"Alright."
Su Yi followed behind Ch'en Hui-chieh.
Along the way, every officer they passed took the initiative to greet her.
"Morning, Sir Ch'en!"
"Officer Ch'en!"
"Inspector Ch'en!"
Su Yi blinked in surprise. "You're a senior inspector in the LGD?"
"I thought everyone at Penguin Logistics knew who I was," Ch'en said evenly, as if long accustomed to people's reactions.
"I'm new," Su Yi explained. "Before this I was just doing internship errands—learning the work. Only recently did I start running deliveries on my own."
"We're here."
Ch'en took out a key and unlocked her office.
It wasn't large—maybe ten square meters—but every case file and document was arranged neatly, orderly to the point of severity. It fit the room's owner perfectly.
A map of Lungmen hung on the wall, marked with several red arrows and circles.
"Sit wherever. Tea or coffee?" Ch'en offered.
"If you drink tea or coffee now, you won't sleep tonight," Su Yi reminded her.
"It's fine. I'll be working overtime anyway."
"That's rough…" Su Yi said. "Just warm water for me, please."
Ch'en poured him a cup of warm water, handed it over, and sat down in her chair.
On the surface, their interaction looked natural enough—but both Su Yi and Ch'en felt the air was awkward, and neither could quite look the other in the face.
After all, they'd already kissed—tongue and all. Pretending nothing happened was… an advanced difficulty setting, especially for two people with zero experience.
"Ahem." Ch'en forced herself to break the silence with a formal introduction. "I'm Ch'en Hui-chieh. As you can see, I'm a senior inspector with the LGD."
"I'm Su Yi," he replied promptly. "Penguin Logistics staff."
"What happened yesterday was an accident," Ch'en said bluntly.
"Understood, understood." Su Yi nodded hard. "What happened in the car yesterday—heaven knows, earth knows, you know, I know. No third party will ever know."
He still needed this inspector to help get his colleagues out, after all. Whatever she said, went.
If she told him to call her Mom, he'd do it without hesitation.
Seeing how cooperative he was, Ch'en finally let out the breath she'd been holding. Even her posture relaxed.
"I thought I could suppress the drug," she said. "I didn't expect the criminals' dosage to be that strong… I can't remember what happened later. Can you give me a brief account?"
"Honestly, it wasn't much," Su Yi said. "Once I saw you were in a bad state, I used a rubber round to knock you out. Then, just like you told me while you were still lucid, I brought you to Lungmen First People's Hospital. After that, I left."
No wonder the back of my head hurts like hell…
Hearing that the two of them hadn't done anything beyond the… mouth-to-mouth incident, Ch'en's heart finally unclenched.
"Su Yi, right?" she said. "Thank you for saving me yesterday. If not for your quick thinking and courage—your willingness to step in—the consequences might have been unthinkable."
"It's what any Lungmen citizen should do," Su Yi said quickly. "And there's no need to talk about repaying me. But if you insist on repaying me… then please let my four reckless colleagues go."
He seized the opening while her mood was good and put in his request.
Ch'en hesitated. "That… might not be possible."
Normally, she could have let them walk. If she didn't, that penguin would come banging at the door—at which point even her uncle, Wei Yenwu, the Lord of Lungmen, would have to swallow a bitter cup.
And Su Yi, on top of everything, was her lifesaver.
But Swire had stayed up all night for her. The only "result" of that miserable shift was catching those four along with a group of gangsters. If Ch'en turned around and released them the moment she took over, it would be hard to justify.
"Why not?" Su Yi asked.
"It doesn't comply with relevant laws and regulations," Ch'en replied evasively. "Besides, the LGD isn't my personal business. I can't just release people because I feel like it."
"Someone already told you not to, didn't they?"
"Please understand."
Su Yi panicked. "We're practically—uh—'moistening each other with spit' kind of friends! A 'neck-kissing sworn bond'! You can't not help me!"
"Pfft—cough, cough, cough!" Ch'en choked on her own saliva and started coughing violently.
Those idioms are not used like that!!!
"I was drugged," Ch'en emphasized again and again. "I lost control."
A statement like that might fool the handsome white-haired young man in front of her—but it couldn't fool herself.
Because back in that car… she really did have the urge to force a kiss on him.
And that urge hadn't come from the drug.
If Su Yi had been—forget ugly—even just a little more ordinary, Ch'en probably could have stayed clear-headed all the way to the hospital.
It was like how people might do reckless things when drunk and let truths slip… but very few people get drunk and start swinging at their boss.
So was she controlled by the drug?
Or was it that she let the drug—and her own raw desire—take the wheel?
Or was it both?
She couldn't tell anymore.
"I—what about my first kiss?" Su Yi pouted. "It just gets taken for free like that?"
"I already said—"
Knock knock knock.
Maybe they'd been speaking too loudly. An officer came to check in. "Inspector Ch'en, what's going on?"
"Nothing," Ch'en waved him off. "Go back to work."
"Then why is your face so red?"
"Full of energy!" Ch'en snapped.
Sensing her mood, the junior officer quickly shut the door and fled, terrified of catching her wrath.
"In any case, no," Ch'en said, dropping back into her seat with a huff. "You don't just order someone released. Do you think the LGD is your family business?"
"Come on," Su Yi said. "I've practically finished the paperwork already. You just need to sign. And you bit my lip, stole my first kiss—consider it compensation."
"It's almost off work. Come back tomorrow."
"There's still an hour," Su Yi insisted. "We can make it. Look at my lip."
"Can you talk about literally anything else?!"
"Sure. I saved your life."
Ch'en leaned back and sighed at the ceiling. "Fine… I lose. Hand it over. After this, we're even."
"Thank you, Inspector Ch'en!"
Su Yi beamed and slid the documents to her for signature.
While Ch'en signed, Su Yi glanced at the map on the wall and asked casually, "Those marked locations… aren't they where we ran into each other yesterday? You didn't catch anyone?"
"Yeah," Ch'en said without looking up. "The whole company fled."
"Roughly how many?"
"About twenty."
"They ran south, right?"
"Based on witnesses and surveillance, likely south."
"Twenty people… south…" Su Yi murmured. "In a rushed escape, they couldn't afford to loop around. And with the LGD chasing hard, their range would've been limited…"
He looked up. "Can I ask one more question? From the start of the pursuit to when you lost them—about how long?"
"An hour to an hour and a half," Ch'en replied. "They moved fast, and they were disciplined."
Su Yi's eyes sharpened. "Then I think I might know where they're hiding."
-------
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