S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 3 Chapter 74

SCI Mid-Autumn Extra – Mid-Autumn Festival for Thieves

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On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Bao Zheng received a call from Bai Yutang, saying that there was a Mid-Autumn Festival party at the Bai house and everyone was there, and asked if Bao Zheng wanted to come and play with them. Mother Bai had made a lot of delicious mooncakes and asked him to take some away.

Bao Zheng thought about it and thought it would be good, so he went.

As he was walking alone in the neighbourhood at night, Bao Zheng heard footsteps behind him, and he remained silent. Soon, he saw three men suddenly appearing from a distance, holding shiny knives and pointing them at Bao Zheng.

The leader was a large man, and behind him were two men, one short and fat, the other thin and tall.

Bao Zheng frowned, thinking about whether these people were seeking revenge or what they wanted. It was annoying to meet them during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Bao Zheng was about to fight with them when he heard the big man at the head of the group threatening him with a knife, "Old man, be honest, obediently answer the questions you are asked, we brothers respect the old and love the young, we don't hit old men."

Bao Zheng felt his eyes twitch – Old man? These guys are tired of living!

"Brother, is that an old African man? Why are they so dark?" The short, fat man next to him asked the big one.

In his heart, Bao Zhang was thinking, "You're all dead, dead!"

"Old man, let me ask you, in this villa neighbourhood, which family is the richest, do you know?"

Bao Zheng was stunned and thought about it, oh, this might be a roaming gang of burglars, there have indeed been some burglaries recently. Then he said, “Keep walking, there is a white courtyard at the end of this district, it's very big, the Bai villa is inside, that family is the richest!"

"Seriously?" The three men gave each other a wink and asked Bao Zheng, "You're taking us there?"

Bao Zheng shrugged, "Sure, no problem." After saying this, he continued to follow the same path, with the three little thieves following behind with trepidation.

When the four of them arrived at the entrance of Bai Jintang's villa, Bao Zheng pointed inside. Coincidentally, presumably because of the large number of people today, the cars were all parked at the entrance. The few petty thieves caught a glimpse of Bai Yutang's limited edition car and their eyes lit up – they were really very rich!

Bao Zheng said to them, “Ai, I've heard that a single chair or stool here is worth tens of thousands of dollars. I've brought you here, don't snitch on me!"

The three thieves looked at each other, and the boss came over and asked Bao Zheng grimly, "Oh, you're not going to call the police, are you?!"

Bao Zheng shook his head, "How can I?!"

"No, we don't trust you, you enter too!"

Bao Zheng held back his laughter, "The gate is so high, how can I get in? You all know that I'm old."

The tall, thin man was very agile. He climbed over the wall and opened the gate for Bao Zheng and the others.

Bao Zheng walked in helplessly. The group first hid inside the bushes and did not come out. Looking at them, Bao Zheng seemed to be quite cautious, and beckoned, “Ai, you guys hide, I'll go scout for you." After saying that, he ran away.

They wanted to catch him, but they were afraid of being discovered, so they moved a little closer along the grass. In late autumn, there were many mosquitoes in the grass, and by the time they reached the villa, their legs were covered with bites.

When Bao Zheng reached the entrance of SCI's villa alone, he saw Lisbon lying there.

Thinking about it, Bao Zheng made Lisbon go inside.

The twins were about to come out when they saw Bao Zheng, "Wow, Bao Sir, you came in over the wall, huh? I was just wondering why the alarm went off."

Bao Zheng nodded, “En, I was trying out your security system."

"Grandpa Bao~~" Luo Yang and Xiao Yi gathered around. Bao Zheng cupped one of their cheeks and said seriously, "Don't call me grandpa! You have to call me uncle!"

The two children made faces.

After entering the house, Bao Zheng took a mooncake and ate it, thinking that Mother Bai was becoming more and more skillful in her craft. With a glance, he saw someone approaching outside the window, and it seemed to be the three little thieves.

Bao Zheng hurriedly said to the crowd, "I'm going to the bathroom." After saying that, he ran away.

Zhan Zhao blinked – Did he take the mooncake to the toilet?

