"Exusiai, who is it at the door?"
Su Yi came over to check what was going on. When he saw Ch'en Hui-chieh standing outside, he greeted her warmly. "Oh—Inspector Ch'en. Have you eaten? We're having dinner right now. Want to join us?"
"I've already eaten," Ch'en said. "I need to talk to you about something. Is it convenient to speak somewhere else?"
"What's inconvenient about it?" Su Yi turned slightly and said to Exusiai, "Go back inside. I'll close the door—this wind is freezing."
Exusiai didn't even have time to react. The front door shut with a solid thud, cutting the inside from the outside—cutting her and Su Yi into two separate worlds.
Winter nights in Lungmen always came early.
It was only six in the evening, yet the sun had already clocked out. Twin moons hung high over the skyline, their sly moonlight spilling onto the streets and making the midwinter wind feel even more biting.
"Let's walk and talk," Ch'en said.
She moved with measured steps, leading Su Yi down the street. "You were right. We found that criminal gang at the Heyé Warehouse in District Thirteen and arrested them. This operation succeeded largely because of you. Your contribution was outstanding."
"Oh, I get it," Su Yi said, leaning his face toward her. "You're here to honor the bet. Come on."
"I never agreed to that," Ch'en said, pushing his face back away with a hand. "That was you talking to yourself."
"Then why are you looking for me?" Su Yi asked, deflated.
Seriously, what exactly was he disappointed about?
"A kiss is not happening," Ch'en said flatly. "But considering you acted bravely, upheld justice, and helped crack a major case, I applied to the LGD for a reward on your behalf. Twenty thousand."
She pulled a thick envelope from inside her coat and handed it to him.
"Breaking news! Senior LGD inspector openly bribes civilians! Behind this—distorted humanity or moral collapse? This station's reporter, Su Wenbo, reporting live."
"If you don't want it, I'll take it back."
"Look at you, always in a hurry. It's a joke."
Su Yi took the envelope, opened it, and sure enough—two heavy stacks of Lungmen banknotes sat inside.
No—this was too good. His tiny wallet was absolutely stuffed by Ch'en's huge wad of cash, packed so tight there wasn't even the slightest gap left.
"Inspector Ch'en," Su Yi said sincerely, "you're the most beautiful girl I've seen today."
"Hah." Ch'en let out a cold laugh. She didn't believe a single punctuation mark of that sentence.
But that didn't stop it from sounding pleasant to her ears.
"Call me Hui-chieh," Ch'en said. "There's no need for us to be so formal."
This was her real purpose tonight—pulling Su Yi closer. Money in hand, and now a more intimate form of address, all to narrow the distance between them.
But Su Yi thought it was perfectly normal.
After all, they already knew each other's "depth and shallowness"—meaning tongue and mouth. Staying formal was almost harder than not.
"Sure, Hui-chieh. No problem, Hui-chieh," Su Yi said. "But you didn't come all this way just to hand me money, right?"
"You really are easy to talk to," Ch'en said. "Fine. I won't dance around it."
She stopped and looked him squarely in the eye.
"I want you to join the Lungmen Guard Department."
"Thanks for the offer," Su Yi said without missing a beat, "but I refuse."
"What?!"
Ch'en had expected resistance. She had not expected such a clean, instant, no-hesitation rejection.
"Heh heh heh," Su Yi cackled like a villain. "One of my favorite things to do is say 'NO' to people who think they're strong…"
"I'm not joking," Ch'en said, voice hardening. "I'm seriously recruiting you on behalf of the LGD."
She had Oripathy. She was Infected.
There was no place for her in the LGD's future—no place for her in Lungmen's future.
So before she had to leave, she wanted to recruit and cultivate enough talent for the LGD.
She didn't know how Su Yi had managed to locate the criminals with nothing but a map, a few scraps of information, and a tossed pen.
But that part didn't matter.
What mattered was ensuring Su Yi's ability could be put to use by the LGD.
"Hui-chieh," Su Yi said, just as serious, "I'm not joking either. I'm not leaving Penguin Logistics."
"Why?"
Why?
Because when he'd first opened his eyes in a stone coffin and stared into an unknown world, lost and helpless, the first person to help him was Texas. And the ones who accepted him, made room for him, gave him a warmth that felt like family—were Penguin Logistics.
As the old saying went: for a drop of kindness, repay with a spring.
How could he finally find his footing—and then abandon them, just for an official position?
He still remembered everything they'd done for him.
And even setting all of that aside—benefits, pay, everything else—did she think she could just ask him to go with a few words?
Who did she think she was, hypnotizing the protagonist?
Of course, none of that was suitable to say to her face.
So Su Yi chose a safer angle: blaming himself.
"I'm not suited to be a cop," he said. "I like slacking off. I don't take things seriously. I sometimes run my mouth and crack stupid jokes. I've got a little conscience, sure—but if real danger shows up, I'm the type who'll turn and run.
"If you hired me, the LGD's reputation would be ruined in a month. And as the person who recommended me, you'd get dragged down with it. So just let me keep living freely at Penguin Logistics."
Unfortunately, Ch'en didn't catch what he was really trying to say. Instead, she took his self-critique as proof of rare clarity—and became even more determined.
"If you can think like that," she said, "you're already better than certain senior inspectors who are full of themselves!"
No—sister, I've said it to this point and you still won't let me go?
Also, do not get so possessive over someone else's employee.
And I'm pretty sure you just threw shade at somebody—but I have no evidence.
…
What Su Yi and Ch'en didn't know was that not far behind them, four pairs of eyes were fixed on their backs.
Those four were none other than the four Penguin Logistics girls, disguised and tailing them.
"Heh heh heh—Croissant, look at that," Croissant murmured, already spinning wild theories in her head. "There really isn't something going on between them, is there?"
Nighttime. A street. A man and a woman walking alone. Talking and laughing.
Croissant's imagination had already engaged at full power.
"There's no way Su Yi and Inspector Ch'en have anything," Exusiai said, forcing calm the way a helpless spouse in a cheap melodrama might—comforting herself, hypnotizing herself, insisting everything was normal. "Let's get a little closer and hear what they're saying."
Texas caught her wrist. "Any closer and Inspector Ch'en will notice us."
"Yeah," Sora agreed. "You know how scary she is. And I don't think they look like that kind of relationship. They've kept half a step between them the whole time."
"Right! Sora's right!" Exusiai seized on those words like a lifeline, slowly letting her heart sink back into her stomach.
But almost immediately, it shot back up again—
Because Su Yi and Ch'en ran into a little Feline girl selling flowers.
"Sis, your boyfriend is so handsome—buy him a bouquet!" the girl said. Her clothes were thin for the cold, but the roses in her arms bloomed bright and gorgeous.
"We're not that kind of relationship," Ch'en explained.
"Not yet? I get it." The little girl nodded sagely, then urged, "Sis, you have to be proactive. Make the first move—only then will there be a story."
-------
My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
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