The mall was packed on the weekend. In front of so many eyes, Le Ning didn’t think that person could actually do anything.
But her heart was still racing.
She couldn’t control her pounding heartbeat or the nervous tension — her whole body was stiff.
The man beside her, on the other hand, was perfectly calm. The hand on her shoulder shifted slightly as he leaned down close to her ear: “Relax. Don’t be nervous.”
Le Ning: “…”
She wanted to, but she couldn’t.
Zhou Ran lifted his eyes to scan ahead. His expression stayed calm, but no one knew that just a moment ago, he had felt a rare flash of tension too.
His voice was a little low as he led her forward.
“If you’re feeling nervous, you can talk to me.”
Le Ning really did need something to distract her. She let Zhou Ran guide her thoughts.
“Where are we going now?”
“Where do you want to go?”
“I need to go to the bathroom. Did you actually see the person?”
“No.”
Zhou Ran glanced down at her: “Bathroom first.”
They headed to the restroom. Taikoo Hui’s bathrooms were especially luxurious — a long, wide corridor led inside. If it weren’t labeled “Restroom,” people might think it was a photo-check-in spot.
Men, women, adults, and kids were all standing outside waiting.
Zhou Ran looked at her, blocking any line of sight she might have tried to turn toward: “Go ahead. I’ll wait at the door.”
Le Ning glanced at him uneasily.
“Nothing will happen.”
Zhou Ran’s voice was very calm, but somehow it soothed Le Ning.
She nodded and walked inside with weak steps.
Once she was gone, Zhou Ran leaned against the wall with his hands in his pockets. He was tall and handsome, with a unique aura — even standing at the bathroom door, quite a few passing girls turned to look at him.
He casually pulled out his phone and “played” with it.
“Captain Zhou.”
“Speak.”
Xie Wei was watching the monitors: “No suspicious people spotted so far.”
Zhou Ran frowned slightly: “You sure?”
“Yes.”
Xie Wei added: “The mall’s too crowded. Lots of people wearing masks and sunglasses, staring at phones. And the person’s clever — not tailing her directly. They stop and go, just like a lot of shoppers. The cameras alone can’t tell anything.”
Zhou Ran glanced at someone coming out from the side and said in a low voice: “Wait for me. I’m coming over.”
“Yes, sir.”
Le Ning’s fair face was now even paler, almost translucent — though compared to earlier, it had lost some color.
“The person’s gone.”
Le Ning froze, looking at him in shock: “Really?”
“Mm.”
Zhou Ran paused for a moment: “When did you first notice?”
Le Ning thought back and answered honestly: “After Ruan Qiu and I finished eating and came downstairs.”
After saying that, she looked at Zhou Ran: “Why are you here?”
“Had some business.”
Le Ning: “…Oh.”
When it came to Zhou Ran’s work, she wouldn’t pry further.
The two looked at each other. Zhou Ran asked: “Still want to keep shopping?”
Le Ning shook her head quickly: “No.”
Zhou Ran put away his phone and looked at her: “Let’s go. I’ll drive you two home.”
Le Ning was about to refuse, but the moment she met Zhou Ran’s eyes, she remembered what had just happened.
Face was nothing compared to life.
“Don’t you still have something to do?”
Zhou Ran said calmly: “Xie Wei’s handling it. It’s fine.”
“…Oh.”
By the time they got into Zhou Ran’s car, Ruan Qiu was still a little dazed.
Weren’t Le Ning and Zhou Ran supposed to be on bad terms? Weren’t they sworn enemies? How come she didn’t refuse him now?!
Thinking about it, she pulled out her phone and texted Le Ning.
Ruan Qiu: [What’s going on?]
Le Ning: [Don’t ask. I’ll tell you when we get back. Stay over tonight and sleep with me.]
Ruan Qiu: […I’m definitely fine with that. Did something happen when you went to the bathroom just now?]
Le Ning: [Pretty much.]
Ruan Qiu wanted to ask more, but Le Ning looked exhausted, so she let it go.
Zhou Ran didn’t speak while driving. The two in the back seat stayed completely silent.
When they reached the neighborhood entrance, Zhou Ran turned to look at them: “Call me if anything happens.”
He paused, then looked at Le Ning: “Try not to go out these next few days.”
“Mm.”
