He didn't finish what he was saying.

Yet, upon hearing this, Xu Ping's complexion turned a few shades paler.

The things his son had done… He knew all too well.

Every now and then, he'd steal a few parcels. Always small items. The stolen goods varied wildly. Qin Mu's parcel… was merely one of them!

"Alright, please wait patiently for news. We'll notify you as soon as we have any updates," Shen Dao said, nodding after receiving the hospital's information and contact details. Then he left the scene with the police officers.

Only Xu Ping was left behind, staring at the empty living room, his expression fluctuating unpredictably.

It seemed he had inadvertently… gotten his own son into trouble.

From Shen Dao, he learned that the parcel theft case had remained unsolved for almost a month. This meant his son hadn't been exposed. If he hadn't taken the initiative to come forward… his son would definitely not have been discovered!

Just then, his cell phone suddenly rang, its ringtone breaking the silence: "The boundless horizon is my love; flowers are blossoming at the foot of the green hills..."

Xu Ping took out his phone and glanced at the caller. It wasn't the police; it was his wife.

"Hello? Old Xu? Did they pay compensation? How much? Our son's surgery is imminent; you need to hurry up with the medical expenses..." his wife asked urgently from the other end of the line.

Xu Ping gave a bitter smile and hesitated before saying, "They didn't pay up. I offered him 100 yuan, but he wouldn't take it. And… I called the police."

"You called the police?" His wife sounded stunned for a moment. Then she pressed, "What did the police say? With officers there, surely they wouldn't dare refuse to compensate, right?"

Xu Ping replied, "…The police said the other party wasn't responsible."

At this point, he sighed softly and told her everything that had happened.

After his wife heard this on the other end of the line, there was a CLANG. It was unclear whether she had lost her footing or if something had fallen.

"The police said… once the facts are confirmed, they'll call to notify us." When his wife didn't respond, Xu Ping continued.

No sooner had he spoken than cries erupted from the phone.

"Notify us?" she shrieked. "How will they notify us? Our son finishes surgery, opens his eyes, and then he's just going to be taken away by the police? Old Xu, Old Xu! It's usually sons who make their fathers' lives difficult, but you? You've gone and royally screwed over your own son! Don't you know that if he goes to prison, the rest of his life will be ruined!"

Listening to his wife's complaints and cries, Xu Ping swallowed hard. A bitter taste filled his mouth, and he felt utterly distressed.

...

「The next day.」

In the nursing home.

Qin Mu went to work as usual. However, after last night's incident, his mood was exceptionally good.

He'd been worried about not finding the thief. Yet, the perpetrator had practically delivered himself to the doorstep, even calling the police. It had spared him a lot of effort.

Now, all he needed to do was patiently wait for the results of the police investigation.

"Multiple thefts… The penalty for that isn't light." Thinking about last night's events, a corner of Qin Mu's mouth twitched.

Many people, like Xu Ping, considered theft a trivial matter. Indeed, petty theft could often be settled with just compensation. If the value was less than 1,000 yuan, it didn't constitute a crime. Even if the value reached 1,000 yuan, as long as compensation was made and a criminal reconciliation letter was provided, the punishment was generally detention or supervised release. More serious offenses might result in a fixed-term imprisonment of less than three years.

However, multiple thefts were significantly different. This was because the acts of stealing occurred multiple times within the same period, and the stolen items varied. Therefore, sentencing depended on the specific items stolen. Different criminal consequences would be triggered depending on the nature of the stolen goods and how they were handled post-theft.

In the afternoon, Qin Mu received a personal call from Shen Dao. He informed Qin Mu that the suspect had been identified: the series of parcel thefts were indeed related to Xu Leshan. Shen Dao also asked him to help notify the other residents in the Mountain and Water Garden District whose parcels had been stolen to go to the police station and file a report.

Over the past month, many residents in the district had their parcels stolen. Some had reported the thefts, but many others hadn't. The police didn't have contact information for the latter group, which was why Shen Dao asked Qin Mu to help notify everyone.

Qin Mu immediately agreed.

After hanging up, he promptly picked up his cell phone, accessed the main residents' group chat for the Mountain and Water Garden District, and relayed the message:

"The police have caught the suspect. If your parcels were stolen, please go to the police station to file a report as soon as possible."

As soon as the message was sent, the residents' chat group erupted with activity, especially among those whose parcels had been stolen.

"For real? How'd they catch him? Weren't the surveillance cameras supposed to be installed today? Don't tell me the thief had a crisis of conscience and turned himself in?"

"Guess I'll have to take some time off work to go to the police station then."

"Quick question for everyone: I only lost a toothbrush. Is it even worth going?"

"That thief is despicable! If I see him when I go to the station, I'll beat him so bad he ends up in the hospital!"

"I lost an ID card..."

In the group chat, the residents were ecstatic upon hearing the news. They began coordinating times to go to the police station together to file their reports.

The items they had lost… were all sorts of things. The lowest value item was a 0.80 yuan toothbrush bought from XiXi online store. The most valuable was an iPhone 13. There were also parcels containing documents, like ID cards and driver's licenses.

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