Gu Nian blinked at Jiang Qingli’s words.

A few seconds later, he averted the girl’s gaze and rubbed the tip of his nose, looking a little embarrassed. "I... have a classmate who works part-time here. He had something come up today, so I’m covering his shift."

The young man wore a dark brown coffee shop uniform. A tailored vest outlined his lean, strong waist, and the top two buttons of his white shirt were undone, revealing a fair, delicate collarbone. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Even though he wore the same uniform as the other employees, he was exceptionally eye-catching.

Jiang Qingli noticed a coffee stain on his arm and asked softly, "Is your scholarship money enough?"

The cost of living in the First District was high. When Gu Nian first arrived, Jiang Qingli had wanted to get him a supplementary credit card, but he insisted that he had a scholarship from the academy and didn’t need her money.

Jiang Qingli was worried his money wasn’t actually enough, forcing him to work part-time jobs.

"It’s enough, Sister." Gu Nian’s eyes curved into crescents, the smile in them deepening. "I really am just covering for someone today. I promise."

Jiang Qingli nodded, relieved.

A server passed by and told Gu Nian to go to the back kitchen to get some coffee.

Gu Nian answered with a confirmation and smiled at Jiang Qingli. "I’m off to work, Sister."

He pulled his hand back, carefully positioning Jiang Qingli’s juice glass. As he withdrew his fingers, they seemed to accidentally brush against her chin, leaving a soft, warm sensation.

The server had been quite proper when talking to her, but as he turned, Jiang Qingli realized the uniforms here had tails attached to the back.

Gu Nian’s uniform had a small, gray rabbit tail on the back—a fluffy ball that looked very soft to the touch.

Jiang Qingli averted her gaze and scanned her surroundings.

The feeling of being watched from before had vanished. The air was filled with a light, cheerful atmosphere, as if that feeling had just been her imagination.

Jiang Qingli frowned, took out her terminal, and her fingers began to tap.

「—」

Gu Nian delivered a dessert to the designated table, rejected the customer’s attempt to befriend him, and then, carrying an empty tray, he walked through the crowd and the back kitchen and pushed open the rear door.

Deep in an alley, hidden from the surveillance cameras, three plainly dressed men lay in a corner, their faces bruised and swollen. Blood and the crushed remains of guns were scattered on the ground.

A defiant-looking, silver-haired young man had his foot on one of their heads. He was completely unscathed, his expression full of malice.

Evidently, a one-sided beating had just concluded here.

The sound of the door opening and closing was especially jarring amidst the feeble moans.

Qin Muye glanced at the newcomer and clicked his tongue impatiently. "Where the hell did you pop up from? And where’s that damn fox?"

"Baili Jing is here too? I-I didn’t know..." Fear flickered across Gu Nian’s face. "I just heard a noise and came to see... Who are they? Did you... get in a fight with them?"

"Cut the act." Qin Muye saw right through his half-hearted pretense.

Anyone from the Lower District, even a weakling, would be immune to brawls by now.

Besides, Qin Muye had figured it out on the very first day this damned rabbit showed up: he only acted weak in front of Jiang Qingli.

Gu Nian shrugged and answered truthfully, "Baili Jing is in the coffee shop."

’That fox is just as cunning as they say. He leaves the dirty work to others while he finds a seat for himself to secretly watch Sister.’

’Still, someone is trying to make a move on Jiang Qingli, so she really does need someone to protect her. I’ll reluctantly pretend I don’t know.’

His gaze fell on the three men lying on the ground.

Gu Nian recognized two of them at a glance as men who had passed by Jiang Qingli while she was shopping earlier. The other was the server who had spilled coffee on Qin Muye.

These men were all A Level. Their roles were clearly defined, and they had come prepared. They had to be professional Assassins.

’Qin Muye’s skill was a bit higher than I’d thought. Still, he didn’t escape completely unscathed after facing three A Levels.’

Gu Nian walked closer and asked, "Who sent them after Sister? Did you find out?"

"I was halfway through asking when you showed up and ruined my fun." Qin Muye kicked one of the men in the head. "Hey. Talk."

