After the Divorce, I Went Back to My Hometown, Pregnant and Became the Sheriff - Chapter 2

The shift ended late. By the time Jiang Xu returned home, it was already past two in the morning.

The lighting in the old staff apartment was a dim, sickly yellow. He shrugged off his uniform jacket, which was heavy with the scent of tobacco, and gently pushed open the bedroom door. A small figure was curled up on the bed. Jiang Xu approached the bedside and let his fingertips hover near the sleeping boy. The boy’s long, curled eyelashes fluttered, but he did not wake.

Jiang Xu withdrew his hand, turned the air conditioner up a few degrees, and retreated to his own bedroom.

He pulled a bottle of suppressants from the nightstand, only to find it empty. He had to rummage through the bottom drawer to find a backup supply and quickly swallowed a dose. A cramp soon rippled through his stomach, forcing him to lean against the cabinet before sinking into a worn-out sofa nearby.

Lately, his dosage had been increasing, and the side effects were becoming more severe with every use. Jiang Xu yanked off his tie, suppressing a ragged breath, and tossed it into a drawer along with his transit pass and other trinkets. As his hand left the drawer, his fingers brushed against something cold. By reflex, he hooked his finger around it and pulled it out.

It was a plain silver ring.

The understated band reflected a dull light under the lamp. Jiang Xu rubbed it absentmindedly. He had not worn it for nearly five years and had assumed he lost it. He had not expected to still have it. He took a sharp breath and tossed the ring toward the trash can in the corner of the room. The metallic clatter rang out loudly in the silence of the night. His face pale, Jiang Xu leaned back into the sofa until he was almost completely buried in it.

The following day was the New Year’s Day holiday. As a grassroots officer, it was rare for Jiang Xu to be granted time off, so he spent the morning taking his son to the small playground at the entrance of their community.

Under the warmth of the winter sun, Jiang Xu felt drowsy. However, a couple living in his building was chatting with him enthusiastically, so he was forced to keep up appearances and respond.

A commotion of hurried footsteps erupted in the distance. Jiang Xu squinted toward the source of the noise and saw a middle-aged man in a peaked cap sprinting toward them, clutching a woman’s handbag.

Jiang Xu shifted his gaze to his son, who was currently playing on the slide.

“Stop right there!”

The shouting grew louder. “Security Bureau! Stop!” The clear, ringing voice cut through the air. Even from this distance, Jiang Xu recognized it immediately.

The voice sounded familiar, giving Jiang Xu a sinking feeling. When the pursuer finally came into view, it was indeed He Xianxing. Jiang Xu turned his head slightly and hunched his shoulders, trying to minimize his presence. On a rare day off, the last thing he wanted was to deal with a sudden robbery.

Just as the two were about to bolt through the playground, He Xianxing suddenly accelerated. He threw himself forward, tackling the man in the peaked cap to the ground. They landed with a heavy thud, right at Jiang Xu’s feet.

The thief cried out in pain, swung the leather bag, and slammed it toward He Xianxing’s forehead. He Xianxing leaned back sharply to avoid the blow, bringing him face-to-face with Jiang Xu, who was sitting on the bench.

He Xianxing froze in surprise. The thief seized the moment to roll over and flee, but He Xianxing’s reflexes were too fast. He grabbed the man’s ankle with one hand and drew his baton with the other, striking the thief hard across the back. The metal chain of the baton hissed through the air. The thief collapsed again in pain. He Xianxing stepped over him, pinning his knee into the man’s lower back to secure him.

“Ow! Ow! Officer, I was wrong! Take it easy, take it easy!” the thief begged.

“Try moving again if you want to die!” He Xianxing pressed his shoulder into the thief’s back, pinned the man’s arms behind him, and reached for the handcuffs at his waist. With a sharp click, the man was restrained. The entire sequence of movements was as smooth as flowing water.

He brushed the dust off his hands, hauled the thief up, and looked at Jiang Xu. “Good morning, Officer Jiang Xu.”

Jiang Xu stood up reluctantly. “Good morning, Inspector He.”

He Xianxing frowned slightly. “You are off today?” The implication was clear: even on holiday, he should not have been an idle bystander.

