“Of course it’s true. When have I ever lied to you?” Sang Ning’s tone softened noticeably.

An awkward smile crept onto Lin Zehui’s face. “Ningning, you’re really good to me.”

The words sounded completely hollow.

Sang Ning didn’t care. Once she returned the bride price and the gold jewelry, she and the Lin family would have nothing to do with each other ever again.

A phone vibrated repeatedly nearby.

She glanced down. It wasn’t hers.

Lin Zehui was still crouched in front of her, not standing up, his gaze fixed on her arm as if lost in thought.

Sang Ning frowned. “Your phone. Aren’t you going to answer it?”

“Uh… it’s probably Xiaoyue.” Lin Zehui scrambled to his feet. “Ningning, I’ll go for now. I’ll come see you again later.”

The way he hurried away looked less like leaving and more like fleeing a disaster.

The older woman sitting beside them looked baffled.

“What’s wrong with that young man? Didn’t he say he was taking you home?”

Sang Ning let out a dry laugh.

“Auntie, you can’t judge a person by appearances. And when you listen to what someone says, you have to ask yourself—are they human, or are they a beast?”

She stood and walked toward the report-printing machine, leaving the auntie muttering behind her.

“What does that even mean?”

By the time Sang Ning returned to the police station with the report in hand, it was already seven in the evening.

As she passed by the Criminal Investigation Division, she happened to run into Gu Yezhou.

At the crime scene earlier, Sang Ning hadn’t really paid attention to him.

Even during their multiple exchanges, all her focus had been on the victim, Shi Li.

And by the end of it, she’d been too shocked to accept what kind of person Shi Li had turned out to be.

“Dr. Sang, I heard you went to register your marriage today?”

Just as Sang Ning was about to explain something to Gu Yezhou, a teasing voice rang out beside her.

Lu Lin stepped forward in a white lab coat, pulling the blue surgical mask off his face.

“Getting married is such a big deal. Why didn’t you tell me? I’m supposed to be your brother—I should’ve had the chance to congratulate you properly.”

He strolled up next to her and nudged her arm with his elbow.

“So tell me—what’s the guy like? What does his family do? How are his parents? Let me tell you, when you marry someone, it’s not enough to just look at the man. You’ve got to look at the parents too. If the in-laws don’t get along or their family is full of tension, the marriage is doomed sooner or later.”

Sang Ning twitched the corner of her mouth.

Was it really appropriate to say all this… right in front of the man himself?

Lu Lin was actually pretty good-looking. Back in the day, he had been someone Sang Ning briefly considered as a potential partner.

But the longer they spent together, the more she realized they were basically just sisters in spirit.

Unfortunately, the man had one fatal flaw—his mouth never stopped moving.

Sure enough, he kept rambling.

“So when are you planning to hold the wedding banquet? I’ve got to wait until my next paycheck to prepare your red envelope. Speaking of which, life’s been rough lately. Another murder case popped up. If we crack this one, I wonder if there’ll be a bonus.”

Sang Ning raised a hand to stop him.

“About the banquet… don’t hold your breath. We probably won’t be having one anytime soon.”

As she said this, she kept sneaking glances at Gu Yezhou.

The handsome man’s expression didn’t change at all.

So… that counted as silent agreement, right?

“Why not?” Lu Lin shook his head dramatically. “Don’t tell me the guy’s broke. My dear Dr. Sang, you’ve got decent qualifications yourself. Why would you marry some poor nobody? Honestly, you should just divorce him and get with me instead. We’ve known each other for years anyway.”

“Get lost.” Sang Ning shot him a glare.

Her scalp prickled.

Seriously prickled.

The temperature around her seemed to drop several degrees.

For some reason, Sang Ning felt like Gu Yezhou might actually be angry.

“Alright, alright, I’ll stop messing around.” Lu Lin finally got to the point, his expression turning serious. “I heard the victim was your neighbor. You’ll have to recuse yourself from the case.”

