The moment the phone rang, a cold smile appeared at the corner of Chu Ge's mouth. Ha, he'd been waiting for this call for a long time. Has it finally come?

However, when he picked up the mobile phone and looked at the screen, he was momentarily taken aback, and the cold smile on his face faded significantly.

The caller was not the Chen Zhihao he expected at all, but rather his newly recognized brother, the mighty chef, Song Baijia.

Upon seeing the name Song Baijia, the gloom in Chu Ge's heart dissipated considerably. Thinking about how they met, it was indeed quite interesting, and he felt quite guilty towards Song Baijia.

"Brother Song." With this call, the cold lines on Chu Ge's face completely relaxed.

"Hey, uh, Chu Ge, are you... busy? I hope I'm not disturbing you?"

Listening to Song Baijia's hesitant voice, Chu Ge could almost imagine his somewhat flustered appearance over the phone, and he couldn't help but roll his eyes. After all, Song Baijia still didn't regard him as one of his own; was it necessary to be so courteous?

Chu Ge replied grumpily, "Busy, I'm about to work myself to death."

"Uh... then you carry on, I won't disturb you..."

Before Song Baijia could finish his obviously disappointed sentence, Chu Ge interrupted him.

"But since Brother Song is looking for me, no matter how busy I am, I have to put my current tasks aside. Just tell me what's up, there's no need for formalities with me. We agreed before, you can just call me Little Chu or Little Brother."

"This... this is quite embarrassing, if you have things to do, you should..."

"Brother Song, I was just teasing you earlier, why did you take it seriously? I'm actually quite free right now, if you need me for anything, just say the word."

"Well... fine, I do have something. Can you come over here?"

"No problem. Where are you? I'll head over right away."

"I'm at the Xiangyang Police Station, at the household registration office, you..."

"Okay, I'll be there immediately."

After hanging up the phone, Chu Ge drove quickly all the way. Just as well, Chen Zhihao hadn't contacted him yet, so he could spare some time. He felt that he owed Song Baijia and if he could do something for him, he would do it without hesitation.

Still, he was puzzled. Hadn't Liu Weijiang already given him a heads-up? The procedures for Song Baijia should have gone smoothly, so why was there a problem?

About ten minutes later, Chu Ge parked his car near the Xiangyang Police Station, got out, and looking at the police emblem above the station, he couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity and nostalgia.

When he knew Mu Lingshan, wasn't this Tiger Girl just a small police officer? They had more than one encounter at the police station.

How long had it been? She had now become the deputy captain of the criminal police team, and it even had something to do with him.

However, Mu Lingshan used to be at the Xinghe Police Station, and this was the first time Chu Ge had come to the Xiangyang Police Station.

He had only walked a few steps from the car when he saw Song Baijia come out from inside, just in time to meet his gaze.

"Brother Song."

"Hey, Chu Ge, you're here."

Chu Ge greeted him with some exasperation, "Call me Little Chu or Little Brother, or I'll leave."

When others directly called him by name, he didn't mind, but when Song Baijia did, it felt quite awkward.

He called Song Baijia "Brother Song," but when Song Baijia called him "Chu Ge," even though he knew this "Ge" wasn't that "Ge," it still felt strange and a bit distant.

Song Baijia glanced at the Maserati that Chu Ge drove, which was said to have been personally registered by the traffic police captain, and then thought of the rumors he had heard, hesitated for a moment, and then reluctantly called him "Little Chu."

At this moment, Song Baijia was really conflicted, and he didn't even know if coming to the police station was the right choice.

The more he pondered the interactions with Chu Ge over the past few days, the more puzzled he felt. If he said Chu Ge had ulterior motives, Chu Ge seemed so sincere. But if he believed that Chu Ge genuinely wanted to befriend him and help him, he couldn't help but feel skeptical.

After all, besides cooking, he couldn't do anything else. He was just an orphan from a small village in the suburbs. Why would Chu Ge be so concerned about him?

But after much consideration, he ultimately wanted to believe that Chu Ge truly regarded him as a friend. He really wanted to get rid of the black mark on his identity that had weighed on him for decades.

So, Song Baijia came here, not expecting the matter to be so difficult. He thought about just letting it go and returning to the Green Garden Resort to continue as the head chef, but in the end, he wasn't quite resigned to give up.

After pondering it over from all sides, Song Baijia thought it was a good opportunity to test Chu Ge and see how this legendary man would react to the situation.

