Chapter 10

Lu Shimiao nestled in the passenger seat, her eyes seemingly looking at the road ahead, but actually fixed on the rearview mirror.

By calculation, Xue Tong was thirty-three this year, but she was still as beautiful as she was back then.

A head of slightly curled black long hair draped over her shoulders. Her eyes were focused as she drove, her brow ridge arched. The streetlights shone in, and there wasn’t a single line on her face. Her high nose bridge was outstanding among Asians, naturally beautiful.

She loved Xue Tong’s brow ridge the most.

Naturally wild eyebrows, a high brow ridge with a provocative beauty, cool and elegant. In the four years since she started collecting evidence, Lu Shimiao had seen too many women, but she had never seen one like Xue Tong.

“Your eyes are swollen from crying, and you can still see me clearly?” Xue Tong drove with one hand, her eyes watching the road ahead as she spoke.

“You figured it out…” Lu Shimiao raised her hoarse voice.

Xue Tong tilted her head to look at the rearview mirror, smoothly turning the car around. “Stop talking. Your voice sounds terrible.”

Fine, she wouldn’t talk then. Lu Shimiao sulkily turned her head to the window, only to find the coupe going further and further into the city center, driving all the way onto Huashan Road.

“If you don’t know the way, you could use the GPS.” It was normal for Xue Tong, being from out of town, not to know the way, but Lu Shimiao didn’t want her to run out of gas taking detours. She had to pay Qiu Wen back for the car now; she needed to scrimp and save.

“We’re almost there.” The car’s speed slowed down more and more on Huashan Road. Unique and elegant foreign-style buildings gradually became clear all around.

Xue Tong rolled down the window, searching for the house number from memory.

Although she had done a lot of preparation before coming, it was still a bit hard to recognize when she actually got there.

Arrived?

Lu Shimiao straightened her back and craned her neck to peek out the window.

This was Huashan Road… Shanghai’s most ‘stylish’ street, the essence of the Magic City’s Shanghai-style charm. The houses here were all century-old buildings, historical treasures.

Lu Shimiao remembered a popular post from Shanghai: 【What is the level of a family that has a house on Huashan Road?】

A netizen once answered: “A level you have from birth or you don’t have at all.”

Calculated based on Lu Shimiao’s current salary, perhaps starting from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods without eating or drinking, working hard for three thousand years, she might just be able to afford a small house here. So now she didn’t know whether Xue Tong was crazy or she was.

Xue Tong slowly parked the car by the roadside. Next to it appeared a standard German-style detached villa, three stories with a courtyard. It looked like something she could afford only after five thousand years.

“Wait for me.”

Xue Tong clutched her bag and got out of the car, swiped a card at the iron fence gate, and the gate automatically swung open.

Lu Shimiao still didn’t believe it, until Xue Tong walked back to the car, stepped on the gas, and rushed into the courtyard. Then she pinched her thigh—Xue Tong was actually playing this for real.

Xue Tong pushed the car door open and got out. Lu Shimiao followed behind, swaying unsteadily.

She had been a Shanghainese for twenty-seven years and was walking into an antique building for the first time. The villa was freestanding on all sides. The wall stones were in continuing German style, large bricks with a red base coat. It looked beautiful even at night, making you want to look twice.

Xue Tong walked to the back of the car, pressed open the trunk, ready to get the luggage. She spoke, unusually cold: “Stay here tonight.”

Lu Shimiao refused immediately without thinking. “No need.”

Remembering the hug in front of the car earlier was already enough to make her head spin. She didn’t dare guarantee what crazy things she might do if she stayed in this place.

She temporarily didn’t want to get involved with Xue Tong beyond work. She was afraid she’d get PTSD.

Xue Tong leaned on the trunk, poking half her head out from behind the car, raising her eyebrows. “Then where do you want to stay?”

Officer Lu stuffed both hands in her pockets, her tone resolute: “Of course, a hotel.”

A hotel…

Xue Tong understood the other’s tone. Stubbornness and unwillingness were still different.

She just hadn’t expected the other to refuse so decisively. As expected, rushing things would scare the other person off.

