Su Xingtong and the young man stood at the door, staring at each other. The youth carried a large toolbox and was quite handsome—his appearance didn’t match the profession of a repairman at all.
“Um… Sister-in-law?” Seeing Su Xingtong remain silent, the youth blinked and repeated himself.
Su Xingtong suddenly snapped out of it. “You might be mistaken; I’m not…”
“Oh, I get it, I get it.” The youth walked in familiarly, closing the door behind him before introducing himself. “I’m Lu Hengyu. My brother should have mentioned me to you.”
Hearing that he was Lu Hengyu, Su Xingtong’s expression became subtle. “You’re the one… Jinghan’s…”
The word “Sugar Daddy” was swallowed back into his stomach; he still couldn’t connect the concept of “being kept” with Li Jinghan.
To his surprise, Lu Hengyu widened his eyes slightly. “You know Brother Li?”
Su Xingtong had assumed that given his close relationship with Li Jinghan, Li would have mentioned him to Lu Hengyu long ago. Realizing that Li Jinghan hadn’t mentioned him at all, Su Xingtong’s first reaction wasn’t displeasure, but worry. Li Jinghan had his reasons for staying silent; would blurting it out like this cause issues?
Lu Hengyu, completely unaware of the internal drama, changed his shoes and asked, “Brother Li is truly Brother Li—he even has celebrity friends.”
Su Xingtong regained his composure, wondering internally if this kid was really Mo Junyi’s biological brother; the gap in their IQs seemed a bit large.
Lu Hengyu had no idea his new “Sister-in-law” was criticizing his intelligence. After changing shoes, he lugged his toolbox toward the bathroom. Su Xingtong followed him.
Mo Junyi’s house was quite large. As they walked, Lu Hengyu couldn’t help but chuckle. “Hey, Sister-in-law, how did you and my brother meet?”
We met at a crime scene, Su Xingtong thought, but he replied formally, “We met through a blind date.”
Seeing how cold and aloof Su Xingtong seemed, Lu Hengyu wasn’t deterred; instead, he became more enthusiastic. “That’s good. My brother—people who don’t know him are pretty scared of him, but he’s actually quite gentle.”
Su Xingtong pushed open the bathroom door and thought: He is indeed very gentle.
Lu Hengyu began dismantling the showerhead, continuing the conversation. “When I was little, I liked watching cranes. So he hung me on a streetlight next to a crane and let me watch all day.”
Su Xingtong’s childhood outings with Li Jinghan mostly involved poking snails or watching ants. He had never heard of such a “playstyle” and was shocked, yet he maintained a calm facade. “That sounds… interesting.”
“And once, during winter fishing,” Lu Hengyu continued while turning a screw, “the two of us sat on the lake all day and didn’t catch a thing. Before leaving, my brother was so annoyed that he picked up a stray dog nearby and brought it home. That dog is still being raised at our house.”
Su Xingtong couldn’t help but smile. “I thought he would have stewed the dog.”
Lu Hengyu laughed. “I didn’t realize, Sister-in-law, you’re quite humorous.”
Su Xingtong grew curious about what it was like when Li Jinghan and Lu Hengyu were together, deciding to ask Li Jinghan about it when he had the chance.
Lu Hengyu fixed the showerhead quickly. Su Xingtong couldn’t help but ask, “What was your major? You’re quite handy.”
Lu Hengyu wiped his forehead. “Civil Engineering. My whole family was unhappy when I applied for it.”
A rich second-generation kid who likes cranes, studied civil engineering, and is now ‘keeping’ Li Jinghan. Su Xingtong felt the situation was beyond words. He nodded. “As long as you like it. Other people’s opinions don’t matter.”
“Exactly! My brother said the same thing back then. Sister-in-law, you and him are really alike!” Lu Hengyu laughed.
Su Xingtong thought: He was probably just humoring you, and you actually believed it.
After packing up, Su Xingtong was about to bid farewell to Lu Hengyu at the door when the kid suddenly blurted out, “Hey, Sister-in-law, you’re a great person. Much better than the one my brother brought home last time. I wish you and my brother a long and happy marriage.”
Su Xingtong had initially felt the kid was quite well-spoken, but he hadn’t expected this parting shot. His expression shifted. “The one he brought home last time?”
Lu Hengyu’s face changed. Realizing he had said something he shouldn’t have, he immediately laughed it off. “No, no, no! Just ignore me. Brother Li asked me to bring him some chocolate, so I’ll head out now. Goodbye, Sister-in-law!”
With that, he dashed off. Su Xingtong watched from afar as he got into a Pagani. Driving a luxury car to fix a showerhead for Mo Junyi—Team Mo sure has a lot of ‘face.’
Su Xingtong didn’t even realize his thoughts had taken a turn. His previously calm reflections were now tinged with a hint of bitterness.
In reality, this was a complete misunderstanding. The “one brought home last time” was actually the family member of a victim in a case. It had been too late to finish the investigation that night, and seeing they had nowhere to sleep, Mo Junyi had kindly let them stay at his place for the night. Unfortunately, Lu Hengyu didn’t know the facts, and Su Xingtong—having heard a earful of gossip—knew even less.
