Four figures in black rubber jumpsuits crawled on their bellies along the copper ceiling exhaust ducts of the eight-story Golden-Lotus Banquet Hall at ten past three in the morning, carrying wriggling canvas duffel bags strapped to their shoulders.
Below them in the darkened central kitchen, only the amber temperature lights of four sealed stainless-steel cauldrons glowed in the silence as twenty thousand liters of lotus-infused bone stock simmered quietly for the morning award banquet. The canvas bags on the saboteurs’ backs reeked of sewer mud, rot, and chemical bitterness.
The lead saboteur, a scar-faced mercenary known in the underworld as Black Viper, clamped his rubber-soled boots against a ceiling girder. He peered down through night-vision goggles at the gleaming soup vats thirty feet below.
“Dump these fifty sacks of diseased sewer rats and industrial laxatives into the Golden-Lotus soup vats,” Black Viper whispered into his throat microphone. “If tomorrow’s banquet poisons a thousand guests, Lin Mo and his charity group are finished forever.”
“Boss, the locks on the vat lids look heavy,” the second saboteur whispered, unhooking a hydraulic wire cutter from his tactical belt.
“The air vents on top of the lids are two inches wide,” Black Viper hissed. “We don’t need to open the lids. We just pour the liquefied chemical toxin and slip the infected carcass slurry through the mesh vents. By daylight, the heat will dissolve every trace. Nobody will know until people start vomiting blood at noon.”
The four men unzipped their bags. A nauseating stench of rotten sewer filth drifted into the upper rafters.
Down below on the gray ceramic floor tiles, a solitary figure walked between the stainless-steel prep counters.
It was Old Wu, the sixty-year-old deaf janitor.
Old Wu wore a clean gray jumpsuit and blue rubber work boots. He pushed a long cotton mop across the floor in smooth, rhythmic strokes. For forty years, Old Wu had lived in a world of absolute silence, unable to hear words, car horns, or music.
However, over the past twenty-four hours, something extraordinary had taken place inside his body.
Yesterday morning, Grandma Chen had handed him two warm bowls of river-shrimp wontons with pure-heart broth. The gentle medicinal vitality of the lotus seeds had seeped into Old Wu’s bone marrow and nerve endings. His physical senses had sharpened tenfold. While his eardrums remained still, his tactile vibration sense had become as sensitive as a seismic needle.
Old Wu suddenly stopped his mop.
A faint shudder ran through the soles of his rubber boots.
It was not the low, steady hum of the refrigeration compressors. It was a rhythmic, uneven scraping against the overhead metal framework.
Old Wu did not look up. He knew that looking up would warn any intruder.
Instead, the old janitor calmly leaned his mop against a counter. He walked slowly toward a copper support pillar that anchored the main ceiling trusses to the foundation. With quiet deliberation, Old Wu pressed his callused, work-worn palm flat against the cool copper pipe.
The metal hummed against his skin.
Through the vibration of the copper, Old Wu could feel every tiny movement in the ceiling beams.
Four distinct weights. Two hundred and ten pounds on the left girder. One hundred and eighty pounds near the exhaust fan. Two more creeping toward the central flue.
The intruders were directly over Vat Three.
Old Wu’s eyes narrowed. He looked at the four massive stainless cauldrons. Inside those vats was the clean broth that had warmed thousands of honest street cleaners, nurses, and children yesterday morning. To Old Wu, Grandma Chen’s kitchen was not just a workplace. It was a sacred sanctuary where working people were treated with honor.
Old Wu took three quick, silent steps toward the supervisor station near the kitchen door.
On the wall hung a heavy iron control box, newly installed by Master Lu Jian during yesterday’s renovation. Inside the box was a bright red lever labeled with Lu Jian’s hand-painted sign: Emergency Containment Drop.
Old Wu gripped the lever with both hands and pulled it down with all his might.
CLANG!
A deafening metallic roar tore through the quiet kitchen.
High in the rafters, the ceiling catwalk beneath the four saboteurs suddenly gave way. The steel floor plates swung downward on heavy pneumatic hinges.
“What the—?!” Black Viper screamed.
Before any of the four men could grab a support truss, their boots slipped. All four saboteurs and their fifty squirming sacks of poison plummeted through thirty feet of empty air.
They braced for impact against the hard kitchen floor.
Instead, they crashed into a massive cage of five-inch thick, reinforced bulletproof polycarbonate glass.
BANG!
