiqian, clearly weighing something.
“Captain Li, we’ve traced the signal. It’s coming from inside Happiness Amusement Park!” A tech officer’s voice cut through the quiet.
“He’s already there?” Li Weiguo straightened.
“That’s correct.”
“If he’s on-site, he wouldn’t dare do anything reckless. We could move in quietly and take him.” An officer nearby spoke up, eyes sharpening.
“He’s a madman.” Li Weiguo’s voice was flat. The box outside was still fresh in everyone’s mind.
The most unhinged kind. Capable of anything.
“Captain Li, time is tight,” another officer cut in. “The drive from here to Happiness Amusement Park is forty to fifty minutes.”
“He timed this deliberately. He doesn’t want to give us room to prepare.” Li Weiguo looked across the room. “Little Wang, check whether we have any officers in the vicinity. Have them go in plain clothes and get eyes on the situation before we move.”
“Yes, sir.” The officer called Little Wang was already on his feet.
“Remind them to be extremely careful. Not a single thing that could tip him off,” Li Weiguo said. “If he gets spooked, we lose control of the situation entirely.”
“Understood.” Little Wang left at pace.
“You. With me.” Li Weiguo pulled Wen Yiqian into the corridor.
Before the captain could say anything, Wen Yiqian got in first. “He doesn’t know what I look like. You could send someone else. I genuinely cannot do this.”
“What if he does know?” Li Weiguo said. “I’m not willing to risk it.”
“I can handle scaring people. I cannot handle this.” Wen Yiqian’s expression was pained.
“There are lives at stake. You’re going whether you want to or not.”
“What if he called me there just to blow me up along with everyone else? What then?” Wen Yiqian shot back.
“He won’t.”
“With someone whose mind doesn’t work like a normal person’s, you can never be certain.” Wen Yiqian parroted his words back at him. “I can’t take that gamble.”
“Fine. Don’t go.” Li Weiguo appeared to consider this for a moment, then nodded. “Earlier today you used a police vehicle, rear-ended another car, and were entirely at fault. We recovered the car, but the other driver is seeking a hundred thousand yuan in damages.”
“A hundred thousand? Why doesn’t he just rob a bank?” Wen Yiqian, currently in possession of a few dozen yuan, had no way to produce that figure through any legal or illegal means available to him.
“And on top of that,” Li Weiguo continued, “you impersonated a dangerous criminal on two separate occasions to intimidate police officers.”
“I was forced into it both times!” Wen Yiqian said quickly.
“Were you forced into frightening An Zhi?” Li Weiguo’s voice rose. “Don’t forget: if you hadn’t scared her like that, none of this would be happening right now.”
Wen Yiqian had nothing to say to that.
“Either of those charges alone is enough to put you away for a few years,” Li Weiguo said.
“If I go, we pretend none of it happened?” Wen Yiqian asked carefully.
“I can drop the intimidation charge,” Li Weiguo said. “As for the damages…”
“Gone entirely?” A small light came into Wen Yiqian’s eyes.
“I can set you up on an installment plan. Interest-free.”
“I’m about to walk into a situation where I might not come back, and you’re offering me installments?” Wen Yiqian said, genuinely aggrieved. “If I die, I’ll wire you the money from the afterlife.”
Li Weiguo was quiet for a moment. “Help me bring this person in, and I’ll cover the hundred thousand myself.”
He paused. “I’ll also put your name forward for an Outstanding Citizen Award.”
“What good does that do me?” Wen Yiqian had been collecting model student certificates since primary school. They had never once changed his life.
“There’s prize money.”
“Done.”
…
Happiness Amusement Park.
Wen Yiqian looked up at the cheerful sign above the entrance and quietly rubbed his legs.
Not from tiredness. From fear.
On the way over, he had imagined being blown apart inside the park at least three or four times.
Today was Children’s Day, and a long queue had already formed outside. Families everywhere, parents with children, everyone looking relaxed and happy.
A model student from birth, Wen Yiqian had never once jumped a queue in his life.
He went to the back of the line.
“What are you doing? There’s no time. Use the VIP entrance.” Li Weiguo’s voice came through the earpiece, barely keeping a lid on his temper.
“Oh.” Wen Yiqian touched his ear, located the thinly populated VIP channel nearby, and moved toward it.
Then he stopped. “I don’t have a ticket.”
“Buy one.”
“I… can’t afford it,” Wen Yiqian said, with some difficulty.
Silence on the line. Just Li Weiguo’s breathing.
“Little Wang, get an undercover to buy a VIP ticket and pass it to him. Now.” The anger in his voice was obvious.
“Sorry,” Wen Yiqian said carefully.
Li Weiguo was quiet for a moment before speaking, slower this time. “I know you’re frightened. I just need you to hold it together.”
He paused. “Right now, dozens of lives, maybe more, depend on what happens next.”
Wen Yiqian hadn’t meant to cause trouble or stall for time, but there was no point explaining. Being this broke was hard to believe at the best of times.
A short while later, an undercover officer queuing nearby slipped the VIP ticket quietly into his hand.
Wen Yiqian went through the entrance.
It struck him, with some bitterness, that this was actually his first time at an amusement park. And it had to be like this.
He had always wanted to go. Going alone felt pathetic, but asking another guy felt like it sent the wrong message, and he had no female friends to ask. So he never had.
On the way over, he had pulled up a map of Happiness Amusement Park on his phone and roughly memorized the layout.
He turned right after entering, walked a short distance, and the carousel came into view, spinning steadily.
Wen Yiqian scanned the area, and found her immediately.
An Zhi, sitting rigid on a bench, staring straight ahead.
He took a slow breath, pushed down the fear rising in his chest, and walked toward her.
(End of Chapter)