Chapter 5 On the Condition That I Really Have Something Going on with Her

After several days of continuous rain, the next day, the sky finally cleared up. The whole city felt damp yet fresh, bathed in a thin layer of golden light.

At six-thirty in the morning, still before working hours, the hallway in the office area was quiet, with only the steady sound of footsteps echoing clearly.

Si Hang, holding car keys, walked towards the Criminal Investigation Department office with his hands in his pockets.

As he passed the reception room opposite the large office, he suddenly noticed something unusual out of the corner of his eye. He frowned slightly, paused his steps, and turned to look.

The gentle dawn light wrapped around the quiet room, casting a faint warm hue on every corner.

In the room, lying quietly on the sofa directly opposite the door, was a woman.

He glanced at the woman’s clean and serene face as she slept and immediately recognized who she was.

Zhuang Zi, in a protective posture, was curled up, with a beige overcoat slightly slipping off her body, half on the floor and half loosely draped over her shoulders.

This scene suddenly reminded Si Hang of that morning when he lifted the thin blanket off the woman—her slender figure, soft body lines, and skin as white as milk. The thin silk nightgown she wore barely covered her, revealing much of her ample chest and her long, slender legs beneath.

With this thought, he instinctively glanced at her again.

At the same time, Zhuang Zi seemed to sense something and suddenly opened her eyes wide, meeting his clear, cold, deep gaze.

Si Hang didn’t avoid her gaze, staring back at her eyes with a scrutinizing look for two seconds.

Her pupils were not a clear black but a faint amber. Various emotions—panic, vigilance, fear, and confusion—mixed in her eyes.

After two seconds, he indifferently moved his gaze away from her.

Zhuang Zi immediately sat up from the sofa, noticing the coat slipping off onto the ground. She instinctively checked her clothes for tidiness and then warily looked at the man in front of her.

As if tacitly understood, her face suddenly felt a bit warm.

…

An awkward and silent atmosphere slowly spread between them, making the air feel thin.

At this moment, Xie Kui’s hearty voice came from the hallway, “Good morning, boss.”

Si Hang stood still with his hands in his pockets and slowly turned to glance at him.

Xie Kui knew perfectly well what Si Hang was looking at in the doorway. It was he who had let Zhuang Zi rest here last night.

He walked over, glanced past Si Hang into the room, and explained before Si Hang could ask, “Miss Zhuang had nowhere to go last night and was sitting in the lobby alone, so I let her rest here.”

Si Hang frowned unhappily and succinctly said, “This won’t happen again!”

It’s against the rules for unauthorized persons to enter the office area freely, and Xie Kui knew this. But considering she was a woman in distress with nowhere to go, it didn’t seem right to kick her out after she came to the police station at night. Out of compassion, he let her rest in the reception room for the night. Besides, since Si Hang knew her, it shouldn’t be a big problem, or so he thought.

“Yesterday was a special case. I’ll explain it to you later.”

Si Hang withdrew his gaze indifferently, turned, and pushed open the office door beside him, walking in without a word.

Xie Kui looked at Zhuang Zi and smiled.

…

Zhuang Zi went to the restroom to freshen up briefly, planning to go straight to work afterward.

Passing by the Criminal Investigation Department, she glanced at the office. The door to the private office was tightly shut, and she wasn’t sure if anyone was inside.

She hesitated for a few seconds before turning around and walking over.

She knocked on the door, but there was no response for a while.

Just as she was about to leave, she suddenly heard footsteps behind her. Feeling inexplicably nervous, she turned around and saw Xiao Meng, who was looking at her curiously.

“Are you looking for Team Leader Si, Miss Zhuang?” Xiao Meng asked.

Zhuang Zi nodded, “But he’s not here.”

“He might be working out or having breakfast,” Xiao Meng said. “Do you need something from him?”

“It’s a personal matter,” she replied. “Since he’s not here, I’ll leave.”

Personal matter? What personal matter?

Could there be personal matters between the boss and a woman?

Xiao Meng watched her tall and slender figure with great interest. Her temperament was extraordinary.

No wonder. She was indeed different from those other girls.

When Xiao Meng, full of curiosity, found Si Hang and Xie Kui in the canteen, Xie Kui was explaining the reason for Zhuang Zi staying overnight in the office last night.

“Something happened, and she had no relatives to take her in. She had no choice but to take refuge at the police station in the middle of the night. It’s quite pitiable, isn’t it, boss?”

Si Hang commented indifferently, “There are many innocent and pitiable victims. We can only do our duty to find the truth. We can’t help with everything else.”

Xie Kui paused and nodded.

Having seen all sorts of tragic cases, they weren’t numb or cold-hearted. Even if they wanted to help more, the limited resources made it impossible to be thorough in every aspect. From an objective standpoint, their work itself was an act of dedication and sacrifice. Compared to sympathy and pity, using their limited energy to complete tasks with high quality and catching the perpetrators was the greatest comfort to the victims.

“However, one must always think positively. Compared to some victims, she is luckier.” Xie Kui remarked casually, “She managed to escape with her life. That’s already fortunate in her misfortune.”

Xiao Meng sat down beside Xie Kui with his meal tray and asked with a smile, “What’s fortunate in misfortune?”

“Talking about Zhuang Zi,” Xie Kui said, “If it wasn’t for her brother-in-law calling the police in time, it would have been another fatality.”

