Chapter 268: Chapter 261: A Slap Chapter 268: Chapter 261: A Slap To catch a thief, you must catch the loot; to catch an adulterer, you must catch the couple red-handed. Relying on a few blurry photos was not very persuasive.

Zheng Tan estimated that Zhang Dong would certainly try to smooth talk his way out of it, but it seemed that Teacher Xiao Bai hadn’t been easily deceived this time. At her age, dating was aimed toward marriage. Encountering this situation, even if she was momentarily duped by Zhang Dong’s excuses, there would still be a thorn in her heart. And Teacher Xiao Bai had asked Zheng Tan for help precisely to obtain evidence.

From what Teacher Xiao Bai said, it seemed that Zhang Dong had a past record. How he had persuaded Teacher Xiao Bai to forgive him before was unknown, but now that this had happened again, she wasn’t planning to let it go easily.

On weekdays, Teacher Xiao Bai was always busy with the nursery school students’ matters, leaving Zhang Dong with ample time during the day to do many things.

Keeping an eye on someone wasn’t a particularly difficult task for Zheng Tan, just a bit boring.

After a brief text message exchange, Zheng Tan didn’t give a direct reply. It would be easy if it were a person, but for Mao Dabai, moving around in broad daylight was not very convenient. Also, during the day, Zheng Tan couldn’t carry a cell phone.

That day, while yawning, Zheng Tan walked towards the neighborhood where Zhang Dong had recently rented an apartment. After observing for a few days, Zheng Tan noticed that Zhang Dong had been more restrained lately, and even if he encountered that girl, his attitude was still enthusiastic, but presumably because he had been questioned by Teacher Xiao Bai, he was no longer overly affectionate. Moreover, Zheng Tan didn’t really expect him to do anything during broad daylight.

Zhang Dong worked at a small company nearby, not far from the rented apartment. Zheng Tan couldn’t be bothered to follow him all the time, so he just strolled around. If he happened to cross paths with Zhang Dong, he would follow him to see what he was up to; if not, he would just take a walk on his own. There was a small pet shop nearby that had placed two chinchillas outside, which Zheng Tan found quite interesting. Every time he passed by, he would squat and watch them. Actually, what Zheng Tan mainly watched were the girls that were attracted by the chinchillas. The pet shop placed the two chinchillas at the door, attracting many passersby, especially some young girls.

The group now gathered there were probably university students who had no classes in the morning and had come out to stroll. Zheng Tan’s gaze followed the moving group of girls. The one in the middle had a nice figure, long legs, a slender waist, and when she smiled, she had dimples. As the group of girls disappeared into the crowd, Zheng Tan prepared to withdraw his gaze, but suddenly, his eyes paused. He saw a modern woman. Her long wavy hair cascaded down seemingly casually, unlike the attire of the students from before, exuding a stylish and mature charm that was captivating. Although her clothes didn’t stand out in the crowd, one couldn’t help but be enchanted by her face, figure, and the aura she exuded with every move she made.

However, what made Zheng Tan unable to tear his eyes away was the scene he had glimpsed as he was about to look away and, afterwards, the woman’s curled red lips.

A moment ago, a man on the phone hurried past. The modern woman walked towards this side, and as they passed each other, their shoulders bumped. The modern woman smiled apologetically and even softly said sorry. The middle-aged man on the phone stared at the woman for a few seconds before hurriedly saying it was all right with an embarrassed look. After the two had passed by each other, the woman’s face lifted into a faint smile. From Zheng Tan’s angle, he saw a fleeting scene—at the moment they collided, the wallet from the pocket of the middle-aged man on the phone had shifted positions.

Upon seeing this, Zheng Tan couldn’t help but inwardly exclaim, indeed, looks can be deceiving!

Zheng Tan hadn’t finished reflecting when he saw the modern woman with an even deeper smile, gesturing towards a direction with a wave.

Zheng Tan followed her gaze, across the street diagonally, was Zhang Dong, who was supposed to be at work, impatiently rushing over, almost colliding with a taxi.

