Chapter 85: Reunion

Qin Qing admired Liu Simin’s composure. She believed what Qin Qing said and trusted that an accident was about to happen nearby.

And yet, in the midst of evacuation, she still had the leisure to chat casually with Qin Qing.

The bodyguards had all been sent out. Liu Simin, carrying the dog, took the lead and made way against the flow.

Qin Qing followed behind her, seeming rather useless in comparison.

Pulled along by Mumu’s leash, she was led into the safe zone.

The bodyguards stood there too, along with Liu Xingchen.

Liu Xingchen clapped for her mom and said, “I want a hug too.”

Mumu was set down, still a little reluctant, rubbing against Liu Simin’s leg and completely ignoring the frail little human beside him.

Qin Qing understood him well—he just wanted to be held again. He even left some dog hair on the hem of her coat.

Fortunately, Ms. Liu wasn’t about to argue with a dog.

As the two kids played, the adults focused on the noise coming from the escalator.

They could already hear arguments from the bottom of the escalator.

It seemed the bodyguards had clashed with people waiting in line.

Where they were standing wasn’t high enough to see the bodyguards—only the escalator itself was visible.

The time was now 21:08.

In the portion of the escalator that Qin Qing could see, a large section had already been cleared of people.

She exchanged a glance with Liu Simin, and both let out a sigh of relief.

Regardless of the process, at least the result was good—they had successfully stopped people from getting on.

At that moment, Qin Qing saw a mall security guard with a walkie-talkie heading toward the escalator, likely having heard the commotion. She worried the bodyguards’ cover would be blown and they’d no longer be able to block passengers so forcefully.

“Professionals are here,” Liu Simin reminded Qin Qing.

A group of staff members came rushing from the plaza.

But with so many people around, they couldn’t run.

A stranger in a police uniform at the front spoke into his walkie-talkie: “Arriving at the scene in fifty meters. Observation shows some civilians are assisting with order; the upward escalator is now 50% cleared and will soon be fully empty.”

The situation was still under control.

However, the officer with the walkie-talkie suddenly narrowed his eyes and said again, “New development—someone has broken through the blockade and gotten on the escalator.”

Then he dashed forward.

Qin Qing looked and saw a young man standing alone in the cleared section of the escalator, swearing.

It was the same guy who’d walked without looking and bumped into her earlier.

What an idiot.

Unlike before, his System Panel was now gray instead of black.

Three minutes earlier.

21:04.

Bodyguards Ah Da and Ah Wei had received orders to stop people from getting on the upward escalator.

They blocked the way forcefully: “Escalator malfunction. Needs maintenance. The upward escalator is shut down. Do not board.”

Reactions among those in line varied.

“It’s shutting down? Let me get on first before it stops,” someone said, trying to squeeze past them, only to be firmly pulled back.

“It’s stopping? You’ve got to be kidding. If this one’s out, it’ll take half an hour to walk the detour up the street.”

“Exactly. All the roads around here are jammed today. No way to drive through. You expect us to walk?”

“Don’t you know it’s New Year’s Eve? You should’ve done a maintenance check earlier. No wonder everyone says this mall’s service keeps getting worse.”

No matter what the crowd said, Ah Da and Ah Wei held their ground, not letting anyone through.

In a race against time, persuasion was far less effective than hard results.

Soon, despite the verbal abuse, Ah Da and Ah Wei successfully cleared out a large section behind them using their bodies as a blockade.

People already on the escalator turned around to watch the commotion below.

21:05.

Bodyguard Ah Qiang approached security personnel patrolling the mall and explained the situation, requesting an emergency shutdown.

The two patrolling security guards were startled: “Did someone get caught in the escalator?”

Ah Qiang: “Not yet. One of our team is a professional—she predicted a malfunction. If the escalator continues to run, passengers will be in danger.”

Hearing there hadn’t been an accident, the guards relaxed.

Still, they didn’t dare take it lightly and contacted their security manager.

The security manager was also startled, thinking something had happened—turns out it was just a customer report. They got all sorts of strange complaints every day.

