Chapter 3: "Rock, Take a Seat"

6:40 AM, Su Family living room.

Zhao Lihua was in the kitchen frying eggs, the oil sizzling in the pan. Su Man had just washed her face and was sitting on the sofa applying hand cream.

The door opened and Su Jianguo walked in, clutching a black briefcase, two boxes of tea in one hand and his car keys in the other.

"Mom, I'm home." He set the tea on the coffee table. "Zhengshan Xiaozhong. Old Zhou brought it back from the Wuyi Mountains. Eight hundred yuan a pound."

Zhao Lihua poked her head out. "So early? Have you eaten?"

"Not yet, just waiting for your cooking." Su Jianguo sat down, crossed his legs, and looked around. "Where's my brother-in-law?"

Su Man: "In his room."

"Always in his room." Su Jianguo let out a short laugh. "Is he recovering from childbirth or something?"

Su Man frowned. "Brother, can you stop being so prickly?"

"Prickly?" Su Jianguo spread his hands. "I'm just concerned. Su Man, you've been married to him for two years now, right? Has he done a single day of honest work?"

Zhao Lihua brought out a plate of fried eggs. "Alright, alright, it's too early for this."

Su Jianguo: "Mom, I'm only saying this for Su Man's sake. When the neighbors ask, I don't even know what to tell them. Su Jianguo's brother-in-law is a professional freeloader."

The bedroom door opened and Lin Mo stepped out. White T-shirt, old pants, holding a chipped enamel mug as he headed for the water dispenser.

Su Jianguo looked him up and down. "Brother-in-law, that mug—did you find it in a museum?"

Lin Mo: "It was handy."

"Right, handy." Su Jianguo grabbed a fried egg. "Let me run something by you. I'm short a man at my construction site. Just a security guard—6 PM to 6 AM, 3,500 a month, plus one midnight snack. If you don't mind the grind, you can start tomorrow."

Lin Mo took a sip of water. "I'll pass."

Su Jianguo's chopsticks stopped mid-air. "You'll pass?"

"I'll pass."

"Too little?" Su Jianguo smirked. "Brother-in-law, how much are you making a month right now? You think 3,500 is too little?"

Lin Mo didn't say a word.

Su Jianguo set his chopsticks down. "I'll be honest with you. I'm offering you this job because of Su Man. Otherwise, who would bother with you? If you don't want it, fine, but don't blame me later for not helping you out."

Su Man: "Brother!"

"Am I wrong?" Su Jianguo turned to her. "Su Man, ask him—has he brought a single cent into this house in two years? Who's paying the mortgage? Who's paying the utilities?"

Zhao Lihua chimed in from the side, "Jianguo has a point..."

Su Man's face flushed. "That's my business."

"Your business is the Su Family's business." Su Jianguo stood up. "Fine, I'm done. Brother-in-law, if you change your mind, let me know. I'll hold the spot for three days."

Just as he was about to leave, his phone rang.

"Hello? ...What? Manager Huang is already there? I thought we agreed on ten... Fine, fine, I'm on my way."

Su Jianguo's expression shifted. He grabbed his bag and headed for the door, but stopped halfway and glanced back at Lin Mo.

"Brother-in-law, come with me."

Lin Mo: "For what?"

"To show you how money is actually made." Su Jianguo sneered. "And to let you know that not just anyone can handle a 3,500-yuan job."

Su Man: "Brother, don't—"

Zhao Lihua: "Let Mo go. He can learn something. Staying cooped up in that room all day isn't doing him any favors."

Lin Mo glanced at Su Man, set his enamel mug on the table, and stood up.

In the car.

An Audi A6, leather seats, the scent of sandalwood hanging in the air.

Su Jianguo drove with one hand while talking on the phone. "Old Li, hold off on the material payments for now. I'll settle up as soon as the inspection passes... What? You can't hold them? You hold them regardless! Three days!"

He hung up and glanced at Lin Mo through the rearview mirror.

"Brother-in-law, you were in the army?"

"I was."

"How many years?"

"Eight."

"Eight years." Su Jianguo scoffed. "Eight years of service and you come out to nothing. Let me tell you, these days, connections matter more than skill. When we get to the site, stay behind me. Don't talk, and don't embarrass me."

Lin Mo looked out the window. "Mm."

Su Jianguo dialed another number. "Hey, honey. ...I'm on my way. ...Don't even get me started. My brother-in-law is coming to the site with me today. I offered him a security job and he thinks the pay is too low. ...What? A waste of space? Pretty much. My sister insisted on marrying him; I couldn't stop her even if I tried. ...Alright, alright, I'll stop."

Lin Mo sat in the back seat, staring out the window, motionless.

Su Jianguo hung up and glanced at him in the mirror, not thinking twice about it.

The construction site.

Cuihu Estate Phase 2 in the south of the city. Tower cranes loomed overhead, and rebar was piled everywhere.

Manager Huang was in his forties, wearing a hard hat with blueprints rolled up in his hand. Two technicians followed him, their faces long and grim.

Su Jianguo jogged over, offering cigarettes with both hands. "Manager Huang, why the early arrival? You could have given me a heads-up."

Manager Huang didn't take the cigarette. "Boss Su, see for yourself."

He slammed the blueprints onto a pile of rebar.

"Third-floor ceiling slab. The design calls for 200mm spacing; you did 250. The concrete cover is insufficient. Yesterday's core sample test showed the strength is two grades below spec."

Sweat immediately broke out on Su Jianguo's forehead. "Manager Huang, this... it's an operator error. I'll fix it immediately, right away."

"Fix it?" Manager Huang sneered. "There are twelve days left on the schedule. You're going to redo the work?"

