Chapter 2 — You’re Doomed, You’ve Fallen in Love

“Officer Ji, could I add you on WeChat? It’ll be easier to communicate if there are any updates on the case…”

Tang Xiaohe was a little nervous.
She had never been in a relationship before—this was the first time she’d ever asked a guy for his contact.
Though she’d come up with a perfectly reasonable excuse, she was still worried he might reject her. That would be so awkward.

Ji Yanli hesitated for a moment, but his hands were faster than his brain. Before he even realized it, he’d already pulled his phone from his pocket.

He held out his hand to her.
“Phone.”

“Huh? Oh—okay.”
Tang Xiaohe hadn’t expected things to go this smoothly. She froze for a second, then hurriedly fumbled through her bag. In her panic, she almost dropped her phone.

At that moment, only one thought was running through her head:
I should’ve checked the lunar calendar before leaving the house today.
First, I got scammed, and now I’m about to break my phone. What kind of unlucky day is this?!

But before it hit the ground, Ji Yanli reached out with one quick motion and caught the phone smoothly.

In Tang Xiaohe’s mind, the theme song from a popular drama started playing automatically.
This must be fate. Just look at him—so cool!

Ji Yanli didn’t notice the starry look in her eyes. With his long fingers, he tapped on the screen a few times. With a “ding,” Tang Xiaohe saw that he had scanned her QR code and approved the request on his phone.

After adding her, he didn’t hand the phone back immediately.
Instead, he opened the app store, searched for something, and tapped download.

Tang Xiaohe leaned over to look.
A blue icon popped up on the screen—it stood out immediately.
The National Anti-Fraud Center App.

Without realizing it, the distance between them had gotten very close. Ji Yanli could feel her warm breath tickling his neck—it was a little itchy. He subtly leaned back and finally returned her phone.

“I’ve installed the anti-fraud app for you. Don’t even think about secretly deleting it,” he said seriously.

Tang Xiaohe nodded like an obedient schoolgirl.

Back at home, Tang Xiaohe turned on the air conditioner, pulled a giant watermelon out of the fridge, and sliced it cleanly in half. She wrapped one half with plastic wrap and put it back in, then grabbed a spoon and plopped down on the carpet, digging straight into the other half.

She hated the hot, sticky summer weather—but she loved eating icy watermelon in an air-conditioned room.
Her money was probably gone for good, so she figured it was time to find a way to comfort her poor, devastated soul.

“You know I wanna be your destiny…”

Her phone rang—it was her bestie Lin Jing calling.

Tang Xiaohe wiped her fingers on a napkin, then answered the call.

“How’d it go? Can you get the money back?”

Tang Xiaohe sighed. “Not sure. The officer said it’s probably not likely.”

“Aww, girl, do you still have enough for rent and food? I’ve got fifteen grand saved—I can send it to you.”

“No, it’s okay. I’ll ask my landlady if I can postpone next quarter’s rent until the end of the month. My fixed deposit matures by then anyway.”

Lin Jing knew Tang Xiaohe had always been careful with money—once she made up her mind, there was no convincing her. So, she said instead,
“Alright then. But seriously, if anything comes up, just call your girl. Don’t try to tough it out. And if it really gets bad… maybe just swallow your pride and ask your dad for help.”

“Okayyy~ love you, Jingjing~”

Tang Xiaohe thought back to three months ago, when her father had forced her to go on a blind date.

The other guy’s family ran a landscaping business that worked with her family’s company. Her dad had met their eldest son and raved about how impressive and promising he was. Figuring the younger son wouldn’t be far off, he demanded that Tang Xiaohe go meet him.

Turned out, the guy was a total weirdo—completely self-centered.
The first time they tried to set up a meeting, he texted, “I’ve already eaten. Let’s meet another day,” and canceled just like that. Tang Xiaohe was so mad she threw a fit and refused to go again.

Her dad, in a grand gesture, handed her two Hermès bags as a bribe.
She reluctantly agreed.

Then, at the actual date, the guy immediately told her to cut her hair short—because he liked the actress Qi Wei.

Tang Xiaohe was stunned.
To prevent herself from being dragged into any more absurd blind dates, she decided to go all out—right then and there, she faked a possession scene, complete with creepy behavior and glassy eyes.
The guy was so freaked out he nearly called the cops.

Word got around—embellished, of course—and soon she was unofficially blacklisted from Chengdu’s dating scene.
Her dad was furious and cut off all her supplementary credit cards.

But Tang Xiaohe was stubborn too.
Rather than apologize, she fled from Chengdu to the southern city of Nancheng, where her best friend lived.
She found a job teaching Chinese at a private school and started a brand-new life.
Hmph.
Now she actually liked someone.
If she could earn Officer Ji’s heart through her own efforts, her parents would be thrilled with him, she was sure of it.
And until then, there was no way she was lowering her head to her father!
After hanging up, she messaged her landlady.

[Username: Little Egg Wallet]

“Auntie, something unexpected came up. Is it okay if I pay next quarter’s rent at the end of the month?”

The reply came quickly.

[Username: Sunny Sunflower]

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

Little Egg Wallet:

“…I got scammed online. Lost 20,000 yuan.
Some of my savings are in a fixed deposit that hasn’t matured yet. But don’t worry, Auntie—I’ll definitely pay you by the end of the month!”

Sunny Sunflower:

“Oh my poor baby! Those heartless scammers!
How dare they target a sweet girl like you!
Forget next quarter’s rent—consider it waived.
My son’s about your age, and I know how tough life is out there for young people. Auntie’s not hurting for money.”

Tang Xiaohe was stunned.
But then she thought about it.
If her own parents met a kid around her age going through a hard time, they’d probably want to help too.
That must be the soft spot in every parent’s heart.

Sunny Sunflower:

“Oh right—my son’s actually a police officer here in Nancheng.
Want me to send you his WeChat? Maybe he can help you out.”

Tang Xiaohe was touched by her landlady’s kindness but politely declined.
After all, she already had a police officer in her contact list—and it was the one she had a serious crush on.

Little Egg Wallet:

“That’s okay, Auntie. Thank you, but I’ve already filed a police report.
And I’ll still pay the rent—it wouldn’t feel right living here for free!”

Sunny Sunflower:

“Really, there’s no rush at all. Pay whenever you can.
Just don’t pressure yourself too hard, okay?”

After finishing the chat, Tang Xiaohe opened WeChat again and tapped on Ji Yanli’s chat window.
So far, there was only one message from the system:

“You’ve added Ji Yanli. You can now start chatting.”

She paused to think about what to say, typed something… then quickly deleted it.

Her fair fingers tapped on Ji Yanli’s profile picture:
a man walking a golden retriever by the ocean, seen from behind.
From the silhouette, it looked like him.
Does he like dogs?

Anyone who liked cats and dogs was surely softhearted, she thought.
And with that, her fondness for Officer Ji increased by another level.

Tang Xiaohe smiled to herself.
Out of nowhere, a phrase from a trending short video soundbite popped into her head:

“You’re doomed… you’ve fallen in love!”