Chapter 8: Time to Collaborate

After coming back from the group dinner, Tang Xiaohe wasn’t in a good mood. She holed up at home the entire weekend. Aside from going downstairs to pick up takeout and throw out the trash, she didn’t take a single step outside.

Sleeping was her own personal way of healing. Whenever she felt down, she would just bury herself in sleep and stop thinking about everything—leaving it all for time to resolve.

She had just moved recently, and last week was a whirlwind of non-stop activity. She hadn’t felt tired at the time, but after a good weekend’s sleep, she woke up with a sore back and aching body. Her legs barely felt like her own.

Once at school, she sat down in her office chair and the soreness in her back became even more pronounced. The chairs provided by the school had straight backs, and the foam padding wasn’t great—so hard that it dug into her back. Normally it was manageable, but now, with her back hurting, it was unbearable.

Tang Xiaohe kept shifting—pressing her back to the chair, then leaning forward—over and over again, unable to find a comfortable sitting position.

Zhang Wan noticed her fidgeting and handed over a soft cushion with concern. “Is your back hurting?”

Tang Xiaohe received it like it was a life-saving treasure. “I’ve been exhausted lately—thanks, Sister Wan!”

Once the cushion was in place, she felt much better. She asked Zhang Wan for the product link and quickly placed an order for one herself.

Then she remembered she had a box of chocolates in her bag. She handed them to Zhang Wan. “These are super tasty! Take them home for Nini—she’ll definitely like them.”

Tang’s mom had gone to Belgium on vacation recently and sent back a big box of “local specialties,” which included these chocolates. Tang Xiaohe had tried them and found the flavor excellent. Figuring that kids would definitely enjoy them, she brought some to the office to share with Zhang Wan.

Xu Fangli walked over, holding a thick stack of documents, and handed them to Zhang Wan. “Check these for any issues. If everything looks good, give them to Director Wang, and we’ll proceed according to this plan.”

Zhang Wan nodded. “Got it, Team Lead.”
The school was about to hold an event titled “Caring for Youth: Promoting Legal Knowledge on Campus.” Legal education was currently a high priority, and the school leadership took the event seriously. Tang Xiaohe leaned over for a peek and saw bold characters on the cover: “Sincerely Inviting the Nancheng City Public Security Bureau to Our School for a Legal Education Lecture.”

Nancheng City Public Security Bureau—that’s where Ji Yanli works!

Tang Xiaohe returned to her seat, pulled out a blank sheet of paper from her folder, pen in hand, lost in thought while spinning around in her chair.

They were going to collaborate now? A few days ago, she would have been thrilled—eagerly looking forward to seeing Ji Yanli again at the police station and imagining what kind of expression he would have.

But right now, she really didn’t want to see him.

Looking at the completely blank paper, Tang Xiaohe carefully wrote down Ji Yanli’s name, stroke by stroke. The delicate handwriting quietly appeared on the page. Even though handwriting doesn’t speak, you could clearly feel the writer’s emotions just by looking at the words.

After a moment’s thought, she picked up her pen again, scribbled over Ji Yanli’s name, crossed it out, folded the paper, and put it back into the folder.

Nancheng City Public Security Bureau.

Ji Yanli had been swamped the entire day. With provincial leaders scheduled to inspect the station next month, the bureau was holding several meetings each day. On top of that, he had to prepare various reports and materials. The service hall on the first floor was also a mess of cases waiting to be handled.

He was so busy that he barely had time to grab a sip of water.

Today, he also handled a domestic violence case. A husband and wife had gotten into a fight over household trivialities. The husband turned violent, and the wife, unable to bear it any longer, came to the police station for help.

But to their surprise, the abusive husband had the audacity to follow her there—and in front of the police, started hitting her again!

Ji Yanli, being the closest, immediately subdued the man and pinned him to the ground before cuffing him.

Not long after, an elderly woman in her sixties arrived at the station. She held the hand of a four- or five-year-old girl and had a baby in her arms. She wept and wailed, insisting her son had a good temper and would never resort to violence.

