A Marshmallow: Chapter 2

 Chapter 2: Kid

In the publicity column's photo, with stern brows and clear facial features, if not for wearing a police uniform, he would look even more like a cold, noble young man.

And beside him, the one with a smirking corner of his mouth, clearly not a serious person, was her older brother, Gu Zhen.

So, this is the place where her brother works, and the police officer she met is her brother's colleague?

Gu An secretly made up her mind that when her brother returns, she must ask for his help and properly thank this person.

After leaving the Public Security Bureau's gate, she hailed a taxi and said, "Driver, take me to Intercontinental Manor."

The taxi drove eastward, and she leaned against the window to look outside. Passing by Jing City First High School's gate, it was right at dismissal time, and students in blue and white uniforms were streaming out. After crossing two more intersections, the taxi stopped at the entrance of Intercontinental Manor.

Everywhere her gaze landed, there were lush trees. In the neighborhood park, young children who had just finished school were chattering noisily, and the atmosphere was very lively.

Gu An got out of the car and bought a sweet milk tea to calm herself.

When she took out her phone to scan for payment, a red circle suddenly appeared on the green app.

Gu Zhen's WeChat message was silently lying on her phone, and the time was when she encountered the unexpected:

【My buddy has a special situation, temporary stay, won't be long, just ring the doorbell when you arrive.】

【Although that guy looks good, he has a bad temper. You'll be staying in the attic, so don't bother him unless necessary.】

Why are there so many good-looking and hot-tempered police uncles?

Today, she's about to meet the second one.

The neighborhood was too large, and Gu An made several rounds before she found Building 11, Unit 1101. It had been half an hour by the time she arrived.

She took a sip of her pearl milk tea, and then rang the doorbell.

The sweet and rich milk tea diluted her fear, and the chewy pearls in her mouth were soft and tender. Before she could swallow them, the door opened from the inside.

The person who opened the door was quite tall. Her height was just about five feet, so she had to look up at him.

He was wearing a loose white short-sleeved shirt and black knee-length athletic shorts. He had a slim and upright figure, a clean and fair face, and when he lowered his head, his black disheveled hair fell across his forehead, resembling a college student.

On his handsome face, impatience was clearly evident.

Gu An swallowed the pearls in her mouth and her eyes widened completely.

It was him!

From her upward perspective, she could even see the red marks on his jaw, the injuries he had sustained during a close encounter with a suspect earlier in the day.

"Who are you looking for?" Jiang Yan spoke with a slightly hoarse voice, as if he had just woken up, and there was a hint of nasal tone.

After several consecutive nights of staying up late, he had just fallen asleep in one of the rooms in Gu Zhen's place. Now, being unexpectedly awakened by someone, his eyes hadn't fully focused yet, and he only saw a ridiculously short human.

The short human was sitting on a suitcase, with long hair tied in a small bun on the top of their head, looking at him with a bewildered expression.

She had a milk tea straw in her mouth, with the milk tea resting in the front pocket of her overalls. She was carrying a pineapple-shaped crossbody bag and looked like an upside-down pea shooter -

Pea shooters shoot peas in quick succession, and she had a tense little face, sipping on the pearls in her milk tea with a quick, quick, quick motion.

"Hello!" After a few seconds of stillness, the short human swallowed the pearls in their mouth, hopped off the suitcase, and smiled, revealing sharp little tiger teeth. "Thanks for today!"

"Are you Gu Zhen's?" Jiang Yan pursed his lips, his lips curled slightly, and that cold and handsome face inexplicably revealed a youthful aura.

"Sister," the human child's voice was crisp, and with big eyes, she stared at him without blinking. "My name is Gu An."

The two stood at the doorway, one looking like an interrogator and the other resembling a kindergarten kid answering a teacher's questions.

Gu An had finished her milk tea in her bag, and as she bit her lip, not knowing what to say, a cold, pale, slender hand picked up her suitcase from her side, and a faint scent of mint shower gel wafted through the air.

