《When A Snail Loves》


 Chapter 1

    <h4>Chapter 1</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    Lin City was located beside a sparkling blue river. In spring, a cool air seemed to wash over the entire city, making the whole city humid yet refreshing.


    It was a cloudy day like every other. However, there was an unusualmotion in the city police station.


    This was owed to the fact that two young policewoman interns had just arrived at the Criminal Police Unit.


    Normally, this would be no cause for rm. However, these twodies attracted quite a number of officers who curiously poked their heads through the door to get a peek of them.


    This was because they looked very special.


    Zhao Han, a young criminal police, was the internship liaison officer. At that moment, he, like his other colleagues, was in a daze as he looked at the twodies.


    One was very beautiful, whereas the other one was very... odd.


    The one on the left was Yao Meng, a postgraduate in criminal psychology from the Public Security University. She had long hair, big eyes, and wore a simple white shirt with jeans, which also made her look like a model for youth magazines. Her resume was loaded with her credentials: Academic Schrship, Excellent Student Cadre, star broadcaster in the academy¡¯s TV Station, top ten contestants in the speech contest...


    Zhao Han had a hunch that she would no doubt be the new belle* (TN: The prettiest policewoman in the station) of the Lin City Police Station.


    As for the other one... Her name was Xu Xu.


    From her resume, one could see that Xu Xu had outstanding results. She was constantly ranked first in the academy year after year.


    However, Zhao Han had doubts about how she even managed to enroll in the police academy in the first ce.


    ¡®Is she only 160cm tall? What a petitedy. Even when she sits up straight on the chair, she still looks underage. Furthermore, her skin looks pale and her face carries no prominent features at all. At first nce, she looks like... Right, like a little bloodsucking zombie fromte-night American dramas.


    ¡®She¡¯s even wearing an extremely formal long ck coat. The tail of her coat is so long that it is actually reaching her ankles; it doesn¡¯t match her youthful look at all and makes her look both odd and funny at the same time.


    ¡®Also, regarding her name, Xu Xu, it¡¯s pronounced ¡®su su¡¯, right? Or is it shh, shh?¡¯


    Zhao Han wanted tough, but he had always been a shy and kind young man. Hence, he maintained a gentle expression as he turned away from Xu Xu.


    Just as he was about to speak, Xu Xu raised her head and looked at him. Zhao Han was slightly taken aback.


    During their previous conversations, Yao Meng was the one who did most of the talking, while Xu Xu kept quiet throughout and did not meet his gaze even once.


    Nheless, now he noticed that her pupils were pitch-ck and exceptionally prating. They looked very calm and dignified.


    It felt like she had a clear insight into his thoughts and of his judgmental attitude towards her.


    Yet, in the blink of an eye, she had once again lowered her head and reverted back to that same pale, ill-looking expression.


    Zhao Han coughed softly and said, ¡°Captain Ji is on leave for a few days. He¡¯ll confirm your internship mentors when he returns.¡±


    Yao Meng¡¯s eyes widened in joy. ¡°Is that THE Senior Ji Bai, who has the highest crime solving rate in the whole of the Southwest District?¡±


    Zhao Han nodded with a smile.


    ¡°Is he going to mentor us?¡± Xu Xu suddenly interrupted them. Even her voice sounded weak and delicate.


    Zhao Han frowned nervously. ¡°That will be up to Captain Ji to decide when he returns.¡±


    Amongst the young policewomen, there was a saying that even though Ji Bai looked gentle and elegant, if one stuck around long enough, they would soon find that his ruggedly good looks were matched only by his ruggedly tough heart. This was the same regardless of whether it was towards criminals or towards women that admired him.


    Therefore, although the Station Chief had given specific instructions that these two top students would intern under Vice Captain Ji Bai and another senior officer from the Criminal Police Unit, Zhao Han was still very doubtful. How could Ji Bai possibly have the patience to lead interns? What more weak female interns?


    ¡°I¡¯m your internship liaison officer, look for me if you have any problems.¡± Zhao Han continued as he handed them some documents. ¡°This is an internship notice.¡±


    The two of them took it and read it with focus. Their educated backgrounds were visible from the intense furrowing of their brows as they went through the details. After a while, they looked up and nodded.


    Since they had no questions, Zhao Han decided to find out a bit more about them, ¡°I¡¯ll sidetrack a bit. Since both of you studied the same course, riddle me this ¨C do you think that psychoanalysis is beneficial in solving cases?¡±


    Yao Meng answered immediately. ¡°I think that it is, but we only have a grasp on the theories, our practical experience is still a long way off. Thus, we¡¯ll have to seek your guidance from today onwards, Officer Zhao. I hope you won¡¯t mind.¡±


    Zhao Han instantlyughed aloud. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it, we¡¯ll both learn from each other.¡±


    He looked towards Xu Xu, but she only faintly nodded and mumbled, ¡°I agree.¡±


    Then she shut up as if she was not willing to say anymore.


    Zhao Han felt a little helpless as he thought to himself, ¡®Thisdy really doesn¡¯t know how to get along with others. I hope that we don¡¯t run into any obstacles because of this.¡¯


    Yao Meng was still smiling beside her. She seemed to be used to Xu Xu¡¯s indifference as she looked at Zhao Han apologetically.


    Zhao Han was not very bothered too and jokingly said, ¡°How about you try to analyze me and we¡¯ll see how urate you are?¡±


    Usually, people took psychoanalysis as a form of unreliable fortune-telling; this young officer who was quite a busybody was no exception.


    Yao Meng blinked her eyes as she stared at him. ¡°Senior Zhao, is this a test?¡±


    ¡°Take it as your first test for your internship.¡±


    Everyone else in the unit had either gone for meetings or went out, leaving just the three of them alone in the office. It was noon and the honey-colored sunlight shone through the windows, making the office look bright and spacious.


    As they examined Zhao Han from head to toe, he could not help but felt uneasy.


    Xu Xu was the first to set her eyes on his face again, which sent chills up his spine. Zhao Han thought that she was going to speak, but she remained silent. She simply ced her hands on her knees before tapping on them gently as if out of habit.


    While she had a tiny figure, her movements wererge and dominating. Moreover, her fingers were exceedingly slender and pale, like they were about to snap at any time. All thisbined made Zhao Han indescribably uneasy.


    After a brief moment, Yao Meng¡¯s eyes fell on his face once again, looking very eager.


    ¡°Who¡¯s going first?¡± He asked.


    It was then that Xu Xu momentarily nced at Yao Meng. It was faint and quick, so much so that most people would miss it.


    Yao Meng seemed to not have noticed this as she looked at Zhao Han and nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll go first then.¡±


    Zhao Han noticed the detail, however, and was confused by it. Since it was their first meeting, there was only a limited amount of information that they could get from him. Whoever went first would naturally have the upper hand as the one who goes second would be forced to pick up the scraps.


    ¡®Although they¡¯re course mates, they don¡¯t seem close at all. Xu Xu intended to let Yao Meng go first, but why is that so?¡¯ He thought.


    Yao Meng began. ¡°Firstly, despite looking casual, you¡¯re actually a person of structure and order. While your desk is very messy, upon closer inspection, we see that all the documents are arranged ording to time, then sub-categorized ording to the type of case. Additionally, the documents that you just handed us were arranged quite clearly too.


    ¡°Secondly, you¡¯re very easy-going and you tend to think of others. This isn¡¯t only seen in your actions and behavior, I¡¯ve also noticed that the internship notice isn¡¯t an official document. Instead, youposed it especially for us. This is due to the casual tone that was used throughout the notice. Besides, the female dormitory, restaurants, and even the location of the shopping mall were specially marked out for us...¡±


    By now, Zhao Han was alreadyughing. It was a loud, delightedugh.


    Yao Meng seemed to feel encouraged and her tone became livelier too. ¡°... Thirdly, you have a girlfriend, because you¡¯re wearing a very pretty ne. Just now when we were talking, you subconsciously touched it gently a few times.


    ¡°Fourthly, you¡¯re very studious, even though you asked us to analyze you out for fun, when I started speaking, you became very focused and your expression became serious which showed that you were thinking. Lastly...¡±


    Yao Meng picked up a picture frame from the desk before smiling brightly. ¡°You¡¯re very proud of your job and you¡¯re highly passionate about it. These photos of team building activities within the police unit are ced neatly at the most eye-catching spot on the desk. I can only analyze this much for now. Please excuse me if I¡¯ve said anything wrong.¡±


    Zhao Hanughed again. ¡°I¡¯m not as great as how you make me out to be, but your analysis was very interesting.¡±


    Yao Meng¡¯s smile became even sweeter. She took a sip of tea, then the two of them looked at Xu Xu who had been quiet all this time.


    Xu Xu looked like a monk in meditation. There was no change in her expression as she suddenly stopped tapping her knees with her fingers.


    Zhao Han was inexplicably relieved when she did this, but he was also very curious. ¡®Yao Meng had done such aprehensive and urate analysis. What else could Xu Xu possibly add on?


    ¡®Is she going to say something like I agree with her point of view?¡¯


    He was very confused, ¡®Does she dislike expressing herself, or is it just that she doesn¡¯t know a thing?¡¯


    As if to verify what Zhao Han was thinking about, Xu Xu finally spoke up. ¡°I agree with her point of view.¡±


    Zhao Han had no clue as to how to respond to this.


    Unexpectedly though, Xu Xu interrupted his thoughts by continuing, ¡°However, I¡¯ll add on a few more points.¡±


    Zhao Han snapped back to reality as his eyes suddenly met her cold pupils which were now looking up at him.


    However, it looked like she was not very used to looking people in the eye as she immediately lowered her head to avoid Zhao Han¡¯s gaze. She sounded very quiet as she spoke, and her voice carried a soft, gentle tone which was rather pleasing to the ear.


    ¡°You indeed have a girlfriend, but the two of you have been together for less than three months.


    ¡°It¡¯s her birthday today, which is why you ced her gift inside the first drawer on the right.


    ¡°You injured your right armtely.


    ¡°You have a sister who is quite good-looking...¡±


    Zhao Han was stunned when he heard all of this. A thought suddenly popped into his mind. ¡®Did she look me up before this?¡¯


    At that moment, Xu Xu stuck out her hand and her fingers went past a frame that was ced on the leftmost side of the desk before stopping at the lighter that was ced beside it. She lowered her head to look at it for a while before the faintest hint of a smile crept out from the corners of her mouth.


    ¡°The object ced at the most eye-catching spot on your desk is not the picture frame, it¡¯s this limited-edition Zippo lighter.¡±


    ¡°You have quite a strong friendship with Captain Ji and you respect him a lot. He¡¯s the one who gave you this lighter, perhaps during your birthday or after one of your promotions.¡±


    ¡°After that, you returned the favor and gave him a pair of valuable sports shoes.¡±


    She looked up at Zhao Han after she said all this. ¡°Officer Zhao, we study possibilities in psychoanalysis. These are just a handful of the conclusions that I¡¯ve drawn which I think have the highest possibilities of being right.¡±


    Her tone was still calm, but her expression showed expectancy and eagerness. She was finally revealing a youthfulness befitting of a student while she excitedly awaited Zhao Han¡¯s answer.


    Zhao Han eyes widened after hearing this. ¡°All these...how did you know?¡±


    Yao Meng who had been sipping on her teacup when she ced it down lightly and shed Zhao Han a smile. ¡°Senior Zhao, Xu Xu is very impressive.¡±


    At this moment, a faint smile appeared on Xu Xu¡¯s lips. Her eyes that had previously looked so old suddenly seemed to gleam with pride. Her pale cheeks also became slightly flushed.


    Zhao Wang stared at her smiling face for the first time and thought to himself, ¡®No wonder she let Yao Meng go first, she was sure that Yao Meng would have nothing left to say if she had gone first.¡¯


    When the bell signaling the end of the working day rang, Zhao Han sat alone in the conference room pondering.


    If Yao Meng¡¯s deductions were evidence-based, then Xu Xu¡¯s conclusions werepletely bold and imaginative. Nevertheless, she got everything right except for one, he did not have a sister, only a cousin sister. Indeed, his cousin sister was pretty and was very close to him, so she was almost like a sister to him.


    Later when Xu Xu exined her analysis in detail, an indescribable feeling swelled in Zhao Han¡¯s chest. Perhaps it was because her deductions were actually so simple.


    After he calmed himself down, Zhao Han dialed Ji Bai¡¯s number. ¡°Captain.¡±


    Ji Bai was from Beijing and he had gone home to visit his family. After some time, the call was answered and Ji Bai¡¯s cheerful voice was heard on the other end of the line. ¡°Speak.¡±


    He was probably out when he picked up the phone, as Zhao Han could hear a lot of other voices in the background.


    ¡°The unit has recruited two interns, I¡¯ve already met them and they¡¯re both very outstanding. I¡¯ve sent you their resumes. Oh right, and the Station Chief has asked you to lead one of them.¡±


    Ji Bai¡¯sughed loudly, but his reply was so cold that itpletely killed Zhao Han¡¯s mood. ¡°Do I look very free? I¡¯m not interested.¡±

 Chapter 2

    <h4>Chapter 2</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    Ji Bai was at a gathering with his friends when Zhao Han called.


    The dullness of dusk could be seen through the carved window frames in sharp contrast to the vast yet glimmering lights of Beijing City. Inside the room, everyone was well-dressed. They were talking cheerfully and joking around such that the scene inside the room looked like an expensive painting. When the phone rang, Ji Bai passed his cards to the person beside him then ced a cigarette in his mouth before excusing himself.


    He left and sat down on a sofa in the lobby outside. Beneath his feet was a soft woolen carpet, whereas in front of him was a row of fresh indoor nts that were surrounding a white rockery with an in-built water fountain. Immediately, a clubhouse attendant approached him and politely asked if he needed any service. Upon seeing him shaking his head, the attendant quietly left.


    He ashed the cigarette while Zhao Han naively reported to him. ¡°The Station Chief has said that you must lead an intern, which will be taken into ount in your year-end assessment...¡±


    Ji Bai leaned back onto the sofa, shut his eyes and smiled. ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡±


    However, before Zhao Han could celebrate, he added on, ¡°Zhao, rearrange your workload for now. Lead the interns and record them in your year-end assessment for me.¡±


    Zhao Han was dispirited and immediately replied, ¡°I can¡¯t lead them, I really can¡¯t. They¡¯re both experts, you¡¯re the only one who can handle them.¡±


    To prove his point, Zhao Han told Ji Bai about Xu Xu¡¯s deduction process.


    Number one, Zhao Han had subconsciously touched the ne given to him by his girlfriend a few times. He not only looked gentle when he did so but he also constantly adjusted the position of the ne with his fingers. This showed that he was not used to the ne and was subconsciously trying to find the optimal position for it. This kind of behavior is mostly seen in couples who are still passionately in love.


    Number two, Zhao Han looked at the first drawer to the right a few times. He wore a gentle expression whenever he did so. Since he had only recently gotten together with his girlfriend, it would not be their anniversary. There were also no uing festivals, so this present was most likely a birthday gift.


    Number three, regarding his right arm, Xu Xu could immediately spot that he was a right-hander. However, he had paused for a while and used his left-hand several times when wanting to pick something up.


    Number four, while he wore thetest Givenchy casual top, his jeans were from Meters Bonwe. A man who would buy Givenchy for himself would certainly not match his outfit that way, so he did not buy that top himself.


    His new girlfriend gave him a silver pirate ship ne and since they had not been together for long, it was unlikely that she would give him such an expensive Givenchy shirt. As a result, it was probably a gift from another woman.


    Men who grew up with a sister would all show certain simrities in terms of character and behavior. These men tended to be more natural, casual, and more considerate aspared to normal men when interacting with women. Zhao Han happened to disy all of those traits.


    ¡°Furthermore, when you looked at Yao Meng, who is a beautifuldy, you didn¡¯t express amazement and excitement like the other officers. You were very calm.¡± Xu Xu continued, ¡°So this sister of yours who bought you the Givenchy shirt is probably well poised and very pretty.¡±


    Number five, the limited-edition Zippo lighter was more likely gifted to him by a young friend. Besides, Zhao Han did not simply throw it just anywhere on the desk or ce it beside him where it was more easily essible. Instead, he ced it further away next to the picture frame, which subconsciously reflected his respect towards that person. In the entire police unit, the most likely candidate for someone who was young but also most likely to be respected by Zhao Han was Ji Bai.


    Following Zhao Han¡¯s well-educated and sincere character, he would certainly return a gift after receiving such an expensive gift. Although Zhao Han wore Meters Bonwe jeans, he also wore a pair of valuable outdoor sports shoes; his backpack was of the same outdoor brand as well. It was obvious that he was a fan of the brand (It would not be from his sister, she would have given him a pair of handmade Italian leather shoes or something of the like). Hence, the gift that he gave Ji Bai was most likely something that he deemed to be the most valuable item from a brand he liked. This led Xu Xu to guess a pair of branded outdoor sports shoes.


    ...


    After he said all of this, Zhao Han made a solemn promise. ¡°Captain, take Xu Xu. I have no doubt that she¡¯ll follow in your footsteps.¡±


    Ji Bai chuckled quietly. ¡°Shh Shh?¡±


    Zhao Hanughed.


    However, Ji Bai quickly stoppedughing and continued seriously, ¡°An unexpected win requires luck too. If we solve cases like how Shh Shh does, then the risk will simrly be much bigger as well. Although Yao Meng¡¯s analysis was in and easy to understand, each of them was safe and reliable deduction. Furthermore, based on how your description, she¡¯s moreprehensive than Shh Shh.¡±


    Zhao Han was at a loss for words and asked, ¡°Then... which one will we take?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it.¡±


    After they hung up, Ji Bai did not return to the room. Instead, he sat in the same spot and went through their resumes on his phone as the cigarette in his hand slowly burnt away.


    When he was almost done, somebody came out from the room and sat down beside him. It was his childhood friend, Shu Hang. He immediately pped his shoulder and asked, ¡°We weren¡¯t done talking just now so why did youe here to smoke alone? I¡¯m nning to start up apany this year. If you think that the concept of new energy resources is workable, then how about we do it together? I¡¯ll split thepany with you 50-50.¡±


    Ji Bai put away his cellphone andughed. ¡°Did my mother ask you to persuade me?¡±


    Shu Hang did not answer, which was a tacit acknowledgment. He sighed and asked quietly, ¡°Are you really content staying at such a low level in the Criminal Police Unit?¡±


    Ji Bai squinted his eyes slightly and took a drag of his cigarette before puffing out a smoke ring.


    Shu Hang watched him and thought to himself, ¡®You¡¯d better note up with a bunch of politically sound and professional theories. That sh*t makes me so nauseous.¡¯


    After some time, Ji Bai turned to him and smiled. ¡°You¡¯re not a fish, so how can you understand the joy of being one?¡±


    Shu Hang scoffed. ¡°Damn you and that gender imbnced ce. You are constantly dealing with vicious and evil people, is it really a fulfilling life?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s more fulfilling than all of you who do nothing but eat and drink.¡± Ji Bai said jokingly.


    Shu Hang was stunned. However, after remaining silent awhile, he was not angry, instead, he nodded his head.


    ¡°It¡¯s quite meaningless isn¡¯t it?¡± His expression became indifferent. ¡°Nothing in the world is too difficult for us, which makes it meaningless. When people hear that you¡¯re the grandson or son of this person or that person, they¡¯ll immediately take thorough care of you. You only need to snap your fingers for people to regard you as a business genius who has surpassed your predecessor. Even when you really do something based on your own abilities, heh, people will still talk behind your back and say that your achievements are all just due to the Shu family name.¡±


    Ji Bai only smiled faintly, then he patted his friend¡¯s shoulder. Shu Hang knew that he sounded ridiculous, but it was probably because he had drank too much. In any case, it was a goodugh.


    The two of them smoked for some time again before Shu Hang spoke again. ¡°You¡¯re being dishonest, why did you lie to your mother back then and say that you wanted to join the police force to get into politics? The two of you argued again, didn¡¯t you? You¡¯re being unfilial.¡±


    In truth, it wasn¡¯t just Mother Ji, all of his friends who grew up with him thought that Ji Bai had joined the police academy because he was not willing to go into business like his father. They thought that he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, General Ji, to join the civil service. Now, seven years had passed and although he was quickly promoted due to his outstanding performance, he remained in a dangerous line of work.


    Ji Bai stubbed his cigarette and smiled. ¡°My mother¡¯s side has quite a few connections within the police force hierarchy. If I didn¡¯t talk her into it, then she could¡¯ve very well stopped me from getting into the police academy. In any case, you shouldn¡¯t burden yourself thinking about this anymore.¡±


    Shu Hang sighed. ¡®Alright, if you say so.¡¯


    He no longer brought it up and instead switched the conversation subject. ¡°You look like you¡¯re still single.¡±


    Ji Bai nodded.


    Shu Hang sneered. ¡°I heard that you¡¯ve beenunching frontal attacks on bad guys day and night. Brother, staying upte is bad for your kidney, don¡¯t regret if they don¡¯t function anymore when you need them to.¡±


    Ji Bai red at him. ¡°Even at my worst, I¡¯m still healthier than you.¡±


    Shu Hang was instantly in tears withughter.


    The two of them fell silent for a while, then Ji Bai recalled something, causing him to smile with his eyes. ¡°Actually, I went on a blind date oncest year.¡±


    Shu Hang was shocked. ¡°You actually went on a blind date?¡±


    Ji Bai nodded. ¡°The niece of the Station Chief¡¯s wife. We saw each other for a few weeks but it was called off.¡±


    Shu Hang was excited and probed further. ¡°And why is that?¡±


    Ji Bai lit another cigarette and replied leisurely, ¡°She¡¯s quite pretty, they say that she¡¯s the belle of Xiang Chuan County. At the time, I was particrly busy; I think I only saw her a few times. In the end, she left me for an heir to a wealthy family.¡±


    Shu Hang was overjoyed but remained doubtful as he stared at Ji Bai¡¯s side profile amidst the smoke. ¡°You¡¯re a stunnerpared to the other guys out there. Are you sure that thedy was willing to let you go? ¡±


    Ji Baiughed and replied, ¡°She dide and look for me again, saying that the decision was very painful for her. However, she went on to say that she would dump that shorty for me if I could buy her a suite in Lin City within three years.¡±


    Shu Hang thought about it seriously then looked at him perplexed. ¡°You¡¯re only worth a suite? What a low requirement. What did you tell her?¡±


    ¡°I said that my monthly sry was 6000 and based on the housing rates in Lin City, 1 square meter costs 10,000.¡± smiled Ji Bai.


    Shu Hangughed out loud. ¡°Bullshit, I don¡¯t believe you, how could there be ady out there with such bad taste? This cloak that you¡¯re wearing... hmm, it would cost at least tens of thousands, right? Can¡¯t she tell?¡±


    Ji Bai shrugged and grinned at him. ¡°She once said that she suspected that my shirt was a fake from Beijing¡¯s Silk Street. Naturally, I told her that she was right.¡±


    Shu Hangughed out loud again, then he pped Ji Bai¡¯s back. ¡°Thatdy wasn¡¯t bad ¨C she was quite the realist.¡±


    Ji Bai nodded. ¡°She was. Which was why I was surprised that her feelings could be bought with something as simple as a suite.¡±


    At that moment, the door to their room was pushed open and a group of people poured out. Somebody pointed at them and called out, ¡°Let¡¯s go, we¡¯re going to go drink at his house, his father¡¯s collection.¡±


    Shu Hang looked at Ji Bai. ¡°Are you going?¡±


    Ji Bai took onest drag of his cigarette before stubbing it out andzily replying, ¡°Why not?¡±


    It was the same dim light of night which filled the damp Lin City. The river ran through the city whilst the streetlights on both sides of the riverbank looked like mandarin oranges floating in the darkness.


    Even when the off-duty bell rang, Yao Meng seemed to have no intention of leaving at all. She said that she wanted to take a look at the data and even took care of her colleagues who were working overtime by ordering meals for them. A couple of people stopped by her desk and talked to her after she did so.


    Xu Xu, on the other hand, took her backpack and stood up with the intention to say goodbye to everyone politely. However, after standing for a while, nobody noticed her. Moreover, since she was not used to speaking out loud, she finally left without making a sound.


    When shepared herself to Yao Meng, it made her feel ashamed of herself.


    Nevertheless, she had grown used to it. She would not take it to heart.


    Xu Xu¡¯s brother, Xu Juan, was already waiting by the roadside in his Mercedes Benz. It was rush hour and the hazy streetlights were reflected on his fair, elegant face through the tinted windows. His charcoal suit wasplemented by an elitist haircut that was very fitting of the big city.


    After opening the door, Xu Xu got into the car. A few minutester, Xu Juan looked at her quietly out of the corner of his eyes. He saw that she had ced her hands on her knees and had an indifferent look. Her legs were gently kicking at the newly reced woolen carpet on the car floor.


    Xu Juan instantly smiled at his sister¡¯s habit. How could he not know? When she was in a good mood, she always liked to kick things; when she was thinking, she always tapped on her knees like a man, so as to look more experienced and mature.


    ¡°Did you have a good day?¡± He smiled and asked.


    ¡°Not bad.¡±


    ¡®That means it went very well.¡¯ Xu Juan smiled as he loosened his tie with one hand. He threw it into the backseat then opened the car window, allowing the night breeze to caress their faces. They were both quiet people, so they sat there in silence as they watched the car lights shing by outside the window.


    Suddenly, Xu Xu¡¯s cell phone rang.


    After taking a nce at the number, Xu Xu¡¯s expression changed.


    Xu Juan noticed this and immediately asked, ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°Ji Bai. The Vice-Captain of the Criminal Police Unit.¡± She had taken a look at the contacts that day, so she naturally remembered everyone¡¯s numbers. It seemed like he had decided to be her internship mentor, so Xu Xu¡¯s mood instantly cheered up.


    She was still quite nervous to face the youngest legend in the police force thought, so after adjusting her breathing, she picked up the phone. ¡°Hello.¡±


    ¡°Hello, this is Ji Bai.¡± A man¡¯s voice was heard through the phone, it was both clear and deep.


    ¡°Hello, Captain Ji.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ming back in a week. Over the next few days, go through all the information we have on unresolved cases over thest ten years, then produce a report.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Next month, we¡¯ll also have to work with the Public Security Bureau, so gather all rted information.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ...


    He was direct and efficient as he assigned five to six misceneous tasks to her at once, to which she answered him without hesitance. Atst, he paused. Xu Xu did not make a sound either as she waited for him to continue.


    Music andughter could be heard from Ji Bai¡¯s side during the pause as heughed and spoke to someone else. After a while, he turned his attention back to her and asked quietly, ¡°Shh Shh, do you have any questions?¡±


    There was still traces of hisughter in his voice as Xu Xu thought for a moment before she answered, ¡°Not for the time being.¡±


    ¡°Alright, bye.¡±


    ¡°Bye.¡±


    After they hung up, Xu Xu screened through all the task he had assigned and knew what to expect. Once she raised her head up, she saw Xu Juan staring at her.


    ¡°If he¡¯s your superior, why aren¡¯t you trying to make friends with him?¡± Xu Juan was hoping that Xu Xu would undergo some kind some metamorphosis during this internship period.


    Xu Xu was in a good mood for the first time ever as she exined patiently, ¡°Do you know why I want to intern under this man?¡±


    ¡°You told me before, it¡¯s because he has the highest crime solving rate.¡±


    ¡°Yes. A person with such a high crime solving rate won¡¯t easily let other factors interfere with his judgment of people or matters. In other words, if I work under him, I don¡¯t have to boast or tter him, I don¡¯t have to try to figure out his psyche. I can focus all my energy on important matters without worrying about office politics.¡±


    As Xu Juan watched his sister¡¯s shining eyes, he became cheerful as well. He felt happy for her as he smiled to himself before switching to another topic that he was more concerned about, ¡°You¡¯ll officially graduate next year and you¡¯ll have a stable job too. Are there any single men in the police station? When will you get a boyfriend?¡±


    Xu Xu looked at Xu Juan oddly. ¡°Does this have anything to do with you?¡±


    Xu Juan felt dispirited. He knew that his sister was not arguing with him, but that she genuinely felt that it had nothing to do with him.


    Which was why he felt even more dispirited. He reached out his hand out to mess up her initially neat short hair. Xu Xu knew that she could not avoid it, so she simply shriveled up and let him ruin her hair as he wished. Only when he finally stopped did she turn to re at him.


    She looked calm despite her head looking like a chicken coop. There was a faint twinkle in her pitch-ck eyes.


    As Xu Juan looked at her, his heart softened. ¡°24 years old isn¡¯t old, but with no experience in rtionships at all and seemingly no interest in the opposite sex, how can the two men in our house not worry about you?¡±


    Xu Xu fell silent, then she abruptly sat up straight and answered. ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s not that I¡¯m not interested. I¡¯ll make better use of my time in the future.¡±


    Their mother had passed away from illness when Xu Juan was five and Xu Xu was two.


    Their mother used to be a businesswoman. She had left a middle-sized ounting firm for their uncle to manage. Xu Juan took over the firm after he graduated from university and, by now, had already made a name for himself as an outstanding talent in the industry within Lin City. On the other hand, their father was a university professor. He had raised them alone when their mother had passed away and had not remarried since.


    Xu Juan was a calm and knowledgeable character, which was pretty much a mixture of their parents¡¯ personalities. In just a few years, he had already established himself in Lin City. However, he changed girlfriends as quickly as he changed clothes; it was unknown where he got his yboy persona from.


    Xu Xu was more like their mother who was strict and decisive. Nheless, everyone around her thought of her as someone that, while excellent academically and with great work ethic, had no clue of how to get on in the world. A typical person with high IQ but low EQ.


    Xu Juan would argue that this was not because his sister was clueless and that she did not have low EQ ¨C it was simply that she just was not concerned.


    ...


    ¡°I don¡¯t want my boyfriend to be a police officer,¡± said Xu Xu.


    ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be right. My job has certain risks and my daily routine is not stable. Byparison, if my partner has a more stable lifestyle, then our family structure will be bnced.¡±


    Xu Juan did not want her sister to get a police boyfriend either. In all honesty, he was still very concerned about her sister getting a boyfriend, even though she was an expert in psychology.


    ¡°How about this, I¡¯ll introduce you to somebody.¡± He said.


    Xu Xu pondered for a while. She agreed that her brother would be a more reliable source of suitors and so, she nodded. ¡°Alright. I want somebody who deals with technology, natural sciences, IT, architecture, chemical engineering... any of those will do.¡±


    Xu Juan was ted and asked, ¡°Why?¡±


    Xu Xu shrugged. ¡°Simple minded men areparably easier to control.¡±


    Xu Juanughed out loud.

 Chapter 3

    <h4>Chapter 3</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    In truth, Xu Juan had gotten one point wrong, Xu Xu was not entirely inexperienced in rtionships. Her heart had once leaped for someone, but it hade to nothing.


    When Xu Xu was in her third year of university, she had be an assistant to her professor. She often participated in case analyses and asionally marked assignments for first or second-year students.


    That was when she first noticed that boy¡¯s handwriting.


    Her professor was old-fashioned, so he demanded that all the assignments be handwritten. Amongst a pile of irritable, mediocre blue and ck scribbles, his writing was to graphology what Mozart was to music; it wasposed and understated, with a certain boldness that flowed within it.


    Later on, she met him in person. He wore a white shirt with ck trousers and thin ck-framed sses. He was also tall and attractive. Not to mention he always showed a shy smile her whenever he referred to her as ¡°senior¡±.


    Xu Xu had never thought about dating somebody younger, but if she ever met one, she knew that good men were basically limited edition, so she had to grab them while theysted.


    She even bought a batch of books to study love and rtionships which went through all known factors surrounding both the physiologically and the psychologically side of things. In the end, she stayed upte to draft a detailed n to go after him and was finally prepared to slowly go in for the kill.


    This was when she tasted her first ever defeat in life.


    It turned out that the boy was well aware of his charm and appeal, as he was a womanizer. Xu Xu only needed to poke around a bit to find out that he had had three girlfriends in just one semester. Among them were women from the art academy next to theirs. Beautifuldies with long legs and long hair. Not to mention, he had dated both seniors and juniors.


    She had made sacrifices to achieve this triumph but was forced to give up silently. The only drastic reaction that she made was when she donated all of the books to the library on the same night. When she met the boy again in the universitypound, she only nodded at him faintly before backing away.


    Somebody was once fond of her too. There was a senior researcher that was two years older than her. He was an elegant and upright man with an excellent academic record too. However, he was even more introverted than Xu Xu. On the days leading up to their graduation, he suddenly approached her from behind and ced his hand on her shoulder as he said softly, ¡°To me, you¡¯re different.¡±


    At the time, Xu Xu was busy discussing some crucial data with a group from America, so although his trembling voice had entered her ears, her brain was already operating at full capacity, so she did not process his words.


    A couple of dayster, her senior left to work in a city in the north and her job came to an end. It was only sometime after when she looked at the pile of books that her senior gifted her did she have the sudden realization, ¡®Was he confessing to me that day?¡¯


    ...


    As Xu Xu reminisced the past, she was very clear that she was naturally not an expert in men-and-women rtionships. She also knew that she had to be more active in the dating field.


    However, since she had handed over the task of looking for a partner to Xu Juan, she naturally put the matter aside.


    Deputy Station Chief Liu Zijiuan was the one who held the position of Captain of the Criminal Police Unit. His office was on the top floor. Ji Bai was the only one who had an individual office in the Criminal Police Unit, while everyone else was in one big building. Xu Xu and Yao Meng sat opposite each other at the two newly added desks near the door.


    It was calm and peaceful on the second day of their internship, with no ongoing case to handle either. Just as Xu Xu started up herputer, she received an email from Ji Bai asking when she would hand in her first report.


    To normal people,pleting a report in one day¡¯s time was considered quite harsh, but Xu Xu relished this kind of stress. After she estimated the workload, she informed him that she would be done by eleven o¡¯clock that night, to which Ji Bai gave her a one-word reply. ¡°Alright¡±.


    The two of them seemed to share a simrity in the sense that they both regarded overtime work as a prerequisite for the job.


    Xu Xu started to engross herself in her work. As for Meng who sat opposite of her, other than looking through data, she had nothing else to do. She endured it for a while before eventually walking towards Zhao Han¡¯s desk. ¡°Senior Zhao, can you please assign something for me to do.¡±


    ¡°These are all my individual duties, so how can I assign them to you?¡± Zhao Han smiled. ¡°You can go examine data.¡±


    Yao Meng frowned and asked again, ¡°What case are you busy with right now?¡±


    ¡°Some cases that were reported to the branch.¡± Zhao Han casually went through the data in his hand as he continued, ¡°There was a robbery case in a citizen¡¯s house to the south of the city, a citizen who was cut by a razor de that was left on a bench in Ruiying Park, and an idental assault case in a car factory... In any case, I¡¯m going to a meeting.¡± He then stood up and headed for the conference room.


    Yao Meng smiled at Xu Xu, then she returned to her seat and continued examining data.


    By noon, Xu Xu had already been working continuously for many hours, so she was feeling rather tired. She went to pour herself a cup of coffee but quickly realized that there was nobody else in the building. Meanwhile, the conference room¡¯s door was shut tight, so she knew that they were probably having a meeting.


    Since they had not yet participated in official cases, both herself and Yao Meng could not participate in such meetings. Xu Xu paced around the empty office for a while before catching sight of Ji Bai¡¯s office door that was left slightly ajar. She vaguely spotted a slim figure moving about inside.


    The office was decorated in an extremely minimalistic and tidy way. It had a square shelf, a square desk, and a hardwood chair. At first nce, the entire room seemed to beposed of straight lines, there were only ck, white, and grey colors. All this made it appear very clean and neat. However, when looked at closely, one could spot many disharmonious details: on one of the shelves of the innermost bookshelf was an exquisite ck Ferrari car model; a dark grey cloak waszily draped on the back of a chair; there was an abstract painting on the wall with exaggerated lines against gloomy colors. Xu Xu had no idea what it represented, was it a human or a ghost, or a mountain or void...


    ¡°It looks like Captain Ji is a person who abides by the rules but has his own individual character too.¡± From her own desk, Yao Meng straightened her posture as she wiped her desk with a cloth. She smiled and looked at Xu Xu.


    Xu Xu nodded. She was thinking the same thing.


    Yao Meng sighed. ¡°Our ssmates were so envious of us that we coulde to the Lin City Criminal Police Unit, but we don¡¯t even know if Captain Ji will lead us. Senior Zhao mentioned that Captain Ji rarely takes underlings.¡±


    Xu Xu understood at once that Ji Bai had not informed anyone else that he had contacted her.


    In the past, the two of them did not interact much in the academy. However, Yao Meng was extremely outgoing and initiative, so she was one of the very few ssmates who could talk to Xu Xu. Thus, Xu Xu had no ill feelings towards Yao Meng and felt that she was a very capabledy.


    Xu Xu could tell that Yao Meng was very eager to study under Ji Bai, but it was very normal as she felt the same too. Hence, she told her honestly, ¡°Captain Ji called me yesterday and assigned some tasks to me. I think that he¡¯ll probably lead me.¡±


    Yao Meng was stunned and did not hide the disappointment in her eyes well, but she quickly shed Xu Xu a helpless smile. ¡°Alright, I knew that I couldn¡¯t beat you to it.¡±


    Her frankness made Xu Xu smile too. Yao Meng passed the cloth over to Xu Xu. ¡°I intend to work hard to make full use of this opportunity, so let¡¯s serve to the best of our abilities!¡±


    Xu Xu nodded as she received the cloth before wiping her own desk. As Yao Meng watched her slightly bent over, she smiled and said, ¡°Xu Xu, let¡¯s work hard together. Although we¡¯ll be following different instructors, let us associate with each other more in the future.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Xu Xu eagerly nodded at her.


    That day, Xu Xu sat upright in front of herputer without even leaving for bathroom breaks. On the other hand, Yao Meng was not as warm as yesterday whereby she worked overtime with her colleagues and ordered meals. She took the subway and immediately headed home after work.


    Her parents were retired workers from the leather factory and her house was at an old factory dormitory in the south of the city. When she returned home, Yao Meng had no appetite. She ignored her parents¡¯ nagging and went straight to her room and locked the door.


    Afterying on the bed for a while, she took out her cell phone out and dialed a number that she already knew by heart.


    ¡°Hello, Captain Ji.¡± She was slightly nervous, but she tried hard to maintain her sweet-sounding voice. ¡°I¡¯m Yao Meng, the intern. I¡¯m really sorry to have bothered you, but when I was gathering information today, I encountered a difficult problem. I heard from Officer Zhao that you¡¯re familiar in this area, so I was hoping that you could give me some advice.¡±


    What made her very happy was that Ji Bai had an extremely friendly attitude. After listening to her question, he exined patiently and evenplimented her for being so studious. His attitude encouraged Yao Meng, so she gathered her courage and asked, ¡°Captain Ji, I know that you rarely lead interns, but I really hope to learn from you. I was wondering if you could give me a chance?¡±


    Ji Baiughed on the other end of the phone. ¡°Who told you this? However, regarding the interns, it has already been decided. Officer Wu will be leading you, he¡¯s very experienced ¨C I learned a lot from him when I first arrived at the Police Unit.¡±


    Yao Meng caught her breath for a second before replying, ¡°That¡¯ll be great.¡±


    ¡°Is there anything else?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing else, thank you.¡±


    After the call, Yao Meng sat at the end of her bed and watched the night sky pass outside her window. Under the cover of darkness, the factory dormitory looked so old, like a deserted ruin. She was so upset that her tears were about to burst out.


    A momentter, she took her phone out again and sent a message. ¡°Captain Ji, thank you for your advice. I¡¯ll learn well from Officer Wu and make sure not to disappoint the leaders in the unit. P.S. If I encounter any problems in the future, can I treat you as a teacher and seek your advice too?¡±


    Ji Bai did not reply even after a long time. It was not until after she went downstairs for a brief meal, washed the dishes, and mopped the floor did her cell phone finally beep. She whipped it out and saw Ji Bai¡¯s mundane reply. ¡°Your internship instructor is just a tiny factor for your sess. The key to sess is your results. There¡¯s no difference between being my apprentice and Officer Wu¡¯s. Work hard.¡±


    Xu Xu returned home after having dinner at the police station. She stayed in a small district known as the Imperial Courtyard Residences. It was a suite that Xu Juan had bought for her at the beginning of the year. The residence was located in a financial district, so it was where elites usually gathered. The security was good, and it was close to where Xu Juan worked.


    She reckoned that it was still early, so she changed into a fresh set of clothes, took a towel, put her headset on and left the house. There was a newly constructed park in her district which had a really nice atmosphere. She was nning to run a fewps before returning home to continue working on her report.


    The sunset was hidden from her view, but the park still looked green and refreshing. Xu Xu slowly ran along the trails and observed her environment. People were scattered everywhere. There were middle-aged parents, youths, pensioners, and children all doing their own forms of exercise. Most of the other joggers easily ran past her, even if they were kids. Xu Xu increased the volume of the music in her headset and maintained a uniform pace as she ignored this fact and focused on absorbing the surrounding view through her eyes.


    It was the most rxing time of her day, so she would sometimes get distracted. When she was interested, she would observe the people around her and analyze their behaviors to her heart¡¯s content. She liked to imagine the kind of people they were.


    The firstp.


    A father and son duo sat on a gentle slope to the right of the trail. The child wasughing as he pointed at her after which his father smiled too. Xu Xu took an indifferent nce at the child, but she could guess that the child wasughing at her funny running speed, which made her a little embarrassed.


    In the pavilion, there was a white-haired elder who was holding onto a radio with squinted eyes.


    Under the phoenix tree, there stood a man and a woman conversing happily. The woman was in her thirties, whereas the man seemed to be in his twenties, their posture showed that they were close but not intimate. They were probably siblings.


    The secondp.


    The father and his son held hands as they stood up. They were probably nning to return home. The childughed at the sight of Xu Xu again as Xu Xu turned her head to avoid their gaze.


    The white-haired elder in the pavilion had left.


    The man and woman were still at the same ce, but they had now sat down.


    The thirdp.


    The sky was getting dark and there were fewer people in the park. There were only office buildings and high-end residential buildings nearby, so when it was nearing night time, there were not many people who came to the park.


    Only the man and woman were left by the grassy slope. They lowered their heads and conversed. The man ced his hand on her shoulder andughed as he said something. The womanughed as well as she leaned onto the grass behind her in an elegant and graceful manner. She looked quite beautiful in that position.


    Xu Xu looked away indifferently to grant them their privacy.


    Suddenly, the woman¡¯s loud screams pierced her eardrums.


    Xu Xu stopped and turned to look. She saw the woman¡¯s mouth wide open as she raised her right hand up. Her palm looked badly injured and there was blood was spurting out of her wrist. The face of the man beside her suddenly changed too.


    Xu Xu took her off the headset and dashed over.


    If she had seen correctly, the woman¡¯s artery had been cut. All this happened in the blink of an eye.


    When she was running, she suddenly recalled what Zhao Han had said that morning. ¡°... A civilian was identally cut by a razor de that was left on a long bench in Ruiying Park...¡±


    Was this not an ident?

 Chapter 4

    <h4>Chapter 4</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    The woman looked pale from the shock as she hurriedly used her hand to press on the wound. Despite that, blood just kept flowing out. When the man finally recovered from his shock, he immediately helped her put pressure on the wound with one hand while dialing 120 with the other. ¡°Fangting Park, my friend¡¯s wrist was cut...¡±


    ¡°Step aside.¡± Xu Xu arrived behind them and immediately identified herself. ¡°I¡¯m a police officer.¡±


    The man was stunned, he let go of the woman and moved aside, but still stared at Xu Xu suspiciously.


    Xu Xu took a deep breath and held the woman¡¯s wrist. She pressed the spot above her artery with force and precision.


    The bleeding gradually slowed down.


    Both the woman¡¯s long skirt and hands were stained red with blood, while her face looked pale, ¡°Thank you...¡±


    Xu Xu breathed a sigh of relief and nodded at her. ¡°The nearest emergency center is less than a 10 minute drive away so you¡¯re not in any danger.¡±


    The pair was relieved and thanked her together. Xu Xu nodded then stared at the woman. ¡°What happened just now?¡±


    Although the woman sounded weak, her voice was calm. ¡°There was something on the grass, I put my hand down and was cut.¡±


    By now, the sky was already dim and the streetlights were not yet lit, which made the grass look dark and unclear. The man used his phone as a shlight and started to sweep the area. After looking for a while, his tone became cold as he called out to them. ¡°There¡¯s a razor de here.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded. ¡°Don¡¯t ruin the scene, wait for the police. You, press on her wound.¡±


    The man was quite surprised and frowned. ¡°Me? How about you?¡±


    Xu Xu nced at the woman¡¯s wound which was still bleeding. She turned towards the man and ordered him sternly, ¡°Press on it.¡±


    Both the man and woman were stunned as if they did not expect Xu Xu to speak in such a tone.


    Nheless, the man still did as he was told. Xu Xu took her towel and folded it, then she picked up a wooden stick from the ground. She tied a knot on the woman¡¯s arm then tightened the wooden stick to it, making a makeshift tourniquet.


    The woman moaned painfully, which made the man hesitate. ¡°Is this to stop the bleeding?¡±


    Xu Xu could not be bothered to chit-chat with him. She quickly asked the woman. ¡°Do you have a pen?¡±


    The woman shook her head. Xu Xu then looked at the man, who shook his head as well.


    Xu Xu kept a straight face and stuck her index finger out, then she rubbed back and forth on the woman¡¯s bloody arm, getting itpleted soaked in blood in the process.


    The man was appalled. ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    Xu Xu shed him a cold nce then lowered her head and wrote down the time on the woman¡¯s arm in blood. This was so that when the emergency personnel arrived, they would know how long the tourniquet had been on and know when to proceed with the next step.


    The pair was not dumb and, upon observing her actions, they guessed what she had done. The woman immediately expressed her gratitude, ¡°Thank you, thank you very much.¡± The man seemed to not be bothered by the Xu Xu¡¯s cold treatment and merely stared at Xu Xu with interest.


    ¡°Talk to her until the ambnce arrives.¡± Xu Xu said to the man, then she turned to examine the grass.


    As the streetlights were now lit, the grass was full illuminated, to the point that they were almost white in color. Xu Xu had to go extremely close to the ground before she noticed the hidden protrusion in between the des of grass. There was an exceedingly sharp razor half buried in the soil. The top half had been painted green so it would be hard to notice.


    Moreover, it was not just one, des of different lengths were buried in the ground to form a shape.


    It was a five-pointed star. This was not an ident, somebody had intentionally put those des there.


    Xu Xu looked at them for a while more then stood up to examine her surroundings. This area of grass was not very big and the ce that they had sat at happened to have the best vegetation as well as the most gentle terrain.


    Therefore, the person who buried the des had a very clear intention of hurting someone.


    She turned to look at the man and woman who were seated in the nearby gazebo now. The womanid in the man¡¯s arms and the man had a clear, gentle voice that echoed quietly through the night. However, when he spoke to the woman, he was looking in Xu Xu¡¯s direction. Xu Xu then noticed that he was a very tall man, who wore a remarkable business casual suit and had fair skin with good looks. Even though his eyes showed a sense of arrogance, he had a benevolent look to him.


    Xu Xu walked over to them and asked, ¡°Which one of you suggested to sit on the grass?¡±


    The man¡¯s face changed slightly and the woman answered, ¡°It was me.¡± While she sounded weak, she quickly added on, ¡°Officer, Zixiao is my cousin brother, he just returned to the country today and came to see me. I was the one who suggested to take a stroll in the park too.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded. She ignored the man¡¯s keen-looking eyes and continued her investigation of the grass.


    Soon enough, the ambnce and police car arrived. Even the manager of the park was notified. Xu Xu assisted the ambnce staff in helping the woman into the car. When the ambnce staffs saw that she was covered in blood as well, they hesitated and asked, ¡°Are you hurt?¡±


    Xu Xu shook her head. Just as she was about to speak to the police officer on duty, she suddenly heard a loud and clear voice call out to her, ¡°Officer, how about you leave your contact details for us.¡±


    It was the man, Zixiao. He had followed his sister into the ambnce. While he was seated beside her, the two of them were looking at Xu Xu from far.


    Xu Xu answered faintly, ¡°That¡¯s not necessary.¡± After some hesitation, she showed them an indistinct smile and waved at them as a sign of encouragement.


    When Xu Xu received Ji Bai¡¯s call, she was holding onto a high-powered shlight as she swept the park inch by inch.


    It was veryte into the night and rows of tree shadows swayed along with the night breeze. Ji Bai¡¯s voice echoed on the other side of the call; he soundedzy yet there was a hint of coldness in his voice. ¡°What time is it now?¡±


    Xu Xu froze.


    After the ambnce left, the park was closed. The police started investigating the scene, along with the manager of the park. They swept the area to see if there were still any hidden razors. Since she had identified herself to the police and was a witness, she was permitted to stay at the scene.


    Despite the fact that she had participated in quite a number of case analyses with her professor, this was still her first time being at a crime scene in person. Both the police and the medical personnel praised her for showing great emergency response knowledge and for ensuring that the crime scene had been perfectly maintained too. Deep down, she felt excited and proud.


    Hence, due to the rare excitement, she had forgotten the time and about Ji Bai¡¯s assignment.


    ¡°I forgot.¡± She answered, ¡°An assault case happened here.¡±


    She went on to briefly describe the case to him. After a short silence, Ji Bai said, ¡°Pass the phone to the person in charge.¡±


    The policeman who was in charge was in his thirties. He smiled after he received the phone. ¡°Captain Ji, how are you, yes, this is what happened...¡±


    A momentter, the policeman passed the phone back to Xu Xu. Ji Bai asked, ¡°Can you make a video call with your phone?¡±


    Xu Xu felt rather surprised but quickly replied, ¡°Yes.¡±


    IT products had always been her only hobby. Whether it was her cell phone,puter, or MP4, she made sure she had thetest and best model on the market.


    ¡°Turn on your camera.¡±


    The park looked much brighter with all the streetlights on, but it still looked quite dark overall. The news of the legendary detective Ji Bai wanting to take a look at the scene quickly spread, so a few police officers and the park manager surrounded her. They were both curious and doubtful about what Ji Bai was going to do.


    Xu Xu held her cell phone up and offered him a view of the park as she paced around. She was confused as well as she thought to herself, ¡®What is Ji Bai trying to see?¡¯


    After she briefly made a round in the park with her phone, another sound was vaguely heard on the other end of the line before Ji Bai said anything. ¡°Third Brother Ji,e over and drink.¡±


    ¡°Wait a minute.¡± Ji Bai replied with augh.


    Xu Xu frowned a little.


    At that instant, Ji Bai barked out, ¡°The rockery in front, the few willows on the right and beside the bridge that is behind you.¡±


    Shortly after, everyone cheered, they had really found razor des next to the rockery and under the willows.


    After that, Ji Bai mentioned that he would leave the rest to the police on duty.


    It was clear that the policeman in charge looked much more relieved. He asked to take the phone call and smiled as he said, ¡°Captain Ji, I¡¯m really grateful... Oh right, when the incident happened, there were very few people in the park, so it did not cause a panic. Little Xu from your unit handled the situation very well. Ah... no wonder, so she¡¯s your apprentice... a great teacher produces great students I guess.¡±


    When he said this, all the men around Xu Xu looked at her with respectful and shocked faces.


    Xu Xu¡¯s face slowly warmed up.


    A whileter, the policeman returned the cell phone to her. Trying to seem familiar to her, he purposely called her with a different title, ¡°Little Xu, your instructor still wants to speak to you.¡±


    Xu Xu was bursting with excitement after Ji Bai lent a helping hand just now. When she took her phone back, she instinctively asked before he had the chance to say anything, ¡°How did you do that?¡±


    Previously, the on-scene police had roughly inferred more than thirty possible locations where more des could be buried. She felt that their reasoning was logically sound too, so everyone started investigating together. Due to therge size of the park, they had found nothing. However, while it was still dark, Ji Bai only needed a brief look around the garden to urately determine two spots.


    Unexpectedly, Ji Bai ignored her question and asked her instead, ¡°You haven¡¯t answered my question. What time is it now?¡±


    ¡°Twelve thirty.¡±


    ¡°What time did you say that you were going to send me the report of the missing people?¡±


    ¡°Eleven.¡±


    Ji Baiughed, but it was a cruel and faint one. Xu Xu could instantly detect the mocking tone.


    She was very surprised and felt ufortable. She had already exined the case to Ji Bai just now and he had participated in it too. He must have understood that she had dyed her work because of the scenario.


    Besides, he seemed to have praised her with the police and even made it clear that she was his apprentice.


    Who would have expected him to turn against her and continue asking her for the assignment after they were out of earshot of everyone else?


    She felt that this ¡°instructor¡± of hers was being absurd.


    As if aware of what she was thinking, Ji Bai asked, ¡°Do you feel wronged?¡±


    Xu Xu kept quiet.


    Ji Bai took his time and continued attacking her, ¡°Didn¡¯t you ask me how I managed to detect where the des were buried? Very simple, instinct. Any criminal police officer who has been working for more than ten years can make a deduction like this based on experience as long as he or she has some brains.¡±


    ¡°However, what does this case have to do with your unfinished assignment? When you stayed for such a long time at the crime scene, you were not only unhelpful, you wasted my time too. Xu Xu, you should think about what¡¯s going to happen if I don¡¯t see the report that I asked for before 6.00amter in the morning.¡±

 Chapter 5

    <h4>Chapter 5</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    When faced with setbacks, Xu Xu¡¯s reaction had always been different from her peers.


    Most young people had strong desires to realize their self-worth, hence they cared more about how they ¡°felt¡± and what they stood to gain. Only those who had steeled themselves for many years could develop calm qualities such as being unaffected by external gains or personal losses. Some might refer to this sort of calmness as simply being emotionally numb.


    Nheless, Xu Xu was born to be more concerned about what she should do, rather than defending her ego. The reason she did her research on criminal psychology was purely that it was one of her interests and she was good at it. She did not pay much attention to other people or even her own feelings. This trait of hers made her much calmer, but also made her a less warm person to interact with.


    Therefore, even though she indeed felt a temporary grievance after being lectured by Ji Bai, she hadpletely recovered by the time she walked out of the park¡¯s entrance.


    It was midnight and the streets were empty, the streetlights had a yellowish dim and it was extremely quiet, owing to the fact that not a soul was in sight. Xu Xu looked at her long, outstretched shadow as she pondered on the lecture she had just received. Ji Bai was actually right. In conclusion, other than saving someone, she had not been very helpful at the scene. She should have just returned to work overtime after the other officers had arrived.


    However, what got her interested was what Ji Bai had mentioned about the instinct and experience of a criminal police officer, which was exactly what shecked. She became slightly happier as she thought about this.


    The cold moonlight apanied the glow of the stars through the long, lonely night.


    Atst, Xu Xu finished her report. she felt unbelievably exhausted as she stared at the screen full of text.


    She slowly realized that her right wrist was numb and sore. Her body felt like it was about to fall apart too. She got up and started stretching her limbs. ¡®Right, I consumed a lot of energy today. I stanched blood for a victim, ran around the park, and stayed up all night.¡¯


    Although she wanted to sleep so badly after she sent the email to Ji Bai, Xu Xu thought for a while and decided to call him.


    It was because she had recalled how the phone call went, ¡®He was angry, wasn¡¯t he?¡¯


    Even though it was him who had a bad control of his emotions, as his apprentice and a lower-ranked officer, she felt the need to initiate a call to ease their rtionship.


    She was still aware of the bare essentials required to survive office politics.


    In the middle of the quiet night, the robotic beeping sounded extra lonely. His phone rang a few times before he picked it up. He did not immediately speak, but she could vaguely hear somebody breathing on the other end of the line.


    ¡°Hello, Captain Ji.¡± Xu Xu started reporting steadily and cautiously. ¡°I¡¯ve just sent the report to your email, please check to see if you¡¯ve received it. The report consists of four parts, the other seventeen attachments are rted information...¡±


    ¡°Xu Xu.¡± Ji Bai cut her off.


    Xu Xu immediately stopped and waited for his instructions.


    ¡°It¡¯s four in the morning, you¡¯re waking your superior up to talk about an unimportant report. Do you not want to be in the Criminal Police Unit anymore?¡±


    It was then that Xu Xu noticed the time on herputer: 4:07.


    After a short silence, she replied, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t notice the time. Besides, you told me yesterday to send you the report before 6. It¡¯s before 6 now.¡±


    There was a brief silence on the other end, then she suddenly heard a softughter and Ji Bai¡¯s soft voice, ¡°Tell me about it then, I¡¯m awake now anyway.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    She immediately started exining. On the other end of the phone, various noises were heard. The ttering of a faucet, the nking of windows being opened, and a clear ringing from a teaspoon knocking against the side of a cup.


    Xu Xu suddenly remembered that when she video-called him yesterday, she heard somebody asking him to drink. It was midnight then.


    ¡®So, he was hungover and was woken up by my phone call?¡¯


    ¡°Why are you distracted?¡± Ji Bai noticed her temporary pause and snapped at her.


    Xu Xu continued.


    The muffled static from the line had disappeared. Now, she could only hear the sound of him drawing long breaths ¨C he was probably smoking. Xu Xu wrapped herself in a nket and sat in front of herputer as she held onto her phone. All around her, it was cold and quiet, she could only hear her own voice and the asional ¡°Mmm¡± sounds from Ji Bai from time to time that reassured her that he was listening. They sounded casual but were deep and powerful.


    All of a sudden, Xu Xu pictured an unrted image of Ji Bai also wrapped in a nket on his bed as they talked on the phone. That picture made her feel quite strange. She had no idea of what a tall and stern man would look like nesting cozily on the bed.


    In her mind, the man¡¯s face was blurred. She had seen his picture from documents before and vaguely remembered that he had well-shaped features, but she was not too interested in the specifics. Rather, she spent her time studying the facial features of criminals through photos so that she could identify them at any time.


    In reality, Ji Bai had in fact wrapped himself with a nket such that he looked like a huge bear as he conversed with Xu Xu. The early spring in Beijing still had a chilliness that prated through one¡¯s skin. It was incredibly cold, especially before and after sunrise. Moreover, he only slept at three in the morning and had drank too much, so his head was aching. It felt like somebody was ying whack-a-mole with his head.


    Xu Xu was very focused on reporting, but he did not actually listen to anything she had said nor was he looking at her report.


    When he had previously looked at a report that she handed in, it was not just up to standard, itpletely surpassed his expectations. Thus, when facing such a smart and self-disciplined subordinate, he need not waste his energy to check her work.


    However, she did not need to know this. She still needed to harden herself.


    The sky still seemed dark outside the window as Ji Bai lit a cigarette and shut his eyes. He snored semi-consciously and responded from time to time just to show that he was still listening. On top of the quiet surroundings, he realized that thedy sounded different from others. It was obvious that she had a gentle voice, yet she still spoke in a very low tone, which sounded quite soothing. The more he listened to her the more he wanted to sleep... Damn it, the end of his cigarette burnt him, causing him to be snapped awake, but he just leisurely mentioned, ¡°Hmm, this part is written more in-depth,¡± to cover for himself.


    The next day, Xu Xu went to work with dark circles under her eyes.


    Due to her pale skin and her small face, her eyebags were especially obvious. Once she entered the office, she felt as though a few people were staring at her. She sat down without looking sideways but quickly saw a bright red silk banner on her desk, apanied by a bouquet of fresh white roses.


    The silk banner read: ¡°A courageous Samaritan, a heroic act.¡±


    The sender was Ye Jingxi.


    So, it turned out that the woman she saved yesterday was called Ye Jingxi. Xu Xu felt that her name sounded familiar. She had heard it from the news.


    No wonder she managed to find her so quickly and even sent her a silk banner.


    ¡°Pa pa pa¡±, enthusiastic ps suddenly interrupted her thoughts. When Xu Xu looked up, she realized that everyone had now stood up and were pping for her with big smiles on their faces.


    ¡°Salute!¡± Officer Wu who was in his forties sounded like a great bell as everyone else raised their right hands up at the same time to salute her.


    Xu Xu immediately saluted them as well, but as she faced countless bright at smiling looks, her face felt slightly hot.


    ¡°Nice one, Xu Xu.¡± Officer Wu praised her.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look down on Xu Xu because of her petite figure. When encountering a serious matter, she really acts like a hero.¡± A schrly-looking person said.


    ¡°Xu Xu, you saved Ye Zixi.¡± Zhao Han smiled and said, ¡°She is often interviewed and appears on magazines.¡±


    Xu Xu avoided their looks and replied conscientiously, ¡°It was basic first aid procedure for treating bleeding wrists, I¡¯m sure that all the seniors here would have done better than me. It¡¯s just that I happened to be there at the right time.¡±


    Everybodyughed and said that it was not such an easy task because she was still a newbie to the force.


    When Xu Xu looked at their friendly smiles, she suddenly understood.


    Aspared to the job of a criminal police officer, what she did was indeed a trivial matter.


    They were just taking the opportunity to help her blend into the Criminal Police Unit.


    Xu Xu was quite touched, which made her blush. She sat down quietly as blood rushed to her cheeks.


    Right then, Yao Meng smiled and said, ¡°I suggest that we have lunch togetherter, to celebrate Xu Xu¡¯s act.¡± At the same time, she signaled at Xu Xu. Xu Xu understood that she meant to let her grab the chance to get closer to everyone, so she nodded at her and agreed, ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll treat everyone.¡±


    Everyone elseughed andmented on how they would not let ady spend her money on them. Nheless, lunch was set.


    After working for a while, Xu Xu was called to meet the station chief.


    At first, the silk banner and flowers sent by Ye Zixi were sent directly to the station chief before being passed to her.


    Ye Zixi was an executive of the Ye Group and was a renowned person in the city¡¯s businessmunity, she also had good rtions with the mayor and a number of government organizations. The station chief felt quite proud to have received a silk banner from her, so he praised Xu Xu thoroughly.


    When the station chief noticed how quiet Xu Xu was, he was not very concerned, instead, he felt that she was being humble, so spoke to her with a smiling face, ¡°You didn¡¯t mention your name yesterday, right? But when she called, I immediately knew that it was you.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded. ¡°My physical features are rather unique for a police officer.¡±


    The station chief was stunned, but he could not help butugh.


    Their lunch venue was a small restaurant not far away from the police station. Everyone went in sets of twos or threes as Yao Meng walked arm in arm with Xu Xu. Xu Xu was not very used to it, but as she looked at her sparkling, friendly eyes, she told herself that it was not a bad position to be in.


    As they were walking, Yao Meng turned and asked her, ¡°Why did the station chief ask to see you? To praise you for saving somebody, right?¡±


    Xu Xu nodded.


    Yao Meng looked at her with a disappointed look, then said softly, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you invite the station chief to have lunch with us too?¡±


    Xu Xu was speechless, it had not crossed her mind at all.


    Nevertheless, it was a delightful lunch.


    Initially, Xu Xu was not aware that the men in the Criminal Police Unit were so kind and outspoken. Laughter could be heard throughout the lunch. On top of that, Yao Meng, who was beautiful and pleasing to the eye, took care of them and served everyone well, which made the atmosphere more warm and homely.


    They even talked about Ji Bai. Officer Wu mentioned to them that ¡°Captain Ji has not returned home for three years, so it will some time before he returns to Lin City.¡±


    Zhao Han added on, ¡°The station chief also gave us special orders that you may disturb the captain during his break for any case-rted matters.¡±


    Somebody even added, ¡°Xu Xu, you must do well if you work under Captain Ji, it¡¯s not an opportunity that everyone gets.¡±


    Xu Xu kept nodding as she thought to herself, ¡®I didn¡¯t know that Captain Ji was so highly regarded in the unit.¡¯


    When they called for the bill, somebody stopped Xu Xu just as she took her purse out. A few men fought to pay for the meal before Zhao Han suddenly called aloud, ¡°All of you, there¡¯s no need to fight as the meal is on Captain Ji.¡±


    Everyone stopped the second he said this. Zhao Han continued while he took his money out, ¡°I just sent him a message that we¡¯re having a gathering and he told me to charge it to him.¡±


    Everyone nodded as they slowly put away their wallets. Just as Xu Xu was about to open her mouth to protest, she suddenly felt Yao Meng pinching her hand.


    When she turned to look at her, she could see that Yao Meng¡¯s eyes were shining. Xu Xu did not understand what she was trying to do, but she did not ask.

 Chapter 6

    <h4>Chapter 6</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    The sun was shining brightly on Lin City this weekend. The warm spring breeze washed across the city as if it could not wait to warm up every inch of the ce.


    However, the people of the City Criminal Police Force were too preupied to enjoy the beautiful spring breeze. This was because two more razor injury incidents urred just three days after the Ye Zixi case. The City Criminal Police Force was now leading the investigation on the four incidents.


    It was important to note that apart from Ye Zixi, the other victims were not very badly injured. One of them only got a small cut on his hand where the victim did not even think about reporting the case. They would not have known about the case if not for the police who called each and every one of the parks. Furthermore, there were no serious casualties nor extensive harm that came as a result of this series of crimes. Therefore, it did not cause any public panic.


    Nevertheless, the police still took it very seriously. The station chief had specially requested additional police patrols around the parks to help track down the criminal.


    However, two days had gone by and they had found nothing. This was not just because the criminal did not leave behind any clues, but that the criminal had stopped nting razor des altogether.


    On this particr Sunday afternoon, Xu Xu sat in the Criminal Police Force conference room. She was staring at the pictures spread out over therge whiteboard and was lost in her thoughts as she frowned to herself.


    Since Ji Bai was on a vacation, the station chief instructed him not to involve himself in the case. Instead, he was told to leave it to his colleagues. Yao Meng, in turn, had followed her instructor, Officer Wu, out for an investigation. Meanwhile, Xu Xu had told the team that she wanted to attempt to create a profile of the criminal. Thus, she had been working alone.


    Xu Xu was ying with the pen in her hand as she stared at the photos and maps on the whiteboard. It wasn¡¯t long before she began muttering to herself.


    Ruiying Park, Fangting Park, Chaoyang Park, Yumin Park... these parks were all around the residential area where she lived. These were parks specially built by the government for the CBD. Moreover, the parks had been funded via donations from many financial groups. Fangting Park in particr, had been built to be tall and magnificent. Therefore, it was known as the symbol of the CBD.


    The razor des used by the culprit were verymon. Arge packet of it could be bought on the inte for a little under ten dors. These razor des had beenbined to form a five-pointed star in every one of the incidents.


    The des had been buried under the grass twice. Even the green paint used was verymon. However, colleagues from the Forensics Department found that there were other traceponents in the paint. One of these was water that was shown to have been taken from the city¡¯s river. Moreover, they also found a very strangeponent in one case. After an investigation, they found that it was actually from a spicy hotpot soup. They found that the soup had been made withmon ingredients found in the market. Spicy hot pot soup was very famous in Lin City and the number of ingredients sold daily was veryrge. Therefore, this clue likewise led to nothing.


    In addition to this, the timing of the incidents did not seem to follow any distinct pattern. Some of them urred on working days whilst others urred on rest days. They happened in the morning, afternoon, as well as evening.


    Xu Xu was lost in her thoughts when she suddenly heard a gentle voice behind her. ¡°Officer Xu?¡±


    It was Ye Zixi.


    It was almost evening as the sunlight painted the empty office a light auburn. Ye Zixi wore a spotless white dress and stood gracefully in front of Xu Xu. The smile on her face was mild yet friendly.


    In all honesty, Xu Xu did not pay attention to her appearance during theirst encounter. She could only recall that she was a rtively thin and calm woman. Even though there was blood sttered all over the ground at the time, she did not panic. Instead, she maintained herposure throughout the entire time she was receiving first-aid treatment.


    Now that Xu Xu was looking at her face to face, she finally had an idea of what she looked like.


    She had a slender figure and thin eyebrows. However, because her gaze was extremely clear and sharp, she seemed to have a cold temperament.


    Xu Xu nodded and waited for her to speak.


    She smiled and shook Xu Xu¡¯s hand. ¡°Xu Xu, I¡¯vee to thank you in person for saving my life. Thank you.¡± She said very slowly. The speed at which she uttered those words also made her seem very sincere.


    Xu Xu smiled. However, she was not used to having physical contact with other people. Thus, she quickly withdrew her hand. ¡°There¡¯s no need for that. Has your wound healed?¡±


    Ye Zixi nodded and showed Xu Xu the scar on her wrist.


    ¡°Do you have time to spare tonight? I want to treat you to a meal.¡± Ye Zixi asked gently.


    Xu Xu shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m not free at the moment. Thank you though, I appreciate your offer.¡±


    Ye Zixi knew that Xu Xu had work to do after spotting the wall full of photos and notes. She put her hands on Xu Xu¡¯s shoulder and sighed dejectedly. ¡°Please give me a chance to treat you to a meal when you are done with this case.¡±


    Xu Xu was once again disturbed by her intimacy and tried to free herself with exaggerated movements. Ye Zixi stared at her for a moment before smiling. ¡°I will not bother you then, good luck.¡±


    Xu Xu walked her to the door before going back to the whiteboard to ponder. After a while, she received a text message on her phone. ¡°Someone asked me for your contact information, but I didn¡¯t give it to him. If he wanted to see my savior, he should have to go through some trouble, right?¡±


    Xu Xu nced at her phone then threw it to one side so that she could continue focusing on the case. It wasn¡¯t long before shepletely forgot about the message.


    During dinner time, someone sent food to the Criminal Police Force addressed to Xu Xu. It was exquisite food from a restaurant based in Guangzhou. Xu Xu figured that her brother was being considerate, so she did not pay it too much attention.


    However, her brother had remarked to her that he had been in a meeting the whole afternoon over the phone. Therefore, he did not have time to act as a caring brother.


    Xu Xu instantly understood and muttered to him, ¡°Then it was Ye Zixi.¡±


    Xu Juan seemed to be surprised and asked her, ¡°Which Ye Zixi?¡±


    ¡°That Ye Zixi.¡±


    ¡°Tsk-tsk-tsk... Why did she order take-out for you?¡±


    Xu Xu exined to him how she had saved Ye Zixi a few days ago whereby Xu Juan gasped in shock. ¡°Are you okay?¡±


    Xu Xu rolled her eyes. ¡°Of course I am okay.¡±


    ¡°What about Ye Zixi?¡±


    ¡°It was quite serious at the time, but she¡¯s alright now.¡±


    Only then was Xu Juan relieved. He went on to joke about how the first lunchbox his sister ever received was sent by a woman. Then he went on to say that he heard that Ye Zixi was a famous intellectual and asked Xu Xu about her opinion on her. Xu Xu frowned before making an excuse that she was very busy and hung up.


    However, who would have expected Ye Zixi to actually order fine lunch and dinner to be delivered to Xu Xu for the next two days as well? In addition to this, she sent her a huge box of fresh fruits that wasrge enough to feed the entire Criminal Police Force.


    This rmed even the station chief. He soon paid the Criminal Police Force a ¡°special visit¡± to eat a few mangosteens in the afternoon.


    Xu Xu did not like to be in the limelight, so she made a call to Ye Zixi. However, Ye Zixi brushed her off and told her gently but resolutely that she wanted to show her gratitude after seeing Xu Xu work so hard. Moreover, she had already paid for food and fruits for the entire month which could not be refunded.


    Xu Xu¡¯s focus was on the case, so she shrugged it off and let her be.


    However, there still had not been any breakthroughs in the case.


    In addition to the increased patrols around the parks, the force nned to begin an investigation into the city¡¯s unemployed citizens as well as high-risk groups with criminal records.


    Xu Xu had likewise decided to return to the crime scene to examine it further.


    During the afternoon of a working day, there were very few people in the park. A few elderly pensioners were the only visitors. They sat there quietly ying chess in the gazebo. Xu Xu walked to thekeside slope where Ye Zixi had been injured on that day. However, she soon saw a man sitting under the zing sun smiling at her.


    It was the man who had apanied Ye Zixi that day: Ye Zixiao.


    Compared to the casual suit that he wore thest time, he now wore a pair of white and gray sportswear. It made him look much fairer and younger. His short ck hair rested neatly on his forehead and the lively gleam in his slender long eyes was very beautiful. All in all, he looked like a model from the magazines.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting here for five days, and you¡¯ve finallye.¡± He brushed the des of grass off his body, stood up and walked towards Xu Xu. His tall figure instantly cast a shadow on her. ¡°I want to have dinner with you tonight.¡±


    Xu Xu frowned and looked at him extremely oddly. ¡°I¡¯m not in the mood to eat. Please move.¡± Then, she walked past him before crouching down to stare at the grass under his feet.


    Ye Zixiao was dumbfounded for a few seconds beforeing back to his senses. He had been very coldly ignored.


    He was well aware that he was very attractive to women.


    Moreover, he had dressed up before leaving the house due to the possibility of meeting the woman he was interested in again.


    Although he was prepared for rejection, he was confused as to what the expression on her face was. There was not a hint of any shyness, nervousness, tension or hesitation.


    This was not a normal reaction that a woman should have while being pursued by a handsome man.


    Ye Zixiao calmly studied her from top to bottom. She wore a ck trench coat today with a white shirt underneath which showed her exquisite curves. However, she was also very petite. She looked like a small ball of wool when she squatted down beside him.


    To think, a small ball of wool had actually rejected him.


    Ye Zixiao decided to approach her using a different method. ¡°What are you busy with? Are you investigating the case?¡±


    Xu Xu did not even look at him. ¡°The police is working on a case. Please move away and stop interfering with my work.¡± Then, she stood up and swept her gaze across the surrounding environment.


    Xu Xu remembered Ye Zixiao because he had left an impression on her that day. He had been rude and kept talking while she was busy trying to give his cousin first-aid treatment.


    Thus, in her eyes, the current situation was that a long-winded, narcissistic, and arrogant man had suddenly appeared.


    He ¡°wanted¡± to have a meal with her, so, obviously, Xu Xu ignored him.


    Ye Zixiao kept quiet for a moment before turning around and leaving. Xu Xu heard his footsteps getting further and further away and felt as though her surroundings had suddenly be much more peaceful.


    She soon decided to leave after making onest sweep of the park. However, she thought about Ye Zixiao before she left, so she took a look at the area where he had wandered off to. As expected, he was really gone. Great.


    However, after taking a few steps towards the front gate of the park, she suddenly heard some suspicious footsteps trailing behind her. When she turned around, she spotted Ye Zixiao who was now following her with both of his hands tucked into his trousers¡¯ pockets and a calm look on his face.


    ¡°Do you need anything?¡± Xu Xu kept her cool and stopped walking.


    ¡°I want to have a meal with you.¡±


    ¡°I refuse.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    Xu Xu stopped looking at him and turned around to continue walking. The slow footsteps behind her started at almost the exact same moment. When she turned around, he stared at her whileughing. There was a yful look in his eyes apanied by a subtle smugness.


    Xu Xu had never encountered someone so stubborn before, so she could not understand his logic. It was useless to reject him directly but she likewise did not want to entertain him. Therefore, she continued to ignore him.


    There were not that many people on the train. Xu Xu found a corner and stood there. Before long, she saw Ye Zixiao appear in front of her. He leaned against the wall of the train which was just one meter away from her and stared at her with his arms crossed in front of him while looking very calm andposed. Meanwhile, Xu Xu looked out of the window indifferently.


    However, the people around her were not as calm as Xu Xu.


    Ye Zixiao was very tall and had long limbs. He upied arge space just by standing there, which gave him a veryrge presence. In addition to this, his features were too eye-catching. It was the kind of arrogantly beautiful face that made it seem as though he was the only lively ssh of color in the otherwise muted train. Everyone around him subconsciously kept their distance from him and several young girls nced at him from time to time.


    Then, people naturally noticed that this beautiful young man had been staring at Xu Xu. Therefore, many curious gazes slowly turned towards her as well. Xu Xu¡¯s face began to get a little warm as she shot a cold nce at Ye Zixiao before getting out as soon as they arrived at the next station. Obviously, Ye Zixiao immediately got off the train and followed her closely. When he saw her cold yet blushing face through the busy stream of people, his mood instantly perked up.


    Ye Zixiao had been following her for some time now. While Xu Xu was wandering around the park, he would sit on a nearby bench. He would stare at her figure without letting her leave his sight. When Xu Xu was taking the train, he would look at her affectionately despite them being in public view. If Xu Xu took a taxi, he would pay a hundred yuan to the driver to sit in the passenger¡¯s seat. Then he would look at her from the rearview mirror.


    Initially, Xu Xu was very anxious about being disturbed. Her eyes made it very clear that she wanted to murder him. She had even repeated the same line to him n-number of times, ¡°Get lost.¡±


    Nheless, Ye Zixiao showed his persistence by replying her with the same sentence every time, ¡°I want to have a meal with you.¡±


    Xu Xu then decided to just ignore him and focus on investigating the crime scene.


    It was already past 10:00pm and the area was closed by the time she arrived at the fourth park. Xu Xu took out her work permit and asked the staff member to open the door for her. When Ye Zixiao tried to follow her, Xu Xu calmly turned to the staff member and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know this person. Don¡¯t allow anyone else toe in without a work permit.¡±


    The staff member noticed Ye Zixiao¡¯s refined clothing and they did not shoo him away angrily. Instead, he asked him to leave politely. Ye Zixiao looked at Xu Xu¡¯s petite figure as she walked towards the dark path and said with a cold tone, ¡°Can you be a little more observant? She¡¯s my girlfriend.¡±


    As soon as the staff member started hesitating, Xu Xu¡¯s even colder voice sent chills down their spines. ¡°If you let him in, I will charge you with obstructing official investigations.¡±


    Consequently, Ye Zixiao was kept outside.


    The park was very big. After standing by the front door for a while, Xu Xu¡¯s figure disappeared. The staff member looked at him curiously and asked, ¡°Is the police officer really your girlfriend?¡±


    Ye Zixiao shrugged and answered cooly, ¡°Sooner orter.¡±


    The staff member smiled and Ye Zixiao threw him a pack of cigarettes. The two of them chatted for a while as Ye Zixiao sat down on a bench by the front door.


    When Xu Xu came out from the front door of the park, she saw the staff member wink at her and shoot hints with his eyes. She looked in the direction that the staff member was gesturing to and saw Ye Zixiao sitting on a bench a few steps away from her. He was leaning with his head against the back of the chair and his eyes closed. He sat there motionlessly, with only his chest heaving steadily.


    The washed-out moonlight cast a dim glow over the brown benches. This made Ye Zixiao look as though he was a statue in a deep sleep. It softened the lines and enhanced the beautiful contours on his face. Xu Xu was in a good mood because she had some new ideas regarding the case. At that moment, his peaceful sleeping face did not seem as annoying.


    ¡°Officer, it is cold. If he falls asleep here, he will fall ill. Wouldn¡¯t it be better to wake him up?¡± Asked the staff member.


    Xu Xu looked at him and waved. ¡°Goodbye.¡± Then, she swiftly headed towards the subway station.


    As soon as she left, Ye Zixiao opened his eyes and stood up. He looked in the direction which she had headed off in without saying a word. This woman was not even slightly fazed. Was she not a police officer? She should have had some sympathy if she saw someone sleeping in the streets, right?


    He ignored the staff¡¯s teasing gaze and zipped up his jacket. His body shrunk dejectedly underneath the warmyers. It was really cold tonight.

 Chapter 7

    <h4>Chapter 7</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    The following day, Ye Zixiao actually caught a cold. He was sneezing the entire morning and felt horrible. Hisplexion was visibly bad as he arrived at hispany for work.


    When his employees saw that there was something wrong with the young prince¡¯splexion, all of them sensibly avoided him. Ye Zixiao was left alone and fell into a deep sleep in the office for the entire morning. By noontime, he was refreshed.


    Speaking of which, the people in thepany were on the fence when it came to Ye Zixiao¡¯s temper.


    The Ye Family owned the Longxi Group, which had subsidiaries such as Longxi Construction, Longxi Transportation, and Longxi Electronics. The current Chairman cum President of the group was Ye Lanyuan. Ye Zixiao was his youngest son who had just returned home after studying abroadst year. Upon returning, he was immediately made the Chief Executive Officer of Longxi Electronics.


    Ye Zixiao got along with everyone well and did not act arrogantly. He would even smile and greet the janitors when he walked past them. However, he was rather harsh when it came to work rted things. What would happen if someone¡¯s performance could not meet his requirements? Easy. They would be dismissed.


    His secretary often pleaded with him. ¡°No, Executive Chief Ye, this person was your elder brother¡¯s high school ssmate, and that person used to be the Chairman¡¯s secretary.¡± To which Ye Zixiao would always reply, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I know what to do.¡±


    What could his victims do? Ye Zixiao did not change his decision even after receiving pleading phone calls. His father, Ye Lanyuan, had once gotten angry once because of his attitude.


    He imed that the Longxi Group was their family business and that Ye Zixiao would undermine the foundation of the conglomerate by involving himself in all these matters.


    Ye Zixiao was calm when he heard this. He often coolly replied, ¡°Dad, do you know how most family businesses in China copse? Most of them die of old age. Since you have given Longxi Electronics to me, I will do with it as I see fit.¡±


    He also had a big risk appetite when it came to the business. He often made huge investments to bring in all sorts of foreign technology projects. While there were some with big profits, there were also others which lost them a lot of money. However, his overall numbers were in the green. Therefore, it could be said that the family business was booming despite all the bumps that it had to go through.


    Ye Zixiao was not that close to his siblings due to the rtively huge age gap and the fact that he had lived abroad since a young age. However, he was very close to his elder cousin sister, Ye Zixi.


    At noon that day, Ye Zixiao waszily eating the food prepared for him by his secretary when he received Ye Zixi¡¯s phone call.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you try to bump into her yesterday? What are the consequences of you doing so?¡± Ye Zixi seemed to beughing while she said this.


    Ye Zixiao raised his eyebrow. ¡°You said ¡®consequences¡¯ and not ¡®results¡¯. Did you expect her to reject me? Congrattions, you guessed right. She didn¡¯t even look at me.¡±


    Zixiughed for a short while before saying seriously, ¡°She¡¯spletely different from your previous girlfriends.¡±


    Ye Zixiao nodded. ¡°She¡¯s different.¡±


    Therefore, Zixi dropped the matter. Ye Zixiao suddenly spoke up again just as she was about to ask him about some financial affairs, ¡°You have to give me some tips. Isn¡¯t she eating the food you¡¯ve been sending her every day?¡±


    Zixiughed. ¡°That¡¯s not the same, you have other intentions.¡±


    ¡°Do you have the heart to let your savior miss a chance with a good man like me?¡±


    Zixiughed and thought for a moment before answering. ¡°Let me point you in the right direction. Xu Xu has a brother who runs an ounting firm. You¡¯ve met him before. He came to the Longxi Group for some business in the past.¡±


    Ye Zixiao thought for a moment before asking, ¡°Xu Juan?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Has the group decided to hire him?¡±


    ¡°Most likely,¡± Ye Zixi replied, ¡°his firm is the best in the entire southwest.¡±


    Ye Zixiao suddenly smiled. ¡°Xu Juan did leave an impression. He is a clever and sharp-witted man. Who would have thought that he would have such a weird sister?¡±


    Ye Zixi smiled.


    After he hung up his phone, he thought about it for a while before asking for his secretary, ¡°I heard that there was an ounting firm that wanted to work with our group. They are quite good. Contact the person in charge and tell him that I want to invite him to dinner. It¡¯s time to tidy up ourpany¡¯s ounts.¡±


    Over the following few days, Ye Zixiao did not bother Xu Xu. Because of this, Xu Xu had all but forgotten about his existence.


    Monday morning.


    The Criminal Police Force held a meeting to once again discuss how to solve the razor de case. All the core members from each branch were also present.


    It was a very sunny day. The round teakwood table looked shiny and seemed to gleam under the sunlight. However, everyone had a serious look on their face. The station chief had given the order that they had to catch the criminal within five days. They had already been discussing things for half an hour, but they still had note to a conclusion.


    Some people suggested that the criminal was very familiar with the park¡¯s environment. Thus, the criminal might be a one of the park staff. However, no suspects were found during the previous screening.


    Someone else suggested that the criminalmitted the crimes at the parks near the CBD. It was obvious that the criminal had a hateful mentality towards the rich. Therefore, they should focus on the city¡¯s unemployed and low-ie citizens. However, this proposal was like finding a needle in a haystack.


    There were also people who imed that the five-pointed star found at the scene represented something. The criminal might be imitating a foreign criminal and using his mark; it might also be a prank by a problematic teenager who was obsessed with crime novels.


    Some people even suggested that since the CBD was a ce where highly intelligent businessmen gathered. That person might be a white-cor worker who could not take the pressure required by corporate China anymore. Hence, the criminal was taking revenge on society.


    There were many different opinions and all of them were usible.


    Despite it being such an important work meeting, Xu Xu and Yao Meng were present as well. The two of them sat at the most inconspicuous seats at the roundtable. Xu Xu lowered her head to note down the points of the meeting while Yao Meng made sure to keep listening attentively.


    However, Liu Zijuan, the Deputy Chief and Captain of the Criminal Police Force was very open-minded. He suddenly turned and said to the two girls, ¡°Little Yao and Little Xu, what are your opinions? Feel free to speak up.¡±


    Yao Meng¡¯s face was a little red as she said, ¡°Deputy Chief Liu and all my colleagues, everyone¡¯s suggestion make a lot of sense. I have learned a lot by listening to all of you and it has given me some new ideas. I would like to add three points. I¡¯m not sure if they¡¯re right so please feel free to criticize and correct me:


    ¡°Firstly, the criminal should be rtively young; he is below 25 years old


    ¡°Secondly, the criminal should have the characteristics of a person with antisocial personality disorder. Such people tend to fail in life. Thus, the criminal is unlikely to be one of the elites of the CBD. We could probably focus on unemployed citizens or low-ie workers


    ¡°Thirdly, the criminal has notmitted any crimes for three days now. I think he will make a move very soon. However, he mightmit the crime in a new location. Since his target was obviously the elites of the CBD, we can predict his next crime scene: the subway has very good monitoring facilities, so it is unlikely that he will make a move there. The office building is obviously impossible. Therefore, the scheduled public buses around the CBD area are the most suitable location for him. Since there aren¡¯t that many bus lines, I rmend that we add more police officers around these areas. We might get lucky and catch him in the act.¡±


    Everyone slowly nodded after hearing her speak, especially the third point. Deputy Chief Liu and Officer Wu both smiled. Officer Wu went on to say, ¡°I was on the phone with Deputy Chief Liu this morning. We both considered the possibility and were just about to increase the manpower around the area.¡±


    Deputy Chief Liu nodded. ¡°It¡¯s good that Little Yao came up with this point.¡±


    Yao Meng sat down with a straight face, but her cheeks werepletely red. Over the past few days, Xu Xu did not go around to investigate the case like Yao Meng. Hence, after hearing her view on the case, she felt that her points were very reasonable despite the fact that they both had very different perspectives.


    ¡°Little Xu, do you have anything to add?¡± Asked Deputy Chief Liu.


    Everyone redirected their gaze towards her.


    Initially, everyone had been more interested in Yao Meng when the two girls arrived at the police station. Their impression of Xu Xu was that she was a petite, quiet and introverted girl. Of course, she was also a little odd.


    However, these days, Xu Xu was a big hit. Not only had she saved the famous Ye Zixi, but the entire criminal police force was benefiting from it. They had been eating imported fruits every single day.


    Xu Xu nodded. ¡°I do.¡± She stood up and flipped open her notebook.


    Xu Xu had written a detailed reportst night and sent her analysis on the case to Ji Bai earlier that morning. However, Ji Bai had only replied with two words. ¡°Duly noted.¡±


    After that, Xu Xu gave it to Zhao Han to have a look at it. Zhao Han praised and advised her, ¡°Don¡¯t just talk about conclusions during the meeting. You also need to speak slowly and talk about the process. Otherwise, your psychological analysis will sound very unrealistic and others might not be able to follow it.¡±


    Because of this, Xu Xu took his advice and prepared a detailed analysis process.


    ¡°I started analyzing the case from three aspects, which is the crime scene, the victims¡¯ behavior, and the criminal¡¯s behavior. At the same time, I also considered the time, the tools and the motives formitting said crimes. By referring to the data on crimes rted to endangering the public¡¯s safety over the past few years...¡± She took Zhao Han¡¯s suggestion and spoke rtively slower.


    Deputy Chief Liu nced at the clock on the wall and smiled. ¡°Little Xu, just get to the conclusion.¡±


    Xu Xu was taken aback but quickly nodded. ¡°Yes.¡± She put away the notebook spoke with a slightly low voice.


    ¡°Firstly, the criminal is a male, between 18 to 25 years of age; he is only a high-school graduate.


    ¡°Secondly, he works in the CBD as a security guard.


    ¡°Thirdly, he has not been performing in work. I hypothesize that he had been severely punished at work during thest six months; he was also not on duty on Saturday at noon.


    ¡°Fourthly, he is easily irritated. When he was a juvenile, he most likely broke thew a lot. At the very least, he was severely disciplined by his school authorities. There must also have been some major changes in his life, such as strained family financial issue, divorced parents when he was young, or something along the lines of that. This could also have been a very superficial love rtionship.¡±


    After she finished, she looked across the room. Everyone was quiet and no one said anything for quite a long time. In the end, Officer Wu finally coughed and asked, ¡°So the person that we are looking for is someone between 18 to 25 years old with high school education. He is a single security guard who had been punished within the past six months. Also, he is not on duty on Saturday afternoons.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Xu Xu blushed again. Her pale skin was so thin that it seemed as though it had been soaked in rose water. However, her eyes were still as calm as usual. Her piercing gaze made some of the other officers uneasy.


    Deputy Chief Liu smiled and gently probed her for more. ¡°Little Xu, talk about your analytical process.¡±


    Lin City was in full swing, but Ji Bai had been very carefree. On that evening, he was fishing with Shu Hang and the rest of the group at the countryside. As he was sitting on the deck when his phone rang and he received a text message.


    It was from a young criminal police officer from the East Branch. ¡°Captain Ji, I didn¡¯t know you had an apprentice. I¡¯ve learned a lot from her. You are a really good teacher.¡±


    Ji Bai had always mixed around with people at the lower levels and he was quite close to the Criminal Police Force there. Just as he was about to reply, the rod in his hand dipped a little, signaling that a fish had taken the bait.


    He picked up his phone again after reeling therge fish in. However, he was stunned to see that he had received another five text messages during the short interval.


    Old Zhao of the Western Branch said, ¡°Captain Ji, I didn¡¯t know that you had an apprentice. Not bad. Congrattions.¡±


    Little Xu of the Eastern Branch chipped in. ¡°Brother Bai, your apprentice showed off her skills today. All of us are shocked. She¡¯s amazing.¡±


    ¡°Captain Ji, when will you ept me as your apprentice?¡±


    ¡°Old Ji, I¡¯m so jealous of you. You have another strong member on your team. More importantly, it¡¯s a girl.¡±


    ...


    ¡°Third brother, what are you so fascinated about?¡± Someone asked, interrupting his thoughts.


    Ji Bai did not answer, nor did he call Xu Xu to ask what happened. Instead, he replied to those who texted him, one by one.


    ¡°Xu Xu is not that experienced. Please excuse her for my sake.¡±


    The following day as the sky got dark, Xu Xu stared at theputer nkly.


    Almost all the people in the office were gone. After several days of non-stop investigations, Deputy Chief Liu was allowing everyone to go home and sleep. However, they needed to report on time the next morning. Zhao Han packed up and walked over to Xu Xu. ¡°Xu Xu, go home and rest.¡±


    Xu Xu raised her head slowly and looked at him. Then, she slowly turned her gaze back to theputer screen. She did not speak. All she did was wave her hand slowly in a half-hearted goodbye.


    Zhao Han watched her pale side profile that was being bathed by the cold light of theputer scream for a while before sighing and leaving. After a while, Yao Meng stood up with her backpack. There was a pitiful look in her eyes as she looked at Xu Xu. ¡°Xu Xu, you should go home. You spent the whole day here. It¡¯s not your fault that you made an incorrect assumption and failed to catch the suspect. Everyone makes mistakes.¡±


    Xu Xu answered her with an almost inaudible ¡°Hmm.¡±


    Yao Meng came over and patted her shoulder. Nevertheless, she remained motionless. In the end, Yao Meng had no choice but to leave. After leaving the police station, Yao Meng had an idea. She took out her mobile phone and dialed Ji Bai¡¯s number.


    ¡°Captain Ji, it¡¯s me, Little Yao. There¡¯s nothing... it¡¯s just that... it¡¯s about Xu Xu. She¡¯s feeling somewhat depressed. I don¡¯t know if I should tell you about it, but I think she needs encouragement now... Yes, it¡¯s about the case. You probably don¡¯t know about it because you are on a vacation. She made some bold deductions and Deputy Chief Liu decided to investigate things in ordance to her hypothesis. He dispatched arge number of police officers, but they did not find the suspect. Her deduction was wrong and cost everyone the day...¡±


    Xu Xu was very confident in her conclusion. She did not understand where she had gone wrong.


    In the past 30 hours or so, the police conducted arge-scale investigation to look for security guards in the CBD that matched her description. In the end, they found 24 suspects.


    She followed the officers to meet and interrogate each and every one of the subjects individually.


    They came up with nothing. None of them were suspicious.


    Firstly, they did not find any evidence such as des or crime-scene photos in their residence. Secondly, most of them could provide an alibi. Thirdly, even if a few of them could not provide time witnesses, they were deemed to be mentally sound after being interrogated by Xu Xu and the police officers. Thus, they did not have any motives.


    The Criminal Police Force was disappointed that their efforts hade to nothing. Deputy Chief Liu said that he was the one who started the investigation, so he would be the one to exin the situation to the station chief. No one had anyints, nor did they put the me on Xu Xu.


    However, Xu Xu had been silent ever since. After returning to the office, she buried herself in work to check the data and the analytical process over and over again.


    The night was getting darker and the building seemed to have fallen into an eerie darkness.


    Xu Xu¡¯s eyes were getting blurry and her brain had started protesting theck of rest with dizziness. However, her failure today felt like a piece of stiff, stale bread that was stuck in her throat. It did not want to move upwards, nor downwards. It was well and truly stuck.


    She leaned on the table and decided to continue working after taking a break.


    Even though she was very tired, but she knew she would not be able to sleep. The faces of the suspects and the crime scenes shed through her mind. In a daze, she heard her phone ringing. It felt almost dreamlike as it kept ringing non-stop.


    Xu Xu snapped to attention and opened her tired eyes.


    It was thendline on her desk. The caller¡¯s number indicated that it was Ji Bai.


    Xu Xu took a look at the clock on the wall. It was already twelve o¡¯clock.


    It seemed like he was calling because of the case.


    Was he nning to scold her? It was only natural for him to do so.


    Xu Xu picked up the phone. ¡°Captain Ji.¡±


    Ji Bai¡¯s answered with a cold voice. ¡°Have you reflected on your mistake?¡±


    Xu Xu kept quiet. She had reflected on it. A lot. ¡°Yes. I want to figure out what went wrong.¡±


    He suddenly snapped at her, ¡°Who said that you are wrong? Did I say it? Can you not wait to acknowledge your mistake?¡±


    Xu Xu was stunned. Then she heard him continue, ¡°Now exin your analytical process to me.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s in your mail.¡±


    Ji Bai paused for a moment, then she heard the sound of a mouse clickinging from the other end. Xu Xu sighed aloud before he said, ¡°You are talking about a report with 30,000 words, twelve charts, and seventeen attachments? I want you to hear you talk about it yourself.¡±


    Xu Xu frowned. ¡°Why?¡± A digitalized report was much more precise than a spoken report.


    ¡°You have one minute to tell me everything clearly. If I don¡¯t understand by then, then it just proves that you have not thought about it thoroughly. Actually, you know what? Since you¡¯re really good at oveplicating even the simplest stuff, I will give you two minutes.¡±

 Chapter 8

    <h4>Chapter 8</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    It was springtime in Beijing. The sky often was a noticeable light gray color as a thin veil of haze covered the sky like a great curtain.


    Ji Bai was leisurely sitting on the white lounge chair in his own courtyard. There was a pot of tea beside him and a still swimming pool in front of him. The flowers had blossomed all around the peach trees by the water and the petals which were now scattered all over the ground were exuding a light aroma.


    He took a sip of his tea and closed his eyes. He could only hear Xu Xu¡¯s voice in his ear. Her voice which was as calm as water actually made the night seem even quieter.


    While on Xu Xu¡¯s side, Ji Bai¡¯s words triggered a deep desire to prove herself. ¡°I¡¯ll give you two minutes¡±.


    Xu Xu took a deep breath and answered, ¡°Okay.¡± Then, she quickly came up with a battle n in her mind beforeunching into a fully-focusedbat state.


    ¡°First of all, ording to the statistics of China¡¯s criminals who endanger the safety of the general public over the past ten years, 989 of them are male and 966 of them have a high school level of education or lower. Therefore, we can hypothesize that the criminal is a male with a lower level of education.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Ji Bai moved his head to light a cigarette, ¡°continue.¡±


    ¡°Secondly, the motive of the criminal is very clear.¡±


    If he wanted to take revenge on ordinary people, then there were three otherrger parks with a higher number of visitors nearby. If he were tomit crimes in these parks, then it would be much more difficult for us to trace him. However, the criminal did not choose these parks. Instead, he took went for the risky option and chose tomit crimes in the few parks closer to the CBD.¡±


    ¡°These parks were designed by the government and built using the funds donated by some of the financial groups in the CBD. Sometimes ordinary citizens will also visit the park, but most of the residents around CBD are foreigners and businessmen. They are all wealthy. In the mind of the public, these parks symbolize the CBD in its entirety.¡±


    ¡°This leads us to two points: Firstly, the criminal is very familiar with the area. He most likely works or lives in there. Secondly, he was targeting random victims within a specific range. His intentions were obvious. He wanted to take revenge on the higher ie group of the city, or exact revenge on the CBD. ¡±


    Ji Bai smiled silently but his tone was calm. ¡°Why can¡¯t he be an unemployed person? Why must he be a white-cor worker who was fired by thepany? Why must he be a security guard?¡±


    Xu Xu quickly replied, ¡°Among the unemployed group, it is possible that some of them may hate society, but it is unlikely that they will hate the CBD in particr since they did not even have the chance to fully experience it and witness all its decadence. You will not hate something that you barely understand or something too unreachable. Moreover, very few people were left unemployed by the CBD¡±


    ¡°As such, white-cor workers who were fired are unlikely to take revenge against thepany or someone specific. Regr businessmen would not hate the higher ie group of people because they are also one of them. How can they hate themselves?¡±


    ¡°The most suitable description of the criminal is that he is someone who is unable to reach the prosperity and wealth of the CBD but is close enough to see it and develop a hate for it. Therefore, they are one of the low-ie workers working in the CBD.¡±


    ¡°There must have been a big setback in his work recently, which further enhanced his frustration and hatred towards the wealthy groups of the CBD which eventually led to himmitting these crimes.¡±


    ¡°Moreover, for an unwilling young man, a security guard job has rtively decent status rtive to the other low-ie jobs.¡±


    ¡°In addition to this, the criminal¡¯s time pattern formitting crimes is random. This indicates that his working hours are also irregr. The working hour of the CBD¡¯s security guards is split into three shifts. ¡±


    Ji Bai was silent for a second before he asked, ¡°So you deduce that he does not go to work on Saturday morning and afternoon based on the time hemitted the crimes?¡±


    Xu Xu answered. ¡°Yes. There was an incident on Saturday afternoon. Due to the high number of visitors during the weekend, it¡¯s not possible for the de to be buried on Friday. It could only have been buried on Saturday morning or noon.¡±


    Ji Bai did not say if she was right or wrong. Instead, he frowned while reading a sentence on the report. ¡°His character is easily irritated. When he was a juvenile, he most likely broke thew a lot. At the very least, he was severely disciplined by his school authorities. There must also have been some major changes in his life, such as strained family financial issue, divorced parents when he was young, or something along the lines of that. This could also have been a very superficial love rtionship... What is all this nonsense?¡±


    ¡°Yes. These are the characteristic of a criminal with an ¡®antisocial personality¡¯.¡± She looked up at the photos of the des on the white whiteboard and slowly said, ¡°As for whether the criminal is in a rtionship or not... I have a feeling that although he has good perception and judgment, he is not mentally mature. Even if he is a little clever... the paper des put together to form a five-pointed star, pouring river water or even spicy hot pot soup on the des, it all seems like the revenge of a depressed teenager. It¡¯s not smart and rtively impulsive.¡±


    The two of them went quiet for a while but Ji Bai was the one who broke the silence. ¡°Are you done?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m done.¡± Xu Xu took a look at her watch and added, ¡°1 minute and 58 seconds.¡±


    Even though her tone was very calm and even slightly proud, her breathing had clearly gotten heavier.


    Was she nervous? Ji Bai squinted and took a drag of his cigarette.


    These days, when the two of them were on the phone, Xu Xu gave him the impression that she was an outstanding female nerd. Also, that she was a worthy apprentice and subordinate. That was it.


    However, her image became livelier as he heard her breathing over the phone. The image Ji Bai had of her was as clear as day: She had short hair, a small face, paleplexion, and a serious expression. She was undoubtedly smart, arrogant, but also stubborn. In addition to this, the innocence of a young girl had yet to fade.


    Yes, this girl was well-suited to be someone who was prepared to face the worst of humanity and its gory aftermaths. However, she stillcked experience.


    Thus, Ji Bai did not hesitate to formally lecture her. ¡°Xu Xu, are you used to solving cases by making up all these unrealistic theories and guessing with your so-called ¡®gut feeling¡¯?¡±


    Xu Xu immediately frowned and replied stiffly, ¡°If you consider my analysis ¡®guessing¡¯, then I have nothing to say.¡±


    Ji Bai sneered. ¡°You are not convinced?¡±


    ¡°Sorry, I am not convinced.¡±


    ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you catch the suspect?¡± asked Ji Bai coldly.


    Xu Xu could not answer him.


    The two of them did not say anything as they could only vaguely hear each other¡¯s breathing through the phone. After a while, Xu Xu spoke up. ¡°Is there anything else? If not, I¡¯ll hang up.¡±


    Ji Bai was stern and replied with his own question. ¡°What are you in a hurry for?¡±


    Xu Xu suddenly felt a rare feeling of anxiety.


    However, she quickly heard him go on to say, ¡°Why can¡¯t you find the suspect? It¡¯s very simple. Assuming your conclusion is correct, something must have gone wrong in the investigation process because of some kind of unpredictable deviation. If that¡¯s the case, then you have your reason why the criminal was able to elude our initial search.¡±


    Xu Xu was stunned but Ji Bai continued, ¡°Ask Zhao Han to take you back tomorrow to check again. You must go and check everything in person. Dig around and observe everyone there. You must do it personally instead of hiding in the office.


    ¡°The criminal is definitely someone you¡¯ve all seen before. Since you know him so well, you will be able to recognize him if he was standing in front of you even if there isn¡¯t any clear-cut evidence.


    ¡°I will return to Lin City tomorrow afternoon. I want to listen to your new report on the morning of the following day. ¡±


    Xu Xu was speechless. Only now was she sure that Ji Bai actually supported her.


    He surprised her by going on to say that ¡°even if there isn¡¯t any evidence, you will be able to recognize him if he was standing in front of you¡±.¡±


    That was because Xu Xu¡¯s lecturer, Cui Yihua, a well-known professor in criminal psychology used to say the same thing to her in private. ¡°A truly excellent criminal psychology profiler will be able to spot the suspect even if no solid evidence is avable.¡± The professor would never openly say this to the public because it would no doubte off as too subjective.


    As a police officer who did not specialize in criminal psychology, Ji Bai had actually said the same thing to her after listening to the report. This proved that he had amazing perception and understanding. He really understood what she was doing.


    For someone like Xu Xu, a person who was passionate in analysis and spection, having someone who understood her thinking was something far greater than actual praise. Therefore, she did not mind how Ji Bai had provoked her in the past since she could now brush it off as him correcting her mistakes. On the contrary, he had a profound understanding of criminal psychology and extremely bold trust in her. That made her feel a little excited and touched.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± She paused. ¡°I...¡±


    Ji Bai could tell that she was moved from the tone of her voice. However, she fell silent just as he thought she was about to say something about his long-overdue recognition. Then, she solemnly yet monotonously said the two words, ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡®She¡¯s really not good with words¡¯ Ji Baiughed to himself. ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll hang up now. Sleep early.¡±


    The next morning, Xu Xu went to the police station and immediately started working with Zhao Han. At that moment, the two of them received a text message from Ji Bai asking them to start their investigation on the guards at the CBD parks as well. This was because they had a simr job scope as the security guards and also had three shifts.


    Xu Xu did not agree with his order: The working environment of the park guards and the CBD office security guards were very different. Thus, they would not be triggered by the difference between the rich and the poor.


    Zhao Han also mentioned that they had investigated the parks¡¯ guards in the beginning but had not found any suspects.


    However, Ji Bai insisted. He only said one thing, ¡°The criminal hadmitted four crimes but has not yet been captured by any cameras.


    ¡°This indicates that the criminal should be very familiar with the park¡¯s security system. Furthermore, all four parks were nned and built simrly.¡±


    This meant that Xu Xu¡¯s behavioral analysis contradicted Ji Bai¡¯s logical reasoning. However, they naturally had to follow the orders of the great Captain Ji.


    Although Xu Xu disagreed with Ji Bai¡¯s idea, she still attentively executed his order. By the end of the day, Xu Xu and Zhao Han had met with all the security guards from three of the parks. However, they still did not find the suspect.


    Finally, they went to Ruiying Park where the first case had urred. This park was the farthest away from the CBD, so it was thest one on their list.


    The sun was setting when Xu Xu and Zhao Han were sitting in the office of the head security officer. The office was located in a single-story house and there were more than forty TV monitors mounted on the wall.


    The head security officer¡¯s surname was Ding. He was a medium-sized, forty years old man with a kind looking face. The way that he spoke was very mature and experienced. He cooperatively took out all of his employees¡¯ resumes.


    Nevertheless, their investigation still came up with nothing.


    There were a total of 30 security guards in the park. 18 of them did not have duty on Saturday morning and 8 of them met the age and academic requirement. However, these people had not been severely punished recently.


    Xu Xu proposed that she wanted to see everyone, but Captain Ding was troubled. ¡°Only those who are on duty right now are present, the others have most probably left. Is it okay if youe again tomorrow? I will inform everyone to be present.¡±


    Xu Xu and Zhao Han walked out of the captain¡¯s office. At that point, the sky had already turned dark. The stars were shining like shards of crystal quietly ced in the night sky. The two of them sat on the bench in the park, slightly exhausted.


    ¡°We will start investigating the CBD security guards tomorrow.¡± Zhao Han said, ¡°Captain Ji arrived earlier this afternoon and he should start working tomorrow.¡±


    Xu Xu did not speak. She had been thinking about what Ji Bai saidst night.


    ¡°There might be some unpredictable deviations that allowed the criminal to escape our search.¡±


    If the criminal really did hide his actual identity in some way, then it meant that the screening criteria that she had provided was unreliable, no?


    Ji Bai also said, ¡°Even if there isn¡¯t any evidence, you will be able to recognize him if he was standing in front of you.¡±


    Without any evidence or benchmarks. Only by looking at the person...


    Xu Xu suddenly stood up and rushed to the captain¡¯s office. Zhao Han followed her from behind whilst calling out, ¡°Xu Xu, what are you doing?¡±


    Xu Xu did not answer. She pushed open the door and walked to the captain. Captain Ding was very surprised by their return. ¡°Is there anything else, officer?¡±


    Xu Xu nodded and thought for a moment before saying, ¡°The person we are looking for is not that tall, rtively thin and is quite attractive.¡±


    ¡°He pays a lot of attention to his appearance and the way he dresses. He spends a lot of money on clothing. However, people often feel ufortable with the way he dresses¡±


    ¡°He likes to express himself, but what he says often makes people feel suspicious of the authenticity of his words.¡±


    ¡°He does not get along with others and none of his colleagues are close to him.¡±


    ¡°He has a bad temper and will abruptly re up. He can¡¯t ept criticism and can¡¯t understand what others are saying. When people talk to him, it always feels like nothing goes in.¡±


    ¡°He would brag to his colleagues about how his family¡¯s environment used to be very good...¡±


    Captain Ding was initially stunned, but as she continued talking, the look on his face slowly changed.


    Xu Xu saw his expression and her heart was filled with joy. Nheless, the look on her face got even more serious. ¡°Who is it?¡±


    Although Zhao Han did not really understand what was happening, when he saw the look on both of their faces, he quickly reacted. He picked up the resumes on the table and started flipping through it.


    ¡°Yang Yu?¡± The captain was very surprised. ¡°Do you know Yang Yu?¡±


    Zhao Han immediately flipped to his resume and frowned. ¡°But it is written in his resume that he received a 500 yuan bonusst month due to his outstanding performance. Moreover, he has a shift on Saturday morning.¡±


    Xu Xu took Yang Yu¡¯s resume, flipped through it and raised her head again. ¡°What did he do to be rewarded?¡±


    Captain Ding was confused. ¡°The award... it¡¯s about the razor de case that you are investigating. A tourist was scratched by the des on the bench. He was the first to find out about it and offer help... In fact, his usual work performance is just average, but because of this incident, the director praised him...¡±


    The look on Xu Xu and Zhao Han¡¯s face changed. Then Xu Xu interrupted him, ¡°Did he change shifts with someonest Saturday?¡±


    Captain Ding immediately reached for his phone. ¡°Wait... let me ask.¡± He dialed some numbers on his phone and asked a few questions before hesitantly replying, ¡°He did change shifts with someone. He changed it to a night shift.¡±


    ¡°Xu Xu.¡± Zhao Han could no longer contain his excitement. He pointed at a line in the resume. ¡°He used to be a security guard in an investment bank in the CBD four months ago.¡±


    The two of them looked at each other. They saw the affirmation and excitement in each other¡¯s eyes.


    A security guard in one of the CBD¡¯s investment banks would naturally have a higher sry than a park security guard. What was the reason he switched jobs? He was most likely dismissed because he made a mistake.


    As for the reason why it was not recorded on his resume? It was verymon. Generally, if apany encountered some problematic staff, most of thepanies would just let it go on the condition that they leave. Therefore, their mistakes would not be recorded on their resume so as to not impede them from finding a new job.


    This was the ¡°unpredictable factor¡± that Ji Bai had mentioned. The suspect had changed jobs within half a year and hid his mistakes, whereas the razor de incident had actually gotten him an award. Also, he had changed shifts with someone else. This was why he was excluded during the previous round of investigations.


    ¡°Where is he now?¡± Zhao Han asked in a low voice.


    The look on Captain Ding¡¯s face was confused as he replied, ¡°He told me that he wanted to resign this morning and I asked him to look for me at night so that I could talk to him.¡± He looked up at the clock on the wall and continued, ¡°I¡¯m meeting him at around eight o¡¯clock.¡±


    Xu Xu and Zhao Han both looked at the clock. It was half-past seven.


    Zhao Han took out his mobile phone, but it started ringing just as he was about to make a call to the office. After some brief lines from the other end, Zhao Han¡¯s face changed. ¡°We are in Ruiying Park now. The target will appear soon, please send reinforcements immediately...¡±


    He hung up the phone and nced at the captain. Then, he lowered his voice and spoke to Xu Xu. ¡°Old Wu called, the team found a suspect from the surveince video. He appeared at the entrance of the parks at times matching that of the crimes. It¡¯s Yang Yu.¡±


    The team has been sending special personnel to check the huge number of surveince video from each park over the past week. They didn¡¯t think that they would find anything. Moreover, their findings coincidently matched Xu Xu¡¯s deduction.


    Right at that moment, they heard footsteps at the door.


    ¡°Brother Ding, have you eaten yet?¡±


    The door was originally half-opened as a young man with clear and fair skin pushed it open and walked in. He had an average height, thin eyebrows, and long slender eyes. He wore a ck leather jacket on top and a dark blue security pants below. His cheap dress shirt was neatly tucked into his pants in a very eye-catching manner.

 Chapter 9

    <h4>Chapter 9</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    The night was dark and a gentle breeze swept in through the open window. It was very quiet and only the muffled sound of the television could be heard in the office which was located in a corner of the park.


    Everybody fell silent the moment the four of them saw each other.


    The young man had a stunned look on his face.


    With one nce, he saw the security captain¡¯s pale and sickly green face. He also spotted the holster on Zhao Han¡¯s waist as the look on his face became conflicted: there were looks of anger, horror, and smugness... Whenbined together, it turned his rtively normal face into one that looked extremely ruthless.


    At that point, even Zhao Han was sure that it had to be him.


    However, Yang Yu reacted quickly. He quickly turned around and bolted out through the door.


    ¡°Freeze!¡± Zhao Han furiously shouted as he chased after him.


    The hurried footsteps in the corridor got further away. Captain Ding was dumbfounded and did not know what to do whilst Xu Xu stood still and took one nce in the direction where they had run off to. Then she turned her head towards Captain Ding and said, ¡°Immediately inform your people to guard all the exits of the park. If they find him, don¡¯t get too close, just report his location. Also, be careful as he has a knife.¡±


    Captain Ding heard the way she took her time to speak and how she said each individual word clearly. All of a sudden, he calmed down. Then, he immediately picked up his walkie-talkie and shoutedmands at his people.


    Xu Xu dialed a number on her phone once again. ¡°Officer Wu, I am Xu Xu, where are you guys?¡± She soon learned that all the nearby police officers had already been transferred to their location. They would be able to surround the park within three minutes. Xu Xu breathed a sigh of relief when she realized that the suspect was not going to be able to get away.


    She hung up the phone and saw Captain Ding staring at her with his eyes wide open. There was an indignant and determined look on the enthusiastic head security officer¡¯s face as he asked, ¡°Officer, what should I do now?¡±


    Xu Xu took out a baton from her bag and beckoned for him to follow her, ¡°Let¡¯s go out and have a look.¡±


    Although the night was still as dark as before, the huge park was clearly no longer peaceful. All the lights were turned on and the woods seemed brighter. A gray path could also be seen nearby. Hurried footsteps were heard all around them as shlights beams scanned the area. The security guards who heard the news were calling out to each other. ¡°Brother Li, there seems to be someone there.¡± ¡°Brother Qiu, where are you?¡±


    The two of them stood in an open space outside the house in the thick of the chaos. Captain Ding¡¯s heart was beating rapidly as he turned his head to look at Xu Xu who was wielding the baton. She was staring in the direction of the dark woods patiently.


    Even though Xu Xu looked very weak and thin, she was a literal ¡®god¡¯ in Captain Ding¡¯s eyes. He could not stifle his curiosity and so finally asked her, ¡°Officer, how did you know about how Yang Yu behaves?¡±


    Instead of answering him Xu Xu asked, ¡°Where does Yang Yu live? How many people are living with him?¡±


    Captain Ding pointed in front of them. ¡°The dormitory is over there. Normally, two people share a room together, but he is living alone now. His roommate went back to his hometown to visit his rtives.¡±


    ¡°Send a few people to guard the dormitory,¡± said Xu Xu immediately.


    Yang Yu was not stupid. If he could not escape, then the first thing would be to destroy the evidence. His tools were most likely hidden in the dormitory as well.


    Captain Ding immediately gave the order to his people through the walkie-talkie. Suddenly, they heard a loud banging from the walkie-talkie and an anxious voice shouting, ¡°Brother Ding, we found him.¡±


    Captain Ding instantly tensed up. ¡°Where?¡±


    ¡°He ran in the direction of the dormitory. We only have two people with us, Brother Ding, quicklye over.¡±


    Captain Ding held a thick wooden stick and charged forward. Xu Xu followed suit. However, since she had only barely passed her physical test, there was a significant distance between her and Captain Ding after running for just a short while. Perhaps Captain Ding was overly excited, but he did not notice hergging behind at all. He immediately took a corner and disappeared. Only his voice could be heard in the distance. ¡°Where is he? I aming...¡±


    When Xu Xu reached the corner, she saw a narrow path between two rows of short trees. There were no more streetlights and only a very dim light source illuminated the path. She could see the shadows of the trees in the distance but not the location of the dormitory. By now, Captain Ding had already run very far away. Suddenly, the path became very quiet as there was no one around.


    Xu Xu simply stopped running. She held the baton and walked along the path while she looked around vigntly.


    Secondster, she heard the sound of quick footsteps and a light snapping sound, as though someone had identally stepped on a tree branch.


    The sound hade from right behind her.


    Even though Xu Xu had always been calm, her heartbeat understandably went through the roof. She gripped the baton in her hand tightly and moved her line of sight towards the ground. She saw the path that was illuminated by the dim light source and her vague yet small shadow. However, there was also another tall projection right behind her that was gradually ovepping her shadow...


    Xu Xu¡¯s whole body became tense as she heard messy footsteps rapidly approaching from afar. The footsteps were apanied by Zhao Han¡¯s screams. ¡°Freeze!¡±


    When Xu Xu raised the baton and turned around to swing, she was greeted with Yang Yu¡¯s ferociously tense face. He shed the knife in his hand and lunged towards her.


    A split secondter, her baton hit Yang Yu¡¯s chest. Although she was not very strong, she had used her full strength to swing the baron. An ordinary person would not have been able to withstand such a hit. Yang Yu moaned in pain as the knife in his hand dropped to the ground.


    However, Yang Yu¡¯s reactions were also very fast as he quickly grabbed the baton and pulled at it fiercely. He was shockingly strong, so Xu Xu was quickly overpowered, causing her to instinctively release the baton in her hand. Without any hesitation, she proceeded to turn around and run.


    However, Yang Yu grabbed Xu Xu¡¯s cor as he restrained her with his arm. At the same time, he took out another knife from his pocket and pressed it against Xu Xu¡¯s neck while shivering violently.


    Zhao Han was panting as he ran over. He saw Yang Yu holding Xu Xu hostage whilst dragging her to the dark woods behind them step by step. Zhao Han shouted furiously at the man, ¡°Let her go!¡±


    At that moment, Captain Ding and the few security guards arrived right behind Zhao Han. When they saw what was happening, they looked at each other helplessly.


    ¡°I... I want a car.¡± Yang Yu stood still as he straightened his neck and said, ¡°Tell the police to leave now. I will let her go after I leave Lin City. Don¡¯t follow me or I will stab her.¡±


    Zhao Han¡¯s face turned a sickly shade of green. The lights from the surrounding shlights enabled him to look at the perpetrator¡¯s face clearly: Yang Yu¡¯s eyes were extremely red and his face had turned ashy gray. He held a knife in his hand, which was constantly shaking. It looked as though he could make a fatal cut in Xu Xu¡¯s fragile neck at any time...


    Xu Xu was very petite. With his arms around her, her entire face was covered to the point where her facial expression could not be seen.


    Zhao Han took a deep breath and said to Yang Yu, ¡°Don¡¯t be impulsive and put down the knife. Your sentence will be much more severe if you identally hurt her.¡±


    More security guards gathered behind him. Captain Ding was getting anxious and shouted, ¡°Yang Yu, don¡¯t do anything impulsive. A wrong move may cause you a lifetime of regret, let go of the police officer.¡±


    The other security guards also piped up, ¡°Yes, Yang Yu. Don¡¯t act rashly.¡±


    However, it seemed like Yang Yu had no intention of listening to them. He was starting to get a little confused and cried out in frustration. ¡°Where¡¯s the car, I want the car. I need to go.¡±


    Zhao Han¡¯s heart was beating rapidly when he saw the wobbling knife in Yang Yu¡¯s hand. He knew that it was impossible to let Yang Yu go, but Xu Xu was in his hands. What should he do?


    Right at that moment, a cold voice spoke. ¡°Impossible.¡±


    Everyone was shocked, even Yang Yu. This was because the sound came from his arms. He quickly turned his head and saw the woman¡¯s delicate face which was currently looking very pale and frail. However, her eyes were exceptionally deep and terrifying. The extremely cold look in her eyes shocked him.


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± He growled lowly. The tip of the knife was already touching her neck as Xu Xu stared at him. ¡°There¡¯s no car and we won¡¯t let you go. There is no room for discussion so do not even think about it.¡±


    Yang Yu did not expect a hostage to be so arrogant. He was stunned, as was everyone else around him.


    Xu Xu continued, ¡°Put down the knife immediately. Otherwise, my colleague will shoot you. Yang Yu, you only wanted to teach those people a lesson. Do you really want to die for it?¡±


    Her words surprised Yang Yu. Was he going to die because of this? He just wanted to take revenge.


    Then, he heard Xu Xu continue, ¡°You will only need to go to jail for a few years to make up for the mistakes that you¡¯ve made. It is not that serious. However, if you were to use me as a hostage, then it will be very different. Even if you do escape, you will be hunted for the rest of your life. The wanted notice will be put up nationwide and your parents and neighbors will see it. When that happens, they will all say the same thing: as expected, Yang Yu is just as useless as his father...¡±


    Yang Yu¡¯s whole body became tense. ¡°You... you...¡± but he was not able toplete his sentence. Xu Xu red back at him and continued, ¡°If you let go of me now, everything can still go back to how it used to be. Not many people know about this and you can make aeback in the future. Since you are a smart guy, you will know which one is the right option. What are you hesitant about? Put the knife down.¡±


    The look on Yang Yu¡¯s face kept changing. He was panting heavily and did not talk or move. Xu Xu¡¯s voice was very calm as she continued to urge him. ¡°Put the knife down. What else is there to think about?¡±


    Yang Yu¡¯s hand trembled and his face turned pale as he gradually lowered the hand that was holding the knife. Zhao Han sighed in relief whilst the surrounding security guards held their breaths as they watched the scene.


    Although Xu Xu sounded strict and looked serious, there was ayer of sweat on her palms. She knew that Yang Yu was still struggling internally. Therefore, she had to wait until he let go of herpletely before she would make a break for it. Only then could she be considered safe.


    Yet, right at that moment, a loud, wailing siren sound suddenly broke the silence of the night.


    It was a police car.


    Xu Xu cursed internally as a hesitant and painful look washed over Yang Yu¡¯s face. He raised the knife once again and pointed it at her. ¡°Who are you? How do I know if I can trust what you said? Is it really only going to be for a few years? How do you know about my dad... No, I can¡¯t go to jail, I can¡¯t go to jail! I want a car, or I will bring her down with me!¡±


    The man beside her was panting like a dying cow while the people surrounding them had a frightened look on their face. They could clearly see the shing police lights not too far away.


    The tip of the knife grazed her cold neck, causing her to shudder. Xu Xu pulled herself together and was about to speak when she suddenly saw a strange look in Zhao Han¡¯s eyes.


    She instantly knew that there was someone behind them.


    The thought rushed through her head just as she heard Yang Yu¡¯s painful cry, ¡°AH!¡±


    One hand came from behind and firmly restrained Yang Yu¡¯s wrists. A ¡°ck¡± sound was heard as his palms were twisted into an odd shape and the knife dropped to the ground. Although it had happened in the blink of an eye, Xu Xu saw the person¡¯s hand and his ck sleeve. His hand was very slender, lean and strong.


    Yang Yu instantly released Xu Xu. He held his wrist with a pained expression and fell to the ground.


    The next second, Xu Xu felt her chest tighten. A tremendous force pulled her backward into someone¡¯s arms.


    The person¡¯s arms were broad and warm and she suddenly smelled a leafy aroma, like that of freshly cut grass. However, the person had used a lot of strength and her chest was now hurting because of it.


    Zhao Han shouted in surprise. ¡°Captain¡± He rushed forward and grabbed Yang Yu¡¯s arm before swiftly cuffing his hands behind him. The security guards around them also swarmed forward as Yang Yu wailed in pain while taking in what was happening.


    Xu Xu raised her head and looked into a pair of extremely dark eyes. The person¡¯s gaze was clear and sharp. She was frightened by it but also felt a distinct calming sensation.


    Ji Bai.


    He wore a ck coat and had a very tall build. His features were sharp, gentle, and even beautiful. However, when his features were ced on a defined face shape, they looked calm and strong. He also seemed younger aspared to his photos. His ck short hair and eyebrows gave off a very vivid heroic aura.


    Even Xu Xu panicked slightly when she suddenly encountered someone with such striking looks. Not to mention the fact that it was her first time being tightly embraced by a stranger. Under the soft street lights, Xu Xu looked at his face which was only a few inches away. For a split second, she illogically saw him as painting soaked in the morning light. His face was handsome yet unclear at the same time.


    However, Ji Bai only stared at Xu Xu for an instance before releasing her.


    Xu Xu calmed down and greeted him. ¡°Nice to meet you, Captain Ji.¡±


    Ji Bai did not answer her. Instead, he moved his gaze down towards her slender neck before reaching out his hands and touching it.


    He acted very quickly. Before Xu Xu could react, she felt a callus-covered finger touch her skin, apanied by a slight piercing pain.


    Xu Xu subconsciously frowned and moved away.


    The hedgehog-like defensive reaction caused Ji Bai to shoot a nce at her. Then, the coldness in his eyes faded as he revealed a smile. However, he only smiled lightly so it seemed unconcerned and distant.


    ¡°The wound is not that deep. You should be able to handle it by yourself.¡± His voice did not sound as aggressive as it did over the phone. In fact, it sounded mellower in person.


    Xu Xu touched her neck and found that it was bleeding. She had been cut by the knife. ¡°Oh...¡±


    She recalled that he had saved her just now. His talent and judgment were amazing. Xu Xu bowed and respectfully said, ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Ji Bai shook his head. ¡°No need for that. I will look for youter to talk about today¡¯s incident. A police officer being held hostage by a criminal, huh? You make me proud.¡±


    Xu Xu was speechless.


    At that moment, the sound of hurried footsteps was heard as their colleagues arrived.


    ¡°Captain.¡±


    ¡°Captain, you¡¯re back.¡±


    A few of them shouted excitedly when they saw their superior. Yao Meng also arrived, and when she saw Ji Bai, she was slightly stunned. Then she shouted clearly as well, ¡°Nice to meet you, Captain.¡±


    Ji Bai¡¯s gaze swept across everyone. He no longer paid attention to Xu Xu and instead walked forward with Zhao Han, who was escorting Yang Yu. His dark eyes seemed to beam with smiles after seeing his partner and subordinates while the handsome contours on his faces also became softer.


    The others also started smiling. It was a warm and tacit smile that was reced by resentment and disdain when they saw the captured Yang Yu.


    Without any greetings, Ji Bai started barking out orders. ¡°Old Wu, take two people with you to search Yang Yu¡¯s residence; Xiao Chen, you and Da Hu escort the suspect to the car; Xiao Zheng, take the others to get their statement; Yao Meng, help Xu Xu patch up her wound.¡±


    Everyone turned towards Xu Xu and Yao Meng quickly stepped forward and asked, ¡°Xu Xu, are you okay?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, just a little cut,¡± smiled Xu Xu.


    Xu Xu did not need Yao Meng¡¯s help so Yao Meng did not insist and left with the others.


    Xu Xu walked back to the police car and took out a first aid kit. She ced two Band-Aid sters on her neck but could not help but frown in pain. However, the ce the hurt the most was not her neck, but her chest.


    When Ji Bai pulled her out of Yang Yu arms, he had held her very tightly. At that time, she did not realize but he was holding onto her right chest. Since he had used a lot of strength, her chest was still hurting now as her skin was rtively sensitive and fragile. However, judging from of the extent of the pain in her chest, it was probably bruised.


    That feeling was unfamiliar to her. It seemed as though he did not only cause her physical pain, but he also made her feel a little ufortable. However, Xu Xu did not dwell on it. There was no one around so she simply fondled her chest to help relieve the pain a little. Then, she got out of the car and headed to Yang Yu¡¯s dormitory.


    The night went on smoothly. They found a bag of razor des under Yang Yu¡¯s bed in the dormitory as well as the ¡°n of action¡± that he wrote himself. It recorded the time, location and his feelings each time hemitted a crime. This was undeniable proof that he was the culprit.


    He originally lived in a small town near Lin City and his family had been very well off, which led to him being spoiled whilst growing up. However, at the age of sixteen, his father¡¯s business failed and they lost everything. His mother divorced his father because of this. His results had always been average, so he failed his college entrance examination due to the sudden change. Therefore, he went to the city to look for a job. Nheless, he always felt that he deserved more and always acted very impulsively at work. Thus, although he had been in Lin City for three to four years, he had never held down a position. He was introduced to his previous job by a friend from his hometown and was consequently dismissed because he was always absent without leave to y video games... Everything matched Xu Xu¡¯s deduction and everyone from the criminal police force was surprised.


    When they closed the case, Ji Bai told everyone to return their guns to the police station and head home to sleep since they had been so busy for the past few days. Ji Bai and Old Wu, who was also very experienced, told them that they would interrogate Yang Yu overnight.


    When they got into the car, Old Wu turned to Ji Bai, ¡°I heard that Xu Xu was held hostage, but almost persuaded Yang Yu to confess and surrender. Your apprentice is remarkable. Oh yeah, she¡¯s a bit like you when you first joined the police force. Both of you are bad*sses.¡±


    Was she really just like him? That was an interesting statement.


    Ji Bai smiled.


    When he got off the ne, he heard that Xu Xu and Zhao Han were at the park, so he immediately rushed over there. When he arrived, he found that the park was not as quiet and peaceful as how it normally was. Instead, it was noisy and tense.


    As he got to the woods, he saw Yang Yu holding Xu Xu hostage. Just as he was about to make a sneak attack from behind, he heard Xu Xu¡¯s cold threat.


    She had performed better than expected. Even as a hostage, she hadpletely controlled the situation.


    After he rescued her from Yang Yu, the first thing that he saw was a pair of extremely quiet and dark eyes. Even after being held hostage, he did not see fear and panic in her eyes, but understanding and relief.


    She recognized him and took her time to greet him. ¡°Nice to meet you, Captain Ji.¡± She did not realize that there were two to three terrifying cuts on her pale neck.


    Her mental fortitude was very impressive. She was extremely slow and the unbothered look on her face made it seem as though she had been unaffected by the incident.


    Another thing that surprised him was that she was way too thin. She weighed nothing in his arms whilst her features could be considered delicate and fine. Not to mention her skin was too pale. It was as if she did not have any color on her cheeks, like a fragile little zombie...


    How could such a little girl brave obstacles with him in the future? She was like a small animal.


    Moreover, another thought was teasing his mind.


    He did not pay too much attention then, but now that he recalled it, there was something wrong with the feeling in his hand when he had rescued her. It was too soft. When he pulled her into his arms, he just so happened to grab her chest.


    The soft yet bouncy feeling in his hand was oddly refreshing; it lingered in between his fingers such that he was not able to forget it.


    Even though she looked very thin, her chest was notcking...


    He dismissed the strange feeling on his fingertips and replied Old Wu, ¡°She is remarkable. Have you ever seen a hostage act fiercer than the criminal?¡±


    Old Wu chuckled. ¡°The best part is that she¡¯s just a small little girl, and yet, she has such explosive influence.¡±


    The two of themughed together.


    Old Wu continued, ¡°Take care of her. Who knows, she might be the next great female detective. The only thing stopping her is her physical abilities ¨C after all, it seemed to be a problem earlier.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be a problem much longer.¡± Ji Bai smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll give her some training ¨C just watch her physical abilities improve then.¡±

 Chapter 10

    <h4>Chapter 10</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    The bright red fingerprints on her chest had not faded yet when Xu Xu woke up the next day. Since her skin was very fair, she felt like the bruise looked rather brutal when she checked them out in the mirror.


    Thus, she smeared a little safflower oil around the bruise which made her whole body smell fragrant. When she got to work, Yao Meng walked over because of the scent and asked, ¡°Were you injured anywhere else yesterday?¡±


    Xu Xu shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s just a small injury.¡±


    After a while, she noticed Ji Bai casually walk into the office with his hands in his pockets. He nodded his head to greet everyone before entering his room.


    A normal girl would definitely feel shy and embarrassed when they saw Ji Bai. However, Xu Xu was way too slow in this regard. She politely greeted him without any feeling of nervousness.


    Ji Bai was not a dense person, but he knew very well how to control himself. He was clearly obsessed with the soft touch and this was just a normal reaction after having his sexual desires suppressed for so long. In fact, after he returned homest night, he took a cold shower to help erase the lingering feeling. This was so that he would not have any ungentlemanly thoughts after seeing Xu Xu today.


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t you think that the atmosphere of the office changed after Captain Ji Bai¡¯s return?¡± Yao Meng nced at Ji Bai¡¯s office and whispered.


    Xu Xu nodded. It was indeed different. The atmosphere had be even tenser. Everyone spoke faster and in a lower tone than usual.


    Xu Xu quickly adapted to the new atmosphere.


    Even afterpleting Yang Yu¡¯s case, they were still required to hand in the follow-up paperwork. Xu Xu and Yao Meng helped everyone with their work and were kept extremely busy. They finally finished sorting out the case materials in the afternoon. Just as Xu Xu was about to rest, the phone on her desk rang. It was Ji Bai. ¡°Come into my office.¡±


    When Xu Xu walked in, she saw Ji Bai leaning against the back of his chair. He was holding a few documents in his hand and spoke to her without lifting his head. ¡°Close the door.¡±


    Xu Xu closed the door and stood still as he raised his head to look at her. ¡°Sit.¡±


    Xu Xu did as instructed and sat down.


    She felt his sharp gaze pierce her, so Xu Xu raised her head to look him in the eye. His face was handsome and clear and he was squinting his eyes slightly, as though he was scrutinizing her entire being.


    Xu Xu liked to observe other people¡¯s eyes because they tend to reveal one¡¯s emotions. However, she could not see anything in Ji Bai¡¯s eyes. They carried a kind of indolent yet unconcerned look.


    ¡°You are the first police officer in Lin City to be held hostage by a criminal in the past ten years. How do you n to exin this?¡± He said in a low and stern voice. There was an extremely cold look in his eyes. Previously, several other policewomen had cried after being lectured by him.


    Nheless, Xu Xu was not even slightly embarrassed as she replied. ¡°There is no need for an exnation.¡±


    This was not because Xu Xu had no concept of honor and disgrace, it was just that she was naturally very calm. She knew that her fitness had always been her weakness, but she believed that everyone would have something that they are not good at. Since she had tried her best, why should she feel ashamed?


    Ji Bai did not say anything and continued to stare at her with his dark eyes. Xu Xu simply looked back at him calmly. After a while, a nonchnt smile suddenly appeared on his face.


    His smile made Xu Xu feel a kind of invisible pressure and gave her the gut feeling that something bad might happen.


    As expected, Ji Bai suddenly threw the document in his hands onto the table. Xu Xu took a glimpse at it and saw that it was, in fact, her resume. Ji Bai used a red pen to circle the column that read, ¡°Physical Condition.¡±


    ¡°I passed,¡± dered Xu Xu.


    ¡°You¡¯re the only one who ¡®passed¡¯ the physical performance in the entire Criminal Police Force.¡± Ji Bai growled, ¡°Everyone else was rated ¡®excellent¡¯. Also, I¡¯ve just checked and although you passed, you were ranked first from the bottom in their system.¡±


    At that point, Xu Xu¡¯s face was getting a little red. After all, it was painful for a top student to be referred to as ¡°first from the bottom¡±.


    Ji Bai stared at her. ¡°Within three months, you must improve your physical performance to ¡®good¡¯. You will not be allowed to carry out an investigation during this time and will only handle paperwork in the office. I don¡¯t need a subordinate who might be held hostage at any time and who will only end up burdening the whole team.¡±


    After leaving Ji Bai¡¯s office, Xu Xu felt a little demotivated. This was because she was unsure about whether she couldplete the goal that Ji Bai had set or not.


    From that moment on, Xu Xu had the constant pressure of this new goal looming over her. After she got home, she immediately turned on theputer. Then, she dug up some information and made a n to improve her physical performance. The n was undoubtedly harsh; she had to do a lot of training and eat a lot more from here on out.


    At night, Xu Juan gave Xu Xu a call and asked if she was done with the case. He imed that he wanted to introduce her to an IT technician to which Xu Xu agreed.


    Xu Juan could tell that his sister was feeling down. After asking her what was going on, he smiled and said, ¡°Your boss is right. I would also be worried if you were going after a criminal with that small physique of yours.¡±


    Since ¡°training¡± was something very difficult for Xu Xu, she felt that it was necessary to treat herself to give herself a psychological boost. She woke up at 6 o¡¯clock the next day to grab a good breakfast before heading to the police station.


    There was a sports field located next to the police station which belonged to the police academy. At that moment, the sky was only just rising and the faint mist shrouded the track to make it look like she was seeing everything through frosted ss. Xu Xu started jogging slowly while wearing her earbuds as per usual.


    There were strong youngsters and middle-aged adults who continuously ran past by her. Most of them were wearing sports singlets from the police station. After Xu Xu finished her secondp, she suddenly heard a mocking voice ask her, ¡°Are you a snail?¡± She turned around and immediately saw Ji Bai standing beside her. He wore a grey T-shirt and dark blue sports pants.


    He had obviously been running for a long time now as the front and back of his t-shirt were soaked in sweat, so much so that even his hair was drenched. His face was also a little red, and his eyes seemed darker and clearer in the morning light. Though he looked quite dashing, he was staring at her with a stern expression.


    Due to their close proximity, she was greeted by the man¡¯s sweat and body heat. Xu Xu instinctively took a small step backward before she answered him. Her actions made her look like she was a girl who was easily frightened ¨C she was like a small animal in Ji Bai¡¯s eyes.


    Due to the natural physiological differences between a man and a woman, he did not pressure her further. He merely turned his head and muttered, ¡°Run faster.¡±


    Xu Xu forcibly used all the strength in her body to run. She was not afraid of him despite having heard that Ji Bai had dismissed a few people from the criminal police force before because he had been dissatisfied with their performance. He was never lenient about these sort of things. Xu Xu wanted to be a criminal police officer, so she had to do anything it took to avoid getting dismissed. Also, she understood that the physical performance requirement that Ji Bai had imposed on her was for her own good.


    Xu Xu did not dare rx since she was afraid that he might be following her. After running half ap, she noticed that there was no sound of footsteps behind her. She turned her head and was greeted by a nothing but mist. He had not followed her.


    Xu Xu let out a sigh of relief and slowed down a little. She knew she had to gradually improve her physical performance.


    However, she spotted a familiar figure at the weight training area afterpleting thep.


    By now, most of the fog had disappeared and the morning light was shining unimpeded on the greenwn. Ji Bai¡¯s back was facing her and he was lifting something that looked incredibly heavy. He looked very tall andrge from behind as creases slowly appeared on his t-shirt as it wrapped around every muscle on his body. When he ced the weight down, his pulsing muscles returned to their normal size. The shape of his wide back returned back to its lean and proportionate state once again. Xu Xu watched as the sun rays cast a soft and smooth glow around him.


    She knew that he was tall, but she did not expect him to be so well built. Although Xu Xu had never been in a rtionship, she knew how to appreciate a beautiful man. Strong and powerful men were never her type, instead, she admired delicate and thin men. In her opinion, Ji Bai was very good looking, but because he was overly huge, she had to deduct marks from his overall attractiveness score.


    While she was lost in her thoughts, Ji Bai suddenly turned around because he felt someone looking at him. A drop of sweat glistened as it raced down his chiseled face towards his chin. He stared at her with his obsidian eyes, as if asking her, ¡®What kind of speed was that?¡¯


    Xu Xu elerated as though she had just gotten an electric shock and quietly ran further away from him.


    It was half-past seven by the time she was done running and no one had arrived at the office yet. Since Xu Xu did not like the smell of smoke in the top floor canteen, she ced her breakfast in the small conference room with a newspaper beside it. Then, she left to shower.


    Since there was a shower ce in the police station courtyard, Xu Xu took just twenty minutes to wash up and return to the office. However, she was stunned when she reentered the small conference room.


    Ji Bai was sitting in her seat whilst holding a newspaper in his left hand and putting a crystal shrimp dumpling into his mouth with the other. The lunch box in front of him was now empty.


    Xu Xu was stupefied. He lifted his head and nced at her before ordering, ¡°Sit.¡±


    Why did he eat her breakfast?


    Ji Bai¡¯s eyes were still fixed on the newspaper. Then, he took his time to say in a low voice, ¡°The reason why I ate your breakfast was to remind you that as a criminal police officer, it is necessary to understand the ways of the world. The work of a criminal investigator is reliant on information provided by the public. How can a police officer only know about professionalism and not understand anything about the ways of the world to win the support of the public?¡±


    Xu Xu remained stunned.


    Ji Bai continued, ¡°However, since you thought of preparing breakfast for me, perhaps you aren¡¯t so hopeless... but there¡¯s no need for you to do this anymore. We don¡¯t do this in my team.¡±


    Only then did Xu Xu understand: Ji Bai had misunderstood her.


