Dr. Chi’s Mission: Seduce Officer Su - Chapter 8

Chi Jue’s footsteps as she crossed the corridor were filled with the air of escape.

She held no sentimental attachment to the Chi residence, so even the scenic views of the interconnected corridors felt like burdens.

The butler was also walking briskly, carrying an intricately carved pastry box that looked like a masterpiece of craftsmanship just by its appearance.

Only after stepping over the high threshold did Chi Jue turn around to block his path. “Uncle Ning, there’s no need to see me off.”

The butler held out the box. “These pastries are all your favorite flavors. Madam woke up early to prepare them with great care.”

“Mm, alright.” Chi Jue remained indifferent as she took the box and prepared to leave.

The butler rubbed his hands together, seemingly hesitating over whether to say something. Only when he saw the young lady about to get into the car did he speak up: “Actually, the master and madam often talk about you. They care deeply about how you’re doing out there on your own.”

Chi Jue paused, her hand on the car door. She turned back and smiled, a hint of profound self-mockery in her expression. “Is that so? Perhaps that’s just a superficial illusion.”

“How could that be? The palm and the back of the hand are both flesh…” The butler’s rebuttal sounded somewhat feeble.

Chi Jue’s gentle smile was tinged with melancholy. “The emperor favors the eldest son, common folks dote on the youngest, I don’t fit into either category. And as for the back of the hand… at most, it’s just skin.”

She got into the car directly and placed the pastry box next to Su Qiao’s coat.

After a moment of distraction, she reached out, picked up the coat, and reexamined the torn opening at the waist.

What had Su Qiao done wrong? She had bled so much, endured the pain without daring to cry out, starved herself but couldn’t bear to eat the candy, only to be coldly driven away by her in the end.

Chi Jue hunched over the steering wheel, clutching the coat. She could still faintly smell the laundry detergent scent that lingered on Su Qiao, but the freshness was now mixed with a hint of blood.

Suddenly, she laughed, her shoulders trembling with the force of it, though the laughter was filled with too much sarcasm.

She mocked herself for knowing full well that coming to the Chi residence would subject her to endless criticism, yet still playing the part of the well-mannered daughter who understood the ways of the world. She also ridiculed herself for having looked forward to the day’s date, only to personally snuff out that flutter of excitement in the end.

Abruptly, she fell silent, remembering the expression on Su Qiao’s face when she heard their dinner was canceled, so pitiful and at a loss.

She wondered, was that tattered, repeatedly mended “little bear” doing alright now?

Picking up her phone, her eyes filled with hesitation.

In her contacts, only the note “[Traffic Police Bear Plush]” was prefixed with the letter A, as if that would make the person she was thinking of stand out at a glance.

But coldness and pride crept into her heart, desperately holding back the urge to take the initiative that was about to burst through the floodgates.

…

Su Qiao carried a basin of hot water back to the living room and, seeing how engrossed her grandmother was in the TV drama, quietly knelt down to help her take off her woolen socks.

Helping her grandmother wash her feet was something she took pleasure in doing, just as her grandmother would wake up early every day to steam buns and mantou for her. Their care for each other was woven into the fabric of their daily lives, simple yet warm.

As she wiped her grandmother’s thin, wrinkled feet with a towel, she realized that, at some point, her grandmother had gradually aged right before her eyes.

After wrestling with her thoughts for a while, she mustered the courage to confess: “Grandma, um… I’ve been reinstated.”

The old lady, initially absorbed in the drama, didn’t quite process the word “reinstated” at first and responded with a couple of vague “mm-hmms” as she cracked sunflower seeds.

Su Qiao continued on her own: “Actually, it’s good that I’ve been reinstated. At least my salary and benefits are restored.”

The little old lady suddenly raised her voice: “What did you say?”

After this startled question, the conversation came to an end.

Grandma’s face was etched with the furrows of time, each wrinkle holding the joys and sorrows of the family’s past.

Her gaze was heavy and fixed, staring straight at her well-behaved and sensible granddaughter. Her eyes brimmed with a murky wetness, and disappointment overflowed from them.

After a silent stare-off, she slipped on her slippers and shuffled unsteadily toward the bedroom.

Su Qiao wrung out the towel and shook it open forcefully. Her back stiff, she forgot the pain in her shoulder. Hesitating for a moment, she mustered the courage to speak: “Grandma, I…”

The little old lady waved her hand dismissively without turning around, as if unwilling to hear any feeble explanations. Her hunched back curled into a ball, carrying a stubborn refusal to accept the truth.

Watching her grandmother close the bedroom door, Su Qiao sat down despondently on the sofa. The towel in her hand had already turned cold, the chill invading her palm.

Memories wove an airtight net, enveloping the silent grandmother and granddaughter.

It was a dream Su Qiao had nearly forgotten, or rather, a pursuit she no longer dared to hope for. She wanted to move her grandmother out of this seventh-floor apartment they had spent a lifetime climbing, a place that felt endless.

Aside from solving cases and catching criminals, she had no other money-making skills. Reaching the position of deputy team leader at such a young age had been a life-risking endeavor, as only by increasing the case-solving rate could she earn substantial performance bonuses.

She had saved for a very, very long time. In those years, her greatest joy was standing in front of the ATM, repeatedly counting how many zeros her savings had accumulated.

When she was just one step away from her dream, she took her grandmother to a residential area not far from the city center. The neighborhood had pleasant greenery, perfect for the little old lady to take the elevator down and stroll in the garden. The second-hand apartment had excellent lighting and a view overlooking the central courtyard’s greenery. The down payment was around 300,000, but the mortgage would be a lifelong shackle.

Later, her dream shattered into ruins.

