Yunlan looked at her approvingly, then added, “You would have looked better in heels, but it's still good,” and she regretted not being able to walk on those things.
She would learn, she thought.

She was given a selection of innocent-looking clothes, like the one she was wearing now, a white dress filled with light-blue little flowers, and Lin Jin gave her the devices she’d have to hide on herself so that they could stay in touch all the time.

They explained to her what she had to do, but it was quite simple. She just had to walk around at night, favouring empty places, and she had to stop from time to time to make it look like she had a purpose being out at that hour.

She was given some money to use during these walks, to buy herself some food on the way that she could eat sitting on a bench somewhere quiet, or maybe to pay for a coffee at a bar.

She felt very nervous, she never owned money and knowing that this wasn’t hers made her feel anxious, what if she lost it?

Zhao Yunlan chuckled at seeing that she was more nervous at the idea of losing that bit of money than at the thought that she was supposed to attract the attention of a killer.

It was time to move, everyone started feeling nervous, Zhao himself was very anxious but being a chief he didn’t let it show.

He hoped the plan worked.

Anything could go wrong, their guy could not notice her, he could be far away killing someone else, he could see her and not be interested for whatever reason, all the way to the worst scenario, he might try to kill her and they might not get there in time.

Zhao Yunlan shook his head, no, this won’t happen, he swore to himself that he’d catch the guy and the girl would be safe. All the girls would be, after they take him off the streets and lock him up.

Zhu Hong started walking. It felt strange, she had never worn a dress like that. They had told her to act natural, to walk as if she knew where she was going, to be alert but not look around in search of him - or them.
So she tried not to think about the predator out there.

Being on alert was easy, she had trained herself for that. She concentrated on being natural. The dim light of a lamp post casted her image on a shop window, and she looked at herself. She struggled to recognise that figure, but she liked what she saw.

She touched her hair then kept walking. At the end of the street she went through a dark alley, crossed the town square then headed into a bar open all night.

“Go in and order a coffee, drink it and stay there a few minutes then go out again,” Zhao had said when he had given her her instructions. “Order whatever you want and they’ll give it to you, then pay with the money in your bag.” So she did just that.

She went straight to the bar with her head high trying to look more confident than she felt inside. She said, “A coffee!” and sat down.

She almost jumped on her seat when she heard a chuckle inside her ear, “Try to act more relaxed, ok?” came Lin Jin’s voice. She sighed, she was still getting used to this world, she had been here for less than two days after all, but she would adapt.

The barman came back. "Your coffee, Miss,” and immediately she heard Yunlan’s voice, “Say Thank you."

She knew that, she didn’t need them to remind her how to be polite! She turned to the barman, said, “Thank you,” and opened her bag. She heard Yunlan’s voice again. “Good girl,” but she ignored him.
She smiled a little smile, though.

She handed the money, took the change and then tasted her coffee. She stayed in there five minutes then walked out, and again she chose the darkest roads.

She saw a man approaching and she stiffened, but didn’t do anything.
“Remember to look like a defenceless girl until you’re sure that it is our man,” Yunlan had told her, so she kept walking, the guy got closer but kept walking without even looking at her.

She sighed inwardly, but stayed alert. Her next step was a cigarettes vending machine, where she followed his instructions again and bought him a packet. She did everything slowly, as if she had all the time in the world, taking as much time as possible.

Nothing had happened so far, so she traced her steps back to SID. She passed the bar, the town square, the dark alley, all the way back, and nothing happened.

She went inside and shortly after Yunlan and Da Qing appeared too.
"Well, we knew it could take some time," Yunlan said, but there was a hint of disappointment that he failed to hide, he had really wished for a quick end of this situation, but the only thing they could do now was to wait and try again.