The Supreme Village Doctor

Chapter 48: Chapter 49: Catching a Thief

Li Yang went to a phone store, quickly picked out a model that cost over two thousand, and was about to leave.

Just then, a figure suddenly darted out from the side and bumped right into him.

"Sorry..." the person quickly apologized.

"It’s fine, it’s fine..." Li Yang couldn’t be bothered to make a fuss, so he quickly got into his car and prepared to drive away.

But when he reached for his pocket—’Crap, where’s my new phone?!’

Holy shit!

Realization dawned on Li Yang, and he shot out of the car.

’It had to be that guy. He must have stolen my phone.’

’Damn, he’s fast. He actually managed to nab my phone.’

Li Yang cursed in frustration, but he had no way of finding the guy right now.

A moment later, he pulled out his old phone and called Shen Xu.

Shen Xu was just about to get off work.

"Officer Shen, I need to report a crime!" Li Yang said, clearly annoyed.

"You’re filing a report?" Shen Xu asked, confused. "What for?"

"My phone was stolen!" Li Yang said, exasperated.

"What?" Shen Xu paused. "Okay, fine. Come to the station. I’ll take your statement."

Soon, Li Yang arrived at the station.

Shen Xu handled the report personally, asking Li Yang a series of questions.

Once he explained what happened, the report was officially filed.

"Huh, another one on Baiyi North Road," a man nearby remarked in surprise. He had seemed to be dozing off but opened his eyes after Li Yang finished. "In the last two days alone, I’ve taken at least three reports about phones being stolen over there."

"A real pro!" Li Yang was dumbfounded. "So he’s just camping out there?"

"These guys are getting really brazen!" Shen Xu said, a little angry. "Did you get a look at his face?"

"No," Li Yang shook his head. "The guy was wearing a hoodie with the hood up. I remember thinking it was weird for someone to wear that in the middle of summer. Now I realize it was to hide his face."

"It’s no use," the other officer shook his head. "I’ve staked out the spot before but couldn’t find anyone. And you probably don’t know this, but there aren’t any security cameras there. There’s basically no way to track them."

Shen Xu looked disappointed.

Li Yang pulled up a map on his phone. "No cameras, you say?"

As he studied it, his expression slowly darkened.

"What is it?" Shen Xu asked, puzzled.

Li Yang thought for a moment before speaking. "It looks like there’s only one phone store on that entire street."

"That’s right," Shen Xu nodded. "That’s why they do pretty good business."

"You said there were three incidents like this recently... Have there been any other types of crimes reported in that specific spot?" Li Yang pressed.

"Other thefts?" the other officer chimed in. "No, I’ve only handled the three reports of phone pickpocketing. Nothing else."

"So tell me," Li Yang suddenly asked, "why would this petty thief target this specific spot? There’s only one phone store here. I thought we had that whole ’phone street’ in this city, with ten or so stores all lined up. If you’re going to steal phones, wouldn’t that be a better place to do it?"

"That area is covered in security cameras," Shen Xu said, shaking her head. "Going there would be like turning themselves in."

"It has cameras, sure. But aside from that, could there be another possibility?" Li Yang asked suddenly.

"What possibility?" they both asked, looking at Li Yang.

"It’s a little after nine..." Li Yang checked the time. "It’s still early, so the store should still be open. How about this: you go pretend to buy a phone. You’re a woman, and it’s getting late, so you’ll look like an easier target. Let’s see if we can bait him out."

A look of understanding flashed in Shen Xu’s eyes. "Let’s go. Right now!"

...

By now, the street was mostly empty.

Shen Xu went inside, selected a phone that cost around three thousand, and quickly came back out.

Li Yang stood at a distance, watching every movement inside the store.

Just as Shen Xu was crossing the street, a figure in a hoodie hurried toward her.

Li Yang smirked. ’Looks like you got greedy today.’

The petty thief’s hands were incredibly fast. In the split second it took to pass Shen Xu, he had already snatched the phone.

’Another one!’

He ducked his head, laughing to himself.

But in the next instant, Li Yang’s hand clamped down on his wrist. "You son of a bitch! How dare you steal my phone!"

Only then did Shen Xu realize what had happened, and she gasped in surprise.

The thief froze for a second, then tried to shake Li Yang’s hand off and make a break for it.

But he wasn’t getting away. Instead of breaking free, he was yanked hard by Li Yang and thrown straight to the ground.

Shen Xu rushed forward and immediately pinned him to the pavement.

"Don’t move!" Shen Xu barked.

Li Yang quickly retrieved two phones from the thief: one was the new one Shen Xu had just bought, and the other belonged to the pickpocket himself.

Li Yang pressed the thief’s finger to the phone to unlock it. He opened WeChat and quickly initiated a video call.

Just then, a phone started ringing from somewhere in the crowd of onlookers.

Before Shen Xu could even react, Li Yang was already in front of the person whose phone was ringing, yanking her out of the crowd.

"What are you doing?!" the person shouted. She was wearing a uniform, and was clearly an employee from the phone store.

Li Yang sneered and snatched the phone from her hand. "What do you think I’m doing?"

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!