Thud!

Officer Zhou shut his eyes tightly, but after a while, he realized there wasn’t even a hint of pain on his body. Confused, he let out a soft “huh,” cautiously opened his eyes, and patted himself all over. He wasn’t hurt at all.

Looking closely, he saw that Lin Jianyi had tackled Old Liu, the janitor, to the ground instead.

“Ah! Help me!”

Old Liu was pinned down by Lin Jianyi, his hands twisted behind his back, screaming in pain.

Everyone snapped out of their shock. Sergeant Chen’s face darkened as he scolded, “PC1789, are you crazy? Why are you tackling Old Liu? He’s in his sixties! If you break his bones, are you going to pay for his medical expenses?”

“Sergeant, don’t scold me yet. Look closely—do you know who this is?” Lin Jianyi ripped the mask off Old Liu’s face. The man recoiled as if he had seen a ghost, struggling desperately to escape.

Everyone froze in shock.

“This… this isn’t Old Liu. Who is this?” The senior officers and rookies alike were dumbfounded.

Sun Zhaoqian, emboldened now that the culprit was caught, chimed in, “This is the robber we’ve been chasing! Look at the scratch marks on the left side of his face!”

He grabbed the man’s face and turned it for everyone to see.

“Oh! Right! One of the jewelry store employees said she scratched the robber’s face. I was wondering why we couldn’t track him down with such a clear clue. Turns out, he’s been hiding here in our police station!”

“That’s not all. Sergeant, dump out the contents of the trash bag!” Lin Jianyi pressed the robber firmly to the ground.

Sergeant Chen’s eyes gleamed as if realizing something. He strode forward, grabbed the garbage bag, and shook it open.

Clatter!

Golden rings, necklaces, and bracelets spilled out like a shining cascade, covering the floor. The reflection of the gold mirrored everyone’s shocked expressions.

No one could have imagined that a robber would be bold enough to disguise himself as a trash collector and hide in a police station.

Even more unbelievable, the trash bag everyone avoided was filled with over three million Yuan’s worth of stolen gold jewelry.

Originally, if nothing had gone wrong, the robber would have used the opportunity to escape with the loot while the police were out searching for him. The case would have gone cold.

But fate had other plans. The robber crossed paths with Gu Xicao, who was so broke she sold him out for 188 dollars, and Lin Jianyi, who was upright and willing to pay out of pocket.

The gold robbery case was solved, and within an hour, reporters from all over Hong Kong swarmed to the Mong Kok police station.

Meanwhile…

Gu Xicao swung her legs leisurely and tapped Lin Yuan’s head with a small stick. “Be good and finish your homework. I’m being kind today—just one poem, Quiet Night Thoughts.”

Lin Yuan looked like he was about to cry. He would rather go pick up trash.

Thanks to the case being solved, Lin Jianyi and his team, the key contributors, worked nonstop until eight or nine at night before finally clocking out.

As Sun Zhaoqian left the station, he looked exhausted, rubbing his shoulders. “Brother Yi, I won’t go to dinner with you tonight. See you tomorrow.”

“Alright. Aren’t you picking up your girlfriend tonight?” Lin Jianyi asked curiously.

Sun Zhaoqian froze, his neck creaking as he slowly turned to look at Lin Jianyi with a ghostly expression. “I knew I forgot something! Damn it! I’m supposed to pick her up from work! I’m dead! Brother Yi, I’ll talk to you later!”

Watching Sun Zhaoqian bolt like a madman, Lin Jianyi couldn’t help but shake his head in amusement.

“Lin Jianyi!”

A car screeched to a halt nearby, and Officer Zhou’s livid face appeared from the rolled-down window.

“Brother Zhou, what’s the matter?” Lin Jianyi’s smile faded.

Officer Zhou jabbed his cigarette at him. “You’re something else. Let’s see how long your luck lasts. Just wait and see.”

With that, he floored the gas pedal, leaving a cloud of exhaust behind.

Lin Jianyi shook his head. He had anticipated trouble with Officer Zhou, a man who couldn’t tolerate subordinates more capable than himself. Still, he hadn’t expected it to escalate so soon.

Even so, Lin Jianyi had no regrets.

