The White Moonlight Fakes Their Death and Returns [Crime Investigation]

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A proud, obsessive figure-skating prodigy x a calculating, scheming coach who seems untouchable

Older woman/younger woman | Equally matched | Competitive sports

"You're too focused on winning. I can't see your soul."

Those words haunted Cen Yu like a nightmare, trapping her for nearly her entire figure-skating career.

She was only thirteen then, fresh off winning the World Junior Championships. In everyone's eyes, she was an astonishing prodigy, a rising star whom the country's figure-skating world had pinned its hopes on.

But after a shocking upset at a domestic championship, that rising star fell.

"Why?! I'm the one who landed a 3A, and I'm the one who broke the technical-score record in women's singles! Why didn't I win the gold?!" Ignoring her coach's attempts to stop her, thirteen-year-old Cen Yu pushed through the crowd and blocked Su Yu, who had just retired and become a technical specialist. She looked up and demanded angrily, "Aren't you a technical specialist? You should know better than anyone. I'm clearly stronger than all of them!"

Su Yu stood with the sunset at her back, her whole figure hidden in shadow. The immense pressure of her lowered gaze alone made young Cen Yu take an involuntary step back and clutch her skirt.

"I admit you're very strong, but your performance is too focused on results. I can't see your soul," Su Yu said calmly. "If you don't correct this in time, you'll lose even more gold medals in the future."

"...That's not true!" Cen Yu clenched her skirt and forced back the tears welling in her eyes. She raised her head, her palm-sized face full of stubborn resolve. "I'll prove it to you. Every gold medal from now on will be mine!"

From then on, Cen Yu remained trapped by that judgment. Obsessively, she kept practicing and refining her technique, continually challenging herself with more difficult elements.

Until, after moving up to the senior division, she met Aliya again at her first World Championships.

This time, the technical score she had always been so proud of did not let her dominate the field. Not only did she lose to Aliya by a wide margin, she nearly lost her silver medal, too.

For the first time in thirteen years on the ice, Cen Yu considered quitting.

Just then, the person who had given her that curse-like nightmare appeared before her again.

She crouched on the ground with her arms around her knees, then looked up at Su Yu.

It was exactly the same as four years ago.

She forced back her tears and stood up, her eyes full of hostility. "Did you come to laugh at me? Your curse has come true. Are you satisfied now?"

"So that's how it is." Su Yu offered no explanation. Calmly, she held out a hand. "Then I'll be your coach now. As compensation, I'll get you a gold medal in every competition from here on. How does that sound?"

Main Blurb

The obsessive team captain with unmatched combat skills x the gloomy, brilliant, sickly good-for-nothing consultant

Every detective in Haidu knows that Lin Yizhen, deputy captain of the Fenggang District team, is a case-solving maniac. Through her own efforts, she's kept Fenggang's case clearance rate firmly in first place across the city.

But after seven years on the team and countless commendations, Lin Yizhen is still only a low-ranking deputy captain. The veterans all know why.

Lin Yizhen has a demon she can't escape, and it's also a forbidden topic in the Haidu public security system: the June 23 Incident.

Seven years ago, Lin Yizhen was still a police academy intern who hadn't graduated. She was assigned to the Fenggang District team for her internship.

The person responsible for training her was Zhai Huaijin, once the pride of Haidu, later its shame.

Irreverent, always joking around, and never serious, Zhai Huaijin seemed to Lin Yizhen like yet another fame-seeker when they first met. That was until he took her along to solve her first case.

During an investigation, Zhai Huaijin seemed like a different person. Just standing there, he was enough to send a chill down your spine. In only three days, the cloud of suspicion surrounding the deranged serial killer who had thrown the entire city into a panic began to clear as soon as Zhai joined the investigation.

During the arrest, Lin Yizhen made a nervous mistake. In a split second between life and death, Zhai Huaijin tackled her to the ground and took a bullet for her.

Seven years later, that bullet has still never been removed from Lin Yizhen's heart. If anything, it has sunk in deeper.

She will never forget how the sky was clear and bright on graduation day. Wearing her police uniform, she waited anxiously for Zhai Huaijin to arrive, only to hear that he had committed suicide out of guilt and died in a fire.

And the last text Zhai Huaijin sent her in the early hours of the day it happened has continued to burn at her nerves ever since.

- Accept my flowers tomorrow, and after graduation you'll come work for me at the Fenggang District team. Have you made up your mind, future little police star?

Seven years passed. Lin Yizhen never received Zhai Huaijin's flowers, but she did get a frail consultant.

The man was pale and thin, always wrapped in a heavy coat that was out of season. His gaze, hidden behind his glasses, was still as an abyss, and always carried a gloomy, calculating edge.

"Captain Lin, is it really worth ruining your future for a police scumbag who killed himself out of guilt?" Ji Heng's voice was unusually hoarse. A turbulent undercurrent lurked in his eyes as he looked at Lin Yizhen.

Lin Yizhen's expression immediately darkened. She shoved him into a corner and roughly grabbed him by the collar, only to see the shocking long scar hidden beneath it.

She sized Ji Heng up and asked tentatively, "Who are you, really?"

Ji Heng chuckled under his breath. He pressed down on the hand Lin Yizhen still had fisted in his collar, then silently clasped it.

"Who I am doesn't matter. But I can help you clear your old flame's name. What do you say? Want to work together, Captain Lin?"

Content warnings:

1. Both leads are each other's only partners, and he is the pursuer.

2. The female lead is very intelligent too, but her physical strength is more prominent.

3. There are some GL elements, but very few.

Next advance preview:

A contemporary urban romance with a mix of tropes, including but not limited to a rivalry for the heroine, a groveling ex after a bad ending, and the newcomer surpassing the original. The main vibe is probably feel-good wish fulfillment.

Theme: Light will come at last, just before dawn.