Su Qiao returned to her small room and stood in front of the dressing mirror, preparing to change into looser clothes.

Finally, she could make out the words on the bandage, [“I hate the police bear, she’ll get hurt”].

Suddenly, she understood what the interesting woman was so angry about.

In those simple words lay Dr. Chi’s unspoken worries and concern, which now felt like a warming patch, radiating heat in Su Qiao’s mind.

She found a marker, crossed out “hate,” and added a crooked “not” before “will.”

When it was time to change the bandage, if Dr. Chi noticed, it might be a nice little amusement.

Sitting back on the edge of the bed, she quietly folded the jacket she needed to return.

The logo on the collar tag was from a luxury brand far beyond her reach, its price far exceeding her monthly salary. Her movements grew even gentler, as if the slightest carelessness would damage this irreplaceable item.

After thinking for a while, she noticed it was still early and decided to go out. She needed to find a good dry cleaner, she couldn’t return the clothes still smelling of hydrogen peroxide. That would be impolite.

…

Evening was a blues cocktail bar, frequented mostly by elite white-collar workers. The bar had a quiet, sophisticated ambiance, where a single cocktail could encapsulate the tranquility of the city’s night.

Chi Jue only visited this place when she was in a bad mood.

Meng Changnian leaned languidly against the bar counter, her long curls cascading over her shoulders. Bathed in the warm, amber glow of the bar lights, she resembled an alluring enchantress, stirring restless desires in the patrons who passed by.

Spotting her friend approaching, she curved her lips into a bewitching smile and turned to order, “A Negroni, low-proof, put it on my tab.”

She was the owner of this bar.

Chi Jue pulled out a barstool and sat down, skipping the pleasantries as she fixed her gaze on the array of bottles the bartender laid out for the cocktail.

“Did you go back to the Chi residence today?” Meng Changnian asked, idly stirring the ice in her Whiskey Sour with a fingertip. The crisp clinking sound seemed to knock at the door of Chi Jue’s heart.

Chi Jue massaged her stiff, weary neck and gave a faint nod, still tight-lipped.

Meng Changnian sighed in exasperation. “Being your friend is exhausting, everything has to be guessed. So, tell me, what did your parents hassle you about this time?”

The bartender slid a glass onto a coaster and gently pushed it toward Chi Jue.

“Thanks.” Chi Jue took a small sip. The familiar, unchanging taste mirrored her own monotonous and uneventful life. “What else could it be? The usual summons home for a thorough scolding, followed by an announcement…”

Her voice trailed off abruptly, as if something had caught in her throat. She recoiled from even uttering a certain name.

Meng Changnian, about to take a sip of her drink, paused. “Hey, don’t leave me hanging like that.”

Chi Jue swirled her glass, the truth lodged in her throat like something she couldn’t swallow. “An Jiaqin is returning the day after tomorrow. They want me to pick her up at the airport.”

“Some people should just stay dead and buried in the past. What’s the point of suddenly resurrecting?” Meng Changnian’s reaction was, as expected, far more vehement. “And you? What do you think?”

“What’s there to think about? What does her return have to do with me?” Chi Jue’s tone was breezy, but she took a large gulp of her drink, as if trying to wash down the indigestible remnants of her past.

Meng Changnian clinked her glass against Chi Jue’s, teasing, “You’re utterly captivating when you’re heartless. I love it~”

Resting her chin in her hand, Chi Jue stared distractedly at the ripples in her drink. After a moment of melancholy silence, she changed the subject. “Changnian, there’s something I want to ask you.”

“If it’s about family or career, I really don’t have any brilliant advice. But if it’s about love, I might have a trick or two, though someone as love-immune as you probably wouldn’t need it anyway.”

“Tch, forget it.” Having successfully piqued Meng Changnian’s curiosity, Chi Jue pulled a bill from her wallet and tucked it under her glass. “I still have to write that symposium report. I’m heading out.”

“You’re impossible! If your issues were a medical condition, I wouldn’t even know which department to refer you to. Teasing like this, even fishing isn’t this frustrating!” Meng Changnian grumbled, long accustomed to her friend’s temperament, and could only watch helplessly as Chi Jue left.

That stubborn, contradictory streak of hers, no one had ever been able to rein it in.

Stepping out of the bar, Chi Jue took a deep, habitual breath. The icy air swept through her, clearing the alcoholic haze from her mind.

As she cut through the commercial pedestrian street, the shimmering neon lights dispelled the loneliness of the night. Yet her solitary figure stood in stark contrast to the bustling surroundings.

A figure in a knitted beanie hurried through the crowd, clutching a bulky eco-bag. Her tall, graceful posture made her especially noticeable.

When two lonely souls unexpectedly cross paths amid the glamour and noise, fate gathers all the light and color in the world and pours it over them.

The world around her seemed to lose its color, the noise faded into silence, and time and breath slowed to a gentle crawl.

Su Qiao clutched the clothes she needed to dry-clean tightly, her breath slightly uneven from wandering around in search of a suitable dry cleaner.

The moment she caught sight of Dr. Chi, she felt as if she had been caught red-handed. An inexplicable tension made her unconsciously crumple the eco-friendly bag in her hands.

In Chi Jue’s eyes, the “little bear” in the woolen hat looked clean and adorable, and her barely concealed nervousness was somewhat amusing.

What was there to be nervous about, walking openly on the street?

Su Qiao wanted to ask something, but remembering the consequences of her unrestrained words in the car, she had learned to be cautious with her speech. “You… um… what a coincidence…”

Seeing her hesitate, Chi Jue smiled faintly, a trace of belated apology hidden in his smile. “I keep running into you everywhere. Fate is so strange.”