The four men slammed onto the spring-loaded rubber floor of the containment cube. Sacks of sewer muck burst open around them, coating their black suits in foul sludge and screeching sewer rats.
Before they could stand, four interlocking steel-mesh trapdoors slammed shut above them with a violent hydraulic hiss. Heavy magnetic deadbolts locked with four heavy thuds.
The four saboteurs were completely trapped inside a sealed, airtight glass cube in the center of the kitchen.
Black Viper scrambled to his feet, coughing violently from his own sewer stench. He drew a serrated tactical knife and slammed the steel hilt against the transparent wall.
THUD!
The bulletproof glass did not even show a scratch.
Suddenly, the kitchen lights flashed on, flooding the room with blinding white brilliance.
The heavy steel fire doors of the kitchen burst open.
Commander Tie Niu charged into the room, flanked by twenty heavily armed Iron Guard veterans and a dozen municipal police officers with tactical shields and shotguns.
“Hands on your heads! Drop the weapons!” Tie Niu bellowed, his voice shaking the glass cube like thunder.
Behind Tie Niu walked Lin Mo, hands tucked into his overcoat pockets, accompanied by Shen Qiaoqiao and Inspector Chief Wei.
Lin Mo walked up to the edge of the glass cube and tapped his knuckles against the polycarbonate pane. He looked inside at the four men covered in sewer sludge with a deadpan expression.
“You boys woke up very early just to take a bath in sewer water,” Lin Mo remarked calmly. “Next time, if you want free soup, you can just wait for the five-yuan line like everyone else.”
Black Viper wiped foul slime from his face, glaring at Lin Mo through the glass. “You got lucky, Lin Mo! We are professional contractors! You don’t have any proof of who hired us!”
Shen Qiaoqiao stepped forward, holding up a high-precision directional microphone and an audio decoder tablet.
“We have your encrypted digital radio signals, Black Viper,” Shen Qiaoqiao said with a crisp smile. “Your throat microphone broadcasted every single sentence directly to our security server. You identified your target, your methods, and the exact poison you intended to dump into the municipal food supply.”
Inspector Chief Wei signaled his forensic officers. Two officers hooked an airtight vacuum pump to the glass cube’s exhaust valve, siphoning the air while officers prepared handcuffs.
“Attempted mass poisoning of a public culinary festival,” Inspector Chief Wei said, his face dark with fury. “This is classified as domestic commercial terrorism. Black Viper, you and your crew are facing life sentences.”
Black Viper’s knees gave out. He fell onto the sludge-covered floor, trembling in terror.
“Wait! Don’t pin terrorism on us!” Black Viper shouted through the intercom grill. “We were hired! It was Zhao Peng! The young master of Gourmet-King! He paid us five million yuan cash and provided the poison sacks from his warehouse at South Dock Pier Nine! He is waiting there right now for our confirmation call!”
Inspector Chief Wei grabbed his radio. “All tactical units, this is Chief Wei. Revoke Zhao Peng’s bail immediately. Dispatch three SWAT teams to South Dock Pier Nine. Arrest Zhao Peng on charges of organizing domestic terrorism and commercial sabotage!”
“Understood, Chief! Units are rolling!” the radio crackled back.
Lin Mo nodded slowly. Zhao Peng had dug his own grave. This time, no amount of family connections or high-priced lawyers could save him from ten to twenty years behind bars.
Lin Mo turned away from the glass cube and looked across the kitchen.
Standing by the counter, Old Wu held his mop with quiet dignity, watching the police carry out their duties.
Lin Mo activated his [Pure-Heart Eye Lv.1].
[Target: Deaf Janitor Old Wu.]
[Goodness Score: 89/100.]
[Moral Status: Honest, dedicated, protected public safety through exceptional tactile vigilance.]
Lin Mo walked over to Old Wu and offered a respectful bow.
Old Wu blinked in surprise. He waved his callused hands hurriedly, shaking his head as if to say he had only done his duty.
Lin Mo took out a notepad and wrote in clear, bold script:
“Uncle Wu, your sharp senses saved one thousand lives and protected Grandma Chen’s kitchen tonight. You are the true guardian of this sanctuary.”
Old Wu read the note. A warm, shy smile touched his wrinkled face, and his eyes glistened with gratitude.
Lin Mo turned to Su Wan, who had just entered the kitchen with her authorization terminal.