The hand resting on the trunk clenched and loosened. After a few seconds of silence, Xue Tong closed the trunk. “Fine, I’ll take you to a hotel later.”

Lu Shimiao’s originally stiff body relaxed upon hearing this answer. She nudged her chin towards the house. “This is…”

Xue Tong: “It’s my grandmother’s property.”

Lu Shimiao nodded.

It seemed reasonable thinking about it. The homeowners on Huashan Road were almost all overseas Chinese and Hong Kongers. She had always known Xue Tong had money, but she hadn’t expected Xue Tong’s family to be wealthy enough to own an antique building.

Xue Tong walked to the door, pushed open the electronic lock, entered the password, opened the door, and gave half a body’s space. “Come in.”

Lu Shimiao politely said thank you and followed Xue Tong into the house.

Upon entering—brown wood grain floors, hemp woven rugs. The furniture style didn’t quite match this location. The decorative details were understated and elegant. The overall house conveyed just two words: refinement, culture.

Lu Shimiao habitually reached out her fingertip to touch the table corner. The table surface was very clean, no dust in any corner of the room. It seemed this house was cleaned weekly.

“What, so clean you want to dust for fingerprints?” Xue Tong was organizing the refrigerator, looked back and saw Lu Shimiao’s occupational habit kicking in, and teased lightly.

“Sorry.” Lu Shimiao obediently withdrew her hand.

Xue Tong pulled ingredients out of the fridge and placed them on the kitchen island. Resting her hands on the counter, she spoke somewhat amused: “So reserved?”

“This is called having good manners.” Officer Lu smiled.

Xue Tong opened the vegetable packaging box and nodded thoughtfully, a tepid smile hanging on her lips. “You weren’t like this before. You used to clamor every night to squeeze into the same bed with me…”

Hearing the word ‘bed,’ Lu Shimiao’s expression immediately turned shocked and flustered, rushing to cut her off. “Stop! Don’t go there!”

The two were stuck in awkwardness again.

Especially Lu Shimiao.

She lowered her head to look at the slippers on her feet, remembering that in Hong Kong, Xue Tong’s Mandarin wasn’t as good as it was today. Whenever the two of them quarreled, they’d each speak their own hometown dialects, Shanghainese versus Cantonese, neither side gaining an advantage.

So Xue Tong set a rule: If you wanted to argue, you had to speak in a language the other could understand.

It was just that now, Xue Tong’s Mandarin was so good you couldn’t tell her Hong Kong identity. But this habit of hers still hadn’t changed. Lu Shimiao shrugged. “It’s all in the past, let’s not bring it up.”

“Sorry.” Xue Tong also lowered her gaze.

The two fell into a period of silence because of the embarrassing topic. When Xue Tong finished cooking and brought the food to the table, Lu Shimiao murmured: “Thank you.”

“You wash the dishes when you finish.” Xue Tong smiled.

They sat facing each other, eating quietly.

Roasted vegetables were one of Xue Tong’s usual recipes. Lu Shimiao didn’t like Brussels sprouts, so Xue Tong always sprinkled a lot of pepper in them, intensifying the flavor to get her used to it. She hadn’t eaten this taste in a long time. The first bite was terribly spicy.

“Not used to it anymore?” Xue Tong didn’t look at Officer Lu’s face.

“No,” Lu Shimiao forked a large piece of mushroom into her mouth. “Having something to eat is good enough.”

Yeah, after two bites, Lu Shimiao got used to it. She even found this taste delicious, better suited to her palate than Qiu Wen’s cooking.

But the more she got used to it, the more panicked Lu Shimiao became. She realized Xue Tong seemed to have manufactured a perfect addiction mechanism, making her constantly ruminate on the flavor of this habit, cruelly forcing her to become dependent on her again.

Just like how her hands hugged Xue Tong back today. Clutching the other tightly while also imprisoning her own discomposed self. She was enjoying the loss of control and pleasure this mental addiction brought.

But Lu Shimiao also understood that when an addiction appeared, it meant suffering wasn’t far away. That suffering came from the withdrawal after the addiction.

“Where are you staying tomorrow?” Xue Tong put down her fork after a couple of bites.

“A hotel, I guess.”

Xue Tong asked further, puzzled, “Staying at hotels forever?”

Lu Shimiao held the fork in her mouth. “…”

Xue Tong pushed her plate in front of Officer Lu. “Do you know how expensive staying in hotels is?”

To be honest, Lu Shimiao, as a local, had never stayed in a Shanghai hotel. Being asked this by Xue Tong, she got a bit curious. She set her fork down on the table and quickly pulled out her phone to check apps.

Hotels within a half-hour commute of the police station that were even remotely clean all cost over 600 a night. Expanding the commute to forty minutes only dropped the hotel prices by 200. —It would kill her; she couldn’t afford it.

“Or are you saying you want to go to a shared apartment again?” Xue Tong questioned, her face dark.

Xue Tong knew shared apartments were a taboo for Lu Shimiao. She hadn’t wanted to bring it up either, but the best strategy now was to strike first, fight poison with poison, push her into a corner, and then she would feign retreat to advance.

As expected, Lu Shimiao frowned upon hearing the words ‘shared apartment,’ her beautiful face full of worry.

Her original first plan had been to rent a single apartment, but a glance at the prices on the rental app made her abandon the idea—although she could technically afford it, it just meant not eating or drinking anything.

Since she couldn’t afford hotels, and couldn’t afford a single apartment either, sharing was the only choice to solve her dilemma. Although she still had trauma and misgivings about shared apartments, she had already completely transformed. Being bullied was impossible.

“A shared apartment isn’t out of the question.” Lu Shimiao turned off her phone screen.

Xue Tong paused. While happy inside, there was also a hint of disappointment.

Lu Shimiao had grown up.

Xue Tong calmed down and said coolly: “Then share an apartment with me.”

“I can’t afford it.” Lu Shimiao shook her head, inwardly refusing. “This place must rent for five hundred thousand a month. I could only stay two months even if I sold the car.”

“You don’t have to pay.” Xue Tong added.

“Then what right do I have to stay here? What kind of person do you take me for?” Although troubled by accommodation, Lu Shimiao still had self-respect. Remembering what happened before in Hong Kong, moving into Xue Tong’s place because of her roommate, how their relationship had developed ambiguously…

Forget it.

She really didn’t want to repeat the same mistake.

“In a week, I’m being transferred to teach at a university.” Xue Tong’s tone revealed no crack, cold and detached.

“Where to?” Although Lu Shimiao knew Xue Tong taught in Shanghai, she still couldn’t help asking.

“To teach at a university.” Xue Tong sidestepped the key information.

“Out of town?” Lu Shimiao lowered her eyes, her fingertips fiddling with her phone case, muttering under her breath, “Then be careful out there.”

“Back to the original question.” Xue Tong always acted with logic and structure, her thought process always kept clear. “I have to work with you every day this week. It would be very convenient for us to commute together. You can stay here first and look for a place properly.”

“Finding a place can’t be rushed.” Xue Tong emphasized heavily.

“Mm…” Lu Shimiao seemed used to being arranged by Xue Tong. By the time she came to her senses, she quickly added, “Yes, that makes sense, but…”

Xue Tong crossed her legs, hands on her knees, eyebrows raised, waiting for her to continue.

“But we have to keep our distance at the station, maintain an equal relationship. Since you’re giving me a place to stay, I’ll do the remaining housework. The house needs…” No, Officer Lu shook her head, “You tell me what you need here.”

The ease on Xue Tong’s face became clouded by Lu Shimiao’s pause.

This person wasn’t as clingy as before. Handling matters now, she also understood leaving space for each other.

After speaking, Lu Shimiao looked at Xue Tong. “You can also put forward any requirements for me. Lastly… no one can know about our relationship back in Hong Kong.”

Xue Tong’s hand tightened on her knee, her voice cold. “What relationship did we have in Hong Kong?”

“The relationship between a student and an instructor.” Lu Shimiao answered directly.

“Fine.” Xue Tong stood up with her water glass, her eyes no longer lingering. “I have no requirements for you. I’m going to sleep.”