Card Room

Yu Hanjiang drove back to Linzhou overnight.

The distance between Jiangzhou and Linzhou where he worked was very close. It only took two hours by highway. Yu Hanjiang drove hard all the way to the dormitory and it was 1:30 a.m. when he arrived. He didn’t sleep. Instead, he opened his laptop, poured a cup of coffee and sat at the desk to carefully sort out the police team’s transfer information.

It wasn’t until 3 o’clock in the morning that Yu Hanjiang finished all of this and slept in a confused manner.

His dream was full of Xiao Lou’s figure. Many things that had happened since meeting Xiao Lou were repeated like movie clips. The last part of the dream stayed at the scene of sending Xiao Lou home. Xiao Lou came back, leaned over and kissed him gently…

At this moment, a sudden bell woke up Yu Hanjiang.

Yu Hanjiang frowned as he was interrupted from his sweet dream. He pressed the answer button and an all too familiar voice entered his ear. “I heard that you decided to accept the transfer order and will come to the Jiangzhou City criminal investigations police team?”

It was Yu Hanjiang’s father, Yu Cheng. His father might be almost old enough to retire but his voice was still low and stern when he spoke. Yu Hanjiang sat up on the bed and answered casually, “Yes, I will report to Jiangzhou as soon as possible.”

Yu Cheng asked, “Your mother told me yesterday that it is because you like someone. That person is in Jiangzhou so you suddenly changed your mind. Is that right?”

Yu Hanjiang admitted it frankly. “That’s right.”

Yu Cheng said coldly, “It is an excuse to deceive your mother. As far as I know, you have been staying in Linzhou since graduating from the police academy and only came back for a day or two during the Spring Festival. How can a person you like in Jiangzhou suddenly appear?”

As expected of an old criminal investigation policeman. His father already noticed that something was wrong with Yu Hanjiang.

Fortunately, Yu Hanjiang had long thought about how to explain it. “I met him during school. We might’ve always lived in two places but we have stayed in contact by video. I’ve liked him for years and I only recently confessed. He accepted it.”

Yu Cheng wondered, “Really?”

Yu Hanjiang’s tone was firm. “Father, I have decided on him. If I choose to get married in the future, I can only be with him. So I hope that you and Mom will like and accept him. I will go back to Jiangzhou this time. In addition to wanting to spend more time with him, I want to find a suitable opportunity to take him home to officially meet you.”

In Yu Cheng’s impression, his son had a cold personality and wasn’t open when it came to the emotional aspect. During his time in school, all the classmates who wrote love letters to him were scared away by his cold face. Yu Cheng saw that his son was about to enter the 30 year old mark and was anxious about his son’s marriage. Nevertheless, he knew that the work of a criminal investigation police officer was very dangerous and it indeed wasn’t easy to find a partner.

Now he heard his son say that he had someone he liked and even mentioned ‘marriage’. Yu Cheng was happy in his heart but he said casually on the surface, “You are an adult and I can’t manage your affairs.”

The corners of Yu Hanjiang’s lips curved up. “Thank you, Dad.”

Yu Cheng ‘s expression was sullen. “I haven’t agreed yet.”

Yu Hanjiang seriously told him, “After seeing him, you will definitely like him. My vision won’t be bad.”

Yu Cheng shrugged. “I hope so. Once you come to Jiangzhou, go directly to Bureau Chief Ren to report. I am retiring soon. Don’t let your colleagues know you are my son, regardless of the personnel changes.”

“Understood.”

The father and son ended the call and Yu Hanjiang headed to the police force.

After he was transferred, the former vice-captain would be promoted to group leader. The vice-captain had been working with Yu Hanjiang for many years and was familiar with all the work. The handover was very smooth. However, the other person didn’t quite understand it. “Group Leader Yu, aren’t you in too much of a hurry?”

Yu Hanjiang said, “The group leader position in Jiangzhou is empty. I want to go there early and take it over as soon as possible.”

The vice-captain could only laugh. “Then let’s have a casual dinner tonight!”

