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

An early autumn afternoon.

Sunlight filtered through the slightly yellowing leaves of the plane trees lining the street, scattering dappled golden patches that swayed back and forth on the road in the breeze.

The air carried a hint of the caramelized sweet potato aroma, mixed with the dry exhaust fumes blowing down from the overpass.

A black Volkswagen sedan without police license plates turned its steering wheel.

The tires rolled over the speed bumps on the side of the road, making a dull screech of rubber. They came to a steady, clanging stop at the bottom of the steps of the Jinghai Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau.

Lu Jingyan pushed open the driver's side door.

His black leather shoes stomped on the sun-baked asphalt. He wasn't wearing his stiff tactical bulletproof vest or his faded old police uniform today.

He changed into a clean, white cotton shirt, tucked into crisp black trousers.

He walked around the front of the car and opened the passenger door.

With a "click," the car door opened.

Su Xiaoxiao, clutching a canvas bag, crawled out of the car with her head down.

She was also wearing a white shirt. Instead of her usual casual bun, she had tied her hair into a neat high ponytail. A few stray strands of hair clung to her cheeks in the autumn breeze.

"Phew... there are just too many people."

Su Xiaoxiao shielded her forehead from the sun with one hand. She stood on tiptoe and peered into the open glass door of the Civil Affairs Bureau.

The hall was packed with heads.

Lu Jingyan didn't speak. He extended his right hand.

His large, thick palm covered her hand, enveloping her five fingers, which were slightly cold from nervousness.

Clenched tightly. Fingers interlaced.

Su Xiaoxiao looked down at their clasped hands.

On the back of the man's hand, there was still a faint bloodstain left from smashing the glass in the vault a few days ago. A layer of dark red scab had just formed.

Her thumb twitched unconsciously, and her fingertip gently scraped the hard scab twice.

Lu Jingyan's fingers subtly recoiled by half an inch. He turned his head to look at her.

"Nervous?" he asked. His voice was low and resonant, coming from his throat.

"Who's nervous?!"

Su Xiaoxiao, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, suddenly raised her voice. Her cheeks flushed red all the way to her ears.

She used her free hand to fan herself.

"I'm warm. But your palms are all sweaty and sticky. Who's nervous here?"

Lu Jingyan did not refute.

His Adam's apple bobbed, and he silently clenched his fists tighter.

He was indeed sweating.

I've never broken a sweat in my life, even when I've single-handedly ventured into an alien warship, and I could remain calm even when facing the countdown to an antimatter bomb. But today, climbing these few steps felt like my leather shoes were filled with lead, making them feel like they were sinking down.

The glass sensor door slides open to both sides.

The cold air, carrying a variety of complex smells, hit me in the face.

The hall was full of young couples.

The air was filled with the cloying sweetness of cheap perfume, the chocolate smell of low-quality wedding candy, and the ink smell of a printer frantically spitting out A4 sheets of paper.

The sounds of talking, laughter, and the clatter of high heels on the tiles created a cacophony of noise.

The two went to the front desk and got a number.

Following the red marker line, we went directly up to the second-floor photo studio.

The photo studio wasn't large. A large red velvet curtain hung against the wall.

Two glaring reflective umbrella lights shone in front. The incandescent light made the room feel a bit stuffy.

"Next couple! Number 215! Hurry up, there's a long line behind you!"

The photographer was a chubby young man with messy, unkempt hair.

He had a heavy SLR camera hanging around his neck and was frantically wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.

Lu Jingyan led Su Xiaoxiao over.

We sat down on two small, backless round stools in front of the red curtain.

This iron stool is too short.

Lu Jingyan, standing at 1.88 meters tall, had nowhere to put his long legs while sitting on it. He could only awkwardly bend them back, his knees almost hitting the photographer's tripod in front of him.

He habitually rested his hands on his knees.

His back was ramrod straight. His shoulder muscles were stiff, his jawline was taut, and his dark eyes were fixed intently on the camera.

This doesn't look like someone coming to get a marriage certificate at all.

He was like a tough guy about to be shot on the execution ground, facing life and death with righteous indignation.

The chubby young man picked up his camera and glanced through the viewfinder with his left eye.

My wrist trembled slightly.

