At Tongfu Lane, Yu Chongyi paid the rickshaw puller and took Hongdou upstairs.

The moment they entered, Mrs. Yu came to meet them: “How was it, did you have fun?”

Hongdou smiled: “It was lovely—not only was there a sumptuous feast, but I was even lucky enough to hear Bai Fengfei sing opera.”

Remembering what had happened at the banquet, she instinctively didn’t want her mother to ask too much. She stretched and headed toward her room: “Mom, I still have school in the morning, I’m going to sleep.”

Mrs. Yu, reading her expression, sensed her daughter was more shy than usual. She exchanged a glance with her son, and once her daughter had gone into her room, closed the door and asked her son: “Well? Did you see Hongdou getting close with any young man at the He house just now?”

Even before going to the He residence, Yu Chongyi had received his mother’s instructions—the moment his sister came out, he was to watch behind her from a distance. But his sister had only been with Gu Yun and her other female classmates, with no young man anywhere near her, so he shook his head: “Didn’t see anything. Mom, are you thinking too much into it? These past few days, sister’s been running all over the place with us looking for Yuqi—when would she have had the chance to meet any young man?”

Mrs. Yu paused, as if a faint impression flickered through her mind. She seized on the thread and continued: “These past few days, every time Hongdou went out it was to look for Yuqi. Since it’s Mr. He and Inspector Wang who’ve been helping us find her, I imagine Hongdou has either been with you or with the two of them.”

Yu Chongyi said, “That’s right. Mr. He and Inspector Wang are both upright men. Sometimes when I’m out making arrests and don’t have time to take Hongdou home, I entrust her to their care. Mr. He is well brought-up, never fussy, and has walked Hongdou home several times.”

Mrs. Yu sat down on the sofa, uneasy with suspicion. She’d met He Yunqin before—learned and good-looking both. Hongdou had been acting oddly these past couple of days—could it really have something to do with him?

Just then, there came a loud banging at the front door downstairs, as if quite a few people had arrived—accompanied by the sound of unrestrained laughter and chatter.

Because it was so late at night, the noise seemed magnified many times over, each sound striking the ear and startling the heart for no reason.

Yu Chongyi exchanged a startled glance with his mother, threw the coat he’d just taken off back over his shoulders, and said, “I’ll go down and take a look.”

Before long, her son returned, bringing with him several colleagues, his face showing a strange expression. One of them, in his forties, tall and imposing, walked in and boldly swept his gaze around the room, then greeted Mrs. Yu: “This must be Chongyi’s mother?”

Yu Chongyi walked close and said quietly to his mother: “Commissioner Bai.”

Mrs. Yu suppressed the astonishment in her heart and forced a smile: “So this is Commissioner Bai! Had I known you were visiting, I nearly neglected such an honored guest. Chongyi has benefited so much from your care all this time—I’ve long wanted to find a chance to properly thank you, Commissioner. Please, don’t stand—gentlemen, please sit. Zhou Sao, bring tea for our guests.”

Bai Haili sat down leisurely on the sofa, smiling with an air of ease: “No need to fuss, Mrs. Yu. I just happened to be passing by, and remembering that my capable subordinate lives nearby, thought I’d drop in for a visit. Mrs. Yu, you look so young—I never would have guessed you raised Chongyi to be so fine a man.”

Mrs. Yu smiled: “Commissioner Bai flatters me. Whatever progress Chongyi has made at the police station these years, it’s all thanks to Commissioner Bai’s guidance.”

Bai Haili opened his cigar case, took out a cigar, and said with a casual smile: “Mrs. Yu is too modest. Chongyi’s a man of honest character—that surely owes much to his upbringing. Besides Chongyi, I hear Mrs. Yu also has a daughter? With a mother like Mrs. Yu, Miss Yu is surely no ordinary girl either.”

As he spoke, he put the cigar to his mouth, and with feigned casualness, swept his gaze around the room: “Hm, Chongyi, where’s your sister? Why don’t I see her at home?”

Yu Chongyi frowned: “My sister has school again tomorrow, she’s already gone to rest.”

Bai Haili laughed loudly: “Good, good, going to school is good. I’m something of a rough sort myself, and I’ve always admired educated people the most. That day at the Fuhua Lane café, I seem to recall seeing a girl student—good-looking, spoke well too, clearly well-read. I wonder if that was your sister? I pride myself on being a gentleman—last time I invited your sister to the Great Universe, she seemed reluctant. I think there must have been some misunderstanding, and I’ve long wanted to apologize to her in person.”

Mrs. Yu’s eyelid twitched violently. In her younger years, following her husband in business, she’d encountered all sorts of people. She’d heard plenty from her son about Commissioner Bai—knew this man ran rampant in the foreign concessions, often bullying his subordinates. Given his considerable standing, she’d always urged her son to endure and be patient.

Yet tonight this man had shown up uninvited, and after a few roundabout words, had already brought the conversation to Hongdou. Seeing that the Yu family had no power or connections, his behavior was brazen to a shocking degree—by the looks of it, if he didn’t see Hongdou tonight, he wouldn’t be willing to let it go. Having lived through war in her younger years alongside her husband, and having lost him tragically in middle age, she had long since grown detached about most things in this second half of her life—except when it came to her two children, who were her life itself. Her expression cooled at once: “Commissioner Bai, though the Yu family is a humble household, we still know our manners. It’s the middle of the night—there’s absolutely no reason to wake my daughter to receive a strange man.”