    She could not me Ji Bai for the misunderstanding. He did not like the smell of smoke in the cafeteria either and every morning after his training, he would go to the small meeting room to eat something while reading the papers. It had been like this for many years and everyone on the team knew about it. Moreover, he would always pick a seat where the sun would not shine too ringly on.


    Today, as soon as he entered the small meeting room, he saw breakfast and newspaper ced neatly on his seat. Since only Xu Xu had arrived at the office, he knew that she must have been the one who had prepared it.


    Previously, there had also been a few policewomen who knocked on Ji Bai¡¯s door to ask if he would like breakfast. Naturally, he refused them. This time, since it was Xu Xu, he did not suspect that she had any ulterior motives and just assumed that this nerd was trying to please her boss and win his support. He wanted to acknowledge the effort and changes that she was making to herself. Therefore, he simply epted it whilst giving her a lecture about the ways of the world.


    Moreover, she had bought his favorite crystal shrimp dumplings.


    After he finished his lecture, he saw Xu Yan¡¯s wide eyes staring back at him. Her delicate eyebrows were furrowed to openly disy her annoyance. ¡°You¡¯ve made a mistake. This is my breakfast, I did not prepare it for you.¡±


    The room suddenly became silent.


    Ji Bai put down the newspaper and stared at her without saying anything.


    Only then did Xu Xu realize that she might have been too straightforward ¨C she might have actually embarrassed him. After a while, she decided to say something to make light of the situation. ¡°If you like it, I can bring some for you tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to.¡± Ji Bai stood up so that his tall figure loomed over her like a tree. Then, he shed her a smile. ¡°In that case, I can¡¯t eat this breakfast for free. I will arrive one hour earlier tomorrow and personally supervise you.¡±


    One hour earlier meant that she had to leave the house at five o¡¯clock... Xu Xu was a little dumbfounded, but by now Ji Bai had already walked passed her and left the small conference room.


    Breakfast had already been sold out by the time Xu Xu reached the cafeteria. Because of this, she had no choice but to return to the office on an empty stomach.


    After a while, her colleagues gradually started arriving. Yao Meng walked in with two bags of small meat dumplings and asked with a smile, ¡°These are freshly made dumplings from a popr restaurant near my house. I bought an extra pack, who wants it?¡±


    Everyone imed that they had eaten already, so Yao Meng took the pack to Ji Bai and asked cheerily, ¡°Captain, have you eaten?¡±


    Ji Bai was still reading the newspaper and his face was hidden behind it. He quickly waved her away, ¡°I have.¡±


    Yao Meng stuck out her tongue and returned to her seat with her breakfast. Then, she saw Xu Xu¡¯s eyes fixed on the dumplings in her hand before she glumly asked, ¡°Can you share some of it with me?¡±

 Chapter 11

    <h4>Chapter 11</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    Xu Xu was normally a stubborn and arrogant individual, but as a police officer, she had always carried out rules and orders strictly and professionally. Even though Ji Bai made rather unreasonable requests, she never once thought about rebelling against her superior, she just grit her teeth and bore it.


    Hence, early in the morning on the next day, she left home punctually. When she arrived at the sports field, the sky was still dark and the streetlights were still lit. The track looked gloomy and empty, only the silhouettes of a couple of people could vaguely be seen running in the dark.


    After standing there for a brief moment, Xu Xu spotted a figure running towards her in the darkness.


    It was Ji Bai. He had probably arrived not too long ago as he did not smell of sweat.


    There was not much light, so his profile was quite blurry, but his voice was loud and clear as he called out to her, ¡°How many rounds did you run yesterday?¡±


    Xu Xu replied, ¡°Five.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll run ten today, and your pace can¡¯t be slower than yesterday. I¡¯ll be timing you.¡± After he said this, he continued running forward.


    Xu Xu fell silent for a moment, then she took a big gulp of water and followed him.


    Of course, she meant to match his pace, but Ji Bai was soon out of sight. When Xu Xu hadpleted half ap, she heard the sound of steady yet quick footsteps approaching her.


    She could feel the power exuded by a man¡¯s body during exercise just by listening to the rhythmic breathing. Inparison, Xu Xu¡¯s running had no presence at all, her pace was slow, and her breathing was soft. She lowered her head as Ji Bai took one huge stride top her.


    ¡°This round doesn¡¯t count, you¡¯re too slow.¡± His voice called back at her through the darkness. Xu Xu froze, then chased up after him in low spirits.


    By the time Xu Xu finished her tenth round, the sky had already turned bright and she was so exhausted that her breathing had be weak. On the other hand, she had lost count of how manyps Ji Bai had run. Additionally, he had stopped as Xu Xu waspleting her final twops and was nowhere to be seen, so she had no clue where he had gone off to. She was also suspicious of whether or not he was really timing her.


    After some rest, Xu Xu finally dragged her legs that by now felt like lead and made her way out of the sports field. When she passed by the weapons area, she saw Ji Bai sitting with a man. Upon hearing her footsteps, the two men turned their heads and Ji Bai waved at her with a smile on his face. ¡°Xu Xu,e over here.¡±


    His smile was exceptionally gentle, such that it made his already outstanding appearance shine with a bright radiance when coupled with the rising sun¡¯s rays.


    Xu Xu looked at him then turned to look at the other man.


    The man looked like he was in his fifties; he was average-sized, had gray hair, and wore a kind expression. He nodded then said to her, ¡°Hello, Xu Xu. I heard that the unit had recruited a very talented new individual, I didn¡¯t think that it would be such a petitedy.¡±


    Xu Xu smiled faintly. ¡°Hello Captain Yan, I¡¯ve heard so much about you.¡±


    The man¡¯s smile widened even more. ¡°Smart as expected. However, since you¡¯re Little Ji¡¯s apprentice, just call me teacher.¡±


    The man was the former criminal police captain who went by the surname Yan. He had already retired but was previously Ji Bai¡¯s instructor as well as a renowned detective in Lin City. Xu Xu had heard of him and guessed his identity based on his age and tone.


    Moreover, Ji Bai¡¯s smile was as soft as cotton.


    ¡°Hello, teacher.¡± Xu Xu greeted him conscientiously.


    Captain Yan saw that she had clear eyes and was neither proud nor haughty, so he took to her well and said to Ji Bai with a smile, ¡°Your apprentice is lovely and smart, you should lead her well. She¡¯s ady so don¡¯t be too strict on her.¡±


    Ji Bai smiled. ¡°Of course.¡±


    Xu Xu remained silent.


    Captain Yan had also heard that Xu Xu studied criminal psychology and he was very interested in the topic. So, he asked her a few questions, which Xu Xu answered ordingly. Captain Yan then praised her again. Soon, Xu Xu was blushing from hispliments; after all, this man used to be a legendary figure in the police force.


    Captain Yan observed her gestures then shot Ji Bai a look, ¡®Thisdy is too innocent.¡¯


    Initially, Ji Bai was listening to their conversation quietly, so he only turned to look at Xu Xu when he noticed his instructor¡¯s nce. When he turned to look at Xu Xu, however, he was quite stunned.


    The sun was already up by then and the morning light was somewhat golden. Xu Xu stood in front of them, and under the sunlight, her originally pale skin became so white that it was nearly transparent. Nheless, her small cheeks were dyed a uniform crimson. The redness was not very strong, but on her thin, frail skin, the redness was so prominent that it looked like blood was going to drip out at any moment. Even her snowy white ears were red. The smooth color so vibrant that seemed like it would stain the hand if touched.


    As for her slightly lowered head, although she looked rather uneasy, her eyes were still ck and calm as usual as they reflected the sunlight like two shallow streams.


    Xu Xu noticed that Ji Bai was looking at her with a distant look, but it seemed like he had no more instructions for her, so she bowed to Captain Ji politely. ¡°Teacher, I¡¯ll make my move then. We¡¯ll talk again in the future.¡±


    Captain Yan smiled as he watched her walk away, then he turned and spoke to Ji Bai. ¡°No wonder you were willing to lead a female apprentice this time ¨C she¡¯s quite outstanding.¡±


    Ji Bai looked up and caught Xu Xu exiting the sports field. He smiled at his instructor andughed softly. ¡°Indeed, she doesn¡¯t cause any trouble.¡±


    During lunch break, Xu Xu had an incredibly long and deep nap, which was entirely justifiable. She did not even hear the bell for duty and it was actually Yao Meng who had to wake her up and ask her sweetly, ¡°Are you alright? You look like you¡¯ve just been beaten up.¡±


    Xu Xu answered dispiritedly, ¡°You could say that.¡±


    As she turned on herputer, a message popped out from the Internal UC (Internal Unified Communication System) of the police station. The message said that the sender was Zhao Han.


    Xu Xu had asked him about the condition of the sports field, so he knew about Ji Bai¡¯s training. On top of that, Xu Xu had been previously held hostage, which made him feel guilty. With so much on her te, Zhao Han wanted to give her some encouragement.


    Zhao Han asked, ¡°How was the devil¡¯s training?¡±


    Xu Xu replied, ¡°Devilish indeed.¡±


    Zhao Han continued, ¡°Haha, god must have big ns for you, Captain Ji is doing this for your own good.¡±


    Xu Xu sighed. ¡°I know.¡±


    Zhao Han added, ¡°The other policewomen couldn¡¯t be more jealous.¡±


    ¡°Why is that?¡±


    Zhao Han actually typed that out casually, so he was startled when he was pressed for an exnation. ¡°It¡¯s because the captain is so handsome.¡±


    Xu Xuughed. ¡°They want to be tortured by him because he looks handsome? Do they like being abused?¡±


    Zhao Han spat out the water he was drinking.


    In truth, Xu Xu was very blunt with her thinking and speech, so her words were likewise limited to literal meanings. ¡°Torture¡± in this case referred to her feeling extremely tortured to run, ¡°abused¡± referred to strictly physical abuse done for the sake of inflicting pain, not pleasure. However, for a normal man like Zhao Han, her words sounded too inappropriate.


    Simr things have happened to Xu Xu before.


    Back in high school, everyone was still quite shy about boy-girl rtionships, and one day after school, a few girls had stayed back to gossip privately. They suspected that a certain girl and a boy ¡°had already done something inappropriate¡±. Since Xu Xu was present then, and one of the girls was quite close to her, she had excitedly asked Xu Xu her opinion on the issue.


    Xu Xu did not personally know the two people they were talking about, so she could only express her point of view based on what she did know: facts and general knowledge. ¡°Sex is a basic animalistic instinct.¡±


    The girls who were too embarrassed to even publicly speak about ¡°sex¡± where shocked.


    ...


    Back to their conversation, Zhao Han carefully replied, ¡°You...¡±


    Xu Xu responded with a ¡°?¡±


    As she finished typing the question mark, she heard an assertive voice from behind her. ¡°Xu Xu,e to my office.¡±


    When Xu Xu turned, she saw Ji Bai holding a cup that was still steaming hot, which meant that he had probably just returned from the pantry. He nced at her from above then turned and walked into his office.


    Xu Xu did not think that she went overboard with her words, but since Ji Bai saw that she was passingments on him, she knew that she was in the wrong. Thus, she immediately followed him into the room.


    Once she sat down, Ji Bai cast a look at her and said tly, ¡°To me, the morning exercise was just a warm-up, the real torture has yet to begin.¡±


    Xu Xu was speechless.


    Ji Bai flipped open a document and threw it at her. ¡°This is a report that was requested by the superiors. Finish it before you leave work tomorrow and hand it in.¡±


    Xu Xu picked it up and flipped through it, then asked him some questions to clear up some doubts she had. Just as Ji Bai was about to answer her, his cell phone rang.


    It was an important call, so he stood up with his phone and signaled at Xu Xu to wait for a while before walking into the small conference room next door.


    Since he did not mention that she could leave, Xu Xu naturally sat there and waited for him patiently. She had already gone through the whole document in a short while, but Ji Bai still had not yet returned, thus she decided to look around her to ease her boredom.


    It was noon and the sunlight was shining in through the big windows, which painted the floor in a warm, yellow color. Even the Waterstone marble desk was tinted a lovely off-white.


    The chair in Ji Bai¡¯s office was morefortable than the ones outside as it was spacious and well made. After sitting under the sun for a brief while, she became sleepy, hence she leaned against the back of the chair and pondered to herself quietly with her eyes shut.


    After Ji Bai was done with his call and reentered his office, he saw Xu Xu fast asleep on the chair.


    Her tiny body was shriveled up in the spacious chair and her head was tilted slightly upward. Both her arms were resting on the arms of the chair, making her posture seem like that of an old person. Nevertheless, her ck brows were slightly furrowed as if she was unhappy.


    ¡®Seems like this little one is exhausted.¡¯


    Ji Bai looked at her for a few seconds, then quietly returned to his seat before lighting up a cigarette.


    ¡®I¡¯ll give her ten minutes.¡¯


    However, it was not even a minute before Xu Xu woke up.


    She was woken up by the sound of soft rustling from pages being flipped. When she opened her eyes, she saw Ji Bai already seated in front of her without paying her any mind. His face was slightly lowered and he held a lit cigarette in one hand as he flipped through documents with the other. His face was expressionless the entire time.


    She had no idea of how long she had been sleeping, but she felt that falling asleep in front of her superior during working hours was just too much. Especially considering this was Ji Bai, who was normally so stern. Instantly, beads of sweat raced down the side of her head as her face turned pale.


    Without even looking up, Ji Bai asked leisurely, ¡°Are you satisfied with the sleeping conditions in my office?¡±


    Xu Xu looked even more ghastly as she quickly apologized. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    She had expected to face more of Ji Bai¡¯s harsh critiques and taunts, but he instead unexpectedly switched the conversation. ¡°What other questions did you have just now?¡±


    Xu Xu was dumbfounded, but she quickly brushed it off before proceeding to ask Ji Bai questions to rify any doubts she had. Ji Bai answered her ordingly, but never mentioned anything about her sleeping in his office again.


    Overall, Xu Xu felt like she was on the brink of death for the entirety of the first week of Ji Bai¡¯s return. She would bepletely drained both physically and mentally such that she would immediately crash the second she reached home. Her appetite clearly increased as well.


    When Xu Juan saw her dispirited look, he felt sorry for her. However, he was a tough and hardworking person himself and he felt that some training would be beneficial to his sister, so he did not say much. He felt that she could alleviate her stress in the workce with a sessful love life, thus he had arranged a blind date for her that Friday: it was the IT professional, so she had to make sure to arrive on time.


    On Friday morning, Xu Xu managed toplete the great task of running tenps for the first time. When she was eating breakfast in the small conference room, she asked Ji Bai, ¡°Do I have to train on weekends?¡±


    Ji Bai answered, ¡°Do you not eat on weekends?¡±


    With that, Xu Xu was speechless.


    Xu Xu had be absolutely spiritless by the time she got off work, but she still had to go for the blind date that had already been arranged beforehand. Because of this, she wanted to meet him as soon as possible to finish her task so that she could return home to sleep.


    She went directly to the parking lot of the station where Xu Juan was waiting to pick her up. As she arrived at the basement, she saw Ji Bai walking out from the other exit.


    ¡°Xu Xu,¡± a clear voice was heard, it was Xu Juan. He wore an exquisite ck suit and was sitting in his Benz whilst smiling with his eyes. However, when he saw her simple clothes and casual pants, he frowned. ¡°You¡¯re going on a blind date dressed like that?¡±


    Xu Xu lowered her head and looked at herself. ¡°Like this?¡±


    Xu Juan just sighed and did not reply. Xu Xu then turned around and called out, ¡°Captain Ji, see you.¡±


    Unexpectedly, Ji Bai looked at her outfit as well. He nodded then walked towards the car beside them.


    Xu Xu walked over to her brother¡¯s car and Xu Juan opened the door for her. He was rather surprised by what he had just seen. ¡°Your superior?¡±


    She nodded, then she saw Ji Bai driving past in a ck Buick. It was an ordinary car and he did not stop to look at them.


    The streetlights had just lit up as the ck Benz made its way through the traffic. When Xu Juan stopped his car at the entrance of ¡°The Courtyard¡±, Xu Xu made a sharp observation that something was not right.


    The Courtyard was a low-profile, yet popr private clubhouse in the city. A few years ago, when Xu Juan had earned his first million, he had brought Xu Xu to dine there. Later on, Xu Juan became a frequent customer, but Xu Juan stopped apanying him there.


    Nheless, it was just a blind date with an IT engineer. She thought to herself, ¡®Isn¡¯t The Courtyard too fancy for a first date?¡¯


    As she watched Xu Juan pacing in leisurely, Xu Xu grit her teeth and ordered her brother to halt. ¡°Stop right there.¡±


    Of course, Xu Juan knew what her question was going to be, so he justified himself with a straight face. ¡°The CEO of an ITpany is considered an IT person as well, you shouldn¡¯t discriminate against him just because of his high position.¡±


    Xu Xu frowned. ¡°Firstly, a CEO is considered a person in management, which is not the type of guy that I¡¯ve asked you for; Secondly, a person like that has a veryplicated character and mindpared to that of an ordinary person. Not to mention, his work schedule will be extra hectic. Do you really wish for me to have a disorganized marriage such that we won¡¯t even be able to meet each other often?¡±


    Xu Juan immediately stopped smiling. ¡°First of all, I¡¯ve been in touch with this person for quite some time, so I know that he¡¯s not just one of those immoderate, spoiled rich men ¨C he¡¯s a responsible man. Xu Xu, a rtionship is not something stiff, you can¡¯t seed by relying on analysis and predictions; Secondly, since you¡¯re already here, you should at least show me some respect and finish the meal.¡±


    Xu Xu did not say anything else.


    Xu Juan thought she was angry and wondered if he had been too harsh. Just as he was about to tone down, Xu Xu nodded. ¡°If that¡¯s the way you put it, then I ept. Let¡¯s go in.¡±


    Xu Juan was startled, then he smiled and stroked her hair. ¡°Talk to him and see how it goes. You can kick him to the curb if he¡¯s not suitable. It doesn¡¯t matter if he¡¯s a CEO or a serviceman, the most important thing is that my sister likes him.¡±


    Xu Xu sighed. ¡°You don¡¯t say.¡±


    The two of them walked towards a pre-booked private room. From a distance, they could see antique-style yellow window frames with curtains as white as snow. A young man sat at the table amid the elegance and quietness with a pot of sake and a sandalwood vessel to his right. Soon, white porcin chimes dinged at the door, signaling Xu Xu and Xu Juan¡¯s arrival. The man looked up and smiled at Xu Xu, shing his white teeth, his attractive appearance seemingly calm and delicate in the night light.


    Ye Zixiao.

 Chapter 12

    <h4>Chapter 12</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    ¡°Love at first sight¡± might be a little over the top, but Ye Zixiao was very sure that he was in fact attracted to Xu Xu.


    On that fateful day on the sunset zed grass, the agitated, petitedy barking orders while her hands were covered with blood orders had struck a chord in him. He was won over by the fact that she was cool, energetic, and also very cute.


    ¡®If you like somebody then do something about it,¡¯ was the simple principle that he followed.


    Later on, he had badgered her for a day, but she had not even looked him in the eye. Initially, he had felt frustrated and uninterested in her, but he noticed something as he stood behind her whilst she crouched on the grass for over an hour at the crime scene. When she stood up, her legs were clearly numb, so she staggered for a bit before she could finally stand up straight again. Then, she stamped her feet repeatedly on the ground so that the blood would once again flow to her feet.


    At that moment, he felt discontented. ¡®If she bes my girlfriend, how can I let her work so hard? I must pamper her so that she can do whatever she wants. She won¡¯t have to cover her hand with blood or examine the aftermath of a killing. She¡¯ll live wonderfully every day.¡¯


    ...


    It was a cloudy night and the dim lights barely cut through the darkness.


    Ye Zixiao acted as if nothing had happened between them before when he extended his hand out to greet Xu Xu. ¡°Hello, Miss Xu, we¡¯ve met before. I¡¯m Ye Zixiao.¡±


    Xu Xu frowned, but as she was about to dismiss him, she looked up and saw her brother¡¯s gentle and encouraging expression.


    She suddenly remembered what Ji Bai had told her before. ¡°Xu Xu, it¡¯s necessary to understand the ways of the world.¡±


    She also recalled her brother¡¯s words. ¡°Since you¡¯re already here, you should show me some respect and at least finish the meal.¡±


    After a brief silence, she slowly extended her hand. ¡°Hello.¡±


    The look of victory could be seen shining in Ye Zixiao¡¯s beautiful eyes. He took her tiny hand in his but was slightly taken aback as it felt unexpectedly cold and smooth. The next second, she forcefully withdrew her hand.


    The three of them sat down and Xu Juan went through the menu whereas Xu Xu merely stared at the table.


    Ye Zixiao said, ¡°Miss Xu, what are your hobbies?¡±


    Xu Xu was not really nning to acknowledge him, so she gave a half-hearted reply. ¡°Outside of my work, I have no hobbies.¡±


    Ye Zixiao raised his eyebrows and smiled. ¡°What a coincidence, me too.¡±


    Xu Xu fell silent.


    Xu Juan cast a sideways nce at the two of them then smiled.


    Ye Zixiao continued asking, ¡°I heard that you studied criminal psychology, what is it about? Is it as interesting as they make it look in American dramas?¡±


    Xu Xu replied, ¡°I mainly researched three areas in university. The first was on developing a database containing behavioral models of criminals in China. The second was regarding the effect of China¡¯s family environment on adult criminals¡¯ behaviors. Thirdly...¡± She went on to list a bunch of extremely technical theories.


    Ye Zixiao nodded repeatedly as he listened to her. There was a faint smile on his face as he was doing so, and his eyes continued shining.


    Xu Juan sighed. ¡°Why did you put it in such aplicated way, I don¡¯t understand anything.¡±


    Ye Zixiao nodded. ¡°I didn¡¯t understand it either, but I feel that Xu Xu exined it very well.¡±


    Therefore, regardless of what he asked next, Xu Xu only replied with azy ¡°Hmm¡±, ¡°Yes¡±, or, ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Halfway through, Xu Juan went to the washroom.


    Since it was just the two of them, Ye Zixiao smiled at her but Xu Xu went straight to the point. ¡°This blind date is meaningless, I won¡¯t ept you.¡±


    However, Ye Zixiao was neither surprised nor mad, instead, he looked very kindly as he nodded his head.


    Then he spoke. ¡°Xu Xu, I know that my actions from before were quite offensive, which probably gave you a bad impression of me. In addition to this, I even obstructed your work as a criminal police officer. I apologize.¡±


    He had already made a sincere apology and Xu Xu was not a mean person, hence she nodded. ¡°I ept. I didn¡¯t take it to heart, so don¡¯t lose any sleep over it.¡±


    Ye Zixiao¡¯s smile widened even more, putting his pearly white teeth on full disy. ¡°Since the two of us are over the past and since I¡¯m your date for your blind date tonight, I hope that you¡¯ll give me a chance by getting to know me first before deciding if you¡¯ll reject me or not.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m twenty-five this year, healthy and have neither bad habits nor criminal records. I am very financially sound, so you¡¯ll be well provided for in the future. I graduated top 10 in my ss overseas and also have an excellent tested IQ score, which will be beneficial for our kin.


    ¡°However, above all that, the most important thing is that I¡¯m fond of you. Be aware that if we start going out, I¡¯ll take this rtionship seriously.


    ¡°So, will you consider?¡±


    Xu Xu was stunned.


    It was the very first time that somebody had confessed to her with such a long, serious speech. On top of that, everything he said was reasonable.


    In truth, Ye Zixiao came prepared. He specifically asked Xu Juan about Xu Xu¡¯s preferences, and although Xu Juan would not go so far as to help an outsider, he was willing to offer him some advice. He told him, ¡°My sister likes to analyze everything, so don¡¯t treat her like your typical vain and pompousdy ¨C you have to move her with your sincerity.¡±


    After thinking long and hard about it, Ye Zixiao hade up with this speech. Turns out, it really did engage with Xu Xu¡¯s logical side, so she listened attentively to what he said.


    Upon seeing her startled, Ye Zixiao appeared to be ted and asked, ¡°Can I take your silence as an unspoken yes?¡±


    Xu Xu rubbed between her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m quite tired and my head isn¡¯t clear, it¡¯s affecting my decision making. Let me gather my thoughts and mull it over for a few minutes, then I¡¯ll give you your answer.¡± She then looked at the time on her watch before going deep into thought with an expressionless face.


    Ye Zixiao was in disbelief, but at the same time was quite amused. ¡®She¡¯s actually focusing to think about it.¡¯


    If anybody else had done it, Ye Zixiao would have sneered and left. ¡®Even if I¡¯m the one going after her, why do I have to be a fish on the chopping block whilst waiting for a woman to decide my fate?¡¯


    This time, however, his date was Xu Xu, so he knew that she was not intentionally trying to humiliate him and was not doing this out of arrogance. She was genuinely thinking seriously...


    Furthermore, love was not such a technical issue, yet she had actually said, ¡°My head isn¡¯t clear, let me gather my thoughts and mull it over.¡± The way he saw it, she was clearly convinced but was currently hesitating, right? If she is hesitating then was he, Ye Zixiao, not good enough?


    Although he was having these thoughts, when Ye Zixiao saw her furrowing her brows, he could not help but feel nervous.


    After about a minute, Xu Xu looked up. She was extremely calm as she said, ¡°I¡¯ve thought about it and I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t ept this.¡±


    Ye Zixiao¡¯s expression changed slightly as he asked almost immediately, ¡°Why?¡±


    Xu Xu hesitated for a while before she softened her tone and answered, ¡°Thank you so much for trying so hard to get me. You offered great terms, but I don¡¯t really like men like you. Terms can be improved, but preferences cannot be controlled. I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    When Xu Juan returned, he saw Ye Zixiao leaning against the back of his chair whilst looking outside the window. He looked terrible. Xu Xu, on the other hand, was scrolling through her phone with her face looking slightly red.


    Xu Juan did not say anything. He sat down and immediately started discussing business-rted matters.


    Over the course of the night, Ye Zixiao never talked to Xu Xu again and Xu Juan no longer tried to matchmake them. Xu Xu simply stayed on her phone and listened to their conversation quietly.


    On the way to their car after the dinner, Xu Juan said, ¡°Xu Xu, wait for me in the car, I¡¯ll smoke with Mister Ye for a while.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded then quietly left. The two men lit up cigarettes before Xu Juan said with a faint smile, ¡°My sister is a straightforward person, she¡¯s not good at human interactions, which could partially be due to the fact that I¡¯ve spoiled her. Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t ask her to join us for dinner in the future.¡±


    Ye Zixiao knew what he was doing ¨C Xu Juan was trying to lessen the damage of the failed blind date, so as to give him a way out.


    He took a look at Xu Xu who was far away, then replied with augh, ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, I¡¯m not willing to give up yet, after all, faith moves mountains. As her brother, I trust that you won¡¯t interfere with your sister¡¯s freedom to make friends, right?¡±


    Xu Juan was quite surprised as heughed. ¡°Alright, I won¡¯t interfere. The choice ispletely up to her.¡±


    In truth, Ye Zixiao was quite mad at Xu Xu. He felt that she was too stubborn and did not show him any respect.


    Nevertheless, after calming down, he also felt dissatisfied. He believed that he would be able to win her heart no matter what.


    Perhaps his desire to emerge victorious was causing him to have such thoughts. He was well aware that her rejection was, in fact, making him even more interested. He did his best to justify his feelings though. ¡®What¡¯s the matter? It¡¯spletely justifiable for a man to pursue a woman.¡¯


    From Xu Xu¡¯s point of view, she had already settled things with Ye Zixiao, but she had no idea that he was actually nning to make aeback. In the meantime, though she still had to train during the early mornings, she could rest at home for the remainder of the day, so she soon recovered quite well.


    On Sunday afternoon, she even made a pot of porridge for herself. Since she lived alone, there was still half a pot left even after eating until she was full. She did not like to waste food, so she was thinking of bringing it to the police station the next day as her breakfast. Even so, she would not be able to finish it, so she naturally thought of Ji Bai and sent him a message. ¡°I cooked some porridge and there¡¯s extra. Do you want some tomorrow morning?¡±


    Ji Bai quickly replied. ¡°What type of porridge?¡±


    ¡°Red bean porridge.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    The following week went by quickly as Xu Xu adapted to the devil¡¯s training. Although the two of them exercised together every day, they did not talk much and ran at their own pace. Eventually, Xu Xu grew smarter and whenever she brought breakfast, she would also prepare a serving for Ji Bai too.


    Usually, their interactions were limited to work-rted matters. However, after Yang Yu¡¯s case was closed, there were hardly any cases left.


    In order to avoid causing a panic, the police station had yet to announce the case to the public, thus most of Lin City¡¯s citizens remained clueless about it. There were very few people who knew of the razor des in parks. Those that did, on the other hand, brushed it off as a prank by youths, so the case did not really have any effect on society.


    Nheless, everyone in the unit heard that Captain Ji was putting Xu Xu through strenuous physical training. During lunchtime, they evenforted Xu Xu despite being in the presence of Ji Bai, telling her that although the process was cruel, it would bring great results. They told her that thest time had Captain Ji picked on a subordinate¡¯s physical condition was three years ago ¨C the guy was aparably thin man who was forced to run thirty rounds every day. He went on to be the pir of the eastern branch, a tough man with eight packs who was able to both run and fight.


    Xu Xu nodded to indicate that she was taking their advice.


    It was also then that Yao Meng found out that Ji Bai had been personally training Xu Xu every day.


    She did not join in with the teasing like she usually did. Instead, she looked at Ji Bai who was smiling faintly, and Xu Xu who was blushing slightly, and fell silent.


    She felt rather uneasy as a mixture of appreciation, dissatisfaction, and some feeling of inability towards Ji Bai swelled in her heart. It was a lonely feeling that made her feel like she had been isted.


    In reality, that feeling had started growing inside of her since the day of Ji Bai¡¯s return.


    She clearly remembered that he wore a ck windbreaker that day. He looked very tall and was much more good-looking than any man that she had ever seen. From that moment, she idolized him as an outstanding person, both in terms of appearance and talent.


    If she were to set a goal to strive for, then Yao Meng would strive to be a person like Ji Bai. This was partially due to the fact that they were both the same kind of person, were both gifted appearance-wise, and were both equivalently capable.


    Despite all this, this person whom she looked up to so much and who held a high position in the force had taken Xu Xu as his apprentice, whereas she was forced to work under Officer Wu who was on the brink of retirement. Once again, her ce in the police station was lower than that of Xu Xu¡¯s.


    In addition to this, Ji Bai even trained with Xu Xu every morning, and they were always together for basically the whole day. Her instincts also told her that something would eventually happen between the two of them.


    This was something that she hoped she would be wrong about. In fact, she was desperate.


    As Ji Bai did not stay in Lin City, he was almost always thest to leave after work. Xu Xu, on the other hand, often stayed backte at night too, normally because she wanted toplete the tasks assigned by Ji Bai. That night, Yao Mei stayed back as well. She knew that it was a blind and irrational move, but after hearing about Ji Bai personally training Xu Xu in the morning, she did not want to leave after noticing that the lights in Ji Bai¡¯s office were still on.


    Finally, it was half past nine and Ji Bai turned the lights in his office off and walked out. When Yao Meng heard his footsteps, she did not look towards his direction. Instead, she turned off herputer and stood up to pack her bag with her head lowered.


    Ji Bai nced at Xu Xu who was busy typing with her head buried in herputer screen, then looked at Yao Meng. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you leaving yet?¡±


    Yao Meng smiled at him and said, ¡°I¡¯m about to leave. I had some unfinished work just now.¡±


    Ji Bai walked over to Xu Xu then stopped. ¡°You¡¯re still not leaving? Will you be able to wake up tomorrow?¡±


    Only then did Xu Xu notice the time. She looked up at him and nodded, then started packing.


    After the three of them walked downstairs, Xu Xu and Ji Bai headed towards their cars in the basement whereas Yao Meng wrapped a scarf around her and rubbed her hands together. ¡°I¡¯ll be going first then.¡± Right after this, she turned around and started walking, feeling disappointed and mocking herself in the process, due to the fact that she was putting on a poor act. That being said, Ji Bai did not notice anything.


    ¡°Wait a minute.¡± After a few moments, Ji Bai¡¯s low voice was heard. Yao Meng¡¯s caught her breath as she turned to look at him and felt her heart start to race.


    ¡°They¡¯re no more buses at this hour. How are you going back?¡± asked Ji Bai.


    Yao Meng scratched her head awkwardly and replied, ¡°I lost track of time... I¡¯ll see if I can get on a night bus.¡± She looked at Ji Bai, but when her eyes met his, she looked down again, afraid that he would notice the overly-obvious look of hope in her eyes.


    When Ji Bai saw her lowering her head embarrassingly, he smiled and looked away. ¡°Let Xu Xu send you home since it¡¯s on the way.¡±


    Xu Xu was stunned, as was Yao Meng.


    Xu Xu looked at Yao Meng. ¡°We live in the same direction?¡±


    Yao Meng paused for a while then stated her address.


    Xu Xu thought for a while then realized that it really was on the way. ¡°Let¡¯s go then. We can leave together if we work overtime again in the future.¡±


    Ji Bai drove into the night and headed north, whereas Xu Xu drove Yao Meng southeast. Yao Meng rubbed her face and said with a smile, ¡°Captain Ji even knows where we live.¡±


    Xu Xu replied, ¡°Mmm.¡±


    ¡°Is Captain Ji very strict?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    Yao Mengughed. ¡°He¡¯s usually very gentle though. Is it fun training with him?¡±


    Xu Xu felt that her question was quite odd. ¡°Fun?¡± She shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know, we don¡¯t talk much.¡±


    Yao Meng was stunned as she smiled and said, ¡°I was nning to exercise too, I¡¯ll join you next time then.¡±


    Xu Xu turned to stare at her expressionlessly.


    Yao Meng¡¯s heart tensed up, but she suddenly heard Xu Xu ask, ¡°Are you sure that you want to wake up at four every morning and run ten rounds, with no breaks on weekends? Think it through.¡±


    Yao Meng suddenly broke out intoughter. She reached out to pinch her face then said, ¡°Xu Xu, sometimes you¡¯re just so cute that you just make me want to pinch you.¡± After a brief moment, she added, ¡°Forget it, I live too far away. I¡¯ll join you if I can wake up on weekends, if I don¡¯t then you will have to continue suffering on your own.¡±

 Chapter 13

    <h4>Chapter 13</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    The next day when Xu Xu went to work, she felt as though she had been struck by lightning.


    This was because there was a big bouquet of red and white roses greeting her when she returned to her desk after a short trip to the washroom. It was wrapped in light yellow crepe paper, which made the package look beautiful and striking.


    On top of it was a small card with mboyant handwriting scribbled across it, ¡°You¡¯re right, one¡¯s preferences can¡¯t be controlled. Have a nice day, Xu Xu.¡±


    Xu Xu fell silent for a moment, then she carried the big bouquet with some effort to look for a ce to dump it. Yao Meng, who was sitting opposite her, poked her head over with her chin buried in her hands. ¡°Tell me honestly, do you have a boyfriend now?¡±


    Once she asked this, everyone else in the office looked at her with smiling faces too.


    Xu Xu quickly replied, ¡°No.¡±


    Nheless, they could not believe her with such obvious proof sitting right there in her hands. As such, they heckled at her non-stop, trying to convince her to divulge the identity of this possible son-inw of the Criminal Police Unit. After a while, Xu Xu was forced to tell them the truth. ¡°I went for a blind datest week, it wasn¡¯t sessful, but the other party is quite stubborn.¡±


    Everyone was startled. That was because Xu Xu gave off the impression that she was very introverted and virtuous, but it turns out that even she was thinking about getting a boyfriend.


    In the police station, where the men far outnumbered the women, the attention towards the very decent-looking and single Xu Xu was naturally higher. By noon, the news had spread throughout the police station that a certain heir of a wealthy family was madly pursuing Xu Xu. When the morning meeting ended, even the station chief asked Ji Bai, ¡°I heard that Xu Xu from your unit is going to marry an heir of a wealthy family? You better look into it, we¡¯re the unofficial parental guardians to thatdy.¡±


    Ji Bai nodded with a faint smile. ¡°I understand.¡±


    Xu Xu had been busy that whole morning, such that she could not be bothered to have lunch. She merely took her phone and looked for a dark, unupied corner to call Ye Zixiao. After five calls, she got quite angry as he did not pick up the phone. She then ran to the reception office in the police station and told the uncle stationed there to reject any flowers addressed to her in the future.


    Nheless, the uncle had been preemptively offered some benefits, and since it was not an evil deed, he yed dumb. ¡°Ah? I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t have the right to reject them...¡±


    At that time, Ye Zixiao was looking at all the missed calls on his phone and imagined Xu Xu¡¯s outraged, frustrated look. He knew that she would be mad and he also knew that what he was doing might not make her too fond of him. Despite this, he was still feeling discontented about the other night, so he intentionally sent her flowers in a high-profile way to provoke her. He did not care about how she felt, his sole purpose at the moment was to rile her up.


    Even though Xu Xu did not join them for lunch, the topic in the Criminal Police Unit still revolved around her. One person said, ¡°I can¡¯t believe it, that youngdy is actually quite charming,¡± to which another person replied, ¡°We have so many single men in the police unit that are both old and young, so we should do our best to keep the good things for ourselves, right, Captain Ji?¡±


    Ji Bai lit a cigarette and leaned against his chair. Upon hearing this, heughed. ¡°They won¡¯t get together.


    ¡°Her brain works differently from a normal person. I have no doubt that a normal man won¡¯t be able to connect to her.¡±


    Ji Bai had always foretold things urately and was rightfully given the name the ¡°King of Prophecies¡± in the police station. After hearing what he said, everyone prompted him for an exnation, but Ji Bai did not answer and quickly went to pay the bill.


    After work hours, Ye Zixi called and invited Xu Xu out for a meal on Saturday.


    After the razor de case, Ye Zixi had kept in contact with her and called from time to time; they even had tea together before. In all honesty, Xu Xu quite liked Ye Zixi, she was generous, farsighted, gentle and had her own views, which made her feelfortable around her.


    Xu Xu agreed to it, but just as Zixi was going to hang up, Xu Xu suddenly remembered something and asked, ¡°Ye Zixiao won¡¯t be there, right?¡±


    Zixi could not help butugh. ¡°What did he do to you that you¡¯re now avoiding him as though he¡¯s a viper?¡±


    Xu Xu sighed. ¡°He disguised himself as an IT engineer to go on a blind date with me and has been troubling me ever since.¡±


    Zixiughed out loud but in the end replied, ¡°Alright, don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s adies only date. I won¡¯t let him join us.¡±


    After they hung up, Zixi immediately called Ye Zixiao. ¡°You¡¯re not good at this, you¡¯ve met your Waterloo in Xu Xu, haven¡¯t you?¡±


    Ye Zixiao grunted dismissively. ¡°It¡¯s still too early to say that. I¡¯ve only been chasing her for a few days.¡±


    Zixiughed. ¡°You even went so low to disguise yourself as an IT engineer. What other tricks do you have up your sleeve?¡±


    Ye Zixiaoughed as well. ¡°I¡¯ve asked about her and learned that she runs every day at the police station¡¯s sports field. I¡¯ll go and visit her during weekends too.¡±


    ¡°Wow, you¡¯re nning to show off your muscles?¡±


    ¡°Of course. What do you think I trained these muscles every day for? I¡¯ll soon show her a different side of me.¡±


    Zixi chuckled then slowed down as she said, ¡°Actually, the more I get to know Xu Xu, the more interesting she bes. Perhaps the two of you really are quitepatible since youplement each other well.¡±


    Ye Zixiao sighed. ¡°Sis, what¡¯s the point of telling me that? You should tell her that instead. Obviously, I know that I¡¯m a suitable man for her.¡±


    As the week wore on, Xu Xu grew tired of receiving flowers, but Ye Zixiao never showed up and never picked up her calls. After this, she decided to simply ignore him.


    That weekend, the weather was good as it was already deep into spring. This made the sky turn bright earlier than it did before. When Xu Xu arrived at the sports field, the sky was already white with a hint of blue.


    As she jogged inside, she saw Ji Bai sitting on a training machine whilst was drinking from a bottle. Yao Meng was wearing light blue sportswear, had her long hair down, and was standing in front of him. She wondered what they were talking about as Ji Bai wore an indistinct look and seemed to be smiling from the corner of his lips.


    Xu Xu ran over. ¡°Morning.¡±


    Yao Meng smiled sweetly. ¡°Morning.¡±


    Ji Bai took a look at his watch. ¡°Trying to get a head start today? You¡¯re three minuteste.¡±


    Xu Xu went silent. She forgot to bring her purse out in the morning, so she returned to pick it up.


    Because of her tardiness, she was forced to run an extra round


    Quickly, Xu Xu turned and hit the track.


    Even with Yao Meng who was always so lively beside her, the run was still quiet. Yao Meng had acquired excellent physical results in the police academy so the three of them took to the track in a distinct order with Ji Bai far ahead, then Yao Meng, andstly Xu Xu.


    Xu Xu noticed that when Yao Meng ran, she liked topete with Ji Bai. Since Ji Bai hadpped them twice, he always brushed past them. Every time this happened, Yao Meng would elerate, as if she wanted to run side by side with Ji Bai. However, after maintaining her speed for a while, she would eventually slow down. Then, she would turn to smile at Xu Xu with an upset yet excited look on her flushed face.


    While this happened, Ji Bai only smiled faintly as he surged on ahead.


    Despite the fact that Xu Xu was normally insensitive to these things, she could not help but feel lonely as she watched the two of them from behind.


    This was because Yao Meng seemed to be so full of life while Ji Bai was also extremely energetic.


    On the other hand, she was just like a snail, slowly crawling and crawling...


    When Ji Bai passed her yet another time, she subconsciously took after Yao Meng and tried to elerate. Just as she sped up, however, Ji Bai turned to look at her with a look of disdain. ¡°You have more strength?¡±


    Xu Xu immediately paused and slowed down.


    After their run, Yao Meng suggested having breakfast at a Cantonese shop on Lin Street. ¡°Captain, you like Cantonese dim sum, don¡¯t you? Hmm, how about crystal shrimp dumpling, red bean porridge, and radish cake? I heard that this shop is not bad. Allow me to treat you today and be the host.¡±


    Ji Bai nodded. ¡°It¡¯s really quite good, I often go there.¡±


    Xu Xu remained silent as she thought to herself, ¡®I like to eat those things too.¡¯


    As expected, the shop was not bad. It was clean and warm, and there was the faint smell of food in the air. As it was still early, the shop was not yet crowded when the three of them sat down at a table.


    When the food arrived, the three of them conversedzily. Most of the time it was Yao Meng and Ji Bai who were talking while Xu Xu remained silent.


    When he spoke to Yao Meng, Ji Bai put on a casual and leisurely look, his eyes glowing eyes repeatedly verifying his amusement. He did not sound strict either, such that he even cracked a few jokes which made Yao Meng smile happily with her mouth covered.


    During the odd asions that he spoke to Xu Xu, his tone was cold, which made the conversation sound more like he was giving orders.


    ¡°What are you daydreaming about?¡±


    ¡°Pass me the menu.¡±


    Xu Xu noticed this and felt rather dispirited, but she was already used to this by now.


    Little did she know that Ji Bai had been harsh and stern to her from the first day they met so as to temper her haughtiness. Later on, when he got used to it, it also felt quite good to see her nk and simple-minded face.


    After eating for a while, Yao Meng stood up and said, ¡°I¡¯ll go next door to buy some bubble tea ¨C theirs is especially rich.¡±


    It was just the two of them left. Ji Bai was once again reading the newspaper provided by the shop and they did not talk even though they were seated opposite each other. Xu Xu had nothing else to do so she grabbed another copy and did the same.


    A whileter, Xu Xu suddenly felt that something was amiss and looked up. She saw that Ji Bai had already ced his newspaper down and was looking behind her with his eyes squinted.


    When Xu Xu turned, she saw standing Ye Zixiao there in a white sportswear, his hands tucked into his pockets and his face looking absolutely horrified.


    That morning, Ye Zixiao had purposely woken up early and arrived at the sports field before eight. Yet, he could not spot Xu Xu amidst the vast army of people who were simultaneously having their morning exercises. He missed what he hade for and was a little bored, so he decided to stroll around the area. This was when he had unexpectedlye across Xu Xu having breakfast with a man.


    As he got closer, he noticed that they were having the same breakfast and even reading the same newspaper. Whenever the man finished his food, Xu Xu even took the initiative to bring him more, yet the man did not look at her in the eye and just continued eating.


    At that moment, when Xu Xu turned to look at him, she immediately frowned. The unhappiness in her eyes was obvious.


    Ye Zixiao smiled then walked over and sat down. He did not look at Ji Bai and only looked at Xu Xu with a smile on his face. ¡°If you have a boyfriend, you should¡¯ve just told me straight. Although I tend to pester you, I won¡¯t go so far as to be a third party.¡±


    Xu Xu was startled. ¡°Boyfriend?¡±


    Ye Zixiao looked at Ji Bai, who looked back at him with an imperceptible expression. The way Ye Zixiao saw it, Ji Bai clearly looked arrogant and also seemed to be slightly provoked.


    If Xu Xu had been sitting with a short, ugly man at that moment, then Ye Zixiao might not have been as angry and he might not have thought of them as a couple.


    He had always been very certain that among Xu Xu¡¯s admirers, there was not a single one who was more outstanding than himself. Hence, even if Xu Xu rejected him, he was still very confident in himself.


    However, he was not so certain when it came to Ji Bai. The man before him was both tall and handsome, whilst his clothing and temperament seemed unusual; not to mention, he looked mature and experienced too. Judging from the way Xu Xu and the man got along, they were very clearly in sync. Besides, why would Xu Xu even personally pour him tea if they were not very close?


    The thought hurt him a little as he bit his tongue. ¡®You¡¯re so cold towards me, but you¡¯re acting so gentle in front of another man.¡¯


    Nevertheless, when Xu Xu saw his expression, she immediately understood the situation. ¡°He¡¯s my superior.¡±


    ¡°So, he¡¯s the police station¡¯s station chief?¡± Ye Zixiao slowly asked. He did not believe her at all. How could such a young, handsome man be a policeman? More so her superior?


    Xu Xu furrowed her brows.


    Ye Zixiao folded his hands and leaned backward as he stared at Xu Xu and did not say a word. Ji Bai, on the other hand, put the newspaper away and looked up calmly.


    The newly arrived customers and the workers looked at them from time to time, probably due to their strangebination as well as their intense aura.


    Xu Xu absolutely hated the feeling of being the center of attention. She was not willing to quarrel with Ye Zixiao in the public as well due to her anxiousness and so simply said, ¡°You misunderstand, he¡¯s not my boyfriend. I¡¯m notpatible with you, and I¡¯m notpatible with him either. Your emotions right now arepletely unfounded.¡±


    After she said this, Ye Zixiao was taken aback. Even Ji Bai looked up at her with ghastly eyes.

 Chapter 14

    <h4>Chapter 14</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    All of Ji Bai¡¯s friends who grew up with him shared the same view, which was he was still single only because he was picky and selective.


    Ji Bai declined toment, but he was certain of one thing, that his other half should be unique like a rare treasure.


    That being said, he had been indirectly rejected by his little apprentice, and she had done so in his presence without any hesitation.


    What he felt at the moment was subtle yet hard to describe.


    He had been mentoring her personally for a few weeks now and generally was very satisfied with this apprentice of his. She was smart, hardworking, quiet, pleasing to the eyes, and he never needed to repeat himself a second time. Sometimes she would understand what he was asking for before he evenpleted his sentence. In addition to this, she asionally voiced opinions that amazed him.


    She was an unpolished jade that had fortunately fallen into his hands and it was now his duty to refine her.


    When his childhood friend Shu Hang heard that he had taken a female apprentice, he sighed. ¡°Sigh, if this task was left to someone else, then it might actually stir up an exciting, forbidden love between mentor and apprentice. In this case, however, you will most probably mentor thisdy the way you would a man, right? You¡¯ll only end up causing harm to a beauty, and that¡¯s a merciless and unforgivable act.¡±


    Ji Baiughed after hearing this.


    He definitely had to be strict, but he did not treat her like a man.


    In the eyes of Ji Bai, who was twenty-eight years old, Xu Xu, who was twenty-four years old, was still just an inexperienced youngdy.


    The sun during spring was just nice and bright. The brown desk gave off a faint glow and the air was filled with a dry warmth as the petite girl sat upright in her seat with a solemn look on her red and white face. She looked like a girl ready to fight at any time¡­


    ¡®Alright, maybe she doesn¡¯t really dislike me per se. She probably said this in typical Xu Xu fashion due to herplicated mind and simple heart.


    ¡®On the other hand, this passerby who suddenly popped out of nowhere¡­¡¯ Ji Bai nced at Ye Zixiao subtly, then lowered his head to continue reading the newspaper as he thought, ¡®Xu Xu should be able to settle it herself.¡¯


    Initially, Xu Xu wanted to end the absurd situation as quickly as possible, but once she said this, the two men fell silent.


    The atmosphere suddenly became less tense and more confused.


    Right then, a ¡°ding ding¡± sound rang out as the door of the shop was opened and Yao Meng strolled in with three cups of bubble teas. When she noticed the new addition to the table, she was quite surprised but she was also perceptive, so she kept quiet and quickly shot Xu Xu a confused look.


    Upon seeing Yao Meng, Ye Zixiao was a little stunned before he turned to Ji Bai.


    When Xu Xu said what she did, his anger naturally faded away and his expression changed faster than a bat out of hell. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I misunderstood. I¡¯m Ye Zixiao.¡± He reached his hand out to greet Ji Bai.


    Ji Bai took a nce at him before extending his hand to greet him with his usual unbothered face. ¡°Ji Bai.¡±


    Ye Zixiao was in a daze, but he was not mad. He took a look at the dishes on the table and smiled. ¡°Since I misbehaved today, the meal will be on me.¡± As he reached into his pocket to take his wallet out, Ji Bai stopped him and smiled. ¡°There¡¯s no need for that, it¡¯ll be on me.¡± He often ate at the shop and was close to the owner, so he had put a surplus of money on his tab to spare himself the trouble of paying every time.


    Ye Zixiao smiled then looked at Xu Xu. He was ying dumb and was taking his time to fawn over her. Xu Xu sighed to herself and stood up. ¡°Let¡¯s talk outside.¡±


    This was exactly what Ye Zixiao had been hoping for, so he immediately stood up and even pulled Xu Xu¡¯s chair out for her.


    After the two of them left the shop, Yao Meng who had been quiet all the while suddenly realized. ¡°Her bag is still here.¡±


    Ji Bai did not look at her as he replied, ¡°She¡¯ll be back.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Yao Meng muttered as she slowly stirred her bubble tea with the straw.


    A brief momentter, Yao Meng piped up and asked with a smile, ¡°Oh right, Captain. I¡¯ve been wanting to workouttely too. How many rounds do I need to run?¡±


    ¡°Anything will do.¡±


    Yao Meng continued, ¡°Hmm, but Xu Xu runs ten rounds, so I shouldn¡¯t run less than her, right?¡±


    It was then that Ji Bai finally looked up at her.


    Undoubtedly, thisdy was very beautiful. Her pale white face was flushed as if painted with vibrant rouge, while her big, watery eyes stared at him boldly. The look in her eyes was bright and had a hint of hope and enthusiasm in them.


    Ji Baiughed and said, ¡°An excellent criminal police officer needs to have reasonable time management. Xu Xu is physically weak, so she needs to spend more time on this aspect, whereas you have a superb physique, so you should spend more time on your profession and cases. Your own scheduling is up to you so don¡¯t ask me anymore.¡±


    Xu Xu and Ye Zixiao walked back to the sports field and found a patch of grass with nobody around. Xu Xu sat down and immediately cut to the chase, ¡°I won¡¯t change my decision so you shouldn¡¯t waste your energy anymore. Additionally, you¡¯re causing me trouble now. I hope that this time, you¡¯ll listen to what I say.¡±


    Ye Zixiao did not immediately reply her. He tilted his head upward and lit up a cigarette as he watched the people running under the sun. After sharing some silence, he said, ¡°You said that you don¡¯t like men like me, why?¡±


    Xu Xu remained quiet for a while then answered, ¡°There¡¯s no reason in particr.¡±


    Ye Zixiao turned around as he inched closer to her with his tall body. ¡°What kind of man am I then?¡±


    Xu Xu could not help but back away before she could reply as Ye Zixiao added, ¡°Xu Xu, do you think that you¡¯re very smart and observant? Did you, through you so-called psychoanalysis, decided that I¡¯m not right for you?


    ¡°Xu Xu, how can reality be so simple? Does an introverted person like you really have that many admirers? Also, how many of them are like me, who not only adores you but is also able to provide you with a life that other women can only dream of? I am really not a terrible guy so why don¡¯t you seize this chance, or just give it a try?¡±


    When he saw that Xu Xu had put on a cold face and was not replying, he continued, ¡°Is it because of your stubbornness and virtuousness that you¡¯ve never had a boyfriend before? Don¡¯t you feel that you¡¯re actually quite a failure with regards to that?¡±


    These thoughts had gone through his mind over and over again over the past few days and they genuinely contained some of his personal feelings. He intended to speak his mind to try to wake her up from her foolish way of thinking.


    Xu Xu felt a sharp pain as she turned around to face the other way. ¡°I don¡¯t want to talk about this anymore.¡±


    When Ye Zixiao saw her indifferent expression, a huge rage rose from his heart and without even thinking, he grabbed onto her arms. Her skin felt so delicate and soft as Ye Zixiao¡¯s mind raced to recall what it was like when they had previously shaken hands. It was like a melting jade, soft, clear, and a simple grasp seemed to prate her to the very bone.


    He lowered his head to gaze at her thin skin that was almost transparent, her dark eyes were also looking back at him. They looked so calm, so cold.


    Ye Zixiao¡¯s mind went nk all of a sudden as he instinctively lowered his head to kiss her.


    Xu Xu¡¯s body froze and although she shifted her head to avoid him, the warmth from the side of his lips still brushed against her cheeks. It was a strange feeling, which made Xu Xu blush immediately in addition to making her feel very embarrassed.


    On the other hand, the way Ye Zixiao saw it, he had beenpletely right about Xu Xu¡¯s psyche. She just was not aware that she was too bookish, and so, they still had a chance. If he kept putting in the effort, then slowly but surely, he would be able to soften her heart.


    Nheless, he knew that his impulsive behavior had made him lose his poise. Hence, he let go of her arms and tried to apologize. However, the rage in Xu Xu¡¯s eyes made it evident that she was truly angry as her voice sent chills down his spine. ¡°You asked me what kind of man you are? Very well, I¡¯ll tell you.¡±


    Ye Zixiao was shocked and had a bad feeling as he braced himself for what was about to happen next.


    ¡°Firstly, you¡¯re conceited. You seek risk and excitement. I¡¯ve seen the data on Longxi Electronics and the majority of the investments you made were high-risk, high-reward projects. I¡¯ve also noticed that the second a project starts to profit, you¡¯ll immediately start developments on a new, separate project.¡±


    ¡°Since you¡¯ve taken over thepany, although it¡¯s been rtively profitable, none of the projects had gone on to be models of the industry. Not one project of undeniable sess had beenpleted ¨C every single one of them were neither here nor there. Due to your nature, you prefer taking risks over being conscientious. From my point of view, being with you will only mean bearing higher financial risk than normal.¡±


    Ye Zixiao was taken aback and his face looked glum. He stared back at her without saying a thing.


    Xu Xu continued, ¡°Secondly, on the day Ye Zixi was injured, you were standing right beside her, yet you didn¡¯t perform first aid on her. You hesitated. In high school biology ss, we¡¯ve been taught to press on the distal segment if the artery is bleeding, so why didn¡¯t you do so?


    ¡°When that happened, I suspect that were you were paralyzed by the thought of Ye Zixi dying if you did it incorrectly. Not once did you even consider Ye Zixi¡¯s wellbeing. No, when faced with a life or death situation, youcked the courage to bear your responsibilities¡­¡±


    Ye Zixiao¡¯s face changed greatly. ¡°What is this nonsense you¡¯re talking about?¡±


    Xu Xu did not stop to reply him. ¡°Thirdly, you misunderstood my rtionship with Captain Ji Bai. In reality, we did nothing intimate at all, you simply overreacted after jumping to conclusions. Why is this so? There are two possibilities ¨C One, Ji Bai is too attractive ¨C if it was a normal person, you might not have been so angry. This only proves that youck tolerance towards others andck any true self-confidence. The second possibility is that you¡¯re very possessive. Did you have an ex-girlfriend who broke up with you due to your over-the-top possessiveness?¡±


    ¡°Fourthly, you¡¯re always stressing about your appearance. Every time we meet, you look like you¡¯ve gone to great lengths to make sure that every single strand of hair is in ce. There are also rumors on the inte stating that your ex-girlfriends were all beautiful women.


    ¡°When you saw Yao Meng just now, you were clearly distracted. Of course, men admire beautiful women, but you became quite agitated as well. Logically, your attention shouldn¡¯t have been diverted so easily, yet you were still captivated by her beauty. This means that your interest and attention towards women is much stronger than that of a normal person. Moreover, based on your character of liking to seek excitement and freshness, as well as your open-minded and liberal environment overseas, I can presume that you¡¯ve had sex outside of rtionships, am I right?


    ¡°Thus, why should I ept a man who acts ording to what he feels,cks patience, is unable to bear responsibility during crucial moments, and might overstep boundaries with his body?¡±


    ¡­


    After leaving the sports field, Xu Xu walked back to the Cantonese shop slowly.


    She was slightly conflicted.


    Even if she had put together an image of Ye Zixiao from the start, her instincts told her that she should not have said it out loud ¨C it was too hurtful.


    Everyone had ws that, if magnified, would leave them vulnerable. Furthermore, Ye Zixiao was not actually that bad a person. In some regards, he was quite an outstanding man.


    At the same time, if she did not make it clear why she was rejecting him, then he might still cling on to her. Besides, she was almost forcefully kissed, which infuriated her. In the end, she could not hold in it anymore.


    Feeling a bit upset, she pushed the door open and saw that the shop was now packed with people. When she looked over, she saw Ji Bai still leisurely sitting in the same spot.


    Xu Xu asked, ¡°Where¡¯s Yao Meng?¡±


    Ji Bai replied, ¡°She has already gone back.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Xu Xu picked up her bag which was still on her chair. She knew that Ji Bai was waiting for her to return. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Ji Bai stood up and Xu Xu followed him. The two of them did not say a word as theymunicated silently with just their footsteps.


    The morning sunlight was shining on the clean streets when Xu Xu looked up and saw that Ji Bai¡¯s tall figure was shading her from half the sunlight like an upright tree. However, his pace was steady and unhurried. She did not know why, but as she walked on the bustling street, the tense mood she had from before gradually subsided until she felt peacefulness and warmth.


    When they arrived at the basement, they got into their respective cars and went their own way.


    Xu Xu followed her standard routine and bid Ji Bai farewell. ¡°Captain Ji, see you tomorrow.¡±


    Ji Bai had already expected that she would not mention nor exin her ¡°dislike¡± for his person. Even so, when he looked at her magnanimous, unashamed face¡­


    ¡°You¡¯ve thought about whether or not we¡¯repatible?¡± He asked slowly in a low voice.


    Xu Xu was stunned.


    Earlier on, she said that because she never nned to have a police boyfriend, so Ji Bai was automatically disqualified. However, he was implicitly demanding an exnation now, and even though Xu Xu was slow, she understood that the way she put it had given away the fact that she had let her imagination run wild in the past.


    As she was about to exin, she looked up and saw traces of a smile in Ji Bai¡¯s dark eyes.


    Xu Xu said, ¡°About that¡­¡± but Ji Bai had already turned and walked away.


    Ye Zixiao sped all the way home. As he watched every road sign on the flyover speed toward him, his heart became conflicted. He was outraged, dejected, and at a loss.


    Never before had a woman criticized him like that. Moreover, every word she said was cruel and savage.


    Since young, he had always been the favored one. The environment he was raised in naturally made him worldlier than his peers. He knew better than anyone else how to strive for more sess and to live at the top of the food-chain whilst appearing honorable and glorious.


    However, what she said cut him like a sharp knife as it ripped through his superficial mask of wealth and material goods, which made him boil with rage. Unexpectedly, he came to the sudden realization that he could not keep hiding from his demons.


    Xu Xu knew what she said was true and Ye Zixiao knew it deep down in his heart too.


    An hourter, he arrived home. Everyone was there, his father, his eldest brother and his wife, his second sister and her husband, his third sister and her husband, and Ye Zixi. Upon looking at his ghastly face, his third sister smiled and teasingly asked, ¡°Who offended our young master this time?¡±


    His father, on the other hand, soundedmanding and domineering. ¡°Come over and eat.¡±


    But Ye Zixiao only looked at Zixi before croaking up, ¡°I¡¯m sorry about that day.¡±


    While Zixi was still confused, Ye Zixiao turned around and hurriedly left.


    At night, Zixiao received some calls from a few friends asking him to join them at the ¡°Night Sky¡± bar. The bar had great alcohol and hotdies, so it was a ce where the young princes of society loved to go.


    When Zixiao arrived, his emotions reverted back to normal, but he still did not talk much. A friend of his saw that he was not very high-spirited, so he signaled to thedy beside him. She was the young daughter of another entrepreneur in the city who had been going after Ye Zixiao for a long time. Thedy held a ss up for a toast. ¡°Mister Ye, since you¡¯re out to y, you should forget about whatever is bothering you, seeing you like this makes me sad.¡±


    Ye Zixiao stared at thedy¡¯s blurry face and her well-bestowed body for a while before Xu Xu¡¯s words repeatedly shed in his mind. ¡°Why should I ept a man like you?¡±


    He hugged thedy¡¯s neck and lowered his head to kiss her.


    Later on, they booked a room, and as they were madly going at it, Ye Zixiao thought to himself, ¡®Xu Xu, you¡¯re right, I¡¯m exactly what you said I was. God, you make me feel so awful, so terrible.¡¯


    The weather the next day was very pleasant, as Xu Xu arrived at the sports field. The sky was a particrly bright blue color, like a silk sheet wrapping the earth.


    During her run, she was a little distracted. She pondered about whether she should call Ye Zixiao to lessen the damage from yesterday, but when she considered his arrogant character and the fact that she might aggravate the situation, she promptly dismissed the thought.


    While she was on her secondp, she saw that Ji Bai had stopped ahead of her and was now talking on his phone softly. As she slowly jogged past his sweat-drenched body, Xu Xu suddenly recalled their conversation from yesterday.


    She had heard from Zhao Han that Ji Bai despised clingy women, so she felt the need to exin to him that she was not actually having indecent thoughts of him. The reason she said they were notpatible was due to his identity as a police officer. As an individual, however, he had great looks, an excellent physique, tough determination, and was quick-witted¡­


    These thoughts were shing through her mind when all of a sudden, hurried, steady footsteps were heard from behind her. The next thing she knew, she felt Ji Bai¡¯srge and sweaty body approaching her speedily from behind. Before she could turn around, the scruff of her cor was tightened, and her legs that were still running no longer felt the pavement. He had actually lifted her up.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± She frowned and turned to look at him, then scolded him softly.


    Ji Bai was drenched in sweat, but his glowing face looked heavy and a sense of dread was emanating from him.


    ¡°Follow me. A female corpse was found at No. 3, Yue Ma Road, Lin An Mountain.¡±


    Xu Xu¡¯s heart stopped for a second as Ji Bai continued, ¡°The victim is Ye Zixi¡±

 Chapter 15

    <h4>Chapter 15</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    The morning light was just beginning to cut through the fog, making the silent Lin An Mountain look like a painting.


    There were many mountains and rivers to the south, but Lin An Mountain was just one of the ordinary mountains in the suburbs of Lin City as it had not yet been developed as a tourist attraction. If not for the homicide case, even a local like Xu Xu would have been oblivious to the luxurious vi hidden on the hillside.


    When Ji Bai and Xu Xu arrived, there were already a few district police officers at the scene. The other members of the Criminal Police Unit were on their way.


    While hidden from view by closely-packed trees, a path paved with white cobblestone connected the vi and the highway. The vi covered a wide area and was surrounded by high walls and a huge metal gate. A policeman ran up to Ji Bai as they arrived and reported, ¡°The security system in the vi is not working as it has been destroyed. This allowed them to open the door.¡±


    Ji Bai nodded and beckoned Xu Xu in.


    Along the way, Xu Xu remained quiet. She quickly recalled everything she knew about Ye Zixi and soon felt an indescribable tightness in her chest. When Ye Zixi¡¯s elegant face crossed her mind again, that tightness grew heavier, to the point where she could not speak even if she wanted to.


    Ji Bai did not notice the change in Xu Xu¡¯s attitude as he lit a cigarette out of habit and smoked in the car with a distant look.


    Even after all these years, every time Ji Bai encountered a homicide case, his heart would always need to steel itself first. That moment was fleeting, and in the blink of an eye, it would pass. Then he would regain his calmness and be able to examine the bloody corpses vigntly.


    The dark brown door was wide opened and the metallic smell of blood mixed with other pungent odors filled the air. As they walked through the long corridor, they saw long streaks of dried blood stains snaking down the snow-white carpet beneath them towards the corpse beside the sofa.


    Though she had seen corpses in the police academy before, Xu Xu was speechless as she gazed upon the lifeless body of Ye Zixi. The world around her went dark as she focused in on Ye Zixi¡¯s pale, nude, blood-stained body.


    There were five stab wounds on her upper arm, thighs and her abdomen from razor des. The cuts were direct and efficient as if they were used to pin her in ce in the pool of blood. Only the wounds on her abdomen were bloody and rough. There was a long, thin wound on the left side of her chest and the dried blood looked like ferocious flowers were blooming from within her.


    A white coat was thrown beside her right leg. Half of it had been soaked in the blood which instantly made it stand out as striking yet oddly beautiful.


    ¡°Has anyone touched the corpse?¡± Ji Bai¡¯s calm voice called out, which made Xu Xu instantly snap back to her senses.


    ¡°Yes, this guy was the one who found the corpse.¡± The policeman beside them answered.


    Xu Xu and Ji Bai looked towards the direction he pointed at and saw a young man sitting next to the snowy-white wall. He had his head buried in his hands and had not moved an inch since the moment they first entered the house.


    Xu Xu¡¯s heart skipped a beat. ¡°Ye Zixiao?¡±


    That person suddenly looked up at them. It had only been one night, but his good-looking face lookedpletely hollow, and his eyes were bloodshot. ¡°Xu Xu...¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s the one who called the police.¡± The policeman said.


    Ye Zixiao looked stupefied as he watched Ji Bai and Xu Xu walk towards him. He then realized that his entire body had gone so numb that it was now hard for him to even move.


    ¡°Mister Ye, please tell the police everything you know.¡± Ji Bai said.


    Ye Zixiao nodded, but his eyes were set on Xu Xu. Xu Xu, on the other hand, could not bear to see him like this. Ye Zixiao¡¯s heart trembled as he muttered, ¡°Xu Xu, Zixi is dead... She¡¯s dead. Gone.¡±


    Xu Xu crouched down in front of Ye Zixiao so that she could be at his eye level before speaking slowly, ¡°I know that you¡¯re very upset. Just calm down and tell us everything you know.¡±


    Her calm, cooling voice seemed to have the power to rx him and was somehow able to ease the huge grievance he felt in his heart. When faced with the death of a loved one, her words that were so cold and biting were nothing but a distant memory.


    Ye Zixiao was wild with despair as had a strong desire to pull her into his arms and to greedily breathe in her chilly, soft breath...


    He clenched his fist without a sound, then took his phone out from his pocket and passed it to them. ¡°I received a text from herst night.¡±


    Xu Xu took the phone and was slightly stunned, then she passed it to Ji Bai.


    ¡°Lin An Mountain. Yue Ma Road. No. 3. Save me.¡± The sender was Ye Zixi and had apparently been sent at 22:17st night.


    ¡°When did you arrive?¡± Ji Bai asked in a low tone. Xu Xu was looking at him too.


    The police officers had previously already asked him the same question, but Ye Zixiao¡¯s voice was still trembling when he answered again. ¡°I was already asleep so I only saw her text at around five.¡± Clearly, he was feeling guilty. If he had seen the text earlier, then perhaps Ye Zixi could have been saved.


    ¡°Nobody can predict the future,¡± Ji Bai said calmly, ¡°there¡¯s no need to me yourself.¡±


    Ye Zixiao smiled bitterly.


    Xu Xu asked, ¡°Is this Ye Zixi¡¯s house?¡±


    Ye Zixiao shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. She had many properties.¡±


    He then went on to tell them everything that had happened in the morning: He saw the text at around five in the morning, then immediately drove over. When he arrived, everything in the house was exactly as they see it now. The only thing different was that the white coat was initially covering her body. At the time, he did not think about evidence tampering as he only wanted to know if Ye Zixi was dead or alive, so he lifted the coat up only to find her stab-wound covered corpse.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you already capture the razor de criminal?¡± Ye Zixiao asked with red eyes. ¡°He has an aplice, doesn¡¯t he? Did they target Zixi just because she survived thest incident?¡±


    Ji Bai and Xu Xu did not answer. When the razor de case was solved, the police did not announce it to the public but had informed the victims, so they knew that Ye Zixi must have also told Zixiao.


    However, the razor des had now reappeared. On top of that, a former victim had been killed.


    At that moment, Zhao Han arrived. Ji Bai instructed him to take Ye Zixiao back to the station to calm him down and to get a detailed statement. Before they left, Xu Xu chased after them and asked, ¡°When you came in, how was the coat covering Zixi¡¯s body?¡±


    Zixiao was stunned. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    Xu Xu replied, ¡°Was it very messy or very neat?¡±


    Zixiao thought for a while before answering, ¡°Not messy, it seemed like somebody had intentionally covered her as only her arms and calves were exposed. Which is why I... took her clothes off to take a look at her.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded. ¡°Understood.¡±


    Zixiao looked at her again. His heart was aching and the words were at the tip of his tongue.


    Atst, Zixiao could not hold it in any longer, he reached out and pulled her into his arms. When he noticed that her body was frozen, he took in a deep inhale of her chilly breath, then he immediately let her go. ¡°Thank you, Xu Xu.¡±


    ¡®This is too suspicious.¡¯ Xu Xu immediately said to herself. When she returned to the house once again, she saw Ji Bai standing in front of the corpse with his hands crossed. Then, he turned to look at her and said in a hoarse voice, ¡°Let¡¯s investigate the crime scene.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded.


    Ji Bai became very serious during the investigation, there was not even a hint of his usual casual smile and his handsome face looked as hard as rock. He waited for Xu Xu to return before he started so that she could learn his process when investigating a scene.


    Firstly, he fixed his eyes on the corpse, and after pondering for a brief moment, said, ¡°I¡¯ll talk while you note everything down.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°The living room shows traces of a struggle, while the fatal injury is the one on her chest. This is probably why the deceased had sent a text. The injury resulted in her having breathing difficulties, so she was unable to speak...¡± His voice was deep to the point where it was almost inaudible as Xu Xu continued scribbling away.


    There were many rooms in the vi, but there was only one bedroom, the others were study rooms, restrooms, or undecorated. Ji Bai stood at the door of the master bedroom and peered inside. The room looked elegant and neat and there was nothing unusual about it.


    He paused to look at the wardrobe, but just as he was about to walk over, a petite figure suddenly walked passed him right up to the wardrobe. She opened the wardrobe before he did and stroked her chin with one hand as her back faced him. Then, she started to examine the scene carefully.


    Upon seeing the little figure obstructing his path, his initially tense heart suddenly rxed as he found it amusing.


    He reached his hand out and lifted her up by the cor, then he put her aside conveniently.


    Xu Xu swung around and immediately looked at him unhappily. ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Stand behind me.¡± Ji Bai said.


    ¡°Why?¡± Xu Xu was frowning deeply.


    Ji Bai looked at her faintly. ¡°How many times have you investigated a crime scene before this?¡±


    ¡°This is my first time.¡±


    ¡°So?¡±


    Xu Xu, ¡°...¡±


    Ji Bai went ahead and continued investigating.


    Xu Xu, however, voiced her displeasure in a rather calm tone. ¡°The problem is that you¡¯re too tall. I can¡¯t see anything when you¡¯re standing in front...¡±


    ¡°Stand beside me then.¡± He cut her off without even waiting for her to finish.


    Xu Xu immediately took a step forward and stood in front of the wardrobe with him.


    Initially, Ji Bai was focused on the investigation, but after a while, he suddenly felt a certain soft touch against the back of his hand. There was a numbing sensation, which distracted him.


    As he nced sideways, he saw Xu Xu looking ahead with her fair, little face. What touched him was her glove-covered fingers.


    If it was another woman, then Ji Bai would have quietly backed away, but upon looking at her craned neck as well as her serious posture, he was not too concerned.


    After a brief moment, he suddenly felt her moving slightly. When he looked sideways, he could not help butugh a little because she had now realized that their hands were touching. After which, she frowned and buried her hands into her pockets in an undeniable attempt at avoiding him.


    Sometimeter, they concluded their findings. The first wardrobe had around twenty pieces of clothing, whereas the other two only had around ten. There was also another shoe rack that was scattered withdies¡¯ shoes made from various materials.


    After investigating the entire vi, they returned to the living room. Other than here, everywhere else seemed clean and orderly. By now, Old Wu and another experienced criminal police officer had arrived and were surrounding Ye Zixi¡¯s corpse to take pictures of it. This made Xu Xu¡¯s chest tighten again, so she turned around to examine the other things in the living room.


    The sofa was made of ck leather and had no scratches on it, a few works of calligraphyprised of bold and vigorous strokes hung on the wall, a bowl of vegetable sd and a bowl of sashimi were the sole upants of the open kitchen counter beside them. The pungent odor they smelled when they entered was actually from the spoilt sashimi. When she opened the fridge, she found that there were still a lot of ingredients inside. This made it clear that the murder case had happened very suddenly since Zixi was still preparing supper when it urred.


    After a few hours, Ji Bai called for a meeting outside.


    The forensic detective hade back with the preliminary autopsy result which stated that the estimated time of death was between 9 at night to 4 in the morning, which was in line with the time that Ye Zixiao received the text.


    Another officer added, ¡°After initial investigations, we found no fingerprints and no clear sign of the crime scene being cleaned. Originally, the vi had perfect security measures, but the materials in the security room have been destroyed so we¡¯re unable to get any clues from the surveince videos. People hardlye here, and as a result, we are without witnesses for the time being.¡±


    This meant that after the initial investigation, no valuable material evidence had been found. Everyone fell silent.


    It was certainly not a simple case as the culprit had gone through extreme measures to ensure they woulde up with nothing. Could it really be another immensely cruel, high IQ criminal who was imitating Yang Yu?


    ¡°Captain, what do you think?¡± Somebody asked.


    Ji Bai did not immediately answer. He looked at Xu Xu who was furrowing her brows as she pondered. ¡°Tell us what you think.¡±


    When he said this, everyone looked at her.


    Xu Xu was no longer young and inexperienced like she was when she first entered the force. She nodded and began, ¡°I think that the culprit is a person who is close to Zixi. I suggest we start investigating the people close to her.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± A criminal police officer asked curiously.


    Xu Xu replied, ¡°There are two possible reasons in terms of behavior.¡±


    ¡°Firstly is Ye Zixi¡¯s behavior. The text she sent was ¡®save me¡¯, instead of ¡®call the police¡¯. This isn¡¯t logical. If Ye Zixi calls the police, then the police in the area would arrive much faster than Ye Zixiao who was in the city could ¨C not to mention they would be able to carry out emergency treatment for her too. Ye Zixi is a quick-witted person, so even if she was dying, I believe that she would have been able to make decisions that were more advantageous to her. This leads me to believe that she didn¡¯t want to call the police, and the culprit is somebody she knows.


    ¡°Secondly is the culprit¡¯s behavior. The culprit did not just attack her vital points, he also plunged the razor de into her corpse. Initially, it justes off as unnecessary abuse, like a certain ritual or mark of his.


    ¡°However, when the eyewitness found the deceased, he stated that her body was covered with clothes. This behavior most likely reflects two kinds of emotions: guilt, or pity. Why would a random feel such emotions for her?¡±


    ¡°Therefore, I think that the murderer has a veryplicated rtionship with Ye Zixi. As for why he imitated Yang Yu, I¡¯m still not sure either. It could just be to confuse the police.¡±


    While everyone was quietly from listening to her, Ji Bai looked at her with a vague smile on his lips. After hearing everything, Old Wu was the first to speak. ¡°I agree. There are too many suspicious elements to the case as well as a lot of man-made traces. Captain Ji, what do you think?¡±


    Ji Bai nodded. ¡°I agree with her points, but I¡¯ll add on two more.


    ¡°One, there could possibly be two culprits, a leader and a subordinate.


    ¡°Two, Ye Zixi had a secret love rtionship with a man and this was where they would meet. We have to find that man as soon as possible.¡±

 Chapter 16

    <h4>Chapter 16</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    When Ji Bai voiced out the two deductions, Xu Xu was frightened. Many details began shing through her mind. They were blurry, but she was almost certain about them.


    Ji Bai took his time and said in a low voice, ¡°The injury on the deceased¡¯s abdomen was messy and not clean. Since there are many wounds, the culprit must have tried to stab the victim multiple times with a knife. Meanwhile, the four other injuries were clean and neat, so there should be two culprits. That is because there used twopletely different techniques.¡± He took his time to exin everything.


    ¡°I agree with this point.¡± Old Wu nodded.


    Another criminal police officer asked, ¡°Could it be the same person? After all, the culprit might have initially been a little nervous and unfamiliar with his knife but gradually gotten used to it.¡±


    Old Wu replied, ¡°The position and direction of which the des prated the body is different. It should not be the same person.¡±


    Xu Xu had no experience in the investigation of knife-rted injuries. However, when she heard this, she rted it to her major, ¡°There should be a gradual process if the culprit was getting used to it. It is impossible for someone who was so hesitant with their first attempt to be that firm and confident with their second attempt. This also reflects the two different mentalities of the culprits while theymitted the murder. One of them might have been hesitating and was scared while the other one might have been very determined. If it was the same person, then their mentality would not have changed that drastically in such a short time.¡±


    ¡°What about the secret lover?¡± Another police officer asked.


    Xu Xu looked towards Ji Bai and saw his calm yet sharp gaze. Since he was not smiling, there was a cold and strong look on his face.


    ¡°The wardrobe does not make sense. One of the cabs is packed to the brim, while the other two are only half-filled. However, the clothes are not arranged ording to seasons or styles in any of the cabs. The same goes for the shoe cab. After looking at the whole estate, we know that Ye Zixi likes things to be very neat and tidy. Someone most probably took away all of their clothes and quickly moved her clothes over as a disguise. In addition to this, even though there isn¡¯t any solid evidence to prove that a man lived in this vi, the decorative style of the apartment does not make sense. The ck heavy leather sofa and the huge calligraphy painting does not look like something that is normally found in the residence of a woman who lived alone. Right, Xu Xu?¡±


    Xu Xu suddenly heard him say her name and nodded. ¡°If Ye Zixi was living alone, then she would more likely have chosen a modern minimalist style or perhaps a more exquisite and fashionableyout.¡±


    Old Wu also added, ¡°Furthermore, a single unmarried woman living alone in a vi in the middle of the night is suspicious. It is highly possible that she was meeting her secret lover. Based on how famous Ye Zixi was, the world should have known about it by now if it was a normal rtionship. Moreover, with her financial influence, if she wanted to live in a suburban vi, why not choose a better-developed area? Why would she choose somewhere inessible like Lin An Mountain?¡±


    ¡°ording to our initial analysis, we can make this secret lover our primary suspect. However, we must not rule out the other possibilities.¡± Ji Bai briefly stated their preliminary conclusion.


    When they got back to the police station, it was already noon. Everyone hurriedly ate their lunch in the conference room as Ji Bai asked, ¡°Where is Ye Zixiao?¡±


    Zhao Han pointed towards the interrogation room opposite them.


    Xu Xu raised her head to look towards that direction. She saw Ye Zixiao sitting still in the tiny room. His hair was messy and there was an expressionless look on his face. He did not even touch the lunch box and tea in front of him.


    ¡°The fourth brother of the Ye Family is actually quite kind.¡± Someone sighed. ¡°It¡¯s understandable that he did not see the text messages since he was asleep. No one would me him.¡±


    Another person added, ¡°Yes. He would most likely not have been able to save her even if he had rushed over immediately ¨C especially since Ye Zixi texted him whilst on the brink of death. The five-de wounds were caused after her death. This indicates that the murderer either went back again, or she sent the text message when the murderer was not paying attention. Either way, the murderer had not yet left when she sent out the message. After Ye Zixiao left the city, it would have taken him at least half an hour to reach the vi. By the time he arrived, the victim would most likely already be dead. Furthermore, her mobile phone could not be found on the crime scene, so the murderer most probably took it.¡±


    Yao Meng did not go to the crime scene that morning. After she heard this, she sighed aloud. ¡°It must be hard for him to see his sister¡¯s dead body.¡± She lightly patted Xu Xu¡¯s arm after saying this.


    Xu Xu understood that Yao Meng was hinting at her to go andfort Ye Zixiao since Yao Meng had seen them together in the past.


    However, Xu Xu did not know how tofort Ye Zixiao. She felt that it was useless to say anything at this time. Moreover, she was never good with words.


    At this moment, Ji Bai stood up. ¡°I am going to talk to him.¡±


    Xu Xu likewise immediately stood up and followed him.


    After spending the morning in the police station, Ye Zixiao had finally calmed down. He tried to stop himself from thinking about the scene of Ye Zixi lying in a pool of blood, but his brain was a blur as he heard footsteps approaching. Momentster, Ji Bai appeared at the door and... Xu Xu was trailing after him.


    Although she had ruthless rejected him, it felt as though it had happened a lifetime ago. Nheless, Ye Zixiao was still a little ufortable when he saw that she would be participating in the recording.


    Since it was a formal recording, Ji Bai followed procedure and asked for his name, age and other basic information. Ye Zixiao answered these questions one by one. During that period of time, Xu Xu kept her head down to record his answers. She asionally raised her head to look him in the eyes, but she remained silent. This caused Ye Zixiao to rx but at the same time feel inexplicably ufortable.


    Ji Bai noticed the change in his expression and continued to ask calmly, ¡°Where were you from 8.00pm to 5.00amst night?¡±


    ¡°I stayed at a bar until 9.00pm and went back to my vi in Jialin Park.¡±


    ¡°Is there a time witness?¡± Ji Bai asked briefly.


    ¡°...No. I could never kill my own sister. There¡¯s no need to be suspicious of me.¡±


    Ji Bai and Xu Xu both looked at him. Then, Xu Xu said, ¡°Think about it again carefully.¡±


    ¡°I already said no.¡± Ye Zixiao replied briefly before returning his gaze to the table.


    Suddenly, Ji Bai turned and spoke to Xu Xu, ¡°You, leave first. Get another clerk in here.¡±


    Xu Xu was stunned but she listened to him and got up and left.


    Ye Zixiao did not look at her and kept resting his forehead on one hand. After a while, Yao Meng walked in and Ji Bai spoke once more. ¡°Now you can tell the truth. Mr. Ye, homicide is a felony. We hope that we can write you off as a non-suspect as soon as possible.¡±


    Xu Xu walked out of the hearing room but instead of returning to her seat immediately, she sat on the chair in the corridor.


    She knew that Ye Zixiao was lying since he was still wearing the clothes from the night before.


    She sat there in silence for a moment. Scene after scene appeared in her mind as a stuffy and suffocating feeling made it difficult for her to breathe.


    To be fair, she was not that close to Ye Zixi.


    Over the past month, it had always been Ye Zixi who took the initiative to call her and ask her out. She seemed to have a good impression of Xu Xu, so she naturally showed that she had the intention of bing good friends with her.


    Xu Xu was a little surprised and ufortable with being so close to her. In addition to this, she was very busy with her work. As a result, Xu Xu probably only attended one or two of every ten invitations she got.


    However, Ye Zixi did not seem to mind the way Xu Xu distanced herself. She always made an effort to ask her out, yet she would not overdo it which showed that she was kind and considerate. Gradually, Xu Xu got used to her friendship. One time, when Xu Juan teasingly asked her, ¡°Are you going to eat with Ye Zixi again? How are you closer to her than me?¡± She stuck out her tongue and answered, ¡°We are friends now.¡±


    Sometimes, Xu Xu also analyzed her rtionship with Ye Zixi. She grew up with two men at home, so she had never gotten along with an older woman. In a way, Xu Xucked the care of a woman. Thus, when a mature and gentle friend like Ye Zixi appeared, it helped fill that gap...


    Now, Ye Zixi was dead.


    Xu Xu had been keeping herself upied by working non-stop all day. Even so, a part of her brain still seemed to feel like a ball of soft linen. She even felt like she had lost her breath a few times.


    Nevertheless, she soon understood what was happening to her. This feeling was sadness.


    She had passively epted Ye Zixi¡¯s friendship and was now very depressed.


    She stood there silently until her phone suddenly rang. The screen showed that it was an unfamiliar number.


    The voice at the other end of the line was respectful and gentle. ¡°Hello, is this Miss Xu Xu? I¡¯m sorry to bother you. I am the on-duty manager for the Rotating Ferry restaurant. You and Miss Zixi booked a table for noon today, but we have not been able to contact Miss Zixi...¡±


    Xu Xu gripped the phone tightly in her palm. She lowered her head to stare at her own shadow on the dark cyan floor.


    ¡°Sorry, we can¡¯te.¡±


    With Xu Xu no longer present, Ji Bai interrogated Ye Zixiao with greater detail. He went over what Ye Zixiao said to Ye Zixi when he met her yesterday, what time he had stayed with his female friendst night till and also where they had gone.


    Ye Zixiao was no longer embarrassed when he faced Ji Bai. He answered the questions one by one emotionlessly and cooperatively.


    However, Ji Bai asked, ¡°Why did you say sorry to Ye Zixi?¡± He paused for a moment before answering. ¡°Xu Xu scolded me because when Zixi was injured during the razor de incident, I did not help her decisively. I apologized for that. You guys can ask Xu Xu yourself if you don¡¯t believe me.¡±


    Yao Meng added, ¡°Why did you spend a few hours alone yesterday afternoon? Where did you go?¡±


    Ye Zixiao looked at her beautiful face and suddenly thought about what Xu Xu had said, ¡°Your interest and attention towards women is much stronger than that of a normal person...


    He turned his head away a little in annoyance. He stopped looking at Yao Meng and replied stiffly, ¡°It¡¯s because I quarreled with Xu Xu. Officer, I don¡¯t want to answer personal questions.¡±


    After interrogating Ye Zixiao, Ji Bai went back to the office and ordered some people to verify Ye Zixiao¡¯s alibi. After a while, they reported back to him. Several people proved that he had indeed gone to a hotel with a female friend. The hotel¡¯s surveince tapes also showed that he left at 5 am in the morning.


    Ji Bai got his men to release Ye Zixiao and went to the corridor for a smoke. Right after lighting it, he heard a sharp voice from down the hallway.


    ¡°Xu Xu, what¡¯s wrong with you?¡± It was Yao Meng.


    Ji Bai looked down the corridor and saw the two girls sitting at the corner of the walkway. They were seated at the entrance to the archive room where not many people frequented at this time of the day.


    ¡°Nothing.¡± Xu Xu kept her gaze fixed on the floor.


    Yao Meng sighed.


    Ji Bai stopped looking at them. However, he stayed in the corridor and thought about the case as he smoked the cigarette.


    A few momentster, he heard Yao Meng gently prod her friend. ¡°Xu Xu, if you¡¯re unhappy, you need to speak up. We¡¯re friends.¡± But Xu Xu still did not say anything.


    Yao Meng likewise remained silent. When she first saw Ye Zixiao yesterday, she was rtively amazed. She could not believe it after she saw how he seemed to be interested in Xu Xu, which was partially due to the fact that the two of them were way too different. After she heard that he was the Ye Family¡¯s fourth brother, she grew even more shocked.


    Nheless, Yao Meng did not like men like Ye Zixiao, mainly due to her self-pride. She felt as though rich second generations (TN: The children of wealthy families) like him were beyond her reach. In addition to this, she also did not have a good impression of them.


    Therefore, she was taken aback but not surprised that Ye Zixiao had gone to a hotel with another woman.


    Though, when was facing Xu Xu, her feelings were a littleplicated. In all fairness, she felt that Xu Xu should not be with someone like Ye Zixiao. However, if Xu Xu got together with Ye Zixiao, then Yao Meng would feel a little relieved...


    After thinking about it, Yao Meng asked, ¡°It¡¯s because of Ye Zixiao, right? You need to think about this man carefully, Xu Xu. After all, his background is different from us. But if you really like him, then I will support you.¡±


    Ji Bai who was on the other side of the hallway took a drag of his cigarette and looked towards them once again.


    Xu Xu suddenly cut her off without even lifting her head. ¡°Why do you think that I¡¯m sad because of Ye Zixiao? I don¡¯t want to talk now, so can you just leave?¡±


    Yao Meng did not expect Xu Xu, who had always been docile, to suddenly retaliate so bluntly. Her face immediately got a little red as she turned around and spotted Ji Bai who was standing not too far away. She bit her lower lip, got up, and left without saying anything.


    Ji Bai watched as Yao Meng ran away in tears and then looked at Xu Xu who was still sitting in the same spot. Her face was also a little red...


    He sighed, then stubbed out the cigarette and walked towards her.

 Chapter 17

    <h4>Chapter 17</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    The sound of footsteps slowly approached Xu Xu before she noticed the familiar ck shirt and the faint smell of tobo... After seeing him, Xu Xu suddenly calmed down. The intense emotions in her head quickly disappeared like fog under the sun.


    What did she just do to Yao Meng? She had actually vented her emotions onto someone else.


    She stared at the Ji Bai¡¯s leather shoes and mumbled, ¡°Sorry, I will apologize to her.¡±


    Ji Bai replied, ¡°Okay. What else?¡±


    Xu Xu was stunned. She clenched her fist which was resting on top of her knees. Of course, Ji Bai did not miss this detail and ruthlessly asked, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you point out Ye Zixi¡¯s secret love rtionship at the crime scene?¡±


    Xu Xu was frightened and quickly spat out an answer. ¡°I didn¡¯t know. Do you think that I would deliberately hide it?¡±


    Ji Bai stared at her from above. ¡°Indeed, you didn¡¯t know. This is because you subconsciously didn¡¯t want to believe that she would have a secret lover. Therefore, you turned a blind eye to the dead giveaways.¡±


    Xu Xu remained silent for a moment and answered, ¡°Sorry, it will not happen again.¡±


    In reality, she had already realized that she missed the point when Ji Bai had mentioned the ¡°secret rtionship¡± at the crime scene. However, she did not think too much about it until Ji Bai pointed it out. She quickly understood that her emotions had affected her judgment.


    She lowered her head when she said this. From Ji Bai¡¯s point of view, he saw the girl hunch her slender shoulders slightly and shrink. Her soft hair was sticking to her forehead until her pale facial contours and slender neck could barely be seen. Instead of looking like a woman, she looked more like a thin and stubborn teenager.


    Despite what he said, Ji Bai was actually very satisfied with her performance today considering that it was her first time seeing a murder crime scene and the deceased victim was her friend.


    Even so, he had to do his duty and educate her.


    In truth, he initially wanted to continue to lecture her. However, after seeing how she closed herself up, he suddenly lost the will to go on.


    Since he stopped talking, Xu Xu thought that he was done. When she was just about to get up and leave, something shed in her eyes as Ji Bai decided to squat down next to her.


    His dark eyes looked into hers as he stared at her thoughtfully.


    Both of their faces were very close and Xu Xu was bbergasted. She looked back at Ji Bai who was tall and huge squatting in front of her so quietly. It felt very...odd.


    The two of them looked into each other in the eyes for a moment before Ji Bai muttered softly, ¡°Stop crying, just don¡¯t let it happen again.¡±


    Xu Xu was silent.


    In truth, she was initially not able to control her tears, but she quickly suppressed it. Nheless, the moment of weakness had caused her eyes to be red and swollen.


    After being speechless for a short while, she frowned and turned her head away from Ji Bai. ¡°I stopped crying a long time ago.¡±


    Ji Bai looked at how embarrassed she was and smiled. As he was about the get-up, he unconsciously looked downward.


    The skin around her neck was fair and thin such that even the light green veins could be seen. Probably due to the fact that she was embarrassed, but her tiny face was red from her ears all the way to the bottom of her neck. He had never seen someone with such delicate and fragile skin ¨C it was as if it would tear apart at the slightest touch.


    Since he was squatting in ce without moving, Xu Xu sensed his gaze and turned her head around once more. ¡°Why are you looking at me?¡±


    Ji Bai shot a look back at her and asked calmly, ¡°What do you think?¡± Then he stood up and left.


    Xu Xu thought that he might have been examining her, so she also got up and followed him back to the office.


    As soon as they entered the office, Ji Bai sensed the tense atmosphere. Zhao Han was squinting his eyes at him and several criminal police were also looking in their direction. He averted his gaze and saw Yao Meng sitting at her seat. She was staring at the screen while typing, but her eyes were bright red.


    Ji Bai ignored them and went directly to his office. After a while, he heard Xu Xu¡¯s soft voice say, ¡°Yao Meng, are you free right now? Can we...¡±


    Ye Zixiao was sent home by a police car. The Ye Family¡¯s Mansion was dead quiet during the day as the sun beat down heavily on the estate. He had onlyid in bed for a short while before his door was pushed open.


    It was his father, Ye Lanyuan. He saw his youngest son¡¯s gray-looking face, smiled, and sat at the foot of the bed. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you at thepany right now? Why are you hiding here?¡±


    Ye Zixiao sat up but could not look his father in the eye as he delivered the bad news. ¡°Dad... Zixi is dead.¡±


    Ye Lanyuan¡¯s face instantly stiffened.


    Ye Zixiao took a deep breath and continued, ¡°She was murdered. It may have been an aplice of the de injury culprit from the past...¡± As he spoke, he started sobbing a little.


    Ye Lanyuan was 65 years old this year, but since he took care of himself, he still looked like he was in his early fifties. However, at this moment, perhaps because he was trying too hard to control his emotions, all the wrinkles on his face began trembling.


    He stopped talking to Ye Zixiao and did not ask any questions. He simply stood up and slowly walked out of the room with solemn steps. Ye Zixiao saw his father¡¯s wobbly back from behind. Ye Lanyuan seemed even more sluggish and old than he had ever been.


    Soon, the police made a phone call to the Ye Mansion and Ye Lanyuan picked up. That evening, he did not go downstairs to eat dinner.


    When Ye Zixiao walked to the dining room, everyone else was there.


    Even though he took a shower and changed his clothes, his face still looked very pale. The third child, Ye Qiao nced at him and asked, ¡°Where is Zixi? Didn¡¯t shee home with you?¡±


    Instead of answering her immediately, Ye Zixiao walked towards his seat and sat down. Everyone was used to his temper, so they ignored it. As they were about to start eating, they heard him say, ¡°Zixi is dead.¡±


    Everyone immediately put their chopsticks down and turned their heads to look at him.


    The dining room was terrifyingly silent. Only Ye Zixiao picked up the chopsticks and began to eat.


    The eldest child, Ye Ziqiang was the first one to break the silence, ¡°Fourth brother, what kind of joke is this?¡±


    Ye Zixiao mmed the chopsticks on the table and shouted. ¡°Do I look like I¡¯m joking? Are you happy now? You¡¯ve always suspected that Zixi hade back because she was after the family¡¯s wealth. Now that she¡¯s dead, you should be relieved.¡±


    Ye Ziqiang¡¯s face instantly turned bright red. ¡°You, you...¡±


    ¡°Zixiao¡± Ye Qiao was the one who interrupted him. ¡°What the hell are you talking about? What happened to Zixi?¡±


    Ye Zixiao looked at her coldly and growled, ¡°Third sister, how many tricks have you yed on Zixi¡¯s business over the past few years? Aren¡¯t you thinking the same thing as big brother? Now that she¡¯s dead, do you feel guilty about what you¡¯ve done?¡±


    The look on Ye Qiao¡¯s face changed as her jaw dropped.


    The room was pin-drop silent once again and the atmosphere grew even tenser than before.


    Soon, Ye Zixiao took a deep breath, calmed himself down and said, ¡°Zixi was murderedst night.¡±


    He did not want to mention the text message or even the state of Zixi¡¯s body. He only told them, ¡°I was taken by the police for interrogation. The murderer should be rted to the previous de injury incident. The police are investigating the murder as we speak.¡±


    The look on everyone¡¯s faces was indescribable as no one said anything.


    After a while, the third brother-inw, Zhang Shiyong said in a deep voice, ¡°Have they caught the murderer?¡± His voice became colder and he asked again, ¡°What is the police doing?¡±


    Zixiao had always respected this brother-inw, so he shook my head and said, ¡°Not yet. It¡¯s not the culprit from before. That person has already been caught, but they suspect that it might be his aplice this time. They¡¯re monsters.¡±


    Everyone stopped talking as the room became gloomy and dull. After a while, the second sister, Ye Jin who had been silent all this while, put down her chopsticks. ¡°I am full.¡± Her husband, Wu Xie looked at her basically untouched meal and rubbed her shoulder. ¡°You ate too little.¡± Ye Jin shook her head, got up and walked towards Ye Zixiao. She put her hand on his shoulder but her eyes were already red.


    The gentle and introverted second child was never one for words. Nevertheless, other than Ye Zixi, she had the best rtionship with Zixiao. Zixiao held her hand softly and sighed. ¡°Second sister...¡±


    As the Ye Family ate their dinner in the gloomy atmosphere, the news of Ye Zixi¡¯s death began spreading. The police unit had canceled all holidays and began investigating the case all day and night. Xu Xu sent a text message to Xu Juan telling him that she would be busy over the next few weeks and to not contact her unless it was absolutely necessary. Xu Juan was used to this, so he replied her with an ¡°okay¡± and gave her space.


    After a whole day and night of investigating, the criminal police unit held a meeting at noon the next day.


    The first one who reported was Old Wu. He was in charge of the investigation of Ye Zixi¡¯s rtionships which was conducted with another criminal police officer alongside Yao Meng.


    ¡°We asked the rtives, friends, and colleagues of the deceased. The deceased was very popr and she had not been in any major fights with other people. Moreover, everyone imed that she was single and no one was aware that she had a boyfriend recently.¡±


    Everyone was somewhat disappointed with the result.


    After this, Yao Meng added, ¡°We have applied for a warrant to allow us to go through the personal information of the deceased, which includes email records,munication records and consumption records. If the secret lover really does exist, then it would be impossible to not leave behind any trace.¡±


    Ji Bai nodded and Xu Xu quickly took down the minutes of the meeting.


    Since Ye Zixi was a celebrity in the business circle, Da Hu went on to investigate the economic field along with Zhao Han.


    Da Hu solemnly reported, ¡°The deceased was responsible for the group¡¯s overseas investments and her performance was very good. There were some failed investments, but overall there was nothing weird about it...¡±


    Ji Bai interrupted him. ¡°What kind of failed investments?¡±


    Da Hu answered, ¡°There were losses in the real estate sector and also the export trade. The biggest failed investmentst year caused them to lose about 100 million US dors. Their partner is a wanted European-born Chinese who ran off with the money... However, that amount of money is a drop in the ocean for the Longxi Group.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded while she listened. So far, there was nothing out of the ordinary.


    At this time, Zhao Han stood up and said, ¡°I found a copy of some early information on the Longxi Group.¡± He then distributed a copy to everyone in the room. Xu Xu went through it quickly and soon found some clues.


    The first legal representative of the Longxi Group was not the current chairman, Ye Lanyuan, but a man who went by the name Ye Lanzhi. As she was about to speak up, Ji Bai asked, ¡°Is Ye Lanzhi the father of Ye Zixi?¡±


    Zhao Han nodded and exined, ¡°When Ye Zixi was three, her father passed away and her uncle, Ye Lanyuan became the legal representative. At that time, thepany did not have a shareholding system. Later on, after thepany was listed, Ye Zixi was entitled to significant amounts of shares when she became an adult.¡±


    After hearing this, everyone thought the same thing. Could Zixi¡¯s death be rted to the family¡¯s internal financial dispute?


    Ji Bai was silent for a moment and looked towards Old Wu. ¡°Do the members of the Ye Family all have alibis?¡±


    Lao Wu flipped through the notes in his hand and replied, ¡°The forensic doctor estimated that the time of death was between 9.00pm at night to 5.00am in the evening. The time period is a littlerge, and most of them imed that they were sleeping at home. Further investigation is needed to get a more urate alibi.¡±


    Da Hu said, ¡°The text message was sent at 10.17pm. ording to the forensics report, it was impossible for the deceased to survive more than an hour after being heavily injured in the chest. Hence, can we deduce that the time of the death of the deceased was between 10.00pm and 11.30pm and focus on checking the alibi of the suspects during this time period?¡±


    Zhao Han immediately asked, ¡°Could it be the murderer who sent the text message to confuse us?¡±


    ¡°Not likely.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible.¡±


    Two voices were heard at the same time. It was Xu Xu and Ji Bai.


    Everyone was stunned. Ji Bai¡¯s authority was known among the police unit and everyone recognized Xu Xu¡¯s outstanding performance ever since she joined the force. Some believed that Ji Bai was a golden bastion and the ideal mentor whilst others imed that the apprentice had exceeded her teacher. They did not think that the two of them would ever sh opinions in public.


    Ji Bai took an amused nce at Xu Xu, but Xu Xu did not look at him at all. She was still pondering with a serious look on her face.


    At this moment, Yao Meng raised her hand, ¡°I also think that the possibility is quite low. The deceased should be the one who sent the message.¡± Then she looked towards Xu Xu next to her with an encouraging look on her face. Xu Xu saw the look on her face and nodded.


    Two criminal psychology graduates were opposing the captain¡¯s opinion together. Everyone was very interested in how it would go, so Ji Bai fulfilled everyone¡¯s curiosity by gesturing at his apprentice. ¡°Xu Xu, you go first.¡±


    Xu Xu answered, ¡°The text message revealed the rtionship between the murderer and the deceased. The murderer is a highly intelligent criminal who carefully nned the murder. He also deliberately made the crime scene look as though it was rted to the de injury incident. Therefore, the culprit would not have left such an obvious loophole.¡±


    Yao Meng added on, ¡°I have the same opinion. Also, if the murderer wanted to send a text message, then why not send it with more vague content? It doesn¡¯t matter as long as it achieves the purpose of messing up the time of death.¡±


    After listening to the two of them, many people nodded in agreement. Then, they all looked towards Ji Bai.


    Ji Bai smiled and his long dark eyebrows raised slightly. His gaze fell on Xu Xu and he began speaking. ¡°The two of you are talking about an idealized situation, but we¡¯re still not sure about how the murder happened. We can¡¯t rule out any idental factors that could have made the murderer send such a text message. Not to mention, there might actually be a second murderer.¡±


    Everyone slowly nodded, and Ji Bai changed the conversation, ¡°However, I agree to focus on the Ye Family¡¯s alibis between 10pm to 11.30pm. The two of you should take a look at themunication records linked with Ye Zixi¡¯s mobile phone number.¡±


    Xu Xu flipped open the documents in her hand. They confirmed that the text message was sent at 10.17pm alongside the cell station code. (TN: Each area has a specific cell station code. By looking at the cell station code, one will be able to tell which area it had been sent from) At first nce, there was nothing strange about the incident.


    Ji Bai continued, ¡°This cell station code is located within the boundaries of Lin An mountain. This confirms that the text message was sent from the location of the vi. ording to the record, the mobile phone¡¯s signal also disappeared at around 11pm.¡±


    Xu Xu immediately understood. This meant that during that period of time, at least one of the murderers had to be in the vi. Otherwise, the mobile phone¡¯s signal would not vanish all of a sudden.


    However... Ji Bai actually knew that the cell station code belonged to that area with just one nce. Did he memorize the entiremunicationsworkyout in Lin City?


    It seemed like she needed to work harder.


    The new direction of the investigation had been decided, Firstly, they need to continue to search for the secret lover. Secondly, they needed to focus on the Ye Family¡¯s alibis. When Ji Bai was about to dismiss the meeting, his mobile phone rang. After speaking on it for a short while, he hung up the phone and looked towards the crowd. ¡°It¡¯s Ye Zixiao. He said that he¡¯s thought of a person¡±


    Ye Zixiao was not stupid. Over the past two days, he slowly calmed himself down, and after he returned to his senses, he thought to himself, ¡®Why did Ye Zixi live alone in a vi deep in the mountains?¡¯


    Furthermore, when Ji Bai was interrogating him, he also asked about Ye Zixi¡¯s lovelife.


    Could it be that Ye Zixi really did have a lover?


    Nheless, he recalled something. Two years ago, he had broken up with one of his girlfriends. Just as Xu Xu had assumed, the girl was an arrogant woman and she could not stand his male chauvinist behavior. At that time, he was a little depressed, so he went to look for Ye Zixi for a drink.


    While tipsy, he vaguely recalled Ye Zixi leaning against the railing in a long dress. There was a self-deprecating smile in her eyes while she looked at the sky full of stars.


    At that time, she told him, ¡°Zixiao, you have not met the right person yet. The feeling that you¡¯re feeling now is not sadness. Trust me, you would rather kill yourself than experience true sadness.¡±


    Ye Zixiao quickly rushed to the police station to speak to Ji Bai and Xu Xu. When he repeated the sentence that Ye Zixi had said, he unconsciously looked at Xu Xu. Initially, Xu Xu was staring at him intently, then he suddenly looked her in the eyes. She seemed to have understood something and lowered her head with no expression.


    However, the two of them heard Ji Bai¡¯s low and strong voice interrupt their awkward moment. ¡°Mr. Ye, do you have any other clues? This is equivalent to finding a needle in a haystack.¡±


    Ye Zixiao said that he did not know who the person was, but he spected that he should be a man that Ye Zixi met when she was an undergraduate student in Beijing. After all, she had not had a boyfriend ever since she returned to Lin City.


    After Ye Zixiao left, Ji Bai returned to his office and called for Zhao Han. ¡°I need to go to Beijing today so book a flight ticket for me. I¡¯ll be back tomorrow.¡± He had made up his mind to make use of some of his connections. If such a person did exist, then he was not missing him.


    Zhao Han nodded, ¡°Who are you bringing as your aide?¡± Previously, whenever Ji Bai took a business trip, he would always take along a young male criminal police officer from the unit.


    Ji Bai nced at the crowd outside and saw Xu Xu sitting at the seat opposite his office door. She moved the mouse in her hand quickly whilst looking through the Ye Group¡¯s information, oblivious to the fact that she was being observed.


    After arriving at the airport, Ji Bai sat by the waiting area for a while before spotting Xu Xu holding a travel bag in one hand, and a heavy notebook in the other. He was still busy on the phone, ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to arrange transport to pick me up. I am already here... Xu Juan, I am very busy, goodbye.¡±


    After she hung up the phone, Xu Xu jogged towards Ji Bai. At that moment, the boarding announcement boomed over the inte and Ji Bai grabbed the two bags in her hands before signaling to her. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Xu Xu¡¯s hands were suddenly freed as Ji Bai carried all of their bags with one hand. He looked very rxed standing amongst the crowd, but still looked tall and handsome.


    The atmosphere inside the ne was very peaceful and Xu Xu was quite satisfied with her mentor¡¯s gentlemanly performance outside of their workce.

 Chapter 18

    <h4>Chapter 18</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    Ji Bai did not intend to rm anyone who was irrelevant nor inform his family after returning to Beijing this time round. After getting off the ne, the two of them grabbed a taxi and went straight to the guest house provided by the Public Security Bureau in Nan Cheng.


    The evening in the capital city Beijing was noisy and crowded, and the high-rise buildings were covered in a glossy golden sheen under the beautiful sunset glow. The guest house was located in a very inconspicuous white five-story building. A very old red-colored carpet wasid out on the floor and the wall was still covered by a yellow 90s-style wallpaper. In addition to this, the receptionist at the front desk of a government enterprise had an unconcerned attitude.


    Nheless, both Ji Bai and Xu Xu did not really care about this. They booked two rooms, took their luggage upstairs and entered their respective amodations.


    Ji Bai took a shower and changed into a loose t-shirt and long trousers. Right after he turned on hisputer, someone knocked on the door.


    It was Xu Xu, and she was standing in the doorway while carrying aptop. She had an indifferent look on her tiny pale face as she asked him, ¡°Are we working at night too?¡±


    She had also just taken a shower and changed into a t-shirt and casual pants. Her short wet hair was sticking to her fair forehead messily and her refreshed eyes looked extraordinarily glossy and clear.


    Her eyes almost looked like that of a small animal.


    Ji Bai moved his gaze away from her face, turned around and allowed her to enter the room.


    It was a three-star guest house and the room was extremely small. There were only two mahogany chairs in the ce. Ji Bai ced his luggage on one of them and was currently sitting on the other. Since Xu Xu¡¯s main focus was on work, she was not bothered by such a small matter. She sat on the edge of the bed, switched on herptop and started discussing work with him.


    Since the two of them were in Beijing at the moment, the matters in Lin City were beyond their reach. All they could do now was to keep working on the case to see if they could find any other clues. After discussing for a while, they did not discover any new information, so they simply stopped. Xu Xu did not n to return to her room as she continued to look at Ye Zixi¡¯s financial information on herputer. Ji Bai, on the other hand, leaned back on his chair and looked at the night sky through the window while quietly drinking his tea.


    The room was peaceful and the yellow lights gave off an old-fashioned warmth. Ji Bai swept his gaze across the room and saw Xu Xu sitting on the white bed. The slightly loose T-shirt that she wore made her look even smaller and softer than usual. There was even the faint aroma of shower gel in the air... The atmosphere of the whole room seemed to have gotten gentler and cleaner now.


    Right then, the sound of a phone call broke the silence of the room. Xu Xu raised her head and looked at Ji Bai with her dark eyes. Ji Bai looked back at her in the eyes before picking up the phone and turning around to look out the window.


    It was Shu Hang. Ji Bai gave him a call before theing to Beijing. He was just like Ye Zixi as he also graduated from H University. Since he had many connections, things would go much smoother with his help.


    Shu Hang was a smart man. He agreed to go to H University with Ji Bai tomorrow and did not ask any other questions. Then, heughed and invited Ji Bai to go out for a drink.


    Naturally, Ji Bai refused, ¡°I don¡¯t have time for that. You guys have fun.¡±


    Shu Hang was quite persistent andughed off the rejection. ¡°Come on, every minute of the night is precious. Your people will forgive you for not working with unwavering devotion for just one day.¡±


    ¡°Piss off,¡± Ji Bai said, then he hung up the phone.


    Initially, Xu Xu did not want to listen to him talk on the phone. However, when she heard him say ¡°piss off¡± in such a yful tone, she was a little surprised. She raised her head once again and saw Ji Bai¡¯s tall body leaning against the chair. There was a carefree smile on his handsome face, which waspletely different from the usual stern and cold look that he normally showed.


    So, this was what Ji Bai looked like during his private time.


    Xu Xu lowered her head and continued working.


    Who would have expected the sound of the car engines and honksing from downstairs to suddenly interrupt their peaceful night? Several car headlights cut through the night as the courtyard of the small guest house instantly became lively. The people below were yelling, ¡°Third brother, third brother!¡± Someone must have bribed the staff of the guest house because no one came out to stop them.


    Ji Bai looked at the scene they were making and could not help butugh. Xu Xu thought that it was none of their business since she did not even know that the ¡°third brother¡± they were crying out for was, in fact, the person in front of her. She ignored the noise and acted as though they did not exist.


    After a while, someone knocked on their door.


    When Shu Hang entered the room, he was surprised to see Xu Xu there. Even though he knew that Ji Bai had a female apprentice, he was shocked to find a woman in Ji Bai¡¯s roomte at night, moreover, they were dressed in casual clothes...


    Ji Bai smiled lightly and introduced the two of them.


    After this, Xu Xu put away herptop and said, ¡°Captain Ji, I¡¯ll return to my room first.¡± Before Ji Bai could nod his head, Shu Hang interrupted her, ¡°Officer Xu, how could you. You are my guest and Beijing wees you...¡±


    Normally, it would be impossible for Xu Xu to ¡°go out¡± with a bunch of strangers. Though Shu Hang was a clever and eloquent man, the reason he was able to convince Xu Xu to go out was because he gave her a very convincing reason, ¡°If you don¡¯t go with us, what if the others get third brother drunk? How can he possibly investigate the case properly tomorrow? They¡¯re not like me, who fully supports third brother¡¯s work. If you¡¯re going, then the others will hold back a little since you¡¯re a girl. Moreover, you can send Third Brother back in the event that he gets drunk so that it does not affect tomorrow¡¯s work.¡±


    When she heard this, Xu Xu looked towards Ji Bai for his opinion. Initially, Ji Bai did not n to go, but after seeing how they made such a huge scene, it seemed like he had no choice. Thus, he nned to just make an appearance before leaving immediately after.


    He had to investigate the case tomorrow, so he would definitely not drink any alcohol nor would anyone dare persuade him to drink. Shu Hang was just talking nonsense. However, if he were to go to a ce of merrymaking, he felt like he was abusing a small animal if he were to leave Xu Xu alone in the cold and shabby guest house... Ji Bai¡¯s lips curled up into a smile as he smirked and looked at her. ¡°Let¡¯s go out and clear our minds.¡±


    There were four to five cars parked in the courtyard and many carefree young faces standing under the apanying streetlights. When they saw Ji Bai walking down the stairs, everyone cheered. Ji Bai scanned through the group of people and realized that he whilst he recognized some of them, there were others still that he had not met before. He smiled and greeted them, then he got into Shu Hang¡¯s car along with Xu Xu.


    All of them rushed towards Shichahai and quickly arrived at a bar on the riverbank. The bar had dim lights and antique-looking decorations. It was located quite far away from the source of the music sting on the other side of the river, so the ce seemed quiet andfortable. Shu Hang walked ahead and soon led the two of them towards a private window seat hidden behind a beaded curtain. As they entered the booth, several men smiled when they saw Ji Bai. Their faces quickly turned to shock when they saw Xu Xu.


    One of them hesitated and carefully called out, ¡°Sister-inw?¡±


    Another person asked cautiously, ¡°An illegitimate daughter?¡±


    A few of them were ying cards, and when Ji Bai arrived, someone gave up their seat for him. Ji Bai graciously took the cards and lit a cigarette before turning his head to Xu Xu, ¡°Do you know how to y?¡±


    Xu Xu replied, ¡°No.¡±


    Ji Bai shot a nce at Shu Hang and he got the hint. Shu Hang asked the waiter to bring over a bunch of snacks and several magazines for Xu Xu. Xu Xu quietly sat on the sofa and started reading the magazines.


    Ji Bai and Shu Hang were rtively older and had a higher social status among the group of people. Those sitting around the sofas were their juniors of lower social status. Ji Bai saw a teenager among them and asked one of his childhood friends, ¡°Where did you find all these young kids.¡±


    His childhood friend, who went by the nickname ¡°Monkey¡±, was lean and handsome. He smiled and nervously shrugged, ¡°My mom told me to bring them out. They heard that you wereing back today and were begging to see the legend himself.¡±


    As expected, after a while, some people proposed a toast. Some of them were young men with a proud temperament whilst others were young beautifuldies. Ji Bai smiled and picked up a cup of tea, ¡°I can¡¯t drink any alcohol today.¡± Some of thedies did not want to give up, but Monkey smiled and swiftly intervened, ¡°Stand aside, are you willing to bear the responsibility of hindering a policeman¡¯s official duty?¡±


    The girls blinked and soon grumbled off.


    Xu Xu heard this and felt relieved as the situation was not as bad as what Shu Hang had made it out to be.


    After a while, someone came to Xu Xu and asked while smiling, ¡°We¡¯re ying dice, do you want to join us?¡±


    Xu Xu smiled and shook her head. ¡°Thank you, but I won¡¯t be joining.¡±


    That person did not insist and continued ying. Yet from time to time, people would look at her. A bar full of fashionably dressed men and women and she was the only one in a simple white shirt and long pants. She was sitting in the corner of the room, bare-faced and with a serious expression. She did not care about how she looked, but in other people¡¯s eyes, she was like a lonely misfit.


    Shu Hang looked at her briefly before asking Ji Bai, ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s okay?¡±


    Ji Bai looked at Xu Xu, squinted his eyes and took a drag of his cigarette. ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± After all, she liked to be left alone and she would feel ufortable if she was forced to join in.


    Monkey suddenly stood up, ¡°This won¡¯t do. How can we leave a guest out in the cold? I will go and keep herpany.¡± After saying this, he swaggered his way towards Xu Xu.


    Everyoneughed, and someone said, ¡°Third Brother, Monkey has yed with a lot of girls. If you don¡¯t stop him, then your little apprentice might suffer.¡±


    Ji Bai did not even raise his eyebrow as hemented, ¡°He might not be the one who ends up suffering.¡± Then, he continued with his game.


    Ji Bai had a big victory in the first round. He inadvertently raised his head and saw Monkey¡¯s hand on the sofa behind Xu Xu while heughed and spoke to her. Xu Xu did not have any expression on her face, but she was clearly a little annoyed as she moved her body to the side a bit. As though she noticed Ji Bai¡¯s gaze, she suddenly stared back at him. Her dark eyes seemed a little embarrassed yet dependent, as if she was pleading with him.


    In truth, Xu Xu was not dependent on him. However, Ji Bai was the only person that she knew in this ce and she could not be arbitrarily rude to his friend. Thus, she was waiting for Ji Bai toe forward and ask this absurd guy to leave.


    After Ji Bai looked her in the eyes, he called out, ¡°Xu Xu,e here.¡±


    Xu Xu immediately got up and walked over to Ji Bai. Monkey smiled and followed suit. The group of people at the table sort of understood what was happening and just beganughing.


    Xu Xu walked over to his side. ¡°Captain Ji.¡±


    Before Ji Bai could say anything, Shu Hang smiled and looked at her, ¡°This is not the police station, why are you calling him Captain Ji. Everyone calls him Third Brother Ji here.¡±


    Xu Xu, ¡°Oh. Third Brother Ji.¡±


    Ji Bai raised his eyebrow and looked at her.


    Third Brother Ji.


    He had already been addressed by his intimate name countless times in the past. Even so, it was the first time that someone had said it so dull and rigidly. Yet, her soft voice and peaceful tone were like a thin feather that gently stroked his heart. It felt a little foreign but... oddlyforting.


    He nodded lightly and looked towards Shu Hang who was sitting in front of him, ¡°Get up and let her take your seat.¡±


    Shu Hang was taken aback. ¡°Ah?¡±


    Before he could react to it, someone had already jokingly pulled him out of his seat.


    Xu Xu was hesitant and immediately started frowning. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to y poker.¡±


    Ji Bai smiled, ¡°You can learn. This will train your logic.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    They were ying a double Q upgrade. Ji Bai teamed up with Xu Xu and the other two people teamed up together. Xu Xu was learning how to y in her first round, so she naturally lost terribly. Even Ji Bai¡¯s winning streak ended because of her. The people around cheered loudly because Ji Bai who was normally really good at ying tricks had an unbeatable record.


    Ji Bai was not in a rush, so all he did was tell Xu Xu to memorize the cards. The second game went better and they only lost by a small margin. In their third game, they actually won a little as some people hesitantly looked at Xu Xu. ¡°Did you really just learn this today?¡±


    Xu Xu nodded her head. ¡°Yes. I just thought about how to count the cards.¡±


    Ji Bai smiled lightly. ¡°Don¡¯t show them any mercy. We need to absolutely destroy them, then we can go back and rest.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded her head aggressively once more. ¡°Understood.¡±


    Everyone else fell silent.


    As a result, they won eight more rounds in a row and, by now, were not too far away from victory. Nheless, even if their opponents were not as skillful as they were, there were times when they got really lucky. During that round, Xu Xu had hesitated about thest few cards. She was not as skillful as the others, but if she took a risk, then she might have a shot at victory. But before that, she had to check: was Ji Bai giving her any hints?


    She thought about this and raised her head to look at Ji Bai. Originally, Ji Bai was lowering his head to drink his tea and look at the cards, but he suddenly looked up at her. The two of them locked eyes for a split second, then they both lowered their head again as they got the hint.


    In the end, they won that round.


    The two of them followed the same strategy every time they encountered a risky situation. They would both exchange nces calmly and easily understood each other despite theplicated strategies. Ji Bai always had a carefree look on his face and Xu Xu lowered her head most of the time, so no one actually noticed their little tricks.


    Theypletely destroyed their opponents in thest round. Monkey threw the poker cards and rubbed his temples anxiously. ¡°F*ck, I feel very insulted ying this game. I don¡¯t want to y with you bullies anymore. I¡¯ve been in the poker field for ten years and it¡¯s my first time that my pride has been shattered so badly.¡± The other person also sighed deeply.


    Ji Bai smiled, looked at his watch, then got up and prepared to leave.


    Xu Xu also stood up, but after seeing them like this, she spoke guiltily, ¡°You don¡¯t have to be depressed. First of all, Third Brother Ji and I have a stronger memory and higherputing power because we have undergone professional training. Moreover, when we were ying cards just now, we exchanged...¡±


    Before she could finish talking, a big and dry hand that reeked of cigarettes covered her mouth. Xu Xu frowned slightly as Ji Bai pulled her backward. Then, he smiled and waved to everyone, ¡°We¡¯ll be leaving now since we still have work to do tomorrow.¡±


    After they got out of the bar, Ji Bai smiled and looked down at her. ¡°How can you be so honest? Do you think they would have let us go if we didn¡¯t absolutely crush them?¡±


    Xu Xu¡¯s eyes widened as she suddenly understood. ¡°I see.¡±


    Ji Bai looked at Shu Hang and they bothughed. After this, Shu Hang drove them back.


    The car quietly sped through the chilly night in Beijing city. Xu Xu leaned back on the rear seat as she looked out the window. She was a little tired, so she did not say anything. Meanwhile, Ji Bai and Shu Hang had been chatting throughout the entire car ride.


    Xu Xu learned that Ji Bai was very different when he set aside his identity as the captain of the Criminal Police Unit. He seemed carefree, sharp, and even a little jokingly cynical.


    It was not difficult to understand why he had decided on a split persona since he held an important post in the Criminal Police Unit at such a young age. He would naturally be able to win the crowd or terrorize the criminals if he maintained a stern and strict attitude in his professional life.


    However, Xu Xu noticed that although he seemed to be smiling tonight, the cold and unconcerned look in his eyes was even more prominent. There was a kind of intimate yet far-off look in his eyes as he chatted merrily with his friend.


    She also noticed that although his friends were very enthusiastic and concerned about him, no one asked about his work. It was likely that no one really understood or was interested in what he was doing.


    They all saw him as a legend, but he was also a legend that was drifting away from their circle. It is possible that the remaining unruliness, carefreeness, and cynicism in him would disappear altogether in the near future. When that happens, all that would be left would be the tenacious and cold criminal police captain that she was so familiar with.


    When Xu Xu thought about this, she felt a great respect for Ji Bai. When she looked at his handsome faintly smiling face in the night, she saw a heart-warming determination.


    ¡°We¡¯re here,¡± Shu Hang smiled as he stopped his car by the curb. Momentster, a young man in uniform walked over to open the door for Xu Xu and Ji Bai.


    Xu Xu was slightly stunned and did not move. Ji Bai, on the other hand, got out of the car and immediately saw a brightly-illuminated five-star hotel staring right back at him. He slowly turned to look at Shu Hang with a confused look on his face.


    Shu Hangughed as he opened the trunk and took both of their luggage bags out, ¡°It¡¯s your first time bringing your apprentice to Beijing, so how we can let her live in a guest house? I¡¯ve helped you check out from the guest house and booked you into a presidential suite. Besides, this ce is also closer to H University. Sleep well, I will pick both of you up tomorrow at 8 in the morning.¡±

 Chapter 19

    <h4>Chapter 19</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    The bed in the master bedroom was very big, so much so that Xu Xu only upied half of it after stretching out her body as much as she could. She turned her head to look at the bustling and dazzling night view through the window and felt a little disturbed.


    Initially, she put it down as just the change in environment, but after lying on the bed with her eyes closed for a short while, she realized that she was hungry. She looked at her watch and recalled that she had an in-flight meal at around 5.00pm, but it was already 11.00pm. She tried to resist the hunger for a while, but soon, she could no longer help it, so she got out of bed.


    Ji Bai was watching the evening news and was about to go to bed when he heard the sound of light shuffling down the corridor.


    He opened the door and saw a petite figure in a white sleeping robezily making its way to the kitchen. Ji Bai was a little surprised because he had always thought that she would be the type to wear pajamas with bears and flowers print on it. Instead, she wore arge open cored robe with a rope tied around her waist. Nheless, Ji Baiughed because the item was clearly too big and long for her. She looked like a child who was secretly wearing adult clothes.


    In reality, the reason why Xu Xu chose these pajamas was simple, a twenty-four-year-old woman should wear mature feminine-style pajamas.


    Ji Bai walked to the kitchen and smelled the smell of fresh pizza from afar and suddenly felt a pang of hunger in his stomach. He looked across the room and saw Xu Xu resting her chin on one of her hands in front of the clean dining table while she slowly ate the pizza. The satin robe that she was wearing entuated her slender curves while giving off a graceful temperament that was never seen in Xu Xu. One of her slippers fell on to the ground but she did not seem to care as she continued to gently sway her nude foot in the air.


    When she saw Ji Bai, she was not surprised. She lowered her head, put on her slipper again, and asked, ¡°Do you want some?¡±


    Ji Bai sat down next to her and realized that even her supper was very high in calories. Her supper looked exquisite yet appetizing with a small piece of pizza, a small te of fruit, and a cup of milk. She probably did not need to worry about gaining weight with her physique.


    Xu Xu put a piece of pizza in the microwave and then stood in front of the kitchen counter to cut some fruits for Ji Bai. In truth, she would rarely serve someone so patiently. However, since her respect for Ji Bai had grown deeper that night, she was quite motivated to make supper for him. She was a very simple person as she wanted to get closer to him simply because she respected him. While she thought about this, she was simultaneously nning to change the way she addressed him and call him ¡®teacher¡¯ from now on instead.


    Ji Bai was at the dining table opposite the ind where Xu Xu was focusing on cutting fruits with her head lowered. Meanwhile, Ji Bai leaned against the back of his chair with one of his hands resting on the empty chair beside him while he focused on ying with a lighter in the other.


    Perhaps because a man and a woman were in the same roomte at night, but Ji Bai felt his heart tickling and his mouth a little dry when he saw Xu Xu¡¯s soft hair falling on her fair forehead and ears. It was the same feeling that he felt when she called him ¡°third brother¡± earlier. Also, the mature feminine pajamas that she wore had a slightly wide neckline that revealed a part of her snowy fair skin. That view reminded him of the cup of milk ced right in front of him.


    Soon enough, she finished preparing Ji Bai¡¯s supper and the two of them ate at the same time. When Ji Bai was clearing up the tes, Xu Xin quickly stood up. ¡°Teacher, let me do it.¡±


    Ji Bai shot a nce at her.


    Xu Xu clearly understood what that nce meant. She thought about it for a moment, but she could not think of better word, so she coughed and then rified her intentions, ¡°Teacher, I will continue to honor you in the future and learn from you attentively.¡±


    Ji Bai looked at her slightly blushed cheeks for a while before shaking his head. ¡°... Okay.¡±


    Ji Bai was very tall and remained seated on the same spot as Xu Xu bent over to clean up the table. Thus, her body was swaying right in front of Ji Bai at a very close distance. Her pajamas were both thick and very loose, so nothing was showing. However, the vague curves under her sloppy pajamas suddenly reminded Ji Bai of the abnormally soft and plump feeling that lingered on his fingertips from many days ago.


    Ji Baiughed it off at the time, but after being reminded, he recalled that it was a very good feeling.


    Ji Bai was no longer a cheeky young boy. After returning to his room that night, he stood in front of the window and thought about Xu Xu as he took in the beautiful view of the capital of China.


    Recently, his eyes were always fixed on her and it seemed like it had turned into something of a habit. Whenever she appeared, his gaze would fall on her. Her short hair, slender arms, legs, and even her stubborn expression were pleasing to the eyes.


    She did not make him feel any intense emotions. Actually, it could be because of abination of his personality and his profession, but he had never felt intense emotions towards anyone before. Nevertheless, he felt very refreshed andfortable when he was around her.


    She was nothing like the ideal partner he expected. He thought that he would be more attracted to a mature and sensible woman as he was nearing his thirties. However, he was quite pleased when he saw Xu Xu in very mature pajamas yet looking like an ignorant child.


    Ji Bai was very clear that he did not want to y games or date for the sake of dating as he did not have the time for it. Thus, he would look for a girlfriend with the intention of making her his future wife.


    After savoring the moment for quite a while, he decided that he would further acknowledge and deepen his feelings towards Xu Xu once he closed this case.


    Then, he would try his very best to pursue her.


    However, there was always their rtionship as colleagues, as well as their rtionship as a superior and a subordinate to consider. How would this affect his efforts?


    Before six o¡¯clock the next morning, Xu Xu heard someone knocking at the door while she was in the midst of sleep. She thought that there was an emergency, so she ran to the door without wearing any shoes.


    When she opened the door, she saw Ji Bai decked out in a sportswear. His tall and huge body leaned against the door frame while he lowered his head to look at her, ¡°Change your clothes. Let¡¯s go for a run.¡±


    Xu Xu was confused as the two of them had stopped doing morning exercises ever since Ye Zixi¡¯s case began.


    ¡°Why?¡± She asked, ¡°Aren¡¯t we busy with the case?¡±


    Ji Bai answered briefly, ¡°Achievement is founded on diligence and wasted upon recklessness. The more intense the situation, the more important it is to maintain a strong body.¡± After saying this, he turned around and walked to the living room to wait for her.


    ¡°Oh.¡± Xu Xu realized that the party-goer from yesterday had now returned to his normal state.


    The garden of the hotel looked lusher and fresher in the morning and there were also very little people around. After running for a short while, Xu Xu was confused as Ji Bai was running alongside her since he normally always ran ahead of her. Today, if he ran ahead of her, he would eventually stop or even slow down to wait for her.


    When he stopped to wait for her for the third time, Xu Xu asked, ¡°Why are you slowing down to wait for me today?¡±


    Ji Bai shrugged it off naturally, ¡°This is an unfamiliar environment, so it¡¯s easy to get lost in this garden.¡±


    Xu Xu now understood what he was trying to do. She thanked him gratefully while she looked at his profoundly handsome face under the morning light, ¡°Thank you, but you don¡¯t have to wait for me. I have seen the map, so it¡¯s impossible for me to get lost.¡±


    Ji Bai turned his head and smiled at her lightly, ¡°That¡¯s good. I have not seen the map, so we will run together.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    They ran then ate breakfast together. After that, they went back to their room to shower. They were watching the morning news together when Shu Hang arrived right on cue to ringing the bell.


    Ji Bai had contacted the local police and obtained the list of students in the H University before arriving in Beijing. After cross-checking the list, he found that there were more than 100 of them who had gone on to work in Lin City. Though most of them were not suspicious, this was still only the first step.


    The aim of this morning¡¯s work was to visit Ye Zixi¡¯s lecturers and ssmates who were close to her. They were still not sure of whether or not this mysterious lover was rted to Ye Zixi¡¯s death, but they did not want to leave any stones unturned.


    Since Shu Hang had greeted a few friends in advance and informed them that Ji Bai wasing to investigate the case, the university was very cooperative. After investigating all morning, they found nothing. All they knew was that the lecturers and students had a remarkable impression of the beautiful yet outstanding Ye Zixi. None of them had heard that she had a boyfriend.


    During lunchtime, Xu Xu asked Ji Bai if it was okay to order takeout. Just as Ji Bai was about to say yes, Shu Hang called and told them that he had booked them a couple seat at the restaurant next to the university. Ji Bai answered, ¡°okay,¡± before turning his head to tell Xu Xu not to order takeout as they would be leaving for lunch soon.


    There was finally some progress in the afternoon.


    They found a woman named Tian Tian, who was Ye Zixi¡¯s good friend. She was also in Beijing, and after contacting her through the phone and telling her the news, she cried out loud painfully. After she calmed down, she swallowed her tears and suggested, ¡°Police officer sir, let¡¯s meet and talk.¡±


    Based on her attitude, Ji Bai and Xu Xu believed that they would be able to find the answer soon enough.


    An hourter, Tian Tian arrived at the university and told them about Ye Zixi¡¯s past.


    When Ye Zixi was doing her master¡¯s degree, she had a rtionship with a man from another state. However, she kept her rtionship low-profile and only very few people knew about it, these people being her close friends.


    ¡°That was six to seven years ago.¡± Tian Tian recollected, ¡°At that time, Ye Zixi loved that man very much. He was younger than Ye Zixi, so he was probably still working on his undergraduate degree. He often traveled to Beijing via an overnight train. When he was here, Zixi would note home for a few days at a time. Moreover, during their winter and summer breaks, the two of them would rent a house to live together for a few months...¡±


    She said this emotionally while Ji Bai and Xu Xu listened on in silence.


    ¡°Later on...¡± Tian Tian said in a low voice, ¡°Zixi got pregnant, and of course, she aborted it. Although she was very sad at that time, she happily announced that the man had proposed to her and that he would marry her after he graduated. Who would have known that they would suddenly break up after a few months? During that period of them, she was very depressed. The two of them were so in love...¡±


    ¡°Where is he from? What is his name?¡± Ji Bai asked.


    ¡°He¡¯s from Lin City and goes by the name...¡± Tian Tian pondered for a moment before answering, ¡°I think I have their picture in my house. I live not too far away from here. I can bring it to you now.¡±


    Xu Xu was slightly stunned and the feeling of restlessness that she feltst night reappeared once again. It felt as though she was missing some important clues.


    Ji Bai nodded, then turned his head and saw how Xu Xu¡¯s face seemed to be paler than usual. He quickly ced his hand on her shoulder and asked in a low voice, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Xu Xu seemed to be oblivious to his touch as she immediately answered, ¡°Nothing, I was just thinking about something.¡±


    The way she acted reminded Ji Bai of how she had lovingly cut fruits for himst night and called him ¡°teacher: with a blushing face. He smiled lightly and said, ¡°I am going to get the photo with her, you can have rest for a while.¡± Before Xu Xu could protest, he had left with Tian Tian.


    When he got the photo, Ji Bai momentarily became lost in his thoughts.


    In the photo, a handsome and fair man was lowering his head to kiss a woman¡¯s neck. There was a devoted yet mesmerized look in his eyes when he did so, and the woman¡¯s long hair was flowing in the wind with a bright smile on her face. She was extremely happy and looked as though she was blooming like a flower.


    Ji Bai had met this man before and he knew who he was.


    Xu Xu stood in front of the window of H University¡¯s temporary office during the time that Ji Bai was away and looked out at the beautiful campus while she thought to herself, ¡®What was I doing six years ago? My college entrance examination. I was so oblivious as to what was happening in the outside world and buried myself in books.¡¯


    Xu Xu heard the sound of calm and familiar footsteps behind her, so she spun around and saw Ji Bai¡¯s thoughtful eyes.


    She was able to finally verify her uneasiness and suspicion after Ji Bai handed the photo to her.


    ¡°It is Xu Juan.¡±

 Chapter 20

    <h4>Chapter 20</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    Father Xu had always been open-minded and gentle with the way he educated his children. He gave Xu Xu and Xu Juan the freedom to develop their character freely. Thus, Xu Juan started his pursuit at a very young age as he believed that money and social status were the keys to sess in society. On the other hand, Xu Xu chose to pursue truth and conscience, which she considered the simplest and most important things in life. This was also the reason why she chose this profession.


    The two of them were very busy and sometimes they could not even meet each other once a month. Nevertheless, they did not grow distant. Since everyone had their own strengths, they both respected each other and their rtionship only got better with age.


    However, if there was anyone around Xu Xu who could keep such a big secret, it would be Xu Juan. Since she would never analyze her brother who loved her unconditionally, she would subconsciously ¡°turn off¡± when she was with her brother who had always protected her.


    Around three or four in the afternoon, there were very few people in the departure hall and only patches of sunlight were shining in. Xu Xu stood in front of the huge ss window and stared out at the cloudy blue sky above for a while. Then, she turned around and walk towards Ji Bai who was standing not too far away from her.


    After Ji Bai passed the photo to herst night, he said, ¡°You¡¯re suspended from all work rting to this case until Xu Juan can prove his innocence.¡±


    Ji Bai was watching the news on his mobile phone with a calm look on his face whilst his tall body leaned against the light blue chairs at the airport. It seemed as though yesterday¡¯s idental discovery had not affected his calm heart in even the slightest.


    He noticed that Xu Xu was standing in front of him and he asked without lifting his head, ¡°Do you have anything to say?¡±


    Xu Xu stared at his chiseled face and said after a moment of contemtion, ¡°Teacher, as the sister of the suspect, you can feel free to interrogate me.¡±


    Ji Bai¡¯s lips slowly curled up as he raised his head to look at her.


    Her expression was dignified and, though it was slightly gloomy yesterday, it had now returned to her usual cool look.


    Very good.


    Since he did not say anything, Xu Xu continued, ¡°Firstly, I believe that Ye Zixi was once the woman that he loved the most. Even though he used to have many girlfriends, both of us are very careful and selective when ites to marriage. This is due to the way that my father educated and influenced us. He had never proposed marriage to another woman...¡±


    Ji Bai interrupted her, ¡°What does being careful and selective when ites to marriage mean specifically?¡±


    Xu Xu thought for a while before continuing, ¡°To try to only have one marriage, such as to avoid elders and children from being affected by unstable family rtionships.¡±


    ¡°Be faithful to one¡¯s spouse until death¡±


    ¡°You could say that. Yes, that would be the ideal state.¡±


    Ji Bai smiled lightly. ¡°Very good. Continue.¡±


    Xu Xu felt that the way he said ¡°very good¡± was a little strange, but that feeling disappeared in a sh. Thus, she did not pay too much attention to it and continued to state her analysis,


    ¡°Even so, there isn¡¯t sufficient motive for him to kill her.


    ¡°Firstly, if they are lovers now, he is sessful now so there is no need for them to hide the rtionship. The secret lover must be someone else.


    ¡°Secondly, even if there is an emotional involvement between Xu Juan and Ye Zixi, I doubt that there is anything beyond that. Xu Juan had nothing at all in the past, he was just a young and frivolous youth who might have been crazy about love.


    ¡°Nheless, after so many years in the business industry, he has changed a lot. He is a very outstanding businessman who is skillful in nning as well as a very tactful man who is rarely swayed by emotions. ¡®Profit¡¯ and ¡®achievement¡¯ are the most important things in his life. So, even if he couldn¡¯t get Ye Zixi¡¯s love, he would just try to win her over by whatever means necessary, and if he was unsessful, he would take his revenge on her through business. However, he would lose if he murdered her out of anger, thus ruining everything he has. Therefore, the possibility of him doing something so stupid and impulsive is very low.


    ¡°Thirdly, I think that Xu Juan¡¯s greatest contribution to this case lies in the reason why he wanted to hide the fact that he used to be in a rtionship with Ye Zixi. Even if he wanted to hide the rtionship from the others, why would he want to hide it from me? This proves that he definitely knows something about Ye Zixi that he can¡¯t tell his sister, who is a police officer. Thus, I hypothesize that it is something illegal. After figuring this out, we might be able to rte it to the reason why Ye Zixi was killed.¡±


    After she finished talking, she stared at Ji Bai¡¯s face and tried to observe the change in his expression. Nevertheless, Ji Bai remained silent as usual such that she was not able to read him.


    ¡°I only believe in evidence. I will thoroughly investigate whether he¡¯s innocent or not.¡± He said briefly.


    Xu Xu nodded and was about to sit down when he added, ¡°However, I personally hope that your brother is innocent.¡±


    Xu Xu was stunned.


    As they were about to take-off, more people started toe and go in the spacious departure hall. The lights got dimmer and the ce was filled with noise.


    Ji Bai calmly and quietly sat in the messy environment as he took his time to speak in a mellow voice. There was a rarely seen gentleness in his profound looking eyes and also a faint smile on his handsome face.


    Xu Xu stood in front of him and looked at him quietly. The noise around them felt distant and far off as a warm andforting feeling rushed into her heart.


    She was grateful as she thought to herself, ¡®What he said was natural because he was considering their mentor and apprentice rtionship. He was indeed a strict teacher with a gentle heart.¡¯


    Ji Bai looked back at the obvious respectful look of admiration in her eyes and thought internally, ¡®As expected, shepletely missed my signal... Well, there is no need to hurry. I will need to be determined and think of a good n before making a move. Also, I must be persistent, but not overdo it.¡¯


    The good news came faster than expected.


