Standing inside the phone booth, Xiao Liang saw no police cars parked below his apartment building.

 

Which was perfectly normal.

 

In 1994, the Shishan County Public Security Bureau owned only a handful of police vehicles to begin with—and one of them had already been destroyed in last night’s crash.

 

The bureau might have hurriedly arranged a car to send Sui Jing to the city, but there was no way they would leave a vehicle at her disposal afterward.

 

Shishan County’s finances in 1994 were painfully tight. It was nowhere near wealthy enough to assign cars to ordinary detectives running fieldwork.

 

Xiao Liang had imagined countless times what he would do if he ever returned to 1994.

 

But now that fate had truly granted him that chance, he realized how many details still needed to be figured out, one by one, based on the actual situation unfolding around him.

 

He guessed that besides Sui Jing, one or two officers from the nearby neighborhood police station were probably waiting inside his apartment.

 

That would be the standard procedure.

 

Only after thinking through these details did Xiao Liang pick up the receiver and insert the magnetic phone card into the slot.

 

“Hello? Hello? Xiao Liang? Where did you go just now? Why did it take you so long to call back?”

 

Sui Jing answered almost immediately, her voice impatient and slightly irritated.

 

“Sorry, sorry,” Xiao Liang said hurriedly. “I didn’t have much money on me. I tried using a public phone at a convenience store but couldn’t pay afterward. The shopkeeper grabbed me and wouldn’t let me leave—how could they let me make another call?”

 

He continued smoothly, spinning the lie.

 

“I begged them for ages. I even told them they could just escort me straight to the police station if they wanted. In the end the owner thought it was too much trouble and kicked me out. I finally managed to borrow two yuan from someone just to make this call. Officer Sui, you haven’t been waiting too long, have you? I’m really sorry.”

 

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Sui Jing said, her tone softening. “I was just worried something happened to you. Your parents are very worried.”

 

She clearly believed invoking his parents might steady his emotions.

 

“Oh, right,” Xiao Liang said casually, circling back to his earlier question. “Did Captain Yuan mention that I might have been framed?”

 

Yuan Wenhai himself had been seriously injured. After he and Du Jiang, Zhou Jun, and Chen Shen were taken to the county hospital, Xiao Liang doubted Yuan had the chance to explain everything to Sui Jing immediately.

 

The earlier interruption of the call had been deliberate—Xiao Liang wanted to give Sui Jing time to contact Yuan again.

 

He couldn’t risk going to the county hospital himself to ask Yuan face-to-face. Instead, he needed confirmation through Sui Jing—one critical detail.

 

Had Yuan Wenhai reported that the crash was caused by him driving drunk and dozing off?

 

That detail mattered immensely.

 

If Yuan hadn’t reported the real cause, it meant he would be far more inclined to let Xiao Liang clear his name on the outside rather than rush to capture him.

 

There was also another piece of good news.

 

Chen Shen was still unconscious in the emergency room.

 

But what surprised Xiao Liang most was learning that Sui Jing had rushed overnight to stake out his home.

 

In his previous life, Xiao Liang had never interacted with her personally. But over decades of friendship with Yuan Wenhai, he had heard plenty about this apprentice of his.

 

Sui Jing hadn’t stayed long in the Shishan County bureau. By early 1995 she had transferred to the provincial department.

 

Later, when Yuan Wenhai was pushed out of the police force and too ashamed to keep in touch with her, he lost track of how her career progressed.

 

Right now, however, Sui Jing had only graduated from the police academy less than a year ago.

 

Instead of staying in a big city, she had joined a county criminal investigation unit out of sheer idealism.

 

She hadn’t yet been battered by reality.

 

She was still full of righteous fervor—a hot-blooded, impulsive rookie with a strong sense of justice.

 

Yuan Wenhai used to complain endlessly about this “big-boobed airhead” apprentice of his.

 

If Yuan was stuck in the hospital and unable to move freely—or if he simply didn’t want to get entangled in something messy—then Xiao Liang hoped to lure Sui Jing to Yun Society Town and involve her in investigating the case.

 

Yuan Wenhai would probably prefer that outcome as well.

 

Sui Jing responded exactly as Xiao Liang hoped.

