Chapter 47

Chapter 47

He shed his coat, kicked off his shoes, and found the remote to switch on the TV.

Any channel would do; just a little noise to fill the room, to make it feel lived-in.

When he was a child, his parents were often busy with work. Fang Bingxue, with his house key dangling from his neck, would press his face against the window, waving goodbye to Mom and Dad.

It was common for dual-income families. Kids raised in the residential compound weren't delicate; they could run wild in the sandpit. Besides, Qin Sumei didn't work night shifts like Fang Jun. She finished work only an hour after Fang Bingxue. Kindergarten teachers had to wait until every child was picked up before holding their staff meeting.

Then one day, something happened. A thief broke into the neighborhood, and an auntie was stabbed during the struggle, her blood staining the floor. That night, Fang Bingxue refused to sleep alone, insisting on squeezing between his parents, whimpering, "I'm scared."

Fang Jun hugged his son, reassuring him, "It's okay. The doctors will stitch up Auntie's wound, and she'll be fine after some rest."

But the child was still afraid. He asked his mom, "What about the bad guy? Where did he go?" Qin Sumei replied, "Don't worry, the police will catch him."

After comforting their son, the young parents made an unprecedented decision the next day: they allowed Fang Bingxue to watch TV. "Just watch some cartoons at home," they said. "Mom will be back soon."

"I didn't watch. I just listened."

When he opened the door, Fang Bingxue proudly announced to the adults that he had decided to become a police officer when he grew up. So, from that moment on, he would protect his eyes and strive not to become nearsighted.

Such a small child, barely taller than a washing machine, yet he kept his word.

Later, the auntie recovered, though a scar remained on her stomach. She still danced in the square with the same carefree spirit. And Fang Bingxue did grow up to become a police officer—one with exceptionally sharp vision.

On a summer night in the Northwest, a variety show played on TV, its content unclear, only laughter filling the room.

Fang Bingxue couldn’t sleep, wriggling under the covers like a worm burrowing through soil.

After a long while, he sat up and went to the balcony to smoke.

Honestly, he’d been mulling over today's situation. If Zhou Xu had been even slightly ambiguous, a little vague, perhaps they might have just gone with the flow… Not necessarily leading to anything serious, but at least they could have indulged a little.

“Tsk,” Fang Bingxue leaned against the railing, exhaling a frustrated puff of smoke. “My head hurts.”

Beyond the frustration, he also felt a pang of self-disgust. Had he been single for too long, and now that he’d had a taste, he couldn’t control himself? He even entertained the reckless thought: *Life is about seizing the moment, why overthink it?*

But deep down, Fang Bingxue was grateful to Zhou Xu. The man had offered his sincere feelings, and Fang Bingxue had seen them—he wasn’t indifferent.

Smoking late at night made the scent sharper, more biting. Fang Bingxue took shallow breaths, not inhaling deeply, but letting the feeling sink straight into his heart.

He was someone who knew what he wanted. Once he set a goal, he pursued it with single-minded focus, ambitious and unwavering. But matters of the heart weren't like surgery, with a fixed procedure: incision, sutures, recovery, leaving a visible scar that would fade with time.

All day, Fang Bingxue wore a cheerful, carefree demeanor, but in the early hours of the morning, he still felt the ache, the pain—like invisible jellyfish stinging his heart, unseen and untouchable.

He let out a bitter laugh at himself.

He crushed the cigarette butt, suddenly energized. “Interesting.”

The world was vast, and Fang Bingxue refused to believe he would be left helpless.

Fine, let’s see. Let’s see if he truly couldn’t live without Zhou Xu, if every fiber of his being was screaming, *I love this man—he’s mine!* If that was the case, then Zhou Xu’s life was over. Fang Bingxue wouldn’t let go.

Under the dim starlight, the vast land breathed deeply, the distant wind urging the outsider to rest.

So he went back inside, washed up again, and prepared for a peaceful sleep—fresh and ready to face tomorrow.

The next day, the criminal police team had a pretty light schedule. Fang Bingxue took Ma Rui and the others to a training session. As mentioned before, one of the goals of this assignment was to cultivate three "local technical experts we can't take with us."

“…Actually, just transfer with me,” Fang Bingxue said after taking a sip of water. “Just buy tickets and come along.”

The honey cakes weren't cutting it anymore. Whether due to a bad mood or something else, Instructor Fang was being especially hard on them. Ma Rui clutched his head dramatically. “I’m not going. Leave me here. The Northwest needs me.”

After drinking, Fang Bingxue’s throat felt much better. He smiled faintly. “Oh? How does the Northwest need you?”

“The Northwest’s winds and sands need us,” Xiao Li chimed in, also holding his head, now breaking into poetic nonsense. “Don’t take us away! We, the children of the Northwest—alive, we belong here; dead, our souls remain!”

