Volume One: First Scroll
Sharing a Pillow
Give me the right to pursue you; can’t a lover become official too?
Lin Yan didn’t answer her, clutching half a roasted sweet potato in her hand, at a loss. In the dim yellow candlelight, her eyes faintly glistened with unshed tears.
Song Yuhang saw she wasn’t speaking and wasn’t anxious either; she had plenty of patience.
It was just…
Her eyes darkened slightly; the soft touch just now had been too wonderful. She was both thrilled and terrified, and at the same time, wanted to do it again.
She thought, this time it had to be longer, much longer. It turned out the feeling of actually kissing was far more exquisite than a fingertip’s touch.
As she thought this, she indeed acted on it. Unexpectedly, Lin Yan gave her no chance for a sneak attack, pushed her away with both hands, turned, and ran.
Song Yuhang chased after her. The old woman happened to be coming in with firewood, and the two of them swept past her like the wind.
They chased all the way into the bamboo forest. The rain had already lightened. Song Yuhang grabbed her arm: “Lin Yan!”
Lin Yan whirled around, shook her off as if electrocuted, avoiding her like a snake or scorpion1, retreated two steps, and bumped into a bamboo stalk. Rainwater smashed down over their heads, drenching them both.
Song Yuhang still wanted to approach, but Lin Yan’s voice suddenly became shrill as she stopped her: “Song Yuhang, are you crazy?!”
She had no choice but to stop: “I’m not crazy. I’ve thought it through very clearly.”
“Clearly my ass! Lin Ge is my cousin, you’re his girlfriend! What are you trying to do, what are you trying to do?!” Lin Yan became somewhat agitated, the corners of her eyes slightly red.
“I’m not, I didn’t agree to be with him.” Song Yuhang honestly shook her head and took another step forward, wanting to pull her.
Lin Yan froze, subconsciously dodging: “Then that time during Qixi2…”
Song Yuhang then knew she had misunderstood, and smiled bitterly: “It was just a gathering of ordinary friends. I have no feelings for him whatsoever.”
An indescribable feeling welled up in Lin Yan’s heart. For a moment, she felt sorry for Lin Ge, yet faced with Song Yuhang’s explanation, there was also a faint trace of joy, even though she knew it was very wrong.
She was caught between love and family, completely at a loss.
“‘No feelings whatsoever,’ huh? Then do you know? How Lin Ge… how he would feel about us like this? Song Yuhang, not many people have been good to me. Lin Ge is one of them. I don’t want to hurt him.”
Perhaps the struggle and pain in her eyes were too obvious; Song Yuhang’s heart ached. She turned her back to compose herself, then quickly turned back around.
“Lin Yan, when we get back to Jiangcheng, I’ll make things clear to him.”
Lin Yan retorted sarcastically3: “What will you say? What? Say you like his cousin, want to kiss her, want to sleep with her? If I were Lin Ge, I f*cking wouldn’t…”
Before she could finish, she suddenly felt something was wrong. The words were already out; she wished she could bite off her own tongue.
A smile had already appeared in Song Yuhang’s eyes: “You see, you understand it too, couldn’t be clearer.”
She paused, then continued: “I think you feel the same way about me…”
Before she could finish, Lin Yan snapped off a bamboo branch and threw it at her. Rainwater poured down her face.
“You’re full of shit4!”
Song Yuhang raised a hand to block it, wiped the water from her face, her gaze scorching, her smile open and honest.
She wasn’t angry. The more Lin Yan acted like this, the more it proved she had hit upon her true inner thoughts.
“Fine, you think I’m talking nonsense, then I’ll give you an example.” Song Yuhang’s stubborn streak also surfaced: “When I kissed you just now, you clearly could have dodged, but you didn’t…”
She replayed that moment in her mind: she was holding Lin Yan’s wrist, her head slightly tilted up. Lin Yan’s eyes held shock, surprise, excitement, and also a hint of affection.
It was as if all the beauty of a lifetime was poured into that moment.
Song Yuhang licked her lips, as if savoring the memory: “In that instant, I felt your pulse; your heartbeat had already exceeded one hundred beats per minute. Your vagus nerve was extremely excited, which is why your heart rate quickened.”
She herself wasn’t much better off than Lin Yan right now, still in a state of extreme excitement.
“And with the rise in adrenaline, your pores dilated, blood flow sped up, so you blushed. Then your body produces a hormone called phenylethylamine5, and the feeling of joy follows… Lin Yan, you’re a forensic doctor, I don’t need to say more, do I?”
