Conference room.

“What’s up with Captain Xu today?” He hadn’t eaten lunch, working on the case straight until now. Qiu Zhixiang held his instant noodle cup, hurriedly swallowing a couple of bites to fill his stomach. His eyes gossiped as they peeked toward the crack of the bathroom door.

In his eyes, Xu Xingchun not only had a good-looking exterior, but importantly, he was substantive. When doing things, he was usually incredibly focused and serious. His work style, attitude, and capability level were all first-rate. Except for sometimes being a bit quiet, he really had no flaws.

Just today, for some reason, this person who was usually meticulous and rarely made mistakes had unexpectedly spaced out several times when reporting the preliminary autopsy. He even had to pause the meeting halfway through, which was unprecedented.

Shocking.

“You know about it?” Qiu Zhixiang turned his head to ask a girl from the trace evidence section in the technical room.

When it came to gossip, everyone’s mindset relaxed. As a topic for discussion during breaks from case work, they discussed with great interest and enthusiasm.

“Wait, I’m saying, you people from the DNA room, if you have time to chat about gossip here, does that mean the scene analysis results are out?! The comparison results are out, right? The case is solved, right!” Lin Jin glared at that group of people, gritting his teeth. “This case is a shooting case that occurred in a busy downtown area, plus the victim’s identity is special, the impact is very bad. The higher-ups demand we must solve the case within 48 hours, and you lot still have the mood to chat!”

The others fell silent, quietly nodding, slipping back to their original positions to organize their notebooks and prepare to work.

—

Xu Xingchun cupped a handful of cold water and splashed it on his face. He turned off the faucet, lowered his head, and expressionlessly looked at the dark marble. His hands gripped the edge of the sink, letting the residual water splash and wet his shirt.

Someone coughed inappropriately twice. Liu Jingbo leaned nearby, looking at Xu Xingchun. Looking at the back of his hands, veins already bulging from exertion.

Emotions that he was desperately trying to suppress but couldn’t control. His expression went from teasing to sighing, and he raised his chin. “Look at you like this, who is she?”

Xu Xingchun’s gaze was heavy, staring straight ahead. Suppressing his breath, he didn’t say a word.

“Have you calmed down yet?” Liu Jingbo sneered disdainfully, directly concluding, “Looking at you like this, I can tell—definitely your first love.”

As a qualified criminal police officer, the most important thing was to have a pair of eyes good at discovering, finding evidence in the slightest traces, judging the truth from details.

Just now, at first sight of Fu Xueli’s appearance, Liu Jingbo saw his expression and immediately understood—Xu Xingchun must have very special feelings for this woman.

Fu Xueli’s middle school was in Lincheng. That city’s roads were lined on both sides with old sycamore trees—lush green leaves in midsummer, intertwining branches in winter covered with pure white snow.

She had grown up with her uncle Fu Yuandong since childhood, with one cousin in the family. The Fu family had some prestige in Linshi, and since Fu Yuandong was usually busy with business and didn’t discipline them strictly, the two became even more lawless. Her cousin Fu Chenglin had been forming gangs at school since elementary school, skipping classes and fighting—he was a notorious bully far and wide.

As for Fu Xueli, she had outstanding looks since childhood, and also because of her brother, she had always been a “prominent figure” in the grade, the number one topic of gossip discussions after class.

Because she often hung out with upperclassmen and people from other schools, everyone was afraid of her, which meant she couldn’t make any normal friends. In the eyes of middle school classmates and peers, the impression of Fu Xueli was:

Rich family, can’t be provoked, terrible grades, always had boys and girls from other classes looking for her.

—In short, a very bad girl.

In Fu Xueli’s debut web series, her role was that of a bad girl. Completely in her natural element, like a delinquent girl from old Hong Kong movies—didn’t dye her hair, only wore short skirts, revealing a pair of straight, smooth legs. Wore silver bracelets, red strings, waist chains, smoked. Alone at night, wandering by the red and green street food stalls drinking beer.

Her temper was exceptionally bad, yet she never lacked men who were infatuated with her.

She displayed the flamboyance and rebelliousness she’d cultivated since childhood to perfection. Without acting, she had a naturally formed, innately wild sense of freedom.

At that time, according to street rules, bad students wouldn’t actively provoke the good students in class. Both had their own sense of superiority and tacit social circles—under normal circumstances, there wouldn’t be any intersection. Not to mention Fu Xueli was the leading figure among this group of bad students, a typical example constantly criticized by teachers in class, even more disconnected from the well-behaved boys.

