The car was getting closer to the police station, and Lin Fan became even more depressed.
He really could not understand what that tigress was thinking, stealing food and nothing else.
And even if she really needed to eat, she had to pick places right in front of the CCTV lens…
Did that not mean she had it out for him?
Beside him, the air in the car was becoming more somber as the police continued their exchange.
According to them, they would have to investigate if this case involved creating publicity for the stalls involved, and punishments would be handed out accordingly if that proved to be the case!
"We don't usually bother with such cases of course, but if they called us in to waste our efforts just for the sake of publicity, they would have to pay for it accordingly!"
"That's right. Such behavior is worse than the usual prank calling, and we have to be strict."
"Start looking into it once we get back!"
Lin Fan: "…"
'Why is my life so miserable?!'
His inward straight-man soul was ablaze.
Monkey's uncle.
When others transmigrate, would they not have a system or genie in a ring, or reincarnate as the fiancé of a female emperor? Did they not have everything free and easy?
So, what sort of unique brain circuits did that tigress have in her head?!
Saintess?
My foot!
Have you seen a saintess snatching food everywhere like a glutton?
In that very moment, Lin Fan felt that his impression of saintesses was crumbling in his mind.
Where they used to look noble, prideful, and had the incomparable bearing of a snowy mountain to him, now they were just ridiculous beautiful gluttons.
Hell, not just a glutton, but also an absolute troublemaker!
Meanwhile, even as he continued to complain inwardly, the car arrived at the police station.
Lin Fan was placed in lock-up when the papers were done, and from what the police were saying, they were leaving to check if the entire mess was a publicity stunt.
Once they had conclusive evidence, they would decide what to do with him.
Lin Fan rubbed his brow. He kept the matter of the tigress aside for the moment to focus on how he should resolve his current predicament.
He was a law-abiding citizen. No way would he be arrested under such ridiculous circumstances!
"First of all, I would have to look serious when I confess, and pay for all damages."
Publicity stunt? Lin Fan was not actually worried about that, because he knew from the tigress's way of doing things that she would not work with others on such a thing. Moreover…
If he was left utterly confused by his own transmigration, would she not be as well? How would she even learn what a publicity stunt was?!
So, there was no need to worry about it being a publicity. On the other hand, he should be worrying about how to minimize the damage and to prevent himself from getting locked up…
There was no way he could talk his way out of this.
He was clearly caught in the act by CCTV and was caught red-handed with the loot—that remaining half-cup of milk tea was still inside the evidence room.
He also did not have a twin brother, and he certainly could not claim that a transmigrating tigress saintess was the culprit, could he?
Would he not be taken for deranged and get cut open?!
That was why he had to take the fall, apologize if he could, and pay up if need be.
"Secondly, I have to come up with a proper explanation for all this."
"Otherwise, I would still end up being considered deranged, or having a multiple-split personality at worse. It wouldn't do if I get sent to the asylum."
Still, there was no helping it…
Because no one in their straight mind would do such a thing!
Has anyone met an ordinary master's student who would steal food from over dozens of food stalls in three days?
"And then there's my shoe…
"Why do I only have one left?"
Lin Fan simply could not wrap his head around that.
Just like how Qi Zixiao could not understand why the potted plant in her chamber had grown so tall in just three days.
"Argh… I don't get it!"
Scratching his messy hair, Lin Fan kept racking his brains but could not come up with any good reason to explain his actions.
"Could I really pass it off as performance art?"
…It seemed to be the only explanation now, was it not?
While it was a long shot, it still somewhat made sense.
"As long as I act normal and don't get misunderstood as crazed or anything, there probably would not be any problems…"
"That said, the condition for that is for the stall owners to not be too hard on me, or else…"
In the end, Lin Fan was an engineering student, and not a law student.
He would not know how his behavior would be classified as or what was the specific crimes he committed.
Was it to be theft, or something else?
He really could not decide…
***
Soon, he had already been locked up for half a day.
The police who had arrested Lin Fan started to return separately, and they began a discussion when everyone finally came back.
"What did you find?"
"I've checked every transaction conducted in Lin Fan's debit cards and online accounts. Nothing unusual, everything checks out."
"I've investigated Lin Fan's behavior prior to his crimes. Basically, he could not have been a more average university student, nor was there any precedent to his thieving behavior. At the same time, he is not really involved in internet stardom."
"I've looked into the stall owners who were robbed, and there is no evidence that they were making a publicity stunt…"
"So, it really was not a publicity stunt?"
"That's good, or we would really have been led by the nose and running around in circles over the last few days."
"Running around in circles? Try being toyed around like a monkey!"
"Still, that kid can really run…"
Basically, the police appeared relieved when they had confirmed that it was no publicity stunt, since no one would willingly become someone else's butt monkey.
"If that's so, let's contact the stall owners to come by for a while in the afternoon, so that we could discuss damages… and how we should handle Lin Fan."
That was what the police captain said after some thought.
There was no helping it, since they didn't know how to handle such a case either.
Because there was no other case like it!
True, there had been cases of food stealing but those were all gone years ago. Moreover, those cases only happened once in a blue moon!
As such, how should Lin Fan be convicted?
Perhaps the matter could be moved up to the courts, but therein lies the problem.
Lin Fan was not stealing money but merely food, each of which was worth no more than a dozen bucks… It was a little too serious if they pushed the matter to the courts as a theft case.
Moreover, the police were human as well, not to mention that the case itself was pure comedy.
That was why they did not consider taking it to court. Lin Fan was a spirited kid, but putting him in jail over a hundred and eighty bucks worth of food would still ruin him for life.
"Let's see what the stall owners have to say."
"We've got you a mediator to try persuading them, and it would best if they decide to settle the case out of court."
Such was the police's decision.
They could offer persuasion, although they could not decide for the parties involved.
So, if the stall owners decided to press charges…