Chapter 166: A False Alarm

As the saying goes, misfortunes never come singly. The smell of machine oil on the brand-new bicycle had not yet faded when trouble arrived, and this time, it wasn't a minor issue—two separate matters landed on him all at once.

"Hong Tao! What kind of trouble have you stirred up this time? Why are so many police officers swarming into our school looking for you? Explain yourself clearly to the teachers so I can help you figure out a way!" Shortly after the National Day holiday, Director Bai once again called Hong Tao out of the classroom, questioning him in a low voice out in the hallway. Judging by the expression on her face, she seemed genuinely nervous this time, sensing that the matter was far from trivial.

"Director Bai, I honestly have no idea why the police would come to school looking for me. Since they're already here, we might as well just go in and ask them directly." Hearing the word "police," Hong Tao felt a sudden jolt in his chest. It seemed what was bound to come had finally arrived. He just wondered how things were going over at Second Uncle's end.

"You child! Once you step into the principal's office, anything you say will be too late. Tell me now, and maybe I can still shield you from the worst of it!" Director Bai was truly anxious. Although she no longer viewed Hong Tao with the precious regard she had when they first met, she still didn't want to see such a brilliant student ruined right under her watch.

"Director, I really haven't done anything. I'm not stupid; if there were truly a problem, I'd definitely ask for your help. I'd probably even ask you to secretly call my dad. But I genuinely don't know what they're here for!" Hong Tao felt deeply grateful to this teacher. She was like the mother hen standing at the very front in a game of hawk and chick, spreading her wings wide from beginning to end, desperately trying to protect the little chicks trailing behind her. Unfortunately, some matters were truly beyond the power of a mere head teacher to resolve.

"Sigh... I have no idea how your brain is wired. You managed to plunge yourself into such a mess just over elementary school, yet you act like nothing is the matter all day long. What on earth is going to happen when you get to middle school! Thank goodness you aren't testing into our school's middle school division, otherwise I'd likely be driven to an early grave by your antics before I could even retire!" Director Bai was out of options. She understood Hong Tao more thoroughly than his own father did. If this child decided he didn't want to talk, aside from putting him on a torture rack, no amount of persuasion would make him speak.

"Don't put it that way, Director. Hardship and sweetness are relative after all. When you handed me my award on stage at the start of the semester, you smiled so brilliantly—just for that smile alone, you could live a few years longer! So that's why you kept pushing me to secure the recommendation slot; you must have just wanted to get rid of me so I wouldn't stay here for middle school. When I get home, I'll discuss it with my dad; maybe I should just stay right here for middle school. Having you watch over me would be much more comfortable than going to a brand-new school, hehehe." True to Director Bai's prediction, even with the police knocking at his door, Hong Tao still had the leisure to crack jokes.

"Stop chattering! Go on inside and resolve the immediate issue first, and we can talk about middle school later. Remember, be polite when you speak, and stop looking for a fight at every turn!" Director Bai was left with a bitter smile. Arriving at the door of the principal's office, she made a special point to remind Hong Tao to mind his attitude before pushing the door open and leading him inside.

"Holy mother of god! Is this an execution on the spot?! You don't need this many cops just to deal with an elementary school student!!" The moment the door opened, Hong Tao understood why Director Bai had been so tense. Sitting and standing in the room weren't just one or two officers—there were six of them! Add in two men in plainclothes, and the entire room was packed. It was quite a spectacle. The only person he recognized was Officer Zhou from the neighborhood station, though judging by his posture, he was likely just playing the role of an escort.

"Station Chief Wang, Section Chief Zhao, this is Hong Tao. If you have any questions, feel free to ask him directly. He's still a child, so I hope you can keep it gentle and try not to frighten him." Director Bai made one final effort on Hong Tao's behalf before resigning herself to her desk.

"Hello, police uncles, and hello to you two uncles as well. Is there something you wanted to ask me?" Hong Tao knew that pulling his head back or sticking it out led to the same stroke of the blade, so he might as well take the initiative to save them from interrogating him like a criminal.

At that moment, a strange thought struck Hong Tao. He felt that the deterrent effect of these older white-uniformed police was far greater than that of the blue-gray uniforms from his future life. In his past life, he had plenty of police friends and had even handled matters at branch and municipal bureaus, but even when facing a room full of officers back then, it hadn't felt as solemn and majestic as this.

"Ah, so you're Hong Tao. Don't be nervous, come, sit down and talk. I'm from the neighborhood committee; Director Zhou asked me to accompany these police uncles to ask you a few questions. Just answer truthfully based on what you know. You're a top student in school, and good kids don't lie, right?" The first to speak was one of the middle-aged men in plainclothes. The moment he opened his mouth, he invoked Director Zhou, and Hong Tao instantly knew this man definitely knew his eldest aunt, and their relationship was likely quite good.

"Don't worry, sir, I definitely won't lie!" Hong Tao tried his best to rein in his unruly mouth. Provoking these police officers right now would do him no good whatsoever.

