First, then, love.

Noon, the special police brigade's canteen.

At mealtime, the canteen was bustling with noise, filled with tough guys in black training uniforms, wolfing down their food on stainless steel trays.

He Zheng carried his tray and sat down at an empty table by the window.

Two meat dishes, two vegetable dishes, and three bowls of rice—that's the standard.

He's not picky about food and eats quickly.

Old Li, carrying a tray, happily came over and sat down opposite He Zheng.

"Captain, the food is pretty good today, the braised pork ribs are quite flavorful." Old Li shoveled a big mouthful of rice into his mouth.

He Zheng ignored him and continued eating with his head down.

Old Li looked around furtively to make sure no one was paying attention.

He lowered his voice and leaned forward.

"Captain, I have something to tell you, don't be angry." Old Li winked.

He Zheng didn't even lift his eyelids. "Speak."

Old Li stretched out a greasy finger and pointed at the collar of He Zheng's training uniform.

"There's a cat hair stuck to your collar, yellow and white," Old Li grinned lewdly. "And why do you smell so floral today, like you're wearing perfume? Tsk tsk tsk..."

Eye contact.

It's as if they're saying: Did you just have sex with your sister-in-law this morning and not take a shower yet?

He Zheng paused in his action of picking up the ribs.

He looked down and glanced at his collar.

Sure enough, a conspicuous cat hair arrogantly proclaimed its presence on the pure black fabric.

As for the scent on your body.

He recalled the strong floral scent emanating from Shu Yao outside the bathroom that morning; the fragrance not only lingered in the air but had also clearly seeped onto his clothes.

He Zheng's face instantly darkened, turning as black as the bottom of a pot.

When Lao Li saw the captain's expression change, he wasn't scared at all; instead, he became even more excited.

He turned his head and shouted at the SWAT team members at the next table who were engrossed in eating.

"Brothers! Shocking news! Our living devil captain has fallen from grace!" Old Li shouted at the top of his lungs, eager to stir up trouble.

The team members immediately gathered around with their trays, their faces full of gossip.

"Brother Li, what's the news? What happened to the captain?"

Old Li pointed at He Zheng, his face full of heartache.

"Smell it, smell the captain! And look at his fur! He's been completely corrupted by sugar-coated bullets! This tough, iron-willed man has become a domestic servant, and he even smells like a woman!"

The team members gasped and stared at He Zheng in disbelief.

"Holy crap, really? Captain, that was fast!"

"My sister-in-law's skills in managing her husband are amazing!"

"Captain, where's War God? Didn't he get into a fight with his wife's cat?"

A group of people were talking at once, making a racket like a vegetable market.

He Zheng sat in the chair, still holding chopsticks in his hand.

He slowly raised his head.

His dark, piercing gaze swept across the faces of the onlookers like knives.

Finally, the image freezes on Old Li's face, which is smiling the most.

The surroundings fell silent instantly, and everyone felt that familiar yet terrifying killing intent.

He Zheng put down his chopsticks.

Long legs stretched out under the table.

"Bang."

With a precise and vicious kick, he struck Old Li's shinbone.

The force was immense, showing no mercy.

"Ouch—" Old Li let out a pig-like scream, dropped his chopsticks, and clutched his calf, gasping for breath in pain as tears welled up in his eyes.

"Captain, you're just angry and embarrassed... resorting to dirty tricks..." Old Li accused through gritted teeth.

The onlookers were so frightened that they scattered like birds and beasts, running away faster than rabbits with their trays in their hands.

He Zheng slowly pulled out a tissue and wiped his mouth.

He stood up and picked up the empty plate.

Looking down at Old Li, who was grimacing in pain.

"You'll be doing an off-road test this afternoon, so add 10 kilograms to your load."

His tone was cold and unyielding, leaving no room for argument.

"Also, keep your mouth shut. If you keep spouting nonsense, the whole team will have extra combat training tomorrow, and you'll be their sparring partner."

After saying that, He Zheng turned and walked towards the tableware recycling area, leaving Old Li groaning in despair.

*

5:30 p.m.

Special police training ground.

As the sun sets, it dyes the horizon blood red.

He Zheng had just finished his last shooting training session and removed his goggles.

Sweat streamed down his angular face, soaking his pure black training uniform, which clung to his body and exuded a strong smell of male hormones and gunpowder.

He returned his sidearm to the gun attendant and headed towards the rest area.

I picked up the phone that was on the bench, and the screen lit up.

There is one unread WeChat message.

Sender: Ancestor.

He Zheng clicked on it.

Ancestor: Bring a chestnut cake from the place in the west of the city after get off work, the one with a long queue.

Then came another one: domineering.

Ancestor: I won't eat it if it gets cold.

He Zheng looked at the two lines of text on the screen.

His eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly.

The chestnut cake shop in the west of the city is a popular online store. He had heard that several married members of the team were often ordered by their wives to queue up, and that it was said that it would take at least half an hour to buy one.

Right now, it's rush hour. Driving through the long queue and then waiting in line to buy things takes a lot of time.

More importantly, there are still ten minutes left before the end of the workday.

According to his usual habits, the brigade leader never left early, and often worked overtime until late at night. The people in the brigade were used to the light in his office always being on.

He Zheng held his phone, his fingers tracing the screen a couple of times.

He turned his head and glanced at the new team members who were being trained by Li Meng on the playground, howling in pain.

Then, he did something that made everyone's jaws drop.

He turned around and strode towards the locker room.

Five minutes later.

He Zheng changed into a clean black casual outfit, held his car keys in his hand, and pushed open the door to the brigade office.

As I passed through the corridor, I ran into Old Li, who had just returned from the playground.

Old Li was sweating profusely, holding a stopwatch in his hand. When he saw He Zheng, who had changed into civilian clothes and was about to leave, his eyes widened as if he had seen a ghost.

"Captain? You... where are you going?" Old Li stammered. This was unprecedented; the captain hadn't worked overtime and was preparing to leave before the scheduled time.

He Zheng twirled the car key on his finger, making a crisp metallic sound.

He didn't stop, walked past Old Li, and didn't even turn his head.

His tone was so calm, as if he were talking about a matter of life and death.

"Go to the west side of the city to queue up and buy a cake."

Old Li stood there, mouth agape, unable to close it for a long time.

Only after He Zheng's broad figure disappeared at the end of the corridor did he suddenly slap his thigh.

"Holy crap, the King of Hell has really become henpecked!"

For the first time ever, I clocked in on time.