One year later, Ji Mingrui was promoted.
Saying goodbye to his former job as a neighborhood beat cop, he began to officially handle some cases.
Summer is graduation season. Many graduates are busy looking for jobs, and there are also newcomers joining the police station. Looking at them, Ji Mingrui felt like he was seeing himself from last year.
He originally wanted to put on the airs of a senior, but to his surprise, these newcomers were extremely enthusiastic toward him: “Brother Ji!”
“This is the legendary Brother Ji!”
“Brother Ji, seeing is believing! We were excited all the way here today just at the thought of meeting you!”
How could Ji Mingrui remember any senior airs? He scratched the back of his head blankly and chuckled, “Ah… well, last year I only participated in a few major and serious cases, contributing my meager efforts. I’m not as… as amazing as you think.”
However, his last few words were interrupted by a young graduate stepping forward eagerly: “—I’m so excited! I heard you are good friends with the ‘Dual Gods of the Bureau Headquarters’. Will we have a chance to meet them? They are my idols!”
Ji Mingrui: “…?” So they weren’t actually coming for him?
The title “Dual Gods of the Bureau Headquarters” now specifically referred to his clean-freak good buddy and his buddy’s neighbor across the hall—one surnamed Chi and the other surnamed Xie. This was a nickname netizens cleverly gave them after the ‘Z’ case ended, and insiders in their circle occasionally called them that too.
Though the “Gods” in the mouths of insiders originally had the connotation of “psychopaths.”
After all, these two… were famously abnormal.
When Chi Qing received Ji Mingrui’s call, he was sitting with the other “psychopath” reading books. The books in their hands were a set, one titled How to Commit a Perfect Crime and the other On the Feasibility of Locked-Room Murders.
If one ignored the titles, the scene could be considered quite warm.
A cat was also sprawled by their feet, lying comfortably belly-up on the floor.
A cup of tea was brewing in front of Xie Lin. Holding the book in one hand, he gently lifted the cup lid with the other and asked Chi Qing, “Want some?”
Chi Qing was deeply engrossed in his book: “Leave it there.”
Xie Lin: “It’s clean, disinfected.”
Chi Qing: “…”
“Hello,” Chi Qing finally took a sip of tea and picked up the phone, “What’s the matter?”
Ji Mingrui explained the situation. When Chi Qing heard “have a meal together,” he frowned slightly. But from the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the ring-wearing hand beside him—the owner of that hand was picking fruit from a nearby bowl, and after picking one, the hand made a turn and drifted to his mouth.
Like feeding a pet, Xie Lin said to Chi Qing, “Eat.”
Through the phone, Ji Mingrui thought this “Eat” was the response to him: “Great! Since you’ve agreed, see you tomorrow at noon.”
Chi Qing: “…?”
Xie Lin: “?”
What did they agree to?
Anyway, due to some misunderstandings, several newcomers excitedly scheduled a meal with their two idols. For this, they even spared a few precious minutes of their lunch break to rush to the changing room to swap clothes.
The newcomer dressed as if he were getting married: “Brother Ji, can you help me tie my bowtie?”
Ji Mingrui watched dumbfoundedly: “You guys, this suit? This formal wear?”
Newcomer No. 1: “Meeting for the first time, the first impression is very important.”
Newcomer No. 2: “Yeah, this is social etiquette.”
Newcomer No. 3: “Where did my hair wax go… where is my hair wax?”
Ji Mingrui: “…”
The restaurant was chosen near the police station.
They called it a get-together, but this meal was completely different from what they had imagined. Even after all the dishes were served, the two “gods” (psychopaths) had still not arrived. Just as they were about to ask, they saw their Brother Ji calmly slide open his phone. After tapping it a few times, he set it upright on the table—
“Your idols are here.”
The phone screen displayed a video call.
The man sitting on the left was lowering his head, wiping the utensils with a disinfectant wipe. It was hot outside, but wherever he was, the temperature seemed to drop naturally, making things feel much cooler. He wore a simple T-shirt, carrying a rare touch of youthful air.