"Well, look... could you perhaps be flexible? I could handle it privately..."

"Save it." Manager Huang raised a hand. "Su Jianguo, I've been with Hongyuan for fourteen years. I've heard that line until my ears are bleeding. You have two choices: one, redo the work, keep the deadline, and take the penalty fee; or two, I report this up the chain, and your company can forget about ever stepping foot in a Hongyuan project again."

Su Jianguo turned pale.

"Manager Huang, please give me another chance. I've already sunk over three million into this eight-million-yuan project..."

"That's your problem."

Su Jianguo stood there, not knowing where to put his hands.

Behind him, Lin Mo crouched down to examine the rebar.

He measured the spacing with his hand, then stood up to check the supports for the ceiling formwork. After looking up for a moment, he walked over to Manager Huang.

"Manager Huang."

Manager Huang looked at him. "Who are you?"

"His brother-in-law."

Su Jianguo quickly grabbed him. "What are you doing? Get back here!"

Lin Mo didn't budge. He reached out. "Let me see the blueprints."

Manager Huang frowned but handed them over, clearly expecting a joke.

Lin Mo flipped through a few pages, stopped at the third-floor slab, and pointed.

"He didn't do it wrong."

Su Jianguo froze.

Lin Mo pointed to the blueprints. "The notation on this page for the local reinforcement zone specifies a main bar spacing of 250, with bidirectional additional bars at 200. He followed the plans for the reinforcement zone, but he missed the additional bars—that's his mistake, no excuse there. But the 250 spacing for the main bars matches the blueprints. It's not 200."

Manager Huang took the plans back and leaned in. The technicians crowded around as well.

One technician nodded. "Manager Huang, he's right... this page is for the reinforcement zone."

Lin Mo continued, "As for the concrete strength being two grades low—you took the core samples on the seventh day. This batch is P.O 42.5 cement. It's normal for the seven-day strength to be around 70% of the design value. If you do a rebound test at twenty-eight days, it'll likely hit C30. You're jumping to conclusions too early."

Manager Huang stared at him for a few seconds.

"You know engineering?"

"Not really." Lin Mo handed back the blueprints. "I managed a warehouse in the army. I handled the acceptance of cement shipments, so I picked up a few things."

Manager Huang looked at him a bit longer, then turned to the technician. "Call the testing station. Take another set of samples at twenty-eight days. As for the additional bars in the reinforcement zone, get them installed within three days. No negotiations on that."

The technician nodded and made a note.

Manager Huang turned to Su Jianguo, his tone softening slightly. "Boss Su, your brother-in-law knows more about this business than you do. Fix the additional bars, pass the twenty-eight-day test, and we'll call it even. If it fails, don't expect a single cent."

With that, he led his team away.

Su Jianguo stood there, staring at Lin Mo, speechless for a long time.

The ride back.

The car was silent for a long stretch.

Su Jianguo gripped the steering wheel, his fingers tapping twice before he spoke. "Did you... really manage a warehouse in the army?"

"Yeah."

"Which unit?"

"I can't say the designation."

Su Jianguo looked at him in the mirror several times but didn't ask again.

Halfway home, he pulled over to the curb.

Su Jianguo fished an envelope out of his bag and handed it back.

"Take this."

Lin Mo: "What is it?"

"Five thousand. Consider this for today."

Lin Mo didn't take it. "No need."

"Take it." Su Jianguo shoved the envelope into his hand. "Brother-in-law, those things I said this morning... they were harsh. Don't take them to heart. I've got a foul mouth; don't hold it against me."

Lin Mo: "I know."

Su Jianguo was momentarily stunned, then actually laughed. "Fine. You're more interesting than I thought."

He started the car again, drove for a bit, and then added, "That... security job. If you're not interested, forget it. If something more suitable comes up on my end, I'll ask you."

Lin Mo: "Mm."

"What else can you do? Besides managing a warehouse."

Lin Mo thought for a moment. "A few things."

"What things?"

Lin Mo didn't answer.

When they arrived home, Zhao Lihua greeted them. "How did it go?"

Su Jianguo tossed the car keys onto the shoe cabinet. "It passed."

"Passed?" Zhao Lihua breathed a sigh of relief. "See, I told you your brother was capable."

Su Jianguo looked at Lin Mo, opened his mouth to say something, then swallowed it. He simply said, "Mom, make a few extra dishes for lunch."

Su Man came out of her room and looked at Lin Mo. "My brother didn't give you a hard time, did he?"

Lin Mo: "He didn't."

"Really?"

"Really."

Su Man stared at him for a while, then stopped questioning.

7:40 PM.

Lin Mo stepped out of his room, having changed into a dark jacket.

Su Man was watching TV in the living room. She looked up. "Where are you going so late?"

"Meeting a friend."

"What friend?"

Lin Mo stood at the door and looked back. "An old comrade."

Su Man: "...What time will you be back?"

"Not sure."

"Then stay safe."

Lin Mo nodded and opened the door.

The hallway light was broken—the motion-sensor kind that only flickered on if you stomped. As he reached the second floor, his phone buzzed.

A message from an unknown number:

"The tea is ready. Rock, come out of retirement."

Lin Mo deleted the text, shoved the phone in his pocket, and pushed open the building's main door.

The night wind rushed in.

The Wangjiang Teahouse was in West City, in a private room on the second floor.

He walked to the door and pushed it open.

The door opened a crack, revealing a room bathed in warm yellow light. An old tea set sat on the table, and beside it lay a pair of shoulder boards—two bars, three stars.

A man sat with his back to the door. Without turning around, he spoke a single sentence:

"Rock, sit."