My game, Orange Flavor, is great!

She lowered her eyes slightly, her gaze falling on Xia Zhifei's fingers that were hooked around her hand, and slowly withdrew her hand. "Actually, you handled this matter well. Xiaoyue is special, and the bureau should indeed know about her existence."

As she spoke, a reassuring smile appeared on her face: "What are you thinking? How could I possibly be angry with you?"

“Ah Zhao…” Xia Zhifei looked at her with complicated emotions.

She wondered if it was just her imagination, but she always felt that Lu Zhao had changed. He used to be incredibly tolerant of her, but when she was wronged, he would at least show his emotions.

But now... she's treating him like a polite, ordinary friend.

Why did things suddenly turn out like this?

“Let’s not talk about this,” Lu Zhao’s smile gradually faded, and he took out his phone to show her the address displayed. “I’ve arranged to meet Li Manqiu here tonight to discuss Xiaoyue.”

Xia Zhifei blinked: "Huh? A bar? Azhao, aren't you a lightweight? Why did you meet at a place like this?"

Sure enough, the original owner of this body really does have many similarities with her.

Lu Zhao calmly put down his phone: "It's okay, I can just order some plain water when I get there."

The young lady fell silent, probably not expecting her to be so blunt.

"Don't worry," she said, looking at Xia Zhifei with seriousness in her dark eyes, "I'll come and take care of you once everything is settled."

These were the original owner's obligations, and now that she has inherited this body, she must also inherit these obligations.

Xia Zhifei hesitated for a long time, then said, "Ah Zhao, you don't really need to work so hard. The caregiver is very dedicated—"

“It’s alright,” Lu Zhao shook his head and declined her suggestion. “These are things I should do.”

"I see..." Xia Zhifei turned his head away little by little, no longer daring to look into her eyes.

The atmosphere froze for a moment.

She didn't get up until Lu Zhao's phone rang, and went outside to answer it. "Hello, Captain Li."

"You sound like you're not in a good mood?" Li Manqiu asked on the other end of the phone.

Can you tell she's in a bad mood just from one sentence?

Lu Zhao subconsciously touched his face, forcing a smile, "No, you misheard."

"Really? Then that's best." Li Manqiu didn't dwell on the issue and asked directly, "I just finished here. If you don't mind, let's go to the agreed place now and chat while we eat?"

"Okay." Lu Zhao hung up the phone, glanced back at Xia Zhifei on the hospital bed, hesitated for a moment, and then walked in and said, "I should go now. Remember to call me if anything happens. I won't let things happen again like yesterday where I didn't answer."

The young lady in the hospital bed never looked at her.

After standing there for a while, Lu Zhao turned around and whispered a few words to the caregiver behind him before hurriedly leaving.

"Miss Xia, did you have a fight with Miss Lu?" the aunt asked as she set the food on the table.

Xia Zhifei smiled helplessly, and sat up as she smelled the aroma of the food. "It wasn't really an argument, just a little tiff. It'll be fine in a few days."

In the past, no matter how angry she and Lu Zhao were, their arguments would never last more than three days.

This time, although Lu Zhao was the one who rarely backed down first, she could still sense that the other party harbored resentment.

"Although I don't understand the things between you young people, Miss Lu specifically told me when she came over not to put too much MSG in the food, because it's bad for your health. You see, she still cares about you."

Xia Zhifei didn't say anything, and silently picked up the food in front of him and ate it without tasting it.

Of course she knew that Lu Zhao cared about her.

To be precise, they are beings who depend on each other for survival in this world, and neither of them would be better off without the other.

That's why she regrets it so much now.

They were clearly each other's most important friends, yet they kept such a crucial matter from each other. No wonder Lu Zhao was angry.

When Ah Zhao comes again next time, she will definitely apologize properly again.

"I understand, thank you, Auntie." She tilted her head back, a smile spreading across her pale face.

Meanwhile, Lu Zhao, who had finally arrived at his destination, glanced at the sign in front of him and was momentarily stunned.

She thought Li Manqiu had invited her to a nightclub or bar. At the time, she thought that although Li Manqiu seemed aloof on the surface, she was actually quite wild inside.

However, this quiet and aloof Japanese-style pub... well, it does suit Captain Li's concise and to-the-point temperament better than a nightclub.

Although calling this a tavern is really absurd, at least she doesn't have to drink plain water anymore, which is good.

"Am I late?" A cold voice sounded from behind.

Lu Zhao turned around and smiled at the other person: "No, I just arrived too."

"Alright, the drinks and food here are pretty good. I come here to relax after get off work when I'm free. You can give it a try." Li Manqiu gave a brief introduction and then led Lu Zhao inside.

Chapter Seventy-Four: Inside the Izakaya

The area behind the curtain was much brighter than I had imagined. Wooden display cases held Japanese sweets, and behind them stood a shop assistant in a white coat and a triangular headscarf. As soon as she saw Li Manqiu enter, she smiled and bowed, "Welcome! Did you bring any friends today?"

“Hmm,” Li Manqiu nodded slightly, led Lu Zhao to a corner seat, and said to the waiter, “Get me a menu.”

Lu Zhao sat opposite her, and as the waiter handed over a menu, he glanced at it casually, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Then I'll have an anchovy sushi and a tonkotsu ramen."

She hadn't eaten yet.

“I’ll stick to the usual rules,” Li Manqiu glanced at her, “My friend here isn’t good at drinking, so just give her a cup of tea.”

Eh?

Lu Zhao was taken aback again. How did this person know that he wasn't good at drinking?

