Chapter 123: Chapter 117: Catching Thieves! (Double-Length)
The middle-aged woman was clearly a bit confused and asked suspiciously, "On television?"
"That’s right, we’re from the children’s program team." The young woman said as she showed the work badge hanging around her neck, "Look, this is our work badge."
"Your little one is very adorable, and we currently have a program selecting child actors. I think he’s very suitable. Are you interested in having him appear on television?"
"Will... will do." The middle-aged woman hesitated for a moment, then a look of delight appeared on her face.
After all, having their child appear on television is something most parents would be happy about.
However, she quickly became cautious again and asked, "You aren’t scammers trying to trick me into paying a registration fee, are you?"
The young woman hastily waved her hand, smiling as she explained, "Rest assured, we are not scammers, and there is no registration fee; it’s completely free."
Seeing her say this, the middle-aged woman felt relieved, "Can my child really go on television?"
The young woman nodded enthusiastically, her face full of warmth, "Of course!"
"Your little one is a natural star in front of the camera. Our program team is quite famous in the city and has made many kids stars already. As long as your child passes our preliminary selection, they can participate in the show recording."
The man carrying the camera interjected at just the right moment, "Madam, if you don’t believe us, we have videos of our past episodes that you can watch."
Saying this, he set down the camera, took out a tablet from his bag, and skillfully swiped to play a lively video of children singing and dancing on stage.
In the video, the children wore beautiful costumes, exuding confident smiles on their faces, and the applause from the audience below was thunderous.
The middle-aged woman’s gaze was drawn to the screen, her eyes full of anticipation, "Alright, let’s have our child participate. Where do I sign up?"
The young woman turned around and pointed to a van not far away with the xx TV station logo on it, "You can register over there, and our TV station staff are there."
"After registration, bring your child to the TV station on the weekend for the preliminary selection."
The middle-aged woman looked in the direction she had pointed, nodded, and held her child’s hand, walking toward the van.
Qi Yun watched this scene and had already guessed what would happen next.
The TV station was real, and the program team was real too.
Parents take their children to the preliminary selection and will certainly pass easily.
But to participate in later recordings and appear on television, they may have to pay some training fees, costume fees, and makeup fees.
Then after a while, the program would air on a channel that hardly anyone watched.
At this moment, Zhao Qing came out of the kindergarten holding Nuannuan’s hand, and those two ’staff members’ from the TV station immediately approached them.
"Hello, parent..."
"Make way, my child is not going on television." Zhao Qing didn’t wait for them to finish speaking and raised her hand to block them directly.
The young woman wanted to say more, but at that time, Qi Yun walked over quickly, blocking them and speaking unkindly, "I said my child is not going on television, don’t you understand?"
"Aren’t you ashamed doing such heartless things all day?"
The young woman and the man carrying the camera were intimidated by Qi Yun’s aura, wearing embarrassed expressions on their faces.
Qi Yun snorted coldly and took Zhao Qing’s hand to leave.
"Doesn’t your kindergarten do anything about this?"
Zhao Qing sighed helplessly, "The principal wants to manage it, but some people won’t let her. They come here to deceive at the beginning of every semester."
Qi Yun nodded, understanding that such situations were somewhat helpless.
Even if those deceived parents realized it later, there was nowhere to argue, after all, their child did appear on television.
Back home, Qi Yun dove into the kitchen to prepare dinner, and soon a sumptuous meal was laid out on the table.
The three sat around the table, and the little girl picked up her chopsticks, proudly boasting to Qi Yun, "Dad, I made lots of friends at kindergarten today."
"Hmm, you did great, sweetie." Qi Yun patted his daughter’s head, looking at Zhao Qing and said, "I was worried she’d struggle to adapt to the new kindergarten, but I guess I was overthinking."
Zhao Qing smiled, "She’s a social butterfly in kindergarten now, every teacher knows her."
