Perhaps because Jiang Tianxin is a police officer, the Jiang family has built a very large gym with very complete equipment.
Jiang Tianxin turned on the air conditioner, walked to the side and began to stretch, looking at Xu Zifan and saying, "Daoist Master, please make yourself at home, don't be shy."
Xu Zifan, of course, wasn't shy. The original owner of this body had seen ghosts since childhood, making him timid and fearful. He had no playmates and spent all his time either at school or hiding at home, so his physique was really weak. If it weren't for the fact that he had built up some strength by doing housework every day, he would probably be considered frail. He needed to train properly.
His muscles were too stiff, so he didn't plan to do anything strenuous for the time being and instead stretched slowly on the side.
After warming up, Jiang Tianxin got on the treadmill and started running. After Xu Zifan finished stretching one leg, Jiang Tianxin, covered in sweat, walked past him and did push-ups and sit-ups, more than a hundred per minute, for seven or eight minutes. Then she did pull-ups, and her exposed shoulders and arms showed beautiful muscle lines from the effort. They weren't big muscles, but they looked very powerful.
Xu Zifan watched from the sidelines, marveling at their physical abilities. "Their physical fitness is incredible! Are police officers these days so physically fit?"
He stretched his legs, panting heavily, and went to rest against the wall. He turned his head and saw Jiang Tianxin putting on boxing gloves and punching the punching bag. At this moment, Jiang Tianxin's eyes were sharp, his aura was full, his movements were crisp and clean, and his punches were fast and powerful. Every move was worthy of an instructor.
"Beautiful!" Xu Zifan clapped his hands in appreciation as he watched her deliver a tricky and powerful move. "Officer Jiang is indeed quite skilled. No wonder she was able to save Jiang Dong that day."
Jiang Tianxin stopped, slightly out of breath, and walked up to him, smiling slightly. "Thank you for the compliment, Daoist Master. I love martial arts; I've won national championships in boxing, taekwondo, karate, and sanda. When my brother was bullied at school, I was always the one who fought back. I'm very protective of my own, and you, Daoist Master, are my brother's savior. If you ever need anything, just let me know, and I'll do everything in my power to help. However…"
She paused, looked at Xu Zifan with her bright eyes, and said seriously, "It absolutely cannot be anything illegal. You are my brother's savior, but I am a police officer, and the law does not tolerate any leniency. I hope you will remember that, Taoist Master."
Xu Zifan narrowed his eyes, belatedly realizing that the little girl's real intention wasn't what she seemed; she was just trying to scare him.
He stood up straight, a head taller than Jiang Tianxin, and with a turn, he braced himself against the wall, trapping her inside. Looking down at her, he said, "Officer Jiang, did you see the miserable state of that little Taoist priest yesterday? Do you want to try it yourself?"
Jiang Tianxin raised her chin, showing no fear whatsoever, "Are you trying to scare me?"
"Same to you." Xu Zifan flipped his palm, revealing a yellow talisman between his fingers, and waved it in front of her. "The little Taoist priest's pants were torn yesterday, Officer Jiang, aren't you afraid?"
"Of course I'm not afraid. Let's see if it's real or fake." Jiang Tianxin firmly believed that everything illogical could be explained by science. He said this without even blinking and reached for the yellow talisman.
Xu Zifan dodged slightly, then switched to another talisman, laughing, "It's too much to make a girl look so bad. Here's another one for you to play with, to make you happy." With that, he slapped her forehead, and the yellow talisman vanished instantly.
Jiang Tianxin stared intently at his hands, then looked him up and down several times, even pulling him to examine him from head to toe. She frowned and asked, "Where did you come from? Where did you go?"
Xu Zifan spread his hands and shrugged. "I already said it's metaphysical magic. Do you really think there's such high-level magic?"
He walked past Jiang Tianxin, hands in his pockets, and said with a light laugh, "Miss Police Officer, enjoy your wonderful journey today."
Jiang Tianxin realized what was happening and angrily threw the towel around her neck to the ground. She had intended to scare him, but not only had she failed, he had also mocked her. This scoundrel was more cunning than anyone she had ever arrested!
However, the more mysterious and fantastical the methods seemed, the more wary she became. The Master Wang they had previously encountered was very famous among the high-ranking officials and wealthy individuals, even more so than the Taoist priests they had hired. Many wives of officials and celebrities had sought Master Wang's help to resolve their troubles, all believing him to be incredibly powerful. But in the end, it turned out that his methods were all high-IQ scams, simply incorporating some psychological manipulation.
The more capable Xu Zifan was, the easier it was for people to trust him, but she couldn't think of a way to expose him and felt utterly helpless.
The country has been cracking down on feudal superstition, but unfortunately, when it comes to scams, sometimes the victims don't realize they've been scammed. Instead, they deeply believe in the scammers and are willing to give everything they have, and the police can't do anything about it.
Just like with pyramid schemes, often there's no evidence. Seeing elderly people spending their life savings on a bunch of useless things, the police are powerless. Now that her parents and brother are convinced Xu Zifan is involved, what can she do besides keep a close eye on him?
Jiang Tianxin grew increasingly angry and decided to take the next few days off to stay close to Xu Zifan. She bumped into the housekeeper in the corridor, and before she could speak, she flashed a sweet smile that startled even herself. The housekeeper was also startled, "Miss, is there something you need?"
Jiang Tianxin was stunned for a moment. "It's okay, I'll go back to my room." After saying that, she smiled sweetly again, completely unable to control her facial muscles.
She immediately lowered her head and hurried back to her room. The butler stood there for a long time, muttering to himself, "Is Miss sick? Or has she been through some kind of shock?"
