Jin City, Wanbei Police Station.
In the interrogation room, the police officer tapped his pen on the desk: "Old Du, we're practically acquaintances by now. This is an official interrogation - are you willing to take responsibility for everything you say?"
"Old Du," sitting across the table, twitched his lips: "I only stole two salted fish, what's there to take responsibility for?"
Police officer: "Just two fish?"
Old Du: "What else would there be?"
Police officer: "Nothing that was 'stolen and then mysteriously returned'?"
Old Du: "What are you talking about?"
The police officer drew in a sharp breath, muttering: "...And working only weekends, taking weekdays off?"
Old Du: "?"
After the interrogation, the police officer massaged his neck and asked his colleague: "Did you find the surveillance footage?"
Colleague: "No, but we found the victims in the footage. I called to warn them about the thief."
As for fingerprints on the stolen items, they only detected the thief's prints.
The colleague licked his lips: "...There might be a clue, though I'm not sure if it counts - we found a cat hair on one piece of evidence, but the owner doesn't have a cat."
They were discussing the recent "strange occurrences" at Jin City Wanbei Airport. The airport had caught several thieves lately, both familiar and unfamiliar faces, but oddly enough, these thieves all mentioned the same "mysterious phenomenon" - their stolen items would inexplicably return to their original owners.
Most believed it was the work of rival thieves, while others suspected police sting operations.
The police were equally puzzled - despite extensive surveillance coverage, they couldn't achieve complete coverage due to the high foot traffic. The cameras only caught thieves stealing items, never showing how the items were returned.
The case was beginning to venture into the supernatural realm.
However, after several weeks, they discovered some patterns:
First, the cat hair - found on two different items.
Second, the schedule - this "suspect" seemed to be either a student or office worker, only appearing on holidays and weekends, following a very regular pattern.
The police tried undercover operations, watching known thieves to catch someone in the act. Strangely, whenever police watched a thief, nothing unusual happened - but simultaneously, thieves caught in other terminals would again insist on the existence of this "urban legend."
After consideration, Wanbei Police Station reported the case upward, eventually catching the attention of criminal investigation experts. A special task force from downtown created a suspect profile based on the clues:
"The suspect is cautious, patient, and likely has obsessive-compulsive tendencies."
Stolen lipsticks were returned with caps tightly secured and surfaces cleaned.
"Height below 170cm, gender currently undetermined."
This was deduced from surveillance footage and package handling details. In some footage, victims remained under camera coverage, requiring the suspect to return items quickly, narrowing down the pool of suspects.
They reviewed extensive footage, documenting all cases where the suspect "selected" victims and warned them about their lost items.
Everything seemed coincidental, but the challenge of finding this "mysterious person" excited the task force -
Currently, this "suspect" barely qualified as one; more accurately, they were a good Samaritan who preferred anonymity, so despite being a special task force, everyone maintained a relaxed attitude.
Their actual purpose in seeking this person was:
"Such skilled techniques, this ability to evade surveillance - it couldn't have been learned overnight. We have limited clues, but I dare guess this might be a reformed master thief, one who specialized in technical skills... Ah, nowadays everything's digital payment, but fifteen years ago, everyone practiced technical skills, their handiwork was truly impressive."
"We're mainly unsure whether this ex-con is just doing good deeds on weekends, or looking to mentor a successor among these novices while testing them."
Most ex-criminals struggle to find work, but those who mastered theft at this level were true artisans. The police system had precedents of recruiting former criminals as informants and even having criminals train police in advanced techniques.
If such a master thief had appeared in Jin City, it would be better to determine their current status quickly.
They could even pay New Year visits to their home.
With this mix of leisure and urgency, the task force continued investigating existing clues.
Until this Saturday, when the case suddenly broke through.
- Not because they caught someone, but because someone came to them voluntarily.
-
Though the undercover operations hadn't caught their target, they hadn't withdrawn their plainclothes officers from the airport.
If they couldn't catch the big fish, they could still catch petty thieves.
Recently, all the familiar thieves had been arrested, so the plainclothes officer at Terminal One blended into the crowd, quietly watching suspicious individuals.
