Chapter Eighteen: Sharing Resources

"Where did I lose?" Yan Xue was taken aback. "I lost because I can’t match your stamina or your speed!"

"No, can’t you have a little confidence in your own abilities?" Kong Ge adjusted his breathing and waved a hand at her. "Let me put it this way: if we switched roles tonight, and you were the one constantly finding ways to overtake me, applying psychological pressure, while I was the one chasing you, I might not have beaten you either.

The main reason you lost today wasn’t really about stamina or speed—it was that I disrupted your rhythm. You didn’t stick to your own pace, and once your rhythm was off, your breathing followed, and you ran out of energy faster than you should have."

"That’s exactly right," Yan Xue nodded repeatedly. "All I could think about was catching up to you, but that only made me perform worse. I ran myself ragged, got exhausted, and almost got left behind."

"That’s why maintaining your own rhythm is crucial. As long as you keep to your pace and take the initiative, others will fall behind naturally. Otherwise, you’ll just end up being led by the nose.

Alright, we’ve finished our run. You must be tired now, right? Come on, let’s go upstairs, wash up, and grab a few more hours of sleep while we can."

Yan Xue was indeed worn out, but the exhaustion was oddly satisfying after giving her all in the run. After washing up, she returned to the duty room and lay down to coax herself to sleep.

Half-awake and half-asleep, it was as if a light suddenly flickered on in her mind—she realized that the running competition was just a pretense, as was the punishment of buying breakfast for the loser. What really mattered was the lesson Kong Ge wanted to teach her.

All along, she’d been using her quick temper to combat her troublesome relatives. It seemed as if she hadn’t let them get the better of her, but in truth, she was draining herself, always angry and frustrated, and her mood and well-being suffered for it.

She understood the principle, but what exactly was her own rhythm? How could she avoid being dragged into her aunt’s family’s dramas, always reacting, always being led along? Yan Xue honestly had no idea.

She pondered and pondered, but sleep claimed her before she could find an answer.

Perhaps she’d bring it up with Kong Ge sometime—he was sly enough, maybe he’d have an idea.

The next morning, Yan Xue was jolted awake by her alarm. Half-conscious, she checked the time, and remembering she was already at work, indulged in a few extra minutes of rest. When she finally woke completely, it was already close to seven thirty. She jumped out of bed in a panic and rushed to the office. As she burst through the door, Kong Ge was at the table, unpacking breakfast from paper bags.

"Awake now?" He greeted her with a wide smile and waved her over. "Don’t worry, we still have plenty of time. Think about the average college student’s wake-up time—no matter how early we head over, we wouldn’t find anyone yet. There’s no point in rushing."

Yan Xue felt a bit embarrassed. "We agreed yesterday that the loser would buy breakfast, and yet I overslept and made you go. I’m really sorry about that."

"Don’t waste your breath. Eat up. I added an extra egg to your portion—Luo Wei and the others don’t have one!" Kong Ge lowered his voice conspiratorially.

Yan Xue couldn’t help but laugh. There was no need for more polite words; it would just be awkward. She accepted the breakfast with a straightforward smile.

After eating, the two of them set out for Li Jialong’s school.

Unlike Xu Wenrui from K University in their previous case, Li Jialong was by no means academic star material. His school was obscure and not very large, which actually made things easier for Kong Ge and Yan Xue. They found the student affairs office and quickly confirmed Li Jialong’s identity.

The teacher’s assessment of Li Jialong was fairly positive: though his grades were average, he had a good personality, was polite, and always eager to help—like offering to carry things for teachers.

This was hardly surprising. Yan Xue had seen his photo: a handsome, lively young man. Coupled with his helpfulness and good manners, he was exactly the sort of student teachers liked.

They couldn’t get anything noteworthy from the teacher, so they asked for Li Jialong’s dorm location, got a permission slip from the student affairs office, and headed to the dormitory. Yan Xue waited outside while Kong Ge went in to find him.

Li Jialong’s school, due to its academic focus, was similar to the police academy—heavily male. The campus was quiet at nine in the morning, and as Yan Xue waited outside the boys’ dorm, several passing male students eyed her curiously, probably guessing she was someone’s girlfriend visiting.

After about ten minutes, Kong Ge returned with a tall young man in tow—presumably Li Jialong. He was about the same height as Kong Ge, but far slimmer. Unlike Kong Ge’s broad, muscular build, Li Jialong was tall and almost frail. His long, thin legs were like chopsticks, and even the oversized hoodie he wore couldn’t hide his paper-thin frame. He looked like a coat hanger inside empty clothing.

