Chase

The thief had been caught, and the middle-aged woman whose handbag had been unzipped finally screamed as well. However, things became rather complicated afterward.

"Let go of me! Let go of me! You unreasonable woman, why are you saying I'm a thief?!"

"I saw it all! You're still trying to deny it!"

"Which eye of yours saw it? Which eye? What makes you say it was me? I saw it was you too! What evidence do you have?!"

"If you weren't guilty, why did you run?"

"When did I run? With so many people on the bus, where could I even run to?"

"You obviously ran."

"I didn't!"

There was no solid evidence, and the people on the bus generally weren't in the habit of stepping forward as witnesses. The woman whose bag had been opened was timid and submissive. After checking that she hadn't lost anything, she tugged at Mu Zhenzhen's sleeve. "Uh, nothing was stolen anyway. Forget it..."

"What do you mean, forget it? You didn't lose anything, but who knows how many people he's stolen from! No, we can't just let him go!"

"What do you mean, not let me go? What right do you have not to let me go?" Hearing that even the victim did not want to pursue the matter, the thief became even bolder. "Let go! Don't grab my hand! I'm telling you, if you weren't a woman, I'd hit you!"

"Let's see who hits whom! Ah!" Before she could finish, the young man gave her a fierce shove. Mu Zhenzhen was caught off guard and fell backward. The people she bumped into all hurriedly moved aside. The bus had seemed packed to the brim, yet when Mu Zhenzhen fell, she discovered there was actually plenty of space to make room. Sure enough, most of the human body was water. Space was like time—squeeze a little, and there would always be some.

Still, there were too many people for Mu Zhenzhen to actually fall to the floor. She struggled upright and was about to rush over again when two young men beside her stepped in front of her, deliberately blocking her while pretending to mediate. "Come on, it must be a misunderstanding. Why take it so seriously?"

"Exactly. Just take a step back. You're a girl—what if you get hurt?"

The three of them wore similarly styled clothes, the strange casual outfits only young people chasing trends would wear in 1995. One look was enough to tell they were together. Seeing that there were three of them, the onlookers naturally became even less willing to step forward. But Mu Zhenzhen was not afraid in the slightest. "Move aside! Today, I'm taking him to the police station no matter what!" She was only a high school girl, and though she was full of righteous indignation, the victim would not step forward and the bystanders did not dare speak up. She felt aggrieved, her eyes reddening. Then, a voice rang out beside her.

"I can testify! He's a thief!"

The voice of a boy going through puberty sounded from nearby. Everyone looked toward the speaker and discovered a boy in a Xinghui High School uniform, patting the footprint on his chest. "Also, when he ran this way, he kicked me. I heard that places people touch leave fingerprints. That man picked up that lady's handbag just now. If we take it to the police station for examination, they'll definitely be able to find them."

At the boy's words, the three young men immediately froze, while the thief's face changed drastically. Mu Zhenzhen said, "That's right, that's right! Hmph, you won't get away this time. Driver, let's go to the police station!"

In truth, the woman's cloth handbag was handled and touched every day. Finding a stranger's fingerprints on it would not be so easy. But this was a professional matter that ordinary people knew nothing about. Recalling scenes on television where police could catch criminals merely by examining fingerprints, the thief immediately felt that his guilt had been confirmed. He began thinking about how to escape.

But just as that thought crossed his mind, the little boy beside him spoke again, innocently. "Sister Zhenzhen, of course he can't escape. Isn't Sister Qingqing with the Criminal Police Team? That's the Criminal Police Team that catches murderers. As long as you remember what he looks like, as long as he's still in Jianghai City, Sister Qingqing will definitely be able to find him."

"Oh, oh, right. My sister works for the Criminal Police Team. I'm not afraid of you getting away! Driver, hurry up and drive to the police station."

The driver had originally not wanted to make the trip, but hearing that this woman's sister worked for the Criminal Police Team, he began to reconsider. After all, most people did not want to stick their necks out when trouble arose, but when someone else did, they loved watching the excitement. Still, he said, "But... the nearest police station isn't on our route, and everyone probably has urgent business to attend to."

At this time of day, there were not many people with urgent business. And once the thief's guilt seemed confirmed, the crowd became worked up. Someone said, "I knew there was something off about this guy." Someone else said, "If I'd known earlier, I'd have given him a good beating." The bus promptly turned onto another road, leaving Jiaming rather dumbfounded.

"This time... I'm dead..."

Taking the route to the nearest police station meant making a huge detour before reaching the cinema. While Jiaming sulked on the bus, Mu Zhenzhen, who was keeping a close watch on the young man, spoke up as well. "Uh, you're Gu Jiaming from that day, right? I'm really sorry about that day."

"Heh heh..." A Conan-like wry smile tugged at Jiaming's lips. "It's nothing. Sister Zhenzhen, do you really want to become a police officer?"

"Of course. I graduate next year, and I'm planning to apply to the police academy. Heh heh. Hmph, kid, don't get any ideas. I'm a third-dan judoka!" The latter half was naturally directed at the thief, whose face had gone ashen.

