“So beautiful…”

Looking at that face not much bigger than a palm, Wenwen sighed softly. Lifting her eyelids, she looked again in Xu Xingchun’s direction.

He seemed oblivious, his fingertips tapping on the steering wheel. He continued driving.

Wenwen thought to herself:

Was that focused expression he had just now just her imagination…

“Hmm, what?” Xu Tao had just spoken when he received a phone call, his brows furrowing more and more tightly as he listened. After hanging up, he leaned forward and said seriously to Xu Xingchun in the driver’s seat, “Someone just made contact over at the train station. Should we go check it out later?”

Xu Xingchun asked, “What time?”

“Around five in the afternoon.” Then checking his phone, Xu Tao reported a location.

The car turned a corner and drove toward the hotel near West Station.

The intern, who had been listless just moments ago, was thrilled to hear this. “Are we going to stake out? This is my first time doing real fieldwork!”

“You and Wenwen drive the car back later.” Xu Xingchun pinched the bridge of his nose, indifferent to his enthusiasm.

Hit by his cold demeanor, the intern was a bit disappointed. “Ah… we’re not going?”

Xu Tao stretched lazily and asked teasingly, “What, want to follow along?”

“Yes!”

“Can you and Wenwen go to work with us dressed like this?”

“Can’t we… ?”

Xu Tao countered, “Besides collective activities, when have you seen our team wear police uniforms on duty?”

Seeing the intern’s expression of sudden realization, Xu Tao casually mentioned, “In this line of work, you need to use your brain more, live up to that police uniform on your body, otherwise you won’t even know how you died.”

Because of the special nature of narcotics work, most of the time they needed to pursue criminals across provinces, and they generally had to hide their identities. So they usually used aliases, rarely wore police uniforms outside, and basically didn’t carry firearms.

Speaking of this, Xu Tao joked and recalled something. “You don’t know this, but there was an incident before. Team Leader Xu’s photo was posted online, and damn it, someone even wrote a love letter and sent it over. According to those who like to go online, Team Leader Xu almost made it onto some ranking of most handsome ordinary guys or something, mainly because we didn’t communicate well with the news agency people at the time, and his profile or full face got released. Although the bureau later had all contacts remove it, it still caused some impact. So haven’t you noticed that Team Leader Xu hasn’t been doing fieldwork on this side of the branch for a while?”

Wenwen indeed didn’t know about this. Her face subtly showed worry as she covered her mouth. “Is that so? Is it that serious?”

Xu Tao was nonchalant, raising his eyebrows. “Yeah, what did you think? Drug dealers also watch the news now, memorize faces, memorize license plates. There are too many fancy things now. Remember, any photos of us exposed online must all have mosaics on them.”

The intern was completely stunned, casting an admiring gaze at Xu Xingchun.

The night wasn’t very dense, the light was ethereal and hazy. His profile under the shadows could still clearly show its refined elegance.

No wonder the photo could cause people online to be infatuated…

Xu Tao had a strong desire to talk. Once he opened up, he kept rattling on non-stop. Mainly talking about his own glorious history from the past, one story after another, making the two rookies with little work experience listen in awe, their hearts almost racing out of control.

After finishing his speech, the intern fell into thought. After a moment of silence, he asked, “Has Team Leader Xu also had such rough experiences?”

Young men’s thoughts were generally easy to guess.

Under his gaze, Xu Xingchun didn’t have any particularly special reaction. He just asked, “What is rough?”

His temperament had always been rather mild, and everyone was used to it.

Xu Tao grabbed the cigarette pack, shook out a cigarette, and pressed the lighter. After taking two puffs, he lowered the car window. “Don’t look at how your Team Leader Xu is now all quiet and doesn’t talk much, like some aloof male god who doesn’t touch worldly dust. When he was in firefights with drug dealers, you were still in middle school.”

“Firefights with drug dealers?! Isn’t that very dangerous?” Wenwen’s mind couldn’t quite process it, nor could she imagine Xu Xingchun having such intense moments. She didn’t know what she wanted to say. “Aren’t you afraid of dying?”

“Afraid? Of course we’re afraid.” Xu Tao found it amusing. “No matter how dangerous, someone has to do it.”

He’d had guns pointed at his head by drug dealers twice. As long as that finger moved slightly, he would have been honored long ago. But having experienced so much, by now, there was already a bit of that indifferent attitude toward life and death.

There was no other reason.

Just that he still remembered when he first entered the police academy, what the old principal said.

They were police officers.

This profession was inherently secretive and glorious.

They had to live up to the uniform they wore.

After sending off Wenwen and the intern, they went to guard the city area until ten o’clock. The suspect had moved locations, so they took a car again to stake out in front of a budget hotel.

One fat guy couldn’t hold out any longer and was a bit hungry. He went down to buy a sweet potato from the roadside and came back to eat. Sitting in the car peeling it, when he smelled the aroma of food he was so moved tears were about to flow. He took two big bites, then looked up during a break and asked with shining eyes, “Brother Chun, do you want some? It’s still hot.”

“Nonsense!” Someone nearby was speechless. “You damn well know Team Leader Xu is a germaphobe and you still deliberately ask—just eat it all yourself!”

The fat guy chuckled with a grin.

They usually didn’t work together. They only gathered together when executing certain missions. It was last August when the Shen City Public Security Bureau’s Narcotics Branch drew personnel from various sub-bureaus to form a special task force to solve a major case supervised by the Ministry of Public Security. When busy, they had to investigate leads like this every day, stake out, and interrogate drug dealers.