He cooled his expression and lowered his gaze, letting out a soft “Hmph” at the door.
Why think so much? He closed the door expressionlessly. He can do whatever he wants; it has nothing to do with me.
After changing clothes, Su Xingtong feigned indifference as he called his assistant to go to the company, intending to report yesterday’s events to his manager.
Mo Junyi had arrived at the police station early that morning, unaware of the mess his younger brother had made at his house.
The back-and-forth between Bai Yuan and Su Xingtong on Weibo had finally escalated to an unmanageable level. Even Chief Li, who usually ignored the internet, had made a special call to Mo Junyi.
The Huayang City Public Security Bureau actually had a Weibo account, but the higher-ups didn’t value it, so it was gathering dust. The urgent task was to give the public a response. The logistics team was frantic, rushing to draft a public notice while worrying the wording wasn’t “official” enough, leading to multiple revisions.
While logistics was busy, Mo Junyi sat in his office scrolling through Weibo, as most of the detained suspects were still sleeping. It was the hour when most people were waking up for work; compared to last night, the Weibo heat had increased rather than diminished.
Furthermore, clicking into the “#DayAndNightSoulHunt Wire#” tag again, the top post had changed from Bai Yuan’s Weibo to Su Xingtong’s. Mo Junyi had been slammed with work yesterday and had no idea such a major thing had happened outside while he was in the interrogation room.
Looking at Su Xingtong’s Weibo, which stood in direct opposition to Bai Yuan, Mo Junyi couldn’t say he wasn’t moved. He scrolled through the comments and found that in terms of reputation, Su Xingtong truly crushed most of the fame-seeking “posers” in the entertainment industry.
The comments under Su Xingtong’s own post were naturally supportive:
“Trust the People’s Police! Teacher Su, stay warm!”
“The criminal investigators working late are heroes. Don’t listen to those ‘500k’ slanders; you guys are the best!”
“Waaa, Su-Su is so righteous!”
“Teacher Su, don’t be afraid. We are all with you [Heart]”
Even the wind beneath Bai Yuan’s Weibo had shifted:
“Are the top comments here for real???”
“Speechless. Just came from Teacher Su’s side; this place is basically a zoo.”
“Bai Yuan is truly ‘impressive’—fitting for the #1 fan-circle in the industry.”
“Did the police slander you or did you slander the police?? And you’re filming a crime drama? Are you worthy?”
“Forwarding over 500 times is a crime. Suggesting this ‘law-breaker’ get out of the industry.”
Many people had suffered from Bai Yuan’s fans for a long time and were happy to see this. Even people indifferent to Su Xingtong gained a lot of favor for him because he stood up for the police.
This spawned related tags like “#BaiYuanGetOutOfTheIndustry,” “#DayAndNightSoulHuntRecast,” and “#SuXingtongJacket,” which followed onto the trending list.
Mo Junyi recognized the first two, but the last one was a bit strange. Seeing he still had ten minutes before 8:30, he clicked in. It turned out many people were just as confused. The first post under the tag was from a bewildered fan:
“Mi-Mi-Ho: #SuXingtongJacket# What does this mean, sisters?? I just took a nap—what did I miss??!!”
This post had nearly 100,000 likes and over 50,000 comments. Mo Junyi suddenly had a subtle guess. Clicking into the comments, the first one solved his mystery:
“Teacher Su’s Weibo last night originally had a picture. At 3:30 AM, he suddenly edited the picture out for some reason. [Image] This is my special collection; look and cherish it.”
In the picture, Su Xingtong was wearing that thick police jacket, standing in the criminal investigation lobby for a casual selfie. The angle was mediocre and his expression wasn’t posed, yet his beauty was still undeniable.
Mo Junyi’s breath hitched. Aside from Su Xingtong, he was probably the only one who knew what had happened last night.
Some in the comments guessed indifferently: “Maybe the Public Security Bureau doesn’t allow casual filming inside; you guys are overthinking.”
But more people were saying:
“Holy sh*t, I think I ship it.”
“Holy sh*t, I think I ship it too.”
“Can you guys stop swearing? Although I’m also very excited.”
“I’m sorry, but Criminal Investigator x Big Star is too good. Who understands my tears?”
“Who is the person writing a novel in their head based on a padded coat? Oh, it’s me.”
Mo Junyi was a man unmoved by external things, but as he watched, a different feeling bloomed in his heart.
At that moment, his office door was given two symbolic knocks before being pushed open. “Team Mo… what are you looking at?”
Mo Junyi closed his phone with a straight face. “Nothing.”
But the uninvited Liu Minghua still raised an eyebrow. “Something’s wrong… Oh—I get it. Watching the Sister-in-law vent his anger for you on Weibo? Hey, you should definitely look more; it’s so damn satisfying.”
Mo Junyi’s brow twitched, not bothered to correct her choice of address. “Why are you looking for me?”
“The ‘big shots’ who went to sleep at dawn are finally awake,” Liu Minghua said. “We’re just waiting for you to ‘ascend the bench’ for the trial.”