Return of the Soldier King

Chapter 18 Catching The Thief

Hearing the girl scream, the bus driver responded quickly. He pulled over by the side of the road and locked the doors in order to prevent the thief from leaving.

All the passengers immediately looked in the direction of the screaming. It was time for work and they were in hurry. Most of them gave her dissatisfied looks.

"What do you mean, Miss? Have you lost something?" A middle-aged man in a suit looked at his watch with an annoyed expression.

Chu Mo's face turned red as she struggled to speak through her tears, "I... I lost my money! 43,000 Yuan in a brown envelope... I put it in my bag."

"More than 40,000 Yuan? You dummy! You thought you can go on public transport with that much cash on you and no one would try to steal it? Well, that’s just great! Now we have to wait for the police to come and everyone will be late for work," the middle-aged man sighed.

"Oh, that’s just my luck! If I’m late for work today, the boss will deduct my salary."

"You had that much money and didn’t take a taxi? What's wrong with you?"

The other passengers grumbled and complained.

When the passengers realized they couldn't get off the bus, they took out their phones to call their bosses one by one.

"I have called the police. Everyone, just be patient. The police will be here in 10 minutes at the most!" The bus driver announced through the speakers.

"Manager Xu, I am going to be a little late this morning, 20 minutes at most. It’s not my fault; I just have bad luck today. Some girl's money - more than 40,000 Yuan - was stolen by a thief on the bus. Now I have to wait for the police to come here."

"Miss Li, please tell our supervisor I'm going to be late today. If he must deduct my salary, so be it, but please don’t let him write up a complaint!"

At the same time, the other passengers also made sure they still had their own wallets and digital devices. Knowing they were still on their bodies, the passengers relaxed.

"Well, Miss, didn’t you say someone was following you when you just got on the bus? Could that man be the thief?" a middle-aged woman said.

"Yes, he followed you; maybe he is the thief!" Several men joined in, pointing at Ye Fei.

Suddenly, everyone on the bus was looking at Ye Fei with contempt.

Ye Fei smiled helplessly. He only wanted to help Chu Mo, and this was the result. Being a good person these days was hard...

Ye Fei sighed. He did not say anything, only stared at Chu Mo and hoped she could explain things to the passengers.

From beginning to end, Ye Fei was never close enough to Chu Mo to have a chance of stealing anything. He believed Chu Mo should be aware of this truth.

However, Chu Mo only lowered her head and nervously fussed with her clothes. She seemed to not want to defend Ye Fei.

This made Ye Fei even more frustrated. He coldly looked at the two actual thieves. He clearly knew these two were the thieves; one of them had the money on his person.

But this time, Ye Fei didn't want to help Chu Mo catch these thieves. If it weren’t for Chu Mo's vigilance, when these men stole her money, Ye Fei could have caught them red handed.

The thieves would not get away once the police arrived, so Ye Fei just had to wait.

Just then, a college-aged girl bit her lips, took a deep breath, and said with a lot of courage, "I know who the thief is. I saw him."

Then, the girl pointed to a man in a leather jacket standing beside Chu Mo, "He is the thief."

First the man was stunned, then he angrily stared at the girl and said, "What did you say?!"

The girl was startled, but she still said, "You stole the money! You thought your movements were well-concealed, but I saw the whole thing."

"You’re framing me! I didn’t steal her money!" the man angrily said. "You should own up to your words if you’re gonna speak. Where is the money, then?”

The girl firmly said, "It's you who stole the money. You were the only one who stood behind her just now."

The man waved his hands angrily, "I’m not going to stand here and listen to this! If you think I stole the money, then go ahead and search me. But, if you can't find it, you’ll be in a lot of trouble."

"OK, I am not afraid you!" the girl showed her stubborn temper.

"Little girl, don’t bother," an old man said.

"Why?" The girl was a little surprised. She was sure that the money was on this man's person.

"Yes, why not let her search him? If we can catch the thief, we won’t have to sit here and wait for the cops," a woman whispered. "I just don’t know if that guy is the thief."

"I think you’ll find it difficult. I’ve seen this man before. He has been caught several times, but no stolen money was ever found on him."

"Then he must have transferred the money."

"These thieves are too well-organized. There’s never enough evidence to have them arrested."

Several old people started grumbling. Many of them had had their money stolen by those thieves and they didn’t dare to carry any cash on their persons anymore.

Not waiting for the girl to search him, the man took off his leather jacket and showed everyone there was no money hidden inside it.

"Now you have nothing to say." The man put his jacket back on and glared at the college girl. "Satisfied?"

"What..?" The college student was puzzled. She reached out to touch the man's pockets, but there was really nothing inside. Her brain went blank. She did not understand where this man could have hidden the money.

She not only failed to find the money, but that man was going to get her in trouble.

"Maybe I was wrong. I'm sorry..." the girl apologized, nibbling on her lower lip. She knew the man indeed stole the money, but she couldn't find the evidence. She felt very indignant and almost burst into tears.