Chapter 3

Chapter 3

“Sister Qing, this is all the information we could find.”

In the car, Xiao Qi bent over and handed me the file.

There wasn’t much in it. But then again, even this was probably only what Xu Chang wanted me to find.

Miss Lin’s full name was Lin Manzhi. She was three years younger than Xu Chang.

She and Xu Chang had… grown up in the same place.

Before Xu Chang brought her back, she had worked at an orphanage. Her resume was squeaky clean, practically one step away from having the words “sheltered little flower” printed right on the page.

“Big Brother seems to treat her… very differently.”

Xiao Qi said it softly by my ear.

True. Could this Lin Manzhi really be Xu Chang’s white moonlight? The one pure white thing at the tip of his blackened heart, that sort of person?

I bit my nail, thinking.

As far as I knew, Xu Chang had very few weaknesses left by now.

He had no parents and had clawed his way up from the very bottom. He had even joined this organization later than I had.

Young, but ruthless. I had basically watched him climb all the way up, then followed him ever since. I had chosen the right person-and the wrong person.

The right person, because I had become one of his confidantes. Cutting me off would be like cutting off one of his own arms.

The wrong person, because… I hadn’t anticipated his explosive growth.

By the time I realized it, it was already too late.

My thoughts were interrupted by what Xiao Qi said next. He patted my shoulder.

“Big Brother said…”

“He wants to eat your cooking.”

“…”

If Xu Chang wanted to eat, then I had to go cook for him.

I smiled faintly and told the driver to turn around.

To the market. To buy groceries.

The villa where Lin Manzhi was staying was nothing more than an insignificant one among Xu Chang’s many properties.

The place I was in now was the one that could barely be considered Xu Chang’s roost-his “home.”

A very simple apartment building, though there was no telling how many bodyguards were watching it.

I carried the groceries upstairs by myself, then washed the vegetables, boiled water, and cooked.

What delicacies of land and sea had Xu Chang not eaten? Why would he be so attached to something I made with my own hands?

And yet, every time he watched me cook, his gaze stayed glued to me and me alone.

It really did create the illusion of a wife and husband. It made my stomach churn.

This time, I was cleaning the fish on the cutting board when he suddenly wrapped his arms around me from behind.

I hadn’t even known when he came in.

“Don’t touch me. I smell like fish.”

“What smells fishy?”

He gave a low laugh, brushed my hair aside, and toyed with my earring with amusement.

I turned on the faucet and washed the fish blood from my hands.

“Not cooking anymore? We can do that first, then you can cook.”

His kisses fell one after another along my neck. Uncomfortable, I half pushed him away, half let him do as he pleased.

Until I fell into those eyes of his, bright and glittering in fragments.

Even his smile was practiced and alluring.

I lowered my eyes and finally pushed him off.

“Are you angry?”

There was a teasing edge in his voice as he pinched my cheek.

“Is it because I didn’t celebrate your birthday? You’ve puffed up like a little pufferfish.”

“Who are you calling a pufferfish…”

I genuinely wanted to retort, but he tapped the tip of my nose.

“You. Covered in spikes, disobedient, and yet… you make people feel sorry for you.”

“…”

The marble counter was fairly clean. He lifted me up and set me on top of it.

The man lowered his head and kissed me, throwing everything into chaos.

I could barely breathe and clutched tightly at his sleeve.

Only when he finally released me did he smile and look at me.

All at once, I realized I was still very young. When he smiled, I couldn’t even tell what it meant.

“Do you know why I was injured like that the day I brought Lin Manzhi back?”

“Because she had something interesting in her hands.”

From who knew where, he pulled out a photograph and handed it to me.

I smoothed it flat and looked at what was on it.

“Ah Qing, don’t you think it’s fascinating?”

The man spoke beside my neck. Even the breath in his laugh was perfectly clear.

“She said she’s seen you before. She called you… Officer Chen.”

In the photo, I was wearing a police uniform, posing with the children from the orphanage.

The man lowered his head and kissed the tip of my nose.

“Hm? Baby, care to explain?”

“…”

I lowered my head and stared at the photo.

The tofu soup on the stove was still bubbling away.

He watched me quietly like that, as if he didn’t want to miss even the slightest change in my expression.

After a long while, I laughed, raised my hand, and punched him lightly.

“What do you mean? Xu Chang, did you forget…?”

“I graduated from the police academy, remember? It’s just that later, I got kicked out…”

Back when they arranged my identity for me, they had considered the possibility that my time at the police academy might be dug up.

So the bureau had simply given me the identity of someone permanently expelled from the police academy for insubordination.

The man looked down at me with lowered eyes. I was pinned tightly against the counter by him.

I didn’t know whether this insanely suspicious lunatic would pick up the knife on the cutting board and hack at me.

Until he let out a soft laugh.

His hand rubbed my waist twice, neither too gently nor too roughly.

“Oh? Is that so?”

“Sorry. I forgot.”

“…”

He released his hold on me, smiling as if nothing had happened.

He even had the leisure to take the ladle from the pot and stir it a little.

“Dinner should be ready soon, right?”

“I’m so hungry, Ah Qing.”

That was what he said, but his eyes were fixed straight on me.

I pressed my lips together, straightened my clothes, and nodded.

Only when I was smoothing down the hem did I understand why he had rubbed my waist just now.

My back was already soaked through with sweat.