Xia Xue parked outside the gate of her residential compound—Yang Cenbin's truck really was absurdly large, and if she barged into the compound with it, she might well scrape the gate.

"Isn't this your place?" Only after Xia Xue stopped the car did Yang Ce realize they were at the entrance to her compound.

Could this girl Xia Xue be stirring with spring feelings, using dinner as an excuse to lure him to her home? Yang Ce had already felt some stirring toward Xia Xue, and now he could not help letting his thoughts run in a lewd direction. Ha—if Xia Xue really did invite him up, this time he would not retreat at the last moment. Yang Ce was in the middle of this pleasant fantasy when he heard Xia Xue say, "Wait here for me. I'm going up to change."

"Change? You look great as you are—sharp and dashing." Yang Juehuan's mind returned to reality. To be honest, he rather liked Xia Xue in uniform; there was a certain something about it, an indescribable allure.

"You want me to get myself in trouble? Go to a nightspot in uniform?" Xia Xue shot Yang Puqi a glare and got out of the car.

Only then did Yang Cenbin remember: civil servants were not allowed to enter or leave entertainment venues in uniform when not on duty.

The click-clack of high heels brought Yang Juehuan's thoughts back. He looked up—and his jaw nearly dropped.

There stood Xia Xue in a tight black leather outfit, long high-heeled leather boots on her feet, her hair changed from its usual ponytail to the currently fashionable "topknot bun"—the very picture of a modern city girl.

Just as Yang Ce was puzzling over whether this might be Xia Xue's twin sister, she knocked on the car window. "Your turn to drive. I've changed shoes and I'm not used to them."

Only at the sound of her voice was Yang Ce certain the person before him was Xia Xue. He moved to the driver's seat and gave up the passenger seat to her.

"Why do I feel like you're one of those girls who flags down truckers on the highway for a ride?" Yang Ce said, looking at the sexy Xia Xue in disbelief.

"Ha, how about it? Do I look good?" Xia Xue was rather pleased to see that lecherous look in Yang Ce's eyes. This outfit had been picked out a few days ago by her close friend from police academy. Seeing how plainly Xia Xue always dressed, the friend had scolded her in exasperation: "What's so special about being a cop? Cops are people too. Off duty, dress a little stylishly and no one will say a word. Look at me—a few days ago I went out on a case disguised as a passerby, and a magazine reporter asked me to pose for a cover!"

Xia Xue was a girl too—everyone loves beauty. Swayed by her friend's words, and egged on by her, she gritted her teeth and splurged ten thousand yuan on the outfit she was wearing. And don't call Xia Xue stingy: she had fallen out with her family and wasn't asking them for money anymore, so naturally she had to watch every penny. Of course, dressing up made her happy, but the most important thing was having someone appreciate it—so when she saw Yang Juehuan's eyes go wide, Xia Xue was delighted.

"Uh—" Yang Ce grinned slyly. "You know, seeing you like this, I really want to ask you something."

"What?" Xia Xue was basking in self-satisfied delight and did not notice Yang Juehuan's sly grin. Besides, it was dark in the car, and Xia Xue lacked Yang Ce's peculiar gift—even had she wanted to look, she could not have seen it.

"Miss, how much for the whole night?" Yang Puqi asked, deadpan.

"Huh?" Xia Xue was stunned for a moment, then her face flushed crimson. "Get lost!"

"Hahahaha!" Yang Ce burst out laughing. It had been a long time since he and Xia Xue had bickered like this, and the feeling was genuinely amusing.

But Xia Xue bit her lip hard. What began as anger had turned to disappointment, and then to something close to dejection. She lowered her head and fell silent.

Yang Shuoxuan sensed something was wrong and realized at once that his joke had gone a bit too far. He hurried to apologize. "Xia Xue, are you angry?"

Xia Xue said nothing, still quietly staring at the ground.

"I was joking," Yang Ce said meekly. There was no help for it—whose fault was it that his joke had been so outrageous?

"Yang Ce, tell me—does this outfit really make me look like... like that?" After a long moment Xia Xue lifted her head, her voice full of dismay.

"Not at all! I told you, I was only joking." Yang Shuoxuan knew he had truly overstepped. From the look of it, this was probably the first time Xia Xue had ever worn clothes this fashionable, and he had gone and crushed her confidence—that was what made it truly despicable.

"Ugh, don't bother trying to talk me out of it. It seems these clothes just don't suit me." Xia Xue's confidence had collapsed in an instant. She had spent ages in front of the mirror at home, hoping to give Yang Puqi a stunning impression.

"Xia Xue, come on. It's not like we've never joked around before—are you really this ready to believe what I say? I've also said that someday we'd have a kid and name him Yang Guangming. Does that mean you're going to go have one?" Seeing that she would not listen, Yang Ce had no choice but to play his trump card.

"What? Drop dead!" Xia Xue flew into a rage at his words. "Who's having a child with you? But—haha, Yang Ce, you're going to be the death of me. Why do I go around saying other people don't look like that, and only you say I do?"

Seeing that Xia Xue was no longer brooding, Yang Ce breathed a sigh of relief. That was Xia Xue for you—quick to sulk, quicker still to forget, and in the blink of an eye she was laughing again.

"Honestly, Xia Xue, this outfit really is sexy and beautiful. I almost didn't recognize you." Yang Mo had learned his lesson and did not dare spout nonsense again. "Still, I have to say—you look best in your uniform."

"Really?" Xia Xue was clearly delighted by Yang Juehuan's words. What girl doesn't enjoy being praised? But she still nursed a grudge over what he had said earlier, so she needled him: "Yang Ce, are you some kind of pervert? Do you have a special fetish—uniform seduction, maybe?"

Lately, in pursuit of this bizarre haunting case, Xia Xue had been reading up on a great deal of related literature and material—analyses of the motives and psychology of sexual deviants.

Some of it inevitably touched on the mental workings of criminals with other peculiar fetishes, and she had read plenty about offenders drawn to uniform temptation.

"Uh—" Yang Ce was thoroughly embarrassed. He had not expected such explosive words to come out of Xia Xue's mouth, but he had always been thick-skinned and was not much put out. "Plenty of men like it, don't they? Otherwise, who would those Japanese uniform-fetish films be sold to?"

"You—you just refuse to learn any decency. Wait till I tell Chen Shutang. Then we'll see how much seducing you do." Xia Xue shot Yang Puqi an exasperated glare.

"Heh heh." Yang Ce gave a dry laugh. In his heart he thought, if I ever get the chance to play student-uniform seduction with Chen Shutang, that would be pretty nice. Out loud, though, he said, "Where are we going now?"

"Just drive on. I'm not very hungry. Find a bar, have a drink, grab a bite of something." The case had been tying Xia Xue in knots lately, and she had no appetite for food.

Yang Yuting nodded and started the car. And so a gigantic truck came to a stop in the busy downtown, in front of a bar that looked reasonably decent.