Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Wait—what was he thinking?

Shen Dongqing shook his head hard, shaking the thoughts out of his head.

Since the skill had already expired, he didn't have to stick close to home anymore. Previously, he hadn't dared to venture far because he was afraid of too many people wearing him out mentally, but now that restriction was gone. He could go find the busiest spot and camp out there.

Shen Dongqing didn't waste any time. He went straight back inside, grabbed a few things, and headed out.

The busiest place in Ningchuan was the downtown shopping area, which was a ways from his place. Shen Dongqing walked straight to the bus stop and waited for the bus to arrive.

When he reached the bus stop, Shen Dongqing automatically scanned the area and quickly zeroed in on a thief.

But unlike usual, this time, the second he looked over, the thief noticed. The thief turned back, met Shen Dongqing's gaze, and froze, as if rooted to the spot.

A bus pulled up. Shen Dongqing glanced at it—it wasn't the one he needed—so he didn't follow the crowd. He noticed the thief hadn't moved either. The man stood there like a pillar, and people shoving onto the bus grumbled at him for blocking the way without getting on.

What the heck?

Shen Dongqing shot the thief another curious look. The thief finally turned around and walked off, picking up speed until he was basically running.

Once he'd put some distance between them, the thief looked back. At that range, he could hardly tell what Shen Dongqing was up to, but he still felt like Shen Dongqing was watching him, so he kept running a little more.

Once he was sure Shen Dongqing hadn't followed, the thief quickly fired off a message in the group chat.

"Everyone be careful, that guy's back. I saw him at the bus stop."

"Didn't we say he's not, like, a streamer?"

"You believe that? What streamer catches thieves that slick?"

Times change, and so did how thieves kept in touch. A bunch of the younger thieves in Ningchuan had a group chat to swap info. Yeah, it was risky, but they just couldn't help wanting to chat.

Worst case, they'd use a burner account and never talk about jobs in the group. Just shooting the breeze was fine—talking to regular folks felt different, you know?

And for the past few days, the group's hot topic had been Shen Dongqing.

It started when one thief in the group stumbled across Shen Dongqing's livestream. He figured it was staged—the guy playing the thief looked pretty legit. He wondered how much the actor got paid; if it paid well, maybe he'd give it a shot too.

But once the replay got shared in the group, someone instantly recognized a coworker. That's when it hit them—the people caught were actual thieves.

When they tried reaching out to the guys they knew, nobody picked up. One or two might have other reasons, but four or five all gone quiet? That meant they'd been busted.

Thieves get caught—it comes with the territory. Getting nabbed by regular cops was no biggie, but a plainclothes cop staking out spots? That freaked thieves out. Nobody wanted to be mid-job and suddenly get grabbed by the cops. Do that a few times, and you'd be traumatized.

So everyone in the group committed Shen Dongqing's face to memory. For the next two days, they barely dared to pull any jobs. But when those two days passed quietly, they figured the heat had blown over. The second they came back out, Shen Dongqing popped up again.

"Even if it's some special crackdown, it should be done by now. They wouldn't keep it up this long."

"Who knows. Let's just lay low for a few days."

Shen Dongqing had zero clue about any of this. He got on the bus and rode easy to the downtown area, figuring his recent thief-catching run was still paying off.

And it was—just not for the reasons he figured.

The cops had noticed too. Other stations aside, West Street felt it the most.

Usually, there'd be a few bus pickpocketing reports, but for two or three days straight, West Street hadn't gotten a single one of those calls. The difference was night and day.

Going over the last two days of reports, Zhao Rong couldn't help but say, "With Shen Dongqing cracking down like that, the bus thieves have been laying low for a few days."

It might only last a few days, but it's still a win.

...

After staking out the downtown area for two hours and grabbing some grilled cold noodles for lunch, Shen Dongqing let out a long sigh. Wanted criminals were seriously hard to find. He'd been way too optimistic.

Thinking about it more carefully, it made sense. With a population as large as the whole country, wanted criminals might be numerous, but scattered across the entire population, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Shen Dongqing shook his head and decided to head home and rest for a few days, letting the Criminal Attraction Aura build up its energy. When it was ready, he'd catch something big and give it to Xiao Ze as a thank-you gift.

For now, he'd just go to the supermarket, buy some groceries, and cook dinner.

When Shen Dongqing first drew the cooking skill, his only thought was: worth it!

And after cooking at home for the past two days, he felt incredibly lucky to have gotten that skill.

The food he made was delicious and healthy. After eating, he felt great all over—unlike ordering takeout. Some places were decent, but others left you drinking water until you were full and still thirsty. Who knows what they put in there.

Most importantly, Shen Dongqing had been working out at home these past few days, and eating takeout could easily ruin his progress.

As for fitness meals from delivery apps, he'd tried one once, forced himself to finish it, and decided he'd rather cook himself.

At the supermarket, Shen Dongqing grabbed some vegetables and headed straight for the meat section, picking out some chicken and beef.

