On New Year’s Eve, it snowed in the capital. The mountains were wrapped in silver, while the red maples burned like fire. A black car drove along the winding mountain road, with Ji Chenjiao at the wheel. Normally, Ling Lie sat in the passenger seat, but this time he was huddled in the back seat, curled up in a down jacket. If it weren’t for the protective goggles he was still wearing, his beanie would have covered his eyes completely.

They had just visited Ning Xiechen at the hospital.

Ning Xiechen was the same as before—not in life-threatening danger, but also unable to wake up. Wen Zhengchao was on leave and had brought his wife to visit Ning Xiechen. The couple sat by the bedside and talked to Ning Xiechen about many things from the past.

Wen Zhengchao was actually more open-minded than many police officers. Ning Xiechen had been missing for so many years, and now to have him appear alive before him—even if he couldn’t wake up for a while, it was better than being dead. As long as he was alive, there was hope.

Wen Zhengchao and his wife would stay in the capital for a few days. Ling Lie invited them to celebrate the New Year in the mountains together, but they declined, saying they wanted to meet up with other old teammates in the capital.

Ling Lie thought about it and agreed—who didn’t have old teammates? Every age had its corresponding old teammates.

The people he and Ji Chenjiao were going to meet now were also old teammates.

During their time in the capital, they had been staying at the Special Action Team’s guesthouse. The conditions were quite good, but ultimately not as free and comfortable as being at home. a few days ago, Zhao Fan had put his arm around Ling Lie’s shoulder and said they should come to his place for New Year’s Eve; the house was new, and he hadn’t stayed there much himself.

Zhao Fan gave an address. When Ling Lie mentioned it to Ji Chenjiao later, Ji Chenjiao said, “That’s a wealthy household. Is the Special Action Team’s salary that high?”

Ling Lie sneered, “What? Want to jump ship to the Special Action Team? I’ll go tell Captain Xie.”

Ji Chenjiao: “No, I’m just very confused. Why were you so poor when I picked you up that you couldn’t even afford 500 yuan for rent?”

Ling Lie: “…”

“Actually, we are very poor. We persevere mainly because of our beliefs,” Ling Lie explained solemnly to Ji Chenjiao. Zhao Fan had even less money than him; that villa in the mountains was bought by Zhao Fan’s mysterious older brother.

This mysterious brother was a writer, very wealthy, apparently Shen Xun’s childhood friend, and knew Zhao Fan back when they were in university. When Zhao Fan transferred to the capital, he followed along.

Ji Chenjiao initially thought the mysterious brother was a famous writer, the kind who won literary awards. Just as he was about to ask for the name, Ling Lie said discontentedly, “Zhao Fan said if any of us dared to provoke him, he’d have his writer brother write us into his books as villains.”

Ji Chenjiao: “…” This writer was a bit unprofessional.

Ling Lie: “As for Zhao Fan himself, he’s the coolest and strongest male lead in the book, loved by everyone. Shen Xun and Xiao Yuan are nothing compared to him; he takes them down with one kick.”

Ji Chenjiao felt something was increasingly wrong as he listened and asked, “Does this writer write male-oriented power fantasy novels?”

“Yo!” Ling Lie said, “You read male-oriented power fantasies too?”

Ji Chenjiao: “…” He didn’t, but he couldn’t help that the Major Crimes Unit had a young man named Shen Xi who, whenever crushed by work, would indignantly go read a few power fantasy novels to project himself into.

Ling Lie revealed the mysterious brother’s pen name—”Yan Xiao.” Ji Chenjiao found it somewhat familiar. After thinking carefully, wasn’t that the great god Shen Xi kept muttering about last year?

The great god wrote about a wildly arrogant and charming omnipotent hacker. At that time, Shen Xi couldn’t crack a multi-layered encrypted program, so he went back every night to read a hundred pages about the hacker, then worked hard, swearing to become an invincible technical investigation genius like the hacker in the book.

