Starting slowly

Xinyan woke up early to exercise since the weather wasn't as hot in the morning compared to mid-afternoon. She knew she had to work harder than everyone else since she was a newbie. Ever since she was young, she didn't want to be a hindrance to other people, especially her father and her older brother. Her mother passed away from an illness after Xinyan finished elementary school. Xinyan's older brother was not into business, thus Xinyan had to take over her father's business one day. 

She finished taking a shower, then changed into her work uniform. As she went down the hall, the cafeteria was already full of people. Out of habit, she looked for Officer Jiang, but he was nowhere to be found. 

Xinyan got herself a healthy breakfast and sat down beside the window after two people left. As she was eating, Officer Han sat on the opposite side of her. 

"Good morning, Officer Han." Xinyan politely greeted her teammate. 

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?" Officer Han asked in return.

"Very well. Thankfully. Did Officer Jiang wake up yet?" She blurted out that question without thinking. 

"He did. Didn't he tell you he saw you exercising this morning?" Officer Han replied as he ate his egg roll. 

"He didn't tell me anything. How did you know, though?" It surprised her they knew she was working out. 

"I guess he didn't want to interrupt you. To be honest, we all saw. I mean, our group saw you. Do you have something on your mind?" He asked out of curiosity and Xinyan nodded. 

"Sort of, I guess. Anyway, why he isn't coming to get his breakfast? It will be gone soon." Xinyan pointed toward the food aisle. 

"Oh, I guess you don't know. Our leader skips breakfast." 

"Every day?" She asked while her eyes widened up a bit. 

"When he's stressed, he skips breakfast. Sometimes lunch and dinner. I don't even know how he is still functioning." He replied while finishing up his breakfast. Xinyan nodded, then she stopped asking questions. After placing her tray at the rightful place, she grabbed a few protein bars beside the bread aisle. 

After a few minutes, they all got a text message from their team leader. This will be Xinyan's first mission with Officer Jiang. 

Yuze sat in one of the meeting rooms while waiting for his team members to arrive. Once they all arrived, Yuze debriefed the situation. It was an incident involving a high school student. Xinyan clenched her hands because this incident was almost identical to her older brother. She took a few deep breaths and calmly managed her emotions. 

As Yuze finished debriefing, he asked Xinyan to wait for him in the car after he separates his team members to different roles. She agreed and waited for him in the car. While in the car, she double checked if she had everything. 

All set, she whispered. 

After a few minutes, Yuze went into the driver's seat. 

"Your seatbelt." He said in a monotonous tone while looking at Xinyan. 

"Oh, right..." Xinyan quickly put on her seatbelt and she took out two protein bars.

"These are for you. I heard you skipped breakfast." She placed them inside the cupholder while Yuze concentrated on driving. 

"You eat them. I don't like sweets." Yuze replied without looking in her direction. Xinyan sighed and pouted. I shouldn't have wasted my energy, she talked to herself. 

"Xinyan, while we're in the car. I need to ask you something." His voice was stern, and she listened attentively. 

"What's your goal? And your motive in joining the police force?" 

"My...goal? And, motive?" She repeated that question to herself and thought for a while. 

"Officer Jiang, my goal is to find a very important person. And my motive? I want to learn more from you," Xinyan replied in simple terms, since she didn't want to add the word revenge for it. 

Yuze nodded as if he's taking all of that information in. Xinyan asked a question in return after answering him. 

"Officer Jiang, why did you join the police force?" 

Yuze was silent for about five minutes, and then he replied. 

"To find someone who's very important to me. I've searched for this person for over ten years." He didn't specify who and Xinyan was feeling kind of envious. 

"Oh, is it your girlfriend or first love? That person must be lucky to have you." She replied, assuming he already had a partner. 

Yuze replied with a straight face, "It's he." Xinyan was feeling embarrassed after blurting out that phrase. She wanted to hide herself in a hole. 

"Does that mean you're still single?" She bravely asked one more question. Yuze concentrated on driving instead of answering that question. 

  "I'll leave that to your own imagination. We're here." As they got out of the police car, there were other officers surrounding the area while a few other officers keeping the crowds at bay. 

"What's the situation now?" Yuze asked one officer who was at the scene first. 

"Not good, that high school student you see up there. She refuses to listen to the authorities. Her parents are anxious about her well-being. I'm glad your team is here to support us." 

Yuze nodded and asked her team members to do their job since they had already talked about it. 

"How about me?" Xinyan asked while pointing at herself. 

"Stay behind me." He replied in a cold tone. "Do nothing unless I tell you to."