After that conversation, neither of them could sleep any better. It was the darkest hour before dawn, and all they could do was quietly wait for daylight.
Gong Yingxian told Ren Yi how they had tracked down Bai Chicheng step by step. It didn’t sound like there had been anything particularly shocking or dramatic about the process. It had all depended on countless investigators meticulously searching through limited clues and analyzing them piece by piece, slowly peeling away the layers.
But Ren Yi found it deeply moving. What came to his mind was Gong Yingxian’s exhausted face, dark circles beneath his eyes and bloodshot pupils. And Gong Yingxian’s fellow police officers were no different. They had worked day and night without rest, which was how they had managed to make almost a little bit of progress every day, until they finally identified a suspect among the vast sea of people.
As they were talking, Gong Yingxian suddenly looked out the window in surprise.
Ren Yi turned his head and saw flakes of fine white snow drifting down from the sky. In the darkness, they looked like glowing little spirits, quiet and gentle.
He murmured, “It’s snowing.”
This was the first snowfall in the city that year. Winter was about to end. It had come a little late, but it was still a pleasant surprise.
Ren Yi smiled and asked Gong Yingxian, “Want to go look at the snow?”
“You just recovered from being sick. Forget it.”
“Our coats are really warm.” Ren Yi took two coats out of the closet and handed one to Gong Yingxian. “It’s rare for it to snow, and this is the first snow. We can just watch it from the balcony.”
Wrapped in their down coats, Ren Yi opened the balcony door. A freezing wind came roaring in, making both of them shiver.
“Wow, it’s really cold.” Ren Yi pulled his coat tighter and looked up at the sky raining silver, his eyes bright.
“It rarely snows in California.” Gong Yingxian held out his hand. The little snowflakes landed in his palm and instantly melted. “In the few years since I returned to China, I haven’t encountered a heavy snowfall either.”
“The snow here really isn’t much. If you want to see heavy snow, you have to go farther north.” Ren Yi smiled. “I went to Changbai Mountain with some friends before. Wow, now that was some serious snow.”
Gong Yingxian turned his head and looked at Ren Yi. “You like snow?”
“Of course.”
“…I like it too,” Gong Yingxian said. “It looks very clean.”
“Haha, it’s rare for us to like the same thing.”
Ren Yi had only said it casually, but Gong Yingxian felt a slight tightness in his chest. He and Ren Yi had something in common. He had finally found one thing they both liked—snow.
Their backgrounds, experiences, personalities, and beliefs were completely different. Perhaps Ren Yi liked snow in the same casual way that he liked flowers, clouds, and nature. But to Gong Yingxian, it was one of the very few things they had in common.
He often wondered, if it weren’t for this series of cases that had entangled him with Ren Yi, would they even have anything to talk about? Would they still have stayed in touch? After all, he couldn’t even accompany Ren Yi to eat a barbecue dinner.
Ren Yi used his finger to draw a line through the thin layer of snow on the railing. “What a shame. The snow is too light. It’ll melt as soon as the sun comes out tomorrow.”
“Next time, let’s go somewhere with heavy snow that doesn’t melt.”
Ren Yi froze. “You mean… the two of us go?”
Gong Yingxian gave a quiet “Mm” and secretly glanced at Ren Yi, wanting to see his reaction.
Ren Yi’s heart trembled, and suddenly he didn’t feel cold at all. He didn’t care how Gong Yingxian viewed him at that moment. Whether Gong Yingxian simply found him convenient or was only interested in the physical pleasure, he would still go forward without hesitation. He would take this journey without regrets and without looking back.
Gong Yingxian couldn’t tell what the smile on Ren Yi’s face meant. He cleared his throat. “Where do you want to go?”
Ren Yi smiled. “Anywhere.” Anywhere was fine, as long as it was with him.
“Then… after I catch Zi Yan.”
“Okay!”