Sigh, another person abandoning their bag to buy water.
And this one, playing with their phone while their broken-zippered bag sits at their feet - they're asking to be robbed!
People are too careless these days.
The undercover officer scanned the area and quickly spotted a suspicious person. Though the face was unfamiliar, both their gaze and posture were typical of a thief.
- After catching so many, you develop an instinct for their mannerisms and behavior patterns.
Officer Wang lowered his head, pretending to check his phone while reducing his presence, actually notifying his colleagues in the surveillance room to watch this area's cameras.
He could then work on catching someone red-handed.
The targeted thief seemed to have chosen a young woman.
Wang glanced over and immediately understood why: the young woman was tall and slender, wearing a long trench coat, holding a phone with one earbud in.
She carried a loose hiking backpack, but from his case experience, the officer could tell her entire outfit was expensive - just her shoes were worth several months of his salary.
Plus, wearing earbuds meant reduced alertness - such a target would be easy to rob.
The young woman wore a face mask and, fashionably, a single glove. After checking her screen for a while, she yawned.
In the flow of people, the thief used passing movement to open her backpack zipper, then turned around, appearing to hurriedly double back... No one around noticed he had already reached into her bag.
At this moment, the young woman was looking up into the distance, seemingly lost in thought.
Wang quietly approached.
Suddenly, the young woman reached behind her and grabbed the thief's wrist.
In this instant, Wang saw the new thief clearly freeze, but he reacted quickly, seemingly about to withdraw his hand, either to turn the tables or use the momentum to push away and escape-
An adult male's strength would naturally exceed a young woman's.
Wang hurried his pace.
"Ah!"
Someone nearby who witnessed this suddenly cried out.
...Because they saw the girl holding the man's wrist step forward slightly, apply gentle force, and using his hand as a pivot point, made him rotate 180 degrees in mid-air.
Whatever the thief had planned to say was reduced to an "Ow!"
This caused onlooking pedestrians to freeze:
Are you two performing acrobatics?
Wang suddenly realized the girl had glanced in his direction.
Then, she released the groaning thief and strode forward.
The thief's hand was still stinging, his legs and bottom sore from hitting the ground, hesitating between running away or falling down to fake injury, when Wang rushed over and pinned him down.
When Wang looked up, he saw the young woman who had caught the thief now holding onto a woman carrying a child.
The child appeared to be about two years old, wearing their own little clothes and shoes, sitting bewildered to one side before suddenly bursting into loud tears.
Then Wang Undercover saw the girl precisely locate his undercover colleague in the crowd and point in his direction, saying, "This person is a human trafficker."
The woman who had been struggling and cursing suddenly froze, then began struggling even more violently, turning her head as if wanting to bite the girl.
But the girl precisely raised her hand, held down the woman's head, and restrained her legs - her movements resembling a butcher pinning down a pig.
If the situation had been reversed, with the girl being pinned down, the onlookers might have hesitated - after all, it would have appeared to be bullying. But with a young girl who probably hadn't even started college pinning down a woman in her forties, and with a child nearby, even if this act of bravery turned out to be a misunderstanding, the situation wouldn't be too tense.
So after the undercover colleague took over and Wang Undercover brought over the thief he had caught, showing their credentials to the surrounding crowd, they joined up with the airport police and took everyone, including the child, to the airport security room.
At this point, Wang Undercover still hadn't harbored any suspicions about the young girl.
Because they quickly confirmed through questioning that the woman was indeed a human trafficker. They had been transporting a child to a buyer, but at the airport, she couldn't resist the opportunity when she saw a child alone near the bathroom, conveniently out of view of the security cameras.
Human trafficking rings often loved recruiting women, from their seventies and eighties down to their forties (the main force) and even as young as fifteen or sixteen. People naturally viewed women as "fragile," which traffickers turned into an advantage in their criminal activities.
In a neighboring city, there had even been a case of a six-month pregnant woman trafficking humans - it was a husband and wife operation, making money while expecting a baby, with the mother-in-law handling buyer contacts. They had turned it into a complete family business.
