An Unexpected Visitor

One year later. August 2009.

A certain city in southern China.

Guo Yi walked into his office. He was a civil servant, but he had come into work a little later than what he was meant to—last night he had dinner with some old classmates and had a few too many drinks.

It was hard to avoid drinking when old classmates gathered. But the people who drank the most were most often not drinking out of happiness.

Those who were doing well naturally boasted of their accomplishments, as if they wanted everyone to know how successful they were. Those who were not successful, well, they simply didn’t show up at all.

People like him who were stuck in the middle were actually the most unfortunate.

The successful would look down on them and ridicule them for wasting away and having no ambition; the unsuccessful would always think they were stealing away others’ hard-earned money…

Guo Yi sighed. Such was life after all.

On the desk were a lot of research materials on the latest social trends–Guo Yi worked in a department committed to maintaining social stability, unity and peace.^[1]

After reading a few bland reports, he reached a document marked with a ‘to-do’ slip. It was a situation report from a city on the coast of Guangdong. In a maritime militia training base in the area a group of strange people had gathered for almost a year, doing military training, marching, running, and other military activities every day. They would also hold meetings until late at night, and there even seemed to be slogans being shouted. Some people suspected these people were engaged in a pyramid scheme and reported them to the Bureau of Industry and Commerce. The bureau dispatched law enforcement to check, but no signs of a pyramid scheme were found nor did they find anything illegal. The in charge of that group of people explained that they were just a company conducting pre-job training for new employees. After checking their business licence and other related paperwork, it was discovered that there was indeed such a company and had been established for a year. The militia training base was also rented by this company from the local armed forces department.

However, evidently something about this situation still smelled fishy to the guys at the Bureau of Industry and Commerce. So eventually this report was passed along and finally wound up on the desk of Guo Yi’s boss. His boss in turn instructed Guo Yi: “If you have free time go and give it a quick look. See if there’s any problems.”

The primary suspect implicated in the materials was named Wen Desi. From the registration information, he was the legal representative, chairman, and general manager of this company.

Guo Yi had never seen this person’s profile before. Speaking of which, this Wen Desi was not strictly someone that their department could directly pull up materials on. However, Guo Yi was infamous in the office for liking to read documents and check records. This hobby of his had offended many–even he himself wasn’t sure exactly whom he had offended, given the amount of documents he had dug up–such that even after several waves of promotions throughout the department, he had missed out on all of them. He was still just a lowly clerk, and he never received any tasks that he could earn real merit on. This time, he also ignored the regulations and dove in.

According to the files he found on Wen Desi, this was just an ordinary person with no standout aspects. He was in his thirties. He had worked as an engineer and manager in several companies, and his salary wasn’t bad. He liked to travel and had a great interest in history and military affairs. He tinkered with some handicrafts. He was a fan of outdoor sports and weapons, and was a ‘survival madman’, and was constantly preparing a bunker to survive a nuclear winter–maybe he even had a lot of food stored at home? But there was no evidence that he had, nor intended to acquire, any weapons. Not even any dogs. He would also often visit certain websites and post some questions enquiring about where to buy cheap bullets and outdoor activity equipment. He had a clean background and no criminal record; not even a single traffic violation.^[2]

The company was registered under his name one and a half years ago,^[3] with a starting capital of one million. Of course, Guo Yi knew that this registered starting capital amount was meaningless, but judging from the personal income tax that Wen Desi paid while he was still working, it wouldn’t have been difficult for him to accumulate this one million yuan. He also searched up Wen Desi’s bank statements: he withdrew several times one and half years^[4] ago, totaling more than 800,000 yuan. After that there were no more transactions from his personal account.

There was nothing special about the company’s financial statement either. They were all normal records of buying and selling. The expenses listed included wages, water, electricity and other office expenses. There was some cash in the account, but not much, only about 100,000 yuan.

Guo Yi double checked the tax bureau records and confirmed this. This company’s activities were very normal, and even the taxes were paid correctly down to the cent.

Guo Yi sat and pondered for a long time, but he didn’t uncover any incriminating or incongruous elements in the records. However, since his boss had spoken, he may as well go on a business trip to investigate in person. He could treat this trip as a vacation.

***

The county town was ordinary. Like countless other coastal towns in Guangdong province, it had a dense population and a booming economy. The prosperity had gathered a large floating population. In the square in front of the long-distance bus station people and families carrying bags of all sizes came and went every day, all of them seeking out their dreams.

For the last year, some really out of place guests had blended into this surging crowd every day. They were all dressed in differing clothes, spoke in accents from all over the country, and all sneakily checking maps and notes. They gathered in individuals or small groups of three or five and looked around the station square, as if searching for something.

Xiao Zishan stood at the exit of the bus station, holding an open fruit box with ‘Crossing Company’ written crookedly on the side. His once chubby face had become much thinner and darker. He was now wearing a sweat-stained T-shirt and a torn straw hat.

For a former white-collar worker in a foreign company, although unemployed, to appear in a coastal town in such a way–even Xiao Zishan didn’t know if he was crazy or was stuck in some surreal dream. It was just that this dream had lasted a little too long, and there were now more and more people chasing the same dream as him.

Today, as usual, some more people would come. Xiao Zishan knew that some of them would leave, some would hesitate, and some would not be chosen. The road to their dream was full of hardship and torment.

Guo Yi exited the bus station. September was still a little hot, and the sun was scorching. It was his first time in this small town, and he took in the crowd around him. His eyes immediately caught the opened cardboard box.

‘Crossing Company’.

Wasn’t that the company started by Wen Desi? At this moment, Xiao Zishan’s eyes met with his. This lightning moment could perhaps be called a ‘destined encounter’--but neither of them exuded an air of arrogance sufficient to make the other party back down. Guo Yi was curious about this company, while Xiao Zishan had realised that this stranger probably did not mean them well.