At this moment, a few of the girls and the mothers of the Zhan and Bai families were chattering away, while on the side, Gongsun and Zhan Zhao were leaning on the sofa. Zhan Zhao was eating the mooncake and reading some materials, while Gongsun was studying the newly arrived wine brochure.

When he saw Lisbon enter, Zhan Zhao moved forward and let Lisbon lie on the sofa, leaning against his soft tummy.

Zhao Zhen was on the far sofa, doing magic tricks for Luo Yang and Xiao Yi.

Bai Chi was making milk tea, and Bai Yutang was the busiest, steaming crabs for everyone.

Zhan Zhao was leaning against Lisbon when he saw what appeared to be three people lying at the window behind the television, looking in.

At first he thought he was mistaken, but on closer inspection, there were indeed three strangers sneaking around. Zhan Zhao covered his mouth with the remote control and asked Gongsun beside him, "Gongsun, have you spotted…"

“En, I saw it." Gongsun used the wine brochure to cover his mouth, "There's food for Lisbon tonight."

"The neighbourhood's been getting burgled a lot lately." Xiao Ding flopped onto the back of the couch, "I guess it's those roaming criminals."

"What are we going to do?" Bai Chi came over with milk tea for the group, "Are we going to catch them?"

"Yes, but it's time for them to disappear!" Zhan Zhao hurriedly winked at the crowd.

At this time, the thieves at the door had long been bitten by mosquitoes, and the second oldest asked the oldest, "Brother, what should we do? There are a lot of people inside!"

"They seem to all be on the first floor, let's go up to the second floor and rob them." The boss had an idea and pointed to the second floor.

The second and third brothers nodded, and the three of them started to climb upstairs.

Gongsun, Zhan Zhao and Bai Chi then saw the three going upstairs and exchanged a glance.

Gongsun lowered his voice and said, "Jintang is on the second floor."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Chi nodded at each other and split up.

Zhao Zhen had his back to the window and didn't see the thieves. He was teasing the children when Bai Chi came over, "Zhen."

Zhao Zhen saw him sitting beside him with a smile on his face and asked, "What's wrong?"

Bai Chi leaned into his ear and said, "You take Lisbon up to the second floor, I have a surprise for you."

Zhao Zhen raised an eyebrow and smiled, "Chi Chi, if you really have a surprise for me, you don't need Lisbon's help, do you? Or is it a new trick?"

"Go!" Bai Chi's face was a little red. Zhao Zhen was not being serious again, so he pushed him.

“Okay… don't keep me waiting too long." Zhao Zhen waved to Lisbon, who jumped off the couch from behind Zhan Zhao and followed Zhao Zhen upstairs.

Zhan Zhao smiled and ran to the kitchen, "Yutang."

"Hm?" Bai Yutang was busy tying crabs, and when he saw Zhan Zhao enter, he said, "Be careful of getting pinched! These crabs are quite aggressive."

"Let's wait a bit before we tie them up." Zhan Zhao whispered in his ear, "There's a surprise for you on the second floor."

Bai Yutang raised an eyebrow and rubbed his arm against Zhan Zhao, "You know that I want a surprise tonight?"

Zhan Zhao smiled, “Want to go take a look?"

“Shall we go together?"

"Sure." Zhan Zhao went upstairs with him. Bai Chi and Gongsun also hurriedly put down the things they were holding and quietly slipped up to the second floor, waiting at the door to look inside.

The three thieves climbed up to the second floor with great difficulty, and since there were exactly three rooms on this side of the second floor, they took one room each and split up. The oldest went into Bai Jintang's room, the second went into Zhan Zhao's room, and the third went into Bai Chi and Zhao Zhen's room.

Inside Bai Jintang's room.

When Gongsun peered in through the door, he saw Bai Jintang reading information when the curtain next to him moved gently.

The curtain was a light-blocking one, so from the outside, it was impossible to tell if there was a light on inside.

Bai Jintang slowly put down the materials in his hand and turned his face to look at the curtain. The curtain moved a few more times, as if someone had grabbed it and tried to tug it to the side, but the direction was reversed and it couldn't be tugged open.

Gongsun covered his mouth and almost laughed out loud. Bai Jintang turned around and saw him outside the door of the room. He shook his head helplessly, walked to the window and tugged on the curtain, pulling it open with a clatter…

Looking outside, a large man with a knife in his mouth was holding the window with both hands.

