Chapter 3: One-Eye Walks into a Trap

The salty sea wind at the dock rolled fallen leaves along, and Lin Wan had just turned past a dead corner when a pair of mud-caked leather boots planted themselves in the middle of the road. It was Scar, a thug sent by the One-Eyed Boss, an iron whip clutched in his hand and a nasty smile hanging at the corner of his mouth. Lin Wan's steps faltered slightly, alarm bells ringing wildly in her heart, but her face swiftly put on a look of panic, her shoulders shrinking as she backed away.

"Miss Lin, Brother One-Eye asked me to pass on a message." The man's gaze hooked onto her bulging cloth bag. "Since you are doing business, the goods have to be handed over to him. Otherwise, the fish and shrimp at this dock may not stay clean."

Lin Wan bit her lower lip, her fingertips digging hard into the corner of her clothes, feigning that she was about to cry. She deliberately showed an old scar on her wrist and said in a trembling voice: "Brother, what is in that cloth bag is goods Brother One-Eye has not inspected yet. If anything goes wrong, I cannot bear the responsibility."

The man scoffed, his iron whip cracking against a wooden post with a dull thud, and he lowered his voice fiercely: "Cut the nonsense! If you do not hand it over today, I will overturn your stall. Strip-search her! Let's see how many good things she is hiding."

A cold glint flashed in Lin Wan's eyes, but she followed his words and lowered her voice: "Brother, you have misunderstood." She pulled out a crumpled slip of paper, a "memory replay" briefing generated by the blind box machine, marking the point three months later when this product would double in value because of a brand upgrade. "This thing really is not worth much right now, but after a while, it will become a sought-after item. If you take it now, it will just be an ornament, and you will owe favors for it too."

The man reached suspiciously to snatch it, and Lin Wan retreated in step, clutching it dead tight. Enraged, the man shoved Lin Wan aside and lunged to grab the bag. Lin Wan fell with the momentum, kicking up dust, and just then hurried footsteps came from the mouth of the alley. Aunt Liu rushed out, panting, carrying a basin of murky water, her face full of exaggerated grief and indignation.

"Oh, my own niece! How could these brutes bully you like this!" Aunt Liu wept as she spoke, splashing the water toward the man's feet. "They even want to search her house! She colluded with a wild man from outside and transferred all the family's valuables away. Our Liu family's face is completely lost!"

The man froze, the ferocity in his eyes turning into contemptuous scrutiny. He looked at Lin Wan, then at the snobbish Aunt Liu, and a playful smile curled at the corner of his mouth. Lying on the ground, Lin Wan breathed a sigh of relief in her heart. Aunt Liu's accusation had precisely bought her a buffer of time, and had also made the man misjudge the nature of the incident.

The man took red paper from his waist, tore off a sheet, and slapped it onto the mottled wooden door: "Since Aunt Liu says so herself, then this matter is complicated. Search the house! If you cannot find evidence of this so-called outsider, or if the goods do not match what was claimed, your whole family can forget about living in peace at this dock."

The red paper seal went "slap," glaring like a bloodstain. The man disappeared with his men at the end of the alley, leaving a harsh threat behind as he went: "In three days, I want to see evidence. Otherwise, even the tiles on your roof will have to be torn down for me to check every one."

Lin Wan rose slowly and brushed the dust from her skirt. The alley was deathly silent, with only the sea wind rolling fallen leaves. She returned inside, locked the door behind her, and dragged that gray iron box out from under the bed — the time-space blind box machine. The machine's indicator light flickered faintly, and after she inserted old banknotes, it spat out a new label: "High-end limited-edition fragrance, expected market heat index 95 in three months, recommended premium coefficient 300%."

Lin Wan stared at the small print, the corner of her mouth rising, her panicked disguise completely dissolving, replaced by unfathomable calm. She picked up a splinter of the wooden post left by the iron whip and toyed with it in her hand, her eyes like ice. Outside the window, night was deepening, and two swaying figures appeared at the far end of the street — the footsteps of gang thugs acting ahead of schedule. She clenched the label, her fingertips turning white, and silently recited in her heart: this game has only just begun.

At the same time, the young man in the black silk shirt disappeared around the street corner, and Lin Wan's footsteps did not stop. Sheltered by the aerial roots of a banyan tree, she quickly turned into a narrow alley. It was piled with salted dried fish waiting to be loaded onto boats, and the strong salty stench was enough to cover the scent of perfume. She leaned her back against a damp wooden barrel, her heart pounding violently. In that glance just now, the young man's eyes had been confirming whether the cloth bag was still there, or whether an accomplice was coming to meet her. The One-Eyed Boss's way of doing business had always been to pull things up by the roots, leaving no one who could bite him.

The sound of gravel came from the mouth of the alley; someone was turning back. Lin Wan quickly transferred the Hong Kong dollars in the pocket against her body into a small cloth bag at her waist, then tucked it back deep inside her underclothes, tight against her skin. She crouched down and pretended to adjust her shoelaces, while in fact a miniature storage device connector slipped out from her sleeve cuff. If One-Eye sent someone to strip-search her, she would need to react within one second.

