Chapter Fifty-One: Lin Ze's Stratagem

A dozen women dancing in the square, along with two or three bald elderly men standing behind the crowd.

“We’re dancing outside, not in your house. Why do you care?”

“That’s right. No one else complains—only you people make a fuss.”

“We’re old enough to be your mother. Don’t you have any respect for elders?”

[Why are these old ladies like this?]

[It’s always like this. Downstairs in my building, they dance right under our windows. At least this group is at the entrance. The noise is so loud my kid can’t even do homework at night.]

[Disturbing the neighbors is hard to deal with. If you confiscate their speakers, they’ll buy another in a few days. It doesn’t help.]

The young man at the front looked displeased, dark circles under his eyes, clearly sleep deprived.

Listening to the women’s accusations, he clenched his fists.

Of course, hitting someone was wrong. But this blasted speaker…

A smoldering anger rose in him. He lifted his foot, ready to kick the speaker.

Just then, a stout middle-aged man rushed forward, hoisted the speaker onto his shoulder, and bolted away.

The young man’s kick landed on thin air; he nearly fell backwards.

“Huh?”

“Hey! Someone’s stealing the speaker! Go after him!”

Before the group of women could react, a middle-aged woman grabbed her child and chased after the thief.

Only then did the dozen elderly women realize what was happening and began running forward.

“Chase! Hurry, chase!”

The voices of Xiao Wang came through the headsets of the action team gathering around.

“Wait, wait—Wang An, there’s still someone who hasn’t run! That kid in the school uniform is still standing there!”

Someone in the action team had spotted Xiao Qian, still rooted to the spot.

Xiao Wang hesitated for a few seconds.

Just yesterday, Xiao Qian had helped Lin Ze draw attention in a similar way. This might be the same trick.

While Xiao Wang deliberated, Xiao Qian in the school uniform suddenly turned and ran in the opposite direction.

“Chase! Chase him too! Teams seven and eight, go after that one!”

Teams seven and eight immediately spun around, sprinting after Xiao Qian’s retreating figure.

After a day of training yesterday, Xiao Qian ran as if possessed today.

Most of the college students in pursuit were not used to exercise; after three or four hundred meters, they began to lag behind.

Xiao Wang watched Xiao Qian run, suspecting he might be a decoy, but couldn’t let his guard down.

As the pursuers fell behind, Xiao Wang could only dispatch people from the surveillance team to follow Xiao Qian.

He glanced at the other monitors. Lin Ze’s group had a large target—he could spare some people.

“Surveillance team, numbers seven and eight, keep up!”

On the other side, Lin Ze was still running with the speaker blaring “Moonlight Over the Lotus Pond,” attracting plenty of attention.

He slowed his pace to ensure the women could keep up.

Su Zitan, mingling in the crowd with Guoguo, quietly pulled out her phone and lowered her voice.

“Hello, where are you now?”

On the other end, Bai Qiong’s voice came through, a bit puzzled by the noisy running and the music playing.

“Us? We’re almost at Taixian.”

“There’s a problem here! Stop at the city’s edge, hail a taxi, or find someone to book a ride-share to—”

Su Zitan heard the noise from a two-yuan shop ahead and glanced at the street sign: Huai’an Road.

“Go to the two-yuan shop on Huai’an Road.”

“Huh?”

“Hurry!”

Su Zitan cut the call. With Lin Ze and the women providing cover, she had managed to make the call smoothly.

Some of the women in the crowd were already falling behind, panting for breath.

One woman pulled off her coat as she ran.

The morning had been gloomy and chilly, but now the sun was out and it was getting warm.

“Auntie, let me carry it. I can’t run anymore!” Su Zitan moved closer to the woman.

“Who are you?” The woman glanced at Su Zitan, not recognizing her.

“It’s me—your son-in-law from the Lin family!” Su Zitan, panting, took the coat.

“Oh, alright. I’m roasting.” The woman swallowed and kept running.

Su Zitan slowed her pace, held Guoguo in front of her, put on the coat, and zipped it up.

Bit by bit, she lagged behind, bent over, feigning exhaustion, and slipped out of the crowd.

The action team running behind glanced at Su Zitan, then kept pursuing the main group.

But that glance lingered; after ten steps, doubts grew. When they turned back, Su Zitan had vanished.

Lin Ze kept an eye on his surroundings as he ran. Besides the pursuers, at some intersections people stood filming with their phones.

After spotting two or three, Lin Ze realized they were working with the pursuers.

Now, about ten meters ahead, another was filming. Lin Ze sped up, handed the speaker to him.

“Huh?”

“Listen to more music—it’s good for your health.”

Lin Ze patted his shoulder and sprinted around the corner.

“Hey? Teams one and two, follow!” Xiao Wang barked orders.

“Aunties! Please move aside!”

“We… we can’t run anymore…”

Lin Ze ran farther and farther, turned toward the path Xiao Qian had taken, but the surveillance team had already been diverted by Xiao Wang to chase Xiao Qian.

“Hand it over!”

“You young people are nothing but trouble!”

“Today I’ll teach you a lesson for your parents!”

The elderly men and women surrounded the young pursuers.

With this delay, Lin Ze had already vanished.

Xiao Wang sat among a pile of phones, watching as Lin Ze slipped into an unmonitored alley, his mouth falling open.

Had this all been calculated?

What?

Now the only one still under control was the cameraman?

Lin Ze found a quiet, secluded spot to catch his breath.

He turned his spiked shirt inside out and put it back on.

It was a bit prickly, but a change of outfit nonetheless.

He hung up his backpack, used the camera lens to check his makeup, adjusted it, then slung the bag over his shoulder and headed for the two-yuan shop.

A minivan stopped at the shop entrance. Chen Weiguo and his wife opened the doors.

Su Zitan recognized them instantly and boarded the van with the little girl.

Lin Ze hurried over and climbed in as well.

“Xiao Lin? What’s going on?” Chen Weiguo, abandoning any pretense, spoke in resignation.

Lin Ze’s makeup was smudged, easily recognizable.

Su Zitan unzipped her coat and let Guoguo out.

“Someone’s trying to catch us. If you get off at that spot, you’ll likely be followed,” Lin Ze explained.

“Huh? Were you doing the same kind of secret mission a few days ago?” Bai Qiong took a bottle of water from her bag and handed it to Lin Ze and Su Zitan.

“Every day is different—strange, really. Director Zhang must have some scheme.” Lin Ze looked meaningfully at Guoguo.

“Since we’ve met up, does that mean the mission’s done?” Su Zitan patted Guoguo’s head. “You’ve had a tough couple of days.”

“It wasn’t hard at all—lots of fun! Thank you, big brother and big sister, for taking care of me these days!”

Lin Ze laughed, “Ran so many miles with you—when I switch careers to acting, I’ll save a role for you.”