Ling’ai placed the materials Yan Qing had given her into her backpack and headed out toward the tram stop.

Hui Cun had originally arranged a car for her daily travel, but she had never been willing to use it. She disliked being treated like a pampered young mistress, and disliked being given special treatment. It was precisely why she treasured a friend like Yan Qing, who never once cared about her background.

Only a few scattered people were at the tram platform, and not far away, an iron tram was clattering and screeching as it drew up to the stop.

Ling’ai took off her backpack and rummaged inside for her wallet.

Just as the tram pulled to a stop in front of her, someone suddenly shoved her from behind. Ling’ai spun around, and in an instant the weight on her shoulder was gone — her backpack had vanished.

“Stop thief!”

A shifty-looking young man was sprinting away clutching her backpack. She shouted once and gave chase.

Zheng Yun had just finished his shift at the Military Police headquarters and was about to ride the tram to have a bowl of wonton soup, when the tram had barely stopped and he heard someone shouting about a thief. Professional instinct sent him vaulting out through the carriage window in an instant.

Ling’ai saw the thief running faster and faster, and that she was clearly falling further behind. Her mind raced, and she came to a stop.

She pulled off her leather shoe and hurled it at the thief’s head.

One shoe missed. She threw the other, and this time it struck the thief squarely on the head. With a yelp, he stumbled and pitched forward.

Ling’ai’s face lit up with delight, and she gave chase in her bare feet.

“Give me back my bag.” Ling’ai rushed up and went straight for her backpack without ceremony.

“Don’t move.” The thief had already scrambled to his feet, a sharp dagger now in his hand, his eyes blazing with a crazed gleam. “Which do you want — the bag or your life?”

“Just because you’ve got a knife you think you’re something? Think I’m afraid of you?” Out of habit Ling’ai reached for her small pistol, then suddenly remembered she had given the gun to Yan Qing.

The thief saw her pat herself all over without finding anything, and let out a cold laugh. “I only want the bag, not your life.”

“I don’t want my life, I only want the bag.” Unable to find the gun, Ling’ai could only glare at the thief. “Give me back my bag.”

Thief: “……”

The thief had no real desire to kill anyone — after all, law and order in Shun Cheng was strict. Seeing that Ling’ai was the type to throw away her life for a bag, he immediately turned and ran. Ling’ai stamped her foot and gave chase without a moment’s hesitation.

“Get back.” The thief stopped and slashed backward without warning.

As the sharp blade drew close to her face, a hand suddenly shot out from the side, gripping the thief’s wrist with precision. Before anyone could see how it was done, the thief’s wrist had twisted into a grotesque angle. As the dagger clattered to the ground, the thief let out a scream.

But that scream had barely escaped before a kick landed on his knee, and the thief dropped to the ground, wailing in pain.

Ling’ai seized the moment and snatched back her bag, clutching it tightly to her chest.

“Mercy, mercy!” The thief knew he was no match and immediately begged for his life.

“If begging for mercy worked, what would we need the Military Police for?”

The voice that rang out beside her made Ling’ai both startled and overjoyed. Only now did she find time to look at the person who had come to her aid — it was indeed Zheng Yun.

“Captain Zheng.” Ling’ai looked at him with delight.

“Mm.” Zheng Yun nodded in acknowledgment, then produced a pair of handcuffs and snapped them onto the thief.

The thief hadn’t expected his luck to be so bad — he had just scored his very first “job” only to stumble into someone from the Military Police.

“Check your bag and see whether anything is missing.”

The thief heard this and gave a bitter smile: “This young lady runs faster than a rabbit, and would rather lose her life than her bag. When would I have had time to steal from inside it?”

“That’s a fair point.” Ling’ai grinned. “Then I don’t need to check.”

She wasn’t worried about the wallet inside — she was only worried about the documents Yan Qing had asked her to deliver. Those were the product of Yan Qing’s tremendous effort, and were connected to the establishment of the forensic medicine department at the medical college. If she lost them on her watch, she would have no face to see Yan Qing again.

Zheng Yun heard her words and couldn’t help glancing over at her. He saw her cradling the bag with curved, smiling eyes, looking overjoyed at having recovered something lost.

Willing to sacrifice her life for money?

Zheng Yun shook his head, preparing to take the thief to the nearby public security office, when his gaze paused and fell on Ling’ai’s bare feet.

Her feet were small — they looked no longer than his palm. Right now those fair, delicate little feet were smudged with all manner of grime, looking quite dirty.

“Where are your shoes?” Zheng Yun asked.

Ling’ai looked down at her feet. “Oh — where are my shoes?”

Zheng Yun: “……”

Thief: “……”

Miss, you used your shoes to hit me in the back of the head. You’ve forgotten, but my skull hasn’t.

“Oh right, I used them to throw at him.” Ling’ai pointed angrily at the thief. “Give me back my shoes.”

Thief: “……”

All he wanted now was to get to the public security office as fast as possible.

“Did they fall into the drainage ditch on the side of the road?” Zheng Yun said helplessly.