Xiao Zishan had worked in sales for many years. He had not improved much in other aspects, but he had learned a lot about observing and judging people. This man had a sharp gaze and appeared calm and confident as he moved. He was dressed in a low-key outfit, but it was neat and he did not carry much luggage. This must be someone on the public payroll, and most likely worked in some powerful department. The fact that this man was paying attention to him was not because he was interested in a tanned fatty, but because of the box he was holding up.

Before Xiao Zishan could think of what to do next, a tall and fat young man, loaded with a bunch of bags, had approached him:

“The Crossing Company?”

“That’s right, and you are?”

“I’m here to travel through time…”

Xiao Zishan was sweating: you really don’t have to say it out loud in public, “Uh…this…where did Commander Xi liberate?”^[5]

Everyone who arrived had to answer a secret question. Xiao Zishan didn’t know who came up with this inexplicable rule. After all, they were not the Northern Opera School … perhaps it was someone’s fetish.

“Asia, asia!” The young man was still probably lost in his excitement, and his voice was very loud, “I am Meng Xian, Meng Xian!”

“I know, I know…” Xiao Zishan was sweating profusely, and not just from the heat. He liked to keep things low-key, and so he lowered his voice like a thief. “Go to the parking lot, there is a minibus waiting there. Licence plate number XXXXXX.”

“Where is Chief Wen…?”

“You’ll be able to meet him in a while…I still have to pick up a few more people…” Xiao Zishan looked around fearfully, hoping dearly that their conversation hadn’t attracted too much attention.

The people around them were preoccupied by their own business, and no one within earshot paid any attention to them. Xiao Zishan calmed down a little. That man he’d crossed eyes with had vanished. Somehow, he still felt unsettled. Should he report to the Executive Committee later?

---

That day, Guo Yi observed the two from a corner. Although he couldn’t hear what was being said, he could figure out that the man holding the fruit box was picking up people at the station. One of them was very excited, while the other seemed very uneasy and alert. This suggested that there were some secrets in their conversation. Judging from the familiarity of the pick-up person with the surroundings and the wear and tear on the box he held, this kind of activity must have been going on for quite a while. Guo Yi also tailed the enthusiastic man to the parking lot and noted down the licence plate of the minibus.

The minibus didn’t leave immediately after that man boarded, indicating that there would be other people coming. But Guo Yi decided not to linger around too long and inadvertently blow his cover. He first went into town to the telecommunications companies and checked the company’s phone records. Contrary to what he imagined, the company's phone calls were quite frequent, with a large number of incoming and outgoing calls every day.

With the help of local authorities, he uncovered the destination of these landline calls. The vast majority were made to small and medium-sized domestic companies, research institutes, design institutes, and various trade and consulting companies. In summary, a hodge-podge mess of all kinds of organisations.

The mobile phone records were more troublesome to obtain. Mobile phone numbers were released randomly, and their owners couldn’t be traced. The possible geographical location of mobile numbers was also too wide.^[6] For now, Guo Yi decided to start his investigation through the landline calls.

The results of his investigation were extremely puzzling.

This company frequently contacted enterprises and research institutes all over the country, and even purchased a lot of equipment and materials from them. There was nothing strange about this activity in and of itself, but the range of industries that they purchased equipment from was extraordinarily wide. It was somewhat understandable that a company would order generators, small-sized hydropower equipment, and even substation equipment, but it was truly inexplicable for them to also order multiple wind power systems and a commensurate quantity of spare parts. The company also showed an avid interest in various technical drawings and blueprints, even things like the manufacturing process of condoms and sanitary napkins.

“Is this company so rich?” Guo Yi couldn’t help but question the motives of this company. The idea of money laundering popped into this mind again. Or were they just trying to steal advanced technology? But judging by what they collected, they were not interested in high-tech products. On the contrary, they were keen on simple and outdated technologies. Could there be an industrial spy like this in the world?

Then, could they be using all of this as a smokescreen to cover up some important secret? A red herring to mislead investigators such as him? If so, what were they hiding?

That night, as Guo Yi lay exhausted in his hotel bed. He had already hung up countless calls asking if he wanted a decompression massage. There were even some recommending a ‘root bath’^[7] that could arrive ‘tomorrow’, and even another that said there was a ‘new little sister’ on offer–his mind was as messy as a pot of porridge, and it was like that he dazed off to sleep.^[8]

That night he saw Wen Desi in his dreams.^[9] He was wearing a strange long robe. There was a huge ship, riding across the waves. In the distance, a verdant green island rose out of a blue sea, crowned by a ring of shining sand. Clear skies stretched for miles all around…

---

1. *cough* Ministry of State Security *cough* ↩︎

2. Wow, the Chinese have some serious state security apparatus if this is the amount of material they have on people. But this is just an exaggerated fiction, right? Right…? Anyway, it’s pretty funny reading the comments on Qidian, there’s a bunch of people listing out their traffic violations. ↩︎

3. Original says just half a year, but this doesn’t seem right. I put one and half year for consistency ↩︎

4. Same chronological discrepancy as previous footnote. ↩︎

5. This secret question doesn’t work well in English as names are translated phonetically, I’ve slightly changed the original to make it sound a bit better. The question revolves around Xi Yazhou. As mentioned before, ‘Yazhou’ is literally ‘Asia’. ↩︎

6. Nowadays, mobile phone numbers in China are bound to ID. This was not the case in 2009. ↩︎

7. Where you use a machine to spray water on your genitals ↩︎

8. This passage I think was deleted and then reinstated. I think the little sister part is pretty obvious right? I honestly don’t know what narrative purpose this paragraph serves, but hey, here you go. ↩︎

9. Wow, that’s hot! ↩︎