Hearing Song Baijia call him "Little Chu," Chu Ge grinned, "That's more like it. So, what's going on? What's the issue?"

Song Baijia shrugged helplessly. Just as he was about to speak, he saw a policeman walk out, so he quickly tugged Chu Ge's arm and took him to a more secluded spot before whispering, "They said the materials I prepared are not up to standard and asked me to redo them."

Chu Ge nodded, "Let me take a look."

Song Baijia handed the stack of materials he had brought to Chu Ge, who went through them page by page. When he finished, he couldn't help but frown slightly.

When he had asked Liu Weijiang to handle this, Liu Weijiang had explained the necessary materials. Chu Ge's memory was quite good, and he was very attentive to this matter, so he remembered everything clearly. The materials Song Baijia prepared had no problems at all.

"Come on, let's go inside. I'll help you ask why they're not acceptable."

Chu Ge, holding the materials Song Baijia prepared, took big strides toward the police station.

"Little Chu, Little Chu," Song Baijia quickly pulled him back again, "Um, you... you can't lose your temper with them, right?"

Seeing Song Baijia's cautious demeanor, Chu Ge smiled, "Don't worry, we're here to handle business, not to start trouble. Why would I lose my temper with them?"

Even though that's what Chu Ge said, and what he truly thought, he wasn't a professional in this field. Just because he didn't see a problem didn't mean there wasn't one.

Song Baijia breathed a small sigh of relief and reminded Chu Ge a few more times before following him into the household registration department of the station.

Inside the department, a man in his thirties of medium build sat behind a desk. His slightly sparse hair lay limply against his scalp, and he wore glasses perched on his nose, his half-closed eyelids focused on the computer screen.

To put it nicely, this guy looked lazily unresponsive, but bluntly speaking, he looked half-dead.

"Hello, comrade."

Chu Ge stood across the desk. Despite seeing the officer playing games through his glasses and being unimpressed with his demeanor, he still greeted him politely.

The officer glanced askew at Chu Ge with the materials in hand, then at Song Baijia behind him. Instantly realizing they were together, he still feigned ignorance, asking, "What do you need?"

Chu Ge placed the stack of materials on the desk, "For household registration and ID card. Please tell me, what's wrong with these materials?"

The officer's gaze returned to the computer screen, and with some impatience, he said, "I just told him a moment ago. Didn't he tell you?"

Chu Ge smiled lightly, "He told me, but I'm not sure if he didn't explain clearly or if I didn't understand. Either way, I really don't see what the problem is with these materials. Could you kindly explain it to me once more?"

The officer acted as if he hadn't heard Chu Ge at all, not acknowledging him in the slightest. He lifted his hand and felt around the desk for a pack of cigarettes, muttering to himself, "Huh? Out of cigarettes?"

Chu Ge felt inwardly amused, realizing that this guy wasn't concerned about any material issues at all; he was just waiting for some kind of benefit.

Although Chu Ge wasn't entirely happy about these things, he'd become accustomed to them in the country. He smiled at the officer, "You go ahead with what you're doing. I'll go review the materials again."

Finishing his words, Chu Ge left the materials on the desk and walked out of the registration department. Song Baijia paused for a moment, then hurriedly grabbed the materials and followed Chu Ge.

Behind the computer, the officer sneered, "What a bumpkin," he muttered, shaking his head and turning his attention back to the computer screen.

Outside the station, feeling somewhat down, Song Baijia looked at Chu Ge's back and sighed internally. It seemed Chu Ge really didn't care about his matters at all.

After walking several meters behind Chu Ge and seeing no sign of stopping, Song Baijia finally couldn't resist and asked somewhat indignantly, "Little Chu, why did you leave without taking the materials? I put a lot of effort into gathering them."

Without stopping, Chu Ge turned to look at the downcast Song Baijia but didn't answer his question, "Brother Song, did the officer just now tell you the same thing?"

Song Baijia blinked, "What thing?"

"Out of cigarettes."

Song Baijia paused again and scratched his head, "That thing? Yeah, he said it, I think... twice."

"And what did you say?"

"I didn't say anything the first time. The second time, I accidentally knocked his cigarette pack off the table and found there was still half a pack. I just placed it back on the table and asked him, 'Isn't there still some in here?'"

Hearing this, Chu Ge let out a chuckle, rubbed his forehead helplessly. Song Baijia was really a straightforward guy, no wonder the officer looked like he had lost his parents.

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