The surroundings were quiet, but Yin Feng felt his heart suddenly contract. Sweet, bitter, and tingling sensations flowed through his chest, spreading everywhere in response to her playful smile.

After a long pause, Yin Feng pressed his hand against his face and smiled too.

This was truly maddening.

—

Luo Yu hadn’t failed to guard against intruders or potential traps in his home.

However… the expensive security system he’d installed today had only triggered alerts during You Mingxu’s move-in, without showing any other abnormal signals.

With pressing matters at hand, Luo Yu had been juggling countless tasks all day. By the time he finished and returned home, it was already past 8 PM. His subordinates had invited their boss to dinner, but he declined. The underling who had helped You Mingxu move gave everyone a meaningful look, and they all suddenly understood, laughing and urging their boss to hurry home to his “sister-in-law.”

Watching their genuinely happy expressions and hearing their teasing remarks, even though Luo Yu knew that You Mingxu’s “cohabitation” with him was forced and that they both had their hidden agendas, he still couldn’t suppress the mixture of anticipation and bittersweet emotions rising in his heart as he drove home.

When he took out his key to open the door, the lights were on inside and the TV was running. You Mingxu sat on the sofa, merely glancing back at him when she heard the noise before returning her attention to the TV. She acted as if she were the master of the house.

For some reason, Luo Yu smiled. He changed his shoes, hung his coat in the entryway, and walked to her bedroom door. Looking inside, he saw it had been arranged simply and neatly. She had brought very few things—almost nothing was visible. But the bed had unfamiliar sheets, her teacup sat on the nightstand, and some items were arranged on the desk.

Luo Yu slowly exhaled, suppressing his complex emotions. After washing up in the bathroom, he returned to his room to change into comfortable clothes. Sitting down on the sofa next to her, he asked, “Have you eaten?”

You Mingxu had been watching his expression carefully, noticing that he hadn’t discovered the cameras and seemed to be in quite a good mood, speaking in a gentle, normal tone. She thought to herself: Could he be so blinded by desire? She answered flatly, “I’ve eaten. Look what time it is.”

Luo Yu glanced at his watch and said, “I haven’t eaten yet. Would you accompany me to get something?”

You Mingxu: “No.”

He didn’t get angry, just smiled and said, “Alright, I’ll order takeout.”

Even though Luo Yu had returned home, his work wasn’t finished, with phone calls coming in periodically. He didn’t try to hide anything from You Mingxu, giving concise instructions that revealed no useful intelligence. Sometimes he would take documents from his briefcase, review them, and make calls.

The takeout arrived quickly—just two dishes and a soup, very simple. He put down his phone, set work aside, and asked her, “Want to have a bit more?”

You Mingxu: “No.”

He didn’t insist, just picked up the boxed meal, pulled out disposable chopsticks, and ate quietly.

You Mingxu couldn’t help but glance at him a couple of times.

It was a strange feeling—here was a man who had become an underworld boss, sitting beside her eating takeout from a box.

As if he had eyes on the top of his head, without looking up he asked, “Why are you looking at me?”

You Mingxu said, “I’ve moved in now. What did Xing Jifu give you? You can tell me now, right?”

He picked up some garlic stems with his chopsticks and smiled, “Haven’t you already guessed? Why else would you agree to come? ‘You can’t catch a wolf without using a child as bait?'”

You Mingxu stared at him for a moment—talking to this man always took so much energy. She asked, “He gave you the Yunnan business? Why you?”

Luo Yu gave a particularly wicked smile and said, “Yes, he gave me the business of buying walnuts and mushrooms from Yunnan. Why me? Well, Guo Feirong’s people messed up this legitimate GDP-boosting business, so naturally, it couldn’t stay with him. As for Huang Long, he’s already handling too many deals with apples, bananas, and Hami melons—giving him more would upset the group’s internal balance. And me… Boss Xing trusts me very much now, so I’m naturally the best choice. Are you satisfied with this answer, since you agreed to live with me? Of course, if you’re willing to give me more, I’ll give you more in return.”

You Mingxu stared at him for a while, then suddenly smiled and said, “Hurry and eat, the food’s getting cold.” She even grabbed a bottle of mineral water and handed it to him.

This was perhaps the first time since their breakup that You Mingxu had shown him any kindness. Luo Yu took the bottle and drank half of it in one go, looking at her deeply. Having finished most of his meal, he put down his chopsticks, wiped his hands and mouth clean, and patted the sofa beside him: “Come sit closer and talk with me.”

You Mingxu’s expression didn’t change at all as she moved to sit beside him, maintaining half a foot of distance.

This distance already satisfied Luo Yu, who smiled and looked down at her, about to tease her when You Mingxu frowned and said, “You smell.”

Luo Yu froze, looking at her suspiciously before lifting his collar to smell it.

There was indeed a smell.

The smell of blood.

He had taken care of some business today.

She was a police officer—she could tell what that smell was.

Luo Yu suddenly felt uncomfortable, though he wasn’t sure if it was for her sake or his own. Then he heard her say unhappily, “In the future, please shower when you come home. I don’t like that smell.”

Luo Yu said, “Alright,” and immediately went to the bathroom.

You Mingxu hadn’t expected him to be so compliant and was somewhat surprised. As soon as she heard the bathroom door close, she sprang into action, grabbing his phone from the sofa and skillfully removing the battery and SIM card. She took out a prepared card with the same number from her pocket, inserted it, reassembled the phone, and precisely placed it back in its original position on the sofa’s edge.

The card had tracking and listening capabilities.

Glancing at the bathroom where the shower had just started running, she picked up his briefcase and quickly went through its contents. There was a stack of documents; You Mingxu selected a few that seemed useful and quickly photographed them. She found a business card holder and looked through it before putting it back. There was a pack of tissues, a pen, and two lighters from some bathhouses—she looked at them before returning everything to its place.

When Luo Yu finished his shower and came out, You Mingxu had already returned to her room. The TV was off, but the lights were still on. Her door was closed, with only a sliver of light showing underneath. Luo Yu stood there for a moment, looking at it before walking over to clean up the takeout boxes and throw them by the entrance.

He lit a cigarette and sat on the sofa, smoking slowly. She had left the lights too bright, and he felt uncomfortable, so he turned off the main light, leaving only the table lamp beside the sofa. The orange light filled the room, and sitting in the shadows, he finally felt comfortable.

And her door, with its internal light, was not far from where he sat.

After sitting quietly for a while, his phone rang. He looked at the number—a new contact from today—then glanced at You Mingxu’s door before walking to his bedroom. After locking the door, he answered with a smile: “Sister Yun.”