Since this was a human trafficking case, the police immediately sealed off all exits when they caught the woman, interrogating her while urgently investigating her accomplices, trying to quickly rescue the other child.
The special task force, which had been idling at a nearby police station dealing with the thief, immediately came to assist, no longer concerned with the petty theft.
The good Samaritan girl was asked to wait in the rest room to prevent any retaliation from the trafficker's accomplices.
However, when the expert wanted to chat with the girl who first discovered the trafficker to see if there were any missed clues, they opened the rest room door to find she had disappeared.
She had reportedly gone to the bathroom.
Everyone became absorbed in their busy work, gradually forgetting about the witness who hadn't returned from the bathroom.
Soon, the police caught the accomplice and found the child.
Apparently, when the accomplice realized something was wrong, they immediately tried to abandon the child and escape, but when they reached the door, the automatic door happened to malfunction. The security guard noticed something suspicious, and passersby rushed over saying, "How could you abandon the child?" Thus, the accomplice was easily apprehended by the security guards at the airport entrance.
Almost as soon as the expert sat down, the case was solved, the entire incident filled with fortunate coincidences.
The special task force returned the same way they had arrived, just with three more criminals in custody.
But upon seeing the unfortunate thief, the expert had a thought and said, "Show me the security footage of the thief's arrest again."
The footage showed the good Samaritan girl, under 170cm tall, dressed neatly, wearing a glove on one hand.
The expert asked the two undercover officers, "Does this kid have cats?"
Wang Undercover: "...She didn't seem to smell like cats?"
Expert: "Oh, she has OCD."
Wang Undercover: "?"
The other officer: "There might have been cat hair on her collar, but I might be seeing things?"
Expert clapped his hands: "She has cats!"
The other officer: "?"
"That reaction, that height, that OCD, and the cat hair—"
Others: Wait, wait, wait!
Expert: "And my instinct as a criminal investigator of forty-plus years - hmm, our witness is quite interesting, isn't she? Have you found out who she is?"
With the police on the case, the investigation moved quickly. Almost as soon as the expert finished speaking, someone poked their head in from next door: "We found her, she has an online wiki page."
Expert: ?
That's not right... she even has a wiki page? At such a young age, could she really be a master thief...
Colleague: "She's a minor, and she's a famous cat and parkour content creator. She's quite well-known and is currently updating a series of videos about airport safety awareness—"
In the first episode of the video series, you could see someone making a phone call. Probably not wanting others to hear their conversation, they walked toward the edge while talking.
Their luggage was left in its original spot.
A hand reached out, calmly pulled away the suitcase, and unhurriedly walked toward the corner.
The expert immediately recalled the situation: this was a thief from a while back, incredibly bold, directly wheeling away suitcases to a corner to take valuable items before abandoning the luggage.
When this victim discovered their suitcase was missing, they immediately reported it to the police, but when it was found, the airport police discovered that none of their belongings were missing - the suitcase was just lying on its side with expensive electronics placed on top.
Passing travelers questioned the victim: "How could you leave it like that? It's so easy to steal."
The victim: "..."
Had the thief had a change of heart?
But the video didn't show what happened next. The content creator filmed the theft process and the opened suitcase after it was stolen, with both the victim and thief's identities censored, warning viewers to be careful with their belongings and never let important property out of their sight.
If the victim hadn't been a real victim and the thief a real thief, it would have been quite an educational video.
The followers obviously thought they were all actors—
[Master Chu's business is really expanding... I watched until the end thinking it was an ad for coded luggage, and was happy that you finally got a sponsor! But there wasn't even an ad?]
[Maybe because Chu doesn't need money? But the suitcase in the video had a code too, yet the thief still opened it? I'm curious how they did it.]
[There are so many unfamiliar actors in this series, did Chu randomly find people at the airport to film? They don't seem like acquaintances... Everyone acted so naturally!]
