Chapter 7

The police academy’s opening ceremony took place during Hong Kong’s hottest season. No one could withstand standing under the scorching sun for three hours of posture training.

Especially since the foot drill instructor forbade the new cadets from wearing their police caps. The glare of the sunlight made it impossible to keep their eyes open.

The stern-faced instructor swore an oath in front of the new students—no one would be dismissed from training today until they were all tanned like pieces of charcoal!

The blue police uniforms were paired with black ties, leather boots, and long trousers. Their rank insignias only displayed their Police Cadet numbers.

Lu Shimiao: 10231

The police cadets in Lu Shimiao’s cohort were all new students. This 27-week training period was the only pre-service training for their careers in the Hong Kong Police Force. Unlike police academies in Mainland China, which involved four years of study plus postgraduate work…

Most of the new cadets were tormented by the intense heat, furious but too afraid to speak up.

A few students in the back row, taking advantage of the instructor’s absence, fixed their eyes on Lu Shimiao in the front row and whispered among themselves in Cantonese.

“That mainland student’s like a block of wood, doesn’t move an inch!”

“I’m so tired, I think she’s insane.”

“I heard she rented a place in The Equator. That area is super expensive!”

“Mainland nouveau riche always coming to Hong Kong to show off their gold plating…”

Lu Shimiao couldn’t understand Cantonese. She had no idea she had become the focal point of her cohort simply because of where she rented.

All she knew was that today was for foot drill training.

Stand properly, stand steady, so she could finish class earlier and go eat.

So she rooted herself to the ground, not even her fingertips twitching.

“10658, Fall out!” The officer turned at the sound of a voice, his eyes glaring at the male student who had spoken last.

“Yes, Sir.” Chen Feng panicked and stepped out of formation.

Instructor Tang Zhengde, dressed in a white police uniform with a beret tilted to the right and both hands tucked into his belt, glared at the new cadets. He didn’t say a word, but his fierce eyes alone terrified them half to death.

“Why do we need foot drill training?” he bellowed.

Chen Feng felt his eardrums about to burst from the instructor’s volume, trembling as he answered.

“Sir, to forge willpower and instill discipline.”

“So, do you have discipline? Do you have willpower?” Tang Zhengde’s voice was like a storm, so fierce it sent the birds in the trees scattering in panic.

“Sorry, Sir.”

Chen Feng straightened his back, not daring to make another mistake.

Tang Zhengde was tall and robust, his voice brimming with power. Combined with his decades of experience in the Police Force, his presence felt as if he could swallow a person whole.

“The police academy isn’t a place for you to gossip. If you want gossip, go watch TVB.”

After saying this, he pointed at Lu Shimiao. “When all of you can stand as still as she does, then you can be dismissed to eat! Otherwise, you’ll train for two days and two nights. I have all the time in the world for you.”

Total silence fell.

All the Police Constables’ eyes swiveled to Lu Shimiao in unison. Only Chen Feng’s fingers clenched the fabric of his trousers, and he gritted his back teeth.

Lu Shimiao stood with both hands pressed tightly against her trouser seams. Her posture was arguably the most upright and disciplined in the entire group.

Even as sweat dripped from her brow into her eye sockets, she didn’t blink. The back of her blue uniform had long since been soaked through, now covered in large patches of white salt crystals.

For Lu Shimiao, a Mainland Police Cadet, the foot drill training at the Hong Kong academy was a piece of cake.

Back in her university days, she had trained for two whole months, day and night without respite. She had stood in the wind, in the rain, in the snow.

So, this bit of Hong Kong sunshine meant nothing to her, she didn’t consider it a challenge at all.

“Understand?” Tang Zhengde asked.

“Yes, Sir,” the entire group answered in unison.

And so, Lu Shimiao became famous overnight for her “stance,” becoming the foot drill benchmark among her fellow Police Cadets.

But good times don’t last… a week into the semester, after the new cadets’ foot drill review concluded,

Lu Shimiao plunged from the pedestal of an academic star into a hell she never wanted to remember for the rest of her life.

In this unfamiliar environment, the foreign language system became Lu Shimiao’s biggest headache.

The usual Cantonese chatter between classmates was beyond her comprehension, and that she could live with. But the academy’s all-English instruction system was the biggest stumbling block in her studies.

Lu Shimiao’s English grades in university:

TEM-8 (Test for English Majors-Band 8).

The speaking speed of the law and political science professor, with his lubricated tongue:

Blah blah blah.

What finally reached Lu Shimiao’s ears was:

Huh?? What did he just say?

Her daily English communication was fine, and reading books was sufficient. But the specialized terminology of international criminal law left her dizzy and disoriented, not to mention the set of arguments used in court evidence.

So, Lu Shimiao carried a voice recorder with her every single day. She recorded lessons, then went home at night to work overtime translating and reviewing.

The police force cultivated by four years in a Mainland Public Security University, the Hong Kong Police Academy could produce in 27 weeks. Thus, besides theoretical classes, the number of practical drills at the Hong Kong academy was terrifyingly high.

