Chapter 9

Chapter 9

At first, the viewers didn't notice anything off about the young man—they just thought the stream was kinda boring.

But as they kept watching, someone caught on. Why did this random guy keep sneaking looks at other people, especially their bags and phones?

"Am I tripping, or has this guy been staring at the bag of the person in front of him the whole time?"

"Not just you—I saw it too."

Since he hadn't made a move yet, the viewers were just suspicious. Some even figured he might just be bored and people-watching—and looking isn't a crime.

The bus pulled up soon after. Shen Dongqing watched the young man blend into the crowd and get on with everyone else.

Shen Dongqing followed quietly behind. There weren't many seats left, so everyone was shoving toward the middle to pay the fare.

The guy in front of the young man was holding his phone, scrolling away.

The young man stood behind him, and when the guy wasn't paying attention, his hand shot out—phone gone in a flash. The guy was so glued to his screen he didn't notice a thing.

And that kind of carelessness was exactly what a thief looked for—hand out, phone swiped, while the owner kept scrolling, completely clueless.

"Streamer, streamer! Look, someone just swiped a phone!"

"The streamer got on the bus too—he probably didn't even catch it."

"We'll just have to wait until he checks his phone to catch the theft on camera."

The viewers were going crazy, some even wanted to call the cops. But they only knew what city the streamer was in—no exact location—so calling the police seemed pointless.

Just as the young man was about to slip the phone into his pocket, he felt a sharp pain in his arm. The phone was yanked away, and he found himself slammed against the bus.

"Hey, kid, you can't—"

Someone saw what was happening and figured Shen Dongqing had a beef with the guy and was about to throw down on the bus. They quickly tried to step in.

"He's a thief. I just saw him steal your phone," Shen Dongqing explained, then looked at the guy and said, "Hey, didn't you notice your phone was gone?"

At that, everyone's attention snapped to them, and people instinctively checked their stuff.

The guy froze for a second, then patted his pocket—phone was gone. Taking a closer look, he realized the phone in Shen Dongqing's hand was his. That case was a gift from his girlfriend.

"Thanks, thanks! I just bought this phone—I was holding it a second ago, it wasn't even ten seconds since I set it down." The guy thanked Shen Dongqing repeatedly as he took his phone back.

The other passengers checked their stuff, and when they found nothing missing, they all let out a sigh of relief.

Shen Dongqing had dealt with catching a thief on the bus twice before. He kept one hand on the thief while dialing the cops with the other, and told the bus driver to head straight to the nearest station.

...

Zhao Rong had just wrapped up his work and was thinking about taking a break when he got word that someone had caught a thief on a bus and was bringing him in. He was asked to handle it.

"Another thief caught? How many have we nabbed in our area now?" a nearby colleague remarked casually.

"We've caught quite a few. A few days ago, Shen Dongqing brought in three all by himself," Zhao Rong said.

At the mention of Shen Dongqing, the colleague remembered too. Catching a thief wasn't a big deal, but one guy running into thieves several days in a row and dragging them all to the station was pretty unusual.

"Feels like young people these days are pretty bold. Back in our day, even if people saw someone stealing on the bus, plenty wouldn't dare say a word," the colleague mused.

"Times have changed. Back then, thieves might carry knives or have a crew of accomplices around—it was way more dangerous," Zhao Rong said, taking a sip of tea.

But the tea had barely hit his lips when Zhao Rong saw Shen Dongqing walk in, and his eyes went wide.

Noticing Zhao Rong's reaction, the colleague turned to look and saw Shen Dongqing hauling in a thief—his eyes went wide too.

After the statement was taken and Shen Dongqing left, the colleague said quietly, "So it's not that young people these days are bold—it's that one particular guy is especially bold, and especially..."

The colleague couldn't even find the right words to describe Shen Dongqing.

Zhao Rong watched Shen Dongqing walk away and suddenly had a bad feeling.

He remembered how Shen Dongqing had looked when he'd brought in thieves before. The first time was fine, but the next two times, he'd seemed tired and anxious—clearly worried about the time it was taking away from work. But this time, his eyes were bright, and that expression was familiar.