“No need,” Gu Yezhou said calmly.

Lu Lin blinked in surprise. “Captain Gu, the new transfer, right? You’ve got that much authority? The victim was her neighbor. They knew each other. And especially considering the perverted things her neighbor was doing—”

All three of them knew exactly what he was referring to.

“It’s fine,” Gu Yezhou said. “Leave it to me. I have full confidence in Dr. Sang’s abilities.”

His gaze settled on Sang Ning’s striking face.

“I believe that as a public servant, Dr. Sang won’t conceal any information that needs to be disclosed.”

Sang Ning immediately understood what he meant.

In fact, that was exactly why she had come.

“I need to talk to Captain Gu. Could you get lost for a bit?”

She showed Lu Lin absolutely no courtesy.

Lu Lin sighed dramatically and poked her shoulder with one finger.

“A heartless woman who forgets her friends the moment she sees a handsome man.”

“Beat it!” Sang Ning nearly kicked him.

Once Lu Lin finally disappeared down the hallway, Sang Ning took the report out of her bag.

“This is my lab report,” she said. “It shows benzodiazepine compounds. That’s why I didn’t hear anything last night.”

Gu Yezhou took the report, glanced at it briefly, then folded it and slipped it into his coat pocket.

“It’s after work now. Let’s not talk about the case.”

He looked at her.

“Why don’t we talk about something else?”

Sang Ning stared at him in shock.

“Something else? A case unsolved means there’s no such thing as ‘off-duty.’ I remember you saying that back when you were working at the provincial department.”

Two years ago, Sang Ning had assisted with an autopsy at the provincial headquarters.

She had passed by Gu Yezhou’s office by chance.

Back then she hadn’t seen his face—only heard the furious roar of his voice from inside.

That voice had sounded nothing like the handsome man standing before her now, speaking in a low, magnetic tone.

For a moment earlier today, she had even wondered if she had mistaken him for someone else.

Who would have thought that the random man she dragged into marriage outside the Civil Affairs Bureau… would turn out to be the captain of the criminal investigation team?

Gu Yezhou raised an eyebrow slightly.

“Dr. Sang seems to know quite a bit about me.”

Sang Ning stood there awkwardly.

“Well… should we find somewhere to talk?”

Talk about what?

Other than the case, she had zero desire to talk about anything else.

This was social death.

—

**Break Room**

The door closed behind them.

Now only the two of them remained.

Gu Yezhou took the initiative to pour her a glass of water.

“I know some things are awkward to discuss inside the police station,” he said calmly. “But from a legal standpoint… our relationship is legitimate.”

Sang Ning’s face flushed red.

“It’s… it’s nothing, really. If Captain Gu finds it inconvenient, we can dissolve the legal relationship between us.”

“For the time being,” Gu Yezhou said, sitting down across from her, “I don’t think that will be necessary.”

Sang Ning looked up.

Their eyes met.

For a fleeting moment—

She thought she saw a hint of amusement in Gu Yezhou’s eyes.

His eyes curved ever so slightly.

It was subtle, just the faintest arc.

But she couldn’t have been mistaken.

He had smiled… right?

Sang Ning blinked, then asked instinctively,

“Why?”

“Being a forensic pathologist is a good profession,” Gu Yezhou said after taking a sip of tea. “If someone stood you up because of your job, then that person simply lacks vision. Short-sighted.”

He paused.

“I think speaking on behalf of the dead is something remarkable.”

This was the second time Sang Ning had heard those words from someone else.

The first person to say them…

Had been her savior.

And the person she would always feel indebted to.

Back then, she had turned down a position as an orthopedic surgeon in a hospital and chosen to become a forensic pathologist instead.

The one who supported her unconditionally was Professor Chen.

Professor Chen was the dean of the medical school.

And his son…

Was the one who had donated the corneas that gave her sight.

That truth had remained buried deep in Sang Ning’s heart.

A memory she rarely dared to touch.

Even though nine years had already passed…