Do these two know each other?!

That’s right, both are thieves, and, both of them are quite attractive to boot. Although Zheng Tan looked down on Zhang Dong, he had to admit that the guy had a pretty boy face that could attract women.

The two seemed very familiar with each other, their interactions entirely like old friends, or perhaps even more than that, tinged with ambiguity. No, it shouldn’t be just ambiguity, those small gestures and the exchanges of glances between them convinced Zheng Tan that these two definitely, definitely had something going on!

Incredible, this guy is quite something. Zheng Tan originally thought Zhang Dong was playing two ends against the middle, but now it seemed there was more to it, perhaps this was just the tip of the iceberg?

On the street, the two didn’t do anything too intimate,
Zhang Dong raised his hand to brush aside the woman’s hair near her cheek, his fingers sliding down along her tresses, lightly touching the woman’s prominent chest as his gaze too swept across with implicit meaning. At one point, Zhang Dong’s fingers flicked slightly, the wallet he had stolen earlier placed right there, hidden by the coat and not easy to spot.

The woman took off her sunglasses, gave Zhang Dong a proud look, and then hooked her arm with his. The pair left together.

Zheng Tan followed them. Since he had run into them, he might as well keep an eye out for Teacher Xiao Bai. It was just a pity that he didn’t bring his cell phone this time; otherwise, he could have called Teacher Xiao Bai to catch them in the act.

Zhang Dong was in a very good mood now. He had contacted this close friend with whom he had had intimate contact yesterday, knowing she would come to Chuhua City today. After receiving a call from her this morning while he was at work, he had taken the day off to meet her and asked for her advice on the theft that had taken place a while ago. Of course, while asking for her help, he also took the opportunity for some “intimate communication”, having missed her after so long. Marrying someone like Teacher Xiao Bai, who took care of the Gu family and was good at looking after the children and household, was indeed very good, but Zhang Dong preferred something more passionate. He also couldn’t bear to simply let go of Xiao Bai, plus there were some aspects of his personality that led to his habit of keeping one woman while occasionally chasing after others—and seeing his old flame made it even harder to resist.

Zheng Tan watched them enter a hotel, their eyes full of ambiguity and provocation. Any passerby could tell that the relationship between the two was out of the ordinary, and entering a hotel at this time… combining this with the interactions he had witnessed between the two, Zheng Tan felt again that it would have been great to have his cell phone on him to call Teacher Xiao Bai over to catch them.

But now, was it too late to go back and send the message?

After thinking it over, Zheng Tan quickly ran back to Chuhua University, climbed through a tree hole to turn on his cell phone, and briefly described what he had seen, also mentioning the name of the hotel. What Teacher Xiao Bai would do next, Zheng Tan couldn’t know, as she was currently teaching a class. By the time she finished and could get over there, those two would have likely finished their business.

After sending the message, Zheng Tan was about to turn off the phone when a reply came through, asking if it was the XXX Hotel on XX Road.

Zheng Tan recalled the street where the hotel was located and replied with a “Yes”.

After a “Thank you” from the other end, there was no further response.

Putting down his phone, Zheng Tan ran to the kindergarten to check and saw Teacher Xiao Bai wasn’t there; another teacher was covering for her, having heard that Teacher Xiao Bai had to leave suddenly due to an emergency.

“Black!” Zhuo Xiaomao held a notebook in his hand, scurrying to the classroom window and looking up at Zheng Tan, who was standing on the windowsill. He opened his notebook, “Black, look, red stars plus red flags!”

Zheng Tan glanced at it. It was filled with simple letters, most of which had been written poorly by the children. However, as long as they had made an attempt, they would get a red star stamp, but the red flag stamp wasn’t for everyone; it had to be written correctly and nicely.

Seeing Zhuo Xiaomao’s eyes full of anticipation, Zheng Tan raised his hand and patted his head. Zhuo Xiaomao stood there with a broad grin, as if he had received approval and praise.

