Lemon Soda Candy - 100

The two of them slept until nine the next morning. Breakfast was leftover cake from the night before.

After eating, they searched the house again, thoroughly, twice over. Wanting to be absolutely sure before accusing an innocent dog. Only once they'd confirmed that the rings were absolutely nowhere to be found did Chen Luobai finally call Zhu Ran.

The line picked up quickly, the voice on the other end thoroughly baffled.

"It's not even noon. What's with the sudden call?"

"Ranran and I are coming over now. Nothing... inconvenient at your place we shouldn't walk in on?" Chen Luobai asked directly.

"Nothing inconvenient, no." Zhu Ran still sounded lost. "But why are you suddenly coming over?"

"Good. Then wait for us."

Seeing him hang up, Zhou Anran blinked. "We're just going straight there?"

Chen Luobai nodded. "He and my sister aren't exactly detail-oriented about this stuff. If Sanjin really did make off with it, it's been almost a week and they still haven't noticed, we're better off looking ourselves than counting on them."

"Okay." Zhou Anran said. "Let me change first."

Zhu Ran's place was in the same complex, just a different building, a short walk away.

At the door, Chen Luobai was just about to knock when it swung open from inside.

Yu Bingqin, dressed all in black, came striding out pulling a suitcase. She gave Zhou Anran's cheek a casual pinch, tossed out a quick "I'm off on a business trip," and left.

The ignored biological cousin had long since gotten used to this.

After changing their shoes in the entryway, Chen Luobai swept his gaze across the living room, then turned back and reached for the person behind him. "Come on in. Sanjin's not in the living room."

Zhu Ran came over to meet them. "What are you two doing, turning up first thing in the morning?"

Chen Luobai: "Here to catch a thief and find some evidence."

Zhu Ran's face went completely blank. "Catch what thief? Find what evidence?"

"I suspect your dog stole my birthday gift last Saturday," Chen Luobai said.

Zhu Ran: "Sanjin? Sanjin stole something? No way. Sanjin is very well-behaved at other people's places."

Seeing Zhu Ran getting more bewildered by the second, Zhou Anran tugged at a certain someone's sleeve and explained properly, "Didn't Qin-jie buy a pair of couple earrings a while back?"

Zhu Ran raised a hand to touch the earring on his right ear. "Huh? How do you know? Did she tell you she gave me one? Nice, right? Let me tell you..."

"Nobody asked you that." Chen Luobai cut off his preening. "Let her finish."

"They are nice, yes." Zhou Anran suppressed a smile. "Qin-jie and I went shopping together that day. I also bought a pair of couple rings from the same collection, planning to give them to Chen Luobai for his birthday. The box was in the drawer of the desk in the guest room, the one you slept in last Saturday. But now we can't find it anywhere. The ring packaging is identical to your earring box, so we were wondering if Sanjin might have seen it and thought it was one of his toys and carried it off."

"...That actually does sound possible. The earring box at our place is already chewed to bits." Zhu Ran had a fuzzy memory of maybe closing a few drawers himself that day, but he'd had a fair amount to drink. He couldn't be sure if his memory was playing tricks on him.

"That overnight bag you brought to my place last Saturday, have you unpacked it yet?" Chen Luobai asked.

"Not yet." Zhu Ran said. "You think Sanjin hid it in my bag?"

Chen Luobai gave a "Mm." "Let me go look with you.”

He turned to Zhou Anran. "Wait for us in the living room?"

Zhou Anran nodded.

No matter how familiar she was with Zhu Ran, he was still a man. Going through his bag with them wouldn't exactly be appropriate.

The overnight bag was tossed carelessly on the floor of the guest room.

Once inside, Zhu Ran seemed to remember something. "Oh, right. I took a couple of things out of it a few days ago. Didn't notice anything extra in there."

Chen Luobai pointed at the empty bed. "Dump it out and check properly."

Zhu Ran, convinced his dog was indeed capable of doing it, obliged without complaint and hoisted the bag.

There wasn't much inside. Spilled onto the bed, everything was visible at a glance. Still no sign of the ring box.

"Not there." Zhu Ran exhaled in relief. "Are you sure you didn't miss a spot at your place?"

"We turned our place upside down twice before coming here. Wait." Chen Luobai's gaze paused. His long, well-defined fingers reached into the pile and plucked something off one of the sweaters. "What's this?"

Zhu Ran leaned in.

"Looks like Sanjin's fur."

