In the end, Qu Linyuan still couldn't bear to part with it.

Seeing Si Jin shed tears for a while, he softened completely.

Instead of touching the dog's ears, he slowly kissed away Si Jin's tears.

Her soft lips brushed across her forehead, across the tip of the pen, and finally, gently sealed her lips.

"Hmm..."

The careful tenderness touched Si Jin's heart deeply.

His breathing gradually calmed down, and he opened his eyes to look at the gentle, obedient dog.

Then, she hugged his neck and quietly returned his kiss.

"A-Yuan, I love you."

The sudden confession stirred up ripples in Qu Linyuan's heart. He tightened his grip on Si Jin's wrist, his strength increasing involuntarily.

A tear once again defied her will and rolled down Si Jin's cheek.

As it grazed the fair skin, it unexpectedly added a touch of poignant desolation.

It's absolutely gorgeous.

At one o'clock in the morning, Qu Linyuan carried Si Jin out of the bathroom, carefully tucked her in, and then hugged her tightly from one side: "Sleep...sleep."

Si Jin smiled at him: "Didn't you bark ten times? Only three..."

"Keep...keep it." Qu Linyuan's ears were red, but his eyes were unusually clear: "I want Jinjin...to rest."

"I can't sleep, I want to eat something."

"What...would you like to eat?"

"I want to eat tangyuan (sweet rice balls), that one in the east of the city, the most popular breakfast place. I ate there once before, but I haven't gone there much since. I don't know why I suddenly remembered it..."

Perhaps she was tired. After chatting for a few minutes, Si Jin fell asleep. She only vaguely remembered saying before closing her eyes, "It's nothing, I was just saying it casually. Go to sleep."

But when she woke up the next day, she saw Xiao Naiyuan holding a bowl of glutinous rice balls and had even made a fried egg herself, which she placed on the bedside table.

You made this yourself?

"Hmm." Qu Linyuan nodded and handed over the glutinous rice ball: "This is... something I bought this morning while driving around looking for a shop and queuing up. Try it... and see if it tastes like that."

He went there by himself?

Si Jin was stunned, recalling her incoherent ramblings from the previous night.

He didn't say the exact location of the shop, and it was really just a casual mention, but this silly boy went to the east of the city to look for it early in the morning.

He has autism and is uncomfortable around strangers. How did he manage to ask around from one person to another?

Si Jin lowered her head, picked up a spoon and took a spoonful. It tasted much better than last time: "Why did you really go?"

Qu Linyuan smiled innocently: "I just want to make you... happy."

As long as you're happy, I can push my limits and do many, many things.

… …

It was Sunday, and with nothing else to do, the two returned to Qu Linyuan's apartment.

This time, Qu Linyuan opened the other locked rooms in his house.

There are target storage, bullet storage, and an information database full of AI monitoring. The remaining rooms are the caves, cabins, and apartments where he reconstructed the whereabouts of the prisoners who kidnapped him.

The room was pitch black, and contained many instruments of torture. Even the location of the guns and the appearance of the criminals were sculpted in wax, and the replicas were almost identical.

In the very center of the room stood a wax figure of a thin, ten-year-old boy, not very tall, with a blank expression and a bloodied face, facing the cold muzzle of a gun.

That was Qu Linyuan at age ten!

Si Jin's heart was clenched, and even Xiao Yao bit her handkerchief and shed tears.

Qu Linyuan walked over and pointed at the thug with the gun: "This is one of the thugs who assaulted my mother back then. He kidnapped me so that my mother would pay the ransom alone. He seems to be desperate and wants to ask my mother for something."

"He also told me in detail about his mother's experiences, what methods and tools she used, how he would hit me back when I hit him, how he broke my nose and several of my ribs."

"He dialed the phone, stomped on my chest, trying to make me cry. I didn't say anything. When he got angry, I grabbed his gun and ran away."

"That was the first time I came into contact with information about this criminal gang."

"Over the years, we've only found one companion, who's involved in the underworld, named... Yu Zhen."

When Qu Linyuan spoke, his expression was so calm that it was as if he were simply recounting someone else's story.

Si Jin knew that although Xiao A Yuan was childish, he only acted this way towards him. He was always sharp and outspoken towards the outside world, and he didn't need any sympathy.

So he composed himself and stepped forward to ask, "Have you arrested anyone?"

"The police investigated but found no evidence. He's been hiding his identity abroad all these years, I..."

Just then, Si Jin's phone rang. It was Yu Siqing's son, Yu Yang, calling.

She spoke urgently: "Uncle, you have to leave quickly! My dad knows you like men, and now that Yu Simiao is in prison, he... he's going to change the engagement he originally arranged for Yu Simiao into yours!"

"But that man was involved in organized crime. It's said he got into a gunfight and died overseas. His body was just brought back. Isn't this a pure insult? And then they send you to such a dangerous place."

"That person may have done a lot of illegal things, you absolutely must not get involved!"

He's involved in organized crime, and he's overseas. His surname is Yu.

Is it really such a coincidence?

Si Jin asked one more question: "Do you know what that person's name is?"

Yu Yang paused, then asked uncertainly, "I think his name is... something... Yu Zhen?"