“Get up.” Before Qiu Feng could react, Mu Yu had already lifted him up, and at that moment, the motion-sensing lights in the hallway illuminated with Mu Yu’s exclamation.

　　“God, sis, my ears.” Qiu Feng felt like Mu Yu’s shout had been right next to his ears, and now his head was still buzzing.

　　“I don’t know if you’re really afraid of the dark or just pretending.” Mu Yu got up from the ground, and at that moment, the lights in the hallway dimmed again.

　　“Of course, I’m really afraid of the dark, sis. I told you. Ah, it sucks.” Ever since the incident seven years ago when he was almost kidnapped by human traffickers, he developed a fear of the dark, but fortunately, it didn’t affect his enrollment in the police academy.

　　“Get up. If someone comes, they’ll think I'm bullying you.” Mu Yu felt her pockets, realizing she didn’t have her police flashlight. She pulled out her phone to use its flashlight, only to see Qiu Feng still sitting on the ground looking aggrieved.

　　“Embarrassing. Right?”

　　Mu Yu couldn’t help but think how much Qiu Feng sounded like a large dog seeking sympathy with that sentence.

　　“Why are you so much like Keke?” The boy seemed to suddenly change his demeanor.

　　“Who’s Keke?” Qiu Feng got up, dusting himself off, suddenly becoming alert. Did Mu Yu have another admirer besides Yan Yang? Was there someone named Keke pursuing her?

　　“Keke is a German Shepherd in the department’s K-9 unit.” Mu Yu finished speaking and turned off her phone’s flashlight, indicating to the stunned Qiu Feng to get on with the task at hand.

　　“Mentor, sis, tomorrow I have to go and see what exactly I have in common with the German Shepherd.” Qiu Feng glanced at the pitch-black reception room behind him and hurried to catch up with Mu Yu.

　　“Sure, but first, take care of your duties.”

　　“What duties?” Qiu Feng was puzzled; it seemed like she hadn’t assigned him any tasks for tomorrow.

　　“You’ve upset Zhao Pengcheng’s parents, so tomorrow, it’s your job to handle it.”

　　Qiu Feng felt like he was about to turn into stone. It was only his first day at work, and he was already dealing with this kind of situation.

　　“Sis, please. You have to save me.”

　　The next day, Qiu Fengw with special intention woke up an hour early. While his parents were still asleep, he had already left the house.

　　The summer morning was still refreshing, with not too many people on the streets, but the food stalls on the roadside were already bustling.

　　“Two portions of egg-filled pancakes, and can you add an extra sausage?” Qiu Feng grinned at the man selling the pancakes, only to be charged an extra yuan.

　　“Such a cheapskate. I won’t buy from him anymore.” Qiu Feng muttered, then he placed the pancakes on Mu Yu’s desk while it was still warm. Her desk was tidy, with neatly arranged materials about the department and some case files on the bookshelf. The computer monitor and keyboard were spotless, and there was a pot of thriving plants on the corner of the desk. But the only thing that didn’t quite fit was the framed photograph lying face down.

　　This unusual sight stirred Qiu’s curiosity, but it wasn’t right to touch someone else’s belongings without permission.

　　But just taking a look wouldn’t hurt, right? After all, the photo was placed there for others to see, wasn’t it? Maybe she just casually left it there. Was it an ex-boyfriend? That didn’t seem likely. She wouldn’t cling onto past relationships like this.

　　“What are you doing?” Qiu Feng was startled by the reprimand.

　　“Bro, it’s you. I bought breakfast for her,” Qiu gestured with the egg-filled pancake in his hand to Yan Yang.

　　“No need for that in the future. She’s very disciplined and prefers to make her own breakfast. She doesn’t eat street food. Also, don’t touch anything on her desk,” Yan Yang warned Qiu Feng not to step on any landmines.

　　“Oh, okay.” Qiu felt a bit defeated. Yan indeed understood Mu well, after all, they had worked together for so many years. But he didn’t want to pry into her past through Yan.

　　He returned to his seat, took a few bites, then suddenly noticed the lonely sausage. He remembered his other purpose for getting up early today.

　　It wasn’t yet time to start work, and the office was still quite empty. Colleagues who had just finished their night shifts were going to wash up in groups of two or three.

　　He walked out of the building and headed towards the K-9 unit located to the north of the police bureau building.

　　“Which one of you is Keke?” Qiu Feng looked around, but there was no one in sight. He circled around the K-9 unit, causing the police dogs inside to gather around and watch him.

　　“Keke!” Qiu Feng suddenly shouted.

　　At that moment, a German Shepherd inside barked in response.

　　“Oh, so you’re the Keke she mentioned. Where do we resemble each other? I really can’t see it, we don’t even look alike, do we?” Qiu Feng examined Keke from side to side but couldn’t find any resemblance.

　　“Do you want this?” Qiu Feng held up the sausage in his hand.

