You Mingxu turned around to see the young man smiling joyfully in the noon sunlight. He seemed this carefree and happy every day—as long as she didn’t abandon him.

Two people who were worlds apart, who should never have crossed paths in their lifetimes.

You Mingxu walked up to him and flicked his forehead with her finger: “What nonsense are you thinking about now?”

Yin Feng quickly replied, “Nothing.” Then he pulled out a lunch box from his chest and held it out to her.

You Mingxu was taken aback. So that’s why he’d been hunching—he was keeping the lunch box warm against his chest? She’d thought he was practicing some new Ultraman pose.

She took it and opened it to find two of her favorite dishes with half a box of rice. Still warm.

“Thanks,” she said.

He broke into another smile, beaming like spring sunshine: “A-Xu, don’t be so formal with me!”

You Mingxu smiled too, reaching up to pat his head, but he was like a puppy that would climb any pole—he tilted his head to nuzzle her palm several times. You Mingxu changed from patting to a light tap on his head, then pulled a plastic stool from the shop entrance to sit down, and hooked another one behind him with her foot.

The shop owner already knew Officer You Mingxu and just smiled at the scene. The two sat side by side, You Mingxu hunching over her food, eating like a man with big mouthfuls of rice. Yin Feng sat quietly with his hands on his knees. A gentle breeze passed by under the brilliant sunlight. You Mingxu was eating too quickly to talk. Strangely, Yin Feng suddenly didn’t want to speak either, feeling that this moment was just as perfect as it was.

You Mingxu finished in just a few minutes, washed her face again, and although she hadn’t slept enough, felt her spirits lift. Looking up, she saw Yin Feng still sitting in the same spot, the lunch box now packed in a plastic bag dangling from his finger, swaying back and forth. Despite his tall, strong build, he sat like a child, his long legs not touching the ground but propped on the chair’s lower crossbar.

You Mingxu couldn’t resist patting the back of his head again, his hair black and soft under her hand. She said, “I’m leaving.”

“A-Xu,” he said, “is this how you’ve always lived?”

You Mingxu looked at his pensive profile and answered, “Yes.”

“Then… has it always been,” Yin Feng said, “that no one cared for you? No one bringing you food when you’re hungry, no one staying with you when you’re tired like I just did?”

You Mingxu suddenly felt somewhat embarrassed, glanced at him, and didn’t want to respond.

He raised his long arm and, though sitting, easily reached to pat her head, his eyes carrying a gentle smile as he said, “It’ll be different from now on, you’ll have me.”

That clear smile was like the mountain streams You Mingxu had seen in her childhood—transparent at first glance.

You Mingxu was quiet for a few seconds, feeling indescribable emotions as if her heart had always been a wasteland, and now a small sapling had appeared, declaring it would grow strong right there.

But she didn’t need this fragile sapling to shelter her.

She smiled and brushed his hand away, saying, “Know your place.”

“Hmph…” he said, “Little Feng says I’m four years older than you. He says my brain isn’t fully recovered, that’s why I’m a bit… simple now.”

You Mingxu laughed, and still unable to resist, pressed his head down once more.

He suddenly said, “Why don’t you quit being a police officer? I seem to have lots of money, enough that even if neither of us worked, we couldn’t spend it all in a lifetime. I can support you.”

But this only made You Mingxu laugh. She replied, “You’ll support me, and what would I do all day? Just keep you company?”

His fair face blushed, and without turning his head, he softly hummed in agreement.

You Mingxu found it even more amusing and asked languidly, “If that happened, would I be your pet? Or would you be mine?” As soon as she said it, she felt something odd about it but couldn’t be bothered to care.

Yin Feng, however, had a vague feeling that his somewhat unclear, not entirely proper thoughts had been seen through by her in an instant. Even his ears turned red as he lowered his head and said, “I’ll be your pet then.”

You Mingxu finally burst out laughing, and somehow, her mood, which had been oppressed by the case, improved immensely because of this little fellow. She laughed freely for quite a while, until his mouth turned down in a pout, before slowly letting out a breath and saying, “Yin Feng, have you seen eagles in the blue sky? I, You Mingxu, am one of them. You used to be one too. So we must both fly with all our might—why cling to the ground? As long as I can keep flying, even if my wings break in the high sky someday, I’ll be content.”

Yin Feng stared at her steadily with his clear black and white eyes for a moment, as if understanding something, and nodded vigorously: “Okay!”

You Mingxu smiled, but just then her phone rang. She answered—it was a colleague: “Sister Yu! We’ve found traces of Li Biran. He appeared on a commercial street the morning of the incident, very close to your current location! Others are rushing there now.”

After hanging up, You Mingxu opened the car door: “I’m going.” But as soon as she sat down, Yin Feng quickly slipped into the passenger seat, fastening his seatbelt with a “click.” You Mingxu’s expression turned serious: “Get out, didn’t we agree?”

Yin Feng didn’t move.

You Mingxu reached over to unbuckle his seatbelt, not bothering to argue, and pushed him toward the door. He grabbed the door frame and refused to leave, his tall, straight figure now curled up in the corner like a giant caterpillar. He said, “A-Xu, you’re going back on your word!”

You Mingxu: “How am I going back on my word!?”

He looked at her, his gaze clear and stubborn: “You just said you’d take me flying with you. Why won’t you take me along to investigate now?”

You Mingxu felt that familiar pressure in her chest again: “…When the hell did I say I’d take you flying with me?!”

He bit his lip—white, even teeth on full lips. Then his eyes flickered, and he quickly fastened his seatbelt again, and those hands that once held pens moved with surprising dexterity, somehow twisting the seatbelt around his waist several times like a braid, looking completely prepared to be unmovable.

You Mingxu stared in astonishment.

After securing himself—You Mingxu even doubted if it could be properly undone—he seemed to feel more confident in his resistance. Seeing her staring at him, he became slightly nervous again, lowered his head, and had a sudden inspiration, saying softly: “Also, I just finished reviewing the Geographic Criminal Psychology branch this morning, I could be really useful in finding someone.”

You Mingxu was silent for a few seconds, then checked her watch—several minutes had already been wasted. She sat up straight and said coolly: “Sit properly and undo that braided rope properly. When we get there, you follow my every command. If you don’t behave, I’ll kick you out of the car myself.”