[Yes, yes, yes! Isn't anyone going to praise the acting of the censored performers? Even though their personal information wasn't revealed, not even their faces, whether they were playing with phones, listening to music, checking maps, or making calls - those body movements were so authentic! Makes me want to criticize certain... ahem...]
[Maybe they were actually playing themselves? Only the thief was a real actor, a technical professional hired by Master Chu, first acting out the theft, then apologizing to the victim - honestly, if I encountered something like this, I wouldn't be too angry, since nothing was lost, they were just trying to warn me in this way...]
[But randomly stealing things isn't good, right? They must be actors?]
[Has anyone noticed how skilled the thieves are? If it weren't for the slow motion and commentary, I wouldn't even be able to see clearly! Did Chu spend big money on a magic troupe? Come to think of it, none of the thief teachers are repeated! Is this magic troupe that busy?]
The police: "..."
They were indeed busy - they went straight to jail after their "performance."
Everyone silently watched through this series of videos, their expressions gradually changing from surprise to numbness:
Due to the outstanding performances and not knowing the "cast list," fans began calling the thieves "Thief Teachers." And because of the displayed technical skills (...) being so superior, the "actors" all had real abilities - even the victims who were robbed acted very naturally. As a result, this series of videos was slowly going viral, with likes, shares, and comments all increasing.
It seemed this would become the young girl's fourth signature video series after her "Cat Food Series," "Cat Census Series," and "Parkour Series."
Even though they hadn't met the content creator in person today, they would probably come across the videos soon and be shocked to discover: How is this thief teacher an actual thief? How does your list of thieves match exactly with our investigation list? We're investigating "big thieves stealing from small thieves" - could you be that big thief yourself?
Expert: "You know what... this actually has some educational value?"
Everyone: "..."
Expert commented: "It's precisely in these natural situations that things appear more vivid and realistic. Look, if we were to take people out of prison to film such videos, they definitely wouldn't act this naturally!"
Everyone: "...Yes, indeed."
The expert sighed: "What are you waiting for? Contact our brave young lady, get her statement from today, and give her a banner of recognition while you're at it!"
Just as the expert finished speaking, a notification popped up at the top of the screen—
[The UP creator "Chu and Three-Five-Five" you just followed has posted a new video, check it out~]
The expert clicked in and enabled the comments.
[Wow! The content of this series has become even richer! Today there's not just thieves, but also kidnappers and undercover officers! Are you planning to transition into making narrative micro-videos?]
Expert: Oh dear, what a headache.
Although it was troublesome, they had to admit the video editing and pacing were excellent. Since Chu Tingwu didn't have recording equipment, almost all footage was from her perspective without showing her face, which actually made it more immersive for viewers.
As he watched, the expert became thoughtful: "You all keep watching... I need to step out."
The audience couldn't tell, but after their team's long research, they could confirm from the videos that it was Chu Tingwu who had been stealing back items from thieves.
Though they still suspected Chu Tingwu might have a "master thief" mentor teaching her techniques, they could tell from her style that this child wasn't a bad person.
—Even if her methods walked a fine line.
But the expert tried to put himself in her shoes - if he were fifteen or sixteen and more skilled at theft than professionals, he probably wouldn't be able to resist... resist what? With those skills, why not perform magic shows at class parties instead!
He helplessly rubbed his forehead and contacted the Jin City Police Chief with mixed feelings to explain the situation: "To be honest, I think her video series could serve perfectly as anti-theft education. This kid, I heard she also collaborates with the police dog training base, so why does she respond to seeing thieves by stealing things back from them?"
The police were right there beside you, you could have just told them directly.
Not only did you not report it, but you posted videos online and stole things back without leaving your name.
Given that she's a minor, they needed to address this.
When Chu Tingwu returned home that afternoon, she guessed her activities had been exposed.
If the system hadn't modified how her videos were promoted, those videos would have reached the police's attention much earlier — though she knew they had no real evidence against her, so she figured she'd just get a lecture at most.
...The worst case scenario might be contacting her parents.
To be honest, Chu Tingwu didn't care much about this.
While she appeared obedient, she had her own set of standards. She knew she was doing good deeds and wouldn't go astray, so she didn't concern herself with others' opinions — just like how she still climbed over the school wall every day.
