The two men took their seats on the sofa simultaneously.

Zhang Wan set down two glasses of water, immediately turning on her heel to vanish back into the kitchen.

After a moment of heavy silence, Fu Hu probed tentatively, "Director Li, do you mind if I ask a few questions?"

"Go ahead. Though keep in mind, certain operational details are classified. I'll invoke my right to remain silent if necessary."

"Naturally. I just wanted to ask... when exactly was this National Key Risk Intervention and Execution Bureau established? And what exactly is its mandate?"

"The National Bureau was established thirty years ago. In layman's terms, we handle the forecasting, intervention, mitigation, and active cover-ups of critical, national-level anomaly events. We specialize in neutralizing 'risks beyond the public eye,' acting as the ultimate failsafe for national strategic security."

Fu Hu narrowed his eyes. "You mentioned earlier that my clearance was too low to know about the National Bureau. Why are you dumping all this intel on me right now?"

Su Jin smirked. He picked up his water glass, shooting Fu Hu a sideways glance. "Simple. It won't be long before this agency is declassified nationwide."

"Why..."

Before Fu Hu could press the issue, Su Jin fished a DVD from his pocket and tossed it onto the coffee table.

"Do me a favor and pop this in the player. Relax, it's just a standard movie. You can watch along."

Fu Hu stared at the plastic case, his mind racing, before silently turning to boot up the DVD player.

Su Jin crossed his legs, rested a notebook on the sofa's armrest, and clicked his pen, adopting the posture of a man ready to take dictation.

When Fu Hu turned back and registered the intensely professional setup, his confusion doubled.

"This doesn't concern you," Su Jin said, waving the pen dismissively. "Keep asking, Old Fu. I'll disclose what I legally can. I know barging in here was unorthodox, but we're essentially on the same team. I'd hate for there to be any misunderstandings."

Fu Hu nodded slowly. "You claim to be a Director at the National Bureau, but you look like you're barely in your twenties. A department with that much authority... a rank that high. How does a kid land that chair?"

"I'm actually pushing my mid-thirties; I just have good genetics. But your assessment is correct. Even at thirty-something, holding a Director's badge in my division is highly irregular."

"The rationale behind my promotion, however, is purely pragmatic: assets like me are a statistical anomaly. The operational demands of our division are monumental. It requires an Expert in geopolitical cultures, fluency in multiple dead and active languages, advanced mathematics, theoretical physics, computer science... even behavioral psychology. In the entire country, the number of candidates who meet those metrics can be counted on one hand."

"I just cycled back stateside and needed a temporary safehouse. The Talent Residential Community used to house the old guard, so the grid seemed secure. I honestly didn't expect to be rooming across from a former recruit."

"Hmm..." Fu Hu grunted, utterly stalled out.

A completely unhinged stranger, peddling an invisible government agency.

Despite the ID scan on the phone, his gut was screaming not to trust a single syllable leaving this guy's mouth.

It was bizarre. The entire situation was dripping with red flags.

Even if the bureaucratic logic tracked, he still couldn't swallow the idea of a fresh-faced college kid holding a Director's seat in a black-ops division.

What the hell was he supposed to ask next?

While Fu Hu was busy short-circuiting, Su Jin seized the initiative. "Old Fu, I can see the skepticism written all over your face. Here, take a look at this."

Without warning, he unlocked his Xiaomi 6 and tossed the glass brick directly at the older man.

Fu Hu’s military reflexes kicked in. He snatched it out of the air, immediately examining the casing.

He had clocked the device the moment Su Jin first pulled it out in the hallway.

It practically hummed with bleeding-edge tech. Now that he actually had the hardware in his hands, he wasn't going to waste the opportunity to inspect it.

"What exactly is this? And what kind of encryption is running on the screen?"

"At its core, it's just a mobile phone. However, the OS has been gutted by our tech division and completely overwritten with a proprietary ciphertext that only active agents can parse," Su Jin explained, his tone agonizingly flat.

"The hardware specs integrated into that chassis render every civilian electronic device on the current market obsolete. It was a black-book R&D project spearheaded by a foreign intelligence sector, possessing paradigm-shifting strategic value. My deployment overseas was strictly to exfiltrate the manufacturing blueprints."

Fu Hu scrolled through the encrypted menus, his curiosity peaking. When the screen timed out and locked, he looked up, his eyes narrowing to slits. "This is highly classified intel. You're spilling way too much state-secret bullshit to a civilian!"

