Bamboo in the Wind [Crime Investigation]

Sweet, straightforward policewoman with a strong sense of justice VS handsome, brave captain whose people skills need work

Everyone knows Lu Zhan, captain of the criminal investigation team, has an insanely high case clearance rate.

Everyone knows Lu Zhan, captain of the criminal investigation team, has absolutely terrible romantic instincts.

At last, one day, someone came along to revive the emotions that had been parched for twenty-eight years.

When they first met:

"Girls these days have no shame at all."

After they got to know each other:

"Until I tell you to stop, keep giving me all this attention, affection, and special treatment that's meant only for me. I eat this stuff up!"

A woman pursues a man, in a sweet criminal investigation story.

A similar upcoming story: The Unbending Never Looked Down on Anyone: Criminal Investigation

Bottom: Xie Jiayi (26), fox-eyed and thin-lipped, stubborn and cunning as a fox

Top: Xu Xingbai (28), sword-shaped brows and bright eyes, brave and deep as a wolf

Everyone at the station knows that Xie Jiayi, captain of the Second Squad, looks young and refined, but is as crafty as a hunting fox.

At year's end, everyone else had wrapped up their cases and was waiting for the New Year.

Xie Jiayi: You have a new arrest order waiting to be claimed.

Team member: Captain Xie, Wang Danao killed his neighbor when he was sixteen, then went on the run for ten years. He hasn't contacted his family in years, and now only his mother is left at home. The surveillance system picked him up locally, but he's been hiding ever since. How do we catch him?

Xie Jiayi: He committed a crime on impulse as a minor and has been on the run ever since, which suggests he isn't well educated and tends to make emotional decisions. He couldn't resist coming back even with the surveillance cameras everywhere, which means he misses home. He's never used this phone number to contact anyone, but someone has kept paying the bill...

Xie Jiayi took out his phone and sent a text: I miss you.

That night, a familiar number replied: I'll wait for you in the alley behind Pioneer Bookstore.

After leaving the military, Xu Xingbai had just reported to the Third Squad. He wasn't due to start work until after the New Year.

On his way home, he passed an ordinary food stall, when for no apparent reason his whole-body alert system went off the charts.

He'd never seen a handsome, immaculately clean man in a North Face down jacket standing beside an equally spotless fried-noodle vendor.

The key was those thin lips and foxlike eyes, beautiful enough to make his heart itch.

"I'd like fried noodles."

Xie Jiayi had waited in the shade behind Pioneer Bookstore for six hours. He hadn't seen Wang Danao, but he had run into Xu Xingbai.

"Oh, the wind put out the flame. If you're in a hurry..." Xie: What a clueless guy.

"I'm not in a hurry." Xu: Something's off.

Xie silently lit the stove. Keeping his butt in the air and his body far from the burner, he awkwardly tossed the cold noodles into the pan.

Xu: "Why did you decide to set up a stall here?"

Xie: "Not many people come here."

A few minutes later.

Xu: "Did you forget to add oil?"

Xie: "Oh, right, I'll add some now."

Xu: "What about the egg?"

Xie cracked a raw egg, stood far away, and tossed it in an arc. "Oh, right, I'll add it now."

Xu Xingbai's hand was already on the handcuffs at his waist.

The instant Xie Jiayi looked up, a spatula suddenly flew out and he darted away. "Wang Danao!"

Xu Xingbai instinctively took off after him.

Xu Xingbai didn't know it yet, but he would spend the rest of his life trying to catch up with the terrible cook, Xie Jiayi.

Blurb written on 2024-01-01

Completed: Every Year, Just Like Today: Criminal Investigation

Theme: I devote all my freedom and soul to the faith I have chosen to serve