Le Ning pressed her lips together and looked at him: “Thank you.”
Zhou Ran watched her like that, his Adam’s apple bobbing slightly. He replied softly: “Mm.”
Zhou Ran walked them all the way to the apartment door and only left after watching them go inside and the elevator close.
Le Ning didn’t insist he stay — she figured he still had things to handle.
As soon as he was gone, Ruan Qiu pulled Le Ning down onto the sofa: “Spill. What happened?”
Le Ning didn’t hide anything and told her the whole story from the mall.
“Holy crap! Someone was really tailing you?”
Le Ning nodded: “Yeah.”
Ruan Qiu looked shocked: “Then how did Zhou Ran just happen to show up?”
“He said he had some business there.”
Ruan Qiu patted her own chest: “The person didn’t do anything, right?”
“No.”
Le Ning frowned: “But I don’t understand what the point of following me was.”
She had some money, sure, but not enough to warrant this. As for being pretty… Le Ning was a little vain and knew she looked good, but she didn’t think anyone would be stupid enough to tail someone so openly in a crowded mall.
The two sat in silence, completely unable to figure out the motive.
“I haven’t offended anyone lately.”
Ruan Qiu turned to look at her: “Could it be… that person?”
“Who?”
“Tang He. Maybe you pissed her off last time and she hired someone to scare you?”
Le Ning thought about it — unlikely.
“She doesn’t have the guts.”
Ruan Qiu collapsed back onto the sofa with a sigh: “You’re probably right. Then who could it be?”
“…No idea.”
While Le Ning and Ruan Qiu couldn’t figure it out, Zhou Ran returned to the mall after leaving the neighborhood.
Thanks to his position, the two of them got straight into the surveillance room.
Zhou Ran stared intently at the mall cameras. When he spotted a suspicious figure, he zoomed in immediately.
His gaze was focused. He turned to Xie Wei: “Pull up all footage of this person.”
“Yes, sir.”
The two worked together efficiently. Late into the night, the lights in the police station stayed on.
Le Ning barely slept that night.
She woke up early. While she was thinking whether to message Zhou Ran, she saw that he had already sent her a message at five in the morning.
Zhou Ran: [Person’s been caught. When you’re up, let me know — come to the station to give a statement.]
She froze, then immediately climbed out of bed.
Le Ning: [That fast?]
She checked the time — a message from just after five… Had he stayed up all night, or woken up early?
She got up to wash. The moment she stepped into the bathroom, her phone buzzed again.
Zhou Ran: [Awake?]
Le Ning: [Yeah. Washing up now, then heading over.]
Zhou Ran: [No rush. I’m waiting at the neighborhood entrance.]
Le Ning paused, stared at the message for a moment, rubbed her eyes, then quickly got ready and headed out.
She didn’t even put on makeup — just slapped on some skincare and rushed downstairs.
When Le Ning arrived, Zhou Ran was leaning back in the car with his eyes closed, resting.
She knocked on the window. The man’s captivating eyes opened and looked over. His eyes were a little red — clearly hadn’t slept well — but his expression was still calm.
They looked at each other. Zhou Ran’s gaze dropped to her fair, delicate face. Even the tiny fine hairs were visible in the light.
He looked for a moment, then looked away, his voice hoarse: “Get in.”
Once inside, Le Ning handed him a cup.
She turned to look out the window and said softly: “Warm water. For your throat.”
Zhou Ran glanced at it and let out a soft laugh.
Le Ning’s ears felt hot. She bit her lip and asked: “You caught the person that fast?”
Zhou Ran gave a low “Mm”: “Left a lot of traces.”
“Huh?”
It wasn’t until they got to the police station that Le Ning fully understood what Zhou Ran meant by that.
The man who had been caught wasn’t tall and had a somewhat sleazy look. When he saw Le Ning appear, he deliberately swallowed hard.
The way he appraised her made Le Ning want to vomit.
She instinctively wanted to step back, but Zhou Ran had already blocked the man’s line of sight.
A nearby officer glanced at the two of them curiously but didn’t dare ask anything.
“Miss Le, here are the interrogation results. Take a look — do you recognize this person?”
Le Ning looked down. In front of her, besides the man’s personal information, were some of his online accounts.
After seeing the filthy, disgusting comments, memories that Le Ning had deliberately buried came flooding back.
