Chapter 11: I could tell at a glance that you’re not a good person!
Jiang Xia asked in confusion, “Master?”
Chief Wu didn’t answer. He waved a hand. “We’ll talk later.”
“Chief Wu, why are you leaving so suddenly?”
Section Chief Liu instinctively reached out to stop him. “You’ve helped us so much. At least stay for a meal!”
“No need.”
Turning to Section Chief Liu, Chief Wu said,
“Now that we’ve confirmed they’re experienced thieves from outside the area, and we know their approximate age and height, someone at the factory may well have seen them. With these leads, your people can handle the investigation from here. Our station has plenty of work waiting, so we can’t afford to stay here any longer.”
“Well… sigh, all right.”
At that point, Section Chief Liu understood and stopped trying to persuade him. Instead, he took the rain cover and umbrella from his own bicycle and placed them on Chief Wu’s.
“Then at least take these with you.”
“No, no, that’s not necessary!”
“It absolutely is. I asked the two of you to come help, and I can’t very well let you ride back soaked in the rain, can I?”
“…All right. I’ll return them to you later.”
After a brief exchange, Chief Wu finally accepted the umbrella and the bicycle rain cover.
Jiang Xia went back to the warehouse to retrieve her tools, then rode her bicycle alongside Chief Wu as they headed back to Zhouying Police Station.
After riding for a while, she finally couldn’t hold back her question.
“Master, why are we dropping the case?”
“You little rascal. Weren’t you pretending not to know? Didn’t I already say our station has too much on its plate?”
Chief Wu snorted.
“Who knows which district those three thieves are from? If we really started canvassing for them, we could throw all ten officers from our station into the search and spend half a month running around without turning up a single lead. Our station simply doesn’t have that kind of time to spare.”
Just as I thought.
Jiang Xia wasn’t the least bit surprised.
There were no instant messaging apps, no surveillance cameras, and no cell phone location tracking. With only a vague description to work from, the only way to identify the suspects was by going door to door, conducting painstaking interviews.
That would inevitably require an enormous investment of manpower and resources.
Jiang Xia wanted to commit officers to the investigation too.
But when she thought about the workload she’d had over the past few days…
Yeah, right. There wasn’t a spare minute to be found.
She couldn’t help sighing toward the sky.
“We’re just too short on manpower!”
“It can’t be helped. We’ve simply got too few people.”
Chief Wu had accepted that reality twenty years ago. It no longer stirred much emotion in him.
He said evenly, then paused for a moment before continuing,
“But it depends on the case. A clothing factory is a big operation. The workers carry off more scrap fabric every day than what was stolen this time. At worst, Section Chief Liu will get criticized, lose his bonus, and miss out on commendations or promotions. Even if the case isn’t solved, it won’t amount to much.”
“But if it’s a case like Dong Aihua’s family… then whether we’re busy or not doesn’t matter. We have to throw everything we’ve got into it.”
Jiang Xia nodded in agreement.
Chief Wu was still Chief Wu—not Lu Fusheng.
It wasn’t that he was constantly looking for excuses to slack off. Their manpower really was stretched to the limit, so they had no choice but to focus their efforts on the cases that mattered most.
Besides, he had a point.
It was a large factory. Losing a few bundles of goods wasn’t going to make much of a difference.
Even so, Jiang Xia couldn’t shake her frustration.
These thieves were seasoned professionals. Who knew how many times they’d already stolen? The total value of their thefts might well have reached six figures. There was even a chance they were involved in other serious crimes.
Was she really supposed to stand by and watch criminals continue roaming free?
But the station genuinely couldn’t spare any additional officers…
Jiang Xia angrily stomped down on the bicycle pedal.
Why is it so hard just to catch a criminal?
The breeze rushing toward her ruffled her hair, bringing a refreshing coolness. Along with it, some of the irritation welling inside her gradually faded.
An elderly woman carrying a grocery basket slowly crossed the sidewalk ahead of them.
Jiang Xia’s eyes landed on the towel draped over the basket, and suddenly an idea struck her.
“Master, if it’s too hard to track down the people, why don’t we track the stolen goods instead?”
Chief Wu smiled helplessly.
“We’re already halfway back, and you’re still thinking about this?”
Still, Jiang Xia really did have a quick mind.
Following the stolen goods was indeed a promising direction.
The problem was…
“Tracking the stolen goods could help,” Chief Wu said, shaking his head, “but only to a limited extent.”
“Professional thieves like these usually unload everything to a fence in one go, turning the stolen goods into cash as quickly as possible. Then the fence finds people to distribute and resell the merchandise.”