    As soon as theynded, Ji Bai just turned on his phone and received a call. After a brief phone call, he turned around and faced Xu Xu who was a few steps behind him. ¡°It seems like you will not be on leave.¡±


    Xu Xu suddenly stopped smack in the middle of the passage where people were hurrying to and fro.


    Ji Bai had a warm look in his eyes as he told her, ¡°Xu Juan has an alibi. He was working overtime at thepany until 11 pm, then he went to get supper with two of his colleagues and stayed up until the next morning. He is not a suspect and he¡¯s still in the police station. He asked to speak to you.¡±


    Xu Xu let out a sigh of relief as a smile appeared on her face.


    It was the first time Ji Bai had ever seen such a wide smile on her face as even her eyebrows were raised and the corner of her eyes were wrinkling. Even so, all she did was stand there quietly and smile silently as she looked at him. She was unlike any other women as she did not say or do anything else.


    It was a quiet andfortable moment.


    Slowly, a sense of deep gratitude appeared in Xu Xu¡¯s eyes since she believed that Ji Bai was the one who immediately ordered someone to get Xu Juan¡¯s alibi. With this, Xu Juan was able to be free of any suspicions as soon as possible.


    As she thought about this, she stepped forward and reached out for Ji Bai¡¯s hand.


    Ji Bai¡¯s heart fluttered slightly. Was she going to give him a hug? He would definitely not refuse it even if it was just a hug out of gratitude.


    Then...


    Xu Xu grabbed his hand with both of her hands and bowed deeply before speaking in a solemn tone, ¡°Thank you, teacher. Thank you.¡±


    There was only a small window in the interrogation room of the police station. The orange light was the only thing illuminating the tables, chairs, and the gray walls, which made the atmosphere in the room appear cold and solemn. Even so, Xu Juan who was standing by the narrow window seemed very tall and handsome.


    As Xu Juan heard the sound of footsteps, he turned his head and smiled, ¡°Xu Xu, the coffee here sucks.¡±


    Xu Xu did not answer him. She sat down and went straight to the point, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me about Ye Zixi?¡±


    Xu Juan stopped smiling and stared at the night sky outside of the window for a while before answering softly, ¡°Sorry, I just didn¡¯t want to talk about her.¡±


    Xu Xu¡¯s body stiffened.


    The two of them remained silent for a moment and Xu Xu asked once again, ¡°Okay, I understand. What else are you hiding? Even if she did vite thew during her lifetime, she has passed away. If you tell us everything you know now, we can use it to find the murderer.¡±


    Xu Juan looked her profoundly as Xu Xu returned his gaze calmly. After a while, Xu Juan turned around and went back to the table to sit down. He shifted his head slightly to light up a cigarette, but he remained silent.


    Throughout Xu Juan¡¯s twenty-seven years on this Earth, there was no one who made his life burn with passion the way Ye Zixi did. Nheless, everything burned itself to ashes in the end.


    Between the two of them, he was the one who loved money and cared solely for profit. He used to promise her that in the future, he would use his money and empire to fulfill any dream she had.


    However, she could not wait for this to happen. The shares and her rights in the Ye Group that had been stripped away from her was like a thorn in her heart. The straw that broke the camel¡¯s back arrived right before her graduation. Her father¡¯s old subordinate had told her that her father might not have died if Ye Lanyuan had sold the factory and used the money to treat him when he was severely ill.


    ¡°Juan, the Longxi Group was originally known as the Longxi Group (TN: Both ¡®Xi¡¯ have the same pronunciation but have two different meanings, the currentpany name being ¡®west¡¯ and the oldpany¡¯s name being ¡®sunset¡¯.). My father used my name as thepany¡¯s name.¡± She said. After this, she left him, determined to get back the shares that once belonged to her.


    Later on, when Xu Juan himself was immersed in the business industry, he finally understood something. What were the odds of having such unrealistic coincidence? The people from the Ye Family might, in reality, have been the one who revealed the news to her that Ye Lanyuan had given up on treating her father. It might have just been one of her dirty, underhanded tricks. Nheless, by the time he realized this, it was already toote.


    ¡°So... she went back to Ye Group in order to get back the shares?¡± Xu Xu asked. ¡°What did she do? This may be rted to the reason why she was killed.¡±


    Xu Juan shook his head, ¡°I don¡¯t know. All I know is that she has been doing it for years, but she has never told me anything else.¡±


    Xu Xu continued by asking, ¡°What is your current rtionship with her?¡±


    Xu Juan, ¡°After she returned to Lin City, we stayed together for a few nights. That¡¯s it.¡±


    ¡°Did she have a lover in Lin City?¡±


    Xu Juan remained silent for a moment, ¡°One time after work, I tailed her with my car.¡±


    What happened after this? He saw a ck car pass by but the man¡¯s face was blocked by the window. He had a tall build and was wearing a suit as he tightened his hand around her waist and vaguely moved his hands under her clothes. Meanwhile, Ye Zixi¡¯s entire body was leaning against him as if she was worshipping him. He had never seen her so humble and submissive before.


    ¡°Who was that person?¡± Xu Xu asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but Zixi was very determined to achieve her goal. I don¡¯t think she would do anything without expecting a reward.¡±


    Xu Xu continued to ask questions and Xu Juan continued to answer as Ji Bai and a few colleagues stood outside on the other side of the one-sided mirror. When they heard this, Zhao Han hesitated before saying slowly, ¡°He meant...¡±


    Ji Bai faintly said, ¡°He meant that Ye Zixi¡¯s lover was most probably her aplice in the Ye Family.¡±


    Xu Xu sent Xu Juan back home after they finished taking his statement. After she arrived home, she wanted to return to the police station, but Xu Juan suddenly said to her, ¡°I want to see the photos of Zixi after she passed.¡±


    Xu Xu remained silent for a moment before nodding. ¡°I will give them to you, but you need to be mentally prepared.¡±


    Xu Juan looked at the photos in his hand for a long time. Eventually, he buried his face in his hands and sobbed deeply.


    Xu Xu walked in and reached out to embrace him. She felt something wet dripping onto the back of her hand. Xu Xu¡¯s heart hurt as she said in a low voice, ¡°I didn¡¯t ask you in the police station, but why didn¡¯t you mention her before? Did you really not even want to talk to me or dad about it?¡±


    Xu Juan did not answer.


    How could he tell this little girl?


    How could he tell her that her tough and tactful brother was having problems falling asleep after breaking up with a woman? He had been struggling with insomnia for the past few years, such that all he could do at night was keep his eyes wide open until the next morning.


    When he heard the news about her death, he was standing in the warm and lively conference room, but in his mind, he felt as though he was standing on an empty wastnd.


    He raised his head and looked at his sister¡¯s worried expression. He smiled and caressed her head, ¡°You wouldn¡¯t have understood even if I told you.¡±


    Xu Xu was stunned. She thought that there was nothing that she needed to understand. Every action had its consequences, and Ye Zixi had, in this case, made the wrong choice.


    It was the third day after Ye Zixi¡¯s death when they put together all the information from their investigations along with the information provided by Xu Juan. Then, the criminal police unit held another meeting.


    Old Wu was the first to report on the overall investigation,


    ¡°Firstly, we conducted arge-scale search on all the suspects but we still found nothing. Our first step now is to investigate the possibility of hired personnel or gangstersmitting the crime.


    ¡°Secondly, we searched the entirety of Lin An Mountain but did not find any valuable clues or evidence.


    ¡°Thirdly, ever since the day of the incident, we have arranged criminal police to constantly monitor and track the few members of the Ye Family. So far, we have observed no abnormalities, and there aren¡¯t any loopholes in their testimonies.¡±


    Da Hu added, ¡°Right now, the motives for the murder are not yet established. Xu Juan¡¯s words are credible and I suspect that the Ye Family most probably found out that Ye Zixi was secretly plotting her revenge against them. Therefore, she was killed during the conflict.¡±


    ¡°The man that Ye Zixi formed an alliance with to go against the Ye Family is unlikely to be the child of the Ye Family.¡± Yao Meng said, ¡°It is most likely one of the two sons-inw.¡±


    Ji Bai nodded and said in a low voice, ¡°I agree with everyone¡¯s point. Out next investigation will focus on the members of the Ye family. Old Wu, what about their alibis?¡±


    Old Wu flipped through the information and said, ¡°At first nce, everyone seems to have alibis. However, after two days of in-depth investigation, we have encountered some problems.¡±


    ¡°How so?¡±


    Old Wu replied, ¡°Ye Lanyuan and the eldest child Ye Ziqiang both had a definite alibi. Ye Lanyuan always had a servant in his room and he did not leave the house that night. Moreover, his body condition is not suitable for driving, whereas Ye Ziqiang had been in thepany since 10.00pm to deal with an overseas affair. The security camera and security guards confirmed that he was there as well.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded, ¡°ording to Xu Juan¡¯s description, the man should be a middle-aged man.¡±


    Old Wu continued, ¡°The second and third couple returned to the Ye Family¡¯s mansion before 10 pm and did not leave the house for the entire night. However, I went to check the mansion and found that because Ye Lanyuan did not like cameras, they did not have any security tapes to verify this im. The mansion is very big and is located very far away from the other mansions. Thus, if they left the mansion in the middle of the night, they would not necessarily be discovered. Therefore, the remaining suspects are now the second couple and the third couple.¡±


    Ji Bai said briefly, ¡°We will visit the Ye Family tomorrow.¡±


    ...


    The next day.


    Every one of the members of the Ye Family was told by their respective secretaries that the criminal police was paying them a visit. The eldest child, Ye Ziqiang was listening to his assistant¡¯s report and stiffened when he heard the news.


    The second child was holding a regr department meeting and contemted for a short while before nodding. ¡°Okay.¡±


    The second son-inw, Wu Xie had just arrived in the office when he got the news. He simply remained silent as he raised his head to look at his secretary while holding a cup of coffee.


    The third child, Ye Qiao was standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window while she looked at the flow of traffic below. She frowned and cursed angrily. ¡°When can they wrap up the investigations?¡±


    The third son-inw, Zhang Shiyong was in his office meeting another high-ranking member of the group. After he heard the news, he was stunned slightly and smiled politely at his guest. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, this will be it for today. I will make up for it and treat you to a meal some other time. Officers, pleasee in.¡±

 Chapter 21

    <h4>Chapter 21</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    The Ye Group Headquarters was situated in the middle of the CBD. Amongst a sea of dazzling, magnificent office buildings, the dark gray skyscrapers of the Ye Group stood high and mighty.


    In order not to startle or to alert anyone, Ji Bai only brought a small group of people with him. Along with Xu Xu and Old Wu, he waited at the exquisite,fortable lobby for a while before the door was pushed open, whereby Yao Meng and the receptionist greeted them with smiling faces.


    ¡°Captain, everything has been arranged. We may start.¡± Yao Meng¡¯s said loudly and clearly.


    When it came to work, Yao Meng had always been highly efficient. Ji Bai smiled and nodded. ¡°Thank you for the hard work.¡±


    Yao Meng smiled and stood beside Old Wu as Ji Bai brought Xu Xu with him, then the four of them split up to begin their assigned task.


    The marble floor looked glossy despite the muted color and the spacious open office area was quiet except for the constant drone of keyboards typing, books flipping, and pacing footsteps... With the administrative staff leading the way, Ji Bai and Xu Xu passed through a long narrow corridor that was well lit with natural light. Along the way, employees here and there looked up to observe them. On their faces were looks of doubt, vignce, and of amusement.


    The office of the eldest child, Ye Ziqiang, was located at the end of the corridor.


    The main industries of Ye Family included real estate, automobile production and trade, IT, and F&B. As the eldest child, Ye Ziqiang was in charge of production and purchase management.


    Ji Bai and Xu Xu were stunned the moment they walked in ¨C the entire room was so roomy that it could easily fit fifty people. That being said, the decor was consistent with the office cubicles of the normal staff outside, it was not personalized nor extravagant at all.


    Once Ji Bai sat down, he smiled. ¡°Excuse us for bothering you, Chief Executive Ye, thank you for cooperating with the police.¡±


    Ye Ziqiang put on a smile on his initially expressionless face and bowed slightly. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it, I too hope that the culprit will be captured soon.¡± He was forty that year, was tall but also fat, and was fierce looking, so his smile really did make him look much more approachable.


    While they conversed, Xu Xu quickly checked out their surroundings. The shelf at the side of the room was filled to the brim with books. Most of them were rted to economic management, but there were also a few military books, as well as several Swiss Army knives on disy. The eldest son of the Ye Family clearly had hobbies that matched his appearance, as he had a heavy, masculine style. The remaining books were more diverse, ranging from fashion, fancy cars, movies, popr novels... all of which were ced in an orderly fashion on the shelf.


    There was nothing notable about his desk either. Other than his office materials, there was also his cigarette case, lighter, and keys on it.


    After Ji Bai seriously asked a few superficial questions, he cut to the chase. ¡°ording to our procedure, I need to ask you about your itinerary on the day that the incident happened.¡±


    Ye Ziqiang stared at him sharply. He looked quite fierce as he did not smile at all. ¡°I had already been asked before.¡±


    Ji Bai put on an indistinct smirk as he replied, ¡°I¡¯ll be asking more detailed questions this time.¡±


    Ye Ziqiang looked at him for a while before replying, ¡°... Alright. I have a meeting at ten, try your best to not take too long.¡±


    ¡°Very well.¡±


    Ye Ziqiang¡¯s statement was identical to what Old Wu had provided before ¨C Around six o¡¯clock that night, he had finished dinner with third son-inw Zhang Shiyong, then he drove around the city and bought pastries from a certain old shop before heading home. On the way back, he received a call from his second sister regarding a batch of thepany¡¯s materials, so he decided to drive back to the warehouse. Unexpectedly, however, he received another call from an overseas marketer while he was on his way there, so he went back to the office where he worked from ten o¡¯clock till two in the morning.


    Xu Xu looked at him from time to time. Although he had a cold look on his face and behaved seriously, it was still obvious that he was quite nervous. His face was slightly flushed and he frequently sipped on his tea.


    After they interrogated Ye Ziqiang, Ji Bai did not immediately go to meet the second child Ye Jin. Instead, he led Xu Xu downstairs towards the empty green area in front of the building so that they could immediately exchange opinions.


    He asked softly, ¡°What do you think?¡±


    Xu Xu pondered for some time then answered, ¡°Based on our description of the culprit, one of them is an impulsive, hesitant criminal. Ye Ziqiang didn¡¯t have strong mental fortitude earlier, which is clearly in line with our suspect. Nheless, we can¡¯t make any meaningful deductions based on this one point as most people would be nervous during an interrogation.¡±


    ¡°Besides, ording to what Old Wu had previously told us, Ye Ziqiang was publicly known to be an extensive, straightforward character. He has been doing business with his father since young as has been arrested a few times illegal dealings and fights as a young man. This is probably the reason why he can¡¯t rx in front of the police and has conflicting emotions. On top of that, he has an alibi.¡±


    Ji Bai fell silent for a while then nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s go up.¡±


    As they returned to the building, Ji Bai¡¯s phone rang. It was a call from the station chief who wanted to ask about the case progress.


    Ji Bai waved at Xu Xu to signal her to go up first.


    When the call ended, Ji Bai smoked for a while before going back in. After taking a few steps, he spotted Xu Xu¡¯s tiny figure beside the music fountain. She stood straight with her back facing him. Then, he spotted Ye Zixiao in front of her, who was dressed in a suit as he spoke to her, his tall figure almost covering herpletely.


    Ji Bai ashed his cigarette and walked over.


    Over thest couple of days, Ye Zixiao¡¯s work life had returned normal, but he couldn¡¯t keep his mind off the crime scene. That morning, when he heard that the Criminal Police Unit were at the conglomerate¡¯s buildings to investigate again, an unbelievable thought suddenly crossed his mind. ¡®It can¡¯t be, do the police think that Ye Zixi¡¯s secret lover, the murderer who killed her, is someone from the Ye Family?¡¯


    He felt uneasy for the whole morning as he thought about this. When he heard that Ji Bai and Xu Xu had gone downstairs after interviewing Ye Ziqiang, he ran downstairs as well, only to bump right into Xu Xu.


    However, Xu Xu was very careful with her words. Even though he asked her about a lot of things, she only gave him a faint, vague answer, ¡°I can¡¯t disclose this.¡± Still, Ye Zixiao felt that while he was frustrated, Xu Xu was being reasonable, so he no longer pressed her about it.


    Even though they only talked for a short while, when he looked at her neat and calm face, his restless feelings simmered down inexplicably once more. It was reced by a familiarplicated feeling in his heart ¨C it was a little bitter, a little sweet, a mixture of uneasiness and desire.


    ¡°Have you been busytely?¡± He almost subconsciously softened his tone. ¡°You¡¯ve worked hard. Thank you for everything you¡¯re doing for Zixi.¡±


    Xu Xu replied, ¡°You¡¯re wee.¡±


    Her disaffection made Ye Zixiao ufortable and he blurted out, ¡°Xu Xu, I¡¯ll change.¡±


    Xu Xu was stunned but before she could answer, a voice from behind her interrupted then. ¡°Change what?¡±


    Ye Zixiao still thought of Ji Bai as the man who had been ¡°rejected by Xu Xu just like me¡±, and was ¡°unrted to Xu Xu outside of work¡±. In spite of that, his impression of Ji Bai was quite a good one because of the current case.


    Thus, he smiled and nodded at him. ¡°Nothing much,¡± then he looked at Xu Xu. ¡°I won¡¯t bother you anymore, go ahead with your duties.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded dully. When Ye Zixiao was about to leave, he saw Ji Bai reaching out his hand to tap Xu Xu¡¯s head softly. He looked very natural as he said to her with a vague smile, ¡°Go upstairs.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded. ¡°Oh.¡±


    Then, Ye Zixiao looked at Ji Bai and Ji Bai looked back at him too.


    Ji Bai and Xu Xu stood there quietly as the lift traveled upward. After some time, Ji Bai said abruptly, ¡°The recent case has been quite hectic, you¡¯ve worked hard.¡±


    Xu Xu replied immediately, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have time for blind dates anymore.¡± Ji Bai smiled.


    His rare, pleasant manner startled Xu Xu a bit as she exined, ¡°I¡¯m not in a hurry, my family is. It¡¯s alright, there won¡¯t be any dys since they said that they would arrange for me to meet someone else after this case is closed.¡±


    Ji Bai looked ahead as he said, ¡°... Hmm, let¡¯s go.¡±


    The second person they interrogated was the second child, Ye Jin.


    Ye Jin was responsible for the operation of the headquarters, dealing with things such as financial, administrative, human resources affairs and so on. Her office encapsted an evident personal style ¨C it was very clean, bright and spacious, and all her files and books were ced in a neat and orderly fashion. Despite not having any luxurious decorations, it felt tidy andfortable.


    Ye Jin was thirty-five years old and graduated with a background inputer science before starting a business over ten years ago with her father, uncle, and brother. Due to her introverted nature, she was in charge of the administrative matters of thepany from the start. She had short hair, a thin figure, and wore sses. Among the four children, she was definitely the least outstanding as she also maintained a modest demeanor.


    ording to her statement, she had left the office at half past seven to have dinner alone at a normal shop along the street. After a while, she received a work-rted call about their finances for a recent real estate project. Therefore, she called Ye Ziqiang. After a thorough discussion, she returned to the Ye Family¡¯s old mansion and did not leave until the next morning. This was around 9.00 to 10.00 pm.


    Ji Bai was very focused as he continuously nodded and said, ¡°Following protocol, I have to ask this question to everyone rted to the case. Is there anyone who can prove that you stayed at home and never left after 10.00 pm?¡±


    Ye Jin was stunned. She remained quiet for a while then answered, ¡°Does my husband count?¡±


    Ji Bai asked, ¡°Is there anyone else?¡±


    Ye Jin lowered her head and thought, then she shook her head. ¡°I did go downstairs to sit in the garden for a while at around eleven o¡¯clock that night, but the maids were already asleep by then, so I didn¡¯t see anyone.¡±


    After Ji Bai¡¯s inquiry ended, Xu Xu piped up. ¡°I need to take a look at the logbook and databanks of the departments that you¡¯re in charge of. If there is any confidential data, feel free to exclude them first.¡±


    Ye Jin could not help but look at her for a while as she spoke due to the fact that Xu Xu had done nothing but record quietly for the duration of the interrogation.


    Right then, Ji Bai smiled and added on, ¡°Not just your departments, if it¡¯s not too much of a hassle, it¡¯ll be best if you let us take a look at all the basic information of all the departments. This is just a part of the procedure and it won¡¯t take up too much of your time.¡±


    After leaving Ye Jin¡¯s office, they walked for a short while before arriving at an aisle where nobody else was around. Ji Bai nced at Xu Xu and asked in a low voice showing hints of his amusement, ¡°You want to look through her work to analyze her?¡±


    Xu Xu nodded.


    Ji Bai put on a in smile andughed quietly. ¡°You should do it more subtly, don¡¯t be so direct.¡±


    Xu Xu replied, ¡°... Oh.¡±


    As Ji Bai looked at her lowered side profile, he added slowly, ¡°Of course, don¡¯t beat around the bush when you talk to me.¡±


    Xu Xu looked up at him then smiled. ¡°I understand. You¡¯ve said before that you don¡¯t like it.¡±


    Ji Bai was already used to this by now. As he looked into her kind eyes, he just smiled at her without saying any more.


    Ye Jin¡¯s secretary let Ji Bai use theputer and gave him a quick walkthrough of the system. ¡°Thepany has five major systems: administration, business approvals, financial affairs etc. Administration constitutes the main program whilst the other four systems can be essed through this system.¡±


    Ji Bai roughly browsed for a while thenmented, ¡°Not bad, it¡¯s very quick.¡±


    The secretary smiled. ¡°Yes, it is. Only the administration system is old, it has been there since the early years when thepany was just starting out. As for the other four big systems, thepany had spent tens of millions to hire renowned overseas ITpanies to design them a few years ago. Since Zixiao has finally returned to the country, he¡¯ll be responsible for managing the systems.¡±


    As Ji Bai checked the basic information of thepany on oneputer, Xu Xu used the otherputer to browse through the working system, processes, and logbook of each department in thepany.


    At noon, the four of them from the Criminal Police Unit had their lunch together. They ate quickly and, seeing that they still had plenty of time before the staff returned from their breaks, walked over to Ruiying Park nearby and exchanged the information gathered from the questioning they had done earlier in the morning.


    Old Wu had already talked to the Ye Family in the past, so this time he had brought Yao Meng along to interview some employees in thepany. So far they had not found valuable.


    Ji Bai nced at Xu Xu and said, ¡°Tell us what you think.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded. ¡°So far, there¡¯s nothing suspicious about Ye Ziqiang. Ye Jin...¡±


    She paused for a while. ¡°After examining the management, systems, and processes of each department, there¡¯s no doubt that her¡¯s are the neatest and strictest among all the departments and subsidiaries. Other than that, I¡¯vepiled some basic statistical data from the administration system: On average, it takes up to 12 days to circte files in other departments, but it only takes 4 hours in the departments under her management. Hence, I think that her ability to either lead or work must probably be very outstanding. Then again, there are no other findings so we can¡¯t jump to any conclusions.¡±


    Both Old Wu and Yao Meng were somewhat surprised because when they had previously met Ye Jin, their only impression of her was that she was prudent and gentle. She had a mediocre reputation and underwhelming achievements in thepany, making her the least noticeable person in the upper hierarchy of the Ye Group.


    To their surprise, Ji Bai nodded and said, ¡°I agree. Not only that, but she fits the profile of the second culprit with high IQ, and she doesn¡¯t have an alibi. She should be treated as one of the suspects and needs to be observed closely.¡±


    Old Qu and Yao Meng were instantly taken aback. Even Xu Xu stared at him.


    Ji Bai stated the condition of the Ye Group¡¯s IT system as he stared at the Ye Group¡¯s skyscraper that towered quietly not far from them. Then he said with a distant tone, ¡°Theirpany spent tens of millions to design the IT system, but preserved the original aging system, going so far as to make it their main system. This only means that the old system was built exceptionally well and was designed with the future in mind, which allowed it to cope with thing such as the foreign investment system a few yearster.¡±


    ¡°Ten over years ago, Ye Group only had a handful of employees and only Ye Jin had a background inputer science among them. In addition to this, thepany was small-scale back then, and there were no records of outsourcing to other ITpanies.¡±


    ¡°For a freshly graduateddy to be able to design such a system... Her IQ and cognitive abilities are certainly quite impressive.¡±


    Old Wu and the others fell silent. A momentter, Yao Meng asked, ¡°So you suspect that Ye Jin is the criminal with the high IQ?¡±


    Ji Bai answered indistinctly, ¡°We can¡¯t say for sure. Ye Jin might not be the only one with a high IQ among the children of the Ye Family.¡±

 Chapter 22

    <h4>Chapter 22</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    The first person whom Ji Bai and Xu Xu met in the afternoon was the second son-inw Wu Xie. He was in charge of the food and beverages segment of thepany.


    Wu Xie sat opposite the two of them in a delicate, elegantly decorated office whilst looking veryposed. While he was already thirty-seven years old, his fair skin and good looks made him seem as though he was still in his early thirties.


    ¡°What can I help you with?¡± He smiled vaguely. His tone was polite yet distant.


    Ji Bai looked him straight at him in the eye as he spoke, ¡°Following protocol, we need to know about your itinerary during the day of the incident.¡±


    Wu Xie nodded lightly.


    His statement was very simple and clear ¨C he had a dinner that day and ate until a little past nine. After this, he arrived home before ten and slept until the morning.


    When questioned about Ye Zixi, he answered, ¡°I don¡¯t know her well. With the exception of work-rted matters, we basically don¡¯t contact each other.¡±


    After they were done talking to Wu Xie, Ji Bai and Xu Xu shared the same conclusion that he was not nervous, and although he had a rather indifferent attitude, he answered every question smoothly without thinking, so he did not seem suspicious ¨C at least, not at first nce.


    Nheless, as they considered Ye Jin¡¯s traits, they felt that there was still the possibility that the husband and wife had conspired tomit the crime together. However, they needed to meet everyone to analyze their theory further.


    The second person they met was Ye Qiao, the third child.


    Among the children of Ye Family, she looked the most outstanding. Since the day of their marriage, Ye Qiao and Zhang Shiyong were known as the perfect schr and the ravishing beauty ¨C they were the model couple of the Ye Family, their names well known throughout Lin City.


    Ji Bai asked her, ¡°Where were you at 7.00pm on the night of the incident until 5.00am the next day?¡±


    ¡°I had dinner with a friend until 9.00pm, then I went home.¡± Ye Qiao replied inly. ¡°I woke up at 7 the next day for work.¡±


    ¡°Were there any unusual movements in the house that night?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Ye Qiao looked at him unpleasantly. ¡°I don¡¯t quite understand what you are asking. What movements could there be?¡±


    Ji Bai smiled, then he changed the topic. ¡°How¡¯s your rtionship with Ye Zixi?¡±


    Ye Qiao took a cigarette out from the cigarette carton on the table, then lit it up and took a drag. ¡°Our rtionship is pretty normal.¡±


    Right then, Xu Xu cut in and asked, ¡°Do you know if Ye Zixi had conflicts with anyone? Did Ye Zixi have a lover?¡±


    Ye Qiao took another puff and replied faintly, ¡°I don¡¯t know of any of Ye Zixi¡¯s conflicts as I wasn¡¯t very familiar with her personal life.¡±


    The evening sun was beautiful and warm as Ji Bai and Xu Xu stood in front of the quiet green area on the ground floor. Ji Bai lit a cigarette and asked, ¡°Any questionable points?¡±


    Xu Xu nodded. ¡°Yes. When she answered other questions, she was calmer, but when we mentioned Ye Zixi, she subconsciously answered much slower and clearer, which instead made me feel that she was intentionally controlling her emotions. Perhaps she¡¯s hiding something.¡±


    Ji Bai nodded. ¡°There¡¯s something else, judging from her movements, I suspect that she probably hasn¡¯t been smoking for long.¡±


    Xu Xu¡¯s heart jumped. Normally, adults who were suddenly addicted to smoking and drinking mostly did so to fulfill their needs and to release stress.


    Ji Bai smiled. ¡°Young, beautiful, rich. The information we have shows that she¡¯s healthy, and the departments managed by her perform excellently as well. What other reason would cause a woman like her to suddenly start smoking?¡±


    Xu Xu pondered for a while before answering. ¡°Stressful family issues. Are you saying that her husband might have had an affair?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t say for sure, but it¡¯s a possibility.¡±


    The two of them fell silent for a while as Xu Xu looked at the wisp of smoke dancing coyly around Ji Bai¡¯s fingers. ¡°What about you? Why do you smoke?¡±


    Ji Bai¡¯s gaze also fell on the cigarette that was quietly burning in between his fingers.


    He started smoking when he first entered the Criminal Police Unit. He was in his early twenties when he was forced to face corpse after corpse. He ended up in terrible shape and had insomnia due to the cases, which was why he turned to cigarettes. Later on, it became a habit and he continued to smoke from time to time. He could not cut the habit, but also never even gave quitting it any thought.


    Those fleeting thoughts passed through his head for a brief moment before Ji Bai looked at Xu Xu and asked, ¡°Why, you don¡¯t like me smoking?¡±


    Xu Xu looked at him, slightly shocked.


    In her heart, Ji Bai had always been a superior, a mentor, a colleague, and a senior worthy of her respect, but she had never thought of him as, ¡®Ji Bai is a twenty-eight-year-old handsome, single man who is closely associated with me.¡¯ Even so, she still felt that Ji Bai¡¯s words were a bit off. They were almost like... a tease from a man to a woman?


    The strange thought quickly crossed her mind as Xu Xu subconsciously looked at Ji Bai¡¯s eyes and observed his expression. Nheless, since Ji Bai was such a matured and experienced person, she was never able to see read his emotions. At that moment, all she could see was the calmness and coolness emanating from his eyes.


    Xu Xu naturally felt relieved and concluded that there was no deeper meaning behind what Ji Bai had asked ¨C he was literally asking her whether she liked his smoking habit or not. Hence, she nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t like it. It¡¯s best that you don¡¯t smoke since it endangers your health.¡±


    When Ji Bai was about to reply when Xu Xu¡¯s phone rang. It was a notice from the secretary that they could now meet Zhang Shiyong.


    Based on their information, Zhang Shiyong was the second son of another renowned entrepreneur in the city before he married Ye Qiao. Aside from that, he also held a master¡¯s degree from Europe. At the moment, he was responsible for a real estate spinoff of two joint ventures, the project¡¯s potential for revenue was so high that he essentially dominated half of the Ye Group.


    His office, on the other hand, was painted with cold tones which made it seem sturdy, extravagant and luxurious. Zhang Shiyong wore a jet ck suit and turned around slowly under the lights. There was a joyous look on his face as he greeted them. ¡°Officers, sorry for the wait.¡±


    Even Xu Xu, who was not easily moved by men¡¯s charm, was slightly stunned when she first saw him. This was because both his looks and demeanor were extremely polished and he was radiating with the elegance of a mature man.


    ¡°Mister Zhang, sorry for bothering you.¡± Ji Bai smiled and shook his hand. As Zhang Shiyong looked at him, his smile widened. ¡°Detective Ji, It¡¯s a pleasure to finally meet you.¡±


    Xu Xu looked at Ji Bai¡¯s handsome and pronounced side profile, which was different from the strong aura given off by Zhang Shiyong¡¯s gestures. Ji Bai looked very collected and natural, which made him seem much more grounded. There was a hint of a reserved steadiness in the way Ji Bai moved that was missing in the other man.


    When questioned about his itinerary that night, Zhang Shiyong was unflustered. ¡°I had a meeting until eight in the office that night and reached home before nine. As for my alibi after that, I really can¡¯t provide any.¡±


    He answered the remaining questions ordingly, but when Ye Zixi was mentioned, he furrowed his brows a little. ¡°I really admired her, it¡¯s such a pity.¡±


    ...


    Ji Bai only had one evaluation regarding Zhang Shiyong. ¡°Watertight. He didn¡¯t identally release any information he didn¡¯t want to.¡±


    Xu Xu on the other hand frowned. ¡°If I was Ye Zixi, then I would choose Zhang Shiyong for sure.¡±


    Ji Bai instantly paused as he was about to light a cigarette, then he looked at her and said unhurriedly, ¡°Your assumption is not valid, but your deduction does make sense. Let¡¯s go back to the police station first and gather with the others to discuss.¡±


    In the evening, Ji Bai and Xu Xu first returned to the police station before heading to a small restaurant nearby to await Old Wu and Yao Meng.


    Ji Bai tossed the menu to Xu Xu then went outside. After a pondering a long while under the night sky, his thoughts cleared up, so he became more rxed.


    When he returned to the restaurant, Xu Xu looked at him as she was waiting to go through their conclusions for the day.


    Ji Bai sat down and spoke. ¡°So far, the second couple and third couple are our best bets. That being said, Zhang Shiyong has the highest possibility of being Ye Zixi¡¯s secret lover and ally.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded. ¡°Whether it¡¯s his character, ability, or his powers in the Ye Group, he¡¯s obviously the best target for Ye Zixi. On top of that, Ye Qiao¡¯s behavior further proves this theory.¡±


    At that moment, the waiter brought them their dishes as Ji Bai held the menu up and asked for a pot of tea. Xu Xu was not as rxed as he was, so she frowned and continued, ¡°Well, whatever we¡¯re discussing now is just a rtive possibility as there¡¯s no proof.¡±


    Ji Bai held his teacup up and shrugged faintly. ¡°There is proof. The proof is on him.¡±


    Xu Xu raised her eyebrow upon hearing this. After all, she was less experienced, so she was clueless about what proof Ji Bai was talking about. Nheless, she knew that Ji Bai must be certain since he said this, so she was shocked due to her respect for him.


    The night sky outside the window was dark blue in color, whereas the lights inside glowed an auburn color. Ji Bai looked at her distinctive clear eyes, which were clearly filled with admiration as his heart skipped a beat. Everyone else always said that she was a dull person, but her eyes were truly eyes that could speak. It was just that... she herself did not talk much.


    Ji Bai¡¯s smile curled upward more at the corner of his lips as he shocked her even more. ¡°By tomorrow, the proof will fall into our hands and the case should be solved within three days. The station chief requested that we crack the case within a week¡¯s time so there shouldn¡¯t be any dy.¡±


    Xu Xu jaw dropped as she stared at him unblinkingly.


    Ji Bai could not help butugh as he tapped on the chair beside him. ¡°Sit over here, I¡¯ll exin it to you.¡±


    Xu Xu was desperate to know the answer so she did not think about the unnecessary requirement of ¡°sitting over here¡± so that he could ¡°exin¡±. Instead, she immediately stood up and sat beside him, then looked up at him expectantly.


    Ji Bai naturally ced his arm over the back of her chair, then took his lighter out with the other hand and lit a cigarette. He took a drag then exhaled smoke rings. As he was going to start his exnation, he saw Xu Xu looking at the smoke rings whilst frowning. ¡°Didn¡¯t you just say today that you¡¯ll quit smoking?¡±


    Ji Bai looked at the littledy who was just half a foot away from him, and replied leisurely, ¡°Xu Xu, only my girlfriend can control me, my apprentice can¡¯t.¡±


    When Xu Xu heard this, she tilted her head sideways and looked at him curiously.


    On that same peaceful night, in the same city, someone was heading down the path of happiness, whereas for somebody else, every minute that passed was tormenting.


    In the skyscraper of Ye Group, the third child Ye Qiao stood in her office as she pondered.


    Looking down from the full-length french window, the bustling life of the streets below looked like an endless abyss. She smoked a cigarette in front of the ss, and as she was going to put it in her mouth, somebody snatched it away abruptly.


    She turned at once and looked at the man in front of her who was forcing a smile. As usual, he looked tall and handsome, his pronounced features that were exceedingly charming reflected faintly off the window. His presence was both irresistible and intimidating at the same time.


    Zhang Shiyong looked at his wife who was terrified but trying hard to act calm. He smiled at her calmly then threw her cigarette into the dustbin.


    Ye Qiao¡¯s face kept changing until she eventually looked as pale as ghost. Suddenly, she grit her teeth and blurted out two words, ¡°You barbaric animal.¡±


    Zhang Shiyong immediately stopped smiling. He hooked her waist as Ye Qiao tried hard to push him away, only to cause him to grip her even tighter. As he looked at her delicate body trembling in his arms, Zhang Shiyong could not help but suddenlyugh as he lowered his head and bit her neck. ¡°Zixi¡¯s not as beautiful as you, has less shares than you, and she¡¯s not as obscene as you in bed. Now that she¡¯s dead, what are you still dissatisfied about?¡±

 Chapter 23

    <h4>Chapter 23</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    ¡°Xu Xu, only my girlfriend can control me, my apprentice can¡¯t.¡± Right after saying this, Ji Bai stared at her calmly.


    Xu Xu looked at him too, then she answered very clearly, ¡°I don¡¯t want to control you.¡±


    Ji Bai looked at her kind, bright eyes, and felt a sulkiness rise up his chest. She had always been frank and outspoken, so in this case, she must really be totally uninterested in him.


    The irritable thought gradually grew as Ji Bai held his cigarette and took another puff with an emotionless look.


    Unexpectedly, Xu Xu continued to say, ¡°Teacher, I just care about you.¡±


    Xu Xu appeared serious and sincere when she said this. Perhaps she was still not too used to taking the initiative to express her kindness, because her white-skinned face was flushed red as well.


    Ji Bai went silent for a while, then suddenly smiled deeply.


    He ashed his cigarette in the ashtray then cast a sidelong nce at her. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll listen to you.¡±


    Xu Xu smiled slightly then added on, ¡°Actually, there are a lot of ways to release stress, with smoking being the most unhealthy way. I believe you know this too. It¡¯s actually not very difficult to quit smoking¡±


    As she spoke methodically, Ji Bai listened to the soft, gentle voice droning on next to his ears and felt veryfortable. He thought to himself, ¡®Ji Bai, oh Ji Bai, she has such an innocent and unassuming mind. Why did your mood fluctuate today because of her words? You¡¯re acting like an emotional young fellow. You have to get her to follow you unknowingly, don¡¯t confuse her by making her go round in circles.¡¯


    After thinking about this, he nodded at Xu Xu. ¡°What you said makes sense, but I have a huge smoking addiction, so it¡¯ll be tough for me to quit smoking by myself. Since you¡¯re an expert and you¡¯re keen on taking care of me, why don¡¯t you work with me to help me quit the habit?¡±


    Xu Xu replied, ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll search for some information when I return and study it too so we can set a n together.¡±


    While the two of them conversed, the door was pushed open.


    Old Wu was talking on the phone, he casually nodded at the two of them then sat down on a chair and continued talking.


    As there were other subordinates around, Ji Bai naturally restrained himself, but just as he was about to remove his arm from the back of Xu Xu¡¯s chair, Yao Meng walked in.


    She had a clear view of both Ji Bai¡¯s position and Xu Xu who was sitting beside him conscientiously and was stunned.


    Ji Bai kept a straight face and did not move his arm either as he vaguely nced at Yao Meng. Yao Meng put on a smile then ced her bag down before sitting down herself.


    It was then that Ji Bai pulled his arm down naturally, but Yao Meng coincidentally looked up, and their eyes met again. Yao Meng only saw his usual calm and collected look, such that she felt suspicious and disappointed but could not see through him, so she just lowered her gaze again.


    At that moment, Old Wu hung up his phone and looked quite excited. ¡°Captain, there are two important new breakthroughs.¡±


    The news that Old Wu told them next was very crucial.


    Firstly, Ye Jin, the second child, had an alibi. In her statement, she mentioned that she sat in the garden downstairs alone after 11 o¡¯clock that night. There was an old driver of the Ye Family who was nearing his fifties, and he happened to be on leave these few days. However, when the police questioned him at work today, he mentioned that he had seen Ye Jin at night when the incident happened. The maid room that he stayed in was not far from the second couple¡¯s vi and he sleptte every night, so when he heard some movement, he looked out the window to see Ye Jin strolling about in the garden.


    Upon hearing this sudden alibi, Ji Bai and Xu Xu were in a daze.


    The second piece of news that Old Wu brought was rted to Ye Qiao, the third child.


    The police had been checking the surveince cameras of the Ye Family and the highways near the crime scene. Today, they finally noticed that one of the surveince cameras captured Ye Qiao driving about at 9.47 pm on the day of the incident. This meant that she went out that night.


    After listening to Ji Bai and Xu Xu¡¯s deduction on Zhang Shiyong¡¯s identity as the secret lover, Old Wu agreed. ¡°Now, it looks like the biggest suspects are the third couple. But Captain, what¡¯s the proof that you mentioned.¡±


    Ji Bai smiled slightly as he said, ¡°Clothing.¡±


    Xu Xu had a sudden realization and asked, ¡°Personal clothing that Zhang Shiyong took away from the crime scene?¡±


    Ji Bai nodded.


    Old Wu fell deep into thought, but Yao Meng was still confused.


    Ji Bai exined everything. ¡°From the messy wardrobe in the crime scene, we can deduce that Zhang Shiyong took his personal belongings away soon after Ye Zixi died. It was before dawn at the time, so how would he have handled these items?¡±


    ¡°Dump them on the road? No chance. His clothes are all famous handmade brands and would be too eye-catching. The police would have soonbed the entirety of Lin An Mountain, so throwing his clothes away would have been no better than directly exposing himself.¡±


    ¡°Bring them back to the office? He wouldn¡¯t do that either. Every lift in the building has surveince cameras, and the police would investigate the surveince records thoroughly. It would have attracted too much attention if he had carried such a big box of clothing up the building right after the day of the incident.¡±


    ¡°Bring it back home? Police have been going in and out of the Ye Mansion every day these past few days.¡±


    ¡°Besides, our men have been keeping an eye on the Ye family 24/7 hours since early in the morning of the day after the incident, so he wouldn¡¯t have any other chance to get rid of them.¡±


    Old Wu continued, ¡°So his clothes are still with him, and is most probably in his car. If we find these clothes, then we¡¯ll most likely be able to find traces of the crime scene.¡±


    The four of them kept quiet for a while, then Xu Xu asked, ¡°Can we apply for a search warrant?¡±


    Before Ji Bai could answer, Old Wu shook his head. ¡°So far we don¡¯t have any other proof, we only have our deductions. Not to mention, he¡¯s a well-known figure in the city, so it¡¯ll be difficult to apply for a search warrant.¡±


    They thought that they had arrived at a breakthrough, but who would have known that they would encounter a deadlock once again. Three of them including Old Wu frowned and pondered, whereas Ji Bai smiled.


    He subconsciously took a cigarette out, but just as he was about to put it in his mouth, he suddenly heard Xu Xu calling out to him quickly and softly, ¡°Teacher.¡± When he looked at her, that little fellow was looking straight at the cigarette in his hand, before shooting him a serious look.


    A sweetness and joy rose within Ji Bai¡¯s heart uncontrobly.


    After that, he pinched his cigarette and showed her a troubled look. Eventually, he nodded at her then put his cigarette down.


    Old Wu who was sitting beside themughed. ¡°Xu Xu, you¡¯re controlling your mentor to the point where you¡¯re stopping him from smoking?¡±


    Xu Xu answered, ¡°I¡¯m not controlling him, Teacher is determined to quit smoking, and I¡¯m merely supervising him. Old Wu, do you want to quit too?¡±


    After seeing what just happened, Yao Meng felt her smile freeze and soon found herself shifting the topic with a light-hearted voice. ¡°Captain, without a search warrant, what are we going to do?¡±


    Ji Bai then looked at her and replied with a slight smile, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll think of something else.¡±


    A short while into their meal, Ji Bai¡¯s phone rang. He took a look at the number as a smirk appeared on the corner of his lips. He quickly stood up and went outside.


    On the other end of the phone, Ye Zixiao sounded polite but distant. ¡°Officer Ji, I was having a meeting just now so I couldn¡¯t pick up your call, what¡¯s the matter?¡±


    Ji Bai said in a low tone, ¡°It¡¯s regarding Ye Zixi¡¯s case, there¡¯s something I¡¯d like you to help us with.¡±


    Ye Zixiao went quiet, then his voice became heavier. ¡°Tell me about it.¡±


    Ji Bai leaned against the wall of the shop as he watched the pitch ck sky, with the sparse stars speckled across the vastness of space. He spoke seriously, ¡°I believe you also noticed that the clothes of Ye Zixi¡¯s secret lover are missing from her vi. We¡¯re guessing that the clothes might have traces of the crime scene and that the secret lover probably hasn¡¯t found the chance to throw them away yet, despite it being a crucial piece of evidence for this case. If it¡¯s possible, I hope that you can help the police by paying attention to the Ye Group to see if anyone does anything unusual. Of course, this is also in hopes that your family will be proved innocent as soon as possible.¡±


    After hearing what he said, Ye Zixiao remained silent for a while then answered, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll pay attention to them.¡±


    Within half an hour, Ji Bai received Ye Zixiao¡¯s phone call again before they even finished their meal. He sounded determined and slightly mad, ¡°The clothings and the secret lover have been found, you cane over.¡±


    Ye Zixiao was not a fool. Although Ji Bai did not mention that they were suspecting people specifically from the Ye Family and only mentioned the Ye Group, the first thing that came to mind was still his family.


    At the time when he received the call, he was eating at home. That day, the police were investigating the case in theirpany, so Ye Lanyuan requested that everyone have a meal together at home. When everyone arrived, Ye Lanyuan said, ¡°From now onwards, we¡¯ll have a moment of silence for Zixi before we eat.¡±


    Nobody objected and nobody dared to say anything.


    As he sat at the dining table, the more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He simply put on a cold look and ced his chopsticks aside whilstpletely ignoring his father¡¯s poisonous look or his third sister¡¯s protest, and walked out.


    Due to the fact that they were eating at the main house, everyone¡¯s cars were parked beside the flower garden outside. Ye Zixiao stood under the dark night sky as he looked at the row of fancy cars. Without even needing to think much, he turned and called for the Ye Mansion¡¯s driver captain as well as the security captain.


    ¡°Open up all the car trunks.¡±


    ¡°Ask your men to hold the family back, nobody is allowed toe over.¡±


    Both the driver and security captain were dumbfounded, and seeing that the two of them remained hesitantly unmoving, Ye Zixiaoughed. ¡°Hurry up, or I¡¯ll get rid of you tomorrow. If you listen to me today, then each of you will be rewarded fifty-thousand yuan.¡±


    Ye ZIxiao had always been the overlord at home. The dear youngest son of his father, who would dare disobey him? Moreover, the captain¡¯s rtionship with him had always been quite good, so they simply grit their teeth and went with it.


    The trunks were opened one by one as Ye Zixiao examined all of them with a cold look on his face. His actions rmed everyone in the house, so they all ran out, with Ye Ziqiang being the first one to voice his displeasure. ¡°Fourth brother, what are you doing?¡±


    Without even looking at him, Ye Zixiao shouted to the security team beside him, ¡°Hold them back.¡± The security dared not hold them back and only pretended to block them from advancing. While this was happening, Ye ZIxiao opened a few more trunks. Ye Jin stood on the porch quietly, whereas Ye Qiao folded her arms in front of her chest, the smile on her face looked cold and mocking. Zhang Shiyong¡¯s face changed slightly as he dashed forward. ¡°Zixiao, what are you doing?¡±


    In truth, Ye Zixiao had expected to find the items in Wu Xie¡¯s car, but it turned out to be empty. At the moment, he was facing a BMW X5, which the driver captain imed he did not have the keys for.


    ¡°Brother-inw, don¡¯t bother, it¡¯s none of your business.¡± Ye Zixiao said to Zhang Shiyong, then he looked at everyone at the porch. ¡°Whose car is this?¡±


    Zhang Shiyong¡¯s face darkened. ¡°That is my car.¡±


    Ye Zixiao¡¯s heart skipped a beat as he looked at his brother-inw whom he always respected like a brother. ¡°Your car? Unlock it.¡±


    Zhang Shiyong¡¯s face was stone cold as he replied, ¡°I don¡¯t like people touching my things.¡±


    Ye Zixiao nced at him, then a wave of convoluted thoughts took over his mind. He suddenly yelled at the security captain stand beside him, ¡°Smash it.¡±


    The trunk was forcefully pried open and the big suitcase inside was cut open with a knife, only to reveal things like men¡¯s suit, pajamas, underwear, leather shoes, teacups and toiletries hidden inside it. Nobody said a thing, Zhang Shiyong as looked indistinct and asked. ¡°What exactly are you looking for?¡±


    Ye Zixiaopletely ignored his indifference. He immediately stormed towards his brother-inw, grabbed his tie, then punched him right in the face. ¡°Damn it, I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s actually you.¡±


    When Ji Bai and the others arrived at the Ye Mansion, Ye Zixiao was sitting on the back of the car with a terribly beaten face, with nobody from the security team besides him daring to get close to him. Zhang Shiyong¡¯s clothes and hair were in a mess, and he stood a couple of steps away from them with a ghastly look on his face.


    As for the remaining members of the Ye Family, they fell silent with varying looks. Ye Lanyuan, on the other hand, was not present.


    Upon seeing Ji Bai, Ye Zixiao jumped down from the car and walked up to him. ¡°Officer, I¡¯d like to hand you some evidence.¡±


    Xu Xu looked at his embarrassed yet relentless face and did not say a word. Then she looked at Ji Bai¡¯s calm expression and instantly understood what Ji Bai had meant when he stated that he would think of another way to look for the clothes.


    Ji Bai had expected Ye Zixiao to do this from the very start.


    When Zhang Shiyong was officially taken to the police station, he sat in the bright hearing room impably dressed. He was not nervous at all, and only the half of his face that was bruised seemed to be unpolished and hideous.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand why I¡¯m being taken to the police station in the middle of the night.¡± He lookedposed and he spoke slowly. ¡°I¡¯ll wait for mywyer.¡±


    Ji Bai and Old Wu personally interrogated him. When they walked into the room, Old Wu threw the authentication report in his hand onto the desk. ¡°Stop acting, that Italian handmade suit you¡¯re wearing is logged here in Ye Zixi¡¯s expenses report. She gave it to you, didn¡¯t she? The leather shoes have traces of the soil from the crime scene, but you probably don¡¯t know that the soilposition varies from ce to ce. Furthermore, the toiletries contain Ye Zixi¡¯s DNA. Mister Zhang, how can you exin this?¡±


    Xu Xu, Yao Meng, and the others were quietly listening and observing from the other side of the dark ss.


    Despite the fact that he was facing irrefutable evidence, Zhang Shiyong pondered before leaning back on the chair. He seemed to bepletely rxed as he spoke. ¡°That¡¯s right, Ye Zixi is my secret lover, but I didn¡¯t kill her, and there¡¯s no aplice. After all, women are just for fun. I have many women, but she¡¯s just one of them who stuck around longer. Can¡¯t I do that?¡±


    On the other side of the ss, Yao Meng cussed under her breath. ¡°Barbaric animal.¡± Xu Xu frowned as well.


    Subsequently, Ji Bai stared at him before stating, ¡°You went to the crime scene on the night the incident happened.¡±


    Zhang Shiyong looked at Ji Bai and smirked. ¡°I did go there, but by the time I arrived, she was already dead.¡±

 Chapter 24

    <h4>Chapter 24</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    ¡°I went because I received a message from Zixi.¡± Zhang Shiyong took out his phone and calmly passed it to Ji Bai.


    Everyone outside the interrogation room was stunned. ¡®Another message?¡¯


    ¡°Husband, I have something important to tell you, can youe to the vi immediately?¡± The timestamp read 10.40 pm that night, but the sender was not Ye Zixi, it came from an unknown number.


    ¡°This is the private sim card that Zixi and I used tomunicate daily.¡± Zhang Shiyong exined.


    Zhao Han who was seated beside Xu Xu muttered, ¡°As expected, there¡¯s another number. No wonder we couldn¡¯t find him in Ye Zixi¡¯s call records.¡±


    In the interrogation room, Zhang Shiyong raised his deep-set eyes that were like dark pools of water. ¡°It was veryte and I was quite surprised too, but since our private sim cards are encrypted only Zixi and I know the password, I still went.¡±


    ¡°I left right after I packed everything as I didn¡¯t want my rtionship with her exposed.¡± He said indistinctly, ¡°I was the one who covered her with the shirt too. After all, she was my woman.¡±


    Zhang Shiyong was temporarily released but remained under police surveince.


    There were two reasons why he was released. The first being that based on the route that he mentioned that he took to the vi, the police found a few surveince recordings which proved that he had arrived at the vi at midnight and left at 1 in the morning. However, upon further inspection of the forensic results of the corpse, they knew that Ye Zixi had probably already been killed by then.


    Secondly, the police had no other direct evidence that proved that he was rted to the crime.


    Everyone from the Criminal Police Unit immediately called for a quick meeting as Ji Bai cut straight to the point. ¡°Ye Qiao is the only possible person who could have sent the message.¡±


    Yao Meng added on, ¡°Yes, the message was sent at the same time that Ye Zixi was killed, but she had no reason at all to send such a message if she was in a dire situation.¡±


    Old Wu nodded. ¡°At that time, the eldest child Ye Ziqiang and the second child Ye Jin had alibis. Only Ye Qiao was out.¡±


    Xu Xu continued on, ¡°Apparently, nobody knows the password of the private card, but Ye Qiao is Zhang Shiyong¡¯s wife, so it¡¯s possible that she figured it out.¡±


    Zhao Han hesitated. ¡°Not only does the time of the case match, but she also has a motive tomit the crime, so it now looks like Ye Qiao is the biggest suspect. However, why did she send this message to get Zhang Shiyong to visit the scene? At 10.17 pm that night, Ye Zixiao received a message too, what exactly happened that night?¡±


    When he said this, everyone fell silent again. There were still a lot of uncertainties such that the case was still unclear and blurry. Suddenly, Ji Bai broke the silence. ¡°We¡¯ll know once we question her.¡±


    Incandescent lights shone on thedy¡¯s beautiful yet pale face. She held her hands together tightly and her body was very stiff such that, whenpared to her husband¡¯s calmness, Ye Qiao appeared to be very nervous.


    ¡°Give me a cigarette.¡± She sounded a bit hoarse.


    Ji Bai said, ¡°There¡¯s none.¡±


    Ye Qiao lowered her head and fell silent as Ji Bai stared at her. ¡°We want to talk about the message. Zhang Shiyong has already given us the details.¡±


    Ye Qiao said, ¡°What... message? I don¡¯t understand.¡±


    ¡°Miss Ye, we¡¯ve already found the highway surveince videos from that night. You arrived at Lin An Mountain at around 10 o¡¯clock, then stayed until 11 o¡¯clock before you left. Previously, you provided us with a false statement.¡± Old Wu softened his tone, ¡°Regardless of whether you killed her or not, it¡¯ll benefit you to be honest.¡±


    However, Ye Qiao¡¯s stubbornness far exceeded everyone¡¯s expectations. Even though Ji Bai and Old Wu who yed good cop bad cop, she still remained quiet even after half an hour.


    It was already 3 in the morning and Yao Meng had ordered some takeaway as everyone gathered in the big conference room and ate casually. Ji Bai ordered them to detain Ye Qiao for a few hours, then asked everyone to rest for a while before walking outside alone.


    It was dead quiet in the pitch-ckpound of the police station. Ji Bai leaned against the corridor with his tall body, then took a cigarette out from his pocket, but as he was about to light it up, he heard light yet familiar footsteps approach him from behind.


    He looked up at watched Xu Xu walking over quietly, then burst outughing. ¡°Just one.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded and walked to his side. She leaned against the railing as well as she was thinking about the case, and kept quiet,


    Ji Bai¡¯s heavy heart from dealing with the case was instantly relieved as he observed how the petite figure naturally followed him and stayed by his side. He had a thought and tossed the lighter to her. ¡°I¡¯ll keep my word, so you¡¯ll be keeping this for me from now on.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    Ji Bai chuckled and added on, ¡°But light this for me first.¡±


    Previously, Xu Xu used to light cigarettes for Xu Juan, so she was still quite familiar with what to do. ¡°Cha¡±, a me lit up, but before she could raise her hand to light it up, Ji Bai lowered his head and moved towards the me with the cigarette in his mouth.


    The corridor was quiet and dark, as Ji Bai¡¯s huge body towered over Xu Xu. Meanwhile, the orange lights shone on his side profile, which made his angr features even more prominent. Xu Xu saw this and felt her heart jump.


    She had always known that Ji Bai¡¯s looks were above average (However, he was still too tall and too muscr), but his face did not stand out to her. His face and Old Wu¡¯s face were no different to her.


    Perhaps it was due to the strange harmony of the dim street lights outside and the bright lights of thepound. Maybe it was the stillness of the night that made her enter a trance, but the moment he lowered his head and inched closer to her, he looked bold and sturdy. It made her notice him in a way that she never had before.


    She continued to stare at him as Ji Bai straightened his body and took a puff, then he looked back at her. ¡°You should go sleep for a while too.¡±


    Xu Xu quickly turned away and lowered her head whilst iming that she did not need to. She silently took deep breaths to steady her heartbeat that was going out of control and she quietly thought to herself, ¡®Desire for food and lust is just a part of human nature, desire for food and lust is just a part of human nature.¡¯


    The two of them stood for a little longer, then Ji Bai ashed his cigarette. ¡°Let¡¯s go, we¡¯ll talk to Ye Qiao again.¡±


    The hearing room was bright and quiet. Ye Qiao could not maintain her posture of sitting upright anymore, so she soon found herself lying down on the table with her head buried in her arms and her sleeves drenched in tears. When she heard the sound of her door open, her heart tensed up and she looked up to see Ji Bai and Xu Xu.


    Ji Bai¡¯s face was dark and he looked unusually strict. Due to his cold expression, his normally attractive face now gave off a terrifying vibe. Ye Qiao looked at him then instantly lowered her head as her heart trembled.


    Although Xu Xu did not have much experience interrogating suspects, she could figure out what was going on ¨C Ye Qiao had an obviously fragile mental state, so right now she was trying hard to support herself. Ji Bai intended to interrogate her aggressively, so as to break down her mental defense.


    That being said, the persistence of Ji Bai¡¯s interrogation waspletely beyond what Xu Xu had expected.


    Ji Bai threw the evidence bag which contained Zhang Shiyong¡¯s phone on the table, and said coldly, ¡°The SIM card which Ye Zixi and Zhang Shiyongmunicated with has a password. We know that you know the password.¡±


    Ye Qiao remained expressionless.


    Ji Bai did not give her a chance to speak as he continued, ¡°Zhang Shiyong has an overbearing character, but what kind of password would his secret lover set? Thest few digits of his phone number? His birthday? A set of numbers that he likes?¡± Ye Qiao¡¯s face changed a little and Ji Bai instantly noticed it. ¡°Looks like it¡¯s a set of numbers that he likes.¡±


    Ye Qiao¡¯s face turned pale, but Ji Bai was not going to let her go. ¡°What¡¯s the purpose of sending a message to Zhang Shiyong telling him to go to the crime scene? To let him see the look of his dead secret lover? Or perhaps it was to make him the primary suspect?¡± Looking at Ye Qiao¡¯s expression, Ji Bai smirked. ¡°Perhaps it was both of those reasons.¡±


    Ye Qiao looked even more awful as she clenched her fist tightly while Ji Bai stared at her. ¡°You only realized that the handphone is a hot potato after you sent the message out of your impulsiveness? What should you do with it, throw it away because you were scared that the police would be able to figure out that you were at the scene? Bring it home? You wouldn¡¯t dare. In the end, you still crossed your fingers and threw it away, didn¡¯t you? Lin An Mountain is so huge, so the police might not be able to find it if you threw it in some dark corner.¡±


    Ye Qiao¡¯s eyes were already slightly red as she looked up at Ji Bai abruptly. ¡°What are you saying, I don¡¯t understand at all.¡±


    Ji Bai got even colder. ¡°You don¡¯t understand? Of course, you understood how to wipe traces of your fingerprints from the phone so that even if we find it, we won¡¯t be able to prove anything.¡±


    Ye Qiao did not say anything, but Ji Bai quickly changed the topic. ¡°Did you stain yourself with any blood when you took the handphone from the corpse?¡±


    Ye Qiao¡¯s body shuddered at once, the immense shock she was feeling was unspeakable. Ji Bai stared at her frightened face and continued on, ¡°Ye Zixi¡¯s fatal injury was on her chest. She wouldn¡¯t have died instantly and she must have pressed on the wound out of instinct to stop the bleeding. Later on, when she took her phone out to seek help, her phone must have been stained with blood. So when you were driving about looking for a ce to dispose of the phone, you panicked and did not notice that your steering wheel was stained with blood. Of course, you must have noticed it after that and cleaned it. Even so, with the police¡¯s identification technology, we will be able to find the remaining traces of her blood within an hour. Ye Qiao, are you going to be honest after the authentication reportes out, or will you speak now?¡±


    Ye Qiao frozepletely and the blood drained from her face. Her beautiful face was as pale as a porcin doll and, after keeping quiet for a while, she covered her face with her hands dropped onto the table.


    Ji Bai no longer pushed her. He immediately opened the door and walked out to give her some time to consider her options.


    Xu Xu snapped back to reality after witnessing his clean sweep, as she too she stood up and followed him. They left the room to see that Zhao Han and the others were listening outside without them knowing.


    Ji Bai and Old Wu walked somewhere else and talked while Ye Qiao sobbed quietly in the room. Everyone was quiet and the atmosphere was tense. After a while, Zhao Han said, ¡°Captain is really sharp and ruthless.¡±


    Ten minutester, Ye Qiao asked to meet Ji Bai.


    When she faced him again, Ye Qiao still looked pale and flushed, but she seemed to have calmed down. Her eyes looked like that of a dead fish, but they also disyed a determined silence.


    ¡°I killed her, I admit it.¡±


    ¡°I hired a private detective and found out about this affair between her and Zhang Shiyong. If it was another woman, I would¡¯ve held it in, but it turned out to be my cousin sister. That day, I went to look for her at the vi, we argued, and I identally killed her. I panicked then, but I recalled the razor de case, so I cut her with razor des then cleaned the scene.¡±


    ¡°She wasn¡¯t dead then, and when I wasn¡¯t paying attention, she sent a message to Zixiao. I... I sent another message to Shiyong afterward because I wanted Shiyong to be dragged into the matter as well.¡±


    When the sky turned bright, the people from the Criminal Police Unit went their separate ways to Ye Qiao¡¯s house, office and car to retrieve evidence. Sure enough, like what Ji Bai had said, they found Ye Zixi¡¯s blood stains on the steering wheel of her car after using ultraviolet to examine it.


    Ye Qiao¡¯s confession proved Ji Bai¡¯s deduction that there were two culprits to be wrong. Somebody asked Ji Bai if there was a need to inspect Zhang Shiyong again, as he might very well be an aplice, but Ji Bai said there was no need to.


    In the afternoon, the station chief called Ji Bai over to his office and threw him a pack of expensive cigarettes. ¡°Not bad, you¡¯re getting faster at solving these cases.¡±


    Ji Bai ced the cigarette into the pocket of his coat and replied, ¡°Thank you, sir, but the case is not solved yet.¡±


    Despite the fact that Ji Bai had not announced the closing of the case, the people of the Criminal Police Unit seemed to be much more energetic than how they were just a few days ago. When Ji Bai walked into the office, everyone just looked straight at him with smiling faces. He took a nce at everyone then entered his office calmly.


    As he was about to sit down, Xu Xu walked in and sat down. She stared her dead in the face and announced, ¡°I¡¯d like to express my opinion that this case is not yet solved.¡±


    Initially, Ji Bai was lost in his thoughts, but when he looked at her, his heart became warm, and he smiled.


    ¡®Our hearts are so in tune it would be shocking if I fail at winning your heart.¡¯ Ji Bai thought.

 Chapter 25

    <h4>Chapter 25</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    When Ye Qiao saw Ji Bai and Xu Xu again, she was less anxious, but more alert.


    Ji Bai passed her a cigarette and she thanked him softly. Her hands were still shaking as she lit up the cigarette.


    ¡°Your previous statement was too simple, I hope that you can cooperate and tell us everything that transpired that night in detail.¡± Ji Bai said in a low tone.


    Ye Qiao looked up with her swollen eyes and sighed. ¡°I have nothing else to add, I¡¯ve told you everything that I remember.¡±


    Ji Bai seemed to either have not heard or ignored her declination as he went on to ask, ¡°When you arrived at the scene, did you see any other cars or anyone leaving?¡±


    Ye Qiao lowered her eyes to the table and shook her head. ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°How did you get into the vi?¡± Xu Xu asked.


    Ye Qiao paused for a while before answering, ¡°Ye Zixi opened the door for me.¡±


    Ji Bai looked at her and said slowly. ¡°It was already ten at night and she stayed at a hillside vi, so there was nobody around at all. Weren¡¯t you afraid that Ye Zixi was going to hurt you if you went there alone?¡±


    Ye Qiao¡¯s heart ached. Ji Bai¡¯s words made her recall the image of the noiseless mountain on that night, whereby the trees swayed gently under the moonlight like somber apparitions. She stopped her car by the roadside and looked at the brightly lit vi not far away. She felt her heart ache so much that she felt as though she was being cooked alive. She imagined her husband and her cousin sister having an affair in their secret home and her husband who had such a strong desire for lust repeatedly ravishing another woman¡¯s body. She wanted to vomit out of disgust. However, once she thought about her handsome, capable husband, she was overwhelmed by a sense of attachment, which made her reluctant to walk out.


    What was this silent yet torturous feeling taking over her as she was walking towards Ye Zixi¡¯s house?


    At that moment, Ji Bai¡¯s low voice called out to her as though he was in a different dimension, promptly snapping her back to reality. ¡°What was the situation like when you walked into the house?¡±


    Once again, images flooded into Ye Qiao¡¯s mind as she replied with a hoarse voice, ¡°It was very dark and very cold when I walked in...¡± She took a deep breath and continued, ¡°I saw Ye Zixi sitting on the sofa, and she asked me why I was there...¡±


    ¡°What else was happening in the house?¡± Ji Bai suddenly cut her off.


    His gaze was piercing, which caused Ye Qiao to subconsciously be even more careful as she recalled the situation when she entered the house. ¡°I didn¡¯t notice too much. The air conditioner was on and she was probably making supper, as I heard the microwave go off. Then we started arguing...¡±


    ¡°I made around five to six cuts, I don¡¯t really remember. I was very afraid at the time.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t remember the exact time I arrived and left since I didn¡¯t look at the time. I reached around ten and left at around eleven, that¡¯s all.¡±


    Ye Qiao¡¯s statement was not as perfect as the fake one from before. When she encountered questions that she could not answer, she just imed that she had forgotten, or simply kept quiet.


    As they walked out of the hearing room, Xu Xu tapped Ji Bai¡¯s arm. ¡°Teacher, I have some thoughts about the case, can I discuss them with you?¡±


    Ji Bai turned around but saw that there was no redness on her face. Her eyes were gleaming in their dark, deep-set sockets, but at the moment, even her eyeballs that were always clear were bloodshot too.


    He had almost forgotten that she had been awake for as long as him.


    ¡°Alright.¡± He stared at her and nodded. ¡°We¡¯ll discuss it tomorrow. You¡¯re going home to sleep now.¡±


    Xu Xu was stunned. ¡°But I...¡±


    ¡°Quickly head home, I¡¯ll call your apartment¡¯s guardhouse in half an hour.¡±


    Xu Xu was not an arrogant person, so while she still felt quite dissatisfied, she obeyed him and returned home to sleep. Ji Bai made do with two to three hours of sleep in his office, then he picked up his car keys and drove towards Lin An Mountain.


    The sky waspletely dark by then, and the mansion that was hidden from view by the dense jungle looked equally murky. The dark clouds in the sky rolled in thickly and oppressively, further intensifying the gloomy atmosphere. In this environment, you would inevitably think of the homicide from that day, and about how many people stained their hands with blood in the house, and more so about how many people kept quiet about it.


    Nheless, the chilly night sky jolted Ji Bai awake and stopped him from getting sleepy. After greeting the police officer outside who was in charge of guarding the scene, he switched on the power supply and walked in through the deste porch.


    After staying in the living room for an hour, Ji Baibined everyone¡¯s statements and behaviors. He quietly arranged the clues in his mind, and the situation became apparent to him. That made him temporarily relieved, so he decided to take a look upstairs before he left.


    The second floor was dead silent and everything was left exactly how it was during the day of the incident. Ji Bai stood in front of the wardrobe and pondered again, then he suddenly heard soft, faint footstepsing from downstairs.


    ¡®Who woulde back to the crime scene at this time of the day?¡¯ He thought.


    He silently made his way to the stairs banister and looked down. When he did so, he broke out in a cold sweat even though he was normally an extremely calm person.


    There sat a person leaning against the sofa with a tilted head, near where Ye Zixi¡¯s body was found.


    After his initial shock, Ji Bai identified the person. As Ji Bai made his way downstairs, the figure heard him and looked up, only to exim in confusion, ¡°Teacher?¡±


    As she watched Ji Bai approach her with an odd look on his face, Xu Xu did not even realize that she had scared him and simply thought that he was mad that she did not return home to sleep, so she quickly said, ¡°I¡¯ve slept for four hours, it¡¯s enough.¡±


    Ji Bai ignored her statement and asked, ¡°Did youe here to study the case?¡±


    Xu Xu was a little embarrassed. ¡°Behavioral analysis emphasizes victim analysis, so I wanted to give it a try.¡±


    Ji Bai looked at her and thought, ¡®How brave.¡±


    Ji Bai alreadye to his own conclusion, so there was no need to continue staying there, but since Xu Xu was there, he decided to wait. Since there was still a long time until daybreak, Ji Bai nced outside and said, ¡°Take a look then, I¡¯ll wait for you.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded. She no longer acted as though she was not allowed to be there and started actively strolling around the living room to examine the crime scene ¨C from the air conditioner to the messy side table, nothing escaped her curious eye... As she was looking closely at the microwave, she suddenly felt a warm breath right beside her. She shot a sideways nce and found that Ji Bai was already standing beside her and was also looking at the microwave.


    ¡°What did you find?¡± He asked in a low tone.


    Xu Xu replied, ¡°I¡¯m still looking.¡±


    He kept quiet then. Xu Xu opened the cupboards to take a look as well, but the warm breathing kept following her closely, Ji Bai followed her.


    Originally, Xu Xu was indifferent, but when she looked up, she saw that he was mimicking her actions and she soon found herself subconsciously staring at his handsome side profile. Subsequently, she suddenly remembered the night before and the way his faint smile was barely noticeable on his slightly lowered face under the warm luminescence.


    Xu Xu remained silent for a brief moment then turned to look at him. ¡°Teacher, can we investigate the scene separately?¡±


    Ji Bai was not trying to bother her. In truth, since he was bored, he actually wanted to observe her performance and possibly give her some pointers. So upon hearing this, he felt quite strange. ¡°Why?¡±


    Xu Xu said, ¡°I need some peace and quiet. I don¡¯t like having people around me.¡±


    Ji Bai was not too concerned so he turned around and looked for a chair far enough, then sat down and waited.


    As he waited, he realized that watching her from afar was likewise quite interesting. As he watched her little figure frowning with her head lowered, ducking to her left, then crouching to her right, he felt her energetic aura rub off on his, which made him feel quite contented.


    Suddenly, Xu Xu, who was standing at a corner of the hall, subconsciously hugged herself.


    Midnight was really much colder than expected, and on top of that, the weather was gloomy. Not to mention that they did not turn on the heater either so as to avoid tainting the crime scene. Ji Bai looked at her then walked over.


    Xu Xu was still rubbing her arms when she heard the footsteps approach her, then she felt a weight draped over her shoulders. When she turned around to look, she saw that Ji Bai was now only wearing a thin sweater as he stood beside her. He had ced his coat on her body.


    ¡°Thank you, but you don¡¯t have to.¡± Xu Xu said as she tried to take it off.


    Ji Bai sighed. ¡°Don¡¯t be so polite, how are you going to investigate the case tomorrow if you catch a cold?¡± That being said, his heart jumped with joy when he saw her tiny body wrapped up snugly in his shirt.


    Xu Xu hesitated then said frankly, ¡°There¡¯s really no need for this, I¡¯m not used to wearing other people¡¯s clothes.¡± She took the coat off and passed it back to him.


    Ji Bai nced at her calm and collected look then took his outerwear andughed, ¡°Is it because you think that I¡¯m dirty?¡±


    Xu Xu instantly felt apologetic and quickly replied, ¡°Of course not.¡±


    His coat was filled with his warm breath, and it neither smelled of sweat nor did it smell awful. Moreover, it made her feel restless for some reason, which she brushed off as just her not being used to it. In reality, she had never worn anybody else¡¯s clothes other than her brother¡¯s.


    She looked very sincere and her face was slightly flushed when she handed the coat back. Ji Bai heart was beating quickly in the presence of this tiny person was standing at arm¡¯s length in front of him with her shoulders shriveled. He spoke slowly, ¡°Even if you don¡¯t want to wear my coat, I can¡¯t just leave you feeling so cold. There¡¯s another way.¡±


    When Ji Bai said this, he did indeed feel a bit impulsive. A remote mountain, a dark night, an empty house, and his woman shivering beside him from the cold. The situation was perfect ¨C this was the perfect opportunity to hug her. Whilst it was a bit of a stretch, Ji Bai actually felt somewhat conceited. He felt that there was a possibility that Xu Xu might not actually reject him if he tried to move in. They were on pretty good terms after all, so even if she had no feelings towards him at the moment, she might be willing to give it a shot after some consideration.


    He looked at her deeply with his eyes. However, as he was thinking about pulling her into his arms, she spoke up. ¡°Yes, there¡¯s another way.¡±


    The two locked eyes with one another...


    And Xu Xu started hopping on the spot.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine after jumping for a while, I just need to get my blood flowing. Don¡¯t worry.¡± While exining, she jumped again. Since the two of them often exercised together, she felt natural hopping and jumping in front of him.


    Ji Bai paused for a moment then burst out into unrestrainedughter. His attractive face waspletely rxed and the wrinkles appeared at the corner of his eyes. Looking at his cheerful smile that hade out of nowhere, Xu Xuughed along too.


    After a couple of minutes of jumping, Xu Xu abruptly stopped and looked at Ji Bai seriously. ¡°I figured it out.¡±


    Ji Bai maintained a smile and looked at her. ¡°Very well.¡±


    When Xu Xu was about to speak, Ji Bai continued, ¡°In that case, let¡¯s each write down the name of the culprit and see if our deductions are identical.¡±


    Xu Xu quite enjoyed this feeling of crossing swords ¨C there was just an indescribable chemistry and excitement whenever they did this, so she nodded enthusiastically.


    A brief momentter, they showed each other their notebooks.


    ¡°Ye Ziqiang. Ye Jin.¡±


    ¡°Eldest child and second child of the Ye Family.¡±

 Chapter 26

    <h4>Chapter 26</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    The shadow from the curtains and the swaying trees outside ovepped rhythmically with each other on the patio of the brightly illuminated vi. Xu Xu looked at the Ji Bai¡¯s dark eyes and said,


    ¡°First of all, ording to thetest test results from forensics, Ye Zixi died between 9 pm to 11 pm. The surveince tape showed that Zhang Shiyong arrived at the vi after 12 am, so he¡¯s not the murderer. Considering the content of the text message and the clothes that he didn¡¯t get to throw away, his testimony is credible. It was true that he was called to the vi at the veryst minute.


    ¡°Secondly, Ye Qiao was also not the murderer. ording to the surveince tape and her testimony, she did not stay at the crime scene for more than one hour. It¡¯s impossible for a lone woman to kill someone, destroy the surveince camera, add a few more stab wounds, and finally clean up the scene in such a short period of time. Moreover, it is impossible to exin the two types of injuries found on the body. Zhang Shiyong can¡¯t be the second one who stabbed the deceased since the surveince tape showed that Ye Qiao had already left when he arrived. Besides, where would he have found a razor de on a deserted mountain in the middle of the night?


    ¡°Now that the two people who appeared at the crime scene during the incident aren¡¯t the murderers, we need to go back to the start and figure out where we went wrong.


    ¡°We estimated Ye Zixi¡¯s time of death based on the test results from the forensics team and the text message that she sent out at 10.17 pm asking for help. However, Ye Qiao¡¯s had mentioned in her testimony that it was very cold that night and the indoor air conditioner was on. This is very strange since it¡¯s spring now. Since it gets coldte at night, by right, the heater should have been switched on. Why did Ye Qiao say that it was very cold? I deduce that the estimated time of death was incorrectly pushed to beter in the night due to the cold temperature and that the actual time of death was a little earlier than 9 pm.


    ¡°In addition to this, Ye Qiao also mentioned that she had heard the sound of the microwave when she entered the vi. However, Ye Zixi made sd and salmon that night, so she did not need to use a microwave. The sound that Ye Qiao heard might not the sound of a microwave, but the sound of a text message being sessfully delivered. I¡¯ve checked the inte and found that there¡¯s new mobile phone software that has a setting that allows it to send text messages at the fixed time. If the murderer was good with technology, then they could easily download a virus to delete the software after sending the text message. With this, they could erase any traces of it. Therefore, the murderer had most likely made it so that the text message would be sent at a fixed time, then switched on the air conditioner. By doing this, the murderer was able to confuse us about the time of death. However, the phone was identally taken by Ye Qiao who had arrived at the crime scer on.


    ¡°If that assumption is true, then we will need to focus on those who do not have an alibi before 10 pm. ording to their testimonies, only the eldest child, Ye Ziqiang and the second child, Ye Jin fits the description of the murderers that we¡¯re looking for. As for Ye Qiao, I think that she probably saw the eldest child and second child¡¯s car on her way to the crime scene, or she already knew who the murderers were. Therefore, she wanted to go to jail in ce of her big brother and second sister. When she arrived at the crime scene, Ye Zixi should have already been dead. ¡±


    Right after Xu Xu finished talking, she looked towards Ji Bai. There was a faint sense of confidence and anticipation in her serious eyes.


    Ji Bai smiled slightly, ¡°Yes. In fact, I¡¯ve suspected this since the beginning. How can someone who cleaned up the crime scene so well not prepare an alibi for herself? Though, you have missed the most important point.¡±


    Xu Xu was stunned. ¡®What was it?¡¯


    Ji Bai chuckled softly. ¡°What about the evidence? Everything that you just said are nothing more than deductions. Where is the evidence that can get them convicted?¡±


    Xu Xu lowered her head to think about it, but everything was still very vague. It was true that she did not have a clear lead.


    Although Ji Bai had already thought off Xu Xu as his future girlfriend, he was not willing to go easy on her when it came to work. In his opinion, she did not deserve any special treatment.


    At this moment, even though he was looking at her confused little face, he did not let her go. Instead, he started to criticize her. ¡°Your biggest issue is that you spend too much time on analyzing and end up neglecting the need to search for evidence. When we were discussing Zhang Shiyong, you forgot that his clothes were key evidence, and the same thing happened today. So in the end, while you¡¯ve figured out key details required to solve the case, you didn¡¯t think about it deeply enough. Furthermore, I¡¯m not going to point them out for you. I want you to think about it when you get home. We will solve the case tomorrow morning.¡±


    The weather that night was dark and overcast whilst the weather forecast showed that there would be rain. While Xu Xu was observing and investigating the vi, she had already heard the sound of raindrops falling on the tile roof, but who would have expected the rain to start pouring like a waterfall in front of the front door a short whileter? The woods and the slopes mountains now seemed much darker and distant on this raining night.


    Xu Xu shivered slightly, then took out a small folded umbre from her bag and turned her head to ask Ji Bai, ¡°Did you bring an umbre?¡±


    Ji Bai was holding a heavy bag with an umbre inside, but he shook his head. ¡°No.¡±


    The vi was quite big and they had to walk dozens of meters to reach the parking lot. Xu Xu opened the umbre and passed it to him, then she stood by his side.


    The ground was slippery as the water sshed against their shoes chaotically and the sound of rainfall overpowered all other noises. Ji Bai walked alongside Xu Xu while was holding the umbre with one hand in the heavy rain. She lowered her head slightly to the point where only a small part of her slender neck was shown but, as always, maintained her trademark indistinct face.


    This was the first time in a few days that the two of them were in such close proximity to one another. Nheless, Ji Bai¡¯s heart did not flutter like how it usually did. Instead, he felt a peacefulness that was so pleasant that he hoped that nothing would interrupt it.


    Even though he tried to shield her from the rain with almost the entire umbre, when he lowered his head to look at her, he noticed that part of her shoulder was still exposed to the rain and a few drops of water were clinging on vigorously to her sleeves.


    The sound of raindrops continued to pound the ground like millions of tiny drums. Ji Bai watched as a drop of water silently dropped off the tip of her hair to join its brethren in the mild depths below and caught his breath. Then, he put his hand on her shoulder and held her gently.


    Xu Xu had her head lowered while she walked when she suddenly felt a pressure on her shoulder. She stiffened up when she felt a familiar warmth surrounding her.


    It was apletely subconscious response, nheless, it still managed to remind her of the earlier hypothesis she had so vehemently denied. Like a feather, it brushed across her heart, awakening all sorts of foreign emotions.


    She turned her head and saw that Ji Bai¡¯s hair waspletely drenched. His ck hair was sticking to his forehead as he looked at her with his dark eyes.


    The two continued to stare into each other¡¯s eyes as Ji Bai continued to keep his hand wrapped around Xu Xu¡¯s shoulders. He could see the glint in her irises as it trembled softly under the moonlight. There was obvious scrutiny and curiosity in her eyes, as if she was desperately trying to read his mind.


    After remaining silent for a moment, Ji Bai smiled. ¡°What are you waiting for? The umbre is so small, we¡¯ll both catch a cold if you don¡¯t speed up.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    The both of them quickened their pace.


    However, Xu Xu was not as unaffected as Ji Bai imagined. After taking a few steps, she noticed the strong hand on her shoulder and the heat from his chest. His actions made her feel very ufortable and her heartbeat was thumping chaotically in her ribcage while they walked.


    As soon as they got to the car, Ji Bai naturally pulled back his hand. ¡°Quickly get into the car.¡±


    At 3.00 am in the morning, Ji Bai sent Xu Xu home and left as per usual.


    Xu Xuy on the bed and thought about the ¡°key evidence¡± that he had mentioned, before eventually closing her eyes to clear her head. However, when she did this, the first thing that appeared in her mind was Ji Bai¡¯s handsome side profile. His tall and straight build was like a profound projection that would not go away.


    Xu Xu believed that there was nothing unusual about Ji Bai. Even though he looked strict, he was actually very concerned about each and every one of his subordinates. At that time, the rain was heavy and there was only a small umbre to share between them, so he would probably also have taken care of Zhao Han or Yao Meng in the same way if they were in the situation.


    What made her felt odd was that their rtionship was clearly supposed to be purely tonic, but why did it seem as though there were still some lingering feelings in her heart that had yet to fade? Thinking about it made her feel uneasy.


    In the end, Xu Xu was not able to fall asleep. She wrapped the nket around her and sat hunched over on the bed, She was a perfectly normal woman so she felt that even though Ji Bai¡¯s body had recently started catching her attention, it was most likely because her hormones were acting up.


    The next morning, Xu Xu went to the police station and knocked on Ji Bai¡¯s office door. Since she passed off her feelings as just her hormones acting up, she was calm when she said, ¡°Teacher, I have found the key evidence.¡±


    Ji Bai was also very calm and Xu Xu knew that he did not n to reveal the answer that quickly. Thus, he nodded and smiled, ¡°Good.¡±


    Soon, Ye Jin was brought to the police station.


    Instead of talking to her immediately, Ji Bai put her in the interrogation room.


    As time went by, the sun got brighter and the silent small interrogation room gradually became kind of warm. Ye Jin was wearing a ck suit and skirt while she sat up straight with her delicate face looking slightly dejected. She sat there quietly whilst waiting for the officers to start the interrogation.


    Since she was abnormally calm, even the criminal police officers who were previously doubtful of her involvement were starting to suspect her.


    Zhao Han said, ¡°A wise man can be ruined by his wisdom. We are getting even more suspicious since she¡¯s acting way too calm.¡±


    Ji Bai looked at her expression through the ss window and said, ¡°No, she¡¯s calm because she has already expected this to happen.¡±


    Everyone was stunned, and they looked at Ye Jin once again.


    Finally, they got some good news from their colleagues who had gone to the Ye Group to retrieve evidence. Ji Bai took the appraisal report and went into the interrogation room with Old Wu.


    Ye Jin raised her head with an indifferent yet gentle expression on her face. As her eyes met Ji Bai¡¯s calm and sharp gaze, she was stunned for a moment before a gloomy expression briefly shed on her face.


    Old Wu who was standing outside the interrogation room sighed. ¡°This woman is not going to be easy.¡±


    After Ji Bai asked some general questions, he proceeded to get to the main points. ¡°Where were you from 7.00 pm to 10.00 pm on the night of the incident?¡±


    It was the same question, but this time, Ye Jin chose to remain silent.


    Ji Bai continued, ¡°In truth, I was doubtful from the very beginning. A criminal who was able to clean the crime scene so neatly would surely be aware that fewer traces left at the scene would ultimately lower the risk of being exposed. Won¡¯t it be redundant to use the razor des to ¡®tag¡¯ the crime scene? Unless the criminal wanted to hide an even more obvious clue.¡±


    Ye Jin looked at him quietly without saying anything.


    ¡°Ye Ziqiang loves the Swiss Army Knives so it would be natural for him to have a limited edition or a custom-made high-grade Swiss Army knife attached to his keys. Despite this, there isn¡¯t.¡± Ji Bai took his time to say, ¡°The traces left by this kind of army knife are very special and since there¡¯s only a limited number of people in Lin City who would purchase expensive top-grade army knives from abroad, which makes it very easy to track them.¡±


    Ye Jin¡¯s expression became slightly cold as a bitter smile appeared on her face.


    Ji Bai continued, ¡°Ye Ziqiang is known to be quite rash and has a history of being involved in violent fights. He most likely identally killed Ye Zixi, then used a Swiss Army knife to make wounds simr to the ¡®de Injury Incident¡¯ in an attempt to confuse the police. However, the two of you were on the phone because of work that night and he might have told you about the incident. Since he left such an obvious clue, all you could do was try your best to fix it. You used razor des to disguise the injuries made by the Swiss Army knife, but where could you get razor deste at night? Since you¡¯re in charge of thepany¡¯s administration, it would very easy for you to get the razor des from the warehouse.¡±


    Ye Jin remained silent.


    ¡°Of course, after that, you had to alter the warehouse records to cover this up. Even so, we obtained the supply record of thepany that supplies office equipment to the Ye Group. Byparing both reports, it shows that on the day of the incident, five razor des were indeed missing from the warehouse. We also found thepany¡¯s surveince tape and it shows that you¡¯re the only one who entered thepany¡¯s warehouse after work that night. Moreover...¡± Ji Bai stared at her with his cold eyes, ¡°The quality of the des from different manufacturers, different ces of production and different batches all vary. After running some test, we confirmed that the razor des used on Ye Zixi¡¯s body are from the same batch as the razor des delivered to yourpany¡¯s warehouse.¡±


    Ye Jin remained silent for a moment, then raised her head to look at Ji Bai calmly. ¡°You know, even if you hadn¡¯t pulled me in today, I would have still turned myself in.¡±


    After a pause, she added softly, ¡°I won¡¯t let Little Qiao go to jail for us.¡±

 Chapter 27

    <h4>Chapter 27</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    Like other bigger families, there was a certain bnce of personal interest, emotion, and power among the members of the Ye family. The bnce was not be written in ck and white, but after all these years, everyone had a certain role that they needed to y.


    Ye Lanyuan was the one who set the rules of the bnce.


    Ye Ziqiang had always wanted to be the one to maintain the bnce butcked the ability to do so.


    Ye Qiao seemed to be proud, but she actually followed the rules strictly.


    And due to Ye Zixiao¡¯s outspoken personality, he ignored the existence of the bnce.


    Whereas Ye Jin was the one who silently maintained the bnce.


    Thus, she advised Ye Lanyuan to not gobble up his brother¡¯s shares ten years ago and also opposed Ye Zixi¡¯s return to the Ye Group five years ago. Sadly, her father never took any of her advice and she ended up bing Ye Lanyuan¡¯s least favorite child instead. This was because she was the only one who pointed out the fact that the head of the Ye Group was once greedy and heartless and was simrly acutely aware of his weaknesses and guilt as he grew older.


    Due to the small age gap and Ye Ziqiang¡¯s male chauvinistic behavior, he had always cared for his reserved second sister who was not favored by their father. Ever since they were younger, he had been protective of his sister, even in public. However, after they became adults, Ye Jin was the one who protected Ye Ziqiang whenever he encountered difficulties. She was the one who bailed him out when he got into jail because of fighting and was also the one who gave him advice when his business was failing.


    This time was no exception.


    On the night of the incident, she heard her big brother painfully plead for help on the phone. Aside from shock, the first thing that Ye Jin thought of was since the mistake had already been done, what she needed to do was minimize the damage and influence it could have on the family.


    At this time, Ji Bai interrupted her with a question. ¡°Why did he argue with Ye Zixi?¡±


    Ye Jin¡¯s gaze became calm. ¡°After Zixi returned to thepany, father had only handed over the half-dead overseas investment department to her. Even so, she was so outstanding that she brought in huge profits every year. She might even be the most brilliant one out of all of us, so father started giving her more power.¡±


    After a slight pause, she added, ¡°Butst year, one of the investments in her department suffered a great loss.¡±


    Old Wu flipped through the information and asked, ¡°You mean the case where she lost a hundred million yuan because her partner ran away with the money?¡±


    Ye Jin remained silent for a moment before saying, ¡°It was not a hundred million, it was two billion US dors, or 14 billion yuan. Around half of the Ye Group disappeared into thin air.¡±


    Everyone outside the interrogation room was dumbfounded. Ji Bai and Old Wu did not say anything, so Ye Jin continued, ¡°Obviously, we tried to cover this up, otherwise the Ye Group¡¯s stock price would copse overnight. Big Brother had always suspected that Zixi was the one behind it. In truth, he had matured a lotpared to when he was younger. However, he had some drinks on that fateful night when he apparently overheard some rumors about the overseas investment department. Thus, he impulsively tailed Zixi with his car and went to Lin An Mountain.¡±


    Just as Ji Bai had expected, while the two of them were having a dispute, Ye Ziqiang identally killed Ye Zixi. Since he was nervous and flustered, he thought about disguising the crime scene as a de injury incident.


    Right at that moment, Ye Jin called him because of work. She could tell that there was something off with his tone and she forced the truth out of him.


    The second child was sharp and the first thing that Ye Jin told her big brother to do was to switch on the air conditioner to dy the time of death. By the time she arrived at the vi, she had the entire n already mapped out in her head.


    ¡°You were the one who sent the text message?¡± Old Wu asked.


    Ye Jin cast her gaze downward. ¡°The contents were written by Ye Zixi when she was on the verge of dying, but she didn¡¯t get to send it. Therefore, I set a time for it to be sent to Zixiao.¡±


    ¡°Why did you choose to send it to Ye Zixiao?¡± Old Wu asked.


    Ye Jin looked at him and said, ¡°Because Zixiao was in a very bad mood when he came home that day. I know about my brother¡¯s character so I was sure that he would definitely spend the night out with his friends. Thus, even if he immediately went to the vi, he would have an alibi and would not get into trouble.¡±


    Old Wu stared at her coldly. ¡°You really calcted everything, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    Ye Jin remained silent.


    Ji Bai, on the other hand, continued asking. ¡°Do the two of you know about the deceased and Zhang Shiyong¡¯s extramarital affair?¡±


    Ye Jin replied, ¡°I didn¡¯t know about it before the incident, but I found out about it after I went to the vi that night. After Ye Zixiao turned over Zhang Shiyong¡¯s clothes, the whole family learned about it too.¡±


    Old Wu growled, ¡°Ye Ziqiang killed someone. If you really wanted the best for him, then you should have convinced him to turn himself in. Nevertheless, you went against thew for the benefit of your family and became his aplice instead. Why would you do that?¡±


    Again, Ye Jin remained silent and did not answer him.


    After hearing Ye Jin¡¯s confession, Ye Qiao likewise burst into tears and finally said the truth.


    A few days before the incident, she received reliable news from a private detective and so she drove to Lin An Mountain on the night of the incident. Upon arriving, she saw a car that looked like her big brother¡¯s, but by the time she entered the vi, Ye Zixi was already dead.


    She stayed in the vi for a while and saw her husband¡¯s belongings there. Since she was angry and desperate, she picked up the deceased¡¯s mobile phone in an attempt to put the me on her husband.


    Old Wu frowned when he heard this and asked, ¡°Why did you want to take the me for Ye Ziqiang?¡±


    Ye Qiao answered, ¡°Big brother was acting out of anger on behalf of the family. Either way, my life had already been ruined, so why not take the me for him?¡±


    Ji Bai said briefly, ¡°A life is not destroyed so easily.¡±


    After the truth came out, the entire criminal police unit was relieved. This case had been weighing down their hearts heavily, so everyone remained silent as they went to work collecting evidence to close the case.


    When Ji Bai returned to his office, he saw Xu Xu sitting there lost in her own thoughts.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± He asked in a low voice.


    Xu Xu answered, ¡°I was just thinking about who Zixi originally intended to send the text message to before she passed away.¡±


    Ji Bai reached out his hand to pat her short hair, then he threw a bunch of documents at her. ¡°Hurry up and get to work.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Xu Xu jumped up, but not before she once again noticed the subtle physical contact between the two of them. ¡®Ignore him, ignore him¡¯ she thought.


    At this moment, Zhao Han poked his head through the door. ¡°Captain, we brought Ye Ziqiang in.¡±


    Ye Ziqiang went to a meeting somewhere in the province yesterday on behalf of the Ye Group whereby the criminal police officer who was responsible for keeping an eye on him had been tailing him without his knowledge the entire time. Just when his car entered the city this morning, he was stopped by the police.


    Since they still needed to investigate the evidence further, the police told him that they needed him to assist in the investigation. Although Ye Ziqiang was somewhat uneasy, he did not think much of it, so he calmly stepped into the police station.


    There was a narrow passage outside of the interrogation room and there was plenty of sunlight pouring in through the windows that ran alongside the passage. Ye Ziqiang walked behind the police officer and waited as the door of the interrogation room was opened. Ye Jin walked out of the room with her hands cuffed and two police leading her from behind.


    Ye Jin raised her head and looked at Ye Ziqiang, before softly greeting him with a gentle and soothing look in her eyes. ¡°Brother.¡±


    Ye Ziqiang felt all the blood in his body rush to the top of his head as an extreme pressure pressed against his temples. What else did he not know of? He looked at his sister nkly while the veins on his head started to pop out from the intense blood flow.


    At that time, Ji Bai and Xu Xu walked to the door. They saw Ye Ziqiang¡¯s expression and Ji Bai frowned slightly.


    Suddenly, Ye Ziqiang spun around and pushed the police who was standing behind him. He was physically tall and strong, so the others were caught off guard when he suddenly became violent. However, just as the officers were about tounch themselves at him, he took out a Swiss Army knife from his pocket and waved it menacingly in the air, forcing them to keep their distance.


    ¡°I¡¯m the one who killed her, it has nothing to do with my sister.¡± Tears were streaming down his face as he spat out desperately. ¡°Am I f*cking going to jail?¡±


    ¡°Brother!¡± Ye Jin eximed.


    Suddenly, Ye Ziqiang raised the Swiss Army knife and stabbed it toward his chest. However, when the knife was half a foot away from him, his eyes widened in horror and his hand started trembling. He then leaned against the wall with an extremely pained expression on his face.


    Ji Bai who was initially standing by the door had been waiting for the right time to rush forward and grab his wrist. Ye Ziqiang was so frightened, so he thrust his hand forward, and since he was enraged and fighting ferociously, he struggled with tremendous strength. However, Ji Bai¡¯s hand was like a steel mp and did not budge, but because the passage was too narrow and there were people behind him, his movement was restricted. Thus, he was cut on the lower arm as blood instantly started to seep out and stain his white shirt sleeve.


    Everyone was shocked. Xu Xu looked at Ji Bai¡¯s calm face and the blood-red stain on his shirt and her mind went nk out of fear.


    In a sh, Ji Bai had already grabbed both of Ye Ziqiang¡¯s hands and restrained them behind his back. He struggled like a bull with his tall body, but he was forcibly pressed against the wall by Ji Bai. Secondster, the other criminal police officer swarmed forward and subdued him.


    Soon, they received news from their colleagues responsible for the investigation of the evidence collected. They retrieved traces of Ye Zixi¡¯s blood from Ye Ziqiang¡¯s car and were in the progress of searching for other weapons. Meanwhile, Ye Ziqiang was detained, and after he had calmed down he confessed to all his crimes.


    It was soon time for their lunch break and Ji Bai told everyone to have their lunch first. He then sat in his office and threw the ball of cotton he used to stop the bleeding into the trash. Although the bloodstain looked hideous, the wound was not that deep, so he did not worry too much about it.


    Old Wu was sitting across the table and said whilst smiling, ¡°It¡¯s finally over. We can rx for a few days.¡±


    Ji Bai smiled back. ¡°Since we¡¯ve closed the case, the station chief has given us three days off. You can apany your wife to visit your son.¡± Old Wu¡¯s son was studying in a university from another state.


    Old Wu nodded. ¡°That would be great. She¡¯s always nagging me about it.¡±


    As he said this, Zhao Han walked into the office with a first aid kit, ¡°Captain, I¡¯m here to treat your wounds.¡±


    Since the case was closed, Ji Bai was in a good mood. He nced at Xu Xu who had yet to leave for lunch since she was still busy doing work, then he slyly said to Zhao Han, ¡°You have an urgent report you need toplete, ask someone else to treat my wound.¡±


    Zhao Han nodded. ¡°Oh, I¡¯ll let Yao Meng do it.¡±


    Ji Bai was stunned for a split second, but Old Wu butt in and said, ¡°Yao Meng¡¯s also busy, let Xu Xu do it.¡±


    Ji Bai looked Old Wu, and Old Wu looked back at him at the same time.


    Ji Bai smiled lightly and did not say anything.


    Both Old Wu and Zhao Han walked out of the room and soon, Xu Xu walked in. Her gaze immediately fell on Ji Bai¡¯s hand, ¡°Teacher, is your hand alright?¡±


    Ji Bai leaned against the back of his chairfortably and stretched out his arms towards her, ¡°What do you think?¡±


    Xu Xu grabbed his hand carefully, then took a cotton ball soaked in alcohol and gently wiped off the blood around the wound. ¡°It¡¯s not too bad, but it would be the best to take a tetanus shotter.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    Xu Xu was focused on treating the wound, so she naturally noticed that Ji Bai¡¯s hand was different from the other men that she had seen. (Not that she normally paid that much attention to a man¡¯s hand, unless it was for a case.)


    His arm was no doubt much bigger than hers, but it did not look overly muscr. It looked very lean and slender, which made it seem very powerful. Additionally, the skin on the back of the hand and his arms were slightly darker, but the skin on his palm was very fair. This indicated that his original skin color was much fairer than his current skin tone. This was probably because ever since he became a criminal police, he was constantly exposed to the sun, so his skin color tanned to a light brown color. In addition to the newly added wound, he had an old scar on both the back of his hand and on his forearm. Not to mention, the calluses around his palm and fingertips were rtively thick due to the fact that he needed to hold onto a gun all year round. This made his hand look very rough, which matched well with his ruggedly good looks.


    ¡®What a nice hand,¡¯ Xu Xu thought internally.


    While Xu Xu was lost in her thoughts, Ji Bai could hardly restrain himself.


    Beams of light cut through the gaps in the window blinds to light up the warm and silent room. Ji Bai stretched his bodyfortably while Xu Xu stood by his side quietly. The more he looked at her, the more delicate and pretty her features looked, not to mention, her skin was as thin as jade which allowed a subtle blush to seep through her cheeks. Her slender fingers continuously pressed against his wrist, such that at that moment, even his slightly painful and numb wound felt oddly soothed.


    Ji Bai took out his phone and started taking pictures.


    Xu Xu noticed it and asked, ¡°What¡¯re you doing?¡±


    Ji Bai looked at her frowning eyebrows through the camera frame and replied briefly, ¡°I¡¯m reading the news. International news.¡±

 Chapter 28

    <h4>Chapter 28</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    It was hazy in the morning and the air was chilly as Xu Xu drove on a wide road with an unobstructed view.


    Yesterday, Ji Bai told her that they could restart their morning practice after a few days rest and she agreed that she ought to have a good rest. Even so, who would have thought that her biological clock would still wake her up even after the case ended? She automatically opened her eyes at 5.00 am in the morning with her mind wide awake.


    Thus, she simply just went with the flow.


    As it was nearing early summer, the sky brightened up earlier. When Xu Xu walked to the front door of the stadium, there was already a steady stream of people doing their morning exercises as they steadily ran past her. She scanned through the entire runway, but she did not spot Ji Ba, so she buried herself in her music and begin the long training session.


    Ji Bai got up on time today. After many years of being in the criminal investigation career, he had already adapted to the hectic all day and night schedule and the overexertion of his physical strength during a major case. After closing the case, he could now naturally return to his usual work schedule.


    Afterpleting his morning weights training, he was dripping with sweat as he sat on the equipment to take a rest. He casually flipped through the newly created encrypted folder called ¡°Slender¡± on his phone. Then, he heard some familiar footstep approach him. When he raised his head, he saw an emotionless woman running past him on the track in front of him.


    Ji Bai watched her slender figure and his lips curled up slightly. He put the phone back in his pocket and went after her.


    Xu Xu heard the sound of steady and powerful footsteps behind her, so she habitually moved aside to let the person pass her. As that person gradually got closer and brushed past her with his heated body, she felt someone lightly pat her head.


    She raised her head and saw Ji Bai¡¯s tall body in front of her. His well-defined face was drenched in sweat and a smile seemed to sh in his dark eyes.


    She smiled out of surprise. ¡°Teacher.¡±


    Ji Bai was at ease and nodded lightly. ¡°How manyps have youpleted?¡±


    ¡°...half ap.¡±


    ¡°Run.¡±


    However, it was way too eye-catching when someone as tall and big as Ji Bai slowed down to run alongside her. After running half ap, an acquaintance from the Economic Investigation Division grinned at them cheekily as he jogged past them.


    Ji Bai greeted him with a calm face. Nheless, Ji Bai did not intend to match her snail-like speed, so after a while, the distance between the both of them started to grow again. When Ji Bai was running by himself, he thought, ¡®This can¡¯t continue any longer. The news has started to spread already even before I have started pursuing her.¡¯ Ji Bai wasn¡¯t the type to draw attention to his private life, and the same went for Xu Xu. Moreover, being under public scrutiny was more of a hindrance than a helping hand.¡¯


    It seemed like he needed to go about his task with a lower profile from now on.


    After they were done with training, the two of them went to the small conference room as usual. They quietly watched the sun rise and ate breakfast while they read the newspaper.


    Ji Bai suddenly asked, ¡°What¡¯s the progress of your shooting and strength training?¡±


    Xu Xu answered, ¡°I¡¯ve been doing the strength training at home every day and I n to go to the shooting range this weekend to practice my shooting.¡±


    Ji Bai did not say anything. After a while, he briefly asked with his gaze fixed on the newspaper, ¡°Are there any technical problems with your marksmanship?¡±


    Xu Xu knew that he was the top shooter in Lin City¡¯s police station, but there was no need to use a sledgehammer to crack a nut, so she did not think of bothering him. Thus, she politely answered, ¡°Thank you, teacher, but there isn¡¯t any at the moment. I¡¯ve asked Zhao Han to teach me on the weekend.¡±


    Ji Bai shot a nce at her. ¡°Little Zhao¡¯s marksmanship is pretty good, please learn from him attentively.¡±


    The focus of today¡¯s work was to close the Ye Group¡¯s case, so Zhao Han soon brought Xu Xu to get more statements from Ye Jin to rify some details about the case.


    Ye Jin was very cooperative. Compared to how calm she was yesterday, she now seemed a little worse for wear. Her eyes were also a little red and swollen.


    After they finished taking her statement, Ye Jin suddenly raised her head and stared at Xu Xu as the two of them were to about to leave.


    ¡°If it was you, would you have done the same?¡±


    Xu Xu remained silent for a moment, then she stared at her and answered, ¡°No.¡±


    Ye Jin smiled nodded lightly and asked. ¡°May I speak to officer Ji alone?¡±


    After they walked out of the interrogation room, Zhao Han asked, ¡°Why did she ask you that question?¡±


    Xu Xu answered softly, ¡°It¡¯s because she thinks that we are very simr.¡±


    Ji Bai came to the interrogation room, but Ye Jin did not speak immediately. She gave it a few minutes before she began. She was looking at him, but at the same time, it seemed as though she was somewhere far away. ¡°I thought of a possibilityst night.¡±


    Ji Bai did not say anything.


    ¡°It seems like you thought of the same thing. I assume that you will not let ¡®him¡¯ escape the punishment of thew, right?¡± Although she had a cold expression, there was a hint of anticipation in her tone when she spoke.


    Ji Bai slowly nodded. ¡°No.¡±


    Ye Jin smiled in relief.


    As Ji Bai left the interrogation room, Da Hu reported to him, ¡°The people from the Ye Family have arrived.¡±


    Ji Bai looked down from the window and saw the sun shining on the spacious policepound. Zhang Shiyong, Ye Zixiao, Wu Xie and some other members of the Ye family were walking past the lush greenwn. Each one of them had a serious look on their face and some of their eyes were red.


    Ji Bai went downstairs and walked towards them.


    Ji Bai greeted everyone before looking at Zhang Shiyong. ¡°Mr. Zhang, can I talk to you?¡±


    Zhang Shiyong was in a dark ck suit and had a calm look on his face when he looked at Ji Bai and nodded slightly. Ye Zixiao remained silent as he watched the two of them walk away with ordinary looks on their face.


    The parking lot behind the police station was quiet and there was no one around as Ji Bai lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply.


    ¡°What did you want to talk about, Captain Ji?¡± The smile on the well-dressed Zhang Shiyong¡¯s face was gone by now.


    Ji Bai raised his dark eyes and looked at him quietly, his gaze made Zhang Shiyong¡¯s heart shudder nervously.


    Then, Ji Bai said, ¡°The Economic Investigation Division has investigated all of Ye Zixi¡¯s ounts when she was still alive. They found some illegal records regarding a financepany that was operating the ounts for her. Nevertheless, that financepany was quickly proved to be a shellpany and the police were unable to find any further traces of the huge investment debt.¡±


    Zhang Shiyong smiled slightly and did not reply.


    Ji Bai continued, ¡°The four children of the Ye Family all appeared at the crime scene on the same night, and three of them are about to go to jail.¡± He looked at Zhang Shiyong as he said, ¡°Mr. Zhang, do you think that this is a coincidence, or could there be some other reasons?¡±


    Zhang Shiyong¡¯s smile widened and he asked, ¡°Do you mean that there is a possibility that none of this was a coincidence and that someone had deliberately arranged everything?¡±


    Both of their gazes locked and there was a distinct tension in the air. Ji Bai¡¯s voice was frosty when he replied, ¡°Yes, and even if that person did a perfect job, there are still some clues left behind.


    ¡°ording to Ye Ziqiang¡¯s testimony, he was having dinner with you before he went to find Ye Zixi, Mr. Zhang. Ye Jin said that Ye Ziqiang had matured a lot in the recent years and he rarely acted so impulsive. This made me wonder, did he really identally kill Ye Zixi just because he had some alcohol and acted rashly? Since Ye Ziqiang has a violent criminal record, a little neuro-excitatory drug might have been enough to trigger him to act a violently and impulsively, but of course, this was only a possibility. Not to mention, it would be impossible to find any evidence of drugs in his system from that night.¡±


    ¡°ording to Ye Jin¡¯s testimony, she called her brother at the time of the incident because of a problem in the ¡®Real Estate Department¡¯ project. If I remember correctly, you¡¯re in charge of the real estate department, Mr. Zhang. Ye Ziqiang might not necessarily have wanted to drag Ye Jin into this mess, but the phone call was just so conveniently timed. Furthermore, Ye Jin is sharp, so she was bound to notice that something was wrong and go on to involve herself in it.¡±


    ¡°I have to say that it seems like it¡¯s no surprise that Ye Qiao coincidently also went to the vi that night. However, moving on to the wanted criminal who took $2 billion USD from Ye Zixi, he is a European-born Chinese. Coincidently, you once studied in Europe, and interestingly, I discovered that the two of you went to the same university.¡±


    ¡°In addition to this, your family¡¯s business, the Zhang Group is not doing so well financially and there are lots of rumors floating around about shareholders wanting to pull out from thepany...¡±


    Zhang Shiyong originally had a calm look on his face, but after listening to what Ji Bai said, the smile on his face gradually disappeared. Nevertheless, he quickly started smiling again and looked back at Ji Bai. ¡°As expected of Detective Ji, it does sound reasonable, but I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯ve never done any of the things that you just inferred. In my opinion, you should stop wasting your time since you will not be able to find any evidence, Detective Ji.¡±


    Even though there was an unscrupulous sarcasm in his words, Ji Bai looked back at him very calmly. An easy andposed look started appearing on his handsome face as he stood there unmoving.


    Zhang Shiyong shuddered slightly as he heard Ji Bai say in a low voice, ¡°I don¡¯t have any evidence, but Lady Justice has long arms. This saying is not simply an empty threat to us criminal police officers, and I do believe it to be true. So tell me, Mr. Zhang, do you believe it too?¡±


    Looking at Ji Bai¡¯s figure as he walked away, Zhang Shiyong cursed furiously under his breath. However, by the time he walked into the police station hall, a calm andposed look was stered across his face once again.


    When he saw his wife, Ye Qiao in the visiting room, he held both of her hands gently. ¡°Little Qiao, you won¡¯t be in there for long, I will wait for you.¡±


    Despite the pain and hurt she was feeling, Ye Qiao appeared very calm at the moment. She quickly pulled her hands out of Zhang Shiyong¡¯s palms and shook her head.


    Zhang Shiyong looked at her and did not say anything.


    ¡°Shiyong,¡± Ye Qiao looked at him with a dead serious look in her eyes, ¡°I want a divorce.¡±


    Zhang Shiyong looked at her inplete shock. He couldn¡¯t believe what was happening. ¡°Ye Qiao, do you know what you are saying?¡±


    Ye Qiao slowly nodded.


    Zhang Shizhenughed. ¡°Do you know what kind of mess the Ye Group is now that you and Zixiao are in charge of it? It won¡¯t be good to leave me after you¡¯re released from the prison. Don¡¯t overthink it, but I promise that the name ¡®Mrs. Zhang¡¯ will forever be yours.¡±


    Even so, Ye Qiao did not answer him and she merely lifted her head and looked at him quietly. He had never seen such a look on his wife¡¯s face. It was quiet, decisive, and somewhat scornful. The usual admiration, fearfulness, love, and hate could no longer be seen anywhere on her face.


    Before he could open his mouth again, Ye Qiao had already stood up and spoken to the police officers standing next to her. ¡°Officers, the conversation has ended.¡±


    Zhang Shiyong watched as Ye Qiao disappeared through the door. He remained silent for a moment before fixing his suit and standing up, then he walked out of the visiting room and continued to have conversations with their rtives andforted them as if he were still a member of the Ye Family.


    A few monthster, the economic criminal who took a huge sum of money from Ye Group was finally extradited from overseas. Based on Ji Bai¡¯s tip, the Economic Investigation Division focused on investigating the rtionship between Zhang Shiyong and the case. Eventually, some strong evidence was obtained and the new big shot of the business industry in Lin City was thrown into prison. However, all that cameter.


    These days, the saddest and the quietest person in the Ye Group was none other than Ye Zixiao.


    As it was nearing noon, many members of the Ye Family who hade to visit had already left. The originally crowded walkway became quiet with only two to three police officers pacing back and forth.


    Ye Zixiao sat on the bench alone with his head lowered and his body frozen in ce.


    Ye Jin had told him, ¡®¡±Zixiao, the Ye Family will rely on you from now on,¡± and also, ¡°don¡¯t trust Zhang Shiyong, and believe in Wu Xie.¡±


    All he could do was nod with tears in his eyes.


    When Ye Zixi died, he med his big brother and third sister, and did not care much about the rest of the family, but only now was he truly experiencing the feeling of being torn into pieces. However, the feeling of anger and grief was now pent up in his heart and there was no way to release it. Whenever he recalled the way that his big brother cried his heart out and how his third sister shed tears silently, he wept. Moreover, his father had locked himself up and did not want to meet anyone, including him.


    Xu Xu walked out of the office and nned to have lunch in the cafeteria on the top floor, but as she was walking, she spotted Ye Zixiao in a suit sitting at the corner of the corridor. He was covering his face with one of his hand such that only his unshaved chin could be seen.


    Xu Xu was never good atforting people. She stopped right in front of him and thought to herself for a moment, but he did not seem to notice her. At the time, Xu Xu recalled how Ji Baiforted her when they had first learned of Ye Zixi¡¯s passing. Thus, she imitated Ji Bai, kneeled down on one knee, looked at Ye Zixiao¡¯s face closely, and said what she wanted him to hear most. ¡°Ye Zixiao, you have to keep.¡±


    Ye Zixiao raised his head which had been buried in his palm and looked at her with his puffy eyes.


    They two of them locked eyes for a moment and Ye Zixiao nodded.


    However, just as Xu Xu wanted to get up and leave, Ye Zixiao said, ¡°Xu Xu, let me hug you for a while.¡± His voice was hoarse and dry.


    Xu Xu remained silent for a moment then nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±


    Right after she said this, his hands tightened around her waist and she soon found herself in Ye Zixiao¡¯s arms. He buried his head deep into her shoulders and gradually tightened his grip.


    Xu Xu was slightly stunned by the man¡¯s broad arms, rapid heartbeat, and smell.


    A few secondster, Ye Zixiao released her. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Meanwhile, the people from the criminal police unit gradually walked out of the office for lunch on the other end of the corridor. When they saw the two of them hugging, none of them said anything. Ji Bai squinted his eyes slightly at looked at Ye Zixiao¡¯s dead silent eyes which seemed to be suppressing hisplex feelings, then looked at Xu Xu¡¯s calm face. After this, Ji Bai turned around coldly and headed upstairs with the rest of the team.


    After they finished eating lunch, Ji Bai returned to the office and leaned on his chair to rest. The office outside was quiet and after a short while, he heard some familiar light footsteps approaching. He opened his eyes and saw Xu Xu walking into his office only to sit down opposite him.


    ¡°Today, Ye Jin asked me whether I would I do the same if I were her.¡± She said, ¡°She thinks that we are the same kind of person.¡±


    Ji Bai snappily replied. ¡°You would not. Both of you are different.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded, she thought so too. Perhaps because there were some simr qualities between the two of them, but Xu Xu had always known what she was pursuing. Ye Jin, on the other hand, had always been trapped in the Ye Group such that she was never able to explore her own person.


    Since the Ye Group case was the first major case that she had handled, it was inevitable for her to feel a little heavy-hearted after the case was closed. Since she was thinking about Ye Jin and was feeling a bit down, she subconsciously wanted to talk to Ji Bai.


    Nheless, her heart warmed up at the second she did because of his casual yet affirmative tone. With just a few words, all the negativity from the Ye Group¡¯s case seemed to disappear.


    Neither of them continued talking. After a while, Ji Bai asked, ¡°How is Ye Zixiao?¡± He said this in a t tone but he was staring at her face intensely.


    Xu Xu looked back at Ji Bai and her face became slightly red. ¡°I believe that he will pull himself together.¡±


    Ji Bai panicked slightly when he saw her reaction, but he thought of something and quickly said, ¡°It¡¯s okay to care for your friend, but you should be more cautious in the police station since he¡¯s rted to the case that you are assigned to handle. I hope that it will not happen again.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded honestly, ¡°Sorry, I understand. It won¡¯t happen again, I probably will not even be in contact with him in the future.¡±


    Ji Bai smiled faintly. ¡°Okay, you know your limits.¡±


    Before long, the well-deserved holiday for the criminal police unit finally arrived. Right after Xu Xu returned home, she packed up some of her belongings and went to Xu Juan¡¯s apartment.


    ¡°I have three days off and I will stay in your ce.¡± She said clearly and concisely.


    Xu Juan smiled and stroke her hair. ¡°Sure thing.¡±


    Xu Xu did know any other way to care for her brother other than by keeping himpany whilst Xu Juan, on the other hand, understood her intentions perfectly.


    Xu Xu nodded, then sat on the sofa and used herptop for a while. When she raised her head, she saw Xu Juan sitting by the window while staring out into the starry night with a can of beer in his hand.


    Xu Xu got up and walked over to him. ¡°Brother, can you hug me.¡±


    Xu Juanughed, then flung open his arms and embraced his sister. ¡°I¡¯m ttered. Come, let¡¯s hug a little longer.¡±


    After a few seconds, Xu Xu pushed him away and frowned, with her face looking a little red.


    Xu Juan noticed that something was off, so he asked, ¡°What happened?¡±


    Xu Xu thought for a while then answered, ¡°Recently, I was hugged by three men including you, but all three hugs gave me vastly different feelings.¡±


    Xu Juan immediately went on high-alert. ¡°Who are the other two men who hugged you? What else did they do?¡±


    Xu Xu did not answer him. Instead, she stared out at the night sky through the window and said, ¡°Brother, don¡¯t arrange any more blind dates for me for now.¡±


    Xu Juan was stunned. Did that mean that she had someone in mind?


    Since she stayed in the police station most of the time, this person was most likely a policeman.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you didn¡¯t want a police officer boyfriend?¡± He was feeling very conflicted. His heart was relieved, surprised, curious, and also a little confused all at the same time.


    Xu Xu could not exin to him the conflict between rationality and emotion, not to mention, she herself was also feeling a little confused. Because of this, she merely sighed and answered, ¡°Time changes things¡±


    After a while, she added on, ¡°Moreover, I¡¯m not sure if I can even be with him.¡±

 Chapter 29

    <h4>Chapter 29</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    It was the first day of the holiday.


    The night was refreshing and the stars were shining gently. Ji Bai sat on his balconyfortably and was sipping on a fragrant new tea while he gave Zhao Han a call.


    ¡°Captain, what¡¯s the matter?¡± Zhao Han received his call and instinctively became alert.


    Ji Bai answered, ¡°There¡¯s nothing. Let¡¯s find some time within these two days to have a meal together.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± Zhao Han¡¯s tone instantly became lighter, ¡°how about tomorrow?¡±


    Ji Bai frowned. ¡°...What about the day after tomorrow?¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s the day after tomorrow, I can only do dinner because Xu Xu asked me to practice shooting with her in the morning and then we¡¯re having lunch together.¡±


    The corners of Ji Bai¡¯s lips curled up into a sly smile. ¡°Oh no, I have something on that night.¡±


    ¡°Then...¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s do it during noon then, Xu Xu can join us.¡± Ji Bai said casually, ¡°I will pick you guys up at the shooting range.¡±


    ¡°That will do.¡± Zhao Han answered,pletely oblivious to the fact that he had just been manipted.


    After this, Ji Bai quickly changed the topic. ¡°Oh yes, I haven¡¯t met your girlfriend yet. Bring her along if she¡¯s free since I¡¯ll be treating you guys.¡±


    Zhao Hanughed aloud. ¡°Ah, hehe... okay.¡±


    Ji Bai smiled back. ¡°Thank you, brother. Goodbye.¡±


    After hanging up the phone, Zhao Han was confused about why Ji Bai had thanked him. Then he just brushed it off as Ji Bai overworking himself. ¡®Poor guy.¡¯


    A matchmaker served as the medium formunication between two people, with the medium being mutually beneficial to both parties.


    At the time, Zhao Han waspletely unaware of his strategic purpose as Xu Xu¡¯s medium.


    Ever since Xu Xu had found out that she had a ¡°sustained¡± and ¡°unique¡± feeling for Ji Bai, her first priority was to get to know him better before deciding whether to go after him or not.


    Due to the handsome junior yboy incident that she had previously experienced, Xu Xu understood that sometimes love could be irrational and that no matter how she good she was at analyzing, she might still miss something. In addition to this, a person might act very differently in their work life and personal life, take, for example, Xu Juan. He had always been dominant and firm when he managed hispany. Moreover, he had also always been scrupulous in separating his public and private interest such that he would never make any moves on his beautiful secretaries. However, when he got off work and entered the nightclub, he would flirt with all the women there.


    Up until now, she had only seen the working side of Ji Bai so she needed to get to know more about his personal living habits.


    Besides this, Ji Bai had been single for many years without involving himself in any scandals. It might be because he kept his integrity or just that he was being too picky. She could not exclude the possibility of him being a homosexual, sexual dysfunctional or simply promiscuous.


    Zhao Han was quite close to Ji Bai and since his personality was rtively straightforward, he was naturally the must-have medium to get to know Ji Bai. Although Xu Xu did not care about and was never good at rtionships, she was quite a natural at it when she set her mind to it.


    There were very few people in the shooting range early in the morning, so when Xu Xu arrived, only Zhao Han and another young policeman were there.


    Zhao Han tried his best to teach Xu Xu and she also learned from him attentively. After a while, the two of them stopped to take a rest. Xu Xu stared at the range in front of her, smiled and said, ¡°Teacher mentioned that your marksmanship is very good. It seems like you really do live up to your name.¡±


    Zhao Han chuckled when he heard this. ¡°I¡¯m just average, the captain is the one who¡¯s very skillful. Last year, he got the first ce in the Southwest Police District marksmanshippetition.¡±


    Xu Xu naturally brought the topic back to Ji Bai, ¡°It seems like he¡¯s very outstanding in every aspect, be it detective skills, marksmanship, or physical condition... In order to be like him, one would probably need to spend all of one¡¯s spare time on work and act very hardworking.¡±


    Zhao Han nodded. ¡°I heard that during the first few years of his career as a police officer, he worked every day without taking leave. However, this has gotten better over the recent years as we often eat and have fun together.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Xu Xu handed him a bottle of water and probed further. ¡°What do the two of you do during your free time anyway?¡±


    Zhao Han took arge gulp and waved his hand yfully. ¡°Billiards, bowling, and sometimes we will watch football or y cards in his house.¡±


    ¡®Okay, very good, these were all very masculine and healthy hobbies.¡¯ However, when Xu Xu was about to change the topic again, Zhao Han suddenly looked behind her.


    ¡°Captain, you¡¯re early.¡± Zhao Han grinned.


    Ji Bai was in his casual wear today which made him give off a totally different vibe. He ced his arm on Xu Xu¡¯s back andughed at Zhao Han. ¡°Aren¡¯t we meeting at noon? I¡¯ve nothing on in the morning so I came to have a look.¡±


    Xu Xu turned around and greeted him enthusiastically. ¡°Morning, teacher.¡±


    ¡°Morning.¡± Ji Bai nced at her slightly red face and asked, ¡°What were you guys talking about?¡±


    Right as Zhao Han was going to answer, Xu Xu blurted out, ¡°We were talking about you. And we were talking about hobbies.¡±


    Zhao Han nodded in agreement with her.


    After sitting for a while, Xu Xu said to Zhao Han, ¡°Let¡¯s continue practicing.¡±


    Zhao Han nodded, looked at Ji Bai and said casually, ¡°Would you like to ask the captain to train you? This is a rare opportunity.¡±


    Ji Bai and Xu Xu exchanged nces.


    After staring at each other for a short while, Xu Xu looked away nervously and answered, ¡°Let¡¯s not bother teacher for the time being. I will train the skills that you taught me for now and build a strong foundation.¡±


    Xu Xin¡¯s n was very simple. Her biggest goal today besides practicing her shooting was to get information from Zhao Han. If she were to stay with Ji Bai the whole time, then she would lose the chance.


    Ji Bai sat at the same spot while he watched Xu Xu and Zhao Han standing side by side in front of the firing line as they had a conversation under their breath. He could not help butugh when he thought about how many police officers had asked him to give him guidance on shooting which he had turned down because he was too busy. This little girl was the only one who left him hanging because she wanted to follow the regr sequence step by step without shortcuts.


    By now, more people had entered the shooting range. Some young policemen came over to ask for guidance so Ji Bai got up, went over and instructed them.


    After a while, as he was almost done guiding them, Ji Bai turned around and saw a young girl standing at the front door of the shooting range whilst looking very expectant. He followed her line of sight and saw Zhao Han hanging up his phone before saying something to Xu Xu and walking towards the girl.


    Ji Bai nodded at to the young policemen. ¡°Continue to grasp the gist of the technique.¡± Then, he excused himself and walked towards Zhao Han.


    ¡°Captain, this is my girlfriend, Man Man.¡± Zhao Han introduction the two of them to each other.


    Ji Bai smiled courteously at the girl. ¡°Nice to meet you. Thank you for supporting Little Zhao¡¯s work.¡±


    After some the small talk, the girl peered into the room and asked curiously, ¡°Is this the ce where all of you practice shooting?¡±


    Before Zhao Han could answer, Ji Bai suggested, ¡°You can apany her to have a look at this ce.¡±


    Zhao Han dly agreed as this gave him the opportunity to give a tour of his work environment and achievements to his beloved. Zhao Han was also not worried about Xu Xu since Ji Bai was there, so he nodded with a pearly white smile. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll join you guys in a while for lunch.¡±


    Xu Xu stood in front of the firing line alone. She concentrated on recalling the techniques that Zhao Han had thought her and did not think about the Ji Bai. After firing a few rounds, she stopped and rested. Then, she suddenly felt someone appear behind her.


    She thought that it was Zhao Han, so did not bother turning around and simply asked, ¡°You mention that the way I pull the trigger is uneven, how can I fix that?¡±


    ¡°Let me take a shot.¡± She heard a low and calm voice tease her.


    Xu Xu¡¯s hand which was holding the gun froze and she turned around to look at him. ¡°Teacher.¡±


    Ji Bai¡¯s had both of his hands behind him while he stood beside her with a warm look on his face. ¡°Little Zhao¡¯s girlfriend is here, so he went away for a while. You can continue with your practice.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded, then raised the gun to take aim. Ji Bai only had to take a look at her posture for a split-second in order to identify the issue.


    ¡°Spread your legs wider.¡± Ji Bai kicked her heel gently.


    Xu Xu did as she was told and moved slightly. After Ji Bai saw that her legs position had been corrected, his gaze moved to her waist. ¡°Your waist is too tense. You need to be rooted in your core, but you also need to rx.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Xu Xu took a deep breath and twisted her waist lightly.


    He remained silent for a while and Xu Xu asked, ¡°Is there anything else?¡±


    Only then did Ji Bai¡¯s gaze move away from her slender waist towards her finger on the trigger.


    ¡°Your finger on the trigger is too tense. Don¡¯t follow the teachings in the ssroom so strictly, hold the gun in the position mostfortable to you.¡± Ji Bai advised faintly.


    Xu Xu adjusted her fingers slightly, but perhaps because she had practiced for too long, but she felt her fingers getting a little stiff and her posture be quite ufortable. Just as she was about to ask another question, she suddenly saw arge yet slender hand reach forward from behind her to hold her hand.


    Xu Xu¡¯s body instantly stiffened.


    There was a subtle tingling on her fingertips when Ji Bai used his tanned fingers to gently adjust her fair fingers. Then, two hands ovepped on the trigger as she heard him put his face right next to hers before drawing a breath.


    Secondster, he muttered, ¡°Okay, you can take the shot now.¡±


    ¡°Bang!¡± Xu Xu almost instantly pulled the trigger.


    She missed the target.


    Xu Xu quickly calmed herself down.


    He supported her hand as she took a few more shots and her technique gradually improved, but her face was still a little warm the entire time.


    Fortunately, Ji Bai soon released her and said expressionlessly, ¡°Remember this feeling.¡± Then, he went to another firing line.


    Xu Xu continued to practice for a while, then she cast a sideways nce and saw him standing next to another policeman while he calmly showed the man how to adjust his grip.


    Xu Xu smiled cheekily to herself. ¡®Very good. He subconsciously does not reject contact with me, who is of the opposite sex ¨C in fact, he might even be used to it. This is a very good start.¡¯


    Even though Ji Bai kept his eyes on the sweaty and stocky guy in front of him, her fresh breath still lingered in his nostrils and his fingertips recalled the touch of her soft fingers. This made him feel very pleasant andfortable, but also a little irritable as he wanted more.


    Next week, he would just directly ask Zhao Han not toe.


    After a while, Little Zhao and his girlfriend returned. It was nearing noon by now, so the four of them left the shooting range and walked along the streets to look for a ce to have lunch.


    Little Zhao¡¯s girlfriend, Man Man, was a gentle, cheerful and beautiful girl. Ji Bai and Zhao Han were chatty as well. Meanwhile, since Xu Xu intended to get to know more about Ji Bai, so she naturally talked more than usual. All in all, everyone had a great time at lunch.


    After walking out of the restaurant, Little Zhao held his girlfriend¡¯s hand and said, ¡°What ns do you both have in the afternoon? Man Man wants to get a haircut.¡±


    Ji Bai smiled and nodded, but just as he was about to tell them to go ahead, he heard Xu Xu say, ¡°I want to get a haircut too.¡±


    All three of them looked at her short hair, then at Xu Xu said with an indifferent look on her face. ¡°I want to trim it a little. Teacher, are you going?¡±


    Ji Bai was taken aback. ¡°... Sure. Let¡¯s have a walk.¡±


    As a matter of fact, Xu Xu did not want to get a haircut, she just wanted to spend more time to observe Ji Bai¡¯s private life. However, she was oblivious to the fact that they could simply develop feelings from the two of them being alone together, so she proposed the idea of getting a haircut.


    Man Man brought them to a very high-end and fashionable hair salon. Zhao Han naturally stood by Man Man and apanied her while shemunicated with the hairdresser whilst Xu Xu sat patiently on the tall hairdressing chair. After some time, she spotted Ji Bai taking a magazine and sitting down on the ck leather sofa in the waiting area through the reflection in the mirror.


    This hair salon provided great services as a beautiful girl quickly brought him a cup of hot tea. ¡°Sir, do you want a head massage?¡±


    Ji Bai answered without lifting his head. ¡°No. Thank you.¡±


    The girl smiled and added on, ¡°The massages here are free. Your friends are having a haircut here, so you might have to wait for a while.¡±


    Ji Bai shook his head. ¡°No thanks.¡±


    The girl smiled and left.


    Perhaps it was because he was tall, handsome and way too eye-catching, but after a while, another handsome male hairdresser with a great smile took the initiative to ask, ¡°Sir, do you want a hair wash?¡±


    Ji Bai remained calm and distant. ¡°No, thank you.¡±


    ...


    Very good. There was not any frivolous bodynguage or even any subtle expression changes, regardless of if he wasmunicating with a man or woman.


    Xu Xu averted her gaze away from him in the mirror. At the same time, the hairdresser behind her looked at her short hair and asked cheerfully, ¡°What kind of hairstyle do you want? Do you want to dye it or do you want a perm?¡±


    Xu Xu opened the magazine in her hand and emotionlessly said, ¡°Just trim it a little and don¡¯t mess up my hairstyle.¡±


    The hairdresser¡¯s smile instantly disappeared.


    Soon enough, Xu Xu was done and she got off the chair and went to the front desk to pay the bill. Only then did Ji Bai put down the magazine to carefully at her head for a short while, but he could not notice any obvious changes. He was a little surprised by the fact that she was so particr about her looks and that she was, in fact, just like any ordinary girl.


    After leaving the hair salon, Man Man proposed that they shop for clothes which Xu Xu naturally agreed to. ¡°I¡¯m going too. Teacher, what about you?¡±


    Ji Bai nced at the two big light bulbs looming above them and nodded.


    In truth, Zhao Han was also very puzzled. However, he was a loyal friend who did not mind having two light bulbs disturbing his date so he did not say anything. After going through dozens of shops, Man Man became totally engrossed in shopping, but all Ji Bai and Xu Xu did was stand there calmly with an amazed look on their faces.


    Did people with people with high IQ shop like that? Before Zhao Han could ponder the thought, he was called over by Man Man.


    They shopped until the sun was setting, and the four of them soon walked out of the pedestrian street with Zhao Han holding a variety of shopping bags and Man Man was clinging onto Xu Xu affectionately whilst Ji Bai trailed them casually. Just as Zhao Han was about to suggest watching a movie, Ji Bai¡¯s mobile phone rang and he walked away to answer it.


    The three of them stood by the side of the street to wait for him. At this time, Man Man wanted to have a look at the jewelry store in front but Xu Xu said that she was not interested, so Man Man went in alone.


    Xu Xu and Zhao Han stood outside the store and waited. Then, they saw an adult toy store across the street with colorful lights shing around and several vividly illustrated advertising posters pasted on the front door. The two of them stood there silently for a moment before Xu Xu suddenly piped up, ¡°You can buy it if you want to.¡±


    Zhao Han was taken aback, ¡°What?¡±


    Xu Xu looked at the adult toy store and said, ¡°Condoms. You have been ncing in that direction for some time now.¡± Zhao Han¡¯s face got warmer and he heard Xu Xu added on, ¡°She will agree to it. Just now when she passed by that shop, the look on her face changed and then she peeked at you.¡±


    Zhao Han was embarrassed since he and his girlfriend were still at the ambiguous stage where they had yet to get to the final stage. Obviously, no one knew about something so personal about them, but Xu Xu who was such a straight arrow actually pointed it out so bluntly. He was a little ufortable, but he was also feeling very restless after listening to what she just said. Thus, he mumbled some incoherent words before darting into the jewelry store to look for Man Man.


    Xu Xu looked at the adult toy store for a while, then she walked over there herself.


    After finishing the phone call, Ji Bai turned around and saw that no one was around. He scanned the area and his eyes locked onto Xu Xu standing in front of a shop called ¡°Sexual Goods¡± expressionlessly while keep her head lowered to look at her phone. There was an advertisement board by her side which was as tall as half a human with a picture of a semi-nude muscr westerner on the board and big bold words written across it, ¡°Rapidly increases your length by three inches within an hour. Longsting and firm.¡±


    Ji Bai could not help butugh at how she was so oblivious about her surroundings. He walked over to her without pointing it out and simply tugged the back of her shirt. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Xu Xu raised her head to look at him and observed that he was not trying to anxiously avoid the subject nor was he disgusted by their close proximity to the shop, so it meant that he did not have any problems with his sexual performance.


    After walking out of the jewelry store, Zhao Han suggested watching a movie. However, this time Ji Bai did not give Xu Xu a chance to open her mouth and answered first, ¡°We will stop being light bulbs, you guys go have fun.¡±


    Xu Xu remained silent for a moment before waving at Zhao Han and Man Man. ¡°Goodbye then.¡±


    This was what was Zhao Han hoping for, so he quickly ran off with Man Man. Of course, they did not go to the movies.


    It was dusk and the sun had half of its body hidden in the horizon. People were walking all about on the streets as Ji Bai and Xu Xu remained there inplete silence for a while before Ji Baimented, ¡°I want to buy a pair of shoes. Let¡¯s go together if you¡¯re free.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    The two of them entered the strip mall once again.


    Buying shoes was just an excuse. Since Ji Bai had always only worn a few brands of shoes, so he made his decision quickly and soon picked a pair of workout shoes. The whole thing took less than 20 minutes, so he thought of something and asked Xu Xu, ¡°Do you want to pick something up?¡±


    The women¡¯s shoe section had far more variety than the men¡¯s shoe area and thetest summer shoe collections were very pretty. When the sales girl saw the two of them, she greeted them with a smile, ¡°Miss, do you want to have a look at thetest collections?¡± Xu Xu nodded and followed her to the disy shelves as Ji Bai¡¯s eyes simultaneously swept across the sea of footwear.


    ¡°Try this pair.¡± Ji Bai picked up a pair of sandals and walked up to her, and before Xu Xu could say anything, the sales girlughed, ¡°Your boyfriend has good taste, this pair is our best seller.¡±


    Xu Xu took the shoes and remarked to the sales girl, ¡°He¡¯s not my boyfriend, he¡¯s my superior.¡±


    The sales girl looked at Ji Bai thoughtfully but Ji Bai had a calm look on his face as though he did not hear anything.


    Xu Xu was originally wearing a pair of ck leather shoes which covered her toes such that only her fair ankles were shown. The shoes that Ji Bai picked was a pair of light bluece-up open-toe sandals. After she changed into the sandals and stood up, the sales girl praised her in an exaggerated tone, ¡°It suits you very well. Your skin is fair and you have small feet so it looks very pretty and feminine on you.¡±


    Ji Bai lowered his head to look at her ankles which were currently tightly wrapped by theces and her small, pearl-like toes ¨C it was indeed very feminine.


    He pleasantly raised his head to observe her expression as the sales girl likewise waited for her decision in anticipation. However, she disappointed them by frowning. ¡°It¡¯s a little childish.¡± She then pointed at a pair of ck, mature-looking shoes on the shelf which she had taken a liking to from before, ¡°Let¡¯s try that pair.¡±


    Ji Bai was speechless. ¡°...¡±


    Salesgirlmented nervously, ¡°... isn¡¯t that pair is a little too old-fashioned?¡±


    Xu Xu shook her head. ¡°No, it¡¯s modest.¡±


    She tried on the ck, mature-looking shoes which looked neat and smart, then she paid for the shoes feeling very satisfied. However, even though the sales girl was obsessed with how cute she looked in the pair of blue sandals, Ji Bai simply stood by the side without saying anything.


    After buying the shoes, Xu Xu received a call from Xu Juan asking whether she wanted to have dinner together. She had gotten a lot of information today, like excluding the possibility of Ji Bai being a homosexual, promiscuous or sexually dysfunctional and also found out that he had a healthy and peaceful private life. Thus, she dly bid farewell to Ji Bai without any hesitation.


    A few minutes after Ji Bai drove away from the mall, he turned around and returned to the shoe store. The sales girl smiled when she saw Ji Bai, and he quickly paid for the pair of sandals coolly. ¡°She changed her mind.¡±


    When he got home, he kept the shoes in his dressing room. When he saw the pair of small delicate sandals amongst the pile of heavy leather shoes and sneakers, he could not help but smile.

 Chapter 30

    <h4>Chapter 30</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    The city was soon enveloped in a curtain of darkness as Xu Juan sat in a quiet restaurant illuminated by soft lights. After a while, he saw Xu Xu holding a shoebox with white earplugs in her ears walking towards him slowly.


    It seemed like this girl was in a good mood today.


    After eating for a while, Xu Juan asked, ¡°Who¡¯s this guy that you¡¯ve taken a liking to?¡± Xu Xu only said one sentence thest time and did not talk about it any further.


    Xu Xu said, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you after we get somewhere.¡± In Xu Xu¡¯s opinion, there was no need to make such a big deal out of it if she was not even sure about the situation.


    Xu Juan nced at her and smiled. ¡°In all honesty, I don¡¯t agree with you dating a colleague. Let¡¯s not talk about whether a policeman is suitable or not, the biggest problem when dating someone from your office is that you¡¯ll need to meet them regrly. If it does not work out in the future, then it would be very awkward for the both of you.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded understandingly. ¡°I¡¯ve also thought about this, so I will not let my colleagues know before I¡¯m sure that he will ept me.¡± She paused for a while. ¡°I will also not let him know of my intentions that easily.¡±


    Xu Juan¡¯s heart ached when he heard what she had said. After a moment of silence, he asked, ¡°Do you have any specific n? Do you want me to teach you?¡±


    Xu Xu put down her spoon and nodded. ¡°Give me some advice.¡± Although she did not agree to Xu Juan¡¯s private lifestyle, when it came to rtionships between men and women, he was indeed much more experienced than her.


    Xu Juan did not voice out his enlightening remarks immediately. Instead, he examined his sister from head to toe before saying,


    ¡°First of all, men are all about the visuals, and no matter how noble and upright your little policeman is, it will be no exception for him unless he¡¯s not truly a man. You¡¯re very good-looking, but the way you dress...¡± He nced at Xu Xu¡¯s shirt and stuck out his tongue. ¡°An officedy look will not bring out your most attractive traits.¡±


    Xu Xu tilted her head sideways and asked, ¡°What are my best traits?¡±


    ¡°Young, delicate and clean, which will easily arouse a man¡¯s desire to protect you.¡± Xu Juan took his time to answer slowly. ¡°The kind of style that is in between that of a girl and that of a woman suits you the most. If you were to dress up in a pure-looking and delicate style, you will absolutely charm a lot of people.¡±


    Xu Xu imagined it in her mind and frowned.