Critical incident management, firearms usage, resistance and explosive ordnance disposal testing, police dog training, high-priority searches, bomb disposal…

Because the law enforcement systems of the two regions differed, command formats and procedural steps were also different.

The mindset Lu Shimiao had formed over three years of study needed to be wiped clean, turned back into a blank slate. This was exceptionally difficult. So, she had no choice but to constantly adapt to this fast-paced learning state.

Every day felt like she had been pumped full of growth hormones.

In a single week, aside from handling exams in three to four different subjects, she also had to complete daytime training.

And the most critical of all was the monthly physical fitness test.

If the all-English instruction mode had already tortured Lu Shimiao half to death,

Then the physical fitness test was the final blow, adding frost to her already impoverished amount of sleep.

She looked at the physical fitness standards for the first month:

20 pull-ups,

50 push-ups,

800-meter variable-speed run,

10-kilometer paced endurance run.

Lu Shimiao felt four huge characters branded onto her forehead

—Imminent Sudden Death.

Hong Kong Police Academy regulation: Students not in police uniform must move at a running pace on campus. But whether she was in uniform or not, Lu Shimiao always ran.

“Time is squeezed out bit by bit.”

Her instructor, Qiu Wen, had told her this famous quote a hundred times.

“Forensic Support.”

“Abusive Offences.”

Lu Shimiao strictly followed Qiu Wen’s teaching, even lowering her head to memorize vocabulary while using the toilet. Carelessly, she didn’t see anyone and crashed squarely into her cohort-mate Chen Feng. Chen Feng clutched his shoulder, rubbing it twice, sucking in a sharp breath.

Lu Shimiao, however, seemed completely unaffected, making Chen Feng look like a sissy. She hurriedly offered him an apology.

“Sorry.”

“Body so hard, never been developed before?” Chen Feng narrowed his eyes, his smile holding no goodwill.

Lu Shimiao didn’t catch the sexual innuendo in the boy’s words. She just followed up with another apology, laden with remorse, “I didn’t see you just now, I’m sorry.”

“Besides standing steady in foot drill, I haven’t seen anything else you’re great at.” Chen Feng continued rubbing his shoulder.

Lu Shimiao met the boy’s gaze. She clearly saw dissatisfaction in his eyes.

Discrimination and disdain were the most prominent.

Forget it. Better to memorize two more words than waste time entangled in pointless chatter.

With a cold look in her eyes, Lu Shimiao prepared to walk around him.

Chen Feng, faced with the girl’s disregard, wore a very displeased expression. “Bookworm mainlander, you nouveau riche bumpkin here to put on a show in Hong Kong?”

Bookworm?

Lu Shimiao quickly extracted the key point from this sentence.

In recent years, the mainland had developed incredibly fast. Hong Kong compatriots’ understanding of the mainland was minimal, producing a sour-grapes mentality born from biased misunderstandings and their own sense of superiority. Lu Shimiao didn’t take it too seriously.

After all, they didn’t share the same values.

Why seek common ground?

However, this boy did remind her that rote learning was inadvisable.

Her physical training had to start today! Otherwise, in the 10-kilometer paced endurance run, her score would definitely be at the bottom.

Hmm… formulating a physical training plan was extremely urgent.

A torrent of thoughts ran through Lu Shimiao’s mind privately. She pulled out her phone and began planning a running route to get home, walking around Chen Feng and heading forward.

“Hey! Think you’re so great just because you’re rich?” Chen Feng clenched his fist.

“Being rich is indeed pretty great.”

Xue Tong walked out of the restroom, carrying a forensic kit.

She wore the white-shirted formal police uniform, a black tie draped over her chest, her rank insignia a single Bauhinia Badge. Her long hair was hidden beneath a beret, her ID badge hung from her right shoulder. It was obvious she had just finished teaching a practical class.

Xue Tong had sharp ears. While washing her hands earlier, she had perfectly overheard the conversation at the doorway.

Including that lewd remark.

“Madam!” Chen Feng immediately stood at ease upon seeing Xue Tong, offering a hand salute.

Damn, this woman’s aura was simply too immense.

Especially her expression of ‘I care about no one when I wear this cap,’ perfectly embodying what was known as: an ascetic instructor.

Xue Tong’s speech was always devoid of emotion. She spoke quietly, “Do you know the type of person the police academy dislikes the most?”

Chen Feng straightened his back, not daring to answer.

Xue Tong’s Cantonese was more pleasant than her Mandarin, but sharper and colder. “Those with no sense of seniority, not knowing what they’re talking about.”

Having said this, she gave Chen Feng no further instructions, turned, and left. Chen Feng was left standing at attention by himself for a long, long time.

—

Extracurricular activities at the police academy were plentiful. The college held an orientation event at the start of the semester, participation was voluntary. None of her cohort-mates mentioned it to Lu Shimiao, so she didn’t go.

Lu Shimiao had grown indifferent to her solitary life at the academy. Besides Chen Feng, who loved to pick on her, the other students didn’t really ostracize her much.