“It’s a shady business, so everyone’s on guard. Without someone you know making an introduction, you’ll never even meet the fence. The best we can do is stake out the black market and work our way up from the small-time dealers. By the time we finally get to the fence, those three professional thieves will probably have already caught wind of us and disappeared.”
Wait… someone you know making an introduction?
Jiang Xia suddenly remembered the title she’d received as a system reward.
When equipped, it increased the favorability of her “fellow professionals” by 20%.
If I disguised myself as a thief and equipped the title… then asked another thief to introduce me…
I might be able to meet the fence directly!
And once I know who he is and where to find him, arresting him will be easy!
The more Jiang Xia thought about it, the more feasible the plan seemed.
She immediately said, “Master, could you give me half a day off? I’ll take a look around the black market. Maybe I’ll stumble across something.”
Chief Wu sighed helplessly.
Why is this kid so stubborn?
Still, there was nothing wrong with wanting to solve the case. Half a day wouldn’t hurt. Let her run into a few dead ends and learn how difficult it really was. After that, she’d probably give up on the idea.
“All right.”
Though that was what he was thinking, he still offered her some serious advice.
“They only stole the goods last night. They won’t resell everything that quickly. Wait another two days, then try your luck at the black market the day after tomorrow.”
Jiang Xia nodded enthusiastically.
“No problem!”
Time flew by.
On the appointed morning, Jiang Xia didn’t rush out the door. Instead, she dug out one of her mother’s old, patched-up outfits and put it on.
Since she was going undercover, her appearance naturally had to fit the part. At the very least, she needed to get rid of that unmistakable look of a regular working person.
Sitting in front of the mirror, she took out a hairpiece, blended it into her own hair, and braided everything into a thick, long plait that hung over her chest.
Then she studied her reflection and applied a layer of foundation several shades darker than her natural complexion.
Before long, the girl in the mirror had become someone with slightly darker skin, looking every bit like a country bumpkin from a rural village.
Jiang Xia nodded in satisfaction.
With this appearance and demeanor, who would ever guess I’m a police officer?
She decided to test the effect of the title.
Jiang Xia opened the system interface.
The moment she equipped it, she suddenly found the person in the mirror intensely irritating.
Her appearance hadn’t changed at all, yet moments ago she had looked simple and approachable. Now her eyes darted around suspiciously, and even the way she idly played with her braid seemed restless and untrustworthy…
In short, she looked like someone who was obviously up to no good.
Seriously? Is that even reasonable?
Jiang Xia paused before remembering her profession.
…Actually, yeah. That tracks.
She fell silent for a moment, then promptly unequipped the title.
As expected of something produced by the system—it was top-notch. The title’s effect was incredibly convincing. She’d better not wear it just yet, or she probably wouldn’t even make it out of her own precinct before attracting attention.
After giving herself one final inspection and confirming everything looked right, Jiang Xia left home.
She boarded a bus bound for Wutong Street.
It was the city’s most well-known black market.
It wasn’t far from the bus station and attracted heavy foot traffic. Beside it lay an old residential neighborhood that had never been redeveloped, its maze-like alleys making it an ideal place to negotiate deals and conduct transactions in secret. If the police showed up, the complicated layout also made it easy to slip away.
Where there were crowds, pickpockets gathered like sharks smelling blood.
After walking up and down the street once, Jiang Xia quickly identified several members of the local underworld and figured out who their leader was.
Brother Hua—real name unknown—was only a little over thirty, yet he carried himself like an old retiree.
At the moment, he was sitting beneath the shade of a tree, a palm-leaf fan in one hand while casually cracking sunflower seeds with the other, occasionally glancing up to survey the street.
Jiang Xia equipped her title, walked over to him, and pulled a gleaming pack of cigarettes from her pocket.
“Brother,” she asked with a rustic accent, “care for a smoke?”
Golden Leaf?
Now that’s someone who knows the rules.
Brother Hua glanced at Jiang Xia and immediately found the young woman unusually likable.
He adjusted his posture, gave her another careful look, and quickly sized her up.
“New around here, paying your respects? Which trade are you from?”
“The Rong trade,” Jiang Xia replied in a northern rural accent. “I haven’t finished my apprenticeship yet. I’m just a little willow.”
“My master and I were just passing through. We figured we’d work this area for a bit… and maybe pick up some merchandise.”
As she spoke, she opened the cigarette pack, took out one cigarette, and respectfully offered it to him.
Brother Hua accepted it without hesitation.
Jiang Xia then took a box of matches from her pocket and lit it for him.
Taking a deep drag, Brother Hua slowly exhaled a ring of smoke and nodded approvingly.
“Not bad. You’ve got manners.”
“So tell me—do you work the daytime shift, or the nighttime shift?”
