Chapter 5: Matching Wits and Courage with Thin Air
After hiding the gold coin in his pocket, Qin Xiaoxia quickened his pace.
He abandoned his original plan of waiting for a bus at the bus stop and opted for a taxi instead.
Very few taxis in central Kehua District were willing to go to Qing Town, since they rarely found passengers for the return trip.
So even the drivers willing to make the trip usually refused to use the meter and charged more than the standard fare. It was an unwritten rule everyone here accepted.
Normally, Qin Xiaoxia refused to be taken for a sucker. Today was different. After seeing the earlier surveillance footage, he could hardly wait to get home, as though some precious opportunity might slip away.
The bus usually took over an hour winding along its route, but a taxi could reach Qing Town in just ten minutes.
A little after two in the afternoon, Qin Xiaoxia was already standing outside his front door.
On his way back, he had worked out a plan.
Qin Xiaoxia first inspected the lock. Sure enough, it looked completely undamaged.
Then, as though something had occurred to him, he slapped his forehead, immediately turned around, and headed to the market.
When he returned half an hour later, he was carrying roast chicken, cooked meat, prepared vegetable dishes, and drinks.
Then he opened the door with a nervous heart and walked in as if nothing were wrong.
He put the food straight on the table, changed into his slippers as usual, and made a point of checking the doors and windows before putting on a satisfied expression.
"Looks like that thief really did lose his nerve after I called the police."
Qin Xiaoxia deliberately said it aloud, but naturally, there was no response.
As usual, he went over to his computer to check his "idle gains."
Sure enough, the desktop's mechanical keyboard was gone.
"Oh my god, that damned thief came back! My keyboard! Aaaagh!"
His anguished cry was almost overacted.
Then he began searching the whole house for the keyboard.
He searched every spot and every corner, paying particular attention to the space beneath every chair, stool, and table, then rummaged through cupboards and drawers.
Only after working himself into a sweat did he finally "accidentally" trip in the kitchen and "happen" to glimpse the keyboard beneath the fridge.
"Holy shit! It was hidden here! That bastard!"
"You damned thief, you've got some nerve! You're not even scared of the police! You'd better hope I never catch you!"
After ranting and yelling around his house as if venting his frustration, Qin Xiaoxia slumped onto the kitchen floor in "defeat."
Bewilderment and a hint of fear were written all over his face.
Well, judging by his talent for putting on a one-man show, Qin Xiaoxia was no ordinary guy...
It felt a little like matching wits and courage with thin air, but he believed that fellow could definitely see him.
It was like a shouting match. If you spent ages hurling insults and the other person never reacted, you would end up more frustrated than the person you were insulting.
But as Qin Xiaoxia saw it, his performance should have delivered exactly the satisfaction the little thief wanted-or rather, hit that fellow right where it felt good.
Once he had made enough of a fuss, Qin Xiaoxia got up, reconnected the keyboard, and went into the kitchen to get things ready.
Twenty minutes later, the living room was filled with the aromas of all sorts of food.
Roast chicken, roast squab, meat braised in sauce, cold vegetable dishes, plus white rice and steamed buns.
Although it was all ready-made food, there was no denying that once the packaging was opened, its aroma was much stronger than that of ordinary home-cooked dishes. If that person happened to be hungry and had never tasted any of it before, the temptation would be lethal.
Judging by the way the little thief had wolfed down the pizza in the footage earlier, well, at least the fellow had a huge appetite.
Truthfully, after all that running around, Qin Xiaoxia was hungry too, so he ate with relish.
Old Lady Xiao's Young Chicken Deli at the market had been in business for over a decade, and its prepared food had always tasted good.
Once he started eating, he almost forgot to stop. He should have been able to leave half of those several boxes of food, but now he was on the verge of polishing them all off himself.
By the time he realized it, there was hardly anything left.
It was a little awkward. Although he had left less than planned, there should still be enough for a taste.
Qin Xiaoxia tidied up and put the small amount of leftover food in the fridge.
Then he took out the empty pizza box and deliberately scratched his head in confusion.
"Weird. Did I eat all the pizza? I thought there was a little left."
That evening was mostly a repeat of his routine over the past few days, except that he made a point of grumbling about the "theft" before bed.
He avoided any excessively provocative profanity, but expressed his frustration and helplessness to the fullest.
Then, as the clock ticked on, Qin Xiaoxia fell asleep, satisfied yet filled with nervous anticipation.
The next day brought another beautiful, sunny morning. Before the sunlight even reached his face, Qin Xiaoxia sat up in bed.
First, he checked under his pillow.
Nothing.
He got out of bed and searched through the quilt and sheets.
Still nothing.
Stingy little bastard. I worked so hard putting on that show yesterday, and you won't even pay me a performance fee!
Feeling a little dejected, he got dressed and washed up, then opened the fridge to make breakfast.
"Damn it! Where's yesterday's roast chicken wing? The squab leg? The braised beef? Why are they gone?"
His roar carried from the kitchen into the living room, the loft, and every corner of the house.
But unlike the "anger" on his face, Qin Xiaoxia was secretly delighted.
So what if you're a supernatural little thief? You're still just a kid. You couldn't resist the food!
Seeing that every last scrap of the prepared food had been eaten, Qin Xiaoxia felt even more reassured. There was no fucking way this was a ghost.
Though apparently not even the bones had been left behind. Calling the fellow a monster might be closer to the truth...
People were strange sometimes. Logically, ghosts came from humans and should have been more like them, yet people were more afraid of ghosts. With monsters, especially monster children, curiosity tended to win out instead.
Besides, the little thief had even been scared of the fridge for a while earlier, which made the fellow much less intimidating.
Hehehe. Once you've taken the bait, there's nothing to worry about. Tsk, tsk. I'll keep watching a while longer!
Qin Xiaoxia's face remained expressionless, but his inner self was already sporting a wicked grin.
The little thief did not seem to understand what electrical appliances did. By now, the fellow had probably only figured out that the fridge held food, let alone anything about surveillance cameras.
Over the next two days, Qin Xiaoxia brought home tasty food every day, and every day, the little thief stole and ate the leftovers.
Some of the things he regularly used around the house went missing each day too, but by cheating with the surveillance footage, he could find almost all of them.
The only blemish on this otherwise perfect situation was that no more gold coins appeared.
By carefully studying the footage, Qin Xiaoxia discovered a few patterns.
The little fellow might only be able to turn invisible, rather than pass through walls, and did not seem particularly strong.
On the third day of surveillance, after disappearing from view, the little thief seemed to accidentally knock over a chair. The footage showed the chair falling over, then "standing up by itself."
The chair wobbled several times as it "stood," rising with considerable difficulty.
The chairs in Qin Xiaoxia's house had been left behind by Old Qin. They were made of good-quality solid wood and were fairly heavy, but there was definitely something wrong with their design. When no one was sitting in them, a firm tug on the backrest could easily tip them over, yet setting them upright again took quite a bit of effort.
He had always hated those chairs, but today's discovery left Qin Xiaoxia exceptionally excited.