Going Home

That night, Lan Junxian was clearly drunk by the end.

After helping Ye Xiaojing settle him in for the night, Jiang Qian learned from her that "Ji Ming" was the newly appointed, full-time head of the Operations Department at the Jinping Special Affairs Center.

He came from a prominent family in Jingcheng and was now a powerful figure in the Predator Family. At just twenty-seven, his rank was already higher than Lan Junxian's.

However, when Ji Ming had first entered the field a few years ago, he had been Lan Junxian's student.

"The reason the boss is angry is that Ji Ming poached someone he valued tremendously—namely, you—without even giving him a heads-up. Of course, it might just be a misunderstanding."

Ye Xiaojing spoke without the slightest change in expression, as if she were talking about a stranger:

"Ji Ming is very proud and doesn't hand out his approval easily. He certainly won't coddle you the way the boss does. While you're working under him, you'd better watch your boundaries."

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind." Jiang Qian silently took Ye Xiaojing's advice to heart.

He wasn't sure when it had started, but he'd developed a curious sense of belonging with these two official License Holders from the East Sea. They seemed to have started treating him like one of their own.

"And here, the boss asked me to give you this." Ye Xiaojing took out a file envelope and handed it to Jiang Qian. "You can't take the documents with you, so do your best to memorize what's inside."

Jiang Qian took it and saw that it was the case file for the Peacock Spider case.

He immediately understood that Lan Junxian was using his position to make things easier for him.

"Thank you!"

That night, Jiang Qian read through the entire case file, from the traces at the scene to the victims' profiles, including the official assessment and theories about the Peacock Spider's abilities. Every detail was etched into his mind.

The next day, Jiang Qian's isolation period ended.

Lan Junxian didn't show up again.

He simply had Ye Xiaojing bring Jiang Qian a travel bag. It was filled with local mountain specialties, to help cover for Jiang Qian's excuse that he'd gone out to sketch. Pretty thoughtful of him.

Ye Xiaojing, however, only took him to a subway station near the Safe House...

Wearing a beret and knee-high boots, with a brown trench coat draped over her, the young woman suggested that Jiang Qian make his own way home. She would protect him from the shadows in her own way, but she wasn't going to play nanny.

Then she hit the gas and vanished without a trace.

That was fair enough.

Jiang Qian didn't want a girl suddenly sticking by his side all the time, either.

Otherwise, Old Buddha, who'd failed to get her sister married off, would never let him hear the end of it.

Still, Jiang Qian didn't take the subway.

In a brand-new shirt and track pants, he walked along familiar streets, savoring the peace and quiet of having survived a disaster... His old clothes had been violently destroyed by the extraordinary woman that was Ye Xiaojing.

Gazing at the sky and city streets he hadn't seen in seven days, breathing in Jinping City's mildly polluted air, he felt a calm, contented sense of peace.

Home!

Because someone was waiting for him.

The person waiting for him might even give him a piece of her mind about "the baby"...

But what could scare a man who'd had his chest opened up and suffered two full-body fractures?

It was morning, and the temperature was pleasantly cool.

Jiang Qian jogged down the street, feeling the city's vitality like any ordinary person.

The past few days' ups and downs drifted through his mind as the shadows of trees flashed by. His vision grew clearer and clearer.

His path lay right ahead.

Shopping districts, parks, alleyways, bridges...

Just as he was about to reach the other side of a bridge, a desperate cry for help suddenly rang in Jiang Qian's ears.

He looked in the direction of the sound. A white Mercedes was stopped on the bridge, and a well-dressed woman was rushing toward the railing, frantically shouting her daughter's name at the river below!

Jiang Qian stopped instinctively and turned toward the woman's cries...

Inside the head of the Operations Department's office at the Jinping Special Affairs Center.

Ji Ming sat cross-legged in front of the broad desk.

He held a case file in his hands. Spread across the desk were several records of Jiang Qian's past that warranted further consideration: his medical history, academic performance, teachers' evaluations, and school disciplinary notices—all of it concerned Jiang Qian.

Naturally, it also included diagnoses and recommendations from high-end medical institutions.

"Without shame, without sorrow, without fear..."

Ji Ming's expression was calm, though his brows knitted almost imperceptibly.

He picked up Jiang Qian's records of behavior and testimony from after he came to the authorities' attention.

The two sets of records showed a stark contrast.

"What caused this?"

He set the documents down and murmured to himself.

What had happened in between? How had a boy with clear antisocial tendencies returned from the edge of morality and the law to safe ground?

Moreover, from voluntarily reporting the case to his conduct during isolation, Jiang Qian had not only acted like a normal person.

He could even be called a man of justice.

With a splash, the onlookers cried out in alarm.

A young man in sportswear had already leaped into the water!

As the mother cried out, he quickly grabbed the girl thrashing on the surface and swam toward the nearest riverbank with her held above the water.

Seeing her daughter had been saved, the mother hurried after them and reached the riverbank ahead of time to wait for them.

Fortunately, the river was relatively calm. The young man who had jumped in to save her made it to the bank with the girl without trouble.

The panicked girl was helped out of the water by the crowd.

The young man was pulled ashore too, and sat down to catch his breath.

That young man was Jiang Qian.

The girl had jumped into the river of her own accord. Her mother had discovered that she was dating, and the girl had become suicidal on the bridge. She'd jumped in on impulse, only to regret it as soon as she hit the water.

Someone had kindly lent Jiang Qian a coat to keep him from catching a cold.

He watched as the mother pulled her daughter into her arms and scolded her through tears. The girl looked back at him, her face deathly pale and her expression lost.

So far, the mother and daughter didn't seem to have remembered to thank their rescuer.

But Jiang Qian knew they weren't being ungrateful. They were simply terrified.

They were both still shaken.

Jiang Qian smiled at the girl, raised his wrist, and checked the time on his waterproof watch.

Then he got up and headed toward the edge of the crowd...

As he passed through, he drew every onlooker's attention, just as he'd expected.

Someone handed him the travel bag he'd left on the bridge, gazing at him with deep respect.

Society encouraged good deeds and acts of courage.

It reminded him of an afternoon many years ago, when someone had looked at him with the same reverence and respect, praising him for his "heroic deed."

Only then had the course of his life been set.

Jiang Qian returned home dripping wet, prepared for his sister to beat him up.

He entered the code into the keypad lock.

He pressed down the handle and pulled the door open...

The rich aroma of meat and fish rushed out to meet him!

The range hood was running in the kitchen. His aunt was clearly showing off her cooking skills.

A health program was playing on the television. That was obviously what Teacher Tang liked to watch.

Just then, Yu Xuan, wearing tapered jeans and a vintage burgundy T-shirt, peeked toward the door.

The moment she saw her younger brother, her face lit up with a smile:

"Oh, you're back!"

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