The three men on the ground kept their eyes squeezed shut, their fists clenched.

Qin Muye had little patience. Just as he was about to kick them again, the men suddenly moved their jaws.

Sensing something was wrong, Qin Muye grabbed one of them by the neck and squeezed hard, trying to force something out.

But it was too late. The man’s eyes shot open, his head lolled to the side, and he stopped breathing. Dark blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

Qin Muye was about to inspect the body when he heard Gu Nian say, "Stand back. Whatever they took is poisonous. If the blood touches you, your skin will start to rot."

Dubious, Qin Muye took two steps back, pulled out his terminal, and began scrolling through his contacts.

"Don’t call anyone over. It’ll tip off our enemies." The young man anticipated his move. He took a lollipop from his pocket, unwrapped it, and stuck it in his mouth before ambling toward the bodies. "You should head back. I’ll handle things here."

Qin Muye frowned at him, his eyes filled with suspicion.

"I’m not doing it for you," Gu Nian said, crunching the candy in his mouth. "I just don’t want Sister to be worried or scared. It’s been a long time since she’s been to an amusement park."

Qin Muye: "..."

’It’s not about who he’s helping. I’m just not sure if this rabbit spirit is any good at cleaning up a mess.’

But to his surprise, Gu Nian pulled a pair of dishwashing gloves from his uniform. First, he went through the men’s pockets, found their terminals, and tossed them to Qin Muye to investigate later. Then, with practiced ease, he started piling the bodies together.

Qin Muye frowned and asked, "What did you do before this?"

The background check he’d run showed that Gu Nian had grown up in an orphanage.

But no matter how harsh the conditions were at the orphanage, how could anyone become so skilled at handling corpses? It wasn’t a zombie orphanage, after all.

"Oh, me?"

The young man was in the middle of twisting off one of the men’s hands to tuck it into the body’s clothes. Hearing the question, he looked up with a somewhat nostalgic smile.

"Back at the orphanage, I was in charge of taking out the trash. You could say this is right in my field of expertise~"

「—」

Qin Muye straightened his clothes and hair in the restroom, and while he was at it, he sent the information from the terminals to a few contacts to have them investigate.

When he sat down next to Jiang Qingli again, he looked no different than when he had first arrived.

Jiang Qingli was well-rested and was lying on the table, sending messages.

Seeing him sit down across from her, Jiang Qingli put away her terminal and asked, "What do you want to do later?"

"Anything’s fine. I’ll follow your lead."

"Then I want to go to the underwater world, and after it gets dark, we can go on the carousel and the Ferris wheel."

"Okay."

Qin Muye agreed, picking up the new drink that had been brought to the table. He took a sip, and the bizarre taste that filled his mouth nearly made him spit it out.

’Shit, I ordered a latte. Why does it taste sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, salty, and astringent all at once? Who the hell dumped an entire kitchen in my drink?’

Qin Muye’s thoughts were still on the rabbit spirit in the back alley, and he ground his teeth in anger.

’I knew that damned rabbit was being too nice. So this is what he was waiting for.’

"What’s wrong? Does it taste bad?"

Seeing his expression, Jiang Qingli reached out to take it for a taste, but Qin Muye stopped her.

"It’s disgusting." Qin Muye clicked his tongue. "Don’t try it."

"Then have some of mine to wash it down. Mine is really good." Jiang Qingli passed her glass to him.

Qin Muye’s eyes immediately fell on the girl’s lipstick mark on the glass, and the tips of his ears grew hot again.

’This counts as an indirect kiss, right...?’

Qin Muye lowered his head, gently pressing his lips to the mark on the glass. His heart pounded in his chest.

...

Jiang Qingli’s juice was indeed delicious. For the rest of the afternoon, Qin Muye was steeped in its sweetness.

Night fell, and the decorative lights began to glow.

The amusement park was illuminated by strings of lights, casting a dreamlike glow everywhere.

The Ferris wheel slowly came to a stop, and the door to a cabin opened.

Jiang Qingli took the young man’s hand beside her and stepped inside.

In a cabin on the opposite side of the wheel, Bai Yiyi, dressed in a white dress, and Ling Qing also got on.