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The drinker recognized the boy as a child from a neighboring household and asked curiously, “Who gave this to you?”
“Some older brother. Don’t know him.” The boy turned and ran off as soon as he finished speaking, his mouth still bulging with food. He had earned only three pieces of crisp candy for the errand and had no interest in standing around chatting with the man.
The drinker took the slip of paper and glanced at it. It was no wider than two fingers, and on it was written only one sentence: “Shouldn’t you be returning the turtle pearl to me by now?”
The message was so lacking in context that it left him completely baffled.
He cast a suspicious glance down the alley, then drew back into the courtyard and shut the door.
His companion asked, “Who was it outside?”
“No idea. Someone had a child deliver a note for Tong Wei.”
The inner room door creaked open, and someone came striding out in haste. “Give it to me.”
The man wore a face covering, and his voice was slightly hoarse.
He snatched the note from the drinker’s hand, read it twice, and his eyebrow rose.
The drinker asked, “Is it really for you?”
“What business is that of yours?” The man turned and hurried back inside, slamming the door behind him.
From beginning to end, he had not looked at either of them even once.
The drinker opened his mouth as if to say something,...
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