Chapter 218

Su Xinghui paid 418 yuan, had the female shop owner pack his parents' removed clothes into two bags, and had them walk out onto the street wearing their new clothes.

Guo Suhua said: "Xinghui, how are you so good at haggling? Do you really have a classmate who ran a clothing business?"

Su Xinghui laughed: "No, I heard it from others."

Su Wenjun, a kind-hearted man, said: "Didn't you haggle too hard? You got it down to half price. Don't they need to make a living too?"

Su Xinghui said: "Dad, don't worry—she's still making at least a hundred or two hundred yuan profit on this, equal to our monthly salary. I didn't even haggle hard. If I'd bargained all day, I could've knocked off another fifty yuan."

Su Wenjun exclaimed: "Can business really be this profitable?"

Su Xinghui said: "What else would you think? These merchants go buy stock at two or three in the morning, taking special cargo buses to Jiangcheng's Wanma Clothing Market, hauling back huge bundles. Don't you think that's exhausting? Why would they work so hard if they didn't make money?"

Su Wenjun said: "But they make a month's salary on just one piece of clothing—that's way too greedy."

Su Xinghui laughed: "Dad, you can't say it that way. These merchants do make money, but they also work hard. Objectively, they've boosted the market and created jobs—they've contributed. Otherwise, why would everyone from Shangjun County travel all the way to Jiangcheng to buy clothes? The travel costs alone aren't small."

Guo Suhua nodded: "Yes, Lao Su, Xinghui has a point. At least people from Shangjun don't have to leave the county to buy clothes they like. If everyone learned to haggle like Xinghui—down to half price—they wouldn't lose much."

As the family strolled, they saw a young man with long hair sprinting through the crowd, glancing back over his shoulder. Su Xinghui instantly recognized Wu Jun, ten meters behind, chasing him and shouting: "Catch the thief!"

Su Xinghui quickly shoved the bags of clothes into his father's hands, stepped forward, swept the long-haired youth's legs out from under him, pinned him to the ground, and twisted his arms behind his back. As he did, a dagger clattered to the ground.

Wu Jun arrived moments later, dressed in plainclothes, not his uniform. He pulled out handcuffs, cuffed the thief's hands behind his back, and said to Su Xinghui: "Xinghui, thank you!"

The New Year was peak season for theft—Wu Jun must've been on patrol against pickpockets.

Su Xinghui laughed: "Helping police catch thieves is our duty."

Wu Jun called out to Su Wenjun and Guo Suhua: "Uncle, Auntie." Guo Suhua said with concern: "Xiao Wu, be careful when catching thieves."

Wu Jun nodded: "I will."

Wu Jun searched the thief and found a wallet. Then, a plump middle-aged woman, panting from running up, cried out: "My wallet! My wallet!"

Wu Jun said: "Comrade, please come with me to the Public Order Detachment to report the incident. Then you can reclaim your wallet."

A crowd had gathered and applauded. Soon, two more plainclothes officers arrived and, with Wu Jun, escorted the thief toward the Gongan Bureau.

Guo Suhua, shaken, said to Su Xinghui: "Xinghui, next time you see something like this, stay back—that thief had a knife."

Su Xinghui laughed: "Mom, I'm fine. I was alert—I saw his knife right away. I knocked it away before I pinned him. I trained with Uncle Wu in kung fu. These little crooks? No problem."

Guo Suhua still insisted: "Still, next time, don't step forward at all. It's too dangerous. If anything happened to you, what would I do?"

Su Wenjun dismissed it: "I think Xinghui did the right thing. If everyone thought like you, who would stand up for justice? How would society uphold righteousness? Wouldn't thieves just get bolder?"