Unbowed Integrity: Criminal Investigation

(Bottom) Sharp-eyed, thin-lipped, obsessive and sly as a fox · Xie Jiayi (26)

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

Everyone in the bureau knew that Second Squad Captain Xie Jiayi looked young and refined, but was as cunning as a hunting fox.

As the year came to an end, everyone wrapped up their cases and waited for the New Year.

Xie Jiayi: You have a new Wanted app 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 Sky Eye scan picked him up in town, 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 very educated and tends to make decisions emotionally. Now he's come back despite the Sky Eye, which means he misses home. He's never used his phone number to contact anyone, but someone has been paying the bill for him...

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

That evening, a familiar number replied: I'll be waiting for you in the alley behind Pioneer Bookstore.

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

On his way home, he passed an ordinary street food stall and, for no apparent reason, his instincts went on high alert.

He'd never seen a handsome, clean-cut man in a North Face down jacket standing guard over an equally clean-cut fried-noodle vendor.

Most striking of all were his thin lips and phoenix eyes, so beautiful they made one's heart itch.

"I'd like some fried noodles."

Xie Jiayi had waited for six hours in the shadow of Pioneer Bookstore. He never saw Wang Danao, but he did 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: This is suspicious.

Xie silently lit the burner again, keeping his butt pointed toward it as he leaned away from the flame, then awkwardly tossed the cold noodles into the wok.

Xu: "What made you decide to set up here?"

Xie: "There's not many people around."

A few minutes later.

Xu: "Did you forget the oil?"

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

Xu: "What about the eggs?"

Xie cracked a raw egg right there and tossed it from a distance in a casual 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 went flying and a figure darted past. "Wang Danao!"

Xu Xingbai instinctively took off after him.

Xu Xingbai didn't know it then, but he would spend the rest of his life chasing after the terrible cook standing right in front of him, Xie Jiayi.

Blurb written on 2024-01-01

Completed novels:

"Every Year, Today" · Crime Investigation

"Racing the Grim Reaper for Work Hours"

Theme: Care for mental health and prevent crime.