The Reincarnated OP Protagonist Is Now A 3rd Grade Student (Patreon)

Chapter 10: The Crying Child

After the school bell rang, Chen An hurriedly grabbed his small backpack and dashed out of the campus. Using a small map and his memory, he navigated his way and arrived at his destination—the destroyed cram school. Once a luxurious place, it was now reduced to a charred ruin. Police had set up a cordon to keep curious onlookers away, and a few detectives who didn't seem like ordinary officers were investigating the scene.

With little effort, Chen An found the man who had lost the bomb, Mr. Li Kui. This bear-like man was currently bending over, being scolded by a distinguished-looking woman. After waiting for three minutes, Chen An finally saw the lecture end and approached the dejected Li Kui.

"Kid, it's you again?"

Li Kui crouched down as much as he could, maintaining eye level with the 4-foot-tall Chen An. "This isn't a fun place, you know? Go play somewhere else."

Chen An didn't answer; he was gazing absentmindedly at the scorched cram school, where a child was pounding the wall and crying uncontrollably. The anguished cries weighed heavily on his heart; the child didn't seem much younger than him.

"Is she crying so sadly because there are loved ones trapped under the rubble?"

Following Chen An's gaze, Li Kui shook his head. "No, that's not the case. The cram school wasn't open for the summer yet, so the explosion didn't cause any casualties. It's just that several thousand sets of papers that were stored inside got blown up."

"That's still really unfortunate."

Chen An looked at the weeping girl with pity. She must have thought about how her parents had used their hard-earned savings for her birthday celebration, only to have it ruined by someone her age. No wonder she was so heartbroken.

"Actually, you've got the wrong person. The owner of the cram school is over there."

Li Kui guided Chen An's gaze toward a man standing next to the sobbing girl. "The one that looks like he's about to burst into laughter but has to hold it in. That's the owner of the cram school."

"Huh?"

Chen An pointed at the tear-streaked girl. "Then who is she?"

"She's the daughter of the owner of the city's largest insurance company."

Li Kui sighed. "She's crying because her birthday party got ruined. I heard her dad was supposed to use the funds he set aside for her birthday to rent an entire buffet restaurant, but he had to use it to compensate others."

"So, she won't have a birthday party?"

Chen An asked, puzzled.

"She would still have one. Originally, her family had planned to rent that famous multiple  star hotel and celebrate her birthday with her classmates there, but now she can only have a big cake and celebrate with her family inside one of the mansion that the girl family have, but since the mansion is quite far away, her friend's parents are not letting her go, so she can't celebrate with her friends anymore."

Li Kui shook his head. "I can imagine her excitement and joy when she was inviting her classmates to celebrate with her, and now the disappointment... sigh, what a poor child."

Chen An rolled up his sleeves, clenching his fists. "Can you find out her name and which school she goes to? Is it Fleur-de-Lis Elementary School, or another one? I want to get to know her 'closely.'"

"Calm down, kid!"

Li Kui waved his hands repeatedly. "Even if human joys and sorrows aren't the same, you can't take advantage of someone just because you're upset."

"Uncle, do you really think I'm just a kid?"

Chen An raised an eyebrow. "With this little rich girl, you have to take advantage of the fact that she's still young and mentally immature. That's when she's most easily fooled. It's a good time for me to become friends with her, and if possible, I need to become someone that she would find when she is sad."

"..."

After a moment of silence, Li Kui rolled up his sleeves and said seriously, "Kid, which school are you attending? I need to get 'close' to your teacher and principal."

"Li Kui, If you keep slacking off like this, you'll end up getting 'close' to the walls in solitary confinement."

An irritated female voice sounded, and Chen An turned his head to see a striking big sister with long black hair, wearing her police uniform like a cape, standing behind Li Kui. She looked displeased as she stared at him.

"Comrade Tan Jing, the uniform—your uniform!"

Li Kui quickly blocked Chen An's view and turned to his police colleague. "Not dressing appropriately might lead to complaints from the public."

"Let them complain. I'm not cut out for sitting in an office anyway. It would be better if they demote me to the frontlines."

Tan Jing, seemingly unconcerned, said and then looked at Chen An and Li Kui with a puzzled expression. "I remember you're single, right? Is this your relative's child?"

"I'm here to report a case!"

Chen An hastily raised his hand, diverting the conversation back to the main topic. "Regarding the explosion case, I have important information to give you!"

At this point, Chen An paused for a moment, hesitating. "But before I continue, let me ask: If I were to say that my classmate is the one who's been throwing explosive devices into people's houses, and I don't have any evidence other than my testimony, would you look at me with the gaze of someone dealing with a little troublemaker?"

"Kid, the pranks of throwing firecrackers at people's houses and the explosion case we're dealing with now are not the same thing."

Tan Jing crouched down, patting the little boy's shoulder and casually replied, "Adults are busy, if you have issues with your classmate, you should try to report it to your teacher."

As expected...

Chen An sighed inwardly. The reactions of the police officers were just as he expected. Being an elementary school student was a perfect protective shield for Lu Li, while for him, it was a stumbling block. No matter what he said, he wouldn't capture the attention of these adults.

Unless...

"Fine, I'll come clean, no more pretending!"

Chen An spread his hands to the two in front of him. "Actually, it seems I have some rather rare abilities in this world, abilities that are quite extraordinary. I can use these abilities to help you solve cases and apprehend criminals."

Tan Jing was momentarily stunned, then turned to Li Kui with a peculiar expression. "Has there been an anime on Starry Sky Channel recently with this kind of premise?"

"I'm single, I don't have kids at home to watch Starry Sky Channel."

Li Kui whispered, "But Comrade Tan Jing, I think we shouldn't just dismiss this child's enthusiasm. Why not just play along for a bit?"

"I've already treated him kindly by not arresting him for obstructing official business."

Tan Jing muttered and turned back around. She intended to placate the imaginative child before her, but was surprised to see the boy removing the bright red scarf from around his neck and wrapping it around his eyes layer by layer.

"Kid, what are you doing?"

Chen An tied the scarf behind his head and then looked ahead where he couldn't see. "Auntie, please watch me, I’m going to show you my abilities.”