S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 4 Chapter 120

Bonus Chapter – Christmas Stage Play

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Christmas was approaching, and S City met with a heavy snowfall, so the atmosphere of Christmas was even more intense.

On the morning of Christmas Eve, Lu Fang ran into SCI's office, "Are there any cases on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day?"

The SCI crowd looked up together, then collectively shook their heads and said - No! The world is at peace!

"That's great!" Lu Fang smiled with satisfaction, "There are a total of three sessions for police-citizen interaction at this year's Christmas event, and there are only a few departments in the police station that are free. The police-citizen quiz and the public meeting have been taken away by other groups, leaving the last one for you guys!"

The crowd was shocked - Police-citizen interaction?

Behind Lu Fang, Bao Zheng walked in, looked at the note left in Lu Fang's hand, and smiled with an unknown meaning.

The SCI crowd looked at each other - Something feels fishy!

Bai Yutang stood up, reached out and took the note, and saw a line on it - S City Downtown Elementary School Connection Activity, stage play.

Bai Yutang froze, and the crowd behind him who had come over to look at it had their mouths wide open - Stage play?

"No way!" Bai Yutang frowned at Lu Fang.

Luo Tian and Qin Ou tilted their faces, "Isn't S City Downtown Elementary School Yang Yang and Xiao Yi's school?"

Zhan Zhao nibbled on an apple and asked, "What's the stage play going to be about?"

"It's just a drama that teaches children how to protect themselves in times of danger." Lu Fang said.

Bai Chi was carrying takeout in from outside and was curious, "When is the performance?"

"Just tomorrow." Lu Fang said, "The finale of the Christmas police-citizen interaction."

"Isn't that something that should have a script?" Jiang Ping wondered, "How can you rehearse a stage play without a script? Is one day enough?"

"Enough!" Lu Fang nodded, "The script is on its way, coming right away, I've also prepared a few helpers for you as well as consultants, a professional team!"

The crowd looked at each other in disbelief.

Bai Yutang then saw Zhan Zhao winking at him, while gesturing to Bao Zheng at the side, which meant - Mouse! Go on! Push him away!

Bai Yutang immediately moved over, "Bao Sir..."

Bao Zheng glanced at him blankly and waved his hand without waiting for him to push back, "No need to push, there's only you guys, there's no other choice!"

"Why?" Zhan Zhao protested.

"Your SCI has the most handsome men in the entire police department, do you want to pull the gang of bearded uncles from the criminal police team to act ah? Aren't they going to scare the kids to death on stage?!"

The crowd squinted at Bao Zheng, and finally together they squinted at Bai Chi, which meant - Chi Chi is too cute, pulling down the overall level of big and burly.

Bai Chi aggrievedly split the takeout.

"There are also a few outside helpers, they will arrive soon." Just as Bao Zheng's words fell, they heard the elevator doors open with a ding, and Zhao Zhen walked in with Lisbon.

Bai Chi hurriedly asked him, "Why are you here?"

Zhao Zhen shrugged, "The twins said there's a charity performance."

At this moment, there was another ding, the other elevator opened and Bai Jintang walked in.

Gongsun happened to come out of the forensic room, and was puzzled, "Why are you here?"

Bai Jintang shrugged, "The twins said they wanted me to come and sponsor the charity show."

The crowd glanced at each other - The twins? Bad premonition!

Sure enough, the crowd had just walked into the office when they saw the elevator doors open again. Da Ding and Xiao Ding darted in, and Da Ding held up an iPad in his hand, "The script is here!"

The crowd's mouths twitched, "Who wrote the script?"

Xiao Ding raised his hand, "Me!"

At this moment, Ma Xin walked in from outside nibbling on an apple, "I'm the consultant!"

Bai Yutang held his forehead, feeling messy.

Zhan Zhao curiously asked, "What about the director?"

Da Ding hemmed and hawed, reaching out and snapping his fingers, "We have an international gold standard director! Uncle Steve!"

As his words fell, the elevator door opened and a fat grey-haired old foreign man waddled out.

The crowd looked at him and thought that he looked a little familiar, perhaps they had seen him in some magazines or TV programmes, but?...

Bai Yutang hooked his finger at the twins.

The twins moved over.

Bai Yutang took a deep breath to try to ease his emotions and asked, "What kind of dramas has that Uncle Steve done before?"

The twins snapped their fingers, "The Spirit and Lust of Love, Midnight Horror: The Dismemberment Killer, The Great Escape from the Asylum, The Unlucky Man Struck by a Meteor, Drunk in the River of Desire..."

Luo Tian and Qin Ou opened their mouths wide, "This... doesn't it matter that we're rehearsing a children's stage play!"

"Erm..." The twins rubbed their chins.

The crowd proceeded to hold their foreheads - Really unreliable!