And… the other one was helping him wipe the utensils as well.
“They are in the private room next door, just a wall away—a very intimate distance,” Ji Mingrui said. “Alright, since everyone is here, let’s eat together.”
The newcomers: “…”
Wait, does this even count as “dining together”?
However, these newcomers also had some understanding of their two idols’ personalities. In their eyes, the more capable someone was, the more abnormal they tended to be.
In the end, it was Xie Lin who broke the ice. After he finished disinfecting everything for Chi Qing, he smiled and greeted the newcomers, asking about their recent work: “Since you’ve just joined, feel free to ask if there’s anything you don’t understand.”
This meal was eaten in a very bizarre manner.
Chi Qing ate a few bites before putting down his chopsticks.
No one knew that only after the video call ended did Chi Qing start talking more.
Xie Lin said casually, “How come you didn’t even greet them?”
Chi Qing shot back, “It’s already good enough that I came.”
If it weren’t for the fact that he had known Ji Mingrui for so many years, he wouldn’t even have wanted to do a video-call meal.
If it were the old Chi Qing, this conversation would have ended here.
But the current Chi Qing was different.
After saying “It’s already good enough that I came,” he turned his head away and added, “…I didn’t know what to say.”
Socializing always required saying a lot of nonsense, and nonsense was what he was worst at.
Xie Lin: “If you don’t know what to say, look at me. Just chat about daily life, show some concern for them…”
Hearing this, Chi Qing gave a cold “Oh,” and suddenly remarked, “Anyway, you talk a lot with everyone.”
The words in Xie Lin’s mouth came to an abrupt halt.
He looked at Chi Qing: “That’s not true.”
“Have you ever seen me pay attention to anyone else normally?” Xie Lin said at last. “I only talk this much with you.”
When the two of them walked out of the restaurant, the people in the neighboring booth had already left. They had work in the afternoon, so the newcomers respectfully shouted “We’re heading out, big brothers” at the door, and then rushed back to the police station in a hurry.
Today was a beautiful, sunny day.
The scorching sun was overhead, and the constant hum of cicadas filled the air.
Summer was a season that rarely appeared in the dictionary of either of them.
For the past ten years, Xie Lin had always been trapped in that freezing winter. He often went out during the snowy winter, sitting in a psychological clinic for a while, or taking a nap.
“Want to walk around?” Xie Lin said, looking at the bright sunlight. “Just to help digest the food.”
While Chi Qing complained, “It’s burning hot, what is there to walk around for?” he walked straight past the parked car and kept moving forward.
Xie Lin laughed and followed him.
This area was not unfamiliar to them. The same street scenery felt entirely different in winter compared to summer.
Passing by a craft shop, Xie Lin noticed Chi Qing’s sunburned skin—this guy went out way too rarely and hardly saw the sun, so his skin turned red easily in the sunlight. Xie Lin reached out and tugged Chi Qing’s wrist: “There’s a craft shop here. Let’s go in and take a look?”
The craft shop was very small, mainly running pottery-making classes that lasted an hour and a half.
Xie Lin was quite interested in pottery, but the person next to him, upon seeing the workstation and tools, expressed that he would rather go back outside to bake in the sun than get his hands messy.
“How about this, let’s divide the work,” Chi Qing said. “You’re in charge of making it.”
Xie Lin raised an eyebrow, instinctively sensing that what followed wouldn’t be a normal arrangement: “?”
Sure enough.
In the next second, Chi Qing added, “I’m in charge of supervision.”
Xie Lin: “…”
The pottery process was not complicated. The final firing was left to the shop, and they could just pick it up in a few days. Customers only needed to sit in front of the potter’s wheel and shape it as desired according to the instructions.
Xie Lin tied on an apron, watched the demonstration once, and began to operate it himself.
A certain heartless supervisor, meanwhile, was playing on his phone nearby.
“This is how you supervise?” Xie Lin asked.
“Otherwise?” Chi Qing asked back.
