# Chapter 030: The Safe for Three
At closing time on November 30, Junzi first carried a machine casing awaiting repair into the back room, clearing space on the inspection table.
He opened the test-device drawer as scheduled, set the little USB-drive pouch on the counter, then took a shallow box from the inside of the counter. Xiaoyezi had already split the half hour into two parts: the first for checking the records, the second for putting everything back. Her own pouch was by the door; as soon as Ye Yan left, she could follow.
Wu Chunhua arrived a little late. Once seated, she first looked over the handover page she’d written. Both lines said “old machine,” with the year from the outside of each pouch copied beside it. She put down her pen and asked which line the August update should go under.
Xiao Yezi turned it over. The back was blank too.
She remembered that they had checked them on August 12, and that both items had been put back where they belonged. But all this page said was where they were stored. If someone else came in, there was no way to tell from this page alone whether the information they got was from before the coins were sold or had been updated since.
Ye Yan was already getting ready to take the drive. Seeing her pause, he set the cable back down. He rummaged in his bag for his notebook, found the August page, then asked her to get the deposit and transaction records from the counter.
The paper lay beside the old bag, whose “old drive” label dated back to the very first time. The August notes, though, were in his notebook, clipped together with the phone number for another computer he had repaired. He knew which was which himself, but if Xiao Yezi looked, she would still have to wait for him to circle it with his finger.
“Why don’t you just leave this notebook here?” she said. “It’s such a hassle having to look things up back and forth.”
Ye Yan flipped over the few sheets clipped inside. “There’s other stuff of mine in here. If you need these items, I’ll point them out for you.”
He turned the notebook toward her and let her copy the parts they shared. The original proof still had to be found among the sheets at the counter. Xiao Yezi picked up her pen, but didn’t write right away. The neat handover page from earlier had crammed two lines together. The more she looked at it, the more it seemed like a set of instructions someone else had handed over—something that couldn’t be used without having the technician there to walk them through it.
She took another sheet of paper. She listed the two storage devices separately, noting beneath each one that it had been updated on August 12 and which records it corresponded to. For today’s check, she circled only “wallet data readable” and “known addresses matched.” Under that, she started a new section dated November 30, leaving room for this verification.
She straightened out the order of the papers in the folder and added a small tab that stuck out from the edge for the transaction records. Following the instructions on the new page, Wu Chunhua found the three August records for deposits, transactions, and holdings, and waited for Ye Yan to verify the data.
Junzi stood by waiting, still holding the drawer key. “Just these two things, and do it on this machine. Half an hour, then I have to turn off the lights.”
After saying that, he dragged the wastepaper box away from the door to make room for Ye Yan to sit, then leaned against the counter to check tomorrow morning’s pickup slips. There was no rush to turn off the lights.
Ye Yan set the inspection computer’s network cable aside. He made temporary working copies of the specified data from the original old drive and the USB drive, then tested them separately in isolated locations, leaving the originals untouched. He used the August records to check the addresses while Xiao Yezi verified the sources and dates beside him, recording the test results in tonight’s section.
Both copies passed the test; all the specified data could be read. Wu Chunhua asked what they had confirmed today. Ye Yan pointed out the readable data and matching addresses. “The things we checked today. The balance has to be checked separately against the network. That number in the old data can’t be used to settle today’s account.”
Only after hearing that did she write beside the results. Ye Yan exited the test session and, as agreed for this job, cleared the temporary working data. The contents of the two original items they had checked were kept intact. He unplugged them and put each one’s small bag back on the table. Xiao Yezi filled in the records of what had been removed and checked, and each of them signed the section for the work they had done.
More than twenty minutes had passed on the clock on the wall. Ye Yan put his notebook back in his bag and glanced toward the door.
Xiao Yezi reached for her own bag, but Wu Chunhua was checking the two lines she had just written. The return section was blank, and the small screw bag beside the old drive still hadn’t been packed up. If she went out with him now, those last few minutes would still be left for someone else to guess at.
Ye Yan asked if she wanted him to wait.
She set her bag back by the door. “You go ahead. Your part’s done; the rest is mine.”
The answer came quickly. Ye Yan put on his bag, but she still couldn’t help watching him step over the threshold. She kept watching until Junzi handed her a strip of old paper he had cut and told her to label the bag clearly. Only then did she lower her eyes and take it.
She put the old drive back in the shallow box with its original antistatic bag and the small screw bag, and packed the USB drive separately. The label on the outside said what had been checked tonight; the date of the August data was written on a separate line. Before the two items went back inside the counter and into the test-equipment drawer, Wu Chunhua checked each one against the new page and signed the return section.