Her words left no room for courtesy. Commissioner Bai, still harboring designs on making Hongdou his new wife, had no wish to burn bridges with his future mother-in-law, and immediately softened his tone: “Mrs. Yu, you take this too seriously. The only reason I came calling at this late hour was thinking of how Chongyi has done such great service these past few days, and wanted to show my appreciation, and chat a bit besides. Since it’s inconvenient for Mrs. Yu, I’ll come again tomorrow.”

Yu Chongyi silently clenched his fist, then suddenly drew something from inside his coat and walked over to hand it to Bai Haili: “Commissioner Bai, this is my resignation letter. I lack talent and often feel inadequate handling cases—I’ve long thought of changing careers. Please approve it.”

His colleagues, stunned, all turned at once to look at Yu Chongyi. The air seemed to freeze. Even Mrs. Yu was taken aback.

Yu Chongyi stared fixedly at Commissioner Bai’s back, his expression resolute, clearly not joking in the least.

Bai Haili stood quietly where he was, taking several puffs of his cigar, before slowly turning his head.

Yu Chongyi immediately felt two piercing gazes bearing down on him from above, as if sitting on pins and needles—but he had already reached the limit of his patience, and withstood that crushing pressure without the slightest flinch or retreat.

Bai Haili looked at Yu Chongyi for a long moment, then suddenly smiled in a way that was hard to read: “Yu Chongyi, ah. There’s something I originally planned to discuss with you tomorrow at the station, but since you’ve pulled a stunt like this, let’s just settle it plainly tonight. Where’s your study? Let’s go in there and have a proper talk.”

That talk lasted a full half hour. Mrs. Yu waited in the parlor, and remembering Commissioner Bai’s tone earlier, felt her heart pound with dread. Time crawled by second by second—she had no heart to entertain her son’s colleagues, nor did she dare go back to her room to sleep.

Finally, the study door opened. Commissioner Bai emerged first, and seeing Mrs. Yu spring up from the sofa like a coiled spring, smiled with great satisfaction: “I’ve given your son the night to think it over carefully. I’ll come again tomorrow morning—from now on, I’ll personally see Miss Yu to and from school.”

Mrs. Yu, uneasy with dread, glanced into the study—her son stood there, face pale, as if frozen in place, not moving for a long while.

Once those men had finally left, she hurried inside and asked anxiously: “What happened?”

Yu Chongyi felt cold all over, unable to speak at all. Bai Haili was at the height of his power now—if he seriously wanted to deal with someone, whether by framing them or pinning blame on them, he had no shortage of vicious methods. And what’s more, Yu Chongyi had a very real, damning piece of evidence in this man’s hands. Even if he quit being a policeman, he couldn’t escape a prison sentence.

With Hongdou’s safety at stake, he didn’t want to lose his composure. He thought for a moment, forcing himself to calm down: “We can’t let Bai Haili push us around at will. Inspector Wang and the others have resourceful ideas—I’ll go discuss this with him right away.”

He hurried downstairs, and apologetically knocked on Tailor Peng’s door to borrow the telephone, calling Wang Bide’s residence. But no matter how many times he dialed, there was no answer on the other end.

He stood frozen before the telephone for a good while, realizing Wang Bide must be out. Even going to Wang Bide’s residence in person might well be futile. Full of disappointment, he was about to leave when he suddenly thought of He Yunqin. As a policeman, he had the telephone numbers of prominent households within his jurisdiction memorized by heart, and the He residence was naturally among them.

But it was far too late—calling the He residence at this hour hardly seemed appropriate. Yet thinking of how easygoing He Yunqin was in his dealings, he probably wouldn’t take offense even if he answered the call. Mustering his courage, he dialed.

Fortunately, this time a servant answered quickly: “He residence, who are you looking for?”

He Yunqin had gone back to his room to bathe, and had just come out and changed into his nightclothes, tying his robe, when a servant knocked at the door: “Second Young Master, the Master and Madam are waiting in their room. The Eldest Young Master and Eldest Young Madam are there too.”

He Yunqin knew this must be about the household mole from earlier that evening. Though he had already dealt with that servant and traced out the mastermind behind it, given that the family’s reputation was at stake, his father likely still had more to say. He had no choice but to change clothes again and go out.

At the door, he knocked, and upon entering, saw his father and mother both there. His elder brother’s face was ashen, standing stiffly by his father’s desk, while his sister-in-law half-reclined against the arm of the sofa, as if just woken from a daze, tear marks still visible on her face.

He closed the door behind him and said solemnly: “Father, Mother. Brother, Sister-in-law.”

He Mengmei snorted coldly through his nose: “Ever since someone spread rumors three months ago, this matter has been dredged up again and again by people making trouble out of it. If we let these people succeed tonight, won’t the He family become the laughingstock of all Shanghai? Second Son, your mother and I told you long ago to settle on a match. You kept saying you had no one suitable and dragged your feet on finding a girlfriend. Even if you’ve done nothing wrong, people are bound to suspect—”

He Ningzheng lifted his eyes coolly to look at He Yunqin.

He Yunqin was just about to respond when there was a knock at the door: “Second Young Master, there’s a phone call.”

So late, and someone was calling.

He Yunqin asked through the door: “Who is it?”

The servant said, “The caller said his surname is Yu.”

Madam He was startled: “Surnamed Yu?”

He Yunqin paused for a moment, then without another word opened the door and went out: “I’ll go down for a moment.”

Author’s Note: Love you all, second update tomorrow as usual.