Can We Continue Counting Sheep Tonight

That night, the group counted sheep until the early hours of the morning, reaching well into the five-digit range before the four women finally drifted off to sleep.

Luckily, Xu Mo had the "Turtle Breathing Technique" rewarded by his system, which allowed him to stay energetic with just two hours of sleep a day. Otherwise, he would have shown up at the police station the next day with dark circles under his eyes.

The next morning, Xu Mo arrived at the police station right on time.

At the entrance, he ran into Han Fei.

Unlike usual, Han Fei looked rather listless today, with dark circles under his eyes—a clear sign that he hadn’t slept well the night before.

Seeing Xu Mo, Han Fei couldn’t help but feel a surge of irritation.

If it weren’t for this guy, he wouldn’t have had to stay up so late last night.

When he left the police station last night, it was already 12:20 AM. By the time he got home, it was 1:00 AM, and after washing up, Han Fei didn’t get to bed until 1:30 AM.

As he’s gotten older, his body isn’t what it used to be. Combined with the fact that he used to pull all-nighters frequently for cases, his physical condition is nowhere near what it was in his younger days. Staying up late now feels like it’s taking half his life.

“Morning, Captain Han. Had breakfast yet?” Xu Mo greeted Han Fei with a smile, seemingly oblivious to the dark circles under his eyes.

Han Fei couldn’t help but shoot Xu Mo a glare, lamenting, “Why did you leave so early yesterday? Those three colleagues came to discuss case-solving techniques with you! Shouldn’t you have been the one to host them? Why did you run off so quickly? Do you know how late they kept me up last night? My old bones almost fell apart!”

Ever since Xu Mo joined the police station, almost every case was solved the same day it came in. As a result, Han Fei hadn’t had to stay up late for quite some time.

Now that he’d suddenly pulled an all-nighter, he really couldn’t handle it.

Xu Mo chuckled.

“I thought you guys were hitting it off, and I couldn’t really contribute to the conversation, so I just left… Oh, I just remembered, I haven’t watered the plants in my office yet. I’d better go do that before they die of thirst.”

With that, Xu Mo made a quick escape.

Hitting it off? That’s all because of you, kid! If you hadn’t pushed the responsibility onto me, would they have come to me!?

Just as Han Fei was about to call out to Xu Mo, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Turning around, Han Fei’s expression froze.

The three officers who had kept him up late last night were back.

Unlike Han Fei, they were all young, with strong constitutions. Even if they didn’t get eight hours of sleep, staying up all night was no big deal for them. The three of them looked fresh and energetic, showing no signs of having pulled an all-nighter.

Each of them held a small notebook and a pen, looking at Han Fei with eager eyes.

“Captain Han, we spent a lot of time last night going over the cases you told us about, and we found them really inspiring! So we decided to come back today to learn more from you!”

Han Fei: “???”

“Captain Han, you haven’t eaten yet, right? We brought you breakfast. How about we chat while you eat?”

“If you don’t like fried dough sticks and soy milk, we can go get you something else.”

The three of them ushered Han Fei into the police station and into his office…

It wasn’t that Han Fei didn’t want to engage with them, but he was just too exhausted. His mind was foggy, and he couldn’t muster any energy. Then, Han Fei thought of a brilliant idea: pass the buck!

“I’ve already shared all the case-solving techniques I can with you last night. Why don’t you go talk to Captain Xu? He’s the backbone of our police station. Solving cases is all thanks to him.”

At this point, Han Fei felt that whether his colleagues were impressed with him or not no longer mattered. He was terrified that the three of them would keep him up late again tonight. His body just couldn’t take it anymore!

However, the three of them didn’t buy it.

“Captain Han, last night you said that Captain Xu’s case-solving techniques were all taught by you. Asking Captain Xu is the same as asking you, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, Captain Xu even admitted it himself yesterday. He said his techniques were all learned from you. You’re his mentor, so of course we should learn from the mentor, not the student!”

Han Fei was speechless.

He’d really overdone it with his boasting yesterday!

When Xu Mo had made that statement, it had put Han Fei in an awkward position.

As a man, especially one in middle age, he cared a lot about saving face. So when Xu Mo said that, Han Fei had gone along with it, claiming that Xu Mo’s techniques were indeed learned from him.

The upside was that the admiring looks from his colleagues had felt great.

The downside was that he’d boasted too much, putting himself in a position he couldn’t back out of!

Today, the police station didn’t receive any reports.

With no cases to work on, Xu Mo wasn’t particularly busy either. He spent most of the day slacking off and was the first to leave when it was time to clock out.

Poor Han Fei, though. From the moment he stepped into his office in the morning, the three officers had been pestering him to tell them about the cases he’d solved in the past, hoping to gain some insight and learn from his experience.

This went on all day.

From sunrise to midday, from noon to sunset, and then into the evening…

While almost everyone else in the police station was idle, Han Fei hadn’t had a moment’s rest. He’d been talking nonstop from 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM, his mouth practically worn out.

He never wanted to be in the spotlight again. Sure, it felt good, but it was also incredibly exhausting!

Luckily, the three officers felt they’d gained a lot from the experience and planned to leave tonight, so they wouldn’t be sticking around.

Otherwise, Han Fei’s old bones would have truly been pushed to their limit.

…

The reason for the power outage at the villa last night was exactly as Xu Mo had suspected—a tripped circuit breaker.

The property management fixed it the next morning, so it was unlikely they’d be counting sheep again tonight.

After dinner and a shower, Xu Mo watched some TV in the living room and went to his bedroom early at 10:00 PM.

However, not long after, there was a knock on his bedroom door.

“What’s up?” Xu Mo asked through the door.

“Nothing much. We just think the sheep-counting method is really effective. Can you join us again tonight?”

Xu Mo: “???”