Han Feixu opened the door and saw Ye Mingxin standing in front of the door holding a photo frame. The other party did not speak so Han Feixu took the initiative to ask, “Something the matter?”

“Can you let me in?”

Han Feixu’s eyes flashed with doubt, but she still moved to the side and let Ye Mingxin walk in. Inside there were many places one could sit with many different sofas, chairs, and stools littering the room, but Ye Mingxin had to choose the bed which was the farthest away from her.

She sat on the bed and then looked down at the frame in her hands. Han Feixu walked over with a confused look and frowned. She observed the other for a long time and then opened her mouth to speak when suddenly Ye Mingxin raised her head and showed her the photo frame, “I changed the frame, does it look good?”

Han Feixu nodded blankly, “It looks good.”

Although she had no idea if the current frame was different from whatever the previous one was.

Ye Mingxin’s gaze lowered for about two minutes before she put the photo frame on the bedside table, “The previous frame that I broke was shattered into pieces so I already threw it away. Next time when I visit Master Sydney, I will apologize to him.”

Han Feixu didn’t know who this Master Sydney was. She didn’t even know that the original picture frame was broken. She could only act like a soldier who didn’t question any order they were given and pretended to act calm as she answered with a, “Oh, I see.”

Ye Ming looked up at her with a pair of eyes that could distinguish truth from fiction and Han Feixu felt like she was a fox demon who’s been caught and had their large tail grabbed. (T/N: a fox demon is usually a trickster, and when you catch their tail, you expose them. But when applied to women, a fox demon may also means seductresses so this was a somewhat weird comparison)

…..

“What do you ‘see’ exactly?”

Han Feixu blinked, not understanding what the other meant, “Huh?”

Ye Mingxin stood up and took a step towards her, “I didn’t break the frame, you did.”

Fu*k.

Ye Mingxin took another step towards her, “The original frame was not made by Master Sydney, but Master Cleveland. The only ‘Sydney’ you know is the puppy that was born from the union of the neighbor’s husky and chihuahua.”

Fu*k!

Can a husky breed with a chihuahua in the first place?! What a brave chihuahua it must’ve been!

Wait, that’s not right, she should not be paying attention to that matter, the important thing right now is…

Fu*k! Ye Mingxin has uncovered her secret! And she found out so soon!

……

Han Feixu’s face went blank and her eyes flickered with guilt. Her entire face was one of someone who’s been caught in the act. Ye Mingxin took another step towards her and this time she was right in front of Han Feixu and even forced her to take a step back. However, there was a chair behind her so even if Han Fiexu wanted to retreat, she couldn’t unless she sat down. Which she did.

Suddenly, the two’s postures were reversed and Han Feixu bitterly realized that whether she was sitting or standing, Ye Mingxin’s aura made the woman always seem two meters taller than her.

“What is going on!”

Ye Mingxin’s tone was obviously much more serious than when she had greeted Han Feixu downstairs. Han Feixu quietly raised her head and glanced up but was frightened by the blatant anger on the other’s face. She hurriedly lowered her head again and wildly tried to think of an answer.

She had lowered her head after taking only one look, but if she had looked closer, she would’ve seen the look of deep concern on Ye Mingxin’s face.

Han Feixu was fine just a few days ago, but suddenly she became like this, how can Ye Mingxin not worry? And while she was worried, she was also really, really angry. Something bad had happened, yet instead of telling her, Han Feixu had tried to desperately hide it from her. What did this say about her image in Han Feixu’s heart? Was Han Feixu so afraid that she would take advantage of her accident to make trouble?

When she thought of it this way, Ye Mingxin became so furious that she felt like she couldn’t take it anymore and she clutched her heart before inhaling and exhaling deeply. She suppressed the anger that was about to explode, pressing down her emotions before asking again, “Han Feixu, what is wrong with you?”

Feeling that the other party had calmed down a bit, Han Feixu looked up innocently and said, “Nothing’s wrong with me. I actually wanted to ask what’s wrong with you. Why did you suddenly say such strange things? I thought that your head was muddled from sleep or something, so that’s why I just decided to go along with your previous words.”

