After the tram stopped at its destination, Mei ran out of the tram with Adler trying to catch up. Adler soon followed Mei into a red temple with two statues of red pandas outside the door. As Adler entered, Mei went into a room for a few seconds become coming out. She had placed her school stuff in the room and now donned a nametag that had her name on it and read "Assistant Manager."

Mei: Wait here.

Adler: Okay.

Mei then went into the temple, where her mother was, praying near the altar. As soon as she was done, she stood up and saw Mei.

Ming: Mei-Mei, there you are.

Mei: Hey, Mom...

Ming went up to Mei and checked for anything abnormal on her face.

Ming: You're ten minutes late. What happened? Are you hurt? Are you hungry?

Mei: Um...

Ming then held a plate of dumplings and shoved one into Mei's mouth.

Mei: [muffled grunt]

Ming: How was school today?

Mei took out 3 of her school papers and showed it to Ming. They were all A+ grades.

Mei: Killed it per usual. Check it out.

Ming: Oh. That's my little scholar. Today, honor student, tomorrow, UN Secretary General. The ancestors would be so proud.

Ming and Mei then knelt in front of the altar with incenses on their hands.

Ming: Sun Yee, revered ancestor, guardian of the red pandas. We humbly thank you for protecting and guiding us. Especially Mei-Mei.

Mei: May we continue to serve and honor you and this community.

Ming and Mei: Always.

5 minutes earlier

While waiting for Mei, Adler sat by the steps and attempted to communicate with the voice in his head.

Adler (mind): What do you want, Stitch?

"You think you can escape me by going into this other world?"

Adler (mind): I didn't escape. I just accidentally made my way here.

"No matter. I know you won't last that long with me still here."

Adler (mind): Get the heck out of my mind, now.

"No can do, Adler. As long as the numbers program still exists, I can control you at any time."

Adler (mind): No crap.

Mei and Ming went out the temple after praying at the altar.

"You've got company. Remember, Adler. I will still be here with you. See you in hell."

Adler stood up as Ming and Mei walked towards him.

Ming: Mei, who is this?

Mei: He's my new friend. His name is Adler.

Adler: Russell Adler, CIA.

Adler and Ming shook hands.

Ming: CIA? How exactly did you meet him? And why is he dressed up in all that?

Mei: He uh... Oh, he was our guest speaker for history class today.

Adler: Y-Yeah, that's right. I shared my experiences in the CIA with Mei's class. And the reason I'm like this now is because I just got back from an assignment.

Mei: And uh, I was wondering if Adler could stay here with us for some time...

Ming: Wait, you don't have a place to stay at?

Adler: I didn't really think it through before coming here.

Ming thought for a moment before reaching a decision.

Ming: Alright. You're welcome to stay here any time, Mr. Adler.

Adler: Thank you, Mrs. Lee.

Ming and Mei then grabbed several brooms and stood by the steps.

Ming: You ready?

Mei: Let's do this.

For half an hour, Mei and Ming cleaned the temple before opening to visitors and tourists. During the cleanup, Mei and Ming were cleaning the red panda statues outside with Adler around and heard a couple of boys spray-painting on the walls.

Boy #1: Have fun getting that off.

Adler took out his 1911 and went after the boys.

Adler: Hey! Stop that, now!

Boy #2: Oh, snap! He's got a gun!

Boy #3: Go, go, go!

Mei and Ming came out with their brooms ready.

Ming: Shoo-shoo! You vandals!

Mei: You good-for-nothing hosers!

Ming: I'm telling your mothers! [to Adler] Thank you for that.

Adler: No problem.

"Really? Is that all you got?"

Adler (mind): Shut up.

--------------------

Adler joined the many visitors and tourists visiting the temple, learning of Mei and Ming's family heritage and culture via tour.

Ming: Our family runs one of the oldest temples in Toronto. Instead of honoring a god, we honor our ancestors.

Mei: And not just the dudes either.

Ming: Our most revered ancestor, Sun Yee, was a scholar, poet, and defender of animals. She dedicated her life to the creatures of the forest. Especially, the red panda.

Mei came in, donning a cardboard red panda costume.

Mei: Ta-da!

Tourists: Ooh!

Adler: [chuckles]

"This is killing me. Get me out of here, please."

Adler (mind): You said you'd stick around, right?

"Blyat."

Ming: Which she loved for its fiery coat and mischievous nature.

Mei: [growls and whines in cuteness]

Ming: Ever since, the red panda has blessed our family with good fortune and prosperity...

Mei: [throws gold confetti that represented good fortune and prosperity]

Mei: ...and it can bless yours, too!

