After a few seconds of dead silence, Chen Shi casually glanced at the rearview mirror. "What's going on?"
"I told you to stop, didn't you hear me?" Lin Dongxue said impatiently, kicking the back of his seat.
"Can you even stop on this road? Let's get past the intersection first," Chen Shi responded indifferently.
"Stop! Stop!" Lin Dongxue was getting frustrated. This guy was clearly a suspect, yet he was so nonchalant about it. She kicked his seat again.
She was nervous, but at the same time, she felt a surge of excitement. This was the opportunity she had been waiting for. It was as though fate had delivered the suspect right into her hands. Finally, she could make an achievement.
Chen Shi's sharp eyes were on her every move in the rearview mirror. "Earlier, you were looking at your phone, and suddenly your attitude changed. Looks like you must've mistaken me for the suspect."
"Mistaken? You don't get to say that," Lin Dongxue said suspiciously. "Come with me back to the station!"
"I'll point out three mistakes you made."
"What?!" Lin Dongxue raised an eyebrow. Was this guy out of his mind?
"First," Chen Shi said casually, "when you realized the driver was the suspect, you should've immediately contacted your colleagues and reported your location while trying to keep the suspect calm. Second, what good is your gun if the safety's on? Who are you trying to scare? Third, threatening someone with a gun in a moving car is reckless. For example, right now..."
Before Lin Dongxue could react, Chen Shi slammed the brakes. The sudden jolt made her head crash into the back of the seat, and her gun slipped from her hand.
She lifted her head, and the dark barrel of the gun was now pointed at her head. Behind it, Chen Shi's mocking gaze met hers. "See? I've got you easily. I could kill you right now, and your colleagues wouldn't know a thing. You really need more experience, little officer."
Lin Dongxue's throat went dry. She frantically searched for her phone, only to realize it was missing.
Chen Shi turned the gun around, holding it in reverse and offering it to her. "Just pointing out some mistakes at work."
Lin Dongxue couldn't believe her eyes as she took the gun from the suspect. Not knowing what to do next, Chen Shi said, "Don't point that broken gun at me again. Be careful it doesn't misfire. I can take you back, can't I?"
At that moment, a car behind them honked sharply, the driver yelling angrily, "What's wrong with you? Are you trying to die?"
Chen Shi stuck his hand out the window and flipped the driver off, before starting the car again.
Lin Dongxue rubbed her aching forehead, completely dazed. How could this guy be so calm, even as a suspect?
"I'll tell you," Chen Shi suddenly spoke again. "The road back to your place is a bit congested. Can I take a detour?"
Lin Dongxue snapped back to reality, her expression turning stern. "Don't try anything funny!"
Chen Shi grinned. "What about this ride? I'll just go ahead and charge you now."
"Whatever." Lin Dongxue sighed in frustration.
She looked down at her phone and saw a new message from Xu Xiaodong: "Holy sh*t, I didn't realize how bad this guy was. He's got a long criminal history. He used to be in a gang involved in black-market activities—fighting, extortion, kidnapping. He once beat someone into a vegetative state during a brawl and was convicted of severe injury, serving ten years in prison. The platform's background checks are way too lax. How the hell is a guy like this even allowed to be a driver? Picking up solo female passengers at night… that's just terrifying."
No wonder he was so calm. This guy was an old hand at this.
Lin Dongxue quickly typed a message in response: "I'm in the suspect's car right now. I've ordered him to take me back to the criminal investigation team, where my colleagues will handle it."
The group chat exploded: "No way!""Miss Lin, you hit the jackpot!""Is this for real? Just stepped out the door and ran into a suspect? How lucky can you get?""Report your location, but don't reveal your identity. Keep calm and don't provoke him!"
The last message was from her brother, Lin Qiupu. Lin Dongxue quickly sent her real-time location.
The car suddenly turned a corner and came to a stop. Chen Shi opened the door and bolted out like a mad dog. Lin Dongxue was startled. She should've known he wouldn't just sit still—she'd let her guard down.
"Stop!" Lin Dongxue shouted as she chased after him.
Chen Shi ran fast, and Lin Dongxue, in her summer sandals, couldn't keep up. They were on a busy city street, and firing a gun in public would cause chaos, not to mention make the headlines the next day.
She barely ran a few steps when the heel of her right shoe broke. Frustrated, she kicked off the shoe, ignoring the pain in her foot, gritting her teeth as she continued the chase.
The crowd parted for her, and ahead, a young man was frantically trying to escape. As the distance between them closed to within two meters, Chen Shi lunged, tackling the man to the ground and snatching a woman's handbag from his hands.
Chen Shi took out a strip of tape from his pocket and bound the young man's hands. A crowd started to gather, praising Chen Shi for his "heroic act."
Lin Dongxue was stunned. Was he suddenly playing the hero?
A woman stepped forward, tears in her eyes. "Thank you so much, big brother. This money was for my mom's medical treatment. If it had been stolen, I wouldn't know what to do!"
Chen Shi handed the bag back to the woman. "Stay alert. There are a lot of people around."
"Thank you! Thank you!" The woman eagerly pulled out a stack of cash and tried to give it to Chen Shi as a reward.
Chen Shi didn't hesitate to take the money, pulling out three or four bills from the stack. "This is enough. Ten thousand is too much. I can't accept that."
After telling the woman to call the police, Chen Shi turned to leave. Lin Dongxue scoffed, "You do a good deed, but then you take money for it? I thought you were supposed to be noble and selfless!"
"Noble and selfless are not the same thing," Chen Shi laughed. "Excessive altruism is pathological! Besides, taking a little reward makes me happy, and the other person won't feel indebted."
Lin Dongxue had no retort, so she changed the subject. "I say, you're a rideshare driver, yet you do this risky stuff. Aren't you afraid of getting revenge?"
"Most of these thugs are terrifying only in people's imaginations. In reality, even rats are afraid of humans."
"Ah, now I get it. You're not afraid of revenge because you're about to end up back in prison, huh? Criminal suspect Chen!"
Chen Shi didn't respond. He glanced down and saw that she was barefoot. "Where's your shoe?"
Lin Dongxue turned around and realized her sandal had been stolen by a street vendor. Her feet were sore, but she stubbornly said, "None of your business!"
Chen Shi grabbed her arm and pulled her toward a nearby shoe store. Lin Dongxue shook his hand off. "What are you doing, pulling me around like this?"
Chen Shi tugged at her arm again. "Come on, let's go!"
Reluctantly, Lin Dongxue walked into the store with him and picked out a pair of decent sneakers. When it came time to pay, she said, "I'll pay for it myself!" But when she reached into her pocket, she realized her phone was still in the car.
"Consider it a loan from me," Chen Shi laughed and threw the cash he had just received onto the counter.