Chapter 734: Chenchen catches a thief!
Translator: Legge Editor: - -
Elsewhere.
In the afternoon, at Mengmeng's house.
Mengmeng's mother asked, "Have you finished eating?"
"Yes, I've finished." Mengmeng took a napkin and wiped her mouth.
Mengmeng's father laughed and said, "You ate so little, why didn't you eat the vegetables? You should learn from Chenchen and not be picky about food. You can only grow taller and stronger if you do that."
Mengmeng stuck out her tongue. "I don't like celery and chives."
Little Fatso put down his chopsticks and said, "Auntie, Uncle, I've finished too."
Mengmeng's mother said politely, "Have some more, Auntie will serve you another bowl of rice."
"It's enough, I really can't eat anymore." The terrified Little Fatso waved his hands hastily.
Another boy, Little Chao, said, "Chenchen, Mengmeng, let's go play outside?"
Mengmeng nodded. "Sure, sure. Dad, Mom, then we will be going out now?"
Mengmeng's mother reminded them, "Watch out for cars, and don't go too far away. Just play around in the alleys so that I can call all of you back."
"OK," Mengmeng replied.
The young children went out in their group.
Little Fatso and Little Chao brought a soccer ball with them and started kicking it around in the alley. Lianlian was riding on Mengmeng's small bicycle and was fighting with Mengmeng over who got to ride it in a fun manner. Chenchen glanced at them and strolled leisurely beside them with her hands behind her back like a small adult, not joining them in their activities.
"Chenchen, come and play with us!" Lianlian signaled for her to go over.
Chenchen gave a scornful pout. "You guys play by yourselves."
Mengmeng offered the small bicycle to Chenchen. "I'll let you ride it."
Chenchen said, "That's not necessary. It's too childish and uninteresting."
Mengmeng didn't know how to react. "But isn't everyone playing with these things? What are the things that are not childish?"
At this moment, the two kids, Little Fatso and Little Chao, who had gone to pick up the soccer ball from the entrance of the alleyway returned. The two of them rushed back with nervous looking expressions and looked very anxious.
Lianlian looked at them and asked, "What's the matter with you two?"
Little Chao said softly, "Little Fatso and I saw someone stealing things!"
Mengmeng covered her mouth. "Ah?"
Lianlian's jaw dropped. "Are you serious?"
"It's true, I also saw it!" Little Fatso was gesticulating as he related what he saw. "A woman's bag was nearly stolen by him, and now he's targeting another person! It's terrible!"
Mengmeng asked anxiously, "What should we do? I will go and inform my parents!"
Chenchen suddenly asked, "Where is he?"
Little Fatso said, "We saw it happen at the bus stop by the entrance of the alley!"
Chenchen took the lead and walked forward. "Let's go and take a look."
When he heard that, Little Chao was terrified. "Ah? Why are we going to take a look at that?"
"Hurry up." Chenchen glared at him. "Are you even a man? Why are you so spineless?"
Little Chao wiped away his sweat. "OK…fine."
Lianlian was more scared and was shivering in fear, but when she saw her classmates following Chenchen, she could only grit her teeth and catch up to them. "Wait for me, wait for me!"
……
In front of the bus stop.
Everything looked as usual at a glance.
Chenchen turned around and asked softly, "Which one is he?"
Little Fatso furtively pointed at a middle-aged man dressed in a gray shirt and then whispered very quietly, "That's him."
Chenchen asked again, "Does he have an accomplice?"
"Er, I don't know," Little Fatso said confused.
As they were talking, they saw the middle-aged man dressed in a gray shirt making his move. Actually, Little Fatso and the rest did not manage to see clearly how the man did it. They only saw a middle-aged woman going up to a young and pretty lady to ask for directions. When the young lady turned her head to say something, the middle-aged man in the gray shirt immediately stretched out his hand. His movement was too fast and they were too far away, so it was difficult to make out whether he had used a blade or something else, but when the middle-aged man withdrew his hand, he was already holding something that looked like a purse in his hands. He then turned around to walk away slowly.
Mengmeng was getting nervous. "He stole it already!" He stole it already!"
Lianlian pulled at her in panic. "Mengmeng, lower your voice, don't let him hear that!"
The middle-aged man scanned the surroundings just before he left, so thankfully for Mengmeng, Lianlian, and the others, they were just seven- and eight-year-old children who had not attracted his attention. He did not even look at them.
Chenchen observed the surroundings for a moment and hypothesized, "That man has an accomplice."
Little Chao exclaimed, "Where? Wasn't he working alone?"
Chenchen explained, "That middle-aged woman who was asking for directions from the victim was his accomplice. She was responsible for diverting the victim's attention."
Little Chao was enlightened. "So that's how it is! Chenchen, you're really smart!"
A warm-hearted person, Mengmeng said, "Then we should inform that big sister whose purse got stolen by them."
"No, we can't do that." Chenchen looked across the road and said, "It's useless even if we let her know. When that thief committed the crime, he used a pocketknife that was about three inches long as his tool. So it's pointless even if that big sister chases after him. She might end up getting injured instead."
Little Fatso was stunned. "Was there a knife? How come I didn't see it? It's even three inches long?"
Little Chao said, "That's right, I didn't see it either, so how could you have seen it?"
Chenchen dismissively curled her lips. "When I was only three years old, I followed my aunt and practiced the horse stance, standing stump, and started to learn martial arts as well. How can your eyes be sharper than mine? If I say that it is a knife, then it's a knife!"
