The concerns about actress Chris Vineyard did not last long.

Of those present, only Yoruichi Toyama and Ai Haibara knew the inside story.

While Akechi is certainly "one of our own," there's also Yoko.

It was enough for her to believe that Yoruichi Toyama was a foreign agent and that Akemi was an important witness.

At least for now, there's no absinthe to cause trouble.

With a loud "bang," it was the biggest firework of the night.

Golden, silver, and red flowers bloomed layer by layer, illuminating half the sky.

"Oh, right..." Yoruichi Toyama hurriedly turned her head, searching for Akemi's face.

At that moment, Akemi looked at him with a gentle smile on her lips.

"Mingmei, I..."

Still not sure what to say, Yoruichi Toyama coughed, but caught a glimpse of the female PhD student's face out of the corner of his eye.

Ai was held in his arms, her eyes staring straight at him.

With Yoruichi Toyama's limited romantic intelligence, she couldn't tell whether her sister-in-law was scolding him for "doing it in front of people" or urging him to "hurry up and do it."

Once again, Akechi reached out and easily caught Ai, who was practically gritting her teeth in anger, with just one hand.

“You must have a lot to say,” Mingzhi blinked, picked up the two of them, and took a few steps to the side. “Let’s talk over there.”

"Isn't this a rare New Year's Eve?"

Watching Yoruichi, feeling dizzy and dazed, take Akemi's hand and walk away along the riverbank, he put the two little ones down as well.

"You two too."

Completely disregarding whether the female PhD student blushed or how uncomfortable the puppeteer became.

Feeling lightheaded, Akechi spread his hands and then gave Yoko a gentlemanly bow.

"Then, beautiful lady, may I accompany you for a walk?"

...

Watching Akechi and the female celebrity walk away so casually, Ai temporarily forgot everything else, her eyes filled with astonishment.

"That police officer, he..."

"Is he very gentlemanly, or is he just too open-minded...?"

Gao Yuan, who was more familiar with the man, shrugged.

"I guess it's just his personality."

"You're quite excellent as a police officer... I remember when you first became like this..."

His voice trailed off, and after a moment, he shook his head with a self-deprecating laugh.

Ai suddenly realized what was happening.

"You mean, if you had wanted to call the police back then, you would have gone to Officer Akechi?"

"You seem to trust him a lot."

Gao Yuan still shook his head.

"Trust, that's a quality only 'good people' have..."

“I’m a criminal, miss!” As if recalling Ai’s earlier accusation of “being too arrogant,” he added calmly, “At least, back then…”

“Officer Mingzhi is a reliable person to perform his duties, and I…”

"I'm also eager to get rid of you, Miss, this hot potato, that's all."

After saying this so coldly, he looked up and gazed at the fireworks that were about to disappear into the night sky.

Ai felt that urge to cry welling up inside her again.

It wasn't because Gao Yuan spoke so coldly, as if he wanted to reject any warmth.

Rather, it's the intention behind this refusal.

"Do you want to... live alone?" she asked tentatively.

"You don't want to live with my sister and that idiot detective?"

"We can go back to the lab..."

She couldn't continue.

Because she saw that Gao Yuan's expression hadn't changed, but his gaze had become very distant.

It was almost as if he were examining himself from the outside.

“Yes…” After a long while, when the sky had darkened again, he slowly said, “I think that’s the place for me.”

He must have taken the wrong turn, Xiao Ai thought.

But I didn't know how to explain it to him.

Gao Yuan turned around and looked at her.

"The fireworks seem to be over." He said, then looked towards the riverbank, where the two people had almost merged into one.

"It seems we'll have to wait a while longer."

"May I walk around by myself?"

"Of course, I won't run away," he finally explained.

It carried a cruel mockery.

Ai nodded patiently, but just as he turned around, she caught up with him and grabbed his hand.

"I...I'll go with you..." she said, looking directly into Gao Yuan's somewhat surprised gaze.

There are some things I need to tell you.

But they walked hand in hand silently for a few minutes.

My fingers, which had become icy cold standing in the snow, gradually warmed up.

Ai patted her chest with her free hand, telling herself that she had made up her mind.

"I……"

With a "bang," a firework burst open above their heads, transforming into a magnificent white chrysanthemum.

The words that were spoken were swallowed up by the crackling and popping sounds.

Gao Yuan turned his head and looked at her with a smile.

He was also speaking, but his voice was inaudible; judging from his lip movements, it seemed to be "It's okay."

"What are you saying!" Ai shouted angrily. "You don't know anything at all! You big idiot!"

No one expected that such a beautiful firework would disappear in the blink of an eye.

The last sentence lingered clearly in the air, and Gao Yuan's smile deepened.

Xiao Ai blushed instantly, but she tightened her grip; she had decided not to back down anymore.

"You...you're an idiot!" she said in an unreasonable tone. "You probably think I sent you to the lab because of research on that drug."

"That's not true at all!"

“I just don’t want you to fall into the hands of the police… no matter what you are…”

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!