Qin Guan and Cong Nianwei exchanged a glance and shrugged. It seemed that they’d made two extraordinary friends.
Qin Guan was about to open the car door when he saw red hair poking out behind the rearview mirror.
He shouted, "Lan Jin, come out! What are you doing?"
Lan Jin came out, looking embarrassed. "I wanted to check your plate. I was just curious."
Qin Guan looked at his plate. It was 京CXXXX [1], nothing special. Lan Jin looked around him. "I thought I could discover your identity from your plate. Those two guys are showing off with their plates."
"You are swimming in deep waters, Qin Guan. With your simple plate and common car, you seem like a typical Taoist. Don't worry, I won’t say a thing! Where do you live? At No. 10 Yard or at Western Hill? Yuquang Hill? Diaoyutai? Zhongnanhai?" [2]
[1] The most common plate number for cars registered in Beijing.
[2] The places where the most important political leaders in China live.
[3] A famous folk song in the 1980’s. Qin Guan is making a joke here.
[4] He’s referring to the family of Confucius, the noblest family in China thousands of years ago.