He was short on money.
Desperately short.
Ever since Shen Yi had shown up, she needed to eat, drink, and wear clothes every single day. That obviously ill-fitting outfit wouldn’t hold up much longer. The weather was getting colder by the day—he couldn’t exactly let her keep wearing that one thing forever.
Shen Sixing had always noticed what she wore, but he’d never cared.
Now things were clearly different.
He needed a sum of money big enough that he wouldn’t have to worry for a while.
...
Shen Sixing made up his mind to earn some cash.
But even killing required planning and patience.
In the meantime, he and Shen Yi could only scrape by on instant noodles.
After pinpointing the target and the route they’d definitely take, he got up early and changed into a different outfit.
A blue uniform, with a badge number he’d faked and bought online. His hair had gotten a bit long, black strands curling slightly. He pulled on a police cap and settled it on his head.
Then he opened the drawer and took out a dagger.
The blade gleamed with a cold white light under the lamp, its edge razor-sharp.
The young man tilted his head, staring at the blade with a sinister look, smiled in satisfaction, and slipped it into his sleeve.
He was fully immersed in playing the role of a murderer when he turned around and found, out of nowhere, that Shen Yi had woken up at some point and was staring at him with wide, round eyes.
Shen Yi watched her father hold the knife, his gentle face shifting from calm to increasingly sinister, the whole transformation playing out in plain sight.
...What a shady man.
Was he heading out dressed like that to rob a bank, or to chop someone up?
The moment Shen Sixing saw she was awake, his expression switched instantly.
He crouched down, flashed a bright, sunny smile, and spoke in a tone so sweet he might as well have been heading off to a kindergarten parent-child event:
“Good morning, Xiao Yi~”
When Shen Sixing didn’t drag his voice in that half-dead drawl, his voice was still crisp and clear.
Carrying that natural youthful energy of a young man.
Shen Yi was a little alarmed: “...Are you okay?”
She was realizing that her younger father seemed very much like someone with multiple personality disorder.
How could he flip from utterly lifeless to all sunshine and smiles in a split second?
The way he’d slid from that sinister look at the blade to this bright-and-cheery big-boy grin—it was seamless.
He didn’t know if he’d finally come to terms with things or was just fresh out of options, but after days of inner turmoil, Shen Sixing had finally accepted the earth-shattering news that he would one day have five kids.
“I’m great. I’m off to earn you some milk money.”
His tone was as breezy as if he were heading to an office job, not out to murder and cause chaos:
“You stay home and behave. No wrecking the place, no drinking water from the toilet bowl, no messing with the gas stove.”
Shen Yi: “...Why on earth would I play with toilet water?”
“I don’t know—aren’t kids just like that? They’ll play with anything.”
Shen Yi: “I would NOT play with toilet water!!!”
“Really?” Shen Sixing’s reaction was flat and unconvinced. “My little brother used to sneak off when the nanny wasn’t looking and go play with the water in the toilet bowl all the time.”
Shen Yi took two seconds to figure out who his little brother was.
She cracked.
“Shen Sigui?!”
Shen Sixing, hearing the name slip out of her mouth so naturally, said softly: “You get pretty close to him in the future?”
Shen Yi choked on her words for a moment, then murmured, “N-no, not that close.”
No matter how wild her imagination got, she’d never have dreamed that Shen Sigui used to be into playing with toilet water as a kid.
Her impression of her uncle was more like some quietly sneaky, slightly mischievous troll of a person.
Well, then.
Think about it—even the most irredeemable person had a happy childhood, didn't they?
“And most importantly,” he leaned down, his dark eyes soft and utterly unruffled, “don’t go outside. It’s chaotic out there, and easy for someone to snatch you away.”
Every era has its child traffickers, but in Shen Sixing’s time and environment, the criminal trade was especially rampant.
Shen Yi: “I won’t run around, but I have one question—what does you going out to earn money have to do with dressing up like that?”