Someone next to him reached for a pack of chicken breast. Shen Dongqing couldn't help but warn, "Don't buy that one. It's been thawed and refrozen."

"Shen Dongqing?" A vaguely familiar voice spoke up.

"Xiao... Ze." The word "officer" was on the tip of his tongue, but seeing Xiao Ze in plain clothes, Shen Dongqing swallowed it back.

"What a coincidence, you're shopping here too." Shen Dongqing made small talk, then fell silent.

Seeing Shen Dongqing's awkward demeanor, Xiao Ze couldn't help but smile. He found Shen Dongqing's state fascinating.

With ordinary people, even people he knew reasonably well, Shen Dongqing seemed socially anxious and reserved. But when facing criminals, he was completely calm and composed.

Xiao Ze felt a pang of regret. With a personality like Shen Dongqing's, how great would it have been if he'd gone to police academy?

While Xiao Ze was thinking, Shen Dongqing was thinking too. After a moment, he finally found a topic.

"What do you need to buy? I can pick it out for you." As he spoke, Shen Dongqing glanced at the ingredients in Xiao Ze's cart, then couldn't help but steal a look at Xiao Ze.

Xiao Ze subtly noticed that Shen Dongqing's attitude had shifted again—he seemed more confident now.

Soon, Xiao Ze found out why.

"This potato isn't fresh. The quality's no good—whether you want it crispy or soft, the texture won't work. What were you planning to make with it?"

"This vegetable's a bit old too. Not tender. It definitely won't taste good. Pick this bunch instead."

"This beef—what were you planning to do with it..."

Shen Dongqing knew the quality of the supermarket's produce inside and out. He led Xiao Ze back to the vegetable section and swapped out everything in his cart.

"Is the difference really that big?" Xiao Ze's voice sounded distant.

"Pretty big. With good ingredients, even a mediocre cook can make something tasty because the natural flavor carries it. If the quality's poor, you need better cooking skills to mask it." Shen Dongqing nodded.

"No wonder my cooking was hit or miss before. I thought my skills were just inconsistent," Xiao Ze said, realization hitting him.

"You might just not be good at picking vegetables. It's actually pretty simple—I can teach you." Shen Dongqing promptly led Xiao Ze through the vegetable section, carefully explaining the characteristics of various vegetables at different stages of tenderness and maturity, aiming to turn Xiao Ze into a pro at picking veggies in one shot.

A few young people nearby buying groceries overheard Shen Dongqing's explanations and couldn't help but lean in to listen, because, like Xiao Ze, they just grabbed whatever looked good and only found out if it tasted right after cooking.

But even if the dish came out bad, they couldn't tell whether it was the vegetable's fault or their own.

Watching Shen Dongqing explain, Xiao Ze's eyes went distant for a second, but he quickly snapped back to attention and listened carefully to what Shen Dongqing was saying.

Xiao Ze didn't notice that he was feeling a bit better than before. Previously, even during rest, he was always on edge, but now he was gradually relaxing.

Coming out of the supermarket, Shen Dongqing was about to go wait for the bus when Xiao Ze stopped him.

"You're carrying all that stuff—let me give you a ride. Wait here, I'll go get the car." With that, Xiao Ze reached for the groceries Shen Dongqing was holding.

Glancing at the items in his hands, Shen Dongqing didn't hesitate and handed them over directly.

While waiting for the car, Shen Dongqing noticed a group of people in the small square in front of the supermarket. They had a tripod set up with a phone on it, like they were live-streaming.

Shen Dongqing was a little taken aback. Although he knew from the internet that live-streaming was huge in this world, seeing it in person was still somewhat surprising.

Though he thought it unlikely, figuring "since I'm here anyway," Shen Dongqing moved closer and scanned the faces one by one.

No, no, still no...

Wait, that face looks kind of familiar.

Shen Dongqing took a closer look—it was Liang Xuan's father, and he was actually live-streaming here.

After the last live-stream where he paid off debts, Shen Dongqing hadn't paid much attention to the Liang family's affairs, but Zhang Feiyu kept him in the loop, so he knew that Liang's father's reputation had taken a hit. Netizens weren't buying his act anymore, and only a few fans still believed he was a loving father, thinking that Liang Xuan's mess was just too deep to fix and wasn't his to fix.

Liang's father hadn't live-streamed for several days, just posting a bunch of long-winded posts. Shen Dongqing didn't expect to see him live-streaming here today.

If this was about saving money to pay off Liang Xuan's debts, Shen Dongqing didn't buy it. He figured the man was just cashing in on whatever hype was left to make money for himself.

After all, online hype comes and goes quickly. Like him—after a few days, his popularity was starting to fade, but fortunately, the growth of his Fame Points hadn't slowed down much. Probably because many live-stream clips had spread, and those who saw them were still giving him some Fame Points.

Shen Dongqing continued looking around, checking a few more people, then suddenly whipped his head back to Liang's father. No, the familiarity wasn't just from seeing him before—it was also because his face felt familiar.

As Shen Dongqing stared at Liang's father, he searched his mind, flipping through mental images until it settled on a wanted poster.