Chapter 17

Chapter 17

The fans hadn't settled on a destination, so Shen Dongqing scanned the map and picked one—Mingshan Wetland Park.

The weather was scorching hot now, and walking around outside in the heat wasn't exactly fun for the viewers either. It was better to stream some outdoor scenery instead.

Shen Dongqing glanced at the Flying Camera hovering beside him. With a camera this good, it would be a waste not to capture some scenery.

Shen Dongqing first looked up a travel guide to check out what there was to do at Mingshan Wetland Park, then started mapping out his route.

"Although the guide says you can buy food around the park, the options are limited and prices are steep, so let's bus it to the supermarket and stock up first," Shen Dongqing said, then didn't forget to ask the viewers, "Got any snack recommendations, guys?"

Shen Dongqing knew what tasty snacks were out there in his world, but the original him had lost both parents as a child and was raised by his grandparents. Just being able to eat enough and go to school was already a blessing—snacks were seen as expensive and not filling in his grandparents' eyes, so they never bought any.

By the time the original him got to college, his grandparents had passed away. He paid tuition with student loans and worked part-time to cover everyday expenses.

During those college years, he didn't dare spend a single cent on anything but necessities, and since snacks weren't essential, he never bought them.

Having inherited the original body's memories, Shen Dongqing naturally had no idea what good snacks existed in this world either.

If he'd asked about anything else, the fans might not have known or cared to discuss it. But the second food came up, everyone perked up and started eagerly chiming in.

Desserts, savory snacks, individually wrapped cakes, spicy strips, sugary drinks... Shen Dongqing was overwhelmed by the flood of suggestions.

In the past, he would've struggled to remember all of them at once. But perhaps thanks to the training from the face recognition card, he felt his memory had improved slightly.

Plus, snack names were pretty easy to remember, so he basically had them down after one read-through.

Reading the fans' quick snack reviews, Shen Dongqing had just been looking for something to talk about, but now he was genuinely craving some.

When the bus arrived, Shen Dongqing hopped on the moment it pulled up, while still scanning the whole bus.

All clear—no sketchy people on board.

Shen Dongqing nodded, relieved, and casually found an empty seat.

The moment fans saw Shen Dongqing get on the bus, many perked up, dropping the snack talk and waiting for the show.

But the bus kept stopping and starting, people getting on and off, and by the time Shen Dongqing reached the stop near the supermarket, nothing had happened whatsoever.

The fans were shocked and refused to believe it.

"How is it possible that nothing happened? Didn't he catch a whole bunch of thieves in one go before?"

"Is the streamer avoiding showing us him catching thieves, so he's pretending not to see them?"

"Wait, I just remembered that clip of him catching thieves went pretty viral. Maybe the Ningchuan authorities noticed and cracked down hard on thieves?"

"I'm from Ningchuan. Speaking of which, I remember seeing on some Ningchuan official account that they busted a major thief den."

"Girl, why didn't you say that earlier? I would've asked for something else."

"I didn't think it'd work this well either."

The fans didn't get the show they wanted and all seemed a bit deflated.

Shen Dongqing noticed the viewer count dropping somewhat—clearly they'd come for the drama, and when there was none, they left.

Shen Dongqing didn't mind too much. After all, they'd already given him their Fame Points, and even if they left now, you can't take back what's already been given. As for whether they'd come back in the future, Shen Dongqing was confident they would.

As long as they still loved some drama, they'd return to his stream the moment something interesting happened.

It was the fans' comments that made Shen Dongqing chuckle. If he weren't afraid of misleading his viewers, he would've loved to catch a thief right then and there to entertain them.

There were no thieves on the bus, but the big plaza outside the supermarket was hosting an event, and there were plenty of people around—and where there were crowds, there were thieves.

In just the short time since getting off, Shen Dongqing had spotted at least three thieves, probably all here looking for a score.

Though stealing was harder nowadays. In the past, people carried cash, and since you couldn't hold money in your hand all the time, stuffing it in your pocket gave thieves their chance.

But nowadays, young people rarely carried cash—everyone had their phones and would scroll while walking, which left a lot of thieves without an opening.

