Tang Zan had seen plenty of talented actors in his life, but never anyone like Han Manyin.
She stood there like a shaft of light slipping into an abyss. A smile played on her lips, and a galaxy glittered in her eyes. Stray dogs rubbed against her trousers as they passed. Short-tempered suspects reined in their fury when she handed them water. Even the most stubborn veteran detectives instinctively softened their voices around her.
She said she was a college student from Changjiao Village, where the people were simple and honest, and her family had struggled to put her through school.
Tang Zan stared into her impossibly clear eyes and sneered inwardly. Simple and honest? That village was hiding an A-class fugitive wanted in three cold cases and a trading network that covered half the underworld. Even the tofu seller at the village entrance had two lives on her hands.
He went to see her again and again, hoping to tear away that warm and tender disguise.
But he discovered that whenever Han Manyin smiled, the temperature around her seemed to rise by a few degrees. The boxed meals she brought suspects were hot. The blankets she laid over victims' wounds were warm. Even the hand she absentmindedly rested on his shoulder felt comforting.
Manyin looked at the gloomy, stubborn police officer, utterly puzzled. Why did everyone say Officer Tang was terrifying? He had bloodshot eyes and looked so tired.
She didn't know that every unguarded step she took toward him was the gentlest challenge to evil.
Theme: The will to survive by cutting off all escape routes
