Bab 13: New Identity

It didn't take a long time for Chun Xiang to return with a tray of refreshments. She placed the tray on the table and walked out silently while keeping her gaze on Yu Feng.

Their gaze met and Yu Feng raised a brow at the way this girl was staring at her.

"First, let us settle with the matter or your identification."

Officer Zhou's voice took her attention away from the girl.

He started to grind some ink and looked at Yu Feng again. "Tell me about your parents. We might be able to trace which family you belonged to from the records."

Her eyes glinted as she recalled her family, but it disappeared before Officer Zhou could notice them. Her father had long passed away, while her mother… Yu Feng would rather not remember anything about her.

She lowered her gaze and spoke, "I don't know."

Officer Zhou stared at her face for a long time. "You don't know who your parents are?"

"I have been an orphan for as long as I remember, and I don't remember my parents. I have been alone ever since my father passed away when I was eight. I remember that one time when I was caught by some traffickers and was almost shipped out. Fortunately, the Port Guards came and rescued us all."

Yu Feng continued to look away, hoping that the man would stop inquiring, but Officer Zhou took everything as she was saddened that she was not able to remember anything about her parents.

Yu Feng's father had passed away when she was eight. She came to the capital city to look for her mother, but when she finally found her, Yu Feng wished that she had never stepped into the capital city. It was hard for someone to enter or leave the capital city without a proper document. She was fortunate that she was not caught and beheaded years ago.

Officer Zhou continued to watch her, examining her expression to find for any clues. After being in the profession for years dealing with criminals, Officer Zhou Ming knew how to read expression and was someone who learned to trust his instinct.

But perhaps, he was pitying Yu Feng and her sad stories that he was unable to make a proper judgment.

Officer Zhou quickly deduced that Yu Feng was someone who was forced to live as a street thief after her parents had died. For an eight years old kid who lost her support, the only thing they could do was to steal to survive.

Suddenly, Officer Zhou was curious about Yu Feng.

"Xiao Feng," Officer Zhou called and the girl turned to look at him. "You have been on the street for so long, but never steal any money. Why?"

Yu Feng gave him a languid smile. "Officer Zhou, stealing money would require a heavy punishment than stealing some stale bread. I'm just afraid that I might steal from the wrong person and would have to face harsher punishment. Even if I managed to escape, for someone like me to carry some amount of money would be too suspicious. The government would never let me go." She lifted both shoulders into a shrug and continued, "As long as I don't have to die from starvation, that would be enough."

Officer Zhou chuckled at her words and thought that Yu Feng was clever and knew of her limit. This street thief definitely piqued his interest.

After a while, Officer Zhou rang a bell at his side and Chun Xiang appeared at his side again. After giving her some instruction, Chun Xian returned with some rolls of documents with her.

Officer Zhou spent a while to browse through the document and wrote something. Then, he gave Yu Feng a temporary ID tag. "Since you could not remember your family, this is the best that I can do for you," Officer Zhou spoke.

Yu Feng studied the wooden plaque and hid her surprise as she listened to Officer Zhou's explanation about her new identity.

According to this identity, her name was Xiao Feng. Her father was a soldier and passed away when she was in her mother's belly. Her mother passed away while giving birth to her and her grandparents look after her until they both passed away.

Yu Feng raised her head and stared at Officer Zhou intently until the elder man was uncomfortable and he had so stopped in the middle of his speech.

"What's wrong?" Officer Zhou Ming asked.

"Officer Zhou." Yu Feng raised the ID tag in her hand. "Is this legal?"

The man's expression turned a few shades darker before he chuckled. "You don't need to worry about this."

His meaning was that it was illegal and she should not question this ID tag if she was smart enough. Anyway, the only reason he dared to issue this ID tag was with Lord Yi's instruction.

"Then, I can use this after this agreement with that man ended?"

"You can."

This ID tag can be said as compensation for Yu Feng for helping them.

A light flashed in Yu Feng's eyes and she quickly lowered her gaze and pretended to study the ID tag while her mind was whirling with countless thoughts at this new identity.

Once this job ended, there was a lot of things that she can do with this new identity. If something goes wrong, she can always switch back to her identity as Yu Feng.

"Now," Officer Zhou spoke in his deep voice, gaining Yu Feng's attention back at him. "Let's discuss the other matter. Your job."

Yu Feng put on a dreadful face upon the mention of this job. She did not fully understand why Officer Zhou and that man would need a street thief like her to deliver letters. She was fully aware that the bureau was not short of runners.

Every day, she had encountered a few runners on the street. When they run, they would often shout for others to make way. A huge cloud of dust would appear and everyone who saw them on the street would hurriedly evade them to make way for them to pass. Everyone knew the runners might carry important letters to deliver to the receiver.

The bureau's runner was even more respected as their letters and messages they deliver were even more important. As they were working with the bureau, their messages would often contain anything regarding the safety of the Capital City.

"Xiao Feng, what do you think of a runner?"

"What's there to think about? A runner just runs around the city to deliver an important message, right?"

A faint smile appeared on Officer Zhou Ming's lips. He stood up and beckoned Yu Feng to follow after him.