Upon hearing that the bicycle thief had been caught, the team leader ran over excitedly, followed by the head of security.
Although the boy in the flowery shirt wailed and said that he was not the bicycle thief and that he had borrowed the bicycle from his classmate, he did not have an answer when they asked him for his classmate's name and the building and apartment unit that his classmate lived in.
It was plausible for him to say that he was not sure of the unit number, but it was impossible if he said he did not know his classmate's name.
The head of security decided to join a few group chats maintained by property owners in the apartment complex and posted photos of the bicycle in those chats. Very quickly, someone claimed ownership of it.
Even with conclusive evidence, the boy still did not admit that he had stolen the bicycle and said he was only riding it around for fun.
When they asked him where he lived and for his parents' mobile phone numbers, the boy refused to tell them.
When they asked him more fiercely, he lay on the ground and cried as he rolled around.
The property management company staff could not do anything about such a child.
It was not as if they could beat him up. Also, as everyone knew, security guards had no authority to enforce the law.
Even if they had the right to enforce the law, they could not give such a child a beating. If someone posted it online, the security guards who beat up a child would definitely be condemned in public. Even the property management company would suffer for it.
As the boy threw a tantrum at the entrance of the management office, a group of idle old people had taken pity on the boy and started to complain that the management office staff were bullying children.
The team leader could only explain to them one by one that this child had stolen a bicycle, and that the previous cases of bicycle theft were very likely related to him as well.
A few of the old people, whose bicycles had been stolen previously or who were worried about their bicycles getting stolen, quickly changed their stance and called for the boy to get a beating.
However, there were also a few old people who did not own bicycles and maintained their pity for the boy. They wanted the management office staff to release the little boy by using a very familiar line.
"But he's just a child!"
It was only when the police came to take the boy away that the matter came to an end.
Liu Qing had long returned to his sentry post and finished reporting to Manager Zhou from the management office about how he had discovered this little thief.
Of course, Liu Qing did not say that he had returned from the future. He just said that he had asked the boy a few questions when the boy first came in. The boy did not live in the apartment complex and said that he was here to visit a classmate. When Liu Qing saw that although the boy had made his way in on foot but was leaving on a bicycle, he felt that something was wrong and decided to stop the boy.
The way in which he related the story portrayed an image of a responsible and observant security guard who was serious about his work.
Manager Zhou was very satisfied to hear that. He was deeply proud of the fact that the company had such a good staff.
As he looked at Liu Qing, he found Liu Qing more and more pleasing to the eye. A thought flashed across his mind. "This person is fit to be a team leader!"
He informed Liu Qing on the spot that 10 points would be awarded. He would also post a commendation notice in all the elevators to let all the owners know that there was such a responsible security guard in the apartment complex.
This news quickly spread in the group chats. The team leader posted photos of the boy and the stolen bicycle to the work group chat. Later on, he also posted a notice on the reward that the property management company had given to Liu Qing.
After that, the group chat was filled with messages like "Brother Liu is mighty.", "Brother Liu, please treat us." and "Brother Liu, please give red packets.". The group chat was very lively for a while.
This was a separate group chat belonging to their team and no one from the management office was in it, so they had no qualms about chatting during working hours.
Liu Qing was elated by the flattery. He created a one-dollar red packet in the group chat and distributed it in ten portions. They were all snatched up in three seconds and he even managed to snatch one for himself.
That night, in the work group chat, the team leader told them about what happened after the bicycle thief was arrested.
The head of security had followed the police back to the station. Even the police could not do anything to a 10-year-old boy and they had to call his parents to come down.
The boy got frightened once they entered the police station. He behaved himself and did not make a scene. He admitted to stealing the bicycle and gave them his father's mobile number.
However, he did not admit to stealing the other bicycles previously and insisted that this was his first time.
It took a long time for the management office staff to go through the surveillance footage before they found footage of him pushing bicycles out of the neighborhood twice in the past. They then sent the surveillance footage to the head of security. With conclusive evidence, the boy admitted that he had done it twice before.
He had sold the bicycles worth around 1,000 dollars each to the scrap collector for 20 or 30 dollars each, and he had already spent all the money.
They could not find any older surveillance footage due to the way that the surveillance video files were stored.
When the boy's father came, his attitude was very bad. At first, he denied everything, saying that his son was too honest to be stealing bicycles and that the apartment complex's property management company had accused his son wrongfully.
He only reluctantly accepted the fact much later in the face of conclusive evidence.
However, he was not prepared to compensate the two owners who had lost their bicycles earlier, saying that he had no money.
When the police asked the owners of the two stolen bicycles to come to the police station, the boy's father chickened out of his original stance but he only agreed to compensate them based on the amounts that the boy had received after selling the bicycles.
The owners naturally did not agree to that.
In the end, the scrap collector was the one who had to compensate the owners.
The scrap shop owner, who had bought the bicycles from the boy, was summoned to the police station and severely reprimanded by the police.
Although the scrap shop owner insisted that he did not know that the bicycles were stolen, he had a guilty conscience and compensated the owners based on the original prices of the bicycles out of his own pocket. He even signed a letter of guarantee which stated that he would never accept goods of unknown origin again.
The boy's father even scolded the scrap shop owner for leading his son astray.
A guardian of a child was supposed to bear the greatest responsibility, but the boy's father was just a scoundrel who simply refused to take responsibility.
The scrap shop owner would have needed to take on his share of responsibility for the matter and could have been detained for a few days. However, since he had paid for the losses and the owners said that they would not pursue the matter, it marked the end of the matter.
Both the boy and his father also wrote letters of guarantee. One promised never to steal a bicycle again while the other one promised to discipline his son.
However, everyone knew that such letters of guarantee were useless.
The work group chat was filled with curses. They felt like the whole matter was taken too lightly.
If thieves were not punished, they would only get bolder and everyone's job would become even harder.
The only thing they could do was make sure every security guard remembered what the boy looked like and not to let him enter the apartment complex compound.
In the group chat, the team leader also gave Liu Qing a reminder.
"The head of security told me that the boy's father doesn't look like a decent person. You have to be careful in case he seeks revenge on you later."