Villain? No, I'll catch up with the protagonist after passing the civil service exam.

"Cremate the body?"

Lu Jingyan finally couldn't hold back any longer; his temples throbbed violently.

He flung Bai Lian's hand away with such force that it even stirred up a gust of wind. For the first time, a complex emotion, a mixture of absurdity, speechlessness, and a hint of anger, surfaced in those usually calm and collected eyes.

"Madam, please understand three things."

Lu Jingyan's voice was as cold as frozen meat just taken out of the freezer, each word resounding with force.

"First, I am Lu Jingyan, male, with a preference for women (tentative), 24 years old, in good health, with no bad habits, and living a good life. I am not your deceased white moonlight 'Aze,' nor am I his reincarnated spirit child."

"Secondly, in front of a living person, you repeatedly emphasized that he looked like a dead person, and even vividly described the details of cremating the body."

He pushed up his glasses, and a dangerous glint flashed behind the lenses.

"From a folk custom perspective, this is considered bad luck. From a legal perspective, this constitutes a personal insult and a spiritual curse against a public official. It's very unlucky, you understand?"

"third!"

Lu Jingyan pointed to his Audi, which was forced to stop in the middle of the road, and then to the traffic jam behind him. His tone became impatient. "You're not only preventing me from getting home from get off work, but you're also seriously disrupting public transportation order. According to Article 23 of the Public Security Administration Punishment Law, I can sue you for disorderly conduct."

Bai Lian was stunned by his "combination punch" of legal jargon and folk taboos.

She opened her mouth, tears still clinging to her eyelashes, her pitiful expression frozen on her face, looking both comical and pathetic.

That's not how the script was written!

According to the novels she had read, shouldn't the "substitute" be moved by her deep feelings at this moment, and while saying "I am not him" he couldn't help but hug her, putting on a tragic love story?

How did it become "cursing law enforcement officers" and "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" in his case?

"Aze...you weren't like this before..."

Bai Lian was still trying to use her melodramatic logic to influence Lu Jingyan, saying, "You used to be so gentle, you wouldn't even raise your voice to me..."

That's Aze, not me.

Lu Jingyan completely lost his patience.

He took out his walkie-talkie and pressed the call button.

"Command center, this is Lu Jingyan. At the intersection of Jiefang Road and Wutong Lane, a woman who appears to be mentally unstable is obstructing traffic, is agitated, and is talking nonsense. Requesting assistance from the local police station to send two female officers to handle the situation."

"A policewoman?" Bai Lian was taken aback.

"Yes, policewoman."

Lu Jingyan put away the walkie-talkie, his eyes cold. "To avoid unnecessary physical contact and misunderstandings, I think it's more appropriate to let a female comrade handle your 'deep feelings'."

"Now, please get out of the way immediately. Otherwise, before they arrive, I wouldn't mind putting you in handcuffs and letting you experience what 'physical calm' really means."

"No! You can't do this to me!"

Bai Lian finally realized that the man in front of her was truly impervious to reason.

Her tears flowed even more fiercely, but this time it wasn't an act; she was genuinely angry and aggrieved.

"Aze! You even look exactly like him when you're angry!"

Like a broken record, she kept repeating that maddening line, "Hit me! Curse me! As long as you calm down, as long as you admit you are him, I'll do whatever you want!"

Lu Jingyan: "..."

He felt that his "absolute rationality" skill was about to malfunction at this moment.

You can't reason with a madman who lives in his own world.

Without further ado, he bypassed Bai Lian, opened the car door, and got in.

"squeak--"

The Audi made a soft sound, made a small turn, brushed past Bai Lian, and merged into the traffic.

"Aze! Don't go! Don't go!"

Bai Lian chased after the car, her cries heart-wrenching, drawing the attention of passersby, some of whom even took out their phones to film this melodramatic spectacle.

Lu Jingyan looked at the increasingly smaller white figure in the rearview mirror and shook his head helplessly.

He felt like he wasn't a policeman, but rather a truant doctor at a mental hospital, whose daily work consisted of outsmarting all sorts of bizarre "patients."

It was already late at night when I got home.

Lu Jingyan took a shower, trying to wash away the bad luck.

He lay in bed, just about to fall asleep, when Bai Lian's last hysterical words kept replaying in his mind—

"I cremated your body myself..."

Although he knew it was nonsense, for some reason, Lu Jingyan still felt a strange sensation in his heart.

How exactly did that beloved "Aze" die?

Why does it look so much like me?

[Ding! Host's emotional fluctuations detected, triggering a side quest...]

"Shut up."

Lu Jingyan turned over irritably. "I just want to sleep right now. I don't want to hear about any missions."

The system obediently remained silent.

However, early the next morning...

When Lu Jingyan drove to work, he bought steamed buns at a breakfast stall in front of the police station.

A familiar figure appeared behind him like a ghost.

Bai Lian was wearing the same white dress as yesterday, but her face was even paler. She was holding a thermal lunchbox in her hands, and her eyes were staring straight at Lu Jingyan, as if she hadn't slept for days.

"Aze, you didn't have breakfast, did you?"

Her voice was hoarse, with a hint of sickly tenderness, "I made your favorite wontons, they taste just like before..."

Lu Jingyan: "..."

He felt his blood pressure rise again.

"Boss, I don't want the steamed buns anymore."

Lu Jingyan put down the clip and turned to leave.

"Aze! Don't go!"

Bai Lian chased after him, saying, "It's bad for your stomach if you don't eat breakfast! I'll bring you some every day from now on!"

Lu Jingyan quickened his pace, almost fleeing in panic.

Over the next few days, Lu Jingyan truly experienced what it meant to be "haunted by a ghost".

While he was in a meeting, Bai Lian waited at the meeting room door with a thermos.

When he arrived at the scene, Bai Lian followed him from a distance outside the police line, gazing at him with a "waiting-for-husband" look.

When he got off work and went home, Bai Lian followed him in her old Beetle, keeping a safe distance.

She didn't cry, didn't make a fuss, and didn't rush at him again.

She was like a silent shadow, a wandering ghost in the city, expressing her obsessive and insane "love" in a chilling way.

The atmosphere in the special investigation team's office became eerie.

"Captain Lu, that girl is here again."

Zhao Tiezhu pointed out the window, "She also brought a bouquet of flowers today, white chrysanthemums. She said... she said today is 'Aze's' death anniversary."

Lu Jingyan: "..."

He suddenly stood up and yanked open the curtains.

Downstairs, Bai Lian was holding a large bunch of white chrysanthemums, looking up at his window with a dazed expression, muttering something to herself.

"This can't go on any longer."

Lu Jingyan's eyes turned cold. "Su Xiaoxiao, investigate her social connections and recent whereabouts. I suspect she may have more than just mental problems."

"A normal mentally ill person can't get their hands on a Luoyang shovel."

"besides."

Lu Jingyan picked up his police cap and strode outside.

"Zhao Tiezhu, come down with me."

"Tonight, I'll have a good chat with this 'deeply affectionate' female protagonist."