But looking again, Lu Fang had already run away, and Bao Zheng left behind a sentence, "If you don't rehearse well, you'll all clean the toilets for me!"

However, just as Bao Sir wanted to leave, he was suddenly yanked by the big director, "Wait!"

The crowd was speechless as they listened to the foreigner's eccentric Chinese.

"You!" Uncle Director pointed at Bao Zheng, "Stay!"

Bao Sir was puzzled, "Me?"

"Right!" Uncle Director nodded his head very firmly, "You look like the bad guy!"

The corners of Bao Sir's mouth twitched, and SCI let out a collective "pfft" and looked at the sky in gloating.

After an early lunch, the SCI crowd went to the auditorium of the S City Downtown Elementary School for the rehearsal.

They saw that the props and sets were all ready, and in addition, they also saw that there were several children sitting in the first row of the auditorium.

Two of them jumped up, one pounced on Luo Tian and one pounced on Qin Ou, "Dad!"

The crowd looked and saw that it was Qin Yi, Luo Yang, and about ten other children.

Bai Yutang was puzzled. "What is this for?"

Da Ding said, "The audience! Isn't this being arranged for children to watch, so naturally there should be children as an audience, giving opinions on the spot!"

The crowd blinked – It made sense.

"Begin!" While the director instructed the theatre and crew to set up the furniture and scenery, the SCI crowd read the script first.

The script read – Act I. As Xiao Ming is leaving school, he encounters an adult walking a large dog; the large dog has no leash and is not wearing a muzzle.

Xiao Ming's actor... The crowd silently glanced at Bai Chi.

Xiao Bai Chi sighed, consciously put on a small backpack, held a lollipop, and pretended to be a child.

As soon as Bai Chi walked out, the group of children below the stage laughed.

A female classmate beside Luo Yang asked curiously, "Who is that brother of Yang Yang's?"

"His name is Bai Chi!" Luo Yang said.

"Oh... Brother Bai Chi ah.” The little sister nodded, while handing chips to Ma Xin, who was squatting under the stage taking photos, "Auntie Xin Xin want to eat some?"

Ma Xin froze, then took the chips and flew into Luo Tian's arms and cried - Aunt Xin Xin... Brother Bai Chi... wu wu wu wu!

Zhao Hu acted as a dog walker, and the large dog was guest starred by... Lisbon.

Zhao Hu walked onto the stage with Lisbon.

"Woahhh!" The children below the stage immediately swarmed with excitement, "A tiger!"

"Is that a tiger? That's a lion!"

"Why is the lion white?"

"Probably covered in powder!"

Several children chimed in.

Da Ding continued to prompt from the side, "The big dog stares angrily at Xiao Ming!"

Just as the words were finished, they saw Lisbon lurching up to rub against Bai Chi, hooking him with his tail as he did so.

"So well behaved and cute!"

Several children cupped their faces.

The director got angry, "Why is that lion skewering the scene! You have to look at him angrily!"

The crowd held their foreheads, how is it possible to make Lisbon hate Bai Chi?

"When Xiao Ming saw the big dog, he turned around and ran away in fear!" Da Ding continued to read. Bai Chi pretended to turn and run, Lisbon nuzzled his waist and kept rubbing against him, his mouth purring endlessly, like a cat.

"Hey! That lion!" The director was angry, pointing at Lisbon, "You cooperate a little!"

Lisbon saw this fat director jumping around very annoyingly since earlier, and this time he was not allowed to rub against Bai Chi, so... the king of beasts turned back to the director and roared.

The fat director was so shocked that he sat on the ground.

Several children whispered, "That fat grandpa is so stupid, it can't be fierce big dog!"

"Right! Especially when the big dog is rubbing up against his best friend."

“Narrator, Narrator!" Da Ding reminded Ma Han, who was in charge of the narration.

Ma Han took the script, "Oh, never panic when you meet a big dog, let alone turn and run, try to be calm and try not to make eye contact with the dog."

After reading, Ma Han shook his head with a smirk.

Xiao Ding narrowed his eyes, "You have a complaint about the script? "

Ma Han froze and shook his head, "Nope."

"Then what are you laughing at?" Xiao Ding was curious, "You never met a big dog when you were a kid?"

Ma Han spread his hands, "I often ran into big dogs when I was a kid."

Ma Xin nodded, "I was chased by a big dog when I was a kid, Brother used a slingshot to beat that big dog so badly that it ran away when it saw a round glass ball."

Behind Ma Xin, a group of children clapped their hands, "So there is such a method!"

"Wow! Let's go buy a slingshot tomorrow!"

Luo Tian and Qin Ou hurriedly waved their hands, "Don't hurt small animals! And don't provoke big dogs!"

After saying that, the two filial dads glared at Ma Han.

Ma Han looked at the sky.

