Tian Tian

Early the next morning, Lin Yuan, still asleep, vaguely sensed movement around him and opened his eyes blearily.

Beside the nightstand, Han Shuyu was bent over, staring at him with a wicked look on her face.

"Lin Yuan, was my bed comfortable?" Han Shuyu slowly asked.

Lin Yuan jolted awake, the last of his drowsiness vanishing at once.

"Han Shuyu, why are you acting crazy first thing in the morning?"

"Me? Acting crazy?" Han Shuyu chuckled. "You're really something. Last night, you left me alone on the sofa, while you went and slept all nice and comfy in my bed."

As soon as she finished speaking, she grabbed a corner of the blanket and yanked it back hard.

That would have been fine—except Lin Yuan was only wearing a pair of underwear.

Luckily, Lin Yuan reacted fast. When she had pulled it halfway back, he caught the blanket, so only his upper body was exposed.

Seeing that, Han Shuyu's face flushed red, and she quickly turned around.

"You exhibitionist!"

"You're the one who pulled it off. How do you have the nerve to say that?"

At that moment, Han Shuyu's mind was filled with Lin Yuan's firm upper body, his eight-pack abs, defined and sculpted, yet with extremely natural lines.

Lin Yuan picked up the clothes at the head of the bed and began putting them on unhurriedly.

"What's with the overreaction? Back where we're from, plenty of guys go shirtless in the middle of summer."

"Are you dressed yet?"

"No. I haven't put on my pants. Stay away from me. Don't get in the way of me getting dressed."

Han Shuyu took a few steps forward, muttering under her breath, "So slow."

In truth, Lin Yuan had already finished dressing.

"Stand right there, okay? Don't turn around and peek."

"Me, peek at you? Stop being so full of yourself."

While Han Shuyu was speaking, Lin Yuan had already walked out of the room.

"Hey, are you done or not?"

"If you don't answer, I'm turning around."

When Lin Yuan still didn't respond, Han Shuyu slowly turned her head, only to find that there was no trace of Lin Yuan in the room.

"Lin Yuan!!!"

Han Shuyu was utterly furious. She immediately dragged her slippers along and strode out of the room with a swagger that disowned all her relatives.

Seeing Lin Yuan leisurely drinking water in the living room, she became even more ferocious and pounced toward him with claws bared.

"Hmph, so you dared to trick me, huh?"

Seeing this, Lin Yuan immediately circled around the sofa.

"Can't hit me."

Han Shuyu went right, Lin Yuan went left. The two circled the sofa several times, and Han Shuyu didn't even manage to touch a single hair on him.

"If you've got guts, stop running."

"If you've got guts, stop trying to hit me."

"Fine, I won't hit you. As long as you stop running."

"Really?"

"If I'm lying to you, I'm a dog."

"Keep your word."

Han Shuyu slowly walked toward Lin Yuan, her face gentle and adorable, looking completely harmless, like an entirely different person from before.

Lin Yuan naturally believed her and stood still.

"See? You're much cuter like this than you were just now."

"Really?"

The moment she finished speaking, Han Shuyu instantly lunged at Lin Yuan.

"Hahaha, got you now, didn't I?"

Looking at Han Shuyu, who was clinging tightly to him, Lin Yuan was instantly speechless. "You have no sense of martial honor!"

"Hehe, and you believe a woman's words? Didn't I already tell you? The prettier a woman is, the less you can trust her."

"Who was it just now who said if she lied, she was a dog?"

"Woof, woof!"

"Good. The dog's done its job."

Lin Yuan stared at her, dumbstruck. But next, Han Shuyu began pinching him fiercely all over.

And she specifically pinched the soft spots, making Lin Yuan howl in pain.

"Will you dare do it again next time?"

"I won't. Never again."

Han Shuyu let go of Lin Yuan and clapped her hands in satisfaction. "Now you know how awesome I am, right?"

Just then, the alarm on Lin Yuan's phone suddenly rang.

Because he had arranged yesterday to meet Li Hui at the police station at seven, he had deliberately set an alarm for six to keep himself from oversleeping.

