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"I know someone who's into smelly socks, a real pervert. Once, after work, my velvet stockings were sweaty and my heels slippery, so I thought of taking them off to throw them away."

"Guess what happened then?"

"I just sat down on a bench, and this creep started staring at me, even asking if he could buy my stockings. It scared me so much that I didn't dare throw them away and ended up bringing them back home."

Tan Bei pondered with his ear stud in hand, the more he thought, the more likely it seemed that he looked up to the master, "If my roommate stole many people's socks on this floor, with such a large quantity, could it be for selling?"

Chu Yuening softly acknowledged, "He indeed steals a lot of socks to sell, and has made quite a bit of money from it."

Hearing that his roommate was indeed selling the stolen socks, Tan Bei let out a slight sigh of relief and understood why, "His family background isn't good, so he might have resorted to this business out of desperation. Selling socks is a good thing, but stealing them is not right."

"He could have approached me openly to ask for them, or collected other residents' socks by going door-to-door, as long as he offered some money, I'm sure there would be buyers."

However, now that he knew the truth,

Tan Bei felt a great weight lifted off his chest. If it was just for the sake of earning money, he could forgive his roommate.

After all, his girlfriend was introduced to him by his roommate, and they had plans to get married after graduation. They would all be connected by family ties, constantly running into each other.

He pulled out some cash, preparing to pay for the divination.

Looking at the money on the table, Chu Yuening blinked her eyes. "Wait a moment, he steals other people's socks to sell, but not yours."

Tan Bei looked puzzled. "Huh?"

Then a disturbing thought crossed his mind, causing him to sit back down after initially standing up.

"Isn't... isn't it... what I'm thinking?" Tan Bei's voice trembled.

"Nope," Chu Yuening smiled kindly. "It's exactly what you're thinking. He's collecting your socks?"

"Why... why?" Tan Bei was so shocked that his face started to tingle.

"Do I really need to spell it out?" Chu Yuening tilted her head.

Tan Bei couldn't stay seated. He stood up, walked around the table a few times, and removed his headscarf. His eyes widened in astonishment, as if struck by lightning. "Does he... like me?"

Chu Yuening gave him an affirmative response.

He was even more confused. "Then why did he introduce his cousin to me?"

Chu Yuening replied, "After he introduced his cousin to you, wouldn't it be logical for him to become your roommate?"

Tan Bei pondered and helplessly nodded. "Yes, I originally had a roommate who moved out. I thought about preparing for my graduate studies and didn't want to bother moving or renting to a new roommate. Living alone would be much quieter."

"My current roommate initially mentioned the idea of sharing the rent with me, but I declined. It wasn't until he introduced his cousin that he brought it up again after we started dating."

"I thought, if my girlfriend came from an introduction, it made sense to provide him with a decent place to live at a reasonable price. There was no reason to refuse."

The more Tan Bei thought about it, the angrier he became.

His girlfriend had grown up without a father, regarding his roommate's father as her own and his roommate as her older brother.

But in the end...

His roommate didn't have good intentions. He had even casually introduced his cousin just to live with him?

"Master, if he didn't sell my socks, then where are they?"

Chu Yuening declared, "They're all in his room."

Tan Bei could no longer contain his frustration. After paying for the dessert, he hastily left the stall.

At Laiwan Estate, a hip-hop clad youngster accompanied the police officers into an apartment building. He earnestly pleaded, "Sir, believe me, I know who stole the socks. I'm not making a false report."

A few of the uniformed officers recognized the young man. One of them, wearing a pager on his chest, patted Tan Bei's shoulder and sighed. "Young brother, you always claim that a thief broke into your place, but only your socks go missing. Without any leads or suspects, there's nothing we can do to open a case."

"We're quite busy, with three streets left to patrol. We really can't afford to waste time."

Tan Bei anxiously tried to convince them. "Sir, please trust me. It's not just my socks that have been stolen; many others in this building have had their socks taken too."

The crowd in Laiwan Estate was growing.

An elderly man in his eighties or nineties, dressed in traditional Chinese attire, angrily waved his hand. "I'll file a report too! It's not just this young man. My socks have disappeared as well whenever I've left them out on the balcony to wash. I've lost dozens of pairs. I even tried staking out the area to catch the thief, but every time, the socks vanished before I could catch anyone."

Someone spoke up.

Gradually, more and more people reported similar incidents.

"I've also lost a dozen pairs of worn stockings."

"I'm missing several pairs of socks too."

"It's the same for me!"

As the number of victims grew, the military police officers' expressions turned increasingly grave. Even though the lost items were mere inexpensive socks, the sheer volume of reports transformed it into a serious case that could threaten society.

Officer Sir pressed the walkie-talkie, "There's a situation in Lixian Residential Area. Please dispatch additional officers immediately."

Only after that did Officer Sir follow Tan Bei upstairs.

Opening the door, Tan Bei heard music coming from his roommate's room. He walked over and knocked on the door. "Can you open up?"

To be honest, since his roommate had moved in, Tan Bei had never entered his room.

My roommate often behaved mysteriously, always cautiously locking the door behind him when he left. Over time, Tan Bei grew indifferent to entering his room.

After a while, the door creaked open a crack, revealing a haggard-looking man. Spotting the uniformed officer trailing Tan Bei, the man was no longer surprised. "Ah Bei, you called the police again?"

As he spoke, the man forced a sarcastic smile. "Ah Bei has really become bookish, suspecting someone's in the house every day. I live with him and haven't even noticed any thieves. Gentlemen, you've worked hard. In the future, I'll teach Ah Bei to be more sensible."