Su Jin nodded approvingly. "Excellent. As a former National Bureau prospect, your threat-assessment radar is still sharp. But honestly, it's not worth keeping under wraps anymore. I beamed the schematics back to HQ a year ago. Internal trial production kicked off six months past."

"Once the National Bureau goes public, this specific model will be officially greenlit for the civilian market. Soon, every citizen will be walking around with one, and the international tech sector will absolutely hemorrhage... I give it less than a month before the official launch."

"Are you serious? Bleeding-edge tech like this, and the general public can afford it?" Fu Hu’s pupils dilated, a sudden consumerist greed flaring in his chest. "What's the retail price?"

"Eight to ten grand."

"You think the average citizen can afford an eight-grand phone?"

"Interest-free installments."

"..."

Capitalizing on Fu Hu's brain rebooting over credit mechanics, Su Jin pressed his advantage. "I know you're still connecting the dots. You're suspicious of my credentials, and you can't fathom why a high-ranking operative is slumming it in this building."

"To be entirely transparent, I went off-grid and returned to the country without HQ's authorization. My mission wrapped up ages ago, and my mandatory declassification period ends next month. However, there was a political shakeup at the Bureau; the Deputy Director's seat opened up. That chair belongs to me. But I've been deployed out of Longshan for years, and a few desk-jockeys back at HQ are trying to usurp my promotion. That's why I bypassed the official channels, contacted my loyalists, and established a temporary forward operating base here."

"Bumping into you was a total anomaly; I literally just needed to hijack a television monitor. I don't mind reading you in on the office politics, as long as you maintain strict operational security."

The wariness in Fu Hu's eyes refused to die down. "Are you sure it's not a breach of protocol to tell me all this?"

Su Jin went silent, slouching lazily against the sofa cushions, his eyes locking onto the TV screen. "There's no breach. You're a civilian; you don't have the clearance to affect the internal power struggle anyway. Besides, I didn't survive a deep-cover deployment by showing all my cards. Once I finish decrypting the remaining data packets and hand them over to the executive board, that Deputy Director title is mine."

To punctuate his point, Su Jin held up his notebook.

The handwritten scrawl covering the pages was identical to the cipher on the phone—utterly alien and incomprehensible.

Fu Hu swallowed his words, sinking back into a heavy silence.

The sheer scale of the conspiracy was massive, and it had just face-planted into his living room out of nowhere.

His rational brain screamed that this kid was full of shit; he didn't possess the stiff, bureaucratic aura of a true government stooge. Yet... he couldn't find a single logical hole in the narrative.

The agency's jurisdiction was too vague to fact-check, and the physical props he was producing were so advanced they defied civilian logic.

"Old Fu..." Su Jin murmured, never taking his eyes off the screen. "Meeting like this is a stroke of serendipity, and I've already shown you the man behind the curtain. Right now, my entire domestic network is being audited by internal affairs. If you'd be willing to do some off-the-books legwork for me, I'd consider it a massive personal favor."

"Budget is not an issue. My political cleanup here will take, at most, two weeks. Once the dust settles, if you're looking for a career change, I can authorize a spot for you in the National Bureau's logistics office... starting base salary is over ten grand a month. Plus full federal benefits."

A ten grand starting salary?!

Fu Hu visibly twitched. He leaned in, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial grumble. "Director Li, I suspect... this was your actual objective in renting the unit across from me, wasn't it?"

Su Jin let out a dry chuckle. "Half right. The housing assignment was genuinely a fluke. So, are you willing to accept the contract or not?"

"One last question. Where exactly were you deployed?"

"My geographic coordinates are classified at the highest level. They will never see the light of day." Su Jin waved a hand, projecting an aura of mild disappointment. "But it's fine, Old Fu. If you don't want the risk, decline the offer. I won't strong-arm a veteran."

"Appreciate the candor, Director... uh, have you had dinner yet?"

Su Jin’s pen stopped mid-stroke. He glanced sideways at the older man. "Negative."

"Why don't you stay and eat with us?" Fu Hu offered.

"Wouldn't that be a logistical burden on your household?"

"Not at all! Zero burden! Let me go check the ETA on the food." Throwing one last, deeply conflicted look at Su Jin, Fu Hu practically bolted toward the kitchen.

Sliding inside, Fu Hu quickly pulled the kitchen door half-shut.

Zhang Wan stopped her spatula mid-stir, leaning in immediately. "Well? Who is that kid? What the hell does he want?"

"Shut up! Keep your voice down," Fu Hu hissed. "That kid is seriously suspicious."