Chapter 9: The Disappearing Thief

After the delinquent problem was done and over with, Shen Ru continued to spend his days like a normal high school student.

…Of course, Hua Xiu just had to break that short moment of peace.

That day, the trio had just come back from Gu Haoyu's apartment. While Gu Haoyu still needed a bit of financial help from Shen Ru and Jia Hao, he was able to rent out a place of his own. At the same time, he worked a part-time job in a grocery store.

They had just arrived at their classroom when they noticed that there was something wrong with the atmosphere in the air. A friend group in the class was whispering loudly amongst themselves, while Teacher Peng had a frown on his face as he talked to an angry student.

"What's wrong?" Shen Ru asked a classmate.

The classmate sighed and answered, "Xiao Zhu's phone got stolen."

Oh wow, it was such a surprise. From the information given by the system, Shen Ru knew that this was one of Hua Xiu's stealing incidents. Of course, the culprit was never found.

Then, he continued in a low whisper, "Xiao Zhu thinks that Hua Xiu did it. Hua Xiu isn't here yet, though."

As if on cue, Xiao Zhu's voice got louder and everyone could hear his accusations. "Hua Xiu definitely did it! When I left my phone here during lunch break, she was still there. When I came back, she was gone. She must have left to hide my phone, it must be her!"

Teacher Peng's frown deepened as he listed to his words.

And as if the universe willed it to happen, Hua Xiu arrived together with Fang Li. The both of them were confused when they noticed that all eyes instantly were on them when they arrived.

Xiao Zhu's shout followed soon after, "Hua Xiu, give me back my phone!"

Hua Xiu had an innocent expression on her face, making people want to be at her beck and call. "What do you mean?"

Fang Li was aware of the peculiarity in the air. "If you want to accuse someone, then do it with evidence. Otherwise, you're framing them."

"Do I need to find evidence considering it's already established that Hua Xiu's a thief?" Xiao Zhu replied with a sneer. "Why are you even defending her? Could it be that you're taking half of the money that she gets by selling stolen phones?"

The whispers amongst the friend group from earlier immediately got louder. Fang Li's face was red with anger as theories of her being an accomplice spread from one classroom to another through group chats.

Teacher Peng sighed for the nth time of the day and tried to stop the altercation from getting worse. "Okay, you two, calm down for a moment."

"But, Teacher…" Hua Xiu trailed off with teary eyes as if she was the one being wronged.

Teacher Peng ignored her and turned his head to the class. "Since everyone in the class here, I'll just say that the school will thoroughly investigate this matter. Considering that there had been cases of thievery in recent months, we will contact the police about this. However, we don't need to take this any further if the thief confesses their crimes. If the thief is listening to me right now, just know that you can come to me after class. It isn't too late to come clean."

Upon closer inspection, Shen Ru noticed that Hua Xiu's closed fist trembled for a moment, especially at the part of contacting the police.

After a couple of words, Teacher Peng left the classroom, presumably to contact the principal. Meanwhile, Fang Li comforted Hua Xiu and the two tacitly decided to leave the room because Hua Xiu's tears were so grating that the majority of the class glared at her.

When they were out of sight, Hua Xiu suddenly muttered, "I feel like there's something wrong, Fang Li."

Fang Li was concerned. "What is it?"

"Since he changed, everything turned bad for me."

"Who?"

"Shen Ru, don't you think that it's strange that he suddenly changed for the better?" Fang Li answered. "It's like he's pretending to be someone he's not, it's very creepy."

Fang Li snorted. "Oh, you mean the school grass image he has been creating? I agree with you, it's obvious that, in the end, he's just a delinquent. He must be cheating or getting answers from teachers. He's different from us peasants."

At the mention of the last word, Hua Xiu's eyes darkened.

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Shen Ru and Jun Zixin were eating together at the cafeteria when Jun Zixin suddenly mentioned, "I heard that another phone was stolen from your class?"

Shen Ru nodded. "They think it's Hua Xiu."

"It's just a theory, however…or will it stay as it is?" Jun Zixin mysteriously said.

Shen Ru stopped in place for a moment and muttered in a low voice, "Are you suggesting what I'm thinking?"

Jun Zixin chuckled and patted him on the head. Shen Ru raised an eyebrow at him, not at all amused. "If you're talking about how I want to investigate on this, then you're correct."

"Isn't the police going to investigate this matter?" Shen Ru wondered.

"They will if the thief doesn't come clean," Jun Zixin replied. "A thief in a school is bad press for the school so the principal doesn't want the situation to escalate any further. So, they're aiming to wait for a couple of days for the thief to come clean. Otherwise, they'll report the crime to the police and hope that it doesn't harm the school's reputation."

Shen Ru scoffed, "What thief would come clean? This is an impossible task."

