Coming to Myself

"What are you going home to do?"

"Have a late-night snack and sleep!"

Yin Feng asked again, "What are you having for your late-night snack?"

You Mingxu had already sensed something in his tone, a faint smile playing on her lips as she replied, "Just ordering some takeout randomly. How about you? What did you eat today?"

He leisurely recounted what he had for both lunch and dinner.

You Mingxu then inquired about his condition and how much longer until he recovered. He answered each question, saying his recovery was going quite well, and he should be able to get out of bed in about two weeks, though he still couldn't engage in strenuous activities.

A sweet, swelling emotion flowed silently through You Mingxu's heart. She asked, "So when are you planning to return to Xiangcheng?"

He just stared at her, his gaze deep and intense, and replied, "In another week or two."

You Mingxu thought for a moment and said, "Don't come back in just a week. Wait until you're fully recovered before moving around."

Yin Feng said, "I know my limits."

You Mingxu thought of another topic and asked, "How are Tuya, Xiao Yan, Jing Ping, and Mengshan doing?"

Actually, Xu Mengshan often texted her updates about those people, and she heard they were all recovering quickly, so You Mingxu hadn't pressed for details.

But Yin Feng fell silent.

You Mingxu asked, "What's wrong?"

Yin Feng's tone was very flat. "They're all out of bed already. Satisfied?"

You Mingxu almost laughed out loud but managed to hold it back. A thought crossed her mind, and she softened her voice, saying, "That's because their injuries weren't as severe as yours. Don't rush to get out of bed. I want you to recover better."

They stared at each other for a moment, and his expression had softened completely at some point. His gaze was so intense it made You Mingxu feel uneasy again.

He moved the phone closer to himself and asked, "Did you miss me?"

You Mingxu honestly hadn't thought about him much—she simply hadn't had the time or energy.

She immediately retorted, "How about you? Did you miss me?"

He replied, "If you weren't a police officer, I'd have locked you up by now."

He said it calmly, but You Mingxu's heart skipped a beat. She thought, Here he goes again with the sarcasm. She said coolly, "Don't use that tone on me. It's been so many days, and if I didn't call you first, you never reached out to me. Seems like you really missed me a lot."

Yin Feng let out a cold laugh and said, "And did you reach out to me? It's been two weeks. I'm in the hospital, and you only remembered me today?"

You Mingxu stared at him, thinking, What are we even doing? Why are we arguing about this?

Then it struck her—even though he was in the hospital, lying in bed all day, he was the one with free time. You Mingxu said firmly, "No. I've been swamped, staying up until midnight these past few days. By then, you were already asleep. As soon as day breaks, I'm busy with work, sometimes not even having time to eat. What have you been busy with all day? Busy getting IV drips? Busy having Chen Feng feed you? Why didn't you reach out to me?"

Yin Feng fell silent.

Now it was You Mingxu's turn to sneer. "Say something?"

A few seconds passed.

He suddenly smiled—a clean, bright smile that spread from his eyes to the corners of his lips in an instant. He didn't say a word.

You Mingxu, who had been on the offensive just moments before, felt as if her heart had been struck hard by something. Her face grew warm.

After he finished smiling, he said, "A Xu, when you miss me, just reach out. Don't hold back."

You Mingxu retorted, "Who's holding back?"

He said, "Goodnight, baby."

You Mingxu paused again. They stared at each other for a while before she said, "Goodnight," and hung up.You Mingxu put down her phone and leaned back into her chair, thinking how precious words became as worthless as saliva when spoken by him—casually uttered without a second thought.

After pondering for a while, she couldn’t help but laugh.

He was a lunatic—she had known that all along.

Starting the next day, however, Yin Feng began sending her messages from time to time. Sometimes he asked what she was doing, sometimes he shared snippets of his life there, and other times he simply forwarded passages from the books he was reading.

You Mingxu hadn’t known that this was how he behaved in a relationship—not overly clingy, yet never allowing himself to be ignored. Unlike You Yingjun, who was like a blazing little sun, Yin Feng was more like a cold, distant moon, insisting on occupying a corner of her vision to shine.

You Mingxu continued her daily routine, buried in endless work and dealing with grim, bloody cases. Yet, each day felt slightly different now. It was as if a warm, sweet emotion had taken root in her heart, occasionally tickling her senses. During brief respites from her busy schedule, she would unconsciously pick up her phone to check if he had sent any new messages.

Sometimes, she would message him too, talking about the cases she encountered that day. At times, their exchanges resembled nothing more than professional discussions between a detective and a psychologist, devoid of any personal affection. Other times, however, he would turn into an obsessive, childish brat, coldly demanding to know if she had missed him that day and how much.

Yin Feng ignored her for two days.

You Mingxu rubbed her nose and thought, Ding Xiongwei was right—sometimes she really felt like she had married a wife. She was the woman, so why did she have to be the one to coax him when he threw a tantrum? It wasn’t much different from when he was still You Yingjun.

Another week passed, and on an even warmer spring afternoon, Xu Mengshan and Jing Ping returned to Xiang City.

That day, You Mingxu was sitting at her desk, buried under a mountain of documents—all related to the series of cases involving the Kaiyang Group. Suddenly, her head was lightly tapped. She looked up to see Xu Mengshan and Jing Ping standing tall and straight before her, both smiling warmly.

You Mingxu immediately stood up and scrutinized them carefully: Jing Ping looked almost unchanged, his complexion back to normal with no visible signs of injury. Xu Mengshan had even managed to gain a little weight.

“You’re finally back,” she said. “Are your injuries fully healed?”

Xu Mengshan replied, “I was fit to be discharged a week ago, but Lao Ding asked me to stay and take care of Brother Jing so we could return together.”

Jing Ping added, “Completely healed.”

You Mingxu eyed him skeptically. Everyone had witnessed the severity of his injuries back then—he had been as critically injured as Yin Feng, who was still recuperating in Guizhou.

Jing Ping said, “What’s with that look? Aside from the bullet wound, the rest were just flesh injuries. Once the gunshot healed, I was fine.”

You Mingxu didn’t want to recall the state he was in back then, but it was true—while the injuries had been torturous and horrifying to behold, causing excruciating pain, none had been life-threatening. It was entirely possible for him to recover faster.

Jing Ping and Xu Mengshan clearly recalled the situation as well. Jing Ping simply smiled faintly, his expression gentle.

By then, others in the office had gathered around, offering warm greetings and concern. Eventually, it was decided that the rest of the team would treat the two to a lavish dinner that evening to welcome them back and celebrate their return.