Ling Lie had heard Shen Xi mention “Yan Xiao” last time and said he would ask the writer brother to sign an autograph for Shen Xi.

But on the day they actually went to visit Zhao Fan’s house, Ling Lie was a bit listless. Not only was he bundled up, but he also refused to sit in the passenger seat and wore sunglasses in the car, pretending to be blind.

Ji Chenjiao felt he had been acting strange since the day before yesterday, and it was particularly obvious today.

“Not feeling well?”

“No, just a bit tired.”

Ji Chenjiao found it even stranger. Ling Lie was the last person to say he was tired.

“When we get there later, I want to sleep. Wake me up when it’s time to eat.” Ling Lie buried half his face into his down jacket.

After crossing half the mountain, they arrived at Zhao Fan’s villa. It was a small estate, not large but exquisite, with no other buildings visible nearby. However, Ji Chenjiao had seen some villas on the way up; they were far apart and didn’t disturb each other.

There were already quite a few people in the villa, all members of the Special Action Team. Ji Chenjiao had become quite familiar with them recently while working on the “Floating Light” case together. Zhao Fan was wearing an apron, hands covered in sauce, yet he still came out to greet the guests.

Ling Lie quickly dodged, “Don’t come over! Where’s my room? I’ll go up myself!”

Zhao Fan seemed to think of something and pointed upstairs, “You’re going to sleep again? Alright, alright, I’ll call you in the evening.”

Ling Lie ran upstairs. Ji Chenjiao was being pulled to play billiards and wanted to chase after him but was stopped and forced to play several rounds. When he finally went up, Ling Lie was already soaking in the bathtub.

Ji Chenjiao crouched by the bathtub, his voice gentle, “What’s wrong?”

Ling Lie wore a comical cat eye mask, buried his face in the hot water to blow bubbles for a while, then emerged and said, “Nothing, just tired. A sleep will fix it.”

Could Ji Chenjiao not tell if something was wrong with him?

Ji Chenjiao reached out and touched Ling Lie’s wet hair, “Forgot what I told you so soon?”

Ling Lie turned his face but forgot to take off the eye mask. The big cat eyes stared at Ji Chenjiao.

“You said you’d learn to change for me. Doesn’t this change include telling me what’s on your mind?”

There was no blame in Ji Chenjiao’s tone. Ling Lie paused for a moment, bent his legs in the water, and hugged his calves with both arms.

A few minutes later, he lowered his head, still not taking off the eye mask, and said in a muffled voice, “I really hate the snow in the north, especially when it snows heavily.”

Ji Chenjiao stood up, gently moved a stool over, and sat down.

“You’ve lived in the capital too. You know the snow here is different from Xia Rong City and Dong Ye City. The snow in Xia Rong City is like playing around; some of it melts before it even hits the ground. But here it’s different. It really snows until… it makes you feel like there’s nothing in this world but snow, just like in our village.”

Ji Chenjiao’s chest tightened.

Ling Lie continued, “Of course, the snow in the capital isn’t as heavy as in ‘Chen Jin’. At least it only snows here during the coldest part of winter. In our village, it only doesn’t snow in summer. I told you before, right? Before leaving the village, I had never seen truly clean snow; it was always stained red. Sister told me and… and A’Xue that snow in the south isn’t like this. Snow in the south is pure white.”

Ji Chenjiao gently patted Ling Lie’s shoulder.

“When I first saw snow in the south, I was so excited. That snow was like rain, landing on my face coolly, cold and comfortable.” Ling Lie curved the corners of his lips. “Later, when I was taken to the Yu family and saw the kind of snow that accumulates on the ground, I suddenly felt very scared, like I was back in the village.”

Ling Lie curled his toes and hugged his calves tighter. “But I couldn’t show fear. I also knew I was safe, that I wasn’t in the village at all. Every year I pretended not to be afraid, pretended to like snow, but actually, I was very uncomfortable. Luckily, no one in the Yu family cared about me, so no one noticed anything wrong.”

