You're just a locksmith! What are you doing catching swindlers at the start?

Lin Zhou reached for the Americano.

His thumb partially covered the lipstick mark on the rim of the cup.

He took a sip.

It's completely cooled down, and the bitterness explodes on the tip of my tongue.

"He thought I was taking good care of you."

Su Wan looked at him.

I glanced at it for about two seconds.

She lowered her head and continued drinking her latte.

"You really took good care of me." She said this in a very soft voice, so soft that Lin Zhou almost didn't hear her.

She didn't say it a second time.

Lin Zhou put down the American style.

"When you called Wanwan last night—"

"Don't mention last night."

"OK."

Su Wan put down the latte.

"My mom sent me sixteen WeChat messages last night. Every single one of them was about blind dates."

Lin Zhou counted in his mind.

His mother sent about thirty messages last night.

From "Don't be late" to "Eat more vegetables".

His father, who was standing nearby, said, "Let him figure it out himself."

His mother scolded his father. He checked his phone last night before Su Wan vomited, but didn't check it again afterward.

I woke up once on the sofa in the middle of the night and checked WeChat. His mother's last message was "Don't forget." Three words.

"My mom too."

Lin Zhou said, "She called me this morning and yelled at me for about five minutes. She said that the girl had been waiting for me for almost an hour."

"It's fifty minutes."

"I'm sorry."

"fine."

Su Wan lifted the lid of the latte cup and used it to stir the milk foam on top.

"When I woke up in your living room this morning, I was thinking about something. How was I going to explain this to my mom? I told her I went on a blind date, got drunk, and slept at my date's house overnight. She'd definitely ask, 'And then what?' I'd say nothing happened."

She put the lid back on the cup. "She won't believe it."

"My mom wouldn't believe it either."

Lin Zhou said, "She would say I deliberately lied to her. Then she would ask me what I said to that girl. I said I told her to call me Wanwan."

Su Wan's hand stopped on the rim of her latte cup. "You can't say that."

"I know. That's why I won't say."

"Not a single word is allowed to be uttered."

"Not a single word."

Su Wan picked up her latte and took a sip. The corners of her mouth curved slightly—very faintly, so faintly that it would be easily missed if one wasn't looking closely. But she didn't turn her head to let that curve disappear.

She held the cup there, letting him see the curve. The comments section started to notice.

Lin Zhou said, "I won't say a word." Su Wan's lips curved into a smile.

Su Wan: You can't say that. Lin Zhou: Not a single word. Su Wan: ... (The corners of her mouth curved into a smile). He didn't say it, but she knew he wouldn't.

Su Wan put down the latte.

"Your mom sent you a few messages."

"About thirty items. My dad chimed in, telling me to figure it out myself."

"Then what."

"Then my mom scolded my dad."

Su Wan nodded. "It's the same in my family. My dad didn't say anything when my mom was talking. But after my mom finished, my dad told me privately, 'Don't listen to her, make your own decision.'"

"Your dad is on your side."

"Where is your home?"

"My dad sides with my mom. But he'll secretly transfer money to me."

Su Wan nodded again. She lifted the lid off the latte cup and then put it back on.

The lid and rim clicked together with a soft click, like a smaller latch snapping into a keyhole. She found a sense of security in that sound, and then opened and closed the lid again. Suddenly, she spoke.

"I overheard you rejecting Lao Zhou yesterday outside the office. You said you like picking locks. You don't want to be stuck in one place. You want to open doors where you don't know what's inside."

She lightly tapped the lid with her finger, and the lid fit the cup perfectly.

"I've never seen anyone like you. You've been to the police station five times in three days, and not once was it because you committed a crime."

Lin Zhou didn't say anything.

"When you unlock a door, have you ever thought that the person inside might not want you to see them?"

"I've thought about it. But the lock itself doesn't know. It's just locked. The person picking the lock decides whether to open it or not. Every time I pick the lock, I knock first, and after the lock is open, I open it a crack to peek in. If the person inside doesn't want me to see, I don't look."

"You're not that kind of person. You watch it every time."

Lin Zhou opened his mouth. Then he admitted, "I watch it every time."

Su Wan lowered her head and looked at the small hole on the cup lid.

"I watch it every time."

Neither of them spoke.

Su Wan put down the latte.

The lid clicked softly against the rim of the cup. Just as she was about to say something, her phone vibrated.

He picked it up from the table, and a name appeared on the screen—Brother Zhou.

She glanced at Lin Zhou.

Lin Zhou also saw the name on the screen. Su Wan pressed the answer button, but did not turn on speakerphone.

She held the phone to her ear.

"Brother Zhou."

she says.

The tone was very flat.

Then she listened for a while. Lin Zhou sat beside her, looking at her profile.

Her expression was changing—not in a dramatic way, but subtly, with each muscle tightening.

His brows furrowed slightly at first, then he stopped moving.

His lips were pressed into a thin line.

She breathed very lightly when she was on the phone, so light that you could hardly see her chest rising and falling.

"Um."

she says.

He nodded twice.

The movements were very light, as if receiving a task briefing.

"Um."

she says.

He nodded twice.

The movements were very light, as if receiving a task briefing.

"Okay. Got it. Good."

She took the phone away from her ear. The screen went dark.

She looked at Lin Zhou.

"Stop drinking. Let's go." She pushed the latte onto the table, stood up, and picked up her bag from the back of the chair.

I need your help.

Lin Zhou looked at her.

She stood next to the booth, wearing a dark gray hoodie, her short hair tucked behind her ears.

The mole on her earlobe was faintly visible under the light. Her eyes held the same look she had when she wore her police uniform—calm, focused, as if all the information had been rearranged.

He didn't know what had happened, but when she said "I understand" into the phone just now, the fine line on her forehead was deeper than he had ever seen.

She stood up.

"What is it?"

"Let's talk on the way. Let's go now."

Su Wan had already turned and walked towards the door.

He walked faster than usual.

Lin Zhou followed behind her, stacked the two coffee cups on the table together, and then caught up with her.

The comments scrolled wildly across his phone screen, but he couldn't keep up.

"What's wrong? What's wrong?"

"Officer Su's expression changed after he received a phone call."

"It was Brother Zhou who called her, not the Three-Second King."

"Because Wang was on speakerphone just now, and Su Wan was next to him, Brother Zhou doesn't dare to call him now."

"Brother Zhou: I just called Lin Zhou, and Su Wan was there. Next time I call Su Wan, will Lin Zhou be there? Oh well, it doesn't matter who I call."

"Upstairs, you're missing the point. The point is that Su Wan said she needed help. She's from the Criminal Investigation Division, and she needs the lock-picking master's help. What does that mean? It means there's a big case, related to locks."

But she said "I need your help," not "I need you to unlock it."

"In other words, it might require more than just unlocking the door."

"It could also be unlocking."

"It might not be."

"Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up!"