Chapter 48: Brown Eyes (22)

Shen Qiuxun walked inside. This was his first time entering an interstellar police station. Everything was modern and high-tech, incredibly cool, possessing a kind of steady yet cutting-edge authority.

He asked an officer a question, then was led to a reception room. The door opened, and Fu Mingchuan, seated in a chair, looked up at him.

White clothes, black pants, black hair, black eyes. The moment Fu Mingchuan saw him, his eyes lit up. His smile was soft and clear, his eyes narrowing gently with warmth. His gaze was fixed and unwavering. “Xiao Er.”

Shen Qiuxun waved a hand in front of the man’s face. “You… can see now?”

Fu Mingchuan nodded and shyly reached out to circle Shen Qiuxun’s wrist. “Last night… I fainted when the police were lecturing me. When I woke up today, I found I could see.”

“?” What the hell? Did the crossed wires in his brain get knocked back into place by a beating?

“I’m sorry, Xiao Er… I don’t know why I was discovered. I’ve caused trouble for you.”

“Oh…” Shen Qiuxun sat down, looking around. The small room was practically an iron bastion. Two surveillance cameras overhead stared down fixedly, leaving not a single blind spot.

Even if he tried to break him out… wouldn’t they just get lasered and then humanely destroyed?

[You’re still thinking about a jailbreak?]

‘Ha, I have some experience.’

[????]

Fu Mingchuan looked down and saw his nervous expression. He couldn’t bear to tear his eyes away, wanting only to make up for all the days he’d missed seeing him. His expression was profoundly gentle, and his voice carried a soothing quality:

“Don’t be afraid. I cooperated fully with the police investigation. The matter of the original warrant has been cleared up. I won’t implicate you.”

“Look at the way you talk.” Shen Qiuxun wore his anxiety openly on his face. “How could I care whether you implicate me or not… No matter what happens, I will always face it together with you.”

Those eyes, usually so lazy and seemingly unable to take anything in, now held a degree of seriousness. It was like a deity casting down a merciful gaze, making Fu Mingchuan unable to distinguish truth from falsehood. His heart just grew hotter and hotter, as if he had bitten into an unripe green fruit; sourness, astringency, and sweetness filled his chest.

“Mm.” Fu Mingchuan tightly grasped his hand. “It’s just…”

“What?” Shen Qiuxun was extremely nervous. He was wondering which bastard had ruined his flawless forced-love plan.

“It’s just that, although I don’t have to suffer imprisonment, I still must bear punishment. I will be assigned to a remote Lower City District Military Region,” Fu Mingchuan said, his eyes downcast with loss. Yet he still forced a smile, unwilling to let the person before him feel sad. “I might have to be separated from you for a while.”

“I’ll go with you.” Shen Qiuxun frowned, without a moment’s hesitation. A joke: if this guy quietly struck it rich somewhere out of his sight, it would be a complete disaster. Dream on if you think you’re going to secretly get rich behind my back!

Fu Mingchuan had never imagined that one day, his lover, who always seemed so unattainably out of reach, would choose him so resolutely. It felt as if a gentle stream flowed through his heart, causing the barren soil of his heart to bloom with endless flowers. The feeling swelled and expanded, brewing into a sweetness that grew richer with time.

He leaned forward and bit Shen Qiuxun’s lip. The other’s eyelashes trembled slightly, like the fluttering wings of a butterfly. Fu Mingchuan forcefully pressed the back of his neck, deepening the kiss. Distinct from the gentle smiles of the past few days, the love in this kiss nearly overflowed, no different from a volcanic eruption.

[.] Bro, not even handcuffs stop you from taking advantage of him?

One kiss ended.

“No need. I can’t bear to let you suffer hardship.” Fu Mingchuan didn’t know how to express his current feelings. He only felt… that it was not permissible. How could he let his lover live a life of hardship with him forever?

Once, he had seen power as a decaying cage. Authority was built upon conspiracy, calculation, and hypocrisy. Every inch was stained with flattery and blood. Being in the whirlpool of power was like being trapped in a quagmire, surrounded by greed and sinister intentions. Freedom and his true self were swallowed, leaving only a coerced shell sinking deeper and deeper.

But now, as he gazed into his lover’s eyes, the tenderness and trust within them shone light into the bottom of his heart. From now on, power would transform into a nurturing bed for love. He could use it to shelter his lover from wind and rain.

“I’ll behave well and earn more time to come back and see you.” Fu Mingchuan touched his face, poked the cheek that was puffed up in anger, and smiled gently. “Don’t worry about me.”

Shen Qiuxun swatted the hand away, feeling extremely gloomy, yet unable to explain it to Fu Mingchuan. He thought for a long time, then his face showed difficulty. “But… I don’t need other things. I just want you by my side every day. It’s best if you don’t go anywhere at all. Everything else is empty, you know?”

Fu Mingchuan held his hand affectionately. “I know.”

You know jack shit.

Shen Qiuxun rolled his eyes, wanting to continue arguing his point forcefully. The iron door suddenly opened. Outside stood a tall, burly police officer who said in a businesslike tone, “Time’s up.”

“Thank you.” Fu Mingchuan looked at Shen Qiuxun, whose expression was gradually turning aggrieved. His heart ached as if cut by a knife. In the end, he could only console him lamely: “When my sentence is over, I’ll let you do whatever you want with me, okay?”

“Don’t be upset.” He lovingly touched the corner of his lover’s eye. “Go back and get a good sleep.”

Shen Qiuxun was practically fuming, but he knew the matter couldn’t be reversed. After all, it was according to regulations and procedure. As a powerless and unconnected Lower City District citizen, his only option left was a jailbreak.

But if they both died within half a month after a jailbreak, that really would be a loss outweighing the gain.