Junzi pushed the drawer firmly shut, turned the lock, and hung the key back on his belt as usual. Only then did Xiao Yezi file the remaining declaration papers behind the transaction records and fold a small outward-pointing corner on the “pending verification” tab.
Wu Chunhua took the handover page and pulled out the papers as instructed. She found the August batch first, then the transaction records and the reply attached later. Ten items were still waiting to be checked against the list, with the small remainder left on the platform noted beside them. Ye Yan had already left; this time, once she finished looking them over, she could put them back.
Xiao Yezi drew a diagonal line on the first sheet and clipped it behind the new page. Earlier, wanting her writing to look neat, she had even switched to a pen that flowed well. Now the two words “old drive” were only faintly visible through the paper from the other side.
“I’ve had my bag on my back twice already.” Wu Chunhua stretched her stiff legs, her tone relaxing. “At last, I can leave tonight.”
Junzi pushed the shallow box farther in to secure it, then smoothed down a corner of paper that was sticking out. “The three of you and your safe deposit box are still taking up my counter.”
“The paper you gave me just now was too narrow,” Xiao Yezi said.
He looked down at the paper label. Sure enough, two characters were squeezed against the edge. Muttering that he was being blamed over such a tiny thing, he cut another strip and handed it to her. Only after she had replaced it did he lower the rolling shutter. The track ran smoothly, and the bolt slid into place. He tugged at the door and told them to head back. The narrow chair was piled with empty boxes needed tomorrow; no one would need it tonight.
The company called again to schedule the new maintenance visit for December.
The manager first asked whether they could still do one month of service, with two on-site visits for 180 yuan. Junzi checked the shop’s schedule and offered the afternoons of the third and seventeenth at three. The other party noted them down, then asked the employee who had requested the service to come to the phone and confirm. Xiao Yezi heard that the employee could now explain the usual directories clearly, so she made a separate booking for this visit and filed it under December.
On the afternoon of the third, Ye Yan and she went as scheduled. The three computers were in use as usual, and the designated working copies were kept on the company’s own drive. They checked the agreed items, dealt with one change, and the employee opened the materials they needed. When they were done, they returned to the shop. On the second visit, on the seventeenth, the manager inspected the maintenance work and opened the working copies on that drive as well. He combined the two on-site service records and paid the full 180 yuan.
Back at Xinyu, Xiao Yezi handed the money and the two records to Junzi. He counted it, entered it beneath the December heading, and left the first-month sheet that had already been paid in the summer where it was. The new work order went from the bookings folder to the paid folder. They would have to wait for the company to arrange the next visit.
Junzi looked at the line he had just written and asked Xiao Yezi to move the piece of packaging board blocking the price list by the entrance. Someone outside asked whether they still did data maintenance. Across the counter, he said they did, and told them to bring in the issue they needed handled first—the technician was nearly done for the day.
Ye Yan had just washed his hands, and his coat was already draped over his shoulder. Junzi finished clearing the table and asked Xiao Yezi to gather the empty boxes from the narrow chair, to make room for moving a computer first thing tomorrow. Ye Yan stood by the door, rubbing his shoulder as he waited for her to get her bag.
Xiao Yezi remembered the stool she had stood on that night. It was now under the counter, where Ye Yan sometimes sat to change the cables behind a computer case. She never asked him again about the later price of twenty yuan. He still sometimes paused when he passed the shallow box, but now he could turn around, put on his coat, and walk out the door.
She was just about to leave with him when someone knocked on the glass outside.
The visitor was carrying a black briefcase. He said someone had recommended that he come see Technician Ye. Junzi held the door open and let him in. He hadn’t brought a computer. Instead, he first pulled a printed page from the briefcase. It was an invitation to partner with a new platform, listing services such as installation, maintenance, and managing users’ data for them.
He was looking for someone who understood this kind of thing and had a place to get the work done. The scope he described aloud was even broader than what was on the page. As he spoke, he unzipped the inside pocket of his briefcase to show Junzi a stack of bundled cash.
“There’s ten thousand here. Get started on this first—is it enough? The platform would also like to discuss working together.”
Junzi had already sat down. He pulled the price list out from under the telephone cord and was just about to hand it over when he glanced at the invitation. Ye Yan put his coat back on the chair. Xiao Yezi filed the two December work orders that had just been paid, clearing some space on the table.
Wu Chunhua took the printed page and first turned it over.
The visitor waited for her to read it, then put the stack of money back in his bag. He zipped it shut, keeping the briefcase on his own lap.