On Saturday, he passed through various ‘farewell meals’. Yu Hanjiang took the initiative to treat his guests to say goodbye to his colleagues. Then early Sunday morning, he drove back to his residence in Jiangzhou again.

The apartment was left to him by his grandfather for him to use as a wedding apartment. The decoration was chosen by Yu Hanjiang himself and the furniture in the apartment was chosen according to his reference. They were black and gray ‘cold’ tones. Yu Hanjiang glanced around the place. It definitely didn’t have the warm feeling of a ‘home’. It was cold like he had come to the office.

Xiao Lou wouldn’t like such a cold atmosphere, right?

Yu Hanjiang drove to the furniture city and bought a few warm-colored pillows. He went to a nearby textiles building and remembered that Xiao Lou liked beige. He bought cotton, skin-friendly, beige four-piece bedding sets. In addition, slippers, toothbrushes, bath towels…

He also went to the supermarket to buy all the daily necessities he thought of.

The original cold home was arranged into a residence for two people. The process was quite tiring but Yu Hanjiang was happy with it.

He put a few warm-colored pillows on the sofa and the originally cold living room suddenly became much warmer. New pots and pans were added to the kitchen. The cold white cabinets had a touch of ‘home’ added due to these extra things.

There wasn’t even a pot in this kitchen before because he had never lived here. In the future, two people would live together. They couldn’t always eat takeout every day. He thought that he would personally cook when he had time and make delicious food for the person he liked.

His cooking skill was only at the level of 6 points but he could learn. His barbecue skills were also good…

For a whole day, Yu Hanjiang was so busy that he didn’t even bother to eat lunch.

It wasn’t until evening that he finished cleaning up. The entire home was transformed by him.

The apartment that had been vacant for many years was about to welcome another owner. The thought of seeing Xiao Lou every day in the future brought warmth to Yu Hanjiang’s heart.

He spent one night in his new home. The next day, it was Monday. Yu Hanjiang went to the police station early to report.

Bureau Chief Ren and his father were old comrades-in-arms for many years. He felt very friendly when seeing Yu Hanjiang and patted Yu Hanjiang on the shoulder with a smile. “It is really like father, like son. You are so young but you have repeatedly solved big cases and become a group leader. This is rare when looking at the whole country!”

Yu Hanjiang saluted him politely. “Bureau Chief Ren, please give me more advice in the future.”

Bureau Chief Ren withdrew his hand. “By the way, recently our Jiangzhou police force had many happy events. In addition to you, the young and capable group leader recruited by me, there is also a master on the forensic doctor’s side. He is a high-end talent who graduated from Jiangzhou Medical University.”

Yu Hanjiang remembered that he was transferred to Jiangzhou two years later and the forensic doctor at that time was also a graduate of Jiangzhou Medical University. He thought that Bureau Chief Ren was talking about this person and didn’t think much about it.

During the afternoon meeting, Yu Hanjiang greeted his colleagues in the police force in turn.

In fact, he had cooperated with these people for many years in the original world and he was already familiar with them. It was just that he had three years of memories while his colleagues didn’t have memories of him. Everyone had to re-acquaint themselves with the new group leader.

After the police meeting, Bureau Chief Ren took the initiative to knock on the door and said with a smile, “What a coincidence. The new forensic doctor also came to report today. It is better for everyone to get to know each other.”

The man following behind Bureau Chief Ren wore a simple shirt and pants. He was tall and slender with short, clean hair. He was gentle and elegant and had a temperament that was out of the ordinary.

It was actually Xiao Lou!

The other person’s eyes were directly opposite Yu Hanjiang’s eyes.

Yu Hanjiang froze in place but Xiao Lou smiled politely like he had expected it.

The intern whispered from behind, “My god, the appearance of our police force was instantly pulled up a notch!”

”The new group leader and forensic doctor are too handsome…”

Under the astonished or shocked gazes of his surrounding colleagues, Xiao Lou walked toward Yu Hanjiang step by step. His leather shoes were polished without any stains and each step was very steady. His footsteps clattered steadily on the floor tiles and the entire office suddenly became quiet.

