Manzhi was eleven this year.

Unlike other girls her age, still soft and childish, her style leaned toward mature. The carefully drawn brows, the pink lipstick, the long hair over her shoulders, even the tiny sparkling accessories on her body—all of it made her look out of place among her peers.

This kind of getup was something even clueless middle schoolers might not touch yet, but she, still an elementary schooler, wore it like second nature.

At school she’d already toned it down, just light makeup. Outside school, her look was bolder, more grown-up.

“Wanna see?” Sitting on the desk, the little girl in black tights crossed her legs with a graceful, slightly seductive motion. Her thin, tender calves swung idly in the air, and the hem of her red skirt brushed against her thighs as it shifted.

Manzhi smiled brightly and gave Ye Weibai a pointed look, deliberately licking her upper lip. “How I dress outside school?”

It was PE period, but inside the classroom, the big room held only Ye Weibai and Manzhi.

From the fifth-floor window, you could faintly hear the lively sounds of students running in the distant basketball gym.

But the blue curtains were drawn, making everything a little hazy.

“Is it really that hard to sit on a chair?” Ye Weibai looked at the little girl perched on the desk in front of him.

She giggled instead of jumping down. Tugging at the collar of her white shirt, she lifted her right leg up onto the desk, then crossed her left leg over it. As she moved, the skirt inevitably shifted, revealing a bit more.

The pose should’ve belonged to a grown woman. Coming from someone so young, it carried a kind of heartbreaking, budding allure.

Like looking at a peach just about to ripen.

“Well?” The girl watched him, slightly smug.

“Honestly?” Ye Weibai paused. “Too flat.”

She’d expected him to panic, or at least react somehow. She’d never expected that. Manzhi’s smile froze at once, then turned a bit angry. It took her a long moment to paste on that fake mature smile again. “Some people like my type, you know, Detective.”

As she spoke, she leaned forward slightly. The creaking fan overhead blew her hair and collar back, revealing her delicate collarbones and pale skin. If his gaze slid down, he might catch a glimpse of something soft and white beneath.

But Ye Weibai didn’t even blink. He just stared straight at the little girl’s smiling face.

She licked her glossy upper lip and looked at Ye Weibai at such close distance, her smile both innocent and tempting. “Lolis—some people think they’re amazing, right?”

When the word “loli” came out of a little girl’s mouth painted with shiny lipstick, there was no doubt: the air seemed to turn pink for a second.

It was that subtle clash of innocence and maturity.

A faintly ambiguous mood flowed between them.

But Ye Weibai had no intention of playing along any further.

“Like that guy—the culprit?” Ye Weibai suddenly plunged the knife in without hesitation.

The mood shattered instantly.

The little girl’s smile vanished on the spot.

Not just her smile—even her whole body went rigid.

“You—”

Her lashes lowered. Her voice suddenly dropped, thick with fury.

It felt like only now was she showing her real face.

She wasn’t honey. She was a sharp blade.

Yet Ye Weibai just laughed instead. “Li Manzhi. You’re way cuter like this.”

Manzhi lifted her head and glared at him. Her pupils were ice-cold, with no trace of delight at being praised.

“I looked into you. This fake mature act isn’t how you usually are at school.” Ye Weibai said calmly, “You knew I was coming back today, so you dressed up like this, didn’t you? Every time I came to see you before, you put on the same disguise, right?”

He looked at her. “What for?”

Manzhi’s pupils trembled slightly, but she stayed silent, biting her lip, stubbornly keeping her gaze locked on Ye Weibai.

“Let’s put that aside for now.” He held her eyes, then said, “Let me guess the answer to another question.”

He asked, “Why did you suddenly get angry just now?”

“Heh.” The girl didn’t answer. She only gave Ye Weibai a cold laugh, though there was a trace of unease in that smile.

“Was it because I brought up something that hurts you?”

“No—the anger just now,” Ye Weibai cut her off before she could speak, “didn’t come from me ripping open an old wound.”

“It was because—I called that person a ‘culprit,’ wasn’t it?”

There was no need to clarify who. They both knew.

The girl’s pupils shrank to pinpoints in an instant.

In her eyes flashed panic, confusion, and a faint trace of… fear.

“And the reason you put on this whole fake mature act isn’t anything complicated. It’s just—” as if he didn’t see her wavering, Ye Weibai kept the smile on his face, “you’re scared I’ll notice that.”

“I should’ve noticed long ago. From the very first time we talked, you were always afraid of me. But to hide that fear, you dressed yourself up like this, to mislead me, to divert attention.” Ye Weibai said, “Honestly, ‘I’ already saw it from the start. It’s just that the ‘me’ from ‘before’ mistook that fear for the instinctive wariness of a girl who’d been hurt, afraid of men.”

Ye Weibai shook his head. “But I was wrong. Not until I read through all the case files—not until I heard from your other teachers that you’ve become more ‘cheerful’—not until the ‘me’ from ‘today’ actually saw you, did I start to understand.”

Watching the fear in the girl’s eyes grow clearer and clearer, Ye Weibai’s lips slowly curved up, with something almost malicious in the smile. “Manzhi, the person you’re afraid of is indeed me. But you’re not afraid for yourself—you’re afraid for someone else, aren’t you?”

Manzhi’s face went deathly pale. Her body swayed, and she had to brace both hands on the desk to keep from collapsing.

“You,” knowing his words were poison, Ye Weibai still said the fatal line, “you’re worried about that person, aren’t you? Worried that I’ll… find him.”

Bang!

Her hand slipped. The pencil case on the desk crashed to the floor, pens, erasers, and a ruler scattering everywhere.

And the girl with the suddenly bloodless face slumped weakly toward Ye Weibai.

“I’ll catch you.” Without hesitation, Ye Weibai reached out and held Manzhi. He set her head on his shoulder and murmured by her ear, “But don’t become someone you can’t even respect yourself.”

Those words froze the little girl’s hand right as she was quietly reaching for her collar, ready to yank the buttons open and scream at the top of her lungs.

“Easy.”

Ye Weibai gently pushed her hand away, lifted her by the waist, and set her down on the nearby chair. He fastened her buttons for her, then smoothed her slightly messy hair.

Sitting in the chair, Manzhi stared blankly at him.

His movements were incredibly gentle, his eyes utterly clear, his focused expression like a father straightening his daughter’s clothes.

After looking at her for a moment, he reached into his pocket for a tissue and softly wiped the lipstick from the girl’s lips.

Ye Weibai nodded, satisfied.

“Try another color. Pink doesn’t really suit you.”

Through it all, Manzhi didn’t say a word, letting him do whatever he wanted. Her anger was gone, and so was her panic. In her eyes was a dazed, complicated look.

“Alright, that’s it for today.”

Ye Weibai bent down slightly, smiling. “Thank you for your cooperation, Manzhi.”

With that, he turned to leave.

“Don’t—” The girl’s soft voice called out to him from behind.

Standing at the door, Ye Weibai didn’t turn around. He only tilted his head to listen.

“Don’t hurt it.”

“It”—the man who’d molested Manzhi, and not just her, but other little girls as well.

Even without looking back, Ye Weibai could hear the pity in her voice.

Manzhi, this girl who’d been victimized, actually felt… sorry for the man who’d hurt her.

But there wasn’t a hint of confusion on Ye Weibai’s face. He only let out a small sigh, then smiled.

“No can do. You commit a crime, you pay the price.”