That day, You Mingxu remained in good spirits, experiencing a sense of complete release. She wondered: Was this an interesting phenomenon—did she have evil genes naturally flowing through her body that made her love punishing wrongdoers, or had she become somewhat evil and willful because she frequently punished evil?

Luo Yu, being a clever person, never came to cause trouble.

When it was time to leave work, You Mingxu’s phone rang right on schedule. These days, whenever she received a call from Yin Feng, she always paused for a moment.

“Hello?”

“Are you off work?”

“Mm, soon.”

“I’ve sent a car to pick you up at the entrance,” Yin Feng said. “I’m waiting for you at my house. Ah Xu, it’s really fun here. Come quickly, I have lots of things to show you.”

After hanging up, You Mingxu couldn’t help but smile. She sat quietly for a moment before picking up her bag to leave.

A Bentley was parked outside the police station, attracting numerous glances despite its quiet presence. You Mingxu frowned slightly and quickly got in, thinking that this guy must have been quite extravagant and showy in the past.

They had agreed yesterday that Chen Feng would take him back to his house today to familiarize him with some book-signing procedures and practice piano. You Mingxu had promised to come take a look as well.

The driver in the front seat was a large, sturdy man who wore a black chauffeur’s uniform and maintained complete silence throughout the journey as if You Mingxu were the only person in the car. However, when someone cut them off on the road, the driver silently stepped on the gas to catch up. He had quite a temper.

You Mingxu looked up and said, “Slow down, safety first.”

The driver’s hands tightened on the steering wheel, and he gradually reduced his speed.

You Mingxu had heard from Chen Feng and read online that Yin Feng had established a company and owned a considerable business empire. The people around him had been with him for many years. She suddenly became curious about how the former Yin Feng could keep such an impulsive, taciturn, and rigid driver by his side, entrusting him with his driving safety. The former Yin Feng must have been quite interesting.

After driving for over half an hour, they approached the suburbs. The surroundings were enclosed by mountains and forests, with trees stretching endlessly. They turned onto a well-maintained, quiet road and gradually entered a garden complex. It turned out to be an understated but vast villa district. Each property had high walls that blocked the view inside and occupied extensive grounds.

At the deepest part, they could see two palace-style gates standing open in the distance, with a white marble driveway leading inside.

One glance was enough for You Mingxu to think: that Yin Feng and she weren’t from the same world.

Another thought flashed through her mind: Why couldn’t he have been a struggling poor writer before? Or why hadn’t he just stayed a simple writer instead of building some cultural business empire? Wouldn’t that have been fine too?

The driver parked the car in the garage not far from the entrance, then opened the door for her and gestured for her to go in by herself. You Mingxu smiled at him, “Thanks.”

The driver’s thick, hardened face finally managed a smile. You Mingxu had seen too many people not to notice that although his smile was stiff and he wasn’t good with words, it was quite genuine.

The former Yin Feng must have recognized this too.

A white path crossed through the garden in the courtyard. The setting sun cast the entire yard in soft light. A gardener stood among the flowers, pruning. He wore dark blue work clothes, an apron, gloves, and a sun hat, holding enormous shears. Sensing footsteps, he looked up and met You Mingxu’s gaze.

He was a man in his early forties, with a thin face showing signs of fatigue, though he had refined, scholarly features.

You Mingxu nodded in acknowledgment.

He lowered his head and continued trimming the flowers.

You Mingxu didn’t mind and continued walking, habitually surveying her surroundings. She suddenly realized that this vast garden, or rather flower field, looked strange overall. Usually, such flower fields would be trimmed neatly, regularly, and even symmetrically. But the colors in this flower field were deeper in some places, and lighter in others. Yellow, dark blue, light blue and deep purple flowers and grasses were distributed irregularly.

She stopped and looked for a while longer, finally beginning to understand: that it was like a painting. If the ground were oil paper, then the clusters and patches of flowers and grasses would be the artist’s brushstrokes of color. It had quite a strong artistic sense.

You Mingxu glanced again at the silent, listless gardener’s back, thinking how appearances could be deceiving. Or perhaps the gardener had taken after the house’s owner, showing that somewhat uninhibited artistic temperament.

Past the flower field stood the four-story mansion. You Mingxu could only tell that the house was designed with great artistic sensibility—pure white throughout, with smooth lines, and asymmetrical in both height and layout, yet unexpectedly harmonious as a whole, much like a museum.

Many fruit trees surrounded the house, with several peach trees already heavy with tempting fruit. On one side was a fish pond, surrounded by artfully arranged flowers, grass, stones, and trees. A gray-haired old man squatted beside the pond, cleaning some tools. He wore a straw hat, tank top, and shorts. When he looked up and saw You Mingxu, he immediately stood, his weathered face breaking into an extremely humble smile.

You Mingxu paused slightly.

Police officers are very familiar with certain types of people. Their standing posture, and unconscious physical tension—even many years after leaving prison, these traits can never be completely erased. This man in his early fifties had such characteristics.

You Mingxu studied him for a moment. He seemed to sense something and lowered his head, his neck becoming ramrod straight. You Mingxu walked into the house without showing any reaction, wondering if the former Yin Feng knew this was an ex-convict. Then she realized: that with that fox Chen Feng around, they must have known everything. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Entering the first-floor hall, You Mingxu was surprised to see a sign in the middle of the lobby: “Yin Feng Studio.” Looking up, she saw seven or eight rooms on the first floor, each with signs: “Art Department,” “Planning,” “Editing,” “Business Promotion”… So the former Yin Feng had moved his studio into his home? However, at the moment, most of the room doors were either closed or open but empty.

“Hello, are you here to visit Teacher Yin too?” a voice asked from behind.

You Mingxu turned to see a tall, thin, fair-skinned young man wearing thin black-framed glasses, with refined features. His eyes were particularly bright and clear, immediately drawing attention.

The young man appeared to be twenty-four or twenty-five, carrying a drawing board and holding a large basket of fruit, looking at You Mingxu with curiosity.

You Mingxu: “Mm.”

The young man looked up at the second floor and said, “Everyone at the company was so worried when he had his accident. Now that he’s back and can hold book signings, it’s wonderful. The people in our department insisted I come as their representative to bring this fruit basket.”