One day at noon before the first class, the broadcast was playing eye exercises. Fu Xueli wore her mp3 earphones, idly flipping through a comic book with her head down, vaguely hearing a low voice behind her. “Excuse me.”

She bit into an apple, turning another page of the comic in her hand. From the corner of her eye, she saw someone standing beside her.

Fu Xueli continued to focus on her comic book. Thin red lips biting the bright yellow flesh, legs crossed, slender white arms swaying.

“Can you let me in?”

It wasn’t until that voice sounded above her head again that she pulled out one earphone wire, slowly lifted her head, looked at the person for two seconds, a bit impatient. “What? Speak louder!”

He was a new student who had just transferred to the class yesterday or the day before. His appearance at first glance was that of a standard good student. Facing her impatience, he wasn’t annoyed either, his wording still gentle and simple. “I need to move my books inside.”

In the classroom of their fourteenth year, the noisy bell rang, and the teacher came into class holding test papers. Xu Xingchun stood in the narrow aisle with a stack of books in his arms. His pale face was clean and thin, having just finished copying from the blackboard, with residual chalk dust still on his fingertips.

There was wind in the afternoon, carrying a bit of warm sunshine, whistling through his loose white school uniform.

A refined, well-behaved boy—this was Fu Xueli’s first impression of Xu Xingchun.

But for some reason, Fu Xueli always felt she had seen him somewhere before. However, this was just a fleeting thought, quickly thrown to the back of her mind.

After sitting together, Fu Xueli learned that Xu Xingchun was really a very easy person to talk to, never losing his temper with anyone.

However, there was one annoying thing about sitting with him—after class, people would always gather around to ask questions. She heard he had been a famous top student in the grade before, though she didn’t know why he suddenly transferred classes.

Sometimes, with her ears filled with the noise of academic discussions, when Fu Xueli got impatient, she would directly drive everyone away.

Yes, Fu Xueli and Xu Xingchun were completely opposite types of people:

She was lazy with a bad temper, and what she liked most was bullying honest people.

Like Xu Xingchun, for example.

Sometimes when he was called on in class to answer questions, she would quietly pull out the chair behind his legs, watching his embarrassed appearance of nearly falling when he couldn’t stand steady, then laugh triumphantly with those around her. Giggling with her hand covering her mouth, gloating like a mischievous little fox.

Later, after many times, Xu Xingchun had become very accustomed to it. He could answer questions expressionlessly, then turn around to straighten his chair before sitting again, the whole process with his heart as calm as still water.

Other times, when he occasionally dozed off at his desk during breaks, Fu Xueli would suddenly lean close to his ear and shout loudly, “—The teacher’s here!” Then retreat to her original position, appreciating his sleepy-eyed, half-asleep appearance of being startled.

When young, Xu Xingchun was thin-skinned, a very serious person who couldn’t withstand teasing. But he never lost his temper with her—often just pulling a long face, silently doing homework, not talking to her for half the day.

Over time, Fu Xueli felt he wasn’t as harmless as he appeared on the surface. Rather, he was a boy with many thoughts, very self-controlled and repressed. But she was too lazy to spend energy exploring this.

At that time, good students had many privileges—wanting to change seats was just a matter of going to the office to find the teacher. However, no matter how excessive Fu Xueli was, he never actively proposed moving away. Even in the following semester, each time by coincidence, he ended up sitting beside her.

According to Fu Xueli’s guess at the time, it was because sitting with her meant fewer people would disturb him during breaks, so Xu Xingchun could peacefully do his homework.

Everyone was afraid of her.

Actually, to be fair, Xu Xingchun’s appearance had been delicate since childhood. But not feminine—rather, his features were clear, and the older he grew, the deeper and calmer his eyes became.

At that time, some girls in class liked to write romance novels in little notebooks, and the male protagonist in them was him. Somehow that notebook ended up in Fu Xueli’s hands, so she read it aloud in his ear, word by word, in a sarcastic tone.

[It was during a long break, just after doing broadcast exercises and coming upstairs. Xu Xingchun was still holding the wooden class sign, passing by our classroom door. He wore a blue school uniform jacket, his gentle profile cast in shadow by the light, looking lonely yet handsome…]

[Xu Xingchun leaned in, his thin lips slowly approaching her cheek, his exhaled breath so hot it made one’s heart panic. His sexy Adam’s apple moved up and down—]

Word by word, until finally Xu Xingchun was so embarrassed his face turned red, and he finally dropped his homework pen and raised his hands to firmly cover his ears before she would give up.