“Dead, dead, Jiaying is going to kill me!”

Getting off a double-decker bus, Sun Zhaoqian muttered to himself, frantically checking the time.

As he dashed past a flower stand, the vendor barely had time to pitch her roses before he was already gone.

She could only shake her head sadly and look back to look for other customers.

“Wait! How much are those roses?”

Sun Zhaoqian stopped abruptly, his mind replaying Gu Xicao’s earlier advice.

Six hours ago, he wouldn’t have believed in fortune-telling, but now he was a devout convert.

The young flower vendor lit up. “Five yuan a bouquet, sir. Buy some for your girlfriend—she’ll love them!”

Sun Zhaoqian smiled wryly. “Let’s hope so.”

He hurriedly paid, grabbed the flowers, and rushed to his girlfriend’s office building.

“That jerk Sun Zhaoqian! He promised to pick me up every day when he was courting me. Now we’ve only been dating for six months, and he’s already standing me up!”

Outside the building, a young office worker in high heels stomped her foot in anger, venting to her friend Zhou Xiufang.

“Maybe something came up. Don’t be too upset. He might be on his way here now,” Zhou Xiufang said, trying to console her.

“He better be! Xiufang, if only Zhaoqian were as considerate as your boyfriend. He forgets every anniversary! Today is our six-month anniversary, and I even booked a candlelight dinner!”

Sun Jiaying’s frustration grew with each word.

Zhou Xiufang, caught between agreeing with her friend and not knowing how to defend Zhaoqian, remained silent. Her boyfriend’s thoughtfulness was indeed rare, making Zhaoqian’s negligence all the more glaring.

Just then, she spotted a familiar figure sprinting toward them and nudged Sun Jiaying’s arm. “Jiaying, isn’t that your boyfriend?”

Sun Jiaying looked up, and sure enough, there was Sun Zhaoqian, running like a frantic husky.

“Jiaying, Jiaying…”

Out of breath, Sun Zhaoqian finally reached her, only for her to turn away in a huff. He quickly grabbed her hand. “I’m sorry! I’m late!”

“Let go! Do you even know what day it is?”

Jiaying was furious, thinking of how her friend’s boyfriend always treated her like a queen, while her own was so careless.

“Jiaying, look! He brought roses!” Zhou Xiufang interjected, noticing the flowers in Zhaoqian’s hand.

“Roses?” Jiaying paused, glancing at the bouquet. “Are these for me?”

“Yes! I bought them just for you. I’m really sorry I forgot to pick you up,” Zhaoqian said, scratching his head apologetically.

Zhou Xiufang looked skyward, speechless. This man was too honest! Couldn’t he say something sweet to smooth things over?

“You forgot? How about forgetting your own last name next?” Jiaying huffed, but her tone softened as she snatched the flowers.

“Hehe, I could never forget that. After all, we share the same last name,” Zhaoqian joked.

Jiaying couldn’t help but laugh, playfully hitting his shoulder. “Alright, I’ll let you off this time. But today’s our anniversary. If you’d forgotten, I would’ve killed you!”

Watching her raise her fist, Zhaoqian swallowed nervously.

Thank goodness for the fortune-teller’s advice—she had saved his life! His girlfriend was, after all, a Tai Chi master.

Gu Xicao did a good deed without claiming credit. That evening, she even splurged on a chunk of pork belly for a hearty stir-fry.

Before bed, she tallied up their finances. The red envelopes from Mrs. Leung, savings, and today’s earnings, they now had over 1,000 yuan—a historic milestone!

“Xiaoyuan, once I make more money, I’ll send you to school,” she declared with a determined fist.

Lin Yuan replied pitifully, “Big sis, can I pick up trash instead? I don’t want to go to school. It’s too hard, and the characters are impossible to write.”

Gu Xicao sympathized. Writing traditional Chinese characters was much harder than simplified ones.

She patted his head. “Be good. Study hard. If you want to pick up trash, wait until after you graduate from college.”

“…Big sis, don’t you need to study?” Lin Yuan asked, still unwilling to give up.

Gu Xicao grinned. “I studied enough in my past life. This time, I’m done. Our family’s future depends on you!”

No way was she going back to school after all those years of studying in her past life!