[Tourists exclaim]

Time Skip

Woman: Bye bye!

Ming: See you next time!

Mei: Thanks for coming!

Mei and Ming closed the temple doors and slouched on it, sighing heavily. Adler was standing by the wall.

Adler: I'd never knew managing a temple would be that hard.

Mei: It sure is.

Ming and Mei got back up.

Ming: Give me five.

They both high-fived each other.

Mei: Yeah.

Ming: Come on. Dad's making dinner.

Mei: Ooh.

Ming: Come along, Adler.

Adler: Roger that.

--------------------

Adler then was introduced to Jin, Ming's husband and Mei's dad. Adler then was able to clean himself up from all the dirt he had on his clothes while in Verdansk.
While Jin was making dinner for them, Ming and Mei were at the couch with Adler, watching a Chinese drama TV show. It had been a long time since Adler had sat down to watch TV, but he couldn't understand a single word coming from it. At least he had Mei and Ming, who were able to understand what was going on.

[Man and woman conversing in Cantonese on TV]

[Sinister music playing on TV]

Ming: [sighs] He should have listened to his mother and married Ling-Yi.

Mei: Totally. Siu-Jyu is so two-faced.

Ming: She's just using him to get to the throne. She'll probably stab him on their wedding night.

Adler: Definitely. Maybe not literally.

Mei then went to Jin to have him check her dumplings. Jin then approved her dumpings.

Jin: Perfect.

Mei: Yes!

Then, the TV broadcast changed into a 4-Town commercial.

Announcer: [while a compilation of short clips of 4-Town plays] You've heard their hits, you've seen their moves. And now, you get to experience them live! The worldwide pop sensation, 4-Town will be kicking off their North American tour! Tickets on sale now!

Mei: [gasps] Oh, my gosh!

Ming: Who are these hip-hoppers? And why are they called "4-Town" if there are five of them?

Adler: To be honest, I don't know.

Mei: Some of the kids at school like them.

Ming: You mean Miriam? That girl is odd.

Jin: Dinner's ready.

Time Skip

During dinner, Adler and Mei and her parents got to know each other more. Mei's family were interested in how a CIA agent had made their way into Canada and his career beforehand. On the other hand, Adler shared his interest in the family's ancestry, never hearing about such an ancestry before. Adler had almost forgotten how good food could be: he had been accustomed to the rations that he and his team kept in the many CIA safehouses he has stayed at before.

After dinner, Mei went into her room to do her schoolwork while Ming and Adler were making some dumplings for snacks.

Ming: [chuckles] No no, Adler, you do it like this.

Ming added a pinch of salt into the water, compared to Adler about to add a handful of salt.

Adler: Okay, Mrs. Lee.

Ming: Please, call me Ming.

Adler: Got it.

Surprisingly to Adler, he made the best dumplings he had ever made.

Adler: [chewing] These dumplings are so delicious. I gotta make these for the guys one day.

Ming: "The guys?"

Adler: My team: Mason, Woods, and Hudson. Probably Sims and Park too.

Ming: Do you miss them?

Adler: Yes. A lot. My assignment's really far from them, and I hope to get back with them.

Adler used a chopstick to grab several dumplings and placed them onto a plate.

Adler: Take these to Mei, will ya?

Ming: Sure thing, Adler.

--------------------

Mei was busy drawing fanfic images of her and Devon the Daisy Mart clerk romantically together under her bed until she heard her mother knock on the door and call for her.

Ming: Mei-Mei.

Mei: [hits the top of the bed] Ow! Ah!

Mei scrambled out from under the bed and jumped on top of the bed. She noticed her drawing notebook wasn't covered up by the bed sheets. Ming opened the door and partially came in.

Ming: Do you want a snack? Adler made them.

Mei: [quickly] Cool, great, thanks. [in mind] Don't look at the notebook, don't look at the notebook, don't!

Ming raised an eyebrow, wondering what her daughter was thinking. Mei then made eye contact with a notebook for a split second before looking back up.

Mei (mind): No!

Ming then looked at the notebook by Mei's bed.

Ming. Oh. [chuckles nervously and leaves the plate by the nightstand and picks up the notebook] Is this your homework?

Mei: Mom...

Ming opened the notebook and was immediately shocked by what she was seeing. As she flipped through the pages, Mei tried to stop her but to no avail.

Ming: Oh, my. What... What is... Huh? What? Huh? [shudders] Huh? Mei-Mei, what is this?

Mei: I-It's nothing. Just a boy. He's no one.

Ming: A boy?!

Mei: [gasps]

Ming: Who is he? Did he do these things to you?