    Xu Juan continued, ¡°Dressing up is the first step. Secondly, don¡¯t chase after men, it will lower your value. Since you¡¯re so good at analyzing, analyze what type of woman he likes and what his hobbies are. Then, you y it cool and slowly rub him the right way. Most importantly, you need to learn to show your weaknesses because no man falls for someone who¡¯s better than them in all aspects.¡±


    Xu Xu did not say anything and Xu Juan sighed and added on after seeing the indignant look on her face, ¡°I¡¯m just pointing a method where you can never go wrong. Even so, you¡¯ll need to think for yourself about what exactly to do.¡±


    Xu Xu looked up and answered, ¡°What you said make sense, but I will not do as you suggested.¡±


    Xu Juan was stunned and he heard her firmly say, ¡°I have my own ways.¡±


    That night when they got home, Xu Xu went to bed early. She got up early the next day and used a small fire to cook some beef porridge, after all, it was what both she and Ji Bai liked.


    The way in which Ji Bai pursued people was to restrict that person¡¯s activity, bring that person into his territory, then attract and win over that person step by step until their bond got too strong to be broken. He was like a lovestruck alpha wolf as he was a little proud, a little sly, and unknowingly very dominant.


    Nheless, the way Xu Xu pursued a person was very, very simple, and that was to treat the person nicely.


    Being sincere and doing her best was all she wanted to do.


    Xu Xu did not want to copy the tactics that Xu Juan employed, like pretending to be innocent, showing her weaknesses or trying overly hard to impress him.


    After they finished running that day, Ji Bai raised his brows slightly while he ate her porridge. ¡°It tastes very good today.¡±


    Xu Xu felt her heart jump for joy as she answered with a simple, ¡°Okay.¡±


    It would be great if they could be like this every day.


    When the criminal police unit was not working on a case, their work schedule was fairly well-paced and rxed. Before long, the morning passed.


    By the time Xu Xu and Yao Meng went to the cafeteria, there were already many people there and it was quite noisy. After they bought their food, Xu Xu¡¯s eyes quickly scanned their surroundings before she pointed at an empty table beside Ji Bai, Old Wu, and a few others. ¡°Let¡¯s sit there.¡±


    Yao Meng nodded her head. ¡°Sure.¡±


    After they sat down, Yao Meng smiled and greeted everyone and Xu Xu followed suit. However, as her eyes met Ji Bai¡¯s, they both briefly looked away.


    The men were talking about a criminal police officer from another district with the nickname ¡°Bull¡± who had an impossibly high alcohol tolerance and a tower-like physique. Yao Meng joined in the conversation from time to time whilst also chatting with Xu Xu. Her crisp voice was clear and loud like a bell, but Xu Xu was only pretending to listen to Old Wu or Yao Meng. In reality, ncing at Ji Bai¡¯s te out of the corner of her eye. ¡®He ate a lot of meat... He ate two steamed buns and a bowl of rice... He does not eat spicy food... he picked out the garlic and ginger from the food...¡¯


    So these were his eating habits.


    While Ji Bai quietly picked up a vegetable, he asionally observed her whilst thinking to himself, ¡®Why is she so interested in the topic today? Does she actually know the criminal police officer known as ¡°Bull¡±?¡¯


    Later on, the guys changed the topic, but she was still kept listening attentively, only then did Ji Bai stop looking at her.


    During lunch break, some of their colleagues went for a walk, while others smoked in the hallway and more still slept on their tables. Because of this, the office was very quiet. Since Xu Xu saw that there was no one around, she switched on theputer, logged into the internal system and took a look at Ji Bai¡¯s basic information.


    180cm in height and 81 kg in weight...


    He was the record holder of the Great Southwest Police District ten thousand meters steeplechasepetition as well as the marksmanshippetition...


    He had been rewarded with a second-ss merit for three times and a third-ss merit five times...


    As she scrolled down with her mouse, lines of text kept appearing in her eyes, and she voraciously memorized every single line. After some time, she saw a one-inch colored photo on the right and the short-haired man in the photo looking serious yet calm.


    Xu Xu remembered that this was the first picture she had seen of him and also where she got the notion of him having ¡°regr features¡± from. However, now that she was looking at the same boring identification picture again, why did his hair, eyes, nose or even chin look so charming and handsome?


    After staring at it silently for a moment, Xu Xu selected ¡°save picture¡± on herputer and created an encrypted folder. She thought about it for a while and named the file ¡°Private folder, do not touch¡±.


    She continued to look at it for a while, but soon, people started returning to the office. Xu Xu then switched off herputer and picked up a piece of paper in front of her to write down things that she remembered. To anyone else, these were just a bunch of random numbers and words scribbled across the page. ¡°180, 81, 995 rings, 10000m...¡±


    ¡°Why are you writing down such weird numbers?¡± Zhao Han who was sitting beside stretched his neck over and looked at the piece of paper rather curiously.


    Xu Xu replied with an indifferent look on her face, ¡°nck¡¯s constant.¡±


    Zhao Han had never heard of the astrophysics concept before, so he nodded ignorantly despite not understanding.


    Just when Xu Xu was about to fold the paper, she heard a low voice behind her. ¡°Are the two of you talking about astronomy?¡± She did not notice that Ji Bai hade out of his office and was now making his way towards her table.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Xu Xu said as she calmly tore up the paper before throwing it into the trash can.


    Over the following two weeks, Xu Xu¡¯s personal and work life were very peaceful. Her rtionship with Ji Bai also improved gradually. They exercised together and she made him breakfast every morning.


    During the day, the two of them would not talk much and she was able to focus on working, but when it came to their chats during break time, she would pay close attention to him and try to know everything about him.


    She also did not know why Zhao Han was always busy during the weekends and why Ji Bai was always the one to teach her marksmanship, nevertheless, it was better that way since they would get to eat lunch together and they would sometimes even go shopping in the afternoon. However, every time he taught her how to shoot and ced his hands over hers, her heartbeat would elerate. Moreover, his hand would inevitably touch her waist or her shoulders from time to time. Initially, she did not pay it too much attention, but after a few times, she realized that she would feel a burning sensation on the parts where he touched, where it would linger for a very long time.


    Not to mention, his breath and his slightest touch were the Achilles heel to her calm andposed mentality. Xu Xu was not used to feeling a little impetuous or embarrassed, but she was not repulsed by the feeling of this unusual torment. It was actually quite the opposite, to the point where every time she was tormented, she would feel a little satisfied.


    Since she knew that her mood had be sensitive and abnormal, she was afraid that Ji Bai might be aware of her thoughts, so she altered herself to be even calmer and reserved on the outside. She politely called him ¡®teacher¡¯ and lowered her head to avoid his gaze whenever she blushed or when her heartbeat elerated. When she wanted to get closer to him, she would immediately calm down and keep her distance. This was mainly because, in her opinion, she was satisfied with how things were at their current stage such that she now felt veryfortable and at home in Ji Bai¡¯s life.


    Ji Bai, on the other hand, was feeling the same way. Since Xu Xu was so good at acting calm, he was not sure about her feelings. This was mainly because she always looked at him the same way that she looked at Old Wu or any other passers-by. Even so, he could tell that this little girl was getting used to being around him because everytime time he ¡°identally¡± approached and touched her, she would blush and look away. Normally he would assume that she be harboring some feeling for him but because she was so dense and innocent, she might not have noticed it herself.


    Nevertheless, having a little hunch was naturally not sufficient for this situation. If he were to confess right now, she might feel like she was put on the spot and refuse without hesitating. After all, she had once said that he was not suitable for her. He did not want to frighten her, so he wanted to wait until she would naturally ept him after they grew closer.


    Thus, he would need to work harder.


    However, over the following days, he learned of many of her strong points. Like how she was a picky eater so she would prepare breakfast for the two of them every day. Since she was a good cook, he got to eat a lot of tasty food. Furthermore, whilst she might seem a little slow, she was actually very considerate. She even said that she wanted to help him quit smoking, and now, whenever he wanted to smoke a cigarette, she would immediately hand him a piece of gum... wifey material.


    That night, Xu Xu had dinner with Xu Juan and he inquired about her progress. ¡°How did it go with ¡®him¡¯?¡±


    Xu Xu answered, ¡°Everything is under control.¡±


    Xu Juan was unwilling to ept the fact that she did not want to tell him who that person was no matter what after seeing her seemingly smiling eyes. Therefore, he changed the topic and said, ¡°Oh yeah, I can get tickets for LeBron James¡¯s game next week, do you want them?¡±


    Xu Xu raised her head and shot a look at her brother.


    Since it was now off-season in the NBA, many big shots hade to China. Even Xu Xu had heard that a basketball superstar named LeBron James would being to Lin City. Nevertheless, her brother knew that she was never interested in basketball games, so it was obvious that he wanted to lure Ji Bai out of hiding by giving her the tickets.


    He was really childish.


    Even so, Xu Xu still agreed to it since, in the past, she had heard Zhao Han mention that Ji Bai was a big fan of LeBron James. ¡°Okay. Thank you, brother.¡±.


    During lunch break on the next following day, Zhao Han and Xu Xu were the only ones left in the office, even Ji Bai was not there. Xu Xu handed him the two tickets. ¡°Do you want it? I remember you saying that you wanted to watch him live.¡±


    Zhao Han¡¯s eyes widened in excitement. ¡°It¡¯s really difficult to get these ticket, how did you get it? Wow, it¡¯s even in the seventh row¡±


    Xu Xu smiled. ¡°My brother gave it to me.¡±


    ¡°The captain absolutely loves LeBron,¡± then, Zhao Han hesitated, ¡°but there are only two tickets... you should go with the captain.¡±


    Xu Xu shook her head. ¡°No, I am not interested.¡±


    Zhao Han smirked at her. ¡°Xu Xu, you are such a good friend.¡±


    After giving away the tickets, Xu Xu was in a good mood. She did not intend to go in the first ce since she was not interested, but shepletely forgot that this was an opportunity to go on a date with Ji Bai alone. Not that it mattered, they had been spending a lot of time togethertely so it was not like it was a do-or-die situation. Furthermore, Xu Juan would definitely be hiding in a corner to try to spy on them with some high-powered binocrs.


    She also gave the tickets to Zhao Han because she was afraid that Ji Bai might find out that she had a crush on him.


    When the bell rang, Ji Bai walked in with his car key in hand ¨C it seemed like he had gone out to eat with someone earlier. Right after he entered his office, he called for Zhao Han.


    Xu Xu knew that she will not need to worry about the tickets anymore, but at this moment, she instinctively raised her head and looked towards his office. Only then did she realize that she really wanted to see the joyful look on Ji Bai¡¯s face when he received the ticket.


    However...


    The subtle smile on Ji Bai¡¯s face remained unchanged. He said something to Zhao Han and then... he handed a stack of tickets to Zhao Han.


    When Zhao Han walked out of the room, he was very excited and announced loudly, ¡°The captain got tickets for the LeBron James game tonight. Everyone will get a ticket for front row VIP seats!¡±


    Everyone cheered and swarmed forward. Yao Meng shouted excitedly and Zhao Han did his best to calm them down happily. ¡°Be patient guys, the captain said that the middle seat will be reserved for our female colleagues. Yao Meng, take this.¡±


    After a while, he finished distributing the tickets. Everyone calmed down and happily went back to their seats. Then, Zhao Han walked over to Xu Xu¡¯s desk and handed her three tickets. ¡°There, you have the best seat. As for the other two tickets, perhaps you can give them to your other friends?¡±


    Xu Xu looked at him but did not take it. ¡°I don¡¯t need it.¡±


    Zhao Han was a little surprised, but he understood. ¡°Are you sure? Have you thought about it clearly? If so, I will just give them to our colleagues in a different department.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded and went back to work. ¡®That¡¯s right, how could Ji Bai not get a ticket?¡¯ She didn¡¯t even think about that. It seems like she had lost all logic from being overly concerned. After pondering it, she smiled lightly.


    In truth, the reason why Ji Bai had asked his friends to get him so many tickets was because he wanted to reward everyone from the criminal police unit for their hard work. However, before giving the ticket to Zhao Han, he reserved the center seat for himself and told Zhao Han to give the best seat to the female colleagues. Yao Meng and Xu Xu were the only female colleagues here, so Xu Xu would naturally sit next to him.


    Nevertheless, he did not expect Xu Xu to not go.


    On Friday night, the city was brightly illuminated and the night was breezy. The city¡¯s stadium waspletely filled with cars and the lights inside the basketball court strobed outward powerfully. There was a greatmotion in the stadium with noisemakers and screams everywhere. Ji Bai found his seat and looked up with a subtle smile, but he was stunned.


    Yao Meng was sitting on his left and Old Wu was sitting on his right. He scanned through the area but all he saw were the several colleagues from the Economic Investigation Division sitting down to row. Xu Xu¡¯s figure was nowhere to be found.


    Ji Bai sat in the crowd and he turned around to Zhao Han who was sitting behind him. ¡°Is everyone here?¡±


    Zhao Han nodded. ¡°Xu Xu did note because she said that she was not interested. When I left the office, she was still working since she said that she still had some work left.¡±


    At this moment, Yao Meng eagerly turned around. ¡°Captain, who¡¯s better between James and Kobe?¡±


    Ji Bai answered, ¡°Both of them have their own strengths.¡±


    A girl from the Economic Investigation Division who was sitting beside Old Wu suddenly joined the conversation and smiled. ¡°I heard that Captain Ji Bai likes James, but I prefer Kobe.¡±


    Ji Bai smiled and did not answer.


    At this time, exciting music was yed to warm everyone up and the lights started shing. The cheerleaders who were all wearing short skirts jumped and hopped onto the court. Everyone was quiet initially, but they soon burst into thunderous apuse. The atmosphere had gotten even more thrilling after the opening ceremony. After watching the show for a while, Ji Bai turned his head to ask Old Wu for a cigarette and a lighter.


    Old Wu shook his head. ¡°Are you smoking whenever you¡¯re given the opportunity?¡±


    Ji Baiughed and got up from his seat. Zhao Han saw him and asked curiously, ¡°Captain, it¡¯s starting soon, where are you going?¡± Yao Meng and the rest started staring at him. Ji Bai smiled and raised the cigarette in his hand. ¡°I¡¯m going out for a smoke.¡±


    The night outside the stadium was dark and trees swayed around as the cheers from the stadium shook the whole street and grabbed the attention of those passing by. Ji Bai stood outside for a while, then he threw away the cigarette butt and went to get his car.


    He used to like LeBron James, but only when he was younger. His interest had faded over the years and now watching the game live was not that important to him. Moreover, it was not like he treated the game today as a date with Xu Xu ¨C no, there were too many colleagues around and it would be far too obvious.


    With all that said, why did he lose all interest in the game in such a lively ce without her presence?


    He drove his car into the police stationpound and saw the lights shining out through the familiar window. Suddenly, Ji Bai caught his breath before making his way upstairs.


    The office was dead silent and Xu Xu was dozing off while sitting in front of theputer.


    She was a little upset because she was now regretting her decision.


    At that time, she felt that there was no need to do something that she was not interested in. However, right now as she was sat alone in the empty office and watched the report on today¡¯s game online, she suddenly thought of Ji Bai¡¯s smiling face in the audience.


    She realized that it did not matter if the game was a little boring since she would be watching it with him.


    She could not help but sigh when she thought about it, and even so, she was only feeling down for a short while so she did not dwell on it any further. She stood up, packed her stuff and got ready to go home.


    Right as she was about to turn off theputer, she heard the sound of familiar footsteps walking down the corridor. She was stunned to see Ji Bai walking in with both of his hands tucked deep into his pockets and a cool look on his face.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you watching the game?¡± She was surprised.


    Ji Bai shook the mobile phone in his hand. ¡°The station chief urgently needs some information.¡± He nced at her briefly, ¡°Are you leaving?¡±


    Xu Xu quickly shook her head. ¡°Oh, I still have something to do.¡± Then, she sat down again and opened a document on theputer.


    Ji Bai saw the focused look on her face and did not want to bother her. Thus, he went back into his office and casually browsed the inte.


    After staying that way for a little past half an hour, Ji Bai¡¯s mobile phone suddenly rang. It was Zhao Han. ¡°Captain, why aren¡¯t you back? They have finished ying two quarters.¡±


    Ji Bai replied in a serious tone. ¡°I have something urgent to handle, so I won¡¯t be going.¡± He raised his head and noticed that Xu Xu was now looking at him.


    ¡°Are you hungry? Do you want to have supper?¡± Ji Bai asked.


    There were some rtively modern and clean shops across the street from the police station. Ji Bai spotted a noodle restaurant and walked in with Xu Xu.


    Two bowls of noodle were served, after which Ji Bai promptly devoured his share. When he looked up, he saw Xu Xu using her chopsticks to pick up a single strand of noodle and chew on carefully with her head down. He could not help butugh. ¡°Why are you eating like a cat?¡±


    Why would Xu Xu be hungry? She did not usually have supper, but because she wanted to be with him, she pushed herself to eat the noodles strand by strand.


    ¡°It¡¯s a little spicy.¡± She answered with a straight face.


    Ji Bai looked at her bowl and saw that it was indeed a bowl of red soup.


    Xu Xu continued to eat with her head down while Ji Bai quietly waited. The lights in the restaurant were soft and they were actually the only upied table in the restaurant. The owner stood at the counter calcting today¡¯s profit with a calctor while his young son frowned as he rested his head on the counter to do his homework. The road outside the restaurant was quiet and the street lights were hazy.


    Ji Bai looked at her messy hair and her sleek fair cheeks and thought to himself, ¡®I could have watched LeBron James, but instead, I¡¯m here watching her eat noodles.¡¯ Even so, he was content and more than willing to do so.


    After they walked out of the restaurant, the two returned to the police station parking lot and got into their respective cars.


    Xu Xu¡¯s mood had gradually improved over the duration of the night so before she got into her car, she could not help but turn her head and say to him, ¡°Teacher... See you tomorrow.¡±


    Ji Bai was also in a very good mood, so he smiled and nodded. ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll wait for you at the shooting range at eight o¡¯clock in the morning.¡±


    It was a normal statement but Xu Xu¡¯s face became warmer. She assumed that it was because of her guilty conscience, so she immediately closed her eyes and nodded lightly, then, she got into the car and left.


    Ji Bai only got into his car after he watched her car leave. He could not help butugh as he thought about the night and the choices he had made. However, just as he was about to start the car, his phone rang.


    This time it really was the station chief.


    ¡°Little Ji, Xiang Chuan County just reported a murder case which might be rted to the province¡¯s human trafficking criminal gang. The provincial government ordered us to go supervise this case, so you need to rush to Xiang Chuan County tonight.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Ji Bai answered seriously.


    The station chief added, ¡°This might involve some liaising with the local police station, the government, as well as the appeasement of the abducted victims, so bring a member from your team along.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    The external liaison of their team was Yao Meng, so Ji Bai immediately called her and told her to meet him in the police station in half an hour since they would be driving to Xiang Chuan County together.


    Early the next morning, Xu Xu arrived at the shooting range at 7.30 am and focused on practicing her shooting for a while. However, by 8 o¡¯clock, Ji Bai had not arrived yet.


    Pretty soon it was half past eight, but still no sign of him.


    After this, she took out her phone and called him.


    ¡°There¡¯s a case in Yang Chuan County, so Yao Meng and I had to rush over herest night.¡± He spoke very quickly. ¡°I will be away for a week, so practice properly by yourself.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    Xu Xu hung up the phone but did not feel anything. If she knew one thing, it was that her romantic rtionships came second to her job. She immediately made a mental note to look up the relevant information when she got to the officeter so she too might provide as much help as she possibly can to the case.


    After a while, Ji Bai¡¯s words suddenly popped up in her mind. ¡°Yao Meng and I rushed over herest night.¡±


    She recalled the bright smile on Yao Meng¡¯s face when she was previously running alongside Ji Bai and theplicated look in her eyes whenever she looked at Ji Bai. She started to fall deep into thought to piece together different bits of information together to form a clear picture in her mind.


    Suddenly, she froze. She now realized that Yao Meng liked Ji Bai too.

 Chapter 31

    <h4>Chapter 31</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    The police car sped through the national highways whilst Ji Bai leaned against the seat with his eyes slightly shut. The drone from the engine and the wind from outside were white noise as he lost himself in his thoughts.


    Suddenly, he felt a heaviness on his body, and when he opened his eyes, Yao Meng who was beside him was cing a pink shawl over his chest with her head lowered.


    Ji Bai sat up straight.


    Yao Meng looked up at him. ¡°How about you sleep for a little longer? You haven¡¯t slept for the whole night, so I¡¯m sure that your body is tired. I¡¯ll let you know when we¡¯ve arrived.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for that. Thank you.¡± Ji Bai picked up the shawl and returned it to her.


    After receiving orders from the station chief yesterday, the two headed down the highway and arrived at Xiang Chuan County Town early that morning.


    The location of the case was Ma Pu Vige to the south. Ji Bai had been driving the whole night, so when he got into the car of the County Public Security Bureau, he made the most of his brief free time by taking a short nap.


    Outside the window, the morning light was radiant and beautiful. Ji Bai ced his hand on the armrest beside the car¡¯s door as he stared at the scenery racing by. Upon looking at his tall, built physique, and his handsome,posed side profile, Yao Meng felt her heart ache slightly.


    After remaining silent for a while, she passed him a stack of documents. ¡°This is the information you asked for, I¡¯ve already arranged them for you.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve worked hard.¡± Ji Bai took it then immediately started going through it.


    Yao Meng nodded and did not say anymore. Every time he finished reading a section, she would take the initiative to collect and arrange it. When he needed additional documents, she would speedily search for it before passing it to him. She sat there in silence, like a sous chef to a head chef.


    The road in the vige was uneven due to potholes and, under the shining of sunlight, the sorghumnd looked green and lush. Soon, the group got out of the car and trudged along a small path beside the field. In front of them, a group of chattering farmers had gathered while the local police tried their best to maintain order.


    With a sullen face, Ji Bai raised the blockade strip and strode inside whilst Yao Meng hurried after him.


    On the emptynd beside the crops were small patches of dried blood stains and messy footprints. The victim¡¯s corpse had already been transported to the City Public Security Bureau.


    Su Mu was the thirty-something-year-old captain of the County Criminal Investigation Unit. He greeted the two officers then exined, ¡°The deceased is a woman named Ma Rongrong. She was a sixteen years old female from Guang Yi County of H Province.¡±


    As H Province was quite a number of provinces away from Lin City, Yao Meng raised her eyebrow suspiciously. ¡°You managed to confirm the identity of the deceased in such a short time?¡±


    Su Mu answered, ¡°Ma Rongrong had gone missing half a year ago, and she was suspected to have been abducted for human trafficking. Her parents had reported it to the Public Security Bureau, so her DNA data was recorded in the National Crackdown System. Hence, when we took samplesst night, we got a match.¡±


    He paused for a while then said, ¡°Ma Rongrong was a deaf-mute girl, and the same goes for her parents, who had been searching the entire country for her after she went missing. From what we know, they are facing a lot of financial difficulties such that when their savings were used up, they started begging for a living. We¡¯ve already contacted them this morning, so they¡¯ll probably arrive tomorrow.¡±


    Ji Bai and Yao Meng did not say anything as Su Mu passed them a stack of photos showing the crime scene.


    In the photos, the youngdy was shriveled up on the patch ofnd in front of them. She wore a t-shirt and a pair of jeans that had been washed so many times it had lost its color, and there was a huge patch of blood on her head, which was in sharp contrast to her pale, icy white skin.


    Su Mu continued, ¡°We¡¯ve questioned the locals, but nobody has seen the victim before this, so she was probably brought to this vige just yesterday. Her entire body was covered in old wounds and her arms and neck showed traces of a struggle. Meanwhile, her clothes were in a mess, and her leather belt was not fastened. Besides that, we¡¯ve also found traces of a man¡¯s footprint, so we suspect that either the transporter or the buyer killed her after an attempted rape.¡±


    The sunlight beat down angrily on their bodies as the local public security officers waited anxiously nearby. The surrounding vigers were even more curious and excited than them as they observed the two young and good-looking detectives who had been specially brought in from the city to investigate the case.


    When Su Mu first received the report, he immediately ordered the vige¡¯s local police station to seal off the scene. Owing to the fact that the case happened at night and that the ce was deste, the suspect¡¯s footprints were preserved well and were left rtively untouched. Ji Bai crouched beside the set of footprints beside the field, and after pondering for a while, said, ¡°ording to the length and depth of the footprints, the suspect is between 165 cm and 175 cm tall, and was wearing leather shoes during the incident.¡±


    Yao Meng crouched beside him with a pen in hand, whereas Su Mu swiftly jotted down what he said in his notebook.


    Ji Bai continued, ¡°He¡¯s between 18 and 30 years old, has a slightly fat build, and weighs more than 80kg. He also carried a bag on his left shoulder when hemitted the crime.¡±


    Both Yao Meng and Su Mu were stunned and Su Mu quickly asked, ¡°Why do you say that?¡±


    Without looking up, Ji Bai stared at the footprints and exined as-a-matter-of-factly, ¡°The footprints show uniform force exerted from the ball of the feet, indicating steady footsteps, which is the trait shown almost exclusively in young people. The scratches left by the heel and the unevenness in the soil would be more obvious in an older person¡¯s footprint. In addition to this, although the man took small steps, each left and right feet are wide apart and angled away from each other ¨C this is the trait of a fat person. I could also deduce this byparing the ratio of the length and the depth of the footprints.¡±


    Yao Meng raised her eyebrow and asked, ¡°What about the bag?¡±


    Ji Bai almost immediately pointed at the left footprint. ¡°Each left footprint is slightly deeper than the right footprint, so there are two possibilities, one is that he¡¯s a cripple, second is that he was carrying a heavy item. However, since both footprints are equally distinct, we know that both his shoes are equally worn out, so he¡¯s not a cripple. This means he was carrying a bag.¡±


    As Yao Meng and Su Mu continued to listen, they became a little excited. Since they now had a clue, Su Mu promptly informed his colleagues outside about the culprit¡¯s newly discovered characteristics via his walkie-talkie. The other police officers were in awe when the deductions were exined to them.


    Ji Bai walked a little bit further up the field, then he said, ¡°The victim followed the suspect to the scene, since their footprints are side by side. Furthermore, the footprints are clear and evenly paced so there¡¯s no sign of running or a struggle.¡± Right after he said this, he pointed at two sets of footsteps to his right. ¡°Whose footprints are those?¡±


    Su Mu answered, ¡°It¡¯s the person who reported the incident. He¡¯s Zhang Zhuang Zhi, a 45-year-old local.¡±


    Ji Bai walked over and stared at the footsteps for a moment with his hands behind his back, then he looked at Su Mu. ¡°Get him immediately. He¡¯s not just the person who reported the incident, he was also the buyer. He most likely saw the culprit.¡±


    Once this clue was sent out, the police became spirited, and the vigers likewise burst into discussion.


    By now, the sun was shining an almost blinding white, when Ji Bai, Su Mu, and Yao Meng sat in the interrogation room of the County Public Security Bureau. Soon enough, Zhang Zhuangzhi walked in.


    He was a short, skinny, sturdy-looking farmer. Su Mu had only just reprimanded him strictly and had only questioned him for a while, but his face was already flushed red and he lookedpletely frightened.


    ¡°My wife passed away many years ago and I heard from someone that he could introduce me to a new, young and beautiful wife. The price was set at thirty thousand yuan.¡±


    Su Mu spat coldly, ¡°You¡¯re quite well-off.¡±


    Zhang Zhuangzhi became a bit embarrassed. ¡°My daughter graduated from university a few years ago and she¡¯s now working at Shenzhen. She sends me one thousand every month. The subsidies given to farmers by the government is quite sizable as well, which is why I was able to fork out the money. Besides, he just said he was going to introduce someone to me, he didn¡¯t mention anything about trafficking. I just assumed that the young women were green-eyed and that they would be willing to stay with me for a few years if I paid them enough.¡±


    Zhang Zhuangzhi exined everything that happened during the incident.


    The other party was Chen Yong, who was not a local. Apparently, his appearance was just as how Ji Bai described: he seemed to be in his twenties, and he wore a ck sling bag. The two of them agreed to meet at 9st night at the location of the crime scene.


    ¡°That being said, when I saw the girl, I just couldn¡¯t.¡± Zhang Zhuangzhi looked quite agitated as he recounted the story. ¡°Chen Yong said that she was 22 years old, but when I saw her, I could immediately tell that she was still a teenager. She was even a deaf-mute, and she kept crying as knelt to me as she shook her head in frustration... Chen Yong even pped her when he saw her signs of protest. Policerades, the girl was younger than my sister and I was sure that she had been abducted. I would never do such a wicked thing.¡±


    ¡°So, you still have a conscience? What happened after that?¡±


    ¡°Of course I have a conscience... After that, I left. When I walked away, I heard Chen Yong scolding her, saying that he hasn¡¯t been earning because of this mute. Later on, I heard him hitting her, and he did so with vengeance. I was worried for her, so after walking a short distance away, I hid behind the sorghumnd. A momentter, I saw Chen Yong running towards the highway before speeding away in his small car. When I went over to check on the girl, I saw that the poor thing wasn¡¯t moving anymore, so I called 110...¡±


    Before the interrogation was over, Su Mu asked Zhang Zhuangzhi, ¡°Why were the clothes of the deceased in a mess. Her belt wasn¡¯t fastened either.¡±


    Zhang Zhuangzhi¡¯s eyes shimmered but he did not say anything.


    Yao Meng noticed the subtle change in his expression, so she yelled at him furiously, ¡°Be honest, it¡¯s illegal to hide anything away from us! This is a homicide case, the consequences of withholding information from us are very serious.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything.¡± Zhang Zhuangzhi hurriedly waved his hands in denial. ¡°I... I told him that I¡¯m not fond of her, but Chen Yong asked me to examine her first, then he stripped her off her clothes and made her kneel on the field...¡±


    Ji Bai obsidian eyes sank deeply as Su Mu grit his teeth. Yao Meng¡¯s eyes burned with rage as she seethed to herself. ¡°Barbaric animal.¡±


    After taking Zhang Zhuangzhi downstairs, Su Mu quickly informed the front-line police officers to proceed with a targeted search based on the leads from the interrogation. Sometimeter, he brought two young criminal police officers back to the interrogation room and looked at Ji Bai hopefully.


    ¡°Captain Ji, how did you know that Zhang Zhizhuang was the buyer?¡± A young criminal police officer asked.


    Ji Bai answered inly, ¡°The location of the incident was quite hidden, but it¡¯s not far from the highway and can be easily essed. Based on the footprints, the suspect and the deceased had arrived at the location together at night, moreover, it¡¯s likely the transporter was the one who chose the location of the deal.¡±


    Su Mu came to a sudden realization and smiled. ¡°Other than their footprints, there was only Zhang Zhuangzhi¡¯s footprints at the scene, so you suspected that he was the buyer.¡±


    Ji Bai nodded. ¡°Not only that, the two rows of footprints he left showed that he went to the scene twice. One of them was even and steady. The other one was messier, and it stopped around ten meters away from the transaction point. He hesitated on the spot for some time.¡±


    Yao Meng added on, ¡°Therefore, the first set of prints is most likely from when he met with the transporter. The second time is when he saw the corpse and reported it after hesitating about his involvement.¡±


    Su Mu and the others felt like they had just been enlightened by a genius as they pondered about what they had just learned. Then, Su Mu said to the other two police officers, ¡°We¡¯ve learned something from Captain Ji today.¡±


    Ji Bai stood up and pat Su Mu¡¯s shoulder before walking outside with them. Just as Yao Meng was about to follow them, she looked up and saw his peaceful, respectful look, as well as the adoring looks from the others, and she smiled. She felt a light pressure tugging away at her heart. The feeling was somewhat sweet, yet densely bitter. It was such that as long as she looked at his side profile, she felt the conflicting emotions of anguish and pride in her heart that was painful to the soul.


    After hastily having their lunch, they picked up another clue. In Lin County, some people had spotted a man roaming about who was suspected to be Chen Yong. Su Mu led the team and, with Ji Bai guidance, headed over to Lin County together. Due to Ma Rongrong¡¯s death, a nket of resentfulness was looming over the heads of the squad. Meanwhile, the criminal police officers did not realize that Ji Bai had already stayed awake for a whole day. Instead, they were eager and determined to get started immediately because a famous detective was joining in their search.


    Yao Meng took the opportunity to pull on Ji Bai¡¯s sleeves when nobody else was around. ¡°Captain, do you want to rest for half of the day?¡±


    Ji Bai shook his head said that there was no need to. He wanted to capture the culprit first.


    ...


    The first two days after Ji Bai left, Xu Xu did not really think about him, and she never thought about calling him or sending him a message. When they were working on a case, everything else had to be put aside. Such was the unshakable, basic work ethic of a criminal police, which was deeply engraved in Xu Xu¡¯s own code of conduct.


    The thing that she was more concerned about was how she could help him in solving the case. Consequently, she took the initiative to investigate and analyze information rting to the case, then shepiled them and submitted them to Zhao Hand so that Ji Bai could use them anytime he needed to.


    At lunchtime, she identally nced at the encrypted folder that she saved inside the homicide case photos. A few secondster and she had subconsciously clicked it open and was now staring at his face. After getting her daily fill of Ji Bai¡¯s face, she closed the image again.


    A short whileter, she opened it again so that she could stare at it for a few more seconds.


    Right at that moment, Zhao Hand walked in with a stack of information and said to Old Wu, ¡°The identification report is out. I¡¯ll scan it then fax it to Captain.¡±


    Xu Xu fell silent for some time before picking up a stack of files and following Zhao Han into the photocopying room next door.


    The object that needed to be identified was some powder particles found in the suspect¡¯s footprints, which had been sent to the City Bureau by the police from Xiang Chuan Countyst night. Zhao Han stood in front of the scanner as he carefully checked each page. Xu Xu saw this and offered her assistance. ¡°How about you just go ahead and notify the Public Security Bureau in Xiang Chuan County, I¡¯ll scan this for you, it¡¯ll be faster that way.¡±


    Xu Xu had always been diligent and prompt with her work, so Zhao Han nodded and passed it to her, then added, ¡°Once you¡¯re done, call Captain to update him.¡±


    As she listened to the caller ringtone beep rhythmically on her cellphone, Xu Xu felt a happiness tingle in her heart.


    Ji Bai¡¯s phone rang only once before he picked it up. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    Xu Xu quickly started. ¡°The identification report is out. I¡¯ve already faxed it to Xiang Chuan Public Security Bureau and have also sent a soft copy to your phone.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    There was a hint of huskiness in his voice, which made it seem hoarser than usual. Xu Xu paused for a moment then said, ¡°Goodbye then.¡±


    ¡°Wait a minute.¡± He stopped her softly.


    Xu Xu went silent and said nothing.


    She instantly felt that her heart jump when she heard these words.


    Ji Bai was leaning against the backseat of an inconspicuous car at the entrance of an alley in Xiang Chuan County.


    He was leading a small team staking out a hotel where a man suspected to be Chen Yong had appeared, but so far, they had not seen the culprit. Presumably, Yao Meng had mentioned to Ji Bai¡¯s situation to Su Mu, so Su Mu made him sleep for a few hours in the back seat of the car with the guarantee that he would wake him up if there was any progress. Meanwhile, Yao Meng and Su Mu stayed in a separate car.


    Ji Bai did not decline their offer, but just as he was about to doze off, he was jolted awake by Xu Xu¡¯s phone call.


    ¡°Nothing has happened in the city over the past few days, right?¡± He asked gently.


    ¡°Everything¡¯s normal.¡± Xu Xu replied, ¡°What about on your side?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re still keeping watch.¡±


    The two of them kept quiet for some time, then Xu Xu raised the question that she was most concerned about. ¡°You sound a bit husky, are you alright?¡±


    Ji Bai held his phone to his ear and looked out at the streets in the county. There were colorfulnterns and noisy passersby, and soon, a smile creeped out from the corner of his lips. ¡°I¡¯m not feeling very well since I drove for the whole night, and I probably haven¡¯t slept in more than fifty hours. I¡¯m actually just about to take a quick rest.¡±


    Xu Xu was surprised but she said nothing.


    In actual fact, this was nothing to Ji Bai ¨C there had been times when he suffered more than this. On top of that, he normally made sure never toin to anyone, but when it came to Xu Xu...¡¯Heh, I¡¯ll let her worry about me for a bit,¡¯ he thought to himself.


    As Xu Xu listened to his usual collected tone, she could almost imagine his exhausted yet calm look. This instantly made her feel ufortable, such that she unknowingly furrowed her brows.


    ¡°Quickly take a rest then, I shall not interrupt you.¡± She briskly replied. ¡°Other than that, try your best to get enough sleep and eat on time. Also, feel free to contact me if you ever need to. Goodbye.¡±


    Before Ji Bai could say anything, she said, ¡°Teacher, quickly sleep,¡± before hanging up the phone.


    Ji Bai looked at the darkened screen of his cell phone and he could not help but chuckle. After he did so, the local police officer who was seated in the front seat turned to grin cheekily at his superior. ¡°Captain Ji, is it sister-inw who called to check on you?¡±


    Ji Bai neither admitted it nor denied it, and instead just leaned his fatigue body against the back seat and shut his eyes. He did so with a warm smile on his face. ¡°Women like to worry... In any case, I¡¯m going to sleep for a while, wake me up if anything happens.¡±

 Chapter 32

    <h4>Chapter 32</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    Dusk was slowly approaching as the street lights were slowly lit up street by street.


    Residents in small towns loved to take strolls after their dinners, hence soon enough, small waves of crowds started to pass by the entrance of the hotel. As if by tradition, thedy boss of the hotel took a chair out to chat with people at the entrance, eating sunflower seeds whilstughing and joking. Everything about the scene seemed peaceful andfortable.


    On the other hand, Ji Bai, Su Mu, and Yao Meng sat in the car staring at the road attentively. Meanwhile, several inclothes police officers were waiting inconspicuously at a newsstand not far away, as well as at the entrance of a lively supermarket.


    They had already been keeping watch for over ten hours, because ording to reliable sources, Chen Yong would return to the hotel that day. As night slowly fell, the criminal police officers slowly started to tense up.


    Amidst the bustling crowd, a burly, medium-sized man in ck was making his way towards the hotel from the supermarket. His intense expression gave off a threatening aura that cut through the lively atmosphere like a hot knife through butter.


    Suddenly, he halted and looked around him as if he noticed that something was amiss.


    ¡°Go.¡± Ji Bai yelled in a low tone. A number ofrge officers charged out from every corner and headed towards Chen Yong. However, Chen Yong had extremely quick reflexes, and the second he heard the rapid, heavy footsteps in the distance, he immediately began running away without confirming the source. The police force was ready for this though, and a young criminal police officer ran head first into Chen Yong and soon mmed right into him. Momentster, the rest of the officers had swarmed around him and kept his body pressed firmly against the ground.


    The whole process, which happened like a sh of lightning, shocked thedy boss so much that she spilled her seeds all over the ground. The passersby were dumbfounded too.


    ¡°Probably capturing a criminal.¡±


    ¡°Arresting a thief.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a wanted criminal, definitely a wanted criminal, look at that stance.¡±


    Everyone backed away slowly for their own safety, but also surrounded the hotel entrance such that it became packed and obstructed in hopes of getting a closer look.


    ¡°Behave.¡± Su Mu shouted with a pale face as some criminal police officers clustered around Chen Yong before shoving him into one of the nearby cars. After this, Ji Bai went up and conversed with Su Mu softly.


    Yao Meng had alsoe out from the car as she looked at Chen Yong coldly.


    ¡°She¡¯s a police officer too, how pretty.¡± One of the civilians said loud and clear, causing many people to look towards her. Yao Meng felt her face burn red, so she subconsciously took a look at the crowd around. When she did this, she was stunned.


    On the leftmost side of the crowd, a tall, skinny man was staring straight at Chen Yong who was being detained in the car. He looked quite terrible and on his shoulder was a ck bag. Yao Meng turned back and saw that, on the other hand, Chen Yong had no bag on him.


    After standing still for a few seconds, he quickly turned around and paced quickly into a nearby alley.


    ¡°Stop right there.¡± Yao Meng screamed out loud. The man froze and bolted away at once.


    The moment Ji Bai and Su Mu heard Yao Meng¡¯s voice, they turned together to look. A secondter, Ji Bai was chasing after the man as well, with Su Mu following closely behind.


    The small alley waspletely different from the noisy street outside. The street light was dim the ground was uneven and narrow, with only a few passersby walking about nearby. Upon seeing a man and Yao Meng running at full speed one after the other, they were so shocked that they pressed themselves against the wall to avoid them.


    When Yao Meng heard the sturdy footsteps behind her, a new wave of energy seemed to pump into her heart, such that it started beating even faster. With Ji Bai watching, she now had an even stronger urge to capture the viin. She was the champion in short distance sprinting back in the police academy, so she grit her teeth and elerated again to the point where she pushed herself beyond her limit. Slowly but surely, the distance between her and the man got shorter.


    The man panicked when he heard the sound of rushing wind behind him, so he turned his head and quickly locked eyes with the very beautifuldy. He felt anger, fear, and disbelief as he flicked out a dagger from his pocket and suddenly lunged towards Yao Meng.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Two middle-school students beside them shrieked so hard that they lost their voice. Since the students were blocking Yao Meng¡¯s path, she could not avoid the de in time. She kept her eyes fixed on the shiny dagger in the man¡¯s hand, as she knew that she could not dodge it, but at the same time, she dared not reach her hand out to block it too.


    Was Ji Bai right behind her?


    In the fleeting moment she was distracted, she felt a sharp pain in her left shoulder. The dagger had already pierced her.


    At the same time, she felt the heavy sound of a man¡¯s breathing closing in from behind her. ¡°Let go!¡± Ji Bai yelled fiercely in a hoarse voice. In the blink of an eye, he had twisted the man¡¯s wrist and was already restraining him fiercely against the wall.


    Ji Bai turned and took a quick nce at her, then he frowned grimly and said, ¡°Su Mu, call for a doctor.¡±


    Yao Meng pressed against the wound on her shoulder with one hand. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m alright.¡±


    Later on, the ring lights from police cars cut through the dim streets as almost half of the street was congested with a crowd who watched the proceedings curiously. They watched on, captivated, as the criminal police officers got into their own cars and left one by one.


    Yao Meng sat on the open doorstep of a police van, as a doctor carefully treated her wound for her.


    Half of her shoulder was exposed to the elements, such that the pain in her shoulder was amplified by the biting cold. However, the pain was sometimes numbed out by a steady throbbing.


    Su Mu was the first to walk over to the van as he took a glimpse at her shoulder. ¡°Are you alright? Fortunately, Captain Ji managed to subdue him in time, or else that dagger would¡¯ve gone straight through your shoulder de.¡±


    The doctor mentioned that it was a close call too.


    A few young criminal police went over to look at her injury, and they cared for her softly. Some even had reddened faces from their personal frustration at failing to subdue the crook in time. The fact that their eyes kept wandering to her exposed shoulder from time to time made Yao Meng feel a little embarrassed, but because her wound was being treated, she could not hide it.


    ¡°How¡¯s your injury?¡± A deep voice asked as Ji Bai¡¯s tall figure appeared beside the van. As soon as his gaze fell on her shoulder, he immediately looked away and angled his body slightly such that his face was blocked by the door.


    ¡°I¡¯m alright.¡± Yao Meng answered softly.


    ¡°Yao Meng is very strong.¡± The doctor praised.


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Ji Bai smiled. ¡°You performed very well today.¡±


    As his footsteps got further away, Yao Meng thought to herself, ¡®He¡¯s so different, so different.¡±


    Ji Bai and the others interrogated the two criminals that very night, and Chen Yong gave a full confession. Concurrently, they obtained a much more valuable clue, which was that their head ¡°Brother Lu¡± was going to transport a batch of ¡°goods¡± to this province soon.


    Ji Bai informed the Provincial Department and the City Bureau right away before getting straight to work plotting arger scale capture operation with Su Mu and the others.


    The local police brought Chen Yong over to the crime scene for identification purposes, and the vigers acted in a simr fashion, surrounding the police barricade to look on from a distance.


    However, when they saw the indifferent and spiteful look on Chen Yong¡¯s face, paired with Ma Rongrong¡¯s deaf-mute parents tugging and crying out at Chen Yong with husky, slurred voices, they fell silent. A young fellow who had seen the corpse that day was the first to dash out and kick at Chen Yong ruthlessly. Later on, strong young men also surrounded him and bashed Chen Yong, to the point of half death. Even Zhang Zhuangzhi went up to kick him, as the police could do little to hold the enraged crowd back. After that, Chen Yong was sentenced to death.


    In the meantime, as Ji Bai battled day and night on the front-lines, Xu Xu¡¯s work and life wereparatively very peaceful.


    She did not feel worried, nor did she call or send him messages, in case she affected his work. That being said, she noticed that the number of times a day that she missed Ji Bai was gradually increasing.


    The first day it was 2 times, the second day 5 times, the third day 8 times. Of course, as a day had 24 hours, 1440 minutes or 86400 seconds, she only temporarily lost focus for a few seconds every time it happened, so it did not affect her much. Even so, this was the first time that Xu Xu had thought about a person so frequently in her whole life. (Suspects excluded, she could think about suspects 24/7)


    That afternoon, Old Wu took over Ji Bai¡¯s regr duties and called for the weekly meeting. When they sat down, Old Wu happily announced, ¡°Captain Ji¡¯s side has already cracked the case¡­¡±


    As a result, Xu Xu mind went to Ji Bai again. She thought about his strict expression and chilly look each time he inspected criminals.


    So handsome.


    Then her name was called.


    ¡°Da Hu, Xu Xu, the Provincial Department has requested for more manpower for this case, so the station chief stated that the two of you will go over to assist Captain Ji.¡±


    At midnightter that day, Da Hu and Xu Xu arrived at Xiang Chuan County Town. Da Hu was one of the best at handling arrests in the team, whereas Xu Xu was a psychological expert. It was very important to examine and tend to the mental state of human trafficking victims, which was why the two of them were called.


    A young fellow was there to wee them. ¡°Captain Ji is still having a meeting with Captain Su. Yao Meng is injured so she¡¯s resting at the hostel.¡±


    As Xu Xu made her way to the County Public Security Bureau, Ji Bai wrapped up his meeting.


    Everyone sighed in relief as they could finally get a good rest at home. They all knew that with the new developments, tomorrow would be no easier.


    Su Mu patted Ji Bai¡¯s shoulder andmented as they were leaving the room, ¡°Captain Ji, you haven¡¯t been sleeping well these past few days, go upstairs and rest up as soon as possible.¡±


    The office building of the Public Security Bureau was built during the 1990s, and back then it was popr to leave a few guest rooms on the top floor, so as to wee superiors and leaders. Ji Bai and Yao Meng both stayed in a standard twin room located upstairs.


    Ji Bai smiled and nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll leave in a while.¡±


    The others dispersed very quickly, but Ji Bai merely sat in the empty office as he shut his eyes and waited.


    He thought to himself, ¡®The little fellow will arrive tonight.


    ¡®Does she know that I¡¯m waiting for her?¡¯


    Little did he know that the young officer who was sent to greet them did not bring Xu Xu and Da Hu to the office. Instead, he sent them straight to the guest rooms and said, ¡°They¡¯ve already dispersed, so everyone has returned home. You should get some rest first.¡±


    Da Hu stuck his head into the room to take a look before saying, ¡°Eh, Captain Ji is not back yet. Xu Xu, when you see Yao Meng, please express everyone¡¯s concern for her. It¡¯s quitete tonight, so I¡¯ll see her tomorrow.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded.


    She soon crept into the guest room that had been prepared for them. The room was dimly lit, so only after turning on the lights of the corridor did she find that Yao Meng¡¯s bed was empty.


    Yao Meng did not show up even after Xu Xu had finished unloading her luggage and set her bed. There was no movement on the corridors outside, and it sounded like Ji Bai had not returned yet either.


    Xu Xu wanted to sleep, but her mind was strangely wide awake. She felt that she was missing him too, and she could not suppress this feeling. For that reason, she dressed neatly and took a stack of documents out of her bag before randomly circling a few pieces of information that might be useful towards the case as a disguise, then she got up and went downstairs.


    It was already veryte into the night and the sky of the small county town was illuminated by the gleaming stars in the night sky in a way that you could see in the city. On the entire floor, only one room had lights on, which stood out brightly like a beacon on an airport runway in the dark passageway. The area was pin-drop silent and Xu Xu¡¯s heart started beating faster as she subconsciously softened her footsteps. As she reached the side of the windows and looked inside, she stopped.


    In the spacious office, the lights softly lit up the messy desks inside, Ji Bai was sitting in front of a desk that ced against the wall. He had his eyes shut as he leaned sideways, his chest heaved steadily with each deep breath. No doubt about it, he was asleep. Yao Meng was kneeling a few feet away on one knee. Her gaze locked onto him unblinkingly.


    She wore a white blouse and ck trousers as her long silky, hair was let down to rest casually on her pale shoulders. Her eyes sparkled passionately as she seemed to observe her superiors beautiful resting face.


    Just as Xu Xu was about to greet her, she lowered her head slowly towards Ji Bai¡¯s slender hands that were resting limply on the armrest. She seemed to be pressing her face on his hand, but then again, Xu Xu was so far away that she could not tell ¨C maybe there was still a little bit of distance between the two.


    Her posture was humble and sincere, it was filled with admiration.


    Yao Meng stood up after staying in that position for a few seconds, then she quietly walked out of the office. She appeared to be so troubled that she did not notice Xu Xu who was standing beside the window, then she went upstairs through the staircase on the other end of the hallway.


    Xu Xu remained silent for a brief moment, then she pushed open the door open and entered. When she turned around, she did not know why she did so, but she locked the door behind her.


    Ji Bai¡¯s eye bags were dark and heavy and a dark stubble had started growing on his chin. She thought to herself, ¡®He must be extremely tired to be so fast asleep, right?¡¯


    Xu Xu pulled a chair over and sat opposite of him. She ced both her hands on the armrest and stared at him with a stern look on her face.


    After staring at him for a while, the finger on her right hand started tapping on the armrest out of habit.


    Once she reached a hundred and forty-two counts, she stopped.


    She returned to the windows and sneaked a look, just to make sure that there was no one else around before she walked back to Ji Bai. Her heart was beating like a drum, and her face was burning so hot that she felt like it was on fire. She knew very well that what she was about to do next was not right ¨C it could even be considered sexual harassment, nevertheless¡­


    With the gentlest movement, she lifted Ji Bai¡¯s hand up to her face and lightly brushed the back of his hand with her lips.


    ¡®This feels so much better.¡¯

 Chapter 33

    <h4>Chapter 33</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    Ji Bai¡¯s body was beyond exhausted, so he was deep in dreand.


    In his dream, the sunlight beat down on thend as he leisurely sat in front of a pond under the shade of a weeping willow with a fishing rod next to him. A slimdy was crouching down with her back facing him with her head hunched over her body. She was clearly up to something as she kept making sounds like ¡®ding ding, dong dong, hua hua,¡¯. It was very noisy.


    After a while, thedy turned her head abruptly and threw him arge, beautiful silver fish. ¡°Teacher, you¡¯ve worked hard in the investigation, here¡¯s a fish for you.¡±


    It turns out Xu Xu was catching fish.


    Slimy fish scales rubbed against his hand, giving him a wet and tickling sensation.


    He lowered his head and looked at the half-dead fish sitting in his hand, then he looked at her. ¡°I¡¯m not eating it.¡±


    Xu Xu was surprised and tilted her head in confusion. ¡°Why?¡±


    He looked at her deep and shiny eyes and replied, ¡°A man only wants to eat a woman, I don¡¯t want to eat a fish.¡±


    ¡°Oh...¡±


    He thought to himself, ¡®Xu Xu, Teacher wants to eat you, and sooner orter, I¡¯m going to.¡¯


    ...


    ¡°Captain Ji, you haven¡¯t left yet? Eh, why is the door locked?¡±


    A muffled sound cut short his dream as Ji Bai shuddered and woke up. The sunlight, pond, Xu Xu and the fish in front of himpletely disappeared.


    Su Mu left his key in the office, so he actually went back to retrieve it. He saw that the lights in the office were still on, so he called out to Ji Bai. However, when he turned the lock, it did not move.


    As he stood there in confusion, the doorknob was opened from the inside, and an unfamiliardy looked at him with a reddened face. ¡°Hello... Pleasee in.¡± When he peeped inside again, Ji Bai was just standing up from a chair, and he too was staring at thedy, but with a smile.


    Earlier that day, Su Mu had heard from his subordinates that Ji Bai had a love interest in Lin City, and that she was from the City Bureau too. Looking at the scene now: Midnight, a locked office, a single man and a single woman, need he overthink it? It was clear that he had reallye at the wrong time.


    Upon looking at his expression, Ji Bai instantly realized that he misunderstood the situation. He took another nce at the chair in front of him and the clock on the wall and saw that it was clear that Xu Xu had arrived some time ago.


    Had she been quietly sitting by his side this whole time? No wonder Su Mu misunderstood the situation.


    The smile on the corner of his lips curled up even more. He could have patiently gone after her in his own low-profile manner, but he would not be responsible for this misunderstanding that she created herself.


    He walked to her side and said in a gentle tone, ¡°Xu Xu, this is Captain Su. Greet him.¡±


    To Su Mu, the way he said these words were indicative of a man instructing his own woman. Everything was crystal clear to him. After all, he was a detective of Xiang Chuan County who was quite skilled in deducing theories, so heughed in joy. ¡°There¡¯s no need to be so polite. This is sister-inw, right? Hello, I¡¯ll be leaving after I get my key.¡±


    The instant Su Mu had appeared, Xu Xu broke into cold sweat. She had immediately let go of Ji Bai¡¯s hand and jogged over to open the door. From the corner of her eyes, she could see that Ji Bai was acting normal, so she was relieved. After hearing what Su Mu had said, she replied politely, ¡°Hello, Captain Su, I¡¯m Xu Xu from the City Bureau, you misunder...¡± Before she could finish, Ji Bai cut her off with a question, ¡°When did you arrive?¡±


    ¡°About ten minutes ago.¡± Xu Xu answered inly, ¡°You fell asleep so I didn¡¯t wake you up, I merely looked through some information whilst sitting opposite you.¡±


    As they talked, Su Mu went and retrieved his key from his desk. ¡°Goodbye.¡±


    The night sky was even darker and quieter as the two of them walked back along the corridor.


    Xu Xu was exceptionally quiet.


    Ji Bai tucked both his hand deep into his pockets as he matched the rhythm of her slow paces.


    While he was busy with the case, he was not distracted by images of her and had never once thought about her over the past few days. Nheless, the moment he saw her just now, a wave of emotions that screamed ¡°Xu Xu¡± rose bit by bit from the deepest depths of his heart. It was very soft, and a bit... not warm, hot. It was even hotter than it had been before, which made him feel sofortable that all the tension in his body started to fade away.


    It was midnight, yet the little fellow had not gone to sleep but instead went to look for him in the office right away. Between a teacher and his apprentice, there was no such rtionship that would cause them to miss each other so badly that a day apart seemed like three years. Even if she did not explicitly show it, how could she deny that he had a ce in her heart?


    Of course, since the case had not yet been solved, it was not the time to consider personal feelings. However, as a man, his feelings for her only grew more assured and stronger than before.


    Therefore, he nced at her thinly covered shoulders and asked faintly, ¡°Aren¡¯t you cold from wearing so little?¡± But before she could reply, he raised his arm and ced it around her shoulders...


    ¡°Captain.¡± A cheerful voice was heard from the end of the corridor, whereby Da Hu strode out from the darkness. ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for you for a long time but you did note back to the room. Is Xu Xu here too?¡±


    Ji Bai quickly and casually put his arm down.


    It was already past two in the morning when Ji Bai finished showering. As soon as he went to bed, he heard Da Hu ask from the bed next to his, ¡°Captain, are you dating Xu Xu?¡±


    Ji Bai folded both arms behind his head, and he answered faintly, ¡°I¡¯m focusingpletely on the investigation, so I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about.¡±


    Despite his dismissive tone, the darkness in the room was secretly hiding the wide grin on Ji Bai¡¯s face.


    Da Hu humbly apologized. ¡°Oh. I must have misunderstood, as I thought that I had identally interrupted you as you were going to hug Xu Xu.¡±


    Ji Bai put on a coy smile, but he did not answer.


    A short whileter, Da Hu said indistinctly, ¡°It¡¯s good that you¡¯re not then. There is a Little Xie from the Lection Service in the station. Two days ago he was inquiring about Xu Xu. He said that he¡¯ll go after her if she has no boyfriend. I guess I can give him a firm answer now.¡±


    Ji Bai fell silent for a while then replied casually, ¡°Give him a firm answer that Ji Bai is going after her too then, and ask him to think about it properly before acting.¡±


    Da Hu was startled for a moment, then heughed out loud. Ji Baiughed along as well and added afterward, ¡°Xu Xu is a shy girl, so don¡¯t make a fuss about it in front of her.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± Da Hu chuckled.


    In the room next to theirs, a dim light was left on in the corridor when Xu Xu walked in. Yao Meng¡¯s head was buried deep in the pillow and she was all shriveled up. It seemed like she was already sleeping soundly.


    Xu Xu quietly walked over to her bed and soon fell asleep too.


    In the morning the next day, they received the news that Brother Lu was going to appear in the water vige of Zi Yuan County that was located hundreds of kilometers away. As the head of the operation, Ji Bai directed all the officers under him to head to Zi Yuan.


    For both himself and Xu Xu, they both knew that love had to take a backseat as long as the case remained unsolved. Hence, when they finally met up again, they naturally returned to their high-efficiency partner mode, undistracted and intense.


    The Provincial Departmentbeled the case as high priority and, as such, Liu Ying the deputy director was specially assigned to supervise and guide the operation. She was a female in her forties, and although she no longer served on the front-lines, her reputation as an irondy and a skilled criminal investigator was well-known throughout the province. Additionally, she was especially experienced in human trafficking cases. As such, when everyone arrived at Zi Yuan, a meeting was swiftly called to arrange the capture operation for the next day.


    There were plenty of rumors circting regarding Brother Lu. He was said to have hundreds of underlings working for him, and his influence apparently spread across dozens of provinces. He not only handled human trafficking but was also involved in the drug trade, working as a well-oiled criminal group. Besides this, he was also known to be immensely vicious and merciless towards his many subordinates or victims who were deemed to be ¡°disobedient¡±. Tales of him personally shooting them and abandoning their corpses in the wilderness seemed to be quite a popr discussion in the underworld. Thus, he most likely carried guns on him as well. Director Liu reminded everyone to take extra precautions in the operation and that they make sure not to let Brother Lu slip through their fingers.


    On the day of the operation, the weather was hazy and the mood was heavy.


    Brother Lu¡¯s rendezvous point was apparently a farm on the east side of the vige. Separated by a dense forest and located among the uneven paddy fields, an inconspicuous white three-story building sat quietly there in in sight.


    ¡°Action.¡± Once Ji Bai gave the order, a number of officers led by him quickly approached the building from all directions. In a matter of minutes, it had beenpletely surrounded. Da Hu was the first to barge in by breaking open the door. When this happened, the second and third floor jumped to life as many human figures were vaguely seen moving back and forth through the window. One of the men from the second floor actually attempted to jump down from the second-floor window, but he was promptly captured by the criminal police officers downstairs as hended.


    Like ferocious tigers let out of their cages, Ji Bai moved quickly and aggressively to capture everyone there. Director Liu, Xu Xu, and Yao Meng remained seated in police cars as they too pulled up at the building as well. Police sirens red as the scene became loud and lively, but it was not long until the criminal police officers had arrested all the suspects in the building. They also encountered more than ten kidnapped youngdies and children who were graciously escorted out into the waiting police vans. The oldest woman was about twenty-five years old, whereas the youngest one was only two to three years old.


    Ji Bai, on the other hand, led a team of people to go through the third-floor room by room.


    ¡°Safe.¡± They reported in a low voice.


    ¡°Captain, a total of eight suspects were captured, they¡¯ve all been arrested and are now being detained in the cars.¡± Da Hu informed through the walkie-talkie. ¡°There are thirteen rescued victims, eightdies, five children, but...¡± He paused for a while then said, ¡°After questioning all the suspects we¡¯ve arrested, we¡¯ve determined that Brother Lu is not here. The suspects im that Brother Lu had changed his ns at thest minute and did note to the water vige.¡±


    ¡°Damn it, he got away.¡± Su Mu sighed heavily.


    Da Hu shrugged helplessly. ¡°Director Liu will be furious.¡±


    Ji Bai did not say anything as he stared at the walls of the room he was in and pondered. Da Hu and Su Mu became more rmed when they saw the intense expression on his face.


    There were two rooms on the third floor, which was where all victims had been rescued from just now. When theyunched the raid, a few criminals were drinking and eating on the second floor. However, the room in front of them right now was clearly much cleaner and neater than the other one on the third floor, and the bed sheet seemed to be freshlyid out too. Not to mention, there was also a small square table in the room. On the table were a few dishes, a cracked cup of liquor, and a puddle of liquor on the floor.


    Ji Bai lowered his head and moved closer to the table to take a whiff. ¡°Maotai. They¡¯re drinking rice wine downstairs.¡±


    Da Hu and Su Mu were stunned.


    ¡°Damn, they¡¯re weing their leader.¡± Da Hu said agitatedly.


    Ji Bai walked over to the bed and looked carefully for a while. Using his gloved hand, he soon picked up a strand of hair. He then crouched to look at the floor and saw a narrow footprint and a little bit of soil.


    A momentter, he stood up and looked at the two of them with a stern look on his face. ¡°Long hair, heels, a height of 165-175 cm, and a skinny physique, ¡°Brother Lu¡± is ady. Quickly inform Director Liu and Xu Xu that she is hiding amongst the victims.¡±


    The water vige was not huge to begin with, so the sirens of police cars quickly alerted the vigers and now a medium-sized crowd was gathering.


    Once the raid waspleted, the initial n was for Xu Xu, Yao Meng, and a few criminal police officers to escort the victims back to the police station in order to ensure their safety.


    There were two vans used to transport the victims. Yao Meng and two criminal police officers were in one, while Xu Xu sat in the other. Xu Xu helped a few youngdies and children into the van, and when she looked up, she saw that two adult women had followed Yao Meng into the other van.


    Xu Xu looked at them and somewhat felt that something was off. However, she could not quite put her finger on it.


    Right then, Director Liu and a police officer walked over. ¡°Let Little Ji wrap up here, I¡¯ll take care of the back room work andfort the victims.¡± However, when she looked up, she saw Xu Xu. ¡°You¡¯re Xu Xu? Let¡¯s go, we¡¯ll talk on the way.¡±


    The vans drove through a short section of the national highway before they entered the town. The number of cars, agricultural vehicles, passersby and even livestock gradually increased as the environment became noisy and chaotic. The vans could not help but slow down, causing the distance between the vans to eventually grow.


    Director Liu was calling the leader of the Provincial Department. ¡°It¡¯s a pity that we didn¡¯t capture Brother Lu... Yes, continue listing him as a wanted criminal throughout the country, we must not let him get away.¡±


    After she hung up, Director Liu turned to look at Xu Xu. ¡°You¡¯re Yang Qinglin¡¯s junior sister, right?¡±


    Xu Xu was a little dumbfounded, but she nodded.


    Yang Qinglin was her senior brother in the Criminal Psychology Department and was also the person who seemed to have nervously confessed to her in the past.


    Director Liu smiled with her eyes. ¡°Qingling is an impressive talent who came highly rmended to the Provincial Department a couple of years back. His criminal psychoanalysis was crucial and carried huge effects in a few big cases we handled. That being said, he mentioned that your ability is more impressive than even his. He¡¯s not good at speaking and he doesn¡¯t lie, so it¡¯s clear that he admires you very much. I personally am very interested in the application of criminal psychology in China too. So, if we have the opportunity, let us invite Qinglin along and have some coffee together.¡±


    Director Liu¡¯s words were normally considered to be appreciative words from a leader, yet Xu Xu unexpectedly did not reply or acknowledge the praise. She lowered her head as she seemed to fall deep into thought. Momentster, she abruptly looked up at Director Liu. ¡°Director Liu, I suspect ¡®that Brother Lu¡¯ is ady, and she has disguised herself as a victim is being transported along with everyone else in the van.¡±


    Director Liu was stunned and her expression became serious. ¡°Why is that?¡±


    Xu Xu mentioned the youngdy that she had previously seen. ¡°She¡¯s wearing a pair of two-inch high heels, her hair is slightly wet and not dry, her nails were just trimmed and have ayer of fresh nail polish on them. Moreover, her outerwear does not fit well.¡±


    Once she said this, Director Liu looked at the otherdies in the back of the car: Each of them looked dusty and dirty and they seemed like they had not changed their clothes for days. Some wore sports shoes or ts, while others were simply barefoot. This group of victims had been dragged around for thousands of miles before reaching the water vige and had suffered unimaginable anguish.


    Just as she was processing this shocking news, Director Liu¡¯s phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Ji Bai. ¡°Director Liu, we suspect that Brother Lu is hiding among the victims. She might be carrying a gun, please be careful and y along for now so that we don¡¯t rm her. The rest of us will rush over immediately.¡±


    Both Director Liu and Xu Xu looked outside at the same time and saw the van in front of them disappeared around the corner.


    ¡°Call them right away, and don¡¯t rm the suspect.¡± Director Liu ordered with a heavy tone.


    When the officers in the other car received the phone call, they were rather shocked. ¡°Oh no, we just stopped as a child was crying to use the toilet. Yao Meng went to the toilet with the child and anotherdy. Yes, thatdy had long hair and I think she was wearing heels.¡±


    Xu Xu immediately took out her phone and saw Ji Bai¡¯s message shing brightly on her home screen. ¡°Be careful.¡± She did not reply him, but instead quickly called Yao Meng. Yao Meng was very collected when she picked up the call. ¡°Xu Xu, what¡¯s the matter?¡±


    Three minutester, everyone rushed to the public toilet. Yao Meng was carrying a child in her arms and stood rooted to the spot with a pale face. In the public toilet behind her, a window had been smashed and Brother Lu was nowhere to be seen.


    Director Liu immediately turned and furiously red at Yao Meng. ¡°What the hell are you doing?¡±

 Chapter 34

    <h4>Chapter 34</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    Early in the morning, the heavy raindrops pitter-pattered on the tiled-rooftops as the whole town was enveloped in a thick fog.


    In the conference room of the County Public Security Bureau, core members of criminal police force sat solemnly around a long ck table.


    Their results from the operation were satisfactory as, over the past few days, a total of about thirty suspects were captured, and more than forty victims were rescued. The only problem was that Brother Lu had eluded them like a phantom. They had absolutely no clue where she had disappeared off to.


    The Public Security Department had given instructions and issued an arrest warrant throughout the province, to carry out arge-scale search to arrest her. As for the operation team led by Ji Bai, their duties had temporarilye to an end. So, they were allowed to disperse and return to their own posts to await further instructions.


    After Ji Bai did a brief post-mortem, he invited Director Liu to say a few words.


    Director Liu had always been swift and strict. It was a trait well-known by members of the Provincial Public Security Department, and this time, there was no exception.


    Once she was done highlighting the achievements and values derived from the operation, she shifted to a heavier topic. ¡°However, we cannot consider this operation to be a sess because some may even say that we fell short at thest, most critical moment. Brother Lu, the kingpin wanted by the Public Security Department, actually escaped right under our noses due to a certain colleague¡¯s negligence.¡±


    The sound of the rain beating against the rooftop and windows appeared to be louder as the office became pin-drop silent.


    Yao Meng sat up straight in her chair, her face was a mixture of red and white.


    Director Liu set her eyes on her and beganpletely unrestrained, ¡°Yao Meng, the reason we made an exception by allowing police trainees like you and Xu Xu to participate in this operation was in hopes that you would be able to carry out your professional roles satisfactorily. In spite of that, Brother Lu was in your car, yet you didn¡¯t notice it at all. You even let her into the toilet alone which led to her escape. I can¡¯t tolerate mistakes like this. After you return, I¡¯ll make a request to your station chief so that the person responsible for this matter is punished. I hope that you¡¯ll reflect on yourself too and improve your professionalism from now on. You must not let simr mistakes happen again.¡±


    Yao Meng¡¯s tears started flowing out, but she quickly tilted her face downward. ¡°... Yes, Director Liu.¡±


    Director Liu treated matters with logic rather than emotion. So after she criticized Yao Meng and saw that the youngdy was feeling responsible, she cooled down. Then, she said to Ji Bai, ¡°I have nothing more to add, let¡¯s disperse.¡±


    However, to everyone¡¯s surprise, Ji Bai looked up at her and said in a low voice, ¡°I disagree with punishing Yao Meng.¡±


    Everyone else was very quiet. The only the sound one could hear was that of the heavy rainfall outside.


    Confused and dumbfounded, Yao Meng raised her head as she looked at Ji Bai with teary eyes. He was seated not far away from her. Even when seated against the window with a gloomy and overcast sky outside, he still looked calm and collected.


    Director Liu looked sullen but she did not reply. Ji Bai continued steadily. ¡°In this case, Yao Meng was careless indeed, but she¡¯s still just a police trainee, which is why shecks practical experience. However, I still think that her performance across the entire operation was generally excellent.¡±


    The room became even more silent, as many young criminal police officers did not dare to breathe. On the other hand, the older criminal police officers maintained a straight face, well aware of the tension in the air.


    Right then, Da Hu coughed softly and muttered, ¡°I agree with Captain Ji¡¯s point of view.¡± Xu Xu nodded her head. ¡°I agree too.¡± Her voice came out much clearer than Da Hu¡¯s.


    Yao Meng was seated between the two of them but her head remained lowered.


    Director Liu nced at them before she stared at Ji Bai. ¡°So, what you¡¯re saying is we¡¯re just going to forget about the fact that she let Brother Lu escape?¡±


    Ji Bai said, ¡°I¡¯m the head instructor of this operation. If you¡¯re looking for someone to punish, then I¡¯ll bear the consequences.¡±


    ¡°Pa!¡± Director Liu threw the book in her hand onto the desk. ¡°Ji Bai, do you really think that I can¡¯t punish you?¡±


    Ji Bai remained silent with an expressionless face whilst the other people in the office dared not move a muscle. You could cut through the tension in the air with a knife.


    All of a sudden, Yao Meng raised her head and choked out in between sobs. ¡°It¡¯s my responsibility, punish me if you¡¯d like to. It has nothing to do with him... with Captain.¡±


    Only Yao Meng¡¯s soft sobs could be heard as she said this.


    A cadre from the Provincial Departmentughed. ¡°Look at her, the youngdy got scared. Stop crying... Ji Bai, Director Liu is only being strict in order to improve the quality of your team from Lin City. Director Liu is always the one who praises you the most in the Provincial Department, so I doubt that she would actually punish her little junior brother.¡± Both Ji Bai and Director Liu had graduated from the Criminal Investigation Department at the Public Security University, so they were friends from the same course.


    He then looked at Director Liu. ¡°I think that Ji Bai made sense too, how about you discuss the matter further when you return?¡±


    Ji Bai nodded. ¡°You¡¯re right, I was too straightforward with my words, I didn¡¯t pay attention to the way I phrased it. Director Liu, please cool down.¡±


    Director Liu was initially outraged at his insubordination, but upon hearing him humbling himself, she calmed down and nodded. ¡°Disperse.¡±


    That afternoon, Director Liu returned to the province by car, with Ji Bai sending her off personally. On the way there, Director Liu still seemed very intimidating, but in the end, she still relented and smiled. ¡°Alright, I ept your opinion, and she won¡¯t be punished. Nheless, you¡¯ll have to personally report this to the Provincial Department.¡±


    ¡°No problem, I¡¯ll do as you say. Once I return to Lin City, I¡¯ll go to the Provincial Department to apologize.¡±


    ¡°You little... Pass this on to Yao Meng: I¡¯m just like that, though my tone was a bit heavy today. Tell her not to feel too hung up about it.¡±


    Once the province leader left, the others felt the atmosphere be much more rxed. Su Mu suggested that they hosted lunch to treat Ji Bai and the others to some local dishes. After a night¡¯s rest, they would send them back to Lin City.


    The location was set to be at a restaurant located by the river that was very close to the local police station.


    Rain continued to fall and when Yao Meng arrived, only Su Mu, Ji Bai, Da Hu, and two other criminal police officers were seated beside the windows. The others were not there yet.


    After Yao Meng was criticized that day, those who were close to herforted her. Meanwhile, the criminal police officers who were not familiar with her expressed their kindness andforted her with their eyes. Anyhow, all of this was unimportant to her, Ji Bai was the only one who mattered. Although she was upset, she would instantly feel better as soon as she thought about his attitude.


    At noon, everyone from Lin City and Xiang Chuan was seated. Since the seat to the right of Ji Bai was still empty, Yao Meng¡¯s heart beat quickly as she went around Da Hu and walked over. Just as she passed by Da Hu, he pulled her to his side. ¡°Eh, that seat is taken. You should sit over here.¡±


    Yao Meng could not react in time, and the other menughed. There seemed to be a mutual understanding between themselves. Ji Bai smiled inly without saying anything, but he did not deny it either.


    Yao Meng was in a daze and her temple twitched as she coolly sat herself down in the seat next to Da Hu.


    A little whileter, Xu Xu walked in looking veryposed as she naturally sat beside Ji Bai. Owing to the fact that Da Hu gave the ¡°do not make a fuss¡± instruction, the others stopped smiling and pretended as though they did not see anything.


    The meal was so nice that both the hosts and guests thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Along the way, a young criminal police officer got carried away from drinking too much and blurted out to Xu Xu, ¡°Sister-inw, cheers! Cheers to you!¡±


    Xu Xu was about to reply, but Ji Bai just tugged at her sleeves. ¡°They¡¯re drunk, let them be. We¡¯ll be heading back tomorrow anyway.¡±


    Yao Meng could not hear their conversation, and she neither ate nor talked much throughout the dinner, but she always had a smile on her face.


    In the afternoon, the overcast from the heavy rain made the sky so dark that it might as well have been nighttime.


    This time, they stayed in a guesthouse in the county, and each of them had their own room. The sound of a group of criminal police officers noisily ying cards in a room could distinctly be heard. Yet even so, after Xu Xu drank a ss of white wine, she returned to her room and soon fell asleep.


    Yao Meng sat by the window in her room and watched the rainfall. She sat there and tried listening to Ji Bai¡¯s room which was just next door, but it was quiet. Sometimeter, she left her room.


    When Ji Bai opened the door, he saw Yao Meng in front of him and was rather stunned.


    She wore very little ¡ª a thin white blouse and a pair of in trousers. She seemed to have been under the rain as her long hair was dripping off her shoulders. She pierced him with her deep, intent eyes that were filled with silent yet surging emotions.


    ¡°Ji Bai.¡± She called out softly.


    The rain was slowing down and the police stationpound in the small county town appeared to be much more peaceful.


    Ji Bai looked into her eyes and said, ¡°Yao Meng, you¡¯re an outstanding talent. As your superior and colleague, I¡¯ll spare no effort to help you in the future, so that you will achieve greater results in your career. However, I¡¯m sorry to say that I have no other intentions towards you.¡±


    Yao Meng looked at him dumbfounded and understandably became embarrassed. That being said, she still wanted to clear the doubts in her head, and as such, mustered up the courage and asked awkwardly. ¡°Is there someone else... in your heart?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Ji Bai walked into his room after he closed the door.


    Da Hu was watching a football match in his room, so he heard almost everything they had said, but he still kept quiet. It was only after some time that he said, ¡°Yao Meng is quite a nicedy in every other aspect, but she overthinks andplicates things too much.¡±


    Ji Bai nodded and replied, ¡°Don¡¯t mention this to anyone else.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± Da Hu knew that Ji Bai wanted to protect her image.


    The two of them continued watching the football match. Then out of nowhere, Da Hu hummed a song. ¡°You are the only one in my heart, believe me, that my heart is true to you...¡±


    Ji Bai could not help butugh.


    As evening approached, everyone gathered at thepound to take a stroll through the night streets of Xiang Chuan Town. When Da Hu knocked on Yao Meng¡¯s door, she said that she was tired so she did not want to go.


    The air after the rain was refreshing, and though the floors were still wet, there were still plenty of people walking down the street. A group of energetic, tall, muscr men clustered around Xu Xu and Ji Bai, which attracted the attention of many passersby. Ji Bai looked very calm whereas Xu Xu was rather shy, so she lowered her head and walked quietly.


    Almost ten minutes into their walk, everyone else was lively and spirited. However, Ji Bai and Xu Xu had not talked to each other at all. Suddenly, he cast a sideways nce at her and stopped. ¡°I¡¯m nning to buy some local specialties for my friends, would you like to go?¡±


    Xu Xu wanted to buy some too and said, ¡°I¡¯ll go.¡±


    Ji Bai looked up and asked everyone else too, ¡°I¡¯m going to buy some local specialties with Xu Xu. What about the rest of you?¡± He looked around him. When everyone¡¯s eyes met his, they shook their heads one after another.


    ¡°We¡¯re not going. The two of you go ahead.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the fun in buying local specialties?¡±


    Su Mu said, ¡°Captain Ji, let me rmend you a shop. Their products are very good, but it¡¯s a little bit far.¡±


    It was quite a distance away as they only reached after walking for half an hour.


    Despite that, the two of them were secretly pleased with Su Mu¡¯s rmendation. After all, they could walk with each other for a whole night quietly and undisturbed.


    After they came out from the specialty store, they stayed silent for a while. Ji Bai looked around them swiftly, then he suggested going to the riverbank. ¡°Let¡¯s go over there and take a look.¡±


    The small town was surrounded by a dark green river. Over the recent years, a concrete pavement was built along it, making it look like a whitish jade belt that stretched across the waters under the night sky. The two of them walked for a while when they heard vibrant music from up ahead. They looked up and saw that there was a broad square at the end of the riverbank.


    Due to the rain, there were not as many people as usual. However, the rain did not dampen the people¡¯s passion for loving life. ¡°Summer, summer is creeping away, after this, only sweetness is left behind...¡± The music echoed through the sky above the riverbank. There were nearly a hundred pairs of people. Most of them were middle-aged, dancing away under the brilliant street lights.


    For a young person like Xu Xu, the scene looked warm and cute, but it was also unpleasant at the same time.


    Ji Bai also felt that it would be quite unpleasant to dance in the middle of a group of middle-aged big brothers and sisters in public. Despite this, he stood in silence for a few seconds before he turned to look at Xu Xu. ¡°Would you like to dance?¡±


    Xu Xu replied, ¡°Anything.¡±


    Ji Bai casually threw the local specialties he had bought to the ground and did not think of them again, even after they left.


    Xu Xu had only ever danced with Xu Juan at home. So when she lifted one hand out for Ji Bai, and ced the other on his shoulder, she felt her face get hotter.


    Ji Bai grasped her little hand tightly, which was already covered in a thinyer of sweat. Meanwhile, he wrapped his other hand around the slim waist that he had looked at so many times before.


    The moment he touched her waist, his heart skipped a beat as Xu Xu¡¯s body trembled a little. Although he felt it, he said nothing and merely pulled her body closer to his.


    The music was ying quite loudly, but it sounded like it was far away. Human figures moved back and forth around them, yet just like the night sky, they became an unimportant background. Xu Xu waspletely wrapped up in the crook of his arm. She felt a slight dizziness as she moved about. She had never felt like this before.


    As she moved her feet to the beat, she thought to herself, ¡®This is what it is to be crazy in love. I¡¯m actually crazy in love.¡¯


    In truth, the two of them were not great at dancing and their dance moves were not in sync. Although Xu Xu was not as terrible of a dancer that she would step on his leather shoes, she would identally go in the opposite direction from time to time. Each time this happened, she could feel Ji Bai pulling her back gently, making her fall back into his embrace again so that the distance between them was never too far apart. When he did this, he seemed to be even more imposing than usual. Xu Xu looked up at his eyes which were dark and tranquil under the night sky, hoping that she could see through him. Even though she was only feeling slightly dizzy, she could not think clearly and calmly.


    One song after another.


    They danced to everything from pink memories to entric ethnic music, back to the first snow in 2002.


    When Dao Lang sang ¡°You¡¯re Like A Flying Butterfly¡±, Xu Xu suddenly felt Ji Bai suddenly pull her waist closer to him before feeling a faint breath of warm air brush against the side of her ear.


    ...


    ¡°It¡¯s raining.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s raining again, let¡¯s go home.¡±


    The music stopped, and the partners around the square dispersed one after another. Ji Bai let go of Xu Xu slowly, then looked around them.


    Raindrops were falling andnding beside their feet as well as on their heads.


    ¡°Captain, you¡¯re here.¡± Da Hu¡¯s clear voice called out from behind the curtain of rain. ¡°Quickly get in the car, they say that there¡¯ll be a thunderstormter.¡±


    Sure enough, in the blink of an eye, the rain became heavier.


    Ji Bai looked at Xu Xu. ¡°Let¡¯s get in the car.¡±


    It turns out that Su Mu had gotten his car and was driving everyone around the riverbank to sightsee when they coincidentally spotted them.


    A row of people returned to the police station¡¯spound happily. Ji Bai stood under the porch as a few young criminal police officers surrounded him to express their respect for him before parting. When Xu Xu arrived, she looked at him from across the room, separated by the dense crowd between. He seemed to have noticed her stare immediately, as he turned to look back at her with a calm yet deep gaze.


    After she showered, Xu Xu crossed her legs and sat on her bed as she watched the falling raindrops outside the window.


    Previously, when they were nearing the end of their dance, she felt Ji Bai lower his head. Then, the top of her head was softly touched by something.


    Was it Ji Bai who kissed her hair, or was it the first drop of rain on her head?


    When she thought about this, her heart started palpitating and she rushed to fling open the window. Instantly, raindrops poured in, sshing on her head drop after drop.


    She sat there for a few minutes, trying topare the sensation. Not long after, her hair was half drenched. Only then did she pull her head back in. She stroked her chin with one hand and smiled.


    ¡®This is frustrating. Without any experience, I just can¡¯t differentiate it.¡¯

 Chapter 35

    <h4>Chapter 35</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    At the China-Myanmar border.


    The water of the Mekong River flowed rapidly while a huge area of dense forest hid both banks from view.


    On the dusty road on the mountain, a military off-road vehicle abruptly stopped before several armed soldiers jumped out the vehicle and charged into the forest. A momentter, they surrounded the hillside.


    The rustling off foliage was heard as ady suddenly stumbled out of the forest. After many days of running, her clothes had turned ragged and her face looked pale. A soldier grabbed her long hair while another soldier ruthlessly hit her waist with the butt of his gun. Thedy screamed in pain before she fell to the ground.


    ¡°Contact the police from China,¡± an officer said in Burmese, ¡°we¡¯ve captured Brother Lu. Ask them to...¡±


    ¡°Bam.¡± A weak yet clear gunshot sound was heard.


    The officer¡¯s words were abruptly brought to a halt, as a bullet hole appeared in the middle of his forehead. The soldiers around him froze in fear as they watched the blood seep down his forehead before he fell face-first down to the ground.


    ¡°There¡¯s an ambush, be careful!¡± The soldiers cried out in rm one after another. However, they were soon greeted by the rapid sounds of gunshots from all around them.


    Sometimeter, the dust and leaves settled to reveal the bloody bodies of the soldiers scattered all over the ce.


    Brother Lu¡¯s body was bent over on the ground. Her body quivered uncontrobly during the firefight and only when silence once again befell the forest did she look up, flustered. Under the zing sunlight, she spotted a few off-road vehicles pulling up a short distance away from her. A number of armed men stood on the roof of the vehicles, their faces filled with indifferent and numb smiles as one of the doors of the vehicles was slowly opened.


    Brother Lu got up from the ground, then she began to smile.


    Above the roofs of this small militia, the g of the Northern Burma Kachin Independence Army waved proudly in the wind.


    Brother Lu walked towards one of the vehicles before lowering her head and kissing a man¡¯s shoe.


    The man was very tall and built. He smiled while wearing a dark gray camouge uniform. A pair of eagle-like vicious eyes and a dark red scar sat on his bronze-colored face as he pulled Brother Lu up before embracing her. Then, he gazed at her and said softly in Burmese, ¡°You¡¯re my woman, nobody can hurt you.¡±


    Brother Lu nodded as she replied in choppy Burmese, ¡°And your woman will continue to help you by selling more people in Southeast Asia to earn you money.¡±


    Following that, their lips were pressed firmly together as they kissed.


    Thousands of kilometers away was Lin City. The sunlight was just right and the summer wind was blowing pleasantly. Compared to the humid and hot tropics, it was an entirely different world.


    As soon as Ji Bai arrived in the city, he received a call from the station chief who ordered him to head to the Provincial Public Security Department right away. He was to participate in the director¡¯s working conference.


    During the conference, Ji Bai reported the results of the capture operation. The deputy director in charge of public rtionster went on to report, ¡°ording to our sources, Brother Lu most likely escaped through the Burmese border. As such, we¡¯ve already contacted Myanmar through the China-Myanmar Joint Strike Criminal Office. We¡¯ve asked them to arrest Brother Lu as soon as possible.¡±


    Another Deputy Director who was in charge of criminal investigation frowned andmented, ¡°I heard that the situation in Northern Burma is quite chaotictely. Hopefully, the operation on their side will bear fruit.¡±


    When the conference ended, Director Liu said to the station chief, ¡°Old friend, pleasee over to my office with Little Ji to have a talk.¡±


    After tasting some green tea from Director Liu¡¯s personal collection, the station chief turned and said to Ji Bai with a smiling face, ¡°I¡¯m telling you, I get worried whenever I get to taste her tea, I¡¯m usually in trouble whenever she¡¯s so polite.¡±


    Both Director Liu and Ji Baiughed out loud.


    Director Liu shook her head whilst smiling then said to the station chief with much sincerity. ¡°Sir, there¡¯s ady called Xu Xu who¡¯s one of your subordinates. I admire her a lot and wish to transfer her to the Provincial Department.¡±


    Ji Bai¡¯s hand froze as he held a teacup in his hand, then he turned to look at Director Liu.


    The station chief replied with a smile, ¡°Xu Xu and Yao Meng are talents who were specifically introduced to our station. Because of this, I even treated their academy director to a meal. If you transfer one of them away, then my team will be iplete.¡±


    Director Liu continued, ¡°Old friend, I¡¯m taking the big picture into consideration too. I have a subordinate who named Yang Qinglin who is an outstanding student in criminal psychology research who was also Xu Xu¡¯s senior brother. I¡¯d like them to form a criminal psychology researchboratory together. This would greatly increase the standard of criminal investigation throughout the entire province. I¡¯ve also asked the other director about it, and he has no protests.¡±


    The station chief nodded. ¡°Alright, I agree in terms of principle, but Ji Bai is the one in charge of her, so you have to get his opinion.¡±


    Ji Bai answered with a faint smile, ¡°Director Liu, your thoughts are very valuable, but Xu Xu is a very stubborn person and she¡¯s also very close to the police team in Lin City. How about this, I¡¯ll speak to her and get her opinionter on?¡±


    Director Liu waved her hand dismissively. ¡°You don¡¯t have to do anything. How can I not know what you¡¯re thinking? For all I know, even if that youngdy was initially willing, you might be able to convince her otherwise.¡± She smiled a little. ¡°Since the two of you agree to the principle of the idea, let¡¯s wait for Xu Xu¡¯s opinion ¨C I¡¯ve already sent someone to talk to her.¡±


    In the afternoon, Ji Bai had his meal at the Provincial Department¡¯s cafeteria. He sat in his seat feeling a bit stuffy.


    While he hoped that Xu Xu would not go to the Provincial Department, it was not all due to his own selfish reasons. Objectively, Xu Xu had too little practical experience, hence it might not be beneficial to her long-term growth should she leave the front-line too early to return to research work.


    Moreover, their rtionship was still uncertain. What was the Provincial Department like anyway? He was well aware that with a certain amount of freshly graduated fellows from the police academy, there were now more wolves than meat avable 1 .


    As he was sitting down with Director Liu and the station chief, he sent a text message to Xu Xu under the table. ¡°Wait for me to return before you decide on anything.¡±


    He waited for a while, but Xu Xu did not reply.


    He ced his phone down with a straight face then poked at his food. Suddenly, he heard Director Liu speaking cheerfully to the station chief. ¡°The two of them are quite fitting...¡±


    Ji Bai looked at them with a smile. ¡°What¡¯s fitting?¡±


    The station chief nced at Ji Bai then said to Director Liu, ¡°Xu Xu is very outstanding indeed, and there are a few fellows in our station who are going after her too, but as a leader, why are you mingling in young people¡¯s matters too?¡±


    Director Liu smiled. ¡°How is this mingling? You¡¯ve never met Qinglin before, he¡¯s an extremely kind and forthright boy. He had been a senior brother to Xu Xu for three years and they had a great rtionship back in the police academy.¡± Sheughed again after she said, ¡°I¡¯ve told him too, as the saying goes, ¡®the waterfront pavilion gets the moonlight first¡¯ 2 At least now, he won¡¯t have any regrets if he fails to convince Xu Xu when they¡¯re working at the Provincial Department together.¡±


    A whileter, Ji Bai smiled faintly and stood up. ¡°Leaders, please enjoy your meal slowly, I have something going on, so I¡¯ll make my move first.¡±


    As Director Liu watched him leave, she said to the station chief, ¡°Isn¡¯t he acting like something¡¯s off today?¡±


    The station chief replied with a smile, ¡°That Qinglin from your department, I¡¯m afraid that he appeared at the wrong time.¡±


    Xu Xu had been busy with follow-up work for the case ever since she returned to the City Police Station with Da Hu and Yao Meng. Since they had partnered with the Criminal Police Unit for many days, they were now especially warm as they expressed their concerns and matters to one another. Of course, there were also some like Old Wu who heard the news in advance, so he looked up to take a look at Xu Xu and just smiled without saying a word.


    The sunlight of the early summer was bright and clear while the office was lively yet quiet. Just as Xu Xu waspiling thest set of information, she lifted her head and she noticed a white-skinned, skinny figure standing beside her desk.


    Xu Xu was rather surprised. ¡°Senior brother.¡±


    Yang Qinglin wore a in white shirt paired with ck trousers. He looked at her and paused for a short moment before smiling gently. ¡°Xu Xu, long time no see.¡±


    As the people from the Criminal Police Unit watched the two of them leaving the office side by side, Da Hu asked, ¡°Who is that?¡±


    Somebody answered, ¡°It¡¯s a leader from the Provincial Department, he¡¯s here to talk to Xu Xu.¡±


    Da Hu stood by the window and took a nce at the police stationpound below, he muttered, ¡°A talk from a leader, huh... then why did they go to the small ntation?¡±


    Zhao Han heard this and secretly sent a message to his friend. ¡°Captain, when are youing back?¡±


    By now, the sun was setting and on the west side of thepound where a fewrge, beautiful trees stood tall and proud. Behind those trees was an emerald-greenwn. Yang Qinglin and Xu Xu sat down on thewn, where they remained quiet for a while.


    ¡°Senior brother, I¡¯m grateful that you and Director Liu value me, thank you.¡± Xu Xu continued, ¡°That being said, I won¡¯t consider transferring to the Provincial Department for now. Please send my apologies to Director Liu. I¡¯ve just entered the front-line and I¡¯m stillcking in experience, so I¡¯m hoping that I¡¯ll be able to acquire more experience before deciding on my future. If I don¡¯t do this, then my research will be iplete as it would bepletely baseless andcking any practical knowledge.¡±


    Yang Qinglin looked at her stern, fair face. She still seemed like the insensitive, persistent, geeky little junior from back in the day. Nevertheless, he always knew that underneath her umunicative and straightforward surface, she actually had a pure and innocent heart. This was the unique trait of hers that was unfathomable to others. It had seeped into his heart bit by bit over the years such that it now upied it in its entirety.


    Yang Qinglin shifted his eyes away from her, then looked at the lush and soft grass by his feet. ¡°If you go over to the Provincial Department, you¡¯ll still be able to investigate cases with the front-line. Moreover, we mostly supervise huge, important cases. Besides... I will also do my best to create a professional working environment suitable for you.¡±


    Xu Xu fell silent for a brief while, then she shook her head again. ¡°Thank you, senior brother, but I still don¡¯t want to go. I¡¯m investigating cases under Ji Bai now, he¡¯s exceptionally experienced in criminal investigation and he has very unique methods of analysis. I¡¯d like to continue learning from him instead of giving up halfway.¡±


    Yang Qinglin was not very expressive with his words, but it did not mean that he had poor instincts. No matter how calm or natural his junior sister sounded, he still felt that grudging feeling in his heart.


    Ji Bai, the famous detective. The rumors imed that he was a son of a renowned family from the capital, who happened to pick the incredibly tough job of criminal investigation, risking his life through iron and blood in the process.


    He thought to himself, ¡®After all these years, did a better man move her heart when I chose to back away with the intention of winning her over with my achievements?¡¯


    Yao Qingling said softly, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll let Director Liu know, once you think that you¡¯ve acquired enough experience in the front-line, we¡¯ll wee you to the Provincial Department. Other than that...¡± He turned and looked straight into her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m also here for another reason. I...I¡¯ve been working hard for the past few years, and I have not dated anyone. Are you willing to... be my partner?


    ¡°I may have an uninteresting character and I¡¯m not good at expressing myself so perhaps I won¡¯t be able to provide you with an especially favorable life, but I¡¯ll keep fighting and I¡¯m confident that I¡¯ll be able to support and manage a family in the future. I¡¯ll also put in the utmost effort to take care, love and protect you, always putting you... as my top priority.¡±


    Xu Xu¡¯s heart trembled a little as she looked at him quietly.


    Then, her phone suddenly rang. It was a message from Ji Bai. ¡°Wait for me to return before you decide on anything.¡±


    ...


    When Ji Bai returned to the office, the sky waspletely dark. The stars looked like scattered pieces of jade sprinkled across the night sky, and his spacious office appeared to be warm and weing. At the moment, only a familiar shadow was seated quietly in front of her desk. Upon hearing his movement, she looked up and her gaze fixed on him with her dark, beady eyes.


    Ji Bai looked back at her.


    He knew that she most likely refused the offer to go to the Provincial Department. He also knew that she probably rejected her senior brother too. Even so, he still drove exceedingly fast for the first time in a long time to speed all the way back to the police station.


    When was thest time he drove so recklessly? It was when he was fifteen or sixteen when he zoomed around Beijing¡¯s Second Ring Road once with a group of friends early in the morning, when they did not know about the immensity of heaven and earth, or about all this life had to offer.


    How far he hade since then. As he looked at her tranquil face, why was it that only now that he understood all that life had to offer?


    Was it because he nted a superficial kiss on her hairline yesterday, which made him unable to resist or suppress the blooming romance? Or was it because he had already held it in for too long that after noticing that she seemed to be vaguely reciprocating, he could no longer hold back and refused to strategize to advance step by step?


    ¡®The waterfront pavilion gets the moonlight first. This is my pavilion, so I get the moonlight.¡¯ He thought.


    He walked over to the desk and stopped. ¡°I have something to tell you.¡±


    Xu Xu bit her lip and replied. ¡°Me too.¡±


    They walked into Ji Bai¡¯s office and sat down opposite each other.


    Xu Xu spoke first. ¡°I¡¯m not going to the Provincial Department, I¡¯ve already made it clear to my senior brother.¡±


    Ji Bai looked at her then nodded.


    There was not even a hint of a smile of his attractive face as he locked eyes with her with his pitch-ck gaze. He then pulled his drawer open to retrieve his cigarette and lighter, then tilted his head to light it.


    Xu Xu frowned. ¡°Why are you smoking again?¡±


    Through the thinyers of smoke, Ji Bai cast a look at her quietly then said, ¡°Xu Xu, I¡¯ve told you before, only my girlfriend can control me.¡±


    It was the same words, but when Xu Xu heard it this time around, the strings in her heart felt like they had been plucked gently.


    Ji Bai shifted the topic with a casual look. ¡°So, I¡¯ve been courting you for such a long time, what are your thoughts?¡±


    Xu Xu felt her heart almost jump out of her mouth. However... his logic was not right.


    ¡°Since when have you been courting me?¡±


    Ji Bai raised his eyebrow and watched her quietly.


    He knew that winning her affection was like trying to catch fish ¨C he could not just go for it without considering how she felt. Since he wanted the feeling to be mutual, he had to make her realize that she was falling in love too.


    Despite this, he still twisted his words and forced logic into her as he replied, ¡°Exercising with you every morning, teaching you how to shoot whilst hand-in-hand, letting those fellows refer to you as sister-inw... what do you think those were if I was not going after you?¡±


    Xu Xu felt the same dizziness from yesterday again, but this time the feeling was much stronger. Her chest felt like a balloon, expanding beyond its limit and making her short of air.


    She also felt a satisfaction that she had never felt before. It was entirely different from how she felt when she achieved results in her studies or work. The satisfaction was not calm and quiet, it was bouncing, throbbing, and making her dizzy from excitement.


    She took a deep breath to lower her heart rate.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to go after me.¡±


    Ji Bai did not expect to hear this as his heart instantly sank. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    She looked straight back at him and replied. ¡°I like you too, so you don¡¯t have to go after me.¡±


    The night sky was beautiful and quiet as the two of them locked eyes with one another without saying a word.


    The joy in Ji Bai¡¯s eyes burned like wildfire as he nodded his head coolly. ¡°Alright. I won¡¯t chase you anymore.¡±


    Xu Xu¡¯s face was likewise burning up from his stare, but she still popped the most important question in her mind. ¡°So, is our rtionship now officially confirmed?¡±


    Ji Bai¡¯s smile grew wider and his pearly whites shed brilliantly under the lights.


    ¡°As confirmed as it can be.¡±


    Xu Xu looked at him and smiled back. She was unsure of what she should say, but it looked like there was nothing that she needed to say.


    Right then, her phone, perfectly cutting short their special moment. Xu Xu picked it up half-heartedly. ¡°Brother? What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    Xu Juan missed his sister after not seeing her for a few days, so he asked cheerily on the other end of the line, ¡°Want to have dinner together tonight?¡±


    Xu Xu looked up at Ji Bai as if trying to get his opinion. ¡°Do you want to...¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Before she could finish, Ji Bai answered the question himself.


    Hence, Xu Xu replied her brother, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I have a date tonight.¡±


    Xu Juan had faintly heard a man¡¯s voice through the phone. His heart raced and he quickly asked, ¡°Who are you dating?¡±


    At that moment, Ji Bai had already taken his coat and was walking over to open the door for Xu Xu. Xu Xu stood up and said in a calm voice that barely hid her happiness. ¡°Boyfriend. A new one.¡±

 Chapter 36

    <h4>Chapter 36</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    The two of them headed to a restaurant downtown for dinner.


    They had to wait for a seat because it was peak hour and the ce was very packed. Nheless, after entering the restaurant, they saw spacious dark-red sofas arranged tastefully around them and soft lighting painting the walls. The dazzling chandeliers reflected light on the floor-to-ceiling window as the aroma of cooked food further improved the environment.


    Xu Xu sat on one side of the sofa and took a look at the menu that the waiter handed to her. She lowered her head and flipped through the pages. Momentster, she felt the other side of the sofa caving in slightly and a familiar warmth wrapping around her.


    Ji Bai had put both of their outer-wears and bags across the table and had now moved next to her. He ced one of his arms on the sofa behind her and was now leisurely watching her as she went through the menu.


    In Xu Xu¡¯s opinion, since they were now officially in a rtionship, it was perfectly normal for them to be on intimate terms. Moreover, she enjoyed the sensation of Ji Bai¡¯s body being pressed against hers. Thus, she lifted her head and smiled at him lightly before she took the initiative to move closer to him.


    Ji Bai could not help butugh when she did this.


    The two of them went through the menu patiently.


    Ji Bai loved eating bass. So after reaching the seafood section, Xu Xu asked, ¡°Teacher, would you like the bass steamed or braised?¡±


    Ji Bai moved closer to her ear and asked in a low voice, ¡°What did you call me?¡±


    Xu Xu looked at him and smirked.


    She tried to recall how the people around her addressed their partner when they were in a rtionship and tried to do the same. She thought about it and asked, ¡°Ji Bai? Honey? Ji Ji? Bai Bai? What do you prefer?¡±


    Ji Baiughed again.


    After he was doneughing, he dropped her a hint. ¡°What did you call me in Beijing?¡±


    Third brother Ji. He really liked it when she addressed him with her gentle voice. There was a reliant and sentimental tone in her words that made his heart leap. Yet at the same time, it made him feel veryfortable.


    Xu Xu said straightforwardly, ¡°Third Brother Ji.¡±


    ¡°There we go.¡± Ji Bai immediately responded with a soft voice and stared at her with his gleaming onyx eyes.


    It was a very normal response, but Xu Xu inexplicably felt her face flush slightly. She tried to distract herself by flipping through the menu for a while, but suddenly, she took notice of Ji Bai... His tone and the look in his eyes... Was he flirting with her? If he was, then he was really good.


    Instead of being indecisive like other girls, Xu Xu firmly chose a few dishes before turning to get Ji Bai¡¯s approval. ¡°Are you okay with these?¡±


    She sounded strong yet a little dominant, almost as if she was the boyfriend.


    Naturally, Ji Bai agreed. How carefree would he be if his girlfriend was in charge of stuff like this?


    Moreover, everything that she had ordered was, coincidently, the food that he liked.


    However, when he mentioned theirmon interest in food, she turned away and replied nervously, ¡°It¡¯s not a coincidence. I did some research on your interests.¡±


    Her words made Ji Bai feel very happy. He looked up at her and grinned. ¡°Oh? And what is the conclusion from your research?¡±


    The two of them had a pleasant dinner and by the time Ji Bai sent Xu Xu home, it was already a little past nine o¡¯clock.


    The wind blew slowly and the orange streetlights in the area were warm. The shadows of the trees that were swaying about stretched out protectively onto the pavement as the two of them stood there facing each other.


    Although he was really enjoying her presence, they had juste back from a work trip and she seemed tired. Thus, Ji Bai said, ¡°Go, I¡¯ll see you tomorrow.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded but she did not move.


    Ji Bai wore a simple white shirt on top of his ck trousers, and he seemed taller under the streetlights when he lowered his head to look at her. The look on his face showed that he was at peace.


    Xu Xu ignored the elerating heartbeat in her chest as she stared into his eyes and said, ¡°Yesterday, when it was raining in Xiang Chuan County, did you...¡±


    Before she couldplete the sentence, she felt his hand tighten around her waist as he pulled her into his arms. Xu Xu only caught a glimpse of his slightly upward curling lips before he lowered his head and pressed his soft lips against the top of her head once again.


    His voice sounded extraordinarily low and gentle, even more so than usual. ¡°Are you talking about this?¡±


    Xu Xu nodded silently. ¡®This is the feeling.¡¯


    ¡°Thank you... I guess I¡¯ll go up now.¡± Since Xu Xu had gotten what she wanted, she was feeling quite satisfied. However, when she tried pushing him away, he did not want to let go. Instead, he continued to hold her in his arms.


    Their bodies were extremely close to each other where they remained quietly for a short while. Suddenly, Xu Xu felt Ji Bai¡¯s face gradually moving downward along her forehead.


    It was very quiet around them and their breathing slowly started to match one another. She could even feel his tall nose stroking her cheeks gently as he moved downward bit by bit... Even though it was just a slight touch, it made the skin around Xu Xu¡¯s entire body very sensitive and tight.


    Soon, Ji Bai had already lowered his head to the point where his face was parallel to hers. He looked at her seriously without saying a word, then pressed his lips against hers.


    His breath was steady and warm, but his kiss was very powerful. He paused for a split second after pressing his lips against hers, before his tongue firmly parted her lips. Although this waspletely new to Xu Xu, she felt veryfortable and somewhat excited. She stood there,pletely rxed in his arms and raised her face slightly to allow him to better enjoy the taste of her lips.


    Ji Bai was indeed a bit forceful and his kisses were slightly heavy, but this was forgivable. After all, he had been fantasizing about this moment for way too long, and here he was, finally presented with the opportunity. He was slightly satisfied after being able to truly kiss her, so he eventually moved away victoriously.


    The two of them stared at each other in close proximity as Ji Bai held her face in hisrge hand and gently stroked her cheek with his thumb.


    ¡°How do you feel?¡± Ji Bai¡¯s voice was very light and slightly hoarse. There was a faint smile on his face and his eyes shimmered semi-nervously from the excitement. ¡°Do you like it when I kiss you?¡±


    ¡®He¡¯s flirting with me again.¡¯


    She nodded and reciprocated his flirting. ¡°It felt very good... Third Brother Ji.¡±


    The smile on Ji Bai¡¯s face got wider and she was assaulted by a barrage of kisses before she could even finish her sentence.


    When Xu Xu entered the house, her lips were obviously red and swollen, even her cheeks were a shade of crimson. Since they both hugged a little too passionately, her shirt was also a crumpled and messy.


    Xu Juan was feeling a bit lonely that night and all he had for dinner was some horrible takeaway. Thus, he went straight to his sister¡¯s apartment and waited for her to get somepany for the night. Due to the fact that he was quite experienced, he clearly understood what had happened just by looking at his younger sister. He felt a strong sense of gratification and easiness because his sister had now grown up. Yet, as he observed the way she looked after being kissed by a man, he felt a little discontented. After all, this was only their first day of being in a rtionship and they have kissed ¨C it seemed like they were progressing extremely fast.


    Xu Xu went to take a shower right after she came back whilst Xu Juan sat in the living room, listening to her cheerful humming in the shower. He felt as though a tiny w was scratching his heart when he heard his little sister¡¯s hums. After a while, Xu Juan could no longer contain his worry and so, while she was blow-drying her hair on the sofa, Xu Juan asked faintly, ¡°You both are progressing very quickly. When will you bring him home and introduce him to your brother?¡±


    Xu Xu nodded and said, ¡°After I have some substantial progress with him, I will bring you back to meet you.¡±


    Xu Juan frowned slightly and asked, ¡°What does ¡°substantial progress¡± mean?¡±


    Xu Xu smiled. ¡°When our feelings are stronger and more stable, of course.¡±


    Xu Juan let out a sigh of relief, thenughed at himself for having dirty thoughts.


    Later, the two of them sat on the balcony and watched the city lights stretch out across the horizon.


    ¡°Ji Bai,¡± Xu Juan said. ¡°He¡¯s from Beijing, 28 years old and has worked in Lin City¡¯s criminal police unit for seven and a half years. I wasn¡¯t able to learn anything about his family background, but I can guess it. To be honest, his family background might put some pressure on you in the future.¡±


    Xu Xu smirked and asked, ¡°Why should I care about it if he himself feels that his family background is not important?¡±


    This answer seemed way too idealistic and childish in Xu Juan¡¯s opinion. He remained silent for a moment before he asked, ¡°You said that you would be morepatible with a lessplicated IT man. Although I have yet to get to know Ji Bai better, I can tell that he won¡¯t be easy to deal with. Do you really think that you can control him?¡±


    Xu Xu remained silent for a moment before answering, ¡°I used to hope that love would be the same as work so that it would be under my control. But after falling for him, I¡¯ve learned that I actually don¡¯t want to control him. He knows what I am thinking and vice versa. Most importantly, I can treat him wholeheartedly.¡±


    The following day, Ji Bai went to the station chief¡¯s office.


    ¡°I have established a romantic rtionship with Xu Xu.¡± He walked in and got straight to the point. ¡°I came to report it to you.¡±


    The station chief looked at him and slowly said, ¡°I¡¯m not against your rtionship, but you need to be cautious of its influence in the office.¡±


    Ji Bai smiled and nodded. ¡°Naturally. I have always been careful in separating my work and private interests ¨C Xu Xu will be no different.¡±


    After this, he made his way out. However, he stopped right at the door and added, ¡°Will you please let Director Liu know, so she will be happy for me too.¡±


    The station chief cocked his head back and chuckled heartily. ¡°Kiddo, you¡¯re ruthless.¡±


    Henceforth, the two of them had a tacit agreement to keep it low-profile.


    When the work bell rang, Ji Bai walked into his office with a calm look on his face, whereas Xu Xu did not look sideways for the entire day. When she saw him, she kept her tone professional. ¡°Captain.¡± She sounded even more distant than before.


    Everyone in the criminal police unit had heard the rumors. Despite that, after seeing their attitudes, they started to have doubts. During lunchtime, Zhao Han secretly asked Old Wu, ¡°Did they call it off?¡±


    Old Wu smiled and shook his head. ¡°You either have bad eyes or bad judgment. They¡¯re clearly together.¡±


    There were no major cases in the city and the week went by very peacefully in the criminal police unit. In the blink of an eye, the weekend arrived.


    Ji Bai was well aware that their rtionship was progressing rtively fast since the day he first kissed her.


    But men... especially physically matured unmarried men, would always want more. However, he also knew that she would definitely be unwilling if he were to ask for too much immediately. It would be too sudden. He shared her sentiment and likewise hoped that the two of them would help nurture their rtionship to be stronger and sessful over time. Nevertheless, it was simply a man¡¯s instinct to act a little more intimate with his partner.


    On Saturday morning, he cleaned the house, prepared some acoustic music, foreign movies, cooking ingredients, and red wine. Then, he energetically called Xu Xu, ¡°Are you free today? Do you want toe to my house?¡±


    Xu Xu smiled and replied, ¡°Let¡¯s not go to your house. I have arranged the location and content of today¡¯s date.¡±


    Ji Bai felt slightly strange but happy, because even a little girl like her was putting in effort into their rtionship.


    However, Ji Bai did not expect Xu Xu to set the location of the date to be at the police academy.


    A solemn school building with tall and upright trees stood in front of them. Groups of students from the police academy jogged past the school¡¯s motto stered proudly on the wall. ¡°Loyalty, responsibility and devotion¡±. Ji Ba smiled and observed the calm look on Xu Xu face. ¡°What¡¯s your n?¡±


    Did she want to visit the academy? Learn about the eight honors and eight disgraces? Or possibly go through files in the archives to improve their professional skills? It was none of that.


    Xu Xu led him to the South Hall of the police academy¡¯s library.


    This was the ce where videos and media materials were yed. Because of this, there were seven to eight rows of seats which couldfortably amodate upwards of fifty people. Xu Xu led Ji Bai to the middle of the first row and sat down. Then, she took out some popcorn and soda that had been hidden underneath the seat and handed it to him. After that, the lights were dimmed and the screen in front of them started shing. Only then was Ji Bai sure that Xu Xu had brought him here today to watch a movie.


    A high-intelligence crime movie made in the United States yed in front of them. The movie was not shown in theatres throughout the country because it had been deemed ¡°too violent and bloody¡±. Nevertheless, Ji Bai thoroughly enjoyed it and obviously, Xu Xu had her eyes glued to the screen the entire time.


    After watching the movie for a while, Ji Bai looked around at his empty surroundings. Although it was the weekend, it was impossible for this ce to be empty.


    ¡°Howe there¡¯s no one else here?¡± Ji Bai stared at her and asked softly.


    Her answer surprised him. ¡°I went to see my lecturer yesterday and booked the entire ce for our date.¡± Then, she turned around and continued to watch the movie as if it was nothing at all.


    Ji Bai could not help butugh when he stared at her fair and calm face under the shing lights emanating from the screen. After a while, he turned sideways and kissed her. ¡°Let your boyfriend n dates like this for you in the future. All you have to do is ask.¡±


    After watching the movie, Ji Bai got what he wanted and brought her home.


    After dinner, the two of them sat on the sofa while they watched TV. Ji Bai ced his arms around her shoulder and asked, ¡°As a boyfriend, can I make a request?¡±


    Xu Xu¡¯s brother had previously requested for her to ¡°not have sex too soon¡±. So, she immediately thought of him as she solemnly asked, ¡°What request?¡±


    Ji Bai smiled. ¡°It¡¯s a very simple request, all you need to do is move your feet.¡±


    Move her feet? Xu Xu thought about it for a while but quickly understood what he meant. She felt her body shudder slightly when she looked at his tall and strong body. Even so, she was not against it. So, she answered, ¡°Okay, I can try.¡±


    Ji Bai released her from his grasp and went into another room, after which Xu Xu immediately took out her mobile phone to search on Baidu ¡°How to give a back-walking massage¡± and ¡°Back-walking basic skills¡±. She even took off her shoes and waited for him barefoot.


    She quickly skimmed through the information that she found online and roughly understood the concept of it. After some time, Ji Bai came back holding a familiar blue sandal in his hand. When he saw her barefoot, he smiled lightly. ¡°So you¡¯ve guessed it.¡±


    Xu Xu looked at the shoes in his hand and nodded. ¡°... Yeah, I did.¡±


    Xu Xu changed into the shoes and frowned, just like she didst time. ¡°I still think that it¡¯s just ok.¡±


    Ji Bai stared at her feet and answered, ¡°Okay, you can take it off.¡±


    Xu Xu recalled the theory that her brother once said about the way a woman dressed, and she quickly guessed that Ji Bai might be into this style. Therefore, she immediately asked him, ¡°Are you done with it?¡±


    Ji Bai did not answer her. He picked up the shoes and put it back into the room.


    Was he done with it? Of course not. However, the more he looked at her fair and delicate little feet, the more addicted he became. How many days has it been since then? He could not continue to look at them any longer.

 Chapter 37: Chapter 37

    <h4>Chapter 37: Chapter 37</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    To most people in Lin City, this summer was hot, peaceful and ordinary.


    To Xu Xu and Ji Bai, this summer was one of excitement and new experiences.


    For Ye Zixiao, even though he stood at the top of the Ye Group at the tender age of 25, his life was nothing but chaos and ruin. The whole world was seemingly against him.


    After the news of the Ye Group¡¯s incident broke out, their stock price plummeted to a new low, where it continued to drop even to this day.


    At the same time, Zhang Shiyong announced his divorce to the public and also stated that he would be leaving the Ye Group to start a newpany. He brought all his connections, clients and employees from the real estate industry along with him, which was basically half of the Ye Group.


    Not to mention, all the suppliers and distributors were proposing terminating their contracts with the Ye Group because they were either being provoked by Zhang Shiyong or because they wanted to protect themselves... With that, the capital chain of a hugepany was broken.


    Thepany was falling apart, and so the once arrogant Fourth Mister Ye had all butpletely thrown away his pride and now spent his days going around to plead for investments.


    Nevertheless, the size of the Ye Group was too big, and after taking such a big hit, everyone imed that they were unable to help ¨C they refused to invest their money in a sinking ship. Even banks that used to be on good terms with the Ye Group told Ye Zixiao that they would have to demand payment of the huge loans from before if he could not stabilize the stock price and thepany¡¯s credibility soon.


    The only person who was willing to invest in thepany was Zhang Shiyong. However, he wanted to buy the entire the Ye Group and the conditions that he offered was extremely harsh.


    When Ye Zixiao heard his conditions, he promptly kicked Zhang Shiyong¡¯s messenger out of his office. ¡°F*ck off.¡±


    Ye Zixiao was prepared for bankruptcy.


    It was at this time that Ye Jin, who was now in prison, wanted to meet him.


    She had always been the sanest person in the entire Ye Group. Ever since the beginning, she had protected the Ye Family to the best of her abilities. This time was no exception.


    ¡°Zixiao, the Ye Group¡¯s not as bad as you think. Even at its worst, it¡¯s still stronger than a newly formedpany. As long as its foundations are there, you will still be able to ess its many high-quality assets and business connections. If you can get through this rough patch, then you can easily make aeback in the future. Trust me as someone who is naturally far-sighted. The real reason why no one is willing to invest in thepany is that they want to take advantage of the situation and lower the price of your shares.


    ¡°One of my college ssmate¡¯s husband is a wealthy businessman living in Hong Kong, and he¡¯s very influential throughout Southeast Asia. You can try to contact him. I heard that this person has many solid assets and that he¡¯s a very savvy businessman. Because of this, you have to be mentally prepared as his offer might be even harsher than Zhang Shiyong¡¯s. Nevertheless, he¡¯s still a professional investor so he will not want to gobble up Ye¡¯s management rights. As long as he is willing to invest to help save the Ye Group today, then we can still rise from the ashes tomorrow.¡±


    Soon, Ye Zixiao contacted the wealthy Hong Kong businessman.


    As Ye Jin expected, the other party¡¯s offer was harsher than Zhang Shiyong¡¯s. Even so, they proposed their termination conditions after only buying 40 percent of the Ye Group¡¯s shares. This meant that as long as Ye Zixiao was able to make enough money in the future, he could still repurchase the shares from them.


    On the day both parties¡¯ representatives signed the contract, Ye Zixiao personally called his new shareholder.


    The wealthy businessman who had the surname Chen picked up the call. His tone was very easy-going, so Ye Zixiao did not feel too pressured. After chatting for a short while, Ye Zixiao could not help but ask, ¡°Why were you willing to believe in me?¡±


    Mr. Chen smiled and said, ¡°Not every young man has experienced falling from the top of a mountain to the bottom of the valley like you.¡±


    There was only bitterness in his heart. He remained silent for a moment and answered, ¡°Thank you. I will not let you down.¡±


    He was in such a desperate situation, but he had thankfully been snatched from the jaws of death. Now began the long and arduous journey back to the top.


    In the past, Ye Zixiao¡¯s life was all about money, power, and the drive for profit. Now, the once young and frivolous young man had his life flipped upside down: family, love, business, finance, everything came crashing down as he shouldered the heavy burden of the Ye Group ¨C everything else became insignificant.


    On a Saturday afternoon, the sun was shining brightly. Lin City was peaceful as usual whilst the streets were packed with carefree men and women.


    Ji Bai had a cup of tea and a box of takeaway in hand as he sat in the empty office by himself while he casually surfed the inte.


    Old Wu had something to do, so he went to the office that day. When he saw Ji Bai, he smiled and asked, ¡°Why aren¡¯t you spending time with your girlfriend today?¡±


    Ji Bai would love to spend time with her. As a criminal police officer, normally he would be extremely busy when he was working on a case and would not have any spare time at all. Since he now had the chance to rx for a few days, he would naturally want to be with Xu Xu to hone and strengthen their rtionship. Nheless, Xu Xu was busier than him and she often disappeared on the weekends.


    After Old Wu left, Ji Bai continued to sit in the office for a while. Then, he simply picked up his car keys and drove over to visit Xu Xu who was in the police academy.


    The trees swayed around coyly as people came and went around the brown academy building. Ji Bai walked around the building, and he easily found Xu Xu working in a small office.


    Xu Xu was here today to fulfill her lecturer¡¯s request to attend a special report conference in the academy. While she was preparing the conference materials, she was a little taken aback by the sudden appearance of Ji Bai. Even so, she frowned at him and said, ¡°The conference will begin in a while and it will be at least three hours long.¡±


    Ji Bai sat in front of her calmly and said, ¡°No worries, I¡¯m also interested in the topic of the conference, so I¡¯ll listen to the talk while I¡¯m at it.¡±


    Since this was his decision, Xu Xu ignored him and continued with her work.


    Ji Bai picked up the documents on the table, flipped through and thought, ¡®I¡¯m probably not very interested in the long-term n and technological application of the secondary criminal psychology database.¡¯ Thus, he simply folded his hands behind his head and looked at his girlfriend.


    Xu Xu wore a ck zer today, probably due to the fact that she was here today to attend a professional conference. The deep colors entuated her fair, snow-like skin. Meanwhile, perhaps because she had stayed in the office for too long, but her tiny face was now a little red. Her soft short hair fellzily on her forehead and she looked kind of absent-mindedly cute...


    Xu Xu suddenly looked up at him and her face seemed to get redder. She frowned and said, ¡°Can you leave for now? I will be distracted if you¡¯re here.¡±


    Ji Bai who had been told off leaned against his car and lit a cigarette. When he thought about the lightly timid yet somewhat impatient look on her face, he could not help butugh. He did not want to leave.


    The two of them had been together for two weeks now, throughout which Xu Xu had always been very considerate towards him. Moreover, she was even more feminine than he had expected as she insisted on making him breakfast every morning. When the weather got hot or cold, she would remind him to pay attention to it. Even when they were being intimate, she would cooperate submissively. Sometimes, she would even take the initiative even though they were still stuck in the kissing-hugging stage.


    She was neither bashful nor pretentious. Instead, she was so straightforward and sincere that it made his heart ache. Most of the time, she would try to do everything that a boyfriend should do, which often made Ji Bai quite amused.


    Nheless, Ji Bai knew that he was still far away from truly winning Xu Xu¡¯s heart.


    Ji Bai seemed to be introverted and calm, but he was actually a very controlling person. Back when he was a young upstart who had just left Beijing to venture into Lin City¡¯s police industry, one could immediately tell that he was a young and eager person.


    His attitude towards his work was the same towards his partner.


    He wanted to dominate Xu Xu.


    That kind of dominance was not that he strived to be superior to Xu Xu or for her to lose her independence. No, he liked her independence and appreciated her strength.


    He just hoped that one day, his woman would be physically and mentally obsessed with him. His ideal state of love is when two people are so in love that they were irreceable to each other. Whenever he thought about this, his desire to ¡°possess¡± Xu Xu likewise grew.


    Although Xu Xu liked him, she seemed to treat love the same she treated her work and studies. She would n and invest everything step-by-step in a very calm andposed manner.


    It looked like there were still many battles ahead if he wanted Xu Xu to fall even more deeply in love with him.


    Ji Bai continued to stand there for a while. By now, more and more students started entering the school building, and several leaders of the academy had also arrived.


    Ji Bai knew them, so they chatted for a while and one of them asked, ¡°Captain Ji, why did youe here today?¡±


    Ji Bai nced at the special notice on the wall and smiled. ¡°I came to run some errands, but I¡¯ve alreadypleted them. I¡¯m very interested in the topic of the conference today. Is it okay if I sit in for the talk?¡±


    The conference started right on time and the multimedia hall which could amodate hundreds of people was filled to the brim.


    Xu Xu thought that Ji Bai had already left, so she focused on sitting in the work area to prepare for the talk as she was set to be the first one to go on the stage to give her special report. However, before she went on stage, the host introduced all the leaders present. The host was especially excited and honored when he introduced one of the leaders that had apparently been invited at thest minute. ¡°The captain of the City Criminal Police Unit, Captain Ji Bai! Give Captain Ji Bai a round of apuse to wee him.¡±


    The lights were shining brightly, and Xu Xu who had originally nned to ignore Ji Bai had her npletely ruined as she looked down and saw him seated smack in the middle of the first row, which was the most eye-catching position. He was looking at her standing under the spotlight whilst staring at her unblinkingly.


    Xu Xu performed fairly well. She presented the whole report clearly and with an expressionless look on her face. When she stepped down from the stage, her junior quickly walked up to her. ¡°Senior sister... drink some water, don¡¯t be nervous.¡±


    Xu Xu shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m not nervous.¡±


    Her junior brother looked back at her bright red face. ¡°Oh.¡±


    The conference was nearing its end when Ji Bai was unexpectedly invited to the stage to answer the questions asked by the students. Naturally, he was not able to decline the request.


    Initially, Xu Xu had lowered her head and did not want to look at him. Nheless, when she heard him concisely answer a few professional questions with his low and powerful voice, she could not help but stare at him as the crowd apuded.


    He wore a long-sleeved casual T-shirt and he stood up straight on the stage. He had a solemn look on his face, a sharp gaze in his eyes and a cold aura around him which absolutely captivated everyone¡¯s attention.


    Xu Xu stared at him for a while, then she decided to forgive him for exploiting the public talk for his own interest and flirting with her in public.


    Ten minutes after the conference ended, Xu Xu got into Ji Bai¡¯s car.


    Zhao Han was holding an engagement party with his girlfriend in a hotel that night and he had invited all his colleagues from the police station to attend.


    Because there were colleagues from other departments, Xu Xu went ahead first after parking the car in order to avoid any suspicion. Ji Bai saw her carrying a big bag and asked, ¡°Do you want to leave it in the car?¡±


    Xu Xu shook her head. ¡°I have to change my outfit.¡±


    Ji Bai looked at the ck suit that she was wearing and thought that it was only appropriate to change it, so he did not pay it too much attention. He sat in the car for a while before making his way inside slowly.


    The ceremony was held in the hotel¡¯s open-air garden and the quiet night was interrupted by the dazzling faerie lights coupled with the revel of partygoers. There were many people around, and when Ji Bai scanned the area, he saw nothing but gorgeously dressed men and women. Ji Bai stood at the entrance for a while but unfortunately, was not able to spot Xu Xu. As he was doing this, Da Hu, Old Wu and the rest who were sitting in the front row of beach chairs suddenly called out for him.


    Ji Bai walked over there and sat down. Then, Da Hu nudged him in the ribs and whispered softly, ¡°She¡¯s wearing a dress.¡±

 Chapter 38: Chapter 38

    <h4>Chapter 38: Chapter 38</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    Everyone¡¯s first impression of Xu Xu was usually that she did not pay too much attention to how she dressed. She wore a suit and a shirt to work, casual sportswear out of work, and never seemed to put on makeup. When paired with the cold expression constantly on her face, she seemed even more in and boring.


    In reality, Xu Xu was very particr about the way she dressed. However, her focus was always on whether or not the style was appropriate for her.


    For instance, she would buy delicate mature pajamas which were slightly sexy and rather feminine which she wore at night. (A.K.A. when she was alone.)


    All her sportswear was carefully selected to make sure the fabrics were light, breathable, waterproof, and quick-drying. Her sportswear were all products which had been scientifically proven to help performance whereby the only downside was the low variety of style. This is why her sportswear did not look too fancy,


    The way she dressed in work seemed solemn and old-fashioned because she wanted to maintain an image of being stalwart, mature and reliable as a criminal police officer. Moreover, she knew that she looked rtively small and young, so she made up for it with the way she dressed. All this was to win the trust of the public.


    The reason why she did not wear a skirt often was also because it was not convenient for moving about. Xu Xu actually had dozens of dresses at home that Xu Juan bought for her from time to time, this gave her a wardrobe more than sufficient enough to meet the functional and ornamental needs of various asions.


    This was one such asion. She stood at the bar to pick up a drink while wearing a ck bareback openwork dress and ck stiletto heels.


    Thankfully, there were many tall, beautiful and youthful girls present at the party, so Xu Xu¡¯s dress was not overly eye-catching.


    Nevertheless, many people were still looking at her.


    Her skin was naturally already extremely fair and thin, but the ck dress entuated her skin to the point where it seemed unusually snow-like and cold under the dim lights. The design of the dress was elegant yet bold and although there were hollow patterns all about, her entire fair and smooth back was exposed. It was obvious that she did not want to show too much skin, but she seemed even more seductive than the beautiful girls who all had their long slender legs on disy.


    This dress was from a luxury brand that Xu Juan bought. In order for it to fit her, he had to go to a tailor to reduce the waist size and shorten the hem of the dress. With this, although she seemed very petite, her chest, waist, and hips looked rtively full. Her exquisite feminine curves were all smoothly and tastefully entuated.


    ...


    Da Hu whistled quietly to show that he was impressed, then he picked up a drink and nodded towards Ji Bai without saying anything.


    Ji Bai was originally a little distracted, but after this, heughed lightly and clinked sses with Da Hu.


    As he drank the drink slowly, his gaze was fixed on her figure where it lingered quietly for a while.


    Xu Xu actually wore the dress quite daringly.


    It was not just Zhao Han¡¯s friends and ssmates who were attending the engagement party, his girlfriend¡¯s rtives and friends were present too. The open-air garden was filled with melodious music, warm lights, and people everywhere.


    Ji Bai, Da Hu, and a few others sat in the corner drinking and chatting. asionally, people would walk over to them to have small talk. The whole mood was very peaceful andfortable.


    Xu Xu only stood there for a while before she was swooped away by Zhao Han¡¯s fianc¨¦e, Man Man, to sit with her girlfriends. After a while, Man Man invited Xu Xu to get something to eat.


    The restaurant was on the first floor of the hotel and was connected to the garden. It was not a traditional banquet tonight, but an open buffet. The two of them slowly walked about filling their tes. When they arrived at the barbecue section in the corner, they noticed that there were not many people around because people rarely ate barbecue in the summer. The barbecue chef wore a white coat and a tall hat as he smiled at the two of them with both of his hands casually folded behind his back.


    Man Man shed him a smile then began to choose her food. ¡°Zhao Han likes to eat grilled squid the most.¡±


    Xu Xu stood by her side and looked on for a while. Then, she raised her head and said to the chef, ¡°Can I use your tools and ingredients to grill my own food?¡±


    A few of the core members from several branches came over to propose a toast to Zhao Han as Ji Bai likewise exchanged toasts with each one of them. After some small talk, they left and Ji Bai turned his head only to find that Xu Xu was no longer sitting at her original position.


    The ability of a criminal police officer to spot something was not to be underestimated. After briefly scanning his surroundings, he saw Xu Xu¡¯s petite figure in the restaurant at the side of the garden.


    Was she... grilling food?


    The restaurant was surrounded by transparent ss and skinny trees. The lights were bright orange in color and there was a great variety of exquisite food avable to all the guests.


    Xu Xu lowered her head while she stood in front of arge ck barbecue grill with a focused look on her face. Both of her hands moved about busily in an orderly manner.


    The chef and Zhao Han¡¯s fianc¨¦e stood at the side with a smile on their faces while they watched her cook. Who would have thought that an oversized chef¡¯s hat and white apron could look so good on someone?


    At this moment, Da Hu piped up. ¡°I¡¯m going to get some food. Do you want some?¡±


    The smile on Ji Bai¡¯s face widened. ¡°I¡¯ll wait a little longer.¡±


    After a while, she took off the chef¡¯s outfit and followed Man Man over to Ji Bai¡¯s table with a te of food in her hand.


    Old Wu, Zhao Han, and several others were sitting at the table. They all knew about Ji Bai and Xu Xu¡¯s rtionship but they did not point it out. Even so, Da Hu pretentiously pulled out a chair and put it next to Ji Bai. ¡°Xu Xu, sit here.¡±


    There was a smile on everyone¡¯s face and Ji Bai smiled along as well. Hefortably leaned on the spacious chair and stared at his woman approaching.


    Xu Xu strictly adhered to the rule of ¡°keeping it low-profile¡±, so she sat next to Ji Bai with an indifferent look on her face. She ced the te full of food on the table but she did not offer it to him.


    Man Man looked at them and grinned. ¡°Xu Xu grilled it by herself. I tasted a piece just now and it tasted better than the ones cooked by the chef.¡±


    After this, everyone lowered their heads to look at it and saw that it really did look delicious. The food was brightly colored and gave off a wafting fragrant aroma.


    Ji Bai looked at the te of food and then looked at the little woman beside him, who for some reason had her head tilted downward defensively. The food looked delicious, which made him, as a man, feel unutterablyfortable and peaceful.


    Before he could even take a piece, Da Hu quickly snatched a small piece of steak and stuffed it into his mouth. He instantly rxed as an enchanted look washed over his face. ¡°Xu Xu, you¡¯ve taken cooking sses before, right? It¡¯s delicious.¡±


    Xu Xu did not actually have any special talent for cooking. It was just that she always worked patiently, so after looking through a recipe, she would be able to follow the recipe almost to the tee. In addition to this, the food that she had grilled were all food that Ji Bai liked, which came as a result of her having done some research on grilling beforehand.


    As Xu Xu watched Da Hu stuffing thergest piece of tenderloin into his mouth, she subconsciously frowned lightly. Secondster, Zhao Han also picked up a piece and praised Xu Xu.


    Ji Bai and Xu Xu briefly exchanged looks.


    Just as Xu Xu was about to open her mouth, Ji Bai pulled the te towards himself and said with a cocky smile, ¡°Do you think that she grilled it for you guys?¡±


    Everyone burst intoughter and Xu Xu instantly felt her face burning up. Ji Bai picked up his chopsticks and began to eat the te of food all by himself. Then, he secretly reached under the table and held her hand.


    Later on, a leader summoned Ji Bai for a talk, after which he did not return for quite some time. Thus, Man Man brought Xu Xu over to her table. Xu Xu sat there for a while and listened to the girls talk about cosmetics as well as gossip. Unsurprisingly, it was way too boring for her, so after a while, she took a ss of water, got up, and went to walk around the garden.


    There was a glossy flowing pond a short distance away which Xu Xu leisurely walked over to. She met several young girls chatting by the pond under the lights. In the middle of them all was Yao Meng, smiling and wearing a long red dress.


    Yao Meng stood under the rain for a long time on the night that she was rejected by Ji Bai. She caught a cold on the day she returned to Lin City. Perhaps because she was physically and mentally exhausted, she had been feeling very weary. She took a few days of sick leave and only went back to work the following Monday to attend Zhao Han¡¯s engagement party.


    A few girls saw Xu Xu standing not too far away from them and one of the girls from the election service asked Yao Meng softly, ¡°I heard that Xu Xu is in a rtionship with Ji Bai? Is it true? I can¡¯t tell.¡±


    Yao Meng took a nce at Xu Xu¡¯s dress and her heart skipped a beat. She was a little stunned but she kept smiling as she answered, ¡°I¡¯m not too sure.¡±


    The girls left after chatting with Xu Xu for a bit. Even though Yao Meng had taken sick leave, the people in the criminal police unit did not pay it too much mind. However, now that Xu Xu was looking at Yao Meng¡¯s slightly pale face, she was concerned. ¡°Have you recovered from your cold?¡±


    Yao Meng did not want to talk to her, so she stared at the pool of water next to her and nodded enthusiastically. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±


    Xu Xu was startled. Yao Meng¡¯s smile was very faint, and although she shed it, Xu Xu understood all the hidden emotions hidden within. There was a little sadness, a little self-deprecation, irony, and detest.


    Neither of them spoke as Yao Meng turned around and left without looking at her.


    After standing still for a while, Xu Xu¡¯s phone rang and opened her phone to see that it was a text message from Ji Bai. ¡°Let¡¯s go back.¡±


    Xu Xu replied, ¡°Okay.¡±


    Ji Bai was in a good mood as the car drove through the quiet night. From time to time, he would nce at the woman beside him with a slight smile on his face.


    After a while, Xu Xu abruptly asked, ¡°Did you reject Yao Meng?¡±


    Ji Bai had his hand on the steering wheel as he answered briefly. ¡°Yeah.¡±


    After this, Xu Xu did not say anything else.


    When he arrived at the Xu Xu¡¯s house, there was no one around. Xu Xu smiled, turned her head to look at Ji Bai and calmly waited for a parting kiss.


    Ji Baiughed. He rested one of his arms on the back of her seat, held her face with the other, and leaned forward to kiss her.


    This kiss was as calm and sweet as usual. However, when Ji Bai averted his gaze, his eyes fell upon her fair, slender shoulders as well as her soft and beautiful back. Throughout the entire night, he had been teased by the lively scene in front of him such that now he suddenly found it even more difficult to restrain himself.


    His kisses slowly moved from her cheek to her neck as he whispered, ¡°Xu Xu, sit on me.¡±


    Xu Xu jerked her neck backward slightly to temporarily avoid his warm kisses.


    In all other aspects, Xu Xu was ¡°a person of great wisdom who only seemed slow-witted¡±, but when it came to rtionships between men and women, she was extremely simple-minded.


    Each time she hugged or kissed Ji Bai, her heartbeat would elerate and her face would feel warm. After this, it would take her all to keep herself calm and steady. Moreover, the level of intimacy over these past few days might not have been enough for Ji Bai, but she was very satisfied and content with it.


    Nheless, the request made by Ji Bai was clearly an erotic one. This meant he wanted the level of physical contact between them to go beyond the kissing stage. Thus, it naturally made her nervous, which caused her to hesitate.


    Ji Bai saw the nervous and embarrassed expression on her face, but he still continued to trap her between his body and the seat. He stared at her with yful eyes without making a sound. After a while, even though her face was bright red, there was a determined look in her eyes. ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡±


    Xu Xu sat on hisp inside the narrow car with both of her hands around his neck. As she sat there, she raised her head upwards slightly to wee his kisses. Ji Bai felt her soft body leaning against him and became fascinated such that his consciousness started wavering. This made him kiss her even more forcefully and passionately. He could not help but move his big hands along her smooth curves toward her chest.


    Right after he had gently touched her soft chest, he felt Xu Xu¡¯s body stiffening up and she suddenly reached out to push his hands away. ¡°Don¡¯t go overboard.¡±


    Ji Bai could not help butugh, then he tightened his grip around her waist slightly and continued to hold her in his arms. He kissed her lips from her neck all the way to her shoulders as Xu Xu¡¯s body grew hotter and hotter. She closed her eyes and her eyshes trembled slightly. After kissing her for a while, Ji Bai subtly moved his hand to her chest once again.


    When Xu Xu got off the car, her long skirt was a mess and her face was red. Ji Bai¡¯s face was also a little red as he walked her towards the front door of the building with a barely suppressed smile on his face.


    After taking a few steps, Ji Bai raised his head and saw a ck BMW ten meters away.


    Xu Xu saw it too and she remained silent.


    Ji Bai stared at her and asked in a low voice, ¡°Do you want me to apany you?¡±


    Xu Xu shook her head. ¡°No, you should go ahead first.¡±


    Ji Bai nodded, loosened his grip around her, then went back to the car. Instead of starting the car, he reached into his pocket to get a cigarette but instead grabbed a box of chewing gum that Xu Xu had given him. He smirked, then put a piece in his mouth and quietly watched from inside the car.


    A few momentster, the rear door of the BMW opened and Ye Zixiao stepped out.


    Xu Xu saw Ye Zixiao and she smiled lightly, waiting for him to speak.


    Ye Zixiao lowered his head to look at her.


    When he saw Xu Xu dressed up so femininely, Ye Zixiao became happy for her while also feeling a little sad. Even so, these feelings were only for a fleeting moment, thus he still sounded gentle and calm when he spoke.


    ¡°How have you been recently?¡±


    Xu Xu replied politely, ¡°Fine. What about you?¡±


    Ye Zixiao shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m doing good too.¡± As good as he could be.


    After a moment of silence, Ye Zixiao smiled and said, ¡°Has there been any cross-border police activity between China and Myanmar recently?¡±


    Xu Xu remained silent. Recently, she had heard that the Public Security Bureau had ns to contact Myanmar to cross the border and go after members of Brother Lu¡¯s criminal group, but obviously, she could not reveal anything to Ye Zixiao.


    Ye Zixiao continued, ¡°I have recently contacted a friend in Southeast Asia. He¡¯s a patriotic businessman with a background in gangsterism, and he has some friends in Myanmar. He heard some clues about the case but was not able toe forward, so he asked me to give some advice to the police units involved.


    ¡°If you enter Myanmar, be wary of the gold python.¡± These were the words offered to Xu Xu by Ye Zixiao.


    The gold python was one of the species of giant pythons in Myanmar. It wasrge in size, ferocious and powerful, with a beautiful pattern on its scales.


    From the way he said it, Xu Xu believed that although the target ¡°gold python¡± was mentioned, it was just a warning. It was not a clear giveaway, so she suspected that it was credible.


    Gold python might be the code name for a person or a certain force. However, the information shared between China and Myanmar was inessible, so Xu Xu found nothing when she searched the police unit database.


    Ji Bai reported this information to his superiors and the China-Myanmar border police office soon came back with a statement saying that they did not know what it stood for.


    On Monday afternoon, the breeze was gentle and the sun was warm as Xu Xu went through her files at her desk.


    Suddenly, she got a call saying the station chief had summoned her.


    The look on the station chief¡¯s face was solemn and serious as he handed a document to Xu Xu. When she looked through it, she saw that it was in fact instructions from the Public Security Bureau about the establishment of a cross-border task force against the China-Myanmar criminal group.


    ¡°Brother Lu, formerly known as Zhao Xiaolu, hails from Northeast China.¡± The station chief said solemnly. ¡°ording to thetest clues, she not only controlled arge number of domestic human trafficking groups. She also repeatedly sold Burmese women to the Guangdong coast as prostitutes. Moreover, her criminal group is also involved in the transportation of drugs and firearms through the border. We must absolutely stop this cancer in our society.¡±


    Xu Xu had already guessed the reason why the station chief had summoned her, and she was a little surprised to say the least. ¡°Am I going?¡±


    The station chief nodded. ¡°Originally, you were not supposed to go, but because previously you and Yao Meng were responsible for taking care of the victims, the two of you were the only ones who came into close contact with Brother Lu. Therefore, the Public Security Bureau asked for one of you to go.¡± He frowned and continued, ¡°Yao Meng has been on sick leave and I have talked to her. She stated that her physical condition would not allow her to do cross-border work and, in addition to that, she had also made a mistake thest time around. After thinking about it thoroughly, you are the obvious choice. Moreover, you have an advantage because Brother Lu is a female, so it might be easier for a female police officer to deal with the case. Also, after arresting her, you will like rescue even more victims, and since you¡¯re a psychologist, you will be able tofort the victims better.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded to indicate that she understood.