“We mostly work nights… though we do some daytime jobs too.”
Jiang Xia smiled shyly.
“We’ve been at this line of work for a while, but I came out today hoping to buy a few things for my big brother. He’s getting married.”
She scratched her head awkwardly before asking,
“Brother, do you know where I can get some good cloth? Preferably red—something festive.”
Brother Hua raised an eyebrow.
“Oh? You’re buying your brother’s wedding things yourself?”
“He raised me.”
Jiang Xia lied without the slightest hesitation.
“I don’t have much money saved, so there’s no way I can afford the Three Rounds and One Sound. I just want to help him save face. It’d be even better if there were ready-made items, so I wouldn’t have to pay someone to sew them.”
Ordinarily, Brother Hua would never chat this openly with a novice he’d just met.
But today, for some reason, he genuinely liked this young apprentice. Hearing that she was shopping for wedding linens, he began thinking along the same lines.
“Something festive…”
He lazily waved his fan.
“I don’t have any red cloth. But as luck would have it, one of my brothers just got hold of a batch of bedsheets and pillowcases. Bright red floral prints—real festive-looking stuff.”
“You interested?”
A fresh batch of bedsheets and pillowcases… with bright red floral prints?
The description matched the goods stolen from the clothing factory almost perfectly.
Jiang Xia’s heart leaped with excitement, but she didn’t let it show. Instead, she asked hesitantly,
“Can… can I take a look first?”
“Sure.”
Brother Hua agreed readily.
“It’s not far anyway. Come on, I’ll take you there.”
Jiang Xia froze for a moment.
No way… It can’t be going this smoothly.
She quickly realized it was probably the system’s doing.
She hadn’t expected a mere 20% increase in favorability to be this effective.
System… you’ve really earned some credit today.
I won’t complain about you ripping me off ever again. Look how useful this is!
Following Brother Hua, Jiang Xia walked into a narrow alley, turned several corners, and arrived at a small courtyard.
The yard wasn’t large—only about five or six square meters. Inside stood a single-story house, where a balding man was leisurely drinking liquor while snacking on peanuts.
“Old He, you’ve really got yourself a comfortable life.”
Brother Hua pushed the door open and walked right in.
“Hua? What brings you here?”
The balding man looked up and immediately spotted Jiang Xia behind him. His brows knitted together.
“And you even brought a stranger?”
“I came to bring you business!”
Brother Hua replied matter-of-factly.
Pointing at the balding man, he introduced him to Jiang Xia.
“This guy’s one of the best fences around here. His prices are fair, too. If you’ve got stolen goods to unload, he’s your man. Of course, the more valuable and portable the better—especially gold, silver, or anything else that’s easy to resell.”
Jiang Xia nodded and, staying in character, asked, “So… what kind of prices do you pay?”
The balding man didn’t answer.
Instead, he turned to Brother Hua with a wary expression.
“Which crew is she with?”
“Oh, right—I forgot to mention.”
Brother Hua explained,
“She’s a little willow from out of town. Just passing through, planning to work here for a few days before moving on.”
“A little willow?”
The balding man looked Jiang Xia up and down, his eyes filled with unconcealed suspicion.
“You’ve tested her skills?”
The moment she saw his reaction, Jiang Xia understood.
Old He was a fence—a middleman dealing in stolen goods—not a fellow thief.
That meant he wasn’t truly one of her “colleagues.” The system title’s effect was probably weakened on him… or perhaps it didn’t work on him at all.
Without the system’s favorable influence clouding his judgment, letting Old He remain suspicious would be dangerous.
Jiang Xia decisively chose to show off a bit of her “skill” and prove she really was a little willow, earning his trust.
“My master’s not well-known. His surname’s Li. Folks around our area just call him Old Man Li.”
She smiled and stepped closer, stopping directly in front of Old He to shorten the distance between them.
“I haven’t finished my apprenticeship yet, so I’m not that capable.”
The statement was so vague it might as well have said nothing at all.
Old He’s brows drew together. The suspicion in his eyes hardened into something far more dangerous.
“What are you trying to pull?” he demanded coldly. “Quit beating around the bush. Who the hell are you?”
“Didn’t Brother Hua already tell you? I’m a little willow. I ain’t lying.”
She grinned innocently.
“I’ll embarrass myself a little and let you see I’m the real deal.”
As she spoke, Jiang Xia sat down beside him.
Just before he was about to lose his temper, she extended a hand toward him.
Resting quietly in her palm was a key ring tied together with a red cord.
Old He froze.
Why do those keys look so familiar? They look just like the ones to my…
His eyes widened.
He immediately shoved a hand into his own pocket.
Empty.
The keys in Jiang Xia’s hand were his.
