Villain? No, I'll catch up with the protagonist after passing the civil service exam.

"Lu Jingyan! You stop right there!"

This roar, filled with the girl's desperate courage and her anger at being "executed" in public, froze the air in the entire special investigation team's office.

Lu Jingyan, who was just about to slip away, froze at the door.

He slowly turned around and looked at Su Xiaoxiao, who rushed towards him like a small cannonball, her cheeks flushed red and her eyes glistening with tears. His temples began to throb again.

He felt that he might have encountered the most difficult "case" of his career today.

This case doesn't involve law or evidence; it only involves something he's least good at dealing with—emotions.

"Comrade Su Xiaoxiao, please watch your words and attitude."

Lu Jingyan forced himself to calm down and tried to take control of the situation in the way he was most familiar with. "It's working time now. If there are any problems, we can sit down and talk calmly."

"I have nothing to talk to you about!"

Su Xiaoxiao was so angry at his businesslike attitude that she trembled all over, tears welling up in her eyes, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall.

"I have a question for you today!"

She stepped forward, her large eyes, which always shone with intelligence, now fixed intently on Lu Jingyan, filled with grievance and resentment.

"Are you made of wood?!"

"Every word I said last night was serious! I wasn't joking at all! Can't you tell?!"

"I just like you! I've liked you ever since the first time you led us to arrest Gu Yanchen! The way you arrest people, the way you explain the law, even the way you criticized me in the meeting just now, I like it all!"

After shouting it out in one breath, Su Xiaoxiao felt as if all the strength had been drained from her body.

She looked at the man in front of her, whose eyes were slightly widened in shock. She felt nervous and scared, but more than anything, she felt relieved after speaking her mind.

Liking someone is nothing to be ashamed of.

In the meeting room, Zhao Tiezhu and the other team members who hadn't had a chance to slip away became like spectators, eager to hear every single detail.

Faced with such a direct and passionate confession, any normal man, even if he doesn't accept it, should at least say a few kind words or offer a way out, right?

However, Lu Jingyan is not a normal man.

He is a stereotypical straight man who has been systematically formatted and whose mind is filled only with the Criminal Law and the Case Handling Manual.

After a ten-second period of high-speed CPU processing and logical analysis, he finally spoke.

He pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, a gesture that seemed to be making a final determination on a complex case.

"Comrade Su Xiaoxiao, I admire your courage."

His voice was calm, without any discernible emotion. "However, I cannot agree to your 'emotional appeal'."

Su Xiaoxiao's heart sank.

"Why?" She bit her lip, her voice trembling slightly without her even realizing it.

There are three reasons.

Lu Jingyan held up three fingers, as if he were educating the prisoner about the law.

"First, we are colleagues, and in a superior-subordinate relationship. According to the Civil Service Recusal Regulations and the unwritten rules of the police force, office romances can seriously affect the professionalism and impartiality of the team. I do not want my personal feelings to bring any negative impact to the Special Investigations Unit."

"Secondly, our work is too dangerous. I can't guarantee I'll come back safely from every mission. I don't want my profession to ruin a good girl's youth."

As he said this, his tone softened slightly, but then his third reason plunged Su Xiaoxiao into despair.

"Third, and most importantly."

Lu Jingyan looked at her with an extremely serious gaze, even carrying a hint of... the rigor of an academic discussion.

"According to psychological research, when women are faced with a strong, reliable, and reassuring man, they are prone to a cognitive bias called the 'suspension bridge effect,' mistaking admiration and dependence for love."

"Your feelings for me are very likely in this category. It's an illusion, irrational, and unsustainable."

Therefore, in conclusion...

Lu Jingyan delivered his final concluding remarks, his tone as calm as if he were announcing a given fact.

"I reject your 'confession'."

"I hope you can adjust your mindset as soon as possible and put your energy into your work."

"After all, the entertainment industry we're about to face is far more complicated than my personal relationship issues."

After saying that, he nodded to Su Xiao-Xiao, thus ending the conversation, then turned around and opened the office door.

The whole process was logically clear, well-founded, and even carried a touch of humanistic concern (although in an extremely bizarre way).

But to Su Xiaoxiao, it was more hurtful than any vicious language.

What is the "suspension bridge effect"?

What is "cognitive bias"?

What is an "illusion"?

So, the love she had mustered up for half her life to finally express was, in this man's eyes, a "disease" that needed to be scientifically corrected?

"Lu Jingyan!"

Su Xiaoxiao finally couldn't hold back anymore, and tears rolled down her cheeks like beads from a broken string.

Facing the retreating figure disappearing through the doorway, she used all her remaining strength to utter the most vicious and desperate curse:

"You emotionless blockhead! Stone! Steel lump!"

"You deserve to be single forever!"

After saying that, she covered her face, could no longer control herself, and ran away crying.

In the office, Zhao Tiezhu and the others looked at each other, all lowering their heads, not daring to look at Lu Jingyan's expression.

It’s over.

This really broke the girl's heart.

Lu Jingyan stood at the door, his steps halting.

As he listened to the fading cries in the corridor, the string of "rules" in his heart seemed to be plucked hard by something.

He is not heartless.

He just didn't know how to settle that heart that didn't belong to law and justice.

He remained silent for a long time, but ultimately said nothing.

He slowly closed the door, shutting out all the noise and emotions.

He walked to his desk, sat down, and tried to numb his somewhat chaotic mind with work.

However, he paused slightly when his gaze fell on the table.

On the table, a letter had appeared out of nowhere.

A letter wrapped tightly in kraft paper without any signature.

There was no stamp or address on the envelope.

Only a few crooked words cut from newspaper were pieced together to form a chilling line:

Stay away from her.

Lu Jingyan's eyes instantly turned cold.

He picked up the envelope and sniffed it gently.

There was no perfume smell, nor any blood smell.

There was only a faint... faint scent, like something out of a children's snack...

Spicy snack flavor?

He tore open the envelope.

Inside was a piece of paper torn from a workbook.

The words above, also cut from newspaper, were pieced together to form an even more arrogant threat:

[Don't you dare bully Sister Su Xiaoxiao!]

Otherwise, I'll let you...

[To die without a burial place!]