Chapter 15: The Gate

Tang Yu reached the red gate at ten to six, in the first grey light.

Jiang Lü stood in the middle of the courtyard in her robe, with her hair loose and her hands folded.

She had not slept.

Her face said it, and the ginkgo behind her dropped one yellow leaf.

"You said not to follow," Jiang Lü said.

"I didn't follow. I came."

"Yes."

"They're coming for your computers at dawn."

"I know. Granny Bai told me at midnight." Jiang Lü's mouth trembled. "I did not want to ask you to come."

"Then it's good I'm not asking permission."

Tang Yu crossed the stones and stood next to her.

She did not take her hand yet.

She stood beside her, shoulder to shoulder, facing the gate.

"I'm still angry," she said.

"You should be."

"I'm going to be angry for a while."

"Yes."

"But I read every commit, and I'm not leaving you to face a police van by yourself."

Jiang Lü shut her eyes.

Her whole body let go of something it had been carrying all night.

At six the gate knocked.

Officer Li came in first with the younger officer and a man in a good coat, who was the lawyer.

The lawyer read from a paper in a smooth, practiced voice.

"A written complaint of unauthorized access. We are required to seize the devices of the respondent."

"There is one computer," Jiang Lü said. "It is under the desk. I will help you carry it."

"There's no need," said Tang Yu.

She had a folder under her arm, and she opened it on the well's stone lid.

"Officer Li, this is the pull request history from Hongxian's own server."

"Two years ago night_kettle offered the module to the company as open source."

"A Hongxian lead accepted it. See the approval and the date."

"That's a company employee inviting the code in, and then the company using it for two years."

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