Chapter 47: An Entanglement Sparked by a Helmet

The next day, when Ji Xingyu planned to find Mo Fei to discuss the script, he realized that there were still two traffic police helmets left in his car. His mind buzzed in alarm.

Why hadn’t he returned them yet? How was he supposed to return these things anyway? Go straight to the traffic police station? But with all the nonsense Mo Fei spouted yesterday, how was he supposed to explain any of it?

Ji Xingyu’s mind froze for a few seconds, but he decided it was best to find Mo Fei first and figure things out together. Whoever caused the trouble should be the one to resolve it.

He rode his motorcycle over to Mo Fei’s place, and even before opening the door, he could hear wailing and howling from inside. Ji Xingyu knocked, and the noise abruptly stopped. After a moment, Mo Fei opened the door, covered in cat fur.

“It’s you again,” Mo Fei said, spitting out a stray clump of fur, “What do you want?”

Ji Xingyu eyed Mo Fei’s white T-shirt, which was covered in black cat hair, and couldn’t quite imagine what this person did at home all day. Talk to the cats, perhaps?

Mo Fei noticed Ji Xingyu’s silence and pressed, “What’s up?”

“Uh...” Ji Xingyu quickly weighed his priorities and said, “I want you to come with me to return the helmets.”

At this, Mo Fei remembered as well. Glancing at Ji Xingyu’s empty hands, his expression shifted subtly. “You left the helmets on your bike again, didn’t you?”

“I just put them there out of habit…” Ji Xingyu muttered, “You’re not about to tell me someone took them again, are you?”

Mo Fei shook his head and called back into the apartment, “I’m heading out, I’ll be back tonight.”

With that, he closed the door behind him. “Alright, let’s go.”

Ji Xingyu followed cautiously, asking, “Were you talking to your family in there, or to your cat?”

Mo Fei paused mid-step, turned, and flashed a sinister smile. “You know too much.”

Ji Xingyu took a wary step back, alert.

“Just kidding,” Mo Fei yawned lazily. “Seems the little cutie’s grown a brain.”

He didn’t bother to look at Ji Xingyu’s stunned face and headed straight down the stairs.

Ji Xingyu’s motorcycle was eye-catching, and they arrived just in time. As they approached, an elderly woman was reaching for the white helmet on the bike.

Mo Fei cleared his throat and shouted, his voice resonant, “Hey!”

The old lady jumped, turned around, and rolled her eyes when she saw Mo Fei. “What’s your problem, scaring me like that? Can you afford to compensate me if I get hurt?”

“That bike,” Mo Fei pointed, “belongs to my friend.”

“And that helmet,” he gestured to the helmet in her hand, “belongs to the traffic police. We’re about to return it to the authorities.”

“Ma’am, if you like it so much, why not come with us?”

The old lady frowned and slammed the helmet back onto the motorcycle. “What are you saying? I just saw these left out here, thought no one wanted them, so I was going to pick them up. Listen to you — making it sound like I’m stealing!”

Ji Xingyu had never encountered such a scene and stood by Mo Fei, at a loss for words.

Spotting Ji Xingyu, the old lady raised her voice as if performing for an audience, “Young miss, be my judge here. I was just picking up some trash, but listen to what he’s saying! You’d think he’s trying to drive an old woman to her grave!”

She wailed as she slapped her thigh, but not a single tear fell.

“Ma’am, your acting puts mine to shame. You should be the one on stage,” Mo Fei gave her a thumbs up. “And by the way, this isn’t some young girl — he’s the owner of the bike.”

“And yesterday, was it you who took the helmet too?” Mo Fei turned to Ji Xingyu. “How much did that helmet cost?”

“Twenty or thirty thousand, maybe? My brother gave it to me when I bought the bike,” Ji Xingyu replied, uncertain.

Mo Fei thought of Ji Xingjian’s famously protective streak and nodded. “So it’s at least two or three hundred thousand. Might even have GPS tracking. That’s a huge sum, definitely enough for criminal charges.”

The old lady immediately protested, dropping to the ground and preparing to make a scene.

Mo Fei took out his phone and called Officer Xiao Xu, putting the call on speaker.

Officer Xiao Xu answered, still sounding sleepy. “Hello? What is it?”

“Do you take theft cases?” Mo Fei cut straight to the point. “Significant value involved, and the missing property has a tracker. Should be easy to find.”

Officer Xiao Xu perked up. “Address—”

Before he could finish, the old lady lunged for Mo Fei’s phone. “What nonsense are you spouting? I found it, just picked it up, that’s all!”

Mo Fei easily dodged her, moving around Ji Xingyu for cover, and replied perfunctorily, “Yes, yes, you found it. But now you know who owns it, and if you don’t return it, it’s still considered illegal possession.”

On the other end, Officer Xiao Xu was startled into full wakefulness by the woman’s shouting, holding the phone away and musing aloud, “You really studied criminal law, huh?”

“I always mean what I say,” Mo Fei replied politely, blocking the old lady with a hand. “Hey now, men and women shouldn’t touch. I’m still a pure young man. This counts as harassment, you know.”

“You—you!” the old lady stammered, shaking with anger.

“Officer Xu, I’ll drop by your office in a bit. Hanging up for now,” Mo Fei said, ending the call. He looked at the old lady, his smile easy and infuriating. “You should think this through. Even if you’re older, a case involving hundreds of thousands will still give you a record. Your family might have trouble qualifying for civil service in the future.”

“If you come to your senses, just hand the property over to the police. No need to look for us.”

He nudged Ji Xingyu, signaling him to push the bike, and turned, his smile as mischievous as ever. “We’ve got things to do, so we’ll leave you to it, honest citizen who returns lost items.”

With that, he slipped the white helmet on, hopped onto the back seat, and departed with style. As a well-mannered young man, he even waved goodbye to the old lady.

She was so furious she stamped her feet on the spot.

This time, they weren’t in a rush; Ji Xingyu drove steadily to the traffic police station.

As he parked, he looked at Mo Fei with admiration. “You’re amazing. You shut her up right away.”

Though he was inexperienced, even he knew that among the most formidable people in society, elderly women held a unique place.

To him, Mo Fei, who could outtalk old ladies and take down kidnappers, was like a true warrior — the embodiment of justice.

“Keep it low-key,” Mo Fei said modestly, waving his hand.

A traffic officer in a reflective vest approached them, smiling. “No need to keep it low-key. Are you two the riders who tricked our colleagues out of two helmets yesterday by saying your father was critically ill?”

Mo Fei and Ji Xingyu: ...

Oh no, they’d been found out.

Mo Fei put on a placating smile. “Officer, would you count this as turning ourselves in?”