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nTranslator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

n“Sis, can you lend me a dress?”

nXiang Wan turned around and away from her laptop screen when Fang Yuanyuan called out to her.

n“Hm, take this one.” Xiang Wan did not have a lot of clothes. All her clothes were hang on a simple wardrobe.

n“Thank you, babe!”

n“…”

nEver since Fang Yuanyuan got into a relationship, she fell in love with dolling herself up.

nIt was especially evident that Fang Yuanyuan felt she was in need of clothes. She had contributed one month of her salary to Father Ma 1 , yet none of the clothes she bought was satisfactory.

nShe opened Xiang Wan’s wardrobe like a general who was inspecting the barracks. She eyeballed at each and every dress inside.

nXiang Wan frowned when she saw her taking out a white chiffon dress.

n“This one is not suitable for you.”

n“Which part of it is not suitable?”

nFang Yuanyuan compared the dress against the mirror in a pleased manner, then placed the dress on the bed.

n“I want this dress, I like it. I think I will look like a fairy when I put it on!”

n“You need to squeeze in that dress before you can look like a fairy, okay?” Xiang Wan frowned, “Fang Yuanyuan, you need to be responsible for your 120 pounds of meat!”

nFang Yuanyuan was displeased. “Xiang Wan, please get this clear, it’s 115 pounds.”

n“No difference, you’ll still be unable to squeeze into the dress, my dear. I’m 85 pounds, much thinner than you.”

n“Hoho, but I’m taller than you by 10 centimeters.”

n“…”

nWhile they were arguing, Fang Yuanyuan had removed her pajamas and tried to put on the white chiffon dress.

nTch! Tch! Xiang Wan wanted to cry “Amitabha” at that sight. “Good grief! My poor dress!”

nFang Yuanyuan shot a glare at her. She managed to squeeze into the dress and twirled in front of Xiang Wan.

n“How is it? Do I look like a fairy now?”

nXiang Wan squinted her eyes. “I got reminded of Nezha 2 instead.”

n“?”

n“You’re fair and plump and you’ve squeezed yourself so much that your body parts look like lotus roots. You look like the adult version of Nezha, you’ve got the aura of an immortal indeed.”

n“Hey!” Fang Yuanyuan was cheesed off, “You’re jealous of my chest size, aren’t you?”

n“You do have assets, I can’t deny that,” Xiang Wan nodded her head seriously, “but the buttons are about to burst, you should be more mindful that Huanghuang may get hyperemia when he sees you like this…”

n“Xiang Wan! You’re never like this before…”

n“One should strive to be honest.”

n“I’ll unfriend you for an hour!”

n“Deal!”

nThe two of them were engaged in their usual bickering when Huang He knocked on the door.

n“It’s about time, Captain Bai’s waiting for us outside. Yuanyuan, are both of you done?”

n“Coming right up!” answered Fang Yuanyuan. With a snort, she looked at Xiang Wan…

nThe next moment, she changed back to her own clothes, not wanting to be a “fairy” anymore.

nShe quickly dolled herself up and flicked her long, loose perms with sexy curls. Fang Yuanyuan was pleased after looking at herself in the mirror and turned to Xiang Wan.

n“You’re… wearing this?”

nXiang Wan took a look at herself. “Yeah, is there anything wrong?”

nFang Yuanyuan puffed a sigh and shook her head at Xiang Wan’s nonchalant attitude. “It’s too plain! Miss Xiang, you’re going to meet your beloved Detective Bai, can’t you put in more effort?”

nXiang Wan: “…”

nShe already put on some lipstick, and her clothes were neat and tidy, what else did she want?

nUnder Fang Yuanyuan’s disgruntled look, Xiang Wan took a pair of glasses from her dressing table and put them on.

n“How about this? Do I look even more like an intellectual now?”

n“For goodness sake!” sighed Fang Yuanyuan. “Don’t you know that your eyes are the best looking part of you? And you’re covering them with a pair of glasses! Aren’t you silly?”

n“…”

nHuang He still helped to carry Fang Yuanyuan’s bag when they went out.

nSeeing the happy couple walking in front of her, Xiang Wan locked the door and deliberately slowed down to pull a distance from them.

nThe world of the two lovers could not tolerate a third person.

nEven though Fang Yuanyuan was her dearest cousin, she knew that it was not appropriate for a single like her to have too much presence in front of Huang He.

n…

nIt was rather dim along the corridor and the staircase, which was a common problem in the old neighborhoods.

nWhen Xiang Wan was walking, she often thought of all kinds of things.

nBe it her plot, her life, or anything under the sun.

nAt that moment, she was thinking about her novel plot and walked down each step slowly.

nFang Yuanyuan’s cheerful laughter was not far away ahead, yet her world was in total silence.

nOn the third floor.

nThere were sounds of footsteps walking up the stairs.

nXiang Wan’s thoughts were interrupted and saw two people, an adult and a child on the stairs.

n“Hello Uncle Detective.” The little boy’s voice was crisp and clear.

n“Hello, my little friend,” smiled Huang He as he patted the boy on the head. He also smiled politely at the boy’s mother, “Just came back?”

n“Yes, does Detective Huang stay here too?” The woman asked.

nHuang He chuckled but did not explain too much, “My girlfriend stays here.”

n“I see,” said the woman. She lifted her head and happened to meet Xiang Wan’s gaze.

nDue to the dim lights, Xiang Wan could not see the woman’s face clearly. However, she knew the woman was her neighbor, and she also knew that she was the one who reported to the police that she got kidnapped.

nXiang Wan gave her a friendly smile. “Thank you for your help yesterday.”

nThe woman replied softly, “You’re welcome.”

