Chapter 373

Zheng Tan couldn't easily find those four student car thieves, and in broad daylight he couldn't easily film them stealing cars, so he could only keep watch in the backyard behind the 'Racehorse Car Shop'; anyway, they'd always come back here after stealing cars. Each time they arrived together, because for each heist they needed accomplices nearby to deal with any eventualities.

For example, when stealing a women's bike, there will usually be at least one male around; if the theft is caught and an argument breaks out, the two female students arguing, a guy can still go over to intimidate the scene; the relatively weaker girls will surely assess the situation and seldom continue arguing. When stealing a men's bike, that female will definitely also be around; if the thief and the bike owner come to blows, the seemingly mild‑mannered female student stepping in to mediate can still ease things, after all most men wouldn't lay hands on a woman. Moreover, everyone here are students, with relatively simple dispositions; many aren't that bold, most adopt a peace‑keeping attitude, which only emboldens these people.

Zheng Tan came to the back of the shop, jumped over the courtyard wall and climbed onto the second‑floor balcony, where a dull‑gray, inconspicuous mobile phone lay.

After turning it on, Zheng Tan looked around, made sure no one was there, then took the phone downstairs and found the bike that the girl who had posted had abandoned; the frame had been freshly sprayed but the seat hadn't been changed, so he quickly took a few more photos, then returned to the second‑floor balcony and kept watch there, even skipping lunch.

That gang likes to strike when many students are eating off campus at noon, seizing the opportunity; if Zheng Tan left now, he'd easily miss them.

Around one o'clock the back gate opened and the same four people appeared, pushing in the bike they had just stolen; Zheng Tan quickly switched on the phone's video function and began filming, breathing softly so the phone could better capture their voices.

Those few were discussing how they had stolen that bike at noon, saying they had almost been caught, that it was a good bike and could fetch a few hundred yuan after a touch‑up.

Afterwards, they swapped the basket and seat of the freshly painted bicycle; it seemed they did this routinely, which made Zheng Tan glad he had taken those extra shots. These guys were quite careful.

Zheng Tan didn't know how long Liuba's phone could record continuously; a normal phone's video clip isn't very long, but Zheng Tan kept recording for half an hour before it prompted an end, requiring him to restart the recording.

This pleased Zheng Tan; the clarity was decent and the filming effect was good.

Several people in the yard were laughing, discussing how much money they could split from selling the stolen bikes these days; they would never have imagined that a cat was hiding on the second‑floor balcony behind that pile of junk, secretly filming their every word and deed.

Around two o'clock three of them left, leaving one person still refurbishing the bike there; Zheng Tan slipped out when that man went to the toilet. The phone stayed where it was; in broad daylight he couldn't take it with him, and there was nothing else worth filming. He would come back at night to retrieve the phone.

After leaving the shop, Zheng Tan headed straight for Jiao Wei's family's small eatery; he hadn't eaten lunch and was now hungry.

By then the rush hour had passed, so there were hardly any students eating; when Zheng Tan arrived at the eatery, the last two students had just finished and left, while Jiao Wei's parents were tidying up.

Upon seeing Zheng Tan, Jiao Wei's father helped heat up some food for him, while Jiao Wei's mother called Jiao Ba.

"Hei Tan just came over; it seems he didn't eat lunch, probably forgot while playing, and I'm heating up his lunch now."

Zheng Tan: "……" Auntie, can't you think of a better excuse? Saying you forgot while playing will get you lectured when you go home!

After eating, Zheng Tan went back to the Racehorse Car Shop to see if there was any more evidence he could film; he didn't return home until after five, waiting for dinner, and at seven thirty in the evening, after putting on his vest, he headed to the shop to retrieve the phone.

He put the phone into his vest and returned to the old tile‑house area on campus.

He lowered the volume, watched the videos and audio on the phone, and Zheng Tan felt a sense of accomplishment; with these clips, after analyzing Sahala's behavior that day, he should be able to lay out the facts.

But soon Zheng Tan's happy mood cooled gradually, and then his whiskers twitched repeatedly.

He suddenly recalled a very important problem.

This phone has no data cable.

Liuba didn't give a data cable!

What about the memory card?

If there is a memory card, Jiao Ba seems to have a card reader.

Zheng Tan fiddled with the phone, studied it for a while, and only found the slot for the SIM card, with no sign of a memory‑card slot.

Just looking at the data interface shows it isn't a standard data cable that would match; without finding a card or being given a cable, how could he make public the evidence he had obtained?

The phone does have Bluetooth, but Jiao Family's desktop computer lacks Bluetooth!

Zheng Tan worried.

However, upon further thought, using Jiao Family's computer to post these things would seem conspicuous, since it's the campus network—checking the poster would immediately reveal the source, and Zheng Tan isn't a computer expert, so he couldn't handle those professionals.

If this caused trouble for Jiao Family, that would be bad. Although Jiao Ba is doing okay now, he's still far behind someone like Professor Ruan at the academician level. Right now the higher ups are silently contending; if Jiao Ba attracted attention, it wouldn't take much effort to cause him trouble during evaluations or on other minor issues, keeping him busy. Having Professor Ruan back him up would naturally be good, but some troubles are unavoidable; Jiao Ba has his own plans and pace, and Zheng Tan can't go disrupting them.

This matter is Zheng Tan's own doing, completely unrelated to Jiao Ba.

What to do?