"The teachers are planning to ramp up the pressure for the thief. The most probable result is that the thief will return the thief without exposing themselves. That's pretty boring, though."

Shen Ru couldn't help but laugh. "I didn't expect our student council president to be such a thrill-seeking person."

Jun Zixin shrugged. "What can I say? I like seeing people get what they deserve."

With that, a new mission was decided between the two. Although they already knew that the thief was Hua Xiu, it was useless if they had no evidence. On the next lunch break, they met up again and Jun Zixin told his plans.

"Although there weren't any CCTV cameras in the classroom, there are still a few cameras outside the building so we can determine where Hua Xiu left the classroom," Jun Zixin explained.

"How will we get access to the CCTV cameras, though?" Shen Ru asked. Although Jun Zixin was the student council president, it was suspicious for students to ask for access to CCTV cameras. Moreover, if they found out that they were searching for the thief, the teachers might stop them from doing so to avoid bad press.

Jun Zixin smiled proudly. "I had a hacker hack them for me."

Then, he brought out his phone and showed it to him. Shen Ru looked at the phone and found out that it was displaying videos from three different angles that showed the school building that their classroom was in.

"I already cut off the irrelevant parts. Look, that's Hua Xiu going out of the building. She seems nervous about something."

Indeed, he was right. As Hua Xiu walked, she kept warily looking around her, as if she had done something wrong. Although she tried her best to seem calm, her fast footsteps that bordered on speed walking exposed her panic.

Then, as she got out of the camera's view, Jun Zixin swiped to the right and showed the video of her leaving the school together with Fang Li. "Unfortunately, the CCTV camera did not catch her meeting up with Fang Li."

Shen Ru thought for a bit and said, "While it's clear that Hua Xiu is suspicious, we don't actually have any evidence, do we? Or, maybe…"

Jun Zixin patted him on the head and replied with a smile, "Fang Li might be our only lead."

Shen Ru chuckled. "I didn't think that the rumors might be true. I'm assuming you have some method to make her confess? Considering her pride, it would be hard to do so, however."

"Unless we're talking torture or blackmail, it'll be impossible for us to get a confession," Jun Zixin said. "You probably don't know this but the second generations in our school usually go to this tea shop after class. It's basically a club but high schoolers-friendly. It's a way for them to blow off some steam, which in turn, exposes some secrets."

"I assume you don't come there? You're not the type to like socializing."

Jun Zixin laughed. "I do like socializing, the benefits and connections specifically. The main reason why I don't go there is that, while they are second generations, making friends with them does not really benefit me. If they were the precious heirs of their families, it would be different."

Shen Ru nodded in understanding. While he did see the merit in his mentality, he wasn't the same. Since he was a child, he had always enjoyed talking with other people, to the point that he would forget about his own safety just for a chance of getting attention and validation from his peers.

…Let's just say that his mentality didn't end well for him.

Gu Haoyu and Jia Hao were better friends, though. Unlike his previous friends, they didn't pressure him to go along with them. When they noticed that Shen Ru was uncomfortable, they took a step back. Although he knew that this was likely because of the original Shen Ru's bossy nature, he quite liked to think that he had finally attained true friendship.

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When Jun Zixin and Shen Ru arrived at the tea shop, Fang Li wasn't there yet. However, a few second generations were around. Once they caught sight of Jun Zixin, they immediately crowded around him.

"President Jun, I didn't expect to see you here!"

"President Jun, do you remember me? I'm…"

Jun Zixin shrugged off the questions with a smile and said, "Can you leave us some alone time? I'm here with Xiao Ru to discuss something."

Only at that moment did they notice Shen Ru's presence. Although they didn't show it, they were disdainful of him, which could be ascertained from their glares directed at him.

Jun Zixin frowned for a moment but replaced it with a smile as he and Shen Ru headed to a private booth.

Once they were alone, Shen Ru couldn't help but tease, "With how they were badgering you earlier, you seemed more like a celebrity than a student council president."

Jun Zixin sighed. "Sometimes, I want to be like you."

"Well then, you're in for a long ride. The life of a delinquent turned school grass is hard."

Jun Zixin frowned. "You're still meeting up with delinquents?"

Shen Ru shrugged. "While I'm changing for the better, I can't completely erase my history. I have to meet up with some school bosses to maintain school relations."

"With what you're saying, it's almost like you're a diplomat." Jun Zixin chuckled. "Be careful when interacting with those school bosses, though. As much as possible, try to keep it minimal. You're already improving in your grades, getting too deep into their circle might ruin your reputation and academics."

Shen Ru pouted his lips. "Says the mafia boss."

Jun Zixin pinched his cheek and said, "I'm not, didn't I say that?"