The police showed her the surveillance footage, but she still refused to accept it, insisting it must have been the daughter-in-law’s fault—she must have provoked him, and her son had only hit her because he couldn’t take it anymore.

Ji Yanli and the other officers at the scene were speechless. The husband had hit his wife at the police station—the behavior was serious enough that detaining him wouldn’t have been a problem. But the victim, upon seeing her children brought in by her mother-in-law, suddenly changed her story and said she forgave her husband.

Despite his frustration, Ji Yanli had no choice but to follow protocol. The abusive man was made to sign a Domestic Violence Warning Letter, and after receiving a formal reprimand and education, he was released.

This day had truly been exhausting. Nearing the end of his shift, Ji Yanli felt increasingly irritable. Sitting in his office chair, he tugged at his tie and loosened his collar.

His colleague, Fang Yun, pushed the door open and walked in. “Officer Ji, what time are you leaving?”

“Don’t you know how to knock?”

Fang Yun looked a bit embarrassed. It wasn’t like she’d barged in for anything important—why was Officer Ji being so harsh?
Still, she had a crush on him and assumed he was just in a bad mood and that she had unfortunately caught him at a bad time. It wasn’t that he was intentionally cold to her. She bit her lip and said softly, “I’ll remember next time.”

After a slight pause, she shyly invited him, “Officer Ji, I have two VIP tickets to the New Wave Crosstalk show tonight—front-row seats. Want to go with me after work?”

“No,” Ji Yanli replied flatly without even lifting his eyes.

“Why not?” Fang Yun’s face fell at his blunt rejection.

“Not interested.”

She didn’t press further. Whether Ji Yanli wasn’t interested in crosstalk, or just not interested in her, she didn’t dare ask. With tears welling in her eyes, she turned around sharply and left his office.

In her haste, she accidentally bumped into Xu Yang, who was just about to come in. Xu Yang yelped from the impact. Fang Yun shot him a fierce glare and brushed past him without looking back.

“Geez, did Fang Yun eat gunpowder today? So aggressive?” Xu Yang casually tossed the files in his hand onto Ji Yanli’s desk, dragged a chair over, and sat down opposite him, wearing a nosy expression.

“How should I know?” Ji Yanli replied while flipping through the files.

Xu Yang squinted, sounding mischievous, “Come on, seriously—you really can’t tell that the girl’s into you?”

Fang Yun was a recent graduate from a good family, delicate and pretty. In a workplace where men outnumbered women, she was very popular. Xu Yang knew for a fact that several colleagues were interested in her.

Unfortunately for them, Fang Yun only had eyes for Ji Yanli—constantly chasing after him.

“What’s that got to do with me?”

Xu Yang was annoyed by Ji Yanli’s complete lack of interest. “Ugh, I shouldn’t have asked. If my aunt weren’t suspicious about your orientation and told me to find out, I wouldn’t care even if you became a monk tomorrow.”

Ji Yanli looked up and said coldly, “Are you itching for a beating?”

Seeing his cousin’s icy face, Xu Yang immediately backed down. He and Ji Yanli were first cousins. Growing up, he’d been the mischievous one and had gotten beat up by Ji Yanli more times than he could count.

Just as Xu Yang was inwardly grumbling—With that sour face, no wonder you’re single for life—he suddenly saw his cousin smile while reading a document. A gentle smile, even.

What the heck? Did he go blind?

Leaning over to see what Ji Yanli was reading, all he saw was a plain-looking event outline. He recognized it—something the leadership had discussed recently: in response to national calls, they were organizing legal education activities for youth, aiming to improve students’ legal awareness and encourage law-abiding habits in minors. The bureau would be partnering with a local school for the event.

But why would Ji Yanli be so interested in such a boring, routine cooperation?

Xu Yang was baffled. “It’s just a lecture. Why are you smiling like that?”
“You don’t get it…” Ji Yanli’s gaze had already fallen to the small line at the bottom of the event outline: Class Responsible: Tang Xiaohe.