NOVEL NEXT Chapter 702 - 702: He's Still a Child! (2)
Chapter 702: He’s Still a Child! (2)
Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Zhou Chao entered the monitoring room and the manager, looking at the man sitting in front of the monitor, said, “Xiao Li, pull up the surveillance footage from 7:50 to 8:10 this morning.”
Xiao Li, noticing the inspectors behind his manager, quickly brought up the surveillance.
Inspector Liu stepped forward to the monitor and carefully examined the playback.
From the footage, it was evident that after Zhou Chao parked his bike at the breakfast shop’s entrance, and he went inside. About three to five minutes later, two students appeared near Zhou Chao’s bike.
The two of them circled the bike, and one slender student glanced around before hopping onto the bike and riding off, followed by the other in a hurry.
After watching the surveillance, Inspector Liu took out a USB drive and handed it to Xiao Li, instructing him to make a copy of the footage.
“Mr. Zhou, if everything goes well, we should be able to recover your bike today.” Captain Liu’s face also showed a faint smile. After all, solving a theft case worth several million on the same day was quite an achievement, even if it was just a bicycle.
Although it was just a bike, its value was significant.
Zhou Chao understood that he had to leave the matter to Inspector Liu. Despite the possibility of finding the two students himself, he preferred not to intervene if he didn’t have to.
“Thank you, Inspector Liu. I’ll be waiting for your good news,” Zhou Chao said after exchanging phone numbers with Inspector Liu. He then hailed a taxi and headed home directly.
Once Zhou Chao left, Inspector Liu’s expression turned serious as he looked at his subordinates.
“The appearance of the two students was clear in the surveillance, and we even know which school they attend. Can you handle this before noon?”
“Don’t worry, Captain. We can retrieve it within an hour at most!” one of the inspectors, who had doubted the value of Zhou Chao’s bike, replied confidently.
“Okay, Xiao Chen, I’ll be waiting for good news at the office,” Inspector Liu said, handing the hard drive to the speaking man before leaving.
Their inspection station wasn’t far from the scene, just down the street, so Inspector Liu left the car for them and walked back.
“Let’s go. First, we’ll find the students at the school, but we can’t make a big scene and pressure the students, especially the two who stole the bike!” Inspector Chen said as they turned to leave the scene.
The three of them drove off, leaving the scene of the incident behind.
Meanwhile, Zhou Chao had returned to his courtyard. As soon as he entered, his phone rang. Taking it out, he saw a message from Xiao Guo with detailed information about the two people who stole the bike.
The information was quite comprehensive, detailing their home addresses, family situations, and personal backgrounds.
“Well, well, looks like these two youngsters have quite a background. They own three sets of houses in Jingdu and five storefronts. Didn’t expect them to be so experienced in this, it’s not their first time!”
Zhou Chao was somewhat speechless. These two young thieves came from affluent families but still engaged in petty theft, always relying on their elders to clean up their messes.
It was excessive indulgence from their families that had led to their reckless behavior.
With a light sigh, Zhou Chao decided to put these thoughts aside and patiently wait for Inspector Liu’s call.
As soon as he entered the house, Zhou Chao saw Jiang Li and the others having breakfast.
“Brother Chao (boss, Young Master Zhou)!”
“Have you had breakfast?” Jiang Li put down her bowl and asked.
“Yes, I have. You guys go ahead,” Zhou Chao replied and headed towards the living room.
Observing Zhou Chao’s expression, Jiang Li furrowed her brows slightly, sensing that he seemed troubled about something.
After finishing his porridge in a few mouthfuls, Zhou Chao got up and walked towards Zhou Chao.
“What’s wrong, Brother Chao? You seem to have something on your mind,” Jiang Li said as she sat beside Zhou Chao, gently holding his hand.
“It’s nothing, just that my bike got stolen. The inspectors have already identified the thieves!” Zhou Chao briefly explained the situation to Jiang Li.
After hearing the whole story, Jiang Li chuckled, “Oh my, I didn’t expect our handsome Zhou to also be a victim of theft. It’s quite amusing!”
Hearing Jiang Li’s laughter, Zhou Chao shook his head helplessly. “I don’t know either. I just went to have breakfast, and my bike vanished. I’m more upset than anyone else!”
Though Zhou Chao was undoubtedly frustrated, anyone would feel outraged if such a thing happened to them!
“When we find the culprits, Brother Chao, how will you handle it?”
“We’ll see when the time comes. I’m going to take a shower first. I did some morning exercise, and I feel all sticky!” Zhou Chao ruffled Jiang Li’s hair affectionately and headed upstairs.
It wasn’t until nearly eleven in the morning that Zhou Chao received a call from Inspector Liu, instructing them to visit the Xinhua Patrol Station.
Inspector Liu didn’t say much on the phone, indicating that there might be some results.
Originally, Jiang Li wanted to go with Zhou Chao to see what was happening, but he refused. The matter might take a while, and it wouldn’t be convenient for Jiang Li, especially with her large belly.
Zhou Chao and Lin Wu drove their Rolls-Royce Phantom straight to the Xinhua Patrol Station.
Upon their arrival at the station, they saw Inspector Liu standing at the entrance, smoking with a worried expression on his face.
“What’s wrong, Inspector Liu? You look troubled. What happened?” Zhou Chao greeted him as soon as he got out of the car.
Hearing Zhou Chao’s voice, Inspector Liu looked up, noticing Zhou Chao’s luxurious car, his eyes showing a hint of surprise.
Though he knew Zhou Chao had some influence, anyone driving a Rolls-Royce Phantom wasn’t just an ordinary wealthy second generation.
“You’ll find out in a moment,” Inspector Liu extinguished his cigarette, feeling somewhat helpless.
“Oh.” Zhou Chao already had an idea in his mind!
With that, Zhou Chao followed Inspector Liu into the patrol station. As they approached the mediation room’s door, they heard a crying voice from inside.
“This is unjust! The people from the patrol station are bullying me, an old lady. Taking my good grandson from school, how is he going to face the world in the future? My grandson is such a well-behaved child; how could he possibly steal anything? I don’t want to live anymore!”
Hearing the distressed voice from inside, Inspector Liu turned to Zhou Chao and said, “We didn’t expect this person to react like this!”
“Did you find the bike?” Zhou Chao asked calmly.
Inspector Liu looked somewhat embarrassed. “We did find it, but there’s a problem.”
Upon hearing this, Zhou Chao’s brows furrowed, and his tone became more serious. “Inspector Liu, just tell me straight.”
“When we found your bike, all the butterfly specimens on the surface had been scraped off by those two.”
A flash of severity passed through Zhou Chao’s eyes. “Let’s go in.”
Inspector Liu opened the door, and the three of them entered.
The old woman, who had been wailing, stopped when she saw someone enter.
Upon seeing Zhou Chao and Inspector Liu behind him, the old woman charged forward. “It’s you, you little scoundrel, accusing my good grandson of stealing your bike! How could someone so young be so heartless, causing my grandson to lose face in school? He’s just a teenager!”
As she spoke, she waved her hands, seemingly intending to strike Zhou Chao.
Inspector Liu, standing in front, immediately blocked the old woman, but not before she managed to hit him twice.
“Enough! Stop causing trouble, or I’ll have you arrested!” Inspector Liu shouted.
The old woman hesitated for a moment, then lay on the ground and started rolling around, crying.
Zhou Chao scanned the scene and noticed the student who had stolen his bike sitting calmly on a chair, playing with his phone, completely indifferent to the old woman’s tantrum on the ground.
This scene directly challenged Zhou Chao’s values.