nAs the stairways were rather narrow, she stood aside with an arm around her child without moving, a polite gesture to let them go down the stairs first.

nHuang He and Fang Yuanyuan moved ahead but the woman still did not move, as if she was waiting for Xiang Wan as well…

n“Thank you!” Xiang Wan hurried her steps.

nThe woman did not respond to that. The damp smell of clutter drifted in at the right moment, making the air extremely stuffy.

nXiang Wan walked past the woman.

nThe woman seemed to hold her breath for an instant…

nOf course, Xiang Wan could not feel her breathing.

nIt was just her subconscious–an unexplainable gut feeling.

nXiang Wan stopped and looked at her.

nA second later, the woman asked, “What’s wrong?”

nHer height was similar to Xiang Wan, therefore, her gaze had landed on the woman’s forehead.

n“Elder sister, are you alright?”

nThe woman seemed to notice something. She wiped off the perspiration on her forehead and smiled. “I must have been in a hurry to get back and the weather’s really hot.”

nThe weather was indeed hot.

nXiang Wan’s big eyes were smiling as she could feel that the woman was relieved.

n“You’re right, it’s even hotter on the top floor. Even at this hour, it still feels like a steamer, I can’t imagine if there’s no air-conditioning. You better hurry to get back home.”

n“Alright, bye.”

n“Bye.”

n…

nA car was parked in the alley.

nBai Muchuan leaned idly by the side of the car, waiting.

nBy just standing there like that, he had a disposition of an idol although he looked quiet and laid-back.

nThat was not the usual police car he drove, but a private car—Cadillac Escalade.

nCadillac Escalade was a luxury car that had a worth of more than a million dollars. It was not considered the most outstanding luxury car for local tycoons, neither was it used by the male leading characters of romance fiction to act cool. However, Cadillac’s title of “climber” and the disposition of that car was very similar to Bai Muchuan.

nA domineering power hidden in a low profile, the aloofness that stem from the solemnity and steadiness.

nXiang Wan suddenly believed a saying:

nAn item, no matter how extravagant, is only an item, and serves as a complement.

nSome people were unable to complement against the luxury items, they would look ridiculous with them.

nWhereas some people possessed such a strong aura that they could make an ordinary item look like a luxury item on them.

nBai Muchuan was the latter.

nHe was really good-looking, so dazzling that one could not open their eyes.

nEven Fang Yuanyuan’s eyes lit up, inhaled a breath and stared at Xiang Wan…

nXiang Wan grasped the strap of her bag, returned her stare and walked to Bai Muchuan. “Sorry for the wait.”

nBai Muchuan drew his hand from his pocket and opened the door to the front passenger seat. “Get on the car.”

nThe front passenger seat has a nickname in the internet–the wife’s seat.

nHuang He and Fang Yuanyuan would definitely sit together which meant that Xiang Wan had no other choice as well.

nShe took a glance at Bai Muchuan’s emotionless face and hopped onto the seat.

nThe car left the neighborhood and joined the main traffic flow.

nFang Yuanyuan and Huang He whispered behind at the passenger seats, whereas the two of them at the front remained silent for a long time.

n“Teacher Xiang, what do you want to eat?” Bai Muchuan asked suddenly.

nXiang Wan turned her head slightly, “Anything is fine.”

n“Just say something then.”

n“…”

nXiang Wan gave it a thought and said, “How about hotpot?”

nHotpot was the most suitable food for a gathering, most people were able to accept it and it was her favorite food as well.

nNevertheless, after hearing her suggestion, Bai Muchuan chortled a laugh.

n“Okay then, we’re going to have traditional Chinese cuisine.”

n“…” What the heck!?

nXiang Wan looked at him indignantly.

nIf you’ve already decided, she thought , why do you ask me again?

nThe corners of Bai Muchuan’s lips lifted upwards and he looked towards the front, as if he had not seen her killer gaze.

n… The wild little beast appeared inside Xiang Wan’s heart once more, roaring away.

nThis man must be sent by the heavens to anger me, it must be.

nHowever, because of this dialogue, the awkward atmosphere was alleviated.

n“I’m a magnanimous person! I won’t haggle over this with you.” Xiang Wan looked out of the window and not look at him again.

n…

nIn about 40 minutes, the car stopped.

n“We’ve arrived,” Bai Muchuan turned to look at Huang He, “you head in there first, I’ll park the car!”

nHuang He and Fang Yuanyuan got off the car, but Xiang Wan was stopped by Bai Muchuan when she was removing her seat belt.

nHe leaned over to stop her, where his nice, clean smell made Xiang Wan inexplicably tense.

n“What’s that for?”

n“What are you doing?”

nXiang Wan was puzzled. “I’m getting off the car, what’s wrong?”

nBai Muchuan gazed at her for a moment, slowly straightened himself, and stepped on the accelerator.

nXiang Wan gasped and exclaimed, “What are you doing?”

nBai Muchuan did not turn his head. “Why do you want to join the two lovebirds? We’ll go up together after I parked the car!”

nHis tone was totally domineering without room for negotiation. Xiang Wan could not even breathe smoothly due to anger. On the other hand, Bai Muchuan raised an eyebrow and there was a faint smile on his face. It was so charming that could melt the hearts of many…

nHuff! Xiang Wan sat properly and regulated her breathing.

n“Bai Muchuan, what exactly do you want?”

nBai Muchuan said seriously, “Driving.”

n“…”

nDriving, what driving?

nXiang Wan daren’t guess if this Old Driver was deliberate or not.

nShe sat down, fuming, and stopped talking until Bai Muchuan parked the car and led the way to take the lift…

nOh my god! It’s the famous “The Palace”?

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