Chapter Twelve: The Burning Girl Taken Away by National Security

Zhang Ziying lived next door in the “Gallery Bridge Waterside” community, barely a hundred meters away from “Egret Peninsula.” She was the same age as Li Yunfei; their parents had come from the same village, moved to the city together, and settled nearby. They belonged to the same school district and had been in the same class from kindergarten all the way through high school.

Childhood companions, the two of them were not only the closest of friends but also confidants, and their parents enjoyed a warm relationship as well.

During Li Yunfei’s high school years, his parents died in a traffic accident. From then on, Zhang Ziying’s parents took special care of him, treating him almost as their own child.

Of course, Zhang Ziying’s parents had their own thoughts. Li Yunfei was a boy they had watched grow up, and they knew him inside out. His temperament, appearance, and character were all exceptional; they adored him. Now that he was orphaned, with a sizable inheritance left behind and a generous insurance payout, he seemed to them the perfect son-in-law. If their daughter married him, there would be no need to worry about the notoriously tricky mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship.

Although they noticed that Li Yunfei and their daughter interacted more like brothers, who was to say that close friends couldn’t become husband and wife?

Zhang Ziying was rather straightforward and oblivious, but Li Yunfei sensed something was amiss. He wasn’t opposed to the idea; it was just that he and Zhang Ziying were so familiar with each other—so much so that even when he slung his arm around her shoulder, he only thought of camaraderie, loyalty, a good brother, never any romantic notions.

He felt that they needed some distance; perhaps time apart would allow new feelings to blossom upon their reunion.

So after graduating from high school, Zhang Ziying entered the Police University, while Li Yunfei chose to enlist in the army.

He served five years and retired as a sergeant in the infantry. By then, Zhang Ziying had already started working, since her university program lasted four years.

When they met again, Li Yunfei was dismayed to realize that, despite five years apart, there was no sense of estrangement between them. The moment they were together, they slipped naturally back into their old dynamic.

Even when they joked about risqué topics—like “I treat you as a brother, but you want to sleep with me”—it was just a joke, nothing more, and neither thought anything of it.

So, let them muddle through for now! Let’s see who figures things out first.

...

At noon, Zhang Ziying dialed Li Yunfei’s number, but the call failed to connect.

When Li Yunfei entered the instance, his phone was stored away in the system’s inventory; it was no longer in this space, so naturally unreachable.

Zhang Ziying found it odd—Li Yunfei’s phone was hardly ever unreachable, in fact, it had never happened before.

After lunch, prepared by her mother, she tried calling several more times, but the line remained dead.

At this time of day, wherever he was or whatever he was doing, Li Yunfei would always return home to feed his pet fox. If he couldn’t make it back, he would call her to help, or if she was unavailable, ask her mother to do it.

So she decided to check on him herself.

Passing through the garden, Li Yunfei’s house came into view. As she walked, she suddenly heard his voice behind her.

“Yingzi.”

Turning around, she saw Li Yunfei striding toward her, one arm cradling his pet fox, the other carrying a bag.

“Where were you? I tried calling you and couldn’t get through.”

Li Yunfei waved the bag of eggs nonchalantly. “Don’t mention it. My phone slipped into water, so it’s drying out now! I went to the supermarket to buy eggs for Honghong.”

Zhang Ziying couldn’t help but laugh. When he reached her, she patted the fox’s head, then turned to walk beside him.

“What brings you over? Is something up?”

Zhang Ziying hesitated briefly. “Da Fei, you’ve been back from the military for over half a year now. You’ve got your driver’s license, fooled around for a few months—isn’t it time to find a job, or start some kind of career?”

Right now, my biggest career is leveling up in instances, Li Yunfei muttered inwardly, but outwardly kept his composure. “What do you think I should do? I don’t know much, and if I tried business I’d probably lose everything. Should I be a security guard?”

Zhang Ziying raised an eyebrow, amused. “Why settle for security guard? Didn’t you earn an associate degree in the army?”

“How about you become an assistant police officer at our bureau? Next year, take the civil service exam, apply for a permanent position, and then we could work side by side!”

Li Yunfei chuckled helplessly. “Work side by side—fighting whom? Criminals? Our county’s public safety is so good, where’s all this fighting to be had?”

Zhang Ziying frowned. “Still, you can’t just stay unemployed and live off your savings. You have to plan for your future.”

Li Yunfei smiled, warmth flooding his heart.

...

There was no one left in the world who worried about his future except her family.

“No rush, I know what I’m doing. When have you ever seen me act irresponsibly? In a while, I plan to go travel.”

They arrived at Li Yunfei’s door. He handed the eggs to Zhang Ziying and took out his keys to unlock the door.

Inside, Li Yunfei set the fox down. Zhang Ziying sat on the sofa watching him. “Travel? Where to?”

Li Yunfei opened the fridge, took out a bottle of mango juice and a can of beer, tossed the juice to Zhang Ziying, and opened the beer for himself. He sat beside her.

After so many years together, he naturally knew all of Zhang Ziying’s preferences. His fridge was always stocked not only with his favorite drinks, but hers as well.

“I haven’t decided exactly where. Maybe Wudang Mountain. I feel like the world is changing, and I want to see what’s different from before.”

Hearing this, Zhang Ziying’s expression subtly shifted.

Li Yunfei didn’t notice. After another sip of beer, he asked, “By the way, that girl who caught fire yesterday—what’s her situation?”

Zhang Ziying sighed, opened the mango juice, took a sip, and replied, “Actually, I don’t really know. She was taken away by the state security officers.”

“State security?” Li Yunfei grew serious. “You’re sure it was state security, not the domestic security division?”

Zhang Ziying rolled her eyes. “Of course. The domestic security division is under our bureau—I know the difference. It was state security, at least their credentials said so. They arrived from Yuzhou last night and took the girl away in the middle of the night.”

The domestic security division, officially called the Domestic Security Division, is a county-level unit with similar responsibilities to state security but is not under their jurisdiction; it is a branch of the county public security bureau. State security only has divisions at the city level, department at the provincial level, and ministry at the national level.

Li Yunfei rubbed his chin. “It takes four or five hours to get here from Yuzhou at best. Did you learn anything in that time?”