It was nearly the same color as the sweater. He hadn't even noticed it.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me. This lawless little brat sneaks snacks at home every day, and now he's graduated to stealing at other people's houses too?"

Chen Luobai: "Is your living room security footage easy to access?"

"Easy enough." Zhu Ran said. "But I've been back for days. You'll go blind trying to find anything in all that footage."

Chen Luobai asked, "You said you took clothes out of this bag. When was that?"

"The day I got back, I think. Sometime after..." Zhu Ran thought hard. "No, actually. After I got back I unzipped it first, planning to unpack, but I got thirsty and went to get water. Then after the water I remembered there was a match I wanted to watch. Taking the clothes out... that was probably evening."

"Then checking the footage from the day you got back should be enough." Chen Luobai pointed at the sweater. "This one was sitting right on top. None of the other clothes had fur on them. If Sanjin put something in there, he probably just placed it on top, and likely moved it before you took your clothes out."

Zhu Ran pulled up the footage.

Chen Luobai took the phone and started watching carefully on fast-forward from the point Zhu Ran had gotten home. In less than ten minutes, they saw Sanjin sneaking furtively from the living room into the guest bedroom. Moments later, the dog scurried back out with a box in its mouth, darted into the small, enclosed travel crate next to the big dog house, and re-emerged with nothing.

Chen Luobai rewound, watched the sequence again, then rewound once more and held the phone up to Zhu Ran's face. "Caught in the act. Evidence is conclusive."

The little thief's owner: "...”

Chen Luobai: "Where's Sanjin? Did you shut him in the bedroom?"

Zhou Anran was sitting on the living room sofa playing on her phone. She'd expected to wait a while, but the two of them came out quickly.

She stood up.

Chen Luobai strode over to her. "I have good news, and a not-too-bad piece of bad news. Which do you want first?"

Zhou Anran: "The bad."

Chen Luobai: "Let's start with the good news."

Zhou Anran: "..."

He was just messing with her.

"Fine. Tell me."

"The good news is, Sanjin definitely stole the rings from our place. He hid them in Zhu Ran's bag first, then moved them to his little travel crate."

Zhou Anran let out a breath.

With it nowhere to be found at home, she'd been a little worried some strange burglar had broken in.

"And the bad news?"

"The bad news is," Chen Luobai grinned, "Zhu Ran's also leaving for a business trip tonight. Yesterday, he sent Sanjin, crate and all, over to Yan Xingxi's place. We have to make another trip. Try to call her?"

No wonder it was "not-too-bad" bad news.

An extra trip was a hassle, but seeing a friend wasn't bad at all.

Zhou Anran smiled too. "Alright, I'll call Xixi now."

The line connected quickly.

"Hey! What's the occasion for the sudden call?"

Zhou Anran asked, "You're home right now, right?"

"I am!" Yan Xingxi said. "What's up?"

Zhou Anran: "Chen Luobai and I are coming over."

"I'm coming too," Zhu Ran chimed in from the side. "I need to go give that dog a serious talking-to.”

Zhou Anran added, "Zhu Ran's coming too."

"Yes, yes, perfect! Dong Chen's not here and eating alone is so boring." Yan Xingxi said. "All of you come eat at my place. This really good spot opened up near me. I'll order in for us."

Zhou Anran didn't stand on ceremony with her. "Okay."

She was about to explain the Sanjin situation, but Yan Xingxi had already barreled ahead excitedly. "Let me tidy up first, my place is a disaster. Don't drive too fast, okay? Give me some time. See you soon!"

And then she hung up with a snap.

Zhou Anran shook her head, smiling helplessly.

Never mind.

She could just explain once they got there.

The group of three drove to Yan Xingxi's. Traffic was a little heavy, and it was already half past twelve when they arrived.

The moment the door opened, Yan Xingxi immediately threw herself at Zhou Anran in a hug.

"Aiya, come in, come in. The food will be here soon." As she handed out slippers, she asked "So, what brings you all to come over together today?"

Zhu Ran: "Oh, you finally remembered to ask?"

"I thought you were just bored and came to hang out.” Yan Xingxi lifted her head. "Is that not what this is?"

Zhou Anran explained the situation, then asked, "Where's Sanjin?"

Yan Xingxi let out a small "ah" and looked at Zhu Ran. "Something came up last minute. I have to leave on a business trip tonight too. Xiaowen picked Sanjin up yesterday, forgot to tell you."

Sanjin was doted on by the entire friend group. Even Zhou Anran, who was afraid of dogs, found him unbearably cute. Whenever Zhu Ran and Yu Bingqin were away, everyone fought over who got to take him in.