Ye Mingxin: “….” Alright, this was the Han Feixu she knew, the one who liked to deflect arguments by reflecting it back onto her opponents.

“So you’re not going to tell me, huh? Okay,” Ye Mingxin nodded, “I remember you went to Shen Sangluo’s house yesterday. Why don’t I call Shen Sangluo to see what she knows?”

The tenser a situation becomes, the more calm Han Feixu becomes, “Okay, go ahead. I’m going to sleep first, good night.”

Shen Sangluo is smarter than her, so she will definitely be able to think of a better way to deal with this. And it will take some time for Ye Mingxin to return to her room, grab her phone and call Shen Sangluo. Before Ye Mingxin calls her, she can just quickly send Shen Sangluo a text and tell her not to answer her phone.

However, although Han Feixu had thought out a good plan, Ye Mingxin was already one step ahead of her. Han Feixu thought that Ye Mingxin would grab her phone and call Shen Sangluo, but instead Ye Mingxin turned around, walked over to the closet, and brought out a coat which she threw at her, “Put this on.”

Han Feixu froze, “Why do I need to wear this?”

Ye Mingxin smiled, “Of course, it’s because you’re coming with me to see Shen Sangluo. After all, some things can only be explained in person.”

After she finished speaking, she stood in front of Han Feixu with her arms crossed, as if she was going to watch her put on the coat.

Han Feixu: “….” Damn it.

Han Feixu couldn’t bear the pressure coming from Ye Mingxin’s eyes and was forced to put the coat on and go out with her. Before they left, she wanted to search for her phone but she searched through her room twice and couldn’t find it. Finally, when she turned around, she saw Ye Mingxin take out a thin, black phone from her handbag with a smile on her face, “Looking for this?”

Ye Mingxin’s voice was very gentle as she spoke again, “Who do you want to contact?”

……Now Han Feixu didn’t dare to contact anyone.

Sitting inside the SUV again, Han Feixu felt rather uneasy. She felt that the jig was up and she couldn’t hide anything anymore, but she remembered what Shen Sangluo told her. Shen Sangluo had repeatedly warned her to not tell Ye Mingxin anything. So should she tell the truth or not? Before she could make a decision, they had already arrived at Shen Sangluo’s place.

Standing in front of the door, Ye Mingxin glanced at the camera above the door and then told Han Feixu to stand to the side. She knocked on the door three times before she heard footsteps on the other side. However, the sound of footsteps had disappeared for about half a minute before the door finally opened. It seemed the other side had deliberated for a long time before opening the door as Shen Sangluo’s expression was definitely not calm at all, “Ye Mingxin, y-you, why are you here?”

Han Feixu, who was standing behind the door, “…..” Can you act any more scared? It’s just Ye Mingxin, not a loan shark coming to collect your debt!

Ye Mingxin didn’t bother with small talk and went straight to the point, “What has happened to Han Feixu? What are you hiding from me?”

Shen Sangluo was taken aback. She kept that surprised expression on her face as she paused for two seconds before she abruptly laughed, “What are you talking about? I can’t understand a word you’re saying? Why would I hide anything from you? Nope, I’m definitely not hiding anything. Stop saying such nonsense.”

Shen Sangluo has a problem. Her problem is that when she lies, she can’t help but fidget with something. Right now, she was standing inside the door and the thing that was closest to her was the door itself. And when she taps on the hard iron door, Han Feixu could clearly hear her little movements. She knew that Shen Sangluo’s little problem was acting up again and she wanted to slam her face into the wall with exasperation.

Ten years have passed and she still hasn’t changed! She doesn’t even have to ask, for she instinctively knew that Shen Sangluo’s lying skills must not have improved either!

Ye Mingxin chuckled lightly and both Han Feixu behind the door and Shen Sangluo inside the door could not figure out what her chuckle meant. Ye Mingxin turned her head to look at Han Feixu, who was standing in the blind spot of the surveillance camera where the door was blocking her figure, “Since she won’t say anything either, let’s try the next one. I called Liang Zhu today, she told me that you two met just this morning. So let’s go ask her, what do you think?”

