Red Light

Is and Isn't

Lan Wangji waited patiently at a small table in the corner of a coffee house not much bigger than the table. He favored the location due to the quality of their jasmine green tea and the quiet.

His second cup of tea sat steaming before him as Yu Bin entered. Lan Wangji caught the eye of a server and nodded. The server approached and unobtrusively took Yu Bin's order, an Americano with a shot of espresso. He smiled hesitantly at the silent detective. "It was a long day."

"Mn.", was the only response he got as Lan Wangji sipped his tea.

After the coffee was delivered and Yu Bin had several well deserved swallows, Lan Wangji began.

"I need to find the man I put in my car last night. I am considering doing surveillance in the area we found the body. As you sometimes work in that area, I am wondering if you can help me find a way to... blend in with local inhabitants."

Yu Bin almost snorted his coffee. He coughed and looked at the man seated across from him. Calm. Cool. Collected. Clean. They all applied. As did Couture. There was a good chance his trench coat cost more than Yu Bin's monthly salary.

"Are you sure, sir? You um don't really have the right um look for that part of town. " Yu Bin sighed in relief. He thought he had handled that nicely and gave himself a mental pat on the back.

"I am completely aware of this. That is why I need your help. Who is someone no one pays attention to? Is there a group that is effectively invisible or ignored?" 

'Who is ignored...' Yu Bin thought for a few moments as he went back to sipping his coffee. "I think the best option for you is a beggar."

The detective's eyebrows lifted. The beat cop hurried to explain.

"Nobody who lives or works there has money except for the pimps. They wouldn't give a yuan to their grandmother to save her life. The um customers aren't interested in being kind. They are there for a thrill. It's not a profitable area so there are no organized groups running the beggars. You won't have to worry you are invading someone else's turf."

The detective was impressed. Yu Bin was a goldmine of information and had carefully laid out his reasoning. While being a beggar wasn't appealing in the slightest, getting the information he wanted was.

"What should I do to look the part of a beggar?" A sip of jasmine tea.

Yu Bin looked at him critically. "A new wardrobe and some cardboard. I'll coach you on how to act, sir." He slugged down the rest of his coffee.  "Shall we go shopping?"
~~~
It had been what Yiling now called a "normal" night. He scoffed at the description. Four johns had sauntered their way into his room and bought the fantasy. Thankfully, no one wanted anything exotic.

He turned the red light off and pulled the curtain closed. A click and the door was locked. He had made it through another night.

He blessed Mo Xuanyu again for teaching him how to survive.

Another shower and he was laid out on his mat continuing the book he had read in the window. If there was a better way to hide from his present life, he didn't know what it was.

Slowly,  sleep over took Yiling. The battered copy of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings fell to his chest but he never let it go.

~~~
Yu Bin had taken the detective across town to a small thrift store. There was less chance of it being known the fastidious detective was shopping for second hand clothes. Definitely safer.

He had watched Lan Wangji's evident distaste at the clothing. He had even sniffed some of them and looked sharply at the poor beat cop. Yu Bin sighed. This was going to be harder than he thought.