My online dating circle has millions of followers, why would she put a collar on me?

8:40 a.m.

Sun Miaomiao wobbled out of the community gate on her electric balance bike, a lollipop still dangling from her mouth.

She played games until 2 a.m. last night, but still couldn't beat the boss. She got so angry that she slammed her keyboard twice before going to sleep.

At this moment, he was listless, his eyelids were drooping, his hair was tied into a messy bun, a few strands of hair stuck to the side of his face, his cheeks were bulging, and there was a small trail of drool that he hadn't wiped clean.

As she turned into the science park gate on her balance scooter, she almost crashed into the iron pillar at the entrance. Luckily, she managed to swerve at the last moment and narrowly escaped.

The security guard in the gatehouse poked half his head out to look at her, then withdrew, clearly used to this scene.

Zhao Hanting sat on the dark blue plastic chair next to the guardhouse, his hands in the pockets of his security guard uniform, his hat pulled low, almost covering half of his face.

His gaze fell on the row of holly bushes not far away, his pupils somewhat unfocused, as if he were thinking about something, or as if he wasn't thinking about anything at all.

Sun Miaomiao stopped her balance bike in front of him. She put one foot on the ground to support the bike, tilted her head to look at him for two seconds, and then grinned, revealing her white teeth with a little lollipop stain on them.

"Good morning, cop! You're up so early again today?"

Zhao Hanting raised his head, revealing a pair of bloodshot eyes beneath the brim of his hat.

He didn't sleep well last night, or rather, he hasn't been sleeping well lately.

Ever since Grandpa Xia made him work as a security guard downstairs in this building after that phone call, his biological clock has been completely messed up.

During the day, I would sit and doze off, and at night, I would lie in bed staring at the ceiling counting sheep. Even after counting more than a thousand, I would still be as awake as if I had just drunk two cups of espresso.

Yesterday was even more outrageous. He clearly remembers sitting in a chair scrolling through his phone, and suddenly everything went black. When he opened his eyes again, it was already dark.

The phone screen was still lit, stuck on the pause screen of a short video, and the battery had dropped from 80% to just over 10%.

He was startled, thinking he had suddenly died for three seconds and then come back to life.

Looking back, I think I was probably just too tired; I could fall asleep sitting up.

But back in police academy, he could endure three days without sleep during long marches, so why can't he sit for more than a short while now?

"Good morning," Zhao Hanting replied listlessly. He and Sun Miaomiao were on good terms now.

They are all people with tragic fates.

Seeing his listless appearance, Sun Miaomiao frowned, took out a piece of Bibabu bubble gum from her pocket, raised her hand and tossed it, which landed precisely on the magazine page that Zhao Hanting had opened, making a soft sound.

"Hey cop, don't embarrass yourself, straighten up."

Zhao Hanting glanced down at the piece of bubble gum. The wrapper had a little man blowing bubbles, grinning, which was completely opposite to his mood at the moment.

He reached out, picked up the chewing gum, stuffed it into his pocket, and said curtly, "Thanks."

Sun Miaomiao waved her hand, restarted the balance scooter, and left with a "I'm off" and a dashing back view as she glided towards the company building.

Zhao Hanting watched her figure disappear behind the automatic glass door, sighed, and leaned back in his chair.

He pulled his hat brim down even further, trying to doze off for a few more minutes.

But my mind wasn't cooperating, and those jumbled thoughts started swirling in the darkness again.

Xia Anmian is still in this building; he confirmed that yesterday.

When he woke up, it was already dark. The lights in the duty room were on, and his first reaction was to take out his phone to check the surveillance footage.

The security cameras at the key locations in the building were all functioning normally. The corridor lights on the floor where Xia Anmian's office was located were on, and the access control records showed that she hadn't come out since she went in that afternoon.

He breathed a sigh of relief, then took another deep breath.

That's good that you didn't miss it.

But she hadn't left the house all day, which made him uneasy.

Is she up to something again?

These thoughts swirled in his mind, making his temples throb.

He rubbed his temples, closed his eyes, and decided to ignore it.

Then he heard the sound of an engine.

As the car approached, it stopped at the entrance of the science park.

The car door opened, and the first person to get out was a man wearing a light dark gray jacket. He was rather thin, and his profile was somewhat blurred in the morning light, but the man recognized him.

Damn it, it's that unlucky guy.

Zhao Hanting's body tensed up abruptly, his back sprang up from the chair, and he straightened his spine instantly like a startled cat.

He instinctively shrank further into the guardhouse, pulling his hat brim even lower, almost covering his entire face.

Then he saw another figure emerge from the back seat of the taxi.

The woman, wearing a light beige trench coat and a low ponytail, walked at a leisurely pace. Standing next to the unlucky guy, she glanced at the gate of the science park before her gaze landed precisely on the gray building where "Yimian Studio" was located.

Zhao Hanting's Adam's apple bobbed up and down.

He recognized the woman, though he had only seen her once, but that one encounter was enough to leave him with a psychological scar.

He huddled in the corner of the guardhouse, watching the two men pass through the gate of the science park and walk along the sidewalk toward the building.

Their pace was slow, but each step was steady, their goal clear, and they did not hesitate.

Zhao Hanting quickly calculated in his mind, what are they doing here?

Questioning Xia Anmian? Arguing? Fighting?

Regardless of which one it is, he has to stay away.

If he gets involved in this kind of chaotic situation, he's doomed.

He was thinking about how to quietly slip away to the back of the building when the glass door behind him was suddenly pushed open with a "whoosh".

Sun Miaomiao came out carrying a cup of coffee, with an unopened cookie in her hand, muttering something under her breath, as if complaining that the coffee machine wasn't dispensing coffee again.

She paused when she saw Zhao Hanting huddled next to the guardhouse, then frowned and walked over to tap him on the back.

"Hey, what are you hiding from?"

Zhao Hanting turned around abruptly, the movement so sudden that his hat almost flew off.

Sun Miaomiao was startled by his reaction and took a half step back, her coffee wobbling and almost spilling.

"What are you doing? Have you seen a ghost?" Sun Miaomiao glared at him.

Zhao Hanting lowered his voice, his words so low they seemed to be squeezed out between his teeth: "Keep your voice down."

"What's wrong?" Sun Miaomiao frowned and casually broke off a small piece of biscuit and stuffed it into her mouth.

Zhao Hanting gestured towards the door with his lip, lowering his voice even further: "Your brother-in-law is here."

Sun Miaomiao paused in her chewing of the biscuit: "Which brother-in-law?"

"Who else could it be? Jiang Yi."

Sun Miaomiao's lips twitched.

"Holy crap, what's my brother-in-law doing here?"