Only then did he realize it was still so early.

"Why are you up so early today?"

"I went to bed early last night. What, you've got something to do today?"

"I arranged to do morning training with Officer Li at seven this morning."

Han Shuyu looked at him suspiciously. "Since when did you two get close enough to make plans for morning training together?"

"Men's business. Women should stay out of it."

"Heh. As if I care."

At about seven, Lin Yuan arrived at the police station. He did not see Li Hui, but he did see someone else.

It was Tian Tian, who had eaten at the same table as him yesterday.

Her hair was tied in a ponytail, and she was wearing a white tracksuit.

When Tian Tian saw Lin Yuan, she quickly greeted him.

"Lin... Brother Lin Yuan, morning."

"Morning. Are you starting work this early?"

"No, we usually start at nine."

"Then you're here for morning training?"

Tian Tian nodded, then suddenly shook her head.

"I heard you talking yesterday about teaching martial arts, so I came over to have a look."

Lin Yuan sized her up and smiled. "You want to learn?"

Seeing that he had seen through her thoughts, her face immediately flushed. "N-no."

"If you want to learn, then learn. It's not like it's something shameful."

When Tian Tian heard that, excitement instantly appeared on her face.

In truth, ever since she had seen the two of them spar yesterday, it had been on her mind.

At the police station, although everyone took good care of her, whenever there was an operation, they either made her hide at the back or simply refused to let her go. Most of the time, she only did clerical work.

And the more that happened, the more she felt that she was useless.

The special treatment always made her feel out of place among everyone, especially when she occasionally heard some coworkers gossiping, which made her feel even worse inside.

"Really?"

"However, learning martial arts is something that requires persistence. If you only practice once in a while, it won't really have much effect."

"I know, but I'll stick with it."

"You police officers should have military training before joining, right?"

Tian Tian nodded. "We had something like military training for about half a year."

Lin Yuan circled Tian Tian and looked her over. "Do you usually exercise?"

"I do, but it's usually just running and yoga."

"Come on, try punching me."

"Huh?"

"Huh what? Are you afraid you'll hurt me? I told you to hit me, so hit me."

Tian Tian hesitated for a while, but still nodded.

She assumed the standard stance of military boxing. Looking at her, Lin Yuan thought her posture was decent, but she simply had no presence.

"Th-then you need to be careful."

"Hit me."

Tian Tian took a deep breath, stepped forward, and then sent a delicate fist toward Lin Yuan's chest.

Lin Yuan only felt as if his chest had been lightly touched.

"That's it?" Lin Yuan looked at her in disbelief.

Tian Tian nodded timidly. "Did it hurt?"

"..."

"Did you use your full strength?"

"I did."

"Try again. This time, stand a little closer to me."

"Okay."

Tian Tian repeated the movement from before, and this time, Lin Yuan clearly felt the force of the impact.

Sure enough, she had been too far from him just now. Before the force could reach him, it had already dispersed.

"Your strength is actually decent. Not as weak as I imagined."

"I'll teach you a few practical moves. Practice them regularly, and they'll be enough to deal with ordinary thugs."

"Really?"

"Whether they're really useful or not depends on you."

With that, he began teaching her.

Tai Chi had always emphasized using an opponent's force against them and overcoming great strength with little effort, which happened to suit someone like her, whose strength was relatively weaker.

Lin Yuan first demonstrated it himself in slow motion, explaining the key points in detail.

"Remember, for this move, you must retreat in order to advance, then follow the momentum and press down on the opponent's wrist..."

"There are three moves in total. Come on, now you try them."

After that, Lin Yuan had Tian Tian imitate the moves on her own, while he stood beside her and corrected her movements.

With that, physical contact between the two was unavoidable.

Tian Tian was already an easily embarrassed girl, and when she felt this man standing so close to her, ripples inevitably stirred in her heart.

Just as Lin Yuan was teaching Tian Tian, Li Hui finally arrived as well.

Late to the party, he walked over leisurely, carrying a thermos cup and humming a little tune.