"At that time, you"re really cold."Xiang Wan scrunched her nose at him and let out a chuckle.
"But I didn"t have any concerns since we weren"t together when I first started out working as an advisor. I take it as a learning experience, and I want to learn as much as I can. Moreover, at that time, I was labeled as a web novelist who could only write some criminal profiling behavior."
"So what"s different now?" Bai Muchuan"s eyes scrutinized her face. "Hmm, you seem to be prettier now, eh?"
Pffft! Xiang Wan giggled.
"Now that I"m better at profiling, but no one will see what I"m capable of anymore… Inside their heads, there"s only one label—Bai Muchuan"s girlfriend. No matter what I do or say, it would be difficult to remove this label…"
"You"re also Zhan Se"s personal a.s.sistant—"
"Hah!" Xiang Wan begged to differ. "It"s difficult to get in Serious Crime Division One. I don"t think they will believe this weak excuse."
"Maybe you"re right, but it"s easy to change the label!" Bai Muchuan stroked her face slowly. "Let"s change the label."
"Mm?" Xiang Wan had a doubt on her face.
Bai Muchuan"s half-smile felt as though he was coaxing a kid. He cupped her face then ran his fingers through her hair "How about the label—Bai Muchuan"s wife?"
"…"
Xiang Wan muttered softly,
"Is that a proposal?"
Bai Muchuan smiled at her response.
"Seems like this place… is not formal enough."
"So you do know?" Xiang Wan looked at him, a little displeased but went up to his ear. "But I"d like that."
"Hah!"
The words "I"d like that" warmed Bai Muchuan"s heart in this winter"s night.
"I"m too busy during this period." Bai Muchuan hugged her tightly while covering her with his overcoat. "Once we get past this busy period and the Lunar New Year, we"ll get that done." There was a pause, he seemed worried that Xiang Wan might overthink this and decided to add another sentence. "I hope I can make it into a more solemn event so you won"t have any regrets."
"… Okay."
Xiang Wan leaned on him.
"Do you believe me?"
"… Of course, I do."
"I"m worried that you might overthink this! Hur! It"s difficult to understand women…"
"I"m not an ordinary woman."
"Mm?"
"I"m… Bai Muchuan"s woman."
Xiang Wan"s voice felt soft and sweet; her body was soft like water. When he hugged her closely, it worried him that she would melt away.
Bai Muchuan felt his heart skipping a beat and looked at her.
That clean and fair face seemed beautiful and pure.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes while he embraced her. He didn"t want to be impulsive and drag her to the registry of marriage first thing in the morning the next day.
"I want to give you—the best."
Just like Huang He and Fang Yuanyuan…
Although it was solemn and emotional for them, they were bound to have some regrets.
Bai Muchuan did not want such feelings of regret.
"This is a matter that we go through once in a lifetime. We need to plan carefully about this!"
…
That night, Xiang Wan slept peacefully.
Zhan Se received the employment contract for the post of the Honorary Advisor three days later.
Three days later, Xiang Wan went to report for work at Serious Crime Division One as Zhan Se"s personal a.s.sistant.
That day was Friday.
There were only about a week to go before the Lunar New Year.
The atmosphere of the Lunar New Year was everywhere.
Yet over at Serious Crime Division One, there was only a serious work mood.
There were some familiar faces there, which she need not get to know them again. However, there were also many of them that Xiang Wan met for the first time. Compared to the Criminal Investigation Unit at Jin City, the people there were obviously more complicated. Although Bai Muchuan was the one leading this entire Division, it was not an easy task to lead a team of elites who came from various backgrounds.
"Don"t be nervous, you are here as the personal a.s.sistant."
That was the message Bai Muchuan had sent her.
"Got it."
Xiang Wan replied to him.
"I"m nervous, but I don"t show it outside…"
"Mm, remember what you told me. You are Bai Muchuan"s woman."
"… Oh, someone"s getting arrogant again."
"Be proud of it, my Little Xiang Wan!"
"…"
After that, they ended the conversation.
She glanced around to look for Ding Yifan.
It was not convenient for Bai Muchuan to give her work.
The one in charge of that was Ding Yifan.
Xiang Wan did not see him, so she posted a message at the Gossip group chat.
"Detective Ding, where are you? I"m here to report for work."
"Teacher Xiang, you"re here?" responded Ding Yifan, "I"m currently upstairs. Please wait for me, I"ll be back soon."
"No hurry," replied Xiang Wan, "I"ll wait for you near the main entrance! You can finish your work first."
She saw an empty chair and wanted to sit on it when she heard a clear female voice.
"Hey!"
That tone did not sound friendly.
Xiang Wan looked over and true enough, she saw her "enemy".
"That"s my chair!" Cheng Xin was never nice to Xiang Wan.
Nevertheless, since she just did her self-reflection a few days ago, her gloomy face didn"t last for over three seconds, and she plastered a proud smile of a pampered young missy over her face.
"You"re here to look for Captain Bai, right? My apologies, I still have work to do, so I can"t let you have my seat. You can wait elsewhere for him. Then again, everyone"s busy, and I don"t think they have the time to bother with you…"
After that, she pulled her chair over heavily and sat on it.
That totally was a display of her feeling of superiority as a member of Serious Crime Division One.
Xiang Wan could tell that, even though Cheng Xin had put on a seemingly polite expression.
"I see." Xiang Wan smiled as she pretended to look at the surroundings as though she hadn"t gotten that hint. "I had thought Officer Cheng must be doing some important work, but it seems like… you"re only handling doc.u.ments?"
That was Cheng Xin"s sore spot.
She felt a tug at her heart and realized that she could not keep up with her friendly pretense anymore.
"Every team in Serious Crime Division One is as important. Every job in this division is indispensable." When Cheng Xin said so, she took a glance at the laptop haversack that Xiang Wan was carrying on her back and revealed an ironic smile. "It"s good for girls to do some easy and simple jobs. It"s better than those girls who live like a NEET, and if they don"t depend on men, they couldn"t survive…"
The last sentence was meant for Xiang Wan.
With Cheng Xin"s current job responsibility, she could not take part in the case a.n.a.lysis meeting.
Her relations.h.i.+p with the rest of the colleagues in Serious Crime Division One was not good.
Regarding the matter where Zhan Se was hired as the Honorary Advisor and that Xiang Wan would come to work in Serious Crime Division One as Zhan Se"s personal a.s.sistant, she totally had no idea about it.
In her opinion, people who worked as web novelists were unemployed people.
That was why she behaved in a more superior manner before Xiang Wan although she was actually not proud of what they had a.s.signed her to do.
The contempt that came from the sense of superiority felt like knives—
A pity though, from Xiang Wan"s expression, there was no sign that she had suffered a blow.
"Actually, I envy these unemployed girls who could live by depending on men."
Xiang Wan smiled while she said that. She said seriously while looking at Cheng Xin"s dumbfounded expression.
"A pity that my life is certainly tough as I need to work."
Work?
Cheng Xin did not get why Xiang Wan was smiling so happily. The next moment, Ding Yifan arrived.
"Teacher Xiang…"
This form of address was more formal in public.
"Please follow me, your office is over there—"
"Alright, thank you!" Xiang Wan then turned to wave at Cheng Xin. "Officer Cheng, see you later."
Cheng Xin looked at her, dumbfounded at what was happening.
It was as if one could see the cracks forming in her frozen expression.
She was like a beautiful flower that withered rapidly in the wind…
…