Lin Yan couldn’t bear it anymore: “Song Yuhang, can you use your professional knowledge somewhere else?!”
Song Yuhang blinked, a slightly innocent expression on her face: “And there are micro-expressions, behavioral psychology, and so on to support my conclusion. If you want to hear it, I can tell you slowly…”
Lin Yan roared: “Get lost, and shut the hell up for this old lady6!”
Song Yuhang obediently shut her mouth like a clam, saying nothing more.
Lin Yan fumed looking at her obedient demeanor. How could this person be so impervious to reason7?
Song Yuhang was the real stubborn mule, the number one stubborn mule under the heavens8!!!
She was so angry her face burned, yet she couldn’t refute what Song Yuhang had said. Lin Yan couldn’t stay any longer and turned to leave.
Song Yuhang chased after her again, grabbing her wrist, a hint of caution in her eyes: “Where are you going? It’s not safe to go down the mountain now…”
Lin Yan took a deep breath. Just as she was about to erupt, Song Yuhang spoke again: “Sorry, I was too abrupt.”
Song Yuhang scratched her head, looking somewhat troubled: “It’s my first time liking someone, and it’s a girl too. I don’t know what to do… Don’t be angry… If you don’t like this, I… I just won’t kiss you again in the future.”
Lin Yan felt a vein throbbing at her temple9, constantly teetering on the edge of being angered to death by her.
“Is this a question of kissing or not kissing?” Seeing someone emerge from the thatched hut, she angrily lowered her voice.
“What is our relationship? On what grounds do you unilaterally10 assume I like you too? Yes, I admit, I had all those physical instincts you mentioned, but that doesn’t mean they only happen with you, understand?”
Song Yuhang’s lips gradually tightened, her gaze cooling.
Lin Yan avoided her gaze: “I have them with every one of my lovers. You…”
She forced out the words: “At best, you’re just one of them.”
Song Yuhang released her wrist, completely calmed down: “Then what will it take for you to agree, to face your own feelings?”
Before Lin Yan could reply, she paced somewhat agitatedly in the forest, then suddenly stopped in front of her.
“The issue you mentioned about Lin Ge, I will resolve it properly. Don’t worry.”
Lin Yan’s lips moved. Song Yuhang leaned in close, covering her mouth, her eyes somewhat dim.
“Don’t say any more. I’m a little sad.” She forced a smile, then stepped back, far away from her.
“Although I don’t know how else to be good to you, how to get close to you, to warm you, but I won’t give up.”
“Whether you see me as your colleague, friend, comrade-in-arms, or even a lover or a f*ck buddy, in short, don’t reject me. Give me the right to pursue you; can’t a lover become official too11?”
Lin Yan tasted a hint of bitterness in the smile that usually hung on those lips.
Her heart softened, her eyes grew hot. She looked away, pursed her lips a few times, and held back her tears.
Song Yuhang came over to pull her again, but this time she was very proper12, only gently tugging her sleeve.
“Let’s go, back to sleep… Tomorrow… tomorrow we still have a case to work on.”
Jiangcheng City.
That night, another torrential downpour occurred.
Bai Ling got up to close the window. Just as she had shut the only window in the dilapidated tile-roofed house, she heard a series of rapid coughs from her mother lying on the bed.
She hurried over, brought a cup of warm water, and helped her sit up to drink: “Mom, drink some water to soothe yourself. Are you feeling unwell again?”
As soon as she finished speaking, her mother’s coughing suddenly became sharp, and “Wah,” she spat a mouthful of clotted blood into the cup.
Bai Ling frantically patted her back: “Mom, Mom, what’s wrong with you? I’ll go get your medicine, get your medicine…”
The water cup overturned on the floor. Bai Ling fumbled through chests and cupboards, found a thin packet of pills from a drawer, but when she tried to put them in her mother’s mouth, she found her jaw was clenched shut.
Her emaciated mother lay on the bed, smaller than the teddy bear Bai Ling had picked up from a trash heap. Her eyes were rolled back, she was foaming at the mouth, her whole body convulsing, and a foul smell emanated from under the bedsheet.
Bai Ling cried out to her: “Mom! Mom! Hold on a little longer, I’ll go get help!”
She pushed open the iron gate and ran out, dashing through the alley, knocking on doors one by one: “Is anyone home? Is anyone home? Uncle, Uncle, please save my mom…”
“Go away, go away, where did this little beggar come from, scram, scram, scram!”
A light in one house turned on, then off again.
