When A Snail Falls in Love

To most people in Lin City, this summer was hot, peaceful and ordinary.

To Xu Xu and Ji Bai, this summer was one of excitement and new experiences.

For Ye Zixiao, even though he stood at the top of the Ye Group at the tender age of 25, his life was nothing but chaos and ruin. The whole world was seemingly against him.

After the news of the Ye Group’s incident broke out, their stock price plummeted to a new low, where it continued to drop even to this day.

At the same time, Zhang Shiyong announced his divorce to the public and also stated that he would be leaving the Ye Group to start a new company. He brought all his connections, clients and employees from the real estate industry along with him, which was basically half of the Ye Group.

Not to mention, all the suppliers and distributors were proposing terminating their contracts with the Ye Group because they were either being provoked by Zhang Shiyong or because they wanted to protect themselves… With that, the capital chain of a huge company was broken.

The company was falling apart, and so the once arrogant Fourth Mister Ye had all but completely thrown away his pride and now spent his days going around to plead for investments.

Nevertheless, the size of the Ye Group was too big, and after taking such a big hit, everyone claimed that they were unable to help – they refused to invest their money in a sinking ship. Even banks that used to be on good terms with the Ye Group told Ye Zixiao that they would have to demand payment of the huge loans from before if he could not stabilize the stock price and the company’s credibility soon.

The only person who was willing to invest in the company was Zhang Shiyong. However, he wanted to buy the entire the Ye Group and the conditions that he offered was extremely harsh.

When Ye Zixiao heard his conditions, he promptly kicked Zhang Shiyong’s messenger out of his office. “F*ck off.”

Ye Zixiao was prepared for bankruptcy.

It was at this time that Ye Jin, who was now in prison, wanted to meet him.

She had always been the sanest person in the entire Ye Group. Ever since the beginning, she had protected the Ye Family to the best of her abilities. This time was no exception.

“Zixiao, the Ye Group’s not as bad as you think. Even at its worst, it’s still stronger than a newly formed company. As long as its foundations are there, you will still be able to access its many high-quality assets and business connections. If you can get through this rough patch, then you can easily make a comeback in the future. Trust me as someone who is naturally far-sighted. The real reason why no one is willing to invest in the company is that they want to take advantage of the situation and lower the price of your shares.

“One of my college classmate’s husband is a wealthy businessman living in Hong Kong, and he’s very influential throughout Southeast Asia. You can try to contact him. I heard that this person has many solid assets and that he’s a very savvy businessman. Because of this, you have to be mentally prepared as his offer might be even harsher than Zhang Shiyong’s. Nevertheless, he’s still a professional investor so he will not want to gobble up Ye’s management rights. As long as he is willing to invest to help save the Ye Group today, then we can still rise from the ashes tomorrow.”

Soon, Ye Zixiao contacted the wealthy Hong Kong businessman.

As Ye Jin expected, the other party’s offer was harsher than Zhang Shiyong’s. Even so, they proposed their termination conditions after only buying 40 percent of the Ye Group’s shares. This meant that as long as Ye Zixiao was able to make enough money in the future, he could still repurchase the shares from them.

On the day both parties’ representatives signed the contract, Ye Zixiao personally called his new shareholder.

The wealthy businessman who had the surname Chen picked up the call. His tone was very easy-going, so Ye Zixiao did not feel too pressured. After chatting for a short while, Ye Zixiao could not help but ask, “Why were you willing to believe in me?”

Mr. Chen smiled and said, “Not every young man has experienced falling from the top of a mountain to the bottom of the valley like you.”

There was only bitterness in his heart. He remained silent for a moment and answered, “Thank you. I will not let you down.”

He was in such a desperate situation, but he had thankfully been snatched from the jaws of death. Now began the long and arduous journey back to the top.

In the past, Ye Zixiao’s life was all about money, power, and the drive for profit. Now, the once young and frivolous young man had his life flipped upside down: family, love, business, finance, everything came crashing down as he shouldered the heavy burden of the Ye Group – everything else became insignificant.

On a Saturday afternoon, the sun was shining brightly. Lin City was peaceful as usual whilst the streets were packed with carefree men and women.

Ji Bai had a cup of tea and a box of takeaway in hand as he sat in the empty office by himself while he casually surfed the internet.

Old Wu had something to do, so he went to the office that day. When he saw Ji Bai, he smiled and asked, “Why aren’t you spending time with your girlfriend today?”

Ji Bai would love to spend time with her. As a criminal police officer, normally he would be extremely busy when he was working on a case and would not have any spare time at all. Since he now had the chance to relax for a few days, he would naturally want to be with Xu Xu to hone and strengthen their relationship. Nonetheless, Xu Xu was busier than him and she often disappeared on the weekends.

After Old Wu left, Ji Bai continued to sit in the office for a while. Then, he simply picked up his car keys and drove over to visit Xu Xu who was in the police academy.

The trees swayed around coyly as people came and went around the brown academy building. Ji Bai walked around the building, and he easily found Xu Xu working in a small office.

Xu Xu was here today to fulfill her lecturer’s request to attend a special report conference in the academy. While she was preparing the conference materials, she was a little taken aback by the sudden appearance of Ji Bai. Even so, she frowned at him and said, “The conference will begin in a while and it will be at least three hours long.”

Ji Bai sat in front of her calmly and said, “No worries, I’m also interested in the topic of the conference, so I’ll listen to the talk while I’m at it.”

Since this was his decision, Xu Xu ignored him and continued with her work.