“After growing up, I could overcome it. But the snow in the capital is heavy. The first winter, I still made a fool of myself.” Ling Lie sank down to blow bubbles again, and only continued after a long while, “I wasn’t used to the heavy snow here. It was too thick. Stepping on it made rustling sounds, like stepping on corpses. But I didn’t tell anyone. At that time, Xiao Yuan took us further north for winter training. Have you endured winter training?”

Ji Chenjiao nodded, “Resisting severe cold, combat in snow, vision adaptation, hallucination adaptation… During the special criminal investigation mixed training, I was buried in snow and felt that what surrounded me wasn’t snow, but raging fire.”

“Yes, there are hallucinations.” Ling Lie murmured, “As soon as Xiao Yuan dumped us in the snowy forest, I thought I was done for. That place was actually close to the village—well, not really close, not even in the same direction, but the latitude and terrain were truly similar. My mind couldn’t take it then. I couldn’t hear anything. I looked at the ground, whoa, why was there blood everywhere? What I saw wasn’t white, but a red that grew darker and darker.”

Ji Chenjiao immediately thought of Ling Lie’s hearing problem and frowned.

Ling Lie said, “Not long after, I couldn’t hold on anymore and lost consciousness. After being sent to the hospital, the hallucinations were gone, but I was deaf for almost three months. The second year, Xiao Yuan wouldn’t let me go north, but I insisted on going, and went deaf again. On and off, I finally basically adapted. I have to overcome this problem of fearing northern snow, otherwise how can I execute missions? It’s nothing now, I just don’t really like seeing accumulated snow. I get sleepy, but a nap fixes it.”

Ji Chenjiao extended his hands and covered Ling Lie’s ears.

Ling Lie lazily rubbed against them. His deafness wasn’t actually total silence, but rather like being covered by a giant drum. Muffled sounds from the outside would transmit in, reaching his auditory nerves directly, sometimes accompanied by sharp whistling. This feeling was unbearable, enough to drive a person crazy.

But he hadn’t been deaf for a long time and was almost forgetting that feeling.

Ji Chenjiao felt bad, but Ling Lie took off the eye mask. “I remembered something.”

“Hmm?”

“Last time you read ‘The Wizard of Oz’ to me, about the Scarecrow giving his biggest vulnerability to Dorothy. Didn’t I also say I would give my biggest vulnerability to you? That just now was my vulnerability. When I am most, most afraid, I go deaf. A deaf person is easy to fool.”

Ji Chenjiao hugged him with heartache, “Dorothy never used a match to burn the Scarecrow, and I won’t fool you either.”

Ling Lie lay in the quilt and smiled at Ji Chenjiao, “I’m going to sleep.”

Ji Chenjiao: “I’ll stay with you.”

Ling Lie shook his head, “I want to see you rolling in the snow like them.”

Just then, cheers came from downstairs. The snow in the yard was thick, and the young team members were having a snowball fight. Zhao Fan and Shen Xun were setting up the rack; they would have a barbecue in the yard when it got dark.

Ji Chenjiao waited until Ling Lie fell asleep and stayed a while longer before leaving the room.

Le Ran, covered in snow from being hit, happily ran to help Zhao Fan. The most troublesome parts of eating barbecue were setting up the rack and starting the fire before the meal, and cleaning up afterward. Ji Chenjiao also went over to help and saw an unfamiliar man standing next to Shen Xun, arranging the charcoal basin with blackened hands. Ji Chenjiao guessed that must be Zhao Fan’s writer brother “Yan Xiao.”

Zhao Fan saw Ji Chenjiao, waved, and asked in a whisper, “Ling Lie asleep?”

Ji Chenjiao saw Zhao Fan was gutting fish. The tools were neat, but the movements seemed amateurish. “Let me do it.”