Bai Yutang sat behind the group of children and sighed, while Zhan Zhao was tapping on the keyboard at the side, recording the children's reactions so that he could use it as a reference for his child psychology research in the future.

"Next scene, next scene!" Xiao Ding greeted Bao Zheng at the side, "The bad guy is up!"

Bao Zheng was forced to walk onto the stage to Bai Chi's side.

At this point, Bai Chi had managed to break free from beneath Lisbon's claws. Lisbon was taken away, and Bai Chi ran into Bao Zheng head on.

Bao Zheng read the script and pretended to be a human trafficker.

So, Bao Zheng walked over, "Kid, your father asked me to pick you up."

As soon as Bao Zheng's words left his mouth, the group of children below the stage reached out and pointed at him, "Liar!"

Bai Yutang held his chin at the side and asked curiously, "You know so quickly?"

"Because he's wearing makeup!" A child shouted.

The crowd silently glanced at Bao Zheng again, no, Bao Sir appeared with a bare face!

"He's wearing makeup!" A little girl said, "Mama said the bad guy would make himself look so bad that you can't see him clearly!"

"He rubbed a lot of ink on his face, for sure!"

"It's to avoid the cameras!"

A bunch of kids chimed in. The SCI crowd looked down to stifle their laughter, and Bao Sir got angry - Who wrote the script for this?

"You're my dad's friend?" Bai Chi followed the script and asked Bao Zheng.

“Yes," Bao Zheng nodded, "your dad is having dinner at my place and asked me to bring you along!" Bao Zheng said.

"Oh!" Bai Chi followed him.

"Ah! So stupid!"

"That's right, it's so obvious that it's a lie!" Several children shook their heads and looked at Bai Chi sympathetically, "This brother is so stupid and dumb."

Bai Chi was embarrassed, it was the first time someone said he was dumb...

"At this time," Da Ding continued, "Xiao Ming's mom and dad found out that Xiao Ming didn't come home even at this late hour, and came out to look for him."

As he spoke, they saw Gongsun and Bai Jintang walking up.

When the crowd saw Gongsun with a "Dad" plastered on his chest and Bai Jintang with a "Mom" plastered on his chest, they couldn't laugh or cry.

"Brother is actually playing mom!" Bai Yutang was puzzled.

Xiao Ding was helpless, "My Lord strongly requested it, there's nothing we could do!"

Bai Jintang elegantly stood on the stage with his hands in his pockets, and unhurriedly said, "See the truth in bed..."

Before he finished speaking, Xiao Ding threw his script up, "Don't say strange things in front of the children!"

But then they looked at the few little kids.

A few little sisters held their faces, "Wow! That uncle is so handsome!"

Luo Yang nodded, "That's Uncle Bai!"

"I've seen him in a magazine, my mama said he's extremely handsome!"

The crowd silently looked at Bai Jintang... Big Brother's charm was truly unstoppable.

"Find the son!" The twins reminded Bai Jintang and Gongsun, "The two of you were told to come and find your son not to pose on stage!"

Bai Jintang raised an eyebrow and whistled with his hands in his pockets.

Gongsun knocked with a bowl, "Xiao Ming, tsk tsk tsk."

The crowd held their foreheads.

The group of children laughed out loud, and several adults looked at them breathlessly, these kids were quite humorous.

"Xiao Ming hears mom and dad shouting." Da Ding proceeded to remind Bai Chi, “He wants to go home, but the bad guy has him!"

Xiao Bai Chi turned to run, and Bao Zheng grabbed his school bag.

"Yaaaah!" A little sister shouted, "Run!"

“Dog, go save your master!"

Bai Yutang looked at the group of kids with amusement, while Zhan Zhao tapped the keyboard with high spirits.

"Xiao Ming, hurry and find the police uncle!" Da Ding reminded, "Run to the guard booth, police station, or public security bureau!"

With that, the crowd waved to Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao who were still watching with great interest, "Police! On the stage."

Bai Yutang gently pressed the back of his chair with one hand and somersaulted over the heads of the group of children.

"Wow..." the children exclaimed, “handsome handsome handsome!"

Luo Yang and Xiao Yi nodded, "That..."

Before finishing the word “is", Zhan Zhao tripped over the charging cable of the laptop when he walked out, stumbled and almost fell over. Fortunately Bai Yutang was quick to catch him.

A few children asked, "Is this brother also a police officer?"

Without waiting for Luo Yang and Xiao Yi to speak, the rest of SCI spoke in unison, "No!"

The corners of Zhan Zhao's mouth twitched - They actually dislike me!

On the side, Ma Xin continued to cry on Luo Tian, “Brother Zhan Zhao, Auntie Xin Xin... wu wu wu wu."    

Luo Tian sighed.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao went on stage, and Xiao Bai Chi pounced over, "Police uncle, there are bad guys!"

......

Before Bai Yutang could say anything, one of the children below raised his hand, "There's a bug!"

"Yeah!" Another child chimed in, "They just said that Xiao Ming heard his mom and dad calling! But where's his mom and dad?"

"Right! Why did they turn into police?"

The crowd twisted their faces to look at Xiao Ding.

Xiao Ding scratched his head and squatted down to revise the script.

The play on the stage continued. Xiao Bai Chi hid behind Bai Yutang and pointed at Bao Zheng, “Brother, that uncle is a bad guy!"

The children below corrected, "It's not uncle, it's grandpa!"

"Right! Grandpa!"

Bao Zheng's eyes twitched, grandpa...

Bai Yutang took out his handcuffs and said to Bao Zheng, "You attempted to kidnap a child, come back to the police station with me!"

"Wrong, wrong!" Several children joined together to correct Bai Yutang as he handcuffed Bao Zheng, "Yes, you have the right to remain silent, and anything you say can and may be used against you in a court of law!"

Bai Yutang looked at the sky. On the side, Zhan Zhao said to Bai Jintang and Gongsun who were still posing with their hands in their pockets, “Papa, Mama, don’t let the kids watch so many Hong Kong dramas."

Gongsun smiled faintly and put one hand on Bai Jintang's shoulder, "Mama, do you hear that? Next time, don't bring your son to watch the eight o'clock programme."

Bai Jintang looked at Gongsun and wrapped one hand around his waist, "Papa, then what should I do if I don't watch TV?"

"Cut! Cut!" Da Ding hurriedly blocked the children who were excitedly watching.

Xiao Ding jumped to his feet, "How can you two be parents?!"

Several children tilted their heads as they listened, "Papa and Mama are very affectionate!"

"That's right! My papa and mama also kiss!"

Zhan Zhao continued to record in his observation log, "Wow? Kids these days are really precocious."

"Last scene, narrator!" Da Ding prompted Ma Han.

Ma Han pointed at the children, "Don't go with strangers!"

The twins were speechless, "Be more childlike, Xiao Ma Ge!"

Unexpectedly, the group of kids cupped their faces, "Brother is so cool!"

Luo Yang and Qin Yi added, "He's a sniper!"

"Wow!" The group of children clamoured, "Did you bring a gun? I want to see!"

Looking at the side again, Ma Xin was seriously injured, picking at Luo Tian, "Brother Ma Han, Auntie Ma Xin… wu wu wu."

Luo Tian helplessly comforted Ma Xin. On the side, Bao Zheng coolly said, "Not bad, auntie is always better than grandpa, or bad guy grandpa."

......

On the evening of Christmas Day, the stage play opened in the auditorium of the elementary school. The audience was full of children and parents, and in the VIP seats in the front row, Zhao Jue and Bai Ye were seated, holding two buckets of popcorn.

Zhan Zhao tugged on Da Ding's collar, "Why is this long haired one here too?!"

Da Ding was shaken back and forth, "He's here to guest star as the bad guy..."

The crowd froze, "What about Bao Sir?"

Xiao Ding raised an eyebrow, "There's a new character in the fray!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, an uproar could be heard. They saw Bao Zheng, dressed in a Santa suit, helplessly walk onto the stage, holding a bag and sprinkling sweets under the stage.

The children exclaimed, "Wow! Santa Claus is from Africa!"

"So dark!"

"Is this the bad guy from yesterday?"

"He must have lived in Antarctica and then spent six months basking in the sun!"

"It's that black grandpa from yesterday!"

Bao Sir took a deep breath and decided to go back and make sure that Lu Fang, who had organised this event, would clean the toilets.

Nevertheless, the day's performance was an unexpected success, although there were a lot of situations on stage.

For example, Lisbon was a little uncooperative and rolled around on stage with his arms around Xiao Bai Chi. For example, Zhao Zhen did a magic trick to make the director disappear, and when he came back again, his hair turned black. Another example was when Zhan Zhao almost replaced Bai Yutang on stage to fight the "bad guys", which later turned into a debate on child psychology and no one could understand which language they were speaking...

The unexpected comedic effect made the children laugh.

Finally, when the curtain call came, Bai Jintang elegantly waved one hand, “A day trip to Ocean Park for all children! Food and drinks paid for by Bai Group, you can bring your parents."

The crowd dispersed amidst cheers.

As night fell, the SCI crowd, dressed in fancy theatre costumes, walked out of the school's auditorium. It was a snowy Christmas night, with coloured lights twinkling all around.

The large family was in high spirits and headed off for Christmas dinner.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Everyone got beat down this chapter, though Ma Xin got it the worst XD

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

Translated: December 17, 2023 by Angel

Edited: December 24, 2023 by Angel