6

The villa where Lin Manzhi stayed was just one of Xu Chang’s many properties, an insignificant one.
The place I was heading to now was what barely passed for Xu Chang’s “home.”
A simple apartment building, though I had no idea how many bodyguards were watching it.
I carried the groceries upstairs by myself, then washed the vegetables, boiled water, and started to cook.
Xu Chang had tasted every delicacy under the sun; why would he have a particular fondness for anything I cooked with my own hands?
And yet, whenever he watched me cook, his gaze would be fixed solely on me.
It really did create the illusion of a husband and wife, an illusion that turned my stomach.

This time, as I was filleting the fish on the cutting board, he suddenly wrapped his arms around me from behind.
I hadn’t even heard him come in.

“Don’t touch me. I’m covered in fish guts.”
“Fish guts? Where?”

He laughed, brushing my hair aside and playfully toying with my earring.
I turned on the faucet, washing the bloody water from the fish off my hands.

“Stopping? You can finish it later.”
His kisses rained down on my neck. I pushed him away half-heartedly, uncomfortable.
Until I fell into his eyes—bright, glittering, and sharp.
Even his smile was full of charm and practiced ease.

I lowered my eyes and finally pushed him away.
“Are you angry?”
He asked, a hint of mockery in his voice as he pinched my cheek.
“Upset because I missed your birthday? Have you turned into a little pufferfish?”
“Who’s a pufferfish…”

That was a line I genuinely wanted to retort, but he tapped my nose.
“You. Full of spikes. Disobedient, and… heartbreaking.”
“…”

The marble countertop was still clean. He lifted me up and set me on it.
The man bent his head to kiss me, throwing everything into disarray.
I couldn’t breathe, clutching desperately at his sleeve.
Until he finally pulled back, smiling as he looked at me.
I suddenly realized how young I still was. When he smiled like that, I had no idea what it meant.

“Do you know why I was so badly hurt the day I brought Lin Manzhi back?”
“Because she had something interesting in her possession.”

He pulled out a photograph from somewhere and handed it to me.
I smoothed it out and looked at the image.
“A-Qing, don’t you find this fascinating?”
The man spoke by my ear, I could hear every nuance of his breath, even when he laughed.
“She said she’s met you. She called you… Officer Chen.”

The photograph showed me in my police uniform, posing for a picture with the children from the orphanage.
The man bent down and kissed the tip of my nose.
“Hmm? Baby, care to explain?”
“…”

I looked down, staring at the photograph.
The tofu soup on the stove was still bubbling away,
and he just watched me quietly, as if he didn’t want to miss a single flicker of expression on my face.

After a long moment, I laughed. I raised a hand and punched him.
“What’s this about? Xu Chang, have you forgotten…?”
“I graduated from the police academy. I was just… expelled later on…”

When they were setting up my cover, the Bureau considered the possibility of my police academy background being discovered.
So they simply gave me a record of being permanently expelled for insubordination.

The man looked down at me, his eyes hooded. He had me pinned firmly against the counter.
I wondered if this paranoid madman would pick up the knife from the cutting board and strike me down.

Until he let out a soft laugh.
He gave my waist a light, almost playful squeeze.
“Oh? Is that so.”
“My apologies. I’d forgotten.”
“…”

He released me, his smile light and breezy.
He even had the presence of mind to pick up a ladle from the pot and stir it.
“Dinner will be ready soon, won’t it?”
“I’m starving, A-Qing.”

Even as he said it, his gaze was fixed intently on me.
I pressed my lips together, smoothed my clothes, and nodded.
It was only as I fussed with my collar that I understood why he had squeezed my waist.
My back was already soaked with sweat.

7

That meal, at least for me, was completely tasteless.
In fact, every day I spent with Xu Chang was completely tasteless.

How I longed to slap a pair of silver handcuffs on this man’s wrist. I thought about it every day, until I felt like I was going insane.

Until a light, languid voice broke through my thoughts.
“A-Qing, there’s a shipment arriving at East Port tomorrow night. I want you to handle it personally.”

I looked up, across the dining table, at the man.
“The buyer is extremely cautious. Go alone. Don’t bring anyone.”
“…”

I froze for a second, the question slipping out.
“What kind of shipment?”