"This really has turned into a treasure hunt." Chen Luobai leaned against the wall, laughing. "Give Sheng Xiaowen a call?"

"I just called." Yan Xingxi said. "I wanted to invite them over to eat too, but neither she nor Zhou Qingsui picked up. Let me try again."

She called both numbers in succession. Still no answer.

Just then, the delivery driver arrived at the door with arms full of bags. Yan Xingxi hung up to take the food. "Forget it, forget it. Who knows what those two are busy with. Let's eat first. Maybe they'll call back after."

But lunch came and went, and Sheng Xiaowen and Zhou Qingsui still hadn't returned the calls.

Another round of dialing, and still no answer.

Chen Luobai grabbed his car keys. "Let's go. We'll just head straight to their place."

"Will they even be home?" Zhu Ran asked.

Chen Luobai: "If they took Sanjin in, they should be home these days. And if not, they can't be far."

"When Xiaowen picked Sanjin up yesterday," Yan Xingxi said, "she did mention they'd be staying in for a few days."

Chen Luobai lifted his chin. "Then let's move."

Zhou Anran turned to Yan Xingxi. "What about you, Xixi? What time is your flight?"

"Not for ages." Yan Xingxi was buzzing with excitement. "Let's go, let's go. I'm coming with you."

And so the group of four set off again for Sheng Xiaowen's place.

At the door, they rang the bell for quite a while before Zhou Qingsui, dressed in loungewear, came to answer. Seeing the four of them on his doorstep, he paused in surprise.

"What are all of you doing here together?"

Chen Luobai: "Catching a thief."

Zhou Qingsui: "?"

Sheng Xiaowen's voice drifted out from inside. "Who is it? I thought I heard Chen Luobai."

A moment later, she came rushing into the living room.

"Oh! Ranran, Xixi, what are you all doing here?"

Zhou Anran went through the whole explanation again.

Yan Xingxi added from behind her, "I called you guys so many times and nobody picked up. We had no choice but to hunt you down in person."

"We were both working from home for a bit. Phones were on silent.”

"Where's Sanjin?" Zhu Ran asked.

"Sleeping in the back," Sheng Xiaowen said. "I don't think I saw anything in its crate, but I didn't exactly look closely. Come in, come in."

The group trooped inside and gathered around the little dog crate.

Zhou Anran ducked behind Chen Luobai and peered over his shoulder.

The little dog that had sent them across half the city was curled up comfortably in his soft, plush little crate, paws tucked in, fast asleep. Sunlight slanted in through the window, painting its fluffy tail a brilliant gold.

"Unbelievable." Yan Xingxi said. "Look how comfortable he is. Someone needs to get this dog a job."

Zhu Ran: "We ran around half the city because of him, and here he is, snoozing like a king."

Hearing his owner's voice, the dog's ear twitched. Its eyes flew open. With a sudden burst of energy, it sprang up and bolted over to Zhu Ran, circling his legs madly, tail swinging, barking up a storm of excitement.

Chen Luobai shifted position, shielding Zhou Anran behind him.

 

Zhou Anran once again peeked from behind his back.

Sheng Xiaowen picked up the little crate and inspected it thoroughly. "Nothing here."

Zhu Ran took it from her. "No way. We clearly saw the security footage. He carried the ring box right into this crate."

Yan Xingxi asked Sheng Xiaowen, "Could he have carried it back out and dropped it somewhere in your place?"

Sheng Xiaowen shook her head. "We did a full deep-clean just this morning. Every inch, every corner, swept and tidied. Didn't see any extra box anywhere. What about your place?"

Yan Xingxi shook her head too. "He was only at mine for two or three hours yesterday. I had eyes on him the whole time."

Chen Luobai took the crate, looked it over, then shifted his gaze to Zhu Ran. "Then it has to still be at your place. You haven't cleaned recently, have you?"

"No... not a deep clean." Zhu Ran was no longer sure of anything. "Should we go back and look again?"

"Let's go, let's go." Yan Xingxi was the first on board. "I've got to see where Sanjin actually hid this thing."

Zhou Anran turned to Sheng Xiaowen. "Do you two still have to work?"

Sheng Xiaowen grinned and grabbed Zhou Qingsui's arm. "We're all done. Let's go, let's go. We're coming with you guys to watch the show."

So the return trip swelled from three people to six, and one car became two.

Back at Zhu Ran's place, the six split into two search parties. Every room, every corner, nothing left unchecked. They combed through the whole apartment multiple times.