After one or two in the morning, those staking out were all somewhat tired. Waiting in the dark night, Xu Xingchun lowered the car window a bit, letting the cold wind blow in. Xu Tao yawned and wiped away the moisture from the corners of his eyes with his hand. Just after lowering his hand, out of the corner of his eye he caught something. He quickly turned his head. “Look at the entrance, they seem to be coming out.”

These words made everyone in the car perk up.

Xu Xingchun picked up the walkie-talkie, his eyes unblinkingly watching the situation there. He quietly notified the other two cars in a low voice.

The fat guy also slowly stopped chewing and tossed aside the unfinished sweet potato.

Two people, young figures, one male and one female. They stood at the entrance discussing for a while. The woman hailed a taxi, and the man drove a Passat himself.

Information came through the walkie-talkie:

“Confirmed, that man has goods in his car. Arrest directly.”

That man was very alert and quickly noticed something was wrong with the vehicle behind him. A flash of fierceness passed through his eyes as his foot pressed on the accelerator and he began to accelerate madly.

Xu Xingchun following behind remained relatively calm and composed. “Fasten your seatbelts.”

The fat guy looked at his cold expression, feeling a bit scared, and quickly pulled over his seatbelt.

In the next few minutes, the force of various sudden brakes nearly made the fat guy vomit up all the sweet potato he’d just eaten. Piercing horns and brake sounds rose and fell one after another. Calling it a life-and-death high-speed chase on the streets in the early morning hours wasn’t an exaggeration. The Passat ahead was forcibly stopped by Xu Xingchun, the front windshield shattered to pieces.

The young man trying to abandon the car and flee was pinned against the car door, his arm seized from behind. Xu Xingchun pressed him down with one hand, twisting his wrist, and handcuffed him. Lifting his jacket, he found a loaded pistol in the inner layer.

People following from behind brought police dogs that picked up a trail at the trunk. Wrapped in two layers of black plastic bags.

Caught red-handed with both person and evidence.

It wasn’t until five in the morning that the interrogation was finished.

Coming out of the interrogation room, Xu Tao first greeted Xu Xingchun relaxedly, then asked, “What time is it?”

Xu Xingchun sat on a chair in the hallway and opened his phone. “Not quite six.”

He just sat there quietly. In the darkness, exhaustion showed through the calm. Just spacing out idly, unexpectedly not smoking. Xu Tao was surprised. “Yo, you’re really quitting smoking?”

Xu Xingchun licked his lips and nodded.

“Alright.” Xu Tao raised his hand and patted his shoulder. “Been busy all night. Go back and rest first. Come back tomorrow to interrogate.”

The streets were empty and quiet with unmelted white snow still remaining. At this hour it started drizzling, and the dim yellow streetlights still hadn’t gone out.

Driving the car all the way home, having just parked in the garage. Turning off the engine, pushing open the car door, Xu Xingchun sat in the driver’s seat and received a phone call.

It was Fu Xueli.

“Where are you?”

He lowered his head. “Just got home.”

There were tire tracks on the ground. In his ear he heard her clamoring, “Busy until so late again…”

He didn’t know if she was in Vancouver or Paris. The rain fell quietly. Xu Xingchun calculated the time difference in his mind.

“Do you miss me?…” Her voice was somewhat uncertain. “It’s also raining on my side.”

“I can hear it.” His voice was very gentle with a rustling quality.

She asked fiercely, “What are you laughing at?”

“Mm… I miss you.”

Xu Xingchun took off his wet coat and went up from the stairway. Walking very slowly, one step per stair.

“You really miss me?” Fu Xueli asked.

“Mm.”

She couldn’t suppress her laughter, lowering her voice. “Then turn around.”

Xu Xingchun was startled. He was too absorbed, his footsteps pausing. Just as he turned his head, caught off guard, he was hugged from behind by someone.

Fu Xueli saw he wasn’t moving and lifted her head. “Hey, were you really scared?”

Feeling that Xu Xingchun’s body was cold like a snowman, she was somewhat dissatisfied, looking up and muttering, “Don’t even know to wear more clothes.”

She couldn’t say the rest. He pinched her chin, his lips pressed against hers. All words and longing melted in this torrential rain.

The two held each other and kissed for who knows how long before going inside.

Fu Xueli’s legs went soft. She sat on the chair by the entrance waiting for Xu Xingchun to help her take off her shoes, while complaining and muttering, “Do you know, I was just waiting for you, my feet went numb from squatting. And it’s so cold.”

Actually, she had waited near the entrance of Xu Xingchun’s apartment for close to two hours. Guessing he must be busy, during that time she wasn’t particularly impatient. For her, the time spent waiting for Xu Xingchun wasn’t very hard to endure.

“Want me to massage them for you?” Xu Xingchun knelt on one knee in front of Fu Xueli, placing the shoes he’d taken off to the side, and looked up.

The two made eye contact.

His gaze made her heart tremble. Fu Xueli raised her hand to cover Xu Xingchun’s eyes. “Don’t look at me like that. I can’t control myself.”

Pulling down her hand, Xu Xingchun stood up, raised his wrist to take off his watch, then asked, “Finished talking?”

Fu Xueli couldn’t continue. She pointed at her own lips, her eyes moist, saying softly, “Kiss here.”

The next second, she was grabbed around the waist and lifted into the air.

Before she could cry out in surprise, her lips were sealed. Her hands hung around his neck. Xu Xingchun’s tongue pried open the gap between her lips. “Hold onto me, don’t let go.”

Kissing like this… was really quite deadly.

Both of them were a bit out of control. Fu Xueli was tossed onto the bed, her mind still in a daze thinking.

Just now when he stood by the bed, watching him unbuckle his belt… it was really so sexy.