    The station chief saw the indifferent look on her face and smiled. ¡°So tell me, do you dare to go abroad and hunt down a criminal?¡±


    Xu Xu remained emotionless and replied, ¡°Yes.¡±


    The station chiefughed. ¡°Good! You can rest easy because I have contacted the head of the task force. I told them that you¡¯re a trainee police officer and also a girl, so they will not arrange for any front-line work for you. You just need to tag along to take care of some reports and handle some support work from the rear. However, you¡¯re the only one who¡¯ll be going from our unit, so after you arrive, you will be representing the entire Lin City police station. Do you have confidence in sessfullypleting the task?¡±


    Xu Xu nodded. ¡°I guarantee that I willplete the task.¡±


    After this, Xu Xu left the station chief¡¯s office. As she walked to the front door of the criminal police unit, she saw Ji Bai and the deputy station chief walking out. The two of them were holding a document and they seemed to be talking about something serious.


    When Xu Xu passed by Ji Bai, he did not look sideways, but a smile quickly shed through his eyes.


    Xu Xu spotted this and felt a tinge of joy in her heart, but only after she entered the office and sat down did she remember that she was going to Myanmar.


    She would let him know in the evening.


    The criminal police unit had their regr meeting before they got off work.


    Everyone reported their work while Ji Bai sat at the head seat with a serious look on his face. From time to time, he would ask questions in a low voice and voice out his opinions.


    At this time, they heard the sound of footsteps outside the door. The deputy station chief who was in charge of the criminal investigation walked in along with the station chief.


    Everyone stood up and greeted them as the station chief waved at them with a smile. ¡°Sit down. I just thought that I would have to announce this news in person.¡± He looked at Xu Xu whilst beaming with pride and said, ¡°The station has decided to send Xu Xu to join the China-Myanmar Joint Strike Team to curb criminal activity. This came as a result of people having faith in the criminal police unit and also the trust that the Public Security Department have in our station.¡±


    As he spoke, Zhao Han passed around some documents that the deputy station chief had been carrying to everyone. They looked at it and saw that Xu Xu¡¯s name was printed on the bottom of the page.


    Everyone was a little surprised at first, then they all grinned. They apuded Xu Xu and offered her words of encouragement, but while Old Wu and Da Hu smiled, they also looked towards Ji Bai.


    Xu Xu immediately stood up and indicated that she would try her best to live up to everyone¡¯s expectations. In the midst of the lively atmosphere, she nervously looked at Ji Bai.


    Ji Bai had a gentle smile on his face, but his piercing eyes were staring at her quietly such that she could not tell what he was thinking.


    After the station chief left the criminal investigation unit and returned to his office, Ji Bai knocked on his door.


    ¡°Station chief, why am I not in the action group?¡±


    The station chief muttered incoherently to himself.


    This was an order given by the higher ups, so he did not consult Ji Bai¡¯s opinion and directly issued an order to the criminal police unit and Xu Xu herself. It was only after Ji Bai hade looking him did he recall that the two of them were in a rtionship.


    The station chief had always been scrupulous in separating public from private interests. Thus, he would not consider all these insignificant factors while making a decision ¨C as such, there were plenty of other reasons why he did not include Ji Bai in the group.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to overthink it. Your criminal investigation ability is no doubt outstanding and while the task force was discussing suitable candidates, you were one of the names mentioned.¡± The station chief suddenly changed the topic. ¡°When you first joined the criminal police unit, I promised your family that although there are risks that could not be avoided, I would not send you anywhere where your life would be in unnecessary danger. You also agreed to this promise. So, even though this trip to Myanmar will be assisted by the Myanmar police force and will not be very dangerous, it is still a chaotic ce, so I don¡¯t think your family will agree to you going there.¡±


    Ji Bai did not say anything.


    The reason why he went to the station chief was not just because of Xu Xu. Just as the station chief had said, his criminal investigation ability was one of the best in the country, which is why he should be participating in this operation. Moreover, he was responsible in the operation that allowed Brother Lu to escape. So, just like any other responsible criminal police officer, Ji Bai would have liked to arrest her with his own hands.


    Nevertheless, the station chief¡¯s decision was firm. Moreover, this news had most probably already spread to Beijing, so it would be difficult to overturn.


    That evening, Ji Bai sent Xu Xu back to her house. After getting out, Xu Xu smiled and waved at him. ¡°Goodbye.¡±


    As she was about to turn around, Ji Bai suddenly pulled her hand, looked upstairs, and smiled. ¡°I haven¡¯t been to your house yet and I would like to have a look.¡±


    It was clear that Ji Bai was not just there to look around. Although his girlfriend¡¯s house was indeed veryfy and clean, after taking a brief walk around her house, he sat down on the sofa with her.


    Then, he sat her on hisp and started kissing her.


    Ji Bai did not worry too much about the Myanmar case since it was normal for a criminal police officer to travel abroad for a case. Furthermore, Xu Xu would be there for logistic and paperwork, so she wouldn¡¯t be in any real danger. Both of them were people who put work first and they were also very open-minded, so there were no reluctant goodbyes.


    Even so, Ji Bai was quite unwilling to let go of her as he kissed her, especially after seeing her blushing face and smelling the sweet scent of her body. After a while, he whispered in her ear. ¡°Do you want me to go to Myanmar with you?¡±


    Xu Xu shook her head and answered frankly, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter.¡±


    He had expected this answer based on her personality and also due to the fact that it made sense considering the current situation. Even if he had gone along, he would probably not have time to take care of her. However, he was still a little disappointed by the fact that she was not hesitant at all.


    After hearing her reply, he tightened his hands around her, pulled her in close, and pressed his lips harder into hers. Then, he lifted up her shirt and slowly moved his hands underneath. Xu Xu tried to reach out to stop him but Ji Bai had both of his hands cupped firmly around her soft breasts... Slowly, she started getting a little breathless as her petite body shivered slightly in his arms. Ji Bai noticed this and increased the intensity of his kisses, traveling along her delicate neck inch by inch...


    Suddenly, he heard a soft ¡°click¡± sounde from the door.


    Criminal police officers were extremely sensitive to sound, so Ji Bai quickly pulled his head away from Xu Xu¡¯s neck and the two of them looked at each other.


    ¡°My brother!¡± Xu Xu quickly pushed Ji Bai away, sat up straight and hurriedly did her best to tidy up her clothes. Meanwhile, Ji Bai calmly ced his arm around her shoulders and looked towards the door expectantly.


    When Xu Juan entered the house, he saw his sister sitting dangerously close to a man on the sofa. The tall man had a calm look and traces of a smile on his face whilst his sister seemed flustered. However... her face was bright red and her clothes were messed up! Did she also forget about how sensitive her skin was? The hickeys on her neck stuck out like a sore thumb.


    Ji Bai had met Xu Juan in the past, so he quickly got up and greeted him. Then, the three of them sat down together on the sofa.


    Xu Juan nodded politely at Ji Bai. ¡°Captain Ji, thank you for taking care of my sister.¡±


    Ji Bai looked at Xu Xu and answered gently, ¡°You¡¯re being too modest. I¡¯m supposed to take care of her, be it at work or privately.¡±


    Xu Juan smiled and did not ask anymore. He turned to look at the clock on the wall and then looked at Xu Xu once again. ¡°Didn¡¯t you have something to talk about?¡±


    He was hinting at Ji Bai to leave as Xu Juan was a person who liked to beat around the bush. How long had it been since Xu Xu and Ji Bai were together? Did this man think that he was at the stage where he could meet her family? Although today was just a coincidence, as her elder brother, he still had to put some pressure on his future brother-inw.


    Xu Xu looked at the clock and saw that it was already 10.00pm, so she piped up. ¡°Third brother, it¡¯ste, I will send you down.¡±


    Ji Bai nodded and picked up his outerwear, but he did not get up. Instead, he looked at Xu Juan calmly and said, ¡°This may sound a little abrupt, but because you¡¯re Xu Xu¡¯s brother, whom she has always respected, I want to make it clear so you can rest easy ¨C I take my rtionship with Xu Xu very seriously and I have ns to marry her in the future. I know that she is very simple-minded, but I will still try my best to take care of her in the future.¡± After this, he stood up. ¡°Okay, it¡¯ste now, so I will be leaving.¡±


    After Ji Bai left, Xu Juan looked at Xu Xu in confusion. ¡°Third brother? Then what brother am I?¡±


    Xu Xu was feeling happy because of what Ji Bai had said, so she smiled and did not reply.


    After Xu Juan took a shower, he came out to see Xu Xu standing in front of the sofa taking the keys from his trouser pocket.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Xu Juan frowned.


    Xu Xu ignored him and put the keys into her own pocket.


    Xu Juan saw this and became a little angry. ¡°Girls always forget about their family the second they get into a rtionship!¡±


    Xu Xu rolled her eyes and answered calmly, ¡°What if we¡¯re having sex the next time you walk in? Have you no shame?¡±


    Xu Juan¡¯s heart nearly jumped out of his mouth.


    After a while, Xu Xu made him a bowl of noodles for supper with two eggs in it. Xu Juan only started to calm down after eating, and before long, he was feeling quitefortable. Then, he saw his sister texting someone on the sofa with a wide smile on her face and his heart instantly softened. He walked over to caress her head.


    He was not willing to let anyone touch his baby little sister whom he had taken care of for so many years, but she would soon be another man¡¯s woman.


    ¡®I hope that you will be happy and that this man does not cause you any grief. Hopefully, everything will go well for you.¡¯ Xu Juan thought to himself.


    The next day.


    Xu Xu was due to leave tomorrow so she did not need to go to the police station today. In the morning, she went to the provincial department to attend a conference and then she went back home to pack her luggage in the afternoon.


    In the evening, Ji Bai came over, but Xu Xu wanted to pack her luggage, so she asked him to watch the TV by himself in the living room.


    The sky was gradually getting dark and the sound of the news acted as background noise to help set the mood. Themps and candles from the streets below continued to give off their warmth to the chilly night sky as the two of them went about their own business. Ji Bai sat there for a while, then he looked sideways and saw Xu Xu packing clothes into her luggage bag while sitting on her bed. The cable of a long white pair of earphones was hanging messily around her neck and she was humming to a song softly with a calm look on her face.


    This girl seemedpletely unbothered by the fact that she was leaving tomorrow afternoon.


    As if she had noticed his gaze, Xu Xu suddenly turned her head. Then, she stood up and walked towards him.


    Ji Bai was leaning against the sofafortably as she approached him until she eventually stood between his legs. However, she refused to sit down. Instead, she took her mobile phone out from her pocket and pointed it at him. The camera shed several times in a row and then she put it away again. ¡°I¡¯m taking a few pictures so that I can look at them while I¡¯m there.¡±


    The feeling of helplessness and gloominess in Ji Bai¡¯s heart immediately disappeared as she quietly sat on hisp and lowered her head to look at the photos she had just taken.


    Since she was at home, she wore a loose and simple t-shirt. The in white t-shirt made her seem very frail whilst her arms, which were slender and fair. They seemed soft and fragile when he held it in his tanned palms. Ji Bai lowered his head and kissed her arm lightly. Then, he lifted his head and looked at her with his deep, ck eyes. ¡°Do you want to stay over at my house?¡±


    Xu Xu¡¯s entire body seemed to stiffen up as she slowly turned her head to look at him. ¡°Do you think I should?¡± She jumped off hisp immediately after saying this. She had a straight face but her cheeks were very red.


    Ji Bai quickly stretched out his arms and pulled her back into his embrace. ¡°What else are you going to do? My self-control is not that weak, apany your third brother for one night, okay?¡±


    Ji Bai¡¯s house was not too far away from the police station. It was a quiet and open housing estate with arge garden in the middle and only a few residential buildings around. He lived in a spacious two-bedroom apartment whilst the decor of his house reflected the style of a man who lived alone: The entire apartment was monotonous and consisted of ck, gray and white tones. It was simple, cold, neat, and perfectly clean ¨C even the kitchen counter was sparkling new, without any traces of foodstuff.


    Xu Xu brought her luggage there and reported directly to the Provincial Department Task Force the following morning.


    Nheless, going to his house was the right decision. Xu Xu saw his collection of exquisite and well-made gun models as well as the photos that he had taken during the first few years after he joined the police station. Most of them were photos of him receiving awards or of he and his friends during conferences. Xu Xu quickly noticed that Ji Bai had short cropped hair whilst in his early twenties, coupled with his face which was as handsome as it has ever been. However, there was also an obvious arrogance in his eyes. Apparently, his skin had also gotten a lot tanner and was now filled with scars and calluses too.


    Later on, the two of them watched a movie on the sofa together as the sun began to set on their part of the world. The night gradually grew darker and before long, Xu Xu yawned. Ji Bai nced at her briefly, then loosened the hand around her shoulder and got up. ¡°Go to sleep if you¡¯re sleepy. There are clean sheets and nkets in the cupboard. I¡¯ll go take a shower.¡±


    Xu Xu watched as he entered the bathroom, and soon, the sound of rushing water was heard. She turned around and looked at the two rooms: a study room and a bedroom with a double bed.


    Xu Xu took the nket and pillows on the bed and ced it neatly on the sofa in the living room. Then, she took out the new sheets and nket from the cupboard andid down on the bed.


    The bedroom had arge floor-to-ceiling window and dark grey curtains. The starlight shined through the ss window which made the room seemed empty and quiet under the dark sky. She buried her head in the pillow and smiled when she realized that his bed was very clean without any odd scents.


    She liked it.


    Xu Xu heard the sound of the bathroom door opening and she quickly stood up after jumping out of bed. The sound of footsteps got closer and secondster, Ji Bai appeared at the bedroom door.


    The lights in the bedroom were off and he blocked out most of the lights from the hallway just by standing there. He wore a pair of boxer pants and a gray t-shirt which was a size too small such that the muscle on his shoulders and back could vaguely be seen. He seemed tall and slender, but also tense. His boxer pants reached above his knees and revealed his lean, but strong-looking tights. His hair was still wet and stuck to his forehead as his eyes shimmered slightly from the water.


    Xu Xu¡¯s face suddenly became a little warm and she looked at him intently.


    Then, she saw him walk back into the living room with an indifferent look on his face. He took his pillow into the room and threw it on the bed along with hers. Then, he raised his head and looked at her. ¡°Let¡¯s sleep.¡±


    Xu Xu was a bit surprised. ¡°You... are not sleeping on the sofa?¡±


    Ji Bai sat down on the bed and smiled at her. ¡°I won¡¯t do anything. Let¡¯s sleep.¡±


    Xu Xu took his word for it and cautiously climbed onto the bed. Right after sheid down next to him, he reached out his long arm and pulled her in close, peppering her with kisses in the process.


    Despite this, they were on a bed together, so Xu Xu¡¯s entire body was very tense. After a while, Ji Bai moved his lips away, but he continued to hold her in his arms. His handsome face was very close to hers and his dark eyes twinkled like stars as he kissed her onest time. ¡°Goodnight.¡±


    Xu Xu wore a loose house t-shirt and trousers. However, he was wearing quite little, so she felt very ufortable when his skin touched hers. Thus, she quickly spoke up. ¡°It¡¯s notfortable to sleep like this, let go.¡±


    Ji Baipromised and withdrew his arm which was originally under her head. Nevertheless, he still wrapped one of his hand around her waist and chuckled. ¡°You¡¯ll get used to it.¡±


    The night was quiet and only the sound of rustling leaves from the trees in the housing estate could be heard. The two of them closed their eyes and hugged each other in silence. Since Xu Xu¡¯s mental state was very strong, so she calmed down very quickly, moreover, she actually felt rtivelyfortable in his arms. Over time she got sleepier... Suddenly, Ji Bai lowered his head to kiss her and she once again felt something warm on her lips.


    After restraining himself for the entire night, Ji Bai managed to hold it in and fell asleep with her while hugging her from behind.


    Ji Bai was used to waking up early, so he opened his eyes just as the sun was rising. He then turned to look at Xu Xu and struggled to suppress hisughter. Xu Xu was hanging onto him like a little sloth, her hands were on his waist and her legs were wrapped around his legs. She buried her face into his chest and slept soundlessly.


    Was she treating him like a bolster? Even so, Ji Bai could no longer let her continue as his self-control after being provoked the entire night was at its breaking point. He gently pulled her hands as well as legs off him and went to take a cold shower.


    When he got back to the bedroom, she was still asleep. Ji Bai sat down by her side, lifted her soft little hand and kissed her. Then, he raised her head and looked at the morning sky outside the window.


    After a while, he went to the balcony, closed the door behind him, and made a phone call to Beijing. ¡°Minister Xue, it¡¯s me, Little Ji. I¡¯m sorry to disturb you this early... Yes, our station chief f refused me even though I¡¯m willing to voluntarily participate in it... It¡¯s a little rushed and I¡¯m sorry... my grandfather will definitely agree to this but my mom and the rest of them worry excessively...¡±


    Lin City was adjacent to the southwestern border and there were several direct flights to Myanmar every week. Task forces from all over the country were to gather here and take a ne to Myanmar.


    The sun was shining brightly in the afternoon but the lighting in the spacious lounge was mottled. Xu Xu sat in the middle of an empty row of seats and lowered her head to look through the case file. The other members of the task forces were all older than her and they all knew each other well since every single one of them were respected figures in the country¡¯s police industry. When they saw a quiet unknown girl like her, they did not talk to her much after their initial greeting. The men stood aside while they smoked and chatted.


    After a while, the head of the task force, a deputy-director level cadre of the Public Security Bureau gathered everyone.


    The ne soonnded on the runway and the air stewardess stood at the entrance of the departure hall smiled while she waited for them.


    The head quickly gave them a brief talk. ¡°Everyone, we will set foot on the ne soon. We will be leaving the country and will be going into a foreign country to hunt down some wanted criminals. I represent the task force when I make this request: we must do our best to ovee any and all difficulties to nab these crooks.¡±


    Everyone started apuding energetically as the head smiled at them. ¡°There is also some good news. I just received a notice from my superiors that a fresh member will be joining us at the veryst minute. In addition to this, he volunteered himself. I have no doubt that he will prove to be an invaluable asset to our group...¡±


    Xu Xu¡¯s heart began to race when she heard this.


    ¡°He¡¯s none other than the captain of the Criminal Police Unit in Lin City, Ji Bai! I believe that everyone knows him already and he should be arriving soon.¡± Everyone had a joyful look on their face as Xu Xu¡¯s eyes instantly locked onto the entrance of the departure hall. Not long after, a familiar yet tall silhouette strolled through the doors. He was holding two suitcases in his hand and he took his time to walk towards them.


    Ji Bai walked over to everyone and quickly greeted several well-known criminal police captains. Ji Bai shook hand and hugged everyone one by one, then went to greet the head. Someone handed him a cigarette but he smiled and waved his hand to indicate that he had quit the habit. Then, he subtly moved his gaze and looked at Xu Xu.


    Xu Xu stood at the outer regions of the crowd while she observed his calm and handsome face. When she saw his gentle, beaming eyes, she could not help butugh.


    Damn it.


    She would not have apanied him yesterday if she knew that he was going to be traveling with her.

 Chapter 39: Chapter 40

    <h4>Chapter 39: Chapter 40</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    The hot and suffocating sun scorched the endless wilderness as the trees and grass gently swayed in the wind. There seemed to be only two colors between the heavens and the earth, which was the light blue above their heads as well as the lush green under their feet.


    A train approached from behind the distant mountains, its dull roar breaking the silence of the wilderness.


    This was the second day of the task force¡¯s trip to Myanmar.


    After arriving in Yangon, the capital of Myanmar yesterday, the officials from China and Myanmar gathered to meet each other.


    The aim of the Chinese was not only to arrest Brother Lu, but also the entire cross-border criminal group headed by her. Thus, the task force had taken a train today to head to Kachin State, where they suspected Brother Lu¡¯s criminal group was hiding in.


    Kachin State was simr to a province in China due to the fact that the local army there was armed and independent. Therefore, in addition to two police officers, the Burmese authorities had also sent a senior officer to Kachin State to escort them. The senior officer soon arranged for two battalions of soldiers to escort the task force on the roads.


    The train left at noon and was expected to arrive the next morning, and everything went very smoothly on the way there.


    Before long, night fell and only the sound of the train chugging through the fields could be heard. Lights asionally began to sh past them signaling that they had arrived at the countryside of Kachin State.


    The task force consisted of eight men and two women. The other female officer was a 35-year-old woman from the Public Security Bureau named Chen Yalin who was mainly in charge of liaising with the Burmese side.


    The twodies stayed in the same carriage on the train and as soon as the sky turned dark, Chen Yalin cleaned up and went to bed. Xu Xu read a book for a while, then she left the carriage and walked towards the bathroom with a towel as well as a toothbrush in hand.


    The door of the carriage next to hers was open and the lights inside were bright. The sound of the men chatting inside was loud and distinct and Xu Xu craned her neck to look inside as she walked past. She saw Ji Bai sitting on the bottom bunk while facing the door. He raised his head and looked at her when he heard the movement outside, then he continued to chat with the others.


    There was no one else in the bathroom. Right after Xu Xu finished brushing her teeth, she heard the sound of footsteps approaching. She looked in the reflection of the mirror and quickly saw Ji Bai appear with toiletries in hand and a cheeky smile on his face.


    The two of them did not have the chance to be alone and did not get to talk much ever since boarding the ne. After looking at each other for a moment, Xu Xu went back to washing her face. ¡°Third brother, you don¡¯t need anyone to apany you tonight, right?¡±


    Her tone sounded very normal, but the corners of Ji Bai¡¯s lips curled up slightly. He smiled at her then said in a hushed voice, ¡°Xu Xu, I didn¡¯t do anything yesterday.¡±


    Xu Xu was a little embarrassed.


    She could openly talk to her brother about having sex but she was lost for words when it came to him. Everytime Ji Bai said something obscure, it would make her feel ufortable.


    ¡®Brother was right, a woman heart is indeed with her husband.¡¯ She thought to herself.


    ¡°Why did you decide toe?¡± She quickly changed the topic because. She knew that he was initially not supposed toe on the station chief had made the announcement.


    Instead of answering her, Ji Bai closed the bathroom door. He then put down his toiletries, pulled her into his arms and started kissing her aggressively.


    Did she even have to ask? Obviously, he was here to apany her. After all, it¡¯s not like since his appearance in this trip would affect them too much.


    Ji Bai stopped after he had tasted enough of her and let her return to her carriage after awhile.


    The road was bumpy and Xu Xu did not sleep too well. She felt the train suddenly stopping while she was still in a daze, followed by many heavy footsteps outside the window. A few secondster, she also realized that there were people shouting in Burmese all over the ce.


    Xu Xu and Chen Yalin woke up and immediately got out of bed. They lifted up the curtains and saw a car parked on a small tform shining a powerful spotlight on them ¨C it was no doubt a military searchlight. A group of a few dozen soldiers also walked around the tform with guns in their hands.


    All the people from the task force hurriedly got out of their carriage and stood under the shaded tform as they carefully watched the movements of the militia. Xu Xu and Ji Bai likewise briefly caught sight of each other and exchanged nces without saying anything.


    More soldiers gathered outside and they soon surrounded the train. It was as if the entire area was being warded off.


    A few minutester, the Burmese officials rushed over to them and quickly cleared up the situation.


    It turns out, the Kachin State was under the unified jurisdiction of the independent army¡¯smander. However, the lower ranks of the army were a maelstrom of good and bad officers, which often led to conflicts among them. Coincidently, there was a conflict in the town ahead of them which was looking quite dangerous right now.


    The Kachin State officer apanying the task force was a man named Ti Sa. He was a handsome 27-year-old man with dark skin and after acting as a trantor, he managed to appease everyone. ¡°Please rest easy everyone. We have the g of themander-in-chief on our train, so they would not dare do anything offensive. The reason why they surrounded our train is because they do not want us to interfere with the fight ahead. You all can go back to sleep.¡±


    Even though he said this, the other two Myanmar officials looked very tense which made the task force team feel uneasy. Chen Yalin frowned and said in Burmese, ¡°I¡¯ll follow along to have a look at the situation.¡± And old criminal policeman heard this and piped up. ¡°I¡¯ll apany you.¡±


    Chen Yalin nodded, then turned around and said to Xu Xu, ¡°You stay in the carriage and lock the door.¡± After saying this, the two of them followed the Myanmar officials together with Ti Sa towards the front of the train.


    Xu Xu was not nervous because she had gone through the Myanmar files beforeing where it had stated that themander-in-chief of Kachin was very reputable. Moreover, there was no Burmese soldier that dared make a move on the China officials. After all, who would want to provoke a neighboring superpower? Since there was no point in being nervous, she would not waste her energy meaninglessly.


    She turned around, went into the carriage and locked the door. Then, sheid on the bed and ced the baton that she always carried around next to her as a precaution.


    Ji Bai saw her walking into her carriage and soon returned to his own carriage with the others.


    The car on the tform hade to aplete halt but the light outside the window was still very bright. The men initially tried looking out the window but they could not tell what was happening. After a while, someone suggested that officers e from each carriage take shifts to keep watch so that everyone could take turns to sleep. Everyone agreed to this because the most important thing right now was to maintain their physical strength in case anything were to happen.


    At this moment, someone suddenlymented, ¡°Xu Xu¡¯s alone next door.¡±


    Ji Bai stood up. ¡°I will go.¡±


    Ji Bai walked to the door of Xu Xu¡¯s carriage, pressed his ears closer to the door and heard that it was quiet inside. Heughed to himself when he realized this. ¡®She fell asleep already?¡¯ This girl was always so calm that sometimes it really made him feel like he was a useless boyfriend.


    In truth, Xu Xu was not fast asleep, she slept lightly and would get up to observe the situation outside the train from time to time.


    However, Ji Bai did not want to disturb her. He lit up a cigarette and leaned against the door of her carriage whilst looking at the dark sky and the moving shadows outside the window.


    After a few hours, he heard some scattered gunshots cut through the dead of the night before a red re went flying high into the sky. The carriage behind Ji Bai remained silent and his mood seemed to be calmer too. He handed a packet of cigarettes to the young-looking soldier on the tform outside the train and the soldier grinned. He made some hand gestures that Ji Bai could vaguely understand and so he grinned back at the young man. The soldier had asked him not to worry as the army troops would retreat by the daylight.


    On the next day, the sun was up already and the train had already started moving by the time Xu Xu woke up. Meanwhile, Chen Yalin had returned and was now sleeping on the bed opposite hers. It seemed like the crisis had passed.


    Xu Xu got out of bed to freshen up. When she passed by Ji Bai¡¯s carriage, she subconsciously raised her head and saw Ji Bai eating instant noodle by the bedside with a colleague. When he saw her, he smiled lightly.


    The train soon arrived at its destination, Muba Town.


    Brother Lu had appeared in Muba Town before, but the reason why the task force hade here first was a littleplicated.


    Because they were in a foreign country, the China police officers did not have the power to enforce thew. All they could do was follow the orders from the Myanmar side as ¡°observers¡±, and were also not actually allowed to hold guns. Furthermore, the attitude of the Myanmar side was a bit confrontational. They stated that most of the criminals were Chinese and that they did not have any evidence that could incarcerate these people. Therefore, they were only willing to cooperate with the arrest if they encountered incriminating pieces of evidence.


    Therefore, at this stage, the task force¡¯s most important job was to collect evidence and submit it to the Myanmar side. Only then would the Myanmar side go ahead and carry out the arrest operation.


    The main crime of the infamous Brother Lu criminal group in China was human trafficking. ording to the information provided by the Guangdong Police Department, they had abducted and trafficked arge number of Myanmar women from the Muba Town area. Therefore, the task force hoped to visit the victims¡¯ families to obtain solid pieces of evidence. This would also give the Myanmar side greater motivation due to the fact that they would know that the victims were all from Myanmar.


    There was still a two-hour drive from the train station to the town so Ti Sa arranged for a military truck to fetch everyone there while the soldiers marched on foot. The mountain road was muddy and bumpy and everyone sat in the dark carriage behind the truck without saying anything. Some of them even closed their eyes and took a nap.


    Ji Bai sat next to Xu Xu and reached out his hand to massage his temples. Xu Xu saw this and whispered, ¡°You didn¡¯t sleep well yesterday?¡±


    Ji Bai looked at her and asked his own question. ¡°Did you?¡±


    ¡°Mhmm.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± He nodded before suddenly leaning against the wall, then, he closed his eyes and stopped talking. After a while, he moved slightly and leaned on Xu Xu¡¯s shoulder. Xu Xu raised her head and saw that no one was looking. Therefore, she adjusted her position and sat up straighter so that he could lean on her morefortably.


    Ji Bai felt this and the corners of his lips curled up into a sly smile as he thought to himself, ¡®You may not know it, but I apanied youst night, my wife.¡±


    Muba Town was located next to a river. There were severalrge ships anchored to its banks as well as plenty of small wooden shacks. The vigers gathered near the banks, some of them were by themselves but most of them went about their day in groups. When the group disembarked, they were immediately greeted by a faint fishy scent as well as the sweet aroma of sugarcane in the hot air.


    ording to the information provided by the task force, at least 20 young women from this vige had trafficked over the Chinese border. The batch of rescued Burmese women from the earlier incident still had to go through some official procedures, thus, everyone from the task force made sure to remain tight-lipped as they went to pay a few visits to the victims¡¯ families.


    Not long after, they found something.


    Some of the families were reluctant to say anything. They simply imed that their daughter had gone overseas to work and that they did not know anything so they refused to continue talking. Even so, there was a family of four who immediately started sobbing after they were passed photos of their daughter alive and well in China. After this, they revealed the truth. Two young men from the town had introduced their daughter to a job some time back, and their daughter had not returned since.


    The task force was pleased ¨C they had found their witnesses as well as evidence. It did not take very long so It was almost as if God was helping them too. Soon, Ti Sa followed the clues provided by the vigers and led a group of soldiers to raid a restaurant by the riverside. They sessfully captured the two human traffickers and two Chinese officials. After this, one of the vigers quickly confirmed that the two men and two Chinese nationals had indeed appeared in the vige some time back after which they had taken the Burmese women directly to China.


    Ti Sa¡¯s people were not as civilized as the China police officers. They grabbed the four of them and forced them to kneel in front of the restaurant. They only sent them back to the task force after beating them up. Everyone in the task force was very excited about this new finding. The leader of the task force was a Deputy level cadre called Sun Pu and he happily said to everyone, ¡°We are off to a good start on the first day. We must maintain this momentum and bring down the Brother Lu criminal group.¡±


    Since it was already in the evening, the task force decided to stay a night in Muba Town before continuing their visits to the surrounding viges the next morning. At the same time, they interrogated the criminals overnight to obtain more clues about the criminal group.


    Soon, darkness fell and the vige became quiet. Only the sound of Ti Sa¡¯s soldiers talking and drinking could be heard as they sat in the open space in front of the cottage.


    In the narrow and crude farmhouse, the dim lights barely illuminated the extremely tense look on the criminals¡¯ faces. Ji Bai and several other senior criminal police officers went through the motions and interrogated them separately. However, they were all extremely stubborn and did not say anything.


    Unfortunately for them, those in the task force were all veterans who had been in the field for a long time, so they patiently interrogated them and broke them down bit by bit.


    At three o¡¯clock in the morning, the soldiers outside the cottage wereying on the ground and sleeping on the soft grassynd. The only movements were when someone would asionally reach out to p away the mosquitoes on their faces whilst cursing softly in Burmese.


    Meanwhile, Ji Bai and Chen Yalin interrogated one of the Chinese young men. Even though he had not revealed anything so far, he was quickly running out of energy. His chubby face trembled slightly and ayer of sweat formed on his forehead. Ji Bai and Chen Yalin both understood that it was almost time and looked at each other.


    They watched as he slowly prepared to surrender when suddenly, they were interrupted by a round of loud, messy footsteps outside the house. Both of their heart sunk and they raised their heads cautiously.


    The door was being pushed open with a loud bang as one of the toon leaders under Ti Sa stormed in. He quickly barked out a long sentence in Burmese with a furious look on his face.


    Ji Bai stared at him as the look on Chen Yalin face changed. ¡°Ji Bai, he said that several vigers who provided us clues yesterday were all beaten. They are all kneeling outside now because they want to look for us to change their testimony.¡±


    The sky was dark as a dense fog hugged thend. The soldiers outside had already awakened by the time Ji Bai and the others rushed out of the house and were now surrounding the ten vigers who were kneeling in the middle of the open space.


    The vigers who were looking very normal and content during the day now were now covered in bruises and torn clothing. Some of their heads were bleeding with nothing but a cloth wrapped around it whilst others had swollen eyes and jaws.


    Everyone was frightened and they cried out in Burmese. Their voices were the only ones speaking as the personnel from the Chinese and Burmese side remained silent.


    Chen Yalin and the Burmese officials tried their best to calm them for a long time before they finally learned what had happened.


    Firstly, five to six gangsters had gone to their houses at night and threatened them after beating them up. They were told that if they continue to testify against them, then they would be killed after the task force and soldiers leave. Furthermore, even if their daughters were rescued and returned home, they would make sure to recapture them and sell them in Southeast Asia as prostitutes, which was an even worse off situation than the state they were currently in.


    Secondly, the group of people told them to pass a message to the task force, ¡°Chinese people do not fight Chinese people. The public order in Myanmar is questionable. As such, if you continue your investigation, some ident might inevitably happen to the members of your task force.¡±


    After listening to the message, Sun Pu, the leader of the task cussed loudly. ¡°To hell with the ¡®Chinese people do not fight Chinese people¡¯ crap.¡± The other criminal police officers were also provoked as they muttered all sorts of profanities.


    ¡°These dogs are so cocky.¡±


    ¡°Those bastards.¡±


    The soldiers that Ti Sa sent to go after that group of people soon returned. They said that by the time they had rushed to the entrance of the vige, their car had disappeared and they were long gone.


    Ji Bai thought about it for a while and turned to speak to Sun Pu, ¡°Director Sun, I suggest leaving two people behind tofort the witnesses and at the same time obtain the profiles of the criminals. In addition to this, send the captured criminals back to Yangon first to continue the interrogation. The rest of us will immediately hit the road to chase after and arrest the criminals. Also, please ask Major Tisa to leave behind a group of soldiers to temporarily protect the few witnesses.¡±


    Sun Pu thought about it for a moment and nodded. ¡°We¡¯ll do what you said. Let¡¯s not waste any time and hit the road immediately.¡± He scanned their surroundings and just as he was about to assign tasks, he heard Ji Bai¡¯s hushed voice. ¡°Come along with me, Xu Xu.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Teacher.¡±


    The situation was very urgent and most of Ti Sa¡¯s people stayed behind. The other Burmese officials escorted the prisoners back to Yangon whilst Ti Sa personally followed the task force along with ten other people.


    Originally, Ti Sa doubted the task force because they were chasing after criminals who had left many hours ago. Nevertheless, when he saw how Ji Bai and the others urately determined the direction where the criminal had head to based on the tire marks, footprints and the map, he could not help but admire their investigation ability.


    The truck drove on the mountain road through the rest of the night and, by dawn, Ti Sa had found a few cars for them to use.


    Ji Bai has not taken any rest but he still personally drove a car with Xu Xu and two soldiers sitting behind. After a few hours, he swapped seats with a middle-aged soldier and sat next to Xu Xu.


    Ji Bai held her hand and asked, ¡°What do you think?¡±


    Xu Xu smiled slightly and said, ¡°It¡¯s an opportunity.¡±


    Ji Baiughed when he heard this.


    Xu Xu continued, ¡°This group of people is very arrogant and what they said sounded a little unrealistic. Possibly because Brother Lu¡¯s criminal group took a big hit in China, but they probably recruited new young members, which exins why they are so impulsive and bold. Brother Lu had always been very cautious and we did not know anything about her criminal group in Myanmar. Since this group had given out such a big hint, it is actually giving us the opportunity to track them down.¡±


    Ji Bai nodded back at her. ¡°Director Sun is right, we are off to a good start today.¡±


    The car trudged on.


    After a while, Xu Xu asked softly, ¡°Did you stand guard outside my carriage the entire night yesterday? It¡¯s not necessary.¡±


    Ji Bai did not say anything, so she turned sideways to look at him only to find that Ji Bai was so exhausted that he had fallen asleep while leaning against the seat.

 Chapter 40: Chapter 41

    <h4>Chapter 40: Chapter 41</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    The task force tracked them for two days.


    On the afternoon of the third day, they arrived at Maija City. From what they knew, this was where Brother Lu¡¯s criminal group often roamed about, hence the task force became warier of the people around them.


    Maija City was one of the liveliest cities in Northern Myanmar but was not very different from any rural-suburban town on the fringes of China. Newly constructed buildings stood adjacent to the forest and farnds, and the BMW and Benz cars on highways sat shoulder to shoulder with agricultural tractors.


    In the city center was arge city block packed with a huge number of casinos and nightclubs. Neon lights shed intrusively during the day as the thumping music pounded the ears of the wide variety of people who walked the streets. The task force made their way to a small inconspicuous building behind a casino where they quickly settled down.


    The task force did not carry out the arrest right away, instead, they did as Xu Xu had suggested by preparing a long-term n to catch the bigger fish. Director Sun, the head of the operation, arranged for two criminal police officer officers to keep watch near the casino while the others spread out to look for amodation.


    Owing to the fact that the local gangs were unpredictable, Director Sun asked Ti Sa to look for a hotel far away so as to not to identally alert them. They soon settled on a farmer¡¯s hotel, which was a small building made out of three-ply wood; It was in-looking and quiet, and also had a huge paddy field located in front of the entrance despite it being very near to the highway.


    Director Sun gathered everyone for a brief meeting where he discussed their next moves and delegated jobs, then he waved his hand to dismiss them. ¡°We¡¯ve been worked to the bone over the past few days, go to sleep so we can get started tomorrow morning.¡±


    Ji Bai took a shower after he returned to his room, then he fell asleep. By the time he woke up, the sun was already setting. He rolled out of bed and sent a message to Xu Xu. ¡°Have you eaten yet?¡±


    Her reply came almost immediately. ¡°I just got to the dining hall.¡±


    Ji Bai smiled and replied. ¡°Wait for me, I¡¯lle downstairs now.¡±


    The dining hall was located on the first floor, it was open-aired and there were a few tables set up. When Ji Bai went downstairs, he saw Xu Xu sitting at a white stic table not far away with her back facing him. The corner of his lip curled up slightly, but as he was about to walk over, Chen Yalin and another criminal police officer from the table beside him called out to him, ¡°Ji Bai, sit over here.¡± Before he could protest, he was hauled over and seated down.


    Xu Xu had specifically picked an empty table to wait for him, so when she heard the noise from the others, she turned to take a nce then continued eating with her head lowered.


    Ti Sa had reserved the whole hotel, so ten other soldiers were also sitting or crouching around the corridor outside the building as they carried tes and ate. A few of them even made a fire and grilled some food for themselves.


    A few bites into her meal, Xu Xu suddenly felt a presence opposite of her, and when she looked up, she saw that it was, in fact, a young soldier with tanned skin. He smiled meekly at her, then ced a piece of grilled fish on her te.


    Xu Xu was a bit confused and waved her hand at him. ¡°Uh... No, thank you.¡±


    However, the soldier did not understand her, and so he nodded at her then walked away. When he was a few steps away, he waved his hand at the soldiers in the corridor and pumped his hand inward in a victory gesture; the other soldiers saw this and cheered whilst smiling at Xu Xu.


    If a normaldy was faced with such a situation, she might feel embarrassed and shy, but Xu Xu was not so prone to fluctuating emotions. She lifted her head and looked straight at them, and after a moment of silence, she ced her chopsticks down then put her palms together and nodded at them politely with a smile to express her gratitude.


    The soldiers instantly started smiling even wider than before. After this, Xu Xu went back to eating her meal, and when she tasted the fish she found that it was quite nice and juicy.


    Sometimeter, another soldier walked over to her with arge melon in his hand, which had been plucked by the soldiers from the field beside them. This made Xu Xu feel quite bad, so she stood up and pushed it away to decline his offer, but the soldier forcefully blocked her hand and ced the fruit down. He then put on a smile and strode back to the soldiers as if he had just earned a medal.


    Whilst Ji Bai ate, he watched the soldiers walking back and forth between Xu Xu¡¯s table. An old criminal police officer from Yunnanughed when he saw them. ¡°Boys in Southeast Asia like girls with fair skin. Xu Xu would naturally be very popr over here.¡±


    Chen Yalin nodded with a smile. ¡°In the afternoon a soldier even asked me, ¡®Chief, police officers from China are very good at catching criminals, but why did you bring along a little girl to help solve cases? She looks younger than my sister.''¡±


    Once she said this, the criminal police officers burst outughing.


    Chen Yalin added, ¡°I also heard them secretly saying ¡®rabbit¡¯, which is most likely a nickname they made up for Xu Xu.¡± There was a pained tone in her voice when she said this. ¡°These soldiers were all children from the rural areas and were shoved into a war zone at an exceptionally young age. They were not allowed a normal childhood. As it stands, most of them still have bear a childish innocent, kind nature, and carry no ill intentions.¡±


    The old criminal police officers chuckled as they continued to talk but Ji Bai, on the other hand, listened carefully. Sure enough, amid the soldiers¡¯ Burmese andughter, he heard bits of Mandarin words like ¡°rabbit¡±, ¡°little rabbit¡± and whatnot.


    Right then, the assembly call was sounded and the soldiers all got up and gathered around Ti Sa. Instantly, the corridor became empty as Xu Xu remained at the same spot eating with her head hunched over.


    A whileter, Ji Bai received a message. ¡°Is there anywhere I can throw away food that I can¡¯t finish?¡±


    Ji Bai replied, ¡°Wait for me at the back of the house.¡±


    There was a broad corridor at the back of the house which was paved with golden-brown pieces of wood that squeaked when stepped on. The building faced a small mountain covered with dense undergrowth, which the sunset painted gorgeously. Xu Xu sat there for a short while before Ji Bai appeared from around the corner.


    They used big metal tes for their meal, which the soldiers did not hold back in filling to the brim. There were mountains of fish, beef, sweet potatoes, vegetables, and fruits on her te which she could not possibly finish. Most of it was untouched, but since it was on her te, it would not be nice to give them away.i


    She disliked wasting, and since the locals and soldiers cherished their food a lot, it would not be nice if anyone were to see her throwing them away either. That being said, the hotel had no refrigerator, so she could not pack it away even if she wanted to.


    Ji Bai snuggled up next to her, and as he looked upon looking frowning face, he could not help butugh a little. ¡°I¡¯ll eat it. It won¡¯t be nice to throw their food away.¡±


    Xu Xu was stunned, he looked at him sideways. ¡°You...can still eat?¡±


    Ji Bai nced at the food on her te and smiled faintly. ¡°Yeah.¡± He had stopped adding rice after he received her message just now.


    Xu Xu knew that most of the time, the conditions when dealing with cases were tough, but most of the time, Ji Bai remained very particr about his basic necessities ¨C even more so than her. Although the food on her te had not yet been eaten, she did not expect him to actually eat it; he even did so without batting an eyelid.


    The sun was slowly setting, causing the woods they were in to gradually darken. It was quiet around the hotel and only theughter of the soldiers could asionally be heard.


    Xu Xu looked at Ji Bai who was beside her. Even though he ate quietly, he did so quickly and withrge bites. His appetite was also much bigger than hers, and the food on the te started to disappear quickly. Xu Xu was impressed that he was actually able to stuff so much food into his iron stomach. As the final rays of sunlight shone on them, she noticed his angr side profile glowing a faint golden which made his pitch-ck eyes stand out. His jaw would move in a circr motion as he chewed, disying his powerful jaw in action.


    Xu Xu thought quietly to herself, ¡®So manly, really so manly.¡¯


    Soon enough, Ji Bai was done eating and he passed the empty te back to her. Xu Xu took it and walked a few steps away, then she stopped and turned around. She quickly walked back towards him and nted a soft kiss on his cheek.


    Ji Baiughed and pulled her into his arms and said, ¡°I have some cigarettes given to me by a Burmese official. Take it and distribute it to the soldiers.¡±


    ¡°Do you think it¡¯s necessary?¡±


    Ji Bai looked at her pale, sweet expression as he replied, ¡°Mhmm.¡±


    Courtesy required reciprocation and he decided that he would pay the soldiers back by treating them with sincerity. Besides, if he did this, then they would often look after... his little rabbit.


    Over the following days, Ji Bai and the others almost stayed out the entire day to scout, monitor, and to keep watch, whereas Xu Xu dealt with logistics and stayed in the amodations. Everyone¡¯s effort invaluable as before long, they managed to confirm the location of five of Brother Lu¡¯s main strongholds.


    Maija City was a ¡®border city¡¯ of an underdeveloped country, where the government mostly left them to their own devices; thus, they had relied heavily on illegal activities such as gambling, prostitution, and smuggling to achieve abnormal financial prosperity. Even the local Chinese gangs kept all kinds of criminal tricks up their sleeves such that they would do it as long as it was profitable. If the task force gathered sufficient evidence, then it would be perfectly justifiable for them to take action in Myanmar and capture all these evildoers in one fell swoop.


    However, the process of actually getting said evidence was a little difficult, to say the least.


    Firstly, the task force had secretly visited a few China merchants that were rumored to have been ckmailed and robbed by gangs. What annoyed the officers the most was despite the fact that the merchants all looked panicked and unnatural the second the gangs were mentioned, they refused to say anything, let alone testify.


    As their investigations hit a brick wall, they needed to look for an alternative path.


    On this afternoon, Ji Bai and another criminal police officer disguised themselves as tourists while they kept watch near a Chinaman¡¯s supermarket,


    The sun was zing hot and milky white steam could be seen evaporating from the white cement road. Even though the two of them wore short-sleeved shirt, they wore thick bulletproof vests underneath, thus they werepletely drenched in sweat. Two hours soon passed, and their clothes now looked like they were soaked in water as they clung sloppily to their bodies.


    Finally, a van abruptly turned in from the corner of the street. It stopped fiercely at the entrance of the supermarket and the door was pulled open quickly, whereby seven to eight men armed iron rods jumped out and charged inside viciously. In the blink of an eye, the sound of smashing and screams were heard as both tourists and locals ran out of the supermarket.


    Ji Bai picked up his walkie-talkie and whispered into it softly, ¡°Ti Sa, bring your men in.¡±


    Right after he said this, a few armed Kachin soldiers walked outzily from the alley opposite the road and into the supermarket.


    Sometimeter, the same gangsters dashed out of the building and barreled away in their car.


    Ji Bai and the criminal police officer walked into the supermarket and saw that everything was in a mess; all the shelves werepletely smashed up and the customers had all run away. Meanwhile, a few shop assistants cowered shakily behind the cash registers. A tall and husky man wearing a silk shirt sat on the floor looking very beaten up. His face looked terrible as the supermarket¡¯s revenue for the day and the high-value items like cameras, cell phones, cordyceps and more had all been taken away.


    The shop owner who was injured went by the name Zhou Chengbo. Momentster, he was secretly taken away by Ji Bai and the others into a temporary hotel room.


    The night sky outside the window looked deep and serene as Zhou Chengbo sat heavily on a chair. His wounds had already been treated, but his face remained ghastly and pale. He had always maintained a bold and tough persona, so when the gangsters barged in today, he had fought with one of them in order to stop them from stealing the valuable items.


    Ji Bai pondered for a while then said, ¡°Mister Zhou, these gangsters all have a standard operating procedure. Normally, they would also kidnap you and demand a ransom from your family after the robbery ¨C you¡¯re lucky to have escaped today.¡±


    Zhou Chengbo¡¯s face suddenly changed. He had heard of simr rumors before, apparently, there was once a China merchant in this town who was kidnapped and tortured relentlessly, he was only released after an enormous sum was paid.


    Nevertheless, rumors were just rumors, and since high risk bore high rewards, he was still willing to try to set up his business in Maija City. For the first few months, business was good and he made a sizeable amount of money, but he was unexpectedly targeted today.


    In truth, what had just taken ce here put the task force in a very difficult position; because police officers from China had no actual authority here, and the local police officers abstained from making any arrest, they could only get the Kachin soldiers to step in at the crucial moment to stop the men. The military and gangsters had always been minded their own businesses, but there remained a mutual fear factor between the two which is why they did not apprehend any of the men.


    Ji Bai looked watched his expression then continued saying, ¡°Today, they didn¡¯t seed, but they¡¯ll certainly be back next time. Only if you cooperate with us and help us exterminate this scourge will you be able to continue earning money in the future worry-free.¡±


    Zhou Chengbo fell deep into thought for a short while then suddenly looked up at Ji Bai. ¡°I¡¯m willing to testify. I¡¯ve never suffered such a huge loss in my life, officer ¨C we must capture all of them.¡±


    Not only Zhou Chengbo was willing to testify, he also expressed that he would convince his fellow merchants to expose the crimes of these Chinese gangs. The task force was overjoyed. Sun Ting gave instructions that they continue their investigation in secret to obtain more evidence whilst simultaneously offering protection to Zhou Chengbo¡¯s life and properties, such that he is not harmed by the gangs.


    It was already past 8:00 pm when Ji Bai returned to the hotel after sending Zhou Chengbo back to his residence. The night winds howled softly in the night, but the hot air from the ground made sure that they remained warm and toasty. He looked up at the lights still on in Xu Xu¡¯s room, then smiled and returned to his room.


    These few days, he was out from dawn until dusk, and his clothes had been used so many times that there was now a yellow sweat stain on them. Ji Bai threw his smelly clothes into a basin then hopped into the shower.


    Compared to the others, Xu Xu had a more rxing job as she stayed in the amodations all day. At night, she had nothing much to do, so she often sat on her bed analyzing data. When she heard some familiar footsteps walking down the corridor, she knew that Ji Bai had returned.


    Due to the ming hot weather, everyone kept their windows and doors open before they slept. Xu Xu held a te of fruits in her hand and knocked before entering Ji Bai¡¯s room; she saw him wearing t-shirt and pants as he sat in front of arge basin whilst washing his clothes. In this situation, he looked rather like a normal family man.


    The hotel was simple and crude, such that there was only an old-fashioned washing machine which they never got to use. Xu Xu despised it for being unhygienic, so she would not have used it even if it was avable. Ji Bai felt the same too.


    Xu Xu walked beside him and crouched, whereby Ji Bai looked up and kissed her before continuing with his work. Xu Xu did not move away as she fed him the fruits one by one. Once he was done eating them, she gave him some water and even wiped his mouth for him, then she cleaned her hands and climbed onto the bed to read.


    It was very quiet at night, except for the croaking of frogs in the field, chirping crickets of crickets in the forest, and swishing of water from Ji Bai washing clothes. Xu Xu read her book for a while before she suddenly put it down and looked at the clothes in the basin. ¡°You¡¯re just going to wash them like that?¡±


    Ji Bai was confused. ¡°Is there a problem with the way I wash them?¡±


    To be fair, the way Ji Bai washed his clothes was not bad and actually quite decent for a man. Even so, he was, after all, still a man after all, so it could not be helped that he was doing a casual and shabby job; for someone like Xu Xu who strived for excellence, this was uneptable.


    ¡°Move aside, let me do it.¡± Xu Xu hopped off the bed and walked over.


    Ji Bai blocked her way with his back. ¡°There¡¯s no need to, just stand aside.¡±


    Xu Xu looked at him and tilted her head sideways. ¡°Why?¡±


    Ji Bai looked back at her without answering.


    He thought to himself, ¡®Right... why? Back in the police academy, I was quite envious of other guys whose girlfriends washed their clothes for them. I even thought that I would willingly wear clothes washed by my future girlfriend.¡¯


    But now that he really had a partner, he could not bear to order her about.


    Ji Bai¡¯s smiled with his eyes. ¡°Do you have nothing to do? Go get some anti-mosquito balm and apply some for me.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    The anti-mosquito balm in Xu Xu¡¯s room was used up, so she went downstairs and asked for a bottle of it from the hotel owner. By the time she returned to Ji Bai¡¯s room, the clothes were already hanging on the balcony. Meanwhile, Ji Bai just happened to walk out of the bathroom after his shower as Xu Xu entered, and he was dressed only in some boardshorts.


    It was Xu Xu¡¯s first time seeing his half-naked body and so, she was slightly dazed as she immediately shifted her eyes away.


    Ji Bai almost burst outughing as he walked over and led her over to his bed to sit down. Then, he faced his back towards her. ¡°Apply it.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    He was a little darker than before after being under the sun over the past few days, and the skin around his neck was clearly darker than his back. He had a firm, broad back, and his waist seemed to be narrow yet strong. There was also a thin, dark red scar on his right shoulder, which looked like it was already there for a long time. Due to their close proximity, she could even feel that warmth given off by his muscles, which made her face feel hot. She shook her head to clear it and immediately took a small dollop of ointment out and spread it on his back evenly.


    Ji Bai was facing the balcony as he looked at the dark sky outside of the window. Xu Xu was being very gentle, as her cold, soft fingers touched his skin; it was as if all the pores on his body suddenly opened up...


    It was gettingter into the night, and it was now quiet both inside and outside of the building. Ji Bai pressed Xu Xu against his bed, and their lips enveloped each other as they kissed deeply.


    Xu Xu wore a knee-length dress, and, while it was very cooling, it was also very conservative. Ji Bai reached out his hand and ced it at the corner of her dress. His mind raced about whether or not to reach underneath it or not...


    He was kicked the second his hand touched one of her knees. Ji Bai could not help butugh, but just as he was about to say something, they suddenly heard footsteps from outside the door.


    Ji Bai lifted his head and paused whilst Xu Xu looked toward the door as well.


    Secondster, they heard a knock followed by Sun Pu¡¯s voice. ¡°Little Ji, open the door, I¡¯d like to talk to you regarding a certain situation.¡±


    Sun Pu had just received a phone call and obtained some new clues, so due to his excitement, he wanted to ry it to the most capable member of the team. He stood by the door for a few seconds before Ji Bai slowly opened it.


    The two of them sat down on his sofa. The mosquito was let down around Ji Bai¡¯s bed, and his nket was bunched up, whilst there was also a pile of clothes on the floor, making the whole ce look extremely messy.


    Sun Pu realized that Ji Bai had probably been asleep and had been woken up by him. In spite of this, work was still their priority, so he did not worry too much and still continued talking to Ji Bai.


    Sun Pu left after around ten minutes. Right after Ji Bai closed the door, he saw Xu Xu sticking her small head out of the nket and sighed a long breath of relief. Although the two of them had good senses of priority and would not jeopardize their jobs because of their rtionship, other people might not think the same. They did not mention it to the task force either since it was not necessary.


    Ji Bai¡¯s smile became deeper as he sat on his bed and pulled her into his arms. ¡°Continue?¡±


    Xu Xu quickly pushed him away. ¡°It¡¯s almost ten, I¡¯m going back.¡± She flung open the nket after saying this and got off the bed.


    Initially, Ji Bai did not intend to make her stay since there was still work tomorrow, but when he raised his head, he saw her waist and hip bouncing in front of him. Probably due to her curled up position under the nket, but a corner of her cream-colored dress was folded up without her knowing, all the way up to her waist. Her fair, slim thighs were exposed, and it looked unbelievably beautiful and smooth. His gaze swept across her leg and spotted a pair of wine red panties which perfectly outlined her snowy-white bum. Not to mention, her bum was small yet firm enough that both his palms were able to...


    All of a sudden, his throat felt dry as he subconsciously reached his hand out to grab her ankle.


    Xu Xu was somewhat surprised that she had been stopped from getting off the bed, but just as she was about to ask him to let her go, she suddenly felt... a cold sensation on her bum and her thighs. She instinctively pulled her dress away to cover he body and even tapped on it to make sure that everything was in ce.


    When she looked back again, Ji Bai had already let her go and was now looking at her with an emotionless face.


    Xu Xu¡¯s face started to heat up slowly as she immediately jumped off the bed and bid him farewell. ¡°I¡¯m leaving. Bye.¡± Her voice sounded dispirited.


    Xu Xuid on her bed in her own room for a while, then she took her phone out and searched on Baidu: ¡°Precautions for first sexual intercourse.¡±


    After reading for a while, she finally calmed down.


    She was just exceedingly nervous because of where they were and hence, decided to sleep it off.


    From then onward, Xu Xu decided to avoid going to Ji Bai¡¯s room at night. Now that the two of them were on a work trip, it would be inappropriate if they were to make love for the first time here. Ji Bai probably had simr thoughts too.


    Because of this, the two of them basically had no alone time with each other over the following days. Meanwhile, as they gradually gathered more evidence, the task force started preparing for the final operation. Everyone in the group was incredibly caught up in the operation such that they had little to no sleep at night; even the two of them put everything aside to focus on their work.


    After working hard for almost ten days straight, Sun Pu led two criminal police officers to another city by the border to have a meeting with the Burmese officials in order to confirm the final date and n for the arrest operation. For the time being, only Ji Bai, Xu Xu, and five other people were left in Maija City. Their main duty was to keep a close eye on the various criminal suspects and to protect Zhou Chengbo, who remained an important witness.


    Once the sky turned bright, Ji Bai arrived at Zhou Chengbo¡¯s supermarket and took over watch duty from the criminal police officer on duty.


    Zhou Chengbo stayed in an office behind the supermarket and he had just woken up. He had grown closer to Ji Bai throughout the duration of their investigation and so, he passed a box of cigarettes to him. ¡°Taiwanese cigarettes, they¡¯re quite good and have a decent punch.¡±


    Ji Bai tried a stick and took in a deep breath, then returned the carton to him. ¡°It¡¯s really not bad. Thank you, but I¡¯ve quit smoking.¡±


    Zhou Chengboughed. ¡°I see the others smoking all the time, are there really any criminal police officer officers who don¡¯t smoke? Why, does your wife not let you?¡±


    Xu Xu¡¯s smiling face crossed Ji Bai¡¯s mind and his heart immediately softened, however, he just smiled back at Zhou Chengbo without said a word.


    Zhou Chengbo nodded when he saw Ji Bai quietly confirming his hunch. ¡°That was my first guess, since my wife likes to control me too.¡±


    As the two of them talked, somebody knocked on the door outside. ¡°Boss, package.¡±


    It was a young fellow with tan skin, he wore a postal uniform and carried a square package in his hand, which he carefully ced on the counter.


    Zhou Chengbo took his pen out to sign for it as he muttered, ¡°You¡¯re quite early. Oh right, it¡¯s probably from my uncle...¡±


    The delivery man kept quiet as he took the receipt and started walking away in quick strides. Ji Bai stood up at stared at his back as he pondered quietly. As he did this, he saw Zhou Chengbo opening the package out of the corner of his eye. ¡°Officer Ji, what does your wife work as?¡±


    The others from the task force had all left to attend to their own matters today, such that only Xu Xu was left in the hotel. She sat there by herself busily arranging the information required for the arrests.


    She was looking out the window thinking about problems surrounding the case when she heard the explosion. She immediately scanned the skyline after hearing the noise and saw a cluster of dense and dark smoke rising from the city center in the distance.


    The location seemed very familiar... it was near Zhou Chengbo¡¯s supermarket.


    Xu Xu immediately took her phone out and dialed Ji Bai¡¯s number. Once, twice, three times... but it did not go through.


    She instantly ran downstairs, but as she reached the entrance of the building, she paused then turned around and ran toward Ti Sa¡¯s room.


    Ti Sa was resting in the hotel today. When Xu Xu entered his room, he had just hung up thendline where had received some devastating news. He looked up at Xu Xu as she barged in and struggled to tell her something in choppy Chinese. ¡°Zhou... Ji... bomb.¡±

 Chapter 41: Chapter 42

    <h4>Chapter 41: Chapter 42</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    Due to the emergency, Ti Sa drove a military truck and rushed Xu Xu and twenty other soldiers towards the location of the explosion.


    The morning light shone down on the whole street such that every single bit of it was lit up. Even from a distance, they see the fire and smoke, as well as many panicked human figures racing about. Many windows along the street were wide open as curious people stuck their heads out of their houses to investigate the source of the loud noise.


    The fire was almostpletely extinguished by the time they arrived at the supermarket. The shop that used to be clean and spacious was now and covered in rubble and ashes; there was also a thickyer of dust and smoke around them whilst the floor of the building was covered with damaged merchandise and shattered sses.


    There was no signal on their phones either, this was because of an incident in the past where the perpetrators had used telephone-controlled explosions to set off their bomb. Henceforth, the military would cut off allmunicationworks whenever there was an explosion as a precautionary step to prevent further detonations. As it stood, no one knew when the signal would be back on again.


    The other criminal police officers did not head to the scene of the crime since they were tasked with their own duties, so it was not like they could neglect their own job. In addition to this, themunicationwork was not working, so it would still be some time before they could reach them.


    In the meantime, Xu Xu and Ti Sa could only rely on themselves.


    Ti Sa gathered a group of soldiers and spoke to them softly, then pped each of their shoulders, after which the soldiers nodded and charged into the supermarket. When the crowd around saw this scene, their internal discussion became more heated.


    Xu Xu stood alone in the center of the road. Ten meters in front of her was the destroyed supermarket and behind her stood the chattering crowd, whilst cars honked their horns and raced about not far away from her. All the chaotic noise seemed to surge into her head all at once as her head started to throb vigorously.


    What she first noticed was Ji Bai¡¯s car parked by the road opposite the supermarket. This made her heart skip a beat and she immediately took a deep breath to collect herself, then she continued searching.


    There were no traces of blood around the supermarket, nor were there signs of anything suspicious. Then, she headed to the alley and was slightly shocked to find the supermarket¡¯s backdoor half closed. She peered outside and quickly saw that the floor and walls were covered with sshes of blood ¨C a fight had urred here.


    When Xu Xu returned to the main road, she saw that the soldiers hadpleted a thorough search in the whole supermarket only to find no personnel or bodies in the area. This made both Xu Xu and Ti Sa both breathe a sigh of relief, but their heart remained tense.


    The soldiers soon spread out to question the passersby in hopes that they could find a witness.


    Since the supermarket was located downtown, the area was densely popted, and in no time they found a clue.


    When the explosion urred, a cleaner happened to be cleaning near the back alley of the supermarket. He told them, ¡°I saw people fighting in the alley. There were seven to eight people and they used iron rods to beat up two men.¡±


    This verified Xu Xu¡¯s earlier deduction. She took her cell phone out and looked for Ji Bai¡¯s photo, then she took Zhou Chengbo¡¯s photo out from the information kit and showed them both to the cleaner.


    ¡°Yes, they were the ones being hit and their bodies were wounded in the process. I was scared to bring trouble upon myself, so I quickly left to clean on the opposite side of the street. A whileter I heard an explosion, and when I looked over, I saw the people with iron rods dragging two blood-soaked men into a van.¡±


    Luckily, the cleaner had also remembered the license te number of the van. Soon enough, the soldiers located the same van in the back alley of a casino that was just two streets away from the crime scene.


    Ti Sa and Xu Xu sat in a small car at the end of the street and looked through binocrs. They saw two burly, strong men guarding the back door of the casino whilst blood stains could vaguely be seen on the outside of the van.


    This particr casino also happened to be one of Brother Lu¡¯s main strongholds.


    Ti Sa looked at Xu Xu. ¡°My men can¡¯t go in, we can only wait here for your men to arrive.¡±


    The gambling industry was legal in Maija City. Back then, in order to attractrge-scale business and investment and to eliminate investors¡¯ concerns, themander in chief promised the Chamber of Commerce that unless there was a warrant, the Kachin military would never enter the casinos. Right now, no official arrest warrant had been issued, so Ti Sa could not go in.


    The sun looked enormous as it scorched the Earth from directly over their heads. Xu Xu looked at the entrance of the casino, and the people walking in and out of it; the loud, noisy music and shing neon lights only enhanced the image of it being extremely lively and busy.


    ¡°We can¡¯t wait. I¡¯ll go in and look for him.¡±


    She really could not wait.


    As the cleaner did not actually see the faces of the men who were dragged away, Ji Bai may or may not have actually been taken away.


    Xu Xu was certain that Ji Bai had escaped the st, and that, normally, seven to eight thugs were not his match.


    However, this time he needed to protect Zhou Chengbo, and had no gun with him since they were not on the maind. On the other hand, almost all the core members of gangs here carried guns on them.


    If a gang leader like Brother Lu had shown up today, then Xu Xu would not choose to enter, due to the fact that an experienced criminal like Brother Lu would think twice about touching a police officer.


    She was more worried about the subordinates, who were arrogant, presumptuous, and immature, so it was more likely that they wouldmit foolish crimes.


    Even though backup could arrive any moment now, waiting for them mighte at the cost of Ji Bai being tortured, or possibly, even his life. How could she allow this to happen?


    While Ti Sa and the soldiers watched her with shocked expressions, Xu Xu put on a cap and shades from she had kept in her backpack. Then, she swallowed a mouthful of water and swung open the car door before walking straight through the casino¡¯s guarded entrance without looking back.


    Xu Xu had guessed right. Sure enough, Ji Bai had avoided the bomb.


    At the time, Zhou Chengbo was about to open the package but Ji Bai stopped him. ¡°Don¡¯t touch it.¡±


    When Zhou Chengbo saw his serious expression, he immediately understood. Nevertheless, he had thought that bombs only appeared in television dramas, so he instantly broke into a cold sweat. ¡°It can¡¯t be... What do we do then? Throw it out?¡±


    Ji Bai shook his head. ¡°Don¡¯t touch it.¡± He looked at the postman who was walking out of the supermarket¡¯s entrance then said softly, ¡°We¡¯ll go through the back door.¡±


    He made Zhou Chengbo stand behind him as he slowly pushed the metal door open without actually walking through. As expected, when the door opened, a ck iron rod immediately came crashing down from high above. Ji Bai had reflexes, which allowed him to quickly catch the person¡¯s arm; a cracking sound was heard as he swiftly twisted the arm backward, dislocating it from its socket. The man cried out in pain, but a split secondter, Ji Bai grabbed his head up and mmed it against the wall, instantly causing him to pass out as the blood started flowing out.


    As this was a life or death situation, Ji Bai was ruthless. Another person behind him wielded a knife and dashed at him but was taken down in the blink of an eye.


    Zhou Chengbo shouted, ¡°Get to my car!¡±


    ¡°No, we can¡¯t.¡± For all they knew, the package was just a bait to lead them to the real bomb waiting for them in the car. Ji Bai scanned his surroundings then said quietly, ¡°Run with me.¡±


    A few secondster, they encountered seven or eight intimidating-looking men standing in the alley and armed with iron rods and butcher knives. They probably had not expected them to run out so quickly as they were all dumbfounded. The man standing in the front immediately reached for his gun on his waist, but Ji Bai spotted this and yelled ferociously, ¡°Police!¡± His voice was so loud and powerful that it shocked every single one of them.


    That man paused for a split-second, but this was all that Ji Bai needed to rush forward and seize his wrist, after this, he snatched his gun and kicked him in the groin.


    When the others saw this, they pounced onto Ji Bai, causing Ji Bai to get wounded everywhere. Upon looking at the scene, Zhou Chengbo too felt a fire in his veins as he grabbed a man and started fighting as well.


    What Xu Xu did not know was that the cleaner did not see Ji Bai and Zhou Chengbo finally defeating the gangsters and escaping from the alley. The ones who were injured in the explosion and dragged away by theirpanions were the two gangsters who were beaten up by Ji Bai near the back door.


    Ji Bai ran with Zhou Chengbo for two blocks before they got into a taxi and headed to the hotel where the task force was residing in. On then did Ji Bai learn that Xu Xu and Ti Sa had gone out to look for him.


    When he arrived at the street where the casino was, he saw that the other two criminal police officers had also just arrived. However, Ti Sa¡¯s face was grim as he looked at them with seriously. ¡°Ji, Xu insisted on going in and looking for you, it has been ten minutes...¡±


    After Xu Xu entered the casino, she exchanged some chips at the counter. As the counter manager saw that she was just a youngdy, he could not help but stare at her for a few more seconds. Xu Xu smiled and waved her cell phone. ¡°There¡¯s no signal, but my mother will be hereter. Can you bring her in to look for me? She¡¯s wearing a white top, red skirt, and carries an LV bag, it¡¯ll be easy to recognize her.¡±


    The manager smiled back. ¡°No problem.¡±


    Xu Xu went to y two rounds of dices, then she set her eyes on a young security guard standing near the tform. The other security guards looked rather fierce, and they wore either indifferent andzy looks, or they were expressionless. He was the only one who smiled from time to time and was quite energetic, besides this, his uniform was brand new.


    ¡°Brother, can you buy me a bottle of ck tea?¡± Xu Xu passed him a chip. It was a hundred-dor chip, so the security guard took her as a generous, rich girl, and was happy to do so.


    In no time, he bought back her drink. After this, Xu Xu no longer gambled, instead, she rested beside then asked him again, ¡°You¡¯re from Shandong, aren¡¯t you? We¡¯re from the same hometown.¡±


    When the person heard her ent, he was surprised.


    A whileter, Xu Xu got up. ¡°Brother Ah Zhi, where is the washroom?¡±


    Ah Zhi replied, ¡°I¡¯ll bring you there.¡±


    Xu Xu thought for a moment then said, ¡°No. My mother will be here in a minute, ask her to wait for me here. Your manager knows who she is.¡± After she said this, she waved at the manager behind the counter, and when the manager saw her, he waved back at the youngdy with a wide smile.


    Ah Zhi instantly thought, ¡®Oh, you know the manager,¡¯ and he nodded then told her the location. Sometimeter, he even told the security guard beside him, ¡°We¡¯re from the same hometown, she¡¯s the manager¡¯s friend.¡±


    Xu Xu stayed in the washroom for a short while before leaving. However, she did not return to the main hall, instead, she headed into the office space behind.


    She had not blindly entered the casino alone without thinking.


    Firstly, she looked very young, so she would not draw too much attention to herself; Secondly, since she was in charge of logistics, she had already memorized theyout of all the casinos and she knew that behind each casino was a ¡°reception room¡±, which was used for customers who could not pay their gambling debts. If Ji Bai was captured, he would most likely be detained there.


    If she could find him, then she could rescue him.


    Along the corridor towards the ¡°reception room¡±, she ran into a thug guarding the area. He frowned and stopped her. ¡°You can¡¯t go past here.¡±


    Xu Xu paused a little, then she lowered her head and said with a trembling voice, ¡°I¡¯m here to pay off a debt, I¡¯ve talked to Mister Ah Zhi who was at the entrance just now and he asked me to look for the boss.¡±


    The thug was startled. ¡°Whose debt?¡±


    Xu Xu replied, ¡°My brother¡¯s, he¡¯s called Chen Yang. A few days ago I received a phone call stating that he owes ¡®Da Fu Hua¡¯ two hundred thousand. I¡¯m here to deliver the money...¡± Right after this, she took a credit card out of her pocket.


    The thug was speechless. ¡®Da Fu Hua¡¯ was the name of another casino a few streets away, whereas this was ¡®Da Fu Hao¡¯. Usually, the casinos were named to give them good luck; in Maija City, there was Fu Hua, Fu Hao, and Fu Le. He knew that the little girl must have misheard the casino, but this was two hundred thousand...


    The thug led her to a small office and poured tea for her. ¡°Wait here, I¡¯ll go look for the boss.¡±


    Once he disappeared up the stairs at the end of the corridor, Xu Xu quietly pushed open the door then followed him. The corridor was very quiet, but due to her sharp eyes, she spotted two drops of blood on the wall, which made her heart shiver.


    Atst, she arrived at the entrance to the ¡°reception room¡±. There was a crack in the door and the sound of men cursing and moaning could be faintly heard inside.


    Xu Xu took a deep breath and pushed the door open.


    The door was wide open as Xu Xu and the men in the room looked at each other.


    She quickly took a nce at the two menying on the bed with their bodiespletely covered in blood.


    ¡°Uh... Uncle, where is the washroom? Ah Zhi said that it was here.¡±


    The men stared at her silently, then one of them lifted his finger up and pointed at the other end of the corridor.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Embarrassed, Xu Xu closed the door behind her, then she turned around and walked away swiftly.


    Great news, it was not Ji Bai. It was not Ji Bai.


    It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders as a stream of warmth flowed all over her body.


    She was almost at the end of the corridor and only needed to make a turn before she arrived back at the main hall, but she suddenly heard hurried footsteps behind her followed by a shout. ¡°Eh, don¡¯t go.¡±


    Xu Xu froze then turned her head.


    It was the thug who had left to get his boss. He looked at her suspiciously and said, ¡°Where are you going? My boss asked you to go upstairs.¡±


    Xu Xu nced at him and said sheepishly, ¡°Sorry, I made a mistake. When I was in your office, I saw that you¡¯re actually ¡®Da Fu Hao¡¯. As there was no signal on my phone, I used yourndline and made a call to Da Fu Hua and they said that they would send a car here immediately to pick me up. Sorry to have disturbed you, thank you.¡±


    Once again, the thug was struck dumb. His boss had wanted to collect the money first and to deny having to have met her beforeter on. That being said, this youngdy had actually called Da Fu Hua, and now that they were going to pick her up, it would be impossible to take her money...


    While he struggled for words, Xu Xu thanked him and bowed, but as she turned around, she saw a few men walking out of the reception room.


    She heard the men conversing with the thug softly and nervously quickened her pace.


    ¡°Wait up, what¡¯s the matter with you?¡± Somebody shouted.


    Xu Xu¡¯s back was drenched in a cold sweat and her legs felt numb.


    She had already arrived at the corner, but the lights there were not turned on which made it very dim. The door to the main hall was tightly shut and the sound of people moring and moving about could be heard from the other side. It was just so close, yet so far, as if separated by mountains and seas.


    Should she run or continue to lie?


    It was at this moment that a hand suddenly appeared and grabbed onto her wrist tightly. A tall figure emerged from the shadows as Ji Bai¡¯s handsome face which look ghastly pale and tense stepped out into the light. His dark eyes were piercing and solid as he took a deep look at her before leading her away.


    Xu Xu was in aplete blur as she let him guide her as they walked forward. Her hands that were initially stone cold became hot when encased inside his warm, strong hand. The evil men behind her instantly became insignificant as though they were no longer a threat whilst her body actually rxed.


    The dim lights entuated his side profile, making his body seem as tall as a mountain, and it seemed as though each step he took further increased his stature. She felt an indescribable pounding in her heart which slowly stretched to her limbs and soon upied every vein in her body.


    The men from the corridor had fought Ji Bai earlier in the day, so they were shocked when they saw him. One of them suddenly cussed, ¡°Shit,¡± and was about to run toward him when Ji Bai turned and stared at him in absolute disdain.


    Maybe it was his imposing manner or maybe they got shbacks of being horribly beaten in the morning, but the men froze, none of them dared toe forward.


    Ji Bai guided Xu Xu and kept walking without talking. By the time they got through the corridor and left the casino, their hands that were wrapped around each other were dripping with sweat.

 Chapter 42: Chapter 43

    <h4>Chapter 42: Chapter 43</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    Mi Na City was located north of Maija City and was the capital of Kachin state. Compared to the small cities which were just starting to flourish, Mi Na was a real metropolis where high-rise towers and enterprises gathered. Not to mention, it was also home to the powerful and the rich.


    Brother Lu was having a massage at a spa center when she got news of the explosion.


    Upon seeing her expression suddenly change, a follower who was serving her immediately waved for the beauticians to leave. Brother Lu quickly sat up whilst naked, showing her scar-covered body as she spoke coldly through the phone. ¡°The bomb exploded, but why isn¡¯t he dead?¡±


    Her follower on the other end paused before replying. ¡°There was a Chinese police officer apanying Zhou Chengbo. He was great at fighting, and even went so far as to make a scene at the casino just now...¡±


    Brother Lu was taken aback. She recalled some news she heard a few days ago about a group of officials from China¡¯s police force flying in to meet with the Burmese officials in Yangon. Nheless, China and Myanmar had been meeting frequently to discuss cross-border criminal issues since the beginning of the year, so she was not too bothered by this.


    In order to keep a low profile, the female leader who had a deep influence in both countries had refrained from going out during this period, and even took a step back to let her subordinates temporarily take over; she also would stick her head into every single of matter like she used to do before. After all, not too long ago she had experienced firsthand how skilled China¡¯s police force was.


    Her subordinate might not have noticed, but she broke into a cold sweat as she connected the two matters.


    She thought for some time then replied, ¡°Continue operations as per usual. However, ask the core members to immediately retreat and wait for my notice on when we¡¯ll return to Maija.¡±


    Maija City.


    A handful of armed thugs carefully followed Ji Bai and Xu Xu out of the casino¡¯s back door.


    Humans beings adapted to their situation, when a group of people is nervous and unsure about what the other party was going to do, they would always act cautiously and observe them before doing anything. Although it did not look like it, there was a silent, explosive face-off happening between the two groups.


    However, once they followed them out of the back door, they were horrified to see the bouncers who were initially guarding the door moaning on the ground after getting beaten up. Two men who looked as ferocious as Ji Bai now stood in their ce whilst behind them stood a few fully armed Kachin soldiers.


    Kachin soldiers would never enter a casino, but they were not technically in the casino and thus, the tacit agreement was void.


    Ji Bai kept holding onto Xu Xu¡¯s hand as they passed by the Kachin soldiers and left through an alley before finally arriving at the bustling main street.


    Xu Xu hadpletely calmed down by now, and she looked up to smile at Ji Bai. However, when she tried to pull back her hand, she felt him tighten his grip powerfully.


    His face was still tensed up and he looked quite terrifying. His dark eyes seemed heavy and intense as he stared straight ahead whilst walking.


    This look was too intimidating, such that she was unable to shift her eyes away from him.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Chen Yalin called as she ran toward them from afar.


    Ji Bai stared at Xu Xu. ¡°We¡¯re alright.¡± Then, he clenched her hand tightly one more time before letting it go.


    He then turned to speak to Chen Yalin softly as they walked ahead, leaving Xu Xu standing there alone. Xu Xu watched his powerful figure with his back turned and recalled the throbbing feeling that had shaken her heart when she had first spotted him in the casino, but this time, it was apanied by a slight ache in her heart.


    Soon enough, a few criminal police officers gathered around them.


    Ji Bai regained hisposed look and he said in a low yet strong voice, ¡°Inform Director Sun about the incident ¨C we¡¯ve alerted the enemy and the criminals will most likely try to escape. We must bring forward the arrest operation.¡±


    After Sun Pu received Ji Bai¡¯s phone call, he immediately made negotiations with the Burmese officials: They agreed to immediately notify the troops of nearby bases as well as police officers to seal off the whole city. Kachin¡¯smander in chief also immediately ordered a small army to head to Maija City to help enforce thew during the operation.


    In just a day¡¯s time, Maija City lookedpletely different, causing the locals to panic.


    At night, the criminal police officers returned to the hotel and had a short meeting to delegate tasks. Thew enforcing military would only arrive tomorrow morning, so they would have to keep watch all night outside Brother Lu¡¯s main strongholds together with Ti Sai¡¯s soldiers.


    Tonight¡¯s task was incredibly dangerous as the criminals might very well fight for their life when put in a desperate situation.


    After the meeting was adjourned, Xu Xu went to the temporary control room alone. Her job was to manage logistics and coordinate the squads, and while it was not a dangerous task, it was equally nerve-wracking and stressful.


    Somebody knocked on her door as she wasmunicating with a local police officer regarding the cement of some blockages.


    Since the rescue, both she and Ji Bai had been so caught up with work that they did not get to speak to each other, but now, there were only ten minutes left before he needed to set out with the team.


    He had handled many high-risk tasks in the past, and he had always faced them calmly without any worry, but this time, he subconsciously came looking for her.


    Once Xu Xu opened the door, she saw him standing quietly in front of her. The lights in the corridor were very dim, so his features were slightly hidden, but whether it was his round forehead, his profound eyes, or his high and wide nose, they all seemed to be tough and hearty. Especially deep-set eyes, which were now locked onto hers.


    Xu Xu mouthed to him, ¡°wait for a while,¡± then she returned to the table and sat down as she continued talking on the phone.


    The lights in the room in the room were bright and a small fan was blowing cold air from the corner of the room. She supported the phone between her shoulder and cheeks whilst she typed away on the keyboard. Her short hair was tucked behind her sweet, white-skinned ears, but a few stray strands were gently blown up by the wind; she was actually such a tiny, delicate person, but her sitting posture and demeanor were just like a man, steady, neat, and strong.


    Ji Bai suddenly recalled the scene inside the casino ¨C the corridor was dark and quiet, and a couple of thugs were standing right behind her. Despite this, she put on a cold face, and even though she was panicked, her eyes shed her resolution as she slowly approached his range. Although he was standing in the dark, the me in his heart burned fiercely away.


    He thought to himself, ¡®She has always acted so recklessly despite being in a rtionship with me. Doesn¡¯t she know that she¡¯s my one and only treasure?¡¯


    As he watched her from behind, he felt as though she was touching his chest with her soft hands. A sense of warmth rushed through him as he could no longer take it and walked over to her.


    Xu Xu¡¯s body shook inexplicably when Ji Bai hugged her from behind. She instantly felt his hot breath on her neck as his warm lips and tongue quietly kissed the napped of her neck. Xu Xu¡¯s mind went nk, such that the voice of the Burmese official that was still on the phone with her seemed to be moving further and further away... A few secondster, she snapped back to reality and responded, then continuedmunicating clearly and quickly with the official. However, by the time she hung up, Ji Bai had left.


    Xu Xu did not think about it too much and continued looking at theputer screen, but for some reason, she felt impatient and hasty, and she did not even manage to finish reading a single page after this. She scratched her head and shook it to clear her thoughts, then stood up to look at the empty doorway.


    Xu Xu was no doubt a slow one when it came to love. In the casino, it naturally made her feel made her feel deeply touched when Ji Bai seemed to fall straight from heaven to save her life. That being said, after that she no longer thought about the incident nor did it linger in her memory. She knew that she would have risked her life and gone in to save him alone even if it was another colleague who was captured. But as she thought about her performance, she realized something. ¡®If Ji Bai wasn¡¯t the one being held captive, I probably would¡¯ve been calmer. Ji Bai more or less made me rush my actions due to my worries.¡¯


    In spite of that, Ji Bai¡¯s hug lingered on her body. The deep emotions that had been growing inside of her came pouring out her heart once again, and that same throbbing feeling seemed to beat away more aggressively now that he had left. Xu Xu sat there and bit her tongue, she knew that only his touch would be able to get rid of it.


    When Xu Xu arrived at Ji Bai¡¯s room, two other criminal police officers had just walked out; they were already dressed in bulletproof vests and were armed with their guns as the use of firearms for the operation had been specially permitted by both China and Myanmar.


    The lights in his room glowed dimly as Xu Xu noticed that Ji Bai was already wearing his bulletproof vest along with a ck handgun and an ammunition clip that was strapped around his waist. He was looking down to button up his shirt, but when he looked up to see that Xu Xu who had previously been intensely focused on her work suddenly walk in, the first thing that came to his mind was job-rted matters. He immediately asked, ¡°Did anything happen?¡±


    Xu Xu¡¯s warm cheeks flushed slightly as she quickly walked over and grabbed his cor before helping him button up his shirt.


    Ji Bai looked at his partner¡¯s blushing face and her caring movements without saying a word. After Xu Xu finished buttoning his shirt, she did not say a thing, she simply grabbed onto his cor, tipped-toe, and lifted her head to kiss him. However, Ji Bai was faster than her, and he grabbed her waist at once to pull her closer to him, then, he lowered his head and kissed her passionately.


    The kiss was a quick one, and after they were done, Ji Bai went downstairs and left with their colleagues. Xu Xu cheerfully returned to her room to start working again, only this time, she felt that her mind was clearer, and all of her problems had been swept away.


    Indeed, emotions needed to be expressed and satisfied. The feeling of satisfying their mutual needs with Ji Bai felt very pleasant.


    Meanwhile, Brother Lu was not the only one who was disturbed in Mi Na City, Kachin¡¯s suprememander, Commander in Chief Jue Wen was as well.


    It was gettingte as the lights at the royalkeside which was located in the suburbs lit up once again.


    There was arge vi by the waters, and in front of the door was a broad, green bamboo tform where Jue Wen sat back against a cane chair with his eyes closed.


    The deputy officer stood respectfully a few steps away from him. ¡°Commander, are we sending the troops to enforce thew in Maija City? The people from China are pushing us very hard.¡±


    Jue Wen flung open his eyes. Themander who had been in the military for half his life already had deep wrinkles in the corner of his eyes, yet his physique was still muscr and burly like a young man¡¯s, which made him still somewhat attractive. He kept quiet for a while then asked, ¡°Which unit is closest to Maija City?¡±


    The deputy officer replied, ¡°General Po¡¯s second brigade, they¡¯re controlling the areas near Maija City this month.¡±


    Jue Wen shut his eyes again and said inly, ¡°Let Po go then.¡±


    In Maija City, after a night of stalemate and confrontation, dawn arrived.


    The highway into the city was dusty as huge trucks filled with soldiers shuddered down its length. The members of the task force were waiting by the highway to wee them in order to meet with the military¡¯smanding officer as soon as possible; their hard work from the past month was finally going to bear fruit, hence everyone felt dignified and highly determined.


    Ji Bai and Xu Xu¡¯s focus was one hundred percent on the case. asionally their eyes would meet, and they would exchange a brief smile with their eyes, but that was it.


    After some time, an off-road vehicle stopped in front of Ji Bai and the others. A tall and built officer walked over to them with some soldiers trailing behind him. He wore a grey and green camouge patterned uniform, had bronze-colored skin, and on his face was a dark red scar which made him look incredibly ferocious.


    Though his demeanor made him seem hostile, he nced at everyone then suddenly let out a wide smile and said in choppy mandarin, ¡°Hello, I¡¯m themanding officer of Kachin Independence Army¡¯s second brigade, General Po. I hope that we¡¯ll well work together.¡±


    When Po arrived at Maija City, Commander Jue Wen, who was far away in Mi Na City, had just woken up. He stood in front of his vi that was surrounded by the glisteningke and tall mountains as he gazed off into the distance.


    Upon looking at his quiet face, the deputy officer who was beside asked softly, ¡°I¡¯m quite confused about your decision yesterday. If you suspect that Po is the force behind China¡¯s gang and that he was the one who created a disturbance in the border as well as embezzled heaps of money, why did you still let him go? There¡¯s a proverb in China that goes, ¡®stealing what is entrusted to you¡¯.¡±


    Jue Wen smiled faintly and answered, ¡°I¡¯m not concerned about whether or not we can get rid of the China gang. Po has performed many meritorious services for me, and his prestige in the military is very high, but he has gone overboard over the past few years ¨C I really despise it.


    ¡°There¡¯s also a proverb in China that goes ¡®to kill someone with somebody else¡¯s knife¡¯. If he uses this opportunity to turn over a new leaf and enforce thew strictly, then I¡¯ll tolerate him for the time being, but if he¡¯s still presumptuous and causes chaos, I¡¯ll kill him and express our sincerity towards China.¡±

 Chapter 43: Chapter 44

    <h4>Chapter 43: Chapter 44</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    The situation in Northern Burma was hot and anxious, whereas Lin City was calm, warm and pleasant.


    The air conditioner in the police station was sting on full power, releasing a refreshing coolness throughout the office. Since there were no big casestely, it had been quiet and orderly in the office and everyone was quite rxed.


    Zhao Han took a set of documents out from the fax machine and seemed joyful. ¡°This is great, there¡¯s news from Myanmar. These few days, Captain and the others have identified more than ten of Brother Lu¡¯s strongholds and have also captured around forty people. Now they just have to apprehend Brother Lu herself.¡±


    Old Wu smiled when he heard this. ¡°We can get started on the celebrations.¡± Everyoneughed upon hearing this. Amid the lively discussion, Old Wu set his eyes on Yao Meng who was sitting diagonally opposite him. She neither joined in the discussion nor lifted her head up, and there was only a faint smile on her fair and beautiful face.


    When they were getting off work, Da Hu went up to Yao Meng. ¡°Little Yao, can you hand in that report you¡¯re working on to me tomorrow?¡±


    Yao Meng had already turned herputer off, so she took her handbag up and smiled at him. ¡°I¡¯ll try my best.¡± She left after saying this.


    Soon enough, almost everyone left the office. Zhao Han stood in the rtive empty office and asked aloud, ¡°Why do I feel that Yao Meng has been out of it at worktely?¡±


    Da Hu stood by the windows and looked downstairs. Beside the road outside the police station, Yao Meng was walking towards a Rolls-Royce, whereby the driver got out of the car and opened the back door for her. She smiled sweetly at the person inside the car, then entered gracefully.


    ¡°She¡¯s found herself a rich man.¡± Da Hu muttered, ¡°No wonder she¡¯s been bold enough to ck.¡±


    Old Wu sighed softly. ¡°I¡¯ve talked to her but she¡¯s not very willing tomunicate. She¡¯s quite a good child, but I couldn¡¯t make her stay.¡±


    Zhao Han jaw dropped. ¡°You¡¯re saying that Yao Meng has decided to quit?¡±


    Old Wu did not reply, but Da Hu sneered, ¡°It¡¯s obvious, how can you not tell? Her heart¡¯s not even here anymore.¡±


    During sunset, Maija City looked much more peaceful and tranquil with the warm glow of washing over thend.


    The streets that used to be bustling and vibrant were all but closed, such that they looked cold and deserted. As for the locals, after days of terror brought on by continuous gunshots, they too finally felt like peace had been restored.


    Xu Xu was getting so exhausted as she arranged thest sets of data that her vision was starting to get blurry. She walked over to the window and stretched numb body, then lowered her head to see Ji Bai and a few other criminal police officers returning to the hotel after getting out of a car.


    The operation had gone perfectly. Yesterday, Sun Pu had brought four criminal police officers away to continue the search for Brother Lu whereas Ji Bai, Xu Xu, and three others stayed back in Maija City to wrap things up.


    Xu Xu smiled and walked leisurely to the basin to wash her hands, then she took the first aid kit out and waited. After a while, as expected, she received a message from Ji Bai. ¡°Come over if you¡¯re free.¡±


    Ji Bai had been badly injured after saving Zhou Chengbo, and while most of his injuries were only flesh wounds, there was a knife wound on his left upper arm which was particrly deep. On top of that, the weather here was scorching so it was easy for the wound to get infected, so both Xu Xu and him made sure to keep a close eye on it.


    When Xu Xu entered Ji Bai¡¯s room, she saw him sitting under the fan, stripped to his waist. He had probably just finished showering as his hair was notpletely dried yet, and his eyes seemed to have water vapor in them, which made them look extra shiny and wet.


    Xu Xu walked over then lowered her head and kissed his cheek. He immediately turned around and held her face to kiss her softly, then they went to handle their own matters.


    Ji Bai was going through some information when he suddenly looked sideways at Xu Xu¡¯s face.


    Over the past few days, they had been so upied that each time Ji Bai got his wounds treated it was done in a hurry, such that he had no time to check up on her at all. There was also one time when he had a canceled meeting with Chen Yalin and the others so he grabbed the opportunity to ask her to treat his wounds, but did not even realize that she was not around. Atst, their work had temporarilye to an end and he was much more rxed that he could now finally take a good look at her.


    She had nted one leg on the floor and was kneeling on the couch with the other as she stood quietly beside him with her head aimed downward to focus on cleaning his wounds. This evening, she wore a simple pale blue knee-length cotton dress, which only made her skin look more snowy-white and clean than usual. Only now did Ji Bai notice that she was actually quite particr about her outfits ¨C she had a wide variety of clothes, and they were all practical.


    Now, as her partner, he was very much enjoying the delicate feminine charm that she subconsciously gave off.


    After looking at her for a while, Ji Bai reached his hand out to hold her arms. Her skin was smooth and cold and also seemed to be free of sweat; her flesh was soft too, which was theplete opposite of his firm and warm muscles. In the past, Ji Bai did not know that women¡¯s skin could be so soothing to touch, but after feeling it regrly, he felt like it could even grow to be an addiction.


    The corner of Xu Xu¡¯s mouth curled up as she let him gently pinch the flesh on her arms while she concentrated on treating his wounds.


    ¡°Don¡¯t move.¡± Xu Xu stretched her body over the side table to retrieve more ointment, and as she did so, Ji Bai¡¯s eyes casually ran along the curves of her body.


    Xu Xu took the medicine and continued applying it on him. All of a sudden, she felt a pressure on her waist after Ji Bai ced his hands there. Xu Xu saw this but ignored. However, she did not expect him to start using his thumb to caress the flesh on her waist through the cotton.


    ¡°It¡¯s a little itchy.¡± Xu Xu could not help butugh.


    His hand paused. After some time, he moved his hand to her bum, then he paused for a while before he started to stroke it softly.


    Xu Xu¡¯s body quivered. Then, in a daze, she raised her eyes to look at him.


    He was almostpletely calm as he looked straight back at her; his mysterious eyes appeared quite daunting as though it was looking right into her heart, whereas his hands did not stop moving...


    The fan whirred quietly in the background as the sunset painted the room with long, golden rays. Ji Bai gazed downward and looked at her heavily flushed face, and immediately felt as though a teasing wind had just blown part his normally undaunted heart. The image from that day of this girl unintentionally exposing her skin was deeply engraved in his mind. In addition to this, the wonderful feeling tantalizing his fingertipsbined with the knowledge that he was gripping her seductive curves was just too great...


    Xu Xu was in a dilemma when Ji Bai openly seized her ¨C since the two of them were a couple, this sort of intimacy was reasonably normal; that being said, she still felt embarrassed and her whole body felt like it was on fire, her heart was pounding faster than ever before. A foreign excitement rushed into her heart, but this burning sensation was more than she could bear. Does she want more? Or should she make him stop?


    As she thought of this, Ji Bai¡¯s hands stopped right before he lifted her dress up. Xu Xu breathed a sigh of relief once she knew that it was over. She still felt like work was more important at this point in time and that she should not give way to sensual desires, so she pushed him away and stood up.


    ¡°I¡¯m going back.¡± Xu Xu said softly.


    Ji Bai smiled inly, he did not force her.


    After walking a few steps away, she turned around and said, ¡°I won¡¯t be visiting you at night anymore until we return to Lin City.¡±


    Ji Bai understood, after all, they were here for work; he was only ying by ear just now as he could not hold back his desires. Besides, after looking at her all shy and embarrassed, he felt pleased. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll listen to you, we¡¯ll wait until we return to Lin City.¡±


    The heat in Xu Xu¡¯s cheeks resurfaced again as she walked away quietly.


    After arranging some files in her room, Xu Xu received a call from Sun Pu asking her to send a document over to General Po to be signed. By now, the sun in the sky was still bright and the city was now rtively safe. Therefore, Xu Xu did not alert Ji Bai and only called Ti Sa who brought two soldiers along with him to look for Po.


    There were almost no cars or people on the roads on the way there with Kachin soldiers stationed every fifty meters or so ¨C the whole city was basically under Po¡¯s control. The liaison officer in the military told them that Po had gone to the prison in the city where the criminals were being temporarily detained. Thus, Xu Xu set off, but when she arrived, the sky was already turning dark.


    As Xu Xu and Ti Sa walked through the prison¡¯s entrance, they could see a group of soldiers standing by the field ahead off in the distance. There was a man kneeling whilst another person was lying on the ground. This shocked Xu Xu, so she strode over there.


    As they moved closer, she managed to get a clearer look. The man lying on the ground was a soldier, blood was gushed out from his neck and his eyes were wide open in horror ¨C it was clear that he was already dead. As for the man who was kneeling, it was a criminal from one of the gangs, Xu Xu knew this as she had registered his information before. Po stood at the very front of the crowd wearing a light gray military shirt and dark military trousers. He looked much more hostile and stern than usual.


    When he saw Xu Xu, he took a nce at the information in her hand, so he knew that she was looking for him. He lifted the corners of his thick lips into a sneer. ¡°Wait for a while.¡± Then he took his gun out and aimed it at the criminal¡¯s head.


    Xu Xu immediately dashed in front of him. ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    The soldiers around were startled as they watched this youngdy from China yell at their general. Po turned and looked at her, the smile on his face was bone-chilling as he exined. ¡°This person tried to break out of prison and ended up killing one of my soldiers.¡±


    Xu Xu took a look at the messy corpse on the floor then replied, ¡°We¡¯ll investigate the offense, and if it¡¯s true, we¡¯ll add it to his penalty, but you just go around lynching as you please.¡±


    The people around fell silent as the eyes of the criminal who was trembling out of fear lit up with hope again. ¡°Yes, yes, you shouldn¡¯t be lynching...¡±


    Po looked at Xu Xu and put his gun down whilst Xu Xu looked straight into his eyes without turning away. Then, he unexpectedly took the documents from her hand. ¡°Do you need me to sign this?¡±


    Xu Xu replied, ¡°... Yes.¡±


    He took the pen and quickly signed it before returning it to Xu Xu. Right after Xu Xu took it back, she saw him lift his gun up at the speed of light.


    ¡°You can¡¯t!¡±


    Nheless, it was toote. Po actually forced the barrel of his gun into the criminal¡¯s mouth, and with a ¡°bang¡±, the blood sshed out of the back of his head. His mouth hung open limply and his eyes remained open in shock as he slowly dropped to the ground.


    Xu Xu felt her temples twitch suddenly as her mouth frowned in horror. On the other hand, Po passed his gun to the deputy officer and then left without even looking at her.


    Xu Xu watched him for a while then left too. A whileter, Ti Sa caught up with her, and with the help of some trantions, tried tofort her. ¡°I¡¯ve talked to the soldiers just now and it¡¯s true, that man deserved to die so you don¡¯t have to be outraged.¡±


    Xu Xu did reply him, but once she got in the car, she made a call. ¡°Director Sun, there¡¯s something that I must report to you...¡±


    Xu Xu did not calm down even after returning to the hotel.


    After their initial meeting many days ago, the task force rarely contacted Po. He had always stayed in a vi in the city, and all the arrest were handled by the deputy officer, so Director Sun was the only one who asionally met him. On the other hand, his soldiers had cooperated with the task force very well and had carried out their jobs valiantly. Hence, Po gave everyone the impression that he was a brusque, dauntless, pragmatic military man.


    However, what happened today utterly shocked Xu Xu. Although she had seen corpses in the past, it was the first time that somebody had been killed right in front of her. Moreover, it was done in a direct and cruel way. She remembered the moment that the victim died: his frightened face, his shaking face muscles, and the remains of blood and flesh sttered across the ground. All of this was deeply imprinted in her mind such that they could not be wiped away.


    Afterying in her bed for a while, she still felt anxious, so she left her bed and knocked on Ji Bai¡¯s door.


    Ji Bai had already fallen asleep, but when he heard the knocks he quickly put on a shirt and a pair of pants. Upon seeing Xu Xu at the door, he smiled. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you wouldn¡¯t being over until we return to Lin City?¡±


    Xu Xu did not smile as she entered the room quietly.


    Ji Bai watched her walk in, then followed her. The two of them sat down on the couch and Ji Bai reached his hand out to hold the back of her head, then stroked her hair. ¡°Tell me what happened.¡±


    Xu Xu briefly exined what had happened, after which Ji Bai looked horrified. He let go of her and stood up. ¡°This must be reported to Director Sun and voiced out to the Burmese government, it can¡¯t be tolerated.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve already reported it and Director Sun is furious too, he¡¯ll take care of it right away.¡±


    Only after hearing this did Ji Bai sat sit down.


    The two of them sat there silently for some time, but Ji Bai noticed that his partner still did not look alright. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Xu Xu kept quiet for a moment then looked up at him and said softly, ¡°Third brother, my heart feels unpleasant.¡±


    Ji Bai understood that it was her first time witnessing a person¡¯s life being taken. Despite the fact that she was a calm and prudent person, she still had a kind nature, so it was natural that she was affected by this.


    To be honest, her reaction was quite eptable aspared to that of a normal person.


    That being said, it was still her first time acting fragile in front of him; she had even called him ¡°third brother¡± as if she was wronged. All the while, she had been upfront and direct with her speech and expression and never tried to hide anything, thus the reliance that she expressed at this moment made Ji Bai feel even more sorry for her. However, even though he felt sorry for her, he also felt a bit of joy. He hugged her in his arms and lowered his head to look at her face which was just inches away from his. ¡°Myanmar is quite chaotic due to their war, so the military can be quite cruel in the way that they handle things, don¡¯t take it to heart.¡±


    Xu Xu remained silent for a while then replied, ¡°I understand, they don¡¯t have any awareness of thew. General Po also probably thinks that this is the only way to gain the respect of his soldiers.¡±


    Ji Bai smiled and no longer talk sense into her. Later on, he kissed her again.


    The night sky was turning darker and Xu Xu had already calmed down, despite this, her heart still felt somewhat stifled. She wanted to stay with him longer, so she did not mention anything about returning to her room; meanwhile, Ji Bai did not say anything either.


    Sometimeter, the two of them climbed onto the bed. Ji Bai turned off the main light and only left a tablemp on, then he pulled her into his arms and started kissing her neck before moving downwards. He also ced his hand into her dress and used it to explore her body.


    The night sky was tranquil the only sounds that could be heard was the crickets chirping in the paddy field outside. Xu Xu¡¯s body was burning, and her head spun as though she was intoxicated. In spite of this, it was apletely different feeling from the afternoon as she was not nervous at all and was no longer embarrassed or uneasy either. Her initially awkward feelings seemed to have been calmed through his loving touches and kisses.


    Xu Xu watched his lean figure while breathing in the warmth dissipated from his muscles and felt like drowning in his arms. Soon, she reached out her hand out and caressed his back, then his shoulders, then his waist...


    Ji Bai was enjoying her touches, and his heart felt like a kettle about to overflow, causing him to be more gentle with his kisses. He thought about her fragile skin which might be covered in hickeys tomorrow and slowed himself down. In the midst of the passionate love, he suddenly froze as he felt her hand grabbing onto...


    He looked at her with his mouth wide open.


    Xu Xu was merely following her heart¡¯s desire and had grabbed onto it because she wanted to. When she looked at Ji Bai¡¯s agitated eyes, Xu Xu stopped in her tracks.


    Ji Bai immediately flipped her over and held her down on the bed.


    This time, their intimacy was much closer and deeper than ever before. He finally took off her dress, but as he approached the point of no return, he suddenly pulled the nket over and covered her body. He then took a deep breath and sat up.


    He spoke gently. ¡°I don¡¯t want you to recall your first time happening in such an awful ce.¡±


    ¡°Mmm.¡± Xu Xu¡¯s face waspletely red and she nervously replied, ¡°I need to get ready too.¡±


    Ji Bai could not help butugh he kissed her forehead onest time before going for a shower.


    When Ji Bai got on the bed again, he saw Xu Xu shriveled under the nket whilst looking at him with a big smile on her face. Ji Bai¡¯s heart jumped a bit as heid on the bed and pulled her into his arms. A momentter, he took out a bundle of keys from the edge of his bed, then detached his house key and passed it to her. ¡°Wait for me in Lin City.¡±


    He said this because, ording to the delegated tasks, he had to go to Yangon tomorrow to continue hunting for Brother Lu with Sun Pu and the others; Meanwhile, Xu Xu would leave with three other criminal police officers on General Po¡¯s personal train to help escort all the criminals back to China, meaning the two of them would be separated for at least ten days. Xu Xu kept the keys, but when she thought about him having to run about all day long and the fact that he would be overworked, she felt sorry for him, so she offered him some encouragement in a sweet voice, ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll meet again, victorious, back in Lin City.¡±


    Ji Bai was rather disturbed that he was not able to taste the beautifuldy in his arms, and he could not help but get distracted when he heard those words ¨C to have a victorious meeting back in Lin City... He smiled deeply. Xu Xu was confused. ¡°Why are you smiling?¡± Ji Bai did not answer as he hugged her tightly. ¡°Let¡¯s sleep.¡± The morning of the next day, Xu Xu and the other colleagues boarded Po¡¯s personal train, and under the watchful protection of Po¡¯s army, they escorted all criminals towards China¡¯s border. On the other hand, Ji Bai headed in the opposite direction.

 Chapter 44: Chapter 45

    <h4>Chapter 44: Chapter 45</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    The train whistled past the silent wilderness under the zing sun. Green mountains could vaguely be seen off in the distance, and beyond that, boundless forests.


    Xu Xu leaned against a carriage door and called Xu Juan. ¡°... I¡¯ll arrive at Lin City tomorrow morning, you don¡¯t have to pick me up as I¡¯m going to report to the station first. If there¡¯s nothing else I¡¯m hanging up.¡±


    ¡°Wait up, how are you feeling? You¡¯re not injured, are you? Did you adapt to the weather there?¡±


    Xu Xu shook her head. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you when I¡¯m back.¡± Then, she looked down at her watch. ¡°I¡¯m entering the mountain range in ten minutes, there won¡¯t be signal then. I¡¯m going to call Ji Bai now.¡± She hung up right after saying this without waiting for a response.


    On the other end, Xu Juan held his phone and thought to himself, ¡®Damn, she¡¯s going to lose signal in ten minutes, but she only talked to me for two minutes.¡¯


    When the call came through, Ji Bai was having lunch with a few criminal police officers in a police car. It was afternoon time and the crowded city felt like a stove; after hustling for the whole morning, everyone was dropping in sweat, so they buried their heads in their food and swallowed it in big bites.


    Ji Bai was holding his lunch box and thus, did not look at the caller ID. ¡°Hello, Ji Bai. You may speak.¡±


    Upon hearing his low and mellow voice, Xu Xu felt her heart soften. ¡°It¡¯s me.¡±


    The corner of Ji Bai¡¯s lips subconsciously curled up into a grin. ¡°Did anything happen?¡±


    Xu Xu paused slightly.


    Since the two of them had only parted that morning, it was not necessary for her to call him but she was free with nothing to do, so she instinctively spent her time thinking about him; this was reasonable as it was also the first time she had feelings for anybody.


    Hence, she answered honestly, ¡°Nothing. I just miss you.¡±


    Her words felt like a refreshing shower on a hot summers day. He suddenly recalled the image in the hotel yesterday, when he was intimately intertwined with her fair-skinned, delicate body, and the way their skin rubbed against each other. All of a sudden, he became distracted and fell silent.


    At this moment, the other criminal police officers had set aside lunch boxes and were starting to put on their bulletproof vests again. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Ji Bai.¡± The Kachin soldiers who were sitting on the ground outside the car also picked up their guns and got up one after another, they were all ready to go.


    Ji Bai whispered softly, ¡°I miss you too.¡± After pausing for a while, he tilted his head closer to the phone screen and made a soft kissing sound.


    When one of the police officers saw what he did, he instantly burst outughing. It was the first time that Ji Bai had done something like that, yet he was not embarrassed, he merely put his phone away and smiled calmly before proceeding to rejoin them.


    On the other end of the call, Xu Xu looked at her phone screen as she sat on her clean bed that was being lit up brightly by the sunlight from the window.


    Her face was a little numb and her heart was pounding fast, it almost felt like she had actually been kissed...


    Sometimeter, Xu Xu went to the carriage next door and ate lunch with three other criminal police officers. The criminals were all detained in thest carriage whilst the Kachin soldiers would note to their space so, while they ate, they talked openly about the case.


    One of the officers said, ¡°It has been so long, but Brother Lu still eludes our grasp, bloody hell.¡±


    Everyone went silent for a while before an old criminal police officer took a puff of his cigarette and replied, ¡°It seems like Brother Lu has huge support from the military.¡±


    Everybody was startled, and the old criminal police officer continued, ¡°It¡¯s just my instincts because, in Myanmar, the military is in charge. Brother Lu still manages to escape us even after we set up ¡®inescapable¡¯s ¨C someone from the military is definitely secretly helping her.¡±


    Another criminal police nodded. ¡°I agree with your point of view. I had investigated Brother Lu¡¯s bank ounts, and guess what they looked like? There¡¯s not even a cent in them, and they¡¯re no transaction records either. Where has all the money gone to then? Obviously, they¡¯ve gone to this person. If we¡¯re able to find this person, then we¡¯ll be able to capture Brother Lu.¡±


    Everyone else nodded in agreement, but Xu Xu was kind of stunned. ¡°Does Brother Lu trust this person so much?¡±


    When the officers heard her question, one of themughed and teased her. ¡°Don¡¯t you map out criminal mindsets? I heard that you were the one who caught the razor de criminal in Lin City? Not bad at all, but if you could make a drawing to figure out the mastermind behind this case, we¡¯ll be able to capture him right away.¡±


    All of themughed, but Xu Xu shook her head. ¡°There are too few clues, I wouldn¡¯t even be able toplete a preliminary drawing.¡±


    Although she said this, after returning to herpartment, Xu Xuid on the bed and started zoning out.


    Over the past few days, she had been busy with work in Maija City and her mind was now filled with details of hundreds of criminals, such that she had no time to even consider Brother Lu or who the traitor might be. Nheless, as she was free from work today, the discussion had brought the matter back to her attention.


    She took out a pen and paper, then scribbled down everything rting to the case that came to mind. Half an hourter, she had gotten nowhere.


    When she looked up, she saw her phone sitting on the desk. She thought about Ji Bai, which made her smile. Her pen moved on its own as she daydreamed, and before she knew it, she had written ¡°Ji Bai¡¯ and ¡°third brother¡± a few times on the paper.


    As she tried to refocus her mind to continue thinking about the case, she looked at the row of ¡°Ji Bai¡± letters on the paper and an idea suddenly appeared in her mind, startling her.


    Thanks to Ji Bai, she suddenly realized that even though she did not know who the mysterious person was, she could still analyze this person¡¯s characteristics through Brother Lu, since he was closely rted to Brother Lu.


    Brother Lu was an extremely cautious, secretive, and determined person. She totally prioritized herself and even had her own independent criminal group in the country.


    What kind of person could make a female leader like Brother Lu bow before him withplete trust?


    After she thought about this, everything fell into ce. Countless clues surged into Xu Xu¡¯s mind like an explosion. She took the pen and paper and first wrote the word ¡°couple¡±.


    Yes, for someone like Brother Lu, only a person who she shared an intimate rtionship with could win her absolute trust, such that she would not keep even a single cent in her own ounts. Since they had different nationalities and there were no foreign rtives mentioned in Brother Lu¡¯s family data, this person was most likely a partner.


    A short whileter, she wrote again. ¡°Aged between 30-40 years old, single, unmarried, no child.¡±


    This was because it was impossible for a person to achieve such an influential position in the military if that person was too young or too old. This was because men in Myanmar were usually married at an early age and ced a lot of priority on bearing children. Meanwhile, an old man who already had a first wife or children would not be able to win Brother Lu overpletely.


    The third was more of a guess ¨C ¡°charm¡±. To the average person, and most certainly to a valiant woman like Brother Lu, this man most probably possessed a unique and powerful charm thatter allowed him to win over her love despite her powerful position.


    Xu Xu paced back and forth excitedly in the narrow carriage as she thought about this. A whileter, she wrote down two terms side by side ¨C ¡°violent, abusive.¡±


    While there were other gangs in Northern Burma, Brother Lu¡¯s group was no doubt the cruelest way in the way it handled matters, there were loads of unnecessary acts of violence associated with their crimes.


    Xu Xu had seen this in many of their past cases: In kidnappings, they often mutted the limbs of the victims in order to reduce resistance; When abducting babies and trafficking them out of China¡¯s border, they used sleeping pills, which cause a great number of babies to fall dangerously ill. In Zhou Chengbo¡¯s case, they had sent a bomb to take revenge after failing in their first attempt and made sure that even if Zhou Chengbo managed to escape the explosion, he would be beaten to death.


    The behavioral characteristics of a criminal group naturally reflected the style of its leader. That being said, criminal records of Brother Lu showed that she did not usually express such inclinations herself, she was very likely simply conveying the other person¡¯s intentions with the way gang went about.


    Finally, Xu Xu wrote down onest adjective ¨C ¡°conceited¡±.


    Brother Lu¡¯s criminal group had various ways ofmitting crimes. They had a broadwork and they always involved themselves in anything that could earn them money, which was, quite frankly, a cocky move. The fact that this man wanted a piece of every pie not only it reflected his greed and cunningness, it also reflected the fact that he was conceited.


    ...


    Xu Xu picked the paper up and leaned against her bed as she furrowed her brows and pondered. ¡®These conclusions are still too vague and brief, there¡¯s also a possibility that I missed the mark on one or two of them. It¡¯s just not possible for me toplete a reliable drawing.¡¯ Even so, she faintly felt that she was going to capture an exceedingly serious problem...


    It was at this moment that she suddenly noticed somebody looking at her. When she looked up, she saw General Po standing at the door with his hands tucked behind his back. His bronze face carried his distinctive angr features whilst his dark eyes were staring right at her.


    Xu Xu was slightly stunned as the image of Po sticking his gun into the criminal¡¯s mouth instantly appeared in her mind.


    ¡®Between 30-40 years old, single, unmarried, no child, has a unique charm and prestige, conceited and has certain violent, abusive tendencies...¡¯


    She folded the paper in her hand and put it into her pocket, then she got off the bed and looked at him with aposed expression. ¡°General Po. Is there anything that I can help you with?¡±


    Po walked in steadily and stopped in front of her as his guards moved to guard the door.


    ¡°Themander in chief asked that I apologize to you.¡± He gazed at her and said slowly, there was a hint of distaste in his voice, almost as though he was mocking her.


    Xu Xu nodded. ¡°Mmm. Continue.¡±


    Her response made Po fall silent for an instant, then a creepy smile stretched across his face. ¡°Sorry.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded. ¡°I hope that this won¡¯t happen again in the future.¡±


    Po took a nce at her then walked towards the door, but he suddenly paused and turned to look at her. There was not even a hint of warmth in his voice as he coldly said, ¡°The soldiers¡¯ lives belong to me, even if the same thing happens again, I¡¯ll still kill him without a mistake.¡±


    As she watched him move away, Xu Xu called out, ¡°Wait a minute.¡±


    Po turned to look at her.


    Xu Xu looked back at him. ¡°I ept your apology.¡±


    The same mocking smile appeared on Po¡¯s face again, but Xu Xu shifted the topic and said, ¡°I¡¯m saying this because Director Sun had phoned me and told me that yourmander in chief had mentioned you. He told me something else too ¨C ¡®Even though the Burmese python is ferocious, it is extremely determined and firm in its principles¡¯. This sentence made me feel touched. General Po, although I still can¡¯t agree with your actions, I can understand your viewpoint, and I also hope that before you kill anyone in the future, you¡¯ll at least think twice.¡±


    Po stared at her for a while before replying, ¡°I actually despise this ¡®Burmese python¡¯ moniker given to me by themander, but your director¡¯s exnation is quite meaningful.¡±


    He left after saying this, leaving Xu Xu frowning on the spot.


    After they entered Myanmar, Ji Bai had asked the Burmese officials about this mysterious title, but none of them have heard of this ¡®Burmese python¡¯ before. Xu Xu deduced that it was most likely a moniker known by a small group of people, but she got caught up in the case after that, so she had to put the matter aside.


    Xu Xu immediately went to look for the other criminal police officers. When she arrived at theirpartment, she found that it was unexpectedly empty. Only then did Xu Xu look at her watch and notice that it was time for them to inspect the carriage where the criminals were being detained.


    While Xu Xu walked to the carriage in the rear quickly, she tried to call their phones, but the calls could not get through. Xu Xu thought for a while then drafted a message to Ji Bai. ¡°Po is Lu¡¯s lover, the Burmese python.¡± Despite this, a message repeatedly popped up on her screen saying that the message was failed to be sent. When she tried to call Ji Bai¡¯s phone, it naturally did not go through either.


    This afternoon, Ji Bai was feeling a little anxious. In the evening, the criminal police force and soldiers raided one of Brother Lu¡¯s suspectedirs, only to find nothing. After a thorough investigation of the scene, Ji Bai fell deep into thought.


    He went to look for Director Sun. ¡°I¡¯ve checked our records over the past few days, and ording to witnesses¡¯ statements and military blockades, Brother Lu managed to escape our grasp each and every time. This isn¡¯t right.¡±


    Director Sun nodded. ¡°I was just about to look for you, I also suspect that Brother Lu most probably has an aplice in Myanmar¡¯s military. I¡¯ll negotiate with the Burmese immediately.¡±


    On the train.


    Once Po returned to his luxuriouspartment, Brother Lu who was on the bed moved closer to him and rested against his shoulder. Po looked at her and said, ¡°We¡¯ll pass by the Laos border at night.¡±


    Brother Lu kissed his face. ¡°Mmm. When will we meet again?¡±


    Po pulled her into his arms. ¡°When the Chinese are gone, I¡¯ll go get you.¡±


    Brother Lu looked at his tough and battle-worn face and felt a tingling in her heart. She unbuttoned his shirt, pushed him down, and crawled onto his chest, then, while kissing him, she asked, ¡°Where did you go just now?¡±


    Po leaned back on the bed and casually caressed her body. ¡°I went to apologize to the little policewoman from China.¡± When he recalled Xu Xu¡¯s words, he smiled.


    Brother Lu looked up. ¡°Which little policewoman from China?¡±


    ¡°Xu Xu. It¡¯s a very odd name.¡±


    Brother Lu¡¯s heart shook. ¡°Xu Xu? Xu Xu from Lin City? What did you tell her? How did she express herself?¡±


    The reason why Brother Lu was so rmed was that during herst escape when she had disguised herself as a victim, the other criminal police officers did not pay much attention to her, even the other policewoman who was inches away from her did not notice anything wrong. However, when she got into the car, she felt that somebody was looking at her very sternly. When she casually turned her head in the person¡¯s direction, she saw that it was a youngdy...


    Brother Lu¡¯s cautious nature coupled with the deep impression left by Xu Xu meant that after she escaped, she had gone to look for someone to investigate Xu Xu. Then, she concluded that she had to avoid this police officer in the future.


    Therefore, she briefly told Po about the razor de case in Lin City and exined, ¡°You must be wary of this police officer, she¡¯s very powerful, it¡¯s as if she can foresee crime in advance. Besides, she¡¯s also the apprentice of detective Ji Bai.¡±


    After listening to this, Po just smiled and picked up the interphone on the table. ¡°Where is the little policewoman?¡±


    Sometimeter, the captain of the guards said, ¡°She¡¯s running towards the carriage where the criminals are detained.¡±


    ¡°Stop her and bring her to me. Don¡¯t allow her to get into contact with anyone.¡±


    Xu Xu saw that she was only two carriages away from her destination, but she was suddenly stopped by a few soldiers. She was slightly shocked, then she heard the soldiers speak to her in broken Mandarin, ¡°The general wants to see you.¡±


    Xu Xu shook her head. ¡°Wait a minute, I have to look for my colleagues, it¡¯s urgent.¡±


    The soldiers told her that she could not do that.


    Xu Xu then followed the men to Po¡¯s carriage, and when she looked up, she saw Po leaning against a couch, his gaze was cold yet sharp.


    Xu Xu¡¯s heart skipped a beat as a chill ran down her spine. As she was walking in, the phone that she was holding so tightly in her hand vibrated, causing her to suddenly remember it. She turned and coughed softly, then took a quick look at the screen, only to see that it was disying a bright blue text bubble. ¡°The message was sessfully sent.¡±


    There was also a message from Ji Bai. ¡°Got it, we¡¯re on our way. Take care of yourself and wait for me.¡±

 Chapter 45: Chapter 46

    <h4>Chapter 45: Chapter 46</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    The train moved forward as the scenery outside shed by the window as bright lights fell upon the silent carriage.


    Xu Xu looked at Po and sat opposite him. ¡°General, why did you seek me out so urgently?¡±


    Po supported his chin with both of his hands and leaned against therge sofa, with his strong body, he looked like a resting panther.


    ¡°I heard that you are very good at psychology. Could you predict the identity of a criminal?¡±


    Xu Xu sat in an upright position as per usual with her legs neatly crossed, then she rested her hands on her knees and looked at him quietly.


    Why?


    Why did he undergo this change in character in such a short time? Did he suspect that she knew of his identity?


    Xu Xu could not figure out the link between these two questions, but even so, she knew very well the reason why Po had looked for her.


    He was testing her.


    If he was sure of her abilities, then he would most likely have already killed her.


    Moreover, with his extremely conceited attitude, he would probably find it hard to believe that someone would be able to uncover his secret the identity that he hid so well.


    Therefore, she had to put on an act.


    With this in mind, Xu Xu decided in her mind and asked, ¡°Who told you that I¡¯m good at psychoanalysis?¡± The look on Po¡¯s face changed slightly, but she continued to ask with an indifferent look on her face: ¡°Ti Sa? Our director?¡±


    Only then did the corners of Po¡¯s thick lips curled up cunningly and he stared at her in an obvious state of bemusement. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about it, I¡¯m just very interested in what conclusions you¡¯ve drawn about me.¡±


    Xu Xu looked at his eyes which were different from that of anyone that she had ever seen before. His eyes were extraordinarily dark and sharp, with an eerie silence seemingly trapped within it. Only someone who killed a lot of people would have such calm yet cruel eyes.


    Xu Xu¡¯s heartbeat started to elerate a little.


    After a while, she answered impolitely, ¡°Do you find it interesting? Sorry, my skills are for solving crimes, not for entertainment.¡±


    The smile on Po¡¯s face got deeper as he mmed both of his hands on the table. Then, he moved nearer to her until his dark red scar stood right in front of her eyes. Xu Xu frowned and moved backward. ¡°What¡¯re you doing?¡±


    ¡°The Chinese have always liked to brag, and it seems that you¡¯re no exception.¡± He tantly provoked her. ¡°Are all the Chinese police officers as useless as you?¡±


    Xu Xu stared at him without saying anything before she gently tapping on the back of the chair with her right finger as Po waited very patiently. After tapping on the chair for a while, she stopped and said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to provoke me. In my opinion, it¡¯s not that difficult to analyze you.¡±


    Po leaned against the back of the chair and smiled widely. After he was doneughing, he took out a small pistol from the drawer and handed it to her. ¡°If you analyze me correctly, I¡¯ll give this gun to you as a gift. In the future, I, the Gold Python will be your friend.¡±


    Why was he giving her a gun? Was he testing her?


    Xu Xu raised her head and looked towards the table. ¡°The usage of guns is controlled in China, so it would be useless for me to take it. Instead, if I am right, give this to me.¡±


    She pointed at a wood carving of a flower which was neatly ced at the corner of the table. The bloomingyers of its petals had a concentrated and exquisite texture, yet it seemed like it had been made recklessly.


    Po nced at the flower and asked, ¡°Why do you want this? This is not worth anything.¡±


    ¡®Clearly, there is a reason to it ¨C it¡¯s because you¡¯re the one who carved this flower. Its violent andplicated creation hidden under the seemingly peaceful appearance matches your innermost being.¡¯ Xu Xu thought internally.


    On the outside, Xu Xu replied calmly, ¡°China has a word called ¡®first impressions¡¯, which means that I felt for something after looking at it for the first time. This flower may be just an ordinary decorative item for you, but I think it has its charm.¡±


    The smile on Po¡¯s face became hard to read as he took the flower and threw it into her arms. ¡°You can begin now.¡±


    Whilst Xu Xu and Po sat opposite each other talking, Ji Bai was seated inside a helicopter. He flew across mountains and rivers to quickly rush back to intercept the path of the train.


    Although at this point it was just a spection without any hard evidence, since the task force insisted, both the Chinese and Burmese sides agreed not to take any risks; hence, both parties sent special police units and army troops to intercept the train.


    Ji Bai looked at the clouds floating outside the window and he felt his palm sweat as he held onto the mobile phone.


    The train had already left the mountains and their mobile signal had been restored and the task force had also gotten into contact with the other criminal police officers on the train to get them ready for the operation. Even so, Xu Xu¡¯s mobile phone had been turned off and, thus, was unreachable.


    The other criminal police officers told them that Po had invited Xu Xu over for a ¡°chat¡±. A senior criminal police officer tried to hold a meeting as an excuse so that Xu Xu could leave, but the opposite party¡¯s men said that General Po did not want to be disturbed.


    To avoid alerting them, they had no choice but to take no action.


    Ji Bai felt his heart tighten and ache slightly as he looked at thest text message that she had sent over and over again.


    Xu Xu, Xu Xu.


    No one could get through Xu Xu¡¯s mobile phone because she had immediately deleted her messages and shut it down after she received Ji Bai¡¯s text message, after all, she could not let Po discover any traces. However, she did not have time to discard the paper in which she had wrote down her entire deduction process.


    Fortunately, Po¡¯s purpose was only to test her. He did not want to appear suspicious to her, so he did not search her body.


    Under Po¡¯s questioning gaze, instead of speaking immediately, she got up and examined the surroundings of the carriage. Only then did she turn around and began: ¡°First of all, you have a very tough personality. You act based on your own sense of judgment instead of what the average person deems right or wrong. Thus, your soldiers are afraid of you, yet they also respect you. In their eyes, you are the Heaven and the Earth.¡±


    A faint smile appeared at the corners of his mouth as he stared at her without changing his expression.


    Xu Xu continued, ¡°Secondly, you¡¯re passionate about power and possess the will to be stronger, which is why you¡¯ve reached such a position in the military in just your early thirties.¡± She stared at his face and changed the topic. ¡°Thirdly, you once had mild violent and abusive tendencies, which I can tell by the way you shot the criminal that day. Even so, the process of abusing someone does not always make you happy and you sometimes even resist the desire to act violently, right?¡±


    Po was slightly stunned.


    ¡°You are now a militarymander, so there are more ways to satisfy your abusive desires in a more violent manner. But as far as I know, you don¡¯t have such a reputation in Myanmar. Therefore, I reckon that although you can¡¯t get rid of your violent desires, you¡¯ve still been restraining yourself. General Po, I respect you for this.¡±


    Po stared at her and did not say anything.


    Xu Xu wanted to finish up in one go, so she continued, ¡°Fourthly, you don¡¯t bring a woman around, so I guess that you have a fixed partner. Since you¡¯re passionate about power, your partner should be the daughter of an influential official in Myanmar. This is so that you can get attain an even higher social status;


    ¡°Fifthly, your office, clothing, and car are just slightly better than Ti Suo¡¯s. This is probably because your financial situation is just average, so you secretly me themander-in-chief for this...¡±


    In the end, she took her time to sit across him once again and ask slightly arrogantly, ¡°General Po, did I analyze you sessfully?¡±


    There was still traces of a smile on Po¡¯s face as he looked at her with his eagle-like eyes without replying.


    Xu Xu also raised her head to look him in the eye and thought, ¡®Gold Python, tell me, are you going to believe this monstrous lie?


    The answer was yes, but notpletely.


    Po did not do anything to her, but he also did not let her return to her carriage. Instead, he locked her in a small carriage next door.


    Po was not such a cautious person. Therefore, Xu Xu could almost confirm that Brother Lu was also on this train and that this was her idea.


    Although Xu Xu did not know why she was being so defensive, Xu Xu was now in a bad situation because of it.


    The windows of the carriage were locked and there were also iron railings outside. The door was tightly shut and after she entered the carriage, two fully armed soldiers came to stand guard outside the door.


    Xu Xu sat quietly on the bed and took out her mobile phone.


    When her mobile phone was connected, Xu Xu¡¯s heart jumped. Ji Bai spoke anxiously in his low voice, ¡°Xu Xu?¡±


    She answered almost immediately. ¡°It¡¯s me. I¡¯m fine.¡±


    Ji Bai could finally calm down after learning that she was safe. Even so, he felt very uneasy because he could not see her in person. After a short moment of silence, he said in a firm tone, ¡°We will arrive in ten minutester. Wait for me.¡±


    Xu Xu held her mobile phone in her hand and looked at the mountain whizzing past the window. ¡®He said that he would arrive in ten minutes.¡¯


    When the troopse to intercept Po and Brother Lu, the two of them would definitely respond and use all kinds of tricks to get away. Since she was being imprisoned, why would they let such powerful leverage go?


    ¡°Ji Bai, I¡¯m being detained in the fourth carriage.¡± Xu Xu said softly, ¡°I might be used as a hostage.¡±


    Right after she finished talking, she heard a roaring sounding from all around as the train drove into a tunnel. Dark shadows intertwined together and raced by as only dead silence could be heard on the phone.


    On the other end of the line, the helicopter jolted suddenly as Ji Bai held his mobile phone unflinchingly. Suddenly, the captain of the special police unit who was sitting in the cockpit shouted loudly into the radio. ¡°I found the target, get ready tond.¡±


    The first signal was the sound of the explosioning from in front of them as the entire train seemed to sway before stopping abruptly. Xu Xu was expecting this, so she quickly leaned against the wall and held onto the bed tightly. Nevertheless, her back was still hurt from the impact.


    This was because they used explosives to cut off the railway in order to forcibly stop the train.


    Soon, the sound whirring helicopter des, the rumble of car engines, and the sounds of heavy footsteps was heard outside. After a few seconds, the door of the carriage was being forced open with a loud bang.


    Meanwhile, Po and Brother Lu stood at the doorway to Xu Xu¡¯s room with a gloomy look on their face.


    Xu Xu quickly stood up and asked, ¡°What happened?¡±


    Brother Lu raised the gun in her hand and pointed it at Xu Xu¡¯s head. Then, she grabbed Xu Xu¡¯s arm with her other hand and ordered, ¡°Come with us.¡±


    Xu Xu did not say anything and followed them out of the carriage. The aisle was filled with soldiers rushing about while shouting loudly. The number of human figures outside the train seemed to be overwhelming and the entire situation was chaotic.


    After the three of them took a few steps forward, Brother Lu turned around to look at her. ¡°Where¡¯s your phone?¡±


    Xu Xu took the phone out of her pocket and gave it to her, and Brother Lu immediately threw it at the wall of the carriage, shattering itpletely.


    Ji Bai wielded a pistol whilst leading a team of special police officers to the fourth carriage through the chaotic scene.


    The soldiers on the train did not retaliate due to the fact that they were facing the Kachin Army Commander¡¯s guards and the Special Police Unit from China side. Soon, the situation inside waspletely under control. The special police officers also soon found a time bomb in the carriage that was used to detain the criminals; this finding was in line with the scenario previously put forward by the task force. Po nned to create an ident, but they did not know whether he wanted to set the criminals free or whether he wanted to kill the criminals to cover up his own crimes.


    Nheless, their main objective had not yet been achieved. Where did Xu Xu go?


    Ji Bai and the special police officers searched the empty carriages. The traces of shallow indentations on the snow-white bed proved that she had been sitting there just minutes ago when she had first suggested to him that she might be held hostage in a seemingly calm yet uneasy tone.


    At this moment, a special police officer picked up the broken mobile phone from the ground. ¡°Captain Ji.¡±


    Ji Bai took it and stuffed it into his pocket.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go after them.¡±


    A sweeping search quickly began around the hills.


    The criminal police officers were assigned to various search teams and Ji Bai was designated to lead the front line with a team of special police officers. However, it would not be easy to find Po and Brother Lu in the wild as they both had a strong counter-reconnaissance experience.


    The sky gradually got darker as the search parties got farther and farther away. Soon, all the groups were out of sight and they could only rely on walkie-talkies and mobile phones tomunicate. Ji Bai had a tense look on his face since the beginning of the raid, which he continued to wear as he vigntly searched every corner of the hill.


    After some time, his team arrived at a small incline. When he looked up, all he could see was dense woods ahead.


    Ji Bai¡¯s gaze was attracted by a tiny dark white color within the high grass. He quickly shed his shlight in that direction and walked over there hastily...


    It was a thumb-sized piece of paper with some writings on it. The paper was still clean and there was not much dirt on it, so it was being left here not too long ago.


    Ji Bai¡¯s heart tightened and he quickly stood up. ¡°Immediately search for simr pieces of paper.¡±


    Soon, they found a second piece of paper with ¡°30 to 40 years old¡± written on it as well as a few random doodles.


    Everyone was energized and they rapidly moved in the direction that the two pieces of paper seemed to be leading them in. Shortly after, they found the third piece of paper. This time, ¡°a violent character?¡± was written on it.


    An armed police officer asked hesitantly, ¡°Captain Ji, were these pieces of paper left by the police officer who¡¯s being held hostage? Why can¡¯t I find any rtions regarding the contents of the paper?¡±


    The sky waspletely dark now and only the asional ray of moonlight pierced the treetops. Ji Bai squatted in front of a bush and reached out to pick up a simr piece of paper.


    ¡°She¡¯s the one who left it.¡± His voice was deep and powerful. His chest had always tough and unbothered, but now it felt cold and tight; he soon felt his heart ache as it beat rapidly in his chest.


    Some familiar handwriting was written on this particr piece of paper. ¡°Ji Bai, Third Brother, Third Brother...¡±

 Chapter 46: Chapter 47

    <h4>Chapter 46: Chapter 47</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    The forest was so dark that it seemed like it was endless. Xu Xu leaned against a boulder while gasping desperately for air. At the same time, she observed the man and woman opposite her out of the corner of her eyes.


    Brother Lu¡¯s leg had been injured by one of the many trapsid around the area. She had identally stepped onto a trap due to the fact that her attention was on Xu Xu, and her leg instantly became a bloody mess.


    With just one of them injured, their traveling speed was greatly reduced. Moreover, Xu Xu wanted to escape, but she knew she would not be able to.


    Brother Lu was sat on a tree stump with a tense look on her face from the pain while Po squatted in front of her and lifted her foot to bind it up with a bandage that he carried with him.


    ¡°Po, take her and leave. I¡¯ll stay here.¡± Brother Lu suddenly said.


    Xu Xu was slightly stunned, but she heard Po reply, ¡°No.¡±


    Brother Lu kept quiet for a moment and answered, ¡°My blood will lead the police to us sooner orter.¡±


    Po suddenly stood up, grabbed her chin and looked at her closely. After a while, he let go of her and shook his head. ¡°We¡¯ll go together.¡±


    My brother did not say anything, but she had a determined look on her face.


    However, the two of them were indeed a very powerful couple. After a long night of running, they actually managed to escape from all the traps that had beenid out for them, and before long, they neared the border of Laos.


    By now, the sun was rising to reveal a mist-covered valley ahead of them. At the end of the valley, there was a powerful river, which was right before the border to Laos.


    Po turned around and looked at Xu Xu. ¡°I¡¯ll let you go after we reach the border.¡±


    Xu Xu was surprised, and Brother Lu frowned. ¡°You want to keep this troublemaker alive?¡±


    Po shot a nce at her and tacitly agreed to with her statement.


    ¡°She will definitely give information to the police officers if you let her live, so how far will we be able to go then?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll knock her out and throw her by the riverside.¡±


    Brother Lu wanted to continue the argument, but Po looked at Xu Xu coldly with his eagle-like gaze and said in a determined tone, ¡°She¡¯s more qualified to live in this world than many other people.¡±


    Xu Xu and Brother Lu did not say anything.


    The stream of the river was flowing rapidly as the sun rose from behind the distant mountains. The bright sunlight illuminated the valley, whilst the river shimmered beautifully as it reflected the light.


    Po stood in front with his gaze was fixed on currents, trying to find the best spot to cross the river.


    Xu Xu¡¯s hands were tied behind her back with ropes and she was beyond exhausted at this point. She looked at the flowing water and tried to suppress the faint restlessness in her heart because she knew that Ji Bai must be somewhere nearby. She needed to wait for him ¨C surviving would be her greatest victory.


    She was gasping slightly and was just about to forcibly take a piece of paper from her pocket when she felt a strange pressure in her heart, so she turned her head.


    Brother Lu looked at her silently and slowly raised her gun. Since Po¡¯s back was facing the two of them, he did not notice that Brother Lu was now aiming a gun at Xu Xu.


    Xu Xu looked down the ck muzzle of the gun and her mind instantly went nk. Then, she felt her body stiffening up involuntarily as her palms started to sweat.


    ¡®Ji Bai, I can no longer wait for you.¡¯ She thought internally.


    Ji Bai had split up with the special police officers and was continuing his search along the valley. The closer they got to the border, the more danger Xu Xu was in. Thus, everyone separated to expand their search radius. They moved with even more urgency and used the walkie-talkie tomunicate with one another.


    Ji Bai tried to maintain a calm and alert state of mind by not thinking about any possibilities. Even so, a part of him was worrying as he dreaded what could be.


    Through a small clearing in the woods, Ji Bai spotted a rapidly flowing river. He quickly ducked through the woods and ran his gaze along the riverbank. Suddenly, his entire body stiffened up.


    He saw someone wading ankle-deep through the water and another person standing behind him whilst pointing a gun at a third, petite and familiar figure.


    The surrounding was spacious and quiet, such that only the sound of the river flowing nearby could be heard. Ji Bai looked at this scene and felt his heart crumbling rapidly as the person pulled the hammer of the gun to prepare to take the shot.


    His beloved woman was being forced into a corner and was about to die right in front of his eyes.


    A painful anger filled his chest and he quickly pulled out his gun and fired a single bullet with a loud, ¡°Bang!¡±


    Just as Brother Lu was about to pull the trigger, she suddenly heard a sharp noise and her shoulder went numb. Then, she felt a piercing pain and dropped the pistol in her hand right into the shallow water below.


    Xu Xu¡¯s entire body stiffened up, then she turned around and ran. Nheless, Po¡¯s reactions were faster, and in a split second, he grabbed her and restrained her tightly under his arm with a gun pointed at her head.


    Ji Bai quickly approached them with a gun in his hand.


    As he neared them, Xu Xu¡¯s appearance gradually got clearer. Her short hair was in a mess and her clothes had been all cut up by thorns. Her face was slightly pale, but there was still a stubborn and tenacious look in her dark eyes, and the moment she saw him, those same eyes were filled with uncontroble emotions.


    The look on Ji Bai¡¯s face gradually became sullener as he aimed his gun at Po who was dozens of meters away from him with no emotion on his face.


    Both parties faced off against each other.


    Xu Xu felt as though a lifetime had passed since she hadst seen Ji Bai.


    She was on the verge of death, and for the first time, she had felt chills all over her body from being so helpless. Her brain went nk and all she could hear was the sound of wind whistling in her ears as well as the sound of her heart thumping rapidly in her chest.


    But now, when she looked into his eyes again, she felt a gush of warmth washing over her body and wrapping around her uneasy heart...


    Her breath gradually steadied as she lifted her gaze to look at the three people in front of her.


    What was she panicking? Ji Bai had arrived with the army soon to follow; Po and Brother Lu were the ones who should be panicking.


    At this moment, Po ferociously snarled, ¡°Put down the gun, or I will kill her.¡± He slyly propped Xu Xu up to block his vital parts.


    Brother Lu threatened him from the side too. ¡°Ji Bai, you¡¯re a sharpshooter, but Po¡¯s skills are no worse than yours.¡±


    Ji Bai did not move his gun.


    The sun started to get blinding as the current tickled their ankles. The four of them stood there in absolute silence while observing each other.


    Xu Xu knew that this situation was difficult, but the other police officers who had heard the gunshot earlier should arrive shortly. Right now the situation was critical, if Po was driven into a corner, then even the slightest bit of pressure might cause him to snap and pull the trigger.


    At this moment, all of them were feeling the intensity of the situation. Thus, they needed to avoid fighting head on and choose a safer option by attacking Po psychologically.


    She thought about it and had an idea.


    Ji Bai looked into her eyes and just as he was about to open his mouth, he heard her soft and calm voice speak.


    ¡°Po, both of you have a gun and are on equal ground. If you kill me, Ji Bai will kill Brother Lu.¡± Xu Xu said, ¡°If I¡¯m killed, Ji Bai would just think of me as a subordinate who was sacrificed, but are you willing to sacrifice the only woman that you love?¡±


    As she was speaking, Ji Bai quickly pointed the gun at Brother Lu. The look on Po¡¯s face became even darker and scar seemed to bulge angrily. The look on Brother Lu¡¯s face also shifted slightly.


    Xu Xu continued, ¡°You don¡¯t want her to die and I don¡¯t want to die either, so the situation is in a stalemate. Ji Bai cares about my life, but the situation will be very chaotic when the rest of the troops arrive. Not everyone from both Myanmar and China would care about the life of a mere police officer like me. There are also people in your country who want you dead, so how could they let this opportunity go?


    ¡°If they start a bullet storm, all three of us will die. Therefore, I propose exchanging one life for the other ¨C you let me go and leave with Brother Lu. You and Ji Bai are both sharpshooters, so neither of you will be willing to take the risk of testing each other¡¯s aim. This is your only way out. ¡±


    Xu Xu¡¯s words just happened to peak Po¡¯s concern and he raised his head to look Ji Bai in the eyes.


    Suddenly, they heard Brother Lu coldly say, ¡°No.¡±


    The three of them looked at her as a haunting smile appeared on her face. She looked at the woods behind Ji Bai and could vaguely see the trees rustling as well as hear the sound of scattered footsteps. Arge number of people were surrounding them quickly.