Xiao Lou stopped in front of Yu Hanjiang and held out his hand. “Group Leader Yu, hello. I am the new forensic doctor Xiao Lou. Please take good care of me in the future. I hope we will cooperate happily to solve many challenges that we will face in the future.”

Yu Hanjiang, “……”

His words were only for the colleagues around them.

In fact, what he told Yu Hanjiang with his eyes was: In the future, I want to accompany you.

Yu Hanjiang couldn’t tell how he felt. He never thought that Xiao Lou would give up the stable life of teaching at the university to come to the police force and accompany him. The pressure of the criminal investigation police team wasn’t something that ordinary people could imagine. In particular, the major cases had a time limit to solve the cases and they often worked overtime at night. Once, Yu Hanjiang didn’t even sleep for three consecutive days.

Someone would suddenly report a crime in the middle of the night and the forensic doctor had to follow the police. Sometimes the environment was bloodier than the ones encountered in the secret rooms of the Card World. The forensic doctor had to do a preliminary autopsy at the scene that could cause people to vomit…

Xiao Lou was mature in his thinking and didn’t make impulsive decisions. Since he chose to come to the police force to be a front-line forensic doctor, he was obviously mentally prepared to accept the difficult working conditions.

This is the man I like.

At all times, I will stand firmly by his side, support him and accompany him.

Yu Hanjiang’s eyes were burning and his vision was a bit blurry. He stretched out his hand and forcefully shook Xiao Lou’s hand. If it wasn’t for the fact that there were many colleagues around him watching, he actually wanted to give Xiao Lou a big hug.

It turned out that this was the surprise that Xiao Lou was talking about. He was happy, so happy that he didn’t know what to say.

Xiao Lou was very calm. After smiling and shaking hands with Yu Hanjiang, he greeted the people around Yu Hanjiang and met them in turn. A female policewoman excitedly suggested, “Should we have dinner tonight to welcome Group Leader Yu and Teacher Xiao?” The suggestion was immediately echoed by the colleagues around her.

Yu Hanjiang was in a good mood and took the initiative to say, “What do you want to eat? I will treat you.”

Everyone finally decided to eat Sichuan food nearby. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou had to pretend they just met so they tacitly kept a distance when eating and weren’t too close.

After a happy and harmonious meal, Xiao Lou found that the colleagues around Yu Hanjiang were quite easy to get along with.

Dinner finished and everyone went back to their respective places. Yu Hanjiang asked, “Where does Teacher Xiao live? I’ll send you because I have a question along the way.”

Xiao Lou smoothly took advantage of the situation. “Then I will trouble Group Leader Yu.”

Their colleagues didn’t feel any doubt as Yu Hanjiang took Xiao Lou to his car.

The car drove away. Then Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou and asked softly, “This is the surprise you prepared for me?”

Xiao Lou’s lips curved. “Yes, I can work with you later… How is it? Are you happy?”

Yu Hanjiang’s eyes were soft and he reached out to cover the back of Xiao Lou’s hand. “I’m happy. It is just that this job is more difficult. I don’t want you to suffer.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not that squeamish as an adult man.” Xiao Lou said before lowering his head in embarrassment. “Besides, I won’t have a hard time when I’m with you.”

Yu Hanjiang’s heart warmed and he leaned over to kiss Xiao Lou.

Xiao Lou was caught off guard by the kiss. The back of his head was gently clasped, making it impossible for him to escape. His mouth was quickly occupied and Yu Hanjiang’s kiss was passionate and intense. Xiao Lou soon turned red due to difficulty with breathing…

The temperature inside the car climbed until there was the deafening sound of horns in his ears.

Beep—beep—

The green light came on. Yu Hanjiang was so busy kissing that he stopped at the intersection and blocked several cars behind him.

Xiao Lou’s ears were hot and he hurriedly pushed this man away. “You are blocking the road.”

Yu Hanjiang coughed softly and immediately started the car. He moved the steering wheel to turn left. Xiao Lou hurriedly said, “You took the wrong road. You should go straight to reach my place…”

Yu Hanjiang said, “I know, but I will take you to another place to see.”