Jiang Tianxin returned to her room and stared at herself in the mirror for a long time. Everything seemed normal, and she couldn't figure out what had happened. She heard a maid calling her for dinner, so she had to put the matter aside for the time being, quickly took a shower, changed her clothes, and went downstairs. Just as she reached the dining table then she gave a sweet smile.
Jiang's mother was taken aback, then immediately smiled, "Xin Xin is so happy today? What good thing happened?"
Jiang Dong was facing Jiang Tianxin when he was so startled that he dropped his steamed bun. "Holy crap! Tianxin, are you possessed?"
Mr. Jiang looked at his daughter with surprise. It seemed that no one had seen her smile like this since she turned eight. It turned out that his daughter's smile was quite cute.
Jiang Tianxin was stunned. She looked at Xu Zifan and said angrily, "What did you do?"
What's most infuriating is that even though she's so angry, she still smiles at Xu Zifan and speaks in a very pleasant voice, like a cute little girl. It's infuriating!
Xu Zifan calmly ate his breakfast and smiled, "Officer Jiang seems very happy today. Girls should smile more; it brings good fortune. Mr. and Mrs. Jiang, don't you think Officer Jiang looks much better with a smile than with that cold demeanor?"
Mr. Jiang immediately understood that Xu Zifan was giving Jiang Tianxin a little lesson. He coughed a few times and said tactfully, "It's good to smile more, but Xin Xin has to manage a group of people at work. If something happens, it may be difficult to gain the trust of the public and make it inconvenient to handle cases in the future."
Xu Zifan laughed and said, "Officer Jiang is a lucky man, nothing will happen to him. Only someone as foul-mouthed as that little Taoist priest would run into trouble."
This indirectly proved that Jiang Tianxin wouldn't embarrass herself; she was just smiling. Jiang's parents breathed a sigh of relief, finding their sweet-smiling daughter somewhat amusing and endearing.
Jiang's mother warmly pulled Jiang Tianxin to sit down, gave her her favorite snacks, and couldn't help but keep looking at her, praising her with a smile: "Xinxin's smile is so beautiful, like a little princess. You haven't worn that pink cake dress that Mom bought you yet, why don't you try it on later? The sun is so nice today, shall we go to the yard to take some pictures to remember this moment?"
"Mom!" Jiang Tianxin called out in a way that sounded like she was being coquettish, which made her so angry that she lowered her head and ate like crazy without looking at anyone. Finally, she returned to normal and simply vented her anger on the food.
Jiang Dong slapped the table and laughed heartily. As soon as Jiang Tianxin sat down, he took out his phone and kept taking pictures. He even deliberately asked her to look up, and said gloatingly, "I told you not to believe the master, now you believe him, right? You experienced it firsthand, Master, how did you do it? Let her keep smiling from now on. It feels like the little ice cube has suddenly turned into a little sun. My god, I can finally show off my cute little sister!"
"Jiang Dong! This is psychological hypnotic suggestion, even a skilled psychologist can do it! Stop gloating, who wants to be your little sun!" Jiang Tianxin was furious, but when she looked up, she couldn't help but laugh, just as Jiang Dong caught her in the act. Jiang Dong was almost laughing hysterically!
Seeing that her family was all standing on Xu Zifan's side, and that Xu Zifan was also looking at her and smiling, Jiang Tianxin suddenly couldn't eat a single bite of food. She got up, ran upstairs, and locked herself in her room.
Mr. Jiang smiled and shook his head, saying to Xu Zifan, "I'm truly sorry, but Xin Xin has always been interested in things with rules and regulations. She's more rational than others and has found scientific answers to many of the problems she encounters. Therefore, she may find it difficult to accept something as intangible as metaphysics. Moreover, the country has indeed severely cracked down on metaphysics in the past. As a police officer, Xin Xin would probably rather believe in unsolved scientific mysteries than in metaphysics."
He frankly admitted, "Inviting the Taoist priest this time was entirely my husband's and Xiao Dong's idea, but Xin Xin strongly opposed it. We trust the Taoist priest more, but as for Xin Xin, the Taoist priest should just ignore her and not pay any attention to her. I will tell Xin Xin to stay at the police station and go home less often, so that she will not offend the Taoist priest again."
Xu Zifan could tell that the family had a very good relationship, and he also knew that Jiang's father was afraid that he would hold a grudge and hurt Jiang Tianxin. In fact, he appeared out of nowhere, was very young, and had no reputation in the industry. No one would believe him.
The fact that the Jiang family, with their status, treated him as an honored guest was entirely due to his past saving of Jiang Dong, and their willingness to trust him. Otherwise, he wouldn't know when he would receive his first business deal.
So he was happy to reassure the Jiang family, and said with a smile, "I was just joking with Officer Jiang. She showed me her martial arts this morning, and I showed her my little magic tricks in return. I think Officer Jiang had a lot of fun. Maybe she'll change her mind soon, so Mr. Jiang doesn't need to worry."
Upon hearing this, Jiang's parents knew their daughter had intended to use force to intimidate, but had instead been tricked. They couldn't help but shake their heads and chuckle. Well, it was good; after a few setbacks, she'd learn to be more tactful. However, knowing Jiang Tianxin's fighting prowess, and seeing Xu Zifan's complete lack of fear, they held him in even higher regard.
Xu Zifan saw Jiang Dong posting on WeChat Moments and laughed until tears streamed down his face. What a brother, teasing his sister like that! But looking at the photos Jiang Dong had just taken, he realized Jiang's mother was right. Jiang Tianxin's sweet smile made her look like a little princess. Right now, the little princess was probably furious in her room.