Setting aside the debate about male physiques, Yan Xue had to admit Li Jialong’s looks would make him popular with women. His face was unremarkable, but his eyes stood out—not large, but with a natural, dewy innocence, reminiscent of a baby animal: wide-eyed and guileless.

Yan Xue didn’t personally find this type attractive, but the moment she saw him, she recalled what Lin Zhen had said about their relationship—he was the textbook definition of a "puppy." If Kong Ge were a bit older and more mature-looking, the way Li Jialong followed at his heel would have looked like a well-behaved child trailing after his father.

Sophomore year—twenty or so—yet how could he look so naive?

Yan Xue was secretly amazed. She’d graduated from the police academy, where the boys mostly fit the stereotypically masculine mold, so it was the first time she’d met someone like Li Jialong in person. She didn’t feel any protective urge, only the faint headache of someone forced to babysit for work.

"Let me introduce you—this is my colleague, Officer Yan from the W City Police Criminal Investigation Division. We have a few questions for you and hope you’ll cooperate," Kong Ge said, stopping in front of him. "Where were you the night before last—Saturday? Were you on campus, or out somewhere?"

"Oh, you want to ask about that masquerade party Lin Zhen’s family organized, right?" Li Jialong smiled at Yan Xue, his smile open and sunny, unexpectedly forthright. "I went—with two friends. But we didn’t stay long.

I went mainly for Lin Zhen. We were dating, but she’d started to drift away. I wanted to win her back, but once I got there, I realized things weren’t as I’d thought, so I left with my friends. We didn’t stick around."

"Why do you think we want to ask about the masquerade?" Kong Ge pressed.

"No idea," Li Jialong replied with a faint smile, unhurried and unbothered, as if being questioned by police was no more than a casual interview on the street.

"Lin Zhen had an incident at that party," Yan Xue said, watching his reaction.

Li Jialong’s answer surprised them both: "Impossible. Lin Zhen can’t have had an accident. She must have slipped away. The one at her house is an impostor! Did you make a mistake?"

"An impostor? What do you mean?" Yan Xue was taken aback.

Li Jialong looked at her with those innocent, fawn-like eyes. "Officer, are you trying to trip me up, or have you really not noticed that she’s not Lin Zhen? If you haven’t, well, let me tell you—whoever that was, it wasn’t Lin Zhen. She looks similar, but it’s not her. People can look alike, but the eyes are always different, and so are the mannerisms. You can’t fake that. I really wanted to salvage things between us, but as soon as I got there, I realized the ‘Lin Zhen’ there was an impostor, so there was no point in staying."

"You said you went to win her back—why bring two friends?" Yan Xue asked.

"I went with a backup plan. Best case, we’d get back together. But I knew it was unlikely—she’d dated someone else after we broke up, I knew that, but I couldn’t just give up without trying. After all, she’s young, rich, attractive, and has no parents hovering over her—a real catch. It’d be silly not to try one last time."

"You’re a rather honest person," Kong Ge said with a smile.

Li Jialong grinned back. "I am. It’s not like I’m doing anything shady—no need to hide it. I know what you must think—that I’m shameless, talking so openly about being a kept man, right?"

"Not really," Kong Ge replied. "Everyone has the right to choose their own lifestyle and attitude, as long as they don’t break the law or harm others."

"Exactly. That’s how I see it too," Li Jialong agreed. "Some people go for pale, beautiful girls, or cutesy types—I don’t care about looks. I just want a girlfriend who’s older and well-off, someone who’ll take care of me. I’m immature and lazy, not very ambitious—I know that about myself. I just want someone who’ll make life easier for me. Why else do people work or study hard, if not for comfort? I’m just looking for a shortcut, and Lin Zhen was mine. It’d be a shame not to try."

"If you wanted to try, why bring two friends to help?" Yan Xue tried not to comment on his worldview; as Kong Ge had said, as long as his choices didn’t affect others, it wasn’t her place to judge.

"It’s called sharing resources—you wouldn’t understand." Li Jialong waved a hand. "The real reason Lin Zhen broke up with me was that she got bored. I’d tried to win her back, to please her, but when she finally broke things off, she said I was too clingy, like a sticky bandage, suffocating her.

I was stunned—I’d considered many reasons for our breakup, but never that she’d mind me being clingy! She used to love it when I was all over her—I thought that was what she wanted.

But if that’s why we broke up, it’s too late to change style now. So I figured, why let someone else benefit? Might as well help my buddies out!"