After the meeting dispersed, everyone filed out of the conference room. You Mingxu’s team members all felt somewhat frustrated.

You Mingxu walked quickly, with Yin Feng following behind, soon leaving the others behind. At the stairwell corner, she suddenly turned around and said, “When Old Tan wanted to shut down the Fenjin Bao lead, why didn’t you speak up?” She tugged at the expert badge on his chest. “With this thing, your words might carry more weight than mine!”

Yin Feng said, “Xu, as a consultant, I can’t interfere with your investigation direction.”

You Mingxu froze, thinking to herself: what am I doing, acting like a petulant girl, taking my anger out on him? She rubbed her nose and walked away without apologizing.

Yin Feng followed closely, his voice tinged with amusement: “When Xu touches her nose, it means she feels guilty.”

You Mingxu ignored him.

Then she heard him say: “Don’t worry, we’ll catch the killer.”

She responded irritably: “How?”

He said: “I’ll find the person who perfectly matches the criminal psychological profile and bring them to you.”

You Mingxu stopped and turned around, meeting a pair of clear, determined eyes. This was a completely foreign experience for her. Over the years, she had grown accustomed to not relying on anyone. This was the first time someone had casually offered to take on all her burdens. And importantly, this man was Yin Feng, whom she had “raised” herself…

That awkward feeling surged up again, and You Mingxu continued walking without acknowledging his words. Yin Feng followed silently.

After a while, she spoke: “I won’t give up on the Fenjin Bao lead. My instincts tell me something’s wrong with them. Coincidences like this don’t just happen – their connection is the only unusual commonality between the two victims. You look for the profile match, they’ll look for the van and fingerprints. Even though I can’t see anything on my path right now, I still believe it’s the right one.”

Yin Feng was about to murmur in agreement when he suddenly realized she was confiding in him. Looking up, he saw her face still set in determination, but her tone had revealed an uncertainty and helplessness unknown to others.

She was You Mingxu – the capable, never-showing-weakness You Mingxu. Yet now she was softly sharing her innermost thoughts, only with him.

Perhaps even she hadn’t realized this emotional intimacy.

But Yin Feng suddenly understood. Their hearts were perhaps closer than she thought.

A hand pressed against the wall, blocking You Mingxu’s path.

She turned to see a pair of calm, sincere eyes, remarkably free of their usual foolishness.

He smiled slightly, like spring flowers blooming: “Xu, let’s make another bet.”

You Mingxu lifted her chin.

Yin Feng smiled warmly: “Let’s see who catches the killer first. If you catch them first, I’ll grant any request you make – anything within my abilities and means.”

You Mingxu thought he was being truly childish and asked: “And if you win, what are your terms?”

“To have you.” These words almost automatically jumped into Yin Feng’s mind, carrying a certain hidden, burning sensation. But he lowered his head, only letting her see his fair, slightly reddened ears: “It’s up to you. Whatever reward you give, I’ll take it.”

You Mingxu saw him acting like a proper housewife again and was about to tease him when the word “reward” caught her off guard. Her heart seemed to skip a beat, unsure whether Yin Feng had meant it intentionally, whether this “reward” meant what she thought it might.

She turned away: “We’ll see.”

—

They immediately put their plans into action.

You Mingxu and Xu Mengshan changed into police uniforms and drove straight to Chen Zhaoci’s building. By now, the officers who had been watching Chen Zhaoci had withdrawn, leaving just them and Chen Zhaoci for what would likely be their final confrontation.

Chen Zhaoci’s home was also near Huaicheng University. They parked their car in the early evening, with many pedestrians around. As they decided to head upstairs, they saw a familiar figure walking out of the building entrance – who else but Chen Zhaoci?

You Mingxu and Xu Mengshan exchanged glances. There was no need for deliberation now; they would directly request him to assist with the murder investigation.

At that moment, Chen Zhaoci didn’t rush to his car but instead lit a cigarette, standing by the roadside smoking while glancing around. His gaze met the two officers.

He paused slightly, looked at them twice, then turned away.

“Like a rat,” Xu Mengshan muttered irritably.

You Mingxu: “You have something against him?”

Xu Mengshan looked aside: “No.”

As they spoke, they walked toward Chen Zhaoci, getting closer and closer. Chen Zhaoci faced the other direction, took a few drags of his cigarette, glanced their way again from the corner of his eye, hesitated, and then continued smoking with an unchanged expression.

Just as they were about to reach him, with Chen Zhaoci’s slight stiffness obvious even to a blind person, You Mingxu found it somewhat amusing. She felt utterly disgusted by this seemingly docile yet venomous snake and was about to startle him when her phone suddenly rang urgently.

The two stopped five or six meters from Chen Zhaoci. You Mingxu saw it was Fan Jia calling and continued walking while answering: “What is it?”

Fan Jia said: “Have you arrested him yet? I just got a text from Chen Zhaoci, asking me to come to the company tomorrow to talk, saying we might find another solution.”

You Mingxu: “Got it.” She glanced at Xu Mengshan, put away her phone, and they walked past Chen Zhaoci.

Seeing the two officers chatting and walking into the nearby convenience store, Chen Zhaoci breathed a sigh of relief, checked his surroundings, and got in his car. However, after driving a short distance, he looked back at the store, checked his phone to see Lin Lin’s agreement to meet, frowned slightly, and drove away with an expressionless face.

—

That night, at the same pork trotter hotpot restaurant, You Mingxu, Fan Jia, Xu Mengshan, and Yin Feng sat around the table.

Fan Jia said: “Let me go. Now that the entire investigation direction has changed, even if we explain this situation to the higher-ups, they’ll probably still just have us bring Chen Zhaoci in for questioning, but what can we learn from that? Two weeks of effort would be wasted. Let me go explore – this time I can get into Fenjin Bao’s headquarters, who knows what I might discover!”

You Mingxu asked: “Mengshan?”

Xu Mengshan put down his beer glass and said: “Report to Old Tan, do whatever the leaders say.”

Fan Jia smacked him: “Fox Xu, what’s wrong with you lately, being so spineless? Where’s the bold Xu Mengshan who used to dare to think and act? If we report to Old Tan and stop the operation, wouldn’t my two weeks undercover be wasted?”

Xu Mengshan remained unmoved by her actions, still as a mountain.

You Mingxu and Xu Mengshan exchanged glances, the latter casually lowering his head to drink his beer. She then asked: “Yin Feng, what do you think?”

As she turned around, she saw the man in the black sweater under the overhead light, his long neck exposed, his profile like a painting, his deep eyes fixed on his beer glass as his tongue quickly darted out to wet his lips.