He was actually a little annoyed. Working during the holidays already sucked, and now this? He thought the two guards were incompetent—this kind of issue should’ve been handled with protocol and deflection, not escalated to him.

But since he’d routinely said “contact me if there’s any issue,” he couldn’t really lash out.

So he just said, “Wait a bit, I’ll escalate this.”

It was all routine anyway. Since it came to him, he routinely contacted the engineering manager. But the engineering manager didn’t pick up.

The security manager thought, See? Someone even more negligent than me.

But with the atmosphere this tense, if something did happen, he’d be held responsible.

To cover himself, he contacted the mall’s vice general manager, who oversaw property management and was his direct superior.

He adjusted his tone, furrowed his brow, and anxiously reported: “Manager Zhou, urgent situation. A customer claiming to be a professional says there’s a malfunction in our main escalator. Continued operation could be dangerous. They’re asking for an emergency shutdown. Yes, I’ve confirmed nothing’s happened yet—just a guess. I tried contacting engineering but no answer. I’m really anxious. Manager Zhou, what should we do?”

Manager Zhou had a short fuse.

“Claiming to be? You know it’s just a claim. A few days ago, some old man claimed to be the father of our GM and tried to dine and shop for free—did you believe him too?”

“Doesn’t seem like an ordinary customer. Said she’s a ‘Ms. Liu’ and brought a business card.”

Manager Zhou: “Nowadays ten people go out, seven of them call themselves ‘executive’ something.”

The security manager flattered, “You’re right. But with engineering not answering, I got nervous. I don’t understand their stuff, so I had to consult you.”

“Why aren’t they answering? Didn’t I stress before the holidays to keep phones on?” Manager Zhou huffed and said, “Engineering told me just before the holidays they checked all the escalators last week. How could there be a problem so soon? If we shut it down casually and get a flood of complaints, will you handle that? Don’t be rigid—use your head. Be flexible. Have some vision.”

“Yes, yes. With your guidance, I understand. I’m not flexible enough—just diligent.”

Manager Zhou said nothing more, only added, “Once you reach engineering, tell them to report to my office after the holiday to explain why they didn’t answer the phone. I’ve been tolerant—just asking them to keep phones on during the break. If they can’t do that, no more holidays, they can all stay in the office on duty.”

“Yes, of course. I’ll let them know.”

After hanging up, the security manager smiled faintly.

Then, changing his tone, he told the guards: “I consulted with Manager Zhou. The escalator’s fine. Just do your jobs as usual.”

Standing next to the guards was the much taller Ah Qiang, who felt some pressure: “Boss, should we at least call the engineering team to take a look?”

“What for? Manager Zhou said it’s fine. Why stir things up? Wait until the holidays are over.”

Without waiting for more questions, the security manager hung up. Muttering to himself: Blockheads. No wonder they’ll always just be security guards.

Ah Qiang, having overheard the attitude from the mall’s side, realized they weren’t going to cooperate and would only deal with this after New Year’s.

He didn’t press the issue further and planned to go support Ah Wei and Ah Da.

The two guards watched him storm off and, feeling weary, followed while shouting, “Hey! Don’t touch that escalator on your own—that’s illegal and you’ll go to jail!”

Then they saw Ah Wei and Ah Da arguing with customers.

Worried, they drew their rubber batons and pointed them at the much larger bodyguards, warning, “You’re disrupting mall order—we’re authorized to use force.”

The other person used a walkie-talkie to call a colleague patrolling another section.

The security guards wore uniforms, while the bodyguards wore suits.

Customers recognized uniforms more. When they heard what the security guard said, they realized the person who had just blocked them from using the elevator was an impostor posing as mall staff. They were furious.

Those who had previously hesitated now also began to accuse Ah Da and the others. The angry queue started to violently attack the human wall formed by the three bodyguards.

Ah Da felt something poke his elbow and reflexively loosened his grip. When he came back to his senses and tried to stretch out his arms again to block the crowd, he realized a young man had already broken through and gotten onto the elevator.

