Sorry, I have to cancel our plans.

“So eager to see me already?”
Having a woman at home longing for him and urging him to return was, without a doubt, a tremendous encouragement for a man fighting his battles far from home.
Wen Shuang murmured in assent, “Didn’t you promise last time you’d come see my dance performance this Friday?”
Ji Shen looked up, glancing at the pitch-black, silent house not far away.
“I’m afraid I’ll have to break that promise this time.”
This suspect was even more cunning and dangerous than any they’d caught before; Ji Shen reckoned he’d have to stay here for several more days. “Sorry. I estimate it’ll be about another week before I can come back.”
Although Wen Shuang’s first reaction was a subtle disappointment, she understood perfectly well that this was his work.
“It’s alright, Officer Ji. Even if you can’t make it this time, there’s always next time, right?”
Ji Shen’s voice dropped low. “I’ll make it up to you next time. I’ll reserve the whole theater.”
They chatted a while longer until Wen Shuang’s eyelids grew impossibly heavy. After a few reminders about his schedule and eating well, she said goodnight and soon fell into a deep sleep.
But after Ji Shen hung up, he couldn’t sleep at all.
In the past, business trips had never affected him much. Ever since that little woman had come into his life, though, the urge to return home grew stronger by the day.
He missed Wen Shuang’s body, her voice, her cooking—he missed everything about her.
Suddenly, his phone rang again.
He thought it was her unable to sleep, calling for comfort, and a smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
But when he lowered his eyes and saw the name “Jiang Ning” flashing on the screen, Ji Shen froze.
The phone rang for a long while.
Ji Shen didn’t move.
He didn’t answer or hang up.
Eventually, the ringtone died out on its own.
A long time later, the man pulled out a cigarette, bent his head, lit it, and exhaled a slow plume of smoke.
Xiao Zhang opened the car door and climbed in, bringing with him a gust of biting night wind.
“Captain Ji, let me take over. You’ve been at this for two nights straight—keep this up and even a body of steel couldn’t take it! How will you face your wife when you get home?”
Xiao Zhang had only joined the detective squad this year, the youngest and most lively of the group, always ready with a joke.
Ji Shen gave him a sidelong glance. “If you have a death wish, just say so.”
Xiao Zhang shut his mouth.
But after a while, he couldn’t help himself, reckless as ever. “Seriously, Captain Ji, your wife is so beautiful—leaving her home alone while you’re away on assignment, aren’t you worried someone might snatch her away?”

Ji Shen kicked him.
Was he worried?
Truthfully, he was.
He also had an unruly nephew who eyed Wen Shuang like a wolf.
Ji Shen pinched the bridge of his nose.
Xiao Zhang continued to grumble, “That Wang Quan is really slippery! We’ve been staking him out for so long and still haven’t caught him! It’s wearing everyone down.”
Ji Shen had pushed himself to the limit and was truly exhausted.
He prepared to get out of the car when suddenly Xiao Zhang, staring ahead, called out, “Captain Ji, something’s happening!”
Ji Shen turned. The house they’d been watching now had someone sneaking in, moving suspiciously.
“Call all units immediately. Move in for the arrest!”
In less than thirty seconds, the criminal investigation team was in position, quickly donning bulletproof vests and arming themselves.
Ji Shen led the charge.
He slipped along the wall, scaled into the house, and whispered, “Be careful. The suspect is extremely alert and likely armed.”
Three months ago, Wang Quan had killed his wife in a fit of rage over her infidelity, then fled the province. They’d only just tracked him here and set up a raid.
This man was vicious and desperate, a true fugitive, not easy to deal with.
During previous attempts to apprehend him, one officer had been seriously injured, two others mildly hurt.
That was why they’d called for reinforcements from Jinghai District’s detective squad.
Ji Shen moved with swift, practiced agility, prying open a window and slipping inside nearly soundlessly.
The house was almost pitch black.
The others were still behind him, not yet inside.
Ji Shen opened the door to the room—no one!
Just as he was about to turn, someone burst out from the wardrobe, dagger in hand, stabbing toward him. Ji Shen reacted instantly, subduing the attacker, but the man had another blade. With a fierce kick, Ji Shen sent the knife flying!
After a few minutes of fierce scuffling, Ji Shen emerged unscathed, pinning the suspect to the ground in handcuffs.
At that moment, the others finally caught up.
Hauling the man up, Ji Shen planted a foot on the table. “We’re done here.”
Xiao Zhang was stunned. “Captain Ji, you’re unbelievable!”
After capturing Wang Quan, they rushed him to the nearest police station without delay.
The chief, roused in the middle of the night, was overjoyed. Wang Quan had been on the run for three months, keeping him up at night for just as long. He hadn’t expected Ji Shen to catch him in a single move!

The chief had high hopes for Ji Shen: young and capable, only twenty-eight, and already head of the Jinghai District Detective Squad in the Imperial Capital.
Ji Shen’s rise had been meteoric, and, rare for someone in his position, not thanks to family connections.
His current status had been earned through real blood and sweat in the field.
Ji Shen had graduated with a master’s from the top Police University, and after refusing his family’s offers to arrange postings, he started from the grassroots. It was said that, at his toughest, he’d spent three years undercover on the border. His family had been dead set against it—he was their only son, and who would dare send him to the border?
But Ji Shen was tough and stubborn. He’d secretly booked a flight and left in the dead of night without telling anyone.
The Ji family had nearly been driven mad with worry!
Everyone had thought a rich young master wouldn’t be able to handle hardship, but Ji Shen had proved, with his own strength, that not only could he endure, he could excel.
He’d lain low on the border for two years, cracking a major case. Afterward, the Ji family pulled strings to transfer him back to Jinghai District. Thanks to his outstanding record, Ji Shen joined the detective squad and solved one major case after another, personally capturing several of the most dangerous criminals.
His achievements were nothing short of legendary!
That’s how he’d earned his current position.
But the chief believed Ji Shen’s career would not stop here—he was destined to climb even higher.
“Keep it up, Captain Ji. In another two years, we might have to start calling you something else.”
Ji Shen smiled. “So, my job here is done? Can I go?”
The chief had wanted to ask him to stay a few more days as a guest, but seeing Ji Shen so eager to return, he didn’t press.
That night, Wen Shuang was performing her third run of “Zhaojun’s Journey Beyond the Frontier.”
Because the previous two shows had received such rave reviews, audience members flocked online to recommend the production, making it an instant hit—tickets for this show sold out in a flash!
Yao Qianqian was ecstatic. “Shuangshuang, I just snuck a peek backstage, and the house is packed! You’re about to be famous!”
The makeup artist was drawing Wen Shuang’s brows.
Wen Shuang smiled lightly, “No matter how popular, dance is still a niche world. Compared to celebrities, it’s no contest.”
“But being famous in the dance world is still fame!” Yao Qianqian was genuinely happy for her. “I heard Xia Anran will be bedridden for half a month. If she saw this, she’d be fuming!”
Wen Shuang imagined Xia Anran’s furious face and her eyes crinkled in amusement. “She’d be livid, all right.”
The stage curtain rose slowly.
Snow whirled beyond the frontier.
Wen Shuang, as Wang Zhaojun, descended gracefully.
She took everyone’s breath away!
Including the man sitting in the VIP section.