However, Zheng Tan was thinking about going over to the hotel to check on the situation and didn’t stay to listen to Zhuo Xiaomao’s words. After patting Zhuo Xiaomao, Zheng Tan jumped off the windowsill and left.

Zhuo Xiaomao watched as Zheng Tan left, and the smile on his face faded. Teacher Xiao Bai was unhappy today, and so was Black, so he was unhappy too!

A little girl with a mushroom haircut from the same courtyard ran over: “Zhuo Xiaomao, Zhuo Xiaomao, do you know what one plus one equals?”

“Equals two.”

Mushroom-hair little girl: “…” Spit what?

Over there, Zheng Tan had run over to the hotel and was wondering why he hadn’t seen Teacher Xiao Bai around, speculating whether she might have gone into the hotel to look for someone. Then he saw a figure rush out from inside the hotel—it was Teacher Xiao Bai. Following her was Zhang Dong, who came out looking disheveled in what appeared to be hastily put-on clothes, complete with many wrinkles.

Teacher Xiao Bai was fuming, her eyes red with anger, panting without a word. After being grabbed by the arm, she stopped and looked at Zhang Dong. She wasn’t the type to utter vulgarities, nor did she know how to express her current emotions, perhaps because of being a kindergarten teacher, she couldn’t speak harsh words. And because she couldn’t verbalize her feelings, the most direct form of venting her emotions was—a slap.

Slap!

“Xiao Bai, you’ve got it wrong!” Zhang Dong didn’t bother with the modern lady anymore and hurriedly looked for excuses to cover himself.

Slap! Another palm.

“Listen to me explain!” Zhang Dong tried to stop Teacher Xiao Bai who was ready to leave.

Slap! Yet another slap.

Well slapped! Zheng Tan watched the two of them from afar, knowing from the sound how forceful the slaps were. The strength Teacher Xiao Bai had developed from lifting children at the kindergarten had come in handy now.

A hotel employee came over and pushed Zhang Dong away, then tried to console Teacher Xiao Bai. Seeing the employee seemed to know Teacher Xiao Bai, it was no wonder she could go directly into the hotel to catch a cheater.

More and more onlookers gathered around—Teacher Xiao Bai didn’t stand there talking any longer, hailed a taxi, and left, leaving Zhang Dong there to be pointed at and talked about by the crowd. As for the modern lady, Zheng Tan didn’t see her; she probably knew it was better to stay hidden at this time, as coming out would only invite gossip.

In the afternoon, Zheng Tan went to the forest to turn on his phone, planning to ask about Teacher Xiao Bai’s condition, seeing how angry she had been in the morning, so much so that she hadn’t gone to the kindergarten in the afternoon.

But as soon as he turned on the phone, Zheng Tan found out, his damn phone was—disconnected—!

The 50 yuan he had recently recharged had run out so quickly?!

Thinking back, he hadn’t made many calls recently, and even if he had sent a lot of texts, it shouldn’t have resulted in disconnection that quickly. The only explanation was sending pictures!

In recent days, apart from texting, he had been sending quite a few picture messages. Why hadn’t he noticed how quickly his phone credit had been depleting before?!

Back in these days, communication wasn’t as convenient as it would be a few years later—then, one could connect to Wi-Fi, log in to chat apps, and send pictures and voice messages freely. But not now, and Zheng Tan realized this too late.

Looking at his phone, Zheng Tan wondered when he would go to top up his phone credit. Should he go to the newsstand for a recharge card again, or write an anonymous note with his phone number, leave the money at a place that offered recharges, and ask the person there to help?

While Zheng Tan was worrying about how to recharge, a notification text came in on his phone. He opened it to find it showed he had just been credited with 100 yuan. A few seconds later, another message arrived—it was from Teacher Xiao Bai.

“I’m very sorry, it was my oversight.”

Just as Zheng Tan was about to reply, he received a direct phone call from her. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it at Qidian (qidian.com), or cast your monthly vote. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please read at m.qidian.com.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep