Chapter 5

“Can’t even enjoy a drink properly.” An Lin was crammed onto a tiny stool by the street, his 185cm frame folded up, staring glumly at his cocktail. He spoke dejectedly.

The setting sun hid among two rows of plane trees. Jazz clarinet drifted from a corner coffee shop. A fat orange cat sprawled belly-up on a bay window, soaking up the clamor of tourists.

Xue Tong, eyes hidden behind her sunglasses, stared intently at the corner of the lane. She gestured lazily at the coffee shop behind them. “Then go drink some coffee.”

An Lin sucked helplessly on his straw. “She’s already gone home. Stop looking.”

As if that wasn’t enough, he reached out, plucked the sunglasses off Xue Tong’s face, and waved them in front of her eyes.

“Tailgating someone like this is really creepy. If it were me, I’d definitely call the cops.”

Xue Tong’s face darkened as she tore her gaze away and took a sip of water.

Fine. She was conducting surveillance. It was a bit perverted.

But she just couldn’t help wanting to look at her a little more…

“Did the Public Security University professor’s thesis defense review pass?” An Lin crossed his legs, asking with genuine concern.

“The special appointment contract is being processed by the Hong Kong-Macau Affairs Office.” Xue Tong looked up at the lane again, her fingertips tracing the rim of her glass.

An Lin leaned in, frowning deeply, and bumped Xue Tong’s shoulder. “Don’t tell me you’ve even gone through the ‘talent cross-border transfer to Shanghai’ step? Are you really planning to stay here long-term? Not going to move up?”

“Even loneliness can’t stop me, let alone a job title.” Xue Tong turned back, falling silent for a long moment. She said flatly, “Four years have passed, and I’ve never thought about letting it go. What do you want me to do?”

An Lin shook his head helplessly, draining his cocktail. “What if you don’t manage to win her over?”

Not win her over? Xue Tong smiled and shook her head. “Impossible.”

She had made every preparation before coming to the mainland. She had no intention of returning empty-handed.

“It’s fine. If you can’t chase her down, going home to inherit the family fortune is pretty good too.” An Lin waggled his eyebrows, stood up, and patted Xue Tong’s shoulder. “Come on, let’s hit a club. Who wants to sit here with you drinking this many Long Island Iced Teas?”

Xue Tong checked her watch. It was indeed getting late. Lu Shimiao probably wouldn’t come out again.

Staying any longer was pointless. She set her glass down and stood up.

Just as the two were about to hail a cab and leave, An Lin spotted a familiar figure flash by in the distance.

He looked closer, then excitedly slapped Xue Tong’s shoulder.

“Hey! Arsit[Ah Xue], is that Lu Shimiao?”

At the sound of the name, Xue Tong immediately turned her head, looking in the direction An Lin pointed.

Lu Shimiao was dragging her suitcase pathetically toward the trunk of her Audi, tears glistening on her face.

“Even though I said this on the way here, I still can’t help but marvel: the RS7 is goddamn expensive!!” The car started at over 1.5 million HKD in Hong Kong. An Lin stared, eyes wide, clicking his tongue. “Maybe I should go chase her too…”

“Go back yourself.” Xue Tong had no time to banter with An Lin.

She watched as Lu Shimiao slumped into the car, her face dark. Then, through the front windshield, she saw the person bury her head and sob violently, shoulders shaking so hard the entire car body trembled.

Not daring to hesitate, Xue Tong frowned and strode across the street, leaving An Lin alone and bewildered on the curb.

By the time Xue Tong stood before the car, the semi-translucent window exposed everything inside.

She realized Lu Shimiao wasn’t just crying. She was having a breakdown…

The kid’s tears dripped steadily from her chin, falling onto her pants along the steering wheel. No matter how good the luxury car’s soundproofing was, Xue Tong could clearly hear the heart-rending sobs coming from inside.

The impact of that sound was simply too much. Hearing it made Xue Tong anxious. She couldn’t help but reach out and knock. “Open the door.”

Not only did Lu Shimiao not respond, she started pounding the center console with her fist.

The banging was loud. Bang! Bang! It made a flash of panic cross Xue Tong’s usually composed face. She raised her voice: “Lu Shimiao, open the door.”

But no matter how loudly Xue Tong knocked, no matter how many people on the street stopped to watch the spectacle, Lu Shimiao acted as if she couldn’t hear, burying her head deep in her arms, retreating into another world and refusing to come out.

Xue Tong was completely at a loss. Her face grim, she quickly pulled out her phone and called Director Chen.

This was her mistake. When she’d asked for her WeChat this morning, she should have gotten her phone number too.

After waiting ages, the call finally connected. Xue Tong skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point. “Director Chen? Sorry to bother you. Can you give me Officer Lu’s phone number?”

Xue Tong propped a hand on her forehead, eyes fixed on the person inside the car. “Is that okay, right now?”

The Chief of Police was working late. Being bossed around the moment he picked up the phone left him bewildered.

If the caller ID hadn’t been the Hong Kong Superintendent, and if the woman’s anxious Mandarin hadn’t been laced with a Cantonese flavor, he might have thought his deceased mother had resurrected and was counting down three-two-one.

“Oh, oh, okay, okay, I’ll send it to you right now,” the Chief cooperated inexplicably.

Receiving the text from Director Chen, Xue Tong stood by the window and dialed the number directly.

.

What is an adult’s breakdown?

—It’s realizing life is so shockingly farcical you want to die, but you still have something holding you back.

It had been four years since Lu Shimiao’s last heart-wrenching cry. Four years ago, she could still cry for an entire day. Now, she ran out of steam after just a few minutes.

But precisely because her stamina gave out, her mind went particularly blank.

Being able to zone out was an amazing feeling, the same principle as sex.

So she kept sinking into it, feeling so good her head swam, blood rushing from the back of her neck to her ears, something buzzing beside her ears. The world after tinnitus was quiet. She felt good like this for a few minutes, then her body retaliated with stomach pain.

Just as Lu Shimiao felt the urge to vomit but couldn’t, the phone in her pocket rang.

The ringtone cut through her emotions, pulling her back to reality. She didn’t want to answer, but as a police officer, she had to.

“Fuck.” Clutching her stomach, Lu Shimiao uncharacteristically spat out a curse, the suffocating feeling in her chest escaping with those three words. She straightened up to reach for her pocket. But in her peripheral vision, she saw… someone seemed to be standing outside her car window.

Lu Shimiao jumped, startled. Aside from alarm, her face also showed a touch of humiliation. She quickly turned her head away, used a tissue to wipe her tears, then pulled out her phone and looked out the car window.

She saw Xue Tong standing outside, face dark as she hung up her phone.

The ringing inside the car stopped too.

…

Why was she here? When did she get here? Did she see her crying? God, how embarrassing!

Shock, anger, sadness, shame, awkwardness…

In the brief ten seconds of eye contact with Xue Tong, Lu Shimiao experienced an emotional rollercoaster.

“Open the door.” Xue Tong pulled the exterior door handle.

Although the car was already locked, Officer Lu still clamped her hand tightly around the interior handle. When she looked up, her eyes were red-rimmed again. “No.”

She felt so wronged.

Not only had Xue Tong witnessed every bit of her miserable luck today, but she’d also embarrassingly thrown a tantrum in front of her. It didn’t quite reach the level of rolling on the ground, but remembering her now-aching hand from pounding it…

This felt no different from stripping naked in front of Xue Tong.

Remembering Xue Tong’s interrogation this afternoon, she didn’t want to experience that scolding a second time.

The two were at a stalemate.

“I’m giving you three seconds to open this door.” Xue Tong’s tone was fierce, but a closer look at her expression revealed tenderness.

She knew Lu Shimiao too well. If she spoke to her gently, this person would definitely dawdle for ages.

Officer Lu responded better to a cold face than a warm one.

Xue Tong held up a finger to the window. “Three.”

Lu Shimiao took the bait, obediently opening the door at the finger-threat, muttering in a mosquito-like voice, “This isn’t the station right now, you’re not my boss, why so fierce…”

The moment the door opened, Xue Tong’s eyes quickly swept over Officer Lu’s hand. Thankfully, it wasn’t injured, just red from pounding.

But this person’s mouth was truly too stubborn. Her eyes were swollen from crying, her voice was hoarse, her hand was still on her stomach, yet she still put on an air of nothing having happened, grumbling under her breath, who knows what.

Xue Tong sighed and reached out to touch Lu Shimiao’s head, but the girl tilted her head away to dodge.

The empty hand returned to her chest. Xue Tong frowned and said coolly, “You don’t want me to touch you, is that it.”

Lu Shimiao’s mouth pressed into a thin line. The tilted head straightened back. She looked down, fiddling with the toy on her car key fob, stealing glances from the corner of her eye at the fair, honey-toned legs before her.

Xue Tong gave her opponent no chance to hesitate. Her long legs, clad in combat boots, turned and stepped away.

She counted down internally.

Three.

Two.

“Hey… what are you doing here?” Lu Shimiao blurted out urgently, then viciously plucked at the fuzz on her plush keychain. “Could it be a coincidence?”

Xue Tong raised an eyebrow behind her back, the corner of her mouth lifting. When she turned back, her expression was calm again. “What’s wrong with a coincidence?”

But this time, she stood closer to the kid. She reached out, and without a word, directly pulled Lu Shimiao’s head into her, her hand stroking behind the girl’s ear, fingertips gently kneading the earlobe. “Then why were you crying?”

Lu Shimiao didn’t dodge this time, allowing the hand to slip into her shirt collar, around to the back of her ear, climbing to the nape of her neck. Skin met skin, the familiar sensation making her shudder deep down.

Her ears were the most sensitive. Xue Tong knew that perfectly well.

She was doing it on purpose.

“I cried because I felt like it.” Lu Shimiao was still stubborn.

“I’ve told you before, don’t lie to me.” The hand on the back of her neck applied gentle pressure, pulling her into Xue Tong’s body. Xue Tong stroked her hair. “Your mother kicked you out of the house, didn’t she?”

Lu Shimiao: “…”

So annoying. In front of Xue Tong, she had no secrets at all.

Wait… how did she end up burrowing into someone’s arms?

Wasn’t it said that the front windshield was bigger than the rearview mirror, so the road ahead mattered more than the past? But now, the rearview mirror was filled with Xue Tong’s waistline, and the head being tousled in her arms was her own.

Her cheek rested against Xue Tong’s stomach, her arms wrapped around her waist, the tip of her nose brushing against skin. The other woman’s scent coiled hazily into her windpipe.

Lu Shimiao was extremely dependent on this scent. This feeling was like taking a huge dose of Valium, suppressing her agitation and fear. The sense of security that had been staggering away just moments ago instantly returned to its post in perfect order.

Xue Tong’s hand still stroked the back of her neck to soothe Officer Lu’s anxiety. Remembering the tragic way the girl had just been crying, she said coldly, “When you run into trouble in the future, can you try not to cry?”

…Scolded by Xue Tong again.

Lu Shimiao anxiously buried her head completely against Xue Tong’s waist. She retorted hastily, “I haven’t cried in a long time, okay? The last time I cried like this was four years…”

The muffled answer stopped abruptly.

The hand on the back of her neck stilled at the words.

Especially Lu Shimiao. A very serious problem dawned on her.

—She was so goddamn easy to placate!

Clearly, they had just reunited, and on the very first night, she’d been pulled into Xue Tong’s trap with one gentle embrace. She had completely forgotten four years of heartlessness.

She’d even found an excuse for her own indulgence: Xue Tong was just too good at beguiling people.

By the time Lu Shimiao came back to her senses and her consciousness gradually cleared, the stomach pain hit her like a bolt of sudden enlightenment. She released her arms from their embrace, but didn’t know what to say.

She liked Xue Tong, but she didn’t like this ambiguous relationship with Xue Tong. The devastating power of this ambiguity—she’d already felt it four years ago. Lu Shimiao didn’t want to be slowly sliced to death by Xue Tong again.

Seeing Lu Shimiao’s face pale, her hand still on her stomach, Xue Tong leaned down, took Officer Lu’s car keys, and said evenly, “Go sit in the passenger seat. I’ll take you to eat.”

“No need.” Lu Shimiao immediately refused.

Xue Tong’s face turned cold. She didn’t understand why. Lu Shimiao was demure and indifferent toward everyone else. In her hands, she became a huge thorn, needing to be told everything twice before it worked.

Left with no choice, she had to lower her voice. “Go. Sit. In the passenger seat.”

“Do you have a driver’s license?” Lu Shimiao raised her head slightly. In front of her eyes was the other woman’s sexy black bandeau top.

Xue Tong pulled out her phone, opened an app, and held the license page in front of Lu Shimiao. “Mainland C-license. Okay now?”

Lu Shimiao: “…”

How could she forget? If Xue Tong said something, she could do it.

Lu Shimiao obediently stood up, walked around, and slid into the passenger seat. “Where are we going to eat?”

“Taking you home to eat.” Xue Tong closed the car door, pressed start, and the RS7 roared to life on the street.

…

…

[T/N: “Arsit” is a Cantonese/Hong Kong-style nickname for Xue Tong. “Ar” is the phonetic spelling of the prefix “Ah” (阿), and “sit” is the Cantonese pronunciation of her surname, “Xue” (薛). Thus, Arsit means “Ah Xue.”/”Little Xue.”/”Sister Xue.” ]