The footsteps stopped at the mouth of the alley. "Where did that girl go?"

"Toward the dock, it seemed she went to Old Liu's fishing tackle shop."

Lin Wan's nails dug into her palm. Old Liu's shop was a dead end; she had to disappear at once. She rose slowly and, under cover of dusk, edged toward a half-open iron gate at the side of the alley. It led to an abandoned dockyard, piled with old ropes and rusty anchors — an excellent place to hide from view.

As she neared the iron gate, its hinges gave an ear-piercing scrape. Lin Wan tensed like a bow and discovered a faint blue light seeping through the crack of the iron gate, flickering bright and dim with an eerie rhythm. This was not natural light, but the indicator light of the time-space blind box machine in its "standby replay" state. She had once hidden the machine inside a waterproof iron box in the deepest part of the dockyard, and the leaking blue light meant someone had already found that place, and had even opened the iron box.

She hesitated no longer and turned and ran wildly. Behind her, the iron gate was shoved open violently, and two flashlight beams pierced the darkness, sweeping toward the direction of her escape. "Stop! Hand over the thing, or do not blame us for ignoring the rules!"

Lin Wan gritted her teeth and sped up, burrowed behind discarded fishing nets, and curled beside a rusty anchor chain, covering her mouth dead tight. Through the gap, she saw Scar walk toward the iron box's hiding place. Scar did not hurry to open the box; instead he took out an old rotary telephone: "Boss, that girl's blind box machine has been found. But there seems to be premium goods inside the machine too. Should we dismantle it now?"

From the other end of the telephone came the One-Eyed Boss's hoarse laughter: "Dismantle what? The machine is dead, the goods are alive. Do not touch it yet. I will go find Lin Wan. Make her hand over the stock herself, and I guarantee she will have an easier time on Hong Kong Island from now on. If she dares play tricks, I will smash the machine and throw her into the sea to feed the fish."

After hanging up, Scar sneered: "Go back and report: the machine is here but not activated. Tell the boss Lin Wan may be at Aunt Liu's place. Send someone to watch her first."

Lin Wan heard it all clearly, and fear rose in her heart. Aunt Liu? The One-Eyed Boss had not shown himself; what he had sent were spies. That young man from the foreign-goods shop was very likely the one whose information about her movements had come from Aunt Liu. Aunt Liu's snobbish eyes were vicious; seeing Lin Wan leave carrying a bag, she was bound to guess a few things. Now the scar had already formed, and if Aunt Liu, at the slightest disagreement, pointed out the hiding place of the goods, everything would be finished.

Lin Wan took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. Fear was useless; only information could save her life. She needed to know what the blind box machine had drawn, to judge the situation. She quietly crawled out of the fishing nets, avoided the beams, and followed the drainage ditch path toward the iron box. A few minutes later, with trembling fingertips she opened the latch and took out the small device emitting blue light.

The screen lit up: [ Current stock: Premium Champagne Fragrance Spray (Limited Edition). Heat index: 98/100. Expected breakout point: in 3 days. Trigger conditions: packaging upgrade + celebrity endorsement. ]

Lin Wan's pupils contracted slightly. Champagne fragrance? This was the "premium goods" One-Eye had mentioned. The memory replay started automatically, and images from her previous life flashed past: socialites of Hong Kong Island holding the spray, the scent of rose and cedar spreading, instantly drawing the attention of wealthy merchants, a single bottle selling for five hundred and requiring pre-order. At this moment the spray remained in its original state, with crude packaging. But within three days, changed into a frosted bottle with a gold-stamped logo, with a "Recommended by Miss Su" card attached, its value would double, and it would become a coveted treasure fought over by high society.

What the One-Eyed Boss wanted was "present value"; he did not understand marketing, and still less did he understand the core logic of the blind box machine — precisely stepping on market hot spots. He thought it was a crate of goods; in fact it was a ticket into high society. An icy arc curled at the corner of Lin Wan's mouth. One-Eye thought he was hunting her, unaware that he was the piece about to be detonated.

She quickly switched the machine off, hid it well, returned by the same route, and deliberately took a detour past Aunt Liu's house. Night was deep, and warm yellow lamplight shone from Aunt Liu's window. Through the glass, she saw Aunt Liu arranging her hair in front of a mirror, muttering as she rehearsed lines, glancing from time to time at a slip of paper on the table, her expression tense.

A plan quickly formed in Lin Wan's mind: she did not need Aunt Liu to inform on her; she needed Aunt Liu to be "forced" to inform, and the content had to be carefully scripted. She touched the last few old Hong Kong dollars in the small cloth bag at her waist; this was both her confidence and her bait. If Aunt Liu leaked the secret, One-Eye would surely send people to search for the goods that were about to become a money tree. Lin Wan decided to make Aunt Liu believe she still held a more precious "unopened blind box" in her hands.

