Stung by his teasing, Chu Lingyun shoved the pile of skewers towards him, pouting. "Fine! Eat! Eat them all! Who knew stealing a few of my skewers would unleash such a torrent of complaints! Hmph, cheapskate!"
Gao Muyang retorted helplessly, "Me? I'm the cheapskate? Look at you! Your temper flares up like charcoal catching fire! I treat you to dinner, and I'm the one who ends up wrong? With a temper like yours, you'll never find a boyfriend!"
His words hit a nerve. Chu Lingyun was so incensed she forgot to eat the perfectly grilled, glistening potato slice in her hand, coated in fiery red chili powder and fragrant yellow cumin – a tantalizing assault on the senses.
She swallowed her craving, frowned, and glared, righteous indignation in her voice. "You—! That's too much! You're the one who'll never find anyone! What do you know, you clueless straight guy? I'm just… discerning! Ordinary guys don't cut it!"
Flustered and tripping over her words, she played right into Gao Muyang's hands. He laughed openly at her bluster, though inwardly, he was deeply attracted to her. Expressing it through teasing seemed to be his default mode.
Like a grade-school boy pulling the pigtails of the girl he likes, Gao Muyang deliberately provoked her, craving the banter. And succeed he did. They launched into a fierce, noisy squabble, neither willing to back down!
Of course, squabbling didn't stop the eating. Good living demanded icy beer with barbecue! Gao Muyang hadn't planned to drink, needing to drive Lingyun home later. But seeing her enjoy her drinks so heartily, he began sipping too.
The icy liquid coursing down instantly soothed the day's fatigue and irritation. Paired with the delicious food, it was easy to drink more than intended, demolishing a significant portion of the grilled feast.
By the time Gao Muyang realized it, Lingyun opposite him was pleasantly tipsy, her face flushed, her speech slightly slurred.
He found it amusing, only to let out a loud burp himself, earning a faceful of mockery from Lingyun: Big guy, but weak drinker! Can't hold your liquor~
The meal wound down. Both were stuffed to the point of struggling to stand, wobbling drunkenly, forced to lean on each other and the wall for support.
Driving in this state was out of the question. Gao Muyang called a designated driver service to take them both home. True to his gentlemanly nature, he insisted Lingyun be dropped off first, with no attempt to take advantage of her drunken state.
"Don't drink and drive" was a maxim Gao Muyang, especially as a police detective, took seriously. He'd never cross that line. Some money was meant for the designated driver, even if it cost him a day's wages. He paid willingly.
Dizzy and unsteady, he helped her into the car and slumped into the backseat himself. Only then did he remember the crucial task he'd neglected amidst the food and drink. Drunk out of my mind! How careless!
He'd intended to subtly probe Lingyun again. Distracted by the feast, he'd forgotten. But it wasn't too late. Lingyun was thoroughly drunk now – "In vino veritas," they said. Surely, she'd speak truthfully now!
Gao Muyang was a complex, conflicted man. Attracted to Lingyun, yet deeply wary.
His years of detective work screamed a warning: evidence too perfect, too complete, felt fabricated. Suspicious.
Leaning back on the soft seat, he sorted through the tangled thoughts. The woman beside him had passed every test. Every word she'd spoken was likely true.
But did every true word equate to the whole truth? She hadn't started the fire, but did that mean she was uninvolved? Couldn't she be an accomplice?
Not necessarily. A classic deception technique existed – the Montage. A suspect tells the police nothing but truths, yet conceals facts, rearranges sequences, edits the narrative, or obscures timelines to escape culpability.
It was one of the trickiest, hardest-to-detect scenarios in investigations. Could this seemingly sweet, lovely, lively girl be employing it? Doubt gnawed at Gao Muyang.
He hoped not. He prayed it wasn't her. But once caught in this storm, escape wouldn't be easy. And if she was involved… he'd have to do his duty, however painful.