    She looked deep into Po¡¯s eyes and continued, ¡°Don¡¯t believe her. I didn¡¯t think about it at first, but she must be the reason why they had managed to follow us after all this time. In this case, they must have an ambush waiting for you at the border to Laos. Even if we manage to get there, we¡¯ll still end up captured or dead. She¡¯s lying to you.¡±


    Ji Bai and Xu Xu did not say anything.


    Brother Luughed coldly, ¡°Don¡¯t let her go, take her to Laos and use her as your bargaining chip. My hand and feet are injured, and I can¡¯t walk anymore so I¡¯ll just be a burden. Go quickly, I will cover you.¡± After saying this, she pulled out a knife and waved it in front of Ji Bai.


    Po remained silent for a moment, then he nced at her with an extremely firm look, nodded and dragged Xu Xu into the water slowly. ¡°Lu, you must survive.¡±


    The situation had changed and Xu Xu did not know what to do, so she raised her head to look at Ji Bai. However, Ji Bai was not looking at her at all. He quietly aimed his gun at Po and wrapped his finger around the trigger with a determined look in his dark eyes...


    Brother Lu¡¯s was sharp and noticed this, so she lunged towards Ji Bai with the knife.


    ¡°Stop...¡± Her voice was abruptly short as the snipers who were hidden in the shadows put a small bullet hole through her back. The snipers had been watching the whole situation closely and only pulled the trigger when they felt the situation escting beyond Ji Bai and Xu Xu¡¯s control.


    This sudden change caused Po, who was in the midst of retreating, to raise his head to look at Brother Lu. The look on his defined face immediately changed as he stared at his partner staring down at her own chest. ¡°Lu...¡±


    Xu Xu was shocked but Ji Bai naturally saw this as a fleeting opportunity to pull the trigger and urately hit Po¡¯s right wrist.


    Po¡¯s entire body stiffened as the pistol fell out of his hand. Xu Xu quickly rushed forward and Ji Bai also strode forward to carry her out of the water.


    The sound of messy footsteps approached and in seconds, numerous special police officers who were previously hiding in the woods showed themselves. When they saw the opportunity, they rushed forward and subdued Po by holding him firmly against the ground. His arms were being restrained behind his back and both of his eyes were scarlet-red. Brother Lu looked at him while on the brink of death and tried to move her lips, but no one knew what she said.


    Ji Bai finally rxed his grip on the gun and lowered his head to look at Xu Xu who was now in his arms. Xu Xu looked at him nervously as she still had not recovered from the shock. She could hear his steady yet racing heartbeat as well as see his handsome and calm face under the tropical sunlight.


    ¡°Third Brother...¡± Xu Xu subconsciously murmured, as if she wasforting herself by calling out for him.


    Ji Bai stared at her and a smile slowly appeared in his dark eyes.


    Xu Xu smiled and buried her head in his chest as Ji Bai tightened his arms around her and pulled her even closer to him.


    On the flight back to Lin City.


    Brother Lu and Po were escorted separately to the China-Myanmar prison where severe punishment from both countries awaited them.


    After many days of hard work, everyone was safe and the mission was dered a sess. The members of the task force were exhausted yet happy as they sat back in their seats and chatted with each other merrily. There was even a gratifying joyful tone in their voices.


    Meanwhile, Xu Xu and Ji Bai together in thest row of the ne. Suddenly, Ji Bai turned sideways to look at Xu Xu¡¯s fair and clear face.


    She was his treasure that he had lost but found again.


    Ever since the incident, both of their hearts had been riding an emotional high. However, after both Brother Lu and Po were captured, they had been busy with the follow-up work, so they did not get to spend any time together. Also, since they were surrounded by police officers from both countries, it was very inappropriate for them to do anything romantic. Thus, they could only secretly hold hands under the seats and look at each other without saying a word.


    After a while, Ji Bai looked at her and said softly, ¡°You got some nerve threatening Brother Lu¡¯s life while yours is at stake, huh?¡±


    By now, Xu Xu hadpletely calmed down and she took her time to answer him. ¡°Its fine, since he cares a lot about Brother Lu¡¯s life.¡±


    After a while, she turned around and looked back at him.


    ¡°What were you going to do at the time? Were you thinking the same thing as me?¡± She recalled that he was about to speak at the time too.


    Ji Bai looked at her and grinned. ¡°You¡¯re really good at analyzing Po, but you totally forgot to analyze me.¡±


    If Po was not willing to sacrifice his beloved woman, then why would he?


    Both Po and Brother Lu were extremely vicious gangsters such that even the slightest mistake on Ji Bai¡¯s part might cost him his beloved life. Therefore, how could he risk provoking them when her life was on the line? She was the only one in the world who dared to do such a thing.


    In fact, the first thought that he had when he rushed forward was to...


    Exchange himself for her.


    He wanted to try to convince them that since Brother Lu was injured and since Xu Xu was very weak, it would be difficult for Po to escape with the two of them. If they were to take him hostage instead, he could help carry Brother Lu. Additionally, the captain of a criminal police unit and also the grandson of the Ji Family was far more valuable than an ordinary police officer...


    Xu Xu was stupefied when she heard him say that she had forgotten to analyze him. Ji Bai did not say anymore and simply squeezed her hand, leaned back against the chair and closed his eyes.


    Xu Xu watched his handsome and peaceful sleeping face and after a while, a thought suddenly crossed her mind. Was he nning to...


    She remained silent for a moment, then moved closer and kissed him.


    Who would have expected that the moment her lips touch his face for him to fling his eyes wide open. He then pulled her into his arms and lowered his head to kiss her deeply,pletely ignoring the people around them in the process.


    The flowing clouds outside the window were painted pastel shades by the sun as the warm gold sunlight shone over the evening sky. Distant mountains and lush green fields could be vaguely seen off in the distance as well, signifying that Lin City was just ahead.

 Chapter 47: Chapter 48 & 49

    <h4>Chapter 47: Chapter 48 & 49</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    It was already evening when the nended in Lin City. Everything darkened with the setting sun, the lighthouse in the distance sparked like a jewel.


    There was a group of influential looking people in the arrival lounge. Ji Bai and Director Sun at the front were greeted heartily by the provincial leader, with shes from the reporters¡¯ cameras.


    Ji Bai saw a young man next to the provincial leader but he was not surprised. He smiled and said, ¡°Secretary Hua.¡± Secretary Hua smiled and said, ¡°Your brother was worried so he sent me here to see you. Is everything going well?¡± Ji Bai nodded ¡°Everything is going smoothly.¡±


    The provincial leader who was standing by the sideughed and said, ¡°Ji Bai is the model of the security system in our province. No criminal can escape his grasp if he gets involved. Director Ji can rest assured.¡±


    Xu Xu, beingst to disembark, appeared finally, apanied by Da Hu and Zhao Han, representatives of Lin City¡¯s police. They couldn¡¯t reach her and so could only ask from afar with concern, ¡°Are you all right? I heard that you were held hostage? Are you injured?¡± Xu Xu was warmed by their concern and answered their questions patiently.


    And when they had finished their questioning, they turned to look for Ji Bai and his group.


    It was gettingte. There was nothing else nned tonight but Xu Xu and Ji Bai had to attend amendation ceremony at the provincial department in the morning. So when Xu Xu saw that the crowd had dwindled, she bid farewell to Da Hu and the rest. ¡°Then I¡¯ll go home first, see you all tomorrow.¡± Everyone nodded.


    Right at this time, she saw a familiar figure step out from the crowd. It was Ji Bai. He stood straight and looked even taller in the shadows. A little smile on his face made him look even more vivid and radiant. He first greeted Da Hu and the others who quickly asked him many questions excitedly.


    Xu Xu looked at him smiled.


    He caught her smile and walked towards her. Those who knew smiled knowingly. Even those unaware of their rtionship noticed immediately. Xu Xu reacted calmly to his gentle smile ¡°Teacher.¡±


    Ji Bai ced a hand on her shoulder, looked at her with quiet dark eyes and said, ¡°I can¡¯t leave now. How will you get home?¡± Xu Xu¡¯s face flushed and his hand seemed to burn the soft skin on her shoulder.


    She stared at his shirt nkly, ¡°My brother wille to pick me up.¡± ¡°Okay, see you tomorrow.¡±


    He stared at her, eyes smiling. ¡°Have a good rest.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Xu Xu replied, her head lowered.


    Only then did he removed his hand and turned to bid farewell to Da Hu and others. A few officials looked at him amused. Secretary Hua clearly saw too but he smiled and remained silent. Ji Bai was not the least embarrassed as he openly cared for his girlfriend. He got into the car with the leaders and left.


    Xu Xu¡¯s had to take the airport¡¯s shuttle bus with the rest of the team. On the way, some looked at her knowingly but an older woman from the Logistics Department of the City Bureau asked outright, ¡°Little Xu, are you in a rtionship with Captain Ji?¡± Many looked over and Xu Xu could only answer, ¡°Yes.¡±


    But when Xu Xu arrived at the exit, she saw Xu Juan in the crowd, dressed in white shirt and trousers. His handsome, yetid back look, was extremely attractive.


    When Xu Juan saw his sister, a smile appeared on his face. He went over to help with her luggage and caressed her head. He could see that she was obviously more tanned and her face thinner. Thus, he frowned and said, ¡°Don¡¯t go to horrible ces like that in the future.¡± Xu Xu could not help butugh.


    The two got home and their father prepared enough dishes to fill a table.


    Professor Xu had a gentle and restrained nature. Over dinner, it was mostly Xu Juan and Xu Xu discussing the things that happened in Myanmar. Xu Xu had the same temperament as her father so she answered concisely, sometimes in a dull manner. After a while, Xu Juan gave up, only telling her to take care of her skin so that it will recover to its previous good condition.


    After dinner, Xu Juan took the initiative to wash the dishes and their father went to the study room to practice his routine calligraphy art. Xu Xu lingered in the living room for a while but, being not much of a talker, went into the study soon after. No one knew Xu Xu better than Professor Xu and he smiled gently when he saw his daughter by his side quietly.


    After a while, he changed the topic and said, ¡°You didn¡¯t encounter anything dangerous during the trip, right?¡±


    Xu Xu answered: ¡°Something did happen but I wasn¡¯t hurt.¡±


    Her father nodded and did not ask much. He then looked at her and a gentle smile appeared in his eyes. ¡°Xu Juan said that you have a boyfriend?¡±


    Xu Xu¡¯s face reddened. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s is new.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure that the guy that you chose must be a responsible young man.¡± Her father said, ¡°Bring him home so that I can meet him when you feel the time is right.¡±


    After her father slept, Xu Xu went to Xu Juan¡¯s room. He was on the bed, cigarette in hand, working overtime on hisptop. He was looking through documents sent by staff.


    Xu Xu sat beside him and said after a while, ¡°I almost died this time.¡±


    Xu Juan turned his gaze from theptop towards her.


    Xu Xu smiled and said, ¡°At that time I was afraid that I would never see you and Dad again if I died.¡±


    Xu Juan did not say anything, reached out his hands and held her in his arms.


    This was the way Xu Xu was with her family.


    Perhaps because she was raised by two men, she was silent and introverted. She was not feminine and she was rarely dependent on others, unlike other girls. Nheless, at the right time, she will express her feelings, her own way. Once in a while, she would even seek constion from her brother just like a normal girl. However, in front of her aging father, she would have reservations and keep her grievances in her heart.


    After leaving Xu Juan¡¯s room, Xu Xu was in a good mood. She took a shower,idfortably on the bed and took out her mobile phone to send a text message to Ji Bai. ¡°I¡¯m going to sleep now, good night.¡±


    She immediately received Ji Bai¡¯s phone call.


    It was mostly talking and less eating at the dinner earlier so Ji Bai was buying supper at a supermarket near his apartment. It was veryte at night and there was just a few staff in the very brightly lit supermarket. He stood at the counter with a box of frozen dumplings.


    ¡°I thought you were asleep already.¡± He said softly and smilingly.


    ¡°No, I was talking to Xu Juan just now.¡± Xu Xu also smiled. ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    Ji Bai was paying at the counter. Saw some beautiful packets on the shelf, was impressed so he picked up an expensive box of Durex and threw it into his shopping basket. He answered, ¡°Buying dumplings, I didn¡¯t eat enough at dinner.¡±


    When they went back to work the next day, the two of them were so busy that they did not even get to talk to each other.


    By the time Ji Bai finished the work on his table, it was already near the afternoon. The letter at the very bottom of the file was Yao Meng¡¯s letter of resignation.


    Old Wu had mentioned to him about it earlier this morning and he muttered to himself slightly before calling the Station Chief.


    The Station Chief¡¯s attitude was very clear. ¡°I¡¯ve talked to her. The girl has other ideas and we can¡¯t force her. Sign on the letter and her resignation procedure will bepleted.¡±


    Instead of signing on the paper immediately, Ji Bai called Yao Meng into his office and closed the door.


    Yao Meng¡¯s heart was still somewhat ufortable after a month of not seeing Ji Bai, but she could look at him very calmly already. ¡°Captain, are you looking for me?¡±


    Ji Bai went straight to the point. ¡°My opinion, I don¡¯t want you to resign. You have a veryprehensive talent and you¡¯re one of the rare talents in the police unit.¡±


    His word made Yao Meng¡¯s heart tremble slightly and she smiled lightly. ¡°Thank you. But I...¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t want to stay in the criminal police unit...¡± Ji Bai looked at her directly and said in a calm tone, ¡°You want to go to any department in the station, I can rmend you. With your qualifications, there should not be any difficulty. I can also help you contact the provincial department.¡±


    Yao Meng looked at him quietly, remained silent for a moment and a very brightness appeared in her eyes.


    ¡°Thank you, Captain, I really do appreciate it.¡± She said softly, ¡°During this period of time, I learned a lot from you. You were the one who spoke up for me in the Brother Lu incident previously. I¡¯m really lucky to have you as my leader after my graduation. It¡¯s my luck. Nheless, I am leaving the police for other reasons.¡±


    She smiled brightly and said, ¡°I have a job that I¡¯m more interested in. One of my friends asked for my help to manage a magazine agency. I think this job is very challenging and even more interesting, that¡¯s why I resigned.¡±


    Ji Bai nodded and smiled: ¡°I understand. I¡¯ll wish you all the best then. Also, if you wish to return to the police station in the future, as long as you¡¯ve not thrown away your professionalism, we will always wee you.¡±


    Yao Meng¡¯s eyes were moist but she held back her tears and nodded at Ji Bai firmly.


    Ji Bai got up and shook her hand. ¡°There is a gathering among the unit tonight, join us if you¡¯re free.¡±


    Yao Meng smiled and shook her head. ¡°I have a date tonight so I won¡¯t be going. I will attend the station¡¯s celebration party next week and officially bid farewell to everyone.¡±


    The dinner at night was held in a restaurant next to the police station. In addition to the criminal police unit, there were several other people from other departments who were quite close to Ji Bai. They were all men and they all surrounded Ji Bai as well as Xu Xu. All of them talked about the Myanmar case and the atmosphere was very lively.


    Zhao Han sat at the outermost area and he ordered a bunch of drinks. Suddenly, he thought of Xu Xu and he asked, ¡°Sister-inw, what do you want to drink?¡±


    Xu Xu did not know he was talking to her, so she did not answer him. However, she heard Ji Bai who was sitting beside her said, ¡°She will be drinking juice.¡±


    Only then, Xu Xu was stunned. She scanned through the crowd of people and everyone looked the same even though they had introduced themselves.


    Xu Xu¡¯s cheeks were getting flushed and she continued to listen to them talk with an indifferent look on her face just like the rest of them.


    ===========================


    After the drinks had arrived, the atmosphere finally got very lively. Most of the criminal police officers drank fiercely and they were moring to propose a toast to Ji Bai and Xu Xu. Ji Bai interrupted them with his big hand, took the ss of alcohol they ced in front of Xu Xu and put it in front of him. ¡°She doesn¡¯t drink.¡±


    Thus, everyone undoubtedly went straight to Ji Bai.


    As the saying goes, how one acts while drinking reflects one¡¯s character. Ji Bai did not drink excessively, and he was not willing to be forced to drink. Even so, if he was supposed to drink, he would drink without leaving a cup frank and openly. After a while, his handsome face got slightly red and he ced his arm around Xu Xu¡¯s chair. He had a casual and aid-back look on his face, but his dark eyes were getting brighter and sharper.


    Xu Xu had been eating with a peace of mind and someone suddenly asked, ¡°Sister-inw, aren¡¯t you going to control Captain Ji? How many cups has he drunk? It¡¯s absurd!¡±


    Right after that person finished talking, everyone looked towards her and Ji Bai also turned sideways to look at her smilingly while he squinted his eyes slightly.


    Xu Xu nced at him and shook her head. ¡°He doesn¡¯t need to be controlled.¡±


    In her opinion, Ji Bai was a person who knew his limit and he had a very strong self-control. Therefore, such people generally will not get drunk.


    Nevertheless, when everyone heard that, they were stunned initially but they quicklyughed. Someone pretentiously sighed in admiration and said, ¡°Sister-inw allows you to do whatever you want, yeah! Captain Ji, you¡¯re really lucky!¡±


    Ji Bai looked at her with a smile in his eyes under everyone¡¯s teasing gaze.


    He knew what she was thinking and there was no need for unnecessary restriction between the two of them. Even so, when she answered the question frankly, she unintentionally made him look good in front of the others.


    She not only made him look good on the outside, she also made him feel good on the inside. They were right, he was really blessed to be her man.


    Although Ji Bai helped Xu Xu drank all the alcohol that was given to her, the station leaders coincidently also had a celebration with the few colleagues from the task force that went overseas. After a while, Director Sun came to drink along with two other criminal police officers.


    Director Sun was particrly happy when he saw Ji Bai and Xu Xu. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that we not only caught criminals on our trip to Myanmar, but we also started a love rtionship between two criminal police officers. Come, let me have a toast with both of you!¡±


    Just when Ji Bai wanted to take away Xu Xu¡¯s drink, Director Sun stopped him and said, ¡°Hey! As a criminal police officer, even if she¡¯s a policewoman, can¡¯t she drink even a small amount of alcohol? Move aside, Ji Bai.¡±


    Ji Bai looked at Xu Xu and whispered to her, ¡°Drink as much as you can handle.¡± Everyone booed teasingly.


    Xu Xu nodded and drank with crity.


    After drinking two cups, she hadpleted her task and she was getting a little dizzy. She got up and went outside to catch a breath. Ji Bai chatted with them for a while and he looked towards the door when he found out that she had not returned yet. At this time, Da Hu had just returned from giving a toast in the room beside them. He casually sat down next to Ji Bai and said, ¡°Captain, Xu Xu is in the corridor.¡±


    Ji Bai looked at Da Hu and he continued, ¡°I just saw her retching a few times. Captain, is she pregnant? Haha... You¡¯re fast.¡±


    Ji Bai could not help butugh and said, ¡°Get out of the way.¡± He then got up and left the room.


    Xu Xu was retching just now, but after asking for a cup of warm water from the waiter, she felt better. The night looked very dark outside the window and the city lights were dazzling. She stood by the window and felt the breeze blowing towards her. For a moment, she did not want to enter the noisy room.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± She heard Ji Bai¡¯s low voice beside her.


    Xu Xu shook her head.


    There were many people passing by the corridor, Ji Bai was one step away from her and they watched the night sky side by side to each other.


    ¡°Do you have any ns after the dinner?¡± He asked.


    ¡°No.¡± Xu Xu answered.


    Ji Bai turned around and looked at her. ¡°Do you want to go to my house? It¡¯s a Saturday tomorrow, so we can rx, watch a movie and chat tonight.¡±


    He had a calm look on his face and the faint light outside the window reflected his handsome face. His clear dark eyes looked particrly frank.


    Xu Xu said, ¡°...Sure.¡±


    Ji Bai looked at her and he did not know whether she was blushing because of the alcohol or because she was shy. He was moved and he took a step closer to her. He reached out his hands to put it around her shoulders, stared at her and said softly, ¡°The pajamas that you wore previously is still in my house. I¡¯ve washed it so you can wear it directly. Let¡¯s go back right after the party.¡±


    The two of them returned to the room and continued to drink as well as chat. The lights were shining brightly and it was lively as usual.


    After a while, Ji Bai looked at his watch and said, ¡°Its half past eight already and I¡¯m almost at my limit. Let¡¯s end the night.¡±


    Who knew that right after he said that, Da Hu immediately raised up a cup of alcohol and said, ¡°How can it be? Let¡¯s continue drinking.¡± Ji Bai looked at him with a calm look on his face.


    After a while, a bunch of people went to the room beside them to drink and there were only a few criminal police officers left in the room. Everyone¡¯s interested had also worn out a little, so they quiet down and rested. Ji Bai held Xu Xu¡¯s hand under the table and slowly sipped on a cup of hot tea.


    Suddenly, they heard Da Hu clear his throat and asked another criminal police officer next to him, ¡°Do you have any ns after the dinner?¡±


    The young criminal police officer was also a tactful person and he said smilingly: ¡°No.¡±


    Da Hu said, ¡°Do you want to go to my house? We can rx and watch a movie?¡±


    Xu Xu stiffened slightly and Ji Bai raised his head to look at the two of them.


    Da Hu said with a serious look on his face, ¡°Your pajamas are still in my house, I¡¯ve even washed it with my own hands...¡±


    Xu Xu¡¯s face felt like it was on fire. She was extremely embarrassed and she squeezed Ji Bai¡¯s hand forcefully under the table. Ji Bai held her hand tightly and said smilingly, ¡°Shut up!¡±


    Everyoneughed loudly.


    When Ji Bai and Xu Xu was talking, these few detectives with a strong eavesdropping ability leaned on the wall to listen to their conversation.


    In the end, Ji Bai could not leave with Xu Xu after the party ended. Right after he paid the bill, the station leaders and the task force sent someone to bring him over to their room. Later on, he was responsible for apanying the task force leader back to his hotel.


    The other colleagues had left and the two stood at the front door of the hotel. They looked at each other for a moment and they bothughed.


    Ji Bai called a taxi for Xu Xu and said, ¡°It might end veryte, I¡¯ll call you tomorrow.¡±


    Xu Xu did not take it to her heart and she nodded. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll go to my dad¡¯s ce to bring my luggage home.¡±


    The car drove on the road and she gradually could not see the restaurant behind her. Xu Xu leaned against the window and felt the wind blowing towards her for a while. Because of what Ji Bai¡¯s tonight, she was reminded of the night in Myanmar which they quietly lingered through the night and almost did it. He said in an extremely gentle tone while he sat on the bedside with his bare and broad back, ¡°I don¡¯t want your first time to be in such a crappy ce...¡±


    Xu Xu remained silent and thought about it for a while. She then raised her head and said to the driver, ¡°Sir, I would like to go to another address.¡±


    Xu Xu had the key to Ji Bai house with her. His home was as clean and cold as ever. Her pajamas were being neatly stacked on the bedside cab and it had a faint fragrance on it. Xu Xu originally uneasy heart felt as if it had calmed down and she turned on the TV to watch a movie by herself.


    Who knew that even after watching a movie, Ji Bai was still not back yet. Xu Xu saw that it was eleven o¡¯clock already and since he drank, he might just stay in one of the task force member¡¯s guest house directly. Therefore, Xu Xu got up and went home.


    It was already half past eleven when she entered her housing area. The street lights were lighted and the shadow of the trees cannot be seen. Xu Xu had sobered up for some time already and she leisurely walked along the stairs step by step.


    When she arrived at the floor, she opened the door of the staircase and vaguely saw a person leaning against her front door with a tiny dot of red light in between his fingers.


    Xu Xu coughed lightly and the sensor lights lighted up.


    Ji Bai stood under themp and his tall figure was like a sculpture. He said with his quiet eyes, ¡°I thought you¡¯re noting back. I¡¯ve been waiting for more than an hour.¡±


    Xu Xu¡¯s originally calmed heartbeat suddenly elerated once again.


    It turned out that he was waiting for her.


    Just when she walked over to him, he hugged her immediately and kissed her passionately yet silently with his slightly alcoholic breath.


    Ji Bai was thinking about her constantly at the station leaders¡¯ party. After he sent the task force leader back to the guest house, he did not stay to take a rest and took a taxi directly to her house. He recalled her saying that she wanted to go to her father¡¯s house to take her luggage, so he did not call her in the middle of the night. He waited and waited, but probably because of his mood, he did not feel boring at all.


    Now that he got to kiss her, he felt like this quiet night was sweet and pleasant.


    He only let go of her after a while and he stared at her without saying anything. Xu Xu took out her keys with a red face and she did not know what to say. Suddenly, she recalled that he was smoking just now, so she casually asked, ¡°Howe you¡¯re smoking again?¡±


    In fact, Ji Bai rarely smoked already and there was not much addiction left. However, the station leaders gave him a pack of cigarettes just now and while he was waiting for Xu Xu, he got a little sleepy so he smoked.


    Xu Xu saw how he did not say anything and she did not take it to her heart. Right after she opened the door and walked into the house, she heard him say slowly, ¡°I¡¯m smoking to boost my courage.¡±

 Chapter 48: Chapter 50

    <h4>Chapter 48: Chapter 50</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    As the three men sat down, Xu Xu took Ji Bai¡¯s hint and went to put on a more conservative piece of clothing. Even so, it was not enough to stop Xu Juan¡¯s judgmental gaze. He did not say anything and simply stared, first at her, then at Ji Bai who was wearing his clothes.


    After a while, Xu Xu calmed down and officially introduced Ji Bai to her father. ¡°Dad, this is my boyfriend, Ji Bai.¡±


    Ji Bai immediately stuck out his hand and said, ¡°Hello, uncle.¡±


    The three of them all looked at Father Xu.


    Father Xu smiled slightly and nodded at Ji Bai as if he had not noticed the messy bed in the bedroom. ¡°Hello. I heard that you¡¯re Xu Xu¡¯s colleague in the police unit.¡±


    The original awkward atmosphere immediately became pleasant as Ji Bai began to speak calmly,posed. Xu Xu was relieved and she soon left to make tea for everyone. Xu Juan looked at the happy expression on his sister¡¯s face and controlled himself.


    When Xu Xu came back with a pot of hot tea, she heard her father asking Ji Bai, ¡°Oh, you¡¯re from Beijing. What do your parents do?¡±


    It was not like her father wanted to unearth every dirty detail, but because he was a man of traditional background and also a gentle, loving father, he wanted to know more about his daughter¡¯s partner. Therefore, he did not beat around the bush.


    Both Xu Xu and Xu Juan turned to Ji Bai.


    Ji Bai smiled and answered, ¡°Both of my parents have retired. My father used to run apany and my mother worked in themunist party department. I have two older brothers. My eldest brother is now working in the ministry of finance and my second brother is managing the family business.¡±


    Father Xu was slightly stunned but he nodded and did not probe further.


    Xu Xu had never asked him about his family background before, but when she heard how he openly answered her father¡¯s question without a hint of arrogance, she smiled. Ji Bai was truly a humble man.


    A few minutester, Xu Juan stood up and said, ¡°Xu Xu, I have something that I left in your room. Go and take it for me.¡± Xu Xu walked into the room with Xu Juan and locked the door.


    Clearly, everyone knew that this was just an excuse. As soon as Xu Xu entered the room, she sat down on the edge of the bed. She knew her father¡¯s character well and was not worried that he would make things difficult for Ji Bai. Nevertheless, she was still a little curious about what they would talk about.


    Xu Juan, on the other hand, was not in a good mood. He walked to the side of the table, picked up the bouquet of roses and sniffed it. Then he picked up the ss of half-finished red wine and swirled it around turning to look at Xu Xu. ¡°He should have filled the entire room with roses and got wine from a private vineyard before even thinking of sleeping with my sister. Why would you let him so easily?¡±


    Xu Xu was never ashamed to talk to her brother about sex, but when it had actually happened, she was a little embarrassed. She answered, her cheeks slightly burning, ¡°It¡¯s none of your business.¡±


    Xu Juan shook his head and sighed. ¡°I just don¡¯t want you to regret it.¡±


    Xu Xu scoffed. ¡°I was the one who wanted it.¡±


    Xu Juan was having an internal break down. He knew that Xu Xu had always been straightforward and that it would really be awkward if they continued on with this conversation, so he had no choice but to give up. Although he still worried about his sister being taken advantage of, when he thought about it, his sister had always been independent and smart. If Ji Bai were to hurt her, she would most probably kick his ass, so he should leave her to her own devices. When this thought came to him, he smiled to himself.


    The two of them looked at the tightly shut door and Xu Xu asked, ¡°What do you think Dad is talking to him about?¡±


    Xu Juan shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but Dad knows his limits, so his conversation will only do you good.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded.


    This was how the Xu family got along. Although both children had extremely distinct personalities, they had been brought up strictly by their father ever since they were young. Therefore even when faced with awkward situations like just now, Xu Juan dared not say anything as his father pretended to be ignorant and quietly stepped aside. In reality, even though Xu Juan was critical of his soon to be brother-inw, he did not genuinely give him attitude as he was afraid that his sister would feel bad and take it out on him. It was clear that in this dynamics, the one with the most power in the family was actually the kind-looking father, followed by Xu Xu andst Xu Juan.


    Of course, Ji Bai also noticed this. After having a polite conversation with Father Xu, he respectfully and honestly said, ¡°Uncle, it¡¯s really impolite of me to meet you so abruptly like this. I¡¯ll ask Xu Xu to bring me over to your ce to visit you properly another day. If you agree, I would also like to bring her to Beijing and introduce her to my family during the holidays.¡±


    Bonus chapter (1): On a random day after they got married and had both a son and a daughter.


    Ji Bai and Xu Xu brought their son to the theme park. The roller coaster soared through the air rapidly, and when their son got off the ride, he was jumping up and down. On the other hand, the long hair that Xu Xu had grown out after getting married was a mess; it covered her facepletely such that only her tiny chin could be seen. When they got off, she held her son¡¯s hand and walked towards Ji Bai. As Ji Bai stepped forward to meet them, an old man beside them nodded and offered them his approval. ¡°It¡¯s perfect when you have both a son and a daughter! Amazing!¡± Ji Bai was speechless.


    Bonus chapter (2): Practice shooting.


    Although Ji Bai had been promoted to station chief, he would still bring Xu Xu to the shooting range every weekend to critique her rookie marksmanships and train her personally. Of course, he was extremely strict throughout the process and would never take advantage of her, especially in public. When others saw the scene, they would only stand back and admire the station chief¡¯s impressive shooting technique. However, Xu Xu was very troubled. Was she the only one who noticed Ji Bai¡¯s suspicious action? His fingers would unintentionally brush against the back of her hand and his breath would asionally gently blow on her cheeks. Moreover, the thoughtful look in his eyes was identical to the look he would give her in bed at night... Ji Bai himself was clearly not bothered by this. One of his greatest pleasure was to look at his wife¡¯s bright red face in his arms. Later on, there were somedies who politely went up to Ji Bai when Xu Xu was no longer around. ¡°Station Chief, can you guide me a little?¡± Ji Bai smiled at them and called out, ¡°Zhao Han,e and teach them.¡±

 Chapter 49: Chapter 51

    <h4>Chapter 49: Chapter 51</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    In the afternoon, Ji Bai bade them farewell. When Xu Xu escorted him downstairs, both recalled everything that happenedst night; they wanted tough but were reluctant say goodbye too.


    ¡°Then... we¡¯ll keep in touch.¡± Xu Xu waved at him.


    Ji Bei grabbed her hand right away and pulled her into his arms.


    There were many people who were walking up and down the stairs, but Ji Bai was not bothered by them, he lowered his head and gazed into her eyes. ¡°Your family is really nice.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s for sure.¡±


    Ji Bai¡¯s eyes shined with happiness. ¡°I¡¯ve talked to your father just now. Return to Beijing with me in November and meet my family.¡±


    Xu Xu looked at him quietly.


    She knew that he was doing this out of courtesy since he had met her family today.


    ¡°It was by ident that you met my father and brother today, you don¡¯t have to trouble yourself, we don¡¯t have to go so fast.¡±


    Ji Bai shed her a smile. ¡°It¡¯ll happen sooner orter.¡±


    Blood raced to Xu Xu¡¯s face again. ¡°It¡¯s still a couple of months until November, we¡¯ll talk about it then.¡±


    Ji Bai was not actually hurt by her rejection at all. After all, the two of them had just started dating not long ago, and they had never thought about meeting each other¡¯s parents before this anyway.


    Nheless, he was brought up a certain way, and since he had been introduced to her elders, he should by right allow her to seek his elders¡¯ approvals too. This was a sigh of respect towards her.


    He did not want her to feel that she was being treated condescendingly, even the tiniest bit.


    When Xu Xu returned upstairs, Xu Juan was cutting watermelon in the kitchen, leaving just the father and daughter pair in the living room.


    Xu Xu sat down beside her father. ¡°How was it?¡±


    Father Xu looked at her and smiled lovingly. ¡°A very nice fellow, he¡¯s tactful and experienced, benevolent and steady. You have much better taste than Xu Juan.¡±


    Before Xu Xu could reply, Xu Juan called out loud from the kitchen, ¡°Father, you¡¯re being too biased, I¡¯m your son. Besides, it¡¯s your first time meeting him, do you really have to give him such high praise?¡±


    The three of themughed. When they were done, Father Xu continued, ¡°Your brother is right, I do have high praise for him, but it¡¯s just my first impression. What I¡¯m more concerned about is that his family background is quite unique.


    ¡°In China, the authority-centered sses first, next is the economical ss. Even though many people refuse to admit this, but it is certainly true that a small portion of people stand heads and shoulders above others in terms of authority.


    ¡°If a person had stood on the tip of a pyramid since young, that person will be able to achieve many things in a way much easier way than the others. Whether it¡¯s his mentality or the way he sees things, it¡¯ll be different frommon people like us.


    ¡°Xu Xu, since you studied about psychology, you know very well how the environment that somebody is raised in affects that person¡¯s character and values in life. I won¡¯t interfere in your affairs but I hope that you¡¯ll deliberate well from today onwards about whether he¡¯s able to stay devoted to you and cherish you equally and with respect.¡±


    Xu Xu thought for a while then nodded. ¡°At the moment, I can¡¯t say for sure that we¡¯ll be together forever. That being said, his family¡¯s influence on him won¡¯t be a problem at all. He decided this at a very early age ¨C after all, he was just eighteen when he first attended the police academy against his parents¡¯ wishes.


    ¡°Father, how many men have you met who have gone against their family and given up a familiar environment at such a young age, opting instead for a journey in life that nobody of his blood has chosen before? On top of that, it wasn¡¯t done in a rebellious, dispirited, or negative way, it was positive, independent, and persistent.¡±


    A softness could be seen in her eyes as she spoke. ¡°Father, he¡¯s really nice. Looking at things statistically, I¡¯ll probably only meet someone like him once in my life. I must hold on to him.¡±


    She thought to herself, ¡®Father, brother, he¡¯s a shining gempared to me, even if I¡¯m ignorant about love, I¡¯m not willing to let him slip away.¡¯


    In the afternoon, her father and brother left and Xu Xu called Ji Bai after she tidied up her house.


    Ji Bai was ying tennis with a few friends in amunity. The setting sun shined on the red rubber flooring of the court at the time, making them look bright and gorgeous. When Ji Bai heard his phone ring, he called for another friend to take his ce, then walked to the side of the court.


    ¡°They left?¡± Ji Bai asked with augh.


    ¡°Mhmm.¡± Xu Xu could not help butugh too. After they experienced the intimacy ofst night, there seemed to be a different tone to their conversations, like a kind of embrace that only the two of them could understand.


    ¡°Have you eaten yet?¡± Ji Bai asked.


    ¡°I just did, what about you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve eaten too.¡±


    The two of them fell silent for a while again, then Ji Bai said in a gentler voice, ¡°... Is it still painful?¡±


    Xu Xu was stunned and her face flushed. ¡°Uh, it¡¯s alright.¡±


    Ji Bai chuckled and said nothing else.


    This made Xu Xu feel even more embarrassed, so she quickly changed the topic. ¡°What are you up to?¡±


    Ji Bai looked at the court behind him. ¡°Xu Xu, do you want toe y tennis with me?¡±


    Ji Bai had stayed in thismunity for a number of years, so he was quite close to some of his neighbors. Every weekend, someone would organize some activities and often asked him to join. Today, there were no special activities, but a few young people yed tennis in themunity¡¯s stadium.


    When Xu Xu arrived, Ji Bai was already waiting at themunity¡¯s entrance. He held her hand as he introduced her to everyone else. ¡°My girlfriend, Xu Xu.¡±


    Everyoneughed and somebody voiced out, ¡°The ultimate bachelor finally has a girlfriend, thest and most eligible bachelor in ourmunity has been captured.¡±


    Somebody else also told Xu Xu, ¡°Ji Bai is an especially nice person, Miss Xu. You¡¯re very blessed.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded at everyone, acknowledging them. Ji Bai simply hugged her andughed, ¡°I¡¯m the one who¡¯s blessed.¡±


    Everyone elseughed at how he acted so differently now that he has girlfriend, especially with how he was so affectionate. Xu Xu¡¯s cheeks flushed, Ji Bai just smiled silently.


    Then somebody suggested, ¡°Come,e,e, a new husband and wife team, let¡¯s y a round.¡± Ji Bai handed a racquet to Xu Xu. ¡°Want to give it a try?¡±


    Xu Xu looked at him. ¡°Are you sure? I¡¯m not very good at this sport.¡±


    Ji Bai smiled. ¡°I¡¯m here, just follow me and try to work with me.¡±


    Ji Bai was not trying to boast, but to date, he had been unbeatable in themunity. Owing to the fact that it was a high-societymunity, there were many married couples with small age gaps, and everyone tend to like ying mixed doubles, often husband and wife teams. Although he was always randomly paired with someone else, he could defeat anyone. He often watched the married couples on the opposite side. After losing, the females wouldsh out, whereas the males often coaxed and apologized, but in the end they always walked hand-in-hand to the side and wiped the sweat off each other, offering each other water. He, on the other hand, would just high-five whichever elder he was paired with.


    For this kind of intense athletic sport activity, things would get quite boring if the same pattern kept repeating itself; the losers would no longer feel dispirited, and the winners would no longer feel excited.


    But with Xu Xu here now, it was different. She was not good at this sport? No matter, he was strong enough to lead her, and the feeling of this victory would be all the more satisfying once they achieved it.


    However, Ji Bai did not think that Xu Xu¡¯s definition of ¡°not good at it¡± would be this bad.


    Though her reflexes were quite quick and her positioning wasn¡¯t bad, she was too petite and her limbs were too short, so there was really little strength in her arms. Moreover, she rarely managed hit back the onught of balls but when she did, she mostly hit them straight back at the.


    Of course, the opponent noticed their weakness very quickly, and they soon tried their best to send every ball straight toward Xu Xu. Even when Ji Bai tried his absolute hardest to aid her, he could not turn the situation around.


    When he lost, the others were very excited, they continuously eximed that he should keep bringing Miss Xu along in the future so as to develop ¡°better chemistry¡±; somebody also mentioned that today was a day to be remembered, as ¡°Ji Bai the ever-victorious¡± had been defeated, and that it should be recorded as a huge event within theirmunity...


    Although Ji Bai was a little upset, he was not too bothered by it. While the group rested beside the court, he looked at Xu Xu¡¯s face which was flushed red and covered in sweat, then he asked, ¡°Are you tired? Drink more water.¡±


    Xu Xu had fallen silent after they lost the match, but right then she lifted her head up and smiled at the others. ¡°Since we¡¯re all tired from ying, is anyone up for another game while we cool down? I suggest we y poker.¡±


    Just as someone was about to nod, Ji Bai burst outughing as he tugged her away. ¡°It¡¯s gettingte now, why poker? We can do that another day.¡± Then, he whispered into her ear softly, ¡°It¡¯s alright, we¡¯ll win next time.¡±


    He thought to himself, ¡®This little fellow is quitepetitive and ambitious.¡¯ Nevertheless, it was going to be a long night, and he only wanted to be with her, so how could he let the others steal their time?


    It waste at night, and their room glowed in warm light. Ji Bai showered while Xu Xuid on the bed, her chin in her hands as she looked out at the serene night sky outside the window.


    After some time, she heard footsteps behind her, then the bed sunk a little, and a warmth enveloped her from behind.


    ¡°Take a look at this, do you like it?¡± Ji Bai¡¯s low voice whispered in her ear.


    When Xu Xu lowered her head to see what he was talking about, she saw him holding a shiny emerald bangle.


    She looked up at him again. ¡°A love token?¡±


    Ji Bai smiled. ¡°Mhmm.¡± He then held her wrist up and put the bangle on for her. Fortunately, the bangle was delicate as well, so it did not fall out. He looked at her and smiled; skin as white as snow and dazzling emerald green made for a beautiful contrast.


    ¡°My grandfather gave it to me. Next time, wear this when you meet him.¡±


    Xu Xu was stunned, based on what he had said, the bangle had most likely been made for his future granddaughter-inw.


    ¡°This is too precious, isn¡¯t it inappropriate to give it to me now?¡±


    Ji Bai understood her concerns. Since the two of them had only just gotten into a rtionship a few months ago, it would indeed be too early if he gave her this as a gift to the Ji family¡¯s future daughter-inw.


    Even so, from one perspective, he had met her father today, so he felt that it was necessary for him to respond in kind. But from another perspective...


    No matter what the future holds, and regardless of whether or not they could be each other¡¯s lifetimepanion, he hoped that this bangle that he had been holding on to for nearly thirty years would end up belonging to this woman in front of him.


    Furthermore, the probability of the two of them growing old together was exceedingly high, such that he could hardly think of any reason that things would not work out between them.


    Therefore, he answered inly, ¡°What era is it now, you don¡¯t need to overthink things. Besides, you¡¯ve already said that this is a love token, so just keep it well.¡±


    Because he said, Xu Xu epted the gift. But when she looked at the bangle, round and smooth as jade, she thought, ¡®What should I give in return as a love token? What will be most appropriate to express my feelings towards him? What a difficult problem.¡¯


    On Monday night, they had a celebration dinner arranged by the station, it was held to recognize the contributions of Ji Bai and Xu Xu in the Myanmar operation.


    When thenterns were lit, therge ballroom became lively as hundreds of people were separated into tens of tables. Everyoneughed and talked joyfully. Both Xu Xu and Ji Bai sat on the main table with leaders from the Provincial Department and the City Bureau. Most of the time, Ji Bai was the one who answered the leaders¡¯ questions and drank with colleagues from the other tables.


    Director Liu was present as well, and as she looked at his beaming face, she poked fun at him. ¡°Ji Bai, you should punish yourself with three sses of alcohol. Back then when I wanted to transfer Xu Xu, who was the one who frantically stopped it? Who would have known that you were actually fond of this little girl?¡±


    The other leadersughed too but Ji Bai epted this good naturedly. Heughed and replied, ¡°I¡¯ll have to thank you for matchmaking us, Director Liu.¡± Director Liu did not know whether tough or to cry as she kept shaking her head and replied, ¡°Stop it, if you have your eyes on someone, nobody can take her away from you. Xu Xu is such a nicedy, you should be proud of yourself.¡±


    Ji Bai was veryposed, but Xu Xu had never been teased by these strict and experienced leaders before, so she only ate quietly whilst feeling slightly embarrassed. A littleter, she left for the washroom.


    As soon as she reached the corridor outside, she saw a familiar figure standing beside the window. It was Yao Meng.


    Xu Xu was quiet for a while but then approached her, stopping a few steps away.


    When Yao Meng turned to look at her, she smiled faintly but did not say anything. People passed by from time to time behind them, especially colleagues from other departments; they all smiled and greeted Xu Xu upon seeing her, but in the case of Yao Meng, they either just nodded a little, or ignored her.


    A whileter, Xu Xu asked, ¡°I heard that you¡¯re leaving tomorrow, how¡¯s your new job?¡±


    Yao Meng looked at the clouds outside the window and traces of a smile could be seen at the corner of her lips. Instead of answering to her question, she asked, ¡°Xu Xu, a lot of people are talking behind my back that I¡¯ve found a rich man so why do you still ask about me?¡±


    Xu Xu paused and replied, ¡°Based on your character, you¡¯re not the kind who looks for a rich man. I think they¡¯ve misunderstood.¡±


    Yao Meng was stunned and turned to her. After a quiet moment she said, ¡°They¡¯re right though, I am indeed dating an extremely rich boyfriend.¡±


    ¡°Then you are probably truly in love with him.¡± Xu Xu said softly.


    Yao Meng was silent as she looked at Xu Xu with mixed feeling. ¡°Xu Xu, thank you.¡±


    The two of them fell silent again for some time before Xu Xu spoke up, ¡°You know, you don¡¯t have to be like this.¡±


    Yao Meng was startled, then she heard Xu Xu continue, ¡°cking off work, I mean. Everyone will just misunderstand you.¡±


    Yao Meng looked at her quietly.


    She was right, it was unnecessary. It was just that she had been so determined to dedicate her life to this career but now that she had decided to give up, she did not want to face her colleagues with whom she had been fighting alongside. What kind of mentality was that? She could not understand it herself. Was she feeling inferior after getting rejected by Ji Bai? Was it guilt from Brother Lu¡¯s case? Or was it because she was ashamed that she could no longer hold onto to her dreams when being offered a much better chance to prosper and the temptation of fame and wealth?


    Regardless of what it was, Xu Xu seemed to understand her.


    The night was dark and tranquil, Yao Meng looked at the vast sky in front of her and the dazzling lights underneath it and said softly, ¡°Xu Xu, I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded. ¡°I ept your apology.¡±


    Yao Meng could not help butugh as she walked over to her and hugged her gently.


    Later on, Yao Meng left the dinner early and, under the judgmental eyes of the restaurant¡¯s servers, got into her boyfriend¡¯s luxurious car.


    Her boyfriend, Lin Qingyan, was in his thirties. He wore an exquisite ck suit, had a tall, skinny physique, and an attractive appearance; he was an executive of a certain enterprise in the city. When she got in, he held her hand lightly. ¡°Did everything go well?¡±


    Yao Meng was a little sad at first but her mood changed for the better because of Xu Xu. ¡°Very well.¡±


    Lin Qingyan smiled slightly, he pondered for a while then said, ¡°Even though you¡¯ve quit your job, you should still keep in touch with your ex-colleagues. You¡¯re still quite young, it¡¯s your first job after you graduated, the friends you¡¯ve made here will usuallyst forever. They should be valued.¡±


    Despite the fact that the two of them had been dating for less than two months, since he was over ten years older than her, he was mature and calm when dealing with matters ¨C he was both a boyfriend and a life tutor to her. This was also the reason why Yao Meng was deeply touched as she leaned against him. ¡°Mmm, I¡¯ll listen to you. Thank you, Qingyan.¡±


    Lin Qingyan looked at the face of the woman in his arms which looked as full and as beautiful as a peach blossom and with softness in his heart, he hugged her gently then lowered his head to kiss her.


    That weekend, Ji Bai¡¯s neighbors arranged a road trip to the suburbs. Ji Bai naturally brought Xu Xu along.


    On Friday, it was alreadyte at night when they arrived at the suburbs. The moonlight shone in the ravine, theke was deep and asionally, fishes in the murky waters stirred small ripples on the surface of the water. The whole ce was serene and pleasant.


    Some went fishing, some went rowing and the rest sang around the barbeque fire. Ji Bai enjoyed fishing, so he sat by theke with Xu Xu, both with a rod in hand. In just a short while, they captured a few big fishes, which surprised the rest.


    Right then, somebody yelled out, ¡°Ji Bai,e have some skewers with your wife.¡±


    Ji Bai held Xu Xu¡¯s hand and walked over. ¡°My wife likes them spicy, put more of that.¡±


    When Xu Xu heard him address her that way, her face heated up.


    That night, everyone slept in tents on the hillside. In the morning the next day, they decided to hike up the mountain to catch the sunrise, and, at three in the morning, somebody woke up the group and they trekked up the pitch-ck path together. Even though the sky was still dark and the wind was blowing strongly, most of them were couples who held hands together and spoke to each other softly as they made the climb, so it was not boring after all.


    As they neared the peak, somebody suggested, ¡°Let¡¯s race and see who reaches the peak first. The losers will treat the winner to breakfast.¡±


    Everyone agreed to it, but Ji Bai smiled cheekily and added, ¡°What¡¯s the point of just running? Let¡¯s carry our wives and run, whoever reaches first will win.¡±


    Everyone agreed to this too since it made things more interesting.


    Ji Bai crouched in front of Xu Xu. ¡°Get on.¡± Xu Xu climbed up and heard him whisper, ¡°I¡¯ll keep my promise. I¡¯ll win for you today.¡±


    Xu Xu was confused, then she recalled that they had previously lost when ying tennis, whereby he said that they would have a chance to win again. He had actually remembered it until today. At this moment, somebody gave the signal and all men went already dashing up the mountainside with their wives on their backs.


    Soon enough, somebody noticed something and cried out. ¡°Ji Bai is too cruel, his wife is the lightest.¡±


    Xu Xu leaned onto Ji Bai¡¯s shoulders and could not help butugh.


    As expected, they were the first to arrive at the peak, leaving the rest far behind. Yet the sun was not out yet and there were only a few rays of misty light on the peak. Mountains surrounded them on all sides, making the whole atmosphere very serene.


    After a while, more people reached the peak and they all waited patiently. Ji Bai was bored from waiting, so he hooked his hand around Xu Xu¡¯s waist, but just as he was about to kiss her, he saw her taking something from her pocket whilst slightly blushing. Then, she tapped his palm. ¡°Open your hand.¡±


    Ji Bai listened to her and opened his hand.


    Even though it was quite dim, he could vaguely see that it was... a dull-colored stone?


    As Ji Bai held the stone, he heard Xu Xu exin word by word. ¡°This is a fossil, which was left behind by my father after taking his qualification exam in the past. It¡¯s not a very valuable object, but the precious thing about it is that there¡¯s a tiny flower and a leaf inside of it. Later on, when you look at it carefully against the light...¡±


    Upon seeing Ji Bai keeping silent, she hesitated and looked at him. ¡°This is a love token. Do you like it?¡±


    Ji Bai smiled and pulled her into his arms


    He thought to himself, ¡®You¡¯re pledging your love to me with an item that shows something constant in the ever-changing world. Of course I like it, I like it a lot.¡¯


    At this moment, the clouds at the peak started dispersing as rays of sun were seen piercing out slowly from the horizon. The rays of the sun looked like bits of gold that were spreading out over the earth slowly, causing many people to cheer aloud. Xu Xu watched the majestic, gorgeous view forming in front of her eyes with an extremely good mood, whereas for Ji Bai, the most beautiful view was already in his arms. He hugged her from behind, then, under the glorious lights shining on them, he nted a huge kiss on her tiny pale forehead.

 Chapter 50: Chapter 52

    <h4>Chapter 50: Chapter 52</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    Four monthster.


    Autumn surpassed summer and soon, Lin City was mostly enveloped in thin mist, making the whole city cool, refreshing and evergreen.


    It was night time, and the full moon was hanging bright in the sky, furthering the strong sense of autumn. Xu Xu wore a loose t-shirt as she sat in front of aptop typing away. Beside her was a cup of aromatic coffee, and she was wearing earplugs as usual, such that she did not hear anything even when somebody opened the door.


    Ji Bai had been transferred outstation for work by the Provincial Department for two weeks already, but he had rushed back home this night. He thought that he was going to see the little one sleeping soundly, but unexpectedly, she was actually enjoying herself despite him being not around.


    After he ced his luggage down, he paced forward sneakily. She was wearing his t-shirt, which was on the brink of swallowing her whole; only her silky smooth, snowy white legs were exposed... Ji Bai bent over and picked her up from the stool. ¡°Wifey...¡±


    Xu Xu waspletely focused on theptop, so at first, she was so shocked that she started trembling, but when she felt his familiar warmth and breath, she immediately smiled.


    There was still a hint of cold from the biting winds on his body as he pressed his cold lips against hers. After a few minutes of passionate engagement, his breathing became a little unsteady and he carried her towards the bedroom.


    ¡°Wait a minute.¡± Xu Xu pushed him away, looking at his coat. ¡°Go take a shower first.¡± Then she jumped down from his arms then returned to her chair.


    Ji Bai¡¯s arms now empty, he looked at her slim figure and leaned forward to wrap her in his arms again. ¡°What are you busy with?¡±


    Xu Xu bit her pen as she stared at the screen and replied, ¡°I¡¯m writing a column for Yao Meng¡¯s magazine. Her magazine focuses on women¡¯s lives, and psychological health is a part of that too.¡±


    Ji Bai looked at herptop screen. ¡°Why are you doing this?¡±


    Xu Xu pulled her drawer open and passed him two shiny tickets. ¡°I didn¡¯t do it for her money. Her reward was two VIP tickets for this concert, you like this band right? I won¡¯t take any gifts if it¡¯s undeserved, which is why I¡¯m writing this for her.¡±


    Ji Bai took the tickets, he looked at them for a while then ced them on the table, then turned to kiss her passionately.


    After he left to shower, Xu Xu¡¯s attention turned back to the screen again but just as she began typing on the keyboard, she suddenly heard him calling out from the shower. ¡°Wifey, I forgot my towel.¡±


    Xu Xu stood up and walked over with a towel in hand. There was a slit at the door, whereby the sound of flowing water could be heard. When Xu Xu looked up, she thought to herself, ¡®Eh, isn¡¯t his towel on the rack inside?¡¯ Before she could realize what was going on, a firm bronze arm appeared in front of her, pulling her inside in seconds.


    Xu Xu chuckled then pushed him away. ¡°I¡¯m not done with my work yet.¡±


    Nheless, how could Ji Bai just let her be. He pulled her into the shower with her clothes still on, then closed the shower room¡¯s door behind him.


    The room was soon filled with unbridled passion.


    By the time they finished, cuddled on the bed, a few hours had passed.


    Over the past few days, Ji Bai had been continuously pleasuring himself to keep himself sane, plus he was rather desperate for it just now, hence he was now bothpletely satisfied and exhausted. However, Xu Xu could not fall asleep even after closing her eyes for some time since she had too much coffee, so she simply sat up. ¡°Go to sleep first, I¡¯ll finish my work.¡±


    Ji Bai peeped at the clock on the wall and saw it was already two in the morning. When he saw her really turn on herptop looking like she was determined to pull an all-nighter, he could not help but frown. ¡°Come over here and sleep.¡±


    Xu Xu waved her hand dismissively. ¡°Leave me.¡±


    Ji Bai stood up and walked over, then he closed herptop screen. ¡°What time is it?¡±


    At that moment Xu Xu was still thinking so when he cut her off abruptly, she furrowed her brow and looked at him. Ji Bai stared at her, his eyes dark and stern.


    Xu Xu gazed at him then opened up her screen again. ¡°You forgot the rules of living together? We¡¯re not supposed to interfere in one another¡¯s work.¡±


    Ji Bai looked at her, a small me burning in his heart.


    It was not that he actually wanted to interfere with Xu Xu¡¯s work, but because he had been working tirelessly for half a month and had yet to have a good night¡¯s sleep. Once the case ended, he did not even want to stay over outside so he immediately rushed back so that he could feel her warmth. He was actually absolutely worn out, so he only hoped that he could feel her soft and warm body in his arms as they slept together, but Xu Xu was having none of it.


    Furthermore, it was veryte into the night, he was unwilling to see her neglecting her own health.


    After a brief moment of silence, he managed to restrain himself from forcefully carrying her back to the bed. He dragged a chair over and sat beside her. ¡°Alright, I won¡¯t disturb you. I¡¯ll just sit here by myself.¡±


    Xu Xu looked at him and ignored him as she continued typing on her keyboard, on the other hand, Ji Bai simply folded his hands and watched her. As he looked at her fair-skinned, quiet face, he calmed down. After all, she was always such an absent-minded character, what was there to be angry about?


    Because Ji Bai was watching her, Xu Xu felt that she could not concentrate on her work. She thought, ¡®He just got home from a business trip ¨C what time is it, isn¡¯t he going to sleep? Will his body be able to take it?¡¯


    Sometimeter, she decided topromise. When she turned to look, she saw that his head was already tilted downward and his eyes were shut, he had fallen asleep on the chair.


    Xu Xu pushed herptop away and crouched in front of him. As she looked closer, she noticed that his eye were sunken and his brows were furrowed slightly.


    Instantly, Xu Xu felt sorry for him, and so she reached her hand out and nudged him softly. ¡°Third brother, third brother... I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯ll stop working, let¡¯s go sleep on the bed.¡±


    Without opening his eyes, Ji Bai¡¯s lips curled up slightly. Xu Xu was stunned, then she suddenly realized that he was merely pretending to sleep to gain her sympathy.


    But it was toote, before she knew it, Ji Bai had already picked her up and was no carrying her to the bed. He looked down at her with a mischievous grin on his face. ¡°Third brother epts your apology, be a good girl, go to sleep.¡±


    From the very beginning, Xu Xu was not keen on living together. For one, she was ustomed to doing things her own way and was not used to having another person in her life; secondly, the two of them were already colleagues and should they live together, they would be together for almost 24 hours every single day.


    Xu Xu believed that some distance would improve the depth of their love, whereas getting bored with each other might actually cause the opposite effect.


    That being said, these were not issues to Ji Bai. After all, how could he ever grow tired of her? Due to their hectic job schedules, they basically had no time together.


    His goal was to live together as soon as possible so that he could wholly integrate this little person into his life, after which they could steadily cultivate their rtionship. Since Xu Xu was simple-minded, and Ji Bai had an unswerving persistence to get his way one step at a time, one could naturally picture the result.


    He had nobody to cook supper for him when he was hungry at night, he wanted her to take care of him during weekends as he was fatigued from work, in the morning he needed her to supervise him because his addiction to smoking was rpsing, he would suddenly drive to her house to pick her up ¨C with the various excuses, Xu Xu¡¯s clothes were progressively shifted to his house. Sometimes, she stayed over his ce for days at a time, then it became more convenient for her to stay at Ji Bai¡¯s house instead of her own. Before she knew it, they were living together.


    Afterwards, Xu Xu noticed Ji Bai had actually put some thought into this n of his, but by then, she was didn¡¯t to reject him.


    What made Xu Xu d was that even though they had already been living together for three months, the two of them almost never argued. While there were conflicts between them, they were mostly just tiny quarrels like the one that just urred, and they always managed to reconcile very quickly.


    asionally when they had bigger arguments, Ji Bai always humored her, regardless of who was in the wrong, and he always took his time to sweet-talk her. Because of this, Xu Xu would feel tremendously warm. At times when she mentioned these to Xu Juan, even he would remark, ¡°Ji Bai looks like he¡¯s an arrogant man, but he has a big heart, and is truly manly.¡±


    The concert was held on a Saturday night at a theatre located in the heart of the city. When Ji Bai and Xu Xu arrived, most of the seats were upied as the enormous theatre was lit with dazzling lights. And of course, everyone was well-dressed.


    Their seats were in the middle, close to the front. Once they sat down, they saw Yao Mang clinging onto Lin Qingyan¡¯s arm in the front row. When Yao Meng noticed them, they quickly turned to smile. Around them were some young men and women, and upon seeing what Yao Meng did, they turned to look; Xu Xu guessed that they were probably Yao Meng¡¯s colleagues.


    Compared to a few months ago, Yao Meng now seemed more mature and pretty. Dressed in a fine delicate evening gown, her silky hair, light makeup with shimmering eyes made her stand out from the crowd. Like a brilliant diamond that had finally emerged from ayer of dust and now shining. As for Lin Qingyan, he looked tall, slender, elegant and charming, such that when the two of them sat together, they looked like the perfect couple.


    Although they had not dated for a long time, Ji Bai and Xu Xu had good impressions of Lin Qingyan. After the two men smiled and greeted each other, Lin Qingyanplimented Xu Xu politely. ¡°You look very beautiful today.¡±


    Ji Bai looked at his woman who wore a cream colored V-neck sweater and a short skirt. Even though she did not look as brilliant as other women, she looked refreshing and cute like a soft animal. She was indeed the most beautiful one to him.


    Xu Xuughed and replied, ¡°The most beautiful one is right beside you.¡±


    The four of themughed as Lin Qingyan looked at Yao Meng who was beside him. When the lights dimmed, he shifted his head sideways to kiss her face while Ji Bai held Xu Xu¡¯s hand up as well and nted a kiss on it.


    Every twinkle and smile of hers would cause his heart to tremble ¨C this was probably what being lovers felt like.


    When the concert ended, the night sky was almostpletely dark as the bright lights were seen reflected on the fountains outside the theatre. The exit was packed with people so Ji Bai did not bring Xu Xu home immediately and instead they walked into the nearby park and strolled slowly.


    A few steps in, his phone rang. When he looked at it, he smiled and picked up the call. ¡°Mother.¡±


    Usually, Ji Bai rarely contacted his family members, and because of this Xu Xu never had direct contact with his parents as well. She was quietly standing beside him while he took the call.


    Upon hearing her son¡¯s clear voice, Mother Jiughed and said, ¡°It¡¯s almost November and the mid-autumn festival is here, are youing home?¡±


    Ji Bai nced at Xu Xu. ¡°I am. I¡¯m bring Xu Xu along too.¡±


    On the other end on the phone, his mother paused for a while before continuing, ¡°Let us know when you¡¯ve booked your flight, I¡¯ll send a driver to pick you up.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Ji Bai smiled faintly.


    Later when they returned home, Xu Xu shower alone while Ji Bai went to the balcony and snacked on some dates.


    Under the supervision of his wife, he had sessfully quit smoking. Whenever he felt like smoking again, Xu Xu would quickly hand him date slices, iming that it was a good substitute as it was able to beautify him, provide him nourishment etc. Despite the fact that it was rather odd for a criminal police officer to munch on date slices in public, as soon as he said that it was an order from his wife, everyone else would be envious.


    Right then, Ji Bai realized something. ¡®Mother will be tough to handle if I bring Xu Xu back to Beijing this time.¡¯


    Previously, he had already mentioned Xu Xu to his family a few times, everyone else was fine with it, only his mother seemed to be intentionally avoiding the matter on purpose and would almost never answer to this topic.


    They have been having conflicts ever since he had first chosen his career, and the two of them neverpromised. It was only because she could not be more stubborn than him that she had slowly epted reality.


    Now that he did not marry a perfect match based on his mother¡¯s criteria, and instead found ady from outstation who happened to be a criminal police officer to boot, his mother was not happy.


    Even so, she was not an immovable object.


    Ji Bai took his phone out and started dialing numbers.


    The first phone call was to his grandfather who loved him the most.


    ¡°Grandfather, I¡¯m returning to Beijing next week. I¡¯ll bring you a surprise, yes, I¡¯m bringing your granddaughter-inw to meet you. Send a car over to pick us up, she said she wants to meet you... After we meet you, we¡¯ll go meet my parents...¡±


    The second phone call was to his eldest brother.


    ¡°Brother, I¡¯m bringing Xu Xu home next week. You must be home on the day we have our family dinner.¡±


    Next, he called Shu Hang.


    ¡°I¡¯m bringing your sister-inw back next week... Mmm, spread it if you¡¯d like to. In fact, do it openly, just say that Third Brother Ji is getting married. My mother¡¯s opinion? Shu Hang, extensive preparations eventually pay off, ask your mother and the others to convince my mother...¡±


    Shu Hang was ted. ¡°How about ¨C I cry andin to my mother that you¡¯ve found a smart and cutedy with a great family background, and that everyone is envious and jealous of you? Later, I¡¯ll swear to look for someone like her.¡±


    Ji Bai smiled and answered, ¡°That¡¯ll do.¡±


    The night of the day before they returned to Beijing, Xu Xu brought a huge load of stuff home.


    Ji Bai opened the suitcases to take a look and saw some emerald earrings that were shaped like water droplets. Xu Xu exined, ¡°You told me that your mother likes emeralds, I asked my brother for help to get this.¡±


    There was also a silk t-shirt that felt amazing. ¡°This is for your grandfather, it¡¯sfortable for an old man to wear close to his skin. Also, it¡¯s handmade.¡±


    As he revealed each item one by one, though they did not seem to be too valuable, he could tell that she had put a lot of thought into each and every one of them.


    Ji Bai looked at her. ¡°I would¡¯ve asked someone to prepare these, you didn¡¯t have to trouble yourself.¡±


    Xu Xu said instead, ¡°They¡¯ll be able to tell at once who was the one who bought them, besides, it¡¯ll carry a different meaning.¡±


    Ji Bai remained silent for a while then said, ¡°Wifey, my mother always had an ill-feeling about me being a police officer, when we return to Beijing this time, she might have think of you badly because of me. Even so, you don¡¯t have to be concerned, she won¡¯t do anything over the top.¡±


    Xu Xu was a bit dumbfounded.


    Owing to the face that her mother passed away when she was young, she had little to no experience getting along with female elders. Nevertheless, she could make a deduction that based on Ji Bai¡¯s experience: if he could not fully gain his mother¡¯s support, then his mother most likely had a quite stubborn character and might not be easy to get along with.


    After all, they were talking about their elders, so the two of them fell silent. A whileter, Xu Xu asked, ¡°Do you mind if I ask you a question?¡±


    ¡°Ask away.¡±


    ¡°Who upies the highest position in your family hierarchy?¡±


    Ji Bai put on a slight smile. ¡°My grandfather, next is my eldest brother.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded, she pondered for some time with aposed look, then she lifted her head up. ¡°Have you gained their support yet? We should focus on the trivial things and avoid the important ones, so to control the overall situation.¡±


    Ji Bai hugged her at once andughed aloud.


    When this little fellow put her heart into it, she was much more scheming than anyone else. For this Beijing trip, upon learning that she had to face everyone from Ji Family, she just felt that she needed to take appropriate measures depending on the situation, so that thest barrier to her rtionship could be dealt with.

 Chapter 51: Chapter 53

    <h4>Chapter 51: Chapter 53</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    During autumn, the sky in Beijing was magnificently clear and blue, and the sun was dry yet warm. It was a pleasant time of the year that everyone looked forward to.


    There were already a few cars waiting on the tarmac when Ji Bai and Xu Xunded ¨C one from his home, another from his grandfather¡¯s, and a third which Shu Hang and a few of his childhood friends stood by.


    Upon seeing this, Xu Xu nced at Ji Bai as he had always been very low profile, yet here was today with a huge entourage; clearly it was intentional.


    Ji Bai wore a ck windbreaker that she had bought for him, it had neat cutting and a clean design which matched his tall and slender physique, sessfully bringing out the attractive and cool side of him. As if suddenly picking up on Xu Xu¡¯s thoughts, he silently gripped her hand tighter and walked towards everyone with a faint smile on his lips.


    Shu Hang and the others greeted Ji Bai with hugs, and when they saw Xu Xu, they purposely bowed to her respectfully. ¡°Sister-inw, you¡¯re here, your wonderful presence has graced all of us¡±, ¡°Don¡¯t leave anymore since you¡¯re here, we¡¯ve missed you so much.¡±


    Xu Xu was not falling for their smooth talk and just smiled shyly while Ji Bai hugged her waist and knocked on the hood of Shu Hang¡¯s car. ¡°We¡¯ll be going to my grandfather¡¯s house first, we¡¯ll meet you after two days.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Sister-inw, make a list of what you¡¯d like to eat and do, we¡¯ll go to hell and back for you without hesitation, we¡¯ll even pluck the stars in the sky for you...¡±


    Xu Xu could not help butugh as Ji Bai did the same too. ¡°It¡¯s not for you to pluck stars for her, let¡¯s go.¡±


    Their car sped through the highway and soon arrived at his grandfather¡¯s house.


    They walked through arge courtyard located right in the middle of the city; it was shaded with Chinese parasol trees and the long walkway stretched out impressively in front of them. Ji Bai carried the presents while holding Xu Xu¡¯s hand as they walked straight in, and since the security guards and nursemaids had been here for many years, they smiled when they saw him. ¡°Ji Bai, you¡¯re back? This is your girlfriend, right?¡±


    Ji Bai smiled and nodded, let Xu Xu greet them ordingly, then asked. ¡°Where¡¯s grandfather?¡±


    ¡°Sir has gone to sunbath in the backyard after he woke up from his afternoon nap, he has been waiting for you for a long time.¡±


    Xu Xu followed Ji Bai into the backyard, where they saw an old man sitting on a chair under the trees, with the sunlight enveloping his whole body. He was wearing an extremely in-looking blue shirt with loose cotton pants and looked calm and kind.


    Ji Bai walked over then bowed and said gently, ¡°Grandfather, I brought Xu Xu back to meet you.¡±


    The old man was ted upon seeing him. ¡°It¡¯s good that you¡¯re back.¡± He then turned slowly to look at Xu Xu.


    Xu Xu looked back at him as well. The old man was in his eighties, but he had a body as tall and as well-built as Ji Bai¡¯s. She could see some simr features between him and Ji Bai on his wrinkle-covered face. A cunning thought appeared in Xu Xu¡¯s head as she thought to herself, ¡®If Ji Bai looks like that when he turns old, then he still won¡¯t be half bad.¡¯


    Ji Bai turned to look at Xu Xu. ¡°Call him grandfather.¡±


    Xu Xu said, ¡°Nice to meet you, grandfather.¡±


    His grandfather nodded gently, then he asked Xu Xu about her age, studies and family background. When he heard that her father was a professor, he said to Ji Bai, ¡°A family of schrs,ter on ask your eldest brother to go to Lin City and pay a visit in ce of me. After all, we must not forget our manners.¡± Ji Bai had nothing to worry after seeing his grandfather behave in such a way as he nodded continuously with smiled; Xu Xu¡¯s mood was simrly lifted up too.


    A whileter, his grandfather asked with a smile on his face, ¡°Youngdy, what do you like about the third child in our family?¡±


    Xu Xu thought briefly then replied, ¡°Everything.¡±


    Ji Baiughed, whereas his grandfather was temporarily dazed, but soon cracked intoughter too.


    What Xu Xu said was her true feelings, so when she saw themughing, she decided to borate. ¡°The thing that I like most about him is that he¡¯s determined, open-minded and calm, he won¡¯t change his dream because of some obstacles, and he stays true to his heart regardless of what¡¯sing at him. He¡¯s truly a poised gentleman with exemry character. He¡¯s a very suitable life partner to me.¡±


    Upon leaving his grandfather¡¯s house, Ji Bai was in high-spirits. He hooked his arm around Xu Xu¡¯s shoulder and, while looking at the boundless Beijing city under the evening skyline, felt at peace.


    It was Xu Xu¡¯s first time meeting his elders, and though she had a rough grasp of the situation, she still mentioned, ¡°Your grandfather... had quite a good impression of me.¡±


    Ji Bai looked at her and in his mind, and was reminded of he had conversed with his grandfather in private earlier.


    Due to the fact that the pair of grandfather and grandson had not seen each other for days, they had quite a few things that they wanted to tell each other. His grandfather said to him with loving eyes, ¡°Xu Xu is a nice child, I¡¯m very happy that you brought her back, and I can rest easy too.¡±


    Ji Bai crouched, clutched his grandfather¡¯s hands and said softly, ¡°Grandfather, I¡¯d like to marry her and spend my whole life with her. In the future, we¡¯ll have a few smart and cute great-grandchildren ¨C I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll like them.¡±


    ...


    When Ji Bai thought about this, he lowered his head to kiss her, but seated in the front seats of the car were the driver and bodyguard. Thus, Xu Xu froze for a while out of embarrassment and merely sat in his arms quietly, allowing him to trample over her lips as much as he pleased.


    Ji Bai kissed her so deeply that she started blushing. When he pulled away, he smiled cheekily at her. ¡°You¡¯ll be able to tell whether or not he had a good impression of you by the weight of your red packet.¡±


    Ji Bai¡¯s father was a businessman, hence their home was not located in a militarypound, but at a ce called Fragrance Hill Vi in the western suburbs. When Ji Bai and Xu Xu arrived, the sky had already turned dark and the mountains in the distance looked obscure yet quiet; this was in sharp contrast to the dazzling lights of the vi which made it look like a jewel in the middle of the forest.


    As they walked into the living room, Ji Bai and Xu Xu immediately saw that the couches were filled with people. They looked up at them when they heard theme and a few of them even stood up to wee them.


    Xu Xu had seen photos of the Ji Family so she recognized everyone right away.


    The first to stand up was the second couple of the Ji Family. The two of them wore friendly smiles on their faces and a seven to eight-year-old boy stood beside them, he looked at Xu Xu curiously.


    His eldest brother was the one who stood up slowly. He looked tougher than Ji Bai, and he had distant look in his eyes. His wife stood up beside him too as she smiled at Xu Xu politely.


    The ones who sat right in the middle were naturally Ji Bai¡¯s parents. Father Ji was a tall man who was courteous as he smiled and nodded at Xu Xu. On the other hand, Mother Ji wore a dark blue women¡¯s suit, had diamond ne and earrings on, and put on light yet delicate makeup on her well-groomed face. Her eyes swept past Xu Xu quietly, and she put on a very in smile.


    Ji Bai was in a good mood as well, he held Xu Xu¡¯s hand as he introduced her to all of them one by one. After the greetings, they had dinner together.


    In general, the meal went smoothly.


    It had been a long time since their family had gathered together like this, so they had drinks, and after enough of them, even his eldest brother who was usually an introvert became talkative. From time to time, someone asked Xu Xu about herself, whereby she answered them ordingly. She was steady, gentle, and respectful so the atmosphere was quite nice.


    The only one who hardly spoke was Mother Ji. She only spoke once in a while,ughed when humored, but she never asked Xu Xu anything.


    In the blink of an eye, the clock struck ten, but the men were still not quite done with the drinks and their conversation. Both his eldest sister-inw and second sister-inwughed and said that they could not go on anymore, so they went to sleep in the guestroom. Upon hearing this, Ji Bai ced his ss down and grabbed Xu Xu¡¯s hand. ¡°We¡¯re still going to drink for a while, how about you go to sleep first?¡±


    Xu Xu nodded, then Ji Bai looked at his mother. ¡°Mother, have you arranged Xu Xu¡¯s room?¡±


    His mother replied faintly, ¡°I¡¯ve already arranged it.¡± She called out to a maid. ¡°Bring her to her room, is everything in the room well-prepared?¡± The maid nodded quickly.


    When Xu Xu stood up, her eyes met Mother Ji¡¯s and she smiled at her gracefully but Mother Ji merely shifted her gaze away calmly.


    It was already midnight when they were done drinking as both Ji Bai and his eldest brother brought their father back to his room. Unexpectedly they bumped into his mother as she walked out from the room. As their eyes met, Ji Bai smiled. ¡°Mother, father drank too much, rest early.¡±


    Mother Ji nodded but did not say a word.


    After sending their father to bed, the two brothers left the room. Suddenly, Ji Bai¡¯s eldest brother patted him on the shoulder with a slight smile, then he returned to his room.


    Ji Bai smiled back.


    In spite of the fact that his mother had not clearly expressed it, she had only shown basic etiquette to her guest. That being said, everyone could tell that she was not very weing towards Xu Xu. This made Ji Bai quite quite upset, especially when he recalled how Xu Xu had smiled kindly at his mother back then.


    Nevertheless, he did not n to talk to his mother about it for the time being.


    He knew very well how stubborn his mother was ¨C to the point where there was still a knot in her heart because of the police academy issue, and there was nothing he could do no matter how much hemunicated with her. Now that his mother seemed to be dissatisfied about Xu Xu, it would be impossible to convince her otherwise, instead, it might just end up sparking a conflict between them. It would be better for Xu Xu if she just tolerated it for now.


    Ji Bai understood that not all conflicts must be solved overnight. Besides, by bringing Xu Xu to meet his rtives, she had been epted as one of the family and he had achieved his goal. He nned tomunicate with his mother on the night before they would leave, so that even if it ended terribly, they would be leaving anyway and she would not be able to drag Xu Xu into the matter.


    In this were to happen, then he would take things slow; after their marriage and with the birth of children, he knew that even his mother¡¯s ice-cold heart would soften and she would eventually ept her.


    Ji Bai retrieved the key to the guestroom from a maid.


    Xu Xu¡¯s room was pitch ck and she was curled fast asleep underneath the nket, with only her tiny head poking out. Ji Bai lowered his head to kiss her forehead, then he left the room.


    The next day, his brothers left with their wives, leaving only Ji Bai, Xu Xu, and Ji Bai¡¯s parents at home.


    The breakfast prepared was bean curd, steamed bread, and soybean milk. Xu Xu had never been fond of northern breakfast as she felt that bean curd was quite oily and salty, and steamed bread was tasteless. She didn¡¯t have much of an appetite for the food in front of her, so she only drank a bottle of soybean milk.


    Ji Bai was watching all the while, and he hurriedly his food then held her hand and stood up. ¡°I¡¯ll bring Xu Xu out to take a look around the area.¡±


    Ji Bai drove Xu Xu to a Cantonese restaurant for breakfast. As he watched her eating porridge quietly, Ji Bai touched her hair and said, ¡°Sorry for putting you through such inconvenience.¡±


    Xu Xu cast a sidelong nce at him. ¡°It¡¯s alright, so how are we going to solve this matter?¡±


    Ji Bai paused for a brief moment then replied, ¡°I¡¯ll handle my mother. You neither have to concern yourself at all, just make sure you continue to be respectful.¡±


    The next few days were peaceful. Xu Xu followed Ji Bai to meet his rtives and friends, and in the evenings, they would go out with Shu Hang and the others. Because of this, she did not spend much time with Mother Ji, but Mother Ji¡¯s attitude towards her was crystal-clear: while she offered her warm hospitality, she was indifferent towards her.


    Soon enough, it was the day before they were to leave. Ji Bai didn¡¯t have ns for today, so he stayed home with his parents and Xu Xu whilst packing up their luggage.


    In the afternoon, as Ji Bai was ying chess with his father, his phone rang.


    ¡°Mister Ji, the diamond ring you ordered has arrived in Beijing.¡±


    Ji Bai instantly smiled and peeped at Xu Xu who was packing her luggage, then he walked to a quiet corner.


    The other person on the other end of the line asked, ¡°When are you free? We¡¯ll get someone to send it to you.¡±


    Ji Bai smiled inly and replied, ¡°I¡¯ll go over to collect it now.¡±


    Ji Bai quickly mentioned that Shu Hang was looking for him, then he left. After Xu Xu was done packing her own luggage, she assumed that Ji Bai was probably not done with his yet so she went up to his room.


    When she walked in, she saw Mother Ji sitting by the bed, folding his shirts and putting them into his luggage. When Mother Ji heard her footsteps, she turned to look, then stopped what she was doing. ¡°Come over and pack then since you¡¯re here.¡±


    As she stood up to leave, Xu Xu hesitated before saying, ¡°Aunty, thank you for the warm hospitality from you and uncle, I¡¯m extremely thankful. Since we¡¯re leaving tomorrow, we¡¯ll visit you again when we have the chance to. Take good care of yourselves, if you happen to go to Lin City, I¡¯ll be a great host and show you around.¡±


    Her words were respectful and polite but they did not sound overly affectionate and attentive. Mother Ji looked at her quietly with a scornful look in her eyes. ¡°Thank you but I won¡¯t go to Lin City.¡±


    Initially, Xu Xu only wanted to be polite and courteous, but it was obvious that Mother Ji¡¯s words had a hidden meaning to them. Seeing that she was about to leave the room, Xu Xu bit her lip, then said, ¡°Aunty, can we talk for a while?¡±


    Mother Ji paused and looked at her.


    If it was someone else, Xu Xu would not have bothered winning their eptance; if they got along then great, otherwise she would just leave it be.


    However, the person in front of her now was Ji Bai¡¯s mother.


    Granted that Ji Bai told her not to care and to leave everything to him, but she could see Mother Ji¡¯s attitude during the time that she was here. She would be lying if she said that she was not bothered by this, as she felt somewhat wronged. Besides, this interpersonal rtionship that looked civil on the surface but was in fact umunicative was totally foreign to her. What could she do if her boyfriend¡¯s mother did not have a liking for her?


    Furthermore, she knew that if she could not gain her approval, Ji Bai would end up feeling regretful and upset. If there was anything that she could do to change that, she was willing to do it.


    Xu Xu was unfamiliar in getting along with female elders, but her final solution to any issue, regardless of the intricacies of it, were concise and effective.


    Thus, she decided tomunicate with Mother Ji directly.


    After she pondered for a while, she spoke gently, ¡°Aunty, Ji Bai always talked about you and uncle. To him, you¡¯re not just his parents, you¡¯re also people whom he especially respects, and he has said that many times that he admires your high achievements in your own lives as well as in the business industry. I¡¯m truly contented to have met you and the rest of his family.¡±


    Mother Ji looked at her without saying anything.


    Xu Xu continued, ¡°I know that you¡¯ve been remorseful about Ji Bai being a police officer. I understand where you¡¯reing from because for a child who grew up in such family environment to be a police officer means that he¡¯ll suffer lots of hardships that has never been experienced before. You¡¯re just caring for him because you love him.


    ¡°Despite that, Ji Bai has been working very hard over the past few years. Perhaps you can¡¯t tell since you¡¯re in Beijing and Ji Bai probably never mentioned it to you. However, whenever he works, he does it with all his might and there were times when he doesn¡¯t get proper for a couple of days in a row. Following the number cases that he has solved, he has be absolutely exhausted too. The toughness required to be a criminal police officer and especially considering he¡¯s the captain of a criminal police unit is far beyond what one could imagine.¡±


    Mother Ji¡¯s face changed.


    Xu Xu spoke in a gentle tone. ¡°Currently, he¡¯s performed so outstandingly in the Public Security System that whenever mentions the Ji Family, people would think about Ji Bai first. I¡¯m not saying this with any ulterior motives, but because I¡¯ve spent time with him day and night, I can sense his inner thoughts. The reason that he¡¯s putting his utmost effort in this is because he¡¯s upright and responsible, and also because he actually wants to prove to you, uncle, and himself that, despite his stubborn character, his choices were right.¡±


    Mother Ji replied, ¡°He brought this upon himself.¡± Although she said this, her expression had changed slightly.


    Xu Xu shifted the topic. ¡°Regardless of it¡¯s his career, his love rtionship, his life or his dreams, he very much wishes to have your approval and support. As a matter of fact, in this case, I believe that his rtionship with you will grow to be much more intimate than it was before. I believe that this is also what he longs for as a child.


    ¡°Aunty, I¡¯ve never been in a rtionship before and Ji Bai is my first boyfriend, but I¡¯ve always cared for him as the most important person in my life. I know that it¡¯s hard for him to be away from you but don¡¯t worry, because even though I¡¯m still quite young, I¡¯ll take great care of him. Moreover, we¡¯re colleagues in the police station, we can look after one another if anything happens. Hence, I personally hope that I can gain your approval, because you¡¯re the most important person to Ji Bai.¡±


    Right after she said this, she looked up at Mother Ji.


    Xu Xu felt that she had said all of this sincerely, thus it should more or less be able to touch Mother Ji¡¯s heart.


    She felt that in a parent-child rtionship, everything came down to ¡°love¡±. Whether it was the conflict between Mother Ji and Ji Bai, or her indifference towards him, in the end, she only wanted the best for her son; the conflict just arose because her idea of ¡°better¡± came from the perspective of a mother.


    Therefore, everything she said referenced the rtionship between Ji Bai and Mother Ji. She felt that even if she could not obtain Mother Ji¡¯s eptance in such a short time, she could at least express her caring attitude for her to see.


    She was prepared to observe Mother Ji¡¯s reaction to decide what to do next.


    Having said that, she did not understand Mother Ji in the slightest.


    As a child of high-level cadre, Mother Ji had received the most orthodox and strict education since young, like what Xu Xu¡¯s father had mentioned, she was truly one of those who stood at the tip of a pyramid. While Ji Bai¡¯s father worked in the business sector, it was a typical ¡°red enterprise¡± 1 , so she lived twenty-four-seven under the authoritative structures that she was so familiar with. Deep down, she took immense pride in her social ss, and the superiorityplex that she was born with was already deeply engraved in her being.


    She truly believed that the familial environment had huge effects on a person¡¯s character, mind and generosity. She did not demand that Ji Bai¡¯s partner had to be a perfect match, but she should at least be a properdy to be able to be with Ji Bai.


    Xu Xu, on the other hand, had a youthful look and a naive character, just looking at her appearance, she was certainly far from her ideal daughter-inw.


    Another reason why Mother Ji was so bitter was because Ji Bai had disobeyed her in the past and insisted on bing a criminal police officer, this had caused a rift to appear between them over the years, such that it was borderline unsalvageable now. Since Xu Xu was a criminal police officer as well, she subconsciously felt that dating her was a repeat of his disobedience from the past. How could she ept this?


    Mother Ji looked at her as a cold smile appeared on her lips. ¡°Did you say all that so that I¡¯ll approve you?¡±


    Xu Xu was stunned, then she heard her say in aposed manner, ¡°Xu Xu, I didn¡¯t want to talk about this at first, but you¡¯re a little too over your head. Since that¡¯s the case, we¡¯ll just be frank with each other. You might think of yourself as a fine youngdy, but based on my standards, you¡¯re not pretty, your educational background is subpar, your family background is ordinary, and you won¡¯t be able to assist Ji Bai in terms of career. As a mother, I can¡¯t help but think that there¡¯s nothing about you that¡¯s good enough for Ji Bai; I just can¡¯t make myself fond of you. Now, although I can¡¯t stop Ji Bai from being together with you, but I¡¯ve already been very clear of my intentions ¨C I won¡¯t ept you.¡±

 Chapter 52: Chapter 54

    <h4>Chapter 52: Chapter 54</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    Ji Bai was already an expert at dealing with his mother. He first thought about setting up barriers, then he thought ways to protect Xu Xu behind him.


    Nheless, Xu Xu was different.


    While she preferred to do things the easy way, her tactic of ¡°gaining the approval of the Ji Family¡± was not meant to target any particr individual per se, but at the family as a whole.


    Now that the oue had been set, she decided to seize this opportunity and attempted to try her hardest tomunicate with Mother Ji. If she seeded, Ji Bai would no longer be stuck in this tough situation and everyone could be more at ease. if she failed, she would not suffer any substantial loss.


    For all that, the one thing that did not cross her mind was whether this matter would cause her any harm.


    Therefore, Xu Xu was caught off guard when Mother Ji uttered such merciless words.


    If people did not see eye-to-eye, then you could debate about it; misunderstandings and conflicts between one another could be dispelled, but if a person merely looked down on you and disliked you for who you are, then what can you do?


    Though Xu Xu was willing tomunicate with her to improve the situation, she would definitely not do anything to prove to her that ¡°I¡¯ll be a match for Ji Bai¡± or ¡°I¡¯m worthy of your liking,¡± because from Xu Xu¡¯s perspective, her judgment and pretentiousness was not right.


    Hence, after experiencing this sharp unexpected pain, Xu Xu merely bit her tongue and stopped responding. She decided not to refute as it would be pointless.


    Upon seeing Xu Xu¡¯s hurt expression, the scornful look in Mother Ji¡¯s eyes only deepened. She did not want to talk to Xu Xu anymore, so she turned and left.


    Ji Bai held the diamond ring in his hand, which he had painstakingly selected, but as he entered his house, he saw his mother with a ghastly pale face walk out of his room. She looked at him for a brief moment then returned to her room right away.


    He was slightly stunned, and a few secondster, he saw Xu Xu walking out too; furthermore, she looked quite off.


    Ji Bai immediately grabbed her, he stared at her and asked softly, ¡°What happened?¡±


    Xu Xu shook her head. ¡°Leave me alone for a while, it¡¯s nothing huge, don¡¯t worry.¡±


    The two of them were already deeply connected after living together for such a long time. Whenever Xu Xu said that she wanted to be alone, Ji Bai usually gave her space to deal with her emotions.


    Because of this, Ji Bai remained silent for a while, but he still eventually let go of her, after which Xu Xu went back into her room and shut the door.


    His mother¡¯s door was shut tightly as well, whereas a lone maid was mopping the floor in the living room. Ji Bai sat there for a while, but suddenly noticed the maid¡¯s expression. He stared at her, then called her to walk outside of the house with him.


    Initially, the maid naturally refused to say anything since Ji Bai was only home temporarily, while Mother Ji was the one who called the shots at home. Nevertheless, how could she withstand interrogation from a criminal police captain ¨C after pushing and urging her for some time, he managed to get a clear picture of what had happened.


    At the moment, the night sky was looking perfect whereby a full moon hung clearly in the sky above his head. As Ji Bai stood by the pond outside his house, he felt rather troubled, so he subconsciously reached into his pocket for a cigarette, yet he found a red date slice. He smiled faintly and ate the fruit slice, then he went inside the house.


    First he walked into his mother¡¯s room. ¡°Mother, I¡¯ming in.¡±


    ¡°Mmm.¡±


    The lights were dim inside her room as his mother sat on the couch while watching television programs quietly. Ji Bai sat down beside her and stared at her with a smile on his face. ¡°I¡¯ll be leaving tomorrow; don¡¯t you have anything to nag about?¡±


    Initially, his mother thought that he was here to talk about what she had said and to speak out for Xu Xu, which is why she had preemptively put on a sulking face. Unexpectedly, he smiled at her and spoke nicely as if nothing had happened. So, after recovering from the minor shock, she smiled. ¡°I have nothing to nag about.¡±


    Ji Bai stood up and poured his mother some tea. ¡°While I¡¯m away, you and father must take care of your health. If they¡¯re any matters to attend to, let big brother and second brother deal with them. If they refuse to do so then let me know, I¡¯ll ask Shu Hang and the others run errands for you. Don¡¯t make me worry.¡±


    A smile emerged at the corner of his mother¡¯s lips. ¡°It¡¯s easy to say such things when you¡¯re not doing the dirty work. Stop sweet talking me.¡±


    Ji Baiughed. After the two of them talked for a while more, his mother¡¯s unhappiness was all but gone.


    At this time, the maid knocked on their door and brought in a bowl of bird¡¯s nest. Ji Bai saw this and asked, ¡°What about Xu Xu¡¯s?¡± The maid quickly apologized. ¡°I¡¯ll send it to her immediately.¡±


    Ji Bai nodded as he took a nce at his mother¡¯s peaceful face. Then, he brought the bird¡¯s nest over to her and stirred it with the spoon to cool it down. His mother smiled as she watched his thoughtful act.


    As Ji Bai stirred, he said, ¡°When I return to Lin City, I¡¯m nning to propose to Xu Xu.¡±


    Instantly, Mother Ji¡¯s face tensed up.


    She heard him continue, ¡°Mother, let¡¯s be real, she¡¯s the onlydy that I¡¯ve liked. Whether you agree or disagree, the matter has been set, I¡¯m marrying her for sure.


    ¡°I know that you¡¯re upset about this, and you won¡¯t be able to ept it for some time, since I¡¯ve been back, I¡¯ve noticed that you treated her with the proper etiquette. I¡¯m grateful for this. I¡¯ll put myself in your shoes, and in the future, I¡¯ll make sure Xu Xu does everything that a daughter-inw should do and that she does them well.


    ¡°In the meantime, I¡¯ll be waiting and I hoping for the day that you ept our marriage.¡±


    Mother Ji fell silent as Ji Bai continued looking at herself, his eyes were intense despite his tone being quite calm. ¡°Whatever it is, mother, she¡¯s truly in love with me, which is why she¡¯s willing toe home with me. I have to do the right thing and ensure that everyone respects her, I can¡¯t let her get bullied in my own home.


    When I came back earlier, I overheard your conversation. You shouldn¡¯t be saying things like whether or not her background is good and whether or not she¡¯s a match for me. I don¡¯t want to hear them anymore.¡±


    Ji Bai opened the door to Xu Xu¡¯s room and saw that she was sitting on a chair in front of the window. She was tapping on the window frame with one hand, and her white-skinned face seemed deep in thought.


    Ji Bai sat down beside her and pulled her into his arms as they watched the stars and night sky outside the window together without making a sound.


    A momentter, Xu Xu said dispiritedly, ¡°I talked to your mother, but it didn¡¯t work out too well.¡±


    Ji Bai pinched her nose and smiled. ¡°Sorry to have made you go through that, wifey, don¡¯t take her words to heart. Besides, she won¡¯t immediately listen to what you have to say, just give her some time to digest all of it.¡±


    When Xu Xu heard this, she understood that Ji Bai already knew about the situation, and she too nodded. ¡°I understand, so what should I do now?¡±


    Beforeing here, Xu Juan had called her to remind her, ¡°Your future mother-inw is probably a ruthless person, you should be wary. Setting aside how well Ji Bai treats you, he¡¯s still a dutiful son, and all men are worried about things like this. You should be mentally prepared.¡±


    On the other hand, her father mentioned that even though there might be a conflict and she might be wronged, that as the younger one, as long as it did not go against her principles, then Xu Xu should be humble and take the initiative to maintain a healthy rtionship with Ji Bai¡¯s parents.


    Combining the advice from her father and brother, and with her rough understanding of how inws rtionships worked, if Ji Bai wanted her to try harder in any other way, she would willingly do it.


    Ji Bai could tell at once what she was thinking this. Not only was she not mad, she was actually thinking about how to fix the situation, her determined and sincere character could really soften one¡¯s heart.


    He remained silent for some time then turned her around so that she faced him. He wore a faint smile on his attractive face and stared at her with his inky eyes. ¡°It¡¯s simple.¡±


    ¡°... Simple?¡±


    Just keep doing what you¡¯re doing now, as long as you keep doing everything that you should towards an elder, it¡¯s enough.


    ¡°Regarding my mother, if there¡¯re any conflicts or any issues, just ignore them and make sure not to act on them ¨C leave everything to me. From today onwards, there won¡¯t be any need for you to struggle to win over your inws anymore. Please don¡¯t trouble yourself anymore.


    ¡°Just look toward the future, I¡¯m sure that the rtionship between the two of you will eventually improve so for now just go with the flow.¡±


    The next day, the two of them boarded the flight at noon and both Father Ji and Mother Ji were there to send them off. The look on Mother Ji¡¯s face still made her seem displeased, but she did not say anything else.


    As the ne soared through theyers of clouds, the lights in the cabin dimmed and the carriage quietened as most passengers decided to take a nap. Xu Xu stared outside the window for some time, then turned to look at Ji Bai.


    He was leaning back against the seat while the golden rays of light shone on his face, making him look handsome yet at peace. When Xu Xu recalled his words from yesterday, her heart melted.


    He had told her that ¡°she would not need to struggle with her inws anymore¡± for her to deal with because he intended to shift it into a mother-son matter. After he said this, she felt quite rxed.


    If all men could simply manage tricky inw rtionships the way he did, then family politics in China would be so much more peaceful.


    Although she still had some regrets, she knew that not everything could go her way. However, she still felt that it would be difficult for him.


    Xu Xu closed her eyes and leaned against his shoulder.


    A momentter, the air stewardess handed them their meals. Xu Xu did not have much of an appetite, so she stopped eating after a few bites. Ji Bai caressed her head and said with a smile, ¡°Don¡¯t eat if you can¡¯t. I reserved us a nice ce for dinner.¡±


    By the time they arrived at Lin City, it was mid-afternoon; when they arrived home, the first thing that two of them did was unpack and clean the house. As they looked at the brightly lit room which was now clean and tidy, the two of them felt warmth in their heart.


    The mostfortable ce in the world was still their own home.


    After cleaning up, Xu Xu went to shower, and halfway through, Ji Bai entered the bathing room and carried her to the bed right after toweling her off.


    In Beijing, the two of them had slept separately in order to protect Xu Xu¡¯s reputation. Sure enough, Ji Bai was quite upset with theck of intimacy between them during the holiday. Therefore, both his kisses and touches now were all much stronger and more passionate than usual. He looked down at how her snowy white body which had been covered in kiss marks in no time, and the me in his heart grew more intense as the entwining of their bodies became wilder than usual. That being said, he had notpletely lost his head, and he nibbled Xu Xu¡¯s hands and legs from time to time. Xu Xu struggled to contain her moans from his teasing, but she also found them funny at the same time, causing her face to redden due to the embarrassment. The curtains were closed tightly, and the entire house was filled with their silent romance; only the two of them could grasp the intensity of the moment, whereby excitement and lust ovepped.


    Xu Xu recently epted that sex was indeed a good thing. After she had fully freed her body, the low spirits from the Beijing trip soon vanished into thin air too. She quickly became joyful, as if everything had paid off.


    Ji Bai wanted to do it twice since he still had not gotten enough of her. Usually, Xu Xu would already be tired after such a long time, but just as he was about to turn away from her body, she reached out and grabbed his arm. ¡°Can you still go on? Let¡¯s do it one more time. It¡¯s alright if you can¡¯t.¡± Her pair of shimmering ck eyes look at him straight as a few droplets of sweat glistened on her forehead.


    Ji Baiughed victoriously ¨C this was probably the most beautiful invitation he had ever heard, then he lowered his head and kissed her passionately. ¡°How can I say no?¡±


    By the time they wrapped things up, it was already evening, and Xu Xu slowly dragged her worn out body into the shower. Ji Bai kept smiling as he watched her walking into the shower room, then, he suddenly noticed the time on the wall and called out, ¡°Da Hu is looking for me, I¡¯ll go over to his ce for a while, I¡¯ll wait for you at the restaurant.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Xu Xu said with eyes half closed.


    Dusk nketed the beautiful and clean city while cars speedily cut through the chilly night. With one hand on the steering wheel, Ji Bai took the ring box out with another, his eyes were filled with joy.


    He had reserved a spot at an extremely beautiful and elegant restaurant located in a nearby suburb. He did not prepare a tacky violin show or cover the carpet in red roses, nor did he do it on a grand scale by booking the whole restaurant. He knew that the emerald green velvet couches, wool carpets as white as snow, and the best table with a view of a grand mountain far away was more than enough. Water flowed continuously down from the transparent roof, which made the entire room light up in a unique way, whereas the stars and the moon reflected off the curved, tranquil river outside.


    Would the little one say yes?


    As he pondered this, his phone rang. It was Da Hu.


    ¡°Captain, are you back in Lin City?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m back.¡± Ji Bai remembered that there was a football match tonight, so Da Hu was most likely inviting him to watch the match, so he added with augh, ¡°I¡¯m not free tonight, I¡¯m with Xu Xu.¡±


    Da Hu paused for an instance then said heavily, ¡°Captain, a female corpse was found on the mountain.¡± He stopped a while then continued, ¡°An extremely strange female corpse. Hurry over with Xu Xu then.¡±


    After he hung up, Ji Bai took a nce at the ring in his hand. He quickly put it away then phoned Xu Xu. ¡°We¡¯ll have dinner another time. There¡¯s a case, I¡¯ll pick you up right away.¡±


    The location of the crime scene was on a mountain in a certain county located rather far away from the city. It perfectly fit the description of ¡°deep mountains and old forests¡±. While it was connected to the national highway and mountain paths, it belonged to an autonomous county with low poption; there were small amounts of people in such a wide area, and there were not many people residing on the mountains nearby. If not for a farmer who had coincidentally passed by after collecting herbs on the mountain, then the corpse would not even have been found.


    Ji Bai and the others drove to the foot of the mountain then hiked up through some small, uneven paths. Later on, the paths disappeared, and everyone had to trek carefully through a huge area of thorns and weeds. Due to the dangerous terrain, Ji Bai made Xu Xu follow him closely. When faced with difficult routes, he would actually carry her past them. As Xu Xu leaned on his warm and broad back and looked at his peaceful profile in the middle of the dense forestry, her previously tense heart started to calm down.


    It was already the break of dawn by the time the criminal police officers reached the location of the corpse.


    It was a low-lying grass area on the hillside which had been cornered off by some police officers who had arrived before them. Behind them was arge cave, and there were a few scattered yet impressivelyrge trees around.


    When she first saw the corpse, a strange feeling arose in Xu Xu¡¯s heart as the emotions felt by the sight of it was too overwhelming.


    It was ady over twenty years old, she wore a thin yellow sweater and a pair of slim ck trousers, and was curled into a ball on the slightly yellow-colored patch of grass. Her ck hair was beautifully let down and her oval face wasplimented by long, thin eyebrows. She was absolutely stunning.


    She had very fair skin all over her body, whether it was her cheeks, hands, ankle. Every inch of her exposed skin was as clear as jade, which was in sharp contrast with the withered grass underneath her body. Her cheeks were actually somewhat reddish in color and her lips had been tinted with a peach-colored lipstick. She almost looked like she was smiling gently.


    Almost as if she was sleeping.


    This fresh, beautifuldy almost seemed to be quietly sleeping in front of them.

 Chapter 53: Chapter 55

    <h4>Chapter 53: Chapter 55</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    The sun rose up from behind the mountains far away, covering the whole mountain in bright, golden yellow rays. The grass became greener right alongside the corpse, making a silently beautiful but prating image.


    Ji Bai, Xu Xu, and a few other criminal police officers stood on the outer circle as the forensics team ran some test. After the forensics detective finished the examination, he stood up and walked over. ¡°The time of death is before dawn, the day before yesterday. I suspect that the cause of death is poisoning via potassium cyanide, which is the reason why the corpse has a reddened face. Besides this, her wrists and ankles have scars from being restrained by metal chains, and her vaginal area is red and swollen, with a tear-like wound. There are no other obvious scars, and so, aplete conclusion can only be made after a post-mortem.¡±


    Everyone fell silent. From the looks of it, this seemed like a homicide, rape and murder case.


    Ji Bai asked with a stern look, ¡°Has the identity of the deceased been identified yet?¡±


    Zhao Han shook his head. ¡°We¡¯re still looking into it.¡±


    As the forensics detective carefully shifted the corpse away, Xu Xu walked over and stared at her white-skinned, gentle side profile.


    The criminal police soon spread out to investigate the scene, so Xu Xu stood in front of the corpse for a while then walked over to Ji Bai. He was standing beside the rock walk behind the crime scene, deep in thought.


    ¡°Where they chose to abandon the corpse had been thought out properly.¡± He pointed at the traces of soil under the rock wall and said, ¡°There¡¯s traces of erosion and aged mudslides over here, which means that once the rainy season is here, the corpse will be buried very quickly.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded. ¡°The culprit doesn¡¯t want the corpse to be found.¡±


    Ji Bai nodded then continued, ¡°They¡¯re only a few narrow mountain paths through this mountain, and there are no surveince cameras anywhere close to this area, so even if the criminal had used a car, it wouldn¡¯t have been caught on tape. Additionally, the mountain is full of dense trees and grasses, I¡¯m afraid that it¡¯ll be very difficult to find the footprints of the criminal.¡± Right after he said this, he looked over to Xu Xu but noticed that her face was now looking rather pale.


    Seeing that there was nobody around, Ji Bai quickly walked to her side. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, are you not feeling well?¡±


    Xu Xu shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m alright, just a little tired.¡±


    Along the way, Ji Bai had focused entirely on the case, such that he did not bother about her. It was only then that he recalled that she had not eaten anything for the entire day, and since they had hurried herest night, it was no wonder that she was exhausted. Thus, he said softly, ¡°I¡¯ll carry you when we leave the mountainter, we¡¯ll look for something to eat after we leave.¡±


    Xu Xu felt a warmth in her heart, but there were still criminal police officers from the local county around, so she replied, ¡°You don¡¯t have to carry me, it wouldn¡¯t be nice to do so around the crime scene, I¡¯m alright.¡±


    Ji Bai reached out and touched her head. ¡°What¡¯s not nice about it? It¡¯s only right for a male colleague to take care of a female colleague, and it¡¯s not like I can let other men carry you, right?¡±


    Xu Xuughed, then the two of them stopped talking and continued investigating the area around the corpse by themselves.


    Just as Ji Bai had predicted, the criminal police gained nothing from their sweep of the mountain, the criminal did not leave any footprints, hair nor other evidence.


    It was afternoon when everyone returned to the city. Soon enough, a detailed post-mortem from the forensics detective waspleted which confirmed the hypotheses made in the morning. Besides, remains of drugs were found in the deceased¡¯s body which, after they ran some tests, discovered that it was a Japan-made INVERMA solution, which was a type of powerful aphrodisiac for females and could be bought online. Ingesting even a small amount of it would cause one¡¯s mind and muscles to go into a state of excitement and would also cause strong sexual hallucinations.


    After Xu Xu returned to the police station, sheid on the couch in Ji Bai¡¯s office to catch up on her sleep and regain some energy. When she woke up, the sky was already dark, and everyone else had left to investigate the case, so the office was now empty. She pondered for a while then left for the mortuary.


    Since she had graduated, she was officially a criminal police officer. Ji Bai had suggested, and the Station Chief had agreed, that she could now independently arrange tasks for herself to focus on criminal psychology research. However, during group operations, it would be up to Ji Bai to assign her task.


    The mortuary was spacious and brightly lit, and the air was cold inside. Workers were writing reports at the office desk outside, leaving the corpseying on a metal work table.


    Xu Xu put on gloves and lifted the white cloth covering the corpse, then she did a thorough inspection of the body inch by inch. She could smell a faint fragrance on the corpse, which smelt like Johnson¡¯s milk-based body shampoo. As she was lost in her thoughts, she suddenly heard a familiar, low-toned voice behind her. ¡°What did you find?¡±


    It was Ji Bai, he had just returned. His attractive face looked serious, his deep, onyx eyes were quiet, and his burly body seemed to carry the chillness from the night outdoors.


    Without even lifting her head, Xu Xu said, ¡°The deceased¡¯s throat is red and swollen, why is that?¡±


    Ji Bai thought for a bit then answered, ¡°ording to the autopsy report, she had consumed a sexual stimnt, and her body showed signs of having frequent sex.¡±


    Xu Xu understood straight away that it was the effect of the drugs which caused the deceased to shout hysterically during sex, resulting in a red and swollen throat.


    She continued checking the corpse, whereas Ji Bai stood by her side as he read the autopsy report. A moment after, Xu Xu asked again, ¡°All the pubic hair on her lower body had beenpletely trimmed off, why would he do that? Is it so that it makes her look cleaner and sexier? Does it make men feel more excited?¡±


    ¡°I suppose.¡±


    Xu Xu frowned, then she turned to look at Ji Bai. ¡°I don¡¯t quite understand this, do men think that this is a unique habit?¡±


    Ji Bai pondered for some time before answering. ¡°It¡¯s that it¡¯s unique, it¡¯s just that a lot of men like it.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded. ¡°Nheless, from the condition of the corpse, I gather that the culprit gets more aroused by this than other men.¡±


    Later, the forensics detective arrived, Ji Bai went aside and conversed with him softly. Meanwhile, Xu Xu was almost done with her inspection, so she covered the corpse, pulled a chair over, and sat down facing the corpse, staring at her face the entire time.


    Countless previously-scattered clues quickly linked together in her mind as image after image surfaced, almost involuntarily, in Xu Xu¡¯s mind.


    It was a room with gently-lit light and noiseless. Thedy¡¯s limbs were restrained by chains such that she could only let herself be manipted by the man. He first cleaned her whole body, and perhaps even moved his head closer to smell the fragrance of the body shampoo on her. Afterward, he carefully shaved her pubic hair bit by bit, then looked down with satisfaction at her fair, fleshy body. It was as clean and as pure as a newborn baby, and it was nowying right in front of him.


    He put on soft andfortable clothes on her, which made her look refreshed and delicate, then, he fed her sexual stimnts, so that he could gaze at her aroused and obscene expressions. He enjoyed the way she looked as she was quickly overwhelmed by sexual desire.


    He would trap her underneath his body before he subdued and dominated her repeatedly. Owing to that fact that she was now only semi-conscious, coupled with the extreme excitement and stimted senses, she screamed continuously, until her throat became swollen and painful...


    After this, perhaps he got tired of her, or that she enraged him, but he brought her deep into a mountain andid her down in the prettiest and most lovely posture in a corner of the world that was known only to him. Before long, she passed away quietly...


    When Xu Xu recalled the near-perfect image of her, she suddenly felt disgusted. She snapped back to reality and pressed on her chest to calm herself down. Then, she looked up again to find that Ji Bai was still talking to the forensics detective and was not looking at her.


    Later that night, everyone from the Criminal Police Unit returned to the police station to meet again.


    The night sky outside the window was tranquil and shadows of trees could be seen swaying under the streetlights. The conference room, on the other hand, was brightly light, but the atmosphere was tense. While everyone looked fatigue, they were all stern and exceptionally focused.


    Old Wu began, ¡°The identity of the deceased has been confirmed. She¡¯s Bai Anan, 23 years old, from Lin City. She graduated from Lin University a year ago and was an employee from a foreign ounting firm. She had not gone to work since a week before national day, and on that day, a colleague received a message from her saying that she was going to return to her hometown and she asked her to help apply leave for her. Hence, even though herpany was not quite happy with it, they didn¡¯t pay it too much attention.¡±


    Zhao Han added, ¡°We¡¯ve questioned Bai Anan¡¯s colleagues, friends, and family ¨C she has a very cheerful character, was active and also performed well in both work and with social situations, so there was no motive for her tomit suicide. Furthermore, she¡¯s single and has no boyfriend.¡±


    A few of Bai Anan¡¯s photos suddenly appeared on the projected screen in the conference room. Compared to the peaceful expression that she wore when she died, photos from her daily life portrayed her to be full of smiles, fresh-looking and charming.


    Da Hu said, ¡°If we do the math, she had been missing for a whole two weeks.¡±


    As they thought of the corpse, everyone became a little downhearted. During the two weeks, this attractive, outstanding officedy had probably experienced a living hell.


    Right then, somebody asked, ¡°Captain, what do you think?¡±


    The case felt like a tricky one, thus everyone instantly set their eyes on Ji Bai, hoping that he could identify a breakthrough.


    Ji Bai looked around him calmly and replied, ¡°Other than the corpse, the criminal did not leave behind any clues at the scene so for the time being, it¡¯ll be difficult for us to make further deductions.


    However, the culprit did leave us with a few remarkably obvious clues that we can probably work with.¡±


    Upon hearing this, everyone became energetic as Ji Bai continued,


    ¡°Firstly, potassium cyanide is a controlled drug, so whoever buys it would have to get strict approval and their names would be recorded. Little Zhao immediately began searching for the approval record;


    ¡°Secondly, there¡¯s a possibility of the murderer being a lover or admirer. Old Wu, lead a team to investigate the daily interpersonal rtionships of the deceased, put importance on those who had aplicated rtionship with her ¨C ex-boyfriends, admirers, all of them need to be questioned in detail¡±


    ¡°Thirdly, since the culprit transported the corpse deep into the mountain, he certainly has a car, and also owns a secluded house where he could abduct the victim and trap her in without being noticed. You must take note of this when you do the screening¡±


    ¡°Fourth, Da Hu, you¡¯re in charge of investigating information on all the rapists in the province, check if anyone was recently released from prison, and see if they could be suspects in this case.


    ¡°From this day onwards, everyone please refrain from taking leave. Moreover, the information for this case must be kept strictly confidential from the public.¡±


    Everyone nodded one after another and recorded what he had said, then a few groups of people started delegating specific tasks. At that moment, Ji Bai noticed Xu Xu chewing on her pen as she sat at the end of the table; she was lost in her train of thought, so he called out to her. ¡°Xu Xu, what¡¯s your opinion?¡±


    Xu Xu¡¯s research in criminal psychology had so far been used as an additional supplement to traditional detective methods in the police unit. On top of that, this case was most unusual, so everyone looked at her curiously.


    Xu Xu nodded and replied, ¡°I don¡¯t have a specific conclusion, but I¡¯m certain about one thing, the culprit carried much heavier emotions for the deceased.¡±


    Everyone was stunned.


    In order to exin a criminal¡¯s mindset to them, Xu Xu said, ¡°I¡¯ll first exin a bit of matured theory about rape.


    ¡°Why do men rape women? On the surface, it looks like unrestrained sexual desire, but why can¡¯t they restrain these desires? At the end of the day, it¡¯s still a problem derived from their mentality.


    ¡°ording to the conclusions drawn by foreign researchers, some men satisfy their inner desire for power by controlling women; some do it entirely to vent the anger inside of them.


    ¡°There are also some people who are less sessful in male-female rtionships and think that raping will be able to make them feel victorious. This is reflected in data surrounding criminals, whether it¡¯s the rapists in our country or in other countries, people with lower ies and from a less educated background tend to upy a muchrger proportion.


    ¡°On the other hand, young people rape mainly because of their curiosity about sex.¡±


    Everyone nodded after hearing what she said.


    Xu Xu continued, ¡°That being said, there¡¯s another type of person who longs to build an intimate rtionship with the victim through rape. Although the causes of this mentality are not clear, I think that the culprit in this case belongs to this group.


    ¡°He still thinks that his rtionship with the victim is private, pure, passionate, and is controlledpletely by him. He didn¡¯t perform any other abusive acts on the deceased¡¯s body, he even chose potassium cyanide to kill her, which would result in him being exposed to a certain amount of risk, but would not cause the deceased any kind of pain.


    ¡°I¡¯m making an early deduction that this man is between 20 and 40 years old, financially well-off, has a clean appearance, a delicate and patient character, and is not normally violent. In other words, he¡¯s a psychopath. In view of his strong desire for intimacy and sex, he¡¯s probably single. In the past, he most likely chased after, harassed, and tracked the victim, but all of those failed. Therefore, I agree with Captain Ji¡¯s point of view to investigate those that hadplicated rtionships with her.¡±


    Due to all the work that needed to be taken care of, Xu Xu only returned home again after three days. Meanwhile, Ji Bai still stayed at the police station to oversee the investigation.


    Ji Bai only returned home at 10pm that night. When he entered the room, Xu Xu was hugging her knees as she sat on the couch as she looked at pictures of the crime scene.


    Ji Bai waspletely drained as he sat down and hugged her waist, then he shut his eyes and leaned back against the couch.


    Xu Xu turned to look at him. ¡°No progress yet?¡±


    Ji Bai nodded. Everyone was on the brink of death, so he gave them a break tonight, they would continue working tomorrow morning.


    He pulled her into her arms and kissed her, he was temporarily escaping from his tight schedule; it felt like he was taking a warm shower as he kissed her skin, softening his tense body that had until now felt numb and frozen.


    ¡°Still looking at pictures?¡± He wrapped around her from behind and let his lips and tongue wander on her silky smooth, fair neck.


    Xu Xu nodded and furrowed her brows. ¡°Mmm. I feel like I¡¯ve seen this picture before.¡±


    Ji Bai was confused.


    Nevertheless, Xu Xu got nowhere even after thinking for some time as she was probably overly exhausted. Since she was also starting to get a headache, she simply put the pictures down and turned to kiss him. ¡°Quickly go shower.¡±


    Rushing water could be heard from the bathroom as Xu Xu stared nkly at the door for a while, then she returned to her bedroom, shut the door, and took a pregnancy test kit out of her bag.


    She had bought it from the drug store downstairs when she came home from work. She read the guidelines once, then brought it into the toilet in the master bedroom.


    A few minutester, Xu Xu held the pregnancy test kit up and saw that it had two lines on it. Stunned, sheid down on the bed facing the ceiling.


    ording to Baidu, poor quality condoms that tore halfway, dampened contraceptive pills, pre-cum from the males, condoms slipping off during the process after the male uses too much force... all of these could lead to idental pregnancy.


    Xu Xu stared at it for some time then pushed it into her pocket.


    Just because they were home did not mean that they were free from work. After Ji Bai took a shower, he made a cup of coffee and entered the bedroom with a stack of documents.


    Xu Xu was supporting her head with both hands behind her at this instant. She sat against the headboard and looked at him with pitch-ck but energetic eyes, theplexion of her reddish face seemed vibrant as well. Ji Bai smiled and pinch her chin as he kissed her, then he took a small stack of documents out and passed it to her. ¡°The information regarding Bai Anan¡¯s friends. Take a look.¡±


    The two of them cooperated well, they worked overtime together, discussed theories together, and overall, they were highly effective.


    Xu Xu took the information then looked at the clock on the wall, it was 11:00pm. Perhaps it was her imagination, but she felt like her stomach was quite bloated, as if somebody was reminding her not to stay up to work overtime.


    She fell silent for a while then said, ¡°I don¡¯t want to work anymore today, I want to sleep.¡±


    Normally, she would always be more energetic than him when it came to work, hence her response today surprised Ji Bai, and he reached her hand out to stroke her cheeks. ¡°Tired?¡±


    ¡°Mmm.¡±


    Ji Bai kissed her forehead and took the documents back. ¡°Give them to me, you go to bed first.¡±


    It was gettingte as the night grew even quieter. Ji Bai sat in front of the desk, and only the sound of him flipping through the stack of paper under the studymp could be heard. A momentter, he lifted his head up to see Xu Xu curled up under the nket, her face was as white as jade and she was sleeping soundly.


    When the sky slowly got bright, Ji Bai turned his body on the bed and suddenly realized that his arms were empty. Thus, he immediately woke up at once and noticed that Xu Xu was not in bed.


    As he turned to scan the room, he saw her standing at the edge of the bed in thin pajamas while looking at the floor with her head lowered. The dark blue morning sky outside the window and the yellow streetlights weaved to create a quiet shadow behind her, making the little body of hers seem extra lonely.


    Was something bothering her?


    Ji Bai had only slept for a couple of hours, so his mind was still quite blurry. In spite of this, he immediately got up and move over to hold her hand. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Xu Xu turned to look at him and he looked ghastly. She reached her hand into her pocket and passed him a white and pink stick. ¡°I¡¯m pregnant.¡±


    Ji Bai was immediately wide awake.

 Chapter 54: Chapter 56

    <h4>Chapter 54: Chapter 56</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    ¡°I¡¯m pregnant.¡±


    The morning light outside the window was dim and the room was warm and quiet. The two of them looked at each other for a moment and did not say anything.


    Ji Bai was a little dumbfounded by the news he was hearing so early in the morning. Even so, recovering from his shock, a sense of happiness rapidly flowed into his heart; he felt like lush green meadows have suddenly sprouted around his drab and dry heart.


    He pulled her into his arms and said in a low voice, ¡°Don¡¯t I always wear condoms? You¡¯re on contraceptive medication too.¡±


    There was a period of time whereby Ji Bai did not wear a condom and Xu Xu was taking a longsting safety contraceptive medication that had just been introduced into the market. She answered sullenly, ¡°Maybe the medication didn¡¯t work because the weather in Lin City is so humid, also didn¡¯t your condom break that one time you came?¡±


    Ji Bai stared at her for a moment, then wrapped her hands in his palm and apologized. ¡°It¡¯s my fault.¡±


    Xu Xu lowered her head and did not reply.


    Ji Bai¡¯s heart broke a little when he saw how sullen she looked.


    He would not be too surprised if Xu Xu wanted to abort this child. She had just graduated from the police academy and she was still young. Moreover, she never had ns to give birth. In addition to this, she was very independent and ambitious whilst the birth of a child would severely impede her.


    Nheless, with the way Ji Bai was brought up, he felt that abortion was something that should never happen.


    Furthermore, how could he let her get an abortion? It would cause too much damage to her body.


    He raised his head to look at her quiet, pale face, and he felt his heart tremble. However, he would undoubtedly convince her to keep the child. As he was about to speak up and say something, he saw her lift her head up and look at him with a determined look on her face.


    Ji Bai held his breath.


    Xu Xu stared at him and said, ¡°I still need to go to the hospital for a check-up to confirm it, but I¡¯m most likely pregnant.¡±


    She paused for a short while before continuing, ¡°Frankly, if I¡¯m really pregnant, then I will keep this child regardless of what you think.¡±


    The sky outside the window was getting brighter and their surroundings were almost surreal as Ji Bai looked at her dark, clear eyes and felt a warmth surging into his heart.


    Xu Xu saw how Ji Bai had remained silent, she frowned slightly and continued to exin in an orderly manner. ¡°I made this decision after careful considerations, since twenty-five to twenty-six years old is the best age for women to conceive, and abortion would indefinitely damage the body. Moreover, this is, after all, a human life, I can¡¯t just...¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± He interrupted her sentence in his low-pitched voice. Ji Bai pulled her towards his chest, then looked down and kissed her.


    Only after kissing her passionately did he let go of her and stared at her very intensely with deep, thoughtful eyes. Then he suddenly started smiling. ¡°If you want to give birth so bad, then I guess we have reached a decision.¡±


    Xu Xu could not help butugh.


    She was feeling down the entire night when she had first found out that she was pregnant. Even though she had promptly made up her mind, it was still a very serious matter and she was not prepared for it, so how could she rx? Therefore, the obvious joyful and affirmative look on Ji Bai¡¯s faceforted her greatly.


    Ji Bai raised his head and looked at the clock on the wall. It was 6 o¡¯clock and there were two hours left before they need to go to work. Furthermore, they were not allowed to take any time off over these few days.


    ¡°Change your clothes, we¡¯ll go to the hospital now.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    While Xu Xu was freshening up, Ji Bai had changed his clothes, called a friend, and contacted the City¡¯s Obstetrics Hospital. After everything was settled, he picked up the car keys on the table and strode to the door. He then turned back around, opened the drawer, took out the ring hidden in a stack of clothes, and plunged into his pocket.


    The hospital was deserted and quiet on the dark rainy morning. The two of them waited for a while at the obstetrics department before they got to meet a doctor.


    The test result soon came out and it turns out, Xu Xu was positive on all the indicators, so she was definitely pregnant.


    When the two of them returned to the car, the rain still had not stopped. Even though the sky had gotten brighter, the entire street was so wet, it seemed like it was being shrouded in a fine mist.


    Instead of starting the car immediately, Ji Bai parked it on the boulevard outside the hospital, held Xu Xu¡¯s hand and watched the rain quietly.


    Xu Xu also remained silent. This news hade suddenly, and she still had a lot to think about.


    Ji Bai was also contemting as he had recently been really busy with the case, but now he had to find time to meet his family to propose a marriage. Initially, he wanted to have an engagement ceremony, but he needed to forget about it now. They will only begin preparations for the wedding after they close the case, even if it meant that they end up getting married with a baby bump...


    He put his hand in his pocket and gripped the ring box. The atmosphere around them was way too ordinary and not romantic at all, but he could not resist smiling from the corners of his lips.


    He coughed to clear his throat and just as he was about to take the ring out, he heard her say, ¡°Third Brother, I would like to discuss marriage.¡±


    Ji Bai¡¯s heart skipped a beat and he said, ¡°Yes.¡± He held the ring in his pocket and did not move.


    Xu Xu turned her head and looked at him sincerely. ¡°Even though I¡¯m pregnant, marriage is still marriage, we don¡¯t have to get married in advance because of the child. After all, we have only been together for half a year. I do love you very much, but marriage is a lifetimemitment, so we need to consider it thoroughly.


    ¡°We¡¯re still in the early stages of our rtionship and we should get to know each other better first and live together for a longer period of time. After our rtionship has matured and stabilized, then we will naturally consider marriage. This way, we can ensure we have a stable and happy marriage which willst longer.


    ¡°Of course, the child will take your surname.¡±


    Raindrops continued to patter outside the window as more cars gradually started to fill the road. Ji Bai looked at Xu Xu and remained silent.


    He should have known that unmarried pregnancy was not a big deal to her. She wanted to wait until their rtionship got stronger before getting married, which fitted her cautious and slow personality. In fact, he had initially nned to get engaged first before getting a marriage certificate the following year.


    Nheless, the way she sincerely said ¡°I do love you very much¡± made his heart throb. Neither of them usually said sweet words like ¡°I love you¡± and he did not expect her to be the one to blurt it out unintentionally today.


    He took his time to speak. ¡°Xu Xu, of course, I would need to get your approval to marry you, but you don¡¯t have to make up your mind that quickly. Since you had only just got pregnant, it will still take a year for you to give birth to our baby. By that time, we should have gotten along for almost two years already and your mindset would have most definitely changed. When you first got together with me, you didn¡¯t think that you would ¡®love me very much¡¯, right? We can always decideter on. ¡±


    Xu Xu agreed and nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±


    Ji Bai smiled and moved on from the topic. Although this was just a trick for him to buy time until he could sessfully convince her to agree to the marriage, he was still a little disappointed that he would need to continue hiding the ring in his pocket. Nheless, he was not too worried as their child would definitely be on his side. Moreover, since she had fallen for him this much within just half a year, in a years¡¯ time, there was no way that she¡¯d leave him.


    Neither of them continued talking. As Ji Bai drove exceptionally cautiously and made his way through the flow of traffic.


    He saw a red light and gradually slowed the car down. When he turned sideways, he saw Xu Xu looking through the pictures from the crime scene.


    Usually, Ji Bai would ignore this, but after a while, he realized that this prenatal education was way too gory.


    Even so, it was inevitable as a police officer, so Ji Bai merely remarked, ¡°Avoid looking it as much as possible.¡±


    Xu Xu was a little stunned and she did not answer him. Suddenly, she raised her head to look at him with a gleam in her eyes. ¡°I recall where I¡¯ve seen this before.¡±


    While Ji Bai and Xu Xu were driving on the city¡¯s highway, across the city, another woman was facing the most horrifying moment of her life.


    The woman was wearing a light blue dress and she looked extremely fair and clean. She could not get out of the bed as her wrists and ankles had been tied to the bed.


    Soon, the door was pushed open and a man walked in. The woman¡¯s entire body shivered in fear as she tried to tuck herself into the bed, but it was in vain as all she could do was watch as he approached her.


    The man smiled at her and took off his clothes first. He revealed his powerful naked body and pulled her into his arms before removing her clothes piece by piece. When he flung her down like prey in front of him, he was in no hurry to dominate her. Instead, he lowered his head and sniffed along her skin inch by inch.


    ¡°You smell good.¡± He whispered.


    The woman was horrified as goosebumps spread all over her body. The man saw this but he did not get angry. Instead, he took a ss of water from the table and handed it to her, a mournful look appeared on the woman¡¯s face but she had no choice but to drink it.


    She reacted to it quickly and she soon heard herself moaning uncontrobly while a red flush spread across her snow-white body. The man sat on the edge of the bed while he watched quietly as the woman twisted and writhed.


    After a while, he took out a camera and started capturing her misty eyes as well as dripping wet private parts. Then, he threw the camera aside, grabbed her waist and rammed into her.


    Only the repetitive noise of the impact could be heard in the spacious and quiet room, as if there was no end to this ridiculous indulgence.


    ¡°Do you like it when I fuck you?¡±


    ¡°Yes... Yes...¡± The woman sounded as though she was whimpering, but at the same time, she sounded like she was enjoying it.


    ¡°Who am I?¡±


    ¡°Husband... husband...¡±


    ¡°And?¡±


    ¡°I love you... I love you...¡±


    ...


    Ji Bai and Xu Xu drove directly to the Provincial Department and headed for Xu Xu¡¯s senior brother, Sun Qinglin¡¯s office.


    When Sun Qinglin saw them, he was a little surprised and asked after a short pause, ¡°Captain Ji, Xu Xu, what is it?¡±


    Xu Xu handed him a photo of the crime scene. ¡°Senior Brother, are you familiar with this scene?¡±


    Sun Qinglin took a look at it and the expression on his face suddenly changed.


    When Xu Xu was at the police academy, she assisted her professor on the cases in America while the cases in Asia were mainly handled by Sun Qinglin. Thus, Xu Xu although had a feeling that she had seen simr photos, she would not be as sure about it as Sun Qinglin. He quickly took out a box of files from the filing cab and ced it in front of them.


    He took out photo after photo and spread them out on the table. They saw pictures of multiple beautiful womenying sideways on grasnd, soil ground, in the forest and next to a stream... Their clothing style was simr to that of the deceased, Bai Anan while all the pictures carried a warm tone, which made them look extremely fresh and gentle.


    Sun Qinglin sat down and said, ¡°This is the ¡®Angel Killer¡¯ incident in Hong Kong three years ago. So far, eight victims were found, but there could be many more unreported incidents. All of them were white-cor workers between the ages of 22 to 25 and they had all disappeared for some time before dying from potassium cyanide poisoning. This case caused quite a stir in Hong Kong at the time.¡±


    Ji Bai and Xu Xu nodded. They had both heard of this case before, but they did not dig deep into it.


    Sun Qinglin picked up the photo of Bai Anan and said, ¡°The murderer was captured by the police and he died while being transported across the sea. Some people say that he was dead, but others im that he fled to another country. When I look at this photo, I can almost conclude that this murderer is not the murderer from before, but a fanatic imitator.¡±


    Ji Bai and Xu Xu both remained silent before Xu Xu asked, ¡°Senior Brother since you¡¯ve investigated this case before, do you have his criminal psychological profile?¡±


    Sun Qinglin nodded. ¡°I not only have his psychological profile, I have all his information and photos.¡± Then, he added in a heavy tone, ¡°He¡¯s from Lin City.¡±


    Soon, he found a folder and handed it to the two of them.


    The young man in the photo wore a simple white shirt and trousers. He also had a tie, a t haircut, and a defined face shape. He had handsome features, thin lips, and a gentle smile.


    Sun Qinglin growled. ¡°Feng Ye, he was 22 years old when hemitted the crimes; he would have been 25 years old this year. Due to his outstanding grades, he enrolled in the Architecture Department in the University of Hong Kong with a full schrship. After graduation, he worked in a listedpany and obtained permanent resident status in Hong Kong. After we found solid evidence, he was wanted all over Hong Kong and soon disappearedter on.¡± He sighed and continued, ¡°If he really isn¡¯t dead and has in fact returned to Lin City...¡±


    Ji Bai asked, ¡°Do you have his address in Lin City?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± He flipped through the file and handed it to the two of them.


    Half an hourter, Ji Bai parked his car outside the housing area of the dormitory of an old government enterprise in the city. At the same time, he ordered a few criminal police officers to stand guard around the area.


    The two of them had sent Feng Ye¡¯s information back to the criminal police unit and got an arrest warrant on him, as well as contacted the Hong Kong Police to obtain more information. When everyone in the unit got the news, they were excited but at the same time, they felt heavy-hearted.


    As they walked along the narrow path in the old housing area, Ji Bai paused and asked, ¡°Do you want to wait in the car?¡±


    Xu Xu shot a nce at him. ¡°There¡¯s no need for that.¡±


    Ji Bai didn¡¯t try to persuade her and instead ordered the other criminal police officers to be extra cautious.


    The murderer, in this case, was a psychopath so Xu Xu¡¯s work would y a very important role. As the captain of a criminal police unit, he could not ask her to stay out this.


    All he could do was protect her.


    Feng Ye¡¯s house was on the sixth floor, and his uncle was the one who opened the door. He was a lean man in his forties who worked in the factory as a technician.


    ¡°Does Feng Ye have any other rtives?¡± Xu Xu asked.


    The man shook his head. ¡°No, his parents died a long time ago.¡± He then asked hesitantly, ¡°Fellow police officers, what else do you want to investigate? The incident in Hong Kong... It has been a few years since then. Didn¡¯t Feng Ye fall into the sea and die?¡±


    Of course, they did not answer him. Ji Bai ignored the question and asked politely, ¡°We want to see Feng Ye¡¯s personal belongings.¡±


    His uncle nodded, then led them to the balcony and pointed at the pile of stuff at the corner of the balcony. ¡°I¡¯ve thrown out a lot of it and this is all that is left. You can all have a look at it.¡± Perhaps because he did not want to continue talking, but he turned around and attempted to leave. Ji Bai quickly stopped him with a question. ¡°Was there anyone else who came here looking for Feng Ye recently?¡±


    His uncle was a little surprised. ¡°No. Of course not.¡±


    ¡°Did anything strange happen in your house recently?¡±


    His uncle looked at him in surprise. ¡°How did you know? Last month, a thief came at midnight. I heard movement and chased after him to the balcony, but in the blink of an eye, he was gone. He ransacked the house and messed everything up but did not steal anything.¡±


    Ji Bai and Xu Xu both suddenly thought of something. ¡®Could this thief be rted to Feng Ye?¡¯


    After answering the question, his uncle went into the hall as Ji Bai and Xu Xu picked up Feng Ye¡¯s belongings and looked through it carefully. After about half an hour, Ji Bai was stunned and handed Xu Xu a photo.


    It was Feng Ye¡¯s high school graduation photo. He stood in the middle of thest row and he seemed to be a little younger than in the photo that Sun Qinglin had shown them. Xu Xu did not notice any abnormalities, but she quickly scanned through the people in the photo. When she saw the girl in the front row, her eyes widened. ¡°Yao Meng?¡±


    Ji Bai nodded. ¡°They were ssmates.¡±


    In the photo, Yao Meng had long silky hair and was wearing her school uniform. Even back then, she was already very charming and beautiful.


    Xu Xu quickly said, ¡°I will contact her after I get back to the police station and ask her if she knew about Feng Ye¡¯s condition.¡±


    The two of them continued to flip through the photos, but they were all of Feng Ye¡¯s childhood photos and there were no valuable clues. However, as Ji Bai started flipping through the pile of books next to him, a photo suddenly dropped out, which Xu Xu picked up.


    Xu Xu looked at it and horrified.


    It was a single photo of Yao Meng. She wore the police academy¡¯s uniform, her head lowered to read a book while sitting under the shade. There was a pedestrian¡¯s silhouette beside her but she seemed unaware of it.


    It looked like it was secretly photographed a few years ago.

 Chapter 55: Chapter 57

    <h4>Chapter 55: Chapter 57</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    It was nighttime and a strong sense of autumn lingered under the moon-lit sky.


    Yao Meng lived in a two-bedroom apartment in the urban area alongside Lin Qingyan. Tonight they were wearing a matching set of household clothing. Lin Qingyan looked tall and refreshed and when they saw Ji Bai and Xu Xu at the door, they were both surprised.


    The four sat down on the sofa and Lin Qingyan stood up politely. ¡°I¡¯ll go make some tea, you guys go ahead.¡±


    There was a short pause when Yao Meng saw Feng Ye¡¯s picture.


    ¡°We were high school ssmates. I heard about the ¡®angel killer¡¯ incident but I wasn¡¯t very familiar with it. What happened?¡±


    Yao Meng might be in danger but of course, Xu Xu could not reveal everything regarding the case since she was no longer a police officer. Xu Xu took out some basic information surrounding the case and handed it to her. Yao Meng quietly finished reading it and nodded while blushing a little. ¡°Okay, but what does this have to do with me?¡± Yao Meng was a little stunned when she saw the sneak photograph.


    Ji Bai asked, ¡°What is your rtionship with him?¡±


    ¡°Just ordinary ssmates, we¡¯re not that close.¡±


    At this moment, Lin Qingyan came over with some tea and saw the serious look on their faces. He sat down beside Yao Meng and asked softly, ¡°What happened?¡±


    Yao Meng raised her head and smiled at him. ¡°Nothing. They came to ask me about my former ssmate.¡±


    After chatting for a while, Ji Bai and Xu Xu stood up. ¡°That¡¯s all for now, we¡¯ll stop bothering you.¡±


    Yao Meng smiled back and got up. ¡°I¡¯ll send both of you off.¡± She turned around nodded at Lin Qingyan. ¡°I¡¯ll be back soon.¡±


    The three of them walked silently all the way to the empty boulevard outside the housing area when Yao Meng suddenly asked softly, ¡°Xu Xu, can we talk?¡± Xu Xu nodded and Ji Bai looked at the two of them before going to wait in his car.


    The two of them found a bench and sat down as Xu Xu looked at her quietly. Yao Meng raised her head to look at the clear night sky and smiled, ¡°I didn¡¯t want to say this because Qingyan was there just now, but if you go to the school to investigate, you¡¯ll find out that Feng Ye and I, we used to date in high school.¡±


    Xu Xu was lost for words. Although she could tell that Yao Meng was hiding something, she did not expect the two of them to have had such a rtionship.


    Yao Meng said softly, ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say as I¡¯ve dated such a monster.¡±


    Xu Xu looked at her sorry expression and frowned. ¡°Did you... love him very much?¡±


    Yao Meng paused for a moment before she shook her head while chuckling. ¡°Why would I? I was young and ignorant at that time.¡±


    Was it love? Yao Meng did not know.


    Towards Ji Bai, it was adoration with a strong sense of admiration. After she was rejected, her self-esteem was bruised, but it did not hurt that badly. However, she was, still feeling a little sore about the incident. Therefore, she subconsciously wanted to avoid him now that she was talking about her rtionship with Feng Ye.


    As for Lin Qingyan, it was his maturity and sense of belonging that attracted her. His charm and temperament deeply moved her but it was undeniable that his money and status also came into y. He was more like a marriage candidate to Yao Meng.


    What about Feng Ye?


    Two equally outstanding teenagers who were both enthusiastic and impulsive, and feeling as though they could love each other forever. Nheless, when she thought about it now, all she could do was smile.


    He was stubborn and he came from a poor family background. Moreover, he would have gone on to study in Hong Kong, which was the reason why Yao Meng had broken up with him at that time. Even after so many years had passed, she still felt a dull pain in her heart whenever she was reminded of this pure and innocent love ¨C she did not feel the same attraction with Ji Bai and Lin Qingyan. Later on, after she heard about the ¡°Angel Killer¡± incident, this nostalgic feeling morphed into intense disgust, so much so that she did not want to think about this rapist anymore.


    Xu Xu remained silent for a moment before asking, ¡°Did he show any signs of psychological change when he was dating you?¡±


    Yao Meng shook her head. ¡°He didn¡¯t seem particrly odd as boys of that age are usually wild and impulsive. Moreover, we were only in a rtionship for a year, so I don¡¯t know him that well.¡± Their feelings were strong but they were often ignorant and strongly emotional.


    Xu Xu continued to probe, ¡°What about sex? Did he have any fetishes?¡±


    Yao Meng lowered her head and murmured. ¡°We did not have sex.¡± After saying that, she looked at Xu Xu.


    Both of them instantly had the same thought. This meant that she was in an even more dangerous situation now because Feng Ye might return as he had not truly ¡®got¡¯ Yao Meng.


    Xu Xu quickly said, ¡°I¡¯ll send someone from unit to offer you full-day protection.¡±


    ¡°N-no. This will affect my work.¡± Yao Meng frowned.


    Being protected by police officers would certainly attract other people¡¯s attention. She might as well close down her magazine agency if news about her being targeted by a perverted killer was being spread to the public.


    Even so, Xu Xu was still worried. Yao Meng smiling said when she saw how Xu Xu was silent. ¡°You can rest assured as I¡¯m either at thepany or at home. Moreover, I¡¯m usually with my colleagues and Qingyan often picks me up from work. It won¡¯t be easy to abduct me. In addition to this, you¡¯re not sure that it was him anyway, right? It¡¯s still likely that he had died at sea way back then.¡± She paused for a moment then continued, ¡°How about I talk to Qingyan about this when I get back and tell him that my high school ssmate is a stalker ¨C he will probably arrange for two bodyguards for me. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    Only then did Xu Xu nod slowly.


    After Xu Xu and Ji Bai left, Yao Meng stared nkly at the empty boulevard before returning to her house. As soon as Yao Meng walked through the door, she saw Lin Qingyan sitting on the sofa quietly with a book in his hand. A 35 years old man with the elegance of an older gentleman, yet with the appearance of a handsome youth.


    She walked over to him and leaned against his shoulder.


    Lin Qingyan put down the book and pulled her closer to him. ¡°Baby, is everything okay?¡±


    She buried her head in his chest and then looked up at him. ¡°Nothing, I just spent some time talking to Xu Xu.¡±


    Over the next ten days, the police dispatched arge number of officers to conduct a full-scale search for Feng Ye, but they did not find anything. Moreover, there was no progress on the investigation of the victim, Bai Anan.


    Everyone in the criminal police unit was getting tenser by the day as they were afraid that a second victim might suddenly appear.


    However, life still had to go on even if they had yet to close the case. Ji Bai did not tell anyone in the unit about Xu Xu¡¯s pregnancy as the current case was very stressful and he did not want to distract the rest of them with his personal matters. He told Little Zhao that recently, Xu Xu was not feeling too well and asked him to look after her; Little Zhao naturally agreed to this as he was the one who dealt with all sorts of errands in the unit. After this, Xu Xu was well taken care of under Little Zhao watchful eye.


    Nevertheless, although the case was very tense, Xu Xu¡¯s pregnancy went along very smoothly. Despite feeling nauseous during the first few days, she was feeling quite alright now. She looked energetic every day and herplexion had gotten a lot better as well. Ji Bai imed that it was his strong genes that were changing Xu Xu¡¯s bodyposition.


    At noon, everyone went to the cafeteria to have lunch. Due to their heavy workload, lunch was the only time they get to rx, so they would naturally use it to chat more enthusiastically.


    More people soon started to funnel into the cafeteria. Since Ji Bai was afraid that someone would bump into Xu Xu, he asked her to sit down and he went to get food for her himself. Then, he sat down next to her and chatted with the others while he ate.


    Xu Xu ate quietly and did not attract anyone¡¯s attention, but after a while, she suddenly nudged Ji Bai. He turned sideways and saw that her te was now empty ¨C it seemed like she had finished eating her portion rtively fast today.