Shen Ru rolled his eyes. "You're being touchy lately." When he saw that Jun Zixin froze in place, he smirked and asked, "Did you fall in love with me or something?"

Jun Zixin immediately recovered his countenance and teased him back, "Theoretically, you should be the one falling for me."

"I'm sorry, mafia bosses aren't my type. Too dangerous for me."

"Then, what if I become an honest and law-abiding citizen for you, baby? Would you want that?"

Shen Ru instantly burst into fits of laughter. "Okay, that was way too extreme for me."

Jun Zixin was laughing too, but there was a gleam in his eyes. "Baby, I'll do anything for you. Can't you accept me for who I am?"

Shen Ru played along, "But, honeybunch, I want to live an honest life. I can't possibly be with you."

Jun Zixin's expression crumbled at the word, 'honeybunch', but he continued, "Don't listen to your parents. In fact, they want to get you engaged with your childhood friend. Let's elope and run away from the world."

At this point, Shen Ru was bordering on another fit of laughter, but he restrained it to say one last line. "Honeybunch, I believe you now! Let's run away from the world, show my parents that I'm not an object to be controlled!"

After that, the private booth was filled with laughter. Shen Ru wiped a stray tear and said, "I didn't think that you read dog blooded novels."

"Your honeybunch nickname was extremely disgusting," Jun Zixin replied.

"Your baby nickname was equally disgusting."

"Then, what do you want your future love to call you?"

Shen Ru paused for a moment and answered, "I don't really like to get called baby, babe, or something else. He can just call me 'Ah Ru' or something."

"Well, we're different on that one," Jun Zixin said.

Shen Ru was interested. "What about you?"

Jun Zixin smiled. "I like getting called Husband."

Shen Ru rolled his eyes. "I didn't think that you had a married couple kink."

"At least I'm not the one with the mafia boss kink."

"Hey, where did that come from?!"

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After quite some time of chatting, Jun Zixin said, "Since we don't want to alarm Fang Li by going to the public booth, I had some of my men infiltrate their ranks."

Shen Ru was surprised. "You're really a mafia boss, aren't you?"

This time, Jun Zixin ruffled his hair, to which Shen Ru ignored, and replied, "Oh, baby, you're just seeing the surface."

He continued explaining, "My men have recorders on them so we can hear their conversation."

At first, there was just a jumble of boring conversations, but then a question suddenly sounded out, "Fang Li, is it true that Hua Xiu is…you know?"

Fang Li answered, "Humph, of course, she is. I can't believe I'm even siding with her. It's clear that she's the one who stole the phone recently."

"Why are you siding with her though?" Another person asked.

Fang Li chuckled. "For some reason, she's a magnet for handsome men. They probably like the poor girl type who can't do anything on her own. She only has eyes on one man, though, so I'm getting the leftovers she wasted."

"Ooh, who is this person? Is it President Jun?"

"It is. Isn't she too ambitious? Even trying to catch President Jun, she's just delusional. Shen Ru might've had a better chance than her."

"Oh yeah, they seem to be seen together frequently?"

Shen Ru teased Jun Zixin, "Everyone's thinking that I'm your lover now."

"Just sit tight and enjoy the privilege of being my rumored lover. If this gets to the school forums, everyone will start calling you 'Boss Shen' now."

"Oh god, no. I already hate how Gu Haoyu and Jia Hao keep calling me that."

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Shen Ru and Jun Zixin were initially planning to plan what they were going to do with the recording but they were beaten to the punch. Not long after they left the tea shop, someone from school reported that they saw Xiao Zhu's phone in the girl's bathroom near their classroom. What was interesting was that the girl's bathroom was already searched beforehand and they found no phone, which means…

Well, you can guess it.

Shen Ru cursed internally. He didn't expect that the protagonist halo would be this strong.

Jun Zixin noticed Shen Ru's annoyed mood and comforted him, "Don't worry, even if we weren't late, the school wouldn't take the recording seriously. Fang Li didn't actually confess that she helped Hua Xiu commit the crime, she only said baseless rumors."

Shen Ru nodded in understanding. He knew that bringing down the protagonist in this world would be a difficult task. He needed to be patient. "Then…when Hua Xiu steals something again, we'll expose her."

In actuality, Shen Ru didn't need to expose Hua Xiu for the second time. When he arrived at their classroom the next day, many of his classmates were whispering amongst themselves about Hua Xiu. Even Xiao Zhu, whose phone was stolen, was glaring daggers at Hua Xiu.

Hua Xiu's reputation already had cracks. Although there were still some boys surrounding her, some of them just pursued her because they were curious if such a delicate and docile girl was actually a thief. Sooner or later the momentary peace will be destroyed completely, together with her envisioned future of wealth and luxury.