Chapter 11: Adult Love

Beicheng.

The morning light was faint. In Room 1103 of the Bvlgari Hotel, the curtains blocked out all the sunlight, leaving only a soft lamp glowing gently.

Lin Jing, wearing an oversized white T-shirt, walked out of the bathroom. The shirt barely covered her thighs, revealing glimpses of her fair, smooth skin.

Qin An swallowed hard and reached out to pull Lin Jing back onto his lap.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

Her question was answered with deep, lingering kisses.

Qin An’s hand slipped under the hem of her shirt. Lin Jing let out a muffled laugh — there goes the shower for nothing.

After another round of intimacy, Lin Jing fell into a deep sleep again. When she woke up, as usual, she picked up her phone and scrolled through her WeChat messages.

Hebaodandan (Tang Xiaohe): “Babe, I think winning over Officer Ji is just around the corner!”
Qin An leaned over, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind, his voice hoarse:
“Who’s calling you babe?”

Lin Jing pushed him away:
“My bestie, Tang Xiaohe. I’ve told you about her — I’ll introduce you two sometime.”

Qin An nibbled at her ear.
“What? I can’t see your chats with your bestie now?”

Lin Jing shook her head, casually replying:
“You can see anything of mine — just not bestie chats.”

She kept scrolling through the messages.

Hebaodandan:
“We’re going out for dinner! A dinner date! Sharing a meal together!”

“Why haven’t you replied to me?”

“What’s going on? You vanished off the face of the earth?”

Lin Jing thought for a moment, then replied to Tang Xiaohe:
Deep Sea Whale:
“That’s it? I thought you two had already kissed, cuddled, and lifted each other in the air.”

Tang Xiaohe’s reply came quickly.

“You, you, you — I’m not that bold!”

Then another message popped up.

“Tell me, what were you doing last night? You didn’t reply to a single message. The more I think about it, the more suspicious it gets.”

Lin Jing casually replied:
“One night of spring romance.”

Tang Xiaohe, who was drinking water, nearly spat it out. She choked and hurried to swallow, coughing until her face turned red.

“WHAT? With whom?!”

“Someone I met on a business trip. You know I’ve always liked that devilish bad-boy type. This time, we clicked.”

Tang Xiaohe was speechless for a while. She had thought her progress with Officer Ji was fast enough — she didn’t expect Lin Jing to basically launch on a rocket.

After a long pause, Tang Xiaohe typed with trembling fingers:
“Damn.”

Lin Jing chuckled:
“Exactly. So, babe, your current progress is like elementary school romance. We’re grown-ups now — speed it up! You got this!”

Tang Xiaohe was discouraged the entire day thanks to Lin Jing. It wasn’t until the end of the workday that she finally perked up — Ji Yanli had sent her a message.

“I’m heading over to pick you up now.”

Simple and straightforward — very much like his personality. Tang Xiaohe replied with a “Got it,” and it auto-pulled up a sticker. She clicked and sent it without thinking.

The next second, she realized that the sticker she had just sent was a custom one Lin Jing had made — using a selfie of her making a heart with her fingers. She’d added it to her sticker pack just for fun but only ever used it when chatting with Lin Jing.

Now, staring at the goofy, lovestruck version of herself, Tang Xiaohe panicked and quickly hit “unsend,” then resent a plain text “Got it.”

Phew — thank goodness she kept her cool. She was relieved she didn’t hit delete instead of unsend.
He’s so busy, she comforted herself. He probably didn’t even see it.

Ding. A new message popped up.

“Saved.”

Tang Xiaohe looked up at the heavens in despair.
Weren’t police officers supposed to be busy all the time? Weren’t they not supposed to reply to messages right away?
How dumb did she have to be to send her own silly emoji to the guy she liked?

Some people are alive but might as well be dead.
She just wanted to disappear from this beautiful planet.
Beating her chest in frustration, Tang Xiaohe was consumed with regret.
She was supposed to meet Ji Yanli soon, and now nervousness outweighed anticipation.

But she didn’t get much time to recover emotionally before another message popped up.

Ji Yanli:
“I’m here. It’s school dismissal time and there are a lot of parents picking up kids, so I’m waiting for you in the alley around the corner from the school.”

When Tang Xiaohe hurried out with her bag, Ji Yanli had already been waiting a while.

It was the same Maybach. Tang Xiaohe, now familiar with the car, got into the passenger seat without hesitation.

She stole a quick glance in the rearview mirror.
Okay, okay — beauty is a woman’s greatest weapon. She was looking good today.
That earlier embarrassing moment? Just a tiny blip — let it go, don’t think about it.

She mentally drifted off…

Ji Yanli suddenly leaned in. A cool minty scent mixed with his body heat filled the space as he moved closer and closer.

Ah!
Was this… the adult love Lin Jing was talking about? Stay calm. Don’t panic.

Tang Xiaohe, lost in wild thoughts, nervously shut her eyes.

Click.
The seatbelt fastened. Ji Yanli returned to his seat.

Seeing Tang Xiaohe’s ears turn bright red, Ji Yanli suddenly felt like teasing her again.
“Why’d you close your eyes?”

“Oh, I’m just tired. My eyes are dry. Needed a rest.”

“Mm. Then sleep a bit. I’ll wake you when we get there.”

Tang Xiaohe had no choice but to pretend to nap.
Seriously, what was that? He leaned in so suddenly — she really thought…

Then again, she had been spaced out since getting in the car, hadn’t even buckled her seatbelt.
Ji helping her was totally normal.
Ugh, it’s all Lin Jing’s fault, she blamed silently, always filling my head with nonsense…

She squinted one eye to sneak a peek at Ji Yanli.
His long, slender fingers rested casually on the steering wheel. He was focused on driving; seemingly unaware she was watching him.

The restaurant wasn’t far, and they arrived quickly.

They’d chosen Yi He Restaurant, a famous spot in the southern part of the city. It was so popular you usually had to book at least half a month in advance.
But yesterday, when she casually mentioned wanting to try their famous salted duck, Ji Yanli just made a call and secured a reservation.

The restaurant’s decor was exquisite.
From the outside, it looked like a European castle. Inside, it featured mostly wooden architecture in a stylish Republican-era aesthetic.

Ji Yanli handed her the menu.

“Any dietary restrictions?” Tang Xiaohe asked as she flipped through it.

“You go ahead and order. I’m fine with anything.”

“Salted duck, signature golden shrimp, Buddha Jumps Over the Wall with abalone sauce, crab roe soup dumplings, Meiling porridge.
How about these?”
Worried he might not like them, she asked again for his opinion.

“Yeah, that’s good.”

Once the food arrived, they ate and chatted.

“Officer Ji, is your work usually busy?” Tang Xiaohe started the conversation.

“Teacher Tang,” Ji said playfully, “depends. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. What about you?”

Tang Xiaohe had just picked up a soup dumpling when he called her Teacher Tang.
Startled, she dropped it back into her bowl.

“Don’t call me that! It feels too weird, haha.”
“Oh? But you keep calling me ‘Officer Ji’ — I thought you liked that kind of formal title,” he said casually while wiping his fingers.

Tang Xiaohe felt a little embarrassed.
“It’s not that I dislike it… I’m just not used to calling you anything else.”

“Then what should I call you?” Ji asked, following her lead.

“Just call me Xiaohe.”

“Xiaohe, huh? Then what should you call me?” Ji replied, guiding her gently.

That’s when it hit her — so this is what he was waiting for!
He’d mentioned back at his place that she could call him Yanli, and she had tried it once, but felt too shy and went back to calling him “Officer Ji.”

So that’s what he minded…