"Please come in."

-

The house Gu Zhen bought came with a loft, and the loft had its own private bathroom. From the arched window, you could see the sky and fluffy clouds. The bed was by the window, and the quilt and pillow were fluffy and soft, radiating the scent of sunshine.

When she was a child, before her parents' divorce, she used to watch cartoons and point to the loft in the cartoons, telling Gu Zhen, "Gu Zhen, I like this kind of house, where we can sleep with the stars and the moon!"

She texted Gu Zhen to let him know she had arrived safely and, during the pause for his response, went downstairs to the pharmacy to buy some anti-inflammatory medicine and band-aids.

Jiang Yan had just dozed off, with his head on the pillow, when the doorbell rang again.

The door opened, and there stood a young girl who barely reached his chest. She looked up at him with a slightly annoyed expression, "I'm sorry, I don't have the key yet..."

Her voice was soft and a bit whiny, with a hint of innocence, and her small tiger teeth protruded slightly.

Jiang Yan suddenly thought of a German Shepherd puppy just born at a police dog training center.

"Okay."

The irritability in the corners of his eyes and eyebrows disappeared entirely. Jiang Yan's expressionless handsome face turned, and he was about to turn back to his room when the girl grabbed the hem of his short sleeve.

He lowered his gaze, and she quickly let go. With her large, round eyes and a gentle downturn at the corners, she looked even more sweet and innocent when she looked up at people.

"Do you need something else?"

The human child bit her lip slightly and then used her slender, white fingers to point to the corners of her mouth and jaw, indicating to him, "Here, and here, you have scratches."

She held what was in her hand up to his face, watching him carefully as she bit her lip.

It's an anti-inflammatory medicine and a Band-Aid with a little yellow sponge baby.

"Apply the medicine; otherwise, it will heal very slowly."

Just a superficial scratch.

Police officers like them aren't so particular.

"No need."

As he spoke, the little girl's recently upturned lips visibly deflated at an astonishing speed.

Her appearance, seemingly unjustly wronged, oddly overlapped with a distant childhood memory.

That year down south, she was also a little bundle of energy, her hair tied in buns.

Bouncing along behind him, her chatty nature knew no bounds, and her little mouth kept going without a pause:

"Big brother, are you hurt?"

"Big brother, are you still in pain?"

"Big brother, I can share my candy with you, but only one..."

He was driven to impatience by her incessant chatter, furrowing his brow, he said, "You're so noisy."

In a split second, the small bundle that had brought a jar of candy to offer was left stunned.

The little dumpling froze for a moment. Just when he thought she was about to cry, she blinked her eyes, smiling with curved eyes. Because she was in the process of changing teeth, she looked a bit funny and cute. "So! You can shorten words!"

He chuckled and asked, "What's your name?"

She pursed her little face and spelled it out with difficulty, "gu-an-guan."

Even when he left, he still didn't know which "guan" it was.

-

At seven in the evening, someone knocked on the attic door.

Gu An rushed to open the door, and Jiang Yan stood at the doorway. "We're having a team dinner tonight. Gu Zhen asked me to bring you along."

"Oh, okay!" Gu An looked up, and there was a handsome guy in front of her with fair skin and good looks. However, his chin revealed a baby-like soft spot, creating an interesting contrast.

She and the baby-faced guy stared at each other for a moment and couldn't help but smile.

Jiang Yan cleared his throat. "I'll wait downstairs for you."

After the arrival of autumn in Jing City, the temperature difference between day and night was significant.

She stole a glance at Jiang Yan, who was driving, and saw his fair complexion and high nose bridge.

They drove in silence until a black SUV passed by a hot pot restaurant, and Jiang Yan turned the steering wheel.

He parked in reverse, one hand casually resting on the steering wheel, and the other hand on the back of her seat.

His flawless handsome face seemed to be carved from white jade. Just beside her, with his chin slightly raised, either because he was too close or his skin was too fair, she seemed to see his stubble.