Bai Ling ran towards the next house in the pouring rain13, crying and shouting: “Auntie, Auntie, please save my mom, she’s not going to make it… not going to make it…”
The woman glanced at her with disgust and slammed the door shut with a bang: “Are you crazy?!”
“Uncle, Uncle… could you please help take my mom to the hospital? She’s not going to make it, not going to make it, I’m begging you, begging you…”
She knelt in the rain, kowtowing to the neighbors, the sound of her head hitting the ground echoing. The man merely threw two hundred yuan out from behind the rain curtain, a hint of pity on his face.
“It’s not that Uncle won’t help you… We’re neighbors, my wife often gives your family vegetables, right? But if she dies halfway there, how unlucky would that be? Uncle runs a taxi, after all…”
He seemed unable to bear looking any longer, closed the door, and was pulled inside by his wife. Sounds of arguing and scolding came from within the house.
“You’re meddling again! Meddling again! And giving money?! Did you take a fancy to that little b*tch, did you?! Did you?!”
The woman’s sobs and the man’s roars, accompanied by the sound of pots and pans crashing to the floor, struck heavily at her heart.
Bai Ling stood up, turned to run, then ran back to pick up the two hundred yuan floating in the water, clutching it tightly in her hand as she rushed back into her home.
“Mom, Mom, I’ll take you to the hospital, to the hospital!” she said, large tears streaming down her face. She wrapped her mother in a bedsheet, put a raincoat on her, and tied it in a dead knot, securing her tightly to herself.
Long-term illness had already made the middle-aged woman of over forty lose her human form. Bai Ling ran, carrying her on her back, trying to flag down a car.
“Help, someone help! Driver, Driver, stop… stop…”
She screamed herself hoarse in the rain, splashed with muddy water by passing vehicles.
She collapsed in the mud with her mother in her arms, using her hand to stroke her mother’s cold face. Tears and rainwater mixed, falling like broken strings of pearls.
“Mom… Mom…” she sobbed uncontrollably. “You have to hold on… hold on… You can’t die… You said… if you died, I wouldn’t have any family left in this world…”
“Mom… Mom… Look at me again… Look at me…” She pressed her face tightly against her mother’s, sobbing uncontrollably.
As the rain grew heavier, no passing cars stopped. Some even frantically honked their horns at her, cursing and yelling at her not to block the middle of the road.
Bai Ling’s heart was like dead ashes. She picked up her mother again and was shuffling forward step by step when a car stopped in front of her. A man got out holding an umbrella, still dressed in black, his face obscured.
She looked up at him: “Un… Uncle…”
The man uttered only two words: “Get in.”
At the hospital, the light in the emergency room went out. A doctor came out to announce the final result.
Bai Ling fell to her knees with a thud, grabbing the doctor’s leg, wailing loudly: “Please save her again, save her, I beg you, I beg you, I’ll work hard in my next life to repay you like an ox or a horse, like an ox or a horse14…”
Deep in the corridor, a man pushed a wheelchair. The child sitting in it turned back: “She’s very pitiful.”
The man smiled, patting his already shaven head: “Living in this world, who isn’t pitiful? But it doesn’t matter, she’ll be liberated soon. And you, you will be reborn, my little princess.”
The old woman’s place wasn’t large. The men had consciously squeezed into the woodshed. In the remaining main room, there was only one kang15, which the old woman insisted on giving to them to sleep on.
Song Yuhang repeatedly refused: “No, no, I saw there’s a wooden plank in the kitchen. We can tidy it up and make do; it should be barely sleepable.”
Two people would be a squeeze on one bed, let alone three.
Lin Yan was the first to say: “Fang Xin, I’ll sleep with you.”
Fang Xin pulled the old woman over: “Eh, forget it, I’ve already called dibs. It’s better if I sleep with Grandma.”
The old woman looked at them, a smile in her eyes. It had been a long time since this thatched hut was so lively.
She babbled something else, and the group listened, completely bewildered. Song Yuhang pushed Lin Yan outwards.
“Let’s go, we’ll sleep in the kitchen.”
Lin Yan looked unwilling: “Who wants to sleep with you…”
The old woman followed behind, carrying a quilt for them. She wiped the hard wooden plank again and again with a rag before placing the quilt on it, making the bed for them.
She gestured with “Ah, ah” sounds. Song Yuhang understood the general meaning: “You’re saying, if it’s cold, we should light the fire in the stove, and keep the door closed at night, afraid the rain might leak in, right?”
The old woman nodded repeatedly. Song Yuhang was relieved, a gentle curve appearing on her lips: “Thank you.”