“Yes,” Jiang Xu replied, choosing to take the question literally and ignore the subtext.

“What are you doing here so early?” Beads of sweat sparkled on He Xianxing’s forehead in the sunlight. He wiped them away, and when Jiang Xu mentioned taking his child out to play, he paused in surprise. “You are married?”

“I am divorced.”

“Oh, and the child is…”

Jiang Xu pointed to the little boy sitting at the top of the slide. The boy, about four or five years old, was hugging his knees and staring at He Xianxing without blinking. He Xianxing smiled and waved.

“Tongtong. Jiang Tong,” Jiang Xu added. “That is his name.”

He Xianxing smiled and called out, “Hello there, Tongtong!”

Before his words could even land, the previously dejected thief suddenly lunged forward. He Xianxing stumbled, caught off guard. Just as he was about to turn, the man pulled a fruit knife from nowhere.

The blade flashed as it swung toward him. Out of instinct, Jiang Xu grabbed He Xianxing by the waist and hauled him away from the path of the knife. In that split second, the thief turned and bolted. He Xianxing cursed and chased after him for a few steps before turning back to grab Jiang Xu’s wrist. “Don’t just stand there, give me a hand!”

“What!” Jiang Xu was dragged forward without a choice. In the heat of the moment, he could only look back and hurriedly ask the neighbors to watch over Tongtong.

The thief fled across the street, crossing during the final second of a green light. The signal turned red, trapping Jiang Xu and He Xianxing behind a wall of flowing traffic. Jiang Xu clicked his tongue, forced to accept that his holiday was ruined. He turned to He Xianxing and shouted, “Follow me!”

This area was near where he lived. Jiang Xu led He Xianxing through backstreets to intercept the thief from two directions. However, the thief was evidently even more familiar with the terrain. He sprinted into an abandoned, unfinished building and climbed all the way to the fourth-floor rooftop.

He Xianxing ran ahead and shouldered the iron door open. “Stop!” He drew his handgun and glanced at Jiang Xu, who was approaching from the other side. Jiang Xu shook his head, signaling him not to reveal his position.

“There is no way out. Surrender!”

The black muzzle of the gun was locked onto the man’s forehead. The man backed away cautiously, complaining, “I have not killed anyone or started any fires. You have the bag back. Can you not just turn a blind eye?”

“Tell it to the station!” He Xianxing closed in. The thief raised both hands. “I surrender, I surrender!”

The moment He Xianxing lowered his aim slightly, the thief turned and jumped off the roof without looking back. It happened so fast that Jiang Xu bolted to the edge and reached down, but his hand only grazed the corner of the man’s jacket.

A thick nylon rope, previously used by workers to transport cement, was tied to the edge of the roof. The thief was using it to slide down. The rope trembled violently under his weight. The wind on the roof was picking up; if they did not move now, the rope would likely snap. Jiang Xu braced one hand on the concrete edge to vault over, but He Xianxing grabbed him.

“Wait!” He Xianxing glanced at the strained rope. “It is dangerous!” Before he could finish, the rope swung violently and snapped in the middle with a loud crack.

Both men watched in shock. Fortunately, the thief had already slid down to nearly the first floor. Although he crashed to the ground, it was not life-threatening. The thief rolled a few times, scrambled up, and did not forget to flip them both off before he fled.

“Damn it!” He Xianxing gritted his teeth. “He got away!”

“There is still a chance.”

“What?”

Jiang Xu kept his eyes fixed on the limping figure below. “The suspect is armed with a knife and poses a serious threat. In G-City, officers at the rank of Inspector or above have the authority to open fire on such dangerous individuals if warning shots fail.”

He looked at He Xianxing. “His left leg is injured. Aim for the right leg, and he will not be able to run.”

He Xianxing’s eyes widened, and his breathing became shallow. “But this is…” His voice sounded strained.

“We are running out of time.” Jiang Xu did not understand why he was hesitating.

The wind howled. He Xianxing looked down at the street where the thief was about to disappear from sight. His Adam’s apple bobbed. After a moment, he raised his gun. Jiang Xu watched He Xianxing’s profile: he saw sweat roll from his brow to the bridge of his nose before dripping onto the cold concrete.

The hand holding the gun was shaking violently in the wind.

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