Zhao Rong remembered where he'd seen that look before—it was the eager, restless look of a rookie cop after catching their first criminal.

If it were anyone else, Zhao Rong wouldn't worry too much. But Shen Dongqing really had something almost supernatural going on with him.

Soon enough, Zhao Rong's suspicion was proven right.

One thief after another was hauled into West Street Police Station. It got to the point where Zhao Rong wasn't the only one taking statements—other officers had to pitch in, or Zhao Rong simply couldn't keep up.

Seeing Shen Dongqing getting ready to head out again, Zhao Rong couldn't hold it in. He called out, "Did the thieves do something to you?"

Shen Dongqing shook his head.

"Then why..." Zhao Rong trailed off, genuinely worried about Shen Dongqing.

"Xiao Shen, catching thieves is a good thing, but you need to think about yourself too. What you're doing is really dangerous," Zhao Rong said seriously.

If you walk by the river often enough, you're bound to get your shoes wet.

By catching thief after thief, Shen Dongqing wasn't just putting himself in danger during the arrests—he was also opening himself up to retaliation from the thieves. The risk was too big.

Having caught several thieves in a row and proven his ability, Shen Dongqing was still a bit excited. But when he saw the worry in Zhao Rong's eyes, his excitement slowly faded.

"I was a bit impulsive this time," Shen Dongqing admitted after a moment of thought.

He'd deliberately picked thieves who were alone, thinking there wouldn't be a problem. But what if? What if one of them was carrying a weapon? With such a dense crowd, he'd have a hard time even dodging, and he might accidentally hurt innocent people.

If he'd just stumbled onto a thief by chance, that would be one thing. But he'd been actively hunting them down—almost like entrapment. If something went wrong, the blame would fall squarely on him.

Zhao Rong had been worried Shen Dongqing wouldn't listen, but seeing him agree, he let out a sigh of relief. He patted Shen Dongqing's shoulder and said, "I'm not saying don't catch them—just be more careful about your own safety. Don't go out of your way to look for them."

After a few more words with Shen Dongqing, Zhao Rong went back to his own work. Shen Dongqing walked out of the station and looked at his phone.

When he went into the station, he'd turned off the camera and mic, but viewers could still chat in the stream.

Looking at the flood of comments, Shen Dongqing noticed the viewers were even more hyped than before. Some were itching to go out and try it themselves, thinking they might catch a thief too and do their part for public safety.

"Feel like I've learned how to spot a thief now. Gonna test it out after work."

"Wouldn't that be kinda dangerous?"

"Don't worry, look at the thief the streamer caught—he didn't even dare to make a sound after being arrested. You're good."

Shen Dongqing drew in a sharp breath. He hadn't expected his carefully picked targets to give the live-stream viewers the wrong idea.

He caught thieves because he was highly confident before making a move, but if these people went after thieves themselves, it'd be a total crapshoot—who knows what kind of thief they'd get.

A moment ago, Zhao Rong was telling Shen Dongqing to relax, and now it was Shen Dongqing's turn to seriously talk the viewers out of doing anything rash.

Since starting his live streams, Shen Dongqing had never spoken so much in a single stream.

Fortunately, although the viewers were excited, most were just running their mouths. Once Shen Dongqing explained the risks, they calmed down and said that if they ever encountered a thief, they'd just watch the thief and tip off the victim, without actually trying to catch the thief themselves.

Shen Dongqing let out a long sigh and shook his head. He'd have to be more careful with his live streams in the future; otherwise, if viewers actually thought running into a criminal was no big deal, that'd be a huge problem.

Shen Dongqing got up to leave, and as he looked up, he noticed the wanted criminal photos posted on the bulletin board at the police station.

The bounties on these criminals were quite high. Shen Dongqing recalled the habitual thief Xiao Ze had caught—the odds of running into one might not be high, but hey, you never know.

Shen Dongqing scanned each photo one by one, memorizing their faces, just in case he happened to cross paths with one, he could report it and claim the reward.