Shen Sangluo didn’t know who she was talking to and looked around curiously, only to see Han Feixu coming out from behind the door with a pleasant smile on her face, “No need. It’s so late, maybe she’s already asleep, we shouldn’t bother her.”

Ye Mingxin’s smile did not falter, “It’s only ten o’clock, not late at all.”

After she finished speaking, she looked over at Shen Sangluo, who had a dazed expression on her face, “Deputy Section Chief Shen, why don’t you come with us too?”

Although she couldn’t follow the two’s conversation, Shen Sangluo’s instinct that told her to avoid doom and seek opportunities was causing alarms to go off in her head. She quickly rejected the other’s offer, “No, no, no, no, I still have some materials I need to prepare for work tomorrow.”

Ye Mingxin’s smile remained unchanged but the temperature in her eyes had dropped below freezing point, “You will come with us.”

Shen Sangluo: “Okay.”

Han Feixu: “….”

In the front, Han Feixu trembled in the passenger seat while Shen Sangluo trembled in the back.

Shen Sangluo wanted to ask Han Feixu, what happened, how did she get exposed so quickly? And since her secret has been discovered, why didn’t she just tell the truth and explain everything?

She did not know that the reason for all this was because Han Feixu was following her orders from before. However, even if Han Feixu tried to explain now, Ye Mingixn would not want to listen anymore.

Shen Sangluo knows, then Liang Zhu probably knows as well. Yet only her, Ye Mingxin, was the only one kept in the dark. The hands on the wheel tightened their grip.

They finally arrived at Liang Zhu’s place. Liang Zhu had her own place, but it was rather small and it was in a pretty old residential area. The door was an old-fashioned door that didn’t have a camera or monitor installed on it.

Liang Zhu, who was eating a hamburger, heard her doorbell ring. With a pink bunny-shaped hair clip on her head and a hamburger in her hand, she opened the door. When she opened the door and saw Ye Mingxin standing in front of her, Liang Zhu jumped back in shock and quickly made the sign of the cross in front of her chest.

Ye Mingxin: “…”

Han Feixu: “….”

Only Shen Sangluo looked at her with sympathy. She had also had to suffer the sudden appearance of Ye Mingxin earlier. She especially emphasized with Liang Zhu’s gesture of warding off a demon.

Now all the people that were involved in this matter were gathered together. The three of them squeezed onto Liang Zhu’s sofa while Ye Mignxin sat opposite of them on the only leather armchair in the house. She was like a judge interrogating a trio of criminals. The said trio of criminals looked at each other and then spoke one after the other. A few sentences later, everything was revealed.

After finishing their explanation, Shen Sangluo left first. She really did have to prepare some materials for work tomorrow. Before she left, she gave Han Feixu a ‘save yourself’ look. Although she had previously told Han Feixu to never let her secret be exposed no matter what, now that everything was revealed, only Han Feixu can save herself now.

Han Feixu watched blankly as Shen Sangluo fled like she had just escaped the grip of death.

The internet was right for once, female friendships are indeed plastic! (T/N: the directly translated term is “plastic flower sisterhood” which is a slang term that basically means that female friendships are like plastic flowers, they last forever but they are as fake as a plastic flower)

……

Liang Zhu’s house was a bit of a mess. The entire living room was filled with boxes of delivery packages. Ye Mingxin thought that this would not be a good place to talk so she asked if she could borrow Liang Zhu’s study. Liang Zhu looked at Ye Mingxin and then Han Feixu before she nodded, “Go, go. I need to print some packaging slips so you two can talk as much as you want, don’t mind me.”

She completely ignored the distress signal coming from Han Feixu. Then when both Ye Mingxin and Han Feixu entered the study and closed the door, she tiptoed over to the door and eavesdropped on the conversation that started inside.

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Author’s notes:

This author has looked through the outline and counted a total of 63 supporting characters who will have full names, and/or a semi-important role in the book and it will probably only increase later on. So far, only four have appeared….it really makes one lose hair and go bald with anxiety.

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T/N:

Liang Zhu when she sees Ye Mingxin:

Husky + Chihuahua mix (Don’t ask me how that works)