“Calling the police in time?” Xiao Meng stirred his noodles, glanced at Si Hang, and suddenly smiled meaningfully. “It was clearly our boss who was the timely hero.”

Si Hang gave him an inscrutable look, ignoring his teasing and continued to eat slowly.

Xie Kui was taken aback, also looked at Si Hang, smiled, and asked, “I almost forgot, boss, you know Zhuang Zi, don’t you? What’s the story?”

“Know her?”

Xiao Meng’s eyes lit up, recalling just now seeing Zhuang Zi going to the office to find him. His gossip-minded brain reflexively jumped to a keyword—ex?

But he didn’t say it directly and instead asked tactfully, “An old acquaintance?”

“Boss should be very familiar with her parents, right?” Xie Kui pressed.

Si Hang let them speculate while he slowly drank his milk.

Xiao Meng suddenly realized, so they had already progressed to meeting the parents!

He then gave Si Hang a mischievous smile, “So, the boss likes this type of beauty.”

Xie Kui chuckled.

Si Hang also smiled faintly, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice, “What gave you that illusion?”

Not to mention that he had known Miss Zhuang for no more than three days—no, they couldn’t even be said to know each other. He was puzzled by how this kid had such a misunderstanding.

Xiao Meng had a helpless look on his face, “Boss, is it that hard to admit you have a personal affair with Zhuang Zi?”

“Not hard.”

He answered so straightforwardly that Xiao Meng and Xie Kui were both surprised.

But before they could get excited, they heard him add slowly, “Provided that I actually have a personal affair with her.”

Xie Kui looked disappointed.

He thought the boss had finally developed feelings and was going to pursue a girl.

It seems that the young policewomen’s private assessment of him is indeed accurate—cold as ice, unapproachable, and indifferent even to the girls who admire him. Such a person is either too proud to consider ordinary girls or only interested in his work, intending to remain alone forever.

Si Hang himself is aware of these evaluations. He doesn’t oppose this view but feels the need to correct it a bit—he is a combination of both types.

He had once considered what type of girlfriend he might have in the future, thinking she should at least have qualities he admired. Perhaps this is why he has remained single to this day. There are many beautiful women, but almost none who truly catch his eye.

He knows that if he wanted to, there would be plenty of girls to date, but he is unwilling.

He has always been rational and composed, knowing clearly what he truly wants. He doesn’t want to experiment randomly, doesn’t want to play around, and has no time to waste on women not worth his effort.

“Today I saw the boss,” Xiao Meng insisted, determined to expose him, “A beautiful woman came to the office to see you, saying she had some personal matter to discuss. That’s definitely not normal!”

Si Hang frowned slightly, puzzled—she came to talk about personal matters?

After a brief thought, he seemed to guess what it might be about.

Xie Kui was also full of questions and curiosity, but he had a bold guess in his heart.

From Zhuang Zi’s attire, that coat she wore wasn’t luxurious but should be worth tens of thousands, and last night he saw she drove a BMW. This suggests she comes from a wealthy family.

Zhuang Zi also said that Si Hang knew her father.

Everyone knew that Si Hang had a complicated background. Although he had overcome his difficulties, his childhood was quite tough. During those years of hardship, it was said that a benefactor helped him graduate from the police academy.

Could that benefactor be Zhuang Zi’s father?

But that wouldn’t make sense—if the Zhuang family had helped him, why would he avoid getting involved in Zhuang Zi’s case?

Xie Kui couldn’t help but ask, “What’s the relationship between you two that’s so mysterious?”

“You could say that,” Si Hang put down his chopsticks, leaned back in his chair, and with a tone that mixed casualness with slight teasing, said, “I’m half her enemy.”

Both men were stunned.

He leisurely wiped his mouth with a napkin, “Her father is Zhuang Hong, the former director of Ruihong Group.”

Xiao Meng’s mouth slightly opened in surprise, seemingly taken aback by this news, his face full of incredulity.

Xie Kui asked, “And then?”

Si Hang didn’t say more, stood up with his phone, “Then, it’s time to work!”

Xie Kui: “…”

After Si Hang left, Xie Kui looked at Xiao Meng, who seemed even more bewildered, his eyebrows furrowed, “What’s wrong?”

Xiao Meng slowly closed his mouth, his expression still somewhat exaggeratedly incredulous, which only piqued Xie Kui’s curiosity further.

“Spit it out!”

Xiao Meng: “Do you know about a major responsibility accident in Luocheng two years ago?”

Xie Kui thought back. Although he was in a neighboring province at the time, he had heard a bit about notable cases in the industry.

He remembered that the case was quite complicated, eventually leading to the arrest of several officials colluding with merchants. Because of its wide implications and special nature, the city bureau did not publicly disclose the details. Xie Kui had only heard rough details and was not clear on the specifics.

“That case was handled by the boss.”

Xie Kui’s mind turned, vaguely piecing things together, his eyes flashing with understanding, “Could it be?”

“The person responsible for the accident was Zhuang Hong, the former director of Ruihong Group!”

Xie Kui’s eyes widened slightly, fully grasping the situation.

To sum up: two years ago, it was Si Hang who personally arrested Zhuang Zi’s father and sent him to prison. Since then, her family fell into ruin, losing everything.