Shen Dongqing noticed a young man holding the latest Tianyu phone, which went for over ten thousand yuan. The thief had clearly recognized it too and was tailing him closely, clearly waiting for a chance to grab it.

Unfortunately, the young man was completely absorbed in his phone while walking, leaving the thief no chance at all.

Though walking while looking at your phone wasn't safe, in a crowded place like this, it did keep his stuff safe.

The other two thieves hadn't found targets yet, but this one—Shen Dongqing could just tell—wasn't going to give up easily.

Since it was crowded, Shen Dongqing moved the Flying Camera to hover right above his head to avoid bumping into people around him.

"Quit complaining, guys. There was no action on the bus, but I spotted something the moment I got off," Shen Dongqing said, aiming the Flying Camera at the thief.

Inexperienced viewers might not have noticed, but the fans who'd stuck around had all seen Shen Dongqing identify thieves before, and since the thief had no idea he was being watched, his sketchy behavior quickly became obvious.

"So obvious. Everyone's minding their own business, and there you are looking shifty-eyed. Hard not to spot."

"Don't thieves practice their facial expressions? Looking like that just makes people more wary of you."

"Don't be so hard on him. It looks obvious to us because we're looking from above and the streamer gave him a close-up. If it were a wide shot, you wouldn't notice anything."

"Nobody pays attention to strangers' expressions on the street. Who's that bored?"

"Just realized the perks of walking while staring at your phone. Seeing the thief want to steal but not being able to is kind of funny."

Shen Dongqing quickly stepped forward and called out to the guy.

The young man snapped out of it, looked up at Shen Dongqing with a slightly confused expression, but when he spotted the Flying Camera above Shen Dongqing's head, his eyes immediately lit up.

"I'm live streaming. I happened to glance at the camera and noticed you might be targeted by a thief," Shen Dongqing explained.

"Thief?" The young man stiffened and instinctively looked around, but didn't spot anyone suspicious.

Shen Dongqing glanced around too—the thief from earlier was gone, either hiding or gone.

"Your phone is pretty expensive. You should be more careful in places this crowded," Shen Dongqing said as he walked off. He still had to hit the supermarket. But after walking a short distance, Shen Dongqing felt someone following him. He turned around and saw the young man had followed him, staring straight at the Flying Camera hovering above his head.

"Can I help you with something?" Shen Dongqing asked.

"Bro, where'd you buy that Flying Camera? Can you send me the link?" the young man said excitedly.

When he first saw Shen Dongqing's Flying Camera, he hadn't thought much of it—he had his own drone. But Shen Dongqing's Flying Camera was super compact and crazy smart.

He'd seen with his own eyes a kid sitting on his dad's shoulders wave his hand, and the Flying Camera dodged to the side on its own, while Shen Dongqing was looking straight ahead without touching his phone. That could only mean the Flying Camera had avoided the obstacle by itself—which was seriously cool.

Not to mention that most drones were pretty loud, but this Flying Camera was so close and made no sound at all. He was completely sold.

"I didn't buy it—I won it in a lottery," Shen Dongqing explained.

"Are you selling this? I'll give you ten thousand, no, twenty thousand, how about it?" the young man said, looking at the flying camera with growing admiration.

"It's not for sale." Shen Dongqing shook his head. This was his dedicated live-streaming gear; he would never sell it.

"Thirty thousand, no, fifty thousand, how about that?" the young man grew anxious.

"No matter how much you offer, it won't matter. This is my bread and butter; I can't sell it." Shen Dongqing shook his head, unwilling to continue the conversation, and turned to leave.

But just as Shen Dongqing took a few steps, a person suddenly ran past him. A shadow fell over him, and a man in a mask and hat ran off, carrying a coat.

His camera!

Shen Dongqing moved to chase him on instinct, but the crowd was dense, and he even felt like someone was deliberately getting in his way. By the time he fought his way through, the person who grabbed his camera had already run far away.

Wait, no—maybe he hadn't gone far, but in such a crowded place, once he took off his mask and hat, he would blend completely into the crowd, making him impossible to find.

The young man was stunned. He wanted to buy the camera, but someone else just outright stole it.

The fans in the live stream were equally stunned.

They were watching the stream when suddenly something like a net lunged at the camera, and the screen went black.