Although she always bullied him, Fu Xueli occasionally still had some sense of responsibility. For instance, she tacitly considered Xu Xingchun someone under her protection.

Moreover, in student days, boys like Xu Xingchun who excelled in both character and academics, who stood on the flag-raising platform every time as a grade representative to speak, who properly wore school uniforms, who were clean and gentle—had a special allure for girls of this age.

At some point, he caught the eye of a delinquent girl from another class.

That day was the class committee’s duty week. After school, only Xu Xingchun remained in the classroom doing duty. He had just finished wiping the blackboard, still holding the eraser in his hand, when he was surrounded by that group of people on the platform.

The girl from the other class had dyed light yellow hair, brought along her older brother from a higher grade, and forced Xu Xingchun to agree to be with her.

“Be my boyfriend. If you don’t say anything, I’ll take it as you agreeing.” The girl looked up, leaning closer, smiling as she tried to touch him.

But Xu Xingchun dodged. He didn’t respond, kept his head lowered, his expression very indifferent, not a trace of smile on his face. He turned a deaf ear to their words. As if all the commotion had nothing to do with him.

“Hey, you mute? Want to get beaten?”

Seeing he kept silent, the upperclassman boy was somewhat displeased and reached out to shove his shoulder. When the others were jeering most vigorously, the classroom door was suddenly kicked open forcefully.

The door slammed hard against the wall, then bounced back. Several loud bangs, shaking violently. Fu Xueli rolled up her sleeves, looking around for something, casually grabbing the broom by the corner and swinging it into the crowd, looking at the boy who had gotten physical and cursing, “Are you sick?! Who are you hitting, you stupid idiot!”

That evening, as the sun set in the west, she was like the hero who suddenly appears to save the day at a critical moment in movies, appearing against the light. Xu Xingchun watched, stunned, the tightly pressed corners of his lips relaxing.

The rest of the group were all dazed, frightened by Fu Xueli’s momentum. After a few seconds, someone belatedly recognized her. The delinquent girl naturally also knew her. Although unhappy inside, knowing she couldn’t afford to provoke her, she could only force a smile. “What, Sister Xueli, is he your boyfriend?”

Fu Xueli didn’t even listen, striding forward, pulling Xu Xingchun out of the crowd, and fiercely shooting back, “Get lost you damn thing, who’s your sister!”

Although aggressive and not losing at all, after all, the other side had strength in numbers—now wasn’t good for a head-on collision. Without allowing explanation, she dragged him and left, running down the stairs with rapid steps. The campus gradually became sparse with people, the broadcast playing Teresa Teng’s songs.

“One kiss steals a heart, one kiss kills a person…”

“She loves hot kisses but never loves people…”

Evening time, dim lights. Trees on both sides with intertwining branches cast swaying light and shadows on the road.

Not knowing where to go, not carrying anything on him, Xu Xingchun heard his own heart beating clearly. He just obediently let her hold his wrist.

If only it could be like this, not knowing where to go, just the two of them, how good that would be.

Fu Xueli was angry, her steps quick, her feet seeming to kick up little whirlwinds. Pulling him stumbling along.

All along the way she was chattering endlessly, criticizing him for not living up to expectations. “How can you be so stupid? Just directly refuse and run away, wouldn’t that be fine? What could they do to you? But you, you just had to stand there stupidly. Were you really going to be someone’s boyfriend? If I hadn’t come back to the classroom to get something today, what were you planning to do?”

He didn’t make a sound.

Fu Xueli stopped walking, turned to look at him. “What are you standing there for, are you dumb?”

“Thank you.” After a few seconds, Xu Xingchun actually smiled, his voice dropping, hoarse.

You can’t hit someone who’s smiling at you.

Moreover, his innocent and quiet appearance, with that smile, had an indescribable beauty.

“You can still smile.” She was still huffing angrily, but her temper had mostly dissipated. Continuing forward, then remembering something, she turned back to look at him suspiciously a few times.

Doesn’t seem particularly special, except for being smart. Why does he attract so many girls’ affection, one after another? Really can’t understand…

She wondered silently in her heart.

Xu Xingchun noticed, his face tightened, he averted his gaze, avoiding her eyes. However, his hand soaked with sweat unconsciously gripped hers tighter.

Under the bright red sunset glow, the young girl in white clothes and black skirt, with bright eyes, skin as white and fragrant as flower petals, black hair falling unknowingly, like smooth satin.

Someone said something in a low voice. Fu Xueli, immersed in her own world, naturally couldn’t hear it.

It seemed he didn’t want her to hear it either.

So that hair tie she lost that day, he picked it up and kept for ten years.