“Let’s chat to encourage the employee,” Xie Lin said. “Come on, praise me first.”
“…………”
Chi Qing was expressionless, putting down his phone and saying, “You’re great.”
Xie Lin: “And?”
Chi Qing twitched the corner of his mouth: “You’re amazing.”
Xie Lin: “Can you say a few more words?”
Chi Qing found that this supervising job wasn’t easy after all: “What do you want to hear?”
Xie Lin: “‘Come on, Xie Lin gege! Xie Lin gege is the best!’ That’s how people usually cheer. Say it once, let me hear.”
Xie Lin was certain that Chi Qing wouldn’t say it, so he didn’t take the joke to heart. The shop clerk came over to check their progress, worried that the students might run into problems during the process.
However, what Xie Lin didn’t expect was that the moment the clerk left, a very soft voice drifted into his ear—the man’s tone was cold and clear, with barely any rise or fall in pitch, but he softly muttered, “Xie Lin gege, jiayou.”
After saying it, like a cat, he immediately retracted.
The clay jar in Xie Lin’s hands was turning out perfectly, but his grip slipped, and the pattern was instantly ruined.
The jar was finished quickly.
Firing of the pottery jar took some time. The clerk told Xie Lin to pick it up in two days.
After returning home, Chi Qing forgot all about it.
A new case had emerged in Huanan City, and he spent every day busy reviewing scene documents. It wasn’t until one day, lifting his head from the files, that he spotted a finished, fired jar at the entrance—small, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, perfectly round—that he finally remembered.
Before leaving, Xie Lin seemed to have said he would give him this jar once it was fired, but he honestly had no interest in it.
Chi Qing stared at it for a long time, then casually picked it up, finding it heavier than expected.
…Was there something inside?
Chi Qing opened the lid and saw a jar filled to the brim with candy.
The candy wrappers were colorful and vibrant, with transparent fruit candies wrapped inside.
After reviewing the files, Chi Qing had some thoughts on the case. Two days later, he set off for the police station to find Ji Mingrui.
Before he even went in, he spotted a familiar figure by the entrance.
She was very small.
Wearing her hair in a little ponytail.
She was lying on the bench in the rest area, doing her homework.
This was the little girl he had met on his very first day visiting the police station.
The little girl was focusing intensely on her homework when a pale hand suddenly appeared beside her textbook, accompanied by a familiar voice: “Stuck again?”
The little girl looked up: “Glove Brother?”
This “Glove Brother” whom she had met last winter looked too striking, so she hadn’t forgotten who he was.
But…
The little girl glanced at the hand again: “Glove Brother, are you not wearing gloves today?”
“Yeah,” Chi Qing casually came up with an excuse. “It’s summer. Too hot.”
The little girl nodded in agreement.
Summer was indeed very hot.
Chi Qing asked again: “Which problem are you stuck on?”
The moment he asked, the girl happily reached out to point at the question. However, her movement was too large, and her finger accidentally brushed against Chi Qing’s hand. In that instant, Chi Qing heard her inner thoughts:
[I really want to eat candy, but Daddy won’t let me. I haven’t had candy for a whole month. I’m so pitiful QAQ]
Before entering, Chi Qing quickly explained the problem to the little girl. Then he paused and pulled a piece of candy from his pocket—one he had inexplicably grabbed from the jar at the entrance before leaving the house.
Chi Qing placed the candy on the girl’s textbook, made a “shh” gesture, and said, “I lied to you before. In the adult world, candy can be found.”
“Hide it well, don’t let your dad find out.”
One second the little girl wanted candy, and the next second this big brother gave it to her.
Holding the candy, she felt as if a dream had come true. Before she could even celebrate, she stood dazed for a long moment before quickly hiding the candy in her palm. Then, in a childish voice, she asked, “So where did you find your candy? Did someone else give it to you too?”
“Yeah,” Chi Qing said before pushing open the door. “An older brother gave it to me.”
He found candy in the adult world; that candy was given to him by Xie Lin.
