The string of warm lights swayed once more in the wind, stretching the two figures’ shadows long across the snow in front of the door until they overlapped.
Jiang Nuan gripped the doorknob. Its icy chill traveled through her palm.
She didn’t look back.
But the warmth enveloping her from behind was steadier than any heater.
When the door opened, a wave of warm air carrying the scent of wood rushed toward them, shutting out the blizzard behind them completely.
The entryway’s motion-activated light came on, not especially bright—just enough to cast the interior of the old split-level house in a cozy glow.
The living room had a high ceiling, its walls painted a warm almond cream. In one corner, a floor lamp cast a soft fan of light. The staircase ran along the wall and turned at a landing where a painting of the local snowy landscape hung.
Jiang Nuan kicked off her boots and slipped into the cotton slippers waiting by the entrance. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a note with a folded corner pressed down on top of the shoe cabinet.
[The heating valve is a little stiff. Turn it all the way to get it warm. Contact me anytime if there’s a problem. —Zhang Qiang]
Almost unconsciously, she reached out and touched the old radiator beside her.
It was comfortably warm. Zhang Qiang must have come over before setting out to pick them up.
Not only had he adjusted the valve, he had probably tested it for quite a while too.
“He’s honestly so considerate…” Jiang Nuan clicked her tongue. “I’m starting to suspect he was a five-star hotel concierge in a past life.”
The man had a bright future ahead of him. Truly.
“If he heard you praising him like that, he’d probably arrange breakfast for you tomorrow too,” Jiang Ce said with a grin.
“…He might actually do that.” Jiang Nuan thought about it and decided it did sound exactly like something Zhang Qiang would do.
It would be best to have Lu Shiyan tell him not to go to so much trouble. With the snow this heavy, making him travel back and forth was too much of a hassle.
Jiang Nuan took two steps into the living room, then stopped.
Three place settings and wineglasses had been arranged on a six-person dining table. Even the napkins had been folded into neat triangles.
The food was all laid out, steam rising from the plates, mingling with the aroma of meat and some faintly sour, fermented scent.
The table came with a built-in warming plate. No wonder everything was still hot.
The arrangements were… thorough down to the smallest detail, utterly flawless.
The potato pancakes on the table were golden and crisp. In a clay pot, chunks of beef simmered in a thick gravy. Beside it sat a plate of paper-thin pickles, along with a small pot of borscht carrying the tang of sour cream. Thick slices of hearty brown bread served as the staple.
Jiang Nuan stared at the empty chair across from her for two seconds.
“Does Zhang Qiang not know Lu Shiyan isn’t coming back tonight?” She tugged at the corner of her mouth and pulled out a chair. “This glass of wine is going to waste.”
“He probably prepared everything by headcount. He only got the message before he left,” Jiang Ce said as he sat down beside her.
“Having to go to a meeting in the middle of the night…” Jiang Nuan had already taken a bite of pancake. The soft potato and crisp, browned exterior melted together in her mouth. She evaluated it around her mouthful, “Governor Lu is far too dedicated.”
Jiang Ce couldn’t help laughing. “Far too dedicated, Captain Lu.”
He picked up the soup ladle, filled a bowl with borscht, and placed it beside Jiang Nuan.
She lifted it and blew on it. Her brow furrowed after the first sip—the taste was a little strange.
But when the second sip followed on the warmth of the first, all she could taste was a deep, savory sweetness she couldn’t quite describe. She had no desire to put the bowl down.
“The food here is really good!” she said, scooping up another spoonful.
The local specialties of District A weren’t like the delicately plated dishes of District E. The food here was substantial, made to fill your stomach and warm your body.
Jiang Ce’s chopsticks moved between the braised beef, potato pancakes, and pickles. He was full of praise as well.
Jiang Nuan’s gaze fell on the glass of wine in front of her.
The amber liquid gleamed in the transparent glass beneath the gentle lights, its color beautiful.
She lifted it and took a sip.
It went down smooth and sweet, with the delicate flavors of honey and berries. The alcohol was barely noticeable, almost like drinking a glass of warm fruit juice.
Jiang Ce glanced at her. “It’s a local liquor from District A.”
When he saw her take a second sip, he added, “Go easy. It has quite a kick.”
Jiang Nuan waved dismissively and took another drink. “What’s the difference between this and fruit juice?”
Jiang Ce looked at her now-empty glass. With an helpless smile, he went over to fetch a bottle of mineral water and set it beside her.
He was drinking too, occasionally clinking glasses with Jiang Nuan as the two of them chatted casually about amusing little things.
Jiang Nuan finished her drink.
Only when she saw the empty bottom of the glass did she belatedly pause. When had she finished it?
It was so sweet she hadn’t even felt as though she were drinking alcohol.
Her gaze drifted across the table.
Lu Shiyan’s glass was still full, the wine sitting quietly inside it.
She reached over and picked up the glass from Lu Shiyan’s place.
“He’s not coming back anyway,” Jiang Nuan declared, entirely unapologetic. “It would be a waste not to drink it.”
Watching her act so righteous about it, Jiang Ce laughed.