Before dawn, Ren Yi saw Gong Yingxian out and strictly forbade the guards at the gate from telling anyone. If people found out that Gong Yingxian had spent the night there, it would be really hard to come up with an explanation.
The next day, Qu Yangbo told Ren Yi that he had been disciplined for leaving his post while on duty.
Of course, that wasn’t the real reason for the punishment. Going out for a meal after a meeting was perfectly normal, and any captain who was allowed to leave would naturally have made sure the station was properly arranged. The real problem was that even when his own safety was under threat, he had been careless and lacked a sense of danger, organizing a dinner that nearly resulted in a major incident.
He received an official warning, was criticized in a notice circulated throughout the entire bureau, and had to write a self-criticism report.
Ren Yi said miserably, “I deserve it.”
Qu Yangbo sighed. “Luckily nothing serious happened this time. Otherwise… this punishment would actually be considered light. But it’ll still affect you in the future. Fortunately, you’ve also earned quite a few merits during this period.”
Ren Yi wasn’t particularly concerned about his career. At least, he didn’t plan it out or set goals the way Qu Yangbo did. He was perfectly satisfied being a station captain. If he rose any higher, he would spend most of his time sitting in an office, which was not what he wanted at all.
Working at the station was certainly dangerous, but helping and saving people was what made his blood race. It was what made him feel the meaning and value of his own existence.
However, he didn’t dare tell Qu Yangbo that. Otherwise, he would definitely get scolded for being unambitious. Qu Yangbo’s goal was for the two of them to advance side by side.
Ren Yi gloomily locked himself in his dormitory and spent the entire afternoon writing his self-criticism report. The main reason he was depressed wasn’t the punishment, but the ten-thousand-word report that nearly killed him.
Only after finishing it did he finally have time to check his phone. There was a message from Gong Yingxian:
My attending physician has arrived in Beijing. He wants to meet you. When are you free?
Ren Yi replied:
Saturday.
With the Lunar New Year approaching, this was the busiest period for all the various departments. Crime rates surged, and accidental disasters increased significantly as well. Naturally, both the police and firefighters were extremely busy, so Gong Yingxian and Ren Yi had almost no time to see each other.
After arranging the station’s compensatory leave schedule, Ren Yi checked the time. He still had some time before his appointment with Gong Yingxian, so he called Li Sa over for a talk. He praised and thanked her for volunteering to stay on duty. After all, full-time firefighters were legally entitled to take holidays off.
Li Sa laughed cheerfully. “Captain Ren, you don’t have to be so polite. My home isn’t far from here anyway. Besides, family members can come to the station for New Year’s, so I’ll just have my parents come here and celebrate the New Year with me.”
“That’s right. We’ll celebrate the New Year together this year.” Ren Yi looked at Li Sa with a smile. “You’re the firefighter I’ve been paying the most attention to. Your growth over the past six months has made me very pleased. During that underground rescue and the hospital explosion case, you also demonstrated your professional abilities. Your test scores have been good every time as well. So the next time we respond to a call, I’ll officially let you enter the field.”
Li Sa’s eyes lit up. “Thank you, Captain Ren! Thank you, Captain Ren!”
“You don’t have to thank me. You earned this yourself. You probably know that when you first arrived, everyone had some doubts about you. They took especially good care of you, but they couldn’t trust your professional abilities. It was through your performance in your daily work and on several missions, as well as your consistent training and evaluations without ever falling behind, that you gradually earned your comrades’ trust. If you want to thank anyone, thank yourself for always working hard.”
Li Sa gave a shy yet delighted smile.
“After you start going out on calls, I’ll observe you for six months. If you continue performing well, once you’ve been employed for a full year, I’ll transfer you from the specialized-duty team to the combat team.”
Li Sa’s gaze was resolute. “I absolutely won’t let you down, Captain Ren.”
After talking with Li Sa, Ren Yi tidied himself up a little and went downstairs. Gong Yingxian had sent a driver and a bodyguard to pick him up.