Mei: No! It's just made up, Mom!

Both pulled on the notebook and grunted in strain until several pages ripped out into Ming's hands. Adler then came into the room to check on them.

Adler: Everything alright in here?

Ming: [looks at the drawing] That hat. Adler, does he look familiar to you?

Adler: Let me take a look.

Adler took a look at the drawing and cringed for a moment until recognizing the boy.

Adler: Yeah, he's that kid that works at the Daisy Mart. Why do you ask?

Ming: [gasps] The sketchy clerk from the Daisy Mart?!

Ming then went out the room with Mei following her.

Mei: [gasps] Mom, no!

Adler followed the two outside as Ming and Mei got into their car. Adler took the passenger seat at the front. Ming then angrily drove straight to the Daisy Mart.

Adler: Ming, you don't have to do this. Those are just drawings.

"Oh really?"

Ming: Drawings of my daughter and a boy older than her together!

Mei: [nervously] What are you doing?

Ming parked the car outside the Daisy Mart and got out. Adler and Mei followed her into the store.

Mei: No, no, no!

Tyler: [laughs smugly] Oh, snap!

Mei: Mom, no!

Ming then menacingly approached Devon, who was behind the counter.

Ming: You!

Devon: [startled] Whoa!

Ming: What have you done to my Mei-Mei?

Devon: Uh... who?

Tyler: [points at Mei] Meilin Lee, right here.

Shock went through Mei's face.

"I am enjoying every single moment of this. Are you watching too, Adler?"

Adler (mind): None of your business.

Ming: I should report you to the police. How old are you? Thirty?!

Devon: I'm seventeen.

Ming: Oh, see, see? This is what happens if you don't wear sunblock and do drugs all day!

"You're gonna stand there and let poor little Mei be humiliated?"

Adler (mind): I can't do anything else at this point.

"Oh well. Your choice, Adler."

Ming: She's just a sweet, innocent child. How dare you take advantage of her!

Mei: Mom, noooo!

Ming took the confiscated drawings out of her jacket pocket and slammed it onto the counter. Devon studied the drawings in shock as several bystanders went up to him to see the drawings and murmured.

Devon: What?!

Tyler: [laughs] What a weirdo.

Adler couldn't stand seeing Mei being that heavily embarrassed. But all the murmuring and laughter. It was all too loud. He held onto his head in pain. Then, fragments of his memories started flowing in.

Park (flashback): The CIA's mind control program...

Adler (flashback): Bell, wake up. It's crank time.

7. 15. 1. 2.

Adler: [softly] Stop...

Hudson (flashback): Just understand that if you botch this we can't get those names. It's over.

Adler (flashback): He's manufacturing Nova Six again...

The murmuring got louder.

...19. 7. 25. 6. 13.

Adler: [a little louder] Stop...

He looked back at Mei. The laughter then became louder.

Salah (flashback): What the hell was that? We're supposed to be a unit!

...6. 7. 15. 14. 0.

He saw the bystanders pointing and laughing at Mei.

Adler (flashback): Where is Perseus?!

Stitch (flashback): See you in hell.

That was Adler's breaking point.

Adler: STOP!!!

Adler angrily whipped out his 1911 and pointed it at everyone. Ming and Mei were surprised, as well as everyone.

Adler: You think this is funny?! Can't you all see those are just drawings?!

Devon and the bystanders stood back in fear as Adler made his way to the counter. He took the drawings and ripped them to shreds.

Adler: There. Problem solved. If anyone mentions this outside this building, I'm coming for you.

Adler then holstered his 1911 and stormed outside the store. He held his head in pain and tried to think clearly but couldn't.

"Good, Adler. Let your anger out. Use it on those you hate."

Adler: Just shut up, would you?

Ming took Mei with her and followed him. She eventually found him near the car.

Ming: Adler, what was that? You can't just wave around your pistol like that! I had it under control.

Adler: [scoffs] "Under control?" You call that under control?!

"Well, she did."

Ming: That boy shouldn't be near my daughter!

Adler: I understand that, but you can't just publicly denounce him and embarrass Mei!

Ming: [sighs] Well, it's been done. Let's get going home.

As Mei went into the car, Ming was stopped by Adler.

Adler: Ming, wait. [scratches the back of his head] I'm sorry for what I did. I couldn't control myself. There's something I need to explain to you at the house.

Ming: Okay, Adler. You can tell me anything.

Ming patted Adler's shoulder before getting into the car. Adler went to the passenger seat at the front and sat down. He looked at Mei, who looked back at him before lowering her head in embarrassment.

What a first night for Adler.