The man now in custody was one of her “fans” from her live streams.
Calling him a fan was too generous — he was just a creep.
Le Ning was known for her beauty: an angelic face and a devilish figure. Some fans came for her makeup tutorials and recommendations, but a small portion came just to look at her face — or even at her as a person.
As an online live streamer who wasn’t signed to any platform and streamed whenever she felt like it, Le Ning still attracted a lot of attention.
On Bilibili and Weibo, she had genuine fans, but she also had… the unspeakable kind.
In today’s society, people often assume that anyone who streams is a “internet celebrity” — loose and easy.
Le Ning’s Weibo private messages were full of things like “Wanna hook up?” “50,000 for one night,” “With a body like yours, you must have been **** by so many people,” and so on. Even during live streams, there were always disgusting, vulgar comments in the barrage.
Fans would help report them, but no one could control those filthy minds.
At first, she would get angry. Later, she gradually taught herself to ignore it and move on.
She just never imagined… that the person who had been tailing her was the same creep who had sent her countless vile messages online.
Le Ning lowered her head and read the interrogation transcript.
Why had he followed Le Ning? Simply to see her in real life — to check if she was as beautiful as she looked online. He claimed he was just a fan with no ill intentions.
Reading that, Le Ning couldn’t stop the wave of nausea.
She hadn’t even eaten breakfast — how could someone make her feel this sick?
Zhou Ran glanced at the person beside him, reached over, and pulled the documents away from her.
“Don’t look anymore.”
Le Ning lifted her head to look at him.
Zhou Ran’s anger had already cooled into calm. He looked down at Le Ning and suddenly said: “Being beautiful isn’t a crime.”
Le Ning froze, staring at him in shock: “You—”
Before she could finish, an officer walked over: “Miss Le, we can start now.”
Le Ning nodded: “Okay.”
Zhou Ran headed outside, then turned back to look at her: “I’ll wait for you outside.”
This was a regular police station, not the Criminal Investigation Brigade.
Zhou Ran was only able to be here because of his connections.
When Le Ning finished giving her statement and came out, Zhou Ran was already asleep in a chair.
The man had very long eyelashes. When his eyes were closed, the curled tips were especially noticeable.
Her footsteps paused. For some reason, she suddenly couldn’t walk past him.
An officer behind her saw and joked lightly with Le Ning: “Captain Zhou hasn’t rested for several days. How about you wait a bit and let him sleep for a while, Miss Le?”
Le Ning froze and looked at the officer.
“Several days without rest?”
The officer nodded: “There’s still no lead on the murder case. The Criminal Investigation side has been running around everywhere, and after work last night, Captain Zhou came here to check surveillance — he stayed up all night.”
What exactly he’d been busy with all night was obvious to both Le Ning and the young officer.
Her eyes flickered. Her feet really wouldn’t move.
Suddenly, a phone rang.
It was Zhou Ran’s.
“Hello.”
Zhou Ran’s eyes snapped open. He answered in a low voice: “I’ll be right back.”
Then he turned to Le Ning: “Done?”
“Mm.”
Zhou Ran nodded and said to the officer behind him: “Thanks.”
The officer smiled: “No problem, Captain Zhou. Take care.”
Zhou Ran gave a low “Mm.”
As they walked out of the station, Le Ning stared at the ground: “Zhou Ran, you don’t need to drive me back. I can go home on my own.”
She pressed her lips together: “Don’t you have something urgent?”
Zhou Ran looked at her and asked softly: “You sure?”
“Mm.”
Le Ning was very sure.
Zhou Ran let out a soft laugh: “But I wasn’t planning to send you home anyway.”
“Huh?”
Le Ning’s eyes widened as she looked at him.
Meeting Zhou Ran’s gaze, she suddenly realized… had she been overthinking things again?
Le Ning choked. The emotions that had just surged up vanished in an instant.
…Zhou Ran was just doing what a police officer should do. Don’t overthink it!
Zhou Ran stared straight at her, his eyes deep: “I’m not completely at ease. Come with me back to the brigade first.”
He paused, watching her expression, and added: “Sorry to trouble you. I’ll send you home later.”
Author’s note:
Who said — our Captain Zhou is annoying?!!
WHO!!!!!
Our Captain Zhou is clearly so good, wuwuwu!!