Jiaming said nothing more. The thief's two companions did not dare say much either. The moment the bus arrived outside the police station and the doors opened, the thief immediately bolted. Mu Zhenzhen grabbed his clothes, and then the thief's body, together with Mu Zhenzhen's, flew straight out through the bus doors—because Jiaming, standing by the doors, had very "carelessly" tripped the thief.

"Trying to run, are you? Trying to run... You still want to run..."

The fall was truly brutal. The thief hit the ground face-first with virtually no chance to brace himself. Mu Zhenzhen landed on top of him and was thoroughly dazed as well, but she was uninjured. She immediately climbed up and hauled the thief to his feet, only to see blood spurting from his nose while his forehead and face were scraped raw—a thoroughly miserable sight. The woman whose bag had been opened, along with several "righteous citizens" who volunteered as witnesses, escorted the thief into the police station. Jiaming claimed he had something to do and refused Mu Zhenzhen's nauseating invitation to "treat him to candy." He got off the bus and prepared to take a shortcut to the cinema.

After turning a street corner, two figures swiftly rushed toward him. They were the thief's two accomplices.

"You really stole the spotlight today, kid."

"What a hero."

One of them shoved Jiaming's shoulder, but Jiaming merely sighed. "I don't have time to play with you. Go home and drink milk, good boys."

"You fucking... Hey, don't run..."

Before they could finish cursing, Jiaming shot between them with a whoosh. The two spun around and gave chase.

"Fuck, just let me catch you today..."

"If you keep running, I'll kill your whole family..."

Two older boys and one younger boy raced through the streets of Jianghai City. Yet no matter how hard the two exerted themselves, the short boy with seemingly short legs remained ahead of them the entire time. Before long, they began to feel short of breath. The child maintained high speed as he crossed streets and vaulted over guardrails. Just keeping him in sight took enormous effort.

They had never seen a kid run this fast!

Before long, they had crossed three or four blocks. The two cursed as they chased him, growing steadily more exhausted. As they turned a street corner, the sound of a bicycle suddenly came from ahead. One of them was struck in the thigh by a bicycle that came rushing out and fell to the ground.

"Don't worry about me! Chase him! Chase him!"

The fact that the two of them could not outrun a boy of fourteen or fifteen badly wounded the little thug's pride. Even after being hit by the bicycle, he did not forget to shout for his companion to help him vent his anger. His companion glanced back, then gritted his teeth and sped up to chase after Jiaming.

The desperate chase finally narrowed the distance somewhat. Before long, the panting thug turned into an alley. Seeing the child not far ahead and knowing he would soon catch him, he was delighted to discover that the alley was a dead end, its far end piled with garbage bins and plastic trash bags. As he ran, he shouted, "You... let's see you run now... Keep running..."

As he drew closer, he felt as though he could grab the boy several times, but he just could not catch him. The end of the alley was approaching, yet the boy did not slow down in the slightest. Just as he seemed about to crash into an iron garbage bin, he suddenly leaped up, stepped on the bin, and jumped toward the wall ahead.

Bang—

Clang—

Crash, crash, bang, bang—

A startling series of noises rang out. Unable to stop in time, the thug crashed directly into the pile of garbage. His body spun out of balance, and before a heap of trash bags fell down and buried him, the boy's figure lightly jumped over the wall.

How... could this be...

He vaulted over the wall, and ahead lay the street in front of the cinema. He checked his watch: 2:58. Thank goodness. He hurriedly rushed out. At the cinema entrance, two brightly dressed, youthful girls were idly pacing in circles as they waited. Lingjing looked around in both directions, while Shasha wore an impatient expression. The moment they saw Jiaming charge out, both girls ran over excitedly. If not for the resentful punches and kicks that followed, it would have made for a fine scene of "a family reunion."

"Tell us, where did you run off to?" Shasha demanded, naturally punctuating her interrogation with a few punches and kicks.

"How did you come running out from in there?" Lingjing was gentler. She merely brushed the dust off his clothes, then looked curiously at the dead-end alley behind him.

"Hey, it's three o'clock! Three o'clock! I fought for my life to get here, Shasha, stop hitting me! Look, it's 2:59!" Jiaming held out his hand and spoke with complete confidence.

"But mine says 3:01." Lingjing held out her watch.

"Mine says 3:02!" Shasha produced hers as well.

"Uh, we didn't sync our watches... It's not my fault." Jiaming smiled bitterly.

Before Shasha could reply, she followed Lingjing's gaze toward the alley. Her whole face immediately darkened. "A dead end! So... you weren't late at all. You were waiting in there the whole time, trying to scare us?"

"Ah, well... Help!" Seeing that things were going badly, Jiaming turned and ran. Shasha bared her teeth and claws, Lingjing lifted her skirt, and the two girls laughed as they chased after him. The chase scene that had just swept through several streets of Jianghai City was reenacted once more.

"I'm going to kill you!"

"Don't run!"

Mm, someone suggested that offering extra chapters in exchange for recommendation votes would be more effective, but please understand that Banana is currently writing two series at once—Diary of Seeking Survival in a Foreign Land and Hidden Kill. Together, they update nearly ten thousand words a day, and there are no stockpiled chapters. Being able to maintain this pace should count as fairly sincere, so... please hand over your recommendation votes unconditionally. Thank you.