Innocence

Previously, Officer Zhou Ming had brought Yu Feng to the Department of City Security to let her observe what was going on in there. Yu Feng had then appeared at his house, asking for food from his mother.

A lot of people had seen the two of them together. It would be ridiculous if they pretended that they did not know each other.

"Be careful with who you called a bad man." Officer Zhou Ming inched closely and whispered, "do you know who that person is?"

Yu Feng placed both hands at her ears. "I don't want to know." Her eyes flashed at him angrily. "I already knew too much and I'm afraid that if I knew a bit more, I might really die. That person threatened me with Orange and my life. If he's not a bad man, then, what is he?"

Officer Zhou Ming stared at the person in front of him and his mind thought of the conversation he had with Prince Yi earlier in the morning.

His Highness had expressed that he will not hesitate to kill Yu Feng if he was suspected of working for their enemy.

Yu Feng seemed like a nice boy. Though they have met a few times, Officer Zhou had a good impression of him. This young boy was an orphan and had been living on the street all by himself, but he did not let the city change him for the worst.

As someone who had been working with the Criminal Investigation Bureau and the Department of City Security, Officer Zhou had met a lot of people like Yu Feng.

Living in the Capital City might be glamorous. People who lived outside the Capital City heard those exciting tales and wanted to enter the city and find a chance to be a part of this liveliness. Thus, every year, they would hear about some who tried to sneak into the city without a permit and gotten caught.

Some of those who got away and lived in the city soon realized that Capital City was not as impressive as they have thought.

Though Capital City was enchanting, it was not a place to live for people without affluence. But now that they have entered the Capital City, none of them could leave as leaving the Capital City was harder than entering.

In the end, they could only continue to live in the city with bitterness.

They had thought that they might have more money and will be able to live well when they stayed in Capital City, but they did not think that once they got inside everything would be much harder and harsher…

Those people entered the city with hope, but after staying for a few years, the hope in their eyes gradually faded away.

Officer Zhou Ming thought that Yu Feng's condition should be the same. But after living in the city for a few years, the liveliness in his eyes did not disappear.

At least, in Officer Zhou Ming's eyes, Yu Feng had retained his innocence. Looking at Yu Feng gave Officer Zhou a feeling as if he wanted to continue and protect that innocence.

But first, Yu Feng will have to survive this night. He thought that, if Yu Feng was able to survive, he would not hesitate to help this young boy to have a better life.

Officer Zhou Ming snapped out of his thought as he watched Yu Feng spun and stood straight in front of him. His brow rose as he watched her raised an empty hand towards him as if expecting him to hand over something to her.

"What do you want?" Officer Zhou Ming asked.

"Since we don't have to pretend that we are strangers, then, Officer Zhou, how about you treat me some bread? Earlier, that bad man only provided me with something to eat for breakfast. He did not even give me anything for lunch. The sky is going to turn dark soon and I needed something to eat. Or else, how am I supposed to have so much energy to run later, right?"

Officer Zhou Ming chuckled. "You cheeky brat." He took out some coins from his pouch and placed them in Yu Feng's hand.

Yu Feng's eyes brightened up upon seeing the amount of money in her hand. Before she was able to say a word of gratitude, the man spoke again.

"Buy a steam bun and get one for me as well."

Officer Zhou Ming's expression brightened up while Yu Feng's faded.

"Eating too much is not good for you. Don't you still need to run afterward? Running with a full stomach is never a good thing," Officer Zhou Ming said happily. "Later, once this day is over, I will give you a few pieces of my mother's pancake."

Yu Feng clicked her tongue. "Officer Zhou Ming, you're a cheapskate. When this is over, you should treat me to a feast!"

Officer Zhou Ming could not help but to stretched his hand to touch Yu Feng's hair. "Sure. But it will all depend on your performance tonight."

Yu Feng finally turned around and headed towards the stall to get some bread.

Seeing the figure disappeared into the crowd, Officer Zhou Ming tilted his head to look at the watchtowers surrounding the area. At this time, he was sure that those people on the watchtowers were watching everything that happened on the street.

Perhaps, at this time, even his interaction with Xiao Feng was reported to Chief Zhang Yue.

Officer Zhou Ming was very sure that Chief Zhang Yue would have something planned for him. After all, that chief had never hidden away his dislike towards him.

Suddenly, he was looking forward to seeing what that man would do.

A slight smile appeared on the Officer's lips. He quickly looked away towards the direction where Yu Feng had gone to and find an inconspicuous place to wait for her.

Since he was going to stay around in the City Center, it would be best for him to keep his eyes on Yu Feng, while observing his surroundings.

His thought went towards the note that he had received from Prince Yi. Officer Zhou Ming was sure that every team would receive the same message at this time.

Prince Yi had a few suspects in mind and had wanted them to keep their eyes open. Although they have not caught the criminal or find any leads that will tell them what their enemies were going to do, everyone knew that something big will happened on this day.

From the corner of his eyes, Officer Zhou Ming watched the crowd parted to make ways for a few workers who were going to light up the lantern at the street side.

The sky was going to change soon. With the lantern finally lit up, the festival will be livelier.

As Officer Zhou Ming continued to watch the workers, his ears picked up the sounds of the drums. His head tilted up to look at the watchtowers and his expression changed as he read their messages.