Ren Yi had met one of Gong Yingxian’s drivers before, but this was his first time seeing this bodyguard. He didn’t look anything like the muscular, imposing bodyguards from movies that Ren Yi had imagined. He was only of average build. But from his buzz cut and thick trapezius muscles alone, it was obvious that he had served in the military.
The bodyguard politely greeted Ren Yi and then said nothing else, which only made Ren Yi feel even more strongly that this was someone not to be messed with.
The car drove all the way to Gong Yingxian’s home, which was enough to show how close Dr. Pompey’s relationship with the Gong family was.
Ren Yi had heard some information about this attending physician from Uncle Sheng. He was of mixed Chinese-American heritage and highly renowned in the field of psychology.
At the time, Gong Yingxian’s psychological condition had been extremely poor. Gong Yingxian’s grandfather had insisted on sending him abroad, partly because he was worried about his safety and partly because he wanted him to change his environment.
After going abroad, Gong Yingxian had been treated by Dr. Pompey the entire time. It had taken years for him to go from a severe PTSD patient who had almost completely lost his ability to speak and experience emotions to someone who could at least return to society.
When they arrived at the Gong residence, besides familiar faces like Uncle Sheng, there was also an elegant, refined middle-aged man. He was undoubtedly Dr. Pompey.
Dr. Pompey proactively extended his hand toward Ren Yi. “Captain Ren, nice to meet you. I’ve heard a great deal about you.”
Ren Yi hurriedly shook his hand. “Nice to meet you too, Doctor. I should be the one saying that.”
Dr. Pompey smiled. “I heard that someone had appeared in Yingxian’s life who could get close to him and influence him, so I became very curious about you. I was busy working on a research project throughout last year and couldn’t find the time. Otherwise, I would have come back to see you much sooner.”
Gong Yingxian cleared his throat, a trace of embarrassment in his eyes.
After exchanging a few more pleasantries, they were warmly ushered inside by Uncle Sheng, whose face was practically glowing with happiness. He kept saying, “It’s been so long since the house has been this lively. It’s been so long since the house has been this lively.”
After a sumptuous dinner, Gong Yingxian brought the two of them to that room—the room filled with everything related to the Gong family case.
Dr. Pompey picked up the framed photograph of the family of four. “You can look directly at it like this now.”
Gong Yingxian nodded. “After all these years of desensitization therapy, I can even get close to fire now.” He added quietly, “Small fires.”
Ren Yi gazed at Gong Yingxian. “You can handle big fires too. That car was burning so fiercely back then, yet you still dared to go in and rescue me.”
Gong Yingxian gave a cold snort. “You have the nerve to say that. I told you to retreat, but you wouldn’t.”
Dr. Pompey smiled. “I know about this. Yingxian told me about it afterward. Actually, during his previous treatments, there were several times when I wanted to use a more aggressive approach, but the stress tests failed several times, and I nearly destroyed the sense of security he had worked so hard to rebuild.
“So when he approached that major fire to save you, it was a very important turning point in his condition. After that, he truly improved a great deal. The significance of that event was that he actively broke through his own fear. Nothing can overcome fear itself more effectively than facing it head-on.”
Ren Yi pressed his lips together in a smile. Whether it was Gong Yingxian desperately saving him or the fact that he had indirectly helped Gong Yingxian, both things made him incredibly happy.
Gong Yingxian said, “Although I haven’t completely overcome my fear of fire yet, I’m much better than before. Maybe one day I’ll truly be able to overcome it.”
“That day will come.” Dr. Pompey smiled and pointed at Ren Yi. “And your friend will help you a great deal.”
The two of them exchanged a quick glance, then immediately looked away, lowering their heads with smiles.
Dr. Pompey raised an eyebrow, a knowing smile spreading across his lips, but he didn’t expose them.
“Then,” he said, “let’s talk about the mask.”