He just stared at me, smiling an unfathomable smile.
And I understood. Some things you weren’t meant to ask. Xu Chang was always like that, keeping secrets even from me. It was why collecting evidence against him had been so agonizingly slow all these years.

I nodded, picked up my bag, and headed for the door.
“Alright. If there’s nothing else, I’ll get going, I…”
But as I passed him, he caught my wrist.

“You seem so distracted today.”
The man’s knuckles brushed idly over my wrist, making no move to let me go.
I gave a bitter smile.
“I just had to deal with a wayward subordinate this afternoon. I guess… I’m a little tired.”

The man said nothing more, but he still didn’t release me.
And so the room fell into a complete silence between us. I could feel nothing but the sensation of his thumb stroking my wrist, again and again.

Until his voice softened.
“Stay tonight, hmm?”

For an instant, my instinct was to refuse.
“No, I have things to do tomorrow… mmph.”
And with that, I was yanked roughly into his arms, then pressed against the dining table as a flurry of kisses fell upon my neck.
The dim, yellow light above flickered. In my panic, I looked into his eyes.
This was how he always was when he was aroused.
Restrained, but with eyes gone red.
Frenzied, and… holding back.

8

I barely slept a wink all night.
So when I finally got up the next day, the sun was, naturally, high in the sky.
The bedsheets were a mess. The man was already gone.
I got up, trying my best to sort through my chaotic thoughts, and took a shower.
The deal Xu Chang mentioned was set for midnight tonight at East Port.
So I still had time to pull myself together. But before that, I needed to think about two things.

First, what exactly is Lin Manzhi to Xu Chang, and what is her objective?
It would be perfect if Lin Manzhi really was Xu Chang’s “white moonlight.” That would give him a weakness, and an enemy with a weakness is far less threatening.
If not, it would be very troublesome.
She’s here for me. She wants to take me down. As for why, I don’t know. And whether she can be turned from an enemy into an ally, I also don’t know.

Second, has my identity been exposed to Xu Chang?
This is what I’m most worried about.
Xu Chang is an enigma. No one ever knows what his next move will be.
Everyone in the underworld fears him because he can pour you a cup of tea with one hand while sliding a knife into your back with the other.

As I thought, my hand went to the phone card hidden in a compartment of my bag.
This was my lifeline from the Bureau, my last resort.
That year, the chief had patted my shoulder and told me that if the day ever came when I could no longer maintain my cover, I was to use this card to call. They would move heaven and earth to get me out, even if it meant pulling me from the very den of wolves.

But if I make that call, everything will be for nothing.
Everything.
Six years of endurance. The blood of my colleagues. Every step I took away from the path of righteousness.
I would become a criminal in the court of law, because all the sacrifice would have been for nothing.

I dreamed of slapping handcuffs on Xu Chang’s wrist. I dreamed about it every single day.
I flipped the phone card over and over in my fingers, then finally, I closed my eyes.
And slipped it back into its compartment.

Chapter 9

11:30 PM.
My car sped down the deserted highway.
Not there yet, but already I could almost smell the briny tang of the sea breeze.
I pulled over, facing the harbor. Several black Santanas were already parked there.
Their headlights blazed straight into my eyes.
To be honest, it was impossible not to sense something was off about this assignment.
But how could I defy Xu Chang?
Defying him meant blowing my cover.
I stepped out of the car, hands tucked into my trench coat pockets, squinting at the man leaning against his vehicle.
My contact for this deal.
On the streets, they called him Brother Madman. The name fit him perfectly—ruthless and unhinged.
Word was, his hands were deep in plenty of dirty business…
“Looks like my… merchandise arrived intact?”
He jumped down from his car hood with a lazy swagger, his eyes raking over me from head to toe.
His invasive gaze made my skin crawl, but I maintained my composure, handing him the case from the back seat.
“The goods are here. Check for yourself.”
But he just raised an eyebrow, staring at me.
“Miss Chen, would you mind opening the case for me?”
That same sticky gaze clung to me, coupled with a nasty grin. Even then, I think I knew something was terribly wrong.
But the headlights pinned me in place. Where could I run?
The case opened. Inside lay nothing but heavy stones.
The man’s hoarse, depraved laughter pierced my eardrums.
“Heh heh heh… Miss Chen…”
“Don’t you get it yet? This ‘merchandise’…”
“…is you.”