 

She fully believed that Xiao Liang had risked his life before fleeing to save Yuan Wenhai, Zhou Jun, and Chen Shen. Yuan had made that clear the moment he arrived at the county hospital.

 

Because of that, she simply couldn’t harbor deep suspicion toward Xiao Liang.

 

“I just reported your call to Captain Yuan,” she said. “There’s no solid evidence yet that you were framed. But don’t worry—if you really were set up, Captain Yuan and I will definitely help uncover the truth. We won’t let you suffer an injustice.”

 

She paused before continuing.

 

“But the most important thing right now is for you to come in and cooperate with the investigation. Otherwise it’ll be very hard to clear things up.”

 

“I’m not familiar with anyone at the county bureau,” Xiao Liang said hesitantly. “Other than you and Captain Yuan, I don’t really trust anyone else. The people who framed me have a lot of influence—you know that.”

 

He lowered his voice.

“Officer Sui… could I turn myself in to you instead? Maybe… you could come to Yun Society Town and pick me up?”

 

“You’re in Yun Society?”

 

Her voice brightened immediately.

 

“Okay! Okay! I’ll come there right away! Write down my pager number. If anything happens, contact me immediately!”

 

She quickly gave him both her own pager number and Yuan Wenhai’s.

 

After hanging up, Xiao Liang forced his mind to go blank.

 

Through the dusty glass of the phone booth, he stared for a long time at the giant billboard across the street advertising **Red Peach Q Blood Tonic**.

 

On the billboard, a glamorous model in a red off-shoulder dress held a box of the tonic beside her shoulder, smiling brightly at passing pedestrians.

 

Only then did Xiao Liang remember.

 

1994 was the era when health supplements in China exploded into popularity—an industry on the verge of madness.

 

The streets of Dongzhou were still cracked and worn.

 

Most residential buildings had been constructed in the early 1980s, funded by government departments and work units to house their employees.

 

Compared to the old dormitory-style blocks from the 1950s and ’60s, these apartments were already considered enviable homes for ordinary citizens.

 

Their walls were finished with exposed aggregate plaster—an old decorative technique that looked far more refined than plain cement or whitewash, even if pieces were beginning to chip away.

 

Occasionally one might spot a bulky window-mounted air conditioner clinging to the exterior wall.

 

Commercial housing developments existed in Dongzhou, but they were rare compared to the explosion that would come twenty years later.

 

To the north of Xiao Liang’s home stood **Silver Flower Garden**, currently the most upscale residential complex in the city.

 

Mortgage loans barely existed yet.

 

Or perhaps they did—but Xiao Liang had no memory of them.

 

He only remembered how his parents used to sigh about the apartments there.

 

At over a thousand yuan per square meter, they said an ordinary worker might not afford one even after ten years of saving every penny.

 

Later they would say twenty years.

 

Then thirty.

 

Eventually—an entire lifetime.

 

Even though Xiao Liang had imagined countless times what it would be like to return to 1994, the reality was vastly different.

 

Thirty years separated him from this era.

 

He would have to relearn it—piece by piece—through careful observation.

 

His success in clearing his name and bringing Xiao Yujun down depended on it.

 

If he made a single misstep and Xiao Yujun’s people managed to throw him into a detention center first…

 

That would be a disgrace for someone who had been reborn.

 

—

 

About half an hour later, Xiao Liang saw his father, Xiao Changhua, escort two police officers out from the intersection near their apartment building.

 

That amount of time meant Sui Jing had probably used the family phone to contact Yuan Wenhai again.

 

Xiao Liang couldn’t help worrying.

 

Would the experienced detective Yuan Wenhai notice the flaws in his story and stop Sui Jing from rushing to Yun Society Town in a moment of hot-headed enthusiasm?

 

That was precisely what Xiao Liang needed to confirm.

 

He had no allies right now.

 

Every step had to be verified personally.

 

But soon, judging from the quick pace of Sui Jing’s stride, Xiao Liang felt reassured.

 

Yuan Wenhai probably hadn’t exposed the inconsistencies.

 

Otherwise, even with the crude investigative techniques of 1994, it wouldn’t take long to trace roughly where his calls had originated.

 

This was the first time Xiao Liang had seen Sui Jing up close.

 

The first thing that struck him was her legs.

