When A Snail Loves - Chapter 1

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Lin City was located beside a sparkling blue river. In spring, a cool air seemed to wash over the entire city, making the whole city humid yet refreshing.

It was a cloudy day like every other. However, there was an unusual commotion in the city police station.

This was owed to the fact that two young policewoman interns had just arrived at the Criminal Police Unit.

Normally, this would be no cause for alarm. However, these two ladies attracted quite a number of officers who curiously poked their heads through the door to get a peek of them.

This was because they looked very special.

Zhao Han, a young criminal police, was the internship liaison officer. At that moment, he, like his other colleagues, was in a daze as he looked at the two ladies.

One was very beautiful, whereas the other one was very… odd.

The one on the left was Yao Meng, a postgraduate in criminal psychology from the Public Security University. She had long hair, big eyes, and wore a simple white shirt with jeans, which also made her look like a model for youth magazines. Her resume was loaded with her credentials: Academic Scholarship, Excellent Student Cadre, star broadcaster in the academy’s TV Station, top ten contestants in the speech contest…

Zhao Han had a hunch that she would no doubt become the new belle* (TN: The prettiest policewoman in the station) of the Lin City Police Station.

As for the other one… Her name was Xu Xu.

From her resume, one could see that Xu Xu had outstanding results. She was constantly ranked first in the academy year after year.

However, Zhao Han had doubts about how she even managed to enroll in the police academy in the first place.

‘Is she only 160cm tall? What a petite lady. Even when she sits up straight on the chair, she still looks underage. Furthermore, her skin looks pale and her face carries no prominent features at all. At first glance, she looks like… Right, like a little bloodsucking zombie from late-night American dramas.

‘She’s even wearing an extremely formal long black coat. The tail of her coat is so long that it is actually reaching her ankles; it doesn’t match her youthful look at all and makes her look both odd and funny at the same time.

‘Also, regarding her name, Xu Xu, it’s pronounced ‘su su’, right? Or is it shh, shh?’

Zhao Han wanted to laugh, but he had always been a shy and kind young man. Hence, he maintained a gentle expression as he turned away from Xu Xu.

Just as he was about to speak, Xu Xu raised her head and looked at him. Zhao Han was slightly taken aback.

During their previous conversations, Yao Meng was the one who did most of the talking, while Xu Xu kept quiet throughout and did not meet his gaze even once.

Nonetheless, now he noticed that her pupils were pitch-black and exceptionally penetrating. They looked very calm and dignified.

It felt like she had a clear insight into his thoughts and of his judgmental attitude towards her.

Yet, in the blink of an eye, she had once again lowered her head and reverted back to that same pale, ill-looking expression.

Zhao Han coughed softly and said, “Captain Ji is on leave for a few days. He’ll confirm your internship mentors when he returns.”

Yao Meng’s eyes widened in joy. “Is that THE Senior Ji Bai, who has the highest crime solving rate in the whole of the Southwest District?”

Zhao Han nodded with a smile.

“Is he going to mentor us?” Xu Xu suddenly interrupted them. Even her voice sounded weak and delicate.

Zhao Han frowned nervously. “That will be up to Captain Ji to decide when he returns.”

Amongst the young policewomen, there was a saying that even though Ji Bai looked gentle and elegant, if one stuck around long enough, they would soon find that his ruggedly good looks were matched only by his ruggedly tough heart. This was the same regardless of whether it was towards criminals or towards women that admired him.

Therefore, although the Station Chief had given specific instructions that these two top students would intern under Vice Captain Ji Bai and another senior officer from the Criminal Police Unit, Zhao Han was still very doubtful. How could Ji Bai possibly have the patience to lead interns? What more weak female interns?

“I’m your internship liaison officer, look for me if you have any problems.” Zhao Han continued as he handed them some documents. “This is an internship notice.”

The two of them took it and read it with focus. Their educated backgrounds were visible from the intense furrowing of their brows as they went through the details. After a while, they looked up and nodded.

Since they had no questions, Zhao Han decided to find out a bit more about them, “I’ll sidetrack a bit. Since both of you studied the same course, riddle me this – do you think that psychoanalysis is beneficial in solving cases?”