Instead of going straight home, she walked into a corner of an all-night teahouse and ordered the cheapest Pu'er. Outside the window, a figure in a gray cloth shirt slipped silently across the street, heading toward Aunt Liu's house. Aunt Liu had indeed made her move.

Using the motion of blowing on the steam, Lin Wan murmured to herself in a low voice: "Aunt Liu, oh Aunt Liu, since you want to switch sides, do not blame me for being unkind." She took out her backup communicator and sent it not to Chen Ze, but to Lu Yuan. Although Lu Yuan was the gang's second-in-command, he was in the process of "going clean"; he had not yet formally become a bodyguard, but she was the safety net activated ahead of time. As long as Lu Yuan knew One-Eye had his eye on the goods and Aunt Liu was causing trouble, he would have to intervene, because if the goods were robbed, Lu Yuan's power on Hong Kong Island would be challenged.

The brief message was sent: [ One-Eye covets the high-end fragrance goods, Aunt Liu has leaked the secret. Warehouse on the east side of the dock, transaction tomorrow night. Whoever wishes to take them, do not miss it. ]

Lin Wan stayed in the teahouse to watch Aunt Liu. Half an hour later, Aunt Liu came out with a flustered expression, stood at the mouth of the alley, and looked around, waiting for Scar. Scar returned carrying a black leather folder; inside was Aunt Liu's "pledge of allegiance."

Scar asked coldly: "Speak. Where exactly is it?"

Aunt Liu shrank her neck and trembled: "In... the dry well in her backyard. She said the goods were too precious and she was afraid rats would bite them, so she hid them in the well and covered it with a well lid."

Scar nodded and turned to leave.

Lin Wan suddenly stood up; she did not flee, but instead walked toward the teahouse entrance and said loudly on purpose: "Scar, do not waste your effort. Aunt Liu let it slip. The goods are not in the well; they are in the freezer in the back hall."

Her gait, unhurried, stepped into Scar's field of vision. Scar shuddered all over and whipped his head around, a fierce light fully exposed: "You!"

Lin Wan stood still with her arms crossed, her gaze calm: "Miss Lin, you are delivering yourself to death." Scar lowered his voice, the soft whip in his hand snapping crisply.

"No, I am saving people," Lin Wan said softly. "Saving those who think they can get rich by forced buying and forced selling. You think what you want is the goods? The moment you get them in your hands, they are waste. Because the packaging has not been changed and the story has not been told, it is just a bottle of expired perfume."

Scar frowned: "Nonsense. The boss said, once the goods are in hand, how to sell them is his business."

"Does the boss know the trade?" Lin Wan sneered. "He understands the black market, not high society. Have you thought about why the One-Eyed Boss is acting now? Because he is afraid. Afraid that once the goods enter the circulation channels, he will be left behind. So he does not dare go slowly; he must rob."

Scar was silent for a moment, a flicker of doubt in his eyes. Although he was ferocious, he was not stupid, and Lin Wan's words had touched a nerve. "Cut the nonsense!" He waved his hand, and his thugs surrounded the teahouse entrance. "Search her!"

"Search, then." Lin Wan stood straight, stepped forward, and exposed her waist. "In that bag there are only twenty-some old Hong Kong dollars. If you find them, I will let you know what it means to 'lose both the lady and the troops.'"

The thugs hesitated. One-Eye's rule was "in and out fast," but a strip search needed time, and time was on Lin Wan's side.

At the moment of stalemate, the roar of engines came from far away. Two black sedans drove slowly up and stopped opposite the teahouse. The car doors opened, and out stepped Lu Yuan, in a dark gray suit, his tie immaculate. In his hand he held documents printed with the emblem of a high-end fashion magazine, with a card bearing Miss Su's handwritten signature attached beside them.

Lu Yuan looked neither at Lin Wan nor at Scar, but walked straight toward Scar and threw the documents against his chest. "Aunt Liu said the goods are in the freezer? Mr. Lu, you have found the wrong person." Scar smiled without warmth.

"No, I have found the right person." Lu Yuan's voice was icy. "Miss Su has just received word that a batch of 'limited champagne fragrance' will launch in three days, and the first supply is in the One-Eyed Boss's hands. I, Lu Yuan, represent Miss Su in acquiring this batch of goods."

Scar's face changed drastically: "You... you want to buy the goods? The boss said the goods are not for sale!"

"The boss?" Lu Yuan glanced at Lin Wan, a playful smile curling at the corner of his mouth. "Miss Lin told me the goods are not in Lin Wan's hands, but in yours. Tell me, should I believe the boss, or believe Miss Su's channels?"

This was a dead end. The One-Eyed Boss wanted the goods, but Lu Yuan's and Miss Su's channels were tougher. If Scar robbed by force, Lu Yuan would immediately report to Miss Su, Miss Su would cut off all of One-Eye's fashion-circle resources, and One-Eye would suffer heavy losses. If he did not rob, Lin Wan would, three days later, riding on Miss Su's heat, sell at ten times the price.

And Aunt Liu, as the one who leaked the secret, stood at the street corner at this moment, her face ghastly pale. She realized that not only had she gained no benefit