“Captain Bai, Captain Bai!”

They heard Tang Yuanchu’s voice along the corridor.

“We’re all ready to move out now.”

Bai Muchuan nodded his head. “Alright.”

He had to go to a crime scene and hence, didn’t have the time to explain.

He patted Xiang Wan’s shoulder for a moment. “Let’s go, I’ll brief you as we walk.”

“Mm.” Xiang Wan calmed herself down and checked her phone for a while before leaving together with Bai Muchuan.

The detectives strode towards the entrance. Their footsteps were clear and heavy.

Along the corridor, Quan Shaoteng led a few members of his Operations team while Cheng Zheng was ‘escorted’ by both Mei Xin and Miao Zichen, as they walked down the stairs quickly.

The case should be a major one!

For it activated the ‘luxurious combo’ of Serious Crime Division One.

Xiang Wan stood quietly aside without attracting anyone’s attention.

They gathered at the hall and their cars were also awaiting them.

Bai Muchuan took a look at every one. “Let’s go!”

“Yes, Sir!”

The order was being executed and their actions were neat and uniform.

There was not a word of unnecessary nonsense and unwarranted noise…

The group was about to leave the main entrance when a slender, tall figure dashed in front of them.

“Captain Bai, wait! Wait up.”

That abrupt sound had a trace of disharmony in it.

Bai Muchuan and the rest of them looked at the person who dashed over to them.

“My apologies, I just wanted to… I want to go to the crime scene together with all of you.” Cheng Xin stood at her spot and seemed a little overwhelmed by the solemn atmosphere. Her voice sounded weak and lacked confidence. Nonetheless, her desire to go with them to the crime scene was especially strong, so strong that light was about to burst out of her eyes. “Can I?”

“Just do your job well!” Bai Muchuan swept a glance at her. “Let’s go.”

“Captain Bai…” Cheng Xin clearly didn’t want to let go of this opportunity. “I’ve already been with Serious Crime Division One for so long and haven’t done anything decent at all. Can’t I just come along and learn with everyone else…”

This girl was indeed silly.

What did she mean when she said she hadn’t done anything decent?

They were all members of Serious Crime Division One. Was she implying that some jobs were decent while some weren’t?

Cheng Zheng couldn’t stand that behavior and reprimanded her before Bai Muchuan did. “Hurry and move out of the way! You should go back and do your work!”

“Brother!” Cheng Xin had been unhappy with her job for too long. Now that even Cheng Zheng did not help to chip in a word for her, she couldn’t resist answering back. “I’m serious about this. I want to do something else; I want to go to the crime scene with everyone. What is wrong with my request?”

Bai Muchuan spoke in a firm tone, “Are you still not clear what your job scope is?”

His tone was so apathetic and distant, it felt like something cold had stabbed her heart.

Cheng Xin spoke in a softer tone as if she had suffered a grievance. “Captain Bai, I want to go to the crime scene…”

“I’ll repeat one more time,” reiterated Bai Muchuan, “move out of the way.”

Cheng Xin started to feel agitated; her eyes became red and she might break out in tears at any moment. “I only wanted to go to the crime scene. Why am I the only one who can’t do so…”

Bai Muchuan took a glance at her coldly then looked at his watch. “Cheng Xin disrupted official work and will be given a major demerit point. Tomorrow morning at 10 o’clock, gather everyone in the conference room and announce this internally!”

With that, he walked out of the main entrance.

Cheng Xin looked like she had seen a ghost; she was grounded to the spot, unable to move.

“No… I didn’t…”

The rest of them sighed and looked at her sympathetically, yet none of them dared to intercede for her…

When Cheng Zheng walked past her, his eyes seemed a little cold. He didn’t say anything to her as well.

“Brother!” she called out.

Cheng Zheng continued to walk. “Go back and do a self-reflection.”

Cheng Xin couldn’t believe her own ears.

When the group disappeared before her, she finally regained her senses and yelled.