Ji Bai picked up the documents on the table, flipped through and thought, ‘I’m probably not very interested in the long-term plan and technological application of the secondary criminal psychology database.’ Thus, he simply folded his hands behind his head and looked at his girlfriend.

Xu Xu wore a black blazer today, probably due to the fact that she was here today to attend a professional conference. The deep colors accentuated her fair, snow-like skin. Meanwhile, perhaps because she had stayed in the office for too long, but her tiny face was now a little red. Her soft short hair fell lazily on her forehead and she looked kind of absent-mindedly cute…

Xu Xu suddenly looked up at him and her face seemed to get redder. She frowned and said, “Can you leave for now? I will be distracted if you’re here.”

Ji Bai who had been told off leaned against his car and lit a cigarette. When he thought about the lightly timid yet somewhat impatient look on her face, he could not help but laugh. He did not want to leave.

The two of them had been together for two weeks now, throughout which Xu Xu had always been very considerate towards him. Moreover, she was even more feminine than he had expected as she insisted on making him breakfast every morning. When the weather got hot or cold, she would remind him to pay attention to it. Even when they were being intimate, she would cooperate submissively. Sometimes, she would even take the initiative even though they were still stuck in the kissing-hugging stage.

She was neither bashful nor pretentious. Instead, she was so straightforward and sincere that it made his heart ache. Most of the time, she would try to do everything that a boyfriend should do, which often made Ji Bai quite amused.

Nonetheless, Ji Bai knew that he was still far away from truly winning Xu Xu’s heart.

Ji Bai seemed to be introverted and calm, but he was actually a very controlling person. Back when he was a young upstart who had just left Beijing to venture into Lin City’s police industry, one could immediately tell that he was a young and eager person.

His attitude towards his work was the same towards his partner.

He wanted to dominate Xu Xu.

That kind of dominance was not that he strived to be superior to Xu Xu or for her to lose her independence. No, he liked her independence and appreciated her strength.

He just hoped that one day, his woman would be physically and mentally obsessed with him. His ideal state of love is when two people are so in love that they were irreplaceable to each other. Whenever he thought about this, his desire to “possess” Xu Xu likewise grew.

Although Xu Xu liked him, she seemed to treat love the same she treated her work and studies. She would plan and invest everything step-by-step in a very calm and composed manner.

It looked like there were still many battles ahead if he wanted Xu Xu to fall even more deeply in love with him.

Ji Bai continued to stand there for a while. By now, more and more students started entering the school building, and several leaders of the academy had also arrived.

Ji Bai knew them, so they chatted for a while and one of them asked, “Captain Ji, why did you come here today?”

Ji Bai glanced at the special notice on the wall and smiled. “I came to run some errands, but I’ve already completed them. I’m very interested in the topic of the conference today. Is it okay if I sit in for the talk?”

The conference started right on time and the multimedia hall which could accommodate hundreds of people was filled to the brim.

Xu Xu thought that Ji Bai had already left, so she focused on sitting in the work area to prepare for the talk as she was set to be the first one to go on the stage to give her special report. However, before she went on stage, the host introduced all the leaders present. The host was especially excited and honored when he introduced one of the leaders that had apparently been invited at the last minute. “The captain of the City Criminal Police Unit, Captain Ji Bai! Give Captain Ji Bai a round of applause to welcome him.”

The lights were shining brightly, and Xu Xu who had originally planned to ignore Ji Bai had her plan completely ruined as she looked down and saw him seated smack in the middle of the first row, which was the most eye-catching position. He was looking at her standing under the spotlight whilst staring at her unblinkingly.

Xu Xu performed fairly well. She presented the whole report clearly and with an expressionless look on her face. When she stepped down from the stage, her junior quickly walked up to her. “Senior sister… drink some water, don’t be nervous.”

Xu Xu shrugged. “I’m not nervous.”

Her junior brother looked back at her bright red face. “Oh.”

The conference was nearing its end when Ji Bai was unexpectedly invited to the stage to answer the questions asked by the students. Naturally, he was not able to decline the request.

Initially, Xu Xu had lowered her head and did not want to look at him. Nonetheless, when she heard him concisely answer a few professional questions with his low and powerful voice, she could not help but stare at him as the crowd applauded.

He wore a long-sleeved casual T-shirt and he stood up straight on the stage. He had a solemn look on his face, a sharp gaze in his eyes and a cold aura around him which absolutely captivated everyone’s attention.

Xu Xu stared at him for a while, then she decided to forgive him for exploiting the public talk for his own interest and flirting with her in public.

Ten minutes after the conference ended, Xu Xu got into Ji Bai’s car.

Zhao Han was holding an engagement party with his girlfriend in a hotel that night and he had invited all his colleagues from the police station to attend.

Because there were colleagues from other departments, Xu Xu went ahead first after parking the car in order to avoid any suspicion. Ji Bai saw her carrying a big bag and asked, “Do you want to leave it in the car?”

Xu Xu shook her head. “I have to change my outfit.”

Ji Bai looked at the black suit that she was wearing and thought that it was only appropriate to change it, so he did not pay it too much attention. He sat in the car for a while before making his way inside slowly.

The ceremony was held in the hotel’s open-air garden and the quiet night was interrupted by the dazzling faerie lights coupled with the revel of partygoers. There were many people around, and when Ji Bai scanned the area, he saw nothing but gorgeously dressed men and women. Ji Bai stood at the entrance for a while but unfortunately, was not able to spot Xu Xu. As he was doing this, Da Hu, Old Wu and the rest who were sitting in the front row of beach chairs suddenly called out for him.

Ji Bai walked over there and sat down. Then, Da Hu nudged him in the ribs and whispered softly, “She’s wearing a dress.”