Qin Fen

At twenty-one, Qin Fen harbored a secret ambition that went completely against his parents' wishes. He wanted to be a hero. He didn't want to be the wandering, aimless sort of hero. His goal was specific: first, become a constable. Next, solve a massive case. Finally, bring peace to the land and go down in history. Logically, going down in history should have been the hardest part. But for Qin Fen, just taking the first step to become a constable was as hard as climbing to the heavens. Who told him to be born to parents who ran a stationery shop selling the Four Treasures of the Study? The elder Qins were minor scholars in their hometown and naturally hoped their only son would be well-read and eventually inherit the family business. Unfortunately, Qin Fen was completely incapable of sitting still. The moment he opened a book, his mind would wander miles away in less time than it takes a stick of incense to burn. His parents were frantic. They tried all the bizarre motivational tactics they read about in ancient texts, like tying his hair to a ceiling beam or pricking his thigh with an awl. They even moved three times just to live next door to the scholars who frequented their shop. Nothing worked. Qin Fen remained exactly the same: a boy who fell asleep the second he touched a book. Until one day, his parents were shocked to find him burning the midnight oil, reading intently. Outside his window, they hugged each other and wept tears of joy, praising their decision to name him Qin Fen, which sounded just like the word for "diligent." He was finally studying! The next morning, Qin Fen threw open his bedroom door and proudly announced to his parents that he was going to become a constable. Only then did they realize their son hadn't been reading any serious classics at all. It was just a cheap pulp novel titled "No Catch, No Peace." Qin Fen preferred not to think about what happened next. It was the first time he had found his true calling, and also the first time he realized just how agonizingly far away it was. After arguing with his parents endlessly, he ultimately lost. Through their connections, he was practically tied up and shipped off to Mohist City to study. Before he could go out catching criminals, he had been caught himself. Qin Fen managed to sit in the classrooms of Mohist City for a few months. The elders spoke well enough, but the image of Li Sandao, the dashing constable from his novel who could pluck a murderer out of a crowd with a single point of his finger, kept flashing before his eyes. Ah, he couldn't wait another second to become a constable! So, after asking around, Qin Fen finally found a secluded courtyard with a plaque that read "Bureau of Relief." It wasn't the most glamorous place, but to Qin Fen, it was exactly what he had dreamed of. Ignoring Zhen Gui's endless attempts to chase him away, he stubbornly refused to leave. When Zhen Gui locked him out of the house, he simply slept in the yard for three months straight. He even went off and somehow procured a uniform identical to Zhen Gui's. From then on, wherever Zhen Gui went, he followed. Over time, the mountain villagers naturally assumed he was part of the Bureau of Relief, calling him "Constable Qin" this and "Constable Qin" that. "Uncle Chen's chicken is still missing! Aunt Xu asked me to bring the eggs back, and later I need to deliver this millet to Lame Tao... Oh! And that wooden eagle is just spinning in circles, I need to fix that too!" Perhaps he was just addicted to being called Constable Qin, but the moment he opened his eyes every morning, he worked like he had an endless supply of energy. "Hey, do you really think you can become a hero here?" Zhen Gui asked, squinting at the passionate, eccentric young man, offering a word of well-meaning advice. At that moment, Qin Fen was holding a basket of eggs in his left arm and a sack of millet in his right, with a stray chicken feather stuck in his hair. He thought about it seriously for a second and then shouted at the top of his lungs, "Absolutely!"