The water had gone cold. Fang Bingxue paused, then took another sip. “Hmm. You folks here are truly loyal.”

Ma Rui lifted his chin proudly. “You know it. My dad once said if I died on a mission, he’d drag my ashes back and scatter them over the Gobi.”

“Bah, don’t say such unlucky things,” Xiao Li slapped his shoulder. “We’re all living to a hundred!”

The two young cops laughed freely—joyful, fearless. Raised under wide-open skies, their bones seemed to carry the meltwater of the Qilian Mountains. Bold, generous, their personalities as strong as potent liquor, every gesture steeped in the homeland pride etched into their blood.

*Range upon range of mountains, oh—*

*Range upon range of rivers.*

The way was long.

Now, Fang Bingxue had been in the Northwest for a full six months.

All summer, he’d successfully avoided seeing Zhou Xu—even though he remembered the man mentioning an August skills competition, significant for the auto repair industry. Zhou Xu and several shops from nearby counties were participating.

But Fang Bingxue stuck to his guns. He didn’t ask.

He didn’t even send a single text.

Only occasionally, when driving past at night, would he steal a glance from a distance at that small building—too far to smell the gardenias.

He never saw Zhou Xu. Nor did he buy a secondhand motorcycle.

Yet Zhou Xu’s fruits kept coming—fresh, clean, washed, and left in his car.

The guy must have been a pro at avoiding detection because he never once let Fang Bingxue catch him in the act. It left Officer Xiao Fang seriously annoyed, grumbling curses to himself more than a few times.

After cursing, he’d eat the fruit religiously. If there were too many, he’d stew them into pear tea and give it to sunburned street cleaners.

Time flew. By mid-September, Fang Bingxue finally mentioned offhand while returning to the station, asking Lao Yan, “What’s Zhou Xu been up to lately?”

“Dunno,” Lao Yan replied, engrossed in a game of Snake on his phone, fingers deft on the buttons. “Heard he went to the provincial capital. Haven’t seen him at the shop.”

Fang Bingxue hummed. Then: “By the way, how’d you meet Zhou Xu?”

As the *game over* jingle played, Lao Yan slapped his thigh. “Ah, that kid… Wait, what?”

“I said,” Fang Bingxue picked at the passenger seat of the police car, “how’d you meet Zhou Xu?”

Their mission was complete, nothing urgent left. Lao Yan started another round. “Oh, right. He got into some trouble before—pretty big deal. I happened to handle it.”

The car fell silent.

A moment later, Fang Bingxue whipped his head around, eyes gleaming with excitement. “What’d he do? How’d you catch him?”

His volume startled Lao Yan. “Whoa, what’s got you so worked up?”

Fang Bingxue straightened. “Nothing! Just… concerned for the public!” “Good.” Lao Yan raised his voice too. “That’s the spirit!”

Fang Bingxue boomed, "Damn right!"

"He has a younger brother, you might not know," Lao Yan tucked his phone back. "A real good kid... Actually, both brothers were outstanding."

This, Fang Bingxue did know. Zhou Xu had mentioned that his parents were gone, and his younger brother had also died in an accident.

"His parents left early, no point rehashing that. Zhou Xu went straight to work right after high school to support his brother's education. As an older brother, he did everything right—really tough."

"Later, his brother got into university, really did him proud," Lao Yan gave a thumbs-up. "County's top *gaokao* scorer, first place. The Party secretary and school principal delivered the admission letter with drums and gongs, they set off firecrackers right at their doorstep."

Fang Bingxue listened quietly.

"I forget if it was freshman or sophomore year," Lao Yan paused to think. "During summer break, his brother came back and ran into a man while jogging at night. The guy claimed he wanted to jump into the river to end his life. Turned out he was just a gambler, sitting by the river bawling his eyes out, trying to squeeze money from his folks."

At this point, Lao Yan frowned deeply, and the officer driving the car let out an "Ah," glancing into the rearview mirror.

"His brother was a college student, raised right by Zhou Xu, so he went over to talk the guy out of it. But the guy lost his shit and actually jumped into the river... His brother went in after him—both of them could swim, after all."

Lao Yan went quiet for a moment, his rough hands rubbing together.

"That gambler climbed ashore by stepping on his brother’s shoulders."

"When they dragged the boy's body out of the river the next day... that kid, just nineteen years old, his arms still raised, as if pushing someone upward..."

Lao Yan choked up.

After a long pause, he murmured again, "Nineteen. The boy had just turned nineteen."

Fang Bingxue’s chest clenched, his throat aching.

"Zhou Xu kept quiet. He gave his brother a proper send-off, dignified. But there was nothing to be done—that guy was a gambler, a no-good loser. A lot of people tried to talk sense into Zhou Xu, telling him not to do anything rash."