Qi Yun couldn’t help but laugh, "Hahaha, Nuannuan is amazing!"
The three were chatting when Qi Yun’s phone rang in his pocket.
He took out his phone and saw a message from Shi Feng, with just four words.
"Ready to go."
Zhao Qing turned her head over, "What’s going on?"
Qi Yun smiled and shook his head, "Nothing, finish dinner and then you take the child to bed, I need to go out."
Zhao Qing looked at him suspiciously, "So late, what are you going out for?"
"To catch a thief!" Qi Yun gave her a mysterious smile.
...
Half an hour later, Qi Yun parked the BMW 5 series at the end of Antique Street and then walked to Shi Feng’s car nearby.
"What’s the situation?"
Shi Feng raised his hand to check the time and replied, "Just went in three minutes ago."
Qi Yun nodded, waiting quietly.
His plan was to wait here with Shi Feng to catch the thief.
When that thief comes out of Boss Liao’s shop, they would "happen" to pass by, scare the thief away, and grab a plastic bag containing the key evidence of Boss Liao’s smuggling of bronze artifacts.
Then hand this evidence to Zhang Dayong, who would lead a team to crack the smuggling case.
...
Time passed slowly, and Shi Feng smoked a cigarette, his face showing anxiety.
At that moment, his phone received a message. After reading it, he turned and said to Qi Yun, "Couldn’t find it!"
"Could there be a secret compartment? Check the floor and such." Qi Yun responded.
Shi Feng nodded and his fingers quickly tapped on the keyboard.
Five more minutes passed, and Shi Feng’s phone screen lit up again. After seeing the content, his spirit lifted.
"Got it!"
Qi Yun immediately sat up, fastened his seat belt, "Let’s go! Time for you to shine."
The car started, the headlights lit up, heading towards Qiuyue Pavilion.
Just as they reached the entrance, they saw a sneaky silhouette emerge from the opposite Yingfeng Building.
Shi Feng immediately stopped the car, opened the door, and shouted, "What are you doing!"
The person was wearing a hood, their face unclear, but they were clearly startled and immediately sprinted away.
Shi Feng leaped forward, grabbing the person’s arm, but as they jerked away, Shi Feng managed to seize the bag in their hand.
Qi Yun reacted a beat late but quickly got out of the car to help.
The person tried to break free again, but seeing Shi Feng’s tight grip, after trying a couple of times and seeing Qi Yun lunging forward, they decisively abandoned the bag and ran towards the end of the street.
Qi Yun chased a few steps forward, but unfortunately, he couldn’t keep up due to fatigue and had to give up.
This was all recorded by the camera at the shop entrance.
The two returned to Qiuyue Pavilion, panting, and after turning on the light, they quickly checked the contents of the bag.
Inside were several photos of bronze artifacts and a notebook.
"That bastard really is a traitor!" Shi Feng looked at the photos, gritting his teeth.
Qi Yun was not too surprised and took out his phone to dial a number.
"Hello, Director Zhang, I just encountered a situation..."
On the other side of the phone, Zhang Dayong’s expression was serious, "Alright, I’ll send someone over immediately!"
Before long, two police cars stopped at the entrance of Qiuyue Pavilion.
Six officers got out of the vehicles, and the leader walked up courteously and asked, "Who’s Mr. Qi Yun?"
Qi Yun nodded at him, "I’m Qi Yun."
After explaining everything, the leader thanked him, took the evidence, and left first. The remaining officers headed to the opposite Yingfeng Building to conduct inspections.
...
The next day, two large seals were affixed to the door of Yingfeng Building, sparking lively discussions among the other shop owners on Antique Street.
It was said that Boss Liao was taken for a "tea chat" that very night and hadn’t been seen since.
Shi Feng also received commendation from the local police station, along with a banner recognizing his bravery.
As for the thief, because of their extremely professional method of operation, leaving no clues at the scene, the chances of catching them were quite slim...