The old woman waved her hand, signaling them to rest quickly, and gently closed the door for them.
Song Yuhang spread a layer of dry grass on the floor. Lin Yan watched her busy herself: “What are you doing?”
She looked up at her, a hint of a mischievous smile on her lips: “I’ll sleep on the floor. Or, do you want to share a bed and pillow with me?”
“…” Lin Yan casually picked up a piece of dry firewood from the pile and threw it at her.
“Get out.”
Song Yuhang’s movements froze. No way, this young miss is this ruthless?
She rubbed her nose: “Um, Lin Yan, look, it’s so dark outside, and it’s raining. There are wolves around at night. Isn’t it a bit unsafe for me to sleep outside?”
Lin Yan gave a smile that didn’t reach her eyes: “Police Officer Song is afraid of danger? Don’t you just love meddling in dangerous situations?”
Right, Song Yuhang resigned herself to her fate.
She began to pack her things, taking her lighter and service pistol, preparing to squat outside for the night.
Lin Yan watched her move: “You do whatever I say? Has your brain been eaten by a dog?”
Song Yuhang rummaged through her bag for any remaining cigarettes to take with her, saying lightly: “What else then? I don’t know how to truly be good to you. You don’t lack money, nor do you lack people. This obedience of mine might be the only thing that leaves some impression on you.”
“…”
She was being self-deprecating, and brought up that matter again. Lin Yan was speechless, her temples throbbing with pain from anger16. She pointed towards the outside.
“Get out and let me have five minutes of peace!”
Song Yuhang turned to look at her, a little joyful, a little puzzled: “You… What are you going to do?”
Lin Yan snatched the cigarette pack Song Yuhang had placed on the bed and threw it at her: “Change clothes!”
“…” Song Yuhang caught the cigarette pack and went out happily to smoke.
Duan Cheng emerged sleepily from the woodshed, his mouth dry. He was about to go to the kitchen to scoop some water to drink when someone stopped him.
He rubbed his eyes: “Oh, Captain Song, still not asleep so late?”
Song Yuhang shook her head: “Not yet, in a bit.”
He was about to walk forward again but was pulled back: “Hey, wait, don’t go in yet.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Forensic Doctor Lin is inside…” Song Yuhang hesitated, “Changing clothes inside.”
Duan Cheng’s eyes instantly lit up, and he rubbed his hands excitedly. Song Yuhang knew at a glance what he was thinking, threw away her cigarette, and laughingly scolded him as she pushed him back.
“Alright, hurry back to sleep.”
Duan Cheng took two steps, then came back to whisper in her ear17: “Don’t you think Forensic Doctor Lin has an angel’s face and a devil’s body? She’s practically a heroine straight out of a manga…”
Song Yuhang moved further away, her ears burning a little from what he said. Of course, she knew Lin Yan had a great figure; not only knew, but had also touched it.
“Alright, alright, hurry back to sleep!”
Duan Cheng chuckled “hehe” twice and scurried back.
Pushing open the woodshed door, Zheng Chengrui’s computer was still on. He yawned and sat down: “Old Zheng, still not sleeping?”
Zheng Chengrui, wearing glasses, didn’t turn his head: “Yeah, the computer got wet. I’m trying to fix it, otherwise it’ll be unusable tomorrow.”
Duan Cheng lay down and turned over: “Okay, then you finish up and get some sleep soon too, ha.”
“Okay.”
After Duan Cheng left, Song Yuhang hadn’t been thinking in that direction, but his words had stirred up a restless desire in her.
It was as if an unruly ant had crawled into her bloodstream, scurrying through her organs, making her restless and unable to sit still.
Once the floodgates of desire are opened, they are difficult to close completely.
Song Yuhang paced back and forth. Time passed, minute by minute. Smoking couldn’t alleviate her anxiety.
Until a thought popped into her head: Just a peek… wouldn’t hurt, right?
She swallowed, her body controlled by her soul, and quietly pressed her eye to a crack in the wooden door.
Lin Yan said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes: “Enjoying the view?”
“Aiya!”
The wooden door swung open, and she stumbled straight in, grabbed by the collar and her head pushed down for a good thrashing.
Fang Xin, in the next room, heard the commotion, silently put on her earplugs, thinking inwardly: Damn, this is too intense, are they going to let anyone sleep?
You single dogs wouldn’t understand the little couple’s fun18.
Lin Yan fiercely vented her anger, then lay down on the bed with her mechanical baton, fully clothed, and went to sleep, not looking at her again.