"And then?" Fang Bingxue asked. "Did Zhou Xu act rashly?"

Lao Yan sighed. "After the fifth-seven ceremony for his brother, Zhou Xu found that man. There were people all around, right in front of everyone. Damn, that kid Zhou Xu was ruthless—he just drove straight at the gambler."

Fang Bingxue’s heart skipped a beat. He opened his mouth but no sound came out.

—Or so he thought.

In reality, his voice had already trembled as he asked, "Did he hit him?"

Lao Yan looked at him. "He did."

Without hesitation, Zhou Xu stomped on the accelerator.

"Bang!"

Watering the plants, Zhou Xu was startled by the sudden noise. He turned, about to cuss out, "Which little brat—"

Perfect. Fang Bingxue had kicked the door open, standing there looking ready to kill.

After a brief silence, Zhou Xu dropped the watering can, stunned. "Fang Bingxue, what are you— Hey, hey?"

The person he loved stood there, fierce and adorable, everything perfect—except for the fact that the door, having slammed into the wall with too much force, swung back and shut Fang Bingxue outside again.

Zhou Xu hurried over to reopen it. "Why’d you come without telling me? Does your foot hurt? Why didn’t you call?"

Fang Bingxue’s chest rose and fell rapidly. "Lao Yan’s waiting outside. Five minutes. Told him I was coming down for a smoke."

Zhou Xu blinked. "Huh?"

Then he didn’t need to react anymore.

Fang Bingxue grabbed his neck, pulling him down as he pressed their lips together.

Hard. Not gentle at all.

Zhou Xu froze, arms stiffly raised, his mind racing, *Wasn’t he here for a smoke? What’s this? Should I go find a cigarette?*—Wait, no. Fang Bingxue just couldn’t hold back anymore. He missed me, didn’t he?

The moment that realization hit, Zhou Xu’s eyes lit up. He grabbed Fang Bingxue’s hips and kissed back fiercely.

Then Fang Bingxue stomped on his foot. "Don’t bite. I’ve got to face people later."

...Zhou Xu found the pain weirdly satisfying.

The kiss, more like a wrestling match, ended as abruptly as it began. When they pulled apart, panting, Fang Bingxue instinctively wiped his lips with the back of his hand. "Are you a dog?"

Zhou Xu didn’t answer, just grinned at Fang Bingxue’s kiss-swollen lips.

"That’s it," Fang Bingxue still catching his breath. "Go back. I just came to kiss you."

With that, that cold-hearted bastard actually turned to leave without a second glance. Zhou Xu stood there like an idiot before scrambling after him. "Wait—was that my last supper or something?"

He didn’t get it. This was terrifying!

Fang Bingxue stopped and glared. "Don’t say that. Jinx, jinx, jinx. Bad luck."

Zhou Xu quickly echoed, "Jinx, jinx, jinx."

"Really, it’s nothing. Just think I lost my mind," Fang Bingxue reached the door, pale fingers resting on the frame. "Get back to work."

Zhou Xu gaped. "I—"

"Oh, right."

Fang Bingxue suddenly turned back, clearing his throat. "How’d that skills competition go?"

"Made the cut for nationals," Zhou Xu was caught off guard by the topic change but smiled. "Next month’s the national round. I’ll get to meet more people in the industry. Actually, I was gonna tell you—I’ll be away for about a week."

Fang Bingxue worried at a splinter on the doorframe. "Confident?"

Zhou Xu nodded. "Yeah."

"Good," Fang Bingxue smiled faintly. "Bro Xu’s the best."

Zhou Xu stood in the golden hour light. "Told you I've got this. Don’t worry."

But he swore he couldn’t shake the feeling that Fang Bingxue’s eyes looked slightly red—like he was upset or sad.

Or maybe... from the kiss?

"F-Fang Bingxue," Zhou Xu’s throat tightened. "I never dared ask, but have you thought about—"

"When you get back, I’ll treat you to a meal," Fang Bingxue looked away, tone casual. "No big deal. Whatever the results, we’ll celebrate."

Zhou Xu nodded. "Okay. Since Lao Yan’s waiting, I won’t walk you out. Be careful on the road. Hit me up when— Actually, never mind."

Fang Bingxue gave him a once-over before suddenly striding back, wrapping his arms around Zhou Xu’s neck, and brushing their lips together.

Like a dragonfly skimming the water's surface.

"Screw this 'no pressure' crap," Fang Bingxue said, his chest rising and falling slightly. "If you're competing, you gotta go for first place. Our boy Xu is the best."

Zhou Xu was already completely spaced out. "Okay."

Fang Bingxue couldn't help but laugh, patting Zhou Xu's cheek. "Be safe on the road, eat well, sleep well... Stay out of trouble."

Zhou Xu replied blankly, "Okay."