“What was I pulling you to do?” The corner of Shi Ting’s mouth curved into a roguish grin as he deliberately winked at her.

“How can you say that.” Yan Qing raised a small fist and struck his chest. “This is an office — what if someone sees? They’ll say Director Shi is using work hours for personal matters.”

Shi Ting laughed, then suddenly scooped her up into his arms.

Yan Qing gave a startled cry: “Hey, what are you doing?”

She had only said a few words to him and he was making it worse.

“I think what Qing Qing described is not something that should be limited to mere kissing.” He strode toward the sofa. “Since that’s the case, I might as well make the offense complete.”

Shi Ting set the person in his arms down on the sofa and bent over her.

Yan Qing quickly threw her hand up against his chest, her bright eyes sparkling like crystal. “Shi Xingzhi, are you serious?”

She nervously glanced at the door and the window: “I haven’t bathed, and I smell like mold. Also — what if someone comes in?”

Seeing that she was genuinely a little frightened, Shi Ting laughed and pulled her up from the sofa. “If I really intended to, I’d lock the door first.”

After all, someone like Bai Jin, who had no sense of timing, was liable to burst through the door at any moment.

He knew she had always been thin-skinned.

Yan Qing realized she had been tricked, and her fist landed on his chest once more, punctuating each blow with a scolding: “You — Shi Xingzhi — you’re getting more and more outrageous. Whoever teases people like that is a little dog.”

Shi Ting caught the fist she was swinging and put on a placating smile: “If Madam wishes to settle the score with me, feel free to do so when we get home. I promise to lie down obediently and not resist at all.”

Knowing he was teasing her again, Yan Qing gave a humph and turned her head away, but her mouth was already asking: “Is there news from Doctor Zhang?”

Shi Ting returned to his composed demeanor, pouring her a glass of water as he spoke: “Doctor Zhang swapped out the real sachet for the fake one, but after he opened the sachet, he couldn’t determine what the contents were made of.”

“What about handing it to Gu Zhen?”

“The ingredients inside are complex — it would probably take a while to identify them. And Gu Zhen is already overwhelmed right now. I don’t want to take up his time.”

“Gu Zhen is your man — I’ve borrowed him so freely and yet you’re worried about taking up his time?” Yan Qing couldn’t help but laugh. “I feel like I’m making improper use of public resources.”

“Madam wishes to make use of me? I am freely available…”

Seeing that he was about to say something inappropriate again, Yan Qing hurriedly pressed her hand over his lips: “Then what do we do?”

“Remember that man from Di Nation we talked about last time? He was arrested and brought to the Military Police Division for some offense. He had several beautiful young women accompanying him at all times, every one of them utterly devoted to him. Bai Jin asked him at the time whether it was money, or some personal magnetism of his. He said that a person’s personal magnetism is limited — and when one falls short, certain things can fill the gap.” Shi Ting could still picture that man from Di Nation clearly — short in stature, heavyset, and half-bald. As for wealth, he was merely moderately well-off, and after paying that sum, he seemed to have been left penniless.

As for personal magnetism — what kind of magnetism could a man have who was foul-mouthed and capable of striking even the elderly and children?

“I had Yuan Hang look into the case file and locate the address where he’d been living. Bai Jin traced it all the way back and found that after paying the compensation, he’d sold his house. He’s now doing business in the black market.”

At the mention of the black market, Yan Qing thought of Xie Yan.

“Will we need Mr. Xie’s help again this time?”

“Tonight, we’ll go find him. My people can move freely above ground, but below ground — that is his domain.”

Yan Qing had heard Long Yunxiao speak about Xie Yan. It was said he had killed someone even as a child: a gang of thugs had tried to abduct his older sister by force, and he had walked out quietly carrying a knife and cut down all five of them.

Five grown men, defeated by a child of only seven years old.

Because the law at that time was not fully established and he was so young, the matter was allowed to fade away — but from that point on, he became the fiercest figure on that street.

Xie Yan was an exceptionally intelligent man. Like Shi Ting, he possessed a photographic memory, and he was even more ruthless than Shi Ting.

For the past several years, Xie Yan had lived a life of dancing on the blade’s edge — but only recently had things settled down, and he had at last begun living carefree days: buying materials and drinking red wine in the black market. If one didn’t know about the enormous power under his command, one might genuinely mistake him for a small-time black market dealer.

The black market was as lively as always. Yan Qing, dressed in her usual male disguise, moved under Shi Ting’s protection, looking about here and there in wide-eyed curiosity.

“Hey, young man, you’re quite a looker, aren’t you,” someone standing by the roadside called out with a whistle aimed at Yan Qing.

Yan Qing was startled. She had clearly changed into men’s attire — how was someone still interested in her? It seemed that in this place, it wasn’t just women who faced danger: good-looking men were not safe either.

Hearing that flippant voice, Shi Ting sent a sharp warning glare in that direction. The man who had been grinning a moment ago instantly sobered and turned to slink away.

