41 Chapter 41

After much effort, he finally managed to pry open the two security bars, and after forcefully breaking them off, he squeezed his body through the gap.

The room was dark and he couldn't see anything. He took out a flashlight and shone it around. When he saw the shelves full of supplies next to him, he could no longer hide his smile.

I really don't know what kind of background this family has, that they can get so much stuff in this kind of world. The slanted-eye guy impatiently unscrewed a bottle of water and gulped it down, while thinking and stuffing things into his pockets, looking like a mouse that had fallen into a rice jar.

"Shuttle! Get the big item! Hand it out to me!" Another person climbed up the water pipe outside the window, but he didn't come in. He peeked through the broken security window and called to the peephole inside.

Shuanzi, startled by the slanted eyes, turned his head and thought that since it was pitch black, he probably hadn't seen anything. So he lowered his voice and answered the person outside the window, then turned and groped his way to the lower shelf.

The lower level was filled with large items such as flour, sorghum, and charcoal. Shuanzi dragged two bags of flour out from the top, tiptoed to the window, lifted them up, and handed them to the person outside.

"Damn, that's heavy!" the person outside the window muttered, but he had a smile on his face. He sandwiched a bag of flour between his legs and climbed down again using his arm strength.

Seeing that everyone had gone downstairs, Shuanzi went back to the shelf, opened a can of yellow peaches, and gulped it down. Eating it was a bonus; he didn't have to share what he ate with anyone else.

He chewed on a yellow peach while simultaneously grabbing a wicker basket from the shelf and stuffing it with all the instant noodles that Tong Shu had repackaged. The man responsible for transporting the goods from both ends climbed up again, took the basket, slung it over his shoulder, and quickly climbed back down.

The man called Brother Qiang stood below guarding the stolen supplies, his heart filled with smugness. They had robbed the entire area before, but none of them had brought as much wealth as this trip. This time, the spoils would be enough to feed everyone for a month or two.

Just as Qiang Ge and his group were happily carrying supplies in the cold rain, a beam of light shone directly from the front, striking Qiang Ge's face.

"Who goes there?!" a deep voice rang out.

Qiang and his gang instantly wiped the smiles off their faces, pulled out pre-prepared sticks from their bodies, and Qiang gestured to the people beside him. Qiang calmly stepped forward and asked, "Who are you?"

The person who came was Wen Shaocheng, who had been patrolling outside for more than a month. He originally wanted to lead the team back to the supply ship directly, but for some reason, after greeting Liu Wanqi, he walked over here alone in the rain.

Qiang took a flashlight from his underling and shone it on Wen Shaocheng's face. Wen Shaocheng wasn't wearing a military uniform; his face was covered with a thick mask. His height of nearly 1.9 meters and the muscle proportions maintained through long-term training made his physique stand out even under the heavy clothing.

“You’re not from this neighborhood.” Brother Qiang recalled the people he’d seen staking out the area recently, then a knowing smile appeared on his face: “You’re here to steal things too, taking advantage of the rain, right?”

Beneath the mask, Wen Shaocheng revealed a knowing smile: "How many of you are there?"

Seeing that Shao Cheng was all alone, Qiang Ge mentally concluded that he was also a pickpocket. Observing his appearance and figure, he guessed that he was quite capable, so he wanted to recruit him: "There are five of us here. If you come, you can help climb the water pipes and move things. When we go out, you can get a share of the stuff."

Wen Shaocheng understood, nodded, stepped forward and extended a hand to Qiang Ge. Qiang Ge was confused and was about to ask him what he was doing when Wen Shaocheng grabbed his hand holding the stick and swept his long leg, slamming him heavily to the ground.

Qiang Ge's head slammed hard on the ice, and he was in so much pain that his eyes were shining. He lay on the ground, unable to get up.

His two henchmen were stunned for a moment when they saw Wen Shaocheng make a move. They immediately realized: Damn, this guy is quite greedy. He wants to monopolize the supplies in a small shop.

