Attention Sir, I Have Your Heart Handcuffed!-Chapter 561 - 409. This world has turned into a desolate land and barren waters ().

Chapter 561: 409. This world has turned into a desolate land and barren waters (Chapter 1).

"If you love to fool around, then fool around." Yan Jian replied unceremoniously.

Jamie couldn’t hide his embarrassment, so he just cleared his throat and said, "Alright, then I’ll close my eyes."

Yan Jian ignored him, walked straight to the partition, and lifted the curtain. But he still stood there.

Yan Jian turned around and glared at him, "Why don’t you come in already?"

He stood there helplessly and shrugged, "I’m closing my eyes. At least give me a pull."

Yan Jian sighed, stepped forward, grabbed his sleeve, and turned around to pull him toward the doorway. Unexpectedly, his long legs caught up in two steps, and his hand naturally slid over to intentionally or unintentionally grasp Yan Jian’s hand.

Yan Jian shivered, stopped, and turned back, "What are you doing?"

Jamie seemed to realize abruptly and quickly slid his hand away, "Accident, my apologies."

But there was undoubtedly a satisfied smile at the corners of his eyes.

Yan Jian gritted her teeth in annoyance, but luckily the door was just a step away; luckily, their connection would end once he finished the inspection.

She bore through this last step.

With determination, she pulled his arm and dragged him into the partition with one step.

Jamie opened his eyes—

He had previously imagined her designing his office in countless ways. But ultimately, it would become just an office; no matter how it was designed, it couldn’t escape the basic framework, what revolutionary idea could surprise him?

But at this moment he realized he was wrong, dreadfully wrong.

What lay before him was an office, yet it had nothing to do with any traditional office design concepts.

The floor was not wood, tiles, or carpet; instead, a shallow pond was dug, filled with white sand in a flowing pattern.

Among the white sand were black stones with natural rough textures and water-drilled holes, simple and natural, adding a unique charm.

Between the white sand and black stones were two or three exquisite stone towers holding pure fire.

Thus, the entire main color theme was the eternal trio of black, white, and gray.

Beyond these colors, patches of moss and ferns were arranged, bringing a deep green tranquility that illuminated the black, white, and gray, harmoniously blending with them, accentuating each other’s beauty.

Jamie was stunned, muttering, "I feel like my office looks like one of those bonsai from China. Of course, a gigantic one."

Yan Jian rolled her eyes at him, "Although that’s somewhat absurd, it’s not entirely wrong. It seems you have an affinity with my Eastern culture."

Her half-praise, half-criticism made him feel secretly delighted. He tilted his head at her, then carefully observed this astonishing microcosm, "So I guess, the white sand represents water, the black stones are land and islands. Moreover, black and white are traditional Chinese painting concepts, so the theme you’ve designed for me is actually landscape."

Yan Jian could only sigh inwardly. She didn’t expect him to see it so clearly.

She turned her head away to avoid his gaze, "This is called ’dry landscape,’ a garden design in Zen temples. Just like you said, it originates from China’s bonsai design and draws inspiration from Chinese ink wash paintings."

Then she pointed at the blue-glazed Buddha Head and the celadon brush washer she had arranged, "You said you wanted this office to match the items you bought from my shop, and this dry landscape is undoubtedly the best environment for them. Now that I’ve designed it for you, I’ve done my part, and whether you’re satisfied is up to you."

Even now, he couldn’t suppress the excitement inside him. This design was something he couldn’t imagine in his wildest dreams, and indeed complemented the orientally Zen objects bought from ’Middle Ages’ perfectly.

Even more unimaginable was that this design came from the mind of such a small person in front of him, especially since she wasn’t even a renovation designer, just a fashion designer.

He folded his hands behind his head and looked at her, "And what about you? Are you satisfied?"

Yan Jian snorted, "Of course I am! This is my first work in this field; I spent three whole months racking my brains and exhausted myself to the point I couldn’t get a full night’s sleep..."

At this point, Yan Jian realized she had misspoken, quickly stopped, and covered her mouth with her hand, her cheeks blushing with embarrassment.