Zhao Fan wouldn’t give it to him. “Ling Lie doesn’t like snow. Every time we play in the snow outside, he hides in his room and sleeps.”

Ji Chenjiao said, “It’s nothing if he doesn’t like it.”

Zhao Fan fixed his gaze on Ji Chenjiao’s face and said after a moment, “But I think it’s a pity.”

“Hmm?”

“Look, New Year is such a happy time. As soon as it snows, everyone rushes into the snow to play. Only he sleeps alone in the room. Did he chase you down?”

Ji Chenjiao gave a heavy affirmative sound.

Zhao Fan nodded, “He’s just like that. He won’t play in the snow with us, nor let anyone keep him company. At this moment of the year, he deliberately isolates himself. It’s fine in places where it doesn’t snow, but once in the north, it acts up.”

Zhao Fan got busy again after speaking. Seeing there was nothing he could help with, Ji Chenjiao walked silently to the base of the villa, looked up, and saw Ling Lie’s window.

The curtains were drawn tightly; there was not a bit of light inside.

Ji Chenjiao didn’t know what to do either. After thinking for a while, he simply started building a snowman. There was enough snow in the yard. Thinking of Ling Lie, the snowman he built was also Ling Lie—the Ling Lie from when he had long hair, tied in a bun, wearing a kung fu robe, with a waist drum hanging at his waist.

After finishing, Ji Chenjiao took off his own scarf and wrapped it around “Ling Lie.” He wanted to find something colorful to decorate it further, but Zhao Fan and the others were busy in the distance, so he just took two fish and placed them in front of “Ling Lie.”

It still felt like something was missing.

The Ling Lie playing the waist drum was passionate and bright; he shouldn’t be so cold and desolate.

Ji Chenjiao saw the red maples and plum blossoms near the courtyard wall. Yellow plum blossoms were the most common, but there were also scattered red plums blooming proudly in the snow. Some red maple and red plum branches had been broken by the snow and fallen into the drifts. Ji Chenjiao walked over, picked them up, and decorated “Ling Lie’s” head and clothes.

Ling Lie used to be able to sleep for a long time on snowy days, sleeping until night fell and the world was no longer just white. But this time, for some reason, he woke up not long after Ji Chenjiao left.

Hearing the laughter outside the window, he suddenly felt Xiao Ji was a bit pitiful—yes, the pitiful one wasn’t him, but Xiao Ji.

Others were playing in the snow in groups, but his Xiao Ji didn’t have his company.

Hiding behind the window, he quietly opened a slit in the curtains and saw Ji Chenjiao’s back.

Hmm? Where did the scarf he put on Ji Chenjiao go? What was Ji Chenjiao looking at?

His gaze shifted forward. When he saw the snowman opposite Ji Chenjiao clearly, his pupils suddenly constricted.

There was red on the snowman, a shocking red, the red appearing in the snow that he feared most!

His heart beat violently, but after calming down slightly and looking closely, it wasn’t the blood he thought it was, the filthy blood, but red maples and red plums.

His fingers gripping the curtain trembled gently, as if a warm spring was pouring down from the top of his head, slowly flowing through his body.

He knew that snowman was him. Ji Chenjiao’s snowman-building skills weren’t great, but perhaps due to professional quality, Ji Chenjiao was very good at grasping key points. Once that bun and waist drum appeared, who else could it be but him?

He looked carefully at the red on the snowman. For the first time, he felt that red in the snow wasn’t ugly, didn’t represent evil. They were fragile yet vigorous, struggling to extend their final moment of beauty, extending it further, even after losing life.

Ji Chenjiao didn’t know Ling Lie had woken up. At this moment, he was looking at the snowman intently. A moment later, he suddenly frowned. Although red was beautiful and a color that suited Ling Lie, when he added the red maples and red plums, he forgot that Ling Lie was afraid of red in the snow.

His intention was for Ling Lie to see the snowman upon waking; the snowman absolutely could not trigger Ling Lie’s fearful memories.