 

Even beneath her baggy police trousers, their length was impossible to hide.

 

To some people they might appear slightly thick—but they were undeniably long. And when she walked quickly, the fabric stretched tightly over her thighs, revealing a powerful athletic strength.

 

Those long legs radiated a strangely lethal allure.

 

His gaze moved upward.

 

Her face was pale, round, and flawless—clean and luminous like the moon in a clear sky. Under the sunlight, her delicate features looked almost perfectly sculpted.

 

Only after that did he notice her chest, swaying heavily beneath the loose police uniform as she walked.

 

Yuan Wenhai used to complain endlessly about this apprentice of his being a “big-boobed airhead.”

 

But right now, Xiao Liang found that particular combination rather charming.

 

Just then, as Sui Jing passed the phone booth, she suddenly stopped.

 

She pulled out her pager and glanced at it.

 

Xiao Liang’s heart nearly jumped into his throat.

 

Seeing someone inside the phone booth, Sui Jing hesitated for a moment while holding the pager… then simply turned and walked away.

 

She had no idea that the very suspect she was looking for was standing inside the booth watching her—his heart almost bursting out of his chest.

 

The other officer, a young man barely in his early twenties, hurried after her eagerly, clearly trying to curry favor like an overeager rookie.

 

Xiao Liang frowned thoughtfully.

 

Sui Jing had come out nearly half an hour after his second call, which meant she probably had contacted Yuan Wenhai from his home.

 

But now she had taken out her pager in front of the phone booth.

 

Perhaps she had received a personal message?

 

He watched from afar as she waited briefly at the bus stop before boarding a bus that pulled up.

 

The young officer watched her squeeze into the bus without even a backward glance. Looking disappointed, he eventually headed south toward the neighborhood police station.

 

Xiao Liang wondered if he should call home again.

 

Just then, a girl in a pale yellow dress appeared at the intersection outside his apartment building, pushing a bicycle.

 

His older brother Xiao Xiao ran out behind her and grabbed her arm.

 

She shook his hand off forcefully and continued walking.

 

“Tian Wenli! Xiao Liang would never do something like that!” Xiao Xiao argued anxiously. “Officer Sui was just at our house—you heard the call too! Even she clearly believes Xiao Liang was framed. Why won’t you believe it?”

 

“Whether I believe it or not—does it even matter?” Tian Wenli said coldly. “Xiao Liang is your brother, not mine. I’m just asking you not to be so naive and childish.” She scoffed.

 

“When Officer Sui said those things, she was just trying to keep your brother calm so she could arrest him when she gets to Yun Society Town. Do you really think she’s stupid enough to believe his nonsense?”

 

“Whether she believes him or not doesn’t matter,” Xiao Xiao insisted. “Xiao Liang is my brother. We grew up together. I know exactly what kind of person he is. He would never do something like that. I believe him.”

 

“You think the police would open a case without evidence?” Tian Wenli shot back. “If he was really framed, why did he run? You’re always thinking about your brother—even now you’re defending him. Have you thought about us at all?”

 

“I already told you!” Xiao Xiao said helplessly. “Anyone would panic in that situation. If he saw a chance to run, it’s not strange at all. And didn’t he say on the phone that he wants Officer Sui to pick him up in Yun Society Town to surrender? Why can’t you understand that?”

 

From inside the phone booth, Xiao Liang watched his brother arguing clumsily with Tian Wenli—the woman who, in his previous life, had almost become his sister-in-law.

 

Looking at her beautiful face now twisted with naked contempt and disdain, Xiao Liang let out a silent, cold laugh.

 

Even though the breakup had hurt his brother deeply, Xiao Liang had never felt much guilt about Tian Wenli leaving him.

 

She was indeed beautiful, and her family background was good.

 

But ever since the Chen Fushan case two years earlier—when Xiao Liang’s father was dismissed and reassigned to the Party History Research Office—Tian Wenli had already begun to look down on his brother.

 

Xiao Liang’s own scandal had simply been the final push that made her decision.

 

He watched as Tian Wenli quickly rode away on her bicycle without looking back.

 

His brother stood there, looking somewhat dejected—but not truly heartbroken.

 

He probably thought it was just another ordinary argument.

 

Once Tian Wenli cooled off, they would make up like they always did.