Bai Jintang froze as the man took the knife from his mouth and pointed it at Bai Jintang, "Robbery!"

Bai Jintang stared at him for a long time, not moving.

The big man felt a little weak in his legs. Bai Jintang had an extraordinary aura, he didn't seem to be very easy to deal with…

"Robbery…" He shouted again.

Bai Jintang nodded and closed the window.

Then he could hear from outside, "Ah!!"… 'crack!'

Gongsun hurriedly tried to go and watch the fun, but just as he turned around, he was grabbed by Bai Jintang.

"So fast, you can move instantly, huh?" Gongsun looked at Bai Jintang, who was standing behind him, in shock.

With a raised eyebrow, Bai Jintang said in his ear, "Instant movement or whatever doesn't matter. I’m done with my business, what about combining work and leisure, let's have some fun." After saying that, he pulled Gongsun into the room and closed the door.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao just walked into the room and turned on the lights… when they saw a man sitting in the window of the room, holding a knife in one hand and clawing at the window with the other, seemingly stuck in the window frame… too fat for his stomach to fit through.

"Pfft.” Zhan Zhao covered his mouth.

Bai Yutang looked at the sky, and as soon as he walked into the door, he saw the fat thief gesturing with a knife, "Robbery!"

Bai Yutang said to him with an expressionless face, "Police."

That fat thief blinked, moved back and squeezed out of the window, "Ah!!"… 'crack!'

Zhan Zhao went over to look down, “The first fell in an S-shape, this one fell in a C-shape, I wonder if the third will fall in an I-shape."

Bai Yutang closed the door and walked over to pull Zhan Zhao over by the dark window… and threw the crabs in the kitchen out of his mind without a trace.

The last thin man, however, entered Bai Chi's room with ease, and before he could start to take things, he heard footsteps at the door and hurriedly dived under the table.

Zhao Zhen opened the door and entered the room, asking Bai Chi behind him, "What's the surprise?"

Bai Chi looked around and didn't see the thief, so he thought, 'You're not so useless that you couldn't climb up here, are you?'

At that moment, he saw Lisbon wandering over to the table and bowing his head.

The thief was thankful that he had hidden quickly, before he felt something furry rubbing against his head.

Looking up…

"Ah!"

A scream startled Lisbon. Pushing him to the side, the man ran out, clutching his head, panicking, and jumped straight out of the window…

"Ah!!"… 'crack!' Because he was too thin, he really fell in an I-shape.

By the time Zhao Zhen came back to his senses, the room was empty. He went to the window and looked down at the SCI on the ground.

Looking back at Bai Chi, "This is the surprise?"

“En, he should be one of those recent roaming criminals, gang burglars…” Before Bai Chi could finish his sentence, Zhao Zhen had already pointed out the door to Lisbon, "Lisbon, go out, the next part is not for children."

Lisbon wandered out of the door, and with his hind legs, he hooked the door with a bang, shutting the room full of 'surprises’.

Downstairs, the noise of someone falling had already alerted the crowd. The twins came out and beat the three thieves up. Luo Tian and Ma Han handcuffed them and handed them over to the police to be taken to the station.

That night in the detention centre, the three petty thieves were walled up inside their cells, feeling unbearably miserable.

Boss: "I should have known not to listen to that old black man."

Second: "That's right."

Third: "That family actually keeps lions!"

As they were talking, a policeman came over and handed them a bag, "Here, our chief gave it to you."

The three thieves looked at each other, took the bag and opened it. Inside were three mooncakes.

"Aiya, this police station is very humane…" The thief lamented, covering his bruised and battered head.

Upstairs, in the commissioner's office, Bao Zheng was eating mooncakes and drinking tea, looking out the window at the moon in the middle of the sky, "Dare to say I'm old and call me black? This is the end of it!"

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

I think this is one of my favourite chapters from the whole series so far, definitely my favourite from this volume, it's so funny 😂

In other news, I have officially completed my semester and my program! 🎉 To celebrate, I am getting another tattoo on Saturday and I am sooooo excited! I also have another tattoo plan in the works for the future, one that commemorates this book and my journey translating it, though I don't know when I will get it done yet. 

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: March 24, 2022 by Angel