Things having come to this point, Shen Qiuxun decided to obediently go back and sleep.

This broken world—just wait until the day he became someone with power and influence. Otherwise, he would definitely blow it up.

Shen Qiuxun walked out with a sour face, led by an officer through the corridor. He saw a familiar person smoking by the window. The thin veil of smoke dissipated, and those eyes, calm like a winter pond, looked towards him.

That sullenly flirtatious guy who had given him his contact info.

Shen Qiuxun was in a very bad mood. He rolled his eyes at the man and turned his head away to leave, but then he stopped when the officer beside him respectfully said, “Director.”

He abruptly turned his head back, his brow raising. Director?

He had thought this person was just some small Captain. Who would have thought he held such a high position… Why would the Director personally come to search his house? Could it be that he had been targeted back then?

Having taken two steps forward, Shen Qiuxun silently crossed his arms and walked back.

The officer read the Director’s expression, gave a report, and then left.

Qingshan stubbed out his cigarette, took two steps, and opened his office door.

Shen Qiuxun glanced at him, walked in with a wooden face, and as he passed by Qingshan, he smelled a pleasant scent of smoked fruit—very unique.

Sitting down, Qingshan brewed him a glass of lemon water. He even placed a small umbrella on the rim of the glass quite properly. The little orange-yellow umbrella was totally out of place in the cold-toned police station.

Shen Qiuxun felt somewhat uneasy. He was very worried the other party would ask him about the specific details of that night. Ever since he’d guessed that Qingshan had clues long ago, he had felt that his own acting was simply too poor, fatally poor. Thinking about it now still made him want to crawl into a hole in the ground.

The man’s expression was very serious:

“You didn’t add my contact information.”

Qingshan’s voice had a slight smoky rasp. Matched with that iron-clad expression, he looked just like the door god pasted at the entrance of the orphanage when he was little.

“Oh, forgot.” To cover his guilt, Shen Qiuxun lowered his head to drink the lemon water. It wasn’t the bitter and sour taste of two lemon slices in water he’d imagined. It was sweet and sour, very tasty, making his heavy mood feel a little better.

“Mm.”

Shen Qiuxun held the glass, only mustering his courage after drinking half the water. “Um… we’ve met, so we can be considered friends, right?”

Qingshan remained noncommittal.

“You… are so capable. Can you help your new friend with a tiny little favor?” Shen Qiuxun pinched his thumb and pinky together to show him just how tiny this favor was. When his usually droopy, lazy eyes looked at a person with focus, they held a unique kind of sincerity and innocence.

Qingshan watched him silently.

“…” Shen Qiuxun cursed “pretentious poser” fiercely in his heart. “It’s just… I… uh… my boyfriend. Could he possibly get a reduced sentence?”

Shen Qiuxun looked up, meeting the other’s deep purple pupils, then shifted his gaze horizontally to stare at the door bolt, blinked his eyes a couple of times, and then his gaze came back to meet that silent yet intensely present stare. “…”

He swallowed and pulled out his wrist. “Add, add, add. Contact info, right? I’ll add it now.”

Qingshan reached out his hand. It was large, with veins rising and falling visibly. As he moved, a scar that ran across his wrist bone was revealed, adding a layer of storybook depth to this unfathomable police Director.

“You harbored a suspect. The police station not pursuing charges is already bending the law to show leniency.”

“…” Shen Qiuxun let out a tiny humph. “Wasn’t it investigated and found he didn’t commit the crime? The police wronged a good man and didn’t compensate him, and now they still want him to serve a sentence.”

Qingshan said nothing. He leaned forward and tapped the tea table in front of him. A holographic screen appeared on the tabletop, like a thick book. The book flipped pages rapidly, finally stopping at a page. A highlighted section in red was enlarged, displaying these words:

“Federal Crime Prevention Act, Article 432 stipulates: A person wrongly accused of a crime by the police shall promptly report to the police authorities, clearly explain the circumstances, and have the wanted poster revoked. Those who abscond and are subsequently apprehended shall be judged according to laws regarding fugitives.”

“Fine.” It seemed this path was a dead end. Shen Qiuxun dejectedly sipped his lemon water.

Qingshan was like a cold, imposing mountain peak that had stood since ancient times. His face was as impassive as still water. His sharply defined features held no superfluous expression. His tightly pressed thin lips spoke of an innate fortitude. At this moment, he calmly looked at him. His gaze was tranquil and unruffled, yet deep, as if hiding dark shadows.

“However…”

Shen Qiuxun turned his head to look at him, scoffing disdainfully at his baiting technique. His beautiful, vivid features were full of disapproval. In Qingshan’s eyes, he looked like a kitten about to show its claws.

“However, I can apply for a sentence reduction for him.”

“Reduced by how much?”

“Reduced to half a year.”

What damn use is that!

“Can you let me go with him to the army?”

Qingshan watched him for a moment, then averted his gaze. In his hand, the plain boiled water cup’s surface rippled with tiny waves. After a moment, he said coldly, “No.”

Freak.

Shen Qiuxun finished his lemon water and huffily got up to leave. At the doorway, he stopped.

Turning his head back against the light, those eyes were purely black, yet bone-chillingly cold. Within their tranquil stillness lay a coldness that pushed people a thousand miles away. Between his brows, an innate, coolly aloof aura flowed freely, like a black-and-white ink wash painting with strategic blank space, minimalist to the extreme.

“Then what can I do for you to get his sentence reduced?”

Fu Mingchuan had treated him pretty well. A few days off his sentence were still a few days.

Qingshan sat on the side not reached by sunlight. He didn’t speak, only gently touched the little orange-yellow umbrella.

Shen Qiuxun inexplicably understood his unspoken sentiment: Come for tea next time.

Hmph.

He left without looking back.