Old He stared at them in disbelief.
Even knowing she’d just lifted them from his pocket, he couldn’t recall the slightest hint of when she’d done it.
What incredible skill!
“Hah! So you really are one of us. My apologies, little sister.”
To reach that level of pickpocketing took years of practice. She had to have grown up in the trade.
The suspicion instantly vanished from Old He’s face.
Taking the keys back from Jiang Xia, he became noticeably more welcoming.
“You’ve got talent, little sister. I didn’t even notice my keys were gone. With hands like yours, you’re bound to strike it rich one day.”
“If you ever need to unload goods here, bring them to me. I’ll give you a fair price—the same deal Hua gets.”
As he spoke, Old He held up three fingers.
Thirty percent of the item’s original value.
After all, stolen goods carried risks. No fence would buy them unless there was enough profit to justify the danger. Offering thirty percent of the market price was already considered a generous rate.
“Now that’s what I call straightforward, Brother!”
Staying in character, Jiang Xia nodded with satisfaction before adding,
“Brother Hua mentioned you’ve got some bedsheets and pillowcases too. Let me have a couple of sets. We’ll be doing business together from now on, so you’ve got to give me a good price.”
“So that’s why you asked about my prices first.”
Old He feigned annoyance.
“I was wondering what you were up to.”
He waved a hand.
“Ah, forget it. I like you, little sister. I won’t charge much—just enough to cover my trouble. Twenty yuan. How’s that?”
That worked out to about forty percent of the normal price.
Like a genuine customer, Jiang Xia pretended to think it over for a moment before nodding.
“Deal.”
She took out the money, counted out the bills, and placed them on the table.
“All right then.”
Old He set down his chopsticks.
“Wait here a minute. I’ll go get them.”
Picking up an empty cloth sack from beside his chair, he headed outside.
A short while later, he returned carrying a bulging bundle.
“Take a look, little sister.”
Jiang Xia opened the sack.
A pale pink bedsheet immediately caught her eye.
The floral pattern on it was identical to the sample hanging in the clothing factory.
Confirmed.
These are the goods stolen from the factory.
“What a beautiful bedsheet.”
Jiang Xia steadied herself.
Looking up, she smiled gratefully at Old He.
“Brother, you’ve been too kind. I’ll definitely come to you again in the future.”
Don’t worry…
This afternoon I’ll be back—with the police to arrest you.
Old He didn’t notice anything unusual.
Instead, he was already wondering what valuable stolen goods Jiang Xia might bring him in the future.
Hearing her promise, he nodded enthusiastically.
“Good! Be sure to come back!”
With the stolen goods now serving as physical evidence, Jiang Xia bid him farewell and left with Brother Hua.
As they walked back, Brother Hua had a cigarette dangling from his mouth.
His thoughts were still on the trick Jiang Xia had just pulled.
They both belonged to the Rong trade, so he understood exactly what she’d done.
Old He hadn’t noticed, but as an observer, Brother Hua had seen it clearly.
Jiang Xia had deliberately kept Old He’s attention fixed on her face through conversation, then taken advantage of the moment she sat down to deftly lift the keys from his pocket.
As simple as it sounded, the technique was incredibly difficult to pull off.
Even Brother Hua himself wasn’t confident he could succeed every time.
This girl is supposed to be an apprentice?
She’s no greenhorn—she’s already a seasoned professional who could work on her own!
Just what kind of master could train a disciple like this?
Curiosity got the better of him.
“By the way, little sister, how long has your master been in town? Maybe we could have a drink together sometime.”
Now that she’d obtained all the clues she needed, Jiang Xia was already thinking about how to make her exit.
She answered vaguely,
“Not long. About seven or eight days.”
“Seven or eight days?”
Brother Hua mulled that over, then suddenly remembered something.
“So you came here on the seventeenth—”
“Police!”
“Don’t move!”
Before he could finish speaking, three figures that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere pounced on them like hungry tigers.
Brother Hua’s words died in his throat.
“Cops?! Run!”
Clinging to the last shred of his conscience, Brother Hua shouted a warning to Jiang Xia.
Then he pivoted on his heel and bolted down the street as fast as he could.
Jiang Xia froze.
Before she could even react—
Bang!
Someone slammed her to the ground.
A young man’s excited voice rang out from behind her.
“Master! I knew this woman was no good the moment I saw her! Just look at these bedsheets—she’s obviously trafficking illegal goods!”
…Huh?
Wait.
No, no, no… this isn’t how this was supposed to go!
**TN
Little Willow – underworld slang for an apprentice or novice thief.
Three Rounds and One Sound – the traditional set of expensive marriage purchases: a bicycle, sewing machine, wristwatch, and radio.