Song Yuhang slowly shuffled to the bedside, touching her swollen cheek: “Um… Lin Yan, can I discuss something with you?”
Clang—the mechanical baton shot out again. Song Yuhang quickly retreated two steps.
“No… not that… Next time, can we not hit the face?”
Lin Yan turned over, ignoring her.
Song Yuhang smiled, went to light the fire in the stove, added more firewood, then some charcoal, and covered it with some ashes to ensure it would burn all night. She returned and sat on the floor, leaning against the bed.
Lin Yan shifted inwards, saying coldly: “Get up here.”
Still in a commanding tone.
Song Yuhang, however, smiled. She didn’t refuse, climbed up, and got onto the bed.
Feeling the warmth beside her, Lin Yan shifted further inwards. Though it was a single bed, a Milky Way seemed to separate them.
Song Yuhang looked at the back of her head. The hair behind her ears was still a bit damp, scattered on the bedding. She was wearing very little, just a white shirt, faintly revealing black shoulder straps.
“Sleep.”
Lin Yan said this. Song Yuhang gave her most of the quilt and turned her back as well.
“Okay, good night.”
In the latter half of the night, Lin Yan was woken by the cold. Misfortunes never come singly; raindrops pelted the iron pot on the stove with loud clangs.
The mountain weather was damp and chilly. Even with the thick quilt, she got goosebumps from the cold, her feet feeling as if they were soaked in ice. Moreover, the hard wooden bed made her whole body uncomfortable; every joint in her limbs ached.
She kept falling asleep and being repeatedly woken by the cold. Unconsciously, she moved closer to the only source of heat.
Song Yuhang looked at her, shivering in her arms: “Cold?”
Lin Yan’s eyes were closed, her face somewhat pale, her teeth chattering. Her whole body was as cold as a block of ice, trembling nonstop.
Song Yuhang held her tightly, resting her chin on Lin Yan’s forehead without speaking.
Lin Yan felt as if she were trekking through a snowy landscape when suddenly, warmth enveloped her. She shivered violently and woke up completely.
“Song… Mmph…”
Song Yuhang covered her mouth, signaling her not to speak: “I’ll hold you, it’ll be warmer. Go to sleep.”
Lin Yan struggled, her eyes red with urgency, but she was held too tightly, almost half of Song Yuhang’s body pressing down on her. This wasn’t for warmth, this was clearly…!
“Song Yuhang, you’re shameless! Taking advantage of my situation!” Lin Yan finally managed to pull her hand away, only to have the back of her neck pressed down. Song Yuhang’s hand stroked those two cervical vertebrae back and forth, with a hint of intimate playfulness.
Her voice was a bit hoarse: “Don’t move around, okay? If you keep moving, I’ll really show you what ‘taking advantage of your situation’ means.”
Her vital point controlled, Lin Yan fell silent, the corners of her eyes red with grievance.
Song Yuhang had gotten her payback, and incidentally, avenged the beating too, feeling quite satisfied.
She grabbed Lin Yan’s hand and placed it on her own abdomen. Lin Yan was aghast, her words becoming incoherent: “Wh-what are you doing… I’m not that kind of casual person…”
Song Yuhang rolled her eyes: “Yes, when you’re casual, you’re not even human. Just warming your hands, don’t overthink it.”
The warmest parts of the human body are probably the armpits and the belly. Lin Yan, being held, didn’t dare to move. Song Yuhang, on the other hand, closed her eyes and made no further movements.
It was very warm; that was Lin Yan’s first reaction.
Tsk tsk, the muscles were firm and well-defined, this V-line19 was even more impressive than hers…
Lin Yan felt a twinge of jealousy, yet couldn’t resist stroking it back and forth a little.
Song Yuhang’s eyes suddenly snapped open. She pressed down on Lin Yan’s hand, her teeth clenched, a dangerous glint in her eyes: “Don’t want to sleep?”
Seeing her like this, Lin Yan, on the contrary, wasn’t afraid anymore. She knew this person was actually a paper tiger20. Without her consent, she wouldn’t do anything to her.
Once the crisis was averted, the vixen’s true nature emerged again.
Lin Yan boldly hugged her, wrapped her legs around her waist, and buried her head in her neck.
“Sleep? Free human mattress, why not sleep?”
Song Yuhang’s chest heaved up and down. Her hand crumpled the quilt. She took several deep breaths before suppressing the agitation.
She pinched the nape of Lin Yan’s neck, her tone fierce, but her actions very gentle.
“Sooner or later, you’re going to play yourself to death.”
LP: Re-translated on May 09, 2025
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