Yao Meng answered immediately. “I think that it is, but we only have a grasp on the theories, our practical experience is still a long way off. Thus, we’ll have to seek your guidance from today onwards, Officer Zhao. I hope you won’t mind.”

Zhao Han instantly laughed aloud. “Don’t mention it, we’ll both learn from each other.”

He looked towards Xu Xu, but she only faintly nodded and mumbled, “I agree.”

Then she shut up as if she was not willing to say anymore.

Zhao Han felt a little helpless as he thought to himself, ‘This lady really doesn’t know how to get along with others. I hope that we don’t run into any obstacles because of this.’

Yao Meng was still smiling beside her. She seemed to be used to Xu Xu’s indifference as she looked at Zhao Han apologetically.

Zhao Han was not very bothered too and jokingly said, “How about you try to analyze me and we’ll see how accurate you are?”

Usually, people took psychoanalysis as a form of unreliable fortune-telling; this young officer who was quite a busybody was no exception.

Yao Meng blinked her eyes as she stared at him. “Senior Zhao, is this a test?”

“Take it as your first test for your internship.”

Everyone else in the unit had either gone for meetings or went out, leaving just the three of them alone in the office. It was noon and the honey-colored sunlight shone through the windows, making the office look bright and spacious.

As they examined Zhao Han from head to toe, he could not help but felt uneasy.

Xu Xu was the first to set her eyes on his face again, which sent chills up his spine. Zhao Han thought that she was going to speak, but she remained silent. She simply placed her hands on her knees before tapping on them gently as if out of habit.

While she had a tiny figure, her movements were large and dominating. Moreover, her fingers were exceedingly slender and pale, like they were about to snap at any time. All this combined made Zhao Han indescribably uneasy.

After a brief moment, Yao Meng’s eyes fell on his face once again, looking very eager.

“Who’s going first?” He asked.

It was then that Xu Xu momentarily glanced at Yao Meng. It was faint and quick, so much so that most people would miss it.

Yao Meng seemed to not have noticed this as she looked at Zhao Han and nodded. “I’ll go first then.”

Zhao Han noticed the detail, however, and was confused by it. Since it was their first meeting, there was only a limited amount of information that they could get from him. Whoever went first would naturally have the upper hand as the one who goes second would be forced to pick up the scraps.

‘Although they’re course mates, they don’t seem close at all. Xu Xu intended to let Yao Meng go first, but why is that so?’ He thought.

Yao Meng began. “Firstly, despite looking casual, you’re actually a person of structure and order. While your desk is very messy, upon closer inspection, we see that all the documents are arranged according to time, then sub-categorized according to the type of case. Additionally, the documents that you just handed us were arranged quite clearly too.

“Secondly, you’re very easy-going and you tend to think of others. This isn’t only seen in your actions and behavior, I’ve also noticed that the internship notice isn’t an official document. Instead, you composed it especially for us. This is due to the casual tone that was used throughout the notice. Besides, the female dormitory, restaurants, and even the location of the shopping mall were specially marked out for us…”

By now, Zhao Han was already laughing. It was a loud, delighted laugh.

Yao Meng seemed to feel encouraged and her tone became livelier too. “… Thirdly, you have a girlfriend, because you’re wearing a very pretty necklace. Just now when we were talking, you subconsciously touched it gently a few times.

“Fourthly, you’re very studious, even though you asked us to analyze you out for fun, when I started speaking, you became very focused and your expression became serious which showed that you were thinking. Lastly…”

Yao Meng picked up a picture frame from the desk before smiling brightly. “You’re very proud of your job and you’re highly passionate about it. These photos of team building activities within the police unit are placed neatly at the most eye-catching spot on the desk. I can only analyze this much for now. Please excuse me if I’ve said anything wrong.”

Zhao Han laughed again. “I’m not as great as how you make me out to be, but your analysis was very interesting.”

Yao Meng’s smile became even sweeter. She took a sip of tea, then the two of them looked at Xu Xu who had been quiet all this time.

