Escape? You kidding?!
Given his current situation, he was looking at a few years at most. After all, no lives had been lost; at worst, it would be attempted assault charges.
Not to mention whether he even had the ability to slip away from under the noses of these three people. Getting caught again would be the best-case scenario — who knew if they might just deal with him on the spot.
Passerby A dragged Passerby B all the way to the back of the police car, proactively opened the door, stuffed his companion in first, then climbed in after him, not forgetting to pull the door shut behind them.
Qingyi stood by the passenger door. Seeing Zhu Yuan still happily chatting by the roadside, she pouted with dissatisfaction and called out loudly: "Zhu Yuan, how much longer are you going to chat?"
"Okay! Coming right away!" Hearing Qingyi's urging, Zhu Yuan turned to reply, then looked back at Ye Qingfeng with a small smile. "Qingfeng, you don't mind swinging by the Public Security Bureau for a bit, right? After you give your statement, how about trying our work canteen meal? Then we can run through tomorrow's rehearsal in the afternoon."
"Of course! It would be my honor!" Ye Qingfeng deliberately drew out the last syllable, speaking in an exaggeratedly courteous manner. "Then I'll be in your care today, Zhu Yuan."
"Haha! Qingfeng, you sound so strange talking like that!"
Zhu Yuan chuckled softly, eyes crinkling, one hand lifting to cover her mouth as laughter colored her voice.
"Alright, don't keep Qingyi waiting. Officers first!"
Ye Qingfeng made a very gentlemanly gesture of 'after you.'
This drew another bright laugh from Zhu Yuan. She went ahead as he intended, and as she passed him, she suddenly raised her hand and lightly punched him in the chest. "Stop clowning around, let's go!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
Ye Qingfeng grinned and gave Zhu Yuan a salute, then followed behind her towards the police car.
"..."
Watching the two of them still smiling as they approached, Qingyi's expression darkened involuntarily. She uncontrollably clenched her fists. Just as the frustration was about to spill over, she saw them heading her way.
Frustrating... and somehow oddly aggrieving.
Qingyi let out a very soft, very low huff, opened the door, and settled into the passenger seat.
"Qingfeng, you should sit in the back."
Zhu Yuan walked up to the police car, opened the door, assessed the situation inside, and turned to say to Ye Qingfeng.
"Um... I get carsick. Could I sit in the front passenger seat?"
Ye Qingfeng's good mood instantly deflated a little. He looked at Zhu Yuan with a hopeful expression and asked sheepishly.
"Of course!" Zhu Yuan quietly filed this away in her mind. She leaned into the car and looked at Qingyi in the passenger seat, asking in a considerate tone: "Senior Qingyi, would you mind sitting in the back? Qingfeng gets carsick."
Qingyi took a slow, measured breath, silently unclipped her seatbelt, opened the door, and got out.
She could have refused, of course. But Zhu Yuan's reasoning was entirely sound, and she was generally indifferent to things like this.
Besides, Qingyi was older than Ye Qingfeng and was also a Public Security Bureau officer — yielding the seat was only proper.
So why did she feel inexplicably irritated?
In the past, even if Zhu Yuan had left her standing by the roadside, she would have shrugged and strolled back to the bureau at her own pace, treating it as a leisurely walk.
Just as she got out of the car, she found Ye Qingfeng already standing there waiting, looking at her with an apologetic expression. Her irritation deepened. She turned her head away without responding, opened the rear door, and got in.
The originally spacious back seat instantly became cramped. Passerby A, sitting in the middle, could only press himself away from Qingyi, maintaining a palm's width of distance.
He wasn't entirely sure why... but Officer Qingyi seemed to be in a bad mood. Better not to provoke her.
Having been completely ignored by Qingyi, Ye Qingfeng settled into her former seat.
He had also sensed that Qingyi was in a bad mood, and that it seemed to have something to do with him. From the moment they met, he hadn't said a single word to her...
There was only one possible explanation. He recalled what that wise older inmate back in prison had once told him.
If you find yourself with two girls at once, and one of them suddenly starts sulking, you need to ask yourself whether you've been neglecting her.
Causing a psychological imbalance — jealousy!!
In other words, Qingyi had seen him chatting so happily with Zhu Yuan, and because he hadn't spoken to her at all, she was jealous?
As Zhu Yuan started the police car, Ye Qingfeng immediately felt the nausea rising. He shut his eyes and leaned back against the seat.
Whatever the case... he would deal with it once they were out of the car...
As Ye Qingfeng closed his eyes, his breathing gradually steadied. Zhu Yuan noticed his condition and quietly eased off the accelerator little by little. The vehicle moved smoothly and evenly along the road towards the Public Security Bureau.
In the back seat, Qingyi sat with her arms folded, expression blank, back perfectly straight, legs crossed.
Through the rearview mirror, she could clearly see Ye Qingfeng's peaceful, sleeping face.
Beneath the fine, loose strands of his fringe were eyelashes even longer than her own. The lines of his face were sharply defined yet carried a hint of softness, and he had an enviably straight, well-shaped nose.
His complexion was slightly pale, giving off an impression of fragile delicacy — the kind that made any woman instinctively want to look after him.
Even Qingyi, who generally kept men at arm's length, was no exception. Seeing him like this, her tightly knitted brows slowly eased, and the corners of her mouth lifted into a barely perceptible curve.
So at least the carsickness wasn't an act.
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