Ji Chenjiao cursed his own carelessness and hurriedly walked over to remove the red maples and red plums.

But just then, the sound of a window being thrown open and curtains being pulled back suddenly came from behind him.

Ji Chenjiao subconsciously looked back, only to see Ling Lie with one leg stepping on the window sill.

Both spoke in unison: “What are you doing?”

Ji Chenjiao’s face turned pale with fright. Without time to think, he instinctively opened his arms towards Ling Lie.

Ling Lie was also anxious. He had just been admiring his snowman when Ji Chenjiao actually reached out and removed the red maple on the bun!

It was too late to go downstairs to stop him; jumping out the window was worth a try.

This was only the second floor. For someone with special training, walking on walls was no problem, not to mention the deep snow below.

Right, there was also the accumulated snow, the snow he feared most.

But Ling Lie’s brain seemed to have crashed. Why wasn’t he afraid of the snow below anymore? How did he dare to jump into the snow?

Thoughts and reason seemed to lose their function at this moment. He just wanted to jump down, appear in front of Ji Chenjiao as fast as possible, and defend his snowman. He couldn’t wait a moment longer.

With a light push of his toes on the window ledge, he leaped out like a nimble antelope.

Ji Chenjiao ran towards him. The next instant, the two hugged and rolled in the snow.

Snow stuck to their hair and clothes; scalding skin was covered with icy snow foam. Ji Chenjiao protected Ling Lie as they rolled a few times before finally stopping. He was furious: “Are you crazy?”

As soon as the words fell, he saw Ling Lie’s exceptionally bright eyes. Those eyes looked as if they had been washed by snow water, clear to the bottom, like a holy lake on a plateau reflecting clouds and snow-capped mountains.

Ling Lie was smiling. His snow-covered, icy fingertips touched Ji Chenjiao’s chin, then his cheek. Ji Chenjiao’s lingering fear from the previous moment still remained on his face; his brow was tightly furrowed, and his jaw muscles were tense.

Ling Lie’s hand gently wiped away all this tension. Ji Chenjiao’s gaze finally quieted down, encircling Ling Lie between himself and the snow, their breathing getting closer and closer.

“Xiao Ji, was that snowman you built for me?”

“Yeah.”

“The red… looked very nice. Why did you want to take them away? If I hadn’t caught you, where were you going to throw them?”

“Bury them.” Ji Chenjiao rubbed Ling Lie’s lips. “You don’t like it. You’re afraid.”

Ling Lie said, “But I don’t seem to be afraid anymore.”

“Really?”

“Take me over to see.”

Ji Chenjiao stood up, pulled Ling Lie up, checked him carefully to make sure he wasn’t hurt, then bent down to pat the snow off his pants.

But the snow was stubborn and couldn’t be patted clean in a short while.

Ling Lie was anxious to see the snowman and didn’t care about the snow on his body at all. The two arrived in front of the snowman. Ling Lie leaned in close, his nose tip almost touching the snowman’s nose tip. He curiously breathed on the snowman, melting a small patch.

Ling Lie: “…”

“Xiao Ji, the quality of your snowman isn’t good; the bridge of the nose collapsed.”

Ji Chenjiao was surprised to see him in much better spirits. Perhaps it was the snowman’s credit, or perhaps the release from that jump. Either way, it was a good thing.

“Then you build one?”

“I’ll build one then.”

Ling Lie did as he said, digging into the snow with his bare hands. Ji Chenjiao hurriedly gave him his gloves. Although he said he wasn’t cold, he honestly let Ji Chenjiao put them on him.

Although he grew up in the bitterly cold “Chen Jin” village, Ling Lie really had no talent for building snowmen. He wanted to build a “Xiao Ji” that was a match for “Ling Lie,” but it collapsed not long after he started. He wouldn’t let Ji Chenjiao help either. Finally, he barely managed to build a low-spec “Xiao Ji” that was not only crooked and ugly but also only half the height of “Ling Lie.”