The guy in the video has a terrifying aura. His eyes are like ice-cold knives, it's like a scene from a serious crime unit interrogation with no confession.

"Hey... um, handsome."

The chubby young man swallowed hard, poked half his head out from behind the camera, and his voice was a little weak.

"Please relax a little. This is a wedding certificate photo, a joyous occasion. It's not a passport photo for a wanted poster, right?"

He gestured upwards at the corners of his mouth with his hand twice.

"Smile. Pull the corners of your mouth up a little. Come on, repeat after me, 'Cheese—'"

Lu Jingyan took a deep breath of the stuffy air in the photo studio.

His chest bulged slightly.

He tried hard to activate his facial nerves. He forcibly pulled his facial muscles to both sides, and the corners of his mouth were stiffly stretched upwards into a very small arc.

That smile looked even more chilling than when he had a stern face.

He exuded a cold, ruthless aura, as if he was about to pull out handcuffs from his pocket and pin the photographer to the ground.

The chubby young man's hand slipped, and he almost pressed the shutter button to take a burst of photos.

"Brother, big brother."

The chubby young man was almost in tears, wiping his sweat with his sleeve. "If you have something you can't say, just blink. We don't do forced sales, there are security guards in the lobby."

Su Xiaoxiao, sitting next to her, couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Pfft—hahahaha!"

She laughed so hard she bent over. Her shoulders trembled, and the household registration booklet and ID card she was holding fell onto her lap.

"Oh, don't make it hard on him. He's never smiled at a camera in his entire life."

She stuffed her documents back into her canvas bag. Turning around, she faced Lu Jingyan.

Two fair hands reached out and cupped Lu Jingyan's stiff face in their palms.

Warm skin clung to his rough, short stubble on his chin. It felt a little prickly.

"Director Lu."

Su Xiaoxiao moved closer. Her breath brushed against Lu Jingyan's chin, carrying the cool, minty scent of his freshly brushed teeth from that morning.

"Can you tone down that 'leniency for confession, severity for resistance' attitude? I'm not some alien smuggler you've brought back."

She gently rubbed his cheekbone twice with her thumb.

Lu Jingyan's eyelids drooped.

Her long eyelashes cast a shadow in her eye sockets. My gaze fell unobstructed into her bright, sparkling eyes.

Su Xiaoxiao released her grip and moved her hand down to straighten the collar of his white shirt.

When I sat down just now, the right collar tip curled in at one corner.

She pinched the piece of fabric between her index finger and thumb, turned it outward little by little, and slowly smoothed it out.

The movement was very light. The knuckles brushed against the man's prominent Adam's apple unintentionally.

Lu Jingyan's Adam's apple bobbed heavily.

Her breathing faltered. A hot, rough breath hit her wrist.

"His collar is all crooked. He usually looks so proper in his police uniform, but today he looks like a silly roe deer."

She muttered to herself, her head down, but her eyes kept glancing upwards.

My fingers slid down his smooth collar, finally landing on his taut chest muscles with two light pats. Two soft pats echoed.

"Alright."

Su Xiaoxiao tilted her head back, revealing a row of neat, white teeth, and laughed carefree.

"Today is the day we officially take you under our wing, you living devil iron tree."

Her eyes curved into two crescent moons. "Give me some face, will you smile? My family member."

Family members.

These two words were like a thermobaric bomb coated in sugar, exploding directly into Lu Jingyan's heart.

There are no laws. No regulations. Only the pure, everyday life of ordinary people.

He looked at the vibrant, lively woman in front of him, who was about to be bound to him for life by the heavy legal documents.

My tense shoulders completely relaxed in that instant.

The thin lips, which had been pressed into a straight line, finally showed a slight, natural, relaxed curve.

The corners of his mouth turned up. The layer of ice that had stood still for millennia in his eyes shattered into a pool of spring water.

The smile still carried a touch of a straight man's awkwardness, yet it exuded genuine sincerity and steadfastness.

"Alright! That's it! Perfect! Hold on and don't move!"

The chubby young man reacted quickly, raising his DSLR camera and pointing the lens at the red backdrop.

The photographer pressed the shutter and gave an "OK" sign. Suddenly, a discordant commotion and screams erupted from the ticket dispenser outside the lobby.