　　Keke immediately sat down, sticking out his tongue, making a whimpering sound, and drool dripped from his mouth.

　　“Is this what she meant by resemblance?” Qiu Feng scratched his head. This majestic police dog was surprisingly good at acting cute.

　　“Who are you?” A person approached from behind.

　　“Oh, don’t misunderstand. I’m the new intern police officer. My name is Qiu Feng, and I wasn’t planning to feed Keke anything,” Qiu Feng explained, knowing that the person in front of him must be a dog trainer.

　　“You know Keke?” The dog trainer looked at the unfamiliar young man in front of him, confirming that he didn’t recognize him.

　　“Oh, my mentor mentioned Keke, so I thought I’d come early today to see him,” Qiu smiled and quickly put away the sausage.

　　“Well, our police dogs won’t eat food from strangers; they’ve been through rigorous training. Who’s your mentor?” The trainer led Keke out and then patted its head. Unexpectedly, Keke walked up to Qiu Feng and rubbed his leg with its head.

　　“My mentor is Mu Yu from the Criminal Investigation Division, Second Corps,” Qiu was surprised by Keke’s affection towards him.

　　“Mu Yu has taken an apprentice? Over the years, I’ve seen many apprentices rejected by her. And she’s been dedicated to her work, solving many difficult cases. The organization wanted to promote her to deputy team leader, but she refused,” the trainer shrugged, calling Keke over to sit down. Keke nestled by the trainer’s feet.

　　“Why did she refuse?” Qiu Feng recalled the framed photograph that had been flipped over on her desk.

　　“Well, it’s a long story,” the dog trainer sighed.

　　“Qiu Feng, there you are. Mu is looking for you; she couldn’t reach you on your phone,” someone called out from afar.

　　“I’ll come see you next time. I need to go now; if I’m late, she’ll scold me,” Qiu realized his phone had been on silent all this time. He took out his phone and indeed found several missed calls.

　　“Sure, if you want to know anything, just ask me.”

　　“Where did you run off to so early in the morning?”

　　“You are...” Qiu was surprised to see Mu Yu nibbling on the egg-filled pancake he bought for her.

　　“Did you place it on my desk? Don’t buy it next time; I don’t eat street food,” Mu remarked.

　　Equally surprised was Yan Yang beside her. He didn’t expect Mu to break the rules she had maintained for so many years and actually eat something Qiu bought for her.

　　“In a while, you and Yan will investigate that woman named Yanfang. She’s probably Zhao Pengcheng’s lover and most likely the woman who appeared at the breakfast shop yesterday. You better investigate discreetly and not startle her,” Mu instructed.

　　“We two?” Qiu and Yan said simultaneously.

　　“Yes, any problem with that?” Mu Yu looked at the two dissatisfied faces.

　　“None,” they both shook their heads simultaneously again.

　　“You two are really in sync; that’s reassuring. Now go out and get the job done.”

　　“Mentor, what are you doing today?” Qiu had a bad feeling.

　　“I have some matters to attend to at the bureau, so I’ll trouble you two with this investigation,” Mu replied.

　　“Why are you so upset? Because it’s me not Yu?” Yan Yang slipped into the driver’s seat, seeing Qiu’s unhappy face, which should have been his own.

　　“Does she no longer need me?” Qiu suddenly thought about the mishaps he had caused last night, even knocking her to the ground. Was she angry with him?

　　“She never intended to take you. I’ve never seen her take on an apprentice all these years, so forget about it,” Yan thought it was a good opportunity to suppress the guy’s arrogance a bit. Although he hadn’t won Yu’s heart yet, he couldn’t let this guy out of nowhere succeed.

　　“No, I must perform well today, strive to find important clues, so my master can look at me in a new light.”

　　Meanwhile, the reception area of the Bureau was in chaos. Zhao Pengcheng’s parents, clearly in good physical condition, were uncontrollable by several receptionists.

　　“Find that Qiu Feng for me; I want to settle the score with him!” Zhao Pengcheng’s father, Zhao Wude, threw his cup, splashing hot water onto a female officer, leaving her arm scalded.

　　“I’m Qiu Feng’s mentor. If you have any issues, you can talk to me,” Mu Yu hurriedly walked in from outside. She knew Zhao’s parents would cause trouble today, so she had Qiu Feng leave.

　　“Are you his boss? Can you control him? Last night, he arrogantly claimed that my son’s death was unnatural and that you could autopsy the body without our consent,” the old man, looking frail but speaking forcefully, accused.

　　“That’s perfectly legal. Whether you’re lodging a complaint or suing, we’re in the right. Moreover, last night’s conversations were all recorded. My apprentice did nothing wrong. Right now, you’re assaulting an officer, and we can detain you,” Mu Yu pointed to the red mark on the female officer’s arm.

　　“You’re just protecting each other!” Zhao Wude’s wife, Li Cuihua, suddenly collapsed on the ground, wailing and thrashing around.