“Su Wan, allocate ten million yuan from our corporate security fund immediately,” Lin Mo announced. “Two million yuan goes directly to Uncle Wu as an extraordinary public safety reward, along with a newly renovated apartment near Old Lantern Street and Dr. Gu’s bone-conduction cochlear nerve restoration at Taichu Hospital. The remaining eight million will provide four hundred thousand yuan in cash bonuses to each of our twenty night-watch guards, and fund Master Lu’s high-precision seismic acoustic sensor grid across the entire complex.”
Su Wan’s eyes sparkled with pride. “Transfer authorized, Chairman Lin. The funds have been disbursed to Uncle Wu and the security team.”
BEEP.
A magnificent celestial chime resonated deep in Lin Mo’s consciousness:
[Ding! Detected spending of ¥10,000,000.00 RMB on Security Whistleblower Old Wu (Goodness: 89/100) & 20 Righteous Night-Watch Guards (Avg Goodness: 88/100)!]
[Target Integrity Verified: Heroic defense of public health, thwarting catastrophic poison attack on 1,000 citizens.]
[Triggered 100x Pure Benevolence System Refund!]
[Received Cash Refund: +¥1,000,000,000.00 RMB!]
[Funds deposited directly into Host Personal Liquid Vault!]
[Personal Liquid Vault: ¥48,500,000,000.00 RMB!]
[Benevolence Merit Points: +1,000,000 BMP | Total BMP: 141,449,528 BMP!]
[Good People Network Expanded: 8,175 Verified Righteous Allies (+25: Old Wu, night-watch guards, and municipal security officers)!]
One billion cash refund, Lin Mo thought, watching his vault balance reach forty-eight point five billion yuan. Spending ten million to protect innocent lives and reward an honest worker, while earning a billion in profit. Doing good is the most unstoppable weapon against evil.
The twenty night-watch guards erupted into cheers. Several burly guards embraced Old Wu, lifting the elderly janitor onto their shoulders in celebration. Old Wu laughed with joy, his chest heaving with pride as the guards patted his back.
Within twenty minutes, Master Lu Jian’s engineering crews had dismantled the glass containment cube, thoroughly sterilized every square inch of the exhaust catwalks, and installed thirty vibration-sensitive acoustic sensors along the main foundation beams.
Not a single speck of dirt had touched the broth cauldrons. The lotus bone stock continued to simmer peacefully, filling the kitchen with its rich, savory fragrance.
At five in the morning, the kitchen doors opened once more.
Grandma Chen, Master Lao Tang, and Little Guo’er arrived with crates of fresh river shrimp and scallions. The morning sun began to cast long golden rays across the avenue outside.
Little Guo’er ran up to Lin Mo, holding a small steamed bun in each hand. “Uncle Mo! Look! Grandma taught me how to pinch the pastry corners today!”
“They look wonderful, Guo’er,” Lin Mo said, accepting one of the buns with a smile. “Today is going to be the biggest festival this street has ever seen.”
Shen Qiaoqiao stepped up beside Lin Mo, holding her mobile phone.
“Chairman Lin, news from South Dock Pier Nine,” Shen Qiaoqiao reported. “SWAT officers surrounded the warehouse at four in the morning. Zhao Peng attempted to escape through a coal barge, but Tie Niu’s Iron Guard cutoff unit trapped him. He is currently in municipal custody. All bail has been formally revoked.”
Lin Mo took a bite of the warm bun. “Good. When someone chooses to poison his neighbors, he earns himself a cold iron cot.”
Outside the banquet hall, the sound of marching drums and brass music began to drift down the avenue.
Over fifty thousand citizens had already arrived for the morning ceremonies, their happy voices filling the cool morning air. Banners hung between the ancient red lanterns, reading: Three-Star Heritage & Civic Gold Plaque Presentation.
Su Wan checked the event itinerary on her tablet.
“Chairman Lin, Elder Gu and the municipal council delegation will arrive at ten o’clock,” Su Wan said. “Everything is in place. But are you sure about the second announcement today?”
Lin Mo looked at the golden rays of dawn touching the tiled roofs of Old Lantern Street. In his mind, he could see the fifty community hospitals, schools, and worker districts across Jiangcheng where honest people still struggled for clean, affordable meals.
“I am completely sure,” Lin Mo said quietly. “Today, we don’t just celebrate one street. We bring pure food to every working corner of Jiangcheng.”
Lin Mo checked his system vault. Forty-eight point five billion yuan. He was only one point five billion away from crossing the fifty-billion milestone.
The grand ceremony was about to begin.