“This wife isn’t of age yet!” Ling Lie said bitterly to “Ling Lie.” “You’re going to suffer. You have to wait at least until he’s of age before you can toy with him.”

Ji Chenjiao: “…” What kind of wild talk was this?

After sighing, Ling Lie hooked his arm around Ji Chenjiao’s shoulder again. “I’m happier, my wife is of age.”

Ji Chenjiao gave a fake smile, “Can be toyed with, right?”

Ling Lie: “Hahahaha!”

The sky gradually darkened. All the lights in the villa were turned on; colorful lights and big red lanterns heralded the arrival of the New Year. Zhao Fan had been busy all day but still hadn’t finished preparing all the ingredients. Ling Lie went over to help, picked up a fish, and looked at it. “What is this? The scales aren’t even cleaned!”

Le Ran said, “That’s Brother Zhao Fan’s specialty. Last time I told him the fish scales weren’t cleaned, he said I could spit out bones myself, so couldn’t I spit out scales myself?”

Zhao Fan was unskilled but addicted. As a sniper, he dreamed of being a chef. He cooked terribly but wouldn’t let anyone say so. Everyone in the Special Action Team indulged him, but Ling Lie didn’t. He grabbed a pair of scissors and started “rectifying” Zhao Fan’s ingredients.

Zhao Fan was anxious, “We agreed I’m the head chef today!”

Ling Lie ignored him completely, “I don’t want our Xiao Ji eating animal feed.”

The team members who had suffered from Zhao Fan’s cooking all breathed a sigh of relief.

The Spring Festival Gala was playing on the TV inside, and the outdoor barbecue party finally started. The charcoal fire grilled the meat to a rich aroma. Ling Lie sprinkled his specially mixed seasoning on the sizzling meat, and every batch was snatched up as soon as it was served.

Zhao Fan was a bit depressed at first, but later, after eating happily, he simply told everyone he met, “Ling Lie is my apprentice! Really, really, I taught him his marksmanship! And cooking too! No, no, no, Xiao Yuan didn’t teach him marksmanship!”

As the head chef, Ling Lie worked more and ate less. Ji Chenjiao stood by his side holding a plate, feeding him some meat from time to time.

“Did Zhao Fan really teach you cooking?”

Ling Lie sneered: “Listen to that, does it sound like human language?”

Ji Chenjiao also laughed, “Indeed it doesn’t.”

Almost no one in the Special Action Team had a small appetite. The barbecue went on from past seven until the early morning. Even after the New Year bell had rung, some still hadn’t put down their plates. Fortunately, Zhao Fan’s writer brother was wealthy and could afford to host.

Around two o’clock, the group went to rest, staggering. Ling Lie was still standing by the charcoal fire eating alone. Shen Xun came over with a cup containing fruit juice.

Ling Lie clinked glasses with him and chatted about the case.

Talking about “Floating Light” during the New Year was a bit inauspicious, but Ling Lie didn’t mind this taboos. He drank the juice in one gulp, his eyes firm. “No matter what, we have to take down ‘Black Peacock’ this year.”

Shen Xun nodded, “We can’t let ‘Floating Light’ continue to do evil.”

Ji Chenjiao escorted a few stuffed teammates upstairs. As soon as he came down, he heard Ling Lie call out, “Look what I grilled for you.”

It was a grilled fish marinated for hours. The group who had gorged themselves earlier missed out on this good stuff.

“Giving me special treatment?” Ji Chenjiao laughed.

Ling Lie handed the plate to him, “I’ve always liked practicing favoritism.”

Inside and outside the villa, it gradually quieted down, leaving only the crackling charcoal fire and the person enjoying special treatment through favoritism.

Ling Lie suddenly held his cup in front of Ji Chenjiao, “To our first Spring Festival.”

Ji Chenjiao filled his cup with juice, clinked it gently, “To our first Spring Festival.”