After all, the Hong Kong students’ understanding of the mainland was still stuck several years in the past. “Uncouth” and “nouveau riche” were deeply ingrained stereotypes in their minds, coupled with the mutual clashes brought by existing cultures and values.

A level of “not really ostracized much” was, for Lu Shimiao, already polite enough.

“When you’re away from home, harmony is paramount.”

“Problems that can be solved with money aren’t really problems.”

Lu Yuan had repeatedly emphasized this to Lu Shimiao when she left Hong Kong.

—

The second weekend after the semester started, the Police Academy was on break.

Having a rare day of rest to herself, Lu Shimiao was nonetheless awakened by the biological clock cultivated over years of academy life.

At 6:10 in the morning, she put on her watch, donned the athletic wear issued by the academy, and prepared to go build her physical stamina.

The physical fitness test was in two weeks. The 10-kilometer paced endurance run was no joke.

Conveniently, the Red Land property faced the harbor. The developer had built a rubberized running track along the seaside, just a two-minute walk away.

Lu Shimiao had been here for so long, but hadn’t yet seen what the harbor looked like.

Fully geared up, she went downstairs, walking while stretching. She looked up and bumped into Xue Tong, who was also stretching.

Xue Tong wasn’t wearing a police uniform or a suit today, but a sexy black lululemon set, her hair tied back with a sports headband.

The black sports bra perfectly hugged an immaculate chest.

Exquisite and pert.

Black fitness leggings perfectly hugged an immaculate derriere.

Full and shapely.

And her legs, so long and powerfully beautiful.

So long that Lu Shimiao looked down at her own legs with doubt—she was as skinny as a utility pole.

……

Lu Shimiao stared at Xue Tong from behind for a long time, occasionally letting out sighs of admiration.

Her shoulders actually had faint triangular definition.

How long did she have to lift weights for that?

Her latissimus dorsi muscles also had clear, distinct lines.

How low did her body fat have to be?

And her side hip-to-waist curve, it was so perfectly full.

How many squats did that take?

Wait, those abdominal lines on her stomach… so fit, so healthy.

“Seen enough?” Before she could react, Xue Tong had already turned around, arms crossed over her chest as she squinted at the kid.

Caught red-handed, Lu Shimiao’s face immediately flushed red as an apple. Flustered, she blurted out, “Ah? I haven’t seen enough.”

Damn, wrong thing to say.

Student Lu quickly shook her head like a seal.

“No, no… I’ve seen enough.”

Damn it, still said it wrong.

Lu Shimiao felt her language towards a Superior Officer was far too impolite. So she solemnly assumed the Hong Kong-style “stand at ease” position: feet apart, hands behind her back, and apologized earnestly.

“Sorry, Madam.”

Xue Tong was amused by the kid’s serious way of apologizing.

She glanced at Lu Shimiao’s athletic wear, remembered the kid’s physical test at the end of the month, and then cooperatively assumed the “stand at ease” stance herself. “Cadet Lu, have you stretched?”

Lu Shimiao snapped to attention: “Yes, Madam.”

“Good that you’ve stretched…” Xue Tong nodded. Then, without giving anyone time to react, she suddenly spun around at an extremely fast speed and ran out of the residential complex, tossing a sentence into the air:

“Ten-kilometer pace run, set! Go!”

When Lu Shimiao came to her senses, she immediately strode forward to catch up.

The harbor morning was exceptionally cool, especially as the sea tide was ebbing. Waves striking the reefs brought gusts of cool wind.

The damp, salty sea breeze mixed with the scent of Xue Tong’s perfume, swirling around Lu Shimiao’s neck and into her nostrils.

So sweet, yet so cool.

Xue Tong’s cadence was both fast and long, each footfall landing in the exact same rhythm, her breathing exceptionally steady.

While Lu Shimiao behind her was a complete mess.

Although within the first three kilometers, she had caught up to Xue Tong with extremely high explosive power,

After chasing for another five kilometers, she was left far, far behind by Xue Tong.

She wanted to surge forward and give chase, but her own legs felt as if they were filled with cement, heavy and cumbersome.

Her lungs, starved of oxygen, burned with every painful breath.

Lu Shimiao glanced down at her watch. A heart rate of 182 was about to reach her body’s limit.

Xue Tong’s pace was simply terrifying; she couldn’t catch up at all.

So she had no choice but to slow her pace, to avoid collapsing before completing the ten kilometers.

Xue Tong heard the distance between herself and Lu Shimiao growing, glanced back, then looked down at her own watch.

Her pace was exactly 4 minutes per kilometer. But judging by Lu Shimiao’s current state, her pace for the 10-kilometer run would drop to at least 6 minutes per kilometer.

….

A 6-minute pace was guaranteed to be dead last.

Xue Tong had no choice but to run in place, waiting for the other to catch up.

Lu Shimiao saw the instructor slow her pace from afar, even running in place now. She knew Xue Tong was waiting for her. So she held her breath, put her head down, accelerated, and hurriedly caught up.

Just as she reached Xue Tong’s side, before she could even catch her breath properly, she heard her coldly say: “Catch up to me.”