As he walked, he thought; as he thought, his heart ached. Nothing in the world was sadder than the sight of familiar things unchanged while the beloved one had long since given her heart elsewhere. While Xiao Shu was lost in memories, the alley unexpectedly ended, opening onto a garden square about two meters wide. His home was just south of that square. Just as he was about to step out, something flew from nowhere and rolled, tumbling, to his feet.

He looked down, and Xiao Shu gasped. The round object, tangled in a shock of coarse, black hair, was a human head, slick with fresh blood. Instinctively, he backed away several steps, retreating to the corner of the alley, pressing himself against the side wall to hide. Not long after the head rolled in, police officers followed, dragging a body bag. One officer sighed heavily, unzipped the bag, and placed the severed head next to the corpse inside. "Brother," he murmured, "it's better to make the journey whole. Stop doing wicked things in the future." A colleague came up behind him, and together they dragged the bag toward the car. As they pulled it, the second officer asked, "How many is this today?" "Maybe the twentieth-odd. Squad Four and Five's vehicles are already full." "I used to think being a cop meant catching crooks. Now we’re professional morticians, sweeping up bodies across the city." "That’s not so bad, is it? Morticians don't risk their lives."

Only after the two men were far away did Xiao Shu creep out from the alley's shadow. He glanced toward the square; save for an elderly rag-picker sitting on the steps, it was deserted. He trotted over to the old woman, breathless, and managed to ask, "Grandma, do you know how that person the police just dragged away died?"

"What?" The old woman’s hearing wasn't great. Seeing a young man lean in close to speak, she cupped a hand around her ear. "Speak up!"

"How did that person die just now?" Xiao Shu formed his hands into a funnel around his mouth and shouted.

"Oh," this time the old woman understood. Raising her voice to match his, she replied, "Didn't see. He was trying to snatch what I’d picked up, and then his head just dropped off. I was too scared to move for ages. The police told me to sit here on the steps and rest a bit. I found five gold rings today, over by the jewelry shop opposite the square." As she spoke, the old woman stuck out her left hand, grinning widely to show Xiao Shu. Xiao Shu leaned in for a closer look; they were indeed five dazzling, pure gold rings. Remembering the incident with the gold chain, he shook his head, urging the old woman to put the rings away and stop showing them to strangers. Perhaps showing off wealth was an ingrained habit that people her age couldn't break.

Finding nothing useful from the old woman, Xiao Shu turned to leave. However, before he could take a full step, the old woman grabbed the cuff of his trousers and yanked him back.

"I’ll show you something interesting. You’re the only one who saw my rings and didn't get greedy. Since you’re like that, I should repay you." Saying this, she got up and took the lead, carrying a dirty sack. Not knowing what she was up to, Xiao Shu had no choice but to follow slowly behind.

They rounded the square and stopped in front of the entrance to a small clinic. The shops next door had been smashed up haphazardly, but this one's sign was straight, and the entrance clean, looking markedly different. The old woman pushed open the glass door, gesturing for Xiao Shu to enter first. Inside, it turned out to be a small clinic treating colds and flu. There was no complex medical equipment, only medicines and syringes neatly arranged inside a glass counter. Along the wall were six reclining chairs and four iron IV stands, capable of accommodating five or six patients receiving intravenous drips simultaneously.

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