The young man held a wooden stick in his left hand, flipped Ah Da the finger with his right, flashed a mocking smile, and mouthed a word. Judging by the lip movement, it was: “idiot.”

Ah Da held onto the handrail. The brothers supported each other to stand more steadily under the crowd’s pressure.

9:10 p.m.

The first group of duty officers arrived.

The leader, holding a loudspeaker of unknown origin, shouted as he walked: “Step aside, police.”

They wore uniforms—more convincing than the security guards’.

As soon as they appeared, the pressure on Ah Da and the others immediately eased.

The crowd automatically made way for the officers.

They walked to the escalator and stood in two rows, hands behind their backs, legs apart, making no other movements. The crowd naturally stepped back.

The man with the loudspeaker announced, “This upward escalator is malfunctioning. Emergency shutdown and maintenance will be conducted. Those in the back, please stop approaching. Please cooperate with my colleagues in dispersing and redirecting.”

There was a stir in the crowd.

“Is it really broken?”

“So those guys were telling the truth?”

“Wasn’t the security saying it was fake?”

“Are you stupid? Of course you listen to the police, not the security.”

The crowd began retreating in an orderly manner under the officers’ direction.

9:11 p.m.

Lin Feng arrived with the second group of officers.

He saw Qin Qing and ran over. “How is it? Not too late, right?”

“Just in time.” Qin Qing gave a thumbs-up.

Lin Feng said, “We’re currently organizing the crowd for evacuation. We’ve contacted the mall manager, who is on the way.” He checked his phone. “We’ve also located the on-call staff from the engineering department. Repairs will begin shortly.”

Panting heavily, Lin Feng looked at the space gradually clearing at the base of the escalator and said, “Good thing you discovered the issue in time—no one got hurt.”

Qin Qing looked at a certain spot on the elevator. “Not necessarily.”

“What?”

The system panel for that young man on the escalator was still gray.

Why was it still gray—and only his?

Qin Qing quickly got the answer.

After the police made the announcement, they found the emergency button and shut down the elevator.

At that moment, those who had gotten on earlier were close to the top—just a few more steps.

Only that young man was stuck right in the middle—not going up or down.

He panicked. “What’s going on? I have something urgent! At least wait until everyone on the elevator gets to the top before shutting it down!”

But the world doesn’t revolve around one person’s wishes. No one paid him any attention.

Anxious to draw focus to himself, he didn’t watch his step—and somehow managed to trip himself.

This was on stairs.

He spread out his limbs and tumbled downward, screaming in pain the whole way—it hurt just to watch.

Liu Xingchen peeked through his mother’s fingers and saw part of the scene. “Not as graceful as a panda rolling downhill.”

He was immediately scolded by Liu Simin. “What are you saying, kid? Who taught you to gloat when others are suffering?”

Liu Xingchen stuck out his tongue and quickly apologized. “I was wrong, Mom. I just said it without thinking. He bumped into Auntie earlier and didn’t apologize.”

Qin Qing patted his head. “That’s not how it works.”

She said no more.

Once the police took over, Ah Da and the others withdrew.

Qin Qing told Liu Simin to take the child away. “It’s too chaotic here.”

She herself followed Lin Feng to the escalator.

The young man hadn’t fallen all the way down. He was hanging head-down midway, groaning in pain.

In his condition, no one dared to move him.

They had to wait for medical personnel to carry him away before the elevator could be repaired.

Qin Qing checked his health status.

Multiple joint injuries, fractures, skin abrasions, soft tissue bruises. He’d probably be bedridden for several months.

The elevator had already been shut down—his injury could’ve been avoided. This was entirely self-inflicted.

Still, it wasn’t all bad. At least it changed his previously certain fatal outcome.

The on-call engineer arrived to inspect the escalator and, drenched in cold sweat, said with lingering fear, “The gear in the reducer was damaged. Thankfully we stopped it in time. If it had run a little longer, it would’ve caused an abnormal output torque, ultimately leading to uncontrolled reverse movement of the escalator.”

The mall general manager had just arrived and nearly needed emergency heart medication after hearing that.