But Chu Tingwu hadn't expected that when the authorities contacted her, they would offer this choice:
"Joint... publication?"
Yes.
It took about a week for the Jin City police to contact Chu Tingwu. They were straightforward, asking if she would be willing to modify these warning videos to be jointly published with the "Jin City Police Official Account" and revise the description to state "Video content depicts real events."
In short, expose the true identity of these "thief teachers" and let viewers know they were actual thieves.
Her videos had fulfilled the Jin City Police's publicity goals, and they would help promote her content to increase its reach.
Moreover, the police said: "We'll give you the title of 'Police Little Helper' to thank you for filming this series. We hope you can serve as a role model for others, Miss Chu, exposing wrongdoing while keeping yourself safe. Would you be willing?"
This title was of course just a small "honor," but it was also a subtle reminder from the police.
They gently advised her, hoping she wouldn't stray from the right path.
As for potential retaliation from criminals... there was nothing to be done since the videos were already spreading by the time they discovered them. They could only tell Chu Tingwu to be careful and exercise more, so adding a little helper title wouldn't hurt.
Chu Tingwu: "...Alright."
She put down her phone and continued packing.
The Fifth Middle School had officially started winter break, and Man Xing was helping Chu Tingwu clean up, putting dust covers on furniture and organizing Three-Five-Five's supplies.
Chu Tingwu's final exam results hadn't changed much from before, maintaining her usual stability, though An Shiyan had performed exceptionally well, pushing Chang Yixin out of first place.
Before the break, Teacher Yuan called several top-performing students to her office, asking them to self-study and preview materials while completing their winter break homework — apparently something was coming up after the break.
But when it came to instructing Chu Tingwu, she hesitated: "You... ah, never mind, just arrange it yourself."
After all, Chu Tingwu was always reliable, so there wasn't much need for extra instruction.
However, Teacher Yuan hadn't expected that after returning home and finishing packing, Chu Tingwu would come to push open her door and instruct her two teachers:
"Make sure Coal Ball exercises every day. Coal Ball has lost one and a half pounds, but I heard from Mengmeng that you always fatten her up during New Year's. She's not at her standard weight yet... if you really can't help it, at least measure her portions and feed her at set times - you have to be firm—"
Teacher Cao stood beside her, taking notes and nodding.
Teacher Yuan held her chubby son, wearing the kind of smile usually reserved for facing the head of teaching: "Okay... okay, alright..."
How strange - it felt like attending a parent-teacher conference for Coal Ball, being lectured by the homeroom teacher!
Teacher Yuan: "By the way, Tingwu, are you going back to Fallen Phoenix City for winter break?"
Isn't your birth mother also in Jin City? Why are you packing so early?
"No, I'm flying to Changdeng City," Chu Tingwu said, "I'll be working as behind-the-scenes staff for a film shoot?"
—Although the main portion of this orange cat movie would be filmed in Fallen Phoenix City, to show the orange cat's thousand-mile journey to Fallen Phoenix City (yes, the film adapted this part of the story), they also needed to shoot scenes of the cat receiving training in other cities from a young age.
Director Mu Lou ultimately chose Changdeng City in Ji Province.
Man Xing bought three business class tickets, for herself, Chu Tingwu, and Three-Five-Five.
This time at Wanbei Airport, Chu Tingwu was actually going to board the plane. After completing check-in procedures, she held Three-Five-Five's leash in one hand, but before boarding, her gaze happened to meet that of an airport police officer.
The officer looked at her, then at the cat.
Then, the police officer smiled at her and raised his hand in salute.
Chu Tingwu: "Man Xing."
Man Xing: "Hmm?"
Chu Tingwu: "I suddenly understand why some people are so carefree, thinking everyone in the world is good, even carelessly leaving their luggage around..."
Man Xing: "!"
She- she hadn't left anything behind! She had watched her boss's videos carefully!
But her boss didn't seem to be talking about her, just smiled and said: "Because some people really do keep meeting good people."
Just like herself.
