strong

Lou sai, all our sashimi comes freshly sliced. You don't get fresher fins than that. All our finballs are hand-kneaded, too. You don't get chewier balls than that. Line up in the back there.

Lou...

Waai Fu?

I'm delivering something for Uncle Lee. Just passing by.

You've had your stall here the last couple days? No wonder I haven't seen you.

Th-The docks get lots of traffic. Finballs sell like hotcakes here.

The only ones around at this hour are workers on their way home. You sure you can move more finballs here than the tourist spots?

Never mind. You're about to close up, right? Let's head back together. I'll wait for you.

Uh... I'm okay...

Huh? What's wrong?

N-Nothing. Well... Waai Fu, I... I've got something for you.

I, well, it's a graduation present...

A graduation present? <i>Now?</i>

Stop by my place when you have time. There's a spare key under the doormat.

There's a big box in the bedroom. It's all in there, along with a couple things I wanted to tell you...

I've had it prepared for a while, but after you graduated, you went to Shangshu and Yumen. I haven't had a lot of chances to give them to you, since you were hardly ever in Lungmen.

Don't forget to stop by.

I should probably say thank you... but this is really weird. Who makes a girl fetch her own present?

Yeah, well... Say, isn't it your birthday on Saturday? Let me take you to the movies, and I'll bring the graduation present along with the one for your birthday.

You go home and get some rest now. I'll meet you at the mall tomorrow morning.

Ahem, lou sai.

You selling your finballs or not?

Oh, deoi m zyu.

An order of finballs, double spice, yeah? Coming right up.

Sure.

Your finballs.

That's the friend you said knows her kung fu, right? Surname Waai?

Yeah.

And she just graduated?

Yeah.

I'm thinking I could let her join the gang. A talented girl with solid moves. You don't get help like that easy.

Don't be stupid, Ah Wei.

I don't want her getting mixed up in this.

Alright... You're still worried.

You don't trust me, huh? I told you already. We've got everyone here from the highest echelon to the bottom rung in our pockets. As long as these goods make it through the docks safe tonight, they'll disappear into the slums tomorrow morning. Nothing will happen.

Say you toss some limestone into the river ahead of us. When it's all dark out, who'll notice the bubbles on the surface?

I'm just a little nervous.

Yeah, I get it. It's your first time. You'll get used to it.

I told you. There is no next time.

Fine, fine. How's prep work going for your first and last time, then?

The driver, inspector, and court clerk are all old friends, and I've already talked to them.

Tonight, all the cargo ships entering port will, <i>coincidentally,</i> have to go through a monthly inventory check and sorting, and because of the huge amount of cargo, from 10:00 to 10:30, the port will temporarily halt inspections of incoming cargo ships.

Have your ship come in at 10:15. You have fifteen minutes to unload your goods.

Have those ships greet us.

You don't trust me?

This has nothing to do with that, Jaye. Show me.

How do you want them do it?

Have the ship furthest to the left in the docks blink twice.

Uncle Fung, turn the searchlight on and off twice.

Let me hear the rightmost ship's whistle. Let's see if it's loud enough.

Big Cheung, blow the whistle twice for me, please.

And have the ship in the middle head out for a quick spin?

Siu Kai, sorry. Help me out here.

I heard you guys... Heading out this late at night... You know that favor I owe you? We'll call it even with this.

Jaye, you may just be a seafood hawker, but you're the most reliable, promising seafood hawker in all of Lungmen!

Remember what I told you when we were kids? When the two of us work together, anything's possible.

Even a simple drink has uses beyond imagination.

They're all good guys. They have no idea what they're getting mixed up in.

I mean, remember what the adults in the neighborhood used to say when we were kids? 'There's no good or bad. There's only relationship.' Lungmen is a place where we talk relationship.

That's a whole 'nother thing.

Anyway, I made the right call coming to you.

Twenty days earlier...

Phew—

Lou sai, can I trade this for an order of finballs?

Sorry, I'm closed for the day—

The man sets an empty can down on the cutting board in front of Jaye.

The entire bottom side of the can is cut off, and the can is cut twice along an axis and bent outward into a curve, revealing its dark, silver interior.

It looks like a crude flower or something.

Ah Wei?!

Hey, Jaye. Been a while.

It really is you! When did you get back? How did you find me? It's been at least a decade since the last time we saw each other, right? Where did you go after you left Lungmen?

I came looking for you right after I made my way back here. As for how I found you...

Don't forget you took on two whole gangs all by yourself. Everybody in Lungmen knows you. They call you 'stone-faced finball bossman,' 'ice-cold Jaye,' and stuff.

That was just an accident... Stop making fun of me.

The man picks up the carved can, on which the light of the street is faintly reflected.

I didn't think you'd still remember.

Of course I do.

When we were in third grade, you brought a bunch of empty cans home with you, and your mom scolded you for bringing back trash. But then you used them to make little trinkets like this, fixed the antenna, and got the broken TV working again.

Metal strengthens signals, and I was just tinkering.

Ever since, you scoured the alleyways and collected empty cans. One day, you would make an incense holder. The next day, a communications terminal. You saved your family lots of money.

I even took you in as my goon. You followed me everywhere.

Yeah, our houses were right next to each other. The neighbors liked to compare us, but they always complimented you, said you'd do great things when you grew up. I was jealous.

Not like me... I'm not nearly as bright, so all I could do was learn how to make finballs from Uncle Tung.

So, are you just visiting, or are you staying for good this time?

Nah, I'm staying.

Great! I've been helping clean your place. It's in pretty good shape. Just move some furniture, toiletries, and stuff in and you can start...

Yeah, Jaye, I need your help.

Huh?

I brought a shipment of goods back to Lungmen to sell.

Nice! So you're in business now. Lungmen's pretty strict with inspections, but I can help you run them by the L.G.D.

My goods aren't on the L.G.D.'s list of approved imports and exports.

Y-You're smuggling?!

Weapons? Originium products? Illegal drugs? What's with the hands. Is that some kind of signal? I-I don't know what you're getting at.

Nobody knows about this. We've been planning it for a while. It's all under wraps, I guarantee.

Besides, the risk and return are proportional. Jaye, I know you know the guys at the docks.

I've been away from Lungmen for over a decade. I don't know the place anymore. I need money, and I need to do this deal to get back on my feet. You're the only one who can help.

No, I'm not doing it. You shouldn't, either.

Oh yeah. Why did you come around in the end again?

It's ten after ten... The ship is about to come in.

Where are the guys picking up the merch? Have them stand by at the port. We've only got fifteen minutes.