If the escalator had really gone into reverse with so many people on it, the sudden inertia could have thrown people backward, leading to a mass stampede.

If that had happened—

Never mind keeping his job—he might’ve ended up in jail for mismanagement.

He thanked the police profusely and comforted the customers.

Deputy GM Zhou and the security manager arrived embarrassingly late. As for the engineering manager, he was still unreachable.

After the police showed up, two guards had already notified the security manager, who then contacted Deputy GM Zhou.

But tonight was New Year’s Eve and traffic was gridlocked. By the time they arrived, the mall management had already handled everything. For these subordinates who were supposed to manage such incidents directly, he didn’t even bother to look at them.

Deputy GM Zhou’s legs felt weak. He figured—he was probably done for…

A potential disaster had been averted. Other than the one who brought it on himself, no one was hurt.

Qin Qing received a large amount of experience points and some merit.

Who would’ve thought she’d earn something during the New Year?

She completed another patrol and found nothing unusual—not even a single pickpocket.

Ah Da came down to escort Qin Qing to the revolving restaurant upstairs.

Now, the burly man looked at Qin Qing differently.

Compared to earlier, when he was polite on the surface, he now showed genuine respect.

They took the building’s scenic elevator this time.

As the elevator rose, they could see the outside view. Mumu squealed excitedly.

Sharing the elevator cabin, Ah Da seemed uneasy, as if he had something to say but didn’t know how to start.

Qin Qing spoke first: “Thank you all just now. If it weren’t for you holding the front line, the officers might not have made it in time.”

“It’s nothing. Just doing our job. Ms. Liu already gave us a big holiday bonus. She even said we’ll get double pay this month.”

Wow—what a generous boss.

Ah Da occasionally rubbed his right elbow—likely bruised from earlier when that young man hit him.

It wasn’t a serious injury.

Qin Qing said, “The mall manager also gave a reward. I hold a public position and can’t accept it, but I made sure your share will be sent to Ms. Liu’s company. Be sure to collect it.”

After she said that, she felt like she hadn’t done much herself.

So she added, “I’m a fortune teller. You all worked hard today. I’ll give each of you a free reading. Anything you want to ask?”

“Yes!”

Ah Da’s voice was especially loud—no hesitation at all.

Mumu was startled and twitched her ears.

Apparently, this was what Ah Da had struggled to bring up.

He said, “Master, I want to find someone.”

Qin Qing had already seen his file.

“A woman?”

Ah Da gave a sheepish smile. “Can’t really call her a girl—we’re about the same age. She should be nearing forty now. We were together when we were teens. I was a poor nobody back then, and her family disapproved. They tried to marry her off to some rich cripple. I was working away from home and didn’t know any of this. When I went back later, I found out she had run away to the city I was working in to find me. But we didn’t have phones back then, and we lost contact just like that.

“She never went back home after that. I’ve been looking for her for years but never found her. Her family never even registered her for a household ID because of the one-child policy, so there’s no record. I just want to know if she’s still alive. As a woman out in the world, she must’ve suffered a lot. But she was such a good person—she probably has a kid nearing adulthood by now. If that’s the case, if I could just find her, see her from afar, know that she’s safe and happy, I’d be satisfied.”

Qin Qing did indeed find a woman of the same age with a very high intimacy level on Ah Da’s Character Relationship Map. But she couldn’t reveal the name directly, so she asked for Ah Da’s birth date and time, as well as the time and direction of their last meeting.

After attending some small-group lessons at Baiyun Temple, she now looked more convincing when playing the part.

She made a show of doing some calculations, then asked, “The person you’re looking for—does the total number of strokes in her name add up to the number of unity, like one or eleven…?”

Before Qin Qing could continue listing possibilities, Ah Da quickly responded, “Yes, her name is Wang Fang, exactly eleven strokes.”

Then he asked excitedly, “Master, have you figured out where she is?”

Ah Da: !!!

“Oh, if it’s her, she should be close by. Probably also celebrating the new year nearby,” Qin Qing said mischievously. “And she’s still unmarried, too.”