Su Mian.

  Su Mian.

  My……Su Mian.

  A low male voice resonates in her head. Her eyes are closed as she scrunches her eyebrows.

  Who is he calling for? Who is Su Mian?

  Who is…she?

  ……


  In the confusing dream, the feeling of pain and suffocation comes back again. But this time, the images that she sees are clearer than before.

  She sees a blazing fire blocking everything in view;

  She sees the airwaves from the explosion reaching her as if it could swallow the whole pacific ocean;

  The earth is collapsing, and her soul is screaming in despair……


  And then, she sees Han Chen.

  "Su Mian!" he runs toward her.

  He's wearing a police uniform. His handsome and prominent face is full of fright and pain.

  And then he embraces her. In the next second, a giant blast throws them out ruthlessly.

  "Ahhh——" she hears herself cry from pain.

  And then she lifts her head and sees Han Chen's eyes closed as he has fainted.

  "Han Chen! Han Chen!" she calls his name with all her might but can't make a sound. Eventually, the feeling of pain and haziness seems to engulf her. She finally closes her eyes.

  Unacceptable. She really can't accept this.

  She refuses to die just like this.

  She refuses to accept that Han Chen will lose his life like this!

  Even if she dies, she still wishes for him to live on!

  Amid the blurriness, she sees the smokes and fire being put out gradually.

  And a few figures are coming toward them calmly behind the fire.

  ……


  "Ahhh——" Bai Jin Xi sits up suddenly as she gasps for air repressively.

  She opens her eyes and stares at the familiar setting. She then realizes that her face is already covered in tears.

  What is this dream? She wipes her tears away and rubs her forehead.

  Ever since the attack at the farmhouse, these scattered images and voices have been popping up in her mind every now and then. It's probably because the same feeling of suffocation before death has woken the memories that have been sleeping deep inside her mind for a long time. And in this dream, they've become clearer and she could hear Han Chen calling her clearly——


  "Su Mian?" she repeats the name slowly with uncertainty.

  Her heart pounds hard.

  And according to the doctor back then, she and her parents were in a fire accident. But in the dream, there was only Han Chen and a few strangers.

  This reality is too horrifying. She's sitting in a cozy room by herself, but all she can feel are bursts of chills.

  She walks out of the room after a long while. The moment she enters the living room, she sees Zhou Xiao Zhuan sprawled across the couch drooling. She smiles slightly and then walks to the kitchen still immersed in her heavy thoughts. She makes two simple bowls of noodles before kicking the couch, "Get up and eat breakfast."

  Xiao Zhuan rubs his eyes sitting up, "Leader still hasn't come back yet? How much longer do I have to be the knight in shining armor?" Now that he says this, Jin Xi looks up at the clock on the wall. It's already past 9am.

  "He's probably not done with dealing with the case," she says, "Haven't they been digging up the bodies the whole night?"

  They start eating sitting across from each other.

  Zhou Xiao Zhuan notices something odd very quickly; Bai Jin Xi is especially quiet today. It must be because of the wound on her neck or not being in a good mood after being attacked. Afraid that she would feel bored, he smiles with his eyes squinting after eating for a while, "Xiao Bai, how do you feel for being kept in a golden house (idiom, usually refers to the place where you're hiding/letting your mistress live in)?"

  Jin Xi presses her lips together into a smile, "Golden house my a–! We've got nothing to hide."

  "Heh! Who's been dodging and covering it up all day in the office and even have to get off the car two blocks away in the morning?" he teases her intentionally. He then sighs, "But Leader is really a good guy. Just look at him. He's handsome, tall, and has a great background. His love is also so loyal to you….I can't believe a young master of Beijing has wandered helplessly all these years because of you."

  Jin Xi is indeed pleased to hear him say all this. Her eyebrows also relax.

  Xiao Zhuan thinks for a moment. He retreats his smile and says in a serious manner, "But I think he likes you so much that he's at his limit Please treat him well from now on and try not to throw too many tantrums."

  Jin Xi swallows a mouthful of noodles and asks him slowly, "How do you know that he likes me so much that he's at his limit?"

  Xiao Zhuan picks up a mouthful of noodles with his chopsticks, "Yesterday morning before he left, he sat at the side of your bed for a long time. Those eyes……dang, he even held up your hand and kissed it repeatedly. I wasn't trying to peek, but he didn't close the door. Furthermore, he didn't even bother talking to me as if I was invisible." He glances at her, "Before, I thought Forensic Investigator Xu was crazy in love enough. But I just realized yesterday that even though Leader is usually unruly, he's actually more crazy in love than Forensic Investigator Xu. It's right that you're together with Leader."

  Jin Xi doesn't know what to say.

  But in her mind, she's picturing the image that Xiao Zhuan has just described.

  She also recalls the words he said when they first got together: "I've always remembered your existence. I've searched for you every day and every year. But how come you never once thought about me?"

  It seems like his love for her is greater than her love for him?

  Her heart softens as she says in a stuffy voice, "Actually, I also feel that I like him more and more. I like him so much."

  To Xiao Zhuan, these words are definitely too sappy to his ears. He bursts out laughing, and Jin Xi grabs the tissue box and throws it at him.

  "Oh right," he becomes serious again as he mentions another thing to her, "There's something that I have to tell you. It's bad news. You know how we found the cameras in Shao Lun's house and not long after, we sent people to search Situ Yi's place? But when our people got there, the footage of when you got attacked was already erased. The IT department replied back saying that it could not be recovered. Situ Yi said that he wasn't the one who erased it. He was busy packing up to flee at the time so he didn't pay attention to who it was in the video."

  Jin Xi stirs the bowl of noodles slowly with her chopsticks and doesn't pick up any noodles to eat.

  "You didn't see the attacker's face at all?" Xiao Zhuan asks.

  Jin Xi shakes her head answering, "The person was just as skillful as me," she pauses and then says coldly, "I won't give up until I take revenge."

  Xiao Zhuan slaps the table, "That's right! This is how we should be!"

  "Ding Dong——" the doorbell rings.

  They look at each other in the eyes. Xiao Zhuan asks whispering, "Who is it?"

  "How would I know? This is Han Chen's home."

  Xiao Zhuan gets up, walks over, takes a look through the peephole and says feeling perplexed, "It's a colleague from the Forensic Department. I think his surname is Tan. What's he doing here?"

  "Team Leader Han! Team Leader Han!" the person on the outside knocks on the door.

  Jin Xi gets up as well and walks to the door. She stands leaning against the wall and makes eye contact with Xiao Zhuan. Xiao Zhuan opens a crack with the door and says smiling to the person, "Tan Ge ("Big Brother Tan", a polite way to address someone older), what do you need my leader for?"

  Tan Ge is a bit surprised seeing Xiao Zhuan, "Aren't you Xiao Zhuan? How come you're here?"

  "Oh! Leader is still working on a case and hasn't come back yet. I have his keys and he told me to come fetch him some documents," Xiao Zhuan answers smoothly.

  Tan Ge lets out an "oh" and says feeling puzzled, "But I passed by your office just now and everybody was gone already. I called Han Chen's cell phone and couldn't get through so that's why I brought these over to his home here." He hands over a small box in his hands, "Can you put it in his home then?"

  Xiao Zhuan takes it, "What is it?" Jin Xi takes a look at the box and is a bit stunned.

  Tan Ge answers, "Han Chen sent this to our department a few days ago and asked us to cut and analyze it. It seemed to be something important to him, so once I got the results, I wanted to give it to him right away. Anyway, keep it safe. I'm leaving now."