Shen Sixing lowered his eyes, obviously not about to answer that.
He stood up and checked the dagger hidden in his sleeve, making sure it wouldn’t slip out.
As for why he was dressed like this—it was preparation for a simple assassination job he was about to do.
Impersonating a law enforcement officer to get inside.
…A cop.
That was a pretty decent cover. No one would stop a man in uniform at that place.
But.
Of course, he couldn’t tell her the truth. There was no way he was letting a kid know he did this kind of thing behind the scenes.
Shen Sixing wasn’t sure what image the future him held in her eyes.
Noble and upright?
A kindly father figure?
Who knows.
The kid had said something about “them” being the subjective ones, but had she actually seen him kill someone? No, she hadn’t.
Shen Sixing was certain that, with his personality, he would never want a child to stumble upon a scene like that.
Even now, he’d feel awkwardly embarrassed if a kid found out what he really did behind closed doors.
—Embarrassed.
That was an interesting word.
Killing was just a technical job to him, not a moral issue.
But now that he’d confirmed her identity, he just didn’t want this eight-year-old to know he was going out to kill someone.
Shen Sixing figured he should maintain a slightly more decent image in her eyes.
Even if that decency was nothing but a façade.
“Oh, right,” he added just before heading out the door, “once I go to work and make some money, I’m sending you to school.”
Kids were a burden. Sending her to school was the best option.
He didn’t have enough money to put her in a private academy yet, but the local elementary school would do.
No money? No problem.
Once he killed someone, he’d have money.
“I don’t want to go to school!”
“That’s not up to you.”
Shen Sixing said flatly.
Shen Yi gritted her teeth. “I don’t want to go. You didn’t even finish school either—why should I have to go? That’s not fair!”
Shen Sixing was a dropout. He’d never actually attended school; a private tutor came to the house instead.
He ignored her resistance, finished getting dressed, and walked out the door.
…
Winter wasn’t the rainy season, but when an unexpected downpour came, the already bearable temperature would suddenly turn bone-piercingly cold.
Shen Sixing exhaled softly, his breath forming a white mist that dispersed in the frigid air.
He kept his head down, walking slowly along the street, his cap brim pulled low, the uniform coat wrapped around his lean frame.
He really did look like a young officer who’d just joined the force.
He was mulling over the mission location while multitasking, thinking—
The way Shen Yi had just reacted when she said “you didn’t finish school either,” all defiant and bristling, was honestly kind of amusing.
Shen Sixing found it a little funny. The corner of his mouth curved up, then he pressed it back down.
After all, a killer laughing out loud on his way to a job was far too unprofessional.
The target was a locally prominent businessman who regularly attended a high-end private auction house.
What was being sold were artworks and antiques.
The entry threshold was extremely high; admission required a real-name invitation, and security was handled by a hired private security team.
Shen Sixing couldn't get into that place.
The organizers' screening of attendees was exceedingly strict.
The client gave him a path: part of the auction's security team came from a security company with a long-standing partnership with the police, which had temporarily loaned out a batch of personnel to handle order maintenance and emergency response on the venue's perimeter.
Shen Sixing needed to replace one of those names and blend into that group.
On the night of the auction.
Shen Sixing stood at the employee entrance in that dark blue uniform, along with several others dressed in the same attire.
The brim of his cap was pulled low, and no one gave him a second glance.
This kind of semi-official temporary security staff had high turnover, and they didn't really know each other well.
Shen Sixing looked at the brightly lit auction house and couldn't help but think that Shen Yi might still be freezing in that shabby rental apartment.
For the first time, he felt a resentment toward the wealthy.
Although he too often endured cold and hunger, the fundamental difference was this:
Shen Sixing lived in hardship simply because he had chosen that kind of life for himself.
But Shen Yi's hardship was due to his own inaction and incompetence as a father.
His gaze grew somewhat dim, and soon he casually, as if nothing had happened, shifted his eyes away from the opulent building before him.
...