Little Chao lost his fight. "…Fine."
"Let me ask you guys this, do you all wish to capture the thief?" Chenchen looked at them.
Little Fatso said, "I do, but that man has gotten too far away already. It will be too late even if we call the police now."
Chenchen pointed at that middle-aged woman and said, "He still has an accomplice over there, we will just follow her and find their meeting place or maybe even their hideout. Then we can capture them in one fell swoop!"
These bold claims immediately gave a scare to the other young children!
"What?"
"We're going to follow her?"
"But they have a knife!"
"Chechen, why don't we just call the police? If we get discovered by them, we'll be in big trouble!"
Chenchen said, "We are only young children, they won't notice us. Besides, we should stand up to help if we see injustice, isn't that what everyone should do?"
Lianlian turned pale. "But…but the teachers say that even if we want to act bravely, it should be within one's limits!"
Chenchen looked at her and said, "Comrade Lianlian, as our school's first batch of Young Pioneer members, isn't your level of consciousness too low?"
Lianlian said, "I…"
Little Chao also disagreed, "But…"
Chenchen looked beside her and said, "Mengmeng, how about you?"
Upon hearing that, Mengmeng clenched her teeth and said, "I will do as you say!"
"Very good, this is more like it as a member of our class committee." Chenchen patted Mengmeng on her shoulders and then said to the boys, "What about the two of you?"
Little Fatso hesitated, "This, um."
Chenchen pouted. "As a girl, Mengmeng is brave enough to stand up against the evil forces. Why are the both of you boys behaving like cowards?"
Little Fatso was vexed. "Who is a coward? Who's a coward? I'll go!"
Little Chao also let out a scream. "Son of a gun! I'll go as well! Who's afraid of who! Let's go and catch them! Let's capture them in one fell swoop!" But after saying that, Little Chao's legs and belly were obviously trembling with fear.
Lianlian glanced at them and could only follow along with the majority.
"That's great!" Chenchen nodded in satisfaction. Then she ordered, "From now on, our temporary team of thief-catchers is formally established. I'm the team leader, so all of you have to listen to my orders. Now, I'm going to assign an operation code name to each of you. Mengmeng, your code name is Squash. You are more familiar with this area since you live here, so I will give you a cell phone later and you will be responsible for contacting the police and informing them about the thieves' location at any time."
Mengmeng was dumbfounded. "Squash?"
Chenchen continued, "Little Fatso, your code name is Black Bear and you're responsible for our safety."
"What the hell is this? Black Bear?" Little Fatso stared at her.
Chenchen said, "Little Chao, your code name is Bald Eagle and you're responsible for the alternative route tailing."
Little Chao nearly fainted. "Bald…Bald Eagle? Why does it sound so lame?"
Chenchen looked at the last team member. "Lianlian, you have the most important task. You must keep a certain distance from us. When the moment our whereabouts are exposed and our enemies discover us, you must seek help immediately. Oh, your code name…is Black Widow."
Lianlian: "..."
Mengmeng complained, "All of the names sound awful!"
Little Fatso was flustered. "Chenchen, what is your code name then?"
Chenchen leered at him and said calmly, "It's the same for everyone. There isn't much difference in our code names. My code name is 'Sailor Guardian Imbued with Courage and Wisdom.'"
Mengmeng: "Pfft!"
Lianlian almost vomited blood. "How is that not too different? That is clearly way too different, alright!?"
On the other side of the road, the thief's accomplice was already starting to move west.
Chenchen immediately gave the order. "The target is moving. Bald Eagle, Bald Eagle, cross the road and outflank her from that side. Black Widow, conceal yourself quickly. Black Bear, let's go together!"
Mengmeng stretched out her hand. "Chenchen, give me your cell phone."
Chenchen gave Mengmeng the cell phone she borrowed from Zhang Ye's mother for playing games. Then she said matter-of-factly, "Remember, during the mission, call me Sailor Guardian Imbued with Courage and Wisdom."
Mengmeng rolled her eyes and said, "I got it!"
Chenchen acknowledged and said, "Go on, Squash."
Mengmeng felt that it sounded very weird. "Can I change to another code name? Can I change to something that's slightly firm and powerful? Squash sounds like a weakling!"
"Firm and powerful? Sure." Chenchen thought for a moment and said, "Then your code name will Unbreakable Egg."
Mengmeng remained silent for a few seconds, then she turned around and walked away while wiping her tears from off her face. "…Call me Squash instead!"
That woman who acted as the distraction for the thief had already crossed the road. Her pace was not fast but her eyes were very alert and sharp. She was observing the surroundings closely as she walked with a strong counterspying mindset. After circling the area for a bit, she made a phone call before walking off in another direction.
Chenchen led her team of thief-catchers and followed from a distance.
"Bald Eagle, you are too close to the target. Be careful of your concealment, be careful of your concealment. Squash, wait a little longer before you call the police. It's useless if you contact the police now, they will alert the criminals if they come too early. Even if they capture that woman, there's no evidence and we won't be able to find out where their hideout is. Black Widow, don't look at the suspect. Right, don't stare at her so hard, your cover will be exposed. Just follow us from behind!" Chenchen commanded.
The team members followed her orders accordingly.
No matter how vigilant that woman was, she would never have imagined that there were five seven- and eight-year-old primary school students shadowing her. Even if she caught a glimpse of a primary school student occasionally, she would still filter out the threat and not treat it as something serious.