The girl beside him remained blissfully unaware of his mental gymnastics. If she knew… she'd explode, probably flipping the table right then and there…
Instead, Lingyun nestled comfortably in the seat, eyes closed, resting. As the car warmed, two suspiciously rosy patches bloomed on her cheeks like rouge. Her breathing was soft, her expression peaceful, drifting towards sleep.
Gao Muyang watched the serene scene, momentarily lost for words, hesitating on how to begin. He'd learned much during dinner, yet his ingrained suspicion remained.
The situation was simply too extraordinary, contradicting everything he'd been taught. The police academy hadn't covered this. The collapse and painful reconstruction of lifelong beliefs and worldview had only just begun…
Over dinner, he'd casually inquired about Lingyun's personal and family background, ostensibly making conversation, but truly probing. As a detective, he could access citizen records; asking directly was both a sign of respect and a test of her honesty.
This revealed Gao Muyang wasn't just a handsome face or an empty suit. He possessed all the qualities of an excellent detective – a scheming veteran. Truly, "a man's heart is as deep and unfathomable as the ocean."
Chu Lingyun, in contrast, was the guileless one. She spoke her mind freely, blinking those large, clear, and perhaps slightly naive eyes. Any misdeed would be written plainly on her face. Gao Muyang's skepticism stemmed precisely from disbelief that someone so seemingly pure could exist.
She was the one truly blinded by his good looks, unwittingly charmed. Her heart softened every time she met his damp, puppy-dog eyes. Softheartedness is a disease that needs curing! If she ever discovered the truth of his suspicions, she'd likely pick another fight!
And through their dinner conversation, Gao Muyang had uncovered startling information, leading to his current hesitation: whether to dig deeper into Chu Lingyun. The similarities between them were simply staggering!
First, their major life trajectories almost perfectly overlayed: Both hailed from a city slightly less developed than Jiangcheng, neighboring their current location. Both had attended university in the mega-city Jiangcheng and naturally stayed to work after graduation.
If that wasn't coincidence enough, the finer details were even more unnerving, bordering on chilling. Not only were they from the same hometown, but they had also attended the same high school and university.
This meant they weren't just fellow townspeople; they were alumni. Their childhood homes were merely two or three streets apart. And age-wise? He was only two or three years older. What were the odds?
Coincidence wasn't a welcome guest in Gao Muyang's world. The counter-intuitive nature of his work forbade explaining cases away as chance. Evidence revealed truth.
A shared hometown? Maybe coincidence. Attending the same schools? He refused to believe it. In a world built on logic and reason, coincidences like this didn't just happen.
Therefore, he was convinced Chu Lingyun harbored undisclosed secrets. He even suspected she might have secretly accessed his personnel file at the police station. How else could she know his life so intimately?
What unsettled him more was the strange resonance he felt with her words, an instinctive tendency to believe her. Yet, a detective couldn't afford bias. It was dangerous.
The path Lingyun described – studies, work – was common and logical. Most people around Gao Muyang, including himself, had followed it.
But Lingyun wasn't part of his circle. This filled him with unease, setting off internal alarms. Could two people, complete strangers until today, truly share such fateful connections?
During the meal, Lingyun had also mumbled about the origin of her name, delivering another blow to Gao Muyang's psyche. The reason behind "Chu Lingyun" mirrored his own!
She said that as a child, a fortune teller encountered her, declaring her birth chart deficient, needing the elements of Fire and Earth. As the cherished only child, her parents, though skeptical of the fortune teller's claims, had deliberately chosen a name rich in Fire and Earth attributes.
Hearing this, Gao Muyang's heart skipped a beat, though his expression remained neutral. His name shared the same origin. "Gao Muyang" symbolized the sun high in the sky, showering the world with warm light – a name chosen by his parents based on a fortune teller's judgment to supplement his own elemental lack of Fire.
It was a simple name, yet warm, signifying cleansing the world of ugliness, filth, and darkness – fitting his current profession. Another masterpiece of his parents' devotion!