As if she could see right through her, Li Manqiu smiled slightly, placed her hands on the table, and stared at her with great interest, saying, "At the last annual party, you got drunk after just one cocktail, and you dragged a few people from your team to dance with you. You almost burned Minister Tian's hair."

"Pfft...cough cough!" Lu Zhao couldn't help but cough out.

A hilarious scene immediately flashed into my mind: Old Tian, ​​who was nearly forty, was being dragged around by a few drunkards, while Lu Zhao would occasionally shoot out a spark from his hand, always wanting to set him on fire.

A perfectly refined middle-aged man was so frightened that his glasses fell to the ground and were shattered.

Tsk tsk tsk, the original owner's experience is a bit too wild, burning her boss's hair and stuff, it's too outrageous, to the point that you can imagine how crazy it is just by hearing about it.

I wonder how the original owner of this body faced Minister Tian at the morning meeting after sobering up.

Li Manqiu chuckled and looked at her leisurely. "Captain Lu, I know you must have a lot of questions for me. Don't worry, we can talk about it while we eat later."

“…Hmm.” Lu Zhao silently took a sip of water, his eyes quickly shifting away the moment they met the other person’s gaze.

This person was probably afraid that he would run away in a fit of anger after hearing what she said, so if they ate and chatted, he would definitely not be able to get away with the money for this dinner.

As expected of the team leader, she is so shrewd when it comes to finances. Luckily, she brought enough money with her today.

Before long, almost all the food they ordered had been served.

Lu Zhao glanced at the other person, picked up a piece of sushi with his chopsticks, tasted it, and his eyes lit up immediately.

good to eat!

Seeing the light in her eyes, Li Manqiu smiled faintly, poured herself a glass of sake and drank it all in one gulp before finally getting to the point, "Regarding Duan Yue's matter, I admit that I was the one who initiated and facilitated it, and Miss Xia was only forced to agree."

Without giving Lu Zhao a chance to speak, she quickly recounted how she had persuaded Xia Zhifei and secretly brought Duan Yue back to the Spirit Management Bureau.

"Just two days ago, the full report came out, and Duan Yue was confirmed as having S-level potential. Things have come to this point, and it's no longer up to me to decide. So I wrote a full observation report and handed it over to the head of the Fourth Department."

According to procedure, the heads of the four departments will hold a meeting to formulate feasible solutions, which will then be submitted to the General Strategy Office for them to decide on the handling of Duan Yue.

Lu Zhao, absentmindedly chewing his sushi, listened to her words, swallowed the food in his mouth with difficulty, and then looked up blankly: "So, Xiaoyue can only be monitored like this forever?"

"The plan is still in the drafting stage. If you have any opinions, you can submit them as the team leader. The heads of the four departments will consider adopting them."

Li Manqiu tapped the table lightly, staring solemnly into her eyes, and said, word by word, "Lu Zhao, I hope you understand one thing: no matter what plan we implement for Xiaoyue, the fundamental purpose is to protect her so that she can live safely after the information is leaked."

Yes, no matter what, Duan Yue is still so young, she has the right to live in this world.

She slowly put down her chopsticks, her slightly trembling lips betraying her unease.

But does she have any other better ideas?

In this society, no matter how well they try to keep it a secret, as long as someone is interested in investigating, they will always find some clues, and Xiaoyue's existence will be exposed sooner or later.

At that point, could she and the rest of the team withstand all the damage for Xiaoyue?

Even if she's willing to try, she can't make decisions for the team members, much less rashly ruin the game.

What if something goes wrong and she can't go back?

Lu Zhao dared not gamble, nor could he afford to.

So... is accepting it the only way out?

The thought of the child hugging her and stubbornly calling her "Mommy" suddenly brought a lump to Lu Zhao's throat.

That child trusted her so much; even when he was unconscious, he clung tightly to her clothes, and after he woke up, he kept calling her "Mommy"...

She abruptly closed her eyes, tilted her head back, took a few deep breaths, and then slowly opened them, asking with a serious expression, "Where is Xiaoyue now? I want to see her."

"Have you thought this through?" Li Manqiu asked back. "Once you see her, all that mental preparation you did before might be for nothing."

Lu Zhao hesitated for a moment before nodding seriously, his fingers clenched tightly under the table, trembling slightly. "I know, but I still want to see her, at least to see if she's doing well and if she misses her mother."

After a moment of silence, Li Manqiu withdrew her gaze, took another swig of her drink, and then looked at her with a light smile: "Captain Lu, you really are still the same person, you haven't changed at all."

Yeah……

She felt that maintaining this situation was simply too difficult.

Lu Zhao frowned slightly, but did not refute her. He just stared at the pot of wine in her hand for a long time before reluctantly looking away. Then he gave her the same smile and raised his teacup, saying, "Thank you for the compliment."

He then drank the tea in the cup in one gulp.

The meal was never finished. Lu Zhao, who had drunk a lot of water, didn't want to touch the food. He simply left the money for the meal before getting up and leaving.

"Ms. Li, your friend has left?" The clerk asked with some surprise as she looked at the untouched dishes on the table while collecting payment. "Was it because our food didn't suit her taste?"

"I'm in a bad mood, so I can't eat anything." Li Manqiu looked at the untouched food in front of her and said to the clerk, "Could you please pack another bottle of wine to go?"

Chapter Seventy-Five: Zhao Zhao's Autism

"Ah Zhao? Ah Zhao?"

After being called by name, Lu Zhao snapped out of his reverie and realized that he was in a hospital room, holding a book of essays and reading it aloud to the young lady.

"You were spacing out again. Are you experiencing memory lapses again? Remember to go for a check-up with Sister Liu tomorrow," Xia Zhifei reminded her with concern.