"Later, a few of the guys from the team will join us." He seemed to be helping her because of his brother's connection, so he tried to communicate with her in a stiff tone. "Gu Zhen will arrive around nine."

Gu An nodded, and the scent of mint and a hint of lemon on him filled her nostrils. His voice in her ear was clear and cold, but his breath when he spoke was warm, almost brushing her earlobe.

She sat in the passenger seat, afraid to move, but her heartbeat suddenly became irregular.

She was just afraid that if she turned her head even slightly, she would touch his face...

He unfastened his seatbelt and got out of the car ahead of her, then came around to her side and opened the car door.

The person wasn't wearing a police uniform. At home, he had put on a white short-sleeved shirt and casually thrown on a black flight jacket over it. His black pants accentuated his long, straight legs, with only the straight shoulders preserving some professional characteristics.

The rain drizzled intermittently as they walked, their long strides accompanied by the sound of their feet. Gu An reached up and secured the hoodie on her head, afraid of losing it.

After completing their mission, the members of the Criminal Investigation Unit went straight to a hot pot restaurant. After a day of hard work, they could finally sit down and enjoy a hot meal. In their hearts, they grumbled about the slow service while silently praying that their phones wouldn't ring, hoping for a peaceful night's sleep.

"I'm starving."

"Why hasn't Jiang Yan arrived yet? Should we call and ask where he is?"

"He's here."

"His girlfriend? Isn't she a bit too young?"

Everyone watched the stern-faced officer, often called the "dream man of the district" and the "ideal husband of a deputy-level official," as he walked in with a young girl.

The girl was about as tall as Jiang Yan's shoulder. Her hoodie was pulled tight over her head, revealing only her fair and soft cheeks, making her look like a walking marshmallow.

"Hey, who's this little girl?"

"Did the cold and aloof finally warm up?"

"Isn't she the one who reported the case today?"

"Which one reported the case today? The one who went to Yao Yao Ling (Demon spirits) and then ran off crying?"

"No, this is a different one."

"Look at the age difference... Is she some kind of child bride?"

Jiang Yan slightly lowered his head, and Gu An made an "Oh" sound and smiled. In an unfamiliar environment, her little dimples became subtly nervous.

He introduced her to his colleagues, "This is Gu Zhen's sister."

"Gu Zhen has such an adorable sister?"

"How old is she?"

"She doesn't look anything like Gu Zhen!"

Jiang Yan lowered his head. The little girl, obediently and cleverly, greeted everyone and then became reserved. When she lowered her head, her eyelashes hung down densely, and her lips formed a straight line.

"Let's eat first."

Jiang Yan spoke and successfully diverted everyone's attention, especially when they saw the Band-Aid on Jiang Yan's jaw, which had SpongeBob SquarePants on it and didn't match his aura at all. Their expressions became meaningful.

"What's going on? Did a girl nibble on this cute Band-Aid?"

"Such a cute Band-Aid. It's probably stuck by a girl, right?"

A group of guys in the squad gathered, making unrestrained comments.

Gu An's face turned red almost in the blink of an eye, and it seemed to be getting hotter.

The next moment, he gently tugged it in front of him.

A faint and pleasant scent of lemons emanated from his body and enveloped her.

Her gaze followed the black jacket collar upwards. Gu An stared straight into his eyes, only then did she realize that he not only had dimples but also a pair of excessively beautiful and clear eyes.

His pupils were crystal clear, pure black, sharp at the corners, and his double eyelids slowly opened from the corners to the ends, with an exquisite curve that left people in awe.

The scorching heat spread from her cheeks to her earlobes, and her heartbeat became irregular and increasingly distinct.

At that moment, he used his slender fingers to cover her ears through his hoodie, completely blocking out the surrounding noise.

His face remained cold, and his eyes and eyebrows showed impatience, but because they were so close, every curve of his lips was very clear, and Gu An read his lips.

A very low and gentle voice seemed to fall from the top of her head:

"Kids are here, keep your mouth clean."

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