“This is unfair. I want to lodge a complaint!”

…

Her scream was sharp and shrill that when Xiang Wan heard that coming from behind, it gave her goosebumps.

The group of them got in their respective cars and zoomed into the distance.

Xiang Wan sat quietly beside Bai Muchuan.

A while later, he suddenly asked in a low tone, “You did that deliberately, right?”

Xiang Wan blinked her eyes. She was confused and tilted her head to look at him. “What?”

Bai Muchuan took a glance at Tang Yuanchu who was driving seriously. “Cheng Xin,” he whispered.

Xiang Wan: “…”

“How could it be?” Xiang Wan denied it flatly and looked at him, squinting her eyes. “Did you think of me as such a bad person, Sir Little Bai?”

Bai Muchuan snorted in a low tone. “You’re clearly holding a grudge inside.”

“No, no, no! I’m innocent! You can’t malign me like this. Firstly, she’s the one who interrupted us from moving out. Secondly, the one who gave her a major demerit point is you… I’m just an innocent bystander throughout the incident. Why did you blame it on me?”

Bai Muchuan broke into laughter. “You’re still pretending?”

Xiang Wan pouted and put up two fingers innocently. “I guarantee!”

Hur! Bai Muchuan directly caught her fingers and pulled her closer to him. He opened his WeChat Moments and showed it to Xiang Wan. “You still dare to deny that you’re not deliberate in tempting her?”

Uh!

Xiang Wan posted something in WeChat Moments earlier.

She posted when Bai Muchuan was leaving for the crime scene.

She took a selfie with the victory hand sign and the accompanying message was:

“I’m going to a crime scene again. I’m so nervous!”

“You hardly post to WeChat Moments at all,” explained Bai Muchuan, “yet you actually made such a post. Wasn’t it because you just added Cheng Xin in your WeChat so she could see it?”

“Even if it was deliberate, she has to bite the bait in order for it to work.” Xiang Wan frowned at him and took back her hand from his palm. “It’s none of my business anyway.”

“Yup, that’s indeed the case. Otherwise, you’ll be the one whom I’ll punish.” Bai Muchuan laughed and puffed a sigh as he patted her head. “You’ve really become bad. You planned the outcome of your opponent and yet, she’s absolutely ignorant about it.”

“…”

Xiang Wan moved away from him and turned to look at the scenery outside.

“You’re angry?” Bai Muchuan looked at her side profile and patted on the space between them. “Sit closer to me.”

Xiang Wan acted as if she didn’t hear him. She even moved towards the window to stay further away from him.

Bai Muchuan smiled and moved to her instead. “I’m not blaming you.” He held her shoulders gently.

Xiang Wan suddenly turned around and looked into his eyes. “Then what do you mean?”

“…”

Bai Muchuan looked at her in his usual indifferent face. However, in less than three seconds, he burst into laughter. “Will you only be pleased if I tell you that you did a good job?”

Hmph! Xiang Wan was more appeased now. “Your earlier look was so grim that I thought you wanted to redress Cheng Xin’s grievances…”

“Silly girl!” Bai Muchuan held her hand again. “I’m happy that you know how to protect yourself. However, as you get better at doing so, I do worry about you at times.”

“What are you worried about?”

“That when you try to retaliate, you might get hurt as well.”

“I don’t get it. Speak human language!”

“… I still prefer the kinder Little Xiang Wan who’s easier to deal with. Please continue to guarantee that this wonderful trait of yours will still be active 50 years down the road!”

“Duh!” Xiang Wan cracked up. “I’m always kind, pure and adorable, alright? If others leave me alone, I leave them alone…”

“If they don’t?” Bai Muchuan asked.

Xiang Wan almost blurted something she had thought of.

She couldn’t reply to that.

The sentence that came to her mind earlier was, ‘even if the enemy is far, they wouldn’t be able to escape punishment’. If she abided by it, what would be the difference between her and them?

She would be using her own standards, her likes and dislikes to punish those she held a grudge…