"Sir, you're going to have to speak English."
The officer's voice cut through the tense atmosphere, and before I could even respond, he shoved some kind of audio translator device close to my mouth, waiting for me to speak.
I blinked at him, my brain doing mental gymnastics trying to process what the hell he wanted from me.
English? Me?
"I don't know how," I muttered in Chinese, glaring at the officer like he had just asked me to recite Shakespeare or something.
The translator made a little beep, and a robotic voice repeated my words in English: "I don't know how."
The officer frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. "You spoke perfect English in the café. Stop playing this stupid game."
I felt my eye twitch.
Oh, so now I'm playing games, huh? The nerve of this guy. Like I wanted to be in this situation in the first place.
"I'm not playing any fucking games," I snapped in Chinese, the words flying out of my mouth before I could stop them. "I don't remember how I did it anymore!"
The translator beeped again, spitting out something vaguely close to what I said, but the officer didn't look any less annoyed. In fact, he looked even more confused, like dealing with me was the worst part of his day.
I could feel the frustration bubbling up inside me like a volcano ready to blow. This whole situation was ridiculous. First, I get catfished by some dude pretending to be a woman. Then I nearly get arrested for trying to get my damn money back. And now, these cops are acting like I'm pulling some kind of prank on them because I suddenly can't speak English anymore?
Great. Just fucking great.
The officer rubbed his head, clearly at a loss. "What the hell are you saying?" he muttered, probably more to himself than to me.
But here's the thing—I wasn't lying.
I really didn't remember how I managed to speak English back at the café. It was like something just clicked in my brain at that moment, and the words came out naturally. But now? Now it felt like my brain had hit a wall. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't string a single English sentence together.
It had to be the heat of the moment. Adrenaline does weird things to people, right? Maybe it unlocked some hidden part of my brain that knew how to speak English, and now that I'd calmed down a bit, that part of my brain had shut itself off again.
Yeah. That had to be it.
The officer sighed heavily, clearly losing his patience. "Alright, fine," he grumbled, switching back to his own language. "We'll figure this out at the station."
He gestured for his partner to follow, and before I knew it, I was being led toward a police car parked just outside the café. A few bystanders were still lingering around, watching the scene like it was the most exciting thing they'd seen all day. I shot them a glare, but that only made a few of them whisper to each other and snicker.
I climbed into the back seat of the car, the door slamming shut behind me with a loud thunk. The interior smelled faintly of sweat and cheap air freshener, and the seat was uncomfortably hard. Perfect. Exactly what I needed—an uncomfortable ride to the station with two cops who probably thought I was insane.
The car started moving, and I stared out the window, trying to process everything that had happened. My mind kept going back to the moment that guy—no, that thief—had told me he was a man. I still couldn't wrap my head around it. How had I not seen it coming? Was I that blinded by love, or whatever the hell I thought it was?
I sighed, running a hand through my hair. This whole trip was supposed to be the start of something great—a new chapter in my life. Instead, it had turned into a complete shitshow.
"Hey," the officer in the passenger seat called out, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Do you have any ID on you?"
I hesitated for a moment before reaching into my pocket and pulling out my wallet. I handed it over without a word, watching as the officer flipped it open and examined my ID card.
"Zhao Wei, huh?" he muttered, glancing at me in the rearview mirror. "You're not from around here, are you?"
"No shit," I muttered under my breath in Chinese, earning another confused look from the officer.
The translator beeped again, trying to keep up with the conversation, but it wasn't fast enough. By the time it finished translating what I said, the moment had already passed.
The officer handed my wallet back, clearly unimpressed. "Alright, Zhao Wei. We'll get this sorted out at the station. Just… try not to cause any more trouble, okay?"
I didn't bother responding.
What was the point? It wasn't like they were gonna believe anything I said anyway. All I could do now was wait and hope that this mess would somehow get resolved without me ending up in a jail cell.