Huang Ran slowly leaned back in his chair, exhaling deeply before staring at Sun Fatty with an ashen face. He spoke deliberately, word by word: "I didn't hear you clearly. Say it again…"
Sun Fatty chuckled and said, "Old Huang, take it easy. Honestly, disbanding the Commission isn't such a bad thing. Not to sound harsh, but our kind of work is fundamentally at odds with the prevailing social values. If we slip up even once and expose our work in broad daylight, it would bring disaster to society. Better to settle it ourselves before it comes to that — save ourselves from future regrets."
Huang Ran sneered coldly, "Don't make it sound so nice. You just said our work conflicts with society's values. Then why is it only our Commission that has to disband? You Bureau guys just stand by and watch the show?"
"Don't be so blunt," Sun Fatty replied with a sly grin. "How about this? We won't let you take too big a loss. If your Commission announces its dissolution, I can promise you anything — as long as it doesn't conflict with current mainland laws, I'll make it happen."
"You can make anything happen, huh?" Huang Ran smiled suddenly, his eyes rolling in his sockets before he said, "Then why don't you Bureau disband along with us? That won't conflict with your mainland laws, right?"
"Old Huang, you're crossing the line now," Sun Fatty's smile froze. He squinted at Huang Ran and said, "Except for that condition, I'll agree to anything else."
Huang Ran laughed loudly. "If you agree to that, I'll announce the dissolution of our Commission immediately."
The two men locked eyes, neither yielding. Just when I thought this negotiation was deadlocked, Sun Fatty suddenly slammed his fist on the table and shouted at Huang Ran, "I'm going all in! The Bureau will announce its dissolution in ten days! I'm telling you, if on the eleventh day the Commission is still around or shows up again under a new name, I'll have Yang Xiao stay permanently in Taiwan — whatever happens then, I'm not responsible!"
Yang Jun and I were both startled by Sun Fatty's outburst. I hurried forward and grabbed Sun Fatty's shoulder. "Great Sage, don't fall for their provocation! Think it through before you speak!"
But Sun Fatty shrugged off my hand, glaring at me. "I'm the director. This little patch of land belongs to me — if I say disband, it gets disbanded!" His face was flushed red with excitement, completely deaf to my pleas.
After hearing Sun Fatty's declaration, Huang Ran paused briefly before realizing the situation. With no way out, he said in agreement, "Fine! The Commission will also disband in ten days. But if the Bureau is still around on day eleven, I'll leak everything about you guys to all the major media outlets. If that happens, it's either all of us go down together!"
"Fine!" Sun Fatty stepped out from behind the table and approached Huang Ran. "This time, let's be a bit more elegant — like the ancients, let's seal it with a handclap oath!" He extended his right palm and spat into his palm, then looked at Huang Ran. "Your turn."
Huang Ran glanced at the spit in Sun Fatty's palm, feeling disgusted. Frowning, he said, "What century are we living in? Can we skip this part?"
Sun Fatty glared at Huang Ran. "Are you looking down on me? Or is your heart not in it, meaning you never intended to disband the Commission? I don't trust anything else, but I do trust the old handclap oath! If you don't clap, I'll just unilaterally disband the Commission! I'm not playing games with you!"
Only then did Huang Ran grit his teeth, spit into his own palm, and the two fat men slapped their hands together with a sharp "clap." Sun Fatty immediately turned to Yang Jun and me, saying, "Let's go! Time to go home and tear down the house!"
On the way back to the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation, Sun Fatty kept staring wide-eyed at the scenery outside the car. I tried to talk to him, but unusually, he treated me like air and ignored me completely. The existence or dissolution of the Bureau didn't seem to matter much to the two Yangs—they just politely asked a few questions, and seeing Sun Fatty not responding, they didn't press further.
The whole trip was silent. After arriving back at the Bureau, I originally planned to follow the two Yangs to Room Six, but unexpectedly, Sun Fatty suddenly spoke up, saying, "Lazi, come sit with me for a bit." I had already noticed he wasn't in a good mood all along, but once he softened his stance, I couldn't bring myself to argue.
Following Sun Fatty into his office, I sat down and said, "Great Sage, didn't expect you to fall for provocation this time. Why not do like Old Wu—after all, the Religious Affairs Commission only has Huang Ran on their side. Without any witnesses or evidence, who would believe their words?"