Zheng Tan stared at the phone softly playing back the captured video, thought it over, then decided, 'Forget it, it's better to let it be.'

When Liuba left the phone behind, did he already anticipate today's problem?

Dealing with these high‑IQ, quick‑witted people is really exhausting; Zheng Tan sighed inwardly.

No matter what, since he's come this far, there's no reason to give up now.

Zheng Tan sent a text to Liuba, who replied quickly; he wasn't in the city, had taken on a job and was busy, but he told Zheng Tan to send the videos directly to him using an app installed on the phone, so that Liuba outside the province could download the uploaded videos via that app, and then post them to Chu Hua Da Xue's campus forum as Zheng Tan had envisioned.

Zheng Tan had never seen that app before—not even before he turned into a cat, nor had he ever heard of it—but since Liuba said it would work and was secure, Zheng Tan had no other option and just sent the files.

While sending, Zheng Tan also wondered how much it would cost if charged by data usage, but after finishing and sending a text he could continue; he hadn't received any overdue notice, so he didn't worry further, and if anything came up Liuba would handle it.

The videos were uploaded. Zheng Tan also edited some related information he had found and sent it to Liuba, who said he could finish it tonight.

However, Zheng Tan couldn't go online tonight, so he could only wait until tomorrow morning to see how things were progressing.

Regarding the data cable, Liuba can't do anything about it now; he only told Zheng Tan where the memory card is. This isn't an all‑in‑one unit—it's just that a memory card is installed, albeit in a concealed spot; Zheng Tan simply hadn't found it.

Following Liuba's hint, Zheng Tan put in some effort to locate it; his paws weren't agile, making the phone awkward to use, but in the end he did find the spot. Liuba told Zheng Tan not to use it lightly, and if anything came up he could have Liuba handle it.

Zheng Tan thought that was right—given his lousy skills, it was better not to tinker.

After arranging everything, Zheng Tan turned off the phone and went home, removing the new phone's battery to bring back and charge tomorrow using Jiao Ma's universal charger; fortunately the battery could still be used this way, otherwise he'd have just a handset with no data cable or charger, which would be useless.

On the other side, after sending the text and downloading the video, Liuba suddenly realized he had basically not treated the other party as a cat at all; the feeling was more like chatting with a familiar friend, just like when he shoots the breeze with Jin Gui.

Liuba laughed, shook his head, and went on with his own affairs; as long as it didn't harm his own interests, more friends meant more help.

From the information Zheng Tan sent him, Liuba compiled an article, inserted many pictures, and embedded several video links; even if someone deleted the post, the videos could still be viewed on the video site, and that site's uploaded videos aren't easily deleted.

Besides that, Liuba had Jin Gui look into the Racehorse Car Shop, and soon obtained relevant materials, which he also added in.

After posting, Liuba thought, 'Chu Hua Da Xue will probably get lively again,' but regretted that no one would think to look at a cat.

Liuba, on a whim, browsed recent posts on Chu Hua Da Xue's campus forum, grinned, and thought it looked pretty amusing; he was waiting to see the excitement.

The next day, the students of Chu Hua Da Xue exploded.

Whether they hadn't finished exams, had already finished and were planning to go home, or were already at home in front of their computers, everyone blew up because of the post.

Most of the angry ones were students who had lost bikes, especially those who had just lost theirs recently; regardless of whether it was those four who did it, the blame was placed on them. Others felt those four had tarnished Chu Hua Da Xue's reputation, dragging them into disgrace as well, and now many people from other schools were watching the spectacle.

The post by the user ID ht gave a detailed account of this campus bike‑theft gang and what the Racehorse Car Shop had done, and those four thieves were also exposed.

The female student who had lost her bike at the fried‑bun shop went straight to the female thieves' dormitory to raise a ruckus; witnesses said the scene was very heated, and the forum had pictures as proof.

There were also quite a few male students who had lost bikes; guys can't quarrel with girls over how much, and if they're angry they can't just go yell at a girl, right? So a group went to block the other three.

Perhaps to many people it's just a bike—why all this fuss?

But for students, even buying a car that costs two or three hundred yuan requires haggling for half a day, and it gets stolen not long after purchase—a feeling others cannot understand.

When resentment builds up to a certain point, once there's an outlet, it's hard to contain. Moreover, it must be said that these four people have indeed been rather unrestrained lately.

According to the post, these four have already stolen nearly three hundred cars; a good car, once stolen and resold, can fetch two or three hundred or even more, and they once sold one for over a thousand. Even a cheaper car worth just a few dozen yuan becomes a big sum when many are taken—especially unacceptable for students who haven't entered society and have little income.

You're filling your pockets with my car?

I'll beat you, no discussion!

Are we supposed to understand each other as students?

Understand your sister!

Playing the pitiful one?

Pah!

Know you're wrong?

I'll pah again!

Everyone's played the trick of admitting fault willingly then stubbornly repeating it—who are you fooling?

On the new post, someone also photoshopped a picture with text: a crowd of students waving fists, glaring at those four car thieves, beside a speech bubble: "Everyone rush them, don't talk about martial‑arts righteousness with these people!" (To be continued…)

ps: I just discovered that the book's honor badge section now has a silver medal for the "Treasure Seizing Alliance"; Chen Ci never participated in that, but I didn't expect the Returning Cat's cat fans to be so formidable.

Cat fans, v5!