They raised their sticks and charged at Wen Shaocheng. However, these people were just thugs. Their rudimentary skills might scare ordinary people, but in front of a special forces major, it was just child's play. Wen Shaocheng turned his head to dodge the rolling pin that was coming at him, grabbed the wrist of the person on his right, and pulled upwards with a forceful "crack".

"Ouch!!!" The stick slipped from his hand and fell onto the ice. The man who had tried to launch a sneak attack clutched his dislocated wrist and crouched down in pain.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the man holding the rolling pin turned around and prepared to abandon Qiang Ge and the others to escape, but Wen Shaocheng was faster. He grabbed the man by the back of his collar and pulled him back, and punched him hard in the face. Blood immediately gushed out through his mask.

The person clinging to the water pipe initially wanted to help, but after seeing Wen Shaocheng take down the three people left below in no time, he realized he was no match for him and held his breath, preparing to sneak away along the wall.

Wen Shaocheng had already spotted him, and immediately took off one of the rolling pins and threw it at the man running along the wall. The shoe hit the man squarely on the back of the head, and he fell straight down with a thud, probably unconscious.

"Are you going to come down yourself, or should I come up and grab you?" Wen Shaocheng raised his voice and shouted towards the top floor.

Shuanzi squatted down along the window frame in a flash. He had never seen such a fierce person before. They had followed Brother Qiang day and night to steal chickens and dogs, but they had never encountered such a tough guy.

The fight was already quite loud, and when Wen Shaocheng shouted, people in the nearby apartment buildings heard the commotion and lit candles and flashlights, coming out in groups to check what was happening.

Zhu Cheng had been sleeping in the office and hadn't even put his mask on properly before running out. The freezing rain slapped his face, making him shiver. When he saw Wen Shaocheng and the person lying crookedly at his feet, he didn't bother to pull his mask up properly anymore. Pointing at the person still lying on the ground, he stammered, "Major Wen, what, what's going on?"

“A few petty thieves.” Wen Shaocheng lowered his eyes, glanced at the people on the ground, then raised his chin to look at the top-floor window: “There’s another one up there. Call some people to catch him.” The cut was too small for him to climb in.

Zhu Cheng was both ashamed and angry. He hadn't expected that such a thing would happen just because he missed one day of patrol: "Fine! I'll go to the Tong family to get the key. Major Wen, could you please stay here and watch over these people for a while longer? I'll get some men to go to the convenience store to catch mice!"

Seeing that Shao Cheng nodded, Zhu Cheng turned and ran off in a flurry of activity.

"Little Tong! Old Tong! Open the door! Your house has been burgled!" Zhu Cheng banged on the door of Tong Shu's house.

Wang Jie lived in the study, which was very close to the front door. Upon hearing the noise, he sprang out of bed with a start. After carefully listening to what the people at the door were saying, he immediately became alert and shouted, "Mom and Dad! Aunt and Uncle! Director Zhu is looking for you!!" He then hurriedly put on his clothes and ran to the door to open it for Zhu Cheng.

"Director Zhu? What's going on? What thief?"

Hearing the commotion, the others also got up, and the whole family, young and old, gathered around, their clothes disheveled.

"Phew, thankfully, there's no damage." Zhu Cheng was panting as he ran. "Xiao Tong, give me the key to the convenience store. There's still a thief hiding in your store, and Major Wen has subdued everyone else."

"Major Wen is back?" Tong Shu handed over the keys.

"Yes, he's downstairs keeping watch. I need to get someone to catch the thief right away."

"I'll go with you!" Qin Jiaqiang shoved his feet into his boots, grabbed the baseball bat Tong Shu had left in the entryway, and stepped out.

"Wait for me, I'll wear a mask," Wang Jianye said.

Since it was their family's small shop that had been burgled, the men of the Tong family all got dressed and went out with Zhu Cheng. Tong Shu was worried, so she followed them out as well.

"Don't go with her!" Shu Hua tried to pull her away.

