Slow to mature after marriage

in the afternoon.

Mu Siwan received a call to the police; an unidentified body had been found at a construction site on the outskirts of the city. She picked up her investigation kit and went downstairs, where Xiao Qin and her mentor Li Jiliang were already waiting in the car.

The car drove out of the testing center and headed north.

Li Jiliang was driving when he glanced at her in the rearview mirror with a smug look on his face.

"I only just found out about this myself. Lately, there's been a lot of talk in the bureau about you and Xiao Meng being a couple. Hope it hasn't caused you any trouble?"

"fine."

Mu Siwan rarely interacted with people, so she pretended not to hear these rumors since they didn't reach her ears.

Li Jiliang: "Actually, if I hadn't known you were already married, I was planning to introduce Xiao Meng to you."

Meng Qing was someone he had watched grow up; he was mature, steady, and knew him well. In his opinion, he was a perfect match for his precious disciple.

As for the so-called husband Mu Siwan mentioned—Li Jiliang shook his head inwardly. Leaving his wife in the country for three years without a word to her—no matter how good he was, he couldn't be truly good.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Xiao Qin, the only Mu Yan CP fan on the entire internet, quietly spoke up.

"Teacher, my master is also very good to my master. Please don't play matchmaker."

Li Jiliang sighed, "I didn't even have time to arrange a marriage before I found out my apprentice was getting married? What a missed opportunity!"

"It's just that Xiao Meng wasn't lucky enough."

The old man smiled slowly.

-

The site is an unfinished building in the suburbs.

The body lay face up in the pit, half-buried among rubble and construction debris, its face unrecognizable. Mu Siwan put on shoe covers, squatted down, put on gloves, and began the preliminary examination.

"Male, around forty years old, time of death approximately three days ago." She pressed on his chest to check for fractures. "His skull is collapsed, possibly from a fall or being struck with a blunt object."

Li Jiliang took notes, while Xiao Qin took photos.

When Mu Siwan did these things, she was very focused. Her world consisted only of corpses, wounds, bones, and questions that needed to be answered. The surrounding noise—the workers' chatter, the police walkie-talkies, the distant sounds of cars on the road—was completely shut out.

After dealing with the scene, Mu Siwan stood up, took off her gloves, and only then did she notice a gaze that she couldn't ignore, which was staring at her.

She turned around and saw Meng Wan in a police uniform standing outside the cordon, her eyes filled with complex emotions.

Mu Siwan glanced at it and slowly looked away.

This does not constitute valid information and will be filtered.

She lowered her head and continued what she was doing.

-

The work on site was finished, and it was already getting dark.

Li Jiliang led them to a small restaurant nearby, where the three of them sat down and ordered a few dishes at random.

The three of them ate while discussing the case they had just encountered.

Mu Siwan picked up her bowl and had just taken two bites when she caught a glimpse of a figure appearing at the restaurant entrance.

Meng Wan.

She had also come to the restaurant at some point, wearing a police uniform, her ponytail tied low, and her face showing signs of fatigue from the scene.

"Mu Siwan," Meng Wan said, biting her lip, "come out for a moment, I have something to tell you."

Mu Siwan frowned slightly and walked out of the restaurant under the curious gazes of Xiao Qin and Li Jiliang.

-

The alley outside the restaurant was narrow, the streetlights were dim, and moss grew at the base of the walls.

Meng Wan leaned against the wall, hands in her pockets, head down, kicking a small pebble at her feet. Mu Siwan stood opposite her, waiting for her to speak.

Meng Wan took a deep breath and raised her head.

She originally wanted to have a proper talk. To calmly and openly discuss things, to ask the questions that needed to be asked, and to explain everything that needed to be explained.

But when she met Mu Siwan's calm, indifferent eyes—without any emotion, tension, guilt, or even curiosity—Meng Wan's heart suddenly snapped.

On what grounds?

Why can she be so calm?

She said coldly, "Are you feeling smug right now, Mu Siwan?"

Mu Siwan looked up in surprise.

Clearly, they didn't understand the logic behind her statement.

"What?"

Meng Wan stared at her, her eyes beginning to redden.

"You stole my parents, you stole my brother." Her voice was strained, each word squeezed out. "I suffered so much outside, and finally came back, only to have everything taken away from me. My parents, my birthday, they've all become your possessions. My brother only sees you, his older sister. There's no place for me in my so-called home."

Mu Siwan opened her mouth, as if to say something.

Meng Wan didn't give her a chance.

"Fine, I accept all of that. It's my fault for getting lost, for not growing up by their side. Relationships are built over time, I don't blame you." She sniffed, her voice trembling. "But why did you even try to take my brother away?"

"Meng Qing is my brother. We are the two of us who depend on each other for survival, and we are the closest people in this world."

Tears finally fell. Meng Wan didn't wipe them away, just stared at Mu Siwan with red eyes.

"You already have a husband, a family, and so many people who care about you. What makes you think you can steal my brother away?"

The alley was very quiet.

Despite Meng Wan's accusing eyes, Mu Siwan's mood remained completely unchanged.

In fact, in her view, this was just a venting of emotions without any reason.

"Your brother, your family, your birthday—they're all yours." Mu Siwan's voice was calm, simply stating a fact. "I didn't steal them, and I don't want them."

Meng Wan's tears were on her face, and she paused for a moment.

"But my brother... he said he likes it..."

When she met Mu Siwan's calm eyes, she didn't say anything more.

After calming down, I realized—who Meng Qing likes, and what does that have to do with Mu Siwan?

But she was still angry, her face flushed, standing there glaring at her fiercely.

Mu Siwan was unaware of her inner thoughts.

She looked up, her gaze falling on the mole on Meng Wan's forehead, lost in thought.

The location, color, and shape are exactly the same as the one on her face.

Mu Siwan stared at the mole for a few seconds. She remembered Xu Ruolin hugging her, touching the mole, and calling "Wanwan" over and over again.

Or "Wanwan".

She wasn't the one chosen.

That mole is the one.

Mu Siwan lowered her eyes, only then realizing she felt a little sad.

Only a little bit.

She whispered, "At most, I took one of your moles."

After saying that, Mu Siwan turned and left.

Meng Wan watched helplessly as she left after uttering that inexplicable remark without even pausing for a moment, and she stomped her feet in anger.

"Hey! Mu Siwan, explain yourself! You haven't sworn to me that you won't try to take my brother away from me!"

"Mu Siwan, we haven't settled our past grievances yet!"