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 home last 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 glanced at Ji Bai’s office and whispered.

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

Xu Xu quickly adapted to the new atmosphere.

Even after completing 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 plan to explain 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.

Nonetheless, Xu Xu was not even slightly embarrassed as she replied. “There is no need for an explanation.”

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 nonchalant 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,” declared 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 could complete 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 the computer. Then, she dug up some information and made a plan to improve her physical performance. The plan 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 claimed 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 glass. 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 second lap, 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 – 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 relax since she was afraid that he might be following her. After running half a lap, 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 after completing the lap.

By now, most of the fog had disappeared and the morning light was shining unimpeded on the green lawn. Ji Bai’s back was facing her and he was lifting something that looked incredibly heavy. He looked very tall and large from behind as creases slowly appeared on his t-shirt as it wrapped around every muscle on his body. When he placed 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 relationship, 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 accelerated 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 placed her breakfast in the small conference room with a newspaper beside it. Then, she left to shower.

Since there was a shower place 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 glanced 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 blame 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 glaringly on.

Today, as soon as he entered the small meeting room, he saw breakfast and newspaper placed 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 accepted 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 display 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 – 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 flashed 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 popular restaurant near my house. I bought an extra pack, who wants it?”

Everyone claimed 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?”