Jamie’s blue eyes deepened, her slip of the tongue and her bashful face both made his heart pound.

But he couldn’t help but suppress his excitement, pretending to look down at his feet, "You used to hate me, dislike me so much, you could’ve just dealt with me perfunctorily. Why did you have to expend so much effort and stay up all night?"

He wanted to appear distant, but couldn’t help looking up, staring at her intensely, "Those sleepless nights, when you were thinking about my office, did you also think about me?"

Yan Jian’s heart instantly fell into chaos.

Although... this was all part of her design, her strategy to lead him on, at this moment she felt she was the one whose stand was disrupted first.

She quickly turned away to avoid his gaze, grabbed her backpack and hugged it to her chest, then pointed coldly around her, "The so-called Zen intent, you should understand, is about the unity of heaven and man, where more is long, less is short. Moreover, you can see that the white sand on the ground has set patterns, the moss in the sand has fixed orientations, a slight change would disturb the entire atmosphere."

"Jamie, I have my principles. Just like during the renovation when I wouldn’t let any of you peek, now that I’ve finished, I won’t allow you or anyone else to randomly tamper with my work. Not a grain of sand or blade of grass."

"If you agree, I will officially hand over this work to you now; if you don’t, I will destroy it all myself!"

Jamie squinted and focused her gaze on him.

It’s unimaginable how someone so small and gentle could have such a fiery and resolute personality, making it hard to refuse.

He took a deep breath, "But since this is an office after all, there will inevitably be the need to move things around. If I ever have to rearrange, can I at least ask you to supervise it personally?"

This project took only three months, ha, three months, how could it be so short. He initially thought she lacked experience, so it would take at least a year and a half to complete it, giving him ample time to see her in and out of his sight daily.

But since she completed it in three months, he had to think of another way to keep her around.

He pondered, strategizing for the future.

Yan Jian bit her lips for a second, then nodded straightforwardly, "Deal!"

After that, she didn’t want to stay longer, handed over the contract for him to sign, then went to the finance department to settle the bill and leave.

He stood in the brand-new office, amidst this world of ’dry mountains and thin water,’ by the window watching her small figure gradually fade away.

Sure enough, without her, the mountain and water world in this office lost its vitality and Zen spirit, leaving only dry sand and stones.

.

Time passed quietly, yet there’s still no valuable clue about the disappearance of Shi Nian and Jieyou. However, the world wouldn’t stop just because someone leaves, so all kinds of crimes still occur, and the police station receives new tasks constantly.

Initially, the elite forces were all mobilized for the Shi Nian case, but as time passed and new cases emerged, the entire police force couldn’t remain stagnant, neglecting other cases. So the team members were gradually reassigned, one by one, and eventually, even if they wanted to persist, they had no choice but to move the Shi Nian and Jieyou disappearance case to the background.

Everyone understood that unless a valuable clue appeared soon, this case would only get buried deeper and deeper in time, in new cases, eventually becoming a cold case, stored in the files, left to gather dust. Together with all the unsolved cases from years past, buried in the least conspicuous corner, waiting to be forgotten.

No one wanted this, but it was an unavoidable reality.

The team members were repeatedly reassigned, and the police superintendent handed out various new assignments. He spared only one person, of course, Tang Yanqing. Everyone understood that the superintendent truly couldn’t bring himself to tell Tang Yanqing, "You need to put this case aside for now and take on new cases."

For others, it might be manageable, but for Tang Yanqing, no case, no victim would be more important than Shi Nian.

So six months later, the only one still wholeheartedly working on the Shi Nian case was Tang Yanqing. Fighting alone.

Surprisingly, Huangfu Hua still remained calm, persisting with him. Huangfu Hua continued to come to the station daily, quietly watching him.

Every day after work, Huangfu Hua would approach, saying quietly, "Mr. Tang, I believe you’ll find Nian Nian and Jieyou. But just how long will you make me wait?"

Even Xia Zuo couldn’t help but say, "Mr. Tang, it’s just a George. How could you not catch even one George after so long?"