Ling’ai ran barefoot to the ditch at the roadside and sure enough, found both her white leather shoes lying dead in the foul water.

“You owe me a pair of shoes.” Ling’ai stared at the thief furiously.

This pair of white leather shoes had been a gift Hui Cun had bought for her through a friend. She had always loved them, and hadn’t expected them to end up drowned in a stinking gutter today.

The thief immediately looked to Zheng Yun with pleading eyes, but Zheng Yun paid him no attention and instead cuffed the other end of the handcuffs to the railing.

He walked over to Ling’ai in long strides, removed the shoes from his own feet, and set them down beside hers. “If you don’t mind, wear mine first and head home.”

With that, he waved over a rickshaw. “Ride home — no one will see.”

Ling’ai hadn’t expected Zheng Yun to take off his own shoes for her, and felt moved and embarrassed at the same time. “But what about you?”

“I’m a man — going barefoot is nothing.”

For some reason, those four words — “I’m a man” — struck Ling’ai’s heart like a blow, and her pulse leapt and raced. She couldn’t help stealing a glance at Zheng Yun, and in the faint evening light his face was somewhat blurred, yet seemed to gleam and shine.

She suddenly realized she hadn’t thanked him yet, so she bowed deeply and with great sincerity: “Thank you so much for just now.”

“You’re welcome. But next time you encounter something like this, prioritize your life.”

Ling’ai didn’t offer any explanation, and took the advice to heart. “Next time I definitely won’t do this again.”

She slipped her feet into Zheng Yun’s shoes. They were sizes too big for her and looked like two small boats on her feet, but the shoes were warm inside, and still held his lingering warmth.

“I’ll return them to you later.”

“Mm.” Zheng Yun watched her get into the rickshaw, then turned and left.

As the rickshaw traveled a distance away, Ling’ai couldn’t help sticking her head out of the canopy, just in time to see Zheng Yun disappear around a corner with the thief.

Ling’ai returned home and, not wanting to draw attention, slipped in quietly through the back gate.

Hui Cun used to live in an apartment, but later rented a compound with two courtyards for the convenience it offered. The compound was small — compared to the Shi Mansion it was but a tiny corner.

Ling’ai had just passed through the circular archway in the middle and was about to slip unnoticed back to her room, when a familiar voice rang out behind her: “Ling’ai.”

Ling’ai froze. Her heart cried out in dismay.

She didn’t turn around, just waved a hand. “Nagase, I’ve got something to do. I’m heading back first.”

Before Nagase could say a word, Ling’ai had already dashed away.

Nagase was dressed in white training attire, a Japanese sword still in his hand. His gaze fell on Ling’ai’s feet — she was wearing a pair of leather shoes that clearly didn’t fit, shoes that were obviously a man’s.

Where had Ling’ai gone, and why was she wearing a man’s shoes? With this thought, an unsettled feeling stirred quietly in Nagase’s heart.

After returning to her room, Ling’ai quickly closed the door. She looked down at her feet, and a wide smile spread across her face.

She didn’t take the shoes off but walked around the room in them two more times before settling into a chair, lightly lifting her legs so that her feet slipped out.

“Ling’ai.” A knocking sound came from outside.

Ling’ai heard the voice, and her cheeks immediately flushed. She hastily stuffed the shoes under the bed, let down the bed skirt, and only after deciding no one would notice did she walk over and open the door.

“Nagase.”

“Did something happen to you just now?” Nagase walked in and subtly cast a glance around.

“I ran into a thief just now who tried to steal my bag. Luckily I happened to run into a friend who helped.” Ling’ai naturally referred to Zheng Yun as a friend.

“Are you hurt?” Nagase asked with concern.

Ling’ai shook her head and walked to the table to pour Nagase a cup of tea. “No. My friend is very capable.”

Nagase noticed that when she spoke of this friend, the outer corners of her eyes lifted slightly. Her eye-tails were very fine, making her look radiant and animated.

“Is that so? I’d like to meet him sometime to thank him properly.” Nagase accepted the teacup and asked casually: “How did you two meet?”

“Actually I wouldn’t quite call him a friend. It’s really more like a passing acquaintance.” Ling’ai believed that while she had come to think of Zheng Yun as a friend, to him she was probably just an ordinary person — after all, he had apprehended so many criminals and helped so many people; to his eyes, she was just one ordinary victim among many.

With that thought, Ling’ai’s mood unexpectedly fell.

“A passing acquaintance?” Nagase looked somewhat surprised, then took a sip of tea before saying: “As a girl, you should be more guarded when you go out, and don’t trust people so easily. People like them mostly have their eyes on your status — they won’t truly befriend you.”

Ling’ai wasn’t entirely convinced by Nagase’s words, but thinking carefully, it did seem that besides Yan Qing, everyone else who had sought her company had had ulterior motives.

But for some reason, Ling’ai instinctively felt that Zheng Yun was not that kind of person.

Nagase had been watching Ling’ai’s every expression throughout, and seeing this reaction, his brow furrowed ever tighter.