Chapter 2 You're in trouble, you've fallen in love!

"Officer Ji, can I add you on WeChat? It'll be easier to communicate if there are any updates to the case..."

Tang Xiaohe was a little nervous. She'd never been in a relationship before, and asking a boy for his WeChat was a first for her. Although she'd come up with a plausible reason, she was still worried he'd refuse—that would be incredibly awkward. Ji Yanli

hesitated for a moment, but his hands moved faster than his brain. Before he could react, he'd already pulled his phone from his pocket and held out to Tang Xiaohe: "Give me your phone."

"Huh? Oh, oh." Tang Xiaohe hadn't expected it to go so smoothly. She was momentarily stunned, then hurriedly pulled her phone from her bag and handed it over. In her haste, she lost her grip, and the phone fell to the floor. In that

instant, only one thought remained in Tang Xiaohe's mind: she hadn't checked the almanac before going out today, had just been scammed, and now she was about to break her phone—one financial loss after another! How unlucky she was!

Ji Yanli swiftly caught the phone, and it landed safely in his hand.

Tang Xiaohe's mind automatically picked up the theme song of a popular TV series from before. "It's fate!" she thought, and she was captivated by his handsomeness again.

Ji Yanli didn't see Tang Xiaohe's starry eyes. His slender fingers tapped the screen a few times, and with a "beep," Tang Xiaohe saw that Ji Yanli had scanned the QR code with her phone and then accepted the friend request on his own.

After adding her as a friend, Ji Yanli didn't return her phone. Instead, he opened the app store, searched for something, and clicked download.

Tang Xiaohe leaned over to look, and the blue icon caught her eye—it was the National Anti-Fraud Center app.

The distance between them unconsciously closed. Ji Yanli felt warm breath on his neck, a little ticklish. He took a small step back and handed the phone back to Tang Xiaohe.

"I've downloaded the Anti-Fraud Center app for you. Don't secretly delete it," Ji Yanli said earnestly. Tang Xiaohe nodded obediently, like a primary school student. Back home,

Tang

Xiaohe turned on the air conditioner, took a large watermelon from the refrigerator, cut it in half, wrapped the remaining half in plastic wrap and put it back in the refrigerator, then grabbed a spoon, sat on the carpet, and started eating it directly.

She hated the sweaty, sticky summer, but she loved eating ice-cold watermelon in an air-conditioned room. Now that the money was almost gone, she decided to find a way to salvage her terrible mood.

"You know I wanna be your destiny..."

The phone rang; it was her best friend Lin Jing calling. Tang Xiaohe pulled a tissue from the coffee table, wiped her fingers, and answered.

"How's it going? Is there any chance of getting the money back?"

Tang Xiaohe sighed. "I don't know, the police said it's probably difficult."

"Oh, do you still have money to pay rent and food? I have 15,000 yuan here, can you take it?"

"Forget it, I'll ask the landlady if I can pay the rent for next quarter at the end of the month, when my fixed deposit matures."

Lin Jing knew that Tang Xiaohe was worried about how hard it was for her to earn money, and knew that she wouldn't accept it no matter how much she tried to persuade her, so she said, "Okay then, if you have any difficulties, just ask your sister. Don't try to tough it out. If it really doesn't work, just apologize to your dad..."

"Okay, love you, Jingjing~"

Tang Xiaohe remembered that three months ago, she went on a blind date at her father's behest. The other party's family was in the landscaping business, and they had some business dealings with her family. Tang's father had met their eldest son and praised him as a handsome and promising young man, so he figured their younger son wouldn't be any less impressive, and ordered Tang Xiaohe to meet him.

The man turned out to be incredibly eccentric, completely self-centered in his words and actions. On their first date, when the time came, he said, "I'm full, let's meet another day," infuriating Tang Xiaohe who threw a tantrum and refused to go again. Her father generously gifted her two Hermes bags, and Tang Xiaohe reluctantly agreed.

However, on their first meeting, the man bluntly told Tang Xiaohe to cut her hair short, explaining that he liked Qi Wei (a famous Chinese actress). Tang Xiaohe thought this was outrageous. To avoid attending such absurd blind dates again, she staged a ghost possession act on the spot, scaring the man so much he nearly called the police.

The man exaggerated the story and spread it around, essentially eliminating her chances of finding a partner in Jincheng, infuriating her father who then canceled all her supplementary credit cards. Stubborn and unwilling to back down, Tang Xiaohe left Jincheng for Nancheng, where her best friend lived, and found a job as a Chinese language teacher at a private school, starting a new life.

"Hmph, now that she has someone she likes, she's going to bring Officer Ji home with her own abilities. Her parents will definitely be very happy. Until then, she's not going to back down!"

After hanging up the phone, Tang Xiaohe sent a WeChat message to her landlady. "

Poached Egg": "Auntie, something unexpected happened to me. Could I pay you the rent for next quarter at the end of the month?"

The reply came quickly: "What's wrong, sweetie?" "

Poached Egg": "...I fell victim to an online scam and was cheated out of 20,000 yuan. I have the other part of the money in a fixed deposit, which hasn't matured yet. Don't worry, Auntie, I'll definitely be able to pay it by the end of the month!" "

Warm Sunflower": "Oh my goodness, that heartless scammer, that scoundrel, even cheating such a nice girl like you! The rent for next quarter is waived. My son is about your age, and it's not easy for young people to live away from home. Auntie doesn't need that little bit of money."

Tang Xiaohe was completely shocked, but then she thought about it. If her own parents encountered a child about her age in trouble, they wouldn't be able to resist helping them too. This is probably the soft spot in a parent's heart.

Warm Sunflower: "By the way, my son is a policeman in this southern city. How about I give you his WeChat so you can talk to him about the situation?"

Touched by the landlady's kindness, Tang Xiaohe decided to decline. She already had a policeman on her contact list, and he was her crush; she didn't need to add another one.

Poached Egg: "No need, thank you, Auntie. I've already called the police. I'll pay the rent as soon as possible; I'd feel bad staying here if I didn't pay."

Warm Sunflower: "The money isn't urgent. You can pay whenever you want. Don't pressure yourself too much!"

After communicating with the landlady, Tang Xiaohe opened her chat with Ji Yanli. It only showed the message, "You have added Ji Yanli. You can chat now."

Tang Xiaohe thought for a moment, typed a line on the screen, and quickly deleted it.

Her slender fingers tapped Ji Yanli's profile picture. It was a boy walking a large golden retriever by the sea. Looking closely at the figure, it seemed to be Ji Yanli himself. Did he like dogs?

Liking cats and dogs must mean he has a kind heart, Tang Xiaohe silently increased her favorability towards Ji Yanli by one point.

She smiled faintly, and suddenly a voice message popped into her mind—a popular background music from a short video platform: "You're doomed, you've fallen in love!"

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***