Yan Qing’s gaze turned toward Shi Ting, eyes glittering with bright light, and for a moment she forgot to follow.

Shi Ting had walked two steps before realizing she hadn’t kept up, and immediately turned back to check on her.

When he saw her staring at him with the wide, smitten eyes of a complete admirer, he gave an exasperated shake of his head. Two steps became one as he closed the distance, grasped her hand without a word, and held it tightly in his own palm. Looking at their intertwined hands, he said with satisfaction: “That way, no one will try to bother you again.”

With her hand held so firmly in his, the warmth from his palm passed through her skin and traveled straight to her heart.

Yan Qing couldn’t help saying: “Shi Ting, if I were a man, I would still fall in love with you.”

Someone like him — who could not love him? Even if she became a man, she would still keep on loving him; she would still fall in love with him through all their time spent together.

This realization put her on alert, because it meant her husband was a man capable of captivating both men and women.

Shi Ting walked on, holding her hand. Hearing her words, he smiled: “And if I were a woman?”

Yan Qing carefully studied the face before her, imagining him transformed into a woman — and she bent double with helpless laughter.

Talking and laughing all the way, they arrived at Xie Yan’s small shop. The door was the same as always — half open, half shut — lacking only a “closed” sign.

Xie Yan certainly did not live off this little shop; it was merely an idle retreat for his carefree days.

Shi Ting knocked at the door. But at the familiar spot, there was no sign of Xie Yan — instead, a young man stood before a pile of goods, a white cloth in hand, carefully polishing what passed for merchandise.

Seeing someone enter, the young man froze for a moment, and then, once he saw clearly who it was, he set down what was in his hand and came over.

“I didn’t expect it to be Director Shi gracing us with a visit.”

Shi Ting gave him a slight nod. “Where is Xie Yan?”

“Mr. Xie has gone out,” the young man replied. “He should be back soon.”

“He rarely goes out this late at night,” Shi Ting frowned. “What did he go out for?”

The young man’s mouth curved in an almost imperceptible pout: “It seems Mr. Xie went to find a woman.”

When it came to Xie Yan going to find a woman, Shi Ting looked even more surprised than he had upon hearing that Xie Yan had gone out at all. Yan Qing noticed his expression and a quiet question mark formed in her mind.

“Director Shi, please sit here and wait a moment. Mr. Xie won’t be long.”

“Does he go every day?” Shi Ting asked.

“These past few days, every single day.”

“What is the background of this woman?”

The young man’s expression grew even more peculiar — and in Yan Qing’s eyes, it looked almost like jealousy or sulkiness. She blinked, momentarily wondering if she was seeing things.

“I’m not too clear on that either. None of us have met her.” The young man raised an eyebrow. “Mr. Xie says the woman owes him money, and he’s going to collect the debt.”

Shi Ting: “…”

Setting aside the fact that Xie Yan had a mountain of gold and silver — even if it were truly a matter of debt collection, it hardly seemed necessary for Lord Xie himself to personally make the rounds.

But Shi Ting had no intention of prying into Xie Yan’s private affairs. Since he knew he would be back soon, he would simply wait.

“Director Shi, please take a seat. I’ll go make you both a drink.” With that, the young man headed into the back room, where a bar counter stood, its shelf behind it stocked with all manner of red wines.

It was common knowledge that Xie Yan loved red wine.

Shi Ting took Yan Qing’s hand and sat down on a nearby sofa. On the small table before them sat a wine glass with a little unfinished red wine still inside; beside the wine lay a lighter and a box of imported cigarettes.

“It looks like he left in quite a hurry — forgot both cigarettes and lighter,” Shi Ting said. “Xie Yan has a very heavy smoking habit. Cigarettes are to him like breathing — something he cannot do without.”

Yan Qing noticed the lighter: it was the PIPO brand. “When I was at the Lin Family fire scene, I found a PIPO lighter. The lighter is currently with Long Yunxiao — he said he would trace it back to the buyer.”

“PIPO lighters — they only make one of each design, and the price is steep. If we can identify which shop sold it, the staff might remember the buyer. Some shops even keep customer sales records.”

“If that lighter also belonged to Zuo Liang, then he truly may have a connection to the Chen and Xu family massacre cases. We just don’t know what secret those Chen and Xu families were hiding.”

While they were speaking, the young man came in carrying a tray holding two glasses — one with red wine, one with fruit juice.

“Please help yourselves.” The young man set the items before them. “I’ll get back to my work.”

Yan Qing watched the young man’s retreating figure with some curiosity and said, “When he mentioned Xie Yan just now, it seemed like he was… jealous.”

“Xie Yan plays for both sides,” Shi Ting said in an unbothered tone, as though speaking of something utterly commonplace. “As long as they’re good-looking — man or woman, he doesn’t care.”

Yan Qing was astounded: “Ca — can it really work that way?”