A party of forty-three people stood inside the restaurant. One of them was not supposed to be there.

Chinese New Year was the busiest day at Mu Rui's restaurant, the Jade Palace. The party of forty-two called to book the prestigious restaurant three months in advance.

Not every guest knew each other, so it was assumed that the intruder was an acquaintance of someone, who he constantly seemed to be walking towards. Whenever someone caught sight of the man- he was average looking, but clearly not Chinese as majority of the guests were- he was rushing to the other side of the room. They would only get a quick glimpse at the man’s golden locks and designer suit jacket before he disappeared into the crowd. He seemed rich enough to fit in, but not interesting enough to talk to beyond a few words. This was to the advantage of the intruder, because the only reason he wanted to attend was the red envelopes.

It is Chinese tradition to grant red envelopes full of money to the unmarried and children, so all the guests had envelopes that had been given to them or that they were going to give. On Chinese New Year in such a high class restaurant like Rui’s, there were sure to be large sums of money in those envelopes.

The intruder, a skilled pickpocket, had come to extract the red envelopes from certain guests and leave. His plan was to take from the richest men and get out before anyone noticed a thing. The intruder was relatively relaxed about the situation- he was only going to take a few envelopes and he’d done it many times before.

On Chinese New Year years ago, the intruder came across an opportunity to steal a red envelope at a Chinese restaurant. It was simply sitting out in plain sight. The intruder stashed it in his pocket, only to find that it had a tremendous amount of money inside. Every year after, he’d choose a new restaurant and took larger and larger sums of money. Now, the intruder had enough money from all his other ventures, but he still felt the need to keep up the tradition. The intruder was uncertain if he was ever suspected. Money was his priority, though he did not bother stealing from every guest. Though it would pay well, it was too risky and time consuming.

This year, the intruder had chosen the Jade Palace, one of the few restaurants that he had never stolen from. The restaurant was full of life on this New Years day. The guests were up and dancing. This, of course, was what the intruder wanted. He could slip into the crowd, grab a red envelope and place it inside his jacket. With the experience he had, it took nearly no time at all, and his victims never found out about it until much later.

The intruder had taken around ten envelopes as he slid in and out of the crowd.

He was onto his last target of the night, Mu Rui himself. The chef was so widely known that he came to join in the festivities. This meant that he had his own gifts to give.

The intruder watched him from the buffet bar. The smell of the simmering chicken next to him was tempting, but he knew better than to delay the theft. He studied Rui carefully, spotting the faint outline of the envelope in Rui’s pocket.

Rui was dancing with the others, laughing and carrying out conversations. He spoke Chinese to the Chinese guests and English to the few others.

The intruder moved into the crowd, laughing and dancing as if he was part of the celebration. He caught a small part of the carpet between his feet, causing the young boy in front of him to fall into Rui. The intruder kneeled down to help the boy up. Rui also kneeled, giving the intruder an opportunity to stand up and reach into Rui’s jacket pocket. He had the envelope in his own pocket before Rui stood up after helping the boy up.

The intruder put on a concerned face then slowly retreated from the crowd.

It was time for the intruder to make his exit. He located the door closest to the road. He walked through the room where people were eating. He walked past the flaming dragons to the side foyer, which was decorated with traditional lanterns.

By the door stood an older man, snoozing with a red envelope in his hands. He had a droopy eyelid and was wearing a large jacket. The jacket was black, which made the red envelope stick out further.

The intruder simply couldn’t resist taking it. He was alone in the small walled off area, the man was clearly asleep, and the envelope looked quite thick. The intruder grabbed it and fled out the door.

The man’s car was parked across the street from the restaurant. He walked quickly, wanting to get home and enjoy his riches. He crossed the nearly empty road. The restaurant radiated life in the dead neighbor hood. Across the restaurant was a parking lot for a shady liquor store. The intruder’s car was parked there.

The intruder entered his black car, carefully closing the door behind him. As he had done many times, he slid the envelopes into the secret space in the passenger seat. His rule was to get out of the area and inspect the loot later. Today, he was overcome with curiosity. Why did the old man have such a thick envelope?

The first thing that the intruder noticed when he opened the envelope was that it was not filled with money. In fact, it simply held a small box.

The intruder slid the black box out and opened the lid. Inside laid a fortune cookie. At that moment he was overcome with a strange, anxious anticipation, he knew something bad was coming. He cracked open the cookie, looking for the fortune.

It read, “All good things must come to an end.”

The intruder barely finished reading the words before the bullet hit his head.