"It's okay, Mom. Director Zhu said there's only one left. I'll go take a look." Tong Shu slipped away from her mother's grasp like an eel.

Shuanzi didn't want to go down and get beaten by Wen Shaocheng, but he was also afraid that Wen Shaocheng would actually climb up and grab him. After hearing the rustling sound from the water pipe, he immediately crouched down and scurried into the duplex warehouse, hiding in the pile of cotton and trembling.

Tong Shu brought over a high-powered outdoor camping lamp, and when she turned it on, the entire convenience store was illuminated clearly.

Several empty bottles and cans were rolled on the ground, the rice and flour shelves were empty, and there were black footprints left by crushed charcoal by the window, but the thief was obviously not in this room.

"Could they have already escaped through the window..." Tong Shu left the light in the center of the room, walked to the window and muttered to herself, taking out a spare small flashlight and shining it down through the damaged security window.

The light shone directly onto Wen Shaocheng's face downstairs.

Zhu Cheng was already carrying a flashlight, ready to lead his men to search those warehouses. "No, Major Wen is guarding down there."

Tong Shu has already seen it.

The man below was tall and straight, his arms crossed as he looked up at the flashlight beam, his eyes slightly narrowed, obscuring his face beneath the mask.

Tong Shu realized something was wrong only after Wen Shaocheng made a gesture, and hurriedly moved the flashlight down.

Wen Shaocheng then fully opened his eyes and saw Tong Shu still staring blankly out the window. He found it a bit funny and waved his hand back and forth, signaling her to go back quickly.

Seeing Tong Shu nod vigorously and retreat back into the room, Wen Shaocheng withdrew his hand. He had tied up the people on the ground with shoelaces, piled four of them together in a corner, waiting for Zhu Cheng and the others to catch the last one.

The rain kept falling on him, immediately freezing into hard ice. Wen Shaocheng had been soaked in the rain for a while on his way back, so he didn't bother to find shelter. He just waited to finish dealing with things here before going back to change his clothes.

After a while, footsteps came from the stairwell. Wen Shaocheng didn't move, but looked up and saw Tong Shu leaning on a ski pole, limping towards him.

"Major..."

What's wrong with your foot?

The two spoke at the same time, and then stopped talking at the same time.

Wen Shaocheng wanted to hear what Tong Shu had to say first.

Tong Shu, upon closer inspection, realized that Wen Shaocheng was covered in a thick layer of ice. His slanted, sword-like eyebrows and slightly long eyelashes were covered in snow-white frost. If it weren't for the fact that his deep eyes were still moving, she would have thought he was an ice sculpture.

For no reason, Tong Shu thought of the little bird with beautiful blue tail feathers that she had seen in the back mountain that day. Her heart skipped a beat several times in an instant, followed by an uncontrollable feeling of depression.

"...Major," Tong Shu said with difficulty, "What did you call me here for?"

Wen Shaocheng raised an eyebrow, recalled his actions just now, and realized that she had probably misunderstood.

He didn't explain further, but asked again, "What happened to your foot?"

Thinking that she had injured her foot in the back mountain, Tong Shu felt even more upset: "...I went up the mountain to collect ice and twisted my ankle on the way down."

Looking at her lowered head and speaking honestly, Wen Shaocheng felt his gloomy mood of the past month seemed to improve. Just as he was about to say something, he heard Zhu Cheng's voice coming from upstairs.

"We've got him! Major! We've got him!"

"Bring them down!" Wen Shaocheng looked up and replied, "Have someone take these people to the supply ship."

"good!"

Wen Shaocheng turned his head to look at Tong Shu, and seeing that she was still staring at him blankly, he asked her in a good mood, "What are you looking at?"

"Huh?" Tong Shu stared at him blankly again.

Wen Shaocheng chuckled, picked up the rolling pin from the ground, and smashed the ice shell on his body in a few quick movements. Then he squatted down next to Tong Shu.

"What, what should I do?" Tong Shu asked in a flustered manner.

"Get on, I'll carry you back."