A Valiant Life

“Once he said ‘Cloud Street’, I remembered. This guy is that bad*ss Master Lin from Cloud Street.”

“Oh sh*t, please elaborate. I really don’t know who this Master Lin is.”

“Fine, let me tell you. This guy is the f*cking Prince of Cloud Street, Master Lin. His scallion pancakes are second to none. But this cunning Master Lin only sells ten servings a day. There’s a huge queue every day that stretches from the entrance of the shop to the side of the road. And this isn’t even the most f*cked up part. The most f*cked up part is his fortune-telling. Fortune-telling is supposed to be a scam but this Master Lin’s predictions are always accurate, leaving people with nothing to say. And there was something that happened that you may not know about. A while ago, there was a video. It wasn’t very viral so a lot of people don’t know about it. This Master Lin was actually talking to dogs in the video. He asked the dogs to find a little girl who had been kidnapped. In the end, what left everyone astonished was that the dogs really found her. The three human traffickers who kidnapped her were bitten all over by the dogs. I heard that one of the male human traffickers even got bitten ‘there’ and he became infertile. It can be said that this Master Lin is such a mystical character that he leaves people speechless.”

“^ Are you sure you didn’t just make this up? How could such a mystical person exist?”

“Make this up? Why don’t you just search for it yourself? If I didn’t see the video with my own eyes, I would think that this is a made up story as well. Have you ever seen a hundred dogs charging along a road? That scene will leave you terrified.”

Previously, this incident hadn’t drawn much attention, mainly because the video was too choppy and people simply couldn’t understand what was going on. Eventually, some expert edited the video to make it smoother and people could finally see what was happening. Of course, when the netizens saw the video, they thought that this guy was f*cking awesome, but they didn’t think much else. However, at that moment, those who were watching the broadcast started to discuss enthusiastically and they started to watch the video again.

On stage.

Lin Fan didn’t have any stage fright at all. In fact, he looked very moved. The host couldn’t allow this uncontrolled situation to carry on, so he said, “Hero, could you please share, with the leaders in attendance as well as those viewers watching from their computers, your thoughts at this moment?”

The host was trying to quickly change the topic. He couldn’t just follow Lin Fan’s rhythm. He had to regain his ground.

Lin Fan faced the host and laughed, then said humbly, “Actually, I can’t bear this title of ‘Hero’. To me, I only did what I was supposed to do. If it wasn’t for the thousands of police officers, those children wouldn’t have been found and those human traffickers wouldn’t have been arrested. Therefore, this title of ‘Hero’ should belong to the police officers who battled with those criminals. It is precisely because of their battle in the dark with the criminals that we can have such a bright society. Because of that, I’d still prefer to just be called ‘Master Lin’.”

The host gave a subtle look of approval to Lin Fan. It was well said. Those police officers who heard this all felt that what they had done was worth it.

*Applause!*

Thunderous applause came from below the stage. They were all applauding what Lin Fan had said. Even the leaders were nodding in agreement.

Liang Yong sighed, “Master Lin sure knows how to talk.”

Liu Xiao Tian laughed, “It’s not that he knows how to talk, but he just speaks from his heart.”

Leader Chen of Jiangsu said, “I like this kid. If possible, I want to recruit him to our side. If he doesn’t become a police officer, it would be a waste of his ability.”

Leader He of Anhui laughed and said, “You’re not the only one who has taken a liking to him. I like him too, but this kid doesn’t want to be a police officer. If he was willing, this awareness and attitude of his would get him a good appointment. The only problem is that he’s too young, so it’d be hard for him to convince the masses.”

Leader Shen of Zhejiang said, “If he’s willing to come with me, I guarantee that he’ll be a deputy chief in just three years. Although he’s young, he’s very capable. I just searched on the internet to find out what’s the meaning behind his nickname ‘Master Lin’. If you don’t see it you wouldn’t know, but once you see it, you’ll be impressed.”

Leader Chen asked curiously, “Elder Shen, what did you see?”

Leader Shen chuckled, “See for yourself.”

…

The host was in admiration of Lin Fan, “Alright, Master Lin. This next question isn’t asked only by me, but on the way here, many people asked me this question. Chief Liu said that at that time, you saw the leader of the human traffickers on Golden-Red Road. But how did you know for sure that he was the human trafficker?”

Indeed, when this question was asked, the audience became very attentive.

The reporters also watched unblinkingly.

The viewers of the broadcast also gathered their focus and watched intently.

Lin Fan laughed on the inside. It looked like it was storytelling time again. Unknowingly, he had started to like telling stories.

The host asked suspiciously, “Master Lin, could it be that there’s something you’d rather not say?

Lin Fan waved his hand. “Of course not. I’m just putting together my thoughts. I’m thinking of how I should put this.”

The host nodded. The crowd wasn’t impatient either.

In the broadcast room.

“Sh*t, I’m convinced. I’m really convinced. I just watched the video. This Master Lin can actually talk to dogs. There weren’t any signs of the video being a fake.”

“Incredible. So this isn’t the first time Master Lin has tackled human traffickers. He had already started before this.”

“What kind of method did Master Lin use to see through that human trafficker?”

“Curious.”

“I’m curious too!”

The video of Master Lin commanding the dogs was getting more and more viral at that moment. It was being shared at an alarming rate on Weibo as well. After linking it to that day’s happenings, the video instantly blew up.

Then, Lin Fan cleared his throat and started, “This matter is a bit complicated to explain. In fact, it’s rather mysterious. As everyone knows, my side occupation is fortune-telling. What we believe in is ‘the oneness of humanity and nature’. Much like the ‘Wang’ (Wang means Observation in Chinese) of Chinese medicine, in metaphysics, we have a theory of ‘Wang’ as well. When I saw that Wang Shen at that time, I felt that something wasn’t right. Judging from his physiognomy, I felt that this man in front of me was not a good person. Of course, this isn’t something that can be seen by anyone. I’m afraid I’m the only one on this Earth who can see it.”

“In fact, our success this time was all thanks to Chief Liu. If it wasn’t for his trust in me, I’m afraid influences from outsiders would have interfered and allowed Wang Shen to escape.”

The reporters from China Central Television gasped in surprise, “This is crazy talk, we can’t report this!”

However, to the other reporters, this scene was freaking ‘6’.

The broadcast room was in an uproar as well. This method that Master Lin talked about was insane. Was he really not lying?

The host didn’t want to accept what Master Lin said. It was too unreal. He immediately changed the topic as he asked curiously, “Master Lin, you said that during the capture of Wang Shen, there was interference from outside?”

Lin Fan blinked, “Yeah. You don’t know this, but at that time, Wang Shen instantly took out his phone and called one of our leaders of Shanghai. That leader immediately asked us to release him. In the end, Chief Liu and I thought ‘This guy isn’t even a police leader, why should we listen to him?’, so we ignored him.”

Liu Xiao Tian, who was sitting below the stage, was nearly moved to tears.

Master Lin, you really are my big brother. To not forget about me, you must really care about me.

Meanwhile, those Shanghai leaders started to whisper among themselves. They were all wondering who that leader was. To do something so daring.