The light warmed one side of his face. His shoulders rested easily against the back of the chair, and he seemed far more relaxed than he had during the day.
Holding Lu Shiyan’s glass, she took slow, small sips.
The sweet liquid slipped down her throat, bringing a lingering warmth with it.
Outside, the snow fell harder. Huge flakes, driven by the wind, slapped against the windows with a soft, rustling sound.
Inside, the heat was turned up high, the lights were gentle, and steam still rose from the dishes on the table.
When she was a third of the way through her second glass, Jiang Nuan realized that her face felt very warm—and that she was laughing more often.
She liked this feeling. It was comfortable.
A loose, weightless sense that nothing mattered.
No complicated, heavy things she didn’t want to think about.
Just two people eating and drinking in a warm house, talking about things that had nothing to do with anything.
She watched Jiang Ce speaking across from her.
His voice was low and gentle, as steady as the heating in the house.
The light softened his features, taking away some of the oppressive presence created by his imposing build.
“How did you join the Zero Squad?” Jiang Nuan asked, her voice slightly nasal. “Did the captain see you and immediately poach you?”
After a glass and a half of wine, she had developed a strange desire to know.
Jiang Ce paused with his chopsticks halfway to his plate.
“No,” he said, a subtle curve touching his lips. “The first time the captain and I met, we got into a fight.”
“…You fought Lu Shiyan?” Jiang Nuan straightened a little.
“Yeah.” A note of reminiscence entered Jiang Ce’s voice. “At the time, I was with another squad called the White Crows, ranked second in the Investigation Division. We were on a mission once, but our positions were different. We couldn’t reach an agreement, so we fought.”
As he spoke, his expression even held a trace of fond remembrance.
Jiang Nuan stared at him in disbelief.
The thought of clashing head-on with the Zero Squad was enough to make her scalp prickle.
“What happened next?” she asked hazily. “Did you win?”
Jiang Ce smiled and shook his head. “Of course not.”
He paused.
“But I wouldn’t say I lost, either.”
He considered his wording.
“I withstood the first wave of Lu Shiyan’s spatial attacks. No one on our team was injured, and then people from the Investigation Division came out to mediate.”
Jiang Nuan set down her glass.
She had witnessed Lu Shiyan’s spatial ability before. It was so powerful that it was almost miraculous.
And Jiang Ce had actually been able to withstand an attack of that magnitude.
“You have to be the only person who’s ever gone toe-to-toe with Lu Shiyan and come out in one piece!”
Jiang Ce was amused by her choice of words. He lowered his head and chuckled twice, a small patch of red spreading across his ears. “More or less.”
He said it lightly, but Jiang Nuan could hear the weight behind it.
Although their clash had been stopped almost as soon as it began, being able to shield the entire team from an attack of that magnitude… Jiang Ce was probably the only defensive esper who could have done it.
“Then… Lu Shiyan must have wanted to recruit you for the longest time,” Jiang Nuan said, taking another sip of her drink. The sweetness melted across her tongue. Her thoughts were moving half a beat slower than usual, but she could still follow the logic. “How did you end up with the White Crows?”
“I mean, why didn’t you join Zero, the top-ranked team, back then?” she clarified.
“The captain of the White Crows once helped me,” he said, his voice softening. “It wasn’t just a matter of saving my life.”
Jiang Nuan set down her glass and looked at him seriously.
“My parents were both members of an investigation squad,” Jiang Ce said, staring at the glass in front of him. “They thought defensive abilities had no future, that their potential was limited and they weren’t impressive enough.”
“Everyone in my family had offensive abilities. They thought I should switch to an attack-oriented path, or find some way to develop an offensive variant of my powers.”
He paused.
“My family wouldn’t let me practice my defensive abilities. I could only train in secret.”
Jiang Ce’s grip tightened around the glass.
Jiang Nuan stared at his hand, remembering what Jiang Ce looked like every time he fought—that shield forever raised in front of everyone, never taking a single step back.
That wasn’t something one could master through talent alone.
It was something he had painstakingly forged in secret, gritting his teeth while surrounded by voices telling him, “You shouldn’t be like this.”
“The captain of the White Crows convinced my parents,” Jiang Ce said, lifting his eyes to meet hers. “He was also the first person to tell me that defense could be a form of strength.”
Jiang Nuan understood what he meant.
In an environment where everyone had told him, “You’re not good enough,” someone had finally said, “There’s nothing wrong with the way you are.”
That was why he had stayed with the team.
Warm yellow light reflected in his eyes. Those eyes, usually so gentle, held a faint vulnerability at that moment.
“Because it means you can protect the people you want to protect.”
He finished the sentence while looking at her.
The room fell silent for a moment.
The soft hiss of snow against the window became unusually clear, as did the faint sound of water flowing through the heating pipes.
Jiang Ce didn’t look away, and neither did Jiang Nuan.
Whether it was the alcohol going to her head or the way he was looking at her, she couldn’t say.
She felt as though her face was hot enough to fry an egg.
“…Then how did you end up going to Zero after all?”
Jiang Nuan propped up her heavy chin, doing her best to drag the conversation back on track.
“What happened to the captain of the White Crows?”