After I finished speaking, Sun Fatty smiled and looked at me, saying, "Lazi, seriously, do you really think I'm falling for their provocations?"
His words surprised me. After a moment, I looked at his grinning, chubby face and asked, "What do you mean? You've planned to dissolve the Bureau all along? You pretended to be provoked by Huang Ran just so you could wait for him to ask you to dissolve the Bureau?"
Sun Fatty stopped smiling and sighed heavily before saying, "Lazi, let me be honest with you. When Lin Feng caused that big commotion at the Bureau, it got way out of hand. The main gate of the Bureau was surrounded by over a hundred armed police and officers for more than ten hours. Sure, our location is a bit remote, but ordinary people passing by aren't blind. Some websites posted photos of the Bureau under siege that day; the situation was out of control. We scrambled to cover it up temporarily, but some media had already started digging into the Bureau's past cases."
I hadn't quite caught what he said and interrupted, "What do you mean by 'up there'? Great Sage, where exactly?"
Sun Fatty pointed at the ceiling and said, "Up at the top…" He sighed again and continued, "This isn't like 20 or 30 years ago. The media are braver and more unruly nowadays. Honestly, if they find out, it'll be a disaster."
He paused, took out a cigarette, handed me one, lit his own, and then continued, "Actually, after that time with Director Old Yang, I also received another notice. The Bureau is to be disbanded within three months. The staff will be reassigned to other public security departments. Two new borderline departments will be established to handle cases similar to what the Bureau currently manages."
This sudden news left me stunned. After a long pause, I reluctantly accepted the reality. Then I couldn't help but feel indignant about Gao Liang's death: "So Director Gao died for nothing? He chose to take that step just to try and save the Bureau."
Sun Fatty sighed heavily again and said, "If Gao Lao Da were still here, he'd definitely do everything he could to keep the Bureau. But Lazi, have you ever thought about whether the Bureau really has any value?"
His last question startled me, and I hesitated to respond. Sun Fatty glanced at me and went on, "The Bureau was the lifelong achievement of Gao Lao Da. The passion he poured into it is beyond what we can imagine. But the truth is, organizations like the Bureau and the Commission can't openly exist in society. Strictly speaking, the Commission is a semi-private religious group, so it's somewhat acceptable. But the Bureau is a bona fide state institution."
He lit another cigarette, inhaled deeply, and continued, "If one day the Bureau's activities become public knowledge, it will fundamentally disrupt society as it is now. This isn't something you, me, or even Gao Liang can bear. Like I said, this isn't 20 or 30 years ago—technology advances every day. It's possible some media outlets have already caught wind of our affairs and are preparing to break the story tomorrow."
I felt a knot in my chest and fell silent, watching Sun Fatty. Suddenly, the exaggerated exchange between him and Huang Ran flashed in my mind. I felt a flicker of suspicion and said, "Great Sage, you and Old Huang secretly settled things, didn't you? The moment you started talking about conditions, he immediately agreed to disband the Bureau. Isn't that a little too coincidental?"
Sun Fatty's trademark smile reappeared as he said, "After our last meeting, we had a secret get-together. Honestly, unlike you and me, Huang Ran was born to inherit the Commission. He's long been tired of the Commission's affairs, but for the sake of his family's reputation, he pretends to care more than anyone. Without his strong recommendation, Hao Zhengyi wouldn't have grabbed the chance to become the chairman. If not for a bunch of elders blocking him, he would have dissolved the Commission long ago. Disbanding the Commission and the Bureau at the same time is also a way to give those elders some face—dragging the Bureau down too so it's not a one-sided loss. But of course, this is still a performance. There were cameras at the club just now. Right now, he's probably yelling at me in front of those elders, pointing at the surveillance footage."
Recalling that scene, I teased Sun Fatty, "You sure acted the part. You looked so serious in the car; I really thought you were regretting the decision to dissolve the Bureau."
"That wasn't for you," Sun Fatty waved his hand, "That was for Yang Xiao. The more serious I look, the more embarrassed he gets about asking for the previous check. Every day I can drag it out is a day I earn a bit more interest."
Just as he finished, his phone rang. Sun Fatty picked it up, spoke a few words, and his expression twisted into one of frustration, "I'm already like this, and you're still asking me for money? Seriously, is this fun for you?"