Xu Xu looked like a monk in meditation. There was no change in her expression as she suddenly stopped tapping her knees with her fingers.

Zhao Han was inexplicably relieved when she did this, but he was also very curious. ‘Yao Meng had done such a comprehensive and accurate analysis. What else could Xu Xu possibly add on?

‘Is she going to say something like I agree with her point of view?’

He was very confused, ‘Does she dislike expressing herself, or is it just that she doesn’t know a thing?’

As if to verify what Zhao Han was thinking about, Xu Xu finally spoke up. “I agree with her point of view.”

Zhao Han had no clue as to how to respond to this.

Unexpectedly though, Xu Xu interrupted his thoughts by continuing, “However, I’ll add on a few more points.”

Zhao Han snapped back to reality as his eyes suddenly met her cold pupils which were now looking up at him.

However, it looked like she was not very used to looking people in the eye as she immediately lowered her head to avoid Zhao Han’s gaze. She sounded very quiet as she spoke, and her voice carried a soft, gentle tone which was rather pleasing to the ear.

“You indeed have a girlfriend, but the two of you have been together for less than three months.

“It’s her birthday today, which is why you placed her gift inside the first drawer on the right.

“You injured your right arm lately.

“You have a sister who is quite good-looking…”

Zhao Han was stunned when he heard all of this. A thought suddenly popped into his mind. ‘Did she look me up before this?’

At that moment, Xu Xu stuck out her hand and her fingers went past a frame that was placed on the leftmost side of the desk before stopping at the lighter that was placed beside it. She lowered her head to look at it for a while before the faintest hint of a smile crept out from the corners of her mouth.

“The object placed at the most eye-catching spot on your desk is not the picture frame, it’s this limited-edition Zippo lighter.”

“You have quite a strong friendship with Captain Ji and you respect him a lot. He’s the one who gave you this lighter, perhaps during your birthday or after one of your promotions.”

“After that, you returned the favor and gave him a pair of valuable sports shoes.”

She looked up at Zhao Han after she said all this. “Officer Zhao, we study possibilities in psychoanalysis. These are just a handful of the conclusions that I’ve drawn which I think have the highest possibilities of being right.”

Her tone was still calm, but her expression showed expectancy and eagerness. She was finally revealing a youthfulness befitting of a student while she excitedly awaited Zhao Han’s answer.

Zhao Han eyes widened after hearing this. “All these…how did you know?”

Yao Meng who had been sipping on her teacup when she placed it down lightly and flashed Zhao Han a smile. “Senior Zhao, Xu Xu is very impressive.”

At this moment, a faint smile appeared on Xu Xu’s lips. Her eyes that had previously looked so old suddenly seemed to gleam with pride. Her pale cheeks also became slightly flushed.

Zhao Wang stared at her smiling face for the first time and thought to himself, ‘No wonder she let Yao Meng go first, she was sure that Yao Meng would have nothing left to say if she had gone first.’

When the bell signaling the end of the working day rang, Zhao Han sat alone in the conference room pondering.

If Yao Meng’s deductions were evidence-based, then Xu Xu’s conclusions were completely bold and imaginative. Nevertheless, she got everything right except for one, he did not have a sister, only a cousin sister. Indeed, his cousin sister was pretty and was very close to him, so she was almost like a sister to him.

Later when Xu Xu explained her analysis in detail, an indescribable feeling swelled in Zhao Han’s chest. Perhaps it was because her deductions were actually so simple.

After he calmed himself down, Zhao Han dialed Ji Bai’s number. “Captain.”

Ji Bai was from Beijing and he had gone home to visit his family. After some time, the call was answered and Ji Bai’s cheerful voice was heard on the other end of the line. “Speak.”

He was probably out when he picked up the phone, as Zhao Han could hear a lot of other voices in the background.

“The unit has recruited two interns, I’ve already met them and they’re both very outstanding. I’ve sent you their resumes. Oh right, and the Station Chief has asked you to lead one of them.”

Ji Bai’s laughed loudly, but his reply was so cold that it completely killed Zhao Han’s mood. “Do I look very free? I’m not interested.”