Chapter 76: Mutual Probing

“Let’s go.” Qingyi rose swiftly and called out to Ye Qingfeng to set off.

Ye Qingfeng deliberately opened the door and waited until Qingyi had stepped out before silently following behind her—a gesture that earned her a approving glance.

Her like meter hadn’t increased, but he’d nearly figured out the mechanism for raising it: before 40%, just chatting and making her happy was enough to boost it.

After 40%, unless you deliberately did something specific, it was nearly impossible to raise it further—Zhu Yuan was the perfect example!

Due to her job, she rarely had opportunities to meet him; chatting via QQ was no longer effective unless he got straight to the point.

Ye Qingfeng suddenly realized this wasn’t such a bad idea!

Qingyi noticed Ye Qingfeng walking quietly behind her, giving off the vibe of a superior inspecting his subordinates.

With anyone else, she’d have been happy with this—just a quiet, peaceful stroll and done.

But Ye Qingfeng was different… how to put it…

Before, the only person she cared about besides Zhu Yuan was no one else, but now it was different—she was deeply curious about Ye Qingfeng.

Maybe it had something to do with Zhu Yuan; after all, anyone who could earn her affection was at least not a bad person, though he could be pretending.

Qingyi remained skeptical about that, but the second point was Ye Qingfeng’s attitude toward her.

Though her appearance looked like a child to everyone, she’d never actually been treated as one before—perhaps because of her uniform…

But from the moment Ye Qingfeng first saw her, he’d looked at her with the eyes of someone watching a child.

The last time they met on the street, he’d treated her like a child too—only improving slightly after learning her real age.

Still, she could detect a trace of that feeling in his eyes: a surface-level respect, but deep down, still seeing her as a child?

Qingyi herself wasn’t certain—it was just her intuition.

If that were true, she was very curious why he’d think that way.

Fortunately, it was nearly noon, and many security officers had already gone to the cafeteria, leaving only a few on duty.

Seeing Zhu Yuan’s rumored boyfriend walking with Qingyi through the security bureau, everyone cast curious glances their way.

“I’m just like Zhu Yuan—can I call you Qingfeng directly?”

Qingyi ignored the surrounding stares and turned to ask softly.

“Uh… of course.”

Ye Qingfeng was surprised by her question but immediately agreed.

“Could we find a place to talk? Uh…”

Qingyi paused, then decided being direct was better—she could tell Ye Qingfeng was a shrewd one.

If you danced around him, he’d dance around you; better to cut straight to the point.

“I’m curious about you.”

Qingyi explained plainly the purpose of the conversation.

When Ye Qingfeng heard Qingyi wanted to talk to him, his eyes instantly narrowed like a cunning fox.

He guessed it was almost certainly about Zhu Yuan—he had some evidence for this assumption.

When walking with Zhu Yuan through the bureau, people kept coming over to greet them; but walking with Qingyi, no one approached at all.

The only plausible explanation for this was… Qingyi was likely seen by the bureau as a tool.

Ye Qingfeng’s thinking wasn’t unusual—most people defined robots as tools; someone like Qingyi with self-awareness might be considered a more advanced tool at best.

He didn’t agree with that view—if something had advanced self-awareness, whether robot or otherwise, it deserved equal treatment.

But in the end, it was only his guess.

At least it was clear Zhu Yuan treated Qingyi like a friend.

Besides seeing Qingyi laugh and chat with Zhu Yuan, he’d never seen her behave this way with anyone else—just casual greetings at most…

“Fine.”

Ye Qingfeng had no reason to refuse Qingyi’s request; refusing might make her think he had ill intentions, causing her to grow wary.

Qingyi turned sharply and led the way the moment he agreed. “Follow me.”

She didn’t care whether he followed—she walked ahead on her own. Ye Qingfeng smirked and trailed after her silently.

Soon, Qingyi stopped at the entrance to the reception hall, pushed open the door, and stepped inside; Ye Qingfeng followed right behind, entering the place again.

Qingyi didn’t sit down immediately. Instead, she walked to the water dispenser, picked up a disposable cup from the table, dropped a small handful of tea leaves into it, then bent slightly to pour in hot water.

“Would you like tea?” she asked suddenly as the cup filled.

Ye Qingfeng replied politely: “Thank you, I’d appreciate it.”

If she’d told him about herself from the start, he wouldn’t have treated her that way before.

Now there was some distance between them; at the very least, he needed to build a good relationship with her—more friends meant more paths, after all.

Especially since she was from the security bureau!

If he made a name for himself with Nico-jie and had a few friends here too, wouldn’t that mean he’d have influence on both sides of the law?

Soon, Qingyi brought two cups of tea over and placed one on the table in front of Ye Qingfeng, then pulled out a chair and sat down.

Ye Qingfeng waited until she sat before taking his own seat, lifting the teacup with both hands, sipping slowly, waiting for her to speak first.

Qingyi didn’t rush either—no one would come at this hour, and she wasn’t in a hurry. Besides, this was a small interrogation tactic she often used.

Leaving a suspect waiting created psychological pressure, giving them time to reflect on their situation, weakening their mental defenses and encouraging them to confess voluntarily.

It also allowed her to observe their reactions.

She didn’t expect much from the first goal, but it gave her a chance to carefully study Ye Qingfeng.

She sipped her tea slowly, watching for opportunities to sneak glances at his every move.

Three years ago, Ye Qingfeng would have been frantic by now—but prison had tempered his character.

He understood the situation: Qingyi was trying to apply psychological pressure to make him speak first and gain the upper hand.

And Ye Qingfeng easily sensed her glances—or rather, she hadn’t hidden them much at all.

“Hmm~ Not bad!”

Ye Qingfeng relaxed his mind as much as possible, thought it through, then acted naturally—crossing his legs, lifting the cup with one hand, blowing gently into the rim a few times, then taking a large sip and sincerely praising it.