"The stall owners you stole from would come by later."
The policeman who had cuffed Lin Fan before led him through the corridor while quietly saying, "As for you? Try to get your act together and seek their forgiveness."
"If you could talk to them in private, apologize sincerely, pay for any damages, and it would all be over."
"On the other hand, you're in trouble if they disagree and would rather take it to court."
"This case is neither too serious nor too minor, so we'll see how things go. Do you understand?"
"I do."
Lin Fan quickly said. "Thank you, Mister Wu. I'll treat you to drinks if the opportunity arises."
"How did you know my name?"
"That's what it says on your name tag." Lin Fan pointed at the object in front of Wu Guodong's chest.
"Oh, I've forgotten about that. Alright, go on—it's that building ahead. Look smart, kid."
Wu Guodong grinned and watched as Lin Fan entered the building, after which he shook his head.
"Such a good kid. Why would he suddenly get a brain stroke and decide to put out some performance art?"
"Sigh. Foreign culture is really harmful!"
***
In front of the door, Lin Fan controlled his breath, but he felt more helpless when he thought of what Wu Guodong had said.
There was no helping it—even if the tigress saintess was the one who did it, no one else knew that. In the end, he was the only one who could settle things.
He pushed the door and entered, ready to apologize and assert his stance.
However, he found over twenty faces all staring at himself, their eyes almost twinkling!
What was going on?
Lin Fan was deeply unsettled.
They couldn't all be pressing charges, could there?
And yet…
Before Lin Fan could say a word, everyone stood up, smiling dazzlingly.
"Little Lin? You're not hurt, are you?!"
"I say, what's this? I've said there are no charges to press over this silly matter. And then what? You police all took him in anyway…"
"Little Lin."
"Little Lin, you must be hungry, yes? I know you like the buns of our stall, so I've brought you some…"
"My milk tea…"
"Are you cold? Or hot? Here, I brought something with me…"
The stalls owners all flocked towards Lin Fan, competing against each other to ask after him, and were treating him with more affection than their own children.
The police mediator: "…"
Lin Fan: "(⊙o⊙)…"
Wu Guodong, who was peeking outside: "… (╯°□°）╯︵┻━┻!!!"
'Why is this a little different from what I imagined?'
All sorts of questions were appearing inside the heads of Lin Fan and the police.
They thought about many outcomes but those mostly came down to two: the owners would either press charges or settle things privately.
So how did this happen?
The owners' reaction… was not right at all!
Lin Fan was as confused as the police.
Of course, Wu Guodong was the most bothered…
'Why do I feel like I was wrong in arresting Lin Fan? And were you people not the ones who reported him? Why are you all acting as if I should not have cared in the first place!
'Oh, woe is me!'
"Well, I'm fine…" Lin Fan said then.
"What do you mean, fine?"
Someone cut him short before he finished as a 'big brother' who looked to be over two hundred catties squeezed his way in and clapped his hand on Lin Fan's shoulder. "Brother, I know you took our smoked duck because you appreciate us!"
"And you only have one shoe left. How are you fine?"
"Look, I brought you some shoes. But since I don't know your actual size, I brought a pair of each size from size forty to forty-five."
"Try and see which pair fits you, alright?"
Like magic, the pudgy big brother brought out a big bag, with five pairs of shoes inside.
Those were Yeezy shoes, an internet sensation!
And each pair were worth a few thousand bucks!
"…" Lin Fan's mouth twitched.
The mouth of the police mediator was hanging open.
Outside, Wu Guodong was facepalming...
What the hell was this situation?
Had they gone crazy?
"Brother, thank you for your kindness, but I'm actually here to make amends and apologize to everyone. I shouldn't have—"
Even though he did not know what was happening, Lin Fan stuck to his principles of working hard while staying humble, and tried to reach a private settlement as soon as he apologized.
And yet, he was cut short once again.
"What do you mean, make amends?"
"What do you mean, apologize?"
"What do you mean, you shouldn't have?"
The crowd spoke, and the air in the room became even weirder…
The big brother patted Lin Fan on the shoulder several more times, "That's wrong, bro. What do you mean, you shouldn't have? You should!"
"Heck, you should have come earlier. Why did you have to wait until yesterday?"
"To tell you the truth, bro, I really can't help wanting you to come early on…"
"Actually, all of us are here to bring you home and thank you. Why would we need you to apologize?!"
"Are you belittling us now?"
"???" Lin Fan was at a complete loss.
"Sigh. This isn't the place to talk." The big brother waved him off. "Wear your shoes, and then… what's-his-name, mister policeman? Can we go now?"
The police mediator did a double take before blankly saying, "If everyone decides to forgive him, just sign a pardon agreement and you could go."
"Of course we'll forgive him!"
The crowd said at once.
Lin Fan: "…"
Although he was not sure about the reason, was this not a little touching?
Still…
Why did he feel like a scumbag?
Watching as the 'brothers' and 'sisters' put their name on paper of their pardon agreement, Lin Fan was relieved despite his puzzlement.
He did not want the Yeezy shoes, but the big brother was too passionately insistent about it. Without any other choice, he could only accept them.
Moreover, it was not like he could go shoeless on one leg, could he?
It was not like he wanted to cosplay some lame hero.
Nonetheless, Lin Fan quietly clicked his tongue when he tried on the pair with the right size.
It was so comfortable. No wonder they were so expensive!
"Alright, time to go, brother. Let's give him a warm reception, oh, I can't wait…"
"Yes, yes, yes. Let's find a place for a good chat."
The crowd came as soon as they left, bringing Lin Fan with them.
Things happened so fast that Lin Fan only had the time to exchange numbers with Wu Guodong.
As he watched the crowd depart, Wu Guodong stroked his slowly balding head and mumbled, "How curious."
"Really, the world is so big that there isn't any shortage of weirdness.
"Curious, curious..."
***
Before he left the police station, Lin Fan recovered his phone and his belongings.
His phone was already dead, since it had not been turned off for who-knows-how-long.
As for his belongings… it was that half-cup of milk-tea!
Phew…
Lin Fan breathed a sigh of relief even as he looked at the smiling owners beside him.
He was fortunate to not get locked up.
As for the rest… he would think about it when it happened.