    ¡°Are you done? Should I apany you back to the office?¡±


    Xu Xu nodded. ¡°I want to have more.¡±


    After saying this, everyone looked at Xu Xu in awe as she was well-known to have a small appetite, this was totally unlike her.


    Xu Xu quickly tried to cover up. ¡°I¡¯m a little hungry today.¡±


    Of course, they did not want her to feel awkward, so theyughed and said that she should eat more as she had previously been eating too little.


    Da Hu said jokingly, ¡°Sister-inw is still growing so naturally, she should eat until she¡¯s full.¡±


    Everyoneughed while Ji Bai patted Da Hu¡¯s shoulder with a smile. ¡°You have a sharp eye.¡±


    The consequence of eating too much was getting sleepy. In order to ensure Xu Xu rested well, Ji Bai applied for a dormitory in the station so that she could take a nap every day at noon.


    The room was warm and quiet in the afternoon, the corridor was pin-drop silent and the branches swayed gently outside the window. Xu Xu leaned on the bed while Ji Bai¡¯s gaze fell casually on her t belly.


    ¡°Let me see if you¡¯ve gained weight.¡± He edged forward excitedly.


    Xu Xu lowered her head and saw his handsome face right next to hers. His dark brows and loving eyes seemed exceptionally gentle such that Xu Xu could not help but reach out her hand to caress his short hair.


    Since she was only two months pregnant, there were no noticeable changes. As Ji Bai was about to raise his head again, he locked onto her chest and saw that she was wearing a tight-fitting white shirt today. He did not know whether it was his imagination or the angle, but her chest looked exceptionally full today.


    Ji Bai got up, buried his head in her cor and nted a kiss on her snow-white chest. ¡°Did all your newly-gained weight umte here?¡±


    Xu Xuughed, then grabbed the cor on his shirt and leaned forward to kiss him gently.


    Right at this moment, Ji Bai¡¯s mobile phone rang. The two of them instantly let go of each other and looked towards the phone.


    It was Old Wu. ¡°Captain, we just found a second victim.¡±


    By the time Ji Bai and others arrived at the crime scene, it was already in the evening.


    The crime scene was in the mountainous area about tens of kilometers away from the location of the first body; this time, it was at an even more remote location. The twilight shrouded the earth, making the body that was lying in front of a cave barely visible. The scene was beautiful yet strange.


    The forensics detective was performing a preliminary examination of the body as Ji Bai and Xu Xu stood a few steps away. Zhao Han took out a report and quickly read aloud, ¡°The name of the deceased was Li Tiantian. She was a 24 years old postgraduate student from the local music academy who disappeared a week ago. She rented a room with her ssmates and since she often stayed away from home or traveled by herself, her ssmates did not pay it too much attention when she did not return home. This was why they did not file a missing report to the police.¡±


    At this moment, the forensics detective got up and walked towards them. ¡°The time of death is between 8 o¡¯clock to 12 o¡¯clock yesterday. The condition of this victim is basically the same as the previous victim, just that the degree of damage to the corpse is higher due to longer exposure to the elements. In addition to this, this victim¡¯scerated wound on her vagina is more severe while some other wounds seem to have been dealt after her death. However, further investigation is needed to verify this.¡±


    Everyone was shocked and Da Hu cursed under his breath. ¡°Fuck, he¡¯s even more perverted.¡±


    Ji Bai surveyed the surrounding woods and when he turned around, he saw Xu Xu walking to his side. She stood there silently with a deep frown on her face.


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    Xu Xu raised her head to look at him. ¡°Although the possibility of Feng Ye surviving after falling into the sea is very low, previously I suspect that he might be the murderer because of the simrities in the way the crimes weremitted. However, now that a second victim had appeared, I no longer feel like he¡¯s the murderer.¡±


    Ji Bai nodded. ¡°Go on.¡±


    Xu Xu continued, ¡°In addition to their simr temperament, the two deceased victims still had one thing inmon, and that is they did not attract the attention of the people around them even after disappearing for some time. I don¡¯t think that this is a coincidence. The murderer would probably have stalked the victims for a period of time and then made a move after getting to know them very well. This also matches my suspicion that he prefers establishing an intimate rtionship with the victims.¡±


    ¡°Then?¡± Ji Bai egged her on.


    ¡°The problem now is, Ye Tiantian had disappeared a week ago and we had already dispatched arge number of police officers to hunt down Feng Ye. There were police officers dressed in in clothes as they patrolled almost every street in the city while the traffic police¡¯s monitoring system was checked at the end of every day. Thus, if it really was Feng Ye, how could he elude our intensive search and sessfullyplete such aplicated task of stalking as well as abducting the victim from within the city?


    ¡°Moreover, ording to your previous deduction, the murderer should have a rtively flexible schedule, a car, and a house. However, Feng Ye is wanted by the criminal police officers in both Hong Kong and China. If he went back to Lin City, he would live miserably and it would be very difficult for him to be able tomit crimes in such an orderly manner.


    ¡°Therefore, I¡¯m now inclined to believe that the murderer is, in fact, someone else. Regardless of what his motive is behind imitating Feng Ye¡¯s crime, he has sessfully confused us. ¡±


    While the two of them talked, Old Wu and several other senior criminal police officers gathered around them. After listening to what she said, everyone gradually nodded in agreement. They were all very experienced police officers and after a few days of intensive searching, they too shared her sentiments.


    Ji Bai looked at Xu Xu and said, ¡°The true value of Feng Ye¡¯s case was to help you understand the murderer¡¯s mentality when hemits crimes. Instead of assuming that Feng Ye is the criminal, we should treat this as a brand-new case and assume that the murderer is somebody we don¡¯t know. The evidence avable is the main resource we have to track down the murderer. You guys can take a look at this.¡±


    Everyone was stunned as Ji Bai lowered his head to look at the ground that they were previously surveying. The soil here was soft and covered in leaves. He knelt, gently brushed away the fallen leaves and soon revealed a semi-clear footprint pressed into the ground.


    Everyone was ted.


    They did a quick test on the footprint as Ji Bai said in a low voice, ¡°The murderer wear shoe size 42 while Feng Ye¡¯s information shows that he wears the shoe size 44.¡±


    Someone asked dubiously, ¡°Could it be that the murderer left a fake footprint to confuse us?¡±


    Old Wu also squatted down to analyze the footprint and shook his head. ¡°No. First of all, after Bai Anan¡¯s case, Captain gave the order not to leak the news to the public. The murderer did not know that we had even found the first body, so there was no need for him to deliberately leave a footprint. Secondly, from the depth of the footprint, that person should have been carrying something heavy while the direction of the footprint also faces the body. Thus, this should be the murderer¡¯s footprint when he was carrying the body. There are quite a few fallen leaves here, so the murderer must not have noticed that he had left such a dangerous clue behind.¡±


    It was midnight when everyone called it a day. Although they still did not know the identity of the murderer, at least they ruled out the possibility of it being Feng Ye. At the same time, they also learned a little more about the murderer.


    Right after they return to the police station, Ji Bai said to Zhao Han, ¡°Tell Yao Meng that she doesn¡¯t have to worry too much.¡±


    The rest of the unit nodded. Although Yao Meng had already left the police unit, it would be a pity if she was being stalked by a perverted murderer. At the very least, she can rest assured for now.


    When Zhao Han called Yao Meng, she was at Lin Qingyan¡¯s house. It waste at night already, so Yao Meng and Lin Qingyan had already gone to sleep. When she saw that it was a phone call from the police station, she walked out of the bedroom, closed the door and went into the living room to answer it.


    ¡°Yao Meng, the murderer is definitely not Feng Ye. He should already be dead, so you don¡¯t have to worry about it.¡± Zhao Han said.


    Yao Meng remained quiet for a moment then answered with a smile, ¡°Okay, then I can rx now. How can you guys be sure about this?¡±


    Since Yao Meng was originally at risk of danger, Zhao Han did not want to hide too much from her, so he answered in a low voice, ¡°Their shoe size is different.¡±


    Yao Meng thought for a moment. ¡°Feng Ye is size 44.¡±


    Zhao Han nodded and replied, ¡°Yes, the murderer wears size 42. Keep it as a secret, yeah.¡±


    ¡°Ok.¡±


    After hanging up the phone, Yao Meng stood on the porch for a while as she could now finally rx after staying up worried for so many days. When she raised her head, her eyes fell on the shoe rack on the porch that was filled with both her and Lin Qingyan¡¯s shoes. Perhaps due to what Zhao Han had said just now, but she subconsciously looked at the size of the men¡¯s shoes and saw that it was also size 42.


    Sheughed slightly as she dismissed her thoughts as her simply being too tense. She walked into the bedroom andid down on the bed. Lin Qingyan seemed to have noticed her movements while he was sleeping, so he casually turned around and hugged her from behind.


    On the same night, Ji Bai sent Xu Xu home to sleep before returning to the police station to work overtime. However, he received a call from Xu Xu early in the morning. ¡°You are right, I should investigate this case like it¡¯s a brand-new case. Right now, I have a preliminary profile of the criminal. I think that we can filter him out by screening through everyone in Lin City.¡±

 Chapter 56: Chapter 58

    <h4>Chapter 56: Chapter 58</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    When Xu Xu called Ji Bai, she had already taken a taxi and arrived at the police station. The sky was dark and the air was clear which made her entire body seem to be shrouded in a gloomy chilliness. She walked up the steps to the police station and soon saw Ji Bai appear at the top end of the stairs with a mobile phone in his hand.


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk after we get in.¡± When Ji Bai looked at her frail yet energetic figure, he felt a pain in his heart as he pulled her into his arms.


    Right now, all the criminal police officers were out on patrol but Ji Bai had returned to the office to report their progress to the Station Chief, after which he had decided to take a nap. The criminal police unit¡¯s huge office was empty, so Ji Bai led Xu Xu along and made her sit down on the sofa. Then, he poured her a cup of warm water and held her hand. ¡°You can start talking.¡±


    Xu Xu had far less experience in solving crimespared to Ji Bai, especially when it came to the investigation of a crime scene, which was the most crucial part of their job. Both Ji Bai¡¯s sharp senses and his experienced logic was more developed than hers. However, with only a few traces left at the crime scenes and since the murderer hadmitted crimes seemingly randomly, it would be difficult to investigate this case using their normal techniques. On the other hand, Xu Xu¡¯s psychological deduction would not be affected or restricted.


    Xu Xu nodded and began, ¡°Over the past few days, I constantly imagined myself in the shoes of a perverted killer to figure out what he was thinking and started having some strange thoughts...¡±


    When she said this, Ji Bai could not help but avert his gaze to look at her stomach. Nevertheless, she ignored this and she quickly picked up a pen and paper. She started drawing rapidly while she spoke.


    ¡°First of all, in the past three months, something huge must have happened to the murderer.


    ¡°This is because we have gone through all the cases that had urred in the past few years and there isn¡¯t any simr missing person incident. This proves that Bai Anan is the first victim.


    ¡°There are always reasons behind each choice a person makes, even if they aren¡¯t obvious, they will still be subconscious at the very least. The reason why the murderer chose this time to startmitting crimes must be because there had been some changes in his life.


    ¡°There are many possibilities as to what this change could be ¨C it could be love, health, career, or an ident... Regardless of what it is, we can figure out the answer based on his behavior. ¡±


    Ji Bai nodded solemnly while Xu Xu continued, ¡°We have previously concluded that the murderer has a strong desire to establish close rtionships with the victims. However, why does he like this type of victims?


    ¡°The reason why he had this desire must be due to something that hecked. What are themon characteristics of the victims that deeply attracted him?


    ¡°Young and beautiful? Could the murderer be old, ugly and feel inferior about himself? No. If so, he could have chosen simpler victims, such as younger students, who could be deceived more easily aspared to white-cor workers;


    ¡°The victims had too many more remarkable features. Firstly, they had either just graduated or be graduating soon. Both of them carried excellent qualifications and their futures seemed boundless; their wonderful career and life had only just started while their futures looked bright. Secondly, look...¡±


    Xu Xu took out both victims¡¯ photos taken during their everyday life andid them out. ¡°Don¡¯t you think they look more energetic and youthful aspared to ordinary people?¡±


    Ji Bai lowered his gaze and looked at the girls in the photos. The girls had beautiful features and a bright smile on their face. Each of their movements looked very lively and their bursting vitality seemed to radiate through the photos.


    Xu Xu looked at him and said, ¡°Because of this, I think that there are two great possibilities. Firstly, the murderer could have suffered a huge setback in his career recently. Secondly, the murderer is suffering from a chronic disease, which may be difficult to be cured or even incurable, which is why he would be attracted to such ¡®vitality¡¯.


    ¡°Regardless of the reason, the meaning behind it stays the same. It clearly reflects that he hopes that his own life could be just like theirs and he wants to start over again.


    ¡°As a psychopath, the way he satisfies his urges is to prey on their bodies and lives. As it stands, he¡¯s probably already addicted. ¡±


    Ji Bai remained silent for a moment before answering, ¡°Go on.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded. ¡°Secondly, the ¡°angel killer¡± incident was never published in maind China. ording to Yang Qinglin, there were only a few photos which appeared on several mainstream BBS in the middle of the night, but they were all taken down a few hourster. Ever since then, there hasn¡¯t been any more news about it. Therefore, there aren¡¯t many people who knew about the incident in the first ce. There are only two possibilities to why the murderer is so familiar with this case. Firstly, he used to work or live in Hong Kong. Secondly, he used to be a hardcorework forum user ¨C these types of people are often college students or young white-cor workers.


    ¡°Thirdly, the fact that the murderer chose this particr location to dump the bodies reveals that he¡¯s very familiar with the forest area; he must have frequently entered and left the forest area over the past few months. Although there isn¡¯t any surveince footage of most of the roads in the forest area, there are surveince cameras on the main road leading to the forest area in Lin City. We can take the surveince tape from the transportation department and analyze them;


    ¡°Fourthly, as you said previously, the murderer must own a secluded house and only those with flexible working hours would be able to stalk and observe the victims. This is also one of the screening criteria.¡±


    After Ji Bai finished listening to what Xu Xu said, he did not reply immediately. Instead, he remained silent for a moment to collect his thoughts before answering, ¡°Everything that you have just said is spection and there isn¡¯t any evidence to support it. Moreover, some of the things you¡¯ve mentioned cannot be traced but even if they can be traced, there will still be a huge number of people who fit the criteria. This method can only be used as aplementary attempt... I can at most arrange up to two criminal police officers to assist you.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded even though she still had a strong feeling that she would be able to find this person. Even so, objectively speaking, there were many uncertain factors and it was very possible that she would turn up empty-handed. Ji Bai needed to oversee the overall investigation and it was impossible for him to assign the core members to assist her with something so risky, so she could understand why he said this.


    ¡°Okay, two members along with myself should be enough.¡±


    Ji Bai smiled, then got up and handed a picked up a folder from his table and handed it to her. Xu Xu looked through it and a smile appeared on her face.


    Ji Bai smiled back at her. ¡°I have already asked Zhao Han to go through the records. There are more than 500 private cars that have been in and out of the forest area more than three times within these three months. There are more people in the city with private vis, warehouses, and suburban houses but this should be able to save you some work.¡±


    Ji Bai quickly arranged for two criminal police officers to report to her but by the time Xu Xu had delegated their respective screening tasks, the sky had already gotten bright.


    Xu Xu also assigned a heavy workload to herself but she had to take a nap on the sofa in Ji Bai¡¯s office before she began because she was too tired.


    Ji Bai also stayed up the whole night. Moreover, he still had a meeting with Da Hu and the others in a few hours to investigate the situation surrounding the second deceased, Li Tiantian. He massaged his temples and sat down next to Xu Xu while she immediately scooted over to sleep on hisp. He smiled and picked up the draft paper on the table which was covered in messy writing. ¡°When you analyze, do you like to write and draw like this?¡±


    ¡°When I¡¯m thinking hard, I will scribble randomly.¡±


    ¡°Did you do the same with the paper trail that you left during the Brother Lu¡¯s case?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    Ji Bai¡¯s gently stroked her cheeks with his thumb. ¡°Then why did you write my name a bunch of times?¡±


    Xu Xu smiled, then closed her eyes and did not answer him. After a while, she suddenly thought of something and flung open her eyes with a stiffened look on her face. ¡°You didn¡¯t hand in that piece of paper as evidence, right? That would be so embarrassing.¡±


    ¡°Of course I did.¡± Ji Bai replied inly. Xu Xu raised her hands to cover her face and sighed. Ji Bai looked at her slightly red cheeks as a smile appeared at the corners of his lips.


    ording to the rules, he was supposed to hand it over. Nevertheless, due to his own private interest, he did not do so. Even until now, the pile of shredded paper filled with her deductions and yearnings was still being kept in his drawer along with the lonely ring. However, he did not want to let her know this for the time being.


    During noon three dayster, Xu Xu finallypleted the heavy data crunching along with her team members. When she looked at the result of the cross-screening, she was stunned and said to both of her assistants in a low voice, ¡°This is absolutely confidential.¡± Then, she took the result and went to look for Ji Bai.


    Ji Bai was talking to the criminal police officers in in clothes who were patrolling the mountainous area. When he saw the report that Xu Xu handed over, he was also astonished. He quickly hung up the phone and stared at her with his dark eyes.


    Xu Xu looked serious. ¡°He is the only one in the entire city within the age group of 20 to 40 who have worked in Hong Kong before, he was also diagnosed with cancer 3 months ago. Furthermore, he had gone in and out of the forest area more than 5 times over thest 3 months where he owns a forest vi.¡±


    Individually, these facts did not seem to not have any direct rtionship with the case, and all of these were just suspicions. However, it signified something when several possibilities were all matched to a single person.


    Xu Xu continued, ¡°Ji Bai, although we¡¯re still not sure that he is the murderer. Remember, the murderermitted necrophilia on the second victim, and this kind of serial killer would not easily change their methods, especially since this kind of vition would destroy his fantasy about building an intimacy with the victims ¨C that is, of course, unless he has be mentally unstable. I specte that he willmit another crime soon...¡±


    Ji Bai nodded with a serious look on his face and growled, ¡°We need to watch Lin Qingyan 24/7.¡±


    The weather over the following days was gloomy. The perverted murderer seems to beying low and there were no incidents. Nheless, nothing could be kept a secret forever as the rumors about the murderer gradually started spreading around Lin City.


    Zhao Han and another criminal police officer were responsible for monitoring Lin Qingyan¡¯s vi. That evening, the two of them were hiding in the woods as per usual and guarding the vi quietly.


    Suddenly, Zhao Han¡¯s cell phone rang. It was Da Hu. ¡°Lin Qingyan drove out of the city with a woman in his car. We can¡¯t get too close so we can¡¯t clearly see who she is.¡±


    Zhao Han and the other criminal police officer instantly became energized. As expected, they eventually saw a Buick multi-purpose vehicle driving along the mountain road. When he arrived at the front door of the vi, a man got out of the car, from his figure and clothing, they knew that it was Lin Qingyan. Secondster, he pulled open the rear door, leaned inside and carried a woman out of his car.


    Zhao Han was watching with a set of binocrs from afar and he saw that the woman seemed to have fallen asleep. Her long hair was covering her face and she was lying in Lin Qingyan¡¯s arms. Lin Qingyan carried her into the vi and the lights soon lit up.


    ¡°Captain, what should I do?¡± Zhao Han asked Ji Bai through his mobile phone.


    Ji Bai said, ¡°Let¡¯s wait for a while.¡±


    The mountainside was dark and the surroundings were quiet. Zhao Han and the criminal police officer kept their eyes fixed on the vi and waited. Suddenly, they heard a woman¡¯s sharp scream sound followed by a deafening silence. The both of them were shocked.


    If they were to take action now, it will inevitably blow the operation, but as police officers, it was impossible for them to take risks at the expense of the victim¡¯s safety. Ji Bai low voice shouted at them through the mobile phone. ¡°Go!¡±


    Zhao Han and the other officer ran down the hillside and rushed to the front door of the vi. They saw the brightly lit living room through the window but there was no one in there. They vaguely heard a soft musicing from inside.


    The two of them kicked the door open and ran all the way to the innermost master bedroom, following the source of the music. The door was slightly ajar and the sound of music was already very loud, but they could still faintly hear the sound of a woman sobbing. Zhao Han was stunned as he pushed open the door without hesitation.


    Instantly, the two people in the room turned their heads at the same time and looked at them in shock.


    Under the soft lights, they saw that the entire room was filled with blossoming roses to form a bed of flowers. Yao Meng was sitting on the sofa among the roses while sobbing whilst Lin Qingyan knelt on the ground with a ck velvet ring box in his hand. At that moment, he was putting a shining diamond ring on her finger.


    ¡°Why are both of you...¡± Yao Meng helped Lin Qingyan up and stared at them with her mouth hanging wide open. Suddenly, she asked in disbelief, ¡°Do you suspect that he¡¯s the serial killer?¡±


    Zhao Han and the other officer did not answer her as Lin Qingyan also turned to look at them, frowning silently.

 Chapter 57: Chapter 59

    <h4>Chapter 57: Chapter 59</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    It was already midnight and the sky outside the window was dark and gloomy. Nevertheless, the criminal police unit¡¯s office was as bright as daytime.


    Ji Bai, Xu Xu and rest were looking at Lin Qingyan who was sitting quietly in the interrogation room through the tinted ss window. He wore a suit today but no tie. Instead, he had loosened a button on his shirt which made him look a little more casual than usual. The look on his face was disyed his emotions clearly as he was frowning a little with a cold look in his eyes.


    Zhao Han walked into the other side of the room with the stack of documents in his hand. ¡°Captain, we have finally gotten verification on Lin Qingyan¡¯spany from Hong Kong. Hispany had agreed several contracts with Feng Ye¡¯spany which they both personally signed, so they definitely knew each other.¡±


    Everyone was energized since the two knew each other ¨C it was possible that Lin Qingyan was imitating Feng Ye.


    Ji Bai took the stack of paper and carefully read them. He hinted at Old Wu with his eyes and they both entered the interrogation room.


    Lin Qingyan heard movement and thus raised his head. Since he had initially thought of Ji Bai as a friend, only to be put in such a situation, he merely stared at Ji Bai without saying anything.


    Ji Bai greeted him. ¡°Hello, Mr. Lin. I¡¯m so sorry to disturb you today but I have brought you to the police station to assist in our investigations.¡±


    Lin Qingyan sighed. ¡°Since you all are Yao Meng¡¯s colleague, I will contain my anger. However, I don¡¯t understand why you would drag Yao Meng and I into this investigation? I hope that you can give me a reasonable exnation.¡±


    Zhao Han who was on the other side of the room could not help but mutter, ¡°You know, he really does look like he¡¯s innocent.¡±


    Xu Xu also nodded, his reactions were very normal.


    Ji Bai¡¯s handsome face looked extremely calm under the fluorescent light of the interrogation room. ¡°There is indeed a reason why we have done this. We suspect that the ¡®Angel Killer¡¯ Feng Ye had recently returned to Lin City. He¡¯s Yao Meng¡¯s high school ssmate, so I¡¯ve arranged for some of my colleagues to follow and protect Yao Meng. They heard her scream in the vi today and they thought that Feng Ye had hurt the two of you. That¡¯s the reason why they broke into the vi. This happened suddenly and unexpectedly so I hope you understand.¡±


    Lin Qingyan was stunned and he remained silent.


    Xu Xu smiled a little when she heard this. Ji Bai was very good with his words and he had cleared up Lin Qingyan¡¯s doubts in just three to four sentences. Moreover, what he said sounded very usible and if Lin Qingyan really was the murderer, he probably would not even be able to figure out how much Ji Bai knew.


    Even so, Lin Qingyan¡¯s reactions needed to be scrutinized.


    After this, Ji Bai suddenly changed the topic and asked, ¡°Nevertheless, since I¡¯ve invited you here today, we also have some questions that we would like to rify.¡±


    The look on Lin Qingyan¡¯s face did not change and he nodded. ¡°Go ahead and ask.¡±


    Old Wu began, ¡°Mr. Lin, in the past three months, your private car has entered and exited the forest area very frequently. What is the reason for this?¡±


    Lin Qingyan answered briefly, ¡°I renovated the vi, the one that you all barged into today.¡±


    Old Wu said, ¡°You¡¯re one of the higher-ups in yourpany, so you would be very busy at work. Why would you need to personally monitor the progress of your vi¡¯s renovation?¡±


    Lin Qingyan answered, ¡°It¡¯s my personal interest. I don¡¯t mind spending time doing something that I enjoy.¡±


    Zhao Han who was on the other side of the room started frowning. ¡°When we went into the vi, it did indeed smell like it had been freshly painted and all the furniture was brand new.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded as there was not any direct evidence to suggest otherwise, his answers were foolproof. It seemed like Ji Bai had no choice but to work on another aspect.


    At this moment, Ji Bai ced a medical record in front of him and asked, ¡°Does Yao Meng know that you only have one year left to live?¡±


    The look on Lin Qingyan¡¯s face showed that he was stunned. He looked at the medical record and quietly averted his gaze.


    Ji Bai and Old Wu exchanged nces before Old Wu continued by pressing him harder. ¡°She doesn¡¯t know? Why would you want to get married if you¡¯re sick? What is your purpose?¡±


    Lin Qingyan smiled very lightly and replied, ¡°This is my personal matter, I choose not to answer.¡±


    Ji Bai sighed indifferently. ¡°You can choose to not answer, but I hope that you can cooperate and tell us everything you know about Feng Ye.¡± Ji Bai pushed a copy of a document with both Lin Qingyan and Feng Ye¡¯s signature right in front of him. ¡°You knew Feng Ye, and right after finding out that you have a terminal disease, you fell in love with Yao Meng. Moreover, she¡¯s Feng Ye¡¯s first love.¡±


    Old Wu also looked at him and said, ¡°Don¡¯t tell us this is a coincidence. Start exining.¡±


    At this time, someone pushed open the door of the hearing room. ¡°Xu Xu, Yao Meng says she wants to talk to you.¡±


    Xu Xu looked at Lin Qingyan who was remaining silent in the interrogation room and nodded. Then she turned around and walked out of the room.


    Xu Xu walked out and soon went into a separate room where Yao Meng was. She was sitting in an interrogation room in a beautiful long and luxurious dress while her makeup made her seem as exquisite as the first flower of spring. However, her eyes were a little red and watery.


    When she saw Xu Xu, she looked her in the eyes without any hesitation. ¡°Why would you guys suspect Qingyan?¡±


    Due to Yao Meng and Lin Qingyan¡¯s rtionship, she would be considered someone who is involved in the case. Therefore, Xu Xu could not tell her everything. However, she had to warn her, so she answered, ¡°We¡¯re don¡¯t suspect him in particr. It¡¯s just that we had a screening criteria to narrow down the suspects and Lin Qingyan¡¯s name came out as one of them. Therefore, we brought him back for a routine inquiry.¡± She paused for a moment before saying, ¡°It would be the best if you can keep your distance with him first, it would be better for the both of you.¡±


    Instead of answering her, Yao Meng stared at her and asked, ¡°What kind of screening conditions did he meet?¡±


    Obviously, Xu Xu could not tell her so she did not say anything.


    Yao Meng had thought about the case before because of Feng Ye, so she asked softly, ¡°Is it because he owns a vi? Or because he has a working background in Hong Kong? All of these aren¡¯t valid reasons.¡± A gentle look appeared on her face as she continued, ¡°Moreover, he went in and out of the forest recently to renovate the vi that he gave me, I even went there with him twice. Xu Xu, this is really just a coincidence.¡±


    Xu Xu was slightly stunned and she nodded.


    Yao Meng asked again, ¡°What other evidence do you all have?¡±


    Xu Xu remained silent as she stared back at her friend¡¯s determined expression and sparkling eyes. Yao Meng had epted Lin Qingyan¡¯s proposal and was ready to spend a lifetime with him.


    In case he was not the murderer, Xu Xu decided that should not be the one to abruptly tell her that he had cancer. She changed the topic and asked, ¡°Do you mind if I ask you a few personal questions?¡±


    ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    ¡°Since you¡¯re with Lin Qingyan, you should be able to tell whether his sex drive is normal or not.¡±


    Yao Meng answered very frankly. ¡°It¡¯s very normal.¡±


    Xu Xu continued, ¡°Does he take any drugs? Is he obsessed with scents or does he like to record or take pictures? Will he choose the brand of body wash that you use or make you wear specific clothes?¡±


    Yao Meng expression showedplete disbelief and her face had gotten redder. ¡°What are you talking about? He didn¡¯t do anything that you said. He does not even know what brand of body wash I use. Xu Xu, he is the most gentle, kind and steady man that I¡¯ve ever encountered. Since the day we first met, he loved and treated me like a treasure. You¡¯re also in love, so you should understand my feelings. Believe me, he can never be a murderer.¡±


    In the other interrogation room at the end of the corridor, Lin Qingyan was facing Ji Bai¡¯s and Old Wu¡¯s cold gaze. Then, he smiled mockingly and said,


    ¡°Yes, I did initially approach Yao Meng with an ulterior motive.


    ¡°I knew Feng Ye and we even became friends. However, I wish that I never met this person.


    ¡°At that time, one of the victim in the ¡®Angel Killer Case¡¯, Zhang Xiaoge was my fianc¨¦e. Up until now, we still haven¡¯t found her body. ¡±


    Zhao Han quickly rummaged through the file and found the woman¡¯s information. He immediately entered the room and handed some documents to Ji Bai.


    After Old Wu went through it and asked, ¡°So... you mean to say you approached Yao Meng to take revenge against Feng Ye?¡±


    Lin Qingyan was looking at them, but his deep-set eyes seemed distant and far off. ¡°At the time, Feng Ye had carried Yao Meng¡¯s photo with him everywhere he went. Feng Ye had died so many years ago, and I¡¯m dying as well, so I wanted to see what kind of woman would fall in love with a monster like Feng Ye.


    ¡°However... she waspletely different from Feng Ye. She¡¯s very honest and kind. Moreover, she hates Feng Ye very much for what he did. ¡±


    Ji Bai and Old Wu remained silent. Lin Qingyan tuned his head and looked outside the window. ¡°I¡¯ve made a will and I left all my properties to Yao Meng. You can check with mywyer. After we get married and I pass on, she will not be med for inheriting all my assets. Also, I went to the forest area a few times to renovate my vi and at the time, the people from the renovationpany were also there. You can call them to verify this. I hope that you can do so as soon as possible so that Yao Meng and I can go home.¡±


    The night was getting darker and the sky now looked like a pool of dark ink that had spilled over the city while the distant mountains looked like dark beasts running on the horizon. The city lights were like tiny stars as they twinkled quietly.


    Ji Bai stood in the corridor and he looked off into the distance while leaning against the railing. After a while, he felt a familiar petite figure approach him before stopping to stand next to him silently, and Ji Bai reached out his hand and held her gently. ¡°Are you cold?¡±


    Xu Xu shook her head and asked, ¡°Do you believe Lin Qingyan?¡±


    ¡°I only believe the evidence. So far, his exnations are reasonable.¡± Ji Bai replied softly. ¡°Moreover, his car did not enter or leave the forest area when both of the crimes happened. Thus, we don¡¯t have any direct evidence.¡± He turned sideways to look at her tiny face. ¡°What do you think?¡±


    Xu Xu sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t know. However, based on the second body, it proves that the murderer¡¯s mentality should be somewhat unstable. However, when you both interrogated him just now, he seemed very ordinary.¡±


    Ji Bai nodded. ¡°We¡¯ll keep him in custody for 24 hours and verify what he said before letting him go.¡±


    Xu Xu did not reply. After a while, she turned around and looked at him quietly. Only the bright lights from the hallway were seeping through, causing the hallway to look like it had been covered in a light, silk veil. There was a trace of tiredness in his eyes, but he still kept hisposed attitude as Xu Xu reached out to wrap her arms around his waist. Then, she raised her head to kiss his cold cheeks.


    Ji Bai smiled and lowered his head to look at her. ¡°What happened?¡±


    It was nothing, she just felt like they were very lucky.


    She whispered softly, ¡°I hope that Yao Meng will meet someone who is right for her.¡±


    Ji Bai caressed her head and smiled. ¡°Stop thinking about it. Go to my office and sleep for a while, I¡¯lle over to apany you after I finish my work.¡±


    Many people were leaning on their tables in the office to take a nap before dawn, but Xu Xu walked straight into Ji Bai¡¯s office andid down for a while. However, she still had the case on her mind, so she simply got up and went to the table. She took some paper, but she could not find a pen on the desk.


    Ji Bai was here earlier so he did not lock the drawer. She pulled open the drawer and found two pens, then she pushed it back in.


    After a few seconds, she suddenly paused and pulled open the drawer once again. She saw the corner of a ck velvet box poking out from underneath a stack of documents.


    When Xu Xu opened the box, she saw a dazzling ring inside and she was awestruck. She suddenly recalled what Yao Meng had said just now as she gently stroked the ring with her left hand. At this moment, she felt gentler and more feminine than ever before.


    Xu Xu raised her head to see if anyone was looking, but it was very quiet outside the room. Then, she picked up the ring and slipped it onto her right ring finger.


    Ji Bai chose the ring so the size was naturally just right. The style was very elegant and very much suited Xu Xu taste. She looked down at her hand for a while and pondered. So, he was nning to propose to her...


    Xu Xu raised her hand to look at the ring under the light for a moment and she could not help but smile. After a while, she put down her hand and tried to pull the right out of her finger... then she froze.


    It was stuck on her finger and she could not get it off.


    She continued tugging at it a few more times but it still did not budge. Her eyes widened in a panic. ¡®Could it be that she ate too much recently, resulting in her fingers getting thicker? Or did her fingers swell because she was pregnant?¡¯


    After trying to get it out for five to six minutes, she realized that it was hopeless. As she was about to take out her mobile phone to search for a solution on Baidu, she heard the sound of familiar footsteps approaching.


    When Ji Bai entered the room, he saw Xu Xu standing in the middle of the room with both of her hands in her pockets. She looked up at him in a daze.


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you asleep?¡± He closed the door, then sat down on the sofa and pulled her into his arms.


    ¡°Sleep...¡± Xu Xu yawned with an indifferent look on her face as she leaned against his shoulder. As Ji Bai was very exhausted, he quickly fell asleep. Meanwhile, Xu Xu did not sleep very well as she constantly squirmed about in his arms. He tightened his arms around her waist with his eyes still closed and murmured, ¡°Stop moving.¡±


    The next day when Xu Xu woke up, she saw that the sun was already shining brightly outside. Shey alone on the sofa with Ji Bai¡¯s covering coat her.


    She had been awoken by a phone call, and Ji Bai¡¯s voice came through loud and clear. It seemed like he had been working for some time already as he said to her in a low voice, ¡°Everyone will be having a meeting in ten minutes. Don¡¯t bete.¡±


    Xu Xu immediately got up and rushed to the washroom.


    Although Ji Bai had woken her up at thest minute to allow her to sleep a little longer, she was in a mess right now. After she quickly freshened up, she went to the conference room only to see that there were already some people there. Thankfully, she was right on time.


    Most of the criminal police officers were still outside, only Old Wu, Zhao Han and a few of them had stayed overnight in the office. Ji Bai began the session by telling them their work schedule for the week. After this, Zhao Han asked, ¡°Are we still proceeding with the screening criteria that Xu Xu suggested?¡±


    Ji Bai remained silent for a moment before looking at Xu Xu. ¡°Write down the full list on the ckboard and we will go through it once more.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded and got up. She walked to the ckboard in front of the conference room and started writing. After writing a few lines, she began shifting ufortably as she felt Ji Bai¡¯s gaze fixed on her. Secondster, she realized that he was, in fact, looking at the ring on her finger; her face instantly warmed up.


    It was early in the morning and most of the police officers had yet toe to work, so the entire office building was quiet. The few criminal police officers present still a little drowsy, but their eyes were still as sharp as a knife. They saw Xu Xu pause, then spotted the ring on her finger. With that, they understood what was happening and turned to look at Ji Bai teasingly.


    Ji Bai looked at Xu Xu¡¯s bright red face and a deep smile appeared on his face. Even so, he forced himself to avert his gaze so that he could continue discussing the case with the rest of them.


    The meeting soon ended, and everyone got up to leave. Xu Xu lowered her head and did not look at anyone, but she could still feel Ji Bai¡¯s gaze fixed on her.


    At this time, Old Wu came over with a smile on his face. ¡°Although this case is stressful, our private lives are still very important, so I still want to congratte to two of you. Congrattions!¡± Ji Bai smiled and nodded politely. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Zhao Han and the others saw this and also came over to offer their blessings. Ji Bai had no choice but to ept all their wishes. After this, Zhao Han said, ¡°Captain, you¡¯re amazing. We were so busyst night but you still had time to give her the ring.¡±


    Ji Bai grinned at him cheekily. ¡°It was a little rushed, but I¡¯m d that Xu Xu chose to ept it anyway.¡±


    Xu Xu face was burning as though it was on fire.


    After everyone left, the two of them returned to Ji Bai¡¯s office. Then, Ji Bai turned around and looked at her quietly.


    Xu Xu lowered her head and reached out her hand toward him. ¡°I tried putting it on yesterday out of curiosity but I can¡¯t take it off. Please help.¡±


    ¡°Oh, is that so?¡± Ji Bai took her hand and looked at it carefully for a while before smiling. ¡°I would be crazy to take it off you.¡±


    Xu Xu was left speechless.


    She was angry but at the same time, she wanted tough. She did not know what to say. Ji Bai did not speak either, and instead stared at her deeply, causing Xu Xu¡¯s heart to start fluttering.


    ¡°I¡¯m not trying to rush you, but I¡¯ve made up my mind. It may have only been half a year, but I¡¯m sure you¡¯re the one I want to spend the rest of my life with.¡± He whispered softly, ¡°When this case is over, I will make up for this subpar proposal. I¡¯ll give you time to think about it slowly.¡±


    ¡°Ok...¡±


    Ji Bai looked at her bright red face and wanted to continue teasing her, but he soon heard the sound of rushed footsteps approaching. Zhao Han hurriedly pushed open the door to Ji Bai¡¯s office.


    ¡°Captain, we just got news that a third body was found in the forest area. Early reports say that the time of death wasst night.¡±


    Ji Bai and Xu Xu were both shocked as the two of them slowly turned toward the interrogation room at the end of the corridor.


    Lin Qingyan had been inside the interrogation room the entire night, and yet a third victim had appeared.

 Chapter 58: Chapter 60 & Chapter 61

    <h4>Chapter 58: Chapter 60 & Chapter 61</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    Although the vast mountains, lush green grasnds and endlessndscape all remained untouched, the winding mountain road was not as peaceful as it used to be.


    Vans with ¡°XX TV station¡± and ¡°XX newspaper¡± stered across their sides raced along the road. Moreover, there were groups of college students who made their way up the mountain, either on bike or on foot. The whole atmosphere was very noisy and tense.


    Ji Bai frowned and asked, ¡°What happened?¡±


    Zhao Han quickly hung up the phone and answered, ¡°I just heard the news myself. A group of students were the first to discover the body ¨C turns out, the deceased was a college student as well. The news has spread throughout the entire city, and as such, volunteers from several universities have gone to the mountain to participate in the search. Da Hu and the others are now doing their best to stop them.¡±


    Although the police officers had stopped most of the people at the foot of the mountain, many people had gone up the mountain before they had arrived. The narrow mountain paths were now crowded with vans and groups of college students could be seen everywhere.


    By the time Ji Bai and the others arrived at the crime scene, it was already in the afternoon. They slowly waded through the throngs of reporters and students who were now waiting outside the blockade to attempt to get to the mountain trail. When they saw Ji Bai and the others, the shlights got even brighter and some students shouted out loud. ¡°When will the police catch the serial killer?¡±


    Ji Bai maintained a straight face and did not answer the question, instead leading several senior criminal police officers and Xu Xu straight to the crime scene.


    The crime scene was a secluded cave which the police unit had already lit up with spotlights. The body was lying deep inside the cave in the same position and with the same peaceful expression as the previous two victims.


    Over the past few days, Da Hu had been moving around the forest area, so when he saw the rest of the team, he immediately came forward. ¡°The deceased was a year four student at Lin University called Chen Hongmiao.¡±


    Then, Da Hu briefly talked about her background. Shen Hongmiao was originally a member of Lin University¡¯s Outdoor Sports Association. Ten days ago, she went hiking in the mountains by herself. Since the forest area was sorge, the patrolling police officers did not know which route she had used either. Two days ago, her ssmates realized that she still had not returned despite it being past her scheduled return date. They also could not contact her. Because of this, they spontaneously organized a search party tob the mountains. They also contacted the local police force but they did not expect to find her body that soon. Some viger must have leaked the fact that more than one person has already died. Thus, the situation became this chaotic.


    Ji Bai, Old Wu, and Xu Xu walked to the body. The forensics detective quickly wrapped up his test and told them, ¡°The initial estimated time of death was between 8.00pm to 10.00pmst night. Just like the first two victims, the cause of death was potassium cyanide poisoning; her other injuries are basically the same.¡±


    Xu Xu asked, ¡°Is it possible for the murderer to dy the time of death?¡±


    The forensic doctor shook his head. ¡°No. Potassium cyanide is a rtively potent toxin. A person will die within 58 seconds of taking it, leaving behind some unique reactions on the skin as well as eyelids. These symptoms are not affected by temperature or humidity. Therefore, the estimated time of death should be urate.¡±


    Everyone fell quiet. They looked at the corpse again and saw some messy footprints all around the soil. Da Hu sighed. ¡°The students left it behind.¡±


    Old Wu was an expert at tracking footprints, so he knelt and carefully checked the perimeter of the body. After a while, he raised the shlight in his hand and pointed at the ground next to the corpse¡¯s waist. ¡°Look. Doesn¡¯t this look familiar?¡±


    Their eyes immediately fell on a shallow footprint nted in the soft soil. Xu Xu immediately pulled out the photo of the footprints found next to the second body. Old Wu did aparison and nodded. ¡°The length and pattern of the footprints are identical ¨C both footprints were left by the same person.¡±


    Da Hu looked towards Ji Bai and frowned. ¡°Captain, it seems like Lin Qingyan really isn¡¯t the murderer.¡±


    Ji Bai did not answer him. Instead, Old Wu stood up and said, ¡°That¡¯s not necessarily true as there are still two possibilities. Firstly, Lin Qingyan is indeed innocent. Secondly, Lin Qingyan has an aplice.¡±


    Even so, Xu Xu knit her brows and replied, ¡°That possibility is too small... What are the odds?¡±


    Everyone looked towards her and heard her say extremely solemnly, ¡°Based on the murderer¡¯s methods, he values forming close rtionships with the deceased. This rtionship is personal, private, and exclusive to him. Psychopath almost always works alone as sharing is meaningless to them.


    ¡°However, if Lin Qingyan doesn¡¯t have an aplice, then it means that there is a second person who perfectly matches the criminal¡¯s profile. In other words, you¡¯re suggesting that two people with the exact same profile had appeared at the same time and ce. This probability is really...¡±


    Before she could finish talking, Ji Bai interrupted her. ¡°Focus on the evidence, Xu Xu.¡±


    Xu Xu felt her heart tighten and looked over to see him scanning their surroundings with a calm expression. ¡°This case is rtivelyplicated, so we should not make any fixed assumptions for the time being as it will only mislead us. We will focus on the evidence for now.


    ¡°Firstly, based on the time of death, we know for a fact that someone else had killed Chen Hongmiao. Secondly, Chen Hongmiao entered the mountain ten days ago, but her body was only found today. During this period of time, we had police forces all around the mountain area, but we did not notice any suspicious vehicles entering or leaving. This shows that the house that the murderer used to imprison her is in the mountain area.


    ¡°I will immediately request for arger police force to search the entire area. When we find the murderer¡¯s base, all our doubts will be cleared.¡±


    Everyone¡¯s spirits were lifted and even Xu Xu¡¯s mind suddenly cleared up. At this moment, Ji Bai¡¯s mobile phone rang and he picked it up. ¡°Station Chief... Yes, I understand, I wille over immediately.¡± He hung up the phone and said, ¡°I need to go to the province to report the case directly to the provincial government and the Provincial Public Security Department. In the meantime, Old Wu, you take over and help lead everyone. Also, the Provincial Criminal Investigation Unit might want to take over the case.¡±


    Everyone nodded and Zhao Han asked, ¡°Our colleagues from the police station said that Lin Qingyan¡¯s time in custody is up, so they had no choice but to let him go.¡±


    Ji Bai nodded briefly, then turned around and left. After taking a few steps, he turned around once again to look at Xu Xu, whereby she nodded at him to acknowledge that she would take care of herself. Only then did Ji Bai stride off.


    Shortly after Ji Bai left, the officers at the crime scene received news that the captain of the Provincial Criminal Police Unit would personally oversee the case while Ji Bai would be his assistant.


    The sky had already gotten dark by the time the captain of the provincial unit arrived at the scene. After this, police cars filled with officers from every city and county likewise slowly started to trickle into the area. The captain echoed the wishes of the director with a loud, booming voice. ¡°Get ready to set off. We must find the murderer even if we have to turn the mountain upside down!¡±


    At night, Xu Xu, Old Wu, and the others hurriedly finished their dinner before arming themselves with bulletproof vests as well as batons. Xu Xu looked at the thick bullet-proof padding and knew that she would get exhausted if she needed to wear it for an extended period of time. After a moment of silence, she decided not to wear the vest and went to look for the provincial unit¡¯s captain.


    As she arrived at his van, she saw the captain talking into a mobile phone while rubbing his forehead. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell us that your wife is pregnant? I was wondering why you were calling me so urgently. No problem, I understand. I¡¯ll let her stay in the backline and handle the logistics...¡±


    Xu Xu was slightly stunned and instantly felt a warmth in her heart. Then, she turned around and went back.


    The next time Xu Xu saw Ji Bai was on the following night.


    That day, the mountains seemed to revert back to it¡¯s calm and peaceful state. The students had been persuaded to leave and the media was now under control, they were much less restless. Only a few dozen newspapers and broadcasting agencies were allowed ess to specific regions in the mountain area. The provincial department also hoped that they would publish some objective and positive news that would appease the public.


    Hundreds of police officers were scattered all over the mountains as they continuously searched without resting. The area was only a few thousand kilometers long, but it was impossible to properlyb through in such a short period of time. As such, there had not been any progress on the case so far.


    Old Wu and the others went out while it waste at night as Xu Xu temporarily slept in a row of farmhouses at the foot of the mountain along with all the police unit¡¯s logisticians and media personnel. While she was sleeping soundlessly, she heard Ji Bai making a phone call outside the house. ¡°...Yes, I just got to the foot of the mountain. Ok, then I¡¯ll wait for you to pick me up.¡±


    Xu Xu immediately got up and saw Ji Bai pushing open the door to the house. The moonlight shone on his face and he looked very tired. However, his eyes were still bright and sharp.


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave immediately after taking a rest.¡± His voice sounded a little hoarse.


    Xu Xu got out of bed and poured him a ss of water. Then, Ji Bai pulled her into his arms and gulped down the water in one go. ¡°Is everything okay these days?¡±


    ¡°Nothing¡¯s happened so far. What about you?¡±


    ¡°What could happen to me?¡± He smiled.


    The two of them remained silent for a while before Xu Xu sighed. ¡°I have been thinking about this murderer for the past two days, but I still can¡¯t figure it out.¡±


    Ji Bai was almost always on the road over the past two days. Even when he was in the provincial department, he had to report to the higher uppers, such that he did not have time to ponder the case. When he heard her say this, he simply nodded. ¡°I still have some time, let¡¯s analyze it properly. Where¡¯s the paper and pen?¡±


    Xu Xu immediately pulled out a pen and paper from under the pillow along with a few photos of the crime scene. Ji Bai thought of the child in her stomach and could only smile bitterly as he caressed her head.


    Xu Xu listed down the screening criteria that she previously came up with. Ji Bai looked at it attentively and after pondering for a moment, raised his head to look at her. ¡°What was the sentence again? After excluding the impossible, you will be left with the truth, regardless of how improbable.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded.


    Ji Bai smiled. ¡°Thus, even though you said that the possibility of two people who fit the description appearing at the same time is minuscule, it has happened. The second person certainly exists. If we catch him, the suspicion surrounding Lin Qingyan and the truth behind the case will all be revealed.¡±


    He took the pen from her hand and began sketching. ¡°I¡¯ve always thought that your screening criteria was good, but not perfect. You see, not all conditions screened. For example, we can make a list of people who have recently suffered from severe illnesses, but we there is no data on people who have recently suffered a huge setback in their career. I think that¡¯s the reason we missed the culprit.¡±


    Xu Xu was shocked. Her mind was spinning fast and she blurted out before he could finish writing on the paper, ¡°So, this person is someone who recently suffered a great setback in his career; he¡¯s also likely to be a college student who was a hardcore forum user during the year of the ¡®Angel Killer¡¯ incident. The reason why we don¡¯t have records of him entering or exiting the forest is because he lives in the forest area. This is also why he¡¯s so familiar with the ce ¨C he has a house here!¡±


    Ji Bai finished writing on the paper at the same time she finished talking. The two of them lowered their head to look at the paper and saw that they both mentioned the exact same points.


    They stared at each other and immediately saw the excitement in each other¡¯s eyes. Ji Bai got up and made a phone call. ¡°It¡¯s Ji Bai. Check those who work or live in the mountain area within the age group of 22 to 26 years old. He just graduated from university and he was recently demoted or punished at work. He wears size 42 shoes and has a car as well as his own house. He might be a forest guard, a teacher in the area, a firefighter, a patrolling police officer or any public officers...¡±


    The police officer on the other end of the phone was in charge of handling the information back at the station and was understandably a little confused. ¡°Captain, who are you looking for? Why do you know all this...¡±


    Ji Bai did not bother to reply. ¡°Get me an answer as quick as you can.¡±


    After hanging up the phone, he remained silent for a moment before saying, ¡°I¡¯m leaving.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded. ¡°Take care of yourself.¡±


    He looked at the environment outside of the small farmhouse. It was quiet, and the midnight glow made the ce seem very calm, eerie almost. Then, he turned around to look at Xu Xu. ¡°Since the identity of the murderer is still unknown, it¡¯ll be safer to have police officers patrolling nearby. Try to stay in the house and do not wander around casually.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded.


    At noon two dayster.


    The autumn sunlight was warm and bright. Its radiance flooded the mountains, making them seem rich, vast and boundless.


    Xu Xu had spent the whole morning at the farmhouse at the foot of the mountain sorting out information on the case with several other colleagues. Upon seeing that it was already noon, she returned to her room to rest. Then, she picked up her phone only to see that she had an unread message.


    It was Yao Meng. ¡°Are you staying in the farmhouse at the foot of the mountain? I¡¯m at the mountain with my colleagues too, and I¡¯d like to meet you for a chatter. Will you be free?¡±


    Xu Xu immediately understood ¨C Yao Meng¡¯s magazine agency had also been granted ess to the mountain area. She immediately dialed Yao Meng¡¯s number but saw that the line was busy.


    ¡ª


    Yao Meng was on the phone with Lin Qingyan.


    She had gone to the mountain earlier today. Since her magazine agency focused on women¡¯s health and lifestyle, this serial killer case was naturally a very hot topic among her readers. Not to mention, she had a background in criminal psychology so she could draw conclusions with more depth and uracy than a typical reporter.


    However, she was also acting for personal reasons. If they could find the identity of the mountain killer, then she would be able to help clear Lin Qingyan¡¯s name. Hence, she enthusiastically went about her work.


    That being said, Lin Qingyan did not actually know that she was going to the mountain, he thought that she was working overtime in the office. Only when she called him did he notice that something was off. Understandably, he was rather unhappy. ¡°Why did you go there? The murderer hasn¡¯t been arrested yet, it¡¯s too dangerous.¡±


    Yao Meng was currently sitting in a car with two colleagues, parked at an empty area near the foot of the mountain. The space was being temporarily used as a parking lot. There were a lot of cars and people around them, so it was crowded and noisy. Sheughed and replied, ¡°I¡¯m alright, I¡¯m in a safe space with my colleagues. Besides, it¡¯s not like the police would let us into dangerous ces anyway.¡± She then shifted the topic and asked gently, ¡°Did you take your medication on time?¡±


    On the other side of the phone, Lin Qingyan fell silent. Then, he calmly replied, ¡°Yes I have. Wifey,e home soon. The mountain is unsafe, I¡¯m worried about you.¡±


    Yao Meng was not done conducting the interviews yet, but after hearing his low voice, she felt pity and had a sudden urge to see him. Seeing that it was still early, she finally nodded and answered, ¡°Mmm, I¡¯lle back now then.¡±


    ¡°Take the main road and leave your phone on at all times.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    After Yao Meng hung up, she turned to her two colleagues. ¡°I¡¯ll return to the city first. You guys continue with your task and call me if there¡¯s a problem.¡±


    She drove away from the foot of the mountain, and after a short while, she spotted the police roadblocks ahead signaling the start of the main road. Just as she was about to call Lin Qingyan to let him know that she was safe, she noticed Xu Xu¡¯s missed call.


    ¡°Xu Xu, I was on the phone just now.¡±


    Xu Xu was worried as she could not reach Yao Meng. She almost called the police patrol unit to ask them to look for her, so when she heard her voice, she breathed a sigh of relief.


    Previously, after talking to Yao Meng, Xu Xu had read Lin Qingyan¡¯s statement whereby he admitted that he had approached Yao Meng with ulterior motives. Although she was unsure about whether Lin Qingyan was rted to the case, she felt ufortable whenever she thought about him. She initially wanted to remind Yao Meng about her advice, but after realizing how busy she must be in addition to the fact that Yao Meng was now looking for her, she dropped it. ¡°It¡¯s alright. When are youing over? I have something to tell you too.¡±


    Yao Meng was going to tell Xu Xu that she was on her way back to the city, but upon noticing her nervous tone, Yao Meng bit her tongue and instead asked, ¡°What do you want to tell me? It¡¯s alright, you can just say it.¡±


    Xu Xu paused for a while then told her about Lin Qingyan and Feng Ye¡¯s rtionship, she added on, ¡°I just thought that you needed to know this.¡±


    Yao Meng remained silent for a moment then replied, ¡°Thank you, Xu Xu. However, when Qingyan returned from the police station that day, he had already told me about it. He... has told me everything. Now, I just want to spend hisst moments with him.¡±


    Xu Xu took a deep breath. ¡°Nheless, I still think that you should be wary of him.¡±


    Yao Meng felt a little bit annoyed, but she quickly suppressed it and said, ¡°How about we meet and talk. Where are you?¡±


    Xu Xu thought she was near the mountain, so she quickly gave her the address. Yao Meng memorized it and nodded. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll call you when I¡¯m there.¡±


    Xu Xu replied, ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll pick you up at the farmhouse door.¡±


    ¡ª


    In the meantime, Ji Bai and ten other police officers were deep in the forest on the mountainside. They sipped on in water and took huge bites of their dry rations. While everyone¡¯s faces were dirty and weary, all their eyes glowed with the same determination.


    ¡°Is everyone done eating? Let¡¯s move.¡± Ji Bai stood up and said in a low tone. At this instant, his phone rang.


    It was his colleague from Lin City¡¯s IT Division, his voice had an irrepressible excitement. ¡°Captain Ji, we really found someone who matches all the conditions!¡±


    ¡°Spit it out!¡±


    ¡°Tan Liang, 25 years old, a Forestry University graduate. Earlier this year, he was demoted from the County Forestry Department to be a mere ranger in the forest ¨C he must have made some mistake at work. He has a car, lives alone on the mountain, and hisbor insurance records state that his shoe size is 42. Oh right, the victim of the second case was found in the area he¡¯s in charge of. In fact, he¡¯s still on the mountain right now...¡±


    Soon enough, Tan Liang¡¯s photo and address were sent to Ji Bai¡¯s phone. In the photo, the young man wore a dark green ranger uniform and a pair of sses. He looked young, clean, and neat, and also had an extremelyposed expression. At first nce, there was nothing odd about him at all.


    Ji Bai quickly barked out orders, ¡°Send the photo to the leaders of every search team and tell them to keep an eye out for this man. We have no evidence right now, so take him into custody if any of you encounter him.¡±


    ¡ª


    Tan Liang¡¯s solitary house was located high up the mountain. The spacious courtyard was quiet but for the sound of the birds chirping, and a few blue cement rooms were painted warmly by the sunlight which cut through the light fog.


    Under Ji Bai¡¯s lead, they surrounded the house from all directions. When he gave the order, they charged forward together, storming into the house armed to the teeth. However, they were soon disappointed to find the house empty. Where was Tan Liang?


    Ji Bai scanned their surroundings carefully. The house was decorated very simply, and everything was clean and neat ¨C there was nothing unusual about the ce. A few minutester, an officer got off the phone and reported to Ji Bai. ¡°The Forestry Department said that they haven¡¯t been able to contact Tan Liang since yesterday.¡±


    In the beginning, the others did not understand why Ji Bai had made Tan Liang his primary suspect, but after seeing that he had now disappeared without any reason, they too began to suspect him as well.


    Right then, another criminal police who was supposed to check the courtyard ran in and shouted, ¡°Captain Ji, I just spotted some tire prints. He drove down the mountain in a car from the Forestry Department!¡±


    Ji Bai eyes widened, and he yelled, ¡°After him!¡±


    ¡ª


    Ji Bai led his small team dashing down the mountain, where they encountered a police patrol about halfway down. After talking for a while, the police officers mentioned that a ranger¡¯s vehicle had indeed passed by three hours ago.


    Ji Bai looked toward the direction that the car had headed off to and his heart immediately tightened ¨C the farmhouse that Xu Xu was staying at was in that direction.


    He immediately got into a patrol car and attempted to call Xu Xu over and over again, but each time it said that the line was busy. The signal was intermittent in the mountain so before long, he lost connectivity.


    At the same time, the situation at the foot of the mountain was no longer peaceful as a number of police cars raced back and forth desperately looking for Tan Liang¡¯s traces. One of the patrol cars went straight to the farmhouse before stopping; Ji Bai opened the door and rushed out, dashing into the courtyard as quickly as he could.


    There were supposed to be two local police officers on duty at the courtyard, but they were nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, Xu Xu¡¯s room door was slightly ajar, and it was quiet inside. Ji Bai held his breath, then he took big strides toward it and flung it open with a loud ¡®bang¡¯.


    The rays of sunlight and silence only helped emphasize the emptiness of the room.


    Ji Bai felt his heart sink as he desperately turned to look at the police officers who had entered with him. ¡°Where is she? Where is she?!¡±


    Nobody could answer him, so Ji Bai¡¯s darted outside with a ghastly pale face. At the same time, he took his phone out to call her again. This time, the call went through and Ji Bai halted abruptly as he heard her voice through his phone. ¡°Ji Bai...¡± She sounded like she was trembling.


    ¡°Where are you? Are you alright?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m on the mountain road, I¡¯m fine,¡± Xu Xu¡¯s breathing seemed to heavy as she replied, ¡°but something might have happened to Yao Meng.¡±


    ¡ª


    Ji Bai hurried to the location Xu Xu had given him. It was a remote mountain road, and by the time he arrived, more than ten other police officers were already gathered there. Xu Xu was right in the middle of the crowd, her face pale as snow ¨C she had already lost contact with Yao Meng by the time she received the photo of Tan Liang.


    By the side of the mountain road was a ranger¡¯s vehicle, the license te verified that it belonged to Tan Liang. However, nobody was inside it. Other than that, there were also skid marks on the road next to it, which were probably caused by somebody pulling the emergency brakes. An officer soon came over and told Ji Bai, ¡°Captain, the tire marks match the tires from Yao Meng¡¯s BMW.¡±


    It had already been a couple of hours since Tan Liang had left the mountain, which meant that Yao Meng had most probably been kidnapped some time ago too.


    Ji Bai stared at the tire marks on the ground for a few seconds before looking up, his eyes burning with rage. ¡°Notify everyone, track that car!¡±


    ¡ª


    Sometimeter, Yao Meng slowly regained her consciousness. Nevertheless, her head was still heavy, and she was still unable to open her eyes. She was aware that this was the after-effect of anesthesia.


    She slowly tried to put together bits and pieces of her memory ¨C she had turned the car around... then a green ranger vehicle burst out from the side of the road. She got down to check on the driver, and a clean-looking young man got out and began walking towards her. He wore a ranger uniform, and was apologizing profusely to her with a smile on his face...


    After that, her chest became numb, an anesthetic gun! Rangers had anesthetic guns!


    Where was she? She could faintly make out a dark rock wall, so did that mean she was in a cave?


    She tried her best to open her eyes, but she felt someone pressing down on her chin. Then, a slightly sweet liquid was poured into her mouth.


    ¡®No... Don¡¯t...¡¯ She thought to herself


    As she had seen information on the Angel Killer incident, she knew that this was the taste of the Japan-made aphrodisiac...


    Her consciousness gradually became scattered as she felt her body heating up. She heard a familiar voice moaning, but it was not until sometime that she realized that this moaning wasing from herself. Next, she felt a pair of strong arms hugging her as an unfamiliar, warm body slowly covered hers. Secondster, the man ruthlessly entered her.


    The whole process was exceedingly long and seemingly endless for Yao Meng. Most of the time, she was unconscious, and when she would asionally awake, everything was pitch-ck around her. This, coupled with the drug¡¯s effects, made sure that she could not see clearly. She seemed to recall talking a lot, but she could not remember a word she said. The only impression she had was of a man turning her body about as if he was not satisfied.


    Subsequently, when everything finally stopped, she sensed a man standing in the dark, looking down at her. She mustered all her strength and muttered faintly, ¡°Don¡¯t kill me... I can¡¯t die... Qingyan, save me... Qingyan, pleasee save me...¡±

 Chapter 59: Chapter 62

    <h4>Chapter 59: Chapter 62</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    The mountain in front of their eyes towered quietly. This area was the tallest mountain in the area and was said to be the most dangerous as well, such that even the locals rarely hiked up it.


    Several teams encircled the mountain tightly as the first group charged up the mountainside. A number of brightly lit shlights could be seen shing in the night sky as they began the climb.


    The first thing the criminal police did was track Yao Meng¡¯s car. Eventually, they had identified and arrived at this location, but it had already been about six hours since the time she was kidnapped.


    Ji Bai led a team of people as they climbed up the dark small paths on the mountain. His face was tense and heavy; when the news about Yao Meng was spread, the whole Criminal Police Unit was deeply sorrowed.


    After scaling a steep rock wall, a dense and serene forest appeared in front of them, after which the members of the special force began fanning out to begin their search. After a while, someone shouted out loud, ¡°Over here!¡±


    shlights and shadows began to ovep and crisscross in the forest as the group rushed over to the source of the calls. Soon, they saw a human figure lying down on a plot of muddynd in front of them, she was not moving an inch. She was dressed in only a shirt which barely covered her thighs while loads of red and purple marks vandalized her body; her long hair was let down around her shoulders like a waterfall, revealing half of her beautiful face. Who else could it be if not Yao Meng?


    The special force surrounded her and remained silent. Then, Ji Bai crouched beside her and held her wrist. Suddenly, he lifted his head and yelled, ¡°She¡¯s still alive!¡±


    Xu Xu waited at the foot of the mountain along with the others.


    She was extremely worried as the suspect¡¯s rash actions meant that he was already showing signs of mania. At this point in time, he had reached a dead end, thus Yao Meng was most likely going to be his final meal.


    After waiting for some time again, she suddenly saw a team of people running down the mountain road toward them, and one of the men was carrying a person. Xu Xu heart began to race as she ran forward with the others.


    ¡°Doctor!¡±, ¡°Doctor!¡± Many people were shouting together.


    Yao Meng guided them to the ambnce, where Yao Meng was wrapped in a wool nket. Once the standby doctor gave her a quick examination, he breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°She¡¯s fine, she just fainted.¡±


    A few momentster, Yao Meng began to regain consciousness and she opened her eyes to look at everyone around her. There was a sense of confusion in her gaze at first, but then she swiftly turned her head to look down; the pain and suffering in her eyes could not be hidden.


    ¡°Everything¡¯s okay, you¡¯re alright now.¡± Xu Xu reached out and held her hands.


    Yao Meng stared at the grey ceiling above her as tears rolled down her cheeks. Upon seeing the situation, the police officers who were waiting beside the car walked away without saying a word.


    Xu Xu¡¯s tears flowed silently too. After some time, she whispered softly, ¡°Don¡¯t think about anything now. Get some rest, I¡¯ll be right here with you.¡±


    When Yao Meng¡¯s eyes met hers, she froze for an instant.


    She remembered that she did not escape on her own.


    Owing to the fact the drug had not yet worn off, her head was still very heavy, therefore her memories of how she had escaped from the cave was blurry and disorganized.


    She recalled that when she woke up, there was a lighted candle in the cave. She turned her head and saw the ranger from before, his hideous body was naked as heid on a small bed beside her. Both her hands and feet were chained as sheid on a woolen nket on the floor beside the bed. She was in a sorry, embarrassing state.


    She was so terrified that she wanted to die, but there was no way she could get free from the chains. She wanted to kill him so bad, but this was impossible. Even if she was not chained up, there was not even the slightest sliver of strength in her body.


    It was at this moment that she saw a tall figure walking into the cave. Despite her hazy vision, she saw him slowly approach her. He wore a faded Forestry Department uniform with a cap pulled down low on his head, and due to a face full of beard, she did not get a clear picture of his face. He picked up a bunch of keys from the table and walked over to her, and after a few attempts, unlocked the chains.


    She immediately fell into his arms as he likewise hugged her tightly with his strong arms, he held her so tightly that she could barely breathe. Then, he helped her to her feet and led her out of the cave.


    After leaving the cave, he led her forward step by step until they could see the faint shing of shlights cutting through the darkness in front of them. When he saw this, he suddenly released her and swiftly began walking back into the forest. The view of his back as he walked away was strange yet familiar to Yao Meng. Where had she seen it before? Why did it seem so familiar?


    ¡°Are you...¡± She asked with a husky voice, ¡°You didn¡¯t die... Why...¡±


    That person paused for a moment before quickening his pace again. Soon enough, he vanished deep into the forest. Since she was out of strength, she copsed to the ground again after taking a few more steps.


    ...


    Yao Meng struggled to get up slowly as Xu Xu supported her. She pointed off into the distance and said softly, ¡°He¡¯s in the cave, I can¡¯t remember the direction clearly... It¡¯s probably just a bit further on from where you found me, near the peak.¡±


    Xu Xu wanted to follow the doctor and send Yao Meng to the nearest hospital, but Yao Meng firmly declined.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to.¡± Her face was expressionless, and her eyes were empty. ¡°I want to wait here. Xu Xu, I want to be alone.¡±


    Before Xu Xu could say anything, she shut her eyes andid down.


    Later on in the night, the mountain had grown colder while the shadows from the trees swayed eerily under the moonlight.


    Ji Bai led a team as they slowly approached the cave located at the edge of a cliff.


    The cave was quiet and deep, and under the dark, unforgiving night sky, it looked like a ck hole. A single me could be seen burning steadily at the mouth of the cave, indicating that somebody was inside.


    The number of police officers gathered outside the case was slowly increasing as officers crept slowly to its entrance. Da Hu received news from the logistics team and went over to Ji Bai to whisper to him, ¡°Yao Meng is awake, she mentioned that the location of the cave should be here as well. This should be it.¡±


    Ji Bai waved his hand and an officer behind him carrying arge searchlight quickly shone it into the cave. As expected, a lone figure was seen standing inside. Perhaps he was stunned by the light, as he quickly turned his body sideways and crouched down next to the rock wall. Behind him, they could see a small bed, a table, a chair, a cab, and a number of chains on the ground.


    ¡°Tan Liang, you¡¯ve been surrounded, put your weapons down ande out!¡± Somebody ordered.


    The figure inside the cave abruptly turned around as Ji Bai yelled, ¡°Watch out!¡± Right after he said this, two muffled ¡°pews¡± pierced the air as the person inside let out a smallugh.


    ¡°It¡¯s a tranquilizer!¡± Da Hu broke into cold sweat. Fortunately, nobody was injured.


    A ttering sound was heard as Tan Liang threw something onto the ground. Then, he walked out of the cave slowly.


    Everyone was waiting with their guns ready, their eyes locked onto their target. Ji Bai also aimed his gun at Tan Liang¡¯s forehead, ready to pull the trigger if there were any unusual movements.


    He slowly walked out toward the light. His ranger uniform was in a mess, but he still looked calm as the bright light shone on his face. As he walked, the officers noticed that his face carried a peculiar, horrifying paleness. Not to mention, the pupils in his small, beady eyes seemed to be dted.


    ¡°Put your hands on your head and get down on the ground!¡± Da Hu called out.


    A hint of a smile shed across Tan Liang¡¯s face.


    Ji Bai tried to act, but it was toote. Blood slowly trickled out from the corner of Tan Liang¡¯s mouth as the potassium cyanide¡¯s effects began taking ce. Despite this, the joy in his eyes only became clearer.


    ¡°This world is unfair,¡± His voice was very gentle as he said, ¡°at least I didn¡¯t live my life in vain.¡±


    Everyone watched on as he fell backward on his back, where he promptly passed away.


    The lights lit up the entire forest to the point where the cave almost seemed as though it was daytime. Police officers marched out from the cave non-stop as they carried bags of evidence and reported to Ji Bai.


    ¡°We¡¯ve found the remaining potassium cyanide and aphrodisiac.¡±


    ¡°There are strands of women¡¯s hair in the cave, we¡¯ve collected them.¡±


    ¡°We found the city car rental receipt among his rubbish ¨C he used a pseudonym and a fake identification card to rent the car.¡±


    ¡°There are some women¡¯s clothing in the cab, as well as some Johnson¡¯s body shampoo, razors and so on.¡±


    ...


    Ji Bai stood at the mouth of the cave with his hands folded behind his back, he looked stern and did not say a word. The atmosphere was anxious and tense as people continuously moved around; Tan Liang¡¯s body was covered with a white cloth, which was neatly spread out over the mud.


    The news of the incident very quickly spread to the surrounding areas, causing the whole area to be in an uproar. More police officers from other areas had to be called in as even the media teams who had stayed at the farmhouse started to flock to the site. Even though the police officers tried to stop them, the continuous shes from their cameras all but lit up the night sky.


    Xu Xu was waiting in a police car the entire time. When she received the news, she left the car and made her way through the bustling crowd toward Yao Meng who was not far away.


    Yao Meng had already gotten up and was now sitting at the back of the ambnce. She was wrapped in a woolen nket, holding a hot cup of tea. While she seemed to have calmed down, her eyes were still red, and her gaze was still empty.


    Xu Xu walked over to her and gently said, ¡°Tan Liang is dead.¡±


    Yao Meng¡¯s shoulders shivered a little, then she nodded and shed Xu Xu a wry, indifferent smile.


    Xu Xu wanted to say something, but she knew that nothing she said would lessen the pain that Yao Meng was feeling. Looking at her dispirited, drooping shoulders, Xu Xu¡¯s eyes became moist again, but all she could do was remain silent.


    At this moment, Yao Meng¡¯s colleague walked towards the car and passed a phone to her before saying gently, ¡°It¡¯s Chief Lin.¡±


    Yao Meng paused for an instant, then she picked up the phone. Tears immediately started flowing down her face as she spoke on the phone. ¡°Mmm... I¡¯m here. Alright, I¡¯ll wait for you.¡± After she hung up, she nced up at Xu Xu.


    ¡°Qingyan will be here in no time.¡± She took a deep breath as a coldness suddenly appeared in her eyes. ¡°Now the culprit is dead and I¡¯m in such a sorry state, tell me, Xu Xu, do you still insist on suspecting Qingyan? Now will you believe that you were wrong? I shouldn¡¯t have turned around back then...¡±


    Even before she finished, Xu Xu felt a stab of pain in her chest as her whole body stiffened up. The two of them fell silent for a second, then Xu Xu whispered in a low tone, ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    Yao Meng did not say anything else, and she looked away. Xu Xu could do nothing but apologize again. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡± then she left quietly.


    By the time Ji Bai left the mountain, the sky was already bright. The crowd in front of him was very agitated, all of them were gunning to get a glimpse of the body of the so-called ¡®pervert serial killer¡¯.


    Ji Bai was exhausted, so he went around the crowd and scanned the parking lot. After a short while, he spotted a familiar small figure standing beside a police car with her head lowered.


    His tense and heavy heart instantly rxed the moment his eyes fell on her as Ji Bai paced towards her quickly before stopping in front of her.


    However, when Ji Bai saw her wet and reddened eyes, he did not ask any questions. Instead, he pulled her into his arms gently.


    Xu Xu still felt suffocated, so she just kept quiet.


    A momentter, Ji Bai noticed that her eyes were set on something behind him, hence he turned to see what it was.


    It was an ambnce that was just a short distance away. Lin Qingyan¡¯s suit and hair were in a mess as he hugged Yao Meng with a tense, ghastly face. His eyes were cold and still, and he did move at all.


    Ji Bai turned back to look at his partner coolly with his piercing ck eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t think about it anymore, go back home and rest. I understand.¡±


    Xu Xu did not make a sound as she continued to look past Ji Bai, straight at Lin Qingyan. This time, as if he had sensed her gaze, he turned his face slowly and stared right back at her.


    His eyes looked indifferent and aggrieved, which was befitting of a man who was enraged and upset at the misfortune suffered by his loved one.


    Xu Xu looked right at him unblinkingly.


    Secondster, the anguish in his eyes slowly dissipated, and his delicate brows became calm again. However, Xu Xu suddenly noticed the corners of his lips curling up slightly to form the faintest smile.


    At the time, nobody else was looking at him, hence nobody had noticed the change in his expression. Only Xu Xu was spotted it, and blood rushed to her checks.


    The past few days hadpletely worn her out. Right now, as an overwhelming anger and anxiety filled her heart, she was unable to even say a word. The world turned ck as she fainted in Ji Bai¡¯s arms.

 Chapter 60: Chapter 63

    <h4>Chapter 60: Chapter 63</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    When Xu Xu woke up, she saw a small yellowmp hanging above her head, as well as a bleak, unfamiliar ceiling.


    Ji Bai was sleeping in a chair beside her bed, still dressed in the same muddy clothes. Outside the window, the night sky was dark and gloomy, which made his face seem especially handsome under the faint glow of the moon.


    It was now dawn, so the air was extremely chilly. Xu Xu¡¯s throat was a little dry so she could not help but cough, though she did try to muffle the sound with her nket. Ji Bai immediately opened his eyes and turned toward her as he held her cold, petite-looking face in hisrge hands. ¡°You¡¯re awake.¡± Then, he poured a ss of water for her and added, ¡°It¡¯s nothing serious, your blood sugar level was just a little low, so you¡¯ve been given an intravenous drip. We¡¯re now at the vige health center where you¡¯ve been resting overnight. We¡¯ll return to Lin City tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Mhmm.¡± Xu Xu sat up and took the ss of water. She felt so much better after the warm water flowed down her throat.


    Ji Bai pulled his chair even closer to the bed and stared at her with his dark eyes. After a while, he couldn¡¯t hold it in any longer and thus, shed her a faint smile. ¡°Imagine getting this mad...¡±


    Xu Xu frowned and replied, ¡°Aren¡¯t you mad?¡±


    Ji Bai grabbed her hands and kissed them softly. Since her skin was originally pale and delicate, it was now not just red from the IV drip, a small part of it had turned green too. Ji Bai held her hands without saying a word.


    Angry? Of course he was angry. There were clearly two murderers, but right now the irrefutable evidence showed that a single person did everything. It was all terribly frustrating.


    Nheless, this was all the more the reason why they could not crumble right now. As a criminal police officer, one needed to maintain a certain cold-blooded persistence.


    Therefore, he smiled inly and tried to calm Xu Xu down. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t hurt ourselves regardless of how angry we are. Besides, when have cases ever been so easy to crack?¡±


    Xu Xu nodded. How could she forget? Normally, she had a much more stable mentality than most people, but after witnessing Yao Meng in so much pain, even she found it hard to control her emotions.


    After a while, her drowsiness wore off. She gazed off at the rising sun before getting up. ¡°I¡¯m going to wash my face.¡±


    Ji Bai held her down on the bed. ¡°I¡¯ll fetch the water, you just stay still.¡±


    Xu Xu watched as he walked beside the window before picking up the thermos sk on the floor. After this, he poured the water into a basin. His tall, powerful figure and his energetic movements could not help but give Xu Xu a sense of security.


    Xu Xu stared at his wide back and then asked, ¡°What¡¯s your take on this?¡±


    Ji Bai knew that if they did not discuss things clearly, then she would definitely keep thinking about it. After he handed her the water, he replied, ¡°There are three things that caught my attention.


    ¡°Firstly, the victim this time was different. The first victim was a white-cor worker; the second, although a postgraduate, was already interning in an organization, which aligns with your description of his preferred type of victim; however, the third victim was just an ordinary university student, there was nothing special about her.


    ¡°Secondly, the methods used in the cases were different. Obviously, the first two were carefully nned, such that to this day, nobody knows how the victims went missing. This made it difficult for us to track the culprit. Despite this, the third victim was only killed after she entered the forest to hike, after which Tan Liang was sozy that he even abandoned the corpse in the same area. This made me certain that from the third case onwards, the entire incident took ce in the forest, and that the culprit was, in fact, still in the forest. This eventually led us to capture Tan Liang.


    ¡°Third, the degree of thoroughness of the killer was different. Even if the footprints next to the second corpse was idental, the footprints beside the third corpse were way too obvious.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded. ¡°Before you left the mountain, I saw the photos that Da Hu took of the ce. The cave that Tan Liang lived in felt simple, disorderly, gloomy, and impulsive... Despite the fact that the third corpse was handled in a way simr to that of the Angel Killer incident, I agree with your deductions ¨C though the nning was simr, the execution was miles apart.


    ¡°That being said, why would Tan Liang take the me for the first culprit? What is the rtionship between them?¡±


    Ji Bai answered faintly, ¡°I suspect that the statuses of these two people are worlds apart. Logically, there shouldn¡¯t be any opportunity for them to contact one another. I¡¯ve already sent someone to check theirmunication records, they¡¯ve never contacted each other.


    ¡°Nheless, there must have been an incident that allowed them to meet.¡±


    The two of them remained quiet for a while, then Ji Bai took a stack of documents out from his bag andid them out on the bed. Under the warm light, the pair furrowed their brows and started sifting through them quickly.


    Sometimeter, Ji Bai suddenly held up a photo of the crime scene and handed it to Xu Xu. His ck eyes were glimmering, and his voice was low yet energetic. ¡°I figured it out. It¡¯s here. The location where the second corpse was abandoned was in the forest Tan Liang was in charge of so this was where they met. It¡¯s possible that the first culprit came into contact with Tan Liang as he was disposing of the corpse.¡±


    Xu Xu¡¯s heart stopped as she connected the dots; soon all the clues fell into ce and she quickly nodded. ¡°Yes, this exins why Tan Liang¡¯s footprints were found beside the corpse, and why there were signs of necrophilia. Previously, I thought that the culprit¡¯s mental state was changing and that he was bing more aggressive. Now, it seems like the sexual vitions before and after death were likely two different crimes!¡±


    Ji Bai pondered for a moment then agreed with her deductions. ¡°Though we don¡¯t know why the first culprit managed to convince Tan Liang to take the me for him, this exnation is far more logical than Tan Liang being the sole criminal. The evidence found in the cave could very well be the work of another person, which wereter passed to Tan Liang to be ced in the cave.¡±


    As possibilities filled their minds, they became more excited. In spite of this, when Xu Xu noticed his stern expression, her voice became discouraged. ¡°We don¡¯t have any evidence.¡±


    Ji Bai did not say anything. He frowned a little and looked at the bright sky outside the window as well as the peaceful mountains standing magnificently off in the distance.


    That¡¯s right. Without any evidence, there was nothing they could do right now.


    Secondster, he turned to look at Xu Xu. ¡°Do you know about the serial killer case in Baiyin City?¡±


    Of course Xu Xu knew about it, it was one of the most famous unsolved cases in the country in recent years.


    Sixteen years ago, over 9 females were killed in Baiyin City in the Gansu Province. The culprit either raped then killed them, or sexually vited them after killing them. On top of that, he always removed their organs and stole them. The youngest victim was an eight-year-old girl, and the case remains unsolved until today.


    Ji Bai¡¯s expression turned cold. ¡°That year, the country sent the most capable criminal police officers to investigate the case. My instructor, Captain Yan was one of them.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded, back when she exercised in the morning, she often saw Captain Yan¡¯s muscr figure stretching under the rising sun.


    Ji Bai continued, ¡°Later on, my instructor told me that there was no way to crack the case if it was meant to be unsolvable. They even found the culprit¡¯s semen in the young girl¡¯s body, but they still could not find the culprit. Each time the culpritmitted a crime, it was nned so thoroughly that he left behind no traces. A group of senior figures, who were all renowned detectives in the country, broke into tears when they looked at the vandalized corpse of the girl, but they still could not solve the case.¡±


    Xu Xu¡¯s heart ached upon listening to what he said. She did not reply, but she understood why Ji Bai was telling her about this case.


    Ji Bai looked at her, his voice was so gentle, but his eyes were burning with determination. ¡°Indeed, there are some criminals who are able to cunningly escape the long arm of thew, such that justice and righteousness could not be upheld. Since there¡¯s no more evidence surrounding this case, the Provincial Department will soon announce the case to be closed. Nevertheless, we are much more advanced than my instructor¡¯s generation of detectives, so although Lin Qingyan may not have left any evidence behind, but thanks to your grit, at least we know that he¡¯s most likely the culprit. We aren¡¯t going to allow him the chance to harm anyone again. Don¡¯t worry, we won¡¯t stop our investigations until he¡¯s convicted.¡±


    While Ji Bai and Xu Xu stayed at the mountain, Lin Qingyan apanied Yao Meng as she gave her statement at the police station. Then, they returned home in Lin City.


    Yao Meng soaked herself in the bathtub for a very long time, making sure to scrub every inch of her body clean. She couldn¡¯t even cry anymore, everything that happenedst night was so obscure that it was like a dream.


    She didn¡¯t know how much time had passed, but when she lifted her head up, she saw Lin Wingyan leaning against the door. An overbearing and indifferent look that she had never seen before was stered on his handsome face. He was smoking a cigarette as he looked at her without saying a thing.


    Yao Meng did not know what to do, so she got up and quietly wrapped herself in a bath towel.


    A momentter, she heard footsteps approaching from behind her as Lin Qingyan hugged her from behind and lowered his head to kiss her. His breathing was somewhat rapid, and his kiss was quite strong as he moved his hands into her bath towel to caress her. He was extremely rough and forceful, which waspletely different from his usual style.


    Yao Meng¡¯s body trembled a little, and she instinctively pushed him away.


    He stopped kissing her and just held her in his arms without moving. ¡°You¡¯re my angel, nobody can taint you. Tan Liang is dead, and regardless of what he did to you, I¡¯ll still treat you as though nothing happened.¡±


    Yao Meng felt her heart tighten as she caught her breath. Then, she heard him whisper into her ears again, ¡°Do you know how much I love you?¡±


    Three monthster.


    The winter sun did its best to warm up thend as Xu Xu sat in her father¡¯s study room, reading the local news on the inte. Her father, on the other hand, was hustling in the kitchen.


    The headline on the news portal read ¡°Provincial Task Force announces that the airport bombing case has been solved. The main culprit has been arrested, and the police are closely pursuing his aplices.¡± Below the news article was a picture of several criminal police angrily holding a criminal down. The person standing on the outermost edge wore a ck coat and had a tall figure. Although his face was blurred, she could immediately tell that it was Ji Bai and could not help but smile.


    There was also news regarding ¡°Forest Killer Tan Liang¡±. Two months ago, the Provincial Department had announced that the case had been closed and Lin City, which was previously in an uproar, slowly returned to its peaceful life. Even so, discussions surrounding Tan Liang on the inte were still very much alive. This news article quoted the analysis of a psychological expert which stated that Tan Liang¡¯s perverted behavior stemmed from his unsessful career. Previously, he held a core position in the County Forestry Department, but because he offended a superior, he was demoted to a mere ranger while his original position was filled by his superior¡¯s rtive. Somebody even made a post iming that the superior had been detained and interrogated due to the immense pressure from the public.


    Xu Xu turned off theputer after reading a while. Then, she took out a case file and searched for photos and information rting to the case.


    As she was engrossed in her work, a hand suddenly appeared from beside her and snatched the photos away. When she looked up, she saw Xu Juan frowning down at her. In addition to this, he had also gathered all the informationid out on the table and threw them onto the couch. ¡°You¡¯re still looking at these? My nephew is in your belly, I don¡¯t want him to grow up to be a police officer in the future.¡±


    Xu Xu smiled and looked at his suit and leather shoes, he had probably juste home from work. ¡°You¡¯re home early.¡±


    Xu Juan tossed a children¡¯s painting book at her. ¡°Your husband is a public servant, yet he¡¯s not even home most of the time. As your brother, what else am I supposed to do?¡±


    Xu Xuughed as she flipped through the children¡¯s book. Xu Juan watched her peaceful expression before speaking up again, ¡°When are you going to hold the wedding ceremony? Are you really waiting until after the child is born?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Otherwise, it¡¯ll be too rushed.¡±


    ¡°You said that you were going to do your marriage registration too, have you done it yet?¡±


    ¡°Not yet.¡±


    Xu Juan frowned again, ¡°Why are you dilly-dallying? You¡¯re going to give birth soon, it must be tough for Ji Bai to deal with your slowcoach ways.¡±


    Xu Xu could not help butugh.


    By the time she finished dinner at her father¡¯s ce, it was already 8.00pm. Xu Xu called her private nurse, Xiao Liu and in no time, Xiao Liu was over to pick her up.


    At the station, Xu Xu had been assigned a desk job due to her pregnancy. Because of this, she could leave work on time every day, and she did not need to handle cases. Ji Bai, on the other hand, was still as upied as usual. He had been away for work over the past few months, so, after discussing the issue with Xu Juan, they decided to hire a private nurse for her. Initially, Xu Xu felt that it was unnecessary, but since the men were persistent, she eventually relented and agreed.


    The nurse was from Beijing, and although they were bothdies, she was exceptionally tall and well-built as she had previously served as a soldier. She was also cheerful and meticulous, taking great care of Xu Xu¡¯s daily necessities.


    In the blink of an eye, they arrived home. The two of them entered the house and immediately spotted someoneying on the couch in the dark living room. As Xiao Liu was about to turn on the lights, Xu Xu stopped her and said softly, ¡°You may go back first.¡± Xiao Liu nodded and left, closing the door behind her.


    Xu Xu turned on themp and sat opposite Ji Bai.


    He was scheduled to return home tomorrow, so he had probably rushed home tonight. His face looked so worn out, and his breathing was deep and long, he was probably so exhausted that he could not help but fall fast asleep.


    By now, it had already been half a month since they hadst seen each other. As she carefully studied his sleeping figure, she noticed that he seemed to have lost weight, and his chin was covered with a messy stubble. Xu Xu covered him with a nket, and since she didn¡¯t want to wake him up, she quietly went into the room.


    When Xu Xu woke up, the sky was turning bright. She heard some rustling from the living room, so she calmly sat up and waited.


    Momentster, Ji Bai appeared at the door. He had already changed into his pajamas, and his stubble had been shaved off, his attractive features looking mild and gentle under the morning light.


    ¡°Did I wake you up?¡± He sat down at the foot of the bed.


    ¡°No, I¡¯ve been waking up earlytely.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be home for a few hours, then I¡¯ll have to go to the station to work overtime.¡± He hugged her in his arms. ¡°We¡¯re still not done with the bombing case.¡±


    ¡°Mmm.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s mmm? Why didn¡¯t you wake me upst night? How long has it been since Ist held you in my sleep?¡±


    ¡°Uhm... 43 days.¡±


    A smile appeared on Ji Bai¡¯s face as he lowered his head to kiss her. After this, he grinned at her and said, ¡°I¡¯ll try my best toe home early tonight. I have something to tell you.¡±


    Gazing into his shadowy eyes, Xu Xu nodded.


    When the sky turned bright, the two of them got out of bed.


    It was Saturday and Ji Bai was getting ready to return to the police station as he was got dressed. Xu Xu rubbed her tummy and said to him with a smile, ¡°Third brother, today I¡¯ll be doing an ultrasound scan, so I¡¯ll finally get see his face. I¡¯ll bring the photo back for you to see.¡±


    Ji Bai nodded and smiled. Then, he had a sudden thought. ¡®When Ie home at night, will she be willing to change the way she addresses me?¡¯ As his heart fluttered nervously, he peppered her with kisses before leaving.


    Once he got into his car downstairs, Ji Bai called Da Hu. ¡°How has Lin Qingyan been?¡±


    Da Hu yawned, he was currently keeping watch in a car outside of Lin¡¯s home. ¡°Captain, you¡¯re back? He¡¯s still the same, he has been going to the hospital every day for treatment.¡±


    ¡°What about Yao Meng?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s still living in seclusion. Sometimes she¡¯ll go to the hospital with him, sometimes she won¡¯t.¡±


    Ji Bai sighed. ¡°Alright, I understand.¡±


    Da Hu hesitated for a brief moment then said, ¡°Captain, yesterday Zhao Han and I ran into the Station Chief, he asked why we were not investigating the bombing case and we gave him a vague reply. Are you sure we should still observe Lin Qingyan? I don¡¯t think will be able to go on much longer.¡±


    It had been over three months since the serial killer case. In the beginning, Ji Bai was able to arrange for a couple of people to watch Lin Qingyan and protect Yao Meng every day. However, as more cases started urring, and especially with the recent bombing case, the whole police unit had been so busy that everyone was miserable. At this point in time, Ji Bai was the only one who wanted eyes on Lin Qingyan 24/7. Even the Station Chief had some veiled criticism. Not to mention, Da Hu and the others had their doubts too.


    Ji Bai pondered for a while then replied, ¡°Continue watching him, we can¡¯t rx.¡±

 Chapter 61: Chapter 64

    <h4>Chapter 61: Chapter 64</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    The ce Lin Qingyan received treatment was at a private hospital in the city that specialized in oncology. It was neat and felt quite luxurious; normally, very few people frequented there.


    On this morning, Da Hu trailed Lin Qingyan¡¯s car as per usual. When he arrived outside the hospital, he watched him walk into the hospital with the help of two assistants. He wore a ck hat and a long, thick coat, making him seem tall but also skinny.


    Da Hu left his car after a while and followed him. Private hospitals were very much like clubs, one could not enter without a membership. Nheless, the receptionist at the entrance was already familiar with him by now, so he just paced in after presenting his police identity card.


    At this point, the fact that Da Hu was tracking Lin Qingyan was no longer a secret. After all, due to Lin Qingyan¡¯s status, he was always apanied by several high-level bodyguards. It was impossible for Da Hu to track him closely without being noticed. That being said, Da Hu was great at ying his cards, and upon being blocked by his bodyguards on one asion, he simply walked up to Lin Qingyan and said politely, ¡°Mr. Lin, although Tan Liang¡¯s case has been solved. We are wary of the fact that he may have aplices who may still want to harm Yao Meng and her family. As such, I¡¯ve been ordered to protect you. I hope that you¡¯ll cooperate with the police on this matter.¡±


    Lin Qingyan only smiled and waved his hand, signaling to his bodyguards to ignore him.


    However, ces like exclusive wards were still out of bounds for Da Hu. As such, he quickly took a seat on the bench at the end of the corridor the way he always did. Lately, Lin Qingyan had been spending long hours in the ward every day. Da Hu was well aware that he would be here for a while.


    The ward was furnished to give it a homely feel. Lin Qingyan sat by the bed in his white shirt and ck trousers. Though the doctor had told him that he only had three months left to live, he still took the time to dress himself up. Even now, he looked handsome and kind.


    The doctor smiled and approached him. ¡°Mr. Lin, you¡¯re looking good today.¡±


    The doctor was rather young. In actual fact, he was more like a private, highly-paidpanion as the patient approached his final checkpoint; at this point, check-ups and treatments were meaningless. After a routine check, the doctor sat down next to him and began talking to him.


    A momentter, Lin Qingyan¡¯s phone rang. He apologized and took the call, then hung up after exchanging a few words. He struggled to his feet and apologized once again. ¡°Something came up at thepany, I¡¯ll have to go back to deal with it. Can Ie backter for the rest of the treatment?¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡± The doctor smiled and stood up, just as he was about to open the door for him, he saw Lin Qingyan wave dismissively. ¡°I¡¯m going this way.¡±


    There was a door connecting the neighboring ward to this one, and the doctor quickly realized that Lin Qingyan was the one reserving the neighboring ward over thest few days. Despite this, he knew that the rich liked their peace and quiet, so he just let it be.


    ¡°The person at the door is protecting me for good reason, but it would be inconvenient if he were to follow me as I handle my business.¡± Lin Qingyan smiled inly.


    Since the doctor had seen Lin Qingyan greet Da Hu before, he nodded. ¡°I understand, please attend to your matters, Mr. Lin.¡±


    After Lin Qingyan left from the neighboring ward, an assistant entered. He removed his coat and smiled at the doctor. ¡°Mrs. Lin would like me to ask you about her husband¡¯s illness again.¡±


    After Da Hu sat in the corridor for some time, he saw a nurse exiting the ward. Thus, he called out to her, ¡°Hey, how are things inside?¡±


    The nurse recognized him, so she twitched her lips out of annoyance. ¡°The check-up is still going on. Why do you ask every day?¡±


    Da Hu smiled, then he walked over to the door and pushed it open a crack. He could vaguely see a man sitting on the other side of the frosted ss screen of the room, and the doctor seemed to be talking to him happily. From his figure and clothes, Da Hu guessed that the man behind the ss screen was probably Lin Qingyan.


    He then quietly closed the door then went back to his seat.


    Xu Xu was doing a check-up at the closest maternity hospital to her house. Compared to public hospitals, there were naturally fewer patients here, but it was not entirely empty. She waited with her nurse, Xiao Liu outside the consulting room for some time before it was finally her turn.


    Xiao Liu did not enter, instead, she waited outside the door. The female doctor was very gentle as she helped Xu Xuy down on the hospital bed before closing the curtains. Then, she nodded as she pressed a stethoscope against Xu Xu¡¯s belly. ¡°The fetal heartbeat is strong, it¡¯s going great.¡± She turned and searched her shelves for a while before frowning. ¡°I¡¯ll go get some reagent downstairs, wait here for a while.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded, then the doctor¡¯s footsteps slowly faded.


    Xu Xuid down and looked at the blue sky outside the window as well as the thinyer of snow on the roof of the building next door. While she was lost in her thoughts, she suddenly heard extremely soft footsteps from the other side of the curtain.


    Those footsteps were different from her doctor¡¯s, and different from Xiao Liu¡¯s. Xu Xu instantly turned to look at the floor.


    She spotted a pair of legs from under the curtain. He wore a pair of shiny ck leather shoes and ck trousers as the light disyed his tall, skinny shadow on the white curtain. The man simply stood there without moving.


    Xu Xu was horrified and immediately yelled, ¡°Xiao Liu!¡±


    ¡°Coming!¡± Xiao Liu responded right away, and her footsteps could be heard thundering into the room. She quickly yanked open the curtain to look at her. ¡°Is something wrong?¡±


    Xu Xu did not answer, her gaze went past her before she realized that it was, in fact, a young male doctor in a white coat standing on the other side of the room. At that moment, the first female doctor walked back in. She smiled and passed the shocked doctor a stack of files. ¡°Here you go.¡±


    The male doctor nodded and left as Xu Xu likewise breathed a sigh of relief. It was just a false rm, she was a little too tensed up.


    It was already afternoon by the time they finished the check-up and went to grab some things from the shopping mall nearby. Xiao Liu hummed as she drove, whereas Xu Xu sat at the back, holding an ultrasound photo and staring at a blurry, curled up figure in the middle of the grayscale print. She knew that Ji Bai would be ted if he could see this photo now. Meanwhile, if Xu Juan saw it, he would immediately boast that his nephew was just too handsome.


    Very quickly, they entered themunity area. Xiao Liu parked the car in the basement while Xu Xu stood in the garden to wait for her, she decided to call her brother to tell him about the routine medical check-up.


    Xu Juan sounded very light-hearted as he picked up. ¡°Where are you? I¡¯m at your house.¡±


    Xu Xu looked up at her apartment window. ¡°I¡¯m downstairs.¡±


    ¡°Mmm, did the check-up go well?¡±


    ¡°Very well.¡± Xu Xu smiled and replied.


    ¡°Naturally, since I¡¯ve taken such great care of you. Come on up, I¡¯ve bought some fresh cherries, I came here right after work to bring them to my nephew.¡±


    The elevator ascended quickly as Xu Xu and Xiao Liu stood side by side inside it.


    ¡°Ding,¡± the door sprang open. Suddenly, Xu Xu¡¯s phone rang too, she picked it up and saw that it was Ji Bai.


    ¡°Are you home?¡± He sounded very gentle as he asked in a low voice.


    ¡°Mhmm.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve just left the police station, I¡¯ll be home in about half an hour.¡±


    ¡°So early today?¡± Xu Xu asked.


    Ji Bai paused for a while then replied softly, ¡°I took leave today, wait for me.¡±


    Xu Xu fell silent for a while then burst outughing. ¡°My brother is home.¡±


    ¡°Ask him to leave quickly then.¡±


    After hanging up, Ji Bai stared out at the city skyline; the towering buildings and the bustling highways seemed so busy, yet so insignificant as his eyes lit up with a smile.


    How many times had he nned this proposal?


    Nevertheless, Xu Xu was right. As the passion of the honeymoon period slowly faded away, he was able to get a clearer picture of the rtionship as well as his own feelings.


    This time, he did not prepare fresh flowers, nor did he prepare a river cruise under the moonlight.


    He did not even get a ring, because she was already wearing it.


    He decided that this proposal would be a simple one, so he only brought one thing ¨C himself.


    The lines he rehearsed over and over again to himself were very simple too,


    ¡®Xu Xu, during this work trip, I suddenly realized something.


    ¡®This month, I¡¯ve spent seventeen days outstation for work. I¡¯ve spent every single one of the remaining thirteen days working untilte at night at the police station. I¡¯ve counted it, and the time that I¡¯ve been able to spend alone with you amounts to less than three days.


    ¡®You said that you wanted to wait a year before deciding if you¡¯d like to marry me, but I did the math, and from now until our one-year anniversary, we would¡¯ve only spent another ten days together.


    ¡®Xu Xu, I don¡¯t know how long it¡¯ll take before you feel that everything has fallen into ce. Our work as criminal police officers requires us to give most of our time to others, instead of the ones closest to us. That is why, in this life that is full of restrictions, I don¡¯t want to waste even a single day. For me, everything will eventually fall into ce if I¡¯m just allowed to grow old with you.¡¯


    Xu Xu put away her phone and walked to the door alongside Xiao Liu.


    When she opened the door, she first saw Xu Juan¡¯s leather shoes neatly ced at the entrance as his cashmere coat also rested on the couch. The living room was empty, but the sshing of water could be heard from the kitchen. Xu Xu smiled, he was probably washing the cherries for them.


    Xu Xu nodded at Xiao Liu. ¡°You can head back first. Thank you for your hard work.¡±


    Xiao Liu smiled, then she ced the things down and left, closing the door behind her.


    Xu Xu removed her coat, then took the ultrasound photo from the pocket and ced it on the table. After this, she walked in.


    The winter sun shone in through the windows of the dining room, coating the furniture and floor in a faint, pale light as it did so. On the dining table was a te of freshly-washed cherries, water droplets could still be seen on them.


    Xu Xu picked one up and ate it, but as she was about to go look for Xu Juan in the kitchen, she suddenly realized that something wasn¡¯t right.


    Out of the corner of her eyes, she caught a glimpse of something poking out of the quiet corridor leading to the bedroom.


    She walked closer and squinted slightly to get a better look, only to see that it was a pair of legs. The body was hidden in the shadows.


    Xu Xu suddenly broke into cold sweat and immediately dashed over. The scene before her eyes absolutely terrified her ¨C Xu Juan was sprawled on the ground quietly as though he was asleep, and underneath him, a pool of blood was spreading out slowly.


    Xu Xu¡¯s head felt like it was going to split as her eyes were filled with tears. At this moment, the sound of water from the kitchen stopped, followed by calm, steady footsteps.


    Lin Qingyan leaned against the wall and looked at her with a smile. ¡°Your brother loves you very much.¡±


    As Xu Xu looked at the handkerchief in Lin Qingyan¡¯s hand and suppressed the indescribably sharp pain in her heart as she turned to look at Xu Juan who was on the floor. ¡°Please call an ambnce. His life has been full of hurdles, but if he doesn¡¯t get help soon, he¡¯ll spend the rest of his life with brain damage. You don¡¯t have to kill him.¡±


    Lin Qingyan smiled faintly without saying a word.


    After he ced the unconscious Xu Xu in the backseat of his car and drove out of themunity area, he took out his phone and dialed the number for the emergency center. ¡°Someone here is severely injured, the address is...¡±


    As soon as Ji Bai reached the entrance of themunity area, his phone rang. It was Da Hu. Ji Bai stopped by the side of the road and picked up the call.


    ¡°Captain, Lin Qingyan escaped!¡± Da Hu¡¯s voice was urgent and shaky.


    The color immediately drained from Ji Bai¡¯s face. ¡°What about Yao Meng?¡±


    ¡°She didn¡¯te to the hospital today.¡±


    ¡°Notify the station, get them to send more manpower and apply for a search warrant. We have to find them!¡±


    After hanging up, Ji Bai was about to turn around, but he quickly saw the blue shing of an ambnce sirening from the entrance of themunity area. A dreadful feeling rose in his heart as he stepped on the elerator and bolted past the gates.


    The corridor in the apartment was crowded with people, and the elevator did not even after a long time. Thus, Ji Bai darted all the way up the stairs to his unit. As he arrived at the floor, he saw two paramedics shuffling toward him with a stretcher. Xu Juan was lying on it covered in blood; his face was awfully pale, and his eyes were half open.


    ¡°Xu Juan!¡± Ji Bai felt like he had been stabbed as he aggressively grabbed the stretcher. However, he was immediately stopped by the paramedics. ¡°Move aside, he has to be sent to the hospital right now!¡¯


    With an ashen face, Ji Bai took a step back, but he suddenly felt somebody grab his hand. He looked down to see that it was Xu Juan. He was gasping for air, but his eyes were ferociously determined as he croaked, ¡°Xu Xu... Xu Xu...¡±

 Chapter 62: Chapter 65

    <h4>Chapter 62: Chapter 65</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    As they neared the mountains, the temperature began to drop. Thinyers of snow could be seen nketing the top of every mountain in the dim evening skyline as the air in the forest became much thicker. The weather was freezing cold, and the horizon was out of sight.


    Ji Bai made an emergency brake and stopped his car at the three-way fork on the road. Da Hu immediately hopped out, but after looking at the traces on the ground, he just kept quiet.


    This was the main road leading up to the mountains and due to the high volume of traffic, the tire marks on the snow were unreadable, it was impossible to distinguish them. However, if they were to blindly move forward, they would enter the vast forest that stretched thousands of kilometers. As the mountain paths constantly intertwined, and most of them were not under surveince, Lin Qingyan could have very well brought Xu Xu down any one of the routes.


    On top of that, even if Ji Bai had the manpower to sweep the whole mountain, it would still take a couple of days to do so. Furthermore, the reinforcements were still on their way here.


    Da Hu got back into the car and looked at Ji Bai¡¯s slightly reddened eyes. Even though the current situation seemed hopeless, he could not just stay put, so he popped the extremely tough question and asked Ji Bai, ¡°Captain, where do we go from here?¡±


    Ji Bai gazed at the dark mountains, his hands gripping onto the steering wheel to the point where the blood could not properly circte.


    As they continued to lose precious seconds, his heart seemed to sink deeper and deeper into a pit of despair. Besides this, he feared that he would never be able to hold her hands and be with her again; the mere thought of it caused him unimaginable pain.


    However, he quickly dispelled the thoughts, choosing not to let it infect his head and torment him soundlessly. Instead, he only had one thing on his mind right now, which was to find her.


    That being said, there were neither tracks for them to follow, nor any logical deductions for them to act on. Ji Bai could deduce a killer¡¯s characteristics from just a footprint, but now he had to search for a needle in a haystack in order to get them out of this crisis.


    Right then, Da Hu interrupted his thoughts by asking slowly, ¡°Should we go to Lin Qingyan¡¯s vi in the mountain? That¡¯s his anchor point, perhaps they¡¯ll be there...¡±


    Ji Bai did not reply.


    He suddenly recalled something that Xu Xu had said in the past.


    It was not long after Tan Liang¡¯s case was closed, when Xu Xu was on leave nursing her body at home. When Ji Bai returned home from work, he saw her sitting on the couch, and on the wall opposite of her were photos of Lin Qingyan and Yao Meng.


    Upon hearing hime in, Xu Xu asked calmly. ¡°In your opinion, how does Lin Qingyan actually feel about Yao Meng?¡±


    What kind of rtionship was it?


    Love fused with hate? They had to remember that Lin Qingyan¡¯s fiance was killed by Feng Ye, and Yao Meng was Feng Ye¡¯s ex-lover, so it was still possible that revenge was very much his motive, but he just had not made his move yet.


    It could also be that he felt nothing toward her at all and that the rtionship between Yao Meng and Feng Ye was the only factor which made her his final target.


    Xu Xu shook her head when he suggested these, ¡°That¡¯s not it, Third Brother.¡± She removed a photo from the wall and passed it to him. In the photo, a man and woman hugged each other under the night sky, looking for intimate and very much in love.


    ¡°You can¡¯t use normal logic to decipher the thoughts of a psychopath.¡± She said very seriously, ¡°Things like love and hatred that normal people see as important might mean absolutely nothing to him ¨C psychopathic killers like him rarely ever kill for ¡®hatred¡¯. His world is far more quiet, clear, and resolute than what normal people can imagine. In his world, the rules and standards are different ¨C hemits crimes because he needs to.¡±


    ¡°He needs to?¡±


    ¡°Yes, just look at Lin Qingyan. He has had countless opportunities to kill Yao Meng, and even if he had marked her as his final target, it would still be unnecessarily risky for him to keep a former police officer in such close proximity. Despite this, he chose to establish a close and intimate rtionship with Yao Meng.


    ¡°Therefore, regardless of the reason, we must understand that he ced a certain unique importance on Yao Meng. In order to figure out what he is nning, we have to think like a psychopath.¡±


    ...


    Right, she said to think like a psychopath.


    Lin Qingyan had kidnapped Xu Xu, that much has already happened and there was nothing they could do to change it. However, where would his warped logic cause him to take her to kill her?


    Ji Bai looked up and met Da Hu¡¯s anxious stare.


    ¡°We¡¯re not going to Lin Qingyan¡¯s vi.¡± He said quietly, ¡°We¡¯re going somewhere else.¡±


    There was an infinite number of possibilities, but he could only choose one option. If he chose incorrectly, he would be getting further and further away from Xu Xu, such that they might be parted forever.


    When Xu Xu woke up, she opened her eyes to see nothing but darkness. She immediately realized that ayer of thick, heavy cloth covered her body, and not a single ray of light could prate it.


    A sense of dread arose in her heart, but she did not move and kept in her original position.


    She could feel that her wrists and ankles were tightly bound by ropes. However, her clothes were still on, and her body felt fine, so she was slightly relieved. She was wearing a thinyer of fabric which, for some reason, was slightly moist, such that the chilly air still caused her to shiver slightly as sheid there in silence. She could also hear the rustling of leaves in the wind as well as the asionally distant bird call.


    As expected, Lin Qingyan had brought her to the snowy forest.


    At this moment, she heard a woman panting lightly next to her, followed by some sensual moaning. The rapid breathing of a man and woman blended together, sounded heavy and in-sync.


    Upon hearing this, the hairs on Xu Xu¡¯s body stood up.


    A whileter, the movements stopped and the man asked gently, ¡°Are you cold?¡±


    The woman¡¯s voice was very weak as she replied, ¡°No... I¡¯m not.¡±


    Even though Xu Xu suspected it, she was still stunned to have her suspicions confirmed. It was Lin Qingyan and Yao Meng.


    After this, Lin Qingyan chuckled and said, ¡°Wifey, look at how beautiful the snow is. It¡¯s upsetting, but when I¡¯m gone, I won¡¯t be able to hold you like this anymore.¡±


    Yao Meng went silent for a moment before replying, ¡°I don¡¯t want you to die... I can¡¯t bear the thought of it.¡±


    Lin Qingyanughed. ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s true. You¡¯re the most important person in the world to me, this will never, ever change.¡±


    Lin Qingyan fell silent for a moment and Xu Xu could only hear Yao Meng¡¯s noticeable short and rapid breaths. All of a sudden, Lin Qingyanughed again, this time sounding very cheerful. ¡°Let us prove this then, shall we?¡±


    ¡°... ok, but how do you intend to do that?¡±


    Xu Xu¡¯s heart sank when she heard this. Sure enough, she heard Lin Qingyan getting up, then his footsteps slowly approached her. Secondster, the cloth covering her body was abruptly pulled away.


    The first thing Xu Xu saw was the serene sky and the dark forest. Next, she saw Yao Meng, and then Lin Qingyan, who was a few steps away from her. In addition to this, there was also a huge, white woolen nket underneath all three of them.


    She looked around a bit more and realized that the terrain around them seemed quite familiar ¨C she had been here before.


    She couldn¡¯t believe that Lin Qingyan had actually brought her here.


    Lin Qingyan grabbed Xu Xu¡¯s arms, then he pulled her up in an unexpectedly gentle manner. ¡°Can you get up?¡±


    Xu Xu dared not disobey him, so she scrambled to her feet and found herself looking into Yao Meng¡¯s eyes. The two of them were in utter disbelief.


    Yao Meng¡¯s limbs were also bound by ropes. She wore a loose, id cotton shirt, and a fluffy, dark blue skirt. Lin Qingyan¡¯s earlier affections had left a noticeable aftermath: Yao Meng¡¯s hair was in a mess, several of her shirt buttons were undone, and her skirt was pulled up to her knee. Aside from that, she was clearly lethargic, and her face looked pale. Xu Xu did not know if Lin Qingyan had fed her drugs or whether he had taken other measures.


    Lin Qingyan¡¯s eyes were filled with glee as he watched the two of them stare at each other quietly. He pulled Yao Meng into his arms and spoke softly, ¡°Look, she was the one who asked you to turn around that day, which in turn led to that devil Tan Liang defiling you. Don¡¯t you hate her?¡±


    Yao Meng¡¯s face turned even more pale, whereas Xu Xu just stayed put.


    Lin Qingyan continued, ¡°Wifey, you¡¯ve hated her all along. Indeed, I too feel like people like her are an eyesore.¡± After saying this, he reached into the bag beside him and took out a ck gun before handing it over to Yao Meng. ¡°I¡¯m going to die soon. If you kill her, I¡¯ll be held ountable for and you won¡¯t get in any trouble.¡±


    Yao Meng remained silent after he said this. She neither confirmed nor denied the statement, instead avoiding Xu Xu¡¯s gaze and looking back at her lover. ¡°I do hate her, but how I feel about her has nothing to do with my love for you. Qingyan, I don¡¯t need to kill her to prove my feelings for you. I don¡¯t want to kill anyone.¡±


    Lin Qingyan reached his hand out to lift her chin. ¡°Wifey, don¡¯t lie. You know that it¡¯s rted.¡±


    Yao Meng¡¯s body stiffened.


    Lin Qingyan set his eyes on her gently. ¡°If you kill her, I can also die with no regrets. I¡¯ve left all my property to you, and the person you hate the most would be dead, so your life will be so much better after this. Wifey, don¡¯t hesitate, you¡¯re only one step away from happiness.¡± He pushed the gun into her hand and whispered into her ear. ¡°Wifey, don¡¯t put me in such a difficult position, you know that she has seen our faces and knows of our plot. If you don¡¯t kill her, what should I do?¡±


    Right after saying this, he pushed her forward and helped her aim the gun at Xu Xu. Then, he took out another gun from the bag and pressed it gently against the back of Yao Meng¡¯s head. ¡°It¡¯ll be over before you know it. Don¡¯t be afraid, after you shoot, you and I will be free.¡±


    Yao Meng¡¯s entire body began to tremble as she continued to stand there rooted to the spot. Lin Qingyan saw this and nudged her with the nozzle of his gun, causing her body to sway slightly.


    ¡°Shoot!¡± His voice carried a cruel ruthlessness.


    Yao Meng looked at Xu Xu with a grim expression. She raised the gun nervously, then aimed it at Xu Xu¡¯s head again.


    The night sky was bitterly cold, and the wilderness was dead silent. Xu Xu was originally shivering from the cold, but the child in her belly seemed to have sensed her unspoken fear and started to kick at her from within. Even so, Xu Xu forced herself to steady her breathing as she turned to look at Lin Qingyan. ¡°Wait. Lin Qingyan, if I am going to die, I¡¯d like to die knowing the truth.¡±


    Yao Meng immediately lowered her gun, while her breathing became more rapid. Lin Qingyan grinned cruelly at Xu Xu, the cruel glint in his eyes showing how much he was enjoying his dominance. ¡°What would you like to know?¡±


    Xu Xu¡¯s heart was going to burst out of her chest, but she soundedposed as she replied, ¡°You were the one whomitted the first two crimes whereas the third was done by Tan Liang. Even so, I don¡¯t get it, when did you two start contacting each other?¡±


    Lin Qingyan smiled. ¡°It¡¯s a terrible idea to ask questions which you already know the answer to just to stall for time... it¡¯s alright, I¡¯ll entertain you. Tan Liang found the second corpse, and we all know what he did to it, but he didn¡¯t actually personally know me at the time. Afterward, when the third case happened, I knew that he was the culprit, so naturally I forced him to take the me for me.¡±


    Xu Xu¡¯s heart skipped a beat. After the third incident urred, Lin Qingyan was released. During that period, the whole case was taken over by the Provincial Department, such that the people initially assigned to watch over Lin Qingyan were transferred away and asked to helpb the mountain. She couldn¡¯t believe that Lin Qingyan took advantage of this brief window to seek out Tan Liang.


    ¡°So, you convinced him to take the heat by telling him that it would bring down his former superior through public opinion.¡± Xu Xu grit her teeth. ¡°Were there other conditions?¡± Xu Xu had guessed as much when she saw the news stating that Tan Liang¡¯s former superior had been detained and was being interrogated.


    Lin Qingyan nodded. ¡°You¡¯re very sharp. I also anonymously sent his mother a sum of money. He¡¯s quite a filial son, but his methods were too crude. He also knew that he was at a dead end, so he might as well take the me for me while he¡¯s at it.¡±


    While Lin Qingyan proudly answered the questions, Yao Meng stayed still with her back to Lin Qingyan, tears continually streaming down her beautiful face.


    After this, Xu Xu changed the topic. ¡°You were the one responsible for the Hong Kong case too, right? Was Feng Ye just another scapegoat?¡±


    Yao Meng gasped silently as Lin Qingyan looked at her with a smile in his eyes. ¡°Yes.¡±


    Xu Xu wanted to ask more, but Lin Qingyan quickly put his hand on Yao Meng¡¯s shoulder and stopped her. ¡°That¡¯s enough, you¡¯ve scared her.¡±


    Xu Xu¡¯s heart dropped.


    So, this was it, huh?


    She was at a dead end once again. Lin Qingyan aimed his gun at Yao Meng, after which Yao Meng, like a zombie, slowly raised her gun toward Xu Xu.


    A million thoughts raced through Xu Xu¡¯s mind as she forcefully suppressed her fear and panic that was threatening to destroy her. She clenched both her fists tightly and looked straight into Yao Meng¡¯s deste eyes.


    ¡°Shoot me, Yao Meng.¡± She said softly, ¡°He¡¯s right, this is your only option. I won¡¯t me you for anything.¡±


    Yao Meng¡¯s beautiful face was emotionless as she choked and said, ¡°You won¡¯t me me?¡±


    Xu Xu took a deep breath and replied, ¡°I won¡¯t me you. Shoot.¡±


    It waste at night when the cold wind blew across the snowynd, causing the trees and leaves to sway slightly in the whitendscape. Xu Xu sneezed as the cold wind tickled her nose, whereas Yao Meng¡¯s had no more tears left to cry. At the moment, she looked like a mad woman due to her awful, unkempt appearance. Lin Qingyan, on the other hand, held his gun with one hand and coughed continuously into the other as the cold wind continued to batter him.


    Xu Xu and Yao Meng looked at each other silently.


    Xu Xu gazed at Yao Meng¡¯s with pained eyes. Behind her, Lin Qingyan had his head lowered as he coughed into his hand, so he was not looking at them.


    Xu Xu eyes widened and she quickly shook her head slightly.


    ¡®No, Yao Meng, you can¡¯t act rashly. You must shoot¡¯ Xu Xu thought.


    ¡®Please, just shoot me.¡¯


    Instead, a determined look shed in Yao Meng¡¯s eyes as she abruptly turned around and fired at Lin Qingyan. ¡°You psychotic bastard!¡±


    ¡°Dak, dak, dak¡± The hammer of her gun clicked dejectedly. The gun was not loaded.


    Xu Xu¡¯s heart plummeted as Yao Meng¡¯s jaw dropped, whereas Lin Qingyan slowly lifted his head up and looked at Yao Meng with a dull expression.


    Time seemed to have stopped at this instant.


    Although Yao Meng¡¯s hands were still tied up, she raised the gun and swung it at Lin Qingyan¡¯s head. However, due to the effects of the drugs, her movements were limp and weak. Lin Qingyanughed bitterly as he grabbed her wrist and twisted it before snatching the gun back. Xu Xu was just a few steps away, but she waspletely tied up so she could not do anything to help.


    Lin Qingyan panted deeply as he strangled Yao Meng before pointing his gun at her head. ¡°Is this your love? Is this what you think of me? A psychopathic bastard?! So... all this time you¡¯ve only been coaxing me, haha... Do you really think that I won¡¯t kill you, that I won¡¯t be able to bear it?¡±


    Yao Meng just burst into tears as she slumped into his arms and cried out hysterically. ¡°Love? I must have been blind to love you! Just kill me, kill me, please! You¡¯re worse than an animal!¡±


    As Xu Xu watched the scene take ce, her heart was filled with sorrow. She stared at the two former lovers as tears began to well up in her eyes.


    She had guessed that Lin Qingyan would not kill her with a gun if he had gone through all the trouble to bring her here. After listening to his conversation with Yao Meng, she also suspected that this was a test for Yao Meng. He wanted to see if Yao Meng had truly epted a criminal like him, and at the same time, he wanted to force Yao Meng to his side.


    This was why she had asked Yao Meng to shoot.


    However, Yao Meng¡¯s spirit had broken and could not see through his ploy. Xu Xu would never have thought that she would suddenly decide to fight back with such courage. Unfortunately, this only meant that she had sealed her own fate ¨C Yao Meng would no longer be allowed to live.


    After this, Lin Qingyan¡¯s expression became calm once again, but his eyes were no longer joyous and happy. He put his gun aside and wrapped his arms around Yao Meng¡¯s waist, then lowered his head and kissed her. Yao Meng moved her head sideways to avoid him, but he trapped her head in such a way that she was unable to get away.


    ¡°Alright, if this is the case, then we have no other option.¡± Lin Qingyan¡¯s voice was incredibly gentle, but the shimmering of his pupils showed that he too was saddened by the sudden turn of events. ¡°I¡¯ll kill her first, then take you with me.¡± After saying this, he let go of Yao Meng and took a small ck bottle out from the bag on the floor. Then, he walked towards Xu Xu.


    ¡°Don¡¯t kill her!¡± Yao Meng screamed. Lin Qingyan ignored her and began to smirk evilly.


    As Xu Xu watched him slowly approach her, she had visions of her own death.


    Ji Bai sped all the way. The roaring of the engine was so deafening that it was all he and Da Hu could hear.


    Seeing that their destination was getting closer, Da Hu could not help but ask, ¡°Are you sure they¡¯re going to be here?¡±


    Ji Bai did not reply.


    They were almost at the foot of the mountain where the forest was dense, and the shadows of trees were depressing and serene. There seemed to be some lightsing from the mountaintop, but that too vanished as quickly as it had appeared.


    Ji Bai hit the brakes, then got out of the car with Da Hu with guns in hand.


    ¡°Over here.¡± He sounded like he was speaking to Da Hu, but he was actually also assuring himself.


    It had to be here, the location of the third corpse.

 Chapter 63: Chapter 66

    <h4>Chapter 63: Chapter 66</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    The temperature on the mountainside was gradually dropping. The sky was gloomy, and snowkes were starting to fall.


    Lin Qingyan knelt in front of Xu Xu with a gentle smile on his pale, hollow cheeks. Suddenly, he reached out to brush away some snow that had fallen on Xu Xu¡¯s head, then lifted her chin gently.


    ¡°Open your mouth, little girl.¡±


    Xu Xu grit her teeth as her eyes filled with tears. When she thought of Ji Bai and their child, she felt a sharp pain pierce her heart.


    A cruel grin spread on Lin Qingyan¡¯s face when he saw her silent and futile resistance. As he was about to forcibly feed her the medicine, he heard Yao Mengughing behind him. ¡°Haha... Didn¡¯t you say that you wanted a child and that you like children? As expected from a psychopath, you would even kill a pregnantdy. I¡¯m d that I¡¯m not pregnant as you might have even tried to poison our child...¡± As her voice trailed off, her tone sounded somewhat mournful.


    Lin Qingyan put down the bottle of medicine and turned around to look at her. He spoke to her in a tone that sent shivers down her spine. ¡°Why would you say that? If we had a child, then things wouldn¡¯t have turned out this way.¡±


    Yao Meng trembled slightly and took a deep breath. She stared at him and replied, ¡°Then you should let her go. I beg of you, think of releasing her as letting go of the child we never had.¡±


    Lin Qingyan lowered his head and stood there quietly. He suddenly seemed very dejected and sad.


    As Yao Meng and Xu Xu looked at him, they both felt both held their breath in fear as tears continued to stream down their face.


    After a while, Lin Qingyan raised his head again. There were also tears in his eyes, but he had a calm look on his face.


    ¡°Since you like this child so much... we can kill her, then the child cane with us.¡±


    Ji Bai and Da Hu rapidly scaled the mountainside.


    The thorny forestry was trampled down as they ran haphazardly through the snowfield. However, their surroundings were quiet, and the heavy snowfall had covered all tracks so, at the moment, the two of them didn¡¯t even know if they were on the right track.


    As they continued to trudge through the bleakndscape, Da Hu¡¯s mobile phone rang. He quickly picked it up before reporting to Ji Bai, ¡°Captain, reinforcements are getting closer and the helicopter has also just left the city.¡±


    Ji Bai nodded.


    Da Hu gasped for air whilst simultaneously asking, ¡°Captain, why the location where the third body was abandoned though?¡±


    Ji Bai raised his head but all he saw was an infiniteyer of snow falling from above. The rock walls of the mountain loomed above them like a ferocious monster.


    ¡°Perfect.¡± He answered softly.


    Xu Xu had once remarked that Lin Qingyan had invested a lot of effort into the first two victims. The third murder was handled by Tan Liang, and it was rough and unprofessional, moreover, the deceased was also a very ordinary person. Thus, how could the arrogant Lin Qingyan bear to let the third case be considered in the same bracket as his own work?


    Those who were mentally disturbed had their own beliefs; since he did not have long to live, he would want to make up for this w.


    The night sky was ominous as Xu Xu¡¯s body was slowly covered in ayer of snowkes. She sat there quietly like a white sculpture as she watched Lin Qingyan approach her once again.


    Yao Meng burst into tears behind him. ¡°Xu Xu... I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m so sorry...¡±


    Lin Qingyan¡¯s expression was gentle and calm as he handed the poisonous medicine to Xu Xu.


    At this point, Xu Xu revealed a simr pale and gentle smile. ¡°Wait a minute, Qingyan. If I drink the potassium cyanide, I may suffer a painless death, but my child will die very, very painfully. Do you know what kind of symptoms the fetus will experience when a mother is poisoned? You can ask Yao Meng, we have learned of a simr case in the police academy, so we are well aware of it. Are you sure this is what you want?¡±


    Lin Qingyan looked at her, then beckoned at Yao Meng. ¡°You say it.¡±


    In truth, they had never studied or encountered such an incident before. Nheless, although Yao Meng did not understand Xu Xu¡¯s intention, the look on her face did not change at all as she simply smiled sarcastically. ¡°What do you care? Do you really care about the child¡¯s pain? Unlike adults, the toxins will slowly dilute into the amniotic fluid. Then, the child will experience throat tightening and he will have difficulty breathing. He will start to experience convulsions, spasms, vomiting, circtory failure, organ failure, and finally, death...¡±


    Lin Qingyan looked at Yao Meng and did not say a word. After a few seconds, he turned his head to look at Xu Xu with joy in his eyes. ¡°What¡¯s your game? Did you ask Yao Meng to say this to me to buy time? Xu Xu, you¡¯re making things very difficult for me, I don¡¯t like it.


    ¡°You should know that even if I don¡¯t kill you now, it¡¯s impossible for me to let you go. This forest is vast and we¡¯re deep in the mountains. It¡¯s freezing here, and by the time the police unit reaches you, you might have already died of starvation. Moreover, your death will be long and painful.


    ¡°So, what should I do now? We don¡¯t seem to have any other options. Why did you dig your own grave and choose to die in such a way?¡±


    Xu Xu shook her head in disappointment. ¡°No, this is what I want. I know that I will die tonight and there is no point in dying it. Even so, if I take potassium cyanide, I will die an easy death, but my child will suffer. As a mother, I¡¯m willing to choose a painful death for myself so that my child doesn¡¯t suffer. This way, my child will slowly fall asleep from my exhaustion only to never wake up again. It will okay for me as long as he doesn¡¯t feel any pain. Isn¡¯t this what you hope for too?¡±


    Lin Qingyan thought for a moment, then put down the medicine bottle and answered gently, ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll send Yao Meng first, then I¡¯ll return to apany the child. After that, the three of us can be together forever.¡±


    When Ji Bai and Da Hu silently walked into the woods, they spotted the empty space from afar which was covered with a white nket. Ji Bai was filled with dread as the two of them approached the empty space with guns in their hand.


    As they got closer, all they saw was a slight crease on the edge of the nket and some messy footprints on the snow beside it. Despite the dim lighting, Ji Bai was instantly able to recognize the smallest footprint at first nce ¨C it was Xu Xu¡¯s.


    The only noise in the vicinity came from the banshee-like howling of the wind as the two of them motioned to other with their eyes. They followed the footprints and split up to nk the left and right sides as they quickly headed towards the forest. After walking fifty meters or so, the two of them stopped at the same time because they heard an extremely soft breathing sound, followed by the sound of shoes pressing against the snow.


    Da Hu was hesitant, but the look on Ji Bai¡¯s face instantly changed. He immediately moved forward and rushed to one of the trees.


    The sense of relief he felt when he saw Xu Xu was tied firmly to the sturdy, rugged tree bark was indescribable. Even though her mouth was sealed shut with tape, when she saw him, her dark eyes instantly lit up like a star as she almost burst into tears.


    Ji Bai tore the tape off her mouth as Da Hu simultaneously pulled out a dagger to neatly cut the rope loose. Momentster, Xu Xu lost her bnce and fell straight into Ji Bai¡¯s arms. ¡°Third Brother...¡±


    As soon as she was in his arms, he felt the shock travel through his ice-cold body as up until now, she was only wearing a thin maternity dress. Ji Bai immediately took off his coat up and wrapped her up snugly inside. ¡°Everything is okay now... It¡¯s okay... you¡¯re fine...¡±


    Da Hu¡¯s eyes also started watering. ¡°Thank god nothing happened.¡±


    Even though Xu Xu¡¯s entire body was stiff and weak, she quickly grabbed Ji Bai¡¯s cor and said in a desperate tone. ¡°Go save Yao Meng.¡±


    Both Ji Bai and Da Hu were shocked. Then, they looked toward the direction that she was pointing.


    Da Hu nodded. ¡°Captain, you take care of Xu Xu, I¡¯ll go¡±


    Ji Bai remained silent for a moment then he tightened his arms around Xu Xu. He gently rested his warm chin on her shivering forehead before slowly putting her down.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go. You protect her.¡± He looked deeply into Xu Xu¡¯s eyes onest time before rushing into the forest.


    The snow gradually stopped falling as the footprints on the ground became clearer. Ji Bai followed the trail for more than ten minutes, and soon, Da Hu and Xu Xu were left so far behind and that they could no longer be seen.


    Finally, after reaching arge boulder, he vaguely caught sight of several people sitting on the ground of the forest in front of him talking.


    Ji Bai immediately darted behind the boulder and silently leaned in for a better look.


    He saw a tall thin man leaning against the tree, facing his direction. Blood was gushing out of his head and running down his face as he held a woman in his arms and pointed a gun against the woman¡¯s temple. Lin Qingyan seemed to be at his breaking point.


    There was someone sitting opposite of them behind arge tree trunk. The patch of snow where the man was sitting was drenched in blood, and he was wearing a forestry worker outfit. He was tall, but his back was facing him so Ji Bai could not see who he was.


    Ji Bai had a perfect view of the three of them and he slowly aimed his gun at Lin Qingyan. However, Yao Meng¡¯s body was pressed closely him and blocked almost all his vitals. Thus, right now, Ji Bai was unable to make a move.


    At this moment, he heard Lin Qingyan speak extremely weakly, ¡°Feng Ye, you really just won¡¯t disappear, huh?¡±


    Ji Bai was shocked as he set his sights back on the other man. He could vaguely see a wound on his right shoulder, which he guessed was a bullet wound. The other man gasped and answered, ¡°I¡¯m fated not to die. If I did, then I wouldn¡¯t be able to expose your lies. You know, even if I die now, I won¡¯t have anyints.¡±


    Yao Meng¡¯s long hair was in a mess and there was blood all over her face, but Ji Bai did not know who it belonged to. Her voice sounded very hoarse as she spoke, ¡°Why? Lin Qingyan, what is the point in all of this?¡±


    Half an hour ago.


    Xu Xu¡¯s excuse sessfully convinced Lin Qingyan. Someone as conceited as him would not believe that the police would find this ce so quickly.


    After he tied Xu Xu to the tree, he grabbed Yao Meng and staggered along the snowfield. He had not decided on where to go and all he wanted to do was find the most beautiful location. Unfortunately, there was no moonlight tonight and he was getting more and more frustrated.


    Yao Meng was like a walking corpse as she followed him absent-mindedly; Lin Qingyan, on the other hand, was quite please ¨C he very much liked the way she was behaving. Thus, he simply tugged her along as they quietly trudged through the snowfield.


    Suddenly, Feng Ye suddenly charged out of the bushes with a wooden stick in his hand mmed it against the back of Lin Qingyan¡¯s head. Lin Qingyan felt a sharp pain, followed by a strange warmth, as he fell face first into the snowfield.


    Yao Meng watched the unexpected event take ce with a nk expression. Then, she turned toward Feng Ye whose face was covered in thick facial hair as he stood in front of her and stared at her with his deep, pained eyes.


    His appearance tonight was so surreal, it instantly nted a seed of doubt in Yao Meng¡¯s heart. Up until now, she had subconsciously not told the police about his existence.


    By the time she realized that Feng Ye suspected Lin Qingyan, it was toote already. Lin Qingyan seemed to be aware of her slight change in behavior and he soon restricted her personal freedom.


    She did not expect Feng Ye to suddenly appear today and rescue her from the jaws of death.


    Feng Ye¡¯s gaze was a little anxious as he said in a low yet powerful voice, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, I¡¯ll save you...¡± After saying this, he took out a dagger and cut the ropes tied around her wrist. When the cold de touched her wrist, her heavily drugged mind snapped to attention and she remembered that Lin Qingyan was still behind them. ¡°He has a gun, stop him first...¡±


    ¡°Bang!¡± It was toote.


    Yao Meng watched Feng Ye eyes widen in horror, she lowered her head to look at his shoulder and saw a gaping bullet hole. The next moment, Yao Meng felt a strong pressure around her waist as she was pulled into Lin Qingyan¡¯s arms. The two of them simultaneously fell to the ground as Feng Ye likewise struggled to get to cover behind a tree.


    Feng Ye¡¯s hit on the back of Lin Qingyan¡¯s head only made him temporarily ck out and fall to the ground. When his face touched the ice-cold snow, he instantly regained consciousness once again. In addition to this, he still had some unfinished business, thus, his strong will drove him to endure the dizziness and pain, which allowed him to get up and shoot Feng Ye.


    When Ji Bai arrived, he saw the three of them already confronting each other.


    The three of them seemed to have resigned themselves to their fate as the two men remained silent and looked at each other quietly. One of them had a smug grin on his face while the eyes of the other one burned with a deep hatred.


    Lin Qingyan turned sideways to look at her and said gently, ¡°Wifey, it doesn¡¯t matter. What we do is none of his concern.¡±


    Feng Ye gasped and growled coldly, ¡°Isn¡¯t it? You have taken away everything from me, but I will not let you take away the woman that I love.¡±


    Yao Meng was shocked as the look on Lin Qingyan¡¯s face suddenly turned to disgust. His head was still bleeding to the point where his entire face was covered in blood; even so, the look in his eyes suddenly became carefree and cold. Ji Bai realized that the two of them were going to discuss and possibly reveal the secret behind the ¡°Angel Killer¡± incident in Hong Kong, so he set his sights on Lin Qingyan and listened attentively. If he spots any sudden movement, he would not hesitate to pull the trigger.


    Lin Qingyan shed him a smile and grinned evilly, ¡°Yours? Why is she yours? She¡¯s obviously mine.¡±


    Feng Ye looked at the man¡¯s vile, blood-soaked face and temporarily had shbacks of his past.


    He used to be an outstanding and gifted young man who was a world apart from his deaf-mute parents. When he was 18 years old, his parents revealed to him that he was actually an abandoned baby and that they were simply his adoptive parents. They suspected that his parents were from Hong Kong due to the fact that the nket that was wrapped around him when they first found him bore the logo of a hospital from the country.


    After graduating from high school, his breakup with Yao Meng catalyzed a feeling of determination deep within him which eventually led to him wanting to go far away. Heter left for Hong Kong in order to work and search for his parents.


    At the time, Lin Qingyan was a senior executive in a corporatepany and was also one of his good friends. His life was calm and peaceful but he still had not found any clues about his parents.


    This was until one fine day, when Chief Qin¡¯s assistant came looking for him with a DNA test report in hand. ¡°You¡¯re Chief Qin¡¯s son.¡±


    Chief Qin was the semi-retired chairman of Lin Qingyan¡¯s group. Feng Ye was aware of Chief Qin¡¯s group and knew that it was one of the top business conglomerates around, so while Feng Ye had heard stories about this legendary rich female tycoon, he had never expected her to be his birth mother.


    The assistant revealed to him that his resume and picture had been discovered in a folder that was sent to Chief Qin¡¯s mailbox by her subordinate. The terribly ill Chief Qin, who was over fifty years old at the time, instantly recognized the young boy who looked exactly like his father. Thus, she secretly ran a DNA test and asked her assistant toe forward on her behalf.


    Everything that happened after that was like a dream and his life turned upside down overnight. After this, all kinds of incriminating evidence rting to the angel killer case mysteriously appeared in his apartment. Even Lin Qingyan¡¯s fianc¨¦e became a victim ¨C at this point, there was absolutely no way he could deny all the evidence that pointed at him as the culprit...


    Fast forward three years, he had been on the run all this time when he received news of his mother¡¯s passing due to illness. Moreover, he had also heard that Lin Qingyan was the only beneficiary in her will and had received all of his mother¡¯s inheritance...


    ....


    Yao Meng raised her head and looked at Lin Qingyan. ¡°Is everything he said true?¡±


    Lin Qingyan smiled and nodded. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s true.¡±


    Yao Meng¡¯s throat felt dry as she quietly whispered. ¡°You still haven¡¯t told me why you approached me. Do you hate Feng Ye so much that even after destroying him, you want to ruin me too?¡±


    Lin Qingyan remained silent for a moment before replying, ¡°It has nothing to do with him. You¡¯re unique and I love you, I really do love you.¡±


    Yao Meng¡¯s heart went numb and she stared at him nkly. Nevertheless, Feng Ye spat at the ground and snarled, ¡°Is that so? What about your rtionship with my mother? Haven¡¯t you told her about it yet?¡±


    The look on both Lin Qingyan¡¯s and Yao Meng¡¯s face suddenly changed. The color drained from Feng Ye¡¯s face as it seemed like he was ashamed to tell the truth. ¡°I only found out about itter on. At the time, he was her foster son and also her...¡±


    ¡°Shut up.¡± Lin Qingyan growled angrily, his eyes filled with hatred. He suddenly released Yao Meng and pointed his gun at Feng Ye. However, Yao Meng quickly jumped backward and knocked Lin Qingyan, causing him to lose his bnce and misfire his shot into the air. The situation was on a knife-edge, so Ji Bai stopped hesitating and fired a single shot right in between Lin Qingyan¡¯s eyebrows.


    Their surroundings fell dead silent as snow continued falling unbothered in the dark. Ji Bai rushed out from behind the rock and pointed his gun at Lin Qingyan¡¯s body on the ground whilst simultaneously protecting Yao Meng in his arms. Yao Meng reached out her hands to cover her mouth. Her body was absolutely stiff, and she was sobbing soundlessly into her hand. Meanwhile, Feng Ye let out a long sigh of relief and finally fell backward onto the ground out of exhaustion. He looked up at the distant night sky and fell deep into thought.


    The strong winds from the helicopter caused the woods to sway angrily as multiple searchlights cut through the darkness from all directions and illuminated the mountains. The criminal police officers ran back and forth to collect every single piece of evidence they could find, then, they moved Lin Qingyan¡¯s body out of the snowfield.


    Feng Ye was still a wanted criminal and was quickly handcuffed before being brought into the ambnce. Before closing the door, Ji Bai walked over and thanked him. ¡°You have my word that I will report what I heard today to my superiors and the Hong Kong Police Department.¡±


    Feng Ye nodded as a bitter smile appeared on the corners of his lips. He reached out his hand towards Ji Bai and Ji Bai shook it firmly.


    Although Xu Xu and Yao Meng were weak, they only suffered shallow wounds. Therefore, they were simply ced on a stretcher and put into the same ambnce. Ji Bai and Da Hu stayed by their side whilst Ji Bai held Xu Xu¡¯s hand and did not speak a word. After a while, Xu Xu took his hand and ced it on her stomach.


    ¡°Nothing will happen.¡± Ji Bai said in a deep voice.


    Xu Xu nodded and closed her eyes. ¡°Nothing will happen.¡±


    Yao Meng had been looking at the ceiling all this time when Xu Xu turned her head and gently held her hand. ¡°Thank you, Yao Meng, you saved me and my child¡¯s life.¡±


    Da Hu also offered his words of sympathy. ¡°Everything is okay now, Yao Meng. It¡¯s over.¡± Ji Bai likewise gave her a gentle smile.


    Yao Meng remained silent for a moment before huge streams of tears suddenly flowed down her face. She held Xu Xu tightly and let all her emotions pour out.

 Chapter 64: Chapter 67 & Chapter 68 Lin Qingyan bonus (1), When I Think of You

    <h4>Chapter 64: Chapter 67 & Chapter 68 Lin Qingyan bonus (1), When I Think of You</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    Half a yearter.


    It was May, and the hints of warmth reminded Lin City of the slow approach of summer. However, there was some light rainfall early in the morning today, such that the air was pleasantly refreshing under the shimmering sun.


    Ji Bai stood at the entrance of the airport in a ck suit with his hands folded in front of him. He could be mistaken for a handsome model as he stood in the midst of the bustling crowd, even attracting quite a bit of attention due to his tough and mature appearance.


    Ji Bai did not have to wait too long before Shu Hang, Monkey, and the others appeared. Each of them carried a small suitcase as they leisurely strolled out of the airport. when they saw each other, big smiles spread on every single one of their faces.


    Shu Hang spoke first. ¡°Wow, as expected, you¡¯repletely different now that you¡¯re a dad. Look at the smug look on your face, you can¡¯t wait to show off your sess in life!¡±


    Everyoneughed as Monkey added, ¡°Naturally, Ji Bai always made sure to think everything through carefully and he has ended up with a wife and a child.¡±


    Ji Bai smiled and shrugged. ¡°I can¡¯t help it. I can¡¯t deny how lucky I am.¡±


    Everyoneughed and mocked him for his arrogant tone.