Still no sign of the rings.

In the end, all six collapsed in exhaustion onto the living room sofas.

"This is so weird. How can we not find it?" Yan Xingxi said.

Sheng Xiaowen: "Seriously. Where on earth did Sanjin hide the thing?"

"Should we go through the rest of the camera footage?" Zhu Ran asked.

Chen Luobai: "Your place only has so many places to look. We've already checked every inch. You think watching more footage will magically open up a new dimension?"

"He couldn't have thrown it outside, could he?” Zhu Ran was starting to get a headache. "Ugh... he better not have swallowed it. Probably not, though. A box and two rings don't exactly seem digestible."

Zhou Anran rested her head on Chen Luobai's shoulder. "Let's just forget it. At least we know it wasn't stolen by some stranger. I'll just buy another ring when I have time."

"I'll buy them," Zhu Ran said.

Chen Luobai grabbed a snack pack off the table and chucked it at him. "My wife buying me rings is romantic. You buying me couple rings? What are you, a creep?"

Zhu Ran: "Get lost. You think I want to buy you anything? I'm offering to replace them on Sanjin's behalf."

The little dog curled at his feet perked up at his name and let out an immediate "Woof."

"You've got some nerve woofing." Zhu Ran gave the dog a thorough, exasperated ruffling from head to tail. "Just wait till she gets back and deals with you."

Who "she" was needed no clarification.

Zhou Anran blinked, then suddenly reached up and touched her own cheek. "Ah, right. There's actually still one place in your house we haven't checked."

"Huh?" Zhu Ran froze. "Where else? How do I not know about it?"

Chen Luobai's gaze rested on her face for a second, and suddenly laughed. "Or rather, there's one thing we haven't checked."

"What are you two on about? What 'thing'?" Zhu Ran was more lost than ever.

"Hey, hey, hey." Sheng Xiaowen cut in. "What's with the cryptic married-couple act? Think about the rest of us spectators, will you?"

Chen Luobai ignored them, looking only at Zhou Anran. "You call, or should I?"

Zhou Anran: "It's your present. Maybe you call?"

Chen Luobai nodded and dialed a number on his phone.

He put it on speaker. A voice with an unmistakably beautiful timbre answered the line.

"What is it?"

"Something major," Chen Luobai said. "Your Sanjin stole the birthday present my wife gave me."

The person on the other end, Yu Bingqin, said, "Those couple rings?"

Chen Luobai made an affirmative sound. "Yeah, those rings. Are you at the hotel yet? Check your suitcase, see if anything extra found its way in."

The line fell quiet, leaving only the faint rustle of movement.

A moment later, Yu Bingqin’s voice came through again, delivering eight succinct words:

"It's here with me. I'll bring it back."

And she hung up.

The six in the living room let out a collective sigh of relief.

Finally, it was found.

Hearing its other owner's voice, Sanjin started barking excitedly again, paws lifting as it tried to head toward Chen Luobai. Zhu Ran hurriedly hauled him back.

"You're really something, you know that? Anything nice you find, you just have to deliver it to her, huh?"

Sanjin, apparently interpreting this as praise, wagged his tail and barked several more times.

"I'm not praising you." Zhu Ran turned the dog around. "You stole someone's present and you're proud of yourself? Come on, apologize to your Auntie Zhou Anran."

As if finally registering the sternness in his owner's voice, Sanjin let out a small whimper, its big dewy eyes looking up at Zhou Anran.

Zhou Anran's heart nearly melted into a puddle. "What does he know? He's just a little dog."

"She's right. What does Sanjin know?" Chen Luobai concurred. "If anyone's to blame, it's you for getting drunk and not watching him."

"Exactly, exactly. What does our Sanjin know?"

"And honestly, it's been ages since we all got together like this. We kind of have Sanjin to thank for that."

Sheng Xiaowen and Yan Xingxi piled on in the chorus.

"Fine, fine. Don't blame him, blame me. Happy?" Zhu Ran checked the time on his phone. "It's almost five. Just about dinner time. How about I treat you all to a meal? Consider it an apology, and a belated birthday celebration for a certain someone surnamed Chen. Yan Xingxi, can you still make your flight?"

Yan Xingxi: "I can if I leave straight after the meal."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Sheng Xiaowen stood up. "Let's go."

The six people and one dog spilled noisily out of the building.

Zhou Anran and Chen Luobai walked hand in hand behind their friends. She lifted her head slightly and squinted, the light catching her eyes.

The winter sun really was the best.

---

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