Fu Tailan couldn't even say he'd been framed—because no one had framed him.
The Ballet Resident seemed even more worried about his safety than his own mother. Not only had it called him a taxi from within the Nest and personally seen him to the entrance of the Museum of Modern Art, but it had also fussed over him with a barrage of instructions:
"You have to be quick. Kai Luonan will be here in fifteen minutes, tops. I heard from Jin Xueli that the radio is hidden right at the very beginning of the candle. Just melt the front section, don't waste time... Can you manage on your own? Can you get out before Kai Luonan arrives? You look so sick right now. If he runs into you, you're almost certainly a dead man."
After he got out of the car, the Resident's head, with its tight bun, leaned out of the car window. For a moment, it watched Fu Tailan worriedly with the back of its head.
"Whatever you do, don't take fifteen minutes!"