    A total of three cars drove from the airport back to the city. Ji Bai drove his own with Shu Hang in the passenger seat, Monkey and another friend in the back. All of them have been to Lin City before, but this was their first time in summer. They were soon taken aback at how lush, fresh, and pleasant the city seemed as Monkey whistled softly. ¡°The weather here is much better than the weather in Beijing ¨C it¡¯s too hot and dry over there.¡±


    Before Ji Bai could answer him, Shu Hang smirked. ¡°What did you expect? This is Third Ji¡¯s blessednd.¡±


    The other friend snickered and chimed in, ¡°Do you guys remember? When Third Brother Ji returned to Beijingst year, he imed that he did not have a girlfriend. In less than two years, he got married and his child is now already one month old. Are all criminal police officers like this? They¡¯re so agile, urate and brutal.¡±


    Ji Bai was in a good mood as he answered, ¡°Was it that fast? After meeting the right person, I feel like two years just flew by.¡±


    His words sounded romantic yet boastful. The rest of them signaled each other with their eyes and they quickly expressed their admiration and envy by making wolf whistles and kissing sounds... However, they genuinely felt a little embarrassed as all of them still did not have their own families ¨C because of this, they really did admire Ji Bai.


    The right person, huh? Not everyone would be so lucky to meet the right person in life. It doesn¡¯t matter who the individual is, they would need a little luck in order to meet a partner who they would end up being a match made in heaven with.


    The full moon party was set in one of the hotels in the city. There was still some time left before the party started, so Ji Bai brought Shu Hang and the others to their room upstairs. Then, he returned home to pick up his wife and child.


    Shu Hang and the rest could not sit still for long. What was so fun about staying inside the hotel room? After they took a shower and changed their clothes, they strolled downstairs fully dressed.


    The hotel was newly constructed and veryrge. The garden was filled with lush green nts and only a few patches of sunlight could be seen poking through the vibrant garden hanging overhead. It was quiet and beautiful, making it a great ce for people to stroll around.


    Shu Hang called for the waiter to book a lounge for them to chat, y cards, and drink tea together. The lounge was covered in a red velvet carpet with many leather sofas arranged tastefully in the center. There was also a floor-to-ceiling ss window which allowed them to look out at the beautiful view of the garden as they enjoyed themselves.


    Shu Hang was lucky today and swiftly won three games in a row. He joyfully looked around like a freshly-crowned king and noticed that Monkey was now looking out the window absent-mindedly. He followed Monkey¡¯s gaze and was immediately stunned.


    He was not the only one who was dumbfounded. The man next to him quickly raised his hand to nudge another and in a minute, all of them had their necks craned looking in the same direction. Theypletely ignored the game of cards and focused entirely on their newest interest.


    There wasn¡¯t a cloud in the indigo sky outside the window as the bright sun beat down on the grass and theke, leaving a dazzling sheen on its surface. A young woman was walking out from behind the trees and was slowly heading towards theke. She wore a light pink dress and a pair of matching sandals while her long ck hair fell on her shoulders like the most luxurious satin. Shu Hang had never seen someone with such beautiful hair before. There was a lustrous shine on her hair was irresistible as it rested neatly on the woman¡¯s jade-like shoulder. Not to mention, when the woman turned her face slightly, they could see her thin, sleek eyebrows and her eyes that were full of life.


    Thankfully, therge window was a one-way ss such that those on the outside could not look inside. Because of this, the thirsty bachelors inside could ogle the woman to their heart¡¯s desire, while thedy remained unaware of their existence. They watched her walking leisurely to thekeside before frowning slightly. She was extremely gorgeous, but after seeing her frown slightly, she appeared a little distant and cold. However, this imperfection and the fact that she now seemed more unattainable only made her more attractive.


    She sat down on the bench by theke and seemed lost in her own thoughts. After a moment of silence inside the hotel lounge, the atmosphere became rowdy. Monkey stared at her before quickly howling his displeasure. ¡°She¡¯s definitely not from Ji Bai¡¯s side. Does he even have any female friends that we¡¯re not aware of? Fuck, I can¡¯t believe sister-inw actually has such a beautiful friend.¡±


    Right after Ji Bai entered the lounge, he saw the group of men discussing enthusiastically while looking at Yao Meng on the other side of the window.


    When they saw Ji Bai, they immediately asked, ¡°Third Ji, who is she? Is she your sister-inw?¡±


    Normally, they were not the type to get excited so easily, since all of their eyes were very sharp, they had seen all kinds of beauties before. The reason why they reacted as such was because Yao Meng¡¯s beauty was very unique in their eyes. She was enchanting, yet there was also a hint of boyish charm. She looked delicate and beautiful, but there was still a touch of listlessness in her which made her seem very mysterious. Men were most afraid of mysterious women as they could never resist the urge to chase after someone out of their reach. Furthermore, Yao Meng¡¯s sudden appearance caught them by surprise and, boys being boys, they wanted to create a fuss out of it.


    Ji Bai looked at Yao Meng. Half a year had passed ever since Lin Qingyan¡¯s case, and the poor girl had been keeping a very low profile ever since. Thus, he replied, ¡°She¡¯s a friend of Xu Xu. You guys better not mess with her.¡±


    Everyoneughed as someone pointed out, ¡°It¡¯s toote, Monkey has already gone over.¡±


    Ji Bai frowned and looked at his surroundings. True enough, he did not see Monkey. Monkey was well-known to be a yboy who had a countless number of girlfriends, so there was no way he was going to let him harass Yao Meng. However, at this moment, the guests started arriving and Ji Bai had to greet them. Thus, he waved his hand and said sternly, ¡°I¡¯m not joking, someone please stop him.¡±


    This group of people were still rtively useful when he was serious, and several people immediately stood up. At this point, Shu Hang who had been drinking tea silently also got up. ¡°I¡¯ll go.¡±


    Shu Hang was very reliable, so Ji Bai was reassured. He nodded and walked out with him. They parted ways when they reached the junction at the end of the corridor as the two of them were going in different directions. After Shu Hang took two steps forward, he turned around and asked, ¡°Oh yeah, what¡¯s the girl¡¯s name?¡±


    Ji Bai was greeting several police officers and colleagues. He turned sideways to look at him and answered inly, ¡°Yao Meng.¡±


    Shu Hang knew Monkey well and soon found him on the avenue a few meters away from Yao Meng, having just taken two sses of wine from the waiter.


    ¡°Third Ji is looking for you urgently, hurry up and go to him.¡± Shu Hang said with a serious look on his face.


    Monkey grumpily returned the drinks to the waiter and followed Shu Hang back. When they arrived at the entrance to the lounge, Shu Hang paused while Monkey went straight in.


    ¡°Seize him and do not let him out before the party starts.¡± Shu Hang gave the order and the few of them inside the lounge jokingly held down Monkey on the table. Then, Shu Hang turned around and left. Someone saw him walking away and asked, ¡°Where are you going, Brother Shu?¡±


    Shu Hang shed him a smile and kept walking. ¡°Third Ji asked for my help.¡±


    He took a brisk walk and returned to thekeside. Then, he asked for two drinks from the waiter and headed towards Yao Meng. The people in the lounge were stunned as they watched him. After a while, they saw Yao Meng smile politely at Shu Hang before walking away. Shu Hang, on the other hand, stepped forward and took his time to follow her with a shameless smile on his face. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t go...¡±


    The full moon party went very smoothly. Everyone was in high spirits ¨C colleagues from the police station, Ji Bai¡¯s childhood friends, or the serious yet arrogant junior brothers and sisters from Xu Xu¡¯s police academy. Even though their fair and chubby baby had only just shown up, but he continued to smile at everyone throughout the day, keeping up the joyful uproar.


    Ji Bai¡¯s father, big brother, and second brother came. Although Ji Bai¡¯s mother did note, she asked Father Ji to give Xu Xu a huge red envelope and a set of jewelry.


    Ji Bai was slowly assimting Xu Xu into the family and she understood that she could not be hasty and try to rush her rtionship with her mother-inw. Halfway through the day, Ji Bai apanied her as they gave their mother-inw a call, their conversation was still polite as expected. They knew that they could only give it time and wait until the day that they could finally get along.


    In a blink of an eye, their baby was two months old.


    Xu Juan had just been discharged from the hospital, and even though he had lost a few pounds, he looked rather energetic. Nheless, there was now a dark-red scar on the back of his head. Whenever Xu Xu parted his hair to look at the scar, she would feel a dull pain in her heart. She would caress it over and over again while Xu Juanforted her with a smile. ¡°Good days wille to those who escape death. Your brother¡¯s future is looking bright.¡±


    It was Saturday and Ji Bai was working overtime as usual. Xu Xu was still on a maternity leave and she stayed at home with their child alongside Xu Juan.


    Both Ji Bai and Xu Xu were supposed to take care of the child. Even so, whenever Xu Juan had free time during the weekends, he woulde over and take care of everything. Since Xu Xu saw how he much he liked his nephew, she naturally let them bond.


    When Ji Bai return home, he saw Xu Juan with a hand in his trouser pocket and another hand holding a diaper. He stood by the side with a grin on his face as Xu Juan bent over as he struggled to change his child¡¯s diaper with an attentive look on his handsome face.


    Ji Bai greeted Xu Juan, then pulled Xu Xu¡¯s hand and led her into the bedroom. Xu Xu gained a little weight after giving birth to a child and her skin had also be fairer. Despite this, in Ji Bai¡¯s eyes, she looked even cuter and more well-proportioned than ever before. Whenever he saw the smile on her face, Ji Bai would get the insuppressible urge to kiss her.


    He pushed her against the door and started kissing her as Xu Xu¡¯s face grew red. ¡°Brother is still busy outside¡±


    Ji Bai buried his into her shoulder and purred, ¡°Let him be.¡±


    Although Xu Juan liked his nephew very much, he did not have any intention to disturb Ji Bai and Xu Xu. Thus, he left soon after Ji Bai came back. He was a very good brother and uncle as he made sure to put the baby to sleep before leaving.


    It was a cool and peaceful night when Ji Bai finished working in his study room and returned to the bedroom. He soon saw Xu Xu sitting by the table next to a huge stack of files, going through it attentively.


    He had brought these files back from the police station as per Xu Xu¡¯s request. Ever since the Lin Qingyan case, Xu Xu had not been working on any cases ¨C it¡¯s already been half a year since thest one. In her words, she felt ¡°suffocated.¡±


    She was reading very attentively and did not notice that Ji Bai had entered the room. Ji Bai kept his eyes on her and slowly began to undress.


    Soon, he was wearing nothing but a pair of shorts as he crept over to her slowly. Suddenly, he leaned over her from behind and supported his arms on the table. Then, he lowered his head and whispered into her ear, ¡°Do you have anything else that you want to do?¡±


    Only then did Xu Xu raise her head to look at him. Needless to say, she was stunned.


    The dim warm lighting shone on his angr handsome face which was right next to hers. His tall body seemed even more slender and tough under the soft lights as every inch of his body seemed to radiate a certain warmth that merged together with hers.


    Xu Xu¡¯s face flushed. The two of them had only done it several times while she was pregnant; even after she had given birth, they made sure not to push it and abstained so altogether.


    However, it was definitely fine to do it now.


    Ji Bai saw that she had gotten the hint, so he got up feeling satisfied and picked up a bath towel from beside him. ¡°I will go take a bath first.¡±


    As soon as he entered the bathroom, Xu Xu thought about it for a moment. Then, she put aside the files, opened the closet and began searching for a sleeping gown. Since they had restrained themselves for so long, she should choose a seductive sleeping gown to help properly ignite their passion. While she wasparing different sets of sleeping gowns, she suddenly heard the sound of water in the bathroom stopping as Ji Bai called out casually, ¡°Wifey, I forgot to take a towel.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± However, just as Xu Xu was about get up and look for a towel, she recalled that he had indeed taken a towel with him before he entered the bathroom.


    Xu Xu could not help but smile at his extremely obvious intentions. Then, she lowered her head to look at the variety of mature sleeping gowns thaty on her bed and thought about which one to wear.


    Once they had moved in together, Ji Bai had changed his ordinary one-person bathtub into an extremelyrge bathtub which had enough room for him and Xu Xu to roll around in. After Xu Xu answered him, he continued to rx in the bathtub with his arms hanging over the edge while he waited for her leisurely.


    After a while, he heard the sound of light footsteps approaching. By now, he had restrained himself for half a year, so his felt throat felt dry while his body started tensing up as he stared at the door.


    Slowly, the door was pushed open and Xu Xu walked in.


    The moment Ji Bai saw her, he felt his body burning up. The feeling was so overwhelming that he felt like he was about to explode.


    Xu Xu had nothing but a towel wrapped around her body. She simultaneously looked like the most innocent, and the most seductive thing in the world as she walked up to him with blushing cheeks. ¡°Here¡¯s your towel.¡±


    A wide smile appeared on Ji Bai¡¯s face. He suddenly got out of the tub, lifted her up, and closed the bathroom door.


    The room was soon filled with the scent of their love-making.


    By the time they were done, it was already midnight. Ji Bai leaned against Yao Meng feelingpletely satisfied as he continued to leave small kisses all over her body.


    After a while, he recalled something and said to Xu Xu, ¡°Shu Hang has been chasing Yao Meng for almost a month.¡±


    Xu Xu was a little shocked. ¡°Does he not have to go back to Beijing?¡±


    ¡°Hispany¡¯s recent project is based in Lin City.¡± A grin appeared on Ji Bai¡¯s face as he exined, ¡°He told me that Yao Meng has already rejected him more than ten times.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded and sighed. ¡°Obviously.¡± After thinking about it for a moment, she looked at Ji Bai and asked, ¡°Do you think they suit each other?¡±


    Instead of answering her question, Ji Bai simply shrugged. ¡°Shu Hang might be good at sweet talking, but he has the integrity to back it up. Whether or not they suit each other is not for us to decide.¡± He paused before adding, ¡°Maybe now is not the right time, but eventually, Yao Meng has to move on with her life.¡±


    The next day, after Ji Bai got home from work, he received a call from Shu Hang just as he was about to get intimate with his wife.


    Shu Hang¡¯s yful andidback tone was nowhere to be found. Instead, he sounded a little serious. ¡°I just learned about Yao Meng¡¯s past.¡±


    Ji Bai remained silent for a moment as up until now, he had always tried to avoid talking about Yao Meng¡¯s past. Even so, he knew that if Shu Hang was serious about chasing her, then he would eventually get someone to find out a bit more about her.


    ¡°So, are you still going to go after her?¡± Ji Bai asked.


    Shu Hang did not answer immediately.


    The sun was just starting to set as they talked to each other, and Shu Hang was sitting in his car which was parked right at the front entrance of a cafe.


    It was Yao Meng¡¯s go-to caf¨¦. Every afternoon, she would sit on the second floor of the caf¨¦ for a while. Shu Hang had been chasing her enthusiastically, so he knew her schedule very well.


    He sat in the car and looked on as Yao Meng casually walked out of the caf¨¦. She was still as beautiful and radiant as ever.


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk about it another time.¡± He hung up on Ji Bai and quietly stared at her graceful figure moving through the crowd.


    Suddenly, a BMW convertible from across the street slowly pulled up next to Yao Meng. Then, Yao Meng revealed a sweet smile to the man in the car.


    Shu Hang eyes instantly widened.


    The man in the car was Feng Ye. He was wearing a suit and had shaved off his beard such that he now looked as handsome as ever. However, due to the hardships that he had been through, there was also a steeliness in his eyes which was not normally found in other people his age. He got out of the car, opened the door for Yao Meng, and watched happily as she gets into the car.


    After Lin Qingyan¡¯s death, the police ransacked his home and found all sorts of evidence locked in his basement. There was potassium cyanide, aphrodisiacs, chains, and many photos of the victims. There were also photos of the eight victims from the ¡°Angel Killer¡± incident. Thus, with the help of Ji Bai¡¯s testimony, Feng Ye was finally cleared of all charges.


    However, at that time, there were still several other missing persons. Their information and bodies had not yet been found, so they could not determine whether or not their disappearances were rted to Lin Qingyan. The police could only deduce that they had been disposed of by Lin Qingyan in some unknown location.


    ording to Lin Qingyan¡¯s will, he left all his property to Yao Meng. Nheless, the Hong Kong authorities imed that about one-third of it was inherited from Chief Qin, which was Feng Ye¡¯s mother. Thus, Yao Meng agreed to split up this part of the property and return it to Feng Ye; the legal proceedings surrounding the handover were still in progress.


    The news of what Lin Qingyan did soon spread among their old friends, enraging everyst one of them. They now weed Feng Ye¡¯s return with open arms. As such, Feng Ye was actually here to pick up Yao Meng today because he had invited a few high school ssmates to have a gathering in his vi.


    After Yao Meng sat down, Feng Ye smiled at her gently, ¡°I prepared a barbecue tonight, along with your favorite caramel pudding.¡±


    Yao Meng nodded. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    The evening sun was still zing hot, so when Feng Ye lowered his head, he saw Yao Meng¡¯s slender neck glowing like a piece of jade under the sunlight. He was taken aback and quickly put his arm around the back of her seat. ¡°Is it too hot? Do you want me to turn up the air conditioning?¡± ¡±


    Yao Meng smiled and shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s good to bask in the sun.¡±


    Feng Ye nodded but did not remove his arm. Then, he averted his gaze and noticed a tall, handsome man sitting inside a Cadic staring at them.


    Feng Ye instantly recognized Ji Bai¡¯s friend who he had once met during the full moon party.


    The two of them made eye contact and Feng Ye smiled at him briefly. Shu Hang felt a mixture of dread and disappointment rising in his heart when he saw the man¡¯s pearly white teeth, but by then, Feng Ye had already started the car with Yao Meng inside.


    The vi that Feng Ye bought was located in the suburbs of Lin City. The ce was filled with tall, green trees which helped give it a tropical vibe. When they arrived, a few friends were already sitting together in the garden while barbecuing and drinking. As they chatted, they could not help but sigh as they reminisced about the past.


    Compared to the wild boy of days gone by, Feng Ye¡¯s temperament had be much gentler and more restrained. He sat next to Yao Meng and naturally took care of her the entire time. Because of this, some of their ssmates teased, ¡°You two of you were wrongly separated in the past. Aren¡¯t you nning on getting back together again?¡±


    After saying this, everyoneughed. Feng Ye joined in theughter, but he also put his hand around the back of Yao Meng¡¯s chair and looked at her quietly. Everyone saw him do this, so they quickly got the hint.


    However, Yao Meng smiled inly and shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s all in the past, so let¡¯s not talk about it again. Are the chicken wings done?¡±


    Feng Ye was stunned as the others immediately tried to smooth things over. ¡°It¡¯s done, it¡¯s done, here you go.¡±


    After eating for a while, Feng Ye went into the house to get some more food. Yao Meng, on the other hand, continued to chat with everyone for a while, but she eventually put her bag on the chair and got up to go to the bathroom.


    The vi was brightly lit as she strolled along the corridor. After taking a few steps, she suddenly stopped.


    The door on the right side of the hallway was left slightly ajar, but she still spotted a few photos hanging on the wall. There was a picture of Feng Ye and two elders, which Yao Meng quickly recognized to be his deaf-mute parents. There was also a picture of his high school graduation photo from the past. Moreover, there was also a huge photoshoot collection of her which Feng Ye had saved half of his pocket money to take her to when they were both dating.


    She gently pushed the door open.


    The room looked like a showroom. Other than photos, there were also many vintage cameras, books, and small sculptures.


    At this moment, she heard Feng Ye¡¯s low and gentle voice from behind her. ¡°I¡¯ve lost a lot and have only managed to retrieve a few things from my old life, which I¡¯ve kept here.¡±


    Yao Meng turned around and smiled at him. ¡°You can always add more stuff in the future.¡±


    Instead of answering her, Feng Ye leaned his tall body against the cupboard and lowered his head to look at her. When he did this, the atmosphere in the room immediately changed.


    Of course, Yao Meng understood what he was thinking, but she pretended not to notice it. Instead, she looked at the neatly arranged dolls in the cupboard with great interest. The figures had human faces and were carved out of a maple-colored wood. All of them had masterfully crafted faces which looked like life while also keeping its doll characteristics at the same time. The eyes of the dolls were made of a ck meteorite while the smiling teeth looked like pieces of porcin and jade.


    Yao Meng stared at them for a while before changing the subject. ¡°Where did you buy this? It¡¯s so unique. Can you take it out and let me have a look?¡±


    Feng Ye picked one up and handed it to her. ¡°Of course. A friend made it and gave it to me.¡±


    Yao Meng gasped in admiration. ¡°Your friend¡¯s really skillful.¡± Then, she put down the doll and smiled at him. ¡°Let¡¯s go out.¡± As she turned to the door, Feng Ye grab her waist and pulled her back.


    Yao Meng was startled and instinctively tried to push him away. However, Feng Ye¡¯s arms were very strong and he simply lowered his head to look at her without letting her go. A streak of light from the hallway shone inside, casting a ray of light over his focused, intense face.


    ¡°Little Meng, past or present, whether I was working in Hong Kong or on the run... I¡¯ve never stopped loving you. What would it take for you to give me another chance?¡±


    It was nightfall by the time Yao Meng and the other ssmates walked out of Feng Ye¡¯s vi. Since she did not want Feng Ye to send her home, she had asked her driver to bring her car around to Feng Ye¡¯s vi. After this, he was dismissed.


    Instead of going home straightaway, she stopped by the roadside. She was on the main road and there were many crowded stalls with plenty of patrons eating supper inside. The atmosphere there was very lively and cheerful, and so, she sat there quietly for a while, then called Xu Xu.


    Xu Xu had just put her child to sleep and Ji Bai was taking a shower. She picked up the stack of documents that Ji Bai had brought back from the police station and was just about to start reading when she saw Yao Meng¡¯s number shing on her phone screen. ¡°Are you calling because of Shu Hang?¡±


    Yao Meng smiled and shook her head. ¡°He¡¯s not the problem. I¡¯m not going to get together with anyone right now.¡± She paused and added, ¡°Feng Ye also asked to get back together with me just now, but I refused.¡±


    Xu Xu thought for a moment before replying, ¡°You made a right decision.¡±


    Yao Meng leaned back on the chair and looked up at the starry midnight sky. ¡°Why? What do you think of him? Tell me honestly.¡±


    Xu Xu replied, ¡°He¡¯s not a good match for you. When he was a teenager, he was very arrogant. After that, he was on the run for three years and lived inplete istion in the forest. Of course, these are not necessarily drawbacks, but both of you both have too many things on your te right now and it would be better if you have a fresh start.¡±


    Yao Meng was slightly shocked, and she answered softly, ¡°I didn¡¯t think about it that deeply. It¡¯s just that it has been so long so I no longer have feelings for him.¡±


    ¡°Oh. That¡¯s also true I guess.¡±


    Her reaction made Yao Mengugh. Her disappointment slowly disappeared as she began to feel upbeat again. ¡°Okay then, go and take care of my godson. I¡¯ll visit you in a few days.¡±


    The two of them hung up the phone, but the call quickly reminded Xu Xu of Lin Qingyan¡¯s case. She put aside the files that Ji Bai had brought back, then went to the drawer where they stored the previous case¡¯s files and started going through it again.


    When Yao Meng hung up to put her mobile phone back into her bag, she was shocked. Rummaging through her handbag, she could not find her housekey. Naturally, she tried to re-trace her steps. Previously, she had left the garden and gone to the toilet. When she did this, she had left her bag on the chair, so it was possible that this was when her keys fell out.


    Yao Meng instantly turned around and drove back to Feng Ye¡¯s ce whilst feeling slightly embarrassed. However, she did not dwell on it for too long as she soon arrived at the ce. She did not park too far away from Feng Ye¡¯s house, so after locking her car, she strolled over to the vi.


    The streetlights shone brightly in the otherwise gloomy street. This was one of the best residential locations in the city and as such, there were security guards on duty at every corner. There was also a row of luxury shops by the side of the street that were still operating, ready to tend to any midnight customers. She walked along the boulevard step by step and she soon spotted Feng Ye¡¯srge iron gate.


    Just as she was about ring the doorbell, she peered through the gate and saw Feng Ye sitting alone on a lounge chair in the porch. He was holding the doll figure that she had handled earlier with an odd smile on the corner of his lips.


    Yao Meng was a bit confused, so she stood still and watched him without saying a word. Suddenly, she saw him lift up the doll and bring it near to his face before nting a kiss right on the doll¡¯s lips. The streetlights were very bright which caused the porcin-like teeth of the doll to glow with a soft gleam.


    Yao Meng trembled slightly as she stood there in silence for a moment before walking away as quietly as she could.


    At the same time, Ji Bai just returned to the bedroom after taking a shower. He saw Xu Xu unpacking all the information and arranging it on the table before reading intently.


    ¡°Are you looking at Lin Qingyan¡¯s case again?¡± Ji Bai asked gently.


    Xu Xu sighed and said, ¡°Husband, do you remember, that before Lin Qingyan died, I told you he said that he only found Tan Liang to confess for his crimes after Tan Liang killed the third victim. Later one, we deduced that it¡¯s very difficult to get a hold of such a poisonous substance like potassium cyanide. Lin Qingyan could get it from Hong Kong¡¯s ck market, but Tan Liang is just an ordinary college graduate and an ordinary forest guard. Through what medium did he buy it? We¡¯ve not found out about it.


    ¡°Just now, I was going through the previous files and inparison, the third case was way too simr to the first two cases. Therefore, we assumed that Tan Liang was coincidently a heavy forum user at that time and that he just so happened to know everything about the ¡°Angel Killer¡± from his time trawling the inte. When he came across Lin Qingyan, it triggered his internal desires tomit a crime. Thus, he imitated Lin Qingyan and used the same methods to carry out his deeds.


    ¡°There are just so many coincidences and assumptions ¨C I always felt that something was not right. The more I go through the file, the stronger this feeling bes.¡±


    Ji Bai nodded as he also had doubts about their initial hypothesis. He stroked her head and nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s go through the file once again.¡±


    He sat down beside her and picked up one of the files containing some that he had brought back from the police station. Zhao Han had handed him this particr document as he was about to go home, he imed that it was some follow-up information regarding the angel killer case that he had just received from Hong Kong this afternoon.


    Ji Bai was initially calm, but after reading a few lines, the expression on his face changed. After he finished reading it, he looked up at Xu Xu and said seriously, ¡°The Hong Kong authorities came across a number of bodies in the open seast week. After conducting some DNA test, they confirmed that the corpses are, in fact, the other nine victims of the ¡®Angel Killer¡¯ case who went missing in the past. All of their bodies were dismembered and some of them had been disemboweled and their teeth had been pulled out.¡±


    Xu Xu was shocked. She took the information and her eyes widened in horror. She quickly went through it and murmured, ¡°This couldn¡¯t have been done by Lin Qingyan. It doesn¡¯t match his methods or his character at all. The only possibility is that it was done by another person.¡±


    She suddenly raised her head and looked Ji Bai in the eye only to see his astonished expression staring back at her.


    Was there another perverted serial killer in Hong Kong at the time?


    The End


    Lin Qingyan bonus (1), When I think of you.


    The town that Lin Qingyan grew up in was called Daozhen. In the early 1980s, the town was still very poor and chaotic. The streets were filled with gangsters and even teenagers fought for fun.


    The seven-year-old Lin Qingyan was undoubtedly the one who was being bullied the most. Not only that his family was too poor, he was also very small and quiet. He was as frail as a bean sprout. Therefore, the kids who were older than Lin Qingyan often punish him as a way to vent their angry and impulsive hormones.


    However, this was nothing to Lin Qingyan. What he was most afraid of was going home from school every day and see his father looking at him ferociously, alcohol bottle in hand. And he will definitely get a beating. One time, his father hit him with a stool and he lost consciousness. By the time he woke up, the sky had gotten dark already and his father was nowhere to be found. He wrapped a towel around his head for a long time before the blood stop flowing. He stood on a stool in a daze and started cooking on the stove.


    Nheless, all this changed when he was ten years old because his father finally died of drinking alcohol one day. Perhaps because his father¡¯s body was being carried around by his neighbors and everyone saw his father¡¯s ghastly-white face, the other children no longer dare to bully him. When they saw him, they would call him ¡°jinx¡± behind his back.


    It was the first time the young Lin Qingyan thought that a dead person could actually bring good fortune.


    He began to live with his grandfather, but his grandfather only had a few acres of thin fields. In order to get money for him to study, he had to farm under the hot sun every day with his frail and old body. Right after Lin Qingyan finished school, he would go and help his grandfather. Even so, they were still extremely poor and Lin Qingyan always wore old washed out clothes. At noon, all he could eat was a big steamed bun with a tiny bit of vegetable and tofu.


    Nevertheless, someone people were particrly nice to him. His female ss teacher who was in her thirties had a son about the same age as him and she often offered him to eat at her house. This was the period of time when Lin Qingyan had eaten the best and he was so happy that he felt as if he was in ¡°heaven¡± every day. He also began to grow rapidly during this time and he suddenly got a few dozen centimeters taller. He finally looked like a normal child and his original poor results had also gradually improved. Most of the time, he was still very introverted. However, during his ss teacher¡¯s birthday, he carefully finished eating a piece of birthday cake at her house and he handed a handwritten birthday card to her. He wrote a sentence in the birthday card which said, ¡°Teacher, I¡¯ll definitely repay you when I grow up. I swear.¡± His ss teacher¡¯s tears started falling when she read his card.


    However, good times did notst long. When he was in his second year of middle school, his ss teacher was being transferred to another ce. His new ss teacher was a 27-year-old male teacher named Du Tie. He just graduated from a teacher training academy and he was very handsome. His previous ss teacher specially asked Du Tie to take care of Lin Qingyan and she even secretly gave Du Tie a sum of money. Even though it was not much, but it was enough to pay for Lin Qingyan¡¯s meal for an entire semester. Du Tie promised her and the way he looked at Lin Qingyan was as kind as a spring breeze.


    Ever since then, Du Tie would ask Lin Qingyan to go to his single dormitory every day after school. He could get a big bowl of food for just one yuan in the teacher¡¯s cafeteria. Thus, he would buy a little more every day and give some of it to Lin Qingyan. Whereas Qingyan would pick up fresh vegetables from his field every week and deliver it. After school, if he went to pick up cans and mineral water bottles with his grandfather, he would hand all the money he got to Du Tie as living expenses. Du Tie would ept it, pat his head and praise him for being sensible.


    That incident happened during an afternoon in the summer. He brought a lunch box and went to Du Tie¡¯s ce as usual. The weather was particrly hot that day and Du Tie only wore a pair of shorts. Thus, his fair and broad back was shown. He was sitting on the bed while he watched the TV. He was smoking a cigarette as the electrical fan blew towards him.


    Lin Qingyan held his lunch box and sat on a small stool while he ate. After a while, he suddenly noticed that Du Tie was looking at him smilingly. ¡°You are a boy, but why didn¡¯t you sweat at all?¡±


    At that time, Lin Qingyan was thirteen years old and he had grown into a fine looking boy. His skin was just like his mother¡¯s, which was very delicate and fair. Moreover, his slender eyebrows were like ink strokes that were drawn onto his face. When he heard what his teacher said, his face got a little red and he smiled without saying anything.


    After he finished eating, he wanted to go back to the ssroom. However, Du Tie patted on his shoulder and said, ¡°You can take a nap here and sleep on the bed. I still need to prepare the teaching materials.¡±


    Lin Qingyan was shy, so he obviously said there was no need for that. Even so, Du Tie pushed him onto the bed, got up, sat in front of the table and started working.


    Aspared to the scorching ssroom, the summer bed-mat was much morefortable with the fan blowing at him. Lin Qingyan soon fell asleep and he dreamed that he was standing in the paddy field. The sun was just right on top of his head and it was unbearably hot. Suddenly a fish jumped up from the paddy field and bit the base of his thigh. Then, it went into his pants which made him feel very itchy and embarrassed...


    Lin Qingyan opened his eyes and he first saw that the curtains were down. The room was very dark and he felt his thigh getting a little cold. When he lowered his head, he saw Du Tie¡¯s tall figure sitting on the edge of the bed. He wore grandfather¡¯s shorts, which was very wide and old. Du Tie stretched his hand into the wide opening of his trousers and was fondling his ass.


    When they looked into each other¡¯s eyes, Du Tie¡¯s face gotten a little red. The look in his eyes was rather strange and a little scary. The room was very quiet, but Lin Qingyan felt as if he was being thrown into a dim and rapidly flowing water. He was shocked and scared.


    ¡°Qingyan, teacher is trying to...¡± Before Du Tie can finish his sentence, Lin Qingyan had alreadyunched a kick onto his chest. He then stumbled out of the bed, pulled open the door and ran out.


    Lin Qingyan had a very hard time during the remaining a year and a half time he spent in middle school.


    Du Tie did not have the courage to force him to do anything, but when he invited Lin Qingyan over to his dormitory, Lin Qingyan never went to his room ever since the incident. Even when he asked him to go to his office, if Du Tie was the only one in the office, Lin Qingyan would turn around and leave. From that day onwards up until the day Lin Qingyan graduated, he did not say a word to him. Even if Du Tie asked questions during ss, he remained silent stubbornly.


    Du Tie certainly got his revenge by putting him in thest row. He was being blocked by a bunch of tall and big ssmates or ssmates who do not pay attention in ss. Most of the time, he could not hear what the teacher was saying clearly or see what was written on the ckboard. His grades plummeted, so he gave Du Tie a reason to criticize him. He scolded him in front of the whole ss by saying he did not make any progress in his studies and he was going on the wrong path. Also, he wasted his former ss teacher¡¯s and his effort in educating him.


    The way Du Tie looked at him was always very cold and sarcastic, like a sinister snake. He did not have the courage to attack him head-on, so he bit him secretly behind his back.


    ...


    One day, the uncle in the school¡¯smunication department asked Lin Qingyan to answer the phone.


    It was a call from his former ss teacher. Her voice was as gentle as ever, but Lin Qingyan was much quieter than before.


    Towards the end of the phone call, his former ss teacher started sobbing. ¡°Qingyan, why did you get into the wrong path? I heard that you¡¯re always with the bullies and you no longer pay attention in ss. Why did you be like this?¡±


    For the first time, Lin Qingyan felt a piercing pain in his heart. Why did it turn out like this?


    How can a fifteen-year-old boy speak up for himself?


    After hanging up the phone, Lin Qingyan walked into the ssroom listlessly. At that time, he had grown a lot taller already. Moreover, he was lean and fair. Since he was gloomy and quiet, his ssmates avoided him when they saw him. When he passed the teacher¡¯s dormitory, he saw Du Tie cing his hand on a petite boy¡¯s shoulder as they walked into the dormitory. Lin Qingyan recognized that he was a first-year student who had a small face and big eyes. He always smiled naively and his family¡¯s conditions were also very bad.


    Lin Qingyan stood still in the mottled sunlight under the huge tree and watched as the dormitory¡¯s door close behind Du Tie. After a while, he saw him lowering the curtains.


    Lin Qingyan only ate a steamed bun and two bowls of vegetable soup at noon this day. He suddenly felt nauseated, held onto the tree and started vomiting profusely.


    After that day, Lin Qingyan began to study intensely. Despite the bad influences around him and Du Tie¡¯s sarcasm, he still managed to get first ce in the entire town and get into a major high school in the county. Later on, even the bullies sitting next to him patted on his shoulder and said to others, ¡°This is my buddy and he¡¯s amazing. From now on, no one can bully him in this town.¡±


    Of course, Du Tie did not have the chance to bully him again. In fact, ever since he got into a high school, he had not seen Du Tie for a very long time.


    Thest time he met him was many yearster when he had inherited Chief Qin¡¯s property and became a wealthy businessman in Hong Kong who returned to the town for an investment. At that time, he was already very familiar with the skill of murder and he had mastered it.


    He deliberately stayed in the town for a month and Du Tie also disappeared for a whole month. During that period of time, Lin Qingyan participated in various activities of the town¡¯s government during the day and returned to the basement of his vi at night to watch Du Tie moan in pain. He was the only one who Lin Qingyan slowly tortured to death. He burned him up after cutting his body into small pieces and his ashes were scattered under the big trees in his middle school.


    All these were events that happenedter on ¨C Lin Qingyan¡¯s entire high school life was quiet but difficult. There were many girls who gave him love letters, but he never responded to any of them.


    Lin Qingyan entered university all on his own.


    He was all alone because his grandfather sold their two broken tile houses to gather his first year¡¯s tuition fees. From then on, his grandfather and he were living in utter destitute. When he went to the county for a part-time job during his summer break, his grandfather died of an illness in the grass shed near the field. By the time he returned home, the body was there for several days already and no one found his body.


    The most difficult part of the countryside was the abundance of fields. He carried the body for an entire day, walked to the high mountains and dug a pit to bury his grandfather. He did not feel sad, because his grandfather will die eventually and an early death was a relief for him.


    Lin Qingyan majored in mathematics in university and it was the second happiest moment of his life.


    When he was in high school, he liked mathematics very much and now he can finally enjoy it to his heart¡¯s content. In his opinion, mathematics was very beautiful, concise, clean and inexhaustibly profound. This kind of profoundness was something that an amateur can never understand. He indulged in it all alone and lost himself in it.


    Nevertheless, there were times when he was not happy. That was because he liked a girl during his third year in university.


    The university¡¯s male dormitory had ¡°hormones¡± written all over it. When Lin Qingyan saw people walking in pairs or when people started having sex in the male dormitory after lowering the curtains, he was not as calm as he seemed. He would vent out his desire under his bedsheet, bury his face in the pillow to hide his sweat and suppress the sound of him panting. He was a sneaky man who secretly pried into other peoples¡¯ private lives.


    The university girls were no longer as na?ve as high school girls. Everyone knew that Lin Qingyan was poor. He had to take up three part-time jobs to support himself and apply for a student loan every year. There were also one or two girls who went after him, but Lin Qingyan remainedpletely unmoved.


    The girl that he liked was the purest girl in the whole department. She must not necessarily be the most beautiful one, but she had to have a gentle fair oval-shaped face and pitch-ck eyes. She wore a beautiful long bohemian dress and her bright smile was as clear as the spring water.


    During the night before their graduation party, the girl left early without anyone noticing. Lin Qingyan secretly tailed her as she kept walking and he wanted to confess to her.


    Just when they arrived at the east gate of the school, he saw her getting into a luxury car. The man in the car was about forty years old and he was wearing a gold metal-rimmed sses. He put his arms around her waist and lowered his head to kiss her honey-colored lips.


    Lin Qingyan stood under the shadow of the trees and watched the car drove away. For the second time in his life, he could not suppress the feeling of disgust. It reminded him of the feeling he felt during summer from a few years ago when Du Tie¡¯s gentle yet strong hands caressed his ass. The sound of the electrical fan blowing as well as the dark cool room became fresh and clear in his mind. Lin Qingyan squatted on the tree pit outside the school gate and vomited violently.


    The world was so filthy. Where can he find a clean sky andnd?


    Lin Qingyan studied in quite a good university, but it was not the top university in the country. The rate of employment for those who graduated from a mathematics major was not that good. However, he did not want to continue with his postgraduate studies as he did not want to stay penniless in the university forever.


    After many years of hard work, he overcame all difficulties so his hard work was not in vain. He finally got what he wished, entered the best investmentpany in China and be an assistant analyst. Despite the lowly position, his ie was already very high and he was envied by his ssmates.


    This was also the year when he met Qin Shuhua.


    It was during a day in mid-September and the branchpany that he was in received news that the chairman of thepany woulde over from Hong Kong to inspect the business. Everyone from the investment department went to the magnificent first-floor lobby to wee the chairman and since Lin Qingyan had the lowest qualifications, he was on duty in the office.


    When Qin Shuhua walked in, the spacious office was very quiet and Lin Qingyan did not even hear her footsteps. When he raised his head, he saw a middle-aged woman with a light makeup standing at the front door looking at him.


    Lin Qingyan could tell a person¡¯s social ranking at first nce. When he saw how she was well-dressed and wore a pair of diamond earrings, he smiled at her politely. ¡°Who are you looking for?¡±


    Qin Shuhua immediatelyughed and thought, ¡®So there are people in thepany who don¡¯t recognize the chairman.¡¯


    Arge group of people quickly followed behind and when the department manager saw Chief Qin, he smilingly stood aside. When he saw how Lin Qingyan was still sitting, he immediately pped his forehead and said, ¡°Little Lin, quickly go and pour a cup of tea for the chairman.¡±


    Lin Qingyan just got this jobst month, so he did not recognize all the faces of thepany¡¯s leaders. His fair face blushed and he immediately got up and went to pour a cup of tea.


    Qin Shuhua waved her hand and said, ¡°No need.¡± Then she stopped looking at Lin Qingyan and left with therge group of people.


    Good looking men were divided into many categories. The 22-year-old Lin Qingyan was not the striking type of handsome man who would attract people¡¯s attention at first sight. At first nce, he was just a handsome tall looking man wearing a white shirt and ck trousers. He was quiet yet gentle and he gave people afortable feeling.


    Even so, up until the day Qin Shuhua died, she believed that Lin Qingyan was the most handsome boy she had ever seen. She had met too many men and she could easily distinguish Lin Qingyan from an ordinary person. After some time, the boy¡¯s delicate eyebrows and clear eyes gave people an extremely dazzling feeling. It was as if many things were hidden under his dark slender eyes. He was quieter than the peers of his age, but there was also some childishness in him. He had an obvious wild ambition yet he seemed to be unconcerned and was sick of the reality.


    Qin Shuhua was reminded of her younger self who started from scratch when she looked at him. For someone who was single for many years, it was the first time she felt like she wanted a man. She wanted to control such a delicate and beautiful man.


    Everything that happened since then was like a game of cats and mice with a great disparity in power.


    One month after Qin Shuhua inspected the branchpany, Lin Qingyan was informed by his superiors that he was being transferred to Hong Kong to participate in a project at the headquarters.


    ¡°This is an excellent opportunity for a promotion.¡± The manager said, ¡°Little Lin, you must seize this opportunity.¡±


    Lin Qingyan was not overwhelmed by this great opportunity. Since he was outstanding to begin with, he would think that he deserved it if he was given a chance.


    This project was said to be a strategic development of thepany and Chief Qin¡¯s assistant was directly in charge of it. Sometimes when he worked untilte at night, Chief Qin¡¯s assistant would also ask him to do something. For instance, he would ask him to deliver a document to Chief Qin, make a cup of coffee for Chief Qin, or driving Chief Qin to the shopping mall. After a couple of times, Lin Qingyan got closer to Chief Qin. He saw how merciless and decisive she was in the mall. He also saw how exhausted and lonely she was after engaging in social activities with the officialste at night. Gradually, his heart was filled with admiration towards this strong woman.


    Things started getting clearer two monthster. On that day, the assistant was driving and he apanied Chief Qin to themerce department to attend a party. This was also an opportunity for him to expand his connections in the industry, so he cherished it very much. By the time the party ended, it was veryte already. Chief Qin drank some alcohol and she was a little dizzy after getting into the car. He was sitting in the passenger¡¯s seat initially, but the assistant said, ¡°Go and take care of Chief Qin at the back.¡±


    Lin Qingyan did not suspect him and he sat next to Qin Shuhua. He carefully poured water, handed her a towel and put a thin nket on her. Qin Shuhua seemed to be half-drunk and when she raised her head to look at him, there was a smile at the corners of her lips.


    When the assistant took a turn, Qin Shuhua¡¯s body nted sideways and Lin Qingyan quickly reached out his hand to support her. Thus, she fell onto his shoulder.


    Her eyes were closed and she was breathing uniformly without moving even slightly. Lin Qingyan¡¯s body stiffened up a little, but be it rationality or courtesy, he could not push her away at this moment. He can only sit up straight and put his hands on the back of the chair to avoid touching her body.


    The body of the forty-year-old woman was still very soft and a faint aroma lingered in his nose. Her face was leaning on his shoulder with a thinyer of fabric in between. Perhaps because she was not toofortable, she rubbed her face against him gently.


    The car was silent for a few minutes and the assistants in front seemed like he was ignorant of what was happening in the back seat. Lin Qingyan was in an extremely ufortable position and he had no choice but to speak up. ¡°Chief Qin? Chief Qin?¡±


    Qin Shuhua raised her head slowly and looked at him quietly. Her forehead, cheeks, as well as lips brushed against his young yet warm neck and chin.


    Lin Qingyan¡¯s felt as if a lightning struck his heart and instantly illuminated everything.


    At this time, Qin Shuhua had already closed her eyes while waiting and her lips were less than a centimeter away from him. A strong sense of stagnation and weariness rushed into his heart at the same time. Then, a clear thought suddenly appeared in his mind. He must not refuse her and he had to kiss her.


    The car was very quiet, but Lin Qingyan¡¯s heart was like a stormy wave. He lowered his head while he was almost shivering. When Qin Shuhua sensed his movement, she put her hands around his neck and pressed her lips to his.


    It was Lin Qingyan¡¯s first kiss but he did not feel anything about it. All he felt two slippery and wet tongue entangled together. There was even a touch of alcohol scent in Qin Shuhua¡¯s mouth. At the same time, he also felt part of his body beginning to swell up and harden. This reaction frightened him and the feeling of shame that he tried to suppress instantly flooded him like a tidal wave. He wanted to push Qin Shuhua away, but in fact, all he did was move his lips away. When they looked each other in the eyes, he saw the fine lines around Qin Shuhua¡¯s eyes and he felt nauseous.


    He endured it and resisted the urge to vomit. Nevertheless, Qin Shuhua did not notice it. She thought that he was just being nervous and shy. Thus, she continued to lean her head on his shoulder and whispered, ¡°I am very happy, Qingyan.¡±


    When they finally arrived at Chief Qin¡¯s vi, he and the assistant helped Chief Qin get off the car. The assistant said, ¡°Little Lin, send Chief Qin to her room.¡±


    He almost let go of her in an instant like an electric shock and took a step backward. ¡°I¡¯ve something to do in the morning, I¡¯ll go back with you.¡±


    Qin Shuhua did not say anything and before the assistant could continue speaking, they heard him say, ¡°Good night, Chief Qin and Assistant Chief. I¡¯ll leave first.¡± Then, he turned around and left. He heard the assistant¡¯s slightly unhappy voice from behind him. ¡°You...¡± Perhaps because Qin Shuhua stopped him, he did not get to finish his sentence. Lin Qingyan started speeding up gradually and he did not care whether there were people watching him or not. Very soon, he left the vi.


    The next morning, Lin Qingyan handed in a resignation letter to thepany and called in sick so he did not have to go to work. Three dayster, the assistant called, but he did not pick up the phone. After a while, Qin Shuhua called him personally, but he still did not pick up and eventually switched off his phone.


    A few dayster, the resignation procedure waspleted. Ever since then, Qin Shuhua and her assistants did not show up anymore.


    Many yearster, Lin Qingyan recalled this incident and realized that he probably reacted too drastically. Thus, Qin Shuhua was enraged and she dealt with him forciblyter on. If he handled it better at that time, Qin Shuhua might let go of him.


    Or, she might not.


    However, he was too ashamed at that time and he did not want to face Qin Shuhua at all. Not only did she make use of her authority for her own desire. Most importantly, he actually kissed her because he was blinded by greed.


    ...


    At this time, Lin Qingyan thought that this it was considered over and done with.


    He only found out that something was wrong after he went to several investmentpanies for a job application. Even though he performed very well in the written tests and interviews, he was being rejected by all thepanies. Later on, someone leaked the news to him. ¡°Why did you offend Qin Group? They banned all thepanies from hiring you.¡±


    Banned? This word was very terrifying to a boy who just graduated less than half a year ago. Nevertheless, it was extremely easy for the great Chief Qin to ban a rookie in this industry.


    Lin Qingyan was forced to work in some smallpanies that were not well-known. Even so, he majored in mathematics, so what can he do? A clerk? He had to get a very meager ie and work with a group of immensely mediocre colleagues. Thepany¡¯s owner would stress the staff over a paper copy.


    Even so, he could not stay long in this kind of ce. Although he was the most outstanding one there, he would be fired without any reason. Others did not utter a single word about it and he had no choice but to remain silent.


    A few monthster, he was being forced into a dead end. He still had to repay the four-year student loan that he borrowed but he did not have a single penny in his pocket. He had not eaten for three days already and he was wobbling on the streets. Chief Qin¡¯s people probably felt that it was time already, so they openly tailed him in the car from a few steps away.


    He braced himself and went to one restaurant after another to apply as a waiter. Chief Qin¡¯s people waited outside the restaurant and when the owner saw this situation, they dare not hire him.


    In the evening, a restaurant finally hired him. He worked back and forth throughout the entire evening in the busy little restaurant. He did not even remember when he fainted and fell to the ground.


    When he woke up, he found himself lying on a very soft huge bed. Also, he had changed into clean andfortable clothes. This was a very luxurious room which had the view of the entire city lights.


    There was a te of food next to the bed. He got up and gobbled it down.


    The night wind blew on the white-colored gauze curtain and Qin Shuhua was sitting behind the curtains. She was looking at him quietly and gently.


    She did not say anything and he too did not say anything.


    After a long, long time, Qin Shuhua sighed softly. ¡°Why are you doing this? Qingyan, I can help you fulfill your dreams and I can change your life. Not everyone in the world has such an opportunity.¡±

 Chapter 65: Chapter 69 Lin Qingyan bonus (down) When The Peaches Ripen

    <h4>Chapter 65: Chapter 69 Lin Qingyan bonus (down) When The Peaches Ripen</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    Ten years went by like a dream. Soon, Lin Qingyan was thirty-two years old while Qin Shuhua was fifty-four.


    The sky in Hong Kong was a captivating turquoise. Every morning after Lin Qingyan woke up, he would put on a ck robe and stand on the balcony to watch the sunrise. Whenever he did this, Qin Shuhua would either be leaning against his arms or watching his tall, slender body from behind with a smile.


    Over the years, Lin Qingyan seemed to be living a very good life. At one point, he himself thought so too.


    He became the foster son of the Qin Group¡¯s chairman ¨C he started out managing a small investmentpany but had soon gone on to manage half of the Qin Group. The people around him always tried to kiss his ass. ¡°Chief Lin is like Chief Qin¡¯s own son. He¡¯s just as clever and bold in conducting business.¡± Of course, the two of them were alike. He was personally taught by Qin Shuhua in all matters: fromworking to running a business, to having sex.


    He also amassed a lot of money. Some were from his annual executive bonuses while others Qin Shuhua gifted him. Although his assets were nothingpared to that of Qin Shuhua, it was enough tost him a few lifetimes. He even gave his former female ss teacher a sum of money. She was surprised and tried to refuse it, but Lin Qingyan forced her to take it.


    He worked out every day and attended cocktail parties, dances, as well as golfing sessions, essentially living his best life as a member of society¡¯s elite.


    Perhaps because Qin Shuhua truly liked him, but she never had any other men. Most of the time, the two of them got along just like a real couple.


    Nevertheless, whenever he awoke from a nightmare or something of the like in the wee hours of the morning, he would look beside him to see the newly-sprouted white hair on top of Qin Shuhua¡¯s head. He would see her smooth and fair artificial-looking face that she spent ridiculous amounts each year to maintain. Moreover, he would also see her loose, bby skin which was now starting to show age spots... An overwhelming sense of dread was suffocating him and slowly killing him. No matter how bright his future was, it was all meaningless if it was going to be spent like this.


    He returned to China at once and got ahold of arge amount of potassium cyanide from the gold mines. Apparently, this was a poison that would kill someonepletely painlessly. He felt that it either he or Qin Shuhua would have to die. Regardless of who it was, they should die peacefully and happily.


    However, the first person he killed was apletely irrelevant girl.


    At the time, Qin Shuhua had gone to Mysia to take a rest as Lin Qingyan stayed on in Hong Kong to attend to thepany¡¯s matters. He worked overtime untilte at night and when he went back to the vi, the entire room seemed deserted. Qin Shuhua¡¯s pajamas were still on the bed and the whole house was filled with the faint scent of her perfume. There were also condoms in the trash that they used yesterday. Lin Qingyan once again felt suffocated, so he left the vi and drove alone aimlessly in the dead of the night.


    He met Linda at a bar in Lan Kwai Fong. She was a very sharp and beautiful girl who was in her early twenties. She had an attractiveugh, such that when she smiled, her eyes would curve into a crescent-like shape. Moreover, there were two cute dimples on her face. All these features worked wonders and soon grabbed the attention of all the men in the bar.


    Lin Qingyan was one of those people who could have been born tomit crimes. At the time, he was not thinking of killing Linda, but after some time, he subconsciously left the bar and waited in the empty alley until Linda left to head to her car.


    Everything else that happened after this followed the natural order of things. Any girl would be attracted to a handsome and mature man with a luxury car. Linda got into his car and the two of them soon began making out as they made their way back to Lin Qingyan¡¯s residence. When they arrived at the mountain, they could not help but began doing it at once.


    Then, he took her to his vi. When Qin Shuhua was not in Hong Kong, he liked to live alone. That night, he did it with Linda very freely, intensely, and happily. A young girl¡¯s body was so fresh and clean, it felt as though water could seep out of her fair skin at any moment. Lin Qingyan licked every single inch her body lustfully as Linda scolded him whileughing. ¡°You pervert.¡±


    A pervert? Maybe. Lin Qingyan only knew that he had been a fish out of water for too long and had now been returned to the ocean. No matter how many times he did it, it was never enough. Linda could not stand it anymore and she eventually began to push him away jokingly. ¡°You¡¯re too strong, I can¡¯t do it anymore. Drive me home, I¡¯m exhausted.¡±


    Lin Qingyan¡¯s eyes were as dark and soulless as that of a beast as he pinned her back onto the bed.


    How could he let go of this new-found salvation? If he was left alone again, he would die. He would genuinely die.


    Over the following ten days or so, he tied Linda to the bed with some rope and fed her sleeping pills during the day, making sure only to go to work after she had fallen asleep. When he returned home at night, he would do it for as long as he wanted. He also fed her Japanese sex hormones which were a kind of female aphrodisiac that Qin Shuhua would use once in a while. He doubled the dosage and used it on his little pet. The nights were long and fantastical; when he felt his little ve lean on his chest, he felt like he was on ecstasy. Meanwhile, she submitted herself to him and pleaded for his love and body.


    However, all this stopped on the night before Qin Shuhua returned to Hong Kong.


    By now, Linda was like a walking corpse. When she regained consciousness, she cried and begged Lin Qingyan not to kill her.


    Unfortunately, he had no choice. He was not a fool and knew that he hadmitted a felony.


    Moreover, he no longer wanted to die, and he felt like he had been reborn ¨C Linda¡¯s young and vibrant body seemed to have injected life into his.


    He was so happy.


    Linda looked very peaceful as the potassium cyanide caused a faint blush to appear on her cheeks. Lin Qingyan kept her frozen in the vi for three days before unwillingly driving her to the wilderness. Then, he hid her body in the depths of the forest.


    Qin Shuhua was the first to notice the change in Lin Qingyan.


    In the past, even though they were intimate as a couple, there was always an indescribable stubbornness and loneliness in him. Recently, however, he would take the initiative and be even gentler in his love-making. His kisses were more passionate than before and he now looked at her full of affection. He seemed to emanate a mature and alluring aura that had previously been missing in his character.


    He also became more proficient in his career. The Qin Group began expanding rapidly under his control as everyone watched Lin Qingyan lead the group to a second period of high-speed growth...


    He was like an unearthed gem that was only now beginning to shine.


    ¡°Why?¡± One day, Qin Shuhua asked breathlessly as she made love to Lin Qingyan.


    Lin Qingyan lowered his head and kissed her passionately. After a very long time, he lifted his head to stare at her. ¡°Because I love you. In truth, I¡¯ve always known it, and I¡¯m sure you knew it too, right? However, in the past, I refused to ept my true feelings.¡±


    These were the most touching words that Qin Shuhua had ever heard. Even for a smart and tough businesswoman like her, she could not help but be lost in his words.


    After being diagnosed with cancer, Qin Shuhua drafted a will and left all her properties to Lin Qingyan without hesitation. She did not have a husband nor any children, and since Lin Qingyan had been with her for so many years, who else would she leave it all to?


    Lin Qingyan did not react too much to this. He merely smiled at her and said, ¡°You can do as you please.¡±


    Qin Shuhua was quite emotional and somewhat gratified. She knew that Lin Qingyan did not care about the will since he himself was capable of being sessful. He had been personally trained by her and his talent exceeded even hers. The reason why he continued to stay by her side waspletely due to his love for her.


    Later on, the two of them rarely got intimate with each other. Qin Shuhua moved to a private nursing home located far away from the city. Thus, Lin Qingyan set aside all his work and stayed by her side. Some of the doctors and nurses did not know about their rtionship and would often remark to each other, ¡°Mister Lin treats Chief Qin better than her own son would.¡± When Qin Shuhua drowsy and dizzy from the drugs, she would pat his head and sigh. ¡°If my son was still alive, he would be twenty-two years old now. How good would it be if you were really my own son?¡±


    Whenever he heard her say such impudent words, the smile on Lin Qingyan¡¯s face would grow even wider. ¡°That doesn¡¯t really matter, does it? Whether you think of me as your lover or your son, I¡¯ll always treat you as the most important woman in my life.¡±


    Although he spent most of his time in nursing homes, Lin Qingyan still needed to frequently return to thepany to handle their affairs.


    This was when Feng Ye appeared.


    Some people were born to be outstanding and no matter where they were in life, they would undoubtedly attract everyone¡¯s attention.


    One such person was Feng Ye.


    He was a young project manager at apany that they were working with, and he was shockingly talented. Other than his handsome looks, his mature and humorous personality quickly made him well-known in the industry. This was despite the fact that he did not have a strong background.


    Lin Qingyan soon became friends with Feng Ye. They were both smart, good with the ways of the world and enterprising. Moreover, they had a simr drive and wild ambition... Lin Qingyan really liked to hang out with this young man and even made an effort to guide him.


    It was as if he was looking at a younger version of himself. If not for what had happened, he might have gone on to be like this, free and limitless.


    That was the life that he wanted, but it was not like he could turn back time. He was Lin Qingyan, not Feng Ye. Even though he was the head of an entire business empire and had, by now, murdered five people, he still felt like he had not truly saved himself.


    He learned about Feng Ye¡¯s secret background three monthster.


    He remembered that it was a gloomy and rainy day when he left the nursing home. He had a nasty stomach ache, so he stopped the car and relieved himself in a nearby cafe. When he got out, he saw Qin Shuhua¡¯s assistant driving up to the mountain despite the heavy rain.


    Time had flown by so quickly. The young and experienced assistant had grown into a middle-aged man with a head of silver hair. After Lin Qingyan took over Qin Group, he found an excuse to send him far away and allowed him to be a wealthy idler.


    So, why did Qin Shuhua call for him today?


    Lin Qingyan immediately got into his car and returned to his vi in the middle of the mountain. When he got to his study room, he switched on a device and heard a clear conversation on the other end of the line.


    Qin Shuhua was living her life in the palm of his hand. The nursing home was filled with his own people, so her room was naturally tapped.


    ¡°I did a DNA test.¡± The assistant¡¯s voice was somewhat emotional. ¡°Chief Qin, Feng Ye is indeed your son.¡±


    Qin Shuhua remained silent for a long time. This was the first time Lin Qingyan had ever heard her sobbing voice. ¡°Okay. Let me think about it, then bring him here to see me.¡±


    Lin Qingyan who was still seated at his study table, turned off the device and smiled as he looked out at the misty curtain of rain.


    She wanted to think about it, but what did she n to think about?


    Early the next morning, Lin Qingyan went to the nursing home to see Qin Shuhua. She lookedpletely normal as she smiled at him and asked him to take her out to the courtyard for a walk. The grass seemed lusher after the rain and her face looked even more radiant than usual.


    Was it because her real son was back?


    She did not mention anything about Feng Ye to Lin Qingyan as he merely looked at her with a forced smile.


    Two dayster, Lin Qingyan saw the assistant visiting her once again through his monitoring device.


    This time, her attitude was firm, as if she had once again reverted to be the decisive queen that she once was.


    ¡°This might be a bit of a hassle, get mywyer toe as I want to amend my will. I want to leave everything to Feng Ye.¡± She said briefly, ¡°I have already given enough to Qingyan. You do not need to tell him about this for the time being. You can announce my will after I¡¯m dead.¡±


    Lin Qingyan listened to her quietly as the other end and likewise grew quiet. Then, he realized that his eyes were getting a little wet.


    He was truly envious of Feng Ye for having such a good mother.


    He visited the assistant that night and went straight to the point. ¡°I¡¯ll give you 30 percent.¡±


    The loyal assistant¡¯s eyes instantly widened in disbelief.


    It was true that the deal that Qin Shuhua¡¯s offered to him for his silence was good, but 30 percent of the Qin Group¡¯s shares? Only a madman would refuse such a crazy offer.


    Qin Shuhua taught him to always leave room to maneuver, therefore, before proceeding with the whole n, Lin Qingyan gave her onest chance.


    Or perhaps he was giving her a reason to betray him.


    There was a girl in thepany who had pursued him for a long time, but whom he had always rejected. In truth, he was starting to get a little annoyed with her pursuits. However, it was the right time for him to look for the girl to im as his own. ¡°This request might be very abrupt... but Chief Qin¡¯s illness has reached its final stages. She said that she wants to see me get married before she dies, so I¡¯m treating it as herst wish. Can you help me by having a fake engagement with me? I can¡¯t find anyone else who is willing to help me right now.¡±


    Naturally, the girl was more than willing. She took it seriously even though it was just for show and even drafted a marriage contract that looked official yet obscure. Since Lin Qingyan had been single for many years, everyone assumed that he was a good man who led an honest and clean life so they did not mind.


    The news soon spread to Qin Shuhua just as Lin Qingyan had intended.


    Lin Qingyan went to visit her for thest time as shey on the ice-cold bed. She looked disgusting, mainly because chemotherapy made her seem older and weaker. Even so, he lowered his head and kissed her after he walked in.


    She did not mention anything about his fianc¨¦ or his betrayal, and he did the same. The two were like an old couple as he fed her and massaged her stiff limbs. Finally, he hugged her while they watched the sunset.


    ¡°I want to be alone from now on. You can focus on thepany, so you don¡¯t have toe over anymore.¡± She suddenly said gently, ¡°After I die, you can start a new life. That is all I want.¡±


    Lin Qingyan almostughed out loud when his gaze fell on the hypocritical look on her face.


    Her wish? Did his ¡°betrayal¡± make her feel relief? Did the veryst bit of guilt in her heart disappear? Did she n to keep him in the dark like a fool and give everything to her biological son?


    He had been with her for ten years, but he was suddenly worth nothing after Feng Ye appeared. He instantly returned to his initial position at the bottom of the food chain.


    Instead of immediately leaving, Lin Qingyan walked over to lower the curtains and close the door. The room became dark and Qin Shuhua asked nervously, ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    Lin Qingyan said in a gentle tone, ¡°I have something to tell you.¡±


    ¡°...What?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no fianc¨¦. You¡¯re the only one in my heart, how can I have a fianc¨¦? I was just trying to provoke you.¡±


    Qin Shuhua broke out into a cold sweat. She felt as if Lin Qingyan had changed into a different person. ¡°... Why did you want to provoke me?¡±


    Lin Qingyan seemed not to hear her as he continued to mutter.


    ¡°How can I make you sad? If my fianc¨¦ made you unhappy, then I would have immediately killed her.


    ¡°Look, this is the second will that you asked your assistant andwyer to prepare. I¡¯m going to tear it now and I will act like nothing happened.


    ¡°Oh right, I also killed a lot of people.


    ¡°Do you know what I¡¯m going to do next? I¡¯ll drag your outstanding son into the matter too!¡± Lin Qingyan cruelly smirked.


    ¡®Qin Shuhua, you said one thing really urately.


    ¡®How good would it be if I was your son? I really wanted to be your biological son. Since you¡¯re such a kind and caring mother, you would be with me as I grew, taught me how to be a good person, protected me, and ensured that nobody hurt me. If that was the case, then my life would not have been tainted with all this filth ¨C I wouldn¡¯t need to harvest fresh blood and innocent lives to sustain myself.


    ¡®How good would it be if I was not Lin Qingyan, but Feng Ye.


    ¡®Wait, why can¡¯t I be Feng Ye? What¡¯s stopping me?


    ¡®From now on, I am Feng Ye and I will inherit my mother¡¯s property. I will live my life without any worry and I can finally start over again.¡¯ He thought to himself.


    Three yearster, he met Yao Meng.


    The past three years went by very peacefully: there was no more Qin Shuhua and there were no more murders. He handed over his business to a skilled subordinate and henceforth, all he did was look at the total ount value or determine the group¡¯s strategic direction every year. Since he had so much free time, he would sometimes put himself in Feng Ye¡¯s shoes. What wish would Feng Ye pursue if he was in his position?


    That wish was Yao Meng.


    The photo that Feng Ye kept in his wallet and the reason why Feng Ye rejected all the other women.


    It was an exceptionally bright morning as he sat in the car whilst waiting at the entrance of an old housing estate. Then, he saw a young girl in a light pink sportswear running towards him with the sun¡¯s re in her eyes. She had a pair of clear eyes and flushed apple-red cheeks.


    Lin Qingyan was lost for words.


    If the girls that he was previously with were a series of victorious conquest, then Yao Meng was undoubtedly the shining capital that he needed to im for himself.


    Moreover, she was the love of Feng Ye¡¯s life. That title alone was enough to make him lose control.


    In the blink of an eye, she had disappeared around the corner. Lin Qingyan quickly started the car and followed her unhurriedly. However, after taking the turn, he saw that there was no one around. As he scanned his surroundings, he heard someone tapping on his car window.


    He turned around to see his goddess standing right in front of him.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± She asked with a frown. ¡°Show me your credentials. I¡¯m a police officer.¡±


    He looked at her and smiled.


    ¡®After such a long and arduous journey, I¡¯m finally here.¡¯


    The two of them had only known each for a year, whilst no more than half of it was spent together.


    Nevertheless, this was the happiest period of Lin Qingyan¡¯s life.


    When he was with her, he was a sessful businessman that everyone looked up to. He was the lucky man that she admired, and he reced Feng Ye to be her greatest love. When she was not around, he would hunt recklessly in the city like a free spirit and uncontroble demon.


    Even so, the thought of killing her never crossed his mind, simply because she was his true love.


    He had only ever been loved by Qin Shuhua, so it was natural that he only knew how to love like her. Therefore, he kept Yao Meng by his side and treated her like a lover as well as a daughter. After he passes away, he wanted to leave her everything and allow her to live out the rest of her days without worry.


    Nheless, the bnce finally broke on a fateful day.


    The day she was raped by Tan Liang.


    Lin Qingyan instigated Tan Liang to take the me, but he did not expect him to go crazy right before getting caught. Worse still, he did not expect the unlucky victim to be his woman.


    Even so, it did not matter. Tan Liang was dead already, and after killing Xu Xu, he was ready to treat it as if nothing had ever happened.


    However, when did she start doubting him?


    Even in the final moments of his life, Lin Qingyan clearly remembered Yao Meng¡¯s tears on that cold dreary night.


    It was the tenth day of the second month after she was raped by Tan Liang. He had gone to the hospital for a chemotherapy and had only arrived homete at night. The lights in her room were out and because Lin Qingyan was afraid of waking her up, he went to sleep in the guest room.


    As usual, he turned on the monitoring device just to look at her sleeping face. Nevertheless, he was stunned to see her sitting alone in the dark room with her face buried in her hands as she tried to hold back tears.


    There were a few photos scattered by her side. They were all photos of the victims that he had previously taken and kept in the basement. She was not even supposed to be aware that the basement even existed, but from the scene in front of him, it was clear that she had discovered it.


    The night was long and cold. The two of them sat in different rooms with a wall in between them. Lin Qingyan saw her take out her mobile phone while she cried. She threw the phone away right after she dialed a number, repeating this process a few times... She looked like a cornered animal, fearful and in extreme pain. Her body trembled violently as if she was abandoned by everyone else.


    Lin Qingyan¡¯s tears fell unconsciously.


    ¡®My angel, my final angel, my angel who loved me so much. Why didn¡¯t I meet you sooner?

 Chapter 66: Chapter 70 Feng Ye Bonus, We’re Both Human

    <h4>Chapter 66: Chapter 70 Feng Ye Bonus, We¡¯re Both Human</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    Since young, I knew that I was different from others.


    I was not afraid of pain, I never cried, and I was rarely upset. Not to mention, from where I stood, the world was so beautiful.


    My parents were deaf and mute, but they treated me very well. Even though we were poor, they still spent all the money on me to ensure that I grew to be as tall and strong as a horse, even if it meant that they themselves were reduced to skin and bones. They were truly a pair of pitiful humans.


    Hence, I did not kill them and hid many things from them. I let them continue living happily in their penniless, windowless world, deciding that they could be muddle-headed forever if they so pleased.


    One afternoon when I was in fourth grade, I noticed many students crying as I walked into school. After digging around a bit, I discovered that our elderly mathematics teacher had passed away earlier in the morning from a sudden illness. The whole ssroom was filled with tears and wails as our young female form teacher told everyone with her reddened eyes, ¡°Let¡¯s observe a moment of silence.¡±


    At that moment, I wanted tough. Why did we have to observe a minute of silence just because someone else has died? The elderly mathematics teacher loved to nag, and he alwaysined that my workbook was not clean and tidy enough, even though my answers were all logical and correct. In my opinion, the world was better off without him.


    Unexpectedly, the form teacher noticed me and called out in a confused tone, ¡°Feng Ye, why are you smiling?¡±


    All the other children immediately turned to look at me with their tear-filled eyes. Oh, how foolish they looked.


    I immediately pursed my lips then threw myself on the table as I began to bawl. Obviously, I knew how a good student was supposed to behave, I had merely temporarily dropped the act.


    A whileter, I felt the form teacher walking over and patting my head as she turned to another teacher beside her. ¡°Looks like he¡¯s in a shock. It¡¯s expected though ¨C the mathematics teacher always did like him the most.¡±


    I buried my face in my arms andughed.


    However, just because I could not whip up even a single ounce of sympathy did not mean that I did enjoy life.


    I loved the praise I got from my teachers, I loved the admiration of my ssmates, and I loved this hypocritical yet beautiful world. I lived every day of my life so happily that it eventually became monotonous.


    At twelve years old, I hurt someone else for the first time. That incident enlightened me as I finally understood what I had been missing all this time.


    It was in the afternoon after I had left school. I was cheerfully minding my own business when a big boy darted out of an alley and seized me by the cor. At that moment, I felt a sharp pain on my cheeks; I remember bing very energetic when this happened, excited almost.


    Soon enough, I was beaten up and left on the ground. Both my stomach and my head were throbbing, and I even saw some blood from my nose smeared on the dirt ground.


    Then, the boy smirked at me. ¡°From now on, don¡¯t even look at Zhao Tingting. She¡¯s my girlfriend!¡±


    Oh, I understand ¨C she was a girl from fifth grade who had written me a love letter. I faintly recalled that she had fair skin and huge eyes.


    I nodded.


    The boy turned and walked away, looking well pleased with himself in the process. On the other hand, I got up without making a sound, picked up a brick from the ground and mmed it ruthlessly against the back of his head...


    It would be good to mention that the boy was a year or two older than me, so his foresight was quite good. The location he picked for his sneak attack was a secluded path with tall trees lined up on each side. I crouched next to his body for quite a while, but still did not see anyone pass by. I watched his blood flow slowly from the wound on his head, collecting in a puddle of red ink before eventually seeping into the soil. Time passed so slowly then, and I still remember every detail of the incident.


    I dipped my fingers into the blood before bringing it to the tip of my tongue. It had a strange metallic taste, but I could feel a deep sense of pleasure erupting from within my body when I did so.


    Magnifique.


    After I left the path, I made my way home as per usual, prepared a meal, ate a portion of it, then left the rest for my parents. They were supposed to return home veryte that day. Later on, I went to my neighbor¡¯s house to help a third-grade girl with her homework before Ipleted my own. When my neighbor saw the injuries on my face, he was quite mad. ¡°Who bullied you?¡± He demanded as he applied ointment on my face.


    ¡°A senior student.¡± I answered softly, ¡°It seems like it was because of a girl, but I don¡¯t understand anything. I fainted after being beaten up, and I went home immediately after waking up.¡±


    My neighbor waspletely outraged and he instantly phoned my form teacher.


    The next day, as expected, the boy¡¯s parents came furiously looking for me at school. Their family was very well off such that they even personally drove to school to seek me out. My form teacher and a few other young teachers were a mixture of anger and disappointment as they leaped to my defense. ¡°Look for yourselves, do you see how badly your son beat up Feng Ye? He has never had any conflicts with the other students and is an outstanding schr! How could he have hit your son with a brick?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, you really shouldn¡¯t bully someone like that. Feng Ye¡¯s parents are both deaf and mute. Moreover, hees from a poor background, yet he¡¯s so hardworking. Your son is always getting into fights...¡±


    ¡°Could it be someone else hurt him? When it happened, did your son see the culprit?¡±


    In the end, the matter was never resolved and I was let off the hook. However, this incident opened a new window in my life.


    The first time I killed someone, I was in my second year of high school.


    At the time, I had many things to ponder as Hong Kong films had only just arrived at the maind ¨C A Better Tomorrow, Shanghai Bund, Young and Dangerous... I could feel my palms turn hot and sweaty as I watched the scenes of fierce battles filled with flesh and blood. We had an old video recorder at home, so, when my parents went to work, I would pull the curtains shut as I sat in the dark room alone. It didn¡¯t matter if it was rain or shine, I would freeze the tapes at the gory scenes and rey them. Over and over I repeated the process.


    Suddenly, an unfamiliar impulse appeared in my heart, quickly taking control of it.


    I had never felt like this before as this intense feeling gushed forward like a waterfall; it felt like I was at the peak of my emotions, almost as if entire body was submerged in an ocean of pure bliss.


    That feeling was no poison, it was a cure. It was what I so eagerly craved from the deepest pits of my heart. I could not stop this lust. Furthermore, I did not want to stop it.


    Life is bitter and short, and we are all humans after all. Why restrain ourselves?


    Nheless, killing someone required technique and skill. I did not want to perform low-quality work, and I still needed to evade the police, so I had to make sure not to leave a single clue behind.


    After my final examination, I graduated at the top of my year, and I finally had time to attend to my own business. I carefully observed my target for more than ten days before finally deciding to make my move on a sunny afternoon.


    The location was at a small park in the city. Due to the fact that it was a work day, coupled with the fact that the hot sun was zing overhead, there were very few people around. I sat for a while at a secluded corner which had no security cameras around, then a young man walked up the small path and smiled at me.


    Bingo. The inte said that this park was the favorite meeting ce for gays ¨C I guess it was true.


    The man looked to be about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, was quite tall, and looked ridiculously foppish. He sat down beside me and grinned. ¡°Are you alone?¡±


    I nodded and smiled at him.


    Then, he ced his hand on my shoulders. It was so damn disgusting that I nearly puked.


    ¡°My house is nearby. Do you want to go over for a while?¡± He asked softly.


    I thought for a while then answered, ¡°I don¡¯t like it outside,e to my house, the ce is big.¡± I looked at him slightly cautiously. Heughed. ¡°Little boy, you have a strong sense of precaution! Alright, uncle will go with you.¡±


    ¡°Then... I¡¯ll wait for you at the public transport station.¡± I secretly held my breath, which caused my face to flush. He caressed my back once again then nodded.


    We left the park one after another.


    I led him to an abandoned factory in the suburbs where I had set up a hut and had furnished with an old couch and bed. My school uniform was hung messily on the railings outside.


    He was taken aback when he saw it. ¡°You¡¯re a high school student?¡±


    ¡°Mhmm.¡± I poured him a ss of water, ¡°Which is why I don¡¯t dare go into the city...¡±


    His smile widened as he swallowed a mouthful of water. After this, he tried taking off my clothes but lost consciousness soon after.


    My, my... what an idiotic man, serves him right for falling into my trap.


    I yed until the evening of the second day before I left the factory and returned home.


    I first sealed his body parts in stic wrap so that the smell would be contained, then I separated his remains into two woven bags, which I left in a corner of the hut, covered under debris. Later that night, I carried a few pieces back home with me in a ck stic bag. After walking a short distance away from the factory, I bumped into some of my father¡¯s colleagues by the roadside. ¡°Little Ye, you¡¯re picking up bottles again?¡± He smiled before turning to the person beside him. ¡°This child is too responsible ¨C his academic results are impressive too. I have no doubt he¡¯ll enroll in Tsinghua University or Beijing University in the future.¡±


    I nodded shyly. ¡°Hello, uncles, I should do what I can to help out.¡±


    When they had walked far away enough, I looked at the bulging bag in my hand andughed at how ridiculous it was for them to think that they were bottles. What a miracle.


    After searching the entire barren mountain, I finally buried that person¡¯s bones. I once saw some police officers investigating the park, but no one would suspect a uniform-wearing high school student to be the culprit.


    I started noticing Yao Meng when I was in my first year of high school. It was not only because she was pretty and did well in her studies, but also because everyone kept pairing us up, saying that we were like ¡°a golden couple¡±.


    In truth, I quite liked her. Since I was also a hormonal teen, I too felt good whenever my gaze fell upon her voluptuous chest and legs. When I saw her talking to other men, I felt unhappy, and when she looked at me, her eyes were neither friendly nor aloof, thus I had no idea what she thought of me. However, each time I killed somebody and looked into their horrified eyes, I would think of Yao Meng and immediately get hard.


    Our confusing rtionship was cleared up in the first semester of my third year in high school. One day during noon, I was eating my lunch box on the schoolwn when she came over with a lunch box in hand.


    ¡°Feng Ye, you hide here to eat by yourself every day, right?¡± Her voice was crisp and gentle, and her beautiful face looked like a blooming flower under the warm sunlight.


    ¡°Mhmm.¡± I smiled at her, ¡°Were you looking for me?¡±


    She seemed to be a little embarrassed as she quickly shot back, ¡°I wasn¡¯t looking for you!¡±


    So unconventional, so sensitive, so adorable.


    The two of us were quiet as we ate. A momentter, she blinked then looked at the meat in my lunch box. ¡°What meat is that?¡±


    ¡°Red braised meat.¡±


    ¡°I know that it¡¯s red braised meat!¡± Sheughed. ¡°Is it pork? It doesn¡¯t look like it.¡±


    Iughed too. ¡°You¡¯re right, madam. It¡¯s not pork, it¡¯s actually human flesh. Do you dare to try some? If not, stop asking.¡± I picked a piece up and offered it to her.


    She stared at me. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I dare? I¡¯m going to be a police officer in the future.¡±


    I watched as she swallowed the human flesh.


    She frowned. ¡°It¡¯s a bit tough to chew, what meat is this?¡±


    I ced my lunch box down and sighed. ¡°Stupid, it¡¯s camel meat. One of my dad¡¯s colleagues brought it back from overseas and gave our family some.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the stupid one.¡± She cast a sidelong nce at me then stood up to leave.


    I grabbed her hand at once as her body froze.


    I clutched her soft face with the other hand, her big eyes like tworge pools of water staring back at me. ¡°You... what are you doing?¡±


    I lowered my head and kissed her. Though she struggled for a while, her hand eventually fell on my chest where it remained.


    Since I had never kissed anyone before, I could only base my actions on what I had seen from television programmes, which was why I kissed her very strongly, even going so far as to suck on her tongue. There was the faint fragrance of meat in her mouth, as well as a clean, refreshing scent... I smelt the unusualpound and almost immediately became hard... very, very hard. Fortunately, my uniform pants were very loose, so she did not notice anything.


    Looking at her slightly trembling eyshes and her crimson cheeks, I bit my lip and thought to myself, ¡®She¡¯s much more attractive than I imagined.¡¯


    After that, I did not kill anyone for the rest of the semester we were together.


    It was a very strange feeling, as if another part of my body had gained satisfaction. Hence, my desire to kill weakened. Each time I hugged her, caressed her, kissed her, and stripped her of her clothes before we became intimate... especially when I coaxed her to hold my lifeblood in her hands so that I could ejacte onto her fair, smooth body... It was too exciting, too pleasurable. The feeling was no less satisfying than when I killed someone.


    The only pity was that she firmly held on to her final treasure, whereby she would not let me enter her. Despite the fact that I had already licked the area spotless so many times, she was still unwilling to let me take it.


    ¡°Feng Ye, this is your final warning.¡± She said seriously, ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it or try to coax me ¨C if you dare force me, I¡¯ll report you for rape before you know it, so you might as well forget it.¡±


    Damn ruthless, so damn ruthless. I still wanted to get into university, and I believed that she would eventually let me do it, so I relented.


    Nevertheless, many yearster, I regret my decision. She would be mine if she was even a bit more weak-willed.


    As days passed, because Yao Meng was unwilling to have sex, I became restless once again.


    On that day, the weather was less than ideal, and the sky was as gloomy as the face of a senile old man. After wandering the streets for some time, I still could not find a suitable target. When I returned home in the evening, I was rather upset. Once I entered my house, I saw Yao Meng rubbing her eyes as she got up from the couch. ¡°Why are you home sote, I¡¯ve been waiting for you for a long time.¡±


    This scene was just too breathtaking.


    In a room filled with warm, yellow light, Yao Meng wore a red dress, in sharp contrast to her snow-white skin. Her ck hair shone under the light like silk as they fell against her body and the couch.


    As I watched her walking closer to me, I could feel the same uncontroble desire in my body spreading like wild weeds.


    I did not know what the desire was for, but whatever it was, it forced me to act.


    I picked her up like a princess and began walking towards the bedroom. ¡°Little Meng, I¡¯ll give you a memorable night.¡±


    However, she unexpectedly pushed me away with an embarrassed look on her face. ¡°Don¡¯t talk about this anymore!¡±


    Right after she said this, suppressedughter was heard from inside the bedroom as the door squeaked open. Secondster, a few ssmates burst outughing while holding a buttercream birthday cake decorated with lit candles.


    Yao Meng was even more embarrassed as she buried her face in my chest. ¡°I invited them here to celebrate your birthday... why did you say such stupid things!¡±


    Oh, so that was what was happening.


    Yao Meng pulled me aside and sat me down in the middle of our ssmates, right in front of the lit birthday cake.


    ¡°Quick, make a wish.¡± She looked at me with her sparkling eyes.


    No one had ever celebrated my birthday for me before since my deaf-mute parents never had the time or thought for it. I still wonder where Yao Meng learned my birth date. For such a talkative and carefree girl, she genuinely did care for me.


    I hugged her waist and said. ¡°I wish to be with Yao Meng forever.¡±


    Everyone hooted, whereas Yao Meng¡¯s eyes became slightly damp. ¡°Stupid, your wish won¡¯te true if you say it out loud.¡±


    I lowered my head and kissed her. ¡°No, it¡¯lle true.¡±


    I thought to myself, ¡®I¡¯ll never hurt you, we¡¯ll be together forever.¡¯


    Our breakup happened faster than expected, but it was also quite reasonable.


    Perhaps it was because other girls had richer boyfriends, that they were able to watch movies, eat choctes and buy clothes, whereas all I could do was hold her hand as we strolled around the park together; perhaps it was because she often visited my house and finally met my dumb and simple deaf-mute parents, as well as my poverty-stricken home, which umted a sense of disgust within her; or perhaps it was because our form teacher had earnestly advised and reprimanded us, which made her determination waver...


    Honestly, I was not bothered by her nagging as I firmly told my form teacher, ¡°I¡¯m serious about dating her and it won¡¯t affect my results. I won¡¯t break up with her.¡±


    The form teacher sighed and said, ¡°Yao Meng has already agreed to break up with you. Her results have dropped significantly this semester, so if you¡¯re not thinking of yourself, at least think of her.¡±


    When I returned to the ssroom, I saw Yao Meng hunched over the table crying bitterly. A few girls stood by her side, doing their best to console her.


    I walked over and sat down on the table opposite hers; everyone in the ssroom was looking at us.


    ¡°Don¡¯t cry anymore.¡± I ruffled her hair. ¡°Little Meng, my love for you won¡¯t ever change, when I¡¯ve established a stable career a few yearster, I¡¯lle looking for you again.¡±


    She bawled even more terribly, but she did not try to make me stay.


    Yao Meng probably did not realize that I was being extremely serious when I told her this. Moreover, I did not have the patience to spend a few more years looking for anotherdy who would suit my taste.


    Afterward, my life changedpletely.


    When my parents revealed to me that I was not their biological child, I had already grown bored of my murdering spree in Lin City, so I simply made my way into Hong Kong¡¯s university. Besides, I also wanted to find my real parents to learn why they had abandoned me.


    The biggest mistake of my life was allowing Lin Qingyan, the psychopath, to scheme against me.


    It was such aughable ident that arose from so many convenient factors, that I became a serial killer out of nowhere. I initially thought that it was because the marine police officers had finally dredged up my victims from before, but I clearly remembered throwing them very far away. I could only escape the country and flee as far as I could, but it was not untilter that I finally realized that they were holding me ountable for another murderer¡¯s work.


    Sadly, the evidence was irrefutable. I called my best friend, who was awyer, but he could only advise me carefully, ¡°I don¡¯t believe that you did it either, but... you¡¯ll definitely be given the death penalty.¡±


    I could only continue running. Afterward, I slowly managed to put together the pieces and figure out what had actually happened. When I did, I wanted tough.


    Damn it, Hong Kong was really and of great fortune, such that two madmen in Lin Qingyan and I managed to cross paths. I suppose that he did not even have a clue that we were actually the same kind of person.


    I hid deep in the mountains of Lin City for three years.


    Did I hate Lin Qingyan? No, of course I did not. If I were him, I would have done the same thing too. Bing king by sacrificing your enemies, what was there to hate? Despite this, I was exceptionally patient; sooner orter he wouldmit more crimes, and when that happens, I would be able to make aeback.


    That being said, he was truly sick in the head. The fact that he dressed up his victims to look like his lovers made it apparent that after all these years, the torment he had suffered by my mother¡¯s hand had twisted his mind.


    In the beginning of my third year on the run, I met Tan Liang.


    It was a spring morning when I was sitting in the cave roasting a freshly caught rabbit. Suddenly, I heard footsteps approaching before a clean-looking young man in a forest ranger¡¯s uniform came in and looked at me quietly. ¡°What are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°Roasting meat.¡± I cut off a piece using my dagger and passed it to him. ¡°Do you want some?¡±


    Heughed. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I?¡±


    Many dayster, we became friends. He lived alone in the deep mountains as a forest ranger and had no friends, so he often referred to me as his big brother.


    He was not a man of many words, but whenever I asked him why a university student would go on to be a forest ranger, or about his superior and colleagues, he became extra quiet as a distinctly malicious look filled his eyes.


    Oh, so he was one of us too, huh?


    This world was really cruel.


    While I lived in the cave, he lived in the forest ranger¡¯s hostel, but sometimes we would spend the night at each other¡¯s ce. One night, I caught two turtledoves and brought them to his ce, but I saw that his door was tightly shut. When I peeked through the window, I was overjoyed ¨C he was holding a woman down on his bed and madly making love to her.


    I knew that he had been a virgin all along, so when he finally broke the curse, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder what kind of woman would be willing to sleep with him. At first, I was immersed in the scene. After all, I had been dry for three years, thus I became unbearably hard just watching them go at it. A momentter, I noticed that something was off ¨C the woman¡¯s face was pale, she was not moving at all, and her hands were hanging limply off the side of the bed.


    It was only after he ejacted on the ground that I noticed the livor mortis on the woman¡¯s thighs. Damn, this fellow was really the spawn of the devil. Where on earth did he find such a delicate corpse to make love to? Was he really so desperate?


    When I looked closely, the woman¡¯s appearance, disposition, and clothing all seemed to be familiar.


    After this, I pushed open the door and walked in. Tan Liang¡¯s face was initially bright red, but when he saw me examining the corpse calmly, he crouched behind me and smiled. ¡°I picked her up in the forest. Brother, do you want to give it a go?¡±


    I scolded him jokingly, ¡°Piss off, I don¡¯t do dead people.¡±


    After asking a few questions, I learned of how Tan Liang discovered the corpse. For years, I had isted myself from the world as I stayed deep in the mountains, but at that moment, I was almost certain that this was the work of Lin Qingyan.


    Fate was once again working in my favor.


    Courtesy demanded reciprocation, so I decided to give Lin Qingyan a little weing gift.


    First, I convinced Tan Liang to return the corpse wholly intact to where he found it, which he understood very well since he did not want to go to prison. Then, I fed him information on the Angel Killer incident, excluding articles regarding the culprit, which was me. Remember, Tan Liang still thought that I was some random hunter in the wilderness, he had no idea about my connection with the case.


    ¡°The devil is here.¡± I said to Tan Liang, ¡°In order to study him, I even obtained some potassium cyanide and the Japan-made aphrodisiac. I know his criminal methods by heart.¡±


    Tan Liang¡¯s eyes were glowing with enthusiasm. ¡°Brother, you¡¯re not thinking about imitating his criminal methods, are you?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to say.¡± Iughed. ¡°If I really do imitate him, he¡¯ll still be held ountable. I might give it a shot if the opportunity arises.¡±


    Having said that, the degree of Tan Liang¡¯s insanity was far beyond my expectations. I thought that he would wrestle with the idea for at least a month, but on the third day, he carried an unconscious woman into my cave. I noticed that the girl looked like a backpacker as he asked me for the drugs, which I obviously gave to him.


    Once the doors of desire were opened, who could resist its pull? Unfortunately, Tan Liang was too dumb to realize that since he had captured someone from the mountains, he was just drawing attention to himself. I winced. The thought of having a teammate who was as dumb as a pile of bricks scared me. I knew that the police officers would eventually search the mountain, hence I immediately packed my bags and hid in the more secluded parts of the mountain.


    Sure enough, there was soon an uproar. As I hid in the cave and looked down at the mountains from afar, I could see police vehicles continuously shuttling between the mountain roads. As Tan Liang ran into to a dead end, he came looking for me in the cave where I had originally settled down. From my new hiding spot, I had a perfect view of the trails and roads around the mountain, making it convenient for me to observe the police force at any given moment.


    However, I did not expect to see Tan Liang driving a BMW and speeding towards my direction that night. There was a person seated in the passenger seat, and after stopping the car at the foot of the mountain, he carried the person out.


    Due to the bright moonlight, I could clearly make out the woman¡¯s face.


    Yao Meng?


    Was it really Yao Meng?


    I quickly followed them up the mountain.


    Owing to the fact that Tan Liang was carrying another person, I was naturally faster than him and soon arrived at the cave before him. After this, Iid down in my bed and pretended to be asleep.


    ¡°Brother, quickly get out of here.¡± He threw Yao Meng onto my bed. ¡°The police are after me.¡±


    I frowned. ¡°Why is that?¡±


    Surprisingly, he was rather happy as he told me about his n with Lin Qingyan. It turns out that when he moved the second corpse, Lin Qingyan had set his eyes on him. When he disposed of the third corpse, Lin Qingyan showed up and tried to strike a deal with him. Tan Liang was dumb, so needless to say, Lin Qingyan managed to take advantage of him. Lin Qingyan told him that he had left obvious clues behind when he killed the third person, and the police officers had already started searching the mountain, so he was now a dead man walking.


    Since he was going to die anyway, he might as well take the me for him. In return, Lin Qingyan would take down his previous supervisor and give his parents a sum of money.


    Just like that, the two of them came to an agreement.


    Once Tan Liang finished exining, he looked at me. ¡°Brother, why are you smiling? Do you think that the deal was worth it?¡±


    Iughed out loud. ¡°Worth it? Of course it was worth it.¡±


    I just did not expect Lin Qingyan to give somebody a taste of his own medicine. He had won yet another round; the thought of it really made my blood boil.


    I then looked at Yao Meng on the bed again. ¡°What about this woman?¡±


    Tan Liang smirked. ¡°I ran into her on the road.¡± There an obvious excitement in his clear eyes as he remarked, ¡°Since I¡¯m going to die soon, I might as well enjoy myself once more time. I can¡¯t wait!¡±


    ¡°Give me a moment then, I¡¯ll leave you be.¡± I patted his shoulder and left the cave. After walking a short distance away, I returned soundlessly and saw him undressing. After this, he began pulling off Yao Meng¡¯s clothes.


    I immediately took out the tranquilizer gun and shot him.


    After I dragged the unconscious Tan Liang to the side, I sat down by the bed and gazed at Yao Meng¡¯s semi-unconscious body, feeling rather victorious as I did so.


    She was even more beautiful than I remembered, not to mention, sexier. I caressed her face, her neck, her breasts... the sensation was just as I remembered. In addition to this, Tan Liang had already fed her the aphrodisiac, so her cheeks had turned red, and her body was twitching nervously from my touch.


    I smiled to myself. ¡®Yao Meng, between me and Tan Liang, I believe I know who you¡¯d be more willing to have sex with.¡¯


    I stripped her off her clothes and took her purse out from her pocket. When I opened it, Iughed.


    It was a photo of her and Lin Qingyan. Lin Qingyan looked so gentle, whereas her smile was even brighter it was when she used to date me.


    Lin Qingyan, that lunatic. How dare he try to im my woman?


    I ced the purse back into her pocket, then turned off themp in the camp and looked at her.


    ¡®Lin Qingyan, unfortunately, this time your cleverness has worked toward your demise. I¡¯m interested though, I wonder who wille out the victor this time.¡¯ I thought to myself.


    Her breathing became heavier as every single drop of blood in my body seemed to boil over.


    ¡®Yao Meng, between me and Lin Qingyan, who gives you more pleasure?¡¯


    I smirked. Of course it was me. How could that old psychopathpare to me?


    ¡®Dear Little Meng, since god has sent you to me again, I¡¯ll make sure never let you go.¡¯

 Chapter 67: Chapter 71 Ji Bai and Xu Xu Bonus, Flower Blossom Festival

    <h4>Chapter 67: Chapter 71 Ji Bai and Xu Xu Bonus, Flower Blossom Festival</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    1. Marriage Proposal


    Everything settled down a month after Lin Qingyan¡¯s case. By then, Xu Xu was already six months pregnant.


    Meanwhile, Ji Bai had just begun hatching ns for his fourth marriage proposal.


    Initially, Ji Bai did not believe in gods, Buddha or fate, but one day during lunch with Zhao Han, he mentioned that all of his three proposal attempts were interrupted by ¡°corpses¡±. (Of course, on his second attempt, Xu Xu straight up told him that she did not want to get married, but Ji Bai did not want to tell Zhao Han the truth.) Zhao Hang, on the other hand, seemed utterly shocked when he heard this. ¡°Captain, you need a change of fortune.¡±


    Ji Bai raised his eyebrow and looked at him. ¡°How can I change my fortune?¡±


    Zhao Han thought for a while, then his eyes lit up. ¡°How about this... this weekend I¡¯ll be going to Luo Han Temple with Man Man to have a vegetarian meal. Luo Han Temple is known to grant wishes very well, so you should bring Xu Xu along.¡± He looked serious as he added, ¡°Captain, it¡¯s better to believe than to do nothing.¡±


    Ji Bai pondered the thought for a while, then he smiled and agreed.


    That weekend, Zhao Han and Man Man led Ji Bai and Xu Xu into Luo Han Temple. When they arrived, they were greeted by lush green trees, beautiful flowers, an enchanting brick courtyard, and the thick smell of incense.


    Joss sticks wereid out on the empty space to the right of the Buddha while a monk sat behind the statue arranging scented sachets on the table.


    ¡°These are wishing charms.¡± Man Man said, ¡°You must get one.¡±


    The scented sachets were quite interesting. They were made of brocade cloth and covered with a fish pattern before being sealed with golden threads. When opened, you would see that the sachets were filled with a sandalwood-infused paper which one would write their wishes on.


    Due to Xu Xu¡¯s pregnant stomach, she could not bend over, so she patted Ji Bai¡¯s shoulder and signaled for him to turn around. Then, she pressed the paper against his back and concentrated hard as she wrote down her wish stroke by stroke.


    ¡°To grow old together.¡±


    With his back facing her, Ji Bai¡¯s handsome rxed as the corner of his lips slowly curled into a smile.


    When she finished writing, Ji Bai tried to take a look at her paper. ¡°What did you write?¡± Xu Xu quickly folded her paper in half and stuck out her tongue. ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear what Man Man said? It won¡¯t be fulfilled if others see it. Anyway, are you done writing yours?¡±


    Ji Bai chuckled and took the pen from her. Then he scribbled his wish on the paper before cing it back inside the embroidered sachet.


    Luo Han Temple had quite a few statues of Buddha located all around thepound. After Zhao Han and Man Man strolled around for a while, they left to go pay respects to a Guanyin statue while Ji Bai and Xu Xu paced about the main hall. Since it was still early, there were not many people around. The tall, gold-colored statue of Buddha towered imposingly in the middle of the hall. It was solemn and powerful, its presence alone gave the whole room a respectful ambiance.


    Xu Xu suddenly spoke up. ¡°Hold me while I pay my respects.¡±


    Ji Bai supported her as she slowly knelt down on the prayer mat in the center of the hall. After this, Xu Xu pressed her palms together and closed her eyes to pray quietly, ¡®First, I pray for my father, brother, and Third Brother¡¯s health. Second, I pray that our child will be born safely and will grow up to be strong and healthy. Third, I pray that Lin City will have fewer murder cases. Hmm, it seems like I have no other wishes.¡¯


    Ji Bai stood beside her and looked down at her kind expression.


    The main hall was so quiet and the sunlight seemed to be keeping a respectful distance away, only shining on the grounds outside the hall. The fragrance of incense wafted through the air as the steady dripping of water could be hearding from the edge of the hall. Time seemed to slow down at the moment, and the two of them felt cut off from the rest of the world as they prayed for their futures in front of the golden deity.


    Meanwhile, Ji Bai¡¯s wish was obviously about...


    After paying her respects, Xu Xu stood up. Ji Bai then knelt down and did three bows and nine kowtows following standard procedure. After this, he shut his eyes and pressed his palms together, then fell silent.


    When he reopened his eyes, Xu Xu thought that they were going to leave. However, instead of getting up, he remained seated and turned to look at her instead. ¡°Xu Xu, I¡¯ve just made a wish to Buddha.¡±


    Xu Xu was surprised; her confusion was clear to see. ¡°Huh?¡±


    Ji Bai exined in a leisurely manner, ¡°Everyone says that the Buddha at Luo Han Temple is the most generous one around. How about we test the rumors and see if my wish is immediately granted?¡±


    Xu Xu narrowed her eyes and looked at his tall, muscr body and his cleanly-shaven face. Her heart skipped a beat as a smile slowly spread across her face.


    In the blink of an eye, Ji Bai had gotten down on one knee. He faced her and grasped her hand to kiss it gently, then he stared at her with deep, thoughtful eyes.


    ¡°Will you marry me, Xu Xu? I¡¯ll love you forever.¡±


    He silently bit his lip and prayed inwardly, ¡®Buddha, please let her be mine forever.¡¯


    There were crow¡¯s feet around Xu Xu¡¯s damp eye as she grinned and waved her hand with the diamond ring still on it in front of him. ¡°Why did you ask the Buddha for something that you¡¯ve already got? The ring... haven¡¯t you noticed that I¡¯ve never taken it off?¡±


    The look of love in Ji Bai¡¯s eyes deepened as he chuckled in disbelief.


    ¡°Oh.¡± He got up and looked at her as his dark eyes beamed with love.


    Xu Xu smiled as well, her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. Ji Bai got up and lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it repeatedly while gazing at her delicate skin. Xu Xu ¡®s hand trembled from his bombardment of kisses, so she tried to pull it back, only for him to grip it even tighter.


    After this, Ji Bai knelt again and paid his respects to the Buddha. Then, he hugged her and they walked out of the main hall hand in hand.


    By now, the courtyard was filled with people, and the mild warmth of the sun tickled their skin. While Xu Xu was wrapped in his arms, she smiled and asked, ¡°What did you ask Buddha for?¡±


    Ji Bai had actually prayed that their child would be born peacefully, but upon hearing her question, he smirked and replied, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that I shouldn¡¯t have prayed for something that I¡¯m confident about? I changed my wish.¡±


    Xu Xu stared at him intently, then he lowered his head and whispered into her ear, ¡°We must celebrate our official engagement tonight. You know, we haven¡¯t been intimate in a very long time, and although we can¡¯t XXOO when you¡¯re pregnant, we can still XX or OO...¡±


    Xu Xu¡¯s face instantly heated up as she pushed his chest away. She didn¡¯t whether tough or get embarrassed. ¡°How can you think of these things in front of the Buddha?¡±


    Ji Bai smiled and nced at her before replying leisurely, ¡°Desire and lust are all parts of human nature, the Buddha won¡¯t find fault in me. I¡¯ve caught so many criminals, so I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll only bless me and grant me my tiny wish.¡±


    When they got home that night, Ji Bai went to shower, leaving Xu Xu in the study room alone. She took out her residence permit and ced it neatly together with his which he had already prepared earlier.


    With a fluttering heart, she walked into the living room, only to see an embroidered sachet on the floor beneath the coat rack.


    Since both their coats were hanging on the rack, she did not know who the sachet belonged to. Xu Xu looked at it for a split second before picking it up and impulsively reading it.


    ¡°To grow old together.¡±


    Oh, it was hers.


    Just as she was about to tuck it back into her pocket, she hesitated and opened it to take a second look.


    The writing on the faintly yellow note was energetic and bold. It was clearly Ji Bai¡¯s.


    Xu Xu retrieved her own embroidered sachet from her pocket, then ced the two papers side by side. As she looked at them, she could not help butugh.


    She smiled to herself, ¡®We¡¯re so in sync. It¡¯ll bepletely unreasonable for me not to marry you.¡¯


    While Xu Xu was lost in her own thoughts, Ji Bai finished showering. He neatly wrapped his lower body in a towel before returning to the master bedroom energetically.


    He leaned against the headboard of the bed and ced both his hand behind his head. Then, he stretched slender out his body and called out in a rxed manner, ¡°Wifey, quicklye over and grant me my wish.¡±


    Xu Xu burst outughing before putting the sachets back and pacing slowly back to the bedroom. ¡°Coming.¡±


    2. Receiving the Certificate


    The following morning, the two of them went to the Civil Affairs Bureau.


    Each of them held a little red booklet in their hands and were grinning like fools as they walked out of the building.


    When they got back to the car, Ji Bai said, ¡°I¡¯ll give my parents a call.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded. ¡°Sure.¡±


    Ji Bai had mentioned to his family before that he would be receiving the certificate in the following days. He had finally got his reward today, so his voice was filled with happiness as he made the call.


    ¡°Mother, Xu Xu and I have received our certificates. Mhmm, I haven¡¯t been very busytely and I¡¯ve been healthy. Xu Xu too. What about father? I¡¯ll talk to him.¡±


    A momentter, he passed the phone to Xu Xu. ¡°My father wants to talk to you.¡±


    Xu Xu smiled and took the phone. ¡°Uncle.¡±


    Before Father Ji could reply, Ji Bai had reached his hand out to pinch the bridge of her nose. ¡°You should change the way you address him.¡±


    Xu Xu¡¯s face heated up. She couldn¡¯t get used to calling him father in such a short period of time.


    Father Ji heard what Ji Bai said, so heughed. ¡°Take your time, take your time. Have you been eating welltely, Little Xu? Let Ji Bai handle everything, just focus on taking care of your health.¡±


    Xu Xu replied softly, ¡°Alright... father. Take care of yourselves too.¡±


    Father Ji smiled. ¡°Will do.¡±


    While Xu Xu and Father Ji talked, her handphone rang, interrupting their conversation. When she took it out, she saw that the caller was Xu Juan, so she threw her phone to Ji Bai and signaled for him to pick it up.


    Ji Bai epted the call, his voice as bright and cheery as the first breeze of spring. ¡°Brother, it¡¯s me, Ji Bai. Xu Xu¡¯s on the phone right now.¡±


    On the other end of the phone, Xu Juan was startled.


    Since the two of them were roughly the same age, Ji Bai had always called him by name. What had happened recently for him to refer to him as brother instead?


    Thankfully, Xu Juan quickly snapped back to reality and suddenly blurted out, ¡°Have you received the certificate yet?¡±


    ¡°We just got it.¡±


    By now, Xu Xu had already hung up, so Ji Bai passed the phone back to her.


    Xu Xu gave Xu Juan a brief run through on the process of receiving the marriage certificate, then hung up. After this, Ji Bai hugged her shoulder. ¡°Let¡¯s call our father.¡±


    Xu Xu confused. Didn¡¯t they just speak to his father?


    Then she realized that he was referring to her father; he had addressed him as ¡®father¡¯ so smoothly that it had caught her off-guard.


    Xu Xu put her phone aside then held his face in her hands before tugging at his cheeks. ¡°Your facial muscles are so much thicker than mine...¡±


    Ji Bai grabbed hold of her restless hands and held them firmly in ce, his face was filled with joy because of his childish partner. ¡°Madam, you tter me.¡±


    He closed the car windows and kissed her for some time.


    Eventually, they stopped. Then, Xu Xu smiled and looked at him. ¡°Third brother, let¡¯s go to the Harbour Restaurant to eat...¡±


    Ji Bai cut her off and narrowed his eyes. ¡°What did you call me?¡±


    ¡°... Husband.¡±


    ¡°Ah.¡± He responded softly, his dark eyes shimmering like stars under the sunlight. His voice was low and coy as hemanded, ¡°Say it again.¡±


    Xu Xu¡¯s heart trembled a little as she focused on his jokingly aggressive face. She could not shift her eyes away from him. ¡°Husband.¡±


    ¡°Ahhhh.¡± He answered crisply. Then, he started the engine and turned his head sideways to look at her again. ¡°Say it a few more times, don¡¯t stop.¡±


    Xu Xu could not help butugh as she continued. ¡°Husband, husband, husband...¡± Repeating this N times without stopping. ¡°Are you satisfied now?¡±


    Their car snaked its way through the national highway and infinite stream of traffic. Looking from afar, they watched the sunlight hug Lin City, illuminating the exquisitely designed skyscrapers that scraped the prosperous city¡¯s skyline. He suppressed his joy and focused on driving as she leaned against his shoulder while watching the clouds pass by outside. Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.


    Ji Bai could not stop smiling as he thought to himself, ¡®It¡¯s the middle of spring and we¡¯re full of hope, in love, and inseparable. Don¡¯t fear theing storms, love, for I promise that I will never turn my back on this profound, uncontainable love.¡¯

 Chapter 68: Chapter 72 ‘Till The Mountain Flowers Bloom

    <h4>Chapter 68: Chapter 72 ¡®Till The Mountain Flowers Bloom</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    1. Giving Birth


    I was early in the summer and the temperature in Lin City was steadily rising. The due date for Xu Xu delivery was fast approaching, so in preparation of this, she had been admitted to a private maternity hospital. Father Xu was almost always by her side, while Xu Juan and Ji Bai were also avable on call 24 hours a day as they made sure to take turns to keep watch at the hospital after work every day.


    Although Xu Xu had a narrow pelvis, the fetus¡¯ head was not big, so the doctor said that she could still go for a normal delivery. It would be tough but not impossible.


    Xu Xu was not one to shy away from a bit of pain, she decided to go ahead with it.


    During midnight of her second day in the hospital, the ward waspletely silent, as if everyone had fallen into a deep sleep.


    Suddenly, Xu Xu was awakened by a severe pain in her lower body.


    At the time, Ji Bai was leaning back against the couch beside the bed, looking exhausted and sound asleep. She did not rush to wake him up, instead, she looked at the clock on the wall and endured the pain as she calmly counted the number of the contractions. This was because the contractions happening at a certain frequency would indicate that she was about to deliver.


    After counting for a while, she felt that it was about time, so she reached her hand out to pat Ji Bai¡¯s head. ¡°Husband, wake up, I¡¯m about to give birth.¡±


    Ji Bai was still in a daze when he opened his eyes. However, when he heard these words, he immediately jolted awake.


    The doctor and nurses hurried over very quickly, and after an examination, they wheeled Xu Xu into the delivery room.


    Since only one family member was allowed to apany the patient during the delivery, both Father Xu and Xu Juan who had rushed over upon hearing the news could only stay outside and wait. When Xu Xu was taken to the delivery room, her eyes fell upon their anxious faces. Thus, she smiled at them and remarked, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t know how long it¡¯ll take for me to give birth. You don¡¯t have to wait here, just go rest in the ward. I¡¯ll probably be done by the time you wake up.¡±


    Once she said this, the doctor and nurses beside her smiled as both her father and brother forced themselves to nervously smile too. The head nurse saw this and tried to ease their worry. ¡°Mrs. Ji has a great attitude so I¡¯m sure there won¡¯t be anyplications.¡±


    Ji Bai held her hand and shook his head. ¡°Why are you worrying so much? Father and brother will take care of themselves, let¡¯s concentrate on delivering the baby.¡±


    Xu Xu nced up at him. His handsome face was tensed up and his palms were covered in ayer of sweat.


    He was nervous as well.


    Xu Xu rubbed the back of his hand. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine, don¡¯t worry.¡±


    Ji Bai went quiet for a moment before answering. ¡°... You don¡¯t have to worry about me either.¡±


    That night, another woman in the hospital also went intobor. Sheid in the delivery room next door, and even though they were separated by a wall, they could hear her screaming out loud in pain. ¡°Husband... it hurt, it hurts so much, oh my gosh...¡±


    Meanwhile, the situation on Xu Xu¡¯s side was very different. Not a single cry or scream was heard from the beginning until the end. Every time she experienced extreme pain, she would simply grit her teeth; sometimes she trembled, but she never made a sound.


    Ji Bai was concerned as he looked at her and said softly, ¡°Why don¡¯t you shout if it hurts?¡±


    Xu Xu panted as she replied, ¡°Why should I shout? I won¡¯t make me feel any better, not to mention it¡¯s a waste of energy.¡±


    Ji Bai didn¡¯t know what to say. ¡°... Oh, should I kiss you better then?¡±


    Xu Xu scoffed. ¡°Don¡¯t make meugh, I¡¯m trying to hold my breath.¡±


    Atst, the clear sound of a baby crying was heard. Xu Xu¡¯s body rxed as she exhaled deeply.


    The nurse cleaned up the baby and wrapped it in a towel before passing it to the father. When Ji Bai carefully took the baby, his eyes became watery.


    He quickly brought the baby over to Xu Xu. Her short hair was already drenched in sweat, but when she looked at her child, her face which had been calm all this time finally lit up with a tired smile.


    Ji Bai hugged both her and the child together before smiling gently. ¡°As expected, my wife gives birth well.¡±


    What more could he ask for with a wife like her?¡±


    Xu Xu and the baby were transferred back to the ward, and after some time, she fell asleep.


    When she woke up, the sky outside the window was already rising. She turned her head and immediately saw her child sleeping soundly in the cot beside her. Meanwhile, the three men did not seem to be tired at all as they surrounded the cot and spoke to each other in hushed voices.


    Xu Juan whispered, ¡°The baby looks like me.¡±


    Father Xu examined the child¡¯s features carefully. After pondering for a moment, hemented, ¡°He¡¯s not like you, he has a strong heroic spirit ¨C he¡¯s more like Ji Bai.¡±


    Xu Juanughed. ¡°The baby¡¯s so tiny, yet you can already tell that he has a heroic spirit?¡±


    Ji Bai grinned without saying a word.


    As a champion in life, he did not need to voice out his victories.


    At this moment, Xu Xuughed as well. Ji Bai noticed that she was awake, so he walked over to her quickly and held her hands. ¡°Are you hungry? Do you feel ufortable at all?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± She looked at Xu Juan and Ji Bai ¨C one was delicate and elegant, while the other was strong and handsome. Then, she looked at her child. She did not know if it was because of her father¡¯s influence, but when she looked at her child¡¯s tiny, lively eyes, there really did seem to be hints of a heroic spirit, which made him seem very much like Ji Bai.


    From now on, there would be a little Ji Bai in their lives.


    This made her feel really... blessed.


    The three men insisted that Xu Xu stay in the hospital for a few more days before she return home for her postpartum. Naturally, Xu Xu agreed to it to please them.


    At night, in addition to her private nurse, Xiao Liu, Ji Bai and Xu Juan took turns to keep watch at the hospital. On the third night, Xu Xu was awakened by the crying sounds of her child. When she opened her eyes, she saw Xu Juan already cradling the baby and trying to calm it down.


    It took more than half an hour before the baby finally fell asleep. However, since the pair of siblings were now wide awake, they decided to chat as quietly as they could for a while. Eventually, Xu Xu yawned and Xu Juan stroked her hair. ¡°Alright, go to sleep now.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded andid back down to sleep. After a while, she opened her eyes again only to see Xu Juan still seated on the same spot, staring at the baby on the cot with eyes glowing with happiness.


    ¡°If you like children so much, you should have your own.¡± Xu Xu said patiently, ¡°It¡¯s time for you to find a girlfriend.¡±


    Xu Juan chuckled, thenid back against the couch and wrapped a nket around himself. ¡°I¡¯m already looking. Hurry up and go to sleep now. Goodnight.¡±


    2. Epilogue


    In the blink of an eye, a year had passed.


    It was Xu Juan¡¯spany¡¯s anniversary dinner, which was held in the best hotel in the city. Though it was still early in the evening and the streetlights outside were only just beginning to light up, the spacious ballroom was already filled with dazzling lights, well-dressed guests, and the noise of merry conversations.


    Ji Bai and Xu Xu were also present to support her brother, whereas their child was temporarily left under Father Xu¡¯s care, who was naturally more than happy to take up the responsibility.


    Xu Juan walked around the hall with his beautiful female secretary in hand. He was all smiles as he went around greeting the guest. Meanwhile, Ji Bai and Xu Xu found a quiet corner of the room to sit down, whereby they whispered to one another secretively and just generally enjoyed each other¡¯spany. As they were doing so, a tall figure walked over toward them from the middle of the hall. They heard him before they saw him. ¡°Third Brother Ji, sister-inw, why are you hiding away here?¡±


    It was Shu Hang.


    Ji Bai let go of Xu Xu who was in his arms, then clinked wine sses with him. ¡°When did youe to Lin City?¡±


    Shu Hang smiled and replied, ¡°I¡¯m here to y. Sister-inw, let me borrow Third Brother for a while to introduce him to a few of my friends.¡±


    The two men made their way through the crowd and arrived at the balcony outside. The sky was a murky blue color, and the stars were only just starting to show themselves in the navy abyss. Ji Bai smiled casually. ¡°How are things with you and Yao Meng?¡±


    Shu Hang sighed. ¡°Nothing much, I¡¯m not going after her anymore.¡±


    Ji Bai did no probe him anymore after hearing this. Shu Hang¡¯s passionate exploits over the past year had not borne any fruit, so his surrender was expected. The two men drank for a while, but when Shu Hang looked at the garden downstairs, he suddenly put his ss down. ¡°I¡¯m going to the washroom, you should go back to sister-inw.¡± Right saying this, he disappeared around the corner.


    Ji Bai had a great eyesight, so he could see the license te of the car that had just stopped by the sidewalk. ¡®Isn¡¯t that Yao Meng¡¯s car?


    ¡®This fellow, he just said that he¡¯s not going after her anymore.¡¯


    Ji Bai held in hisughter and walked back into the hall to look for his wife.


    Xu Juan¡¯spany was quite a renowned one, therefore many reporters were camping at the entrance, ready to get a juicy quote or snap a scandalous picture. Yao Meng was dressed in an elegant gown as she got down from her car, only to be greeted by the non-stop shing of cameras.


    ¡°President Yao, we heard that your group is interested in investing in Xu Juan¡¯spany?


    ¡°President Yao, did youe here today to discuss business with Xu Juan?¡±


    Yao Meng only smiled politely before her bodyguard cleared a way for her, after which she walked in with her head lowered.


    Right then, a reporter rushed over and blurted out a question.


    ¡°Miss Yao, three months ago, Feng Ye the serial killer was arrested. I heard that you provided the police with many clues to assist their investigations. Is this true?¡±


    Yao Meng paused, but she continued forward without answering, prompting the reporters behind her to jump onto the story.


    ¡°Miss Yao, we heard that Feng Ye has made numerous requests to meet you in the prison, which you promptly refused. Why aren¡¯t you meeting him?¡±


    ¡°Feng Ye will be executed next month; will you meet him before he dies?¡±


    Yao Meng suddenly stopped in her tracks and turned around. She looked at them with an ice-cold stare and said inly. ¡°No, I won¡¯t meet him.¡±


    Instantly, the camera shes exploded into life. However, Yao Meng had already turned around and continued walking toward the ballroom, leaving the excited crowd behind.


    Meanwhile, Shu Hang was only a few steps away from her, where he remained silent as he observed her calm demeanor.


    Due to some business matters in Beijing, he had not been able to travel to Lin City for the past few months. Just as he had his first window of free time, he unexpectedly caught wind of this explosive news that Yao Meng¡¯s ex-boyfriend was, in fact, a serial killer. After hemitted two crimes in Lin City, he caught the attention of the police and was dered the key suspect.


    Shu Hang was not clear about the details, but he was aware of the fact that Yao Meng was indeed the one who had cooperated with Ji Bai, Xu Xu, and the others to capture Feng Ye.


    In reality, he had genuinely been going after Yao Meng for half a year, he really did lose hope. However, when he heard this news, he immediately rushed back to Lin City.


    He had note for anything else but Yao Meng, but why did she have to worry him so much? She had already been harmed by a psychopath before, how could she dare cooperate with the police again? Could she not just take care of herself and mind her own business?


    Upon seeing her walking to the ballroom¡¯s entrance alone, a victorious smile surfaced on his face. Shu Hang gulped down the wine in his hand, then ran to catch up with her. ¡°Yao Meng? What a coincidence.¡±


    Coincidence? Of course not, he had traveled several thousand kilometers toe to this ball that she may or may not have attended. If he had not met her today, he could have vomited blood.


    When Yao Meng turned and saw that it was him, she looked somewhat confused and nodded politely. ¡°Hello.¡± She was about to leave, but Shu Hang was not nning to let her go so easily and tried to follow her. ¡°Don¡¯t leave, why do you run away when you see me?¡± However, he identally stepped on her gown, and since they were standing on a polished marble floor, she immediately lost her bnce and crashed to the ground. ¡°Ow!¡±


    Shu Hang¡¯s eyes widened in horror as he crouched to grab hold of her arms and help her up. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    Yao Meng wanted to stand up, but a sharp pain shot through her ankle, and instantly she cried out. Shu Hang ignored the formalities and hurriedly lifted a small corner of her dress to press her ankle gently. ¡°I think you sprained your ankle.¡±


    When Yao Meng lowered her head to look at him, she saw his slender hand firmly gripping her foot. His lowered face wasposed and quiet, and even at this moment when his face was a little gloomy, the corners of his mouth naturally curved upwards, as if he always wore a lively smile.


    While she was distracted, Shu Hang tried to pick her up. ¡°I¡¯ll bring you to the hotel¡¯s infirmary.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to... put me down.¡± She rejected him in a soft tone.


    Right then, Yao Meng¡¯s bodyguards and assistants came over. They recognized Shu Hang and tried to take over. ¡°President Shu, let us take care of President Yao.¡±


    Shu Hang shifted his body and moved Yao Meng away from them as he replied, ¡°No, she has a sprain, I¡¯m good at this. You can follow my lead.¡±


    Her assistants and bodyguards looked at each other and thought to themselves, ¡®But we¡¯ve actually received professional training...¡¯


    Before Yao Meng could protest, Shu Hang carried her away and went to look for the manager in the lobby for directions. After this, he strode to the infirmary.


    It was a minor injury, and although it was painful, there was no need for her to go to the hospital. Shu Hangid Yao Meng down on the white patient¡¯s bed and the doctor on duty gave her a thorough check. ¡°She¡¯s fine, I¡¯ll just apply some medicine.¡± He took out a bottle of ointment from the cupboard, after which Shu Hang took it away from him conveniently. ¡°I¡¯ll do it, you may attend to your matters.¡±


    Obviously, the doctor was aware of the situation, so he nodded and left.


    Shu Hang gave the excuse that it would be inconvenient with so many people around, so Yao Meng¡¯s bodyguards and assistants were left waiting outside. Now, only the two of them were left in the small infirmary. Under the dim fluorescent light, Shu Hang smiled at Yao Meng as he slowly massaged her fair ankle and applied the ointment on it.


    ¡°I¡¯m being a good Samaritan, so don¡¯t overthink and get defensive. When I was younger I was very yful and I often fell down, after which my grandfather would apply medicine on my wounds. One bes a doctor after being injured so many times, right? I¡¯m not boasting, but I am quite skilled at this ¨C in fact, when I was in university, I was the de-facto doctor of the football team ...¡±


    As he spoke, his hands went about their business, each movement skillful and gentle. However, as he nursed her, he became a little distracted; her ankle, her skin, the touch of it was too...


    As he was caught up in his own thoughts, he suddenly felt that something was off. When he looked up, he saw Yao Meng looking back at him with teary eyes. He had no idea of how long she had been crying quietly to herself.


    Shu Hang¡¯s heart ached, and he wanted to hug her out of reflex; unfortunately, his hands were smeared with the hot medicine. As their eyes met, Yao Meng began to cry even more terribly. Shu Hang did not care anymore and he pulled her into her arms tightly without letting go. ¡°Don¡¯t cry, don¡¯t cry, your makeup is smudged... Don¡¯t cry alright, everything will be okay. Trust me, trust me.¡±


    After Shu Hang pulled Ji Bai away, Xu Xu went into the dining room to get food. On the way there, she bumped into Xu Juan.


    It was natural for Xu Juan to have several drinks on such an asion, hence his face was slightly red. He asked his secretary to leave, to which his secretary nodded and replied gently, ¡°I¡¯ll wait for you in the main hall then, President Xu. Remember that you¡¯ll have to greet President Cao from the Binya Groupter.¡±


    Xu Juan smiled and nodded at the reminder.


    Once she had walked far away, the brother and sister looked out at the serene night sky outside the window and fell silent for some time. Xu Xu finally broke the silence by saying, ¡°When I gave birth, you imed that you would start looking for a girlfriend seriously. It has been a year now, brother, you¡¯re not getting any younger.¡±


    Xu Juan was a little tipsy, so he squinted his eyes and looked at her. ¡°Do you think it¡¯s so easy to find a suitable match? Look around the ballroom, almost all thedies from Lin City are here, but is there anyone suitable for me? Nope. If there is, I can¡¯t seem to find her.¡±


    Since he said this, Xu Xu became serious and she turned towards the ballroom to do a quick scan. Then, she thought for a while and said, ¡°There are a few good candidates who will be suitable for you. Remember what you said to me: you said that you¡¯ll look actively. Do you really want Father to worry about you for the rest of his life?¡±


    Xu Juan was stunned, then he smiled and beckoned at her to continue. ¡°Alright, tell me. Who here is suitable?¡±


    Xu Xu pointed at ady in the crowd dressed in a sky-blue gown. ¡°She¡¯s not bad. She looks friendly, has clear eyes and is behaving very decently. She has no male partner and has nced at you a few times.¡±


    Just as Xu Juan was about to answer, Ji Bai appeared from around the corner. He greeted them with a smile, ¡°Wifey, it¡¯s gettingte, we should go home.¡±


    Xu Xu nodded. After all, they still needed to look after their child at home, so she turned to look at Xu Juan. ¡°Brother, we¡¯re leaving. Think seriously about what I just said.¡±


    Xu Juan replied leisurely, ¡°I¡¯ll prove it to you with actions, not words. I¡¯ll go talk to her now, don¡¯t worry.¡±


    Xu Xu really hoped that Xu Juan could leave his past behind so that he could find a good partner. As she watched him walking towards thedy with a wine ss in his hand, her heart softened. She no longer interfered and instead smiled at Ji Bai. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Xu Juan walked towards the middle of the ballroom where thedy that Xu Xu had pointed out was. Just as Xu Xu had said, though thedy was speaking to someone else, she was already aware of his presence and she began to blush slightly. Her eyes were glowing and she appeared to be quite nervous.


    When Xu Juan turned his head sideways, he caught sight of the fact that Ji Bai and Xu Xu had already left. Thus, he downed his drink and walked past thedy without stopping.


    It waste at night and the crowd had begun to disperse. Despite this, the lights in the hotel were still shining enthusiastically.


    Xu Juan stood alone at the balcony and looked out at the stars twinkling in the infinite void.


    He was half-intoxicated, but he still thought to himself, ¡®Right, sister is right. Life is long and wonderful, but it¡¯s time for a new beginning.¡¯

 Chapter 69: Chapter 73 Yao Meng & Shu Hang Bonus (2)

    <h4>Chapter 69: Chapter 73 Yao Meng & Shu Hang Bonus (2)</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    (Continue)


    Once a man had locked onto a woman, he would easily be obsessed with her, even if he had only seen her once.


    The feelings Shu Hang had for Yao Meng were quiteplicated.


    He had initially only caught a brief glimpse of her gracefulness, which left a favorable impression on him. However, after he found out about her situation and learned that she had once fallen for that man¡¯s charms, that she had been kept captive by that man for several months, and that the man was finally shot dead in her arms... How should he put it? No one close to Shu Hang had ever experienced something as tragic as this.


    He felt an inexplicable distress and concern for her.


    Two months after their first encounter, Shu Hang visited Lin City once again and met Yao Meng. This time, he came as a business partner.


    He had intentions to shift the focus of his business to the southwest, and now that Yao Meng was the owner of the most powerful corporation in Lin City, it was inevitable that they would meet.


    On the day of their reunion, Yao Meng was looking through all sorts of statistical reports in her office on the top floor of the building. Her secretary came in to report, ¡°President Yao, President Shu from Beijing is here.¡±


    Yao Meng nodded; she felt a slight joy in her heart.


    It had nothing to do with love. It was more toward the fact that she had received a man¡¯s pursuit, care, and teasing during the most difficult time of her life ¨C the thought of it moved her a little. Although she had rejected him, they were still friends.


    A momentter, a tall, well-groomed man walked in leisurely while hiding his smile. Since the secretary at the door had previously received flowers from this man on Yao Meng¡¯s behalf countless times before, a fleeting smile could be seen on her face too. Yao Meng nodded politely and gestured for him to sit. ¡°President Shu, wee.¡±


    She was polite yet distant, which was very much intentional.


    Shu Hang, who was there to ¡°negotiate a major project¡±, looked at her for a moment then burst outughing. He raised his brows and spoke in a mischievous tone. ¡°What did you call me? President Shu? Why are you being so distant after not seeing each other for two months? Yao Meng, you can just call me Ah Hang.¡±


    Yao Meng had previously thought that they were going to leave whatever had happened in the past. However, upon hearing his words, her gaze fell upon his cheerful smile and she became lost for words. Shu Hang took the business proposal out of his bag and casually passed it to her. ¡°Come,e, let¡¯s get down to business ¨C we can save our private matters forter.¡±


    Yao Meng was speechless.


    Some people were born to bring happiness to others. Shu Hang was one such man.


    Yao Meng had never met any CEOs or high-ranking cadres who acted like him; he lived in his own world, was iparably talkative, and there was absolutely nothing proper about him. Whether it was a business conference or a casual lunch, he was the type who could make others double over inughter.


    Nheless, he was very much cutthroat and disciplined when it came to real business. Yao Meng had only just learned how to conduct business from Lin Qingyan, which came to an abrupt end just as she was starting to figure it out. On the other hand, Shu Hang¡¯s style waspletely different. He was not as ruthless as Lin Qingyan, but was even more cunning. There were times when he came up with fresh ideas which left Yao Meng dumbfounded at theirplexity. Other times, she found herselfpletely unable toprehend his methods.


    Of course, Shu Hang was always in a great mood every time it happened. He would gaze into her slightly confused eyes and smile before sitting down next to her, after which he wouldunch into a detailed exnation. Finally, he would end it with the same line. ¡°Ask me if you ever have any doubts, I¡¯m avable 24/7.¡±


    Yao Meng really did call him once, at 3.00am. It was on the eve of a certain project and she was looking at the data on the investment report but could not make sense of it. Since she felt bad about asking her subordinates, she called him instead. The two of them talked until 5 am, then Yao Meng thanked him sincerely. Just as she was about to hang up, Shu Hang stopped her. ¡°Eh, eh, eh, don¡¯t hang up, I¡¯m already at your office building,e down and have breakfast with me.¡±


    He had been driving the whole time he was giving her pointers. Once again, Yao Meng witnessed the gap in their abilities.


    Simrly, Yao Meng¡¯s efforts did not go unnoticed by Shu Hang either.


    Shu Hang and Ji Bai were the same kind of person, they were both devious and very, very observant. In truth, after interacting with Yao Meng a few times, Shu Huang already knew that thisdy was not ready to slug it out in the corporate world. The properties that Lin Qingyan had entrusted to her had probably developed adequately under her care, and with a little more effort, she could, at best, hope to maintain the current situation. However, the best option for both herself and thepany was for her to actually sell off her shares.


    That being said, he could not actually tell her this. How could he hit her with such harsh news after seeing all the hard work she had put in? Not mention, it was not necessary for her to get involved in all thepany¡¯s projects, but she would work overtime every day in order to properly understand the business.


    He decided that her natural skill did not matter. As long as he helped her, he could groom her into a future entrepreneurial superstar.


    Even if he did not like her, whenever he considered her past, he would feel a rising desire to help this unfortunate soul.


    Of course, he still very much liked her, so there was nothing to think about.


    Before he knew it, half a year had flown by.


    The partnership between the twopanies became closer, while Shu Hang¡¯s subtle as well as obvious hints became more apparent.


    At one point, he was facing the core representatives of their respectivepanies, and after signing the partnership agreement, he turned to everyone with a serious face. ¡°I have a few more confidential conditions to negotiate with President Yao.¡± Everyone else exited the room quickly, leaving Yao Meng, who was still fully immersed in her work, alone with Shu Huang. ¡°What other confidential conditions do you have? Please tell me.¡±


    Shu Hangughed. ¡°Oh, I haven¡¯t thought about that yet. What I¡¯m more concerned about is where we¡¯re going for dinner tonight to celebrate the signing of the contract.¡±


    She had already be ustomed to his presence by now, so she agreed. Once the two of them went for dinner, Yao Meng drank a little too much, and when Shu Hang said something which was really funny, she beganughing uncontrobly. As she did this, she instinctively reached out to punch him in the shoulder. However, his reflexes were as fast as lighting, and in the blink of an eye, he had grabbed her hand and was now looking intensely into her eyes.


    Yao Meng, on the other hand, immediately pulled her hand back.


    Should she ept him?


    It was not the first time Yao Meng had thought about it.


    Though he no longer talked about pursuing her, their rtionship was quite ambiguous. Not to mention, she had also started relying on him, like a drowning person clutching onto a passing log; in truth, she herself was unsure about what her feelings toward him were.


    When she thought about love, it made her kind of numb.


    The issue was once again brought to light during the annual meeting at Yao Meng¡¯spany¡¯s headquarters. Their partnership had juste to an end, and Shu Hang was set to return to Beijing the next day.


    It was a winter night whereby snow was falling everywhere, making the atmosphere calm but also cheerful. Most of the people present had been enjoying some wine, and there were also many others who went up to the main table to give a toast to Yao Meng and Shu Hang.


    The minister for the Department of International Trade was a female professor who had studied abroad. She was quite a stunningdy and acted in a swift, decisive manner. Those with perceptive eyes could tell that she had feelings for Shu Hang, but while Shu Hang treated her kindly, he always kept her an arm¡¯s length away.


    With a ss of wine in her hand, the female professor toasted to Shu Hang. ¡°President Shu, you¡¯ve been in Lin City for almost a year, why are you still single?¡±


    Everyoneughed, including Yao Meng. They all expected Shu Hang to just brush off thement with a joke like how he usually did. Unexpectedly, Shu Hang smiled and then replied leisurely, ¡°Haven¡¯t I been going after President Yao all this while? I just didn¡¯t seed.¡±


    Everyone was startled.


    Even though there were rumors of a blossoming romance between the two presidents, their intimacy seemed to be non-existent, and no interesting developments were seen. Hence, as time passed, everyone assumed that nothing was going on. Who would have expected Shu Hang, the wise and powerful chairman, to reveal the truth in front of everyone?


    At that moment, everyoneughed out loud, but they had no idea what to say afterward. The female professor who was pursuing Shu Hang put her ss down with a defeated look, then left after muttering a few words.


    Yao Meng was embarrassed, immeasurably embarrassed. When she first heard him say this, her heart actually sank. By the looks of it, she could not continue interacting with him whilst simultaneously pretending that nothing was going on between them anymore.


    Yao Meng excused herself to go to the restroom, but even as she stood up to leave, her face was already flushed red.


    Upon seeing this, Shu Hang ced his ss down and quietly followed her out. He did not feel awkward at all, for this was how Beijing rogues went after girls.


    The two of them walked out onto the balcony one after another. Shu Hang shut the door tightly behind him, then consoled her as if he understood what she was going through. ¡°Don¡¯t think about what they are saying, it¡¯s alright.¡±


    Yao Meng turned to look at him quietly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Shu Hang, I can¡¯t do this right now.¡±


    I¡¯m sorry, Shu Hang.


    After half a year, this was all she could say to him.


    The next day, as Shu Hang sat on the ne back to Beijing, his heart felt like it had beenpressed into a tiny ball. He thought that he had it in the bag, he thought that her smiles and giggles showed that she too felt the same way toward him. He had never expected her to straight up reject him.


    She was only dependent on him, there was no love involved.


    As he thought about this, he grieved quietly.


    After this, Shu Hang did note back to Lin City for a long time.


    Perhaps all men had their limits that, once exceeded, would finally cause them to react differently. At least, that was what Yao Meng thought. These days, Yao Meng often thought about him; she thought about the unbothered smile on his face, about his handsome face when he painstakingly exined the head-splitting finance problems to her, about his simple, down-to-earth mindset.


    Nevertheless, she was not ready for a new beginning. She had no idea when she would ever be ready.


    Many things had happened over the past year. Another serial killer¡¯s rampage terrorized Lin City again, and without knowing why, the first person that came to Yao Meng¡¯s mind was Feng Ye. It was probably because of a once bitten, twice shy situation, whereby even the tiniest rtion made her tremble with fear. When she exined her gut feeling to Xu Xu, even Xu Xu was shocked.


    Afterward, they probed and did their best to lure the snake out of the hole. Yao Meng did not know where she had gained the courage to act like this, but she dated Feng Ye for a while and shivered as she endured his kiss, before finally stealing one of his dolls.


    Maybe it was for the sake of thete Lin Qingyan.


    On the night that the police were due to arrest Feng Ye, Yao Meng sat in the bedroom of her vi surrounded by tens of bodyguards outside in addition to the police officers who were assigned to keep watch around thepound. In spite of this, when she looked out at the quiet night sky, she was frightened. She knew very well that Feng Ye would not be able to break through theyers of security to take revenge, but she feared the thought of Feng Ye suddenly appearing outside her window.


    Time seemed to slow down as the fear inside her heart only grew. As she was in a daze and all tensed up, her phone suddenly rang. She looked at it and saw that it was Feng Ye calling, causing her to throw her phone straight into the toilet out of shock.


    The phone continued to ring for quite some time before it finally died. After this, she breathed a long sigh of relief and huddled against the corner of her bed.


    Minutester, her house phone rang. Yao Meng screamed out loud, then red at the phone on her couch, feeling both terrified and enraged. As the phone continued ringing, the fire in her heart kept burning ¨C she was scared, but she was also extremely frustrated. In the blink of an eye, she hopped off her bed and stormed over to pick up the phone. ¡°Barbaric animal! I have nothing to say to you!¡±


    The person on the other end of the phone fell silent for a moment before replying, ¡°Barbaric animal? What did I do?¡±


    It was Shu Hang.


    Yao Meng immediately calmed down. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s you. I thought that it was...¡±


    ¡°Who did you think it was?¡±


    ¡°Nothing.¡±


    Shu Hang went quiet for a while again, then asked, ¡°What are you up to? I called your handphone, but it was turned off, I was afraid that something might have happened to you. I heard that there¡¯s another psychopathic killer in Lin City.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, I¡¯m at home, my handphone just fell into the toilet.¡± Yao Meng paused for a while and asked, ¡°You... How have you been?¡±


    That night, the two of them unknowingly talked until 2 am. This went on until the police officer outside her door came knocking before giving Yao Meng an excited thumbs-up. Yao Meng instantly felt like a huge load was lifted off her back.


    This meant that Feng Ye had been arrested.


    This was the longest phone call the two of them ever had, but Shu Hang had no idea that it was entirely due to his rival, the psychopathic killer.


    It was only muchter that Shu Hang learned that the psychopathic killer was a man called Feng Ye, that he had gone through a whole epic to evade capture, that Yao Meng was involved in the affair, and that she had even cooperated with the police to capture him. He scowled when he found out about all of this. Thisdy was not afraid of death.


    He immediately bought a ticket to Lin City.


    This night during Xu Juan¡¯spany ball, the two of them finally settled their rtionship status. During the time that Yao Meng had sprained her ankle, Shu Hang took advantage of the situation to apply medicine on her in the hotel¡¯s infirmary. He massaged her foot, hugged her, and atst kissed the weeping Yao Meng.


    Throughout all this, Yao Meng did not say a word.


    She did not know if it was love, but she currently did not want to be without Shu Hang by her side.


    After the medicine was applied, Shu Hang suggested that he drive her home, so they left their assistants and secretaries behind. However, as he drove her, he did not head to her home but instead went to the riverside.


    Yao Meng looked at him suspiciously. ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    Shu Hang kissed her reddened face. ¡°I finally achieved my goal after a hundred-thousand-mile expedition, allow me to be a little romantic to express my sincerity.¡±


    In truth, there was not much romance. All they had as they parked by the river bank was the night sky, the stars, the grass, and each other. He held her as they sat on the grass and looked out at the warm glow of the houses near the river as well as the gentle flow of water.


    This was the first time in several years that Yao Meng had experienced such tranquility, such that she was able to watch the night sky in peace. There was no strange dream, no dripping sweat, and no fancy dates. Here, there was just another man whoughed as he sat by her side, massaging her swollen foot, and pointing out the constetions in the sky to her.


    Just like an ordinary couple, enjoying an ordinary love and living an ordinary life.


    As the sky turned bright, Yao Meng realized that the two of them had fallen asleep on the grass by the river. He was sprawled on the ground while she slept in his arms, his suit ced carefully over her body.


    Yao Meng snuggled deeper into his arms.


    ¡°Thank you, Shu Hang.¡±


    Two yearster, the two of them started to talk about marriage.


    Yao Meng¡¯s parents were blue cor workers, so they initially felt uneasy about their high-status potential son-inw. Nevertheless, as time passed, they took note of his steady and reliable character, thus they were quite pleased by their daughter¡¯s catch.


    Yao Meng, on the other hand, had never seen Shu Hang¡¯s parents.


    As the spring festival approached, Shu Hang took the initiative to book ne tickets for the two of them and even prepared suitable presents for his parents on Yao Meng¡¯s behalf.


    Despite this, Yao Meng was quite worried. ¡°Will your parents...¡±


    Before she could finish, Shu Hang answered clearly, ¡°They won¡¯t. I still have the final say at home. Don¡¯t worry, my mother is quite blur, so she doesn¡¯t even know about your past ¨C not everybody has an overbearing mother like Ji Bai. As for my father, he¡¯s just a simple old man, so why would he care about these things? The Shu Family name is much more bark than bite and their name is now carried solely by my efforts in the corporate field. Don¡¯t worry, sweetheart, everything will go fine.¡±

 Chapter 70: Chapter 74 Short Bonus

    <h4>Chapter 70: Chapter 74 Short Bonus</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    Since the job of a criminal police kept them constantly busy, weekends became the most rxing time for Ji Bai. This was because he did not have to rush when he was being intimate with Xu Xu.


    It was Friday and the two of them went to bed just past 9.00pm. Later on, Xu Xu announced that they were ¡°done¡± a little past midnight. Ji Bai hugged her and still felt like he wanted more, but even though he had the desire and energy to do so, she neither wanted nor had the strength to continue. With that, he was forced to give up.


    He sighed and looked down to see that the little fellow was nowying on his chest and seemingly lost in her thoughts.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Xu Xu smiled coyly. ¡°With our stamina, I think we can have sex for two days straight.¡±


    Was he dreaming? Did she really just invite him to have sex non-stop for two days?


    Although he was somewhat surprised, he did not mind. Hence, he immediately flipped her over and pinned her down. ¡°Great suggestion. And since we have nothing to do tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, we can call for takeaway...¡±


    Xu Xu was startled and she pushed him away at once. ¡°What were you thinking? You have no sense of humor at all!¡± She pointed at the clock on the wall. ¡°Look, we started doing it yesterday night and it¡¯s now early morning. Isn¡¯t that already two days?¡±


    Ji Bai grit his teeth and sighed out loud.


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