Yet the moment those words left his mouth, Director Bai, sitting at the far end of the room, pressed a hand to her forehead and closed her eyes. If she had believed even a shred of what Hong Tao said a moment ago, she now believed absolutely none of it. Hong Tao's tone of voice at that instant was entirely unnatural; whenever he put on that absurd, pseudo-innocent child act, not a single word coming out of his mouth could be trusted. That was a golden rule Director Bai had summarized after spending several years dealing with him.

"Old Zhang, why don't you start?" Station Chief Wang didn't question Hong Tao directly; instead, he deferentially yielded the floor to an older police officer seated beside him.

"Very well, Station Chief Wang, then I'll go first. My business is quite simple as well—I just need to ask this young friend a few questions regarding two individuals. Come here, young friend, do you recognize these two people?" The veteran officer smiled heartily as he unzipped his black briefcase, pulled out a large file envelope, and drew out two photographs for Hong Tao to inspect.

"I recognize them. They're thieves!" Hong Tao had originally expected photographs of Han Xue or Lu Yunpeng, but to his surprise, the pictures depicted the two thugs who had been thoroughly beaten by himself and Coach Pang outside the sports school gate last year.

"Ah, that's correct then. We've already been to the sports school to verify the details, but now we'd like to hear your account once more. Could you walk us through the process from back then? Feel free to speak freely, and make it as detailed as possible!" Seeing that Hong Tao instantly recognized the men in the photos, the veteran officer immediately grew interested.

"That happened in the autumn of last year, on a Wednesday. The weather was exceptionally fine, clear skies without a single cloud, and the sun was shining brightly. It was around noon, and I boarded the No. 116 bus all by myself..." Hearing that it was about this matter, Hong Tao felt much more relaxed. He guessed that these two fellows were about to meet a bitter end, and the police were merely gathering evidence against them. Given that the pair remained a potential threat to him, Hong Tao intended to portray their actions as possessing an even greater degree of social harm—ideally severe enough to warrant a couple of lead bullets to the back of the head, which would settle everything once and for all.

"Get to the point! This isn't a recitation class!" Watching Hong Tao gesture wildly with his hands, chattering away as if he were putting on a storytelling performance, the young officer responsible for taking notes could no longer hold back and interrupted his monologue.

"Oh, alright... I ran into the sports school, called out the teachers and coaches, and those two thieves happened to be blocked by a honey-wagon so they couldn't escape. Then our coach caught them, and they even searched several wallets and knives off them. Then the police uncles arrived, and that was it!" Hong Tao actually listened this time, wrapping up in a single sentence what he hadn't finished explaining after ten minutes.

"Hey... isn't that a bit too brief? What kind of knife was it? Do you still remember the colors and shapes of those wallets?" The young officer remained unsatisfied; a moment ago the account had been all water, and now it was completely parched.

"Forgot! I must have been scared out of my wits at the time; how could I possibly pay attention to such details?" Hong Tao never held any affection for anyone who denied him the satisfaction of running his mouth, and naturally, he wasn't about to cooperate.

"......" The young officer gripped his pen so hard it looked as though it might snap, yet not a single word came out of his mouth.

"Hahaha, you certainly have quite the personality, kid. Very well, what you said makes sense—who could possibly remember all those details? The fact that you had the courage to step forward and stop the thieves in the first place, and then fought bravely and resourcefully with the criminals to ultimately capture them, is already quite remarkable!" Seeing his subordinate left speechless and staring blankly by a child, the veteran officer said nothing in reproach. Instead, he smiled good-naturedly, patted Hong Tao on the head, and tossed him a compliment.

"It looked like a triangular scraping knife! About this long... and the handle was wrapped with copper wire. One of the wallets was women's style with a Pierre Cardin logo on it, pink-colored. It didn't look like an ordinary person's wallet; it was probably a foreigner's." The veteran officer's tactic proved effective. Although Hong Tao knew he was being handled like a stubborn donkey, he still spilled everything he knew. After all, ensuring those two thieves were pushed toward their doom brought him a hundred benefits without a single drawback.

"You even recognize the Pierre Cardin logo? Didn't you just say you forgot everything?" The young officer's nose was practically twisted with anger. Completely forgetting whether Hong Tao was a child or not, he glared and pressed for answers.

"Hehehe, what a coincidence, I happen to have a Pierre Cardin belt myself... though mine isn't stolen. I bought it at the Friendship Store, and I even have the receipt." Whenever Hong Tao succeeded in stoking someone else's fury, all his own anger would vanish. With a cheeky grin, he lifted the hem of his shirt to reveal his belt buckle, inviting the young officer to inspect it.

"...... Sign here!" The young officer was completely out of words. If not for the crowd of people